Take care of yourself

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Was any of that on any of the winding roads you showed me the day you took me to lunch almost exactly a year ago?

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

We'd have loved to have you there. The food and company were great, and the vista was spectacular. If we eat there again, which I hope one day happens, we'll give you a head's up.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Man, we had lunch and Idaho didn't show me ANY cool mountain roads. Dangit.

I rode 83 miles yesterday without anywhere near the vertical gainage of Idaho's ride, 64 ounces of water, 40 ounces of Gatorade, three potty breaks, and 2,700 calories burned.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Yes. I went up that canyon, down the other side, back up it and then back down it.

I didn't have a single potty break, believe it or not. My fluid was dripping off my forehead and arms, not escaping via the bladder.

BTW, signed up for a second 70.3 this summer. I'll use this half Iron on August 29 as one of my final big efforts before the 206-mile one day race to weeks later

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

I'm doing a bench press meet on Aug. 15. I wanted to do another push-pull, but I have a strained adductor that makes deadlifting extremely painful.
I'm doing two bench workouts, a rep day and a max-effort day, and a max-effort lower body day each week. On the lower body days I'm doing rack pulls and high box squats, whatever won't aggravate the injury.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

SP -- What are some other methods (counting the "heavy day and high-rep/hypertrophy day" per week as a method) you've used to increase your bench?

I lift chest twice a week. Barbell-dominant on Monday, Dumbbell-dominant on Friday.

I finally broke through a six-month plateau and I've added 30 pounds to my bench over the last two months.

My max isn't necessarily impressive for my body weight, but certain maximums that now seem within (distant) reach will be. I also have better endurance at intermediate weights.

Anyhow... interested in different training styles/methods/tricks/lifts you've used.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

A guy at my gym sets up my programs. It's based on a few different things mostly the 5-3-1 ebook by Jim Wendler and Westside for Skinny Bastards by Joe DeFranco.
It's all sort of an offshoot of the Westside Barbell stuff that Louie Simmons developed. The max effort method involves working up to the heaviest weight you can use for a given number of reps, usually 5, 3 or 1, on your main exercise of the day, usually bench, squat or deadlift. The repetition method has you doing as many reps as you can with a certain weight and trying to beat that total every two weeks or so.
The Westside programs usually have a dynamic effort workout instead of the rep workout. Dynamic effort usually has you using a lighter weight, moving it as quickly as possible for 3 reps or so and a high number of sets, like eight.
I'm not using that just yet.
You can read about this stuff at www.elitefts.com. You'll find information on Westside stuff, 5-3-1 and Westside for Skinny Bastards at that site.
To tell you the truth, my bench isn't that great for my weight, either. In fact, it's downright awful. I'm better at squats and deadlifts, but I'm injured now and I want to get better at benching.
By the way, technically, bench is the hardest of the three powerlifts. There's a lot more to it than you think, a lot of muscles you'd never think are involved in it. You have to drive with your legs, row the weight down to your sternum using your lats and arch your back.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

I'd like to go heavier on squats than I do now. Most I usually do is 10 reps X 225. My legs can handle it. But my form gets a little shaky at times and my lower back gets a little balky, which scares me. I'd hate to be low in a squat and tweak the back. There's no getting up from that.

Got my one-rep max on bench up to 285 recently and will try 295 next week when I do chest. Goal is 315. It's coming along. One byproduct is that my chest is getting freaking huge. Just measured the other day. 48 inches across.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

I have 47 days until my first Olympic triathlon. Training has been going well.

I'm beginning to feel more comfortable on the bike and in the water. I haven't really turned in any long bike rides, the max I've done is 45 minutes. With swimming, I've gone 1500 meters each time, but not continuously.

I don't know why, but my shoulders have been killing me recently. I only lift upper body twice chest/shoulders/triceps (Mondays) and back/biceps (Fridays). I think it's because I swim then lift.

Not sure though.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

At the end of my kettlebell class yesterday we did five minutes straight, cycling between 5 reps of burpees/squat pull-throughs, pushups with 1 hand on a kettlebell (5 reps on each side) and swings.
It was brutal.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

34 miles, 2600 vertical last night. 6 mile run in 90+ heat today.

There's a 170-mile, 11,000-vertical race on Saturday that tops out at 10,270-foot summit. It's the hardest race I've ever done. I might stick to the 108-mile rolling picnic training ride instead but I am registered for the entire thing. But that 50-mile stretch of uphill is so intimidating, especially considering it starts after 80 miles already in the saddle.

32 days until my next 70.3 triathlon, 46 until the monster 206-mile, 9,500 vertical one-day bike race.