The Wolves never play in May.

I do 5x20 db rows 1x a week, does that qualify? What do you suggest?

lol, sad but true for a long time...

Those are good. So are the DLs and chins you do. What I'm suggesting is to add a lot more reps of any kind of pulling stuff and back off a bit on the pushups. I've seen very smart people suggest anywhere from 2 pulling reps to one pushing rep, all the way up to 5 - 1 for people with shoulder problems.

That article I linked talks a bit about why adding the pullups to this accessory program is better than pushups only. + pullups/chins will help get you big gunz about as well as any exercise imo.

This, my gunz grew pretty well when I GTG'ed the chins a lot. Can't wait to do it again really.

3/28
PLP
2 2 2

3/29
PLP (am) 3 3 3

(pm)
mobility warmup 6:01
did upper body only, 20 reps each instead of 10
weights 6:15

bench press
55*10*2, 145*8, 195*3, 220*3, 250*5

chins
5 @ bw, added two chains @ ~45 lbs total - 5*2

floor press + 2 chains @~45 lbs total
215*3*5

tall kneeling PNF D2 flexion
25*10, 30*10

incline cable press
65 per stack * 12*3

blast strap rows
12 12

done 7:49

3/30 - 4/2
PLP 4 4 4 , 5 5 5 , 6 6 6 , 7 7 7 - still doing single sets
Might start doing two sets tomorrow morning

squat (5/3/1 week 3)
55*10, 145*5, 195*5, 235*3, 285*5, 325*3, 355*3

RDL
145*10, 235*5, 325*5*3

DB step ups
50 lbs per hand, 20 reps per leg

KB swings
20*62*3

MB slams
20 20 20

I mean this as a compliment. You are the last old nerdy white guy somebody would want to mess with.

lol thanks

PLP day 8
5 chins, 5 lunges each leg, 10 pushups (was supposed to do 8, oops), 3 chins, 3 lunges

Looking ahead to day 60 - that is going to be really hard, especially if I do it all in the morning. I am not a morning person.

PLP days 9 & 10 - 2 sets & 3 sets, no rest, doing these in the morning every day so far

I did half a dozen shoulder rehab exercises yesterday evening.

4/4

sumo DL - week 3 - 5/3/1
235*5*2, 305*5, 345*3, 385*5 (all double overhand grip)

trap bar DLs
500 + 45 lbs of chains * 3 * 2

face pulls
85*15*3

blast strap fallouts
10 10

tall kneeling PNF D2 flexion
30*10*2

Wife & I were there 4-5 years ago. Found a nice gym on the north end of town (close to our hotel, north end) that was friendly to tourists. $5. They had iron & squat rack. We drove our rented VW Bug convertible there.

We were at El Cid - south of downtown near the southern cruise ship docking place. I would have gladly paid $5 + whatever cab fare (or rental car) would have been to go there a couple times. If I ever go there again, I'll have to find out more info about that gym.

4/5

Pullup/Lunge/Pushup 10 10 10, (2 sets of 5 each), no rest


Observation - I pulled 500+ chains with the trap bar beltless last night. That's the first time I've lifted that much with no belt. My lower back feels awesome today - like maybe better than it ever has.

Damn I feel like a beast when I can do 5 double overhand reps at 315. I don't think you do standard DLs, but are people in general able to lift more with the trap bar?

I just recently stopped doing conventional DLs - the sumos are new to me. I had to do that because I pinch a nerve when I'm pulling close to max in conventional stance. When I widen my stance a bit, it doesnt pinch.

My best conventional DL was 485. I was limited by that nerve issue. I think I can and will do 500+ in the not-to-distant future sumo style, but I need to work my way up on those for at least another month or two before attempting that. The inner muscles of my upper leg (adductors?) need to develop some more and I need to get used to the sumo movement.

My best trap bar DL is 585. Those are easier for two reasons - I can widen my stance and not worry about the bar being in the way. Also, the handles are a few inches higher, so its easier at the bottom and a little shorter ROM.

Have you solidified your form on the sumos, or is it still a work in progress? Would be nice to see a vid.

I've been looking around for sumo technique variations. Seems like almost everyone uses a wide stance with a rather vertical back. Was thinking of doing a closer stance with more horizontal back to get more low back work in, but it didn't feel too good when I tried it last time. Thoughts?

^ I think that's how Jdock pulls.

I think my sumo form is decent, but not perfect. I just watched vids I recorded from the last workout and I think one thing I can do better is get my back a little more vertical at the start of the pull.

Something I'm doing different now that when I first tried sumos - my stance is not as wide and my toes are not pointed out as far. This makes it easier to get my knees wide enough to have decent form.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG8gnk71y8c

Yeah, most sumo vids I've seen the guys definitely use a more vertical back. The way you're lifting I'd think the low back gets more of the load off the floor, whereas with a more vertical back the glutes and adductors would take a bigger part of the load. You could prob lift more with a more vertical back - and the ROM would be shorter.

4/6

am - PLP day 11 - 6/11/11/5

pm - bench press 5/3/1 week 3
55*10*2, 145*8, 195*3, 210*5, 235*3, 265*5 + one very slightly assisted rep (worked out with a friend today)

chins
bw*5, added 2 chains @~45 lbs * 5*2

floor press + 45 lbs of chains
235*3, 2, 3

blast strap rows
12 12 (elevated feet on the second set)

decline skull crushers
65*10, 75*10*2

tall kneeling PNF D2 flexion
30*10*2

incline cable press
55*20, 65*12

tall kneeling cable lift
30*10*2

blast strap pushups + 45 lbs of chains
8, 5 (failed 6th rep of 2nd set, lolhard)

flye EQI
15*40

lat EQI
15*40

4/7
plp day 12
5 chins
12 lunges each leg
12 pushups
5 chins
2 chins
I hate morning workouts.

4/8 -am
PLP day 13
I did forward grip pullups this morning. Prior to this, it had all been neutral grip chins. The fwd grip felt fine.

7 pullups
13 lunges each leg
13 pushups
6 pullups


Reading G4S's progress with fat loss & muscle gain has got me to do some thinking. I weigh myself and check my body fat almost every morning. The avg weight for the period from 2/13 to 2/27/2010 was 216.49, with 20.83% fat for a LBM of 171.39. The past two weeks as of the morning, I've averaged 229.43, 21.96% and 179.04 LBM.

This is well and good as far as muscle gain, but I'm thinking I should get a bit leaner. I might continue what I'm doing with PLP and see if that leans me up at all. If not, maybe I should either start paying more attention to food, or do more cardio type stuff. I hate tracking food.

I might be up for working out more frequently as I'm dealing with far less muscle adhesions than ever before. I think my Deep Muscle Stimulator along with proteolytic enzymes I started taking recently have been helping a lot. Thanks to G4S & his chiro for that suggestion.

I've been seeing my chiro for ART + alignments once every other week for a long time. Today I saw him and he said we can push it back to once every three weeks now because my muscle quality & tone is improving. I'm hoping that will drop to once a month at some point in the near future. I probably wont ever stop going less than that.

It isn't the proteolytic enzymes or muscle stimulator; I actually enjoy those. I'm just getting tired of being smashed every day.

lol, ok I'll play along.... The DMS is what's smashing you every day

4/8 pm

squat - this is my modification day for the 5/3/1 - week 3.5 - heavy singles
55*10, 145*8, 195*5, 235*3, 285*1, 325*1, 375*1, 400*1, 420*1 PR + 5 - I got good depth on this one, as opposed to my previous "PR" of 415, so I'm much happier with this one. I'm a little sad that I messed up the camera so it didnt get recorded.

I just looked at the basic strength standards and 423 is an advanced squat for 242 BW (I'm 229 today, so I cant qualify for the 220 BW category), bah. I should have just done 425. Oh well. I'll probably try again in ~4-5 weeks and get it then.

RDL
145*10, 235*5, 325*5*2

DB step ups to 16" box (+2")
65 per hand *10 per leg
This is a lot harder with the box 2" higher.

KB swings
70*15*5

MB slams
15*5

mobility 7:09
weights 7:34
done 8:51

A couple other things:

My feet are feeling fabulous right now - better than they have in years. I have been dealing with plantar fasciitis for about 3 years. Its been gradually getting better, but it had not gone completely away. Today I noticed that its completely gone

I am 100% sure that using the DMS on my calves has gotten rid of it entirely. All kinds of things have helped it get better over the years, little by little - especially ART on the calves, but it was always still there. Now its gone - hopefully forever (fingers crossed). I think I need to keep working my calves to insure it wont come back.

I noticed this when I took my squat shoes off tonight. I intended to change into my Chucks for the RDLs, but figured since my feet felt so good, I'd do the rest of my workout in socks. That felt good. I my DMS!

Amazing gimmick.