Make sure you are mobile this weekend!

I'll be fine. I just walk a little funny right now. I probably have to bench press weird now too.

You sir are a ****ing beast. Definitely motivation for me to keep pushing for bigger numbers.

Thanks!

4/18

speed bench
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x3x3
295x3
315x3

TRX rows
15
12

face pulls

4/19

DL
225x5
315x3
405x2

suit
495x1
585x1
635x1
I had no energy from the beginning and 635 felt too slow. I decided lifting 3 days in a row and DLing 2 days after squatting was not a great idea. I just did a couple sets of 1 leg RDLs after this and stopped. The reason I DLed on Thursday was because I have stuff to do today before getting married tomorrow

4/22

bench press
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1

size 54 Rage X
1 board press
475x1 - felt great, went very fast
525x1 - another great lift
545x1 - solid, not as fast, but still good

size 52 rage X
585xf. My back got loose and I got a bad handoff (one of the side guys had never handed off to me before). It barely came up. A teammate suggested I try again, but with a 2 board.
585xf. This one was much better. I got the left arm locked out, but the right one just could not quite get there.

I'm starting to hate this smaller shirt. I felt great in the bigger shirt, as usual. I usually feel beat up after using the tighter shirt. I think I need to focus on seeing what I can do in the size 54. I'm thinking right now I will probably take at least my first two attempts in it at nationals. I ought to be able to press at least 551 in it. If I do something like 529 / 551, then depending how the 551 feels, I might consider taking something heavy in the tighter shirt. I'll probably fool around with heavy stuff in the tighter shirt in training if I am feeling well after doing work sets in the 54.


TRX rows
15
16

face pulls

Congrats dude!

Thanks!

Rumor has it that the wedding topper was a couple locking out a DL bar and kissing.

Another rumor is that I ate more food and meat than everyone at my table. I'm, allegedly, a huge pig.

1st rumor is true. I have no pics from the photographer yet, but we actually went to the gym all dressed up and took lots of pics including team DLs.

I might have won the eating contest. I gained 8 lbs from the time I woke up until the time I went to bed and I had hardly any food for lunch. That food was awesome.

Congrats on the marriage!

Thanks!

4/24

squat
155x5
245x5

briefs
335x3
425x2
515x1

suit & knee wraps
655x1 - ez
745x1 - smoked it. This is the most I have had on my back in about 13 or 14 months. Its a 30 lb post knee procedure PR and 25 lbs off my all time gym PR. The doc who performed my procedure was there to witness it - he is starting to lift with the team now.

That felt so good, I wanted to try 805.

805xf. My daughter was calling depth and she called it too low. I felt like I was going to get it until I got below good depth.

briefs
425x2
475x2

1 leg RDLs
1 set

My knee was a little tight and my calves were screaming at me at that point so I stopped.

Teammate/assistant coach was pressing me to figure out my opener last night. I decided my squat goal is 804. My tentative opener as of right now is 689. I am looking at this right now:

689/755/804
529/551/573
617/672/694-716

#1 goal is to finish top 3 and qualify for WPC worlds.

I really want a 2,000 lb total.

APF American DL record is 711. Depending where I am at as far as getting a 2,000 lb total and how 672 feels, assuming I get that, I might give 716 a try. Right now, I think my chances of pulling 716 after squatting and benching all that ahead of time is under 5%, but we'll see.

Those numbers are insane and make me feel like a little boy compared to you haha. Also we want 1st! None of that top 3 nonsense. Good luck!

Thanks, but there's a guy who is 5 years older and ~45 lbs lighter than me who puts up close to 1800. I cant beat him unless he bombs out. There's another guy who is about 3 years older than me in my weight class who's openers totaled something like 2,036 in his last meet, but he bombed out on the bench. He has put up totals of about 2,200 not long ago. If he makes it and does not bomb out, I have no chance. Because of both of those guys ages, they get way bigger age multipliers than me. The first guy's body weight multiplier plus his age multiplier makes him pretty much unbeatable for me. There could be other contenders I am not aware of. I think I can get top 3 with ~1,900.

All that being said, if its top 3 in each weight class, there's probably only one guy who can beat me if I don't bomb out. Thinking that through, I need to figure that out for sure and lighten my openers if its top 3 in each weight class.

4/27
DLs up to 655x1. I failed 675 after this. My calves were messed up after this. I've been talking to my stem cell doc about it and he thinks there's a good chance there is something going on at the nerve root in my back, through the hamstrings and into the calves. I'm going to get it checked out by him soon - he say an exam and ultrasound should tell him what the cause of the issue is.

4/28 - 5/5 honeymoon in Cancun
We lifted on Monday and Friday. The hotel gym was not great. They had enough stuff to get a little work done at least. I did some DB and cable pressing and some machine rows and face pulls Monday. I did DLs up to 4 plates on Friday. The bar was fat and had no knurling, so it was a challenge for me to grip even 4 plates with mixed grip and maintain decent form. My upper back is pretty messed up from too much sitting on the lounge chairs on the beach and my calves are still messed up, so I stopped.

Not only was I having issues with calves and upper back, my digestive system took a beating. I am very lactose intolerant. They seem to hide lactose in all kinds of stuff. I did not get enough protein all week and I came home quite sick to my stomach and just beat down. Last night was awful. I did get a good night's sleep and feel better so far this morning. Hopefully this holds up for benching today.

5/6

bench
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1
345x1

size 54 Rage X
1 board press
455x1

touch
495x1 - happy with this. I only need top 3 in my weight class at nationals to qualify for worlds, so I am sure openers are all I need. I'll open as light as I think I can touch, which I now think is in the 496-502 range.

535x1 - This went well. I'm thinking now something like 502/535/551 would make me very happy in June.

SLAYER!!

2 boards
585- f. Not today. See previous post and below for why I ran out of gas early today.

raw
2 board press
315x3
345x3
Left elbow was a bit sore, plus my energy was pretty much gone, so I stopped.

TRX rows
12x2

face pulls
2 sets


At 5am this morning I was in tremendous pain and was ****ting my guts out. I was dehydrated for the previous day and a half after eating something that must have contained a lot of lactose. I figured I would be staying home from the gym because I was too wiped out even to help out. The 4 extra hours of sleep did the trick. And apparently whatever was messing me up finally left my system. I'm super happy with what I got done in the gym today, considering how I felt the past couple days.

slayer and honeymoon tr.

Last time I tried to lift in the carribean/mexico the collar fell off the barbell. Now I stick to margaritas, for safety reasons.

Illness could have easily also been latent food poisoning... ? Idk.

On the subject of Slayer and marriage: At the wedding, during the first slow dance song, we did a bride/groom only dance. In the middle of the song, one of my teammates yells out "SLAYER!!" lol.

Margaritas are safe as long as you dont have too many at a time. Its pretty easy to do that at these all inclusive places.

If this is food poisoning, it is unlike any that I have had before. In the past, I know I have had food poisoning three times, and all three times I was sicker than at any previous point in my life with terrible gut pain, stuff coming out both ends and and terrible dehydration. This is not like those times at all. I think I just had too much dairy too many times, plus night shade vegetables irritate my stomach and they put those in almost everything down there.

There is a food additive named carrageenan. Every time I eat something with this crap in it, I get the runs badly, so I typically read labels of any foods that I have not had before looking for this in the ingredients. Costco rotisserie chicken did not used to have this stuff in it, but Walmart and Cub did, so I would only eat the kind from Costco. I ate some from Costco Monday night. Tuesday, I started having stomach pain and the runs AGAIN. I read the label on the Costco chicken and they now are adding carrageenan to it.

Last night my stomach was sicker than at any point since going to Mexico. Whoever thought it would be a good idea to add carrageenan to food deserves a special place in hell.

5/8
dehydrated squats
155x5
245x5
335x3

briefs
425x2
515x1

suit & knee wraps
665x1 - ugly, but it would have gotten three white lights. My core got soft because I was weak due to being dehydrated - see above. I stopped after this. Its good to know I can get something around an opener when I am not feeling well. At this point, my plan is to open with 661.

I got some pepto bismol and that seems to be helping today so far. Hopefully this will be over soon.

So what you're saying is that I should have brought a big bottle of careeganen to your wedding as the perfect gift? Got it loud and clear!

Been a bit behind checking in, so here is a late Congratulations on the marriage!

yugo:

Thanks!