Mike's quest for Abs and 1100

[MikeM]

We'll see about snatch grip deads. I might have to hook grip 'em and that'll hurt.

Thanks Jim and JB. Thanks Elite and Ravi. Nope no cursing that time! If I'd have known how jacked they were going to make my back, I might have cursed some. Took the whole weekend for my back to get back to usable. I couldn't pick up the newspaper Saturday!

Monday was a washout with two Christmas parties, one kid and one adult, so everything pushed off until today. The plan is to go straight through T, Wed, Th, F. We'll see. I do have time to hit deads on Saturday if I have to. Or I might switch and do deads F and Bench Aux on Sat. I'll work it out. I'm not missing any days that's for sure.

Anyway, another great bench day. Maybe should have pushed it more, but stayed on course. Sadly no videos as camera on the fritz. I'm getting a new battery tomorrow, so fingers crossed there.

JBPP week 4

warmups: Foam rolling, Lacross ball to shoulder, rowing 2x 1 min, Lat pulldowns to chest, exterior rotations and a lot of band work for shoulders. Sounds like a lot, but I blow through this in like 10 min. Really helps loosen up my shoulders and upper back

Bench:
6x 205
3x 6x 225 (102 Kg )
(2nd set was easiest, so I considered going to 230, but decided not to get greedy. Probably smart too as very last rep with 225 was a toughie. Never in doubt, but a grinder for sure)

OHP to chin:
2x 15x 80
2x 15x 90
(last reps of each of 90 sets were TOUGH to lock out! Weight wasn't bad, but arms were like wooden blocks.)

DB Pullovers, decided I wanted accuracy so found out spinlock DB weighs about 3 pounds, hence weird numbers:
10x 53, 58, 63, 68 (I really like these)

A little extra stuff, more therapy than heavy.
Lat Pulldowns:
3x 10x 150
ss w/ Hammers: 2x 10x 33

There you go. Good stuff today. Arms blown up like balloons!

Squats tomorrow, really going after those hard.

[Hunterace]

Great workout Mike! Boooo hisssss for no vids, jk

[Squatter]

Way to muscle up that last bench rep Mike! I actually did up mine to 225 from 220 this week so we are now even. You seemed to do better than me tho on the OHP to chin. Hope the camera is working for squat-o-clock!

[EliteDreams]

Very nice benching Mike!

[miked96]

Looking foward to see what you pull from the floor. I really like JBs plan and I know your putting the work in.

[ravimolasaria]

Strong benching Mike ... keep pushing the wts. ...

[MikeM]

Thanks Mike. Way to pick my worst lift to be looking forward to! No pressure there. HaHa.
Seriously, I feel like I am getting super strong. I know bench and squats are going to skyrocket. I assume deadlifts will too. That's a strange lift for me. I can move the needle 50 lbs in 2 months or not gain more than 5 pounds in 6 months.
But you're right JB's program is AWESOME.

Thanks Ravi, Elite, and Hunter. Thanks Jimbo. Yeah won't be long before you're cruising past my bench numbers. Your form is getting really good and you're already bigger and stronger than me. You're going to blow right by soon.

And a great squat day today!! Had a lot of confidence heading in and just said I'm going for it. Also, I gotta tell you this low bar squatting is a lot more user friendly. I hit some big sets (for me) and now I really do feel some confidence that I have a good shot at 405 before 2013 is over. I seriously think if I'd been practicing low bar squatting the past year, I'd be squatting 405 right now.

JBPP week 4

warmups: Jump Rope and a lot of leg loosening stuff, some squat jumps for height to get fired up too.

Squat:
6x 230
3x 6x 275 (BooYeah!!!! No itty bitty plates for me!! HA! Until next week anyway.)

Wide Stance Squats:
4x 8x 185 (whew!)

Bulgarian Torture Split Squats:
4x 10x BW each leg

First 275 set:

6x 275 - YouTube

6x 275 - YouTube

Last set:

6x 275 - YouTube

6x 275 - YouTube

First Wide set:

6x 275 - YouTube

6x 275 - YouTube

Last Wide set:

8x 185 - YouTube

8x 185 - YouTube

Felt like I was losing control of the muscles in my legs! Just all wobbly.

1 Bulgarian, camera memory full, new battery works great:

MVI 6726 - YouTube

MVI 6726 - YouTube

Don't know if you can tell anything from that set up and rep. They were pretty g'damn hard, but my legs were jello by then too.

There you go. Really pleased with today. And doing squats this way puts very little stress on my back at all. For once, I'm looking forward to deadlifting knowing my low back isn't banged up going in. Fingers crossed a couple BIG deadlifts this week.

We'll see.

[J_Byrd]

Great work Mike! 375 squat at the end of this cycle!

[Hunterace]

Great workout Mike! Your progress is awesome! Keep it up!

[dmaipa]

Hey Mike, solid work. I was going through your log and see some great consistency and determination. Keep it up.

I'm going to refer back to your bulgarian squats. I know your camera stopped recording before you could finish one set but what I did notice was your left hip move to compensate the movement. It could be because your legs were already fatigued by the killer squat session. BUT, if you want - make sure you get a full set of yourself doing the bulgarian squats.

usually when people do single limb exercises, there weaknesses show. especially in the stabilizing muscles and may need to activate certain areas to make sure you stay injury free especially your hips and knees.

Keep it up brother