Back in the Iron Game

[carson]

If you have children you will one day never ever regret the "family obligations." Keep up the good work.

[kcc]

If you have children you will one day never ever regret the "family obligations." Keep up the good work.

Yes, in full agreement with this! I've got a 2 and 5 year old and they come before just about everything. The family obligations I was referring to were an out of town family reunion with people I haven't seen in 15 years or so and probably won't see again for another 15 years.

[carson]

I see. Those are usually not fun.

[kcc]

08/13/2014

Body Weight: 265

Ouch, not being careful with the family reunion and missed workout didn't help much!

Squat
45 x 5
45 x 5
120 x 5
155 x 3
195 x 2
235 x 5
235 x 5
235 x 5

These actually felt easier than the last couple of workouts, though I was forcing myself to go deeper. I can feel the hip drive, very happy with my form right now.

Bench
45 x 5
45 x 5
95 x 5
125 x 3
150 x 2
180 x 5
180 x 5
180 x 5

Also very happy with bench form. My PR from last year was 185 x 6, should have it beat by the end of next week!

Clean
45 x 5
45 x 5
65 x 5
80 x 3
90 x 2
105 x 3
105 x 3
105 x 3
105 x 3
105 x 3

These are also starting to feel better. My elbows could probably stand to get a little higher, but the rest of the movement feels a lot more fluid. The cue that's helping the most is thinking of using the thighs to push the bar up from the jumping position.

[carson]

At 6'1" and 265 you are probably at your top weight unless you are Brock Lesnar.

[kcc]

I actually saw Brock Lesnar wrestle when he was at the University of Minnesota a couple of times. He was a very impressive dude.

Funny thing is, I don't look like I'm super overweight. I've still got some belly fat, but my frame is wide. There seems to be a genetic disposition for my family to weigh a lot more than they look like they do. Not sure exactly what it is - big/dense bones, more muscle retention, whatever. Most people would guess that I'm 225 or so.

[kcc]

08/15/2014

Bodyweight: 261

Squat
45 x 5
45 x 5
120 x 5
160 x 3
200 x 2
240 x 5
240 x 5
240 x 5

These didn't feel so good. Actually, the whole workout didn't. Not much sleep last night.

Press
45 x 5
45 x 5
75 x 5
90 x 3
105 x 2
120 x 5
120 x 5
120 x 5

I might have been tired, but I got past 120 lbs. here! Time to get some fractional plates of some sort.

Deadlift

135 x 5
200 x 3
230 x 1
265 x 1 (mixed, right underhand)
300 x 5 (mixed, left underhand) (PR)

These were a grind today. I never let go of the bar, but the last rep did NOT want to come up and was pretty ugly. First time having 300 lbs. on a bar though!

[Trane]

Funny thing is, I don't look like I'm super overweight. I've still got some belly fat, but my frame is wide. There seems to be a genetic disposition for my family to weigh a lot more than they look like they do. Not sure exactly what it is - big/dense bones, more muscle retention, whatever. Most people would guess that I'm 225 or so.

I'm much the same way, although I skew a little higher..hover around 310, look more like 265-270. That's not to say I don't have big plans of dumping off some of the extra bodyweight, but I figure it gives us a bit of an advantage as far as repair and moving weight. Nice lifting, will follow along!

[kcc]

I'm much the same way, although I skew a little higher..hover around 310, look more like 265-270. That's not to say I don't have big plans of dumping off some of the extra bodyweight, but I figure it gives us a bit of an advantage as far as repair and moving weight. Nice lifting, will follow along!

Thanks! Sometimes I think it's nice to have the extra body weight behind the lifts, I can blow right past sticking points for other guys, but other times it's not so great. Takes forever to work up to a bodyweight squat, much less bench press!

[kcc]

08/18/2014

Bodyweight: 259

Squat
45 x 5
45 x 5
125 x 5
165 x 3
205 x 2
245 x 5
245 x 5
245 x 5

These felt pretty good today. I'm starting to notice something others have reported, where the first set is hard, the second feels okay, and the third feels great.

Bench Press
45 x 5
45 x 5
100 x 5
125 x 3
155 x 2
185 x 5
185 x 5
185 x 5

These continue to feel good. However, the bench I usually use was taken, so I had to use a narrower one, which was pretty uncomfortable and hard to get a solid set-up on. Friday should have me beating my previous PR and most weight I'll have benched since high school.

Power Clean
45 x 5
45 x 5
70 x 5
85 x 3
100 x 2
115 x 3
115 x 3
115 x 3
115 x 3
115 x 3

These are still awkward for me. My flexibility for getting into the rack position has improved, but I still don't feel like I have the movement down. I used 35 lb. plates on the work sets, which helped me get into position better. I'm going to start doing 5 lb. jumps now and get as much time with the lift as possible before it gets heavy.