+1.

I haven't read much, but you have very nice gym.
Keep up the good work!

Thanks guys.

12/21

squat
40*10, 130*8, 180*5, 220*3, 270*3, 310*3, 360*1, 400*1, 430*0 fail - 1st time ever failing a squat attempt. I should have tried for 420. Oh well.

KB swings - 12 reps per set with 1 minute on treadmill at 2.5 mph between sets
44 lbs * 12, 62*12, 70*12*2, 80*12*3

lat EQI - 15*60
flye EQI - 15*60

MB slams - 15 slams then 30 seconds on treadmill between sets - 5 sets

12/25
My back on the left side near the middle went into spasm when I was washing my hands right after I got out of bed. Yeah, I can DL 585 & fail a 430 lb squat without hurting myself, but I can really mess myself up washing my hands

I got on the foam roller, the heating pad, iced it and used the massager on it. All that made it somewhat, but not all the way better.


12/26
When I woke up this morning, the back was still tight. After using the heating pad & massager and taking a long hot shower, it was maybe 50% better.

To top it off, I wont be able to see my chiro until at least Wednesday if I need him because he's in Philadelphia with the Vikings. They postponed the damn game until Tuesday night because its snowing. WTF.

I figured I'd do everything I could to get this to go away, so I did the thing with the lacrosse ball in this vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzozw2Aso3M
When I got down below the shoulder blade on the left side, I hit a really hot spot. I worked on it for a while and it felt ~99% better after that - well enough to work out - ship it!!

This movement with the lacrosse ball is a bit similar to what I have been doing, but I like the way this guy does it with keeping your arm across your body at the start of the movement - that keeps your shoulder blade out of the way really well and exposes a lot of muscles.

While I'm on the subject, that SF Crossfit guy's vids are excellent.

soooo I worked out - normal warmups, then the shoulder/neck stretches with the band shown in that video above, then this:

KB swings
44 lb * 30 reps * 2 sets

standing cable rows
105*30

trap bar DL
170*5*3, 260*5, 310*5*2, 380*5, 440*3, 470*1, 500*1, 550*1, 600 - fail (got it ~3" off the ground), fail again (didnt move it)
This sucks. My back felt solid anyways, but I really wanted 600. I dont blame the spasms I was having, but I think one thing I could have done better earlier today is eat more.

I'm trying to decide how to proceed now. I'm thinking right now that I'll give 600 another try in about a week, but I'll make sure to eat better prior to the attempt. I think this warm up routine is pretty good.

speed trap bar DLs
360*3*2

flye EQI
15*60

lat EQI
15*60

i feel the same way about doing dishes.

squeeze your glutes when doing dishes imo.

At least you had weight in your hands.....

gotta flatten out the back too!

Got my Christmas presents delivered today (bar & collars):

Very nice

You might already said, but, do you have set food diet?

I probably havent talked much about food. About a year and a half ago I was fat (~255 & 30.5% fat) and extremely out of shape. I hired a trainer who had me write down everything and I followed his suggestions loosely (~2250 cals, ~220 g protein) for maybe 6 months or so. I lost ~35 lbs.

I hate writing down everything I eat and enjoy eating lots of food, so I quit doing that and just disciplined myself not to over eat anymore, and to avoid eating much sugar, processed carbs or fried stuff. Along with that, I try to eat lots of protein - I keep a loose count in my head to make sure I'm getting > 200 grams/day.

With the amount of working out I do (~2-3 times a week), and the type of working out I do (fairly intense heavy lifting mostly), I'm able to maintain my weight (~225 now) and fat (~21.5%). I'm happily married, and my wife is very happy with the way I look now. Because of that, my love for food, and my desire to be strong, I've decided that I'm happy carrying that much fat.

I should add - since failing that 600lb tbdl, I've tried to eat some more to prepare for succeeding in lifting 600 this weekend.

Thank you for reply. It seems like you're eating by pretty much the same system. Keep up!

So jealous of your gym.. I have this sick fantasy(?) that if I ever lifted with an ivanko or eleiko that it would magically add a few KG to some of my lifts lol

The fantasy isn't sick, but it's pretty sick that you have that particular fantasy


Sweet christmas present cha

Come visit Vegas, I have Eleiko.

what kind of bar?

also, what's a decent cash estimate on your gym?

I might be looking to buy a place in the next year or two, and if I do, a home gym is a must.

Ivanko bar.

Cash estimate? Damn, I made a really long post about that in the bitches thread a few months ago. I should have copied it over here. ok, I'll reproduce most of it.

The dumbells and those racks - all that stuff is pretty expensive. I got an awesome deal on the 65 - 90 lb dumbells from a guy on Craigs list - $300 for all those. Most of the smaller ones were bought from a discount guy for ~$0.47/lb around 15 years ago. The racks were floor models at Second Wind & I got both of those plus the pair of 95 lb plastic coated dumbells for ~$500 minus my old dumbell racks in trade.

The rack - it came with a lat/low cable attachment and was ~$700 on Bodybuilding.com. I think you can get one without the cable attachment for ~$450 or $500 at other various places online. Craig's List would be somewhere I'd look for one if I was trying to get the best deal possible.

Some of the olympic weights were bought on a closeout sale at Dick's Sporting Goods for ~$300 or so. Most of them were found on Craigs list for a lot less per lb - I got ~600 lbs and three (bad) bars for $200.

I got my old bar for $40 at Second Wind. Its decent. My new bar was $505 and the new collars were $70 at Gtech fitness.

I got the cable machine from Bayou Fitness for $1500 including delivery. I think it goes for $2400 now. Its a good machine, similar to what you see in commercial gyms, with two 200 lb stacks.

The treadmill was ~$2200 from Amazon - its a Sole with a 22" wide track. The elliptical is pretty good - its a Lifetime brand. We paid ~2400 for it new from a retailer a few years ago.

The flooring was ~$850 or so for 1/2" thick, 12' x 20'. Here's where I got that: http://www.rubberflooringinc.com/rub...duty-roll.html

The bands were ~$175 from ironwoody.com.

The plate trees ranged from ~$80 to ~$120 at various places online.

The trap bar was $300 from (I think) Amazon. Its a really heavy duty, good one. It weighs 80 lbs.

I cant think of anything else. Any questions?


Nat - I go to vegas usually a couple times a year. You want to work out once or twice next time I'm out there?

Any of you guys who are friendly with me & like to lift are welcome to visit me in MN if you ever get around here.

Nice do you have a picture of your whole setup?

nah no questions. just curious. If and when I have a space to do it, it's gonna be a lot more bareboned. just rack, bench, weights, a nice bar, a crappier bar for rack pulls, and hopefully a platform for some oly stuff.

Start at the beginning of the thread (page 1) and scroll through it to see all kinds of pictures.

In case you're asking me, mine cost about 3k. Basically a 190kg Eleiko set, 25kg of change plates, platform, Rogue S-1 squat stand, etc.

Sure just give me a heads up before you come out. No trap bar here though

Here's a picture of mine (doesn't have all my random accessory stuff in the pic). But it's 6x20kg, 2x15kg, 2x10kg, 20kg training bar, MuscleDriver change plate set.

That bar is dead sexy, and makes me want to do bad, bad things. As a recovering music gear whore, I really have to fight the urge to do something similar with workout stuff.

Nat - yes of course. I tend to over-plan, so I'll make sure everything works (timing, what lifts we would do, etc.) for both of us. Very nice bar & weights.

Red - I get the same way with some stuff. Once you get something really nice like that & like using it, you want more complimentary stuff for it. I'm already feeling the urge to get nice plates, but I think those are a long ways off.

12/30

The new bar weighs 44 lbs and the clamps weigh 5.5 lbs each, so that's 55 total, which is going to affect all my numbers, especially the warm up sets, from now on when I use it.

squat
55*10, 145*8, 195*5, 235*5, 285*3, 325*3, 355*3, 345*3
That new bar is sweet for squatting. The grip on it is like no other bar I've ever used. When you get a load on your back with it, it just feels so solid, like nothing is going anywhere. The clamps help with that feeling too.

RDL
145*10, 235*5, 285*5, 325*5*2
Note to self - take off the Do-Wins and put on the Chucks before doing RDLs again.

I'm going to shred my shins/pants on this bar when I DL with it. Considering the pop bottle trick or other alternatives. Anyone have suggestions?

DB step ups
65*5, 75*5

KB swings (8 swings followed by 30 seconds on treadmill = 1 set)
44, 62, 70*3

MB slams (15 slams then 30 seconds on treadmill is a set)
5 sets

lat EQI
15*45

flye EQI
15*45

Nice set up cha. Do want.

1. Wear shorts.

2. Bleed.

I had blood streaming down into my shoes on Monday night when I did deads and the DL bar we use is permanently stained red in two places. It's good for the soul.


And sick set up too, hoping to do something like that here soon.

If you're not as hardcore as G4S, I suggest sliding the knee sleeves down over your shins when DLing. Works like a charm.