Hadn't done a training update in quite some time, so I thought I'd get everyone up to speed with where I'm at right now.
Squat training is coming around. I'd done about a two months of repetition based work to build up the connective tissue, so last week I ended up pushing myself a little bit. I'm a little gun-shy training by myself without a spot, but I worked up to 405 for a single that felt pretty good. The biggest issues with the squat right now are consistency in the set-up and consistency with depth. I think a lot of this will come as I continue getting reps under my belt.
I benched yesterday and I still have a long way to go, but my raw strength is coming around. I hit a slow 285 but the groove wasn't all that great. I need to work on dialing in my set-up and taking the bar a little lower. All in all, this wasn't too bad considering I can't remember the last time I took a heavy single on the bench.
Saturday I pulled and again, decided things were feeling good so I worked up to a new PR of 545. Since I've improved my posture and alignment, I've gotten much better at finishing pulls at the top; the glutes are on a whole 'nother level now. Problem is, I don't have the hamstring strength to get in the proper starting position! I've talked to Jim Wendler at Elite and I'm going to get a glute-ham ASAP, so hopefully I'll get this issue fixed up. Once I can sit back into the starting position and get that leg drive from the start, I'll be much more efficient and the lift will be a lot cleaner.
The thing I'm stoked about is all these lifts were done with minmal supportive gear (wraps, belt, etc.) so I'm begining to ponder what I can do once I get back in the cheater gear. Guess I'll just have to wait and see!
Have a great week!
Stay strong
MR
Monday, January 29, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
I know its been a while, but I think Ive figured out how to blog from my phone, which SHOULD ensure more consistent posting ;)
Things are going well here in Indy. Eric and I released our Building the Efficient Athlete DVD series last week. The Custom Fitness/Custom Athleticstraining is blowing up. And I've been feeding my head with a ton of audio materials lately, so life is good.
In two weeks I travel to Durham for the first weekendof the Z-Health seminar; what I know of the system is very intriguing so I'm looking forward to that.
Finally, Bill and my Compound Cuff article ran yesterday at T-nation, so if you haven't checked it out now, git-r-done!
Stay strong
MR
Things are going well here in Indy. Eric and I released our Building the Efficient Athlete DVD series last week. The Custom Fitness/Custom Athleticstraining is blowing up. And I've been feeding my head with a ton of audio materials lately, so life is good.
In two weeks I travel to Durham for the first weekendof the Z-Health seminar; what I know of the system is very intriguing so I'm looking forward to that.
Finally, Bill and my Compound Cuff article ran yesterday at T-nation, so if you haven't checked it out now, git-r-done!
Stay strong
MR
Friday, December 29, 2006
I give up!
(This was written about a month ago, FYI)
Well, I was about to give up anyway.
Does anyone realize how hard it is to find jeans for someone that actually trains their legs? I went a few weeks ago and tried on no less than EIGHT pairs of jeans to find ONE that actually fit. When you have a 32-34" waist and a 38" ass or just flat out big thighs, it's going to be difficult, let me tell you.
Have you ever seen an Abercrombie or American Eagle model with jacked legs? Sure, they may be rocking a six-pack, but they aren't trying to rock six plates on a squat or pull.
All I'm saying is that I hope someone, somedays breaks into the fashion industry and makes clothes for people who really ARE jacked, or are TRYING to be jacked. Not clothes 10x too small for people who want to LOOK jacked, but really are anything but.
Stay strong
MR
Well, I was about to give up anyway.
Does anyone realize how hard it is to find jeans for someone that actually trains their legs? I went a few weeks ago and tried on no less than EIGHT pairs of jeans to find ONE that actually fit. When you have a 32-34" waist and a 38" ass or just flat out big thighs, it's going to be difficult, let me tell you.
Have you ever seen an Abercrombie or American Eagle model with jacked legs? Sure, they may be rocking a six-pack, but they aren't trying to rock six plates on a squat or pull.
All I'm saying is that I hope someone, somedays breaks into the fashion industry and makes clothes for people who really ARE jacked, or are TRYING to be jacked. Not clothes 10x too small for people who want to LOOK jacked, but really are anything but.
Stay strong
MR
Friday, December 22, 2006
Manic Depression
Here's a fact you may not know....
How long did Jimi Hendrix record music for? 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?
It seems like it must've been a long time; after all, he had a TON of great music. But if you picked any of those answers, you would be wrong.
Jimi Hendrix only recorded music for 3 YEARS!
Now I'm sure some of you are thinking, "What does this have to do with training?" When you think about it, it has everything to do with training.
What do YOU want to do in the next 3 years? It's great to have both short-term (3-6 month goals), and long-term goals (say 5-10 years), but we need those pit stops along the way to keep us en route. Whether your goal is to win a bodybuilding contest, become a National caliber powerlifter, or simply get yourself healthy, remember that we need short, long and MEDIUM term goals to help us stay on track and get us to the top. From now on, I'm going to call this the Hendrix Effect.
What are YOU going to do in the next 6 months? 3 years? 5-10 years? If you don't know, sit down RIGHT NOW and figure it out.
As the saying goes, "Failing to plan is planning to fail."
Stay strong
MR
How long did Jimi Hendrix record music for? 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?
It seems like it must've been a long time; after all, he had a TON of great music. But if you picked any of those answers, you would be wrong.
Jimi Hendrix only recorded music for 3 YEARS!
Now I'm sure some of you are thinking, "What does this have to do with training?" When you think about it, it has everything to do with training.
What do YOU want to do in the next 3 years? It's great to have both short-term (3-6 month goals), and long-term goals (say 5-10 years), but we need those pit stops along the way to keep us en route. Whether your goal is to win a bodybuilding contest, become a National caliber powerlifter, or simply get yourself healthy, remember that we need short, long and MEDIUM term goals to help us stay on track and get us to the top. From now on, I'm going to call this the Hendrix Effect.
What are YOU going to do in the next 6 months? 3 years? 5-10 years? If you don't know, sit down RIGHT NOW and figure it out.
As the saying goes, "Failing to plan is planning to fail."
Stay strong
MR
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
The Cosgrove Project
As many of you may or may not know, Alwyn Cosgrove is putting together an amazing project with all the proceeds going to the Lymphoma Society. Obviously I was flattered when Alwyn asked me to participate, but what was I going to write about?
To make this a little more fun, I thought I'd open it up for discussion - the topic has to be a minimum of 3-4 pages, and can cover anything remotely related to training.
What do YOU THINK I should write about? Any subject ideas, or just something you want me to cover?
Leave your comments in the discussion section and if I come across one I like, I'll use it in the project.
Stay strong
MR
To make this a little more fun, I thought I'd open it up for discussion - the topic has to be a minimum of 3-4 pages, and can cover anything remotely related to training.
What do YOU THINK I should write about? Any subject ideas, or just something you want me to cover?
Leave your comments in the discussion section and if I come across one I like, I'll use it in the project.
Stay strong
MR
The Justin Ware Project
When I knew that I was going to start my own home gym, I knew that I would need two things - heavy weights, and a good training partner. The weights are the easy part; finding a good training partner is truly a blessing.
Luckily for me, one of my good powerlifting buddies from Ball State has moved to the area, and I immediately started getting on him to come train with me. Sure he's had some injuries along the way, but who hasn't? This is powerlifting after all, not stamp collecting!
So when he mentioned a while back that he needed some ART done, I had no reservations sending him to Bill Hartman. What I didn't expect was Bill's commentary on JW.
"I had to throw two hand grenades on his shoulders!"
I'm going to say this in the nicest way possible: Justin is a mess. So Bill has set out to fix his upper body, and I've set out to fix his lower body. This may sound easy, but I assure you it's not.
Justin did his first low body workout last week; this consisted of some serious foam rolling, hip flexor stretching/glute activation, and a few other things to start cleaning up his lower body posture and movement patterns. I thought the foam roller alone was going to crush him! This just goes to show that a little soft-tissue work goes a long way, people. Even if you don't have access to ART, massage, etc., get a foam roller and get to work!
So I'm going to do my best to keep you all up-to-date on how Justin is progressing. My goal is to get him to a point in the next 4-6 months where he can train seriously without having to worry about injuring himself. And yes, he's really that bad off!
Stay tuned and I'll keep you posted - this should be interesting.
Stay strong
MR
Luckily for me, one of my good powerlifting buddies from Ball State has moved to the area, and I immediately started getting on him to come train with me. Sure he's had some injuries along the way, but who hasn't? This is powerlifting after all, not stamp collecting!
So when he mentioned a while back that he needed some ART done, I had no reservations sending him to Bill Hartman. What I didn't expect was Bill's commentary on JW.
"I had to throw two hand grenades on his shoulders!"
I'm going to say this in the nicest way possible: Justin is a mess. So Bill has set out to fix his upper body, and I've set out to fix his lower body. This may sound easy, but I assure you it's not.
Justin did his first low body workout last week; this consisted of some serious foam rolling, hip flexor stretching/glute activation, and a few other things to start cleaning up his lower body posture and movement patterns. I thought the foam roller alone was going to crush him! This just goes to show that a little soft-tissue work goes a long way, people. Even if you don't have access to ART, massage, etc., get a foam roller and get to work!
So I'm going to do my best to keep you all up-to-date on how Justin is progressing. My goal is to get him to a point in the next 4-6 months where he can train seriously without having to worry about injuring himself. And yes, he's really that bad off!
Stay tuned and I'll keep you posted - this should be interesting.
Stay strong
MR
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Right when I think I'm out....
...they pull me back in. (Kudos if you pick up on the movie reference there).
It happened this weekend.
I got that itch back; you know, the one you just can't seem to scratch.
I haven't been in a powerlifting environment for a while now, but I went to the Indiana State meet this past weekend and it was like coming home after a long, arduous trip. Heavy weights, big bangs, and the smell of ammonia caps was all it took to draw me back. Putting cast wraps on a few knees sealed the deal.
I need to get my butt back on the platform.
I'm not quite ready yet, though - there's still a few things I need to address in my training before I'm ready to do a meet, but consider this my official "un-retirement" if you will. I NEED this; it's like a splinter in my brain that I can't get out.
I'll be posting more on this later, but I need to get it out in the open so people know I'm serious; assuming training goes well, I'll be in a meet in the next 4-6 months.
As we say here in the Midwest, time to "Git-R-Done!"
Stay strong
MR
It happened this weekend.
I got that itch back; you know, the one you just can't seem to scratch.
I haven't been in a powerlifting environment for a while now, but I went to the Indiana State meet this past weekend and it was like coming home after a long, arduous trip. Heavy weights, big bangs, and the smell of ammonia caps was all it took to draw me back. Putting cast wraps on a few knees sealed the deal.
I need to get my butt back on the platform.
I'm not quite ready yet, though - there's still a few things I need to address in my training before I'm ready to do a meet, but consider this my official "un-retirement" if you will. I NEED this; it's like a splinter in my brain that I can't get out.
I'll be posting more on this later, but I need to get it out in the open so people know I'm serious; assuming training goes well, I'll be in a meet in the next 4-6 months.
As we say here in the Midwest, time to "Git-R-Done!"
Stay strong
MR
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