Posts Tagged ‘Powerlifting’

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Today was deadlift day at the Heavy Hammer Gym. I actually broke this session into 2 parts because I did my main movement (deadlifts) with the Comet Strength Club team at the community college where I teach. I am also the strength coach and the advisor to the choir club and Dungeon’s and Dragons club. Here is what my full training session looked like:

Deadlift: 320x5x3, 405x2x1

Rack Pulls: 320x3x3

Hip Thrust: 140x3x15

Chin-Ups: bodyweight(220)x2,3(pronated); BWx4,3,3(supinated)

Hammer Curls: 25x2x15

Sorry there is no #dailyselfie and no video due to the deadlift two-parter. You will have to suffice with the deadlift meme I hope I can find.

Giant Set 1

Hammer curls 20x3x10

One arm tricep extensions 20x3x10

DB shrugs 50x3x20

Giant Set 2

Dip belt calf raises 75x3x20

Wrist curls/extensions 10x3x10

Upright rows 20x3x10

Giant Set 3

EZ curls (w/ arm blaster) 65x3x10

French presses 65x3x10

Cable rows 75x3x20

Bodyweight 219.6

Blood Pressure 104/64

Featured #dailyselfie wearing 22nd St Barbell hat, Lewis and Clark Jazz Fest cut-off (XL btw), Daredevil socks (with the little horns on the side), and my old Fila (yard mowing) shoes.

(Video main sets: 280×5, 320×5, 365×5)

My leverages are all off due to weight loss so I don’t think I hit depth very often, but it feels good to be under the weight again)

Warm Ups 170×5, 215×5, 255×5

Main 280×5, 320×5, 365×5

Boring But Big 215x5x10

Dip Belt Calf Raise 70x5x20

Leg Extension 75x3x10

Bodyweight 220.6 lbs

Blood Pressure 106/74

#dailyselfie 22 Street Barbell Hat, NASA Powerlifting T-Shirt, Samsung Gear S3 Classic Smart Watch.

​https://www.instagram.com/p/BPO5S84gzAP/

OHP – 190x3x3
OHP – 210x1x2
Upright Rows – 75x3x10
DB Shrugs – 55x3x20
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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)

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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”.

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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.

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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.

Sunday – Quads/Back/Calves

Front Squat – 205x5x8

Straight Arm Pulldowns – 70x5x8

Dumbbell Shrugs – 50x5x20

Standing Calf Raises – 405x5x12

Daily “Selfie” – This is my t-shirt from the 2015 APF Big Iron Iowa/Nebraska State Powerlifting Championships that I competed in last April.  Some of the sponsors of this meet were: Jim Grandick’s Big Iron Compound, Shawn Frankl’s Big Iron Gym, Strength and Power Equipment Company (www.snpequipment.com), Inzer Advanced Designs, and Powerlifter Today.  This is the next meet I hope to compete in sometime in April.2015-12-13-11.53.14.jpg.jpeg

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Here is my brief (lame) attempt at a book review:

This book was written by Dr. Mike Israetel (author of The Renaissance Diet), Dr. James Hoffmann (Exercise Science Professor at Temple University) and Chad Wesley Smith (Top 10 Raw Powerlifter of All-Time). This book is a comprehensive look into the elements that go into strength training.

Here is a look at what is covered in the book:

  • Specificity
  • Overload
  • Fatigue Management
  • SRA
  • Variation
  • Phase Potentiation
  • Individual Differences
  • Various powerlifting periodization schemes and their strengths/weaknesses
  • Myths, Fallacies and Fads in Powerlifting

This book will help you understand how to plan for different phases of training (hypertrophy, strength, or peaking) through which specific exercises to use.  It tells you how to program overload training sessions as well as deload sessions that help with fatigue and SRA.  The book goes into detail with how variation can help you, especially with individual personal differences.

I wholly recommend this book for anyone interested in strength training.  I am personally using it to devise my own training.

Hello Everyone,

I had a blast this weekend at the Quad City Strength and Fitness Expo in Davenport, IA.  It was a great weekend getaway for my wife and myself.  The all day admission was only $15.00. The CrossFit portion of this event was huge.  I didn’t watch much of it because, to be honest, it didn’t interest me all that much.  It did look like they were working hard and the audience was loving it.  There was a youth powerlifting demonstration and it was great to see kids getting into strength training.  There was arm wrestling and the Guns and Hoses (police and firefighter) strongman competition.  The Quad City Strongman Challenge and APF Powerlifting Meet were great.  Saw lots of great lifts on the powerlifting side and saw some strongman events that I haven’t seen in person before.  The strongman events were axel press, axel-tire deadlift, frame carry, yoke carry, atlas stone over bar, and crucifix hold.  There were a couple special guests that I got the pleasure of talking with for a while, Fred “Biggie” Smalls, IFBB Pro bodybuilder and the 3x World’s Strongest Man, Brian Shaw.  wpid-20150808_090114.jpg

Brian was awesome.  He signed my copy of his book and talked to me for a while about his training and competitions.  I also had the privilege of meeting Odd Haugen.

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Odd was also amazing.  He convinced me to give MAS Wrestling a try.  So…I actually competed in the MAS Wrestling tournament at the Quad City Strength and Fitness Expo.

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Here is me standing in my Official Athlete t-shirt.  (I will post some videos and pics in a little bit.)  I actually won 1 of my 4 matches and was probably in 4th place, even though I didn’t see my scores.  I really liked it and will probably try to do it again sometime.  I got to meet a great MAS Wrestling team from Oklahoma.  Very nice people, supportive, and gave very good advice.

I will definitely go back next year.  I will probably participate in the APF powerlifting meet and the MAS Wrestling tournament.  Maybe I will try the strongman contest.   I don’t know.  What I do know is that I had a lot of fun and that I will recommend it to all of my friends to attend.

The only bad thing about this weekend was that I didn’t get to train and my diet was terrible.  I am back to the grindstone today.