Thursday, May 28, 2009

May 25th: The Twins' Birthday



We don't look 34 and 47, do we?


It has been absolutely crazy this week, as far as my schedule, so I haven't been able to blog about last weekend, May 23rd through 25th -- which was Memorial Day weekend to most, but a Big Birthday Weekend for me and Mitch! It included, once again, some solid PL training. My kid captured the 185 BP on video this time (I attempted 190 because I am crazy that way)... and a 280 and 285 SQ, with a PR 315 lb. walkout, followed by a 350 lb. static hold to boot (because... same reason).

The fun also included a night of birthday appetizers and drinks with UFC Fights at Major's in Inver Grove Heights with James "Priest" Burdette and his wife Dawn... a few hours of fun at Grand Slam in Burnsville with my son, Glen... and a beautiful birthday dinner and evening in Stillwater at the Dock Cafe. Not to mention a couple of really nice, long hikes/walks on the Gateway Trail and around Lake Como / Como Park Zoo... and the very infamous Ben & Jerry's cake.

More later!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Grippin'-and-Rippin' 340 lbs. -- FINALLY!

Well, it finally happened: I pulled a 340 lb. deadlift today!!! -- a number I’ve been chasing for a while now! And Mitch, who was watching, told me I could have likely pulled 345!!!

YES -- my best training deadlift is finally bigger than my best competition deadlift -- going from 330 to 340!

And it's a DL PR to add to my BP PR's... I am so thankful things are going well with my training...

The funny part was that I wasn't even feeling entirely "up to it" and had to get myself as mentally jacked as I could. This was in record time, another approx. 30 min. workout. It is crazy that the less time I have to train, the better. Not enough time to worry or “over-think” it, I guess… but not enough time for ANY assistance work at all in several weeks (maybe even months), either. Not even conventional DL's for some weeks.

This has got to be sheer will -- and a lot of faith, too.

No video, though! Not enough time, plus (once again) I didn't know what was going to happen. Last time we tried to video a 340 attempt, it was not so great. But I am pretty excited that today's 340 felt like 325-330 used to feel to me. And that infamous sticking point?...it was surprisingly not as slow as my 335 and 336 pulls in recent meets. I actually yelled myself through the final few inches.

So I am gunning for new numbers now... I am stoked!! :)

Please stay tuned for some info on my next meet, which I am currently trying to choose and nail-down...

Saturday, May 16, 2009

And More PRs!!

Last week, I posted on a couple of "different" PRs (personal records). This week, I continue to be very happy to share that I've taken those further once again...

Thursday, I got up to a 325 lb. deadlift in 30 minutes (what's cool is that it went up with a less effort than other times I've pulled it; it moved smoothly and easily).

And today, I managed to put up a 185x1 BP!!! I have tried this other times in the past and always failed with it. Finally, the day had arrived!

What was cool was that I went from a 170x1 straight to it. The 170 felt slower than usual, so -- although I went into training with the goal of a 185 today, I second-guessed myself -- asking Mitch, who was thinking I should go 180.

But then as I changed the plates, I decided to get rid of all the little plates and slap a 25 lb. next to each 45 lb.... for a 185.

Yes, I really wanted to give it a go again, especially with all the heavy board press work I've been doing for several weeks. I felt that if I hit failure again with it, it would be disappointing but would not devastate me...I needed to give myself the chance to try it by just doing it.

I didn't even bother to ask my kid to video tape this one, because I wasn't sure what would happen.

All that heavy board pressing has made regular benches feel "lighter" than they used to; and I'm finding that they go up a lot easier once they fall into the right path/"groove."

Following this cool PR, I put 205 on the bar and did a double (which was getting tough!)...here's the video of that work:

Saturday, May 9, 2009

PRs of a different kind...

This week, I was able to get some personal records of a different kind:

Fastest deadlift workout ever -- 30 minutes -- while still hitting 315 lbs., and board press personal bests of 200x2 and 205x1 (with a pause!) during a great bench training day today.

Here's some video footage of that:



Once again, great video work by my 11-year-old son, Glen; and Mitch and I were joined by James "Priest" Burdette (holding the boards)...

I put up 175x1 easily, and then attempted 180x1 (shown in the video) which went up slower, but I haven't benched that in over 3 years -- anywhere.

Most exciting, I finally held 200 lbs. in my hands and then did board presses with that for 2 reps!

Here's where training partners make a huge difference: Mitch encouraged me to do another set after that. Priest suggested making that set a 205 lb. single with a pause... and it moved better than the 200 lbs.!

It's still sinking in that I actually held this weight today...