729 replies to this topic

[April Mathis]

I'm going to start a new training log since both of the meets I had originally planned on doing didn't end up being that way, and I'd rather just start here from the beginning of a new training cycle. My shoulder is already feeling a lot better after taking 9 days off. For now I'm just going to train for awhile without worrying about deadlines of doing a meet, but if things go well I'll do the Raw Unity Meet at the end of January. I've decided also to find a different place to train at, as me and the owner of TBB just don't get along. They may have better equipment than other places around here and a couple of my friends are there, but it's just not gonna work out. Mike Schwanke left due to the Air Force and things are going in a direction I don't like. I'll just leave it at that as I don't need to talk shit about anyone as it's just over with and that's it.

Here's my first day back training. This was my last day at TBB, and I'm checking out another gym closer to where I live after work today that has a bench press team. There's a few more I have to look into as well in the next week or two.

10/10/2009 Squat

Squat
barxsome
145x6x2sets
235x6
285x6x2sets

Leg Extensions
50x15x2sets

Leg Curls
50x10x2sets

Hip Abductors/Adductors
60x15x2sets each

Abs- 5sets

Done. Easy day.

[BHopper242]

Im sorry to hear that things didnt work out for you at TBB. Sometimes you got to do what you got to do!!! Good luck with the new gym your looking at.

[April Mathis]

10/12/2009 Bench

Bench Press
barxsome
135x10x2sets
225x8
275x8
295x5

Triceps Pushdowns
100x20
120x20
140x15
160(stack)x10x2sets

DB Front Raises- 2sets
DB Side Raises- 2sets
PecDec- 3sets

Done. Another easy day. Had at least a couple more reps left on each set of bench. My shoulder felt fine, but I still wanted to be careful this week even though the weight wasn't heavy. This was at Lionheart Gym. I like the atmosphere, and the benches and equipment for benching is decent. They really have very little in the way of equipment for squatting, so I'm still looking. There is only one squat rack, and no power racks or monolifts and no 8 foot bars, as well as no deadlift bars.

[April Mathis]

Quote

BHopper242 - 2009-10-12 12:32 PM

Im sorry to hear that things didnt work out for you at TBB. Sometimes you got to do what you got to do!!! Good luck with the new gym your looking at.

Check your Private Message. Thanks.

[April Mathis]

10/16/2009 Heavy Shoulders/Light Bench and Accessory

Shoulder Press w/Fat Bar
75x8
Add Doubled Minis
75x6
125x2x2sets
Remove Bands
125x15

Crazy Bell Press off Chains w/Fat Bar (~1" off chest)
75+40lbs.KB per sidex5
75+80lbs.KB per sidex5
125+80lbs.KB per sidex5
75+80lbs.KB per sidex8

Lat Pulldown Holds against Green Bandsx3sets

Sledge Hammer against tirex10x3sets each side

Green Band Triceps Pushdownsx15x3sets

I trained with Brian Hopper and John Manly and a few more guys at Debs gym. I do like it and they have a lot of powerlifting and strongman stuff, and a bunch of exercises they do I've never seen before. I'm going to train there for awhile and see how it works out. Besides that they have a 1100lbs. tire that no one has flipped and I want to try it just because.

[April Mathis]

10/16/2009 Squat/Deadlift

Squat w/Mastodon Bar
barxsome
150x6x2sets
240x5
330x3
380x3
400x3
330x6

Rack Pulls (just below knees)
135x5
225x5
315x3
405x3
455x3
500x3

Log Curls
90x10x2sets

Went up to a moderately heavy triple on the squat today. Still have some form issues with leaning over too much, but otherwise it felt pretty good. Rack pulls were all pretty easy. 500 was a lot easier than I expected it would be since I haven't pulled much recently. Only the last rep started to slow down at the lockout.

[Dru Patrick]

Quote

April Mathis - 2009-10-16 8:57 AM

10/16/2009 Heavy Shoulders/Light Bench and Accessory

Shoulder Press w/Fat Bar
75x8
Add Doubled Minis
75x6
125x2x2sets
Remove Bands
125x15

Crazy Bell Press off Chains w/Fat Bar (~1" off chest)
75+40lbs.KB per sidex5
75+80lbs.KB per sidex5
125+80lbs.KB per sidex5
75+80lbs.KB per sidex8

Lat Pulldown Holds against Green Bandsx3sets

Sledge Hammer against tirex10x3sets each side

Green Band Triceps Pushdownsx15x3sets

I trained with Brian Hopper and John Manly and a few more guys at Debs gym. I do like it and they have a lot of powerlifting and strongman stuff, and a bunch of exercises they do I've never seen before. I'm going to train there for awhile and see how it works out. Besides that they have a 1100lbs. tire that no one has flipped and I want to try it just because.

I like where your head is at, back when I competed in SM there was a 1,100 plus pound monster tire where I trained. I fought some battles with that bastard but finally flipped it on my 4th try. Get your chest on it get a good grip on the treads, hopefully they jut out with it being so big. Drive it up to your hip and rest it on your thigh. At this point hitch it up your body till you can get your hands under it to press it. Press like crazy! Keep the head down and drive thru the tire, I used my fists to add distance rather than my palms. Wait for the beautiful thud that will almost startle you its so loud. Use spotters with kegs when you attemp it, its no BS and you get extremely drained when you attemp to flip it. The exhuastion sneaks up on you until you have to escape the tire, so use spotters and good luck.

[April Mathis]

Thanks for the tips Dru. I'm gonna try it sometime in the next couple weeks. I knew someone a few years back now that did strongman and I tried some of the shit a couple times. I flipped a 800lbs. tire before and that was pretty hard, but we'll see what happens.

[April Mathis]

10/19/2009 Bench

Bench Press
barx30
135x8
225x5
275x5
295x5
315x4
Add 3-board
315x8
335x4 (missed 5th)
Remove 3-board/drop set
225x10/135x8

Flat DB Bench
80sx15
100sx8,6

PecDec- 3sets
Pushups w/band- 1set
R/C stuff

Decent benching. Shoulder is feeling pretty good now. Not sure about heavier weight but at least 3plates feels good again. Taking a break definitely helped. Lockout was a little slow today, but I have the strength/speed off my chest coming back. I'm trying to get more volume in each training session and keeping the reps more moderate/higher reps. I think this will help for awhile.

[April Mathis]

10/20/2009 Deadlift/Back

Deadlift
135x5
225x5
315x3
365x3
405x3

Chinups
BWx5x2sets

Pullups
BWx5x2sets

Tire Flip
500lbs.tirex8

Lat Pulldowns- 3sets
Abs- 2sets

Went up to a moderate triple on deadlift today, since I haven't pulled heavy from the floor in awhile. Went pretty good. One of the guys that competes in strongman showed me the technique for flipping the tires, so I tried it out for a bit. The first couple times is easy, as the tire wasn't that heavy, but it starts getting hard when you do more reps.

[RYAN RIGDON]

NEVER DONE ANY TIRE FLIPPING. WHAT EXACTLY DOES THAT HELP?

[April Mathis]

Quote

RYAN RIGDON - 2009-10-21 2:45 PM

NEVER DONE ANY TIRE FLIPPING. WHAT EXACTLY DOES THAT HELP?

I really have no idea how helpful it is to powerlifting or not. I tried it cause a couple strongman guys were doing it. And I want to try to flip that huge tire sometime soon just because no one else ever done it. It reminds me of something mixed between a squat and deadlift movement to pick it up, then transition to a press. My lower back gets sore from it; I know that much. It seems like more endurance if you do a bunch of reps though.

[April Mathis]

10/22/2009 Bench/Shoulder/Biceps

Crazy Bell Press off chains w/Fat Bar (~3" off chest)
75x10
75+70lbs.KB per side(215)x5
125+70lbs.KB per side(265)x5
145+70lbs.KB per side(285)x5
165+70lbs.KB per side(305)x5
75+70lbs.KB per side(215)x5

Shoulder Press w/Fat Bar
75x5x2sets
125x5x2sets
175x2

Incline Machine
135x10
225x10x3sets

EZ Bar Curls
70x10
120x7
140x4

KB Concentration Curls (each arm)
40x5x3sets
20x15

Benching felt strong today. Benching with the KBs on there is definitely unique. Held most the reps at lockout this time for a couple seconds. Last week when I tried it the first time, maybe 1 or 2 reps out the entire time I could hold at lockout since it moved so much. Got some more assistance done as well that I haven't done much of in awhile.

[April Mathis]

10/23/2009 Squat/Legs

Squat w/Mastodon Bar
barxsome
150x5
240x5
330x3
380x3
420x2
240x10

Hack Squat- 2setsx20
Leg Curls- 3setsx10
Hip Abductors/Adductors- 2sets eachx15

Squat was a bit rough today. Still sore from Tuesday. 420 still went easy enough, but still leaning too far forward. I think I can hit a 500 very soon if I can straighten it out a bit.

I also have to say that Deb and Ray are the best gym owners I ever met in person. They both have competed in powerlifting, as well as bodybuilding and/or strongman, and understand what is needed and always offer to help spot or anything else. So, anyone that reads this that is or ever will be in the central Florida area, Deb's gym is a good place to train.

[April Mathis]

My new training partners Brian Hopper and Zach Condow did very good at APF Orlando meet this past weekend. Congrats to Brian especially on his first 1000lbs. squat. Brian Carroll from Team Samson had a huge total of 2660lbs. at the meet. I thought that was impressive. Jenn Rotsinger was impressive to me as well. I think she totaled 1100lbs.+ at only 123lbs. Brian Schwab ran a good meet I think.

I also decided that I am going to do full-power at APF Southern States December 5th, and use that to qualify for full-power at Raw Unity in January.

[April Mathis]

10/26/2009 Bench

Bench Press
barx30
135x10
225x5
275x5
315x3
335x1x2sets
2-board
335x3
3-board
355x3
Remove boards/drop set
225x10/135x10

Log Shoulder Press
90x10
110x10
140x6x2sets
90x10

Rope Triceps Pushdowns-4sets
PecDec-3sets
R/C Stuff

Solid benching.

[April Mathis]

10/27/2009 Back/Assistance

Barbell Rows
135x10
225x5
275x5
315x5
365x5 slightly cheated
315x8 PR

Chain-suspended Goodmornings
135x10
225x5
315x5
365x3
405x3

Chinups
BWx4x3sets

Shrug Machine
225x10x3sets paused reps

Face Pulls
purple bandx12x3sets

Grip- 5sets

Moderate weight, but got a lot of work done today. Need to do some speed stuff for bench and squat Thursday/Friday.

[April Mathis]

10/29/2009 Speed Bench

Bench Press w/Fat Bar off chains (chest height)
75x20
125x10
165x5
Add doubled mini bands
165x3x3sets
185x3x3sets
215x2x2sets

Incline DB Press
60sx10
80sx10
100sx10 PR Easy

Side Delt Raise Machine
20x20
40x10x2sets

KB Curls
20sx15
40sx8,6,6

Done. Haven't done incline dbs heavy in a long time. 100sx10 was no problem. I'll have to do the 120s next time.

[April Mathis]

10/30/2009 Squat

Buffalo Bar Squat
barxsome
150x5
240x3
330x3
380x2
420x1
470xMiss (form issue)
470x1 PR

Hack Squat
135x10
225x10
315x10

Leg Extensions- 3sets
Leg Curls- 3sets

Was going to go lighter today, but the squat felt light warming up so I wanted to try something heavier. Form was a little messed up on the first one. I unracked the bar and seemed to take a minute to balance on my feet as I was shifting the weight forward for some reason. I went down and dipped too low and missed it. I actually should have probably made a smaller jump in between 420 and 470, as I haven't had more than 420 on my back in a long time. The second time was a good squat. Deb called my depth on that one. She is a judge for IPF/USAPL so I know that has to be good. And the form felt the way it's supposed to be, which I usually have a hard time with still, especially at heavier weight. It's 10lbs. over my best previous squat with any bar and probably 30lbs. over my best previous squat that hit depth, so I'm happy with it. 500lbs. is coming soon.

[April Mathis]

11/02/2009 Bench

Bench Press
barx30
135x10
225x5
2-Board
275x5
315x3
345x3 PR
3-Board
365x2
4-Board
385x3 Easy
3-Board
385xmiss (bad groove; touched too low on the board)
385x1 10lbs. PR

Band Triceps Pushdowns
Greenx20x5sets

PecDec-3sets of 15
Shoulder Horn-3sets of 10
R/C Stuff

Good benching today. Should be able to get 385 full-range by the meet.