Wednesday Squats Suit Work

Since I've been getting such awesome results from my bench shirt I am wanting to understand my squat suit. Here's what I found out.

Squats - 135lbs/12 reps, 225lbs/6 reps, 315lbs/2 reps.
Put on squat suit.
Suit Squats - 315lbs/3 reps, 365lbs/2 reps, 405lbs/2 reps, 405lbs/single, 315lbs/single.

I found that I was getting bounce out of the suit at the bottom of the movement but the pain I was feeling was too much. I've worn this suit 4 times now and every time is extremely painful. The last set of 315lbs I wanted to do some speed work. When descending fast I couldn't handle the amount of pain the suit was causing me. I think a different suit is in order. I've ordered a deadlift suit and I've asked some friends what they would suggest. The mystery of gear shall be understood sooner or later. At least I'm getting my bench shirt figured out.

Snowdaddy

Bench Training

I managed to find some time today for the bench. I want to train for using my shirt. Of course I'll still do full range movements but I want to train heavy on top partials. Here's what I did.

Full Bench Press (warm up) - 135lbs/12 reps, 225lbs/6 reps, 275lbs/3 reps.
Top Partials - 275lbs/3 reps, 295lbs/3 reps, 315lbs/3 reps.
Giant Set - 3 x (Top Partials 335lbs/2 reps & Full Bench 225lbs/6 reps).
Super Set - 3 x (Machine Flys 250lbs/8,9,10 reps, Lat Pull Downs 185-235lbs/8 reps, Cable Extensions 200lbs/10 reps).

I was spent. After the bench work I kept the pace high for the support work. I'm wanting to get stronger but loose fat in the process.
This week is going to be busy and I don't know when I'll work out. If I do it'll be fast and furious. I want to try out my squat suit this week for some light fast squats. I'm curious as to the amount of "pop" the suit will give me at the bottom. In other words I want to experiment. Stay tuned.

Snowdaddy

Last Two Days

Thursday 24 May 2007

Went to the gym to work on deadlifts. I wanted to work with my squat suit for deadlift to get a feel for it. Here's what happened.

Deadlifts - 225lbs/6 reps, 315lbs/4 reps, 405lbs/2 singles.
Put on my suit.
Squat Suit Deadlifts - 405lbs/single, 455lbs/single, 495lbs/miss.

I found the suit very restrictive. I had a hard time bending my legs to get down to the bar but I had no trouble bending at the waist. Personally, I would like the opposite out of a deadlift suit. All I managed to accomplish was to strain my lower back. A heating pad on my lower back Thursday night and everything is back to normal.

Friday 25 May 2007

I didn't go to the gym today but I did manage to hit the treadmill for some valuable calorie burning. I managed to go much farther today by lowering the intensity.

Treadmill - 10 minutes slow run, 10 minutes fast walk.

The run felt very comfortable and I was able to do a fast run for the last minute of the 10 minutes run. Not bad for a 290lb powerlifter.

Snowdaddy

Still Running

It's been a week since I was last on the treadmill and after my work out yesterday my legs are a bit stiff. Here's my efforts.

Treadmill - 3 x (walk/2 min, run/2 min), 2 x (walk/2 min, run/1 fast run), walk/2 min.
Bike - 5 min.

Another great work out. I'm feeling great!

Snowdaddy

Amazing Tuesday

Wow! What a Tuesday. I spent the morning doing house work and had no idea that the afternoon was going to be this great. I went to the gym not really knowing what to do. Here's what I did.

Squats (deep) - 135lbs/6 reps, 225lbs/6 reps, 275lbs/6 reps, 315lbs/3 reps, 315lbs/4 reps, 315lbs/4 reps.

All the reps were rock bottom. I was squatting like an Olympic lifter. After squats I went to the bench and planned on doing some high rep bench press. My buddy Vince (hard as fuck, straight out of fuck town) showed up and said he wanted to do some maxes. Who am I to argue? Vince is a strong guy for 191lbs so all my fears of a less than standard spot went out the window. Here's what made the afternoon so special.

Bench Press - 135lbs/12 reps, 225lbs/6 reps, 275lbs/3 reps, 295lbs/single.

The shirt goes on.

Shirt Bench - 315lbs/3 reps, 335lbs/3 reps, 365lbs/single, 405lbs/single!!!

Once again I can put the shirt on by myself so it's loose. My 295lbs/single was very slow so when Vince spotted me for 315lbs/3 reps he was caught off guard when I blasted it up. Over the music in my headphones I could here Vince, "holy crap!" My elbow was bugging me a bit so when I was lowering 405lbs it felt very heavy. I paused then pressed. It went up slowly but Vince assured me that he didn't put any pressure on the bar. It was all me. Ye Ha!!!

The Manitoba Provincial record for super heavy bench press is 185kg (407lbs) Watch out record, here I come!

Snowdaddy

Saturday Bench

Today I had visions of doing lots of shirt work. Not so. My right elbow was bugging me as it does during rain storms or when it gets cold and wet. As I get a little older I'm finding that 2 sets of bench are not enough to warm up properly. Next week I won't make the same mistake.

Bench (raw) - bar/12 reps, 135lbs/12 reps, 225lbs/10 reps, 245lbs/3 reps. (sore elbow)
Bench (shirt) - 245lbs/3 reps (no touch), 275lbs/3 reps (just touched), 315lbs/3 reps (elbow really hurts now), 315lbs/3 reps (I'm finished).

The elbow pain was nothing to worry about because I've had it for some time now (years). I am however a bit puzzled about my shirt training. Any reference regarding bench shirts say that the tighter they are the better they work. With all the running I've been doing lately I've transformed some fat into muscle which has caused me to loose some size. I can now put on my shirt all by myself. I'm finding that the looser shirt helps me set up better, hence giving me better results. If my elbow wasn't bothering me today I'm sure I could have benched 315lbs for 5 or 6 reps. Way over my PB. I like whats happening with my shirt training. It's a bit unorthodox but it seems to be working for me.

Snowdaddy

Finally, I Have Some Time!

It was a slow day at work today so I went to the gym. Very Cool! Here's what I managed to do.

Squats - 135lbs/12 reps, 225lbs/6 reps, 315lbs/single, 315/single, 315lbs/3 reps, 365lbs/single, 365lbs/single.

Smith Machine Squats - 90lbs/12 reps, 180lbs/10 reps, 270lbs/6 reps, 360lbs/3 reps, 410lbs/single.

The 365lbs squats felt easy. Yes I know, "Smith machine squats???!!!" I wanted to do something different that I haven't done in a while. That's it.

Snowdaddy

A Little Longer

Treadmill Work again tonight.

Time = 25 minutes
Walk - 10 min
Run - 6 min
Walk - 9 min

I think I'll keep the time up. By next week I should be up to 30 minutes. By increasing my time I'm putting myself into the fat burning range of cardiovascular training. Dropping pounds is fine by me.

Snowdaddy

Sunday Night Jog

I'm still at it. My heavy weights from Saturday morning has left me dragging my legs. I still managed a good go on the treadmill. Here's my efforts.

Treadmill Run/Walk - 20 minutes Total - 2 walk, 4 run, 2 walk, 1 run, 2 walk, 1 run fast, 3 walk, 1 run, 4 walk.

I've been weighing myself and I haven't seen much of a difference in lbs. Wearing my bench shirt Saturday morning made me feel like I am loosing something. I'm maintaining high protein in my diet so I could be replacing fat with lean muscle. That would be cool. Any way the increase in cardiovascular fitness will be a huge benefit for my training.

Snowdaddy

Saturday Morning Powerfest!!!

Wow what a morning I had. Today was my first work out using our gym's new power rack. I haven't trained in a rack at my home gym in almost a year. It was hard not to giggle like a school girl. Here's why I had so much fun.

Squats - bar/12 reps, 135lbs/6 reps, 225lbs/6 reps, 275lbs/3 reps, 315lbs/3 reps, 365lbs/2 reps.
Rack Squat Partials (with walk out) - 405lbs/3 reps, 495lbs/3 reps, 495lbs/3 reps.

Deadlift Knees Up Partials - Singles, 495/585/675/725lbs OH YA!!!

Bench Press - 135lbs/12 reps, 225lbs/6 reps.
Shirt Bench Press - 225lbs/3 reps (couldn't touch), 275lbs/3 reps, 315lbs/3 reps, 365lbs/single, 315lbs/3 reps.

Like I said, "POWER FEST". On the last set of deadlift partials my grip failed just as I made lock out. This puzzled me until I looked at my right hand. The skin under my pinkie pulled off and I was bleeding. I know this is a right of passage for heavy lifting. It's the first time it's happened to me. Cool!
I've been running for a bit now and I've lost a few pounds and inches. I tried on my bench shirt this week and it's so loose that with a bit of difficulty I can pull it on by myself. This will make it much easier to train solo and become familiar with my gear. Benching 315lbs in my shirt was so easy. When I went up to 365lbs I bumped the hook so it threw me off a bit but I still managed to lock out. Once again 365lbs felt quite light considering it's a new max for me, 35lbs over my best raw lift. I can't wait to try the shirt on again. I now feel confident that I will be able to bench over 400lbs this year. Shirted, of course.

Snowdaddy

Getting Better

Running again tonight.

Treadmill - 17 Minutes Total, 2 min walk/5 min run/1 min walk/1 min run/1 min walk/1 min run/1 min walk/1 min run/4 min walk.

Tuesday I managed to do bench. I had 20 minutes before getting the kids so into the gym I went. Here's what I did.

Bench Press - 135lbs/12 reps, 225lbs/8 reps, 275lbs/2 reps, 225lbs/6 reps.
Machine Flys - 250lbs(stack)/8 reps/3 sets.

I do what I can with the time I've got.

Snowdaddy

Monday Treadmill Work

Tonight I hit the treadmill again. Here's my meager attempt.

Walk/Run - 4x(2min walk, 2min run) 4 min walk cool down.
20 minutes total.

As the week goes along I'll group together the minutes and try for a run longer than 5 minutes which I did last week.

I've also been working on my grip strength. I bought a set of Heavy Grips a while back and I was finally able to close the 250 gripper last night. I tried to make a video but I'm shaking way too much. Next comes the 300.

Snowdaddy

Gear at the HHG

In the midst of all the responsibilities of my life right now I managed to get some time today to go to the HHG and get into some gear. This is all new territory for me so I was a bit cautious with my lifts. Which is probably the best approach. Here's what I + gear managed to accomplish.

Squats
Raw, Belt - bar/6 reps, 60kg/6 reps, 100kg/3 reps, 140kg/1 rep, 160kg/1 rep.
Suit Bottoms, Belt, Knee Wraps - 160kg/1 rep.
Full Z Suit, Belt, Knee Wraps - 180kg/1 rep, 210kg/miss (very ugly).
Full Titan Dual Quad, Belt, Knee Wraps - 200kg/miss (one inch above parallel).

Sumo Deadlifts Over Hand Grip
Full Z suit, Belt - 100kg, 140kg, 180kg, 220kg, 230kg(miss).

One thing I've learned about gear. IT HURTS! Powerlifting itself is not a sport for the weak hearted but adding gear makes it almost unbearable. The reward is the big lifts and new PBs.
I found the Z Suit hard to breath in. With everything on and the weight on my back I found I couldn't get a full breath of air into my lungs. After the 180kg I felt like I suffocating. Damn I love this sport! McLifter, my mentor, suggested I try his Titan Dual Quad Custom which has a much lower neck line. This made it much easier to breath and I was able to get into a much better position. I was still a bit shell shocked after missing 210kg and dumping it over my head that my final squat in the Titan came up an inch or so short. Ya, I dumped it over my head. I wouldn't suggest doing this, it's no fun. With everything on and bending over that far I felt like my head was going to explode. With all the complaining about gear I can still hear McLifter on my shoulder, "suck it up butter cup".
The Deadlifts were awesome. I pulled the Z suit on again and pulled sumo with an over hand grip. My PB for this is 405lbs so I was extremely pleased to pull 220kg. Yes, that's a 79lb increase. WOW! I wanted, and I'm sure I could have pulled 230kg but I was totally spent after everything else that happened earlier. All in all a good day of lifting. I got a new PB, gained some experience, and learned some new tricks.

Snowdaddy

Still Running

Last night I laced up the running shoes again. Here's my run.

Treadmill - Walk 5 minutes, Run 5 minutes, Walk 5 Minutes.

Like I said before, I'm not a runner. Saturday morning I'll be able to go to the gym for a bit so I'll try to get all three lifts in. Here's my plan.

Box Squats - 5 sets, 3 reps, 75-85% 1RM.
Flat Bench Press - 5 sets, 3 reps, 75-85% 1RM.
Deadlifts - 5 sets, singles, 75-85% 1RM.

I'm focusing on the cardio training I've been (and will be) doing. The powerlifting on Saturday is just to keep my wheels lubed. Sorta speak.

Snowdaddy

Training Continues

It's been a bit since my last post. Don't think I've been sitting around doing nothing, it's not my style. Some new things have happened so I've once again had to change my training. Do to personal restraints I'm having trouble finding time to get to the gym. In my basement I have a bar with lots of weights (no room to use it), a stationary bike, and a treadmill. My goal for the next while is to drop some unwanted pounds and increase my cardiovascular fitness. Here's what I managed to accomplish so far.

Thursday 26 April - Treadmill - 15 minutes (2x1 minutes running)
Friday 27 April - 15 minutes (2x1.5 minutes running)
Tuesday 1 May - 18 Minutes (2x2 minutes running)

I know it doesn't seem like much but at 300lbs and no cardio training, only heavy weights, I think I'm doing good. Eventually I want to run for 10 minutes straight. I guess I should change the name of my blog to "SNOWDADDY RUNNING HIS ASS OFF".

Snowdaddy