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Springfield Crew's Numbers...

Looks good Dave!

12/19/02:

RAW Bench Day:

(Just Phil as the guinea pig for the milita stuff right now)

Raw Bench:
95x8
135x6
185x4
205x2
225x1 (Easy and fast)

6 Board:
205x3
225x3
245x3
275x2

Barbell Military Press to eyes: (He has a bad elbow, and this bothered him a bit, plus I didn't have any back support. (need to get a 2x10 to put in the rack for that) He just did reps at 95 for several sets.

Rows (I jumped in here): 135 x 10 x 3, 185 x 10

Shrugs: 225 x 15 x 2, 275 x 15, 315 x 12

Another good workout for phil militia style. I wish he had gone up in the shoulder press, but we spread his hands out wide and it kept his elbows from forming too much of an acute angle. Also, not having a back support is really hard when sitting.

He seems to be losing his pussiness though - he has all kinds of welts of his triceps from the shirt from Monday. No complaints at all.

12/20/02:

DE Squat: (Matt and Phil - but I'm only going to report my numbers)

I worked out with my squat suit/ straps down. I need to get the suit stretched a bit more. There is no doubt that they don't give quite the tightness in the butt and lower back w/ the straps down as the briefs do. I did get them all the way up though, which was good.

All with green bands: 225x2x2, 275x2x6

(I pulled the straps up on the last two sets, just to feel them - and you can't imagine the pain in my traps for three reasons: 1) I haven't squatted in 8 weeks until last week, and so my traps haven't felt heavy weight in a long time. 2) The trap work I did before left my traps sore as hell. 3) I got the worst case of back and cest acne (although very little on my face) from my last cycle and am on accutane and it has brought all the acne to the surface. It hurts so bad just putting bar weight on it that I want to cry.

I was wearing one of those thick black testosterone tee shirts, and when we took the straps down, I had puss and blood coming through the shirt. Oh well, nobody ever said this was a pain free sport.


Speed Pulls up to 405

That was it.

Extra workout:

Glute/Ham

Reverse Hypers

Abs

AnimalMass
 
Bench day- didn't do DE this week. Went heavy on the board and used my open back shirt for the first time.

Flat bench
135
225
275
315
365
405

put shirt on and pulled it up high so I could get a light weight to touch.
455 x 3 didn't touch
500 - touched
500 - these were easy, just wanted to get a few reps in with my shirt and work on taking it real low

5 board
405 x 5
455 x 5
500 x 5
540 x 5
540 x 5

Shoulder Press

135 few sets of 12
185 x 6
starting light on these because my shoulders are a little messed up from sports injuries.

shrugs
225 x 20
315 x 20
405 x 20
405 x 20

grip work

-I plan on doing speed benches every other week until the meet. On the off weeks I'll be benching heavier and hitting the boards. Trying a little stuff from Matt's article.
 
12/23/02

AWESOME WORKOUT!

So I had a crappy day(other than lifting). I won't go into all the details, but Phil (my only workout partner in town right now) called this morning and said he was too busy to workout today or tomorrow. Now this really pissed me off, cause I would have gotten up at 5am if I needed to and worked out with him since it was his second heavy metal militia day, and he's been doing so well on it. - But oh well, he decided to flush it down the toilet, not me.

So as I stated before, I'm not benching for two weeks because of the bad tendonitis, and tomorrow is supposed to be ME Squat day, but we got a foot of snow today, and are totally shut in, so I took the opportunity to have one hell of a workout by myself.

I decided to max on a high box. (actually just 1.5" higher than my normal box, but a littler higher none the less. - I measured it - it is 17.5" exactly.)

225x3, 275x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1 (all very, very fast), 465 x1 - I actually wasn't bending over enough and fell back on the box mdway through my rep (Dave always tells me I don't lean forward enough) - anyway, to my surprise I just sat there for a quick second and exploded it off the box.

Then came the big one...500x1!!! - Yeah! 500 is a big PR on a box for me. Felt good. Actually couldn't get it out of the rack the first time. It scared the shit out of me setting it up, and then I just blew it up. like nothing!

I've made a couple changes to my squat setup which I am really liking...

1) I have dropped the pins where I take it off by one notch. (This is where Dave is most comfortable with it. I feel I get better tightness through the setup with it here.)

2) I have moved my hands all the way out to the weight. This seems to give my elbows a rest as well as a better/ more stable place for the weight to lay on my traps.


OK, after squatting, I did speed pulls with doubled greens. (Dave, I dropped the support beams on the rack down to 4" above the ground, and then doubled the greens, and wrapped them around the beams twice to get more tension.

I worked up to 275, which was really easy for me, and I did a bunch of singles. I probably should have gone on up to 315 or even higher, but I have never done these before and didn't want to push it.

Then I did 4 sets of glute/ham raises.

3 sets of reverse hyper at 315

Abs.

Probably one of the best workouts of my life!

AnimalMass
 
Oh yeah,

Also all the box squatting was done with no belt, no briefs, no wraps, no nothing!

And...I'm clean as I've ever been. As a matter of fact, I'm on my third day of clomid therapy, and my testosterone has never been lower.

So I'm pleased to be setting PRs.

AnimalMass
 
congrats on that PR!

what kind of progress is phil making? what does each day look like for him?

if it's what i saw in the article on militia's site, is the heavy single in the middle a one rep max every week? or is it just a heavy single?
 
Thanks jeremy.

If you would, rephrase your question about the heavy single. I didn't really understand what you were asking...

However, maybe this will help.

Every week, there is a heavy day and a light day. On the heavy day you will work up to a max single with a shirt. If you feel good, go for a pr, if not, don't. On the light day, you will take a heavy raw single every week. This will not be a raw max - as that is dangerous with this much weight - it will just be something that makes you work a bit.

AnimalMass
 
on the heavy shirted day, there's sets of 3 leading up to a heavy weight. then there's sets of 5 after that. is that heavy single in the middle of the heavy shirted day a max lift every week?

also, what kind of improvement has phil made?
 
No, it's not a max lift every week. Just use your head, and if you feel good, go for a max. If not, don't. Just take a heavy single that you know you can get that day.

AnimalMass

ps - Phil has only been at it one week now. He skipped his workout today, which pisses me off to no end. However, you can read about his progress on this thread a posts above.
 
westside bench work

hey guys....

animalmass, as you know, i have switched off of a strict westside program and more onto a militia-style routine for the chest.

i was thinking of trying something i have always wanted to do for YEARS.... only training a particular lift heavy once every 2 weeks.

so... my current thinking looks like this...


saturday (week1) -- HEAVY SQUATS

monday -- light bench (dumbells or speed) / HEAVY shoulders

friday (week1) -- HEAVY ME LOW BACK movement/ light squats

saturday (week2) -- HEAVY BENCH

monday -- HEAVY UPPER BACK movement

....

.....


I plan on using a lot of band tension on my heavy squat days followed by a HEAVY single, geared off of various box heights, followed by triples, geared free squats...

The following week's squats will consist of narrow quad squats with no gear (no belt, no suit, no briefs).


I am still flushing out the details.

I am old. I need more rest.

/t
 
AnimalMass-

I noticed you said you did SQ off a 17.5 box. So you Squat off a 16 box normally for DE work?

Why I ask is I use a 12in box for DE, and was just wondering if I might be missing out on something by closer UP to parallel for me.
When I Squatted last with Benchmonster and BigOkie before the Tulsa meet, they had me on a much higher box, but I couldnt generate the same speed as a lower one. As long as my hips stay healthy, do you think I ought to stay on the lower box?

Later..
 
Wow. 12" is really low. I mean 16" may be too high for you, but remember, Dave is the shortest one here, and he's a hair from 6'1". The rest of us are right at 6'1" to 6'1-1/2".

I would definately go up to a 14" box or so. There are several reasons for this: 1) Surely you can get more weight on the higher box. You need to get used to handling as much weight as possible on your shoulders. 2) There is no reason to USAPL squat around here. Neither Dave nor Chris had any problme hitting parallel at the last meet. Squat to parallel, and then get the f' up.

So I would bring the boxes up until you are right at or just below parallel.

11"-12" is the height of our low box when we do low box squatting.

AnimalMass
 
12-25-02
Max bench day

flat bench
135
225
275
315
365

put on shirt and pulled it way up
405 x 5 got last 4 reps to touch

455 x 5

500 x 2 all touched and missed on a third rep, just came out of the groove

500x 4 all touched
this was the best I have felt in my shirt. All reps were easy.

I think doing reps in my shirt is helping already. Next week I'll pull it down some and go heavier.

Pull ups 3-4 sets
Rack lockouts- about 500 for 2 sets of 4 - arms really hurt on this
Dumbell Rows 5 sets of 12

I would have done board pressed but we didn't have the boards today.
 
12-26-02:

Raw/ Light Bench Day: (Just Phil and Chris - Matt still rehabbing tendonitis)

Phil: worked up to 225 raw

Chris: worked up to 275 raw

Shoulder presses:

Phil:
95x8x2
135x6
135x4
155x0?

Chris:
95x8
135x8
155x6
185x2
205x0

Then Matt joined in...

Bent Over Barbell Rows:
I (Matt) worked up to 205. Chris and Phil did less.

Pulldowns: 315x8x3sets

Pullups: 2 sets to failure

Shrugs:
225x12x2
275x10
315x12x2
275x20

Good Day!


12-27-02:

DE Squat Day (Just Matt and Chris - Phil is sick)

All Squats done with green bands:

225x2x1
250x2x5
275x2x2

worked up: Chris: 315x1, 365x0

Matt: 315x1, 365x1, 405x1 (easy) - very good weight for me - lift was clean.

Watched video afterward and noticed that I'm finally completely squatting with my hamstrings and ass. My knees didn't move an inch, even on the 405plus greens. Also, my hips are adjusting, and I'm getting my feet wider and wider without pain. Now I just need to work on bending over a little more.

Speed Pulls: Doubled Greens
225x3x2
275x1x3
315x1x3

Glute Ham Raises:
2 sets with bodyweight
1 set with light band around neck

Reverse Hypers:
3 sets of 315

Weighted Situps

Great Workout!

AnimalMass
 
DE squats with blue bands

405 2 x 2
425 4 x 2
455 1 x 2
495 2 x 2

best DE squat workout ever for me

Felt fast on every set. The only rep that seemed to slow a little was the last with 495.

I have really moved up the weight I am using on this day. The heaviest weight in my squat wave leading up to my 800 squat was 370 and blues I think. I don't seem to be slowing down so I keep going up.

Pull throughs 4 sets of 10 - thought i was going to die doing this high reps stuff.

Heavy abs

Neck work

- I didn't do my speed pulls against bands because everyone said to do them every other week. I'll probably do them a little more frequently then that, but not every week.

My younger bro used 405 and blues today and was fast with it. I think he'll squat a lot in St. Louis. He's only 18 too.

I feel like I am the strongest I have ever been by a lot these days. Let's hope this keeps us till St. Louis.
 
Damn DG21-

You better light it up or little(if you can call him that)bro is going to blow past you.

Kinda glad my brother doesnt lift just for that reason!

Your #'s look awesome man-big things in StLOuis!
 
12-30-02

Good News! Benched with no pain at all today! I was weak as crap (couldn't bench 405), but I'm still excited that the rest and recovery paid off!

Today was my first Metal Militia heavy workout.

Bench:
bar x 10
95x8
135x8
185x5
225x4
275x2
315x1
put on shirt
365x3 (easy but none of them even got close to touching and I had the shirt pulled all the way up until the collar was choking me)
405x0x2, - Couldn't get it today - couldn't hit groove, plus I was benching for the first time with an arch. But the good news is, no pain at all in my forearms!

6 Board:
225x5
275x5
315x5
365x5
405x0 (damn that 400) (how do you get 365 5 times and 405 0 times?)

4 Board:
225x5
275x5
315x5
365x1

Rack Lockouts (these were the lower rack lockouts (probably 5"-6" lockouts for us.) - (Maybe we should do the next pin up? - so that we can get used to the feeling of some really heavy weight beyond our max.?)

275x3
315x1
315x3
365x1

Again, good workout. I was weak, but felt healthy for the first time in months!

AnimalMass
 
This was my first Heavy MM workout also.

Been in Hawaii for 10 days getting married and soaking up the sun, figured I'd be weak but a 20 lb PR on the bench proved me wrong.

Worked up to a new 335 PR with shirt!

The shirt I got from Hannibal has been great. I'm about 205 now and increasing, so the shirt fits tight.

bar x 10
95x8
135x8
185x5
225x3
275x1

put on shirt
315x2 (struggled with the form, brought my head up so that my chest sank)

335 (PR!) - No problem, Went so fast off the chest that I thought it was cake, and stopped pushing at the top. Struggled with the last inch after that.

Everything else was pretty much the same as Animal Mass.

Awesome workout. I love this Metal Militia stuff. Hopefully I can enter the Febuary comp at 220... gotta go eat.
 
Dave posted this on the wrong thread, so I'll paste it in for him:

DE bench day

205 and minis 8 sets of 3

4 board
405 x 5
455x 5
475 x 5
510 x 3
530 x 2 missed third, dont know why 2 was super easy. i was being an idiot

shoulder press- light weight for many reps- still being cautious of my old injuries.

shrugs
365 a few sets of a lot

external rotation with mini band- lots of heavy reps makes my shoulders feel weird. I need to do more of this stuff.
 
how much rest between sets do you guys take when you're doing all those sets raw bench, shirt bench, of 6 board, 4 board, rack lockouts, etc?

Seems like a lot of volume and the workouts would be longer. Also, when you do all that heavy work, then do you do no accessory work? Just trying to understand this MM split.

-DOM
 
Yeah,

we need to get more efficient with the workout. We had too much "downtime" inbetween sets and lifters. The workout took 1:45, which is too long.

As far as accessory - you are really doign tons of tricep work with all the board presses and rack lockouts, etc.

we do back, shoulders, traps, etc. on the light day.

AnimalMass
 
I'm really glad to see you guy doing the MM stuff.. I plan on incorporating in into my westside training here in the near future..
 
ME squat- went over to Hannibel's house and trained with him and Project.

Wide stance Suspended GMs - don't know heigth, but it was maybe 48 inches. This is higher than I have ever done them


I ended with 840 x 3
My little bro did 840 for a single

glute ham raise with back raised 4 sets of 10 - 8


straight leg situps
band crunches

Short workout, but my back was kinda trashed.

Last time i did susupended GM's I did them from real low and only could do 585. Using this much weight today was surprising. I think it's good to do things like this that teaches you to handle heavy weight. When i do narrow low box squats, it's hard, but i don't use shit for weight, so today was good.
 
dg21:

yes these are good when done occasionally, but i think that when you far exceed your squat, it is time to retire that height. i hit an 865 off 46 and i have not done these since. you have to ask yourself if you are risking injury by training a point which is obviously strong for you.

just a thought.

good job though!

/t
 
Good Point Irish...just for the record the height was 44". Being over 6ft tall makes it a decent ROM. However I understand what you are saying. We don't use that height often...just to get a feel for the heavier weights. Usually it's 36"...which is down there.
 
ME bench

worked up to 405 raw
by 225, I could tell i wasn't feeling great. My last workout on Sunday with heavy boards was still hurting me pretty bad. I felt weak as hell, but continued.

Put on shirt
455 x 5
500 x 1
530 x 1 (PR)
555 x 1 (PR) pulled the shirt down some and used a belt to keep it there. This was much easier than 500.
- All of these done with a good pause-

Shrugs- lots of reps with 315 and 365

that was it. This was the worst I have felt on a bench day in a long time, so I cut it short.

I think from now on, I'm going to go heavy with the boards on dynamic day every other week or so, instead of every week. I'll keep doing reps in the shirt, and shoulder presses like the Metal Melitia guys do. Reps in the shirt are for sure helping me learn how to use the thing.
 
01-02-03
Raw Bench Day

I think all of us we're feeling a bit overtrained today. I felt really good, but I just couldn't push up as much weight(raw) as I normally can, anyway...

135x8
185x6
225x4
245x2
275x0 missed this ... freaky after that 335 bench ... oh well

6 board
225x6
275x6
315x4

No shoulder presses today, too wore down.

shrugs
225x15
225x10
275x10
275x8

Dumbell shrugs
60's (it's the highest we have) x 20ish - too light, did a couple sets

Hammer curls tonight...
 
I think we are figuring out the same thing back here in Springfield that Dave has already figured out. We are too beat up to run this amount of volume and heavy all the time.

I haven't lifted shit this week after the heavy militia day.

Now don't get me wrong - I think for bench, that's the way to go, but we have to make alterations to the system for a 3-lift powerlifter.

I think backing off the volume a tad on ME day, as well as rotating out of the shirt every 3 weeks or so and just doing a regular Westside ME day (for CNS) would be the way to go there.

On De day, I think every other week we'll do regular DE work with bands and not really work up much. The supplemental and accessory on these days will be triceps, triceps, triceps (but by way of extensions, JM presses, etc. - not heavy boards).

Then, on the weeks we aren't doing DE day, we will do a raw day where we do raw bench, heavy boards, shoulders, etc.

Unfortunately this is all I've done this week after a big Monday bench day:

Tues: Good Mornings - felt horrible. Worked up to 275 and then went back to bed.

Thurs: Raw Day: felt horrible still and weak. Worked up to 315 raw and missed it - can't believe that! Threw it up easy on Monday - that shows you how overtrained I am. After working up I did 6 board up to 315 for 5 reps and called it good. My forearms started hurting again, although not bad - but again - chronic overtraining.

Tomorrow I hope to have a better training day doing DE Squats.

AnimalMass
 
After reading your article and seeing the MM workouts I was really wondering if you'd be able to handle that volume. When I read the article I wasn't clear on how many days they took between workouts -- but I see you guys are still doing 2x/week. But with all the volume in those workouts it looks more like you would have to do once every 5 or 6 days.

How do the MM guys handle it? Would you say you have to progress to the point where you can do it? Or do they do only 1 workout a week, or what?
 
They bench twice per week, but remember that they are bench specialists. They don't work lower body twice per week. They squat once per week in a DE day fashion.

So they are only working out three times per week.

AnimalMass
 
1-3-02:

DE Squat Day:

185+blue band x2x2
225+ blue band x2x6

Speed Pulls with doubled greens: 225x a few reps

Glute Ham Raise: 6 sets

Reverse Hypers: 3 sets at 315

Today was a much better day. I still didn't feel that great, but not as bad as the previous couple workout sessions. We didn't really push it too hard today, especially with the squats and pulls. I figured I would go a little easier since I've been pushing both squats and pulls alot lately, and since I'm going to train in Tulsa next week and starting circa-max.

Will do more reverse Hypers and abs later in the day.

AnimalMass
 
DE squat

385 and blues
eight sets of two-felt real fast

speed pulls against two doubled greens
255 2 x 3
315 3 x 2

heavy abs and side bends

good mornings
225 2 x 10


Squat seem to be going well.
 
1/6/02:

ME Squat Day:

Box Pulls off of 3" box. No gear, no belt.

135x5
225x3
315x1
365x1
405x1
465x1 (PR)
500x0x2 (I really don't feel bad about not getting this, because it was an explosion issue, not a strength issue. For the first time in my life, I got this amount of weight well off the floor (6 inches) before I stalled, which means my lower back is getting much stronger.)

Glute Ham with light band around neck: 4 sets of 10

Pull down Abs: 4 sets of 12

Reverse Hypers: 3 sets of 10-12 at 315

Good workout: back is toast.

AnimalMass
 
ME squat

Narrow stance box squat with manta ray

ended up hitting 570
missed at 590
- When I missed I was almost half way up, it was very weird-

straight leg deads

225 x 10
315 x 10
315 x 10

abs

pull throughs with blue bands.

-using the manta ray made it much harder than normal. I felt like a fool failing with this kind of weight, but I strained hard a hell, so it all good.-

I'm going to pull the sled tomorrow. I feel this really helps my deadlift. And if I don't want my brother killing me in the deadlift, I need all the help I can get.
 
1-7-02:

ME Bench:

Went up to KC for an awesome ME workout with the Asylum crew and Dave, Kyle, and Matt M.

We worked up close to our raw max on 2 board, and then threw on the shirt and worked up to a max there as well.

I did:

barx10
95x6
135x6
185x3
225x3
275x1
335x1
365x1 (Raw PR)

put on shirt:

400x1
425x1 (PR)
450x0 (Locked out left arm easy - right arm stalled 1 inch from lockout and Dave took the weight before I could finish pressing thanks to Hannibal's "TAKE IT!"
450x1!(Big PR!)
500x0 - really just wanted to feel the big 500 - and it didn't feel bad at all. It lowered slowly on my chest, and to bad at all - just a bit heavy to push back up.

5 Board - Raw
225x5
275x3
315x5

Called it good here. We had worked out for 3 hourse by this time.

Can't wait till Saturday at Eastside!

AnimalMass
 
ME Bench

2 board (Raw)
455
480 x 1 PR
500 x 1 PR
535 x 1 PR

Put shirt on

555 x 1
600 x 1
665 x 1
685 missed

this was all I did because it took so long.

Best bench workout ever. I was very surprised with the weight I was using. I think doing the higher volume, heavy board presses plus the reps in my shirt has really helped me. Last week I thought I was pushing too hard, but I guess things are going very well.
 
dg21 nice workout! I just looked back through the posts and two months ago you got 520 on 2 board w/shirt. 145 lbs increase!
 
Went to Tulsa to train today, for the first week of the Circa Max phase.

375 with blues and greens 7 x 2
-got to 5 sets and did 2 extra because I felt like it. -

Speed Pulls - just weight-

couple reps with each weight
275
315
365
405
500

Ab pull downs.

Lots of band tension today. I learned after the first two sets I have to keep my abs tight or it slows me down. When I corrected this, there was a big difference in speed. Overall it felt real good.
 
1-11-02:

DE Squat:

Circa-Max Week One:

275+blues+pinks.

5 sets of 2 on the monolift.

Speed Pulls up to 505.

Had an awesome time working out with the crew in Tulsa. The band tension was alot but not over-powering. I was slow as hell, but it was weird, because I felt so tight and setup due to the monolift. I felt I could have squatted 200+ more pounds just because of the additional stability.

Now I must find myself a monolift.

(PS - Next week will suck at 295 and having to walk the weight out again.)

AnimalMass
 
I just wanted to say that you guys are incredible to train with. You are motivating as powerlifters, and as peers. I'm very grateful to have your strength and knowledge to feed off of. Congrats to all of you on an awesome day. 6 weeks!
 
DE bench

205 and looped purples
8 x 3

5 board
555 2 sets of 5

shoulder press
185 3 sets of 10



ME squat
no max work because of circa max

6 trips with the sled
abs pull downs- 6 sets of 10
shrugs- worked up to 3 sets 20 with 415
grip work
 
You guys don't do ME squats during circamax? Is that typical? I've never heard of that, but I could be doing it wrong. :confused:
 
Spatts, I thought that during the circa max, max effort is done about every other week because it is so much more taxing than a normal DE squat wave. Plus, I thought you told me last time you did no ME work?

Any way, next week we will do some sort of pulls, maybe take the next week off, then take a box max, then the week before the meet work up to our openers with our suits. This isn't set in stone, it is just an idea.

Maybe I should ask someone like DBCooper what they do during a circa max phase.
 
Heavy Bench 01-13-03

Didn't have much time for this workout, so we had to skip some stuff

barx8
95x8
135x8
185x6
225x3
put shirt on
275x3
315x1
340x1 (PR!)

4 board
225x8
225x8
315x4

bunch of lat pull downs
 
I just looked at Paul Childress's training log on elite.fts. He is doing a circa max and he is not skipping any ME days. He even worked up heavy on DL after his sets on DE day. So I guess if one feels good, it's cool to go ahead and do ME sqaut every Monday.
 
No ME work? :confused:

I must've been lying. We still ME day like normal...every week. I thought you asked me if we ever worked up to a full ROM 1 RM. That was a no.
 
Today was my second week of Circa Max. I was warming up and I felt like I pulled something in lateral side of my left quad. I made it through the whole work out some how, but am having a little trouble walking now. It better heal for next friday's circa max.
 
Shit DG-

I feel for you bro. Hope everything turns out to be alright. Just make sure not to aggrivate t even worse by lifting with your ego. I think all the crew that lift with you are anxious to see you hit a grand within a few years, so do what you need for that goal.


Later..
 
Jan 20

Heavy Bench Day

Worked up to 275, then did 5 reps with the shirt
315
350 (PR!) Slow as hell, but it went.
275 x 5
275 x 3

4-board
225 x 6
275 x 5
315 x 3

Food is making me stronger... more food now.
 
1-20-02:

ME Bench:

Well, not much to tell, other than I have totally f'd up my entire upper body. My tendonitis is horrible, (I have it in my bicep tendon, tricep tendon, and all down my forearm to my wrist), my rotators are torn up for the first time ever, my upper back is shit - basically I'm a mess.

My strength is down as far as lockout strength is concerned because I have had two bench workouts in a month. And all I've done at those workouts is work in my shirt - I was so destroyed afterwards that I had to stop.

After talking to Tommy Fannon (and will be giving Dave Tate a call in the morning) I believe I will be taking several weeks off the benching. I will do AR only for two weeks at least, and then begin back slowly with the benching. I'll start with 3 rep maxes and if all is well after a few weeks, I'll move into the singles.

I also need a new bench shirt. I have a bunch of money right now, but I'm spending it too fast and was hoping to save a fair amount of it, but I think its about time to get a Karen's Double.

Anyway, that's about it.

AnimalMass
 
dg21 - a vicious cycle

be careful man. if you are not training for a meet, consider letting yourself heal for a week or so.

what's one week in the grand scheme of things?

best of luck.

btw: i pulled a glute muscle squatting the other day. fortunately, i have my wife jump up and down on it twice a day and it seems to be working itself out. i dont think i could pay a therapist enough to rub my scar-tissued laced ass.
 
Rack pulls today - my worst lift cause i get speed off the bottom and suck at the top.

worked up to 705 which wasn't all that hard.
I felt a little pop in my low back so I stopped. Hurts now, but nothing horrible.

So now my quad is hurt as well as my back. I need some super healing to take place to get me ready for my hardest week of circa max on fri. I don't want to stop training because of the upcoming meet in Feb, but if I really have to, I may take a week or two off from squating and pulling and just work my bench. Maybe I can figure out my shirt in that time.

Irish, hope that glute heals fast. I'm lookin forward to seeing you hit 9 in the squat at your next meet.
 
1-21-02:

ME Squat Day:

Rack Pulls form about 2-3" below knee.

Pulled 515, which really sucks from me as I pulled 565 the last time I did this (although I think the bar was an inch or two higher last time.) This was a very odd and uncomfortable starting position for me. It worked my mid-to-upper ack tremendously though, and I'm pretty sore from it this morning.

All in all a good workout.

Glute Hams

Reverse Hypers

Pulldown abs.

After doing pulldown abs, I went into the living room and sat down in a chair and my lower right abdominals severely cramped. It doubled me over for about 3-5 minutes and I almost puked. This wasn't typical spasms - it was an all out violent cramp (like those leg cramps you get during puberty.) This could be attributed to the fact that I was drinking pepsi throughout my workout as oppossed to water - lol - but my abs are sore as hell this morning.

Oh well, I couldn't have asked for a better ab workout! :)

AnimalMass


1-22-02:

Extra workout:

Pulled sled for 5 trips of 200 feet with three plates in 15 degree weather. (lungs were hurting bad.)

Glute Hams

Reverse Hypers

Light pulldown abs to help stretch where it cramped last night.
 
1-21-03

Also pulled off the racks. Got 495 and missed 515 about 5 times. My back is screaming today.

Definately lose my arch when the weight gets heavy. I think my form just really sucks. I need to focus on firing my glutes, hams, and lower back at the same time, to get optimal explosion from the static position. Currently my ass rises first and then my back just grunts it out. Not Good.

I think food will fix this problem, and all my other problems... off to eat more food....
 
LOL - I've hit the food hard today as well. Figure if I'm injured it will help better than anything else.

I had a huge bowl of grits for God knows why this morning for breakfast (this was after a big bowl of fruity pebbles, toast and a 64oz milk), and I threw in about a pound of cheddar cheese and sausage and washed it all down with milk and dr. pepper. -

When I got home I ate 1/2 pound of boiled shrimp while I was waiting for a big frozen pizza to cook. Then I had frozen pizza and tortilla chips and 64oz of chocolate milk, and some cherry coke.

Had a Met-Rx protein bar a while ago that tasted like crap. (Benchmonster- what was that protein bar you had in tulsa on DE day? - It was awesome.)

Tonight is potluck dinner at church where I'll eat tons of chili and vegetable beef soup.

MMMM


OK, the actual reason I came on to post was to say I talked to Dave Tate today for a good long while. He was totally cool as usual. He thought that I should follow my plan and take 1.5-2 weeks off of any benching and do lots of dixie cup ice massages (where you freeze a dixie cup full of water and then have your wife beat the crap out of the injured area.)

He thought I should still be ok for the meet in St. Louis, so we'll see how it goes. Also, I ordered the shoulder horn from him, which should help with my rotator imbalance.

AnimalMass
 
1/24/03:

(On thursday, I just did AR work on my forearm.)

Friday:

DE Squat Day: Circa Max - week 3

275 plus blues and purples x 2 x 5

Speed Pulls: 225x1x5, 315x1x4

I tried pulling for the first time ever with my suit on. It was hard as hell to get to bar (actually I had to straight leg it to the bar - grab the bar - then pull my ass down.) - However, the weight flew up fast when I pulled it. I'm still not sure if I'll use my suit to pull in St. Louis, because I need to attempt about 500 in it before I decide. Mayeb next week I'll give it a whirl.

On a side note, I squatted with my suit on, no briefs, and straps down until the last couple sets, where I pulled the straps up just to get a feel in the suit (I have never squatted in it before.) The tightness seemed really good, but the one problem I struggled with, is that I couldn't take a big breath like I normally do. It was odd. I'm gonna have to figure that out as I really rely on a big breath during my squat.

Glute Hams with back jacked up on a 4 board x 3 sets

Ab pulldowns x 4 sets

AnimalMass
 
Fri DE squat

425 5x2 blues and greens
455 x 2 blues and greens
495 x 1 blues and greens

This week I raised my box about half an inch to an inch so that I was right at parellel, instead of below. I did this because sometimes I squat too deep, and I want to learn to stop at the correct spot.

All my reps felt good and fast. My quad hurt some, but my back held up fine.

Couldn't do speed pulls becasue of my lower back strain.

Glute Ham Raise with back elevated 4x12
Abs

Before my last meet the heaviest I got up to was 425 for one with blues and greens, so I know I am stronger now.
 
4 weeks out =time for intensity, 1 cup of coffee and a xenadrine /ripped fuel before lifting. I hate when everyone gets to have all the fun and my meet is still 18 weeks out.
 
ME bench

flat bench

went up to 365 raw

put on my shirt at 405. Pulled it down enough so that it wouldn't touch. I did this so i can get used to the shirt being tight.

455 x 5 no touch
500 x 1 touched
555 x 1
565 x 1
585 x 1
600 - miss - got about half way up and left hand drifted back
I'll get this weight in St. Louis though. This weight wasn't too hard to touch, I know i could pull the shirt lower.

Starting to feel somewhat comfortable using the shirt when there is some pretty good tension at the bottom. It seems using the shirt when it's pulled high and loose is easy to learn, but using it when the weight is heavy and it's hard to touch is pretty hard.

Today Matt told me to bring the bar down faster. This seemed to help alot. That was all for today.
 
DBCooper said:
4 weeks out =time for intensity, 1 cup of coffee and a xenadrine /ripped fuel before lifting. I hate when everyone gets to have all the fun and my meet is still 18 weeks out.
Click to expand...

None of that for me. Makes me weak and shakey, not to mention it's counterproductive to glycogen uptake.
 
I'm with ya Cooper! Throw the ephedrine at me. I'll take 4.

1/28/02:

ME Squat Day:

(Took it easy today since we are in the toughest weeks of Circa Max Squat Phase.)

Arched back goodmornings with Safety Squat Bar:
Barx5, 115x5, 155x5, 205x5, 245x3, 295x1, 335x1(PR as an arched back exercise)

This was really good for me as I kept my arch (both in the upper and lower back) through the entire movement. I have struggled badly with holding my arch (especially in my middle and upper back area) - so I needed this work.

Afterwards, we pulled the sled: 150lbs in mud and grass for 3 trips of 200 feet.

Pull down abs: 6 sets

Good workout - Back feels really pumped.

AnimalMass
 
Last edited:
Also, forgot to mention that Dave and I got into a grip contest at the end of the workout yesterday. We used the saftey squat bar since it has a larger diameter and no knurling. Then we used a double overhand grip to lift and hold the weight.

We worked up to 475 which wasn't too bad. But Dave held it for 15 seconds, and I only held it for 6. :(

AnimalMass
 
I was talking to you. I meant no harm - you just seem to be playing devil's advocate alot lately - challenging everything everyone says - even the strongest guy on the board from Westside.

AnimalMass

ps - you're still my girl though.:)
 
I was talking about the difference between ephedra and ephedrine...in terms of how well it's handled. :confused:
 
Last edited:
ME lower

GM's with SS bar

built up to 385 for 5
-Wasn't a max set. I was taking it a little light since my back isn't 100% and Fri was a tough circa max day. Really felt it in my back though

Six trips with the sled. Three upright walking, three holding the straps behind my knees.

Abs.

Grip work.- I'm always worried about grip strength-
 
1/30/02:

DE Bench:

barx10, 95x10, 135x5, 155x3x8, 185x3

135x35reps

Hammer Curls, Regular Curls - 25lb dumbells 8 sets of 12-20 reps

Wrist Curls, Reverse Wrist Curls, Wrist Twists: 15 lbs Dumbells - 5 sets of 10-15 reps each exercise supersetted

Shoulder Horn Work: 4 sets of 12 with 15lb dumbells

Lat Pulldowns: 100lbs x 10, 150x10x3 sets

This was my first bench workout in a while. My wife has been doing dixie cup massages on my arms and then deep tissue work with some emu oil (nothing magical about the emu oil - just rather have it than olive oil on my arms - lol).

I was sore as hell from the massages today, and decided to go light, but absolutely flood the entire area with blood to help aid in the recovery as well as continue to force some of that scar tissue out.

I felt good - little pain, but nothing bad, and I think I'll be ready enough for St. Louis, even if I'm only at 80% or so.

AnimalMass
 
Last edited:
Sounds frustrating Animalmass -- you're going from one injury to the next.

You definnitely got me excited (and a lot of other people too) with your MM article and then initial success with the workout -- but that intensity level/volume is something you have to advance slowly to -- as you obviuosyl realize ha. Take it easy and work it slowly back up to 100%.

Good luck at the comp. -- DOM
 
Well, don't get me wrong - reps in the shirt and lots of shirt work are the only way to go. I was injured before I started militia benching.

If you can handle the heavy weight every week, do it!

Just back off the volume some, and you should be fine.

AnimalMass
 
yeah I agree about the heavy shirt work (even though I dont even have a shirt). But the volume of those workouts you were posting was just looked staggering. Looked like 2-3 hr workouts of all heavy work.
 
1/31/02:

DE Squat: Week 4 of Circa Max

255 plus blues and purples for 5 sets - Everything felt heavy today. It sucked.

Speed Pulls up to 315.

Later: Glute Hams, Abs

AnimalMass
 
2/03/03

ME bench:

First ME Bench day in a while.

3 board press:

bar x 10, 135x6, 185x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x1, 365x1 (PR), 385x1 (PR)!

Good PR. I haven't done these in forever though, so I knew I'd hit a big one.

Arms felt good, so I decided that since my shirt is so f'n tight, and I haven't trained bench in about 3 months, that I would put on Dave's huge Karen's shirt, and mayeb take a token opener for my first weight. 365 was nice and tight, and flew up, nice long pause and everything. It will be a good opening weight. I may have to have 435 for my second or something in my shirt. I don't know that anything else will touch.

Lat Pulldowns

Shoulder Horn Work

Hammer Curls

AnimalMass
 
ME bench

3 board -took a break from using my shirt, and did these raw.-

455 x 1
495 x 1
525 x 1
545 x 1 - I had no lift off today, so it was a little tougher than normal. My set up was the hardest thing.

close grip to chest
315 x 8

Lat pulldowns- 5 sets of high reps, don't know the weight

shoulder horn- 3 sets of 10

Pretty low volume today. I might have to hit some heavy board on thursday.
 
Hey guys, everything looks good. When is the Springfield meet? Any ideas on openers??

Hey AM, check your pm's when you get a chance...

Later guys, good luck!!!!
 
2/4/02:

ME Squat: Box Squat

barx5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1(PR), 485x0 :(

Shitty day. Felt like crap on the box. Dave missed 725 after hitting 695, and moped all day.

Then we just hit glute hams, rev hypers, and abs.

AnimalMass
 
2/6/02:

Speed Bench:

I lathered the arms with capzaisin, and they felt pretty good throughout the workout.

barx10, bar plus doubled minis x 5, 95+minis x 3, 135+minis x3x3, 135+minis and choked light x3x2, 135+doubled light bandsx3x2

Pullups

Shoulder Horn work

Hammer Curls

Forearm Curls

Ice

AnimalMass
 
ME box squat

hit 695 then missed 725

my left knee really came in on the last rep. As soon as it did, i was going down. Every few months, my hips seem to lag behind, casuing my knees to come in. So, for the last couple of days I have been doing band abductions for the hips. This has always fixed the problem in the past, and I can tell already my hips are stonger.

DE bench

still hurting from Monday, so i just did some light speed sets with 225 and some high rep stuff.

Pullups 4 sets of 8-6 reps (I suck at these)
Shoulder raises 4 sets
curls. 2 sets

Pretty much a pussy workout, but I want to be healed up for Mon, when we use our shirts again for the last time before the meet.
 
DE squat

blue bands
405 x 2 one set
425 x 2 four sets

reverse band deadlifts
405 x 3
455 x 3
500 x 3

glute ham raise
4x 12

ab pulldowns and grip work

-speed today wasn't great. The last few weeks we have done a lot of heavy squatting. I think it is taking it toll on me. Next tuesday I'm putting on my suit and working up to a little below my opener. I'll probably go up to about 750. After this, I am going to need the deloading week. I hope this is enough time for me to build back up to peak strength. We'll see.
 
2/7/02:

DE Squats:

275 plus greens for 6 sets of 2.

Reverse Green Band deadlifts:

315x1x5, 365x1x2, 405x1x2, 455x1, 495x1, 545x1, 585x1

Felt pretty good - I started the movement with my legs, but it turns to all back pretty damn fast.

That's ok. Dave was reading an article to me about a little guy who pulls close to 900 straight legged, all back - just like me.

Glute Hams

Abs.

AnimalMass
 
Hey AM and DG-

Was just wondering if you guys are doing the 1 or 2 weeks of deloading. The first two weeks of Circa about killed me, but I can tell my body has stepped it up a otch for the last two(not feeeling near as beat in the last half).

DG-are band abductions pulling the knees in or out with bands?


Thanks guys.
 
VDOP, we are doing two weeks of deloading. Yesterday I droped the green band and just used the blue. I did 425 and blues, and next week I'm doing 350 - 375 and blues, which better be fast. The only max work we have left is using our suits to get close to our openers.

I am still a little hesitant about working up in my suit. I feel totally comfortable in it, so I don't have much of a reason for doing it. The only reason I want to do it, is to work on squatting to the proper depth with no box.

Abduction is moving away from the body. Adduction is moving toward the body.
 
ME bench -last day of shirt work before meet-

Raw
135
225
275
315
Put on shirt
365
405
455
525
565
600 x 1 (PR)

Pulldowns 5 sets of 12
Front and Side raises 4 sets
Shoulder horn 3 sets - I could only use 10lbs dumbells on these today. My shoulders were fried.

600 felt good and after looking at it on tape, it seemed pretty quick. I'm stoked to get this. Now I just have to do it in the meet.
 
Heavy Bench Day

Felt like poo at the beginning of this day

95x6
135x4
185x4
225x3
put on shirt
275x1
315x1 with pause
345x1 with pause
365x1 with pause (15lb PR! with pause)

I'm ready for St. Louis. The scale this morning said 216, it gets up to 220 in the day, which is just perfect, because I don't want to cut any weight going into this one. I've gained near 40 pounds in 3 months, and all my lifts feel considerably better. Gaining that weight has been the best thing to happen to my lifts.
 
I just want to say how proud I am of all my workout partners.

Dave smoked 600 yesterday. Fast, even extension, everything was clean. (75 lbs above what he hit at the last meet.)

Chris hit 365, not easy - but very, very, clean - full pause, even extension - very good. (That's a 90 lbs increase in his bench from the last meet).

Even Phil squatted 315 the other day off the box after not being able to do 135 and light bands just about 2 months ago.

He even hit 255 for a single raw on the bench the other day - good PR for him.

As for me, well, I feel pretty good in the squat and deadlift. I feel like shit in the bench, as my shirt is so small, I couldn't get 450 to get anywhere close to touching with the shirt pulled all the way up. (That was yesterday) - I can hit a clean 365 for the meet with Dave's extremely large Karins.

So I was planning on basically bombing out of the bench - getting only a token 365 lift. However, today I talked to Karin, and she'll have me a double denim v-back - fully open - in 3 days - because she is the coolest.

So although I won't have any experience in the shirt, I should at least have something that fits.

AnimalMass

ps - Tonight is my first attempt at full gear squats. Let's cross our fingers.
 
2/11/03:

FINAL ME SQUAT DAY: Full gear squat (well, no wraps, no ammonia)

Briefs, Suit, and belt.

barx5, 135x3, 185x3, 225x1, (Briefs)275x1, 315x1, (Briefs and suit bottoms)365x1, 405x1, (Briefs + Suit - no parallel)455x1, 500x1 (hit parallel - blew it up), 545 -(briefs+ suit - blew it up fast.)

Well, I am very happy with my squat. I hit 545 easy, and will probably open there (maybe 525?), I think I def have 600 in me.

Look out majorle!

Chris hit 500 easy.

Phil hit 365

Dave went up to 750 for an easy single. - Probably will open at 770.

Look out St. Louis!

Springfield Crew is ready!

AnimalMass
 
good job guys.

animalmass: i like your first plan of 'bombing' in the bench. hahha.

dg: big things are awaiting you. i think hudak wants you to be his girlfriend now :) just kidding.

/t
 
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