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Thursday – Hamstring/Back
Sumo Deadlift – 310x4x8
Stiff Leg Deadlift – 185x5x8
Seated Row – 85x5x8
Barbell Shrug Behind – 185x5x8
Daily “Selfie” – This is a t-shirt from the 8th annual Lewis and Clark Jazz Festival. This is the festival that I coordinate for my school. This year will mark the 10th annual as well as my 6th festival experience. 
Tuesday – Quads/Back
Front Squats – 200x5x8
Bent Over Rows – 165x5x8
Dumbbell Shrugs – 50x5x20
Daily “Selfie” – This is the shirt I got from my family for my 30th birthday this summer. I know that I am still young by a lot of standards, but I was very nervous about trying to be a competitive strength athlete at 30 years old. I had lifted weights before (HS football, College football, etc.) but never consistently, and certainly never for competition. When I took up lifting to get in shape after my daughter was born (I was 29), I never thought I would be doing it this way. I figured I would weight train to lose weight because I hate cardio. I never, in a million years, would have thought that I would have my own training/diet blog, sell protein powder and other supplements, win two medals and one trophy in powerlifting meets, compete in a strongman contest, compete in a MAS Wrestling tournament, start a strength club and a MAS Wrestling team at my work, and become a certified personal trainer ( I am currently working on the program). This has been one of the best decisions of my life. I am healthier than I have been in a long time, I have goals to work towards, and I am having fun. I just want to take this time to thank the person who has been by my side through my journey of becoming even fatter than I was (I blame her cooking being so good) and completely changing my life. My wife has been a steady support system who let me take over our basement and turn it into a gym, who let me start business ventures in supplements that she didn’t really understand at the time, and who let me drop money into a “hobby” that turned into a new lifestyle. I love you babe!!! (not sure how I got this whole story out of a picture of my t-shirt)
Thursday – Hamstrings/Back
Sumo Deadlift – 300x4x8
Stiff Leg Deadlift – 175x4x8
Seated Row – 75x4x8
Barbell Shrug – 175x4x8
MAS Wrestling – did a little MAS Wrestling at school with the Comet Strength Club I started. Worked on some grip and technique.
Daily “Selfie” – This is in support of my favorite team of all time…the Notre Dame Fighting Irish! Probably one of the best and most storied football teams and schools in American history. To all all the “haters” out there, (you know who you are *cough, cough ISU sucks cough, cough*) just stop being jealous and get over it.
Tuesday – Quads/Back/Calves
Front Squat – 185x4x8
Bent Over Rows – 155x4x8
Dumbbell Shrugs – 50x4x20
Standing Calf Raises – 405x4x10
Daily “Selfie” – One of my favorite WWE/WWF Legends T-shirts. It has Jake “The Snake” Roberts, “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, Ultimate Warrior, “Rowdy” Roddy Pipper, “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan (my favorite wrestler), and apparently “Stone Cold” Steve Austin is an ’80s Legend now…hmmmm
Thursday – Hamstrings/Back/Calves (I also did Friday’s workout today due to the Thanksgiving holiday…I don’t think I can get in a workout tomorrow – Chest/Arms)
Sumo Deadlift – 275x3x9 (This is coming along nicely. I hope I can work up to a max higher than my conventional)
Stiff Leg Deadlift – 155x3x9
Seated Rows – 60x3x9
Barbell Shrug – 155x3x20 (1st time trying behind the back, will alternate these every other week)
Standing Calf Raises – 375x3x12
Dumbbell Bench Press – 50x3x9
Spoto Press – 155x3x9
Preacher Curl Machine – 90x3x9
Standing Skull Crushers – 75x3x9 (used EZ Bar)
Wrist Curl/Extension – 17x3x9
Daily “Selfie” – This is one of my newly purchased “bro-tanks.” – It says “Got 99 problems but a BENCH ain’t one.” I really liked seeing workout slogans/pictures on t-shirts at Walmart. 
Tuesday – Quads, Back, Calves
Front Squat – 145x3x9
Bent Over Row – 145x3x9
Dumbbell Shrugs – 50x3x20
Standing Calf Raises – 355x3x20
Daily “Selfie” – This my Iowa’s Strongest Man T-shirt that I purchased at the Quad City Strength and Fitness Expo. I hope to maybe compete in Iowa’s Strongest Man someday. I am also wearing my Elitefts Strong(er) Lever Belt. I might have to get another one. I have lost so much weight that I don’t really have a way to make it smaller anymore.
Thursday – Hamstrings, Back, Calves
Sumo Deadlift – 225x2x10 (Really, this my first time trying sumo dl) – This actually felt really good. I might switch my competition DL style to sumo and use conventional in 1 training block.
Stiff Leg Deadlift – 135x2x10
Seated Row – 50x2x10 – My version is close to regular except, at home, I only have the Spud Econo Pulley system so I can’t get quite the right angle.
Barbell Shrug – (Kaz Shrugs today) – 135x2x10 – Kaz Shrugs are using a narrow grip for 10 reps, switching to a normal grip for 10 reps, and then switching to a wide grip for 10 reps. I did this and counted all 3 grips as 1 set. So, technically, I did 2 sets of 30 reps.
Standing Calf Raises – 275x2x10
Daily “Selfie” – This is my Gorilla Bench T-shirt. I won it in a Facebook Give-Away. One of my favorite shirts. Fits nicely and feels lightweight. On the back it says, “Training – Its like wrestling a Gorilla. You don’t quit when you’re tired, you quit when the Gorilla is tired.” You can purchase them here: http://www.gorillabench.com/index.html
Tuesday – Quads, Back, Calves
Front Squat – (first time really trying these) 45×10, 65×5, 95×5, 135×5 – My mobility in wrists, elbows, and shoulders is fairly poor. I had trouble using the OLY style grip. I ended up using the crossed arms style. It worked for now, but as it gets heavier I don’t know if that will work. I will keep working my mobility so I can use the proper grip.
Bent Over Rows – 135x2x10
Dumbbell Shrugs – 50x2x10 (heaviest dumbbell I have right now)
Standing Calf Raises – 225x2x10
Here is my daily training “selfie”. Here I am wearing my Shaw Strength T-shirt that I got from Brian Shaw himself at the Quad City Strength and Fitness Expo this year. I got to talk to him privately for almost half and hour. It was great picking his brain on training, competing, and recovering from injury.
Monday – Bench Press – 255x3sx4r
Close Grip Bench Press – 135x2sx4r
Bent Over Rows – 135x3sx10r
Tricep Extensions – 50x2sx10r
Tuesday – High Bar Squat – 365x3sx6r
Wednesday – Overhead Press – 145x3sx5r
Upright Rows – 65x2s10r, 95x1sx10r
Shrugs – 135x3sx10r
Thursday- Deadlift – 315x3sx6r
Rack Pull Deadlift – 225x3sx6r
Friday – Bench Press – 290x3sx4r (last set only got 2 reps)
Slingshot Bench Press – 330x1sx3r
Close Grip Bench Press – 225x2sx4r
Bent Over Rows – 135x3sx10r
Sunday – Instead of Squats I helped move a very, very heavy piano.
This is my last Strength Block workout until Mid-January. I feel like I have hit a plateau in my training and I am going to switch it up. I have roughly planned out the next 24 weeks of training with an APF meet in Omaha at the finish. Starting on Monday 11/16/15 I will start Hypertrophy Block training. This will last for about 10 weeks. I will then go back to a Strength Block for roughly 8 weeks. Lastly, I will finish up this cycle with a 4-5 week Peaking Block. This will be the first time I have tried all of the Phases of training in a Macrocycle. After my poor performance at the NASA meet I want to come back better than ever, I was going to do a meet in Chamberlain, SD in February, but I am going to skip it to focus on getting stronger. I will try to update the blog more often. I am going to set up a schedule for posting dietary and training journal material as well as some product reviews that I haven’t had the chance to do yet. Stay tuned for a lot of material to be coming your way.
Here is my training for the week:
10/12/15 – Bench Press – 275x3x4
– Close Grip BP – 205x2x4
– Bent Over Rows – 185x3x10
10/13/15 – High Bar Squat – 345x3x5
– Pause Below Parallel Squat – 225x3x5
10/14/15 – Overhead Press – 155x3x5
– Shrugs – 95x3x20
– Shoulder Complex – 10x3x10
10/15/15 – Deadlift – 425x1x3 – Needed to do 3 sets, but back wouldn’t let me.
10/16/15 – BP – 275x2x5, 315x1x3
– Bent Over Rows – 135x3x10
– Tricep Extensions (cable machine) – 50x2x10
10/18/15 – Low Bar Squat – 300x3x6
– Pause Above SQ – 315×5, 405×3, 475×1, 495×1
(Training inspired by Principles of Strength Training by Israetel, Hoffmann, and Smith)
Heavy Hammer Gym 