Stallion's Fitness Journal

[I-tallionStallion]

Friday

Spread Eagle Situps 3x8 - 125 lbs PR
- getting much easier...will up weight probably to 135 lbs

DB Press (paused at bottom 1 second) 2x5 - 75 lbs PR tough...80 lbs might not be possible yet

WG Bench 3x10 (light) - PR 100 lbs - Still experimenting with this...should increase by 10 to 15 lbs with this...a little too easy

Standing Military Press - 3x5 - 125 lbs PR 130 here i come...I can't wait for the 45 plates

Good PR gains...everything progressed nicely today. I felt good in the gym.

 

[The Bat]

Hey man, quick question. Did you start off standing militiary press OR did you first start with military press on bench? I'm talking about when you first implemented this exercises in your routine...

I'm thinking about switching to barbell shoulder press from dumb bell shoulder press. Not sure if it'd make much of a difference with using either barbell or dumbbell though. Alternatively, I guess I could try standing dumbbell shoudler press THEN think about switching to barbell.

Bah, I'm just spitting ideas here. Give me your opinion.

 

[I-tallionStallion]

I started off with standing military press. I've heard dozens of different arguements on what's better, most hardcore guys I've met say standing military press.

Personally I find the standing military press more fun than sitting down...the only thing with dumbbells is that it is more awkward and harder to do heavy weight. You could always do lateral raises instead of the shoulder press with dumbbells and have the Military press mixed in too, seems like best of both worlds that way.

 

[I-tallionStallion]

SLDL- 2x6 - 285 lbs PR These were pretty good. Btw, don't ever deadlift completely full as a warning, I almost lost my last meal.

Low Pull Through 3x8- 160 lbs PR Easy...170 next week for sure

Lat Pulldown 5x3 - 150 lbs - A lot easier, but the next weight jump is at 165 lbs and it's still pretty hard. Next time I'll do this

Barbell Shrugs 3x10 - 185 lbs PR - Still getting used to these...i went up 50 lbs, and probably could go up another 50 lbs lol

Well thats it...not too shabby

 

[Quagmire911]

Looking good!

Btw I am curious, do you squat high or low bar?

How do you like stiff legs?

 

[I-tallionStallion]

Thanks Quag

Low bar...It's way more comfortable and I have more control. And for some reason it psyches me up a little the way its on my back.

I hate the stiff legs, makes my lower back is on fire. Makes it hard to walk for long periods of time due to the tightness.

 

[Quagmire911]

Thanks Quag

Low bar...It's way more comfortable and I have more control. And for some reason it psyches me up a little the way its on my back.

I hate the stiff legs, makes my lower back is on fire. Makes it hard to walk for long periods of time due to the tightness.

I've never been able to make it work until yesterday, and when I did it felt tighter. Guess we will see how it goes.

And that is the great thing about stiff legs! The pain

 

[I-tallionStallion]

WEDNESDAY

Incline Bench 2x5 - 170 lbs - I felt much stronger on these reps. My strength has increased a lot more. It seems doing a new routine and taking a break from this has really helped me gain strength here. I'm very happy and 175 lbs I'll def have next week

Flat DB Bench 3x8 - 70 lbs - PR - Tough, but I wouldn't say 75 is out of reach next time.

Reverse Grip Flat BB Bench - PR 3x10 -120 lbs Pretty killer after the last two, got them all with some difficulty on the second set, but not the third strangely.

Lat Raises - light weight 2x20 - 10 lbs - Still a b1tch to do

Everything is going well, I can tell I look a lot different than even 2 months ago. Hopefully all continues to go well.

 

[I-tallionStallion]

FRIDAY -

Okay...so this personal trainer came in today and came up to me saying i was squatting really wrong. Now I've had a huge powerlifting dude watch me and say I squatted good not too long ago. But this trainer kept saying i was putting my knees to infront of my feet. I wasn't sure if this was okay or not to do. I thought maybe he was overexaggerating to make it seem like I needed a trainer. Afterall that is how he makes money.

When I asked him if he knew who Mark Rippetoe was...he didn't have a clue. When I asked him if he knew what WSB is..he had no idea. When I asked him how he would squat deep, he didn't seem to have any idea how. He kept telling me to go parallel because it was better for the knees :crackup: ... He told me that he played rugby and this was the way they taught them and its the correct way. But I wanted to get a couple of your guys opinion instead of his, cause I don't think my form is that bad...but if you could spot something I could fix I'd be happy to know. As I felt I was doing things correctly

Here is me doing about 200 lbs I believe (he watched me do this and highly critized it) Squat Video Form Check - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7f-pZiAHzs

---------------

Squat 1x3 - 325 lbs PR - I can't believe I'm squatting this...it was hard but I got all of them.

Leg Press 1x15 - 395 PR - ...BRUTAL

BB Row - 5x3 - 190 lbs PR 195 lbs here i come

Reverse Hyper Extentions - 3x8 - heh...felt good

 

[HandyAndy]

Livin on the edge I see, no safety bars and what not

 

[EFFORT]

FRIDAY -

Okay...so this personal trainer came in today and came up to me saying i was squatting really wrong. Now I've had a huge powerlifting dude watch me and say I squatted good not too long ago. But this trainer kept saying i was putting my knees to infront of my feet. I wasn't sure if this was okay or not to do. I thought maybe he was overexaggerating to make it seem like I needed a trainer. Afterall that is how he makes money.

When I asked him if he knew who Mark Rippetoe was...he didn't have a clue. When I asked him if he knew what WSB is..he had no idea. When I asked him how he would squat deep, he didn't seem to have any idea how. He kept telling me to go parallel because it was better for the knees :crackup: ... He told me that he played rugby and this was the way they taught them and its the correct way. But I wanted to get a couple of your guys opinion instead of his, cause I don't think my form is that bad...but if you could spot something I could fix I'd be happy to know. As I felt I was doing things correctly

Here is me doing about 200 lbs I believe (he watched me do this and highly critized it) Squat Video Form Check - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7f-pZiAHzs

---------------

Squat 1x3 - 325 lbs PR - I can't believe I'm squatting this...it was hard but I got all of them.

Leg Press 1x15 - 395 PR - ...BRUTAL

BB Row - 5x3 - 190 lbs PR 195 lbs here i come

Reverse Hyper Extentions - 3x8 - heh...felt good

Its clear that the personal trainer doesn't know what he's talking about. The form looks good to me. It also means a lot when the powerlifter says you squat good after watching you in person.

It's also good to run questions like the ones you asked by people like that. Him not knowing about Mark or WSB is pretty sad imo. Also using something he learned in rugby as a dictating belief of how to squat is really shakey.

 

[Drum&Bass]

Your form is good. How do your knees feel when you finish ?? how do your quads feel ?? That is the only true answer to know whether your form is solid or not.

 

[I-tallionStallion]

Thanks very much Drum and EFFORT. I suspected this trainer was uninformed on deep squatting.

Everything always feels fine when I squat Drum&Bass. I would say it's solid for me.

Strangely enough, when i tried to keep my knees behind my feet when going deep (as the trainer told me) I had a pull in my right calve. I feel it slightly every once in awhile while I've walked today. But I won't have to squat for awhile so I'm not too worried about making it worse. ARGH

 

[Quagmire911]

All I can say is that it isn't bad. Don't know enough about the lift to say much.

The bar looks like it stays in the middle of your foot the whole time which is the biggest thing. The only thing I could maybe say to try, is too look at a spot 5-6 feet (I believe) infront of you. Rippetoe does it to increase hip drive.

Here are some videos you could look at (click on powerlifts):

http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/excercise.html#Power

http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Video#Mark_Rippetoe:_Fixing_the_Squat:_Hip_Drive

 

[yungahdubz]

Nice one on the PR's

 

[I-tallionStallion]

Thanks Yungahdubz...you know i love PR's

Thanks quag...wow. I think I was doing what that kid did in your second link....i do it somewhat It should help my lift more when i go to the gym. Thanks

Okay today was Monday...heh and a good day of course


Spread Eagle Situps 3x8 - 130 lbs PR
- will def hit 135 lbs next week

DB Press (paused at bottom 1 second) 2x5 - 80 lbs PR I thought 80s wouldn't be possible, but i felt really good today. I hit all the reps and pauses. A little shaky on the first set, but second set was much easier strangely

WG Bench 3x10 (light) - PR 110 lbs - Needs to be a slightly higher weight next time. 10 lbs more than last time and it wasn't much harder.

Standing Military Press - 3x5 - 130 lbs PR Fvck yeah...the only problem was on my second set and i didn't get a rep up more than halfway cause of bad form..but i didn't give up and got it on the second attempt followed by the last. 45s for next time for sure!!

I am really loving whats going on with my numbers...I just keep getting stronger without compensating form. I have two weeks left of westside, I'm not sure what EFFORT has in store for me but I'm pretty excited. Kudos to my trainer haha

 

[Quagmire911]

That is a nice press, especially being at the end.

How did you warm up for the DB press? Maybe the first set got your nervous system going?

Changed things a bit myself today, trying to bring the shoulders up to par and get them to stop clicking!

Congrats on the lifts, keep it up buddy.

 

[Quagmire911]

See when you do the spread eagle situps, are you keeping your back locked and not letting it bend?

Question above too, incase you missed it .

 

[I-tallionStallion]

For db press I did

20 lbs x5
35 lbs x4
50 lbs x3
65 lbs x1

yes...i am keeping my back straight as possible. But it could be better I imagine.

I've finally hit a weight where it's very hard to keep it straight. In the beginning I had a lot of trouble with it

I'll pay extra close attention next time. Maybe even a video.

 

[ProDJ26]

Glad to see the progress...

lmao at that personal trainer you came across