Rich's Final Countdown to the WNBF Pro U.S. Cup

[rich55]

Nice work!!!

Thanks Laurie!!! It's been a while since I've logged. I was due :-)

In to watch the road to glory! Get it!

Thanks Darren! The glory is in the gym. The rest is icing on the cake. I'll have to pop into your log to see what's cranking!

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TRACK CONDITIONING AT 27 DAYS OUT:

Hit up some church this am, cooked some lunch for the fam, kept the rugrats in line, then off to the track for some conditioning. First track workout in 15 years and it was coincidentally on a Tiger mascot track just like my old H.S. A giant Tiger stared me in the face as I walked up like...here we go!

"Tosh"
3 repeated rounds for time:
Run 200m - Rest equal time
Run 400m - Rest equal time
Run 600m - Rest equal time

23:48. 600 m rounds were rough. Tracked in the 34-37 range for 200's and 1:17-1:24 range for 400's, survived the 600's.

10 rds of 60 Single-Unders
Had a kinda beaten up speed rope at home, so I took it to the track. What a huge difference with the speed rope! I need to cut our 10-pack of speed ropes at Beyond Limits when I'm finished bolting our rig this week.

11:00. All 10 rds unbroken. Huge progress!

Wrist is feeling better thank God!! Gotta love a praying wife!

[Ice Cold 8180]

In to watch the road to glory! Get it!

[bull.dogz]

Nice work!!!

[rich55]

FINISHING UP THE WEEK! ROLLING UP ON 4 WEEKS OUT!!

I finished the week strong and lean, but a little banged up. One day at a time:



PUSH 30 DAYS OUT:

After Monday's assault stabilizers were just wrecked...which I why I usually bench heavy on Monday. Oh well, go hard!

Bench
45 x 10
135 x 8
185 x 6
225 x 5
235 x 4
245 x 3
255 x 3
260 x 2
225 x 7

Incline Bench
135 x 8
185 x 6
200 x 5
210 x 4
220 x 3
185 & 135 drop sets

High Crossovers & KB Chain Pushups
4 sets of cable crossovers high with maximum squeeze on upper chest with a superset up to 38 lb paused chain pushups elevated on kettlebells

6 minute AMRAP of 20 wall balls @ 20 lbs & 60 single unders
3 rds + 8 wall balls. 30 lb wall ball work last week made the 20 feel like nothing. I just suck at jumping rope. Keep on working!

DB Lateral Raises
30's x 15
35's x 15
40's x 12

Barbell Skulls
4 sets up to 95 lbs x 9

Pushdowns
Dynamic for reps, then last few REAL slow.

CLEAN UP FRIDAY & CONDITIONING @ 29 DAYS OUT!

Wrenched 5/8" x 5" lag screws into solid oak floor. Wrenched! Then trained a client & rushed a warm up. Legs were real warm. Wrists and forearms...probably done before I started.

3-point Clean & Jerk
From Hip, Above Knee, Below Knee & Split Jerk. Cleans felt awesome till the end.
75 lbs each
115 lbs each
155 lbs each
175 lbs each ----> below knee clean too powerful, lost balance bailed & tweaked wrist :-(

Cleaned from floor and confirmed wrist tweak. No front squats for me next.

Leg Extensions
Haven't done these in a long time, but need to improvise for quad load. Kept it light to ease into them as they can be tough on my knees starting back at them.
100 x 15
160 x 15
175 x 15
190 x 15

"Donny"
Wrapped my wrist with some heavy wraps. Tested some deads & burpees, then blast off. For time:
Deadlift 225 x 21
Burpees 21
Deadlift 225 x 15
Burpees 15
Deadlift 225 x 9
Burpees 9
Deadlift 225 x 9
Burpees 9
Deadlift 225 x 15
Burpees 15
Deadlift 225 x 21
Burpees 21

12:15. Did these unbroken up to final set of deadlifts @ rep 16. Took small breaks before deads to keep them good & clean. Sprinted final set of burpees real fast in about 40-45 seconds. Not too shabby considering my recent 100 burpee time is about 5 & 1/2 minutes.

Injury Report:
Knees are great, biceps tendonitis is barely there, now a wrist "tweak". My wrist was probably just waiting for that after the heaviest wrenching I've seen around our gym in 4 years. Calling it a tweak makes me feel better. Icing, ibuprofen, annointing & praying to God to carry me through as He always does. I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me!!

Took a rest day today. Refeed day as well, which is just fine with my metabolism. Running conditioning tomorrow, situps and maybe some jump rope depending on wrist. That was the protocol for today, but moved to tomorrow.

[rich55]

BIG BACK DAY - 31 DAYS OUT!

Tough day today, so I took it out on the weights and then hit up some church with the family to get my head right.

T-Bar Rows
Squeezing & stretching each rep.
90 x 10
135 x 8
180 x 6
195 x 5
205 x 4
205 x 3
180 x 7

Strict Chin-ups
BW x 23
25 lbs x 12
45 lbs x 8
45 lbs x 7
BW x 14

Barbell Curls
45 x 10
65 x 8
85 x 6
105 x 5
115 x 4
95 x 11

Farmer Walks
246 x 80 ft
346 x 80 ft
426 x 40 ft x 40 ft
246 x 16 shrugs + 80 ft walk x 12 shrugs

Terrible Curls
Hammer, hammer, across chest hammer, across chest hammer = 1 rep
35's x 8 each way
45's x 8
50's x 5
50's x 4

Straight Arm Pulldowns
5 sets of 12-20 reps

Leg Press Calf Raises
5 sets of 12-20 reps

Band Pull Aparts
Monster Mini for 3 sets of 15 reps

Seated DB Zottman Curls
30's x 10
35's x 8
40's x 5

I could have done more, but passed on conditioning. Straight sets of BB work is pretty easy at this point...even for 90 minutes. Conserved some energy for 3 conditioning workouts Thu-Sat and some tough deadlift work planned on Friday. Spreading it out for the week!

[rich55]

LEG DAY AT 32 DAYS OUT!!

FIGHTING INJURY & FINDING BALANCE:
Squatting has been a journey for me this past year. Last July I hurt my hip knocking me out of squats for 8 weeks, which opened my eyes into the world of CrossFit. I was pretty much incapable of doing any squat whatsoever, but I could deadlift, box jump, burpee, step up, power snatch and box jump. I was close to nailing 455 and had to work my way back up afterwards. I was playing with 405 for some reps after the New Year this year and then it just fell off with inconsistent accessory or regular work with a huge New Year's rush at Beyond Limits, the gym I own. At 8 or 9 weeks out I tweaked my knee doing some band work fighting to maintain a 395-405 squat in the 170 lb range of body weight. It's been a journey!

I view it as God's way of showing me to not venture into powerlifting too far without maintaining balance. Squatting has by far put more mass on my entire frame then any other movement. But, I need to run, jump, stretch, do conditioning work, all kinds of squats, oly work and adequate accessory work to keep things moving forward. Hence, my flare for powerlifting, bodybuilding and CrossFit infused workouts. It has brought me to the best shape of my life this season!

TODAY'S TRAINING:

Following the knee tweak, I was able to box squat 225 pretty badly, then 245, 265, 275 and then last week a non-box back squat at 325 with 5-second negative and pause after a ton of snatch drills and some front squats.

Back Squats:
3 or 4 second negative. Very low. Felt good on my knee to squat this way.
45 x 10
135 x 6
185 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 3
305 x 3
315 x 3
320 x 3
330 x 3

Full Snatch
Maintaining Oly work to slingshot after the fall comps. 90% work.
45 x 3
75 x 2
95 x 1
115 x 1
135 x 1
145 x 1
155 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 --> got sloppy on 2nd set and had to focus on pulling back on the 2nd pull

Glute Ham Raises
BW x 10
25 lbs x 8
35 lbs x 8
35 lbs x 8
BW x 16

Walking Barbell Lunges
Warm up with about 70 steps.
135 x 50 yards non-stop ---> PR!
135 x 50 more yards with quite a few breaks

Had some wall ball/running conditioning on the agenda, but opted for the most grueling lunge possible. Ran yesterday. Will do wall ball and jump rope work on Thursday. I'll throw in some rowing & toe-to-bar tomorrow (2 weaknesses) for conditioning, which is typically an off conditioning day.

Supplements
Orange Triad
Orange Oximega Greens
Pronom 23 Chocolate
Reduction AM/PM Shots
Green Magnitude
White Flood Reborn
Blue Gene

[rich55]

It's been a long while since I've logged online due to some insane workload increases with my family and growing gym. Controlled Labs has been immensely supportive of my bodybuilding journey since 2007. CL combined with some solid training; I felt compelled to log some prep notes going into these final 5 weeks toward the WNBF Pro U.S. Cup in CT on October 19. Here goes the final countdown!

CHEST, TRIS & CONDITIONING:

Hit a workout with WNBF Pro champion & 3rd in the World natty middleweight Trevor Sajdak. Chest & tris crushed pacing it out for feel.

Flat DB Press
65's x 15
80's x 12
95's x 10
110's x 5 x 5
85's x 18 ----> first 15 fast, last 3 real slow

Dips
BW x 15
45 x 10
80 x 8 x 8
45 x 10

Incline DB Flys
50's x 15
70's x 8 x 8
50's x quite a few. Fast then slow.

Rope Pushdowns
42.5 x 15
50 x 12
57.5 x 8 x 8

OH Rope Extensions
4 sets x 10

Drank down 1 scoop Purple PsyKo, 1/2 scoop Purple WrAAth & 1 Tbsp blue Gatorade. Then hit some conditioning:

"Elizabeth" WOD:
Power Clean 135 x 21 (11+10)
Ring Dip BW x 21 (15+6)
Power Clean 135 x 15 (8+7)
Ring Dip BW x 15 (8+7)
Power Clean 135 x 9 (6+3)
Ring Dip BW x 9 (unbroken)
5:11 PR ---> very clean, need to pick up the pace

Immediately into a 1 mile run

12:35 including a 30 yard meander through & out of our gym. 7 minute mile totally cashed. Not bad!

Notable Remarks:
Evening weight dipped to 170.4. On track to be ahead! Started Reduction AM/PM and green tea stack yesterday. Programming 90% of Competitor WOD or CrossFit NE's Open programming for conditioning on top of Bodybuilding & Powerlifting programming. What, what! Legs tomorrow.