Thursday Night Shit Show

Thurs Mar 22/12

The gym feels like at least June the last few days, been pretty hot and sweatty.  Easy to get supple and soaking 2 shirts per day just being a regular everyday gorilla.

Thurs Mar 22/12

Rev Hyper- 2X20 @ 140

Pwr cleans- 135X4, 205X4, 205X4, 255X4

16 box squat-225X5, 315X5, 405X2, 455X5, 510X3, 570X1 (Belt on for 570)

Chins (various grips)- 4 sets of 6 +20lb
Neutral Grip DB Bench-100X6, 120X6, 120X6, 120X6 (201)

Ab Wheel- 4 X10

Sumo Tuggin' (Leaves a man mangled)

Tues Mar 20th 2012

SLER 4X8/arm

Military-135X8, 135X5, 180X5, 205X3, 230X1

Sumo DL (No Belt)- 225X5, 315X3, 405X3, 535X5, 605X3, 675X1 (First sumo pulling in years, its hard, it blew me apart)


DB Ext- 4 sets of 6 @ 40 (201)
FG BB Curls- 4 sets of 6 @ 95 (201)

Big week behind me

Thurs Mar 15/12

Military Press- 135X8, 175X3, 195X3, 220X3 (presc reps, but they weren't easy)

Push-press- 235X3, 255X3, 255X3, 225X3
Chins- 5 sets supersetted with military and push press FGX8 reps per set

DB Rows-150X12/arm X 4 sets

DB inlcine-95X10 X 3 sets
Face pulls-3 sets of 20

Cable pushdowns-2 sets of 20
DB Curls- 2 sets of 10


Friday March 16/12

16" Box squat- worked up to 500X1, 545X1, 575X1, 600X1

Sumo/conv/from blocks DL test- 405X3 per stance






Sat Mar 17/12

DE Log- worked up to 3X4reps @ 260

Circus DB- A bunch of singles on left arm

Farmers-200X150', 300X150', 300X100', 300X50'

Stones- 285 to 56" 3 sets of 5 Nice and easy as it should be, 350 to 60"X1



Sunday Mar 18/12

2 board press- worked up to 335X1, 340X1, 345X1, 350X1, 315X5
Band pull aparts after each set X20

CS DB row-4 sets of 12 @ 80lbs
1 Arm DB military- 4 sets of 12 @ 65lbs

2 way shoulders- 15lbs X 15/dir X3 sets
Machine Curls-3 sets of 15

Arnold Recap

A full week has passed since I got home from a very disastrous performance at the 2012 Arnold strongman.  I'm a sore loser and I not afraid to admit it.  I took this week and smashed myself in the gym and on events and I'm feeling like I'm over it.  A wise coach once said to me, after I had just placed 2nd at a show I expected to win. "Forget about the poor performance quickly, but don't ever forget how much is sucks to finish 2nd"  And I think that the same holds true here.  I'm over the poor performance, but I won't even forget the how much is sucked to sit in the crowd to watch the finals instead of being under the bright lights of the main stage.

 

I felt my training cycle leading into the Arnold was very effective and despite my poor performance, I still stand by the fact the prep cycle was sound.

Key Points:

My log press felt super strong at the lock-out and the video confirms this.  My split was not bad, and overall I just ran out of time on the 4^th after not pushing it up on the first attempt.  4 reps was my plan and I was about 5 seconds too slow.  (result: 320 log X3 reps)

I gave the medley too much respect.  On paper and in training this medley looked and felt beastly, but after it was all over, I wish I had attacked the yoke a bit harder.  I also fumbled the bag and that was just a dumb mistake. (850 yoke, 200bag, 340 farmers all 50’ X 38:81)  Farmers were a very high pick.

The Car DL was allegedly  heavier than 2011, I gambled and used a new suit (that I received via rushed shipping the night before we left for Columbus. Thanks to Rhaea Fowler at innerstrengthproducts.ca for getting the suit to me just in time). The suit turned out to be perfect, adjustable straps made getting just the right fit very easy.  This event was not satisfactory for me.  I got 4 or 5 reps with some slight flow, but felt super nasty on every rep after that, no touch and go was developed, each rep was a reset.  10 reps, attempted 11 and it was not moving. Every rep past 6 was feeling pretty nasty on my guts and I proceeded to vomit on the floor beside the car after I was done lifting, and continued to fill a garbage can in the athletes area.

After the vomit fest, I felt better in the guts but super tired and lazy.  I told myself that it was absolutely not acceptable to quit, and that I was capable of a decent stone carry and able to keep myself high in the standings.  This would not prove to come true regardless of what I set my mind to.  I felt confident and alert when my turn for the stone came up, but as I picked the stone and began to walk, I felt pretty weak and insignificant.  Both turns at 50’ and at 100’ were rough and out of control, I turned too early at 100’ and took a backward step.  At 100’, I felt as though I had carried the stone all afternoon.  I dropped out of fear of falling down and partially because I was irritated at myself for fucking up the turns.  This poor performance sealed my failure to make the finals. 

Final position 19^th.  This is extremely aggravating and unacceptable to me.  But its, the placing that I earned that day.  Nobodies fault but my own.  Time to get back to work and prep for the next show.

My initial reaction to not making the finals was to rearrange my flight and get the hell home asap.  Cooler heads prevailed and I stuck around for the rest of the weekend and it turned out to be an enjoyable few days off.  I got spend some time with JW (Trueman show) and Mcdole.  We took in some really great pro strongman on Friday and Saturday afternoons.  Sarah got some training in, both at the “doghouse” where Phil Harrington helped us out and gave some cues.  She also put a lift in at Metro Fitness where she deadlifted beside Dexter Jackson while he was doing a photo shoot. (Metro is a shitshow of people and photographers etc, so she tries to avoid it as much as possible but its close and training needs to get done)

The most notable thing about the weekend was the presence of Bill Kazmaier on the mainstage, calling the action during the Pro strongman.  His enthusiasm and vocabulary are as entertaining as the actual lifting itself.  I was constantly taking notes of Kaz quotes while we were there.

Random Kaz Quotes:

“That is thing of beauty”

“We no longer call him Hafthor, he’s full Thor now”

“ I believe he’s training, with a bigger weight than this’’ (Referring to Brian Shaw training with a 285lb circus DB)

“Can you say HIP DRIVE”  (While Mike Jenkins Pressed the DB)

“The iron snake, slithers through contests and occasionally takes a chunk out the athletes” 

“The hardest part of strongman training is knowing how much of your pitcher to pour out in the gym and still have something left for events”

“The only way to beat them, is to be smarter than the events”

“That tree has been around for about 400 years, so you better be pretty smart”

“It’s got a mind of its own”  (Referring to the Austrian Oak giant log press)

“He could not find the position, to ignite the fire and propel the rockets”

“If he finds his line of power, this could be a cinch for him”

“We’re in the stratosphere of no-man’s land”

“Take a look at the power of those glutes, deltoids and hips”

“He can pull it all together between his ears and make this happen”

“Let’s see you power and your will”  (Said to Mike Burke during the deadlift)

“He’s hungry for weights and iron and power”

“These iron warriors never quit”

“The moniker, ‘power monster’ is very suiting for poundstone”

“Do you have any idea of how many steaks, chickens and eggs are going to perish”

“You fire the rocket, and it’s the trunk that’s asked to stabilize”

“With a heaping helping of quadriceps”

“It starts to come alive, its an iron snake and it gets wiggly”

“The school bell is ringing, the classroom is here, Big Z is about to school you in the deadllift”

“The title, the trophy and the check”

Sarah also beaked the Kaz a bit too on Sunday.  She went and asked if she could get her pic taken and just as she did he got mobbed a bit as he came out of the curtains.  Sarah being polite, just waited till everyone was done bugging him and in the confusion of it all he started to walk away, and she just blurted out “OH Thanks a lot”  and he stopped in his tracks and apologized and posed for a pic with her. 

Dave's Back, like a bowss!

Tues Feb 14/12

13" Rack Pull (against bands)- yellow and orange pro short bands + 135X5, 225X3, 315X2, 405X1, 455X1, 495X1, 515X1
Lock-out was work, pulling forward very hard.

Front Squat-225X8, 275X8, 315X8, 315X8, 365X5 (Felt awesome tonight, no grinders)

Toes to Bar- 3 sets of 10
GHR- 3 sets of 10

Dave D just moved back to Renfrew, so it was awesome to have him back in the gym to train with. Looking forward to some intensity and good training with Dave back on the roster....Like a boss!










Mobility WOD

Band Pulling, great success!

Tues Feb 7/12

Rev Band DL (135lbs settles to the floor with the current band set-up)-315X5, 405X3, 495X1, 585X1, 675X1 (belt added now), 715X1, 740X1, 760X1, 785X1, 800X1

plate behind head sit-ups- 4 sets of 12 @ 25lbs

Weekend Jam session

Sat Feb 4th 2012
Events

Fat DB-75X5/arm, 125X3/arm, 125X3/arm

Log clean and press- worked up to 245X4, 275X4, 275X4 275X4, 205X4

Car DL-2 sets of 5

Stones-a few warm-up loads, 300X3 to 56", 300X5 to 56", 300X5 to 56", 350X3 to 56", 385X1 to 54" Stones felt super easy today.

Yoke/bag/farmers medley- 3 sets @ 405 yoke, 265 bag, 200 farmers (avg about 30 sec work and 3 mins rest)

Productive session


Sunday Feb 5th 2012

Bench- 135X8, 225X5, 275X3, 315X2, 340X1, 365X1
Face pulls-4 sets of 15

3 board press- +black short bands, 135X5, 185X5, 225X5, 225X5

DB Row-150X12/arm X 4 sets
GHR-3 sets of 10

1 Arm DB press-60X10/arm, 70X10/arm, 70X10/arm, 70X10/arm

KB T-get-ups- 35X3/arm, 53X3/arm X2 sets
(Short rest aprox 1 min)

Banded Blaster and a PR on the rower

Thurs Feb 2/2012

Banded push press- purple/black +105lbs 3 sets of 3, (added red bands to the purple and black and couldnt even come close to getting a rep)

Log clean pulls- 290 + doubled reds- 4 sets of 3

Log clean and jerk- 3 sets of 3 @ 190

T-bar row-4 sets of 12 @ 150

DB Floor press- 100X15, 120X12, 120X10, 150X1 drop 100X6 The 150's owned me.
Face pulls- 3 sets

500m Row-1:21.0 PR (very happy with this)


Heard this on the drive in, makes me think about Dave D

Band Assited pulls

Tues Jan 24/12

Rev Band DL-(135 settled to the floor with the band set up), 225X8, 315X5, 405X3, 495X3, 585X2, 635X1, 675X1, 705X1, 710X1, 725X1
all sets no belt, felt pretty good. Last rep went up well, was able to maintain good position, didn't want to be greedy.

Front SQ- 155X10, 225X6, 275X6, 315X6, 335X6, 320X6, 320X6

Pulldown abs-2 sets of 12@ 120 (super cramped up abs forced this to be cut short)



First song in the car this morning;  Sarah left the 80's channel on and this track was on, Awesome






Last song on the way in to work:  Not on the 80's channel.

Sunday Pressing

No events training this saturday, instead I was coaching my wife Sarah at the Ontario Powerlifting championships in Ottawa.  Here's the result.

Sunday Jan 22/12

Bench-135X10, 190X5, 225X3, 260X2, 305X1, 340X1,X1,X1,X1,X1 (all singles felt good)
Face pulls- 5 sets of 20

SLingshot close grip bench- 340X5, 355X5, 365X5

DB Row- 120X15/arm X 4 sets

1 arm DB press- 75X8/arm, 75X8/arm, 75X8/arm, 75X8/arm, 85X8/arm

Fast sesh, but got some good work in.

Thurs Pushing and Pulling

Thurs Jan 19/12

Military-135X8, 180X3, 205X3, 230X4
Chins-4 sets of 10

Push Press-255X2, 265X2, 265X2, 275X2



NOTE:  All military and push press work is ALWAYS cleaned from the floor.  I've been asked about why or why not to clean from the floor and my answer is always the same, "Have you ever had a press from the rack in a strongman contest?"

T-bar row- 100X10, 150X10, 175X10, 175X10, 175X10

Incline Bench-185X10, 185X10, 185X10, 185X10, 205X10
Seated DB pwr cleans-5 sets of 12

500m Row- 1:25.0 rest 5 mins, 250m row- 40.0

Decent sesh

Catch-up Post and some power texting (Stolen idea from Mark Bell)

January has been a whirlwind of chaos, and in the fitness business that's usually a good thing.

I'm pushing the limits of my mental and physical capacity at work and that's the way it's gotta be.  That's how I earn my paycheck.

This is my most Recent training:

Sun Jan 15th 2012
Events

Fat DB-75X5/arm, 125X3/arm, 145X3 left only.

DE Log- worked up to 3 sets of 3 @ 255, one clean. (Tightness in right sub-scap/teres made all pressing feel like shit, including DB)

Farmers-200X100', 270X50', 320X50', 370X50' (2 drops), 320X50' (370 felt pretty good on the pick and walking, grip was the weak link, handles were pretty cold, not sure how that would effect grip, probably not much)

Stones- 285X5 to 56", 300X5 to 54", 320X3 to 60"

Quick sesh, got the work in. Trained alone today.

Tues Jan 17th 2012

Kneeling jump to box jump (30") 2X3

Deadlift-135X8, 225X5, 315X5, 405X3, 495X1, 585X1, Suit and straps added, 675X1 Very poor position, 720Xfail, remove belt, 700X1 still poor position. (I concluded that my suit is now too small, it was a hinderance to my pulling, its so goddamn tight that I cannot force myself into the correct position to pull, my raw pull without a belt is likely better)

Front Squat-180X10, 275X10, 315X8, 315X6

GHR Sit-ups- 4 sets of 15

Very frustrated with this lost training opportunity. Did do some really awesome round back deads, so my back is fucking mangled for days.

I also have had 2 text conversations lately that I feel are worthy of being posted publicly.  One is a positive, and one is just really funny.

(My apologies to Mark Bell and PowerMag for stealing your idea, but it's only because Mark's power texting segement is awesome)
.

J. Foley:  Hey man, how did that event in Trenton go?  (In regards to the Annihilate Fundraiser)
.

Paulv: It went well, Rich is a turd burgular, and my peeps performed really well.  I was proud to be their coach, because they all executed all the events with technique that made me proud.  It really showed through that we put effort into coaching and the fact that we give a fuck about doing things correctly.
.

J.Foley:  Exactly man, I always think about how I would feel if I had to send kid's I coached to perform in front of other strength coaches.  Its a direct reflection of me and how I coach.  After I left the last institution that I coached at, the new guy that took my spot, contacted me and told me how blown away he was, by the quality of the form and execution of the kids at that school.
.

Paulv:  You left your mark. 
.

J. Foley: I'd rather have another strength coach tell me that they are impressed by the form that my guys (and girls) perform, rather than how much weight they are lifting.
.

Paulv:  I couldn't agree more.  It was glorious moment as a coach to see my peeps do things the right way, while some of the form that went on at the same event was supreme shit.  I had people watching the event comment on how well our guys looked and that was a big compliment to Sarah and I.
.

J. Foley:  This conversation should be posted somewhere.
.

Paulv: I'll power text that shit on my blog

.
.

UF Member:  So I was doing the third week of my deadlifts yesterday and the "with straps" dude is watching  me.  My top set was 490, and this abusing jerkoff's roundback 1RM is 495.  I pulled it for 4 great reps and couldn't lock-out the 5th. He said "what are you on?" I said, the 5/3/1, and the retard says he's never heard of that steroid before. Holy Fuck Man!
.

Paulv:  Is he calling Jim Wendler a drug dealer?  WOW.  I know you didn't bother to tell him that the 5/3/1 is a training method?!?  Awesome.

Events and some SSB Grizzle

Friday Dec 30th 2011
Trained at RMC in Kingston w/ Ricky, Smeagol and we briefly saw Joe Montgomery as we arrived.

Squats-Don't remember the work-up, it was all bonus work, got up to 2 sets of 1@515

Rack Pulls- a few sets

This was more of a social visit for me as I had already completed all my planned sessions for the week, I just did whatever Rick was doing.


Sat Dec 31st 2011
Events

Fat DB (plate loaded)- 125X3 per arm X 3 sets (all push press, no jerks)

Log (clean each rep) - worked up to 255X4, 255X3, 255X3, 265X3 Elbows were pretty sore and every clean was difficult.

Stones- 320 to 56" X3, X5, X5, X5 (tough on elbows but very happy to get the work in)

Yoke/farmers medley- 405 yoke X 50 + 200lb farmers X100 + 405 yoke X50 X3 sets (short rest intervals), 585 yoke X50 + 250 farmers X50' X 1 set



Tues Jan 3rd 2012

Kneeling jumps-1 set of 3
Box jumps- 3 sets of 3 to 39"

SSB Squat-135X8, 225X5, 335X3, 360X4, 360X4, 360X4, 360X4, 410X2, 410X2, 360X11 (instant upper back and quad grizzle)

Noteable dialogue from the lift;
Dane: How much does the bar weigh?

Paulv: All bars weigh 45lbs

Dane: Why is it so friggin' hard then?

Paulv: Because the SSB is harder, it pushes your forwards and its heavier than a regular barbell

Dane: But you just said it only weighs 45lbs!?!

Paulv: All bars weigh 45lbs, we don't care that its heavier, it doesn't matter, it still only counts as 45lbs, but your reg squat max wont count as your ssb max.



GHR-5 sets of 12

DB Side bends- 4 sets of 15 per side @ 150lbs

super grizzler, foam roll love affair to follow.