What did you do today?

 

Challenge is that most of the time it isn't something that I necessarily want to do, but its something my wife gets invited to, and I get dragged along to it.

 

That's a bitch, and it's hard to be a super social guy who still does all of this stuff...

 

Even if you have the time for it, you will be tempted to cheat. I sympathize.

Long term goals for 6 month/1 year:

 

• Get stamina up dramatically (I just want my 18 y/o lung back!)
• Increase pull up count dramatically
• Increase dip/ring dip count 200%
• Bring deadlift 5 rep max from 185-200 up to 275-315
• Bring squat 2 rep max from 235 to 275+

 

Of course I want to keep improving in other areas too, but these areas in my mind would take me to the next level in terms of strength and speed.

 

For stamina I'm working on 2-3 workouts a week of dedicated running or rowing separate from the strength stuff (3+ hours before or after).

 

For pullups and dips, that chart I showed you guys. So ~5 days a week of dedicated sets unless I fulfill the requirement otherwise (e.g. part of a WOD).

 

Deadlift I found a link online of a nice progression program. Once a week or even every two weeks.

 

Squats, a lot of it is flexibility/form for me. Frustrating...

 

Just gotta be careful not to overtrain.

 

Who else has some goals to share?

Great article comparing olympic lifting, powerlifting, and strongman training:

 

http://mammothstrength.com/baseball/olympi...lifting-sports/

I set a couple new pull up PRs yesterday. 4 reps with 135lbs added to me. 22 reps with 45lbs added to me.

I set a couple new pull up PRs yesterday. 4 reps with 135lbs added to me. 22 reps with 45lbs added to me.

 

 

Just ridiculous man. You're breaking the PRs too fast. Time to set loftier goals!! lol

I set a couple new pull up PRs yesterday. 4 reps with 135lbs added to me. 22 reps with 45lbs added to me.

 

 

How is your posture, do you compliment with (many) chest workouts for balance?

Just ridiculous man. You're breaking the PRs too fast. Time to set loftier goals!! lol

 

Hehe, thanks. Theres just a lot of pullup categories for me to set PRs in. Body weight reps, reps with 45lbs added , reps with 100lbs added, reps with 135lbs added, 1 rep max, 100 pullups for time, etc. Setting a PR more often keeps me motivated to improve. Reps with 45lbs is my best category because it is the perfect mix of endurance and strength, and I work both ends of the spectrum instead of concentrating on one or the other.

How is your posture, do you compliment with (many) chest workouts for balance?

 

Not sure what you mean by posture? I do a lot of chest work, I wouldnt be able to do weighted muscle ups without it. Heavy weighted pullups work your chest big time as well, especially when the reps are from a dead hang (all the way down). Few people realize this because few people can do heavy weighted pullups.

Hehe, thanks. Theres just a lot of pullup categories for me to set PRs in. Body weight reps, reps with 45lbs added , reps with 100lbs added, reps with 135lbs added, 1 rep max, 100 pullups for time, etc. Setting a PR more often keeps me motivated to improve. Reps with 45lbs is my best category because it is the perfect mix of endurance and strength, and I work both ends of the spectrum instead of concentrating on one or the other.

 

Awesome stuff, keep it up.

 

Just curious, where were you with pull ups a year or two ago? Average, above average?

 

And how has the pull ups helped you in other exercises?

Hehe, thanks. Theres just a lot of pullup categories for me to set PRs in. Body weight reps, reps with 45lbs added , reps with 100lbs added, reps with 135lbs added, 1 rep max, 100 pullups for time, etc. Setting a PR more often keeps me motivated to improve. Reps with 45lbs is my best category because it is the perfect mix of endurance and strength, and I work both ends of the spectrum instead of concentrating on one or the other.

 

Awesome stuff, keep it up.

 

Just curious, where were you with pull ups a year or two ago? Average, above average?

 

And how has the pull ups helped you in other exercises?

Today was in the regular gym...mostly just lifts, no real cardio except a running warmup:

 

Pullups

Dips

Lat Pull downs (3 sets of 135#)

Deadlifts

 

I want to get the deadlifts going in the right direction so want to focus on them once a week. Following a new program where you put in your 5 rep max, calculates your 1 rep max and then spits out what you should do.

 

2 sets of 12 @ 135#

2 sets of 10 @ 155#

 

Felt just about right. I'll add 5-10 # a week and see how it goes.

Awesome stuff, keep it up.

 

Just curious, where were you with pull ups a year or two ago? Average, above average?

 

And how has the pull ups helped you in other exercises?

 

I was above average a year ago, but I wasnt really concentrating on them, and I wasnt going all the way down on the reps like I am now. I dont really look at pullups as way to get better in other excercises, I look at other exercises to help me get better in pullups.

I was above average a year ago, but I wasnt really concentrating on them, and I wasnt going all the way down on the reps like I am now. I dont really look at pullups as way to get better in other excercises, I look at other exercises to help me get better in pullups.

 

Interesting.

 

I like focusing on the big lifts and figuring out how the lighter lifts and bodyweight exercises will improve me in those areas.

 

However there's a lot of pride in being good at all the bodyweight stuff and in many ways is a greater indicator of power to weight ratio than anything else.

 

I wish I knew this when I was a light as f*** teen. Could have been killer in these areas!

Hit back this AM. Took it easy with 115s on lawnmower pulls and did a bunch of pullups and t-bar rows. Ran 3 miles.

 

Feeling super lean. Might put up a pic before Vegas next weekend - I'm betting I'm right at 10% right now and still holding about 220-222 lbs.

Hit back this AM. Took it easy with 115s on lawnmower pulls and did a bunch of pullups and t-bar rows. Ran 3 miles.

 

Feeling super lean. Might put up a pic before Vegas next weekend - I'm betting I'm right at 10% right now and still holding about 220-222 lbs.

Nice! I'm looking to hit 10% before my Vegas trip in 3 weeks. Should be 10% ~155lbs (I'm 5-7 haha)

Nice! I'm looking to hit 10% before my Vegas trip in 3 weeks. Should be 10% ~155lbs (I'm 5-7 haha)

 

 

3 weeks? So you're going the week AFTER Labor Day? Whyyyyyyyy????

Interesting.

 

I like focusing on the big lifts and figuring out how the lighter lifts and bodyweight exercises will improve me in those areas.

 

However there's a lot of pride in being good at all the bodyweight stuff and in many ways is a greater indicator of power to weight ratio than anything else.

 

I wish I knew this when I was a light as f*** teen. Could have been killer in these areas!

 

Pullups are a big lift, especially when you add weight to yourself. It's as much of a compound movement as anything else out there. Many people just dont do them because they are hard. And adding weight to an already hard excercise is almost nonexistant. The most popular compound movements are just the ones where people can add the most weight to it. Since I cant do squats or deadlifts because of my back, I got into weighted pullups. I am never going to be some super huge body builder or insane strong man power lifter (not genetically built for that), but it feels good knowing I could walk into just about any gym in the country and wipe the floor with the strongest guy in the gym on weighted pullups.

^^^it's nice to know you can wipe the floor with the strongest in the gym! hahahaha.

3 weeks? So you're going the week AFTER Labor Day? Whyyyyyyyy????

Haha, just how it works into my schedule. Poor planning I know.

Aaron,

 

Have you ever gotten into power cleans? That is about as compound of an excercise as it gets. You can also do clean presses which make things even more difficult.

 

That was the only exercise I would routinely almost passout over during my workout. 4 sets of 12 with 185 in high school was the best I was ever able to get.

 

I know you have some back issues now, so that may not be a possibility though,

Aaron,

 

Have you ever gotten into power cleans? That is about as compound of an excercise as it gets. You can also do clean presses which make things even more difficult.

 

That was the only exercise I would routinely almost passout over during my workout. 4 sets of 12 with 185 in high school was the best I was ever able to get.

 

I know you have some back issues now, so that may not be a possibility though,

 

Yeah unfortunately I cant do those, at least not going as heavy as possible. Any significant downward pressure on my spine causes severe issues with my back. I really wish I could do things like that, I really miss deadlifts too. I cant do anything where I am sitting or standing straight up with lots of weight pulling down on my spine. I have to put my body at angles to take the pressure off. Pullups are just the opposite, especially weighted. They create traction for the discs in the spine and is very helpful for my issue. I used to have to sit in an inversion table and go to the chiro all the time before I started with weighted pullups. Now as long as I keep doing those and dont do anything stupid to aggravate it, my back has been feeling better than it has in a really long time.

^^^it's nice to know you can wipe the floor with the strongest in the gym! hahahaha.

 

Haha, with weighted pullups, YES!

Hit back this AM. Took it easy with 115s on lawnmower pulls and did a bunch of pullups and t-bar rows. Ran 3 miles.

 

Feeling super lean. Might put up a pic before Vegas next weekend - I'm betting I'm right at 10% right now and still holding about 220-222 lbs.

 

You are hitting beast mode man. I am going to Vegas for the Olympia Expo in mid September.

Pullups are a big lift, especially when you add weight to yourself. It's as much of a compound movement as anything else out there. Many people just dont do them because they are hard. And adding weight to an already hard excercise is almost nonexistant. The most popular compound movements are just the ones where people can add the most weight to it. Since I cant do squats or deadlifts because of my back, I got into weighted pullups. I am never going to be some super huge body builder or insane strong man power lifter (not genetically built for that), but it feels good knowing I could walk into just about any gym in the country and wipe the floor with the strongest guy in the gym on weighted pullups.

 

That's true...it'd be nice to be awesome at just 1 thing.

 

I'm going to wait until I can do a lot of bodyweight pullups before I start adding weight. In truth, I'd rather do weighted pullups because I prefer low rep exercises over high rep ones.

Aaron,

 

Have you ever gotten into power cleans? That is about as compound of an excercise as it gets. You can also do clean presses which make things even more difficult.

 

That was the only exercise I would routinely almost passout over during my workout. 4 sets of 12 with 185 in high school was the best I was ever able to get.

 

I know you have some back issues now, so that may not be a possibility though,

 

Power cleans are a great exercise...all the olympic lifts are.

 

Ever do snatches and clean & jerks?