Archive for December, 2015

Wednesday – Shoulders/Arms @ B.I.G

Overhead Press – 165x2x10

Seated Dumbbell Press – 55x2x10

Hammer Curls – 35x2x10

Dips – Bodyweightx2x10

Grip Machine – 70x5x10 (then held for 20 sec)

Daily “Selfie” – This was one of my favorite shirts.  I haven’t worn it in a long time.  It is from the Dark Star Skateboard clothing line.  I didn’t know that when I bought it.  I just liked the warrior with the huge axe.  The reason I haven’t worn it in almost 2 years is because it is a XL.  I haven’t felt comfortable wearing anything smaller than XXL since.  I can finally fit back into it and feel semi-comfortable.  It is a little tight around the belly still, but I am working on that.#LoseTheBelly

2015-12-30-19.57.51.jpg.jpeg

 

2015 in review

Posted: December 30, 2015 in Announcements

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,100 times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 35 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Tuesday – Quads/Back/Calves

Front Squat – 210x2x10 (Tried a closer stance and felt a lot more quad involvement and felt a lot easier)

Bent Over Row – 175x2x10

Dumbbell Shrug – 100x2x20

Standing Calf Raise (Machine) – #38×20, #40×20

Daily “Selfie” – Because I did my workout at Shawn Frankl’s Big Iron Gym I couldn’t take my normal daily “selfie”.  I did however get a “selfie” in today.  This is my Big Iron Gym baseball-style t-shirt.  Sleeves are 3/4 length.  This is my “going’ out” shirt.  Also pictured, my Hammer necklace from Shields of Strength with one of my favorite bible passages on it: PHIL 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”20151229_150342.jpg

Monday – Chest/Arms

Dumbbell Bench Press – 62x2x10

Incline Bench Press – 175x2x10 (This was really hard.  Couldn’t seem to find the right position for the bench or rack height.  I could prop my feet on anything to get a solid base.  I am going to try that weight again next time after I figure out how to get it set up better.)

EZ Bar Curl – 95x2x10

Close Grip Bench Press – 195x2x10

Shoulder Complex – 5x2x10

Daily “Selfie” – This is one of my Christmas presents.  It is a t-shirt with one of my favorite hero/anti-heros, the Hulk.2015-12-28-18.56.37.jpg.jpeg

 

Over the past few days I took an impromptu deload week.  My family traveled to spend Christmas with my wife’s parents.  I did not get any workouts in (unless you count running around in Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6: Siege for Xbox One).  I figured in this post I would talk about the awesome training related gifts I got for Christmas. (These are a mix of gifts from my side of the family and my wife’s side as well)

20151228_170949.jpg

Pictured above:

Pudzianowski Poland T-shirt – This is a t-shirt from one of my favorite strongmen Mariusz Pudzianowski from Poland (where my mother’s side of the family came from.)

Home Depot Gift Card – This gift card is going to be used to do the DIY project: DIY – Home Made Deadlift Blocks – YouTube (will probably mix together a couple different sources)

The Perfect Man: The Muscular Life and Times of Eugen Sandow: Victorian Strongman by David Waller – This book is about one of the first great strongmen/bodybuilders ever.  When I am finished reading it I will post a book review on the blog.

Iron Nation: Passion for Hard Training by Bob Whelan and Drew Israel – This book is full of interviews with greats in the lifting world.  It was written to”chronicle the most significant developments in the filed of strength training…”

Beast T-shirt – This t-shirt was made specifically for me.  On the back it says Heavy Hammer Gym.  I will probably wear it in one of my Daily “Selfie” pics soon.

CAP Loadable Dumbbell – This DB will come in handy.  I have a set of DBs, but they only go up to 50 lbs.  I have surpassed that weight.  I had another loadable DB that I used to train 1-arm DB press for Strongman.  With both of them I can now do my normal DB routines and be able to go up in weight.  (Today I did 62 lbs each DB. Yes I know that is a random number, but that is what they figured out to weigh.)

Not Pictured – another t-shirt that I will post in my next Daily “Selfie”.

20151228_171349.jpg

Pictured Above:

2 framed photos: Top – Jón Páll Sigmarsson – another one of my favorite strongmen.  This is a picture of when he competed in a bodybuilding show. Bottom – Mariusz Pudzianowski – a picture of the man that goes along with the shirt from before.

20151227_193557.jpg

Pictured Above:

Stamina Air-Resistance Bike – This exercise bike will help with my cardio and general health.  Heavy Hammer Gym has been missing a cardio/conditioning section.  I now have three pieces of indoor cardio equipment – a InMotion Compact Elliptical (also Stamina brand), this stationary bike, and a jump rope.  This goes along with my outdoor cardio equipment – a pair of farmers walk handles, a couple semi-tires, and one small(ish) tractor tire. My brother-in-law gave me the handy-dandy seat cover and it has already being used.

Not Pictured: some other random stuff like beef jerky, turkey jerky, deer jerky, bacon jerky, Gatorade, and Gatorade powder. Also got some Amazon gift cards.  I used them today to purchase a few more training related items.  As soon as they come in I will post pics of them too.

Screen Shot 2015-12-23 at 10.40.01 AMScreen Shot 2015-12-23 at 10.40.10 AM

Summary: Everything is good.  Protein is low (as always). Also, I missed eating supper.

Tuesday – Quads/Back/Calves

Front Squat – 205x2x10

Bent Over Rows – 170x2x10

Dumbbell Shrugs – 50x2x20

Standing Calf Raises – 405x2x10

Daily “Selfie” – Well…I have never been to Ultimate Fitness.  I got this t-shirt at a Goodwill store for $1.00.

2015-12-23-10.34.23.jpg.jpeg

This year WITCC hosted another Comet Strength Club Lift-a-Thon. We are going to try to host two every year.  This one was called the Hoist For The Holidays being so close to our winter break.fb_img_1449263759339.jpg

We only had a few lifters actually show up, but we had a nice audience and had some good lifts.  Here are the results:

Kenneth Schmidt – 245lbs, SQ 365, BP 225, DL 475 = 1065lbs total = +4.35%

Nick Bennigsdorf – 190lbs, SQ 315, BP 245, DL 385 = 945lbs total = +4.97%

Devin Husted – 205lbs, SQ 365, BP 235, DL 425 = 1025lbs total = +5% (Awarded Best Lifter)

Me – 232 lbs, SQ 455 (passed on 3rd attempt), BP 335, DL 475 (passed on 3rd attempt) = 1265lbs total = 5.45%

We also did a MAS Wrestling demonstration.

wpid-20151105_142655.jpg

 

Monday – Chest/Arms

Finally got down to Shawn Frankl’s Big Iron Gym.  It felt great to be back.  A bunch of the guys are preparing for a meet in January so there was a lot of benching going on. I was lucky to be able to snag a bench and watch a ton of weight being moved.

Bench Press – 135×10, 185×10, 225x2x5, 275x2x3, 300×1, 315×1

EZ Bar Curl – 40×10, 45×10,50×10, 55×10, 60×10

Daily “Selfie” – Forgot again…

This deload week has been funny.  I maxed on bench and deadlift on Monday and Tuesday to prepare for the CSC Lift-a-thon.  I didn’t get a chance to workout on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.  I did get to lift today, but I didn’t do my prescribed workout.  I am going to chalk this deload week up to needing to re-focus mentally.  Here is what I did:

Bench Press – 135x3x10

EZ Bar Curls – 75x5x10

French Presses – 75x5x10

While I worked out I watched Mark “Smelly” Bell and Silent Mike at supertraining06 on Youtube.  Here is a link:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLPy6BEgH1fD3DOgwX-x_Hg

Daily “Selfie” – Forgot to take one today… 😦