EdChap vs. Milkman: The Revolutionary War, Part Deux

[EdChap]

185x10 is sweet, nice one! Pull-ups are freakishly strong as ever and the MP's are looking solid too, go team!!

[EdChap]

NROL Strength II, Lower Body;

A. Front Squat;
187x4
198x4
209x4
176x12 (back squat)

B. 1-arm DB Snatch, 3x3; 44, 55, 55

Ci. Pull-through, 2x10; 154
Cii. DB Dynamic Lunge, 2x8; 55/hand, 55/hand

D. Swiss Ball Crunch, 2x6; BW

Comments: I've been doing back squats for ages now so I've swapped in front squats for the next few weeks. Today they felt pretty solid, I started too light and finished my sets of 4 at 209 which wasn't that tough, next week I'll aim for 220x4.

I've maxed out the station where I do pull-throughs and they're really not that difficult, I think I need to find a replacement exercise in the next few weeks. Dynamic lunges, were tough, I was counting each lunge in my head; 0.5, 1, 1.5. 2...which wasn't helping, by the time I got to 8 I felt as if I'd been doing them for ages.

[finboy]

Solid work from you guys, as usual.

Milk - sorry, but I had to laugh over the comment about your ass being oversized. I do understand your 'concern' though and you are right to make the move to quad and hamstring-dominant stuff. Of course I'm LMAO over Ed's LOVE of his bigger ass! Way to go Ed, keep it growing! (Alwyn must be an ass man.)

Originally Posted by EdChap

...go team!

I love that Ed...it's no longer a rivalry. You guys are leaders of the JP Strength team!

[milkman21]

NROL - Strength 2 - Workout A - Week 1

Main Set:
Front Squats, static start in the hole
201 Tempo
180s Rest Between Sets
1 x 9 x 95 lbs (normal Front Squats, warm-up)
1 x 4 x 145 lbs
1 x 4 x 145 lbs
1 x 4 x 145 lbs
1 x 12 x 135 lbs (Front Squats, normal) +2 reps
1/4 Squats
201 Tempo
180s Rest Between Sets
1 x 3 x 225 lbs
1 x 3 x 235 lbs
1 x 3 x 245 lbs

Superset
Good Morning
301 tempo
90s rest
2 x 10 x 135 lbs +10 lbs
1 x 10 x 145 lbs +20 lbs
Sissy Squats
301 tempo
90s rest
3 x 30 x BW (ouch!) +1 set

Superset
Double Crunch Machine
90s Rest
3 x 12 x 130 lbs
Calf Press
3 x 50 x 360 lbs

Extra
Chin Ups
1 x 12 x BW
1 x 8 x BW+15 lbs
1 x 7 x BW+15 lbs
1 x 6 x BW+15 lbs
External Rotations
3 x 15 x 10 lbs
BB Curls
2 x 15 x 75 lbs
BB Skull Crusher
2 x 15 x 75 lbs


Notes
*Solid workout, especially considering I have had a head cold the last few days. I think my family got me sick over Thanksgiving break!
*Good Mornings really felt solid today. I'm pretty confident that working on these will help my deadlifts significantly (duh).
*I'm now in the midst of final projects/assignments... so I may not log my next few workouts. Lots of work to do in the next 10 days

[EdChap]

Nice workout, deadstops are looking strong! Good luck with all the work. I have lots of work due in for the day I come back from holidays, obviously I don't want to work all over the break so I want to do some before the term ends, thing is, I can't motivate myself to do it!

[finboy]

Best of luck to both of you as you wind up this semester/term.

[EdChap]

Thanks, Fin!

[EdChap]

NROL Strength II, Upper Body;

A. 1-arm DB Row;
88x4
88x4
77x8
65x12

B. DB Bench Press;
60x4
65x4
65x8
60x11 (Shame!)

Ci. Lat-pulldown, 2x4; 220, 220
Cii. Chin-up; 21xBW (A few sets, overkill...)

Di. DB Shoulder Press; 55x4, 55x4, 33x12
Dii. DB Upper Body Russian Twist, 2x6/side; BW

Ei. Cable Curl, 3x6; 121, 132, 132
Eii. Tricep Pressdown, 3x6; 154, 154, 154

Comments: Good workout today, my arms were certainly feeling it after the chin-up competition (I don't know how it got started, but after a while we called it quits, I would have won anyway...) and the curls. I went a little heavier on the bench presses today, 65x4 was pretty easy so I whipped out my set of 8 at 65 too, missed the last rep on the 12 rep set, sadly. Saw an improvement in my 1-arm DB rows which was pleasing, what isn't so good is that the DB's don't get any heavier than 88!

[Steve-O-68]

It's frustrating when you don't have the weight you need. In my company's gym, the DBs go from 80 to 100 with nothing in between. Oh well... gotta make do with whatcha got!

[EdChap]

I could always start using a BB for 1-arm rows, it would be good grip work. It would get some funny looks, though!

[Steve-O-68]

You should be used to those looks by now...

[EdChap]

But, I like my arse the way it is!

[milkman21]

NROL - Strength 2 - Workout B - Week 1

Main Set:
Bench
201 Tempo
180s Rest Between Sets
1 x 12 x 135 lbs (warm-up)
1 x 4 x 195 lbs
1 x 4 x 205 lbs +2 reps
1 x 5 x 195 lbs (should have been 8, but I had no spotter and didn't want to fail out here)
1 x 8 x 185 lbs (cake)
1 x 10 x 175 lbs
BO Row
201 Tempo
180s Rest Between Sets
1 x 12 x 135 lbs (warm-up)
1 x 4 x 185 lbs
1 x 4 x 205 lbs
1 x 4 x 205 lbs
1 x 8 x 185 lbs
1 x 12 x 175 lbs

Superset
Chin-Ups
211 tempo
90s rest
1 x 4 x BW+35 lbs
1 x 3 x BW+45 lbs +5 lbs
1 x 12 x BW
Military Press
211 tempo
90s rest
1 x 4 x 105 lbs
1 x 4 x 105 lbs
1 x 12 x 85 lbs
1 x 10 x 85 lbs

Superset
Varied-Grip Chin-Ups
90s Rest
1 x 8 x BW rope chin-ups
1 x 6 x BW "praying hands" alternating which side of the bar my head came up
1 x 6 x BW same as above

Extra
Tricep BLAST!!!
1 x 12 x 135 CG Bench
1 x 12 x 135 CG Bench
2 x 12 x 20 lbs Rotating DB Tricep Ext
Lateral DB Raises
3 x 12 x 20 lbs

Notes
*Pretty good workout today. I'm really kicking it up a notch with the extra arm and shoulder work since Cancun is only 10 days away!!! Any overtraining I may be doing can certainly be remedied by a few days of fun in the sun
*The various grips I tried for the chin-ups were a good change of pace. For the rope grip ones, I used a tricep rope from the cable tower and just slung it over the top crossbar of the squat cage. My hands hurt like a bitch after doing those, and I want to remember to just bring a towel next time instead.
*The "praying grip" ones were also good. I held that same crossbar of the squat cage with my fingers interlocked as if I was praying... hence my name for the grip.

[finboy]

Nice work, Milk and Ed. Ed's arse aside, has all the 'gun' work produced the results you were looking for Milk?

[EdChap]

Nice work, Matt.

For me, the arm work is beginning to pay off. What I do need to built up is my traps, what are some good exercises that I can tack onto the end of a workout?

[milkman21]

Originally Posted by finboy

Nice work, Milk and Ed. Ed's arse aside, has all the 'gun' work produced the results you were looking for Milk?

I dunno. When I'm lifting, I feel like my arms are a bit bigger (and they look it, too), but without the benefit of the blood flow I don't think I've noticed in particular.

[milkman21]

Originally Posted by EdChap

Nice work, Matt.

For me, the arm work is beginning to pay off. What I do need to built up is my traps, what are some good exercises that I can tack onto the end of a workout?

Nothing beats hang cleans IMO. Otherwise you can try some snatch-grip DLs (in place of your regular DLs), power shrugs at the top of your DLs (not on the heaviest lifts), and you can vary the angle of your torso when doing BO rows. The more upright you are, the more you'll call your traps into action... i think...