Rich's New Beginning: WNBF Pro Stage in 2009!

[rich55]

I'm looking forward to finding out what the new business venture is! Oh and I'm definitely going to need some tanning too come March/April. I'm probably going to frighten people with my blinding paleness the first few times at posing practice, bwaha.

I'll definitely keep you posted. Building a little base definitely helps prior to the fake tanning.


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BACK IN THE GAME!

I decided to start off with upper body to get the blood flowing again up top. Started off real strong, but fatigued REAL fast after 5 days off. Legs are on the agenda tomorrow.

2-Board Press
45 x 10 no board
135 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 3 ---> PR

Rack Chins
Bench grip with static hold at top.
BW x 10
25 x 10
45 x 8
70 x 6
70 x 6
- SUPERSET -
Flat DB Press
70 x 8
95 x 8
110 x 7
110 x 4

Close-Grip Underhand Pulldowns
170 x 10
190 x 8
190 x 8
- SUPERSET -
Incline DB Flys
65 x 10
70 x 9
70 x 6

Started to really fade right about here.

Hammer Behind Neck Press
45/side x 10
70/side x 10
90/side x 9

Rope Cable Rows
160 x 10
180 x 7
- SUPERSET -
DB Upright Rows
30 x 10
40 x 9

Standing DB Curls
Simultaneous and supinated.
30 x 10
35 x 8
35 x 8 alternating
- SUPERSET -
Triceps Dips
BW x 15
BW x 12
BW x 10

Felt like I was going to pass out in the end. I'm glad I did upper body first to get back into the swing.

[rich55]

BACK AFTER LEGS

My entire upper body is sore, especially my back. And after this one on Saturday, my legs are equally sore. I eased back into a bit and tried to be cautious particularly on the SLDL's.

Band/Box Squats
100+ lbs of band tension at top and sitting on box. Probably had more on 315, but just wanted to get back after 11 days since heavy legs.
45 x 10
95 x 6
135 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 1

Straight Leg Deads
Again just wanted to get back into the game and keep my lower back happy.
135 x 8
225 x 8
315 x 8

Walking DB Lunges
BW x 10/leg
50 x 10/leg
90 x 10/leg ---> surprised how good these felt with the break

I farmer walked these back to the rack after 20 steps of lunges and then right back into 3 sets of Pop Squats along the same distance for some dynamic/athletic work to finish. My lungs burned for an hour afterwards and the lemonade Purple Wraath didn't taste as well coming back up a bit.

Standing Calf Raises
180 x 10
200 x 10 ----> cramping as I was just toast

Off today and Monday as well to hit either Push or Pull on Tuesday depending on which recovers better.

[jiritt0]

BACK AFTER LEGS

Band/Box Squats
100+ lbs of band tension at top and sitting on box. Probably had more on 315, .

equal tension at the top and bottom of the ROM negates the purpose of bands...

you either work on above RM eccentrics or accomodating resistance concentrics with bands, and thus have the tension at either the top or bottom of the ROM not both

[rich55]

equal tension at the top and bottom of the ROM negates the purpose of bands...

you either work on above RM eccentrics or accomodating resistance concentrics with bands, and thus have the tension at either the top or bottom of the ROM not both

I'm really surprised that you actually said that and highly disagree. Sitting on the box with bands forces more hip involvement and power production out of the whole then without the box. The best squatters in the world use both methods at once. I'm not trying to simply emulate Westside programs either, but I can honestly feel the effectiveness of the exercise. I'm not just some novice messing around here man.

[rich55]

See my vid below. I'm glad I went back to this as it reminds me that I should rock 325 for 2 easy later this week. Makes me feel better about last week.

Band/Box Squats:

[rich55]

PULL IS DONE

Yeah, that is all I have to say about that workout. It's done. CRAZY busy and I found 45 minutes of free time to squeeze it in. I'm still out of the swing and just fatigued. Running around and training people for 7 hours prior just took it out of me. Can't wait to January to move on with the new biz. I have not time tomorrow to lift, so I will hit push on Thursday hard. All is well, but we just have a priority right now.

[jiritt0]

Sitting on a box does recruit more of the hips, but in terms of accomodating resistance through the use of bands, you either have the tension develop during the concentric phase or eccentric phase, you can't have both (an equal tension at the top and bottom of a ROM) like you stated.

To have both you would have a band strung pulling to the ground, and another band strung pulling to the ceiling, which would negate each other, create no accomodating resistance and thus be identical to the resistence of a weight plate on the bar.

sitting down and back onto a box is a different thing; which does engage the hips/gluteals more, and in my personal opinion is the ideal way to squat (even without the use of a box)

another thought you may wish to consider is to avoid the slight rocking/hip extension when you touch on the box; tap and go or briefly pause and go, don't rock (could cause a very painful injury someday) -- the rock also provides mometum which will reduce the work throughout the hips

getting your elbows under neath the bar more will also help generate force in a vertical direction, once you are used to it, esp. if you visualize pushing the bar up as your legs fire (will also help keep the torso stable through contraction of the back)

again, im not being insulting to you or your training knowledge/technique/whatever, I'm merely providing thoughts and suggestions so you can hopefully benefit some...

take it or leave it, but even the most advanced can benefit from advice,thinking, and discussion...even just writing this little post made me look up some more info on westside and want to buy louie's books/dvds even more

[rich55]

The longer I am in this game, the more I realize I have to learn. Tension is obviously not the same at the top and bottom. I am not actually rocking off the box, but actually pushing with my glutes and then engaging my hips. My knees aren't moving. Doing them this way feels great it every possible way and attacks my weak hips. I used to not like boxes because I felt many use them as a crutch and they do. But, here it actually strengthening portions of my squat. That is what it's all about.

Again, look at this best squat progressions in the world and they employ both bands/chains and boxes together. It works. I know you weren't trying to be insulting, but it's like walking up to the lead trainer/owner of the gym unsolicited and telling him his form or exercise is bad/useless.

[jiritt0]

again, I apologize; best of luck...

[rich55]

again, I apologize; best of luck...

Really, no worries. Just trying to share my point of view. I have people all the time give me tips or little tidbits of info, but there is just a different way to go about it.

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QUICK NOTE: Enjoying the night off with the fam. Exhausted from my workload starting the new biz, but will get some rest tonight. I will have a productive day including a killer push workout.

[rich55]

THE GOOD, BAD & HAVING A PLAN:

Well the bad news is that my training has not been as structured the last few weeks and my nutrition has suffered due to burning the candle at both ends. Or rather, just taking the candle and torching it with a flamethrower, haha. This is a first in 7 years, but my wife reminded this is also the first time I have ever had a business venture like this.

The good news is that I am still bigger and stronger than I have ever been. So, I really just need to hang in there over these next 4 weeks. I have actually written out my push, pull and leg workouts so that I have a plan of attack going in. With lack of time, energy and occasional mental ability, not having to think will help me to come in and just go to work. I will be sticking to heavy movements to start my workout and then finishing with supersets to pound my body parts and expedite the workouts.

[rich55]

HIGHLIGHTS OF LAST TWO DAYS

Highlights are going to have to do for now. Push yesterday was pretty lousy, as I was just beat tired and sweating even felt weird. Today's leg day felt MUCH better as I probably left some in the tank.

2-Board Press- 325 x 0 sad after nailing 315 x 3 last week. This is mine next week!
Flat DB Press- 115 x 4
Heavy Band/Box Squats- 315 x 2, got back up to where I was before I left
Deads- 405 x 3, felt good, probably had a few more
Walking DB Lunges- 95 x 6 before having to take a few breaths and finishing all 10 steps/leg. SO getting all 10 of these next week without breaking stride!

Oh, and some triceps torturing tri-sets with less than 10 seconds between each and then resting two minutes for 3 tri-sets:

EZ Bar Skullcrushers to forehead 5-7 reps - 60, 70, 80 lbs
DB Skullcrushers 3-5 reps - 30 lbs which got hard 2nd and 3rd time through
JM Presses 10-15 reps - 50 lbs at end

Will be working this for the next month after a bunch of pressing and plyo pushups.

[rich55]

STILL GETTING AFTER IT!

Just noticed that I've now done a full cycle of work with no posts. My bad! Things are still crazy busy all the way until about 6pm tomorrow with clients and administrative work. BUT, then I get a full 4 days off as we travel to Nashville to visit with Angie's family for Christmas. I plan on hitting a nearby World Gym down there though on Saturday and Sunday. Some highlights of the work:

Band/Box Squats: 315 x 2
Deadlifts: 405 x 3 ----> just some maintenance deads
Walking Lunges: 95 x 7 step/leg w/o stopping
Rack Chins: 70 x 6
Hammer Strength Pull & Shrug from Knee: 320 x 10
Flat Bench: 275 x 3 ----> nice & controlled

Hit my biceps and triceps trisets the last two days, which I'm digging. I need to keep my workouts to 60 minutes and its helping too. Oh, and I'm loving the White Flood and Blue Up as it is helping me get after it. Legs tomorrow and back again on Wednesday before taking off Christmas Eve and Christmas.

[bull.dogz]

Merry Christmas Rich!!

[rich55]

Merry Christmas Rich!!

Thanks Laurie! Merry Christmas to you too!

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Christmas and Tossing Waffles

Angie, Ava and I had a wonderful Christmas! James joined us for our trip down to Nashville for 3 nights. Our trip highlights included endless games of Fill or Bust, insane amounts of food, music, singing and tons of laughs. To top it of we were forced to stay this evening at Holiday Inn somewhere north of Louisville due to ice and snow. So, our trip is not yet over, but the good news is that I get to spend some more time with my girls.

Every trip to Nashville always leaves a warm feeling in your heart due to all the joy and love that Angie's family spreads. It was nice to share that with James who now feels right at home there. I was unable to squeeze in a workout before we left, so I was able to blast some legs down on the trip. I showed my cousin and brother-in-laws a thing or two about legs on the trip. It had been over a week since I had trained legs due to Christmas, so I wanted to kill it. Mission accomplished!

Squats
Hadn't done regular squats in a while, but felt real good. Totally not used to squatting in a mirror and really watched my form going down really controlled.
135 x 10
225 x 8
275 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 2
385 x 3
225 x 30 ---> hit 17 straight without slowing down. This killed me.

Lying Leg Curls
Nausea totally sit in on this one and my hams were lit up from squatting.
100 x 10
120 x 10
130 x 8

Hyperextensions
2-second hold at top.
BW x 10
25 lbs x 10

Honestly, had nothing left after this. My quads, hams and lower back were tore up. A cold sweat hit me and I was trying to keep down my Purple Wraath to the best of my ability. On the way home we had to pull over as my mouth began to water pre-vomit style. As soon as I opened the car door, I tossed my waffles from breakfast something fierce. James, Danny and Jason couldn't help but laugh. If you train legs beyond limits then it just comes with the territory. Back and bis tomorrow!