This Past Week (6/20-6/26)

This past week was a lighter than normal week for me. It was my heavy triples week in the weight room, and all of my lifts went really well. One thing I found to really help me as of late was to lighten the weight I was using for my working sets and just focus on hitting clean, powerful reps. This really reduced any chance of injury for me and also allowed me to not be completely drained for the next two days after my lift.

Aside from lifting, I didn't do any other form of training Sunday through Thursday. On Friday, however, I joined my dad and three uncles on a 60 mile bike ride around southern Wisconsin. Now, understand that I haven't ridden a bike for more than two minutes since my sophomore fall of high school, i.e., six and a half years ago. Not to mention everybody else rides semi-frequently, weighs at least 40 pounds less than me, and has these suped-up rode bike, whereas I was pedaling my mountain bike. Well, let me tell you, I was absolutely gassed by the end.

My quads started cramping a little before we stopped for lunch at the half way point, and after lunch they were cramping full on. I rode that way for about a mile and half and then had to stop to get some electrolyte tablets out of the sag wagon. After taking these tablets and massaging my quads I began to feel better, so I got back on and rode again, but the cramps started back up within the next two miles. I finished out the leg like that and then took some more electrolyte tablets at our next stop. Finally, the cramps went away at the beginning of the fourth and final leg. And despite all of that, I was still the first to cross the finish line haha.

This was an annual ride that my uncle puts on called "Ride To Farm". The main ride is done on a Saturday, with the first part of the ride being completed on Friday with a smaller group. The Friday ride is the one I did. It was a lot of fun, but I think once a year is enough for me right now. And by the way, I burned 4,230 calories in the 3 hours and 40 minutes I spent riding on that day. I know because I wore my heart rate monitor.

Nothing much else went on this past week. I'm trying to get the Self Made Discussion Board alive and kicking, so if you haven't signed up already click here to do so and join in on the conversation! Also, The Source comes out next week, so if you haven't signed up already make sure you do so! Here's a YouTube advertisement I just put out earlier today:

Well, that's all for this past week. Now it's time to go live this one.

Get big or die tryin'.

This Past Week (6/13-6/19)

This past week was a great training week for me. On Sunday I played basketball for the first time since the end of the season, roughly two and a half months ago. It was great to get that type of aerobic workout again, and while my skills weren't up to par I had a lot of fun running up and down and doing something competitive.

Monday I finished Week 1 of SMS 8 and I had the chance to train at my high school weight room. This final day went very well as I hit all of weights I had aimed to. Later that afternoon I performed a plyo workout so I could keep my conditioning up.

Tuesday I deadlifted again, and while it had only been three days since my last deadlift session, the timing of the rest of the week worked out such that this would be the only day I could get in to deadlift. If the YMCA wouldn't get pissed when I used the platform for the purpose it was designed to be used for or used chalk when I lifted then this wouldn't have been an issue. However, this is not the case, so I had to rearrange my schedule to make sure I could get my lifts in.

Wednesday morning I went in to bench. I got through my med ball warmup and the warmup sets on the bench feeling alright, but when it came time to hit my working sets, which were singles on this day, I got stuck just off of my chest at a very manageable weight and had an intense pressure in my head. After fighting to rack the bar, I dropped 10 pounds and tried again, only to get stuck once again and become unable to lock out a weight that I haven't missed in almost a year. This is when I decided that today just wasn't a day to lift and so I left the gym to recover. I went home and mowed the lawn again and felt great after that. I am not sure what happened on this day, but I feel like the weights I have been using for my working sets may be too high, even though I have been able to hit them. This was a learning experience for me and I am now applying these lessons to my sessions and am feeling much better. I also played basketball Wednesday night and felt great during that run.

Thursday I squatted and had my leg lift, which went significantly better than the previous day's training session. Friday was the final day of Week 2 of SMS 8 and, just like the previous day, the ability to cut back my weight on my working sets and go for high quality reps led to an incredible lift. After Friday's lift I felt the best that I have post-workout since the beginning of SMS 7.

I also read the book "Rock Iron Steel: The Book of Strength" by Steve Justa this past week. It was a very interesting read and gave me a lot of good ideas on how to mix up my training. I recommend this book to anybody who is looking for a different means of strength and endurance training.

That's all for this past week. Now it's time to go live this one.

Get big or die tryin'.

This Past Week (6/6-6/12)

This past week was a very big week for me. On Sunday I graduated from Williams College, which means that all of my effort and focus can FINALLY be put towards Self Made and training. This was also a transition week from my testing week to SMS 8.

After graduation I didn't do anything for Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. I just took those three days to let my body fully heal so I could start up hard again on Thursday. On Thursday I began SMS 8. Starting mid-week made the timing of everything challenging, but I had a plan so I would be on track by Week 3.

Thursday was my squat day and I could feel that the extra time off definitely helped. This first day of SMS 8 went really well and I felt great the entire lift. I also did my first plyo workout in over two weeks later that afternoon.

On Friday I had Day 2 of SMS 8, which was my bench workout. This day was put together somewhat last minute as I thought I was going to be deadlifting on Friday but the gym I do my deadlifting at ended up not opening until the following Monday. The session went well and the training day turned out great so I was really happy with everything. Then after my lift I went home and mowed the yard.

Saturday ended up being my deadlift day and I was very pleased with how this day turned out and how the session went as well. This lift was my only workout of the day, but I was feeling a little gassed from hitting it hard the past two days.

That's all that happened this past week. Now it's time to go live this one.

Get big or die tryin'.

This Past Week (5/30-6/5)

This past week was my testing week for my squat, bench, and deadlift. These sessions were the only training sessions I did all week as it was Senior Week at school and I wanted to be able to spend as much time as I could with my friends. I also wanted to give my body some good time to heal up as my shoulders, knees, and hips were not exactly feeling perfect.

My first testing day was Tuesday. I tested my squat on Tuesday and while I didn't hit the weight I was hoping to I know that I have definitely gotten stronger since Spring Break. Back in January I set the goals for myself of hitting at 500 squat, 450 deadlift, and 350 bench. I missed 470 on the squat twice, so clearly this goal was a little bit out of reach on this day.

Wednesday was my bench day and while I had set the goal of 350 I could feel that it was unrealistic to think that 350 would be lifted. I did, however, bench 315, which was a 15-pound PR for me, so I was pretty happy about that.

Thursday was my deadlift day and I could feel that a big weight was coming this day. My deadlift has improved significantly over the course of the past 7 months, and I truly believed that a 500-pound pull was well within reach. I chose to pull Sumo style as I feel I am stronger and under better control when pulling this way compared to Conventional. Well, long story short, I hit my 500 pull without the aid of straps, and I was VERY happy about this.

That was my last test for the week so I definitely ended on a high note.

Wednesday I also had some more work done on the site and things are really starting to come along in that regard. I also sent out the June issue of The Source on Thursday. If you haven't signed up for my free monthly newsletter yet, you can do so by clicking here and filling out your name and e-mail address.

Well that's all that happened this past week. Now it's time to go live this one.

Get big or diet tryin'.

This Past Week (5/23-5/29)

This past week was a short week for me. It was my deload week for my lifts, which was very much needed since both of my shoulders and my right hip were aggravated. It was also a short week because of the fact that Wednesday afternoon I left for Cleveland to watch my girlfriend run at the D3 Track Nationals. Because of this, I lifted Sunday through Wednesday. I also did plyos on Monday and Wednesday and I did hill sprints on Tuesday afternoon.

I recorded a couple videos as well. On Monday morning after my lift I shot a video for the Total Random X Challenge by Underground Wellness. The contest was to see who could use their TRX suspension trainer in the most random place. I shot my video in the library and was declared the winner for that week. Then, later that afternoon, I shot a video on how to get "squash quick".

I also issued a challenge via the Self Made Facebook Page, which stated "Find a hill that takes you roughly 6 seconds to sprint up when you're fresh. Sprint up and walk down as many times as you can in 20 minutes. Get at least 30 sprints in." This was my hill sprint workout on Tuesday. I got 32 sprints in.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were days that I took completely off to let my body heal and to enjoy my time at track nationals.

That's all for this past week. Now it's time to go live this one.

Get big or die tryin'.