Domination Tour

[DOM]

jan 1 ME squat

wide stance archedback GMs (no record)
275 x 3, 295 x 3, 315 x 3

pullthroughs
3 x 15

Gave my mom some more help learning freeweights exercises so I was low on time again.

I felt strong on GMs, but I think my form breaks down as I get heavy. My previous best on these was 285 + chains x 3, so I think I was a little stronger.

 

[DOM]

Jan 2 Me Bench

Raw Incline medium grip (previous record 235)
230 x 1, 240 x 1, 250 x 1 PR

Rack Lockouts, medium grip, 19.5" from bench, 5" ROM
365 x 1, 405 x 1, 455 x miss, 455 x miss

Dumbell press, 2 mins rest
4 x 10 @ 65s

Incline -- I knew I was good for more than the 235 I got last month. I may have even been good for 260 today.

Rack lockouts -- measured with tape measure in order to standardize these since I use different power racks from time to time. From now on I'm going to measure height from bench, and ROM every time I do them. I did lockouts a few months back and got 495 but I think that was about 2" ROM. So I think this height was a more appropriate ME exercise for triceps.

Notes: Getting the measuring tape out I noticed I have a very long bench stroke. At lockout the bar is about 24" from the bench -- and I'm about 9" thick... and with my slight arch I maybe get 2" more. So that's a 13" stroke! Wow. It was a medium grip, but that's still 12" stroke. I'm also getting pretty excited for my bench shirt. I can only do about 315 raw or on a 1, 2, or 3 board. But then with lockouts I can get over 400, maybe the shirt will give me an easy 75 lbs.

 

[DOM]

One more thing I forgot -- horrible tricep tendonitis in my left elbow... I'm doing everything for it except icing it. I was hoping it'd be better for now especially with me taking extra time off between workouts... but it just won't heal. If the pain gets much worse I migh not be able to bench -- hopefully this brace I got for my lower arm will fix it.

 

[DOM]

jan 5 squat

Squat 5 reps (previous record: 225)
225 x 5, 275 x 5

Conventional deads (record 365)
285 x 1, 335 x 1, 365 x 1

Standing abs
3 x 10

pullthrouhgs
3 x 10

Did a kind of repetition day today on squats since I still haven't found a box to squat off here at home. Good day, 50 lbs PR on squats since my old 5 rep max which was about 4 months ago. Also I didn't max on DLs, just took a single.... this was much faster than when I did 365 last month.

 

[DOM]

Jan 6 DE bench

speed bench + bands (~10 at bottom ~30 at top)
3 x 9 @ 135

heavy single
205 x 1, 255 x 1, 295 x 1

floor press (no 5 rep record)
225 x 5, 245 x 5

dumbell press
4 x 10 @ 50s w/ 20 second rests

face pulls
3 x 12

Elbow tendonitis still bothering me. Did bands anyway since I haven't used accomodating resistance in a while -- and it didn't mess my elbows up much at all.

I definitely like doing 2 accessory tricep exercises even though it looks like sometimes I have to take an extra day off after DE days because of it. Hopefully we'll see some PR's falling because of it.

In bad news, I thought I was over my mono, but today my lymph nodes in my neck were swollen up like balloons.

 

[DOM]

Jan 7 -- Lat work/biceps

Jan 8 -- forearms, grip work.

First time ever doing gripwork, inspired by Parabellum's post here. I did pinch grip plate walks, two plate hold with crushing grip for as long as possible, and 80 lbs dumbell holds for as long as possible.

Eventually I will get "The Mastery of Hand Strength" and do a program from there, but until then, does anybody have any suggestions of exercises or programs they use for grip? I don't really know what I'm doing and pretty much making it up as I go along.

 

[dg21]

Yo DOM, for grip work I do a few simple things. Sometimes I just see how much weight I can hold onto for a 5sec count. If I don't feel like holding that much weight, I have wrapped the bar in a towel to make it fatter and harder to hold. A few days ago my training partners and I had a contest to see who could hold 315 with a double overhand grip the longest. Towel chinups are good as well and will kill your hands. This is about all I have ever done and it has worked for me. I have pretty short and stocky hands, and I have yet to miss a pull due to lack of grip. Although I think it would be cool to get "The Mastery of Hand Strength" and someday be able to crush a beer can.

 

[DOM]

thanks dg21, I will use some stuff with towels -- being a gripmaster would be awesome I agree. my favorite one was tearing a quarter size chunk out of a deck of cards in the plastic. that is just unvelievable to me.

Ok JAN 9 ME BENCH

Floor press, med grip.
225 x 3, 275 x 1, 305 x 1, 320 x miss, 320 x miss

Closegrip Bench
5 @ 225, 2 x 5 @ 245, failed last rep.

Elbows out extensions
3 x 5 @ 45s

Well, a long time ago I got 315 on floor press with my competition grip. And today I got 320 off the floor each time, but could not finish it. I hate it when I can't get a PR and it's been happening a lot lately with ME bench press. I've hit a minnor plateau, hopefully the extra tri work I'm doing will help me push through it soon.

 

[DOM]

Jan 10 DE SQUAT

Box Squats plus green bands, 16"
9 x 2 @ 125

Front squats
45 x 10, 95 x 10, 135 x 10, 185 x 8

SLDL's
210 x 10, 260 x 6

Standing Abs
3 x 12

Great day with some great training partners. Intensity was unbelievable. I love the bands, this was my first time with them -- and the 16" box is only for another week since I'm going back to school next week, then I'm gonna go to a 14" and then down an inch each two weeks, until I level out around 12".

Also my first time frontsquatting and wow, this is a great exercise. I was only going for 185 x 3, but my friend kept screaming at me for another, and they kept coming. Next time I'll go even heavier.

 

[DOM]

Jan 12 -- grip work -- pinch grip plate walks, thick towel barbell holds, two plate crush grip hold, pinch grip curls.

Jan 13 DE BENCH

speed bench + minis (10 at bottom 30 at top)
3 x 9 @ 135

rack lockouts 15" from bench
315 x 3, 325 x 3, 335 x 3 <-- couldn't lockout the last rep.

rolling dumbell extensions on floor
7 x 8 @ 25s w/ 20 secs rest

side delt raises
4 x 10 @ 35s

speed could be faster. I'm pretty pleased with the rack lockouts.... they were low today. I lockout about 24" above the bnech, so I had a 9" ROM on these and a bench shirt will easily get me up to this point or even higher. My FURY should arrive this week or next and with a little training in it to get the feel of it, i think I could hit 365 easily based on my lockout strength, and 405 by the end of the semester.

I also ordered 'mastery of hand strength' and the captains of crush trainer gripper with some xmas cash so I might start adding grip training to this thread. I'm pretty motivated on this and I have done 2 days for grip already. Later.