Patiently Waiting

The last 2 sessions are the start of my deload into the Arnold's this friday.  Preparation is complete, I'm patiently waiting for friday.  Its going to be great to compete again.  Training is fine and dandy, but nothing compares to the real deal.


Sat Feb 26th 2011
Events (deload)

Log clean and press each rep - 185X5, 205X5, 185X60 sec (11 reps)
Nice and easy, just getting a sweat going.

Farmers-160X60', 230X60' (turns at 30')

Backward sled drag- (5 plates) 3 trips of aprox 150' (turns at 75')

Stones- 285X3 to 54", 285X3 to 54", 320X3 to 54", 320X1 to 60"

Axle clean and press each rep- 200 X 60 sec (forget how many I got, focus was on being clean and efficient with my clean process)

Good conditioning and tech practice, went mostly to help coach and load for the guys that have been loading for me during my arnold prep. They are getting ready for the montreal show.


Sunday Feb 27th 2011
ACC

Pwr cleans- 3X3 @ 215
Box Jumps- 3X3 @ 39"

GHR-2 sets of 10
GHR sit-ups- 2 sets of 15

Incline DB press- 60X10, 90X10, 120X9
Face pulls-3 sets of 20
Chins- 3 sets of 10

DB side raise-50 reps @ 15lbs
DB rear raise- 30 reps @ 15lbs
Seated cable row- 30 reps @ 100

Felt like I did nothing, got a bit of a pump on with the upper and then shut it down.

Heavy Press, Fast Pull

Feb 24/2011
MAF

Extended Dynamic mob warm-up  (despite the lighter loads, tuesdays squats left me pretty stiff)

DE Deads- 6 singles at 455, all felt crisp, starting position felt nice and tight.

Swiss/football bar bench- 180X8, 270X5, 320X2, 360X1, 380X1, 400X1, 320X9
These felt solid tonight, but my shoulders and elbows were a bit beat up afterwards.

DB rows- 150X10/arm, 150X20 left, 150X20 right, t-bar row drop set 3 plates X16 rest/pause X8

DB military- 80X6, 100X6, 80X10 drop 60X7, 40X8

500m row- 1:26.1

Filthy Tuesday

Tues Feb 22/2011
MAF

Military- 135X8, 150X5, 175X5, 200X10

Squat-135X10, 225X8, 315X5, 380X4, 380X4, 380X4, 380X4, 435X2, 435X2, 435X2 (took an additional double beyond the plan as the previous set was not satisfactory), 380X11

GHR-3 sets of 15
DB side bends- 150X15/side, 150X20/side, 150X20/side

500m row- 1:25.2, rest 8 mins, 1:31.5

Recovery between rows in getting better, I'm still completely blown apart after the second one though.  I remember when I used to row 3 500's after every training session. Back when I wasn't a big crying baby.

Weekend Update

Three solid sessions occurred in the last few days along with some extra rest and recovery with the long weekend.  I made a point to treat my long weekend as most people should.  Doing a whole lot of nothing.


Thurs Feb 17th 2011
MAF

DE Squats - (315 + green bands) 6 sets of 2, speed was fair, focus on efficient change of direction at the bottom.

2 board press- 225X5, 275X3, 315X1, 365X1, 385X1, 400X1, 415X1, 315X9
Chins- 4 sets of 10 mixed in with the bench work-up

DB military- 3 sets of 10 @ 80lbs
DB rows- 150X16/arm, 150X15/arm, 150X13/arm

500m row- 1:29.6




Saturday Feb 19th 2011
Events (final heavy events leading into Arnold's)

Axle clean and press- 220X4, 270X4, 300X3 (sloppy cleans, rushing too much), 300X2 (16 sec, no rush, very relaxed approach)  330X1 Felt the same as 300

Farmers- 230X60', 300X60', 330X60', 360X60'  (all sets had a turn at 30')  last 2 sets felt nice and fast.

Yoke-worked up to 865X60' (drop turn @ 30')  Just working my pick and start, speed was good but to be expected at lower weight.

Stones- 320-350-385 to 54"-51"-51", 385 to 51 X1, 385 to 54" X1, 350 to 60" X1



Sunday Feb 20th 2011
ACC

Feel good shoulders X2

DB incline- TUT 45sec, rest 1:30  3 sets
Chins- 4 sets of 15, various grips and bars

DB rear raise- TUT 45 sec, rest 1:30, 3 sets

DB side raise- 3 sets of 20
Face pulls - 3 sets of 20

Lat pull downs- 3 sets of 20

Prowler drag- 5 trips (aprox 60')  420lbs on ashphalt.  Fairly difficult but not max output.

Solid Session

Things came together pretty good last night.  Actually wish I had done a bit more, but overall I feel like I worked hard on the things that I did do.

Tues Feb 15/2011
MAF

Feelgood shoulders X2 + T-spine extensions

Military press- 135X8, 155X3, 170X5, 195X3, 215X5 (I pre-set a limit of 3 reps for myself but they went up really nice so I went to 5, still nice and easy)

OrtMag Deadlift- 225X5, 315X3, 405X3, 520X4, 520X4, 520X4, 520X4, 590X2, 660X2, 520X9
(I put my belt on for the 590 and 660 sets)

GHR Sit-ups-3 sets of 15 w/black band
Cossack Squats- 3 sets of 20

500m row- 1:27.0
rest aprox 7 mins
500m row- 1:29.9


660X2 Deadlift

2nd Last Heavy Events

The title of this post refers to the fact that I only have 1 heavy Events session and then a deload leading into the Arnold's.

Saturday Feb 12th 2011
Events

Axle- worked up to 300X4. A bit outside the time limit here. But I think I've got my process ironed out.

Car DL- 6 holes X5, 4 holes X5, 3 holes X8 (holes showing on the handles)
Toyota Matrix, Suit and straps

Yoke- worked up to 860X60', nice and controled, felt fast and ready to go. (Drop turn at 30')

Stones- tried out "spider tack", it was a bit of a disaster. The tacky is super sticky and is great for a heavy single (tricky to let go of the stone after its loaded) but sucked it pretty bad on all attempted runs. After 1-2 stones the tacky picked up any and all dirt and was useless. It actually was pulling off old tacky from the stones. Very disappointed.
285-300-320-350-385 to 60-56-54-51-51 (I was never able to complete the run without stopping to rest and retacky. Even the light stones were slipping and dropping.) Pretty much a waste of effort.
385X1 to 51, 385X1 to 51, 285X75 seconds (6 reps) to 54"

If anyone has any insider tips on how to make this "Spider Tack" work well, I'd love to hear from you.

I got asked why I use weights that are lighter than the actual weights that we will be using at the arnolds.
There are a couple of reasons:
1) Training close to (90-95%) of the actual contest weight has worked well for me in the past, it allows me to improve my technical execution, while still being heavy enough to present similar strain to the actual weights.

2) It sets me up for a positive mental state towards each event, and prevents what I call "a mind fuck" in the last couple weeks leading into the show.  I have handled the actual contest weights earlier in the training cycle, but now's not the time to get frustrated or fill your head with negative thoughts towards each event due to struggling through a training session.

3) I feel that I usually underperform in the training garage.  The mental arousal of competition is where my best performances occur.  There are some occasions that I get fired up and really smash a training session, but it still pales in comparison to where I take myself on game day.  (Basically, I save it for the big show)

Massive Update

I seem to struggle with blogging, but dammit I will not let this one slide.

I have not made a post since leaving for the Ontario Powerlifting Championships and then off to mexico for a vacation (Which was awesome by the way).

I have kept up all my training and stuck to the plan.  I will get right back into posting all my training as well a few new features that I want to bring forward.  (I got a few really great suggestions from a UF client.  Thanks Patrick)


With all the sniveling and excuses aside, the main reason why I'm posting today is to anounce the very exciting debut of Sarah Leighton's Training Blog.  (Sarah is my wife and business partner)

She's been kicking ass on the powerlifting scene for going on 3 years now, but has remained a bit of a recluse when it comes to marketing herself and posting her training.
Finally it she will open the book and post her training and other opinions I'm sure on her new blog.

Check it out:  Super Sarah Strength