Sheiko#37- W3 D1- Monday- 6/30/08

1 Hour 50 Min

1)Squat
(50%)200x5
(60%)240x4 x4
(70%)280(belt)x3 x3
(80%)320x3 x3 x3 x3 x3

2)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x5
(60%)180x4
(70%)210x3 x3
(80%)240x3 x3 x3 x3 x3

3)Incline DB Flys
25x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

4)Pushups (w/vest)
20x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

5)Squat
(50%)200x5
(60%)240x5
(70%)280(belt)x5 x5 x5 x5 x5

6)Good Mornings
130x5 x5 x5 x5 x5


Notes: I was dreading this session the entire weekend. I felt tired Saturday and Sunday despite getting 8-9 hours of sleep and my legs were feeling very heavy. Once I got into it, the squatting felt great. I felt like I was right on target and like I was moving the weights like a piston. I even shortened most of the rest periods a bit.

Benching was a tad difficult and my hands are feeling a bit beat up. I might spring for those Iron Mind bands to start getting in some more extensor work.

Sheiko#37- W2 D3- Friday- 6/27/08

2 Hours

1)Squat
(50%)200x4
(60%)240x4
(70%)280(belt)x3 x3
(75%)300x3 x3 x3 x3 x3 x3

2)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x6
(60%)180x5
(70%)210x4
(75%)225x3 x3 x3
(80%)240x2 x2
(85%)255x1 x1
(80%)240x2 x2
(75%)225x4
(70%)210x5
(60%)180x6
(50%)150x7

3)Squat
(55%)220x3
(65%)260x3
(75%)300(belt)x2 x2 x2 x2

4)Good Mornings
130x5 x5 x5 x5 x5 x5

---1 Hour later----

5)Incline DB Flys
25x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

6)Rope Pushdowns
40x10 x10 x10 x10 x10


Notes: Today's benching was tough and it kind of kicked my ass. Squatting wasn't too bad, but there was a ton of bench volume at some relatively high intensities today. Same shoulder that I injured was bothering me a little, but more in a little bit of a different place. My arthritic wrist was giving me trouble since I woke up this morning. And for the first time in I can't remember how long, my triceps were sore...well the left one, haha.

I just applied tanning and oil to a friend of mine doing a bodybuilding show tomorrow. These are rare times when I will oil another grown man's body and apply tanning lotion to a black man. Good times tomorrow, I'm sure.

6/26/08- Thursday- GPP/Active Recovery

1a)Neutral Grip Chins
BWx10 x8 x6

1b)DB Lateral Raise
35x10 x10

1c)VMO External Rotation
15x15 x12 x15 x15 x15

2)DB Twisting Curl
30x10 x10

15 Minutes Incline Treadmill

Epsom Salt Bath- 2 cups/20 min

Sheiko#37- W2 D2- Wednesday- 6/25/08

1)Deadlift To Knees
(50%)275x4
(60%)330x4 x4
(70%)385(belt)x4 x4 x4 x4

2)Narrow Grip Bench Press (paused)
(55%)165x5
(65%)195x5
(70%)210x4 x4 x4 x4 x4

3)Incline DB Flys
25x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

4)Deadlift
(50%)275x4
(60%)330x4
(70%)385(belt)x3 x3
(75%)415x3 x3 x3 x3 x3

5)Reverse Alt Lunges
45x5 x5 x5 x5 x5

Notes: Weights felt quite good today. Deadlift technique felt great.

Unfortunately, I can't deadlift at my place of work any longer. If I do it anywhere in the gym using thick rubber mats and metal plates, the people downstairs complain. If I do it on the bumper platforms, it's 5 feet from the office and gives people splitting headaches. Plus, I was told I freak out the gym members. :-) To be fair, I can understand this...there's really no place for it there. I believe that I know of a gym a few blocks away where I can get a day pass.

-Matt

6/24/08- GPP/Active Recovery- Tuesday

1a)Fat Bar Pullups
BWx15 x8

1b)Band Pushdown
lightx25 x25 x20

1c)DB Lateral Raise
35x8 x8

1d)Cable External Rotation
30x15 x15 x15 x10

2a)DB Hammer Curls
35x12 x8

2b)1 Arm DB Row
95x6 100x6

40 Minutes Incline Treadmill

Contrast Shower- 20s/60s (cold/hot- end on cold)

Notes: Shoulder back at 95% :-)

Sheiko#37 W2 D1- Monday- 6/23/08

2 Hours

1)Squat
(50%)200x5
(60%)240x4 x4
(70%)280(belt)x3 x3
(80%)320x2 x2 x2 x2 x2

2)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x5
(60%)180x4
(70%)210x3 x3
(80%)240x2 x2 x2 x2 x2 x2

3)Incline DB Flys
25x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

4)Pushups (neutral grip w/handles)
20lb Vestx10 x10 x10 x10 x10

5)Squat
(55%)220x3
(65%)260x3
(75%)300(belt)x3 x3 x3 x3

6)Good Mornings
130x5 x5 x5 x5 x5

Notes: Session wasn't too bad today. I definitely didn't get enough rest over the weekend, but I'm to make sure that I do this week. Woke up with the shoulder feeling fine, but it started bothering me a few hours after waking up and currently has a little pain.

I think I'm getting better at cutting depth. Once my elbow hits me thigh, I know I'm definitely below parallel. I think that I can go up until that point, but not quite that it's touching, and still make depth. Being able to judge this well will definitely give me some extra lbs once I come around to testing.

Sheiko#37- W1 D3- Friday- 6/20/08

1 Hour 40 Minutes

1)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x6
(60%)180x5
(70%)210x4 x4
(75%)225x3 x3
(80%)240x2 x2
(85%)255x1 x1
(80%)240x2 x2
(75%)225x3 x3
(65%)280x3 x3
(55%)165x7

2)Incline DB Flys
24x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

3)Squat
(50%)200x5
(60%)240x4 x4
(70%)280x3 x3
(75%)300x3 x3 x3 x3 x3

4)Keiser Pushdowns
37.5x10 40x10 x10 x10 x10

5)Good Morning
130x5 x5 x5 x5 x5


Notes: Pretty easy workout today. All of the sets had good speed and felt fine.

Shoulder was bothering me a little bit, but no more than yesterday, and actually probably less.

-Matt

Thursday- 6/19/08- GPP/Active Recovery

1a)Bilateral Cable Row
87.5x10 80x10 72.5x10

1b)Side Lying Ext Rotation
12x15 x15 x15 x15

1c)Band Pushdown
lightx25 x25 x25

1d)DB Hammer Curls
35x10 x10 30x8

45 Minutes incline treadmill

Foam Rolling

Evening- Hot Epsom Salt Bath- 20 minutes

Notes: Shoulder is still bothering me but perhaps a little less. I think I should be able to squat fine tomorrow.

Sheiko#37- W1 D2- Wednesday- 6/18/08

2 Hours

1)Deadlift
(50%)275x5
(60%)330x5 x5
(70%)385(belt)x4 x4
(75%)415x3 x3 x3 x3

2)Narrow Grip Bench Press (paused)
(55%)165x6
(65%)195x5
(70%)210x4 x4 x4 x4

3)Narrow Grip Pin Presses (4" off chest)
(70%)210x5 x5 x5 x5 x5

4)Rack Deadlift (2" below knees)
(50%)275x5
(60%)330x5 x5
(70%)385(belt)x4 x4
(80%)440x3 x3 x3 x3

5)Reverse Alt DB Lunges
45x5 x5 x5 x5 x5


Contrast Shower- 20s/45s x4 (end on cold)

Notes: Today felt pretty good despite having royally messed up my shoulder yesterday. Weight was conveniently light and I made sure to make full use of the arch to limit my ROM in the bottom.

I made an effort to keep a neutral lumbar spine on the deadlifts from blocks (rack pulls). Towards my later sets it started to look better. I started with the bar a little further from my shins and made sure to bend the knees more and arch harder from the start. I think that this will serve me well in the long-run as long as I can keep it up.

I subbed dips for pin presses today. Dips would have killed the shoulder are probably aren't the best thing for a guy with shoddy shoulders like myself anyway. Pin presses were done nice and light.

Felt well rested today but of course that feeling will be gone in a week or two. :-)

-Matt

6/17/08- Tuesday- Recovery (yea right)/GPP

20-25 Minutes Grappling

Contrast Shower- 15s/45sx3

Notes: So I decided to roll with some of the other trainers from my gym, but I haven't grappled for the last 4 years. I was worried from the start about getting injured, specifically in regards to my shoulder. I had a lot of fun and tapped 3 guys out multiple times without tapping myself. But in my last match, I leaned on the shoulder the wrong way, relaxed it and the damn thing slid right out of the socket.

I'm used to this happening, but generally it's an in-and-out type of thing. This time, I laid on the mat with the shoulder probably completely out of the socket for a good few minutes, until I could be helped to sitting up, when the shoulder than slid back in.

It's pretty damn sore and it's a damn shame. I really do enjoy grappling and was looking forward to possibly getting into it once or twice a week again, but I think that the risk is just too high and if it puts me out of commission from lifting, I'd go crazy.

Hopefully it'll feel a bitter better by the morning and I'll be good to bench tomorrow. If not, I'll try to find a way to work around it.

-Matt

Sheiko#37 W1 D1 - Monday- 6/16/08

1 Hour 30 Minutes

1)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x5
(60%)180x4
(70%)210x3 x3
(75%)225x3 x3 x3 x3

2)Squat
(50%)200x5
(60%)240x4 x5
(70%)280(belt)x5 x5 x5 x5 x5

3)Narrow Grip Bench Press (paused)
(55%)165x5
(65%)195x4 x4
(70%)210x4 x4 x4 x4 x4

4)Incline DB Flys
25x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

5)Good Mornings
130x5 x5 x5 x5 x5


Contrast Shower- 15s/45s x3

Notes: Easy day today. It was a relief getting a break on the squats and benches today.

First day with the new bench programming.

-Matt

Sheiko#29- W4 D3- Friday- 6/13/08

1 Hour 50 Minutes

1)Squat
(50%)200x5
(60%)240x4
(70%)280(belt)x3 x3
(80%)317.5x3 x3 x3 x3 x3 x3 (misload by 2.5lb on one side)

2)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x6
(60%)180x5
(70%)210x4 x4
(80%)240x3 x3
(85%)255x2 x2
(80%)240x3 x3
(70%)210x4
(60%)180x6
(50%)150x8

3)Incline DB Flys
25x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

4)Dips
BWx5 x5 x5 x5 x5 x5 x5 x5

5)Good Mornings
130x5 x5 x5 x5 x5


Contrast Shower- 20s/60s x 3

Notes: Felt quite strong today. The bar had a lot of pop at the top of the squats. I played around with a slightly higher bar position today and I think that I may continue to do this in the future. With some video feedback I might be better able to determine if this is putting me in a better position.

I had the bar misloaded for squats by 2.5lb on one side for all the top sets, haha...oh well.

Bench felt good and strong with nothing being a huge struggle.

Onto the next phase of programming!

-Matt

Sheiko#29- W4 D2- Wednesday- 6/11/08

2 Hours

1)Bench Press
(50%)150x5
(60%)180x4
(70%)210x3 x3
(80%)240x3 x3
(85%)255x2 x2 x2

2)Deadlift
(50%)275x3
(60%)330x3
(70%)385(belt)x3 x3
(80%)440x3 x3
(85%)470x2 x2 x2
(80%)440x2 x2 x2

3)Close Grip Bench (paused)
(50%)150x5
(60%)180x5
(70%)210x5 x5 x5 x5

4)Incline DB Fly
25x10 x10 x10 x10 x10


Notes: Today felt pretty good. Bench moved pretty smoothly for the most part. Deadlifts weren't super-fast and I used a little more back than I would have liked, but overall they went pretty well. It seems that when I am under a bit of fatigue in a cycle, I tend to bend my knees less and use more back with the deadlifts.

-Matt

6/10/08- GPP/Active Recovery- Tuesday

1a)Medium Grip Pullups (fat bar)
BWx12 x9 x6

1b)Band Pushdown
lightx25 x25 x25

1c)VMO External Rotation
20x12 x12 x12 x12

2a)Seated Cable Row (independent arms)
80x10 x10 87.5x10

2b)DB Lateral Raise
35x8 x8

3)DB Hammer Curls
35x10

20 Minutes Incline Treadmill

Foam Rolling Lower Body

Sheiko#29- W4 D1- Monday- 6/9/08

2 Hours

1)Squat
(50%)200x5
(60%)240x3
(70%)280(belt)x3 x3
(80%)320x3 x3 x3 x3 x3

2)Bench Press (paused)
(55%)165x5
(65%)195x5
(75%)225x4 x4 x4 x4 x4

3)Incline DB Flys
25x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

4)Dips
BWx8 x8 x8 x8 x8

5)Front Squats
(40%)160x5 x5
(50%)200x4 x4
(60%)240x3 x3 (belt) x3

6)Good Mornings
130x5 x5 x5 x5 x5


Contrast Showers- 20s/60s x3

Notes: Felt like I was preparing to enter hell today with another session of many triples at 80% in the squat. In actuality, it wasn't all that bad and most of the sets has a bit of snap and stayed at around 3 minutes rest.

Bench felt pretty good too. It's kind of "neat" to be finally handling 225 as 75%. :-)

-Matt

Sheiko#29- W3 D3- Friday- 6/6/08

2 Hours 10 Minutes

1)Squats
(50%)200x5
(60%)240x4
(70%)280(belt)x3 x3
(80%)320x3 x3 x3 x3 x3 x3

2)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x5
(60%)180x4
(70%)210x3 x3
(80%)240x3 x3 x3 x3 x3 x3 x3

3)Incline DB Flys
20x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

4)Fat Bar Close Grip Incline Press (paused)
178x4 x4 180x4 x4 x4

5)Good Mornings
130x5 x5 x5 x5 x5


Contrast Showers- 20s/60s x4

Notes: Very interesting day today. The session was incredibly difficult and I'm quite surprised that I didn't fail and drop the bar on bench or squat. Well...I did have a bench mishap, and it's on video, haha.

There is an older guy who teaches Olympic lifting to some people at my gym, but I never really thought twice about who he was. Well, he introduced himself to me when he saw me squatting, and his name is Issaac "Ike" Berger, and an Olympic lifting legend. I thought he might have been full of it, but he told me that he won the 1965 gold with a 336lb clean and jerk at 130lb. He told me he also squatted 530 at 130! Get this...he was good friends with Paul Anderson. I about shat myself.

http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/IsaacBerger.htm

I hope to pick his brain quite a bit. He was telling me that I should squat with the bar high, though. You know Olympic lifters... :-)

-Matt

6/5/08- Thursday- GPP/Active Recovery

1a)Neutral Grip Fat Bar Chinups
BWx15 x10 x10

1b)Band Pushdown
lightx25 x20 x20

1c)Prowler Push (High)
~250ftx1 x1 x1

1d)Keiser Cable Backhands
12x12 x15 x12

2a)Keiser Face Pull
43x12 x12 x12

2b)TKE
lightx15 x15 x15

2c)DB Hammer Curl
40x10 x7 35x8

2d)Side Bridge (feet under/over bench)
x20s x22s x30s (Left) x20s+10s (Right)


Foam Rolling

25 Minutes Incline Treadmill

20 Minute Epsom Salt Bath (2 cups)

Notes: I was feeling extremely tired today despite eight hours of sleep and an hour nap yesterday.

I need to make sure I don't get too behind on sleep this weekend.

Sheiko#29- W3 D2- 5/4/08- Wednesday

2 Hours 10 Minutes

1)Deficit Deadlifts (2-3" probably)
275x3 x3
330x3 x3
360x3 x3 x3 x3

2)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x5
(60%)180x4
(70%)210x3 x3
(80%)240x2 x2 x2
(85%)255x2 x2
(80%)240x3 x3

3)Incline DB Flys
25x10 20x10 x10 x10 x10

4)Rack Deadlifts (2" below knees- rack setting "3", 4 mats, shoes)
(60%)330x4
(70%)385(belt)x4 x4
(80%)440x3 x3
(90%)495x2 x2 x1 x1 (broke it into 2 sets)

5)DB Reverse Alt Lunges
45x5 x5 x5 x5 x5

Contrast Shower- 20s/60s x4

Notes: Today's session was very tough. The deficit deadlifts didn't feel as fast as they had been the first time through 29, but I have a feeling that getting stronger makes the training sessions harder, even though it is based on percentages.

My butt lifted up a tiny bit on bench on the top sets, but I had no spotter and really didn't want to have to roll the bar off of my chest if I missed.

Rack deadlifts were very very difficult. My hands are incredibly beat up and on the last set at 90% I had to do two singles rather than a double. I definitely need a nap.

-Matt

6/3/08- Tuesday- GPP/Active Recovery

1a)Fat Medium Grip Pullups
BWx12 x8 x6

1b)Band Pushdown
lightx25 x25 x25 x25

1c)Sandbag Alternating Stepup
50x10 x10 x10

1d)Cable Ext Rotation
10x12 x15 x15 x15

2a)1 Arm DB Row
100x10 x6 90x6

2b)Prowler High Handle Push
No Weightx300 ft x 2

2c)DB Hammer Curl
40x8 35x8

2d)DB Lateral Raise
35x8 x7

3)Keiser Pallof Press
30x12 35x12

25 Minutes Incline Treadmill Walking (up to 6 incline)

Foam Rolling

Sheiko#29- W3 D1- 6/2/08- Monday

1 Hour 55 Minutes

1)Squats
(55%)220x5
(65%)260x4
(75%)300(belt)x3 x3
(85%)340x2 x2 x2 x2

2)Bench Press (paused)
(50%)150x5
(60%)180x4
(70%)210x3 x3
(80%)240x3 x3 x3 x3 x3 x3

3)45 Degree Incline DB Flys
25x10 x10 x10 x10 x10

4)Pushups (handles and BW)
(semi-sup)x10 x10 x10 (neutral)x10 x10

5)Squats
(50%)200x3
(60%)240x3
(70%)280x3
(80%)320x3 x3 x3 x3

6)Good Mornings
130x5 x5 x5 x5 x5

Contrast Shower- 20s/60s x3 (ending on cold)

Notes: Well today's session was brutal. I felt a bit nauseas and only had breakfast in me by the time I had finished. Nonetheless, squats felt really strong for the most part all through the session.

Bench was a little slow at some points, but definitely felt solid. I'm feelings goooood....

-Matt