Alex's Training Log [Archive] - Physical Advancement

Alex Devenyi

02-09-2006, 07:18 AM

Well, since BruteStrength's down and that's where I usually keep my training journal, I figured I'd start one and just cut and paste the two over for my results. This environment reminds me a lot like the guys over at BruteStrength, so I figure it'll only benefit me to have two :cool:

My current routine is a combination of Kubik, Justa, and Westside. I was originally doing the 4-day Westside approach, but I also train in Kyokushin Karate 2-3 times a week so all that together started to wear me down a bit. This is what I'm doing right now, I've got it in three week cycles. What I basically do is 2x a week I do heavy singles, shooting to increase the poundages I do using the singles idea that Steve Justa came up with. The third day I do my "DE" day by using 4x6 of a weight I was doing singles with before. Every 6+ weeks, I'll try to test my maxes (usually after the 4x6 day) to make sure most of my singles are staying around the 80% range. I still have to make my stone and unfortunately don't have a tire yet, working on both of those though.

As far as training and competition wise, I've only been training for a little over a year now (Jan 14th, 2005 was when I started) and last year I competed in Strongest Man in PA as a novice lightweight. Body-wise right now, I'm 5'9" and ~175, and I've been cursed with relatively small hands (around 7 1/8" or so, probably smaller).

WEEK ONE:
MON:
Deadlifts (12 singles)
Log Presses (6 singles)
Weighted Pull-Ups (4x8)
Decline Situps (3x12)
Leg Raises (3x12)
Plate Pinching (2x each hand timed holds)
Extensor Bands (3x12)

WED:
Barbell Squats (12x1)
Bench Press (6x1)
Farmer's Walking (60ft with four turn-arounds)
Weighted Dips (4x8)
Prone Hyperextensions (3x12)
Saxon Side Bends (3x12)
Rolling Thunder (2x each hand timed holds)
Extensor Bands (3x12)

FRI:
Good Mornings (4x6)
Log Presses (4x6)
Barbell Shrugs (3x8)
Decline Situps (3x12)
Leg Raises (3x12)
Hub Pinching (2x each hand timed holds)
Extensor Bands (3x12)

SAT:
Keg Lifts (2x10-15 as fast as we can)
Car Pushing (shooting for 1/2 mile right now)

WEEK TWO:
MON:
Deadlifts (12 singles)
Log Presses (6 singles)
Weighted Pull-Ups (4x8)
Decline Situps (3x12)
Leg Raises (3x12)
Heavy Grippers (2x10-15 per hand, plus cheat closes)
Extensor Bands (3x12)

WED:
Barbell Squats (4x6)
Bench Press (4x6)
Farmer's Walking (100ft for 3-4 sets)
Weighted Dips (4x8)
Prone Hyperextensions (3x12)
Saxon Side Bends (3x12)
Wrist Roller (3x max reps)
Extensor Bands (3x12)

FRI:
Good Mornings (6x1)
Log Presses (6x1)
Barbell Shrugs (3x8), followed by power hold
Decline Situps (3x12)
Leg Raises (3x12)
Extensor Bands (3x12)

SAT:
Keg Carry (100ft for 3 sets)
Sandbag Shoulders (fast; shooting for at least 30 per shoulder to start)

WEEK THREE:
MON:
Deadlifts (4x6)
Log Presses (4x6)
Weighted Pull-Ups (4x8)
Decline Situps (3x12)
Leg Raises (3x12)
Heavy Grippers (2x10-15, followed by cheat closes)
Extensor Bands (3x12)

WED:
Barbell Squats (12x1)
Bench Press (6x1)
Farmer's Walking (60ft with four turn-arounds), followed by power hold
Weighted Dips (4x8)
Prone Hyperextensions (3x12)
Saxon Side Bends (3x12)
Hub Pinching (2x max reps each hand)
Extensor Bands (3x12)

FRI:
Good Mornings (6x1)
Log Presses (6x1)
Barbell Shrugs (3x8), followed by power hold
Decline Situps (3x12)
Leg Raises (3x12)
Fingertip Pull-Ups (2x max reps; once I get those Eagle Loops but until then: Hub Pinching (2x each hand timed holds))
Sledgehammer Levers (2-3x max reps each hand)
Extensor Bands (3x12)

SAT:
Atlas Stone Loading
Atlas Stone Carry

My current bests:
Deadlift 405 (no straps or belt, just chalk)
Squat 315 (well past parallel)
Overhead Press 155 (with a log trainer)
Bench Press 185 (stopped for a while, getting back into it)
Good Morning 205

Hub-pinch 35lb plate with three 2.5lb plates
HG200 gripper
Pinched three 10lb Standard plates

That's pretty much the gist of it :EP:

Alex Devenyi

02-09-2006, 07:29 AM

02/08/2006 WORKOUT:

Barbell Squats: 145x6/185x6/225x6/265x6
I used a 2" axle for these, this is my "DE" day for these. Most of them pretty solid throughout, getting well past parallel, the last two for 265 were a bit shaky but my workout partner said my form looked decent so it all worked out.

2" Axle Bench Press: 75x6/105x6/125x6/155x6
I had actually stopped benching for a while and was just doing weighted dips, but I figured I might want to add some in just in case I ever want to try some powerlifting. I'll be trying the 7th Annual Pittsburgh Monster Bench and Deadlift portion (deadlift only, raw) on April 2nd as it looks right now, so I figured adding in benching once a week can't hurt :) This is maybe my 2nd time benching again since I stopped in August or so.

Farmer's Walking: 165/175/185 for 60ft with four turn-arounds.
First off, I don't have implements so I use these EZ-bars with bent handles in them. I ordered some good ones off of Lance from BruteStrength but he just sent them so it'll be a while getting them to me. They seem to work all right though, as when I was doing 155 with these I went to Strongest Man in PA and managed to get 180 in each hand for 50ft up, turn, and back in about 26 sec. Not rocket fast, but I still got it and my grip was solid throughout. I think since one's longer than the other it makes it suck even more :D

As for the 60ft with four turn-arounds, this is actually something my workout partner came up with. We have enough room to do the regular 50ft, turn, and back, but I had us doing another turn at the end since that's probably the toughest part for us. He came up with this awesome idea just last night that we worked on and tweaked a little bit until it finally started working well. You basically walk ~15ft, turn, walk back, turn, walk again, turn, walk back, then turn at the end before you drop them. This way you're doing four turns instead of just one, while still killing your grip. We're hoping this way our turns can become a lot faster. The sets were pretty tough, had one drop on 185, and one of my calluses got torn off yet again but luckily it wasn't bleeding this time. I just snipped it off with a pair of scissors.

Weighted Dips: (BW+30) x8/8/8/8
Gotta go up to 35 now, very cool :cool:

Plate Pinching: Three Standard 10's for 6/8 sec, 5/6 sec.
My hands were dead after doing those farmer's like that for the first time, they take a lot out of you.

Alex Devenyi

02-09-2006, 08:58 AM

02/09/2006:

Did my circuit training while watching HELLBOY. I basically alternate rope-skipping for one minute, then do a calisthenic for one minute (mostly upper-body and abs/obliques since my legs are doing a lot of jumping around, so I only do a few lower-body). Went for only 14 minutes today, was tired out from lifting so late last night. I did knuckle push-ups, sit-ups, bodyweight squats, waist twists with a stick, Hind pushups, V-ups, and bunny hops.

Luckily we got to have Kyokushin tonight. Big emphasis on punching. We first did lots of calisthenics to warm up (knuckle pushups for reps and timed holds at different levels, duck walking, loosening-up, bodyweight squats, etc.) then went right into the basics of transferring bodyweight into your strikes. Lots of good drills, we first did one where you basically just fall into the pad with your shoulder to first get the feeling of moving your body into it. Then we did two-handed and one-handed pushes utilizing the same before finally utilizing our punches. Lots and lots of punches.

Yuki (a sandan who is one of the guys I train with) was teaching today and was saying my punches looked really good. I was fairly relaxed and centered, and they were snapping pretty well since I was stepping in with both feet to get my weight into it. It's good to see my punching skills from before coming back. I winded up on a handful of them (pulling it back like you see in movies) but for the most part, they were pretty good. We ended with some stretching and standing meditation.

Alex Devenyi

02-10-2006, 05:06 PM

02/10/2006 WORKOUT:

Good Mornings: 95x6 and 135x3 for warm-up, then went for max. 185x1, 205x1, 225x1, 235x1, 240x1.
Decided to end with 240 as my PR, I was pretty burnt out today for some reason so I figured a 35lb PR in good mornings was a decent stopping point

Barbell Shrugs: 225x8/255x8/255x8, followed by power hold with 225 for 22 sec.
Would've had that easy if my forearms weren't so tired.

10" Steel Log Press: 60x4 warm-up, 90x1, 110x1.
Just attacked it light today, getting ready for 4x6 Monday. This new log is awesome, Lance, we're both happy about it. Pics at the bottom

2.5" Dumbbell Clean and Press: 40x1 each, 50x1 each, 60x0 both, 60x1/0 (right hand).
Figured we'd do these for fun after the log to just smoke our shoulders.

1-pood Kettlebell Bottoms-Up Press: A few times each hand, mostly for fun.

Pix incoming.

Alex Devenyi

02-10-2006, 05:13 PM

http://server3.uploadit.org/files/whiteyrhymes-DSCF0699.JPG

http://server2.uploadit.org/files/whiteyrhymes-DSCF0705.JPG

http://server2.uploadit.org/files/whiteyrhymes-DSCF0706.JPG

Unfortunately, my ceiling's a bit too short for lockout for the kettlebell, so it makes it a bit more challenging.

Nicolette L.

02-10-2006, 11:08 PM

Thanks for posting here. Nice pic's as well. I hope you decide to keep a training journal here so we can watch your progress.

Alex Devenyi

02-11-2006, 09:38 AM

Thanks for posting here. Nice pic's as well. I hope you decide to keep a training journal here so we can watch your progress.

After Lance's forum crashed, I realized it'd be a good idea to keep two just in case :)

Alex Devenyi

02-13-2006, 11:30 AM

20050213 WORKOUT:

10" Steel Log Presses: 60x6/80x6/100x4/110x1
Last two sets had additional times of me straining to get it up. Kinda bummed about the weight, but I'll get it up there soon enough :EP:

Deadlifts: 175x6/235x6/295x6/355x6
On the 5th rep of the last set, my glasses flew off my face and I had to stop before I put it down to make sure I wasn't going to dump the weight on my glasses :M: 355x6 is pretty sweet, tough but doable.

Pull-Ups: BWx8/8/5/3

Decline Situps: (35lb DB) x12/12/12
We use these on a bench about six holes up in the air, so we're at a pretty extreme angle.

Leg Raises: (25lb DB) x12/12/12

Went home and stretched a bit, then Dennis and I grubbed out and watched a movie or two. After he left, I went and did some block weight tosses with the 35 head, not sure how many it was total but it was at least a good 8-9 times each hand.

Alex Devenyi

02-13-2006, 06:11 PM

Actually found out my log weighs more than I thought. I had originally thought 60 but the shipping info says 75 and my scale at home says 85 :D Lance said just weigh it on the scales, so I used another one and got 85 too so I guess it's 85.

10" Steel Log Presses: 85x6/105x6/125x4/135x1

Alex Devenyi

02-15-2006, 09:27 PM

20060215 WORKOUT:

Barbell Squat Max: 135x4/225x3/275x1/300x1/325x1 (PR!)/335x0
A 10lb PR in squats, not bad at all B) 335 sucked, I went down, went up about a foot and couldn't get any further. It was a riot though because once we racked it we saw I actually bent the bar a good 5 degrees or so, it was real noticeable. I bend bars, better recognize! :M:

Bench Press Max: 115x3/135x2/165x1/185x1 (PR!)/205x1 (PR!)
When we last stopped benching, I think I was doing ~175. Those dips must have some decent carryover, as I got 205 (albeit it wavered a bit on lockout), but I think I may be able to get 210 fresh. A 30lb PR, not bad! :cool:

Farmer's Walking: 190x10ft, 180ftx100ft (one turn-around) in ~28 sec.
Legs were already rubber coming into this one. 190 was just too much after all that, dropped to 180 and managed to nail it in about 28 seconds. We use these two EZ-bars with handles, one's slightly longer than the other so it makes it a huge pain in the ass. Before Strongest in PA, I was doing 165 with these and I pulled off 180 for 100ft with one turn in 26sec. I figure this might make this one ~200 maybe, we'll hafta see once I get the implements off Lance. Should be coming soon, can't wait! :cool: What was real awesome to see was Dennis get 165/hand almost 100ft, just a few months ago he was doing 125 and crying like a sissy girl. His pencil-neck days are over! :D

Weighted Dips: (BW+35) x8/8/8/5
Went down for #6 on the last set and my arms just crumbled.

Prone Hyperextensions (BW+30) x12/12/12
Not too bad. These are the ones we're doing in the calf machine, we just put all the weight on the calf machine, set it down low, then get in the sucker so our upper body's hanging off the edge of the seat and our legs are held in place by the weight. Then we just grab a plate or DB and do them.

SBaier

02-16-2006, 08:34 AM

Good job on the PR's!!

Alex Devenyi

02-16-2006, 08:55 AM

Good job on the PR's!!

Thanks, bro! The benching one was a surprise, I guess weighted dips have some really good carry-over. My squat's slow to add poundages too so it was cool to get that 10lb increase :D

Alex Devenyi

02-17-2006, 11:49 AM

WORKOUT:
Had an intense workout in Kyokushin last night so still sore today. Did lots of fighting combinations and some moderate contact, then ended up with some conditioning. Did lots of ab exercises, duck walking, knuckle push-ups on bricks, and other fun stuff, then ended with Sanchin and Tensho kata.

Got the rest of our stuff from Lance today too, so we decided to do some farmer's for distance instead of the regular stuff.

10" Steel Log Presses: 135 for 4 singles, 125 for 2 singles.
Tris were burnt after the first few, 4th one was a battle. I got some video of me doing my first single:

http://www.zippyvideos.com/2556251923801866/dscf0725/

Farmer's Walking: 110lbs/hand for a total of 1/2 mile between the two of us, about 8 sets each.
We didn't know how we were gonna do this at first since we don't have any collars that fit the implements, so we just zip-tied the ends. That worked a little bit. This sucked a lot, got some pix too of em that I put up over on BruteStrength. Once we got to my driveway, I had this fun idea: "Hey, let's walk backwards with em!" Man, was that a bad idea, that's tough as hell.

http://www.brutestrength.com/forum/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=48

Mike Westerling

02-17-2006, 12:44 PM

Alex Devenyi

02-17-2006, 12:47 PM

Home Depot (and most hardware stores) sell a type of clamp that looks like a pair of pliers with a spring in the middle. They work great and they are like $2 each. Twist ties must suck.
-Mike

Eclipse from BruteStrength mentioned the same thing, spring claps or something like that. I have a friend that works up at HD so I'm probably heading up today :D The ties worked okay but it kept slipping around a bit.

Alex Devenyi

02-19-2006, 04:48 PM

I was actually looking at some pipe collars too with the screws at Home Depot, those could probably work well too but I tried out the clasps on my farmer's and it did a good job. They were on sale too, only 99 cents each. While I was there I bought some chain for my sled but I was wondering how I was gonna get a harness. I was looking at a few things but nothing seemed like a good idea until I scratched my right bicep where my USMC tattoo is. Then it hit me: my old Y-harness that used to have my ammo, canteens, and buttpack. I remember dragging this one huge dude with an 80lb pack on for a hundred feet or so because he was a "casualty" during a field exercise, so I think it should be tough enough to pull a few hundred pounds. Here's some pix:

http://server3.uploadit.org/files/whiteyrhymes-sledchain.JPG

http://server3.uploadit.org/files/whiteyrhymes-harnesschain.JPG

http://server2.uploadit.org/files/whiteyrhymes-harnessback.JPG

Cheaper than one from Ironmind at least! :D

Alex Devenyi

02-20-2006, 03:25 PM

20060220:

Crappiest workout ever. I was late getting there to start, and then I'm warming up for deadlifts then I need to go help a guy fix something in the gym for like 15 minutes, so when I got back I had maybe 40 minutes left. I figured I'd try doing 325 for max reps in a minute like Strongest in PA, so Dennis timed me. I got 4 reps in 12 sec, went for #5, pulled, and psyched myself out so got nothing. Worked on some overhead stuff for trying to add in the pop, but couldn't psych myself up to do anything heavy.

I finally got motivation and tried a two-hand anyhow. Nothing too extreme, just 65 on the barbell and picking up a 35lb DB for a total of 100lbs. Decent form, so at least got something today.

Alex Devenyi

02-22-2006, 10:08 PM

Had two good Kyokushin workouts Mon and Tue.

WORKOUT:

Awesome workout today, I really needed it after that shitty one Monday. Met this dude Paul today, he's 17 and been lifting about 4 years. He's about 5'6" and 180, interested in strongman, so we let him stick around and work out with us. He'll be coming over my house Sat and we're gonna do the Justa barrel workout with my keg and maybe some sled dragging, let him try out the log.

2" Axle Barbell Squats: 270 for 12 singles.
Only the last 3 were pretty tough, the other ones were a bit difficult but no sweat. We dropped back down to 80% 1RM, gonna add 5-10 per workout, then test our 1RM again in about six weeks. Paul did about 205 for a single or two, he goes deep which is good but we gotta work a bit on his form.

2" Axle Bench Presses: 165 for 6 singles.
Most of these popped up with little strain, again being 80% 1RM and adding 5-10 per workout. Paul used Dennis' weight (135) and was repping out with it.

Farmer's Walking: 135/hand with four turns, 175/hand with four turns, 165/hand with two turns.
175 killed me, got it all the way though which was cool. Destroyed me for 165 though, should probably use 165 for the four-turn approach since it's real rough on the grip. Paul did 135/hand for 50ft with one turn, then did 155/hand for 50ft with only one drop. His first time doing them, so definitely pretty good. He went home after that so his mom didn't get on his case.

Weighted Dips: (BW+45) x8/8/8/1
Barely got that 1, after that I couldn't budge myself no matter how hard I tried. Slaughtered the tris.

Weighted Levers: 15lbs per hand for a single, then did 10/hand for 2x5.
I used this handle they had there, it's basically one end to load it, then a white handle at the other end that you can use for forearm work. Wanna try out a sledgehammer again soon, see how well I'm going with these.

Alex Devenyi

02-24-2006, 04:42 PM

WORKOUT:

Good Mornings: 105x6/135x6/165x6/195x6
195 was difficult but not too bad.

Barbell Shrugs: 225x8/255x8/255x8, then did 225 power hold for 30 seconds.
Going to 235 next time for the power hold.

Cable Machine "Hercules Holds": 50lbs each hand, maybe 10 sec.
Just trying these out. Hooked them to the bottom so that way they were pulling down then had two spotters put one in each of my hand with my arms locked out and palms upward, then had them let go on the count of three.

Log Presses: 85x8 then had video trouble, then did 85x9 on video.
Kinda bummed because my first 8 looked way better than the 9 caught on video, and then the video was really dark so it's hard to tell at some parts what I'm doing. I put it up just for the heck of it though:

http://www.zippyvideos.com/6439585273950456/alex85x9log/

I was working on trying to get my head under, get the pop, and keeping my feet closer together. They felt a bit better at least. I just wish it wasn't so damn dark.

Block Weight Tossing: 35lb head, basically until exhaustion.

Block Weight Clean and Press: 35lb head, at least 6-7 each side, didn't really count.

Alex Devenyi

02-25-2006, 12:33 PM

WORKOUT:

Had Paul come over early today at 2pm since he has to work at 4 to try out some of the stuff at my house. We did a couple log presses with the empty log for about 2-3 sets apiece, then hopped right into the Steve Justa Barrel workout with my keg. I emptied it to about 55lbs to start, we'll try to add 5lbs per week so that by October for Strongest Man in PA, the keg race will be a piece of cake. If we're doing all these reps with a 175lb keg, running with five of them for 30ft will be nothing.

Steve Justa Barrel Workout: (55lb keg)
**Did about 40 shoulders from the ground, 50 was my goal but since I did some log presses and was more trying to show Paul how to do it, I only settled for about 40.
**50 keg squats, 25 per shoulder.
**Keg presses for fun, did about five easy reps.
**Keg deadlifts, did about 30 then smashed my fingernail off the damn thing. It's turning purple right now.
**Bear hug for time, I got well over a minute before I put it down to let Paul try.

I then showed him some stuff to do with the block weight, a kettlebell, and our homemade thick-handled dumbbell. Did some gripwork and pressing with that stuff, then he had to head to work. Dennis will be over soon to do his workout, I'll mostly just be sitting in a chair drinking the Killian's I just started and yelling at him to finish reps.

Alex Devenyi

02-27-2006, 03:13 PM

WORKOUT:

Worked out solo today as Dennis called me at 1am to let me know he wasn't going to be in there at 7am.

"Are you sleeping?"
"Of course not, it's only one in the @#$%ing morning!!"

Log Presses: 135 for 6 singles.
I kept my feet closer together than normal and tried the "pushing the bar away from you" concept I learned from some of the critiques on my form and through this Olympic lifting book I have. I was more power jerking than push-pressing them that way it felt like, but it went up a lot easier.

Deadlifts: After warm-up, tried maxing. 425x0, 415x0, 405x1.
425 and 415 never got past my knees :mad: Guess the log pressing at home beforehand took a bit out of me. Oh well. No belt, straps, or wraps for these, just chalk.

Alex Devenyi

02-28-2006, 08:22 PM

Did some sparring in Kyokushin tonight. I felt good tonight, relaxed, hitting hard, made my opponent almost drop or catch his breath a few times too from my punches and kicks. I think by the Summer Gashuku I may be allowed to go for my next belt, so that'll be 10 straight minutes of sparring at least, possibly more. Gotta start doing some more cardio It wasn't too much of a factor tonight, but just in case. Either the blood from his hand or my sempai's nose got on my gi top, either way I'm trying to get it out now. Attached some pix on the bottom.

Mike Westerling

02-28-2006, 08:42 PM

What do you mean by "pushing the bar away from you?"
-Mike

Alex Devenyi

02-28-2006, 09:06 PM

What do you mean by "pushing the bar away from you?"
-Mike

It's something one of the O-lifting things said that I've been reading lately. It's more a visualization thing to help you dip underneath the bar, kinda like a power jerk I guess. I'll have video Friday.

Alex Devenyi

03-01-2006, 10:21 AM

WORKOUT:

Barbell Squats: 285 for 5 singles with 3-sec pauses, 285x0, 275 for 2 singles with 3-sec pauses, 275x0, then did bottom position squats with 205 for 2 singles then 225 for one single.
Those pauses were #$%@ING us up, those are pretty damn tough. If we want to keep doing those, we'll have to drop a good bit. Bottom positions are harder than I remember too

Two-Hand Anyhow: 40lb bar (pre-weighted kind) plus a 35lb dumbbell for 75 total, did it a few times.
Mostly just to show Dennis how to do them.

Bench Press: 185 for 5 singles out of 6, missed the last single halfway through.

Barbell Shrugs: 225x8/255x8/245x8
Grip almost gave out in the 2nd set, so dropped about 10lbs.

Pull-Ups: BWx8/8/5/4

Alex Devenyi

03-03-2006, 04:45 PM

WORKOUT:

Since today was a solo workout and next week we're starting the new routine, I decided today was going to be a light fun day. I wanted to practice some of the Olympic lifts to start getting a feel for them and try out a few new exercises so this is basically what I did.

Snatches: 30x3 warm-up, 45x1, 65x1, 95x1/1.
Gotta work on getting deeper under the bar as in more of a full squat than a parallel one and getting up more on my toes. Going to stick to 95 to work on form, as it's heavy enough to give me a feel for it yet light enough that I can work with it.

Clean and Military Press: 95x3, 115x1, 135x1, 155x1/1 (PR!).
Got a PR for military presses, before I was push-pressing this weight with that log trainer bar, now I can strict press it (though I was staggering around a bit under it for the second one).

Overhead Box Squats: 45x5/5/5
Just working on trying to get a feel for these.

Bent Press: 45x1 each, 55x1 each, 65x1/0.
Shoulders started giving out, worked them pretty hard with the other stuff.

One-Handed Deadlifts: 65x1, 115x1, 165x1, 185x0.
These are the ones where you straddle the bar, reach down, grab it in the middle, then stand up with it to about crotch height. Did each weight with both hands, 185 I could only get halfway up.

Steinborn Lift: 95x5/95x5.
After almost redecorating the gym mirror putting it back down, I decided I might want to lower the weight so I can work on the form :lol:

Full Contact Twists: 45x8/55x8/70x8/80x8
I really like these. As in REALLY like these. This is an awesome core workout, these combined with Saxon side bends and bent presses should make me a bear.

I then went and used the rowing machine a bit afterwards, as I'm trying to start a good cardio routine, more low-impact to offset the hard stuff I normally do.

ROWING: 10 minutes, 116 calories burned, intensity level 10/10.

Unfortunately I didn't know you could set the intensity level so I did it on the hardest level :P I got lucky too, one of the guys who works out there that I know was a rower, and he helped me get the feel for it down. I was pulling too much with my arms, you actually have to use leg drive first and then pull only a little bit.

I then did some stretching and a few kata (mostly Sanchin and Tensho, kata that emphasize deep breathing with body tension), then headed on out. Good day today.

Alex Devenyi

03-05-2006, 04:17 PM

Nice light day today, just did some dynamic and relaxed static stretching after work (trying to ease into a more consistent routine for both), then did some ab exercises. I went researching to find the best ones to maximize my effort on those, so I basically did bicycles, V-ups, reverse crunches, and knee raises to leg lifts for about 25 each, followed by the plank and stomach vaccuums. I then did some kata and went and practiced some weight transfer drills on the heavy bag, then rolled out and came on home.

Alex Devenyi

03-05-2006, 06:59 PM

New routine starting tomorrow to get ready for the Outback Challenge and to work on a few lifts I'll need for other comps coming up. Comments/criticism/suggestions welcome.

WEEK ONE:
MON:
Log Presses (Hepburns: 5 progressively heavier singles, drop 50lbs, then crank out 5x5 with that weight)
Deadlifts (max reps in 60 seconds, mostly for contest preparation)
Weighted Pullups (4x8)
Full Contact Twists (3x8; recently added)
Grip (hub pinching and extensor bands)

WED:
Breathing Squats (1x20) followed by light EZ-Bar Pullovers (1x20)
Good Mornings (5 singles)
Weighted Dips (4x8)
Saxon Side Bends (3x8)
Grip (heavy grippers and extensor bands)

FRI:
Zercher Deadlifts (5 singles, doing timed hold with last one for Conan's Wheel)
Thick-Handled Dumbbell Clean and Press (5 singles)
Hercules Hold (two timed holds)
Full Contact Twists (3x8)
Grip (block weights and extensor bands)

SAT:
Keg Workout
Farmer's Walking
Fun Gripwork (bending, card-tearing, stuff like that)

WEEK TWO:
MON:
Log Presses (Hepburns)
Barbell Squats (5 singles)
Barbell Shrugs (3x8 followed by power hold for time)
Saxon Side Bends (3x8)
Grip (levers and extensor bands)

WED:
18-inch Deadlifts (5 singles)
Bench Press (5 singles)
Weighted Pullups (4x8)
Full Contact Twists (3x8)
Grip (plate pinching and extensor bands)

FRI:
Farmer's Walking (several sets, we do ours with extra turns, power holds at end)
Front Squats (explosive; 4x6)
Bent Press (5 singles)
Weighted Dips (4x8)
Grip (block weights and extensor bands)

SAT:
Keg Workout
Sled Dragging
Fun Gripwork

Once I make an Atlas stone, it'll alternate with the keg workout.

Alex Devenyi

03-06-2006, 06:00 AM

WORKOUT:

First day of the new routine.

10" Steel Log Presses: 85x1, 100x1, 115x1, 130x1, 145x1 (PR!), then did 95x5x5.
145 went up pretty easy, especially because I think I'm getting a better dip under the log and getting my head through thanks to all the advice. 150-155 seems to be BEGGING to be my b!tch next Monday :D

The 5x5 is where I try to work on strict form, I think I'm getting better. Dennis took the week off to get used to his new job working at the beer distributor so he's taking the week off, but next Mon we should have some video.

Will post the rest of the stuff later on tonight, I gotta go to the gym to work out then right to work from there.

Alex Devenyi

03-06-2006, 04:01 PM

Rest of workout:

18" Deadlifts: 205x1, 255x1, 305x1, 355x1, 375x1
These are pretty cool, they're just high enough that any leg drive I try to get them goes nowhere. I felt a good tightness in my lower back all day, I like these a lot.

Full Contact Twists: 80x8, 90x8, 95x8.
95 seems like a good working weight with me, though I think 100 might be possible. I like these a lot.

Pull-Ups: BWx8/8
Just two quick sets, had to get home to let the dog out. Rolling out to Kyokushin class in about 20 minutes or so. Going to do some gripper stuff tonight to off-set not being able to hub pinch.

Alex Devenyi

03-07-2006, 08:46 PM

Just posting this before I crawl into bed and zonk out. Did body conditioning in Kyokushin tonight, which basically means lots of getting kicked in the inner and outer thighs, banging against other people's forearms, getting punched and kicked in the gut, tossing medicine balls at each other's guts, knuckle push-ups on bricks, and all sorts of other stuff. The killer was the end, where we did three sets of what I call "stomach stomps." You lay on the ground in a sit-up position near a wall, and your partner literally stands on your gut (avoiding the ribcage naturally), then moves their feet up and down about 30 times each. Did about three sets of those, they don't tickle. I gotta work on my inner thigh kicks (more straight into them than a downward arch like kicking on the outer thighs), using more hip with my reverse punches (I'm using a good bit, just need a bit more to make them real good), and extending more on some of my strikes (I figure most of that was due to being tired though).

All in all, a fun workout. 20-rep squats tomorrow are gonna be hell with as sore as my thighs are right now :(

Alex Devenyi

03-09-2006, 07:49 AM

20060308 WORKOUT:

Lots of pain today!

Breathing Squats: 225 for 20 reps.
Man, this was pretty brutal. On my warm-up sets I could already feel that my legs were a bit sore from all the leg kicks that I took on Tuesday during my Kyokushin class. By rep 6, I was already grunting in pain and the last 7-8 I was yelling so loud people were stopping to watch. One of the old folks up front asked my buddy Matt working the front desk "Is that man okay???" I honestly thought I tasted blood the last 3 reps, and once Dennis helped me rack it I dropped and could not move for several minutes. My throat was sore for the rest of the day and my legs were pure rubber.

EZ-Bar Pullovers: 1x20 with empty bar, 5-sec pause.

Good Mornings: 125x1/155x1/185x1/215x1/245x1
245 would've been a PR but my form was slightly off so I'm not gonna count it. On my way up instead of going straight up I drifted off to the right a little bit.

Weighted Dips: (BW+50) x8/7/6/3

Saxon Side Bends: (25lb DB) x8/8/8 each side.
It had been a while since I had done these, so I figured 25 would be a good place to start. 30 can definitely be done, so I'm upping the weight.

Hub Pinching: 45lb plate about 2" up on one side with both hands, then did reps with the 35: 5 left/6 right, then 2 left/2 right.

Went and stretched for a good 20 minutes afterwards, just trying to recover. Went to bed as soon as I got home from work and just zonked out.

Alex Devenyi

03-09-2006, 08:49 PM

Good karate workout tonight. We took it "light" because of Tuesday, so basically just a lot of shadowboxing, knuckle push-ups, abwork, and then a good bit of padwork, working on our kicks and punches. I gotta definitely work on my lead kicks and keeping my hands up while kicking.

Alex Devenyi

03-10-2006, 03:34 PM

Real light workout today, as I still have problems walking and I didn't get much sleep last night.

Seated Overhead Press: 95x5 (warm-up)

Hercules Hold: 55lbs each hand in cable machine with black handles, did it twice for maybe 20 sec apiece.

Dumbbell Clean and Press: 45x1/50x1/55x1/60x1/65x1 (PR)/70x0
Each of these were done for a single with each arm.

Side Press: 45x2/50x2/60x2/70x0

Seated Overhead Press: 105x1/135x1/155x1

Pull-Ups: BWx6/5

Alex Devenyi

03-13-2006, 04:04 AM

WORKOUT 03/13/06:

Log Presses: 85x1, 100x1, 115x1, 130x1, 155x1 (PR!), then did 85x5x5 because I forgot to add weight until just right now :P

Got 155 up, hell yeah! :cool: :M: :BP:

I could've definitely used more leg drive as I ended up getting it easily to about my forehead but then having to muscle it all the way up. I know I didn't pop too much with my legs for that one, but the other ones I think I'm getting better. Unfortunately we started doing them at 0550 so it was too dark to get vid this time around.

Rest of the workout coming later after work. Gotta head to the gym and squeeze it in before I get on the clock.

Alex Devenyi

03-13-2006, 03:11 PM

Rest of the workout:

Barbell Squats with 3-sec pause: 135x1, 175x1, 225x1, 255x1, 285x0.
These pauses are still really rough.

Barbell Shrugs: 225x8, 245x8, then did 225x8 for three counts (shrug, hold 1-2, then lower on 3). Those were rough with the three-counts. Then did a power hold with 235 for 20 seconds.

Full Contact Twists: 55+bar x8/8, 45+bar x8

Went to the aerobics room after and stretched a good while, did some bicycles for abs, then a few kata (Sanchin and Tensho).

Alex Devenyi

03-15-2006, 07:40 AM

WORKOUT:

18" Deadlifts: 200x1, 255x1, 300x1, 350x1, 405x1 (PR), 415x1 (PR).
Did about 40 more pounds than I did before, guess I'm getting the hang of these. Trying 425 next time.

Bench Press: 95x1, 125x1, 155x1, 175x1, 200x1.
The 200 was a bit shaky though, so I'm sticking with it for next time.

Chin-Ups: x8/8/6/4
Decided to mix it up and toss these in there just for fun, felt a good burn in my biceps after these. We don't do too much biceps work other than the big exercises.

Pull-Up Power Hang: 35 seconds.
We basically just hang in the pull-up position. When I got off the box I started a slow steady swing that kept up throughout the whole time so I think that may have hurt my time some.

Saxon Side Bends: (30lb DB) x8/8/8

Plate Pinching: four 5's: 30 sec R/6 and 5 sec L, 14 sec R/8 sec L. Then did two 10's with left hand for 47 seconds.
Left hand was pissing me off with these today.

Alex Devenyi

03-17-2006, 06:13 AM

Drank a bit too much last night, ended up doing about 4-5 shots with my fellow Kyokushin guys along with a few beers so I had a decent hangover this morning :P

WORKOUT:

Farmer's Walking: 125 for 100ft with four turns, 145 for 100ft with almost four turns (banged plate tree), 175 for 50ft and almost two turns.
Farmer's walking and hangovers do vicious things to your body. The second set I hit a plate tree on my last time around, jerked out of my hands so I had to drop it. That probably hurt me for the 175 next.

Front Squats: 95x6, 115x6, 135x6, 155x6.
Tried to do these explosively and fast.

Bent Press: 25x1, 45x1, 60x1, 70x1 (left only, PR)
Getting a bit better on these, I started tossing in a little leg drive which helps a good bit.

Two-Hand Anyhow: 45lb dumbbell plus empty bar: 90lbs.

Alex Devenyi

03-18-2006, 05:28 PM

WORKOUT:

Tried out the Atlas lift at the gym (95x1, 145x1, 195x1) then did a round or two on the new speed bag just to try it out. Then went home for "Miller time!", as we call it. Filled up the keg to just over 60, we're just tossing in a gallon of water each workout to keep things simple.

**50 shoulders, 25 each side, from ground.
**50 squats, 25 each shoulder, picking it up from the ground and shooting for parallel.
**5 overhead presses, cleaning it like a log then pressing it military and push.
**Timed bear hug: 65 seconds.

We then popped my car into neutral and pushed it approximately 1/4 mile apiece, or at least pretty close. My road has lots of slopes so some parts are easy and others are Satan incarnate. I almost hurled on the back of my Tracer. We pushed it from my house down about three roads, turned it around, then pushed it back.

Good workout overall.

Alex Devenyi

03-20-2006, 05:48 AM

WORKOUT:

Log Presses: 85x1, 105x1, 125x1, 145x1, 155x0, 145x1. Dropped 50, then did 95x5x5.
Was originally going for 160-165 but wasn't really feeling it after the 145 so I tried 155 instead. Almost got it, but I was struggling for footing too much in my yard and lost it. Dropped to 145 and got that one, video included. Form wasn't the best on this one :P

http://www.zippyvideos.com/2466073204399236/alexlog145x1/

I did get 95x5 though which does look a lot better than I used to do I think.

http://www.zippyvideos.com/2880935564399306/alexlog95x5/

2" Axle Deadlifts: 195x6, 245x6, 285x6, 315x6.
These babies SUCK, but man were they fun! :D I'm stoked I got 315, had to readjust the grip once or twice but I got em. Tough stuff. Pictures on the bottom of me screaming like a maniac.

Pull-Ups: BW x8/8/4/4

Full Contact Twists: (45+bar) x8/8/8

Alex Devenyi

03-22-2006, 09:09 PM

WORKOUT:

Since I'm going to be sparring a lot this upcoming Saturday, I decided to skip the 20-rep squats so my legs will be 100%, since I'm going to be getting them kicked a lot and doing some kicking with them myself.

Good Mornings: 125x1, 155x1, 185x1, 215x1, 245x1 (PR)
Got 245 with good form today, very happy about that. Wanted to do the Atlas lift instead but couldn't get to the Swiss balls because of a class going on there.

Weighted Dips: BW+50 x8/8/5/2
Arms are pretty worn out today for some reason.

Saxon Side Bends: (40lb DB) x8/8/8 each

Hub Pinching: Got the 45 a few times with my right hand, none with left. Several attempts to get the 45 with each hand, then did a few light reps with the 35. Tried doing a "hub clean and press" with the 35 but was a little too much, with a 25 though it was perfect.

Finally got the 45!!! Picked it up only with my right hand, but I could. Dennis the MADMAN got it several times with each hand and at my urging, even stood up with one in each hand Diesel Crew style. Guess all that work at the beer distributor is paying off for him!

After work, did several minutes on the speed bag. Starting to get my rhythm back, had it going for about four minutes when all of a sudden I felt a weird pinch in my shoulder. I stopped and I'm going to stretch it out tonight and see how it is tomorrow, might just be from going full-blast into it without much of a warm-up.

Alex Devenyi

03-24-2006, 03:45 PM

Worked from 5-5 today, so I'm pretty tired right now. I just decided to do the Zercher deads and call it a day, also because I'm going to be doing a lot of sparring tomorrow at our Kyokushin get-together.

Zercher Deadlifts with 2" Axle: 115x1, 185x1, 235x1, 285x1, 315x10, then did 295x1 and held it for 38 seconds.
Thickbars make this lift a lot less painful on the arms. 295 is a PR for me on this lift, I think I only did like 215 or so before last time I did it a few months ago.

Cool video on what Kyokushin's all about too, I don't think I've ever explained too much of what it's about:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1...is+is+kyokushin (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-147288876242752783&q=this+is+kyokushin)

Alex Devenyi

03-25-2006, 06:22 PM

Just got home from our training group in Maryland. Good tough day, the basics and kata stuff was pretty easy but we did a lot of sparring which was fun. They originally weren't going to let me because they didn't know me too well yet, but after my first match I ended up going back in 4-5 more times. I guess they like the fact that I'm pretty aggressive when I spar.

Don't remember too many details about the fights, I just know I landed some good punches and knocked the wind out of one or two of em. I'm a yellow belt, and one of the guys who just got his brown belt today said I was one of his best fights today. I regret it now though, as one of the shihan who's a really REALLY tough fighter is now all about sparring me in the summer now :P :lol:

I got beat up a bit too. Legs were a bit sore but after a four-hour car ride, they're definitely beat now. I got kicked in the knee by accident but it's okay now, and I got punched in the nose so it's a bit swollen too. The worst is my xiphoid, I got kneed there pretty hard and at first it was okay, but after I stretched I felt a ton of pain. It's all taped and padded right now, and Ibuprofen is my sleeping partner tonight.

Alex Devenyi

03-27-2006, 03:40 PM

Chest still hurts so I'm taking the week off. :(

Alex Devenyi

04-03-2006, 04:23 PM

Back in action!

WORKOUT:

Atlas Lift: 85x1, 110x1, 160x1, 195x1, 215x1 (PR!)
215's a PR here, bar slid down from the ball being squished so much it ripped up the insides of my elbows. Who cares, still got the 215 B) A friend of mine at the gym is a stone-mason and is going to talk to some of the dudes at the quarry and see if they can hook me up with some good stones for a cheap price.

Overhead Lockouts: 110x1, 135x1, 155x1, 175x1, 200x1.
Did these around forehead height or a little bit higher. I'll drop them a pin next time.

Dumbbell Crucifix Holds: (20lbs each hand) x 25 sec/15 sec/15 sec.
Three good sets of these, 25 next time. These should have some good carryover to the Hercules Hold, just wish I knew how much :P Anyone know what's a good approximation?

Hub Pinching: 45x0, 35/35+1/35+2x1 each, 35+3 right only, 45x0.
Couldn't get the 45 with either hand today :( Oh well, just gotta keep working on it. The + whatever is additional 2.5lb plates added on.

Went scrounging after I got out and managed to Strategically Take Equipment to an Alternate Location, namely a small tire for my log presses to cushion it from the cement we'll be pressing on now. Still need a big tire, I went poking around the billiards place because a friend of mine said he saw a huge one back there, but if it was there it's gone now :(

Dan Harrison

04-03-2006, 04:33 PM

Alex Devenyi

04-03-2006, 06:54 PM

Alex,

The crucifix hold has no carryover to the hercules hold because withthe crucifix, the weight is pulling your arms DOWN and the herc hold is pulling you OUT, not down at all. If you want to work on herc hold endurance and power, do heavy farmers holds for as long as you can stand it.

I figured that was probably the case, it feels different than when I hold on to two cables in the cable machine for time. Crucifixes just make my arms wanna drop, cables start yanking me apart.

I do love the power holds, bro, thanks for showing me them. I slacked on them the last few times, but it's gonna be killer Friday. So if I can do a 250 power hold each hand, I should be good for a 250 Hercules each hand you think?

Dan Harrison

04-03-2006, 08:09 PM

I figured that was probably the case, it feels different than when I hold on to two cables in the cable machine for time. Crucifixes just make my arms wanna drop, cables start yanking me apart.

I do love the power holds, bro, thanks for showing me them. I slacked on them the last few times, but it's gonna be killer Friday. So if I can do a 250 power hold each hand, I should be good for a 250 Hercules each hand you think?

Totally. The hercules hold weight felt a lot easier to me than doing farmers holds of the same weight. Last time I did farmers holds, I held 405 per hand for like 10-12 seconds. Later, in contest, I held a 400/hand hercules hold for 32 seconds, so you will be fine. If the farmers holds are ripping the skin off your hands too much, do hangs from the rack with an olympic bar at the top, so it rotates. Just hang with bodyweight for as LONG as possible until you literally fall off. Hang on for every second you can. Doing farmers holds/grip hangs 3x a week has been working for me lately.

Nicolette L.

04-03-2006, 11:05 PM

How are you feeling now that you are back? Is your chest ok?

Alex Devenyi

04-04-2006, 08:06 AM

Totally. The hercules hold weight felt a lot easier to me than doing farmers holds of the same weight. Last time I did farmers holds, I held 405 per hand for like 10-12 seconds. Later, in contest, I held a 400/hand hercules hold for 32 seconds, so you will be fine. If the farmers holds are ripping the skin off your hands too much, do hangs from the rack with an olympic bar at the top, so it rotates. Just hang with bodyweight for as LONG as possible until you literally fall off. Hang on for every second you can. Doing farmers holds/grip hangs 3x a week has been working for me lately.

I did them with a regular pull-up bar but the Olympic bar is an awesome idea. My skin doesn't rip off too much with stuff yet though, just once doing farmer's and once doing rack pulls.

Thanks again bro, you always give me some great ideas :D

Alex Devenyi

04-04-2006, 08:07 AM

How are you feeling now that you are back? Is your chest ok?

Yeah, the chest feels a lot better. Still a little tight, but no worries. Doctor said it was a non-displaced dooflatchey-whatever that happened to my xiphoid, so it just needed some down time to rest. :D

Alex Devenyi

04-04-2006, 09:05 PM

Went for a nice run today, ran about 50-55 minutes total through several miles of hills, forest, street, and cemetaries (I decided I'd at least have some quiet and stuck to the road in there, actually pretty peaceful). Ended up getting lost for a bit and just running until I found a landmark then following it back home. Good fun, glad to see my cardio's not as bad as I thought either.

Alex Devenyi

04-05-2006, 08:22 PM

My friend with contacts at the rock quarry said I can probably get a few big rocks off of them, so I'm gonna shoot for a 200-250-300 or close enough.

WORKOUT:

Farmer's Walking: 125x100ft (more like farmer's run, I finished this in literally like 10 sec), 195x50/50ft (see below on why), and 195x100ft (PR)(grip held strong, stumbled a bit but nothing major).
Why I'm checking all my collars from now on before I do walks: I was just getting to the turnaround point when my left one started wobbling them all of a sudden WHUMP, all the back ones slide off. Now the sucker's super light so it starts the front ones crashing towards the ground. I had to simultaneously put down the right one and twist my wrist inwards to dump the weights in front of me and not on my feet. Made one heckuva racket :lol: Second one was strong though, no worries.

Zercher Deadlifts: 225x1, 255x1, 285x1, 305x1, 325x1 (PR) with power hold for 14 seconds.
Did these with the 2" axle again, which is SIGNIFICANTLY more comfortable than a regular Olympic barbell. 325 was tough but doable.

Power Hang: BW for 26 sec.
Thanking Dan Harrison for this one. I set up the Olympic bar in the power rack as high as it could go, then just hopped up and hung from it as long as I could. The fact that it rolls adds an extra amount of suck to the equation.

Pull-Ups: BWx8/3/--/--
Burnt. Need to do these before the power hang next time.

Alex Devenyi

04-07-2006, 07:09 PM

I did talk to the Army recruiter today, he was up-front and honest with me. I can easily get contract SF, but the training's all on me, if something happens I'm stuck doing whatever it is I signed up for (most likely infantry, possibly combat medic). Five year enlistment, two years of solid training, keep my rank (E-4) and get E-5 before I do all the indoct stuff, signing bonus, the whole nine yards. I'll be at Ft. Bragg, NC the whole time whenever I'm not deployed, which will be like never cause those dudes are always deployed. I could easily get into Blackwater after that. I can even wait until the end of next semester to finish my associate's without losing rank (I've been out 2 years come July, and once you're out two years you lose rank and you have to be an E-4 to prior service into contract SF).

Then the Navy recruiter calls me, tells me about the Navy SEAL challenge and my prior service being a big help. I have a meeting with him coming up this week.

THEN my friend calls me and she lets me know that the next testing for the police academy is coming up as this class graduates in July so they'll be taking people in for it soon and that I need to get my butt down there and take it.

As if that isn't enough, THEN my buddy calls me and offers me a spot at Shanghai Mortgages, an international mortgage/real estate firm. The branch is right outside of Atlantic City, NJ. Starting off low for the first three months (salary pay and only 3% commision), then once my training's done 20%. He's raking in about $6-7000/month, getting ready to throw money down on a Mercedes Benz, and soon after buy his own house.

And basically I have to pick one by the end of the week. God damn. I'm gonna tear my hair out when Jason calls and lets me know if Blackwater says I can throw in an application.

This @#$%ing sucks.

And I didn't get to lift today so I'm gonna have to tomorrow.

Patrick McGuffin

04-07-2006, 10:50 PM

I am not sure but around this point my head would explode, Good luck with your decision.

Dan Harrison

04-07-2006, 11:12 PM

Keep it in prayer man, and ask God for his will. Never fails if you mean it. I know it personally!

Alex Devenyi

04-08-2006, 08:59 AM

Thanks guys. Like I mentioned on BruteStrength, the Blackwater seems the least likely so I'm not gonna sweat it (you have to have some serious military quals to get in there, I have decent ones but nowhere near the guys who've been operating for years). So I'm gonna make out a chart of everything I want in life (job satisfaction, family, strongman, karate, travel, etc.) and then rate each job 1-10, then compare and see which seems the best for what I want to do.

And God's definitely getting a few prayers from me, Dan :D

Definitely had to work out something today, got a comp coming up and had to alleviate some stress.

WORKOUT:

10" Steel Log Presses: 85x1, 105x1, 125x1, 140x0/1 (missed first attempt but didn't put it down, just popped it out again and got it), 160x0/0, 160x0/0. Dropped down to 105, then did 5x5 with that.

I did the first four with a tire underneath, something which I didn't do before, and it actually seemed harder for me for some reason than just picking it up off of the ground.

Going to toss in 18-inch deads after work today. I'm going to use straps today (for like the first time EVER), just so that way I can A) figure out how much I can pull using those since I can use them in the comp, and B) so I can figure out how to use em. :P

Alex Devenyi

04-10-2006, 03:07 PM

WORKOUT:

Farmer's Power Hold: 225/each for 10 seconds. 215/each for 3 seconds (rear collar fell off again!!!), and 215/each for 14 seconds.

Atlas Lift: 115x1, 145x1, 175x1, 215x1, 235x0.

Hub Pinching: 35/35+1/35+2/35+3 each hand, 45x0 both hands.

Alex Devenyi

04-12-2006, 10:25 AM

WORKOUT:

10" Steel Log Presses: 85x1, 105x1, 125x1, 145x1, 160x1 (PR!). Then dropped and did 110x5x5.
I managed to nail the 160 today, even though I was practically doing the tango under it for about a minute there until my feet finally settled :lol: The 110 was pretty rough on the 4th set, so I grabbed a quick water break, came back, and nailed it.

Going to go do 18-inch deadlifts now, using straps for the first time for those, then end it all with some farmer's power holds.

Alex Devenyi

04-12-2006, 07:55 PM

Rest of the workout.

18" Deadlifts: 305x1, 355x1, 405x1, 455x1 PR!, 495x0 (almost got it, should've tried for 485).
Used straps for like the first time ever, I guess I wasn't using them very well as it didn't seem like they were doing too much :P

Farmer's Power Holds: 225/each for 26 sec PR!, 225/each for 10 sec, 205/each for 15 sec.
Had a friend curse and swear at me while I did the first set, that kicks ass. Three good PRs in one day! B)

Alex Devenyi

04-13-2006, 05:30 PM

Finally broke the news to my mom about my possible re-enlistment. Needless to say she didn't take it too well. Talking to the Navy recruiter at 1200 tomorrow about the SEAL challenge, they're usually sketchy about taking OSVETs but since I'm already Airborne qualified and have a Colonel as one of my references, I'll have a good shot. A friend of mine I haven't talked to in months just IMed me today too, and as luck would have it he's down in Raleigh, NC right now going through the police academy.

I'm still thinking LEO's my best bet, but I at least want to hear what the Navy says. Don't want to burn any bridges when I still haven't walked across them and checked out what was on the other side.

Alex Devenyi

04-14-2006, 10:47 AM

Talked to the Navy recruiter today. She was pretty upfront with me, it's tough for OSVETs to get into the Navy for some reason but since they're really hurting for SEALs, she's gonna run it by the coordinators and see if I can get the spot. I'd actually lose a rank going in (E-3, which sucks cause I'll be called Seaman Devenyi :eek: ) but I know I could do it.

Now it's just down to if they accept me down in NC or not. I have decided against the SF, but now the SEALs are starting to sound good :P

Richard Reynolds

04-14-2006, 09:34 PM

Alex Devenyi

04-15-2006, 03:04 PM

Good luck becoming a SEAL! (Fringe benefit, you'll get tons of chicks!)

We'll hafta see if they'll take me, the Navy's getting fickle about OSVETs lately. I guess Jarheads scare em! :LOL: Thanks, bro!

WORKOUT:

Farmer's Walking: 135/each for 100ft (warm-up), 205 for 100ft (one drop at 50ft during turn, couldn't finish it), 205 for 25ft, turn, and back for a total of 50ft.
Couldn't get the whole 100ft with the 205, gonna try again next week.

Zercher Deadlifts: 225x1, 255x1, 295x1, 315x1, 345x1 (PR!) with 4-sec hold, then did 315 for a 15-second hold.
I could only hold 345 up for a few seconds before I had to put it down.

Pull-Ups: 5 regular, 5 cliffhangers for each side, 3 wide-grip, 2 close-grip, and 3 reverse-grip.
Did a ton of pullups today just for fun. For those of you who don't know what cliffhangers are, they're also called commando pullups. You basically grab the bar with both palms facing towards each other so that you're basically at an angle from how you normally do pull-ups. Pull up to touch your left shoulder, down, then pull up to touch your right shoulder, then down. That's one rep, then you switch sides.

Pull-Up Power Hangs on 2" Axle: 14 sec.
Decided to do this with the axle today instead of a regular barbell. It definitely adds an extra element of suck into the equation :lol:

Alex Devenyi

04-15-2006, 04:52 PM

Did five overhead presses with our keg (weighs ~70lbs right now) then went and pushed my car a little over a quarter mile total. Some smoking hot chick was walking her dog and I was still trying to hit on her when I'm all sweaty and shoving a Tracer. Too bad she's probably like eleventeen knowing my luck :P

Had a lot of people stop and ask if we needed help too :lol:

Alex Devenyi

04-17-2006, 03:21 PM

Not a bad workout today.

Atlas Lift: 115x1, 145x1, 175x1, 205x0 (DAMN!)
The regular black ball I was using from before (~45cm) was missing and the blue one that was the same size was already almost flattened from the 115 so I had to use this huge green one instead. It was rough, I could barely get around it to pick it up so it made it a lot more difficult.

Front Squats: 85x1, 115x1, 145x1, 175x1 (PR!), 205x1 (PR!)
The upside of this day is a new front squat PR despite not doing them as often as I should :P

Pull-Ups: 8 regular, 5 cliffhangers each side, 3 wide grip, 3 close grip, and 3 reverse grip.

Pull-Up Power Hang on 2" Axle: 15 sec and 15 sec.

Alex Devenyi

04-19-2006, 10:48 AM

WORKOUT:

10" Steel Log Presses: 85x1, 105x1, 125x1, 145x1, 165x0/0, 155x0.
All the punching we did last night must've worn my arms out :P Most people would call it a day here but not me! I decided to try some heavy log cleans in addition, just to punish myself for not making the 165 or 155.

Log Cleans: 185x1 (PR!), 200x0/0 (so close!).'
At least I got a log clean PR. Gonna keep practicing with that 200 so it'll feel like nothing at the Outback.

Off to go do some 18-inch deads before work and probably farmer's power holds before closing. Shooting for 485 for the 18-inch deads.

Alex Devenyi

04-19-2006, 08:22 PM

Rest of the workout:

18-inch Deadlifts: 295/335x1 (just straps), 385/435x1 (straps and belt), 485x0/0/0, 475x0 (so close!)/0, then did 405x1 raw.
Kind of a crap day for these.

Was going to do farmer's power holds too but after I moved about 12 treadmills with me primarily doing most of the hauling, I was pooped.

Alex Devenyi

04-22-2006, 03:08 PM

Did a Pilates class today before my workout, figured what the hell, may as well give it a shot. It was humbling to say the least, and also revealed my terrible flexibility in my hamstrings. Everything else seemed okay except for those, they seized up like steel rods.

I think that class may have been what wore me out for what happened next.

WORKOUT:

Zercher Deadlifts: 165x1, 215x1, 265x1, 315x1 (stopped here, no 365 today).
When I was going up on 315, felt a twinge of pain on the right side of my lower back. I stopped immediately, tried stretching it some, and am now hoping for the best. It's pretty tight right now, hopefully it'll be better tomorrow or Mon :post-2-1145395414:

@#$%!

Dan Harrison

04-23-2006, 07:38 PM

Pilates is gay, dude. It robbed you of your PR today.

365 will be yours next time.

Alex Devenyi

04-30-2006, 06:40 PM

Just to play catch-up:

04/28/06

Squeezed in a workout today, not too bad but my lower back's regretting it right now :P

WORKOUT:

18-inch Deadlifts: 135x1, 225x1, 275x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 465x0, 455x1.
Wore a belt for these, no straps, yet still pulled the same. Ehhh screw straps, I'm not gonna even bother with them anymore.

Bench Press: 115x1, 145x1, 175x1/1/1, 185x1.
Starting off at about bodyweight or so and building up slowly, see what I can get by test time.

Then went and did dive bomber pushups, elevated pushups, triceps pushups, wide-hand pushups, tight-elbow pushups, and elevated pushups one right after the other, max for each. Only got about 86 total, which sucks but not bad after benching and deadlifting.

Six days out from Xenia.

Alex Devenyi

05-01-2006, 05:30 PM

Just went nuts today. Tossed in some Manowar and rocked it out right near the open window so I could hear it, slapped myself in the face a few times to get the motivation up, and started tossing shit around!

WORKOUT:

Log Cleans 115x1, 135x1, 155x1, 175x1, 200x1 (PR!).
Crushed the 200 today, got it on video too as I set up my digital camera on my picnic table. Will post vids shortly. My left arm was a bit lower than my right on the clean until I adjusted it, dunno why. I pressed the 115, 135, and 155 overhead too just for shits and giggles. This inspired me to see if I could get 165.

Log Press: 165x1 (PR!).
Got video of this too incoming. Went up a lot easier than I expected, I even turned to face the camera with it locked up in the air just to show 165 that it's my B!TCH.

Log Press: 85x8, mostly to work on form. Video is crappy cause you can't see much though.

Log Rows: 85x3, 105x3, 125x3, 145x3, 165x3, 180x3 (PR!).
Since this is the first time doing em, 180x3 is my PR I guess. Not bad for rarely doing rows.

Rolling Thunder Deadlifts: 95x3 each hand, though 3rd rep for left was only a partial. (possible PR).
Can't remember what my old RT deadlift was with each hand but I think 95's higher.

Rolling Thunder Curls: 35x5/4 each arm.
I forget who told me about these, but thanks all the same B) I figured what the hell, might as well just totally kill my arms.

Patrick McGuffin

05-01-2006, 07:36 PM

It looks like you had a great day today, keep up the prs! :KD:

Alex Devenyi

05-01-2006, 08:07 PM

It looks like you had a great day today, keep up the prs! :KD:

Thanks man! :D I need to just toss in the Manowar and go nuts more often like that, I wouldn't mind 2-3 PRs per workout! :D

Alex Devenyi

05-09-2006, 11:26 AM

Well, after Xenia I'm ready to rock and start training for the Mudcat, so this is tentatively the schedule for right now:

TUE:
Log Cleans (5x1)
Log Presses (3x8)
Log Rows (5x5)
Sled Dragging (three sets)
Full Contact Twists (3x20)
Rolling Thunder (3 singles per hand)
Extensor Bands (3x12)

THU:
Farmer's Walking (three sets)
Front Squats (4x6)
Incline Bench Press (4x6)
Pull-Ups (4x8)
Saxon Side Bends (3x8)
Heavy Grippers (2x10-15 followed by a cheat close or two)
Extensor Bands (3x12)

SAT:
Clean and Military Press (5x1)
Deadlifts (4x6; either conventional or farmer's)
Weighted Dips (4x8)
Sled Dragging (three sets)
Full Contact Twists (3x20)
Hub Pinching (3x per hand; shooting for that 45 again!)

What I'm mostly trying to do is keep hitting my overhead strength hard while building up in the important areas but also working a lot on endurance as it seems that'll be the deciding factor in that one. I'll basically be alternating these days with my academy prep workouts, basically a lot of push-ups, sit-ups, and running. I'll also be tossing in my Kyokushin Karate stuff as I usually do B)

Since I only need to bench 2/3 bodyweight for Raleigh at a minimum (about 115 or so, I should just overhead press it and ask if that counts) and I've heard good things about inclines helping out your overheads, I figure if I was going to have some benching I'd toss those in. Since I'm doing dips and those, it should have some good carryover.

Alex Devenyi

05-11-2006, 05:20 AM

Yesterday tried doing max pushups in one minute to see how well I'd be ready for Raleigh. Man, push-up wise I'm out of shape. Only got 33. Some of it might be due to competing Saturday, but still, that's pretty bad.

WORKOUT:

10" Log Cleans: 125x1, 145x1, 165x1, 185x1, 205x0, 205x1 (PR!).
Did the first four sets without a belt then tried 205, but I couldn't get it up. Tossed on the belt so I could use it as a little shelf to help flip it up and got it. I need to start working on my strongman gut so I can toss this stuff up without a belt :D

10" Log Presses: 85x8, 105x8, 120x8.
Not so much heavy as it just wears you out a bit.

10" Log Rows: 115x5, 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 175x5.
We didn't use any chalk for anything today, so the last set or two it was rubbing our hands fairly raw, made things a bit more difficult to hold onto than normal.

8lb Sledgehammer Levers: several reps each side for three sets, got to where I can do a few reps with a few inches to spare from the bottom, can't get a full rep yet though.

Alex Devenyi

05-13-2006, 03:28 PM

WORKOUT:

Clean and Military Press: 75x1, 90x1, 105x1, 120x1, 135x1 (PR!), 140x0.
We talked it over and thought this would be great to add in. The strict pressing and the front squats combined with log presses (not to mention our tricep work) should help blast our overhead press up. No leg drive at all on these.

Deadlifts: 185x6, 235x6, 285x6, 335x6.
First three sets overhand, last mixed. A bit too easy, 355 next time like before. I thought I might have to back off a little bit but it seems a bit too easy.

Weighted Dips: (BW+55) x8/8/2/--

Full Contact Twists: bar+45 x7, bar+25 x13/20/10.
Gotta stick with 25 for the whole time next time.

Hub Pinching: 35+1 x1 each hand, 35+2 right only, 35x1/1, repped out with 25, about 12 times each hand.

Sled Dragging: 210lbs for 1/4 mile between the two of us.
This was fun, I can see why getting low is so important once you hit an upwards slope. Lots of ups and downs along my street. If my neighbors didn't think I was crazy before, they sure do now!

Dan Harrison

05-13-2006, 03:44 PM

The strict pressing and the front squats combined with log presses (not to mention our tricep work) should help blast our overhead press up.

Agreed. Tip: Behind the neck jerks are a lost gem for gaining lots of overhead power in a short amount of time because you will be using a lot more weight overhead that you could ever do in the front or on a log. Try to control it on the way down if you do those to reap the benefits of the negative rep. My ohp has never been better since I started doing those. The tricep work I've been doing after my pressing has helped a lot too.

Alex Devenyi

05-13-2006, 06:07 PM

Agreed. Tip: Behind the neck jerks are a lost gem for gaining lots of overhead power in a short amount of time because you will be using a lot more weight overhead that you could ever do in the front or on a log. Try to control it on the way down if you do those to reap the benefits of the negative rep. My ohp has never been better since I started doing those. The tricep work I've been doing after my pressing has helped a lot too.

This will definitely be implemented very soon. I remember Josh telling me about this too, sometimes I can be a thickhead when I learn about a good thing ;) I'm going to practice them a lot first without weight so I can get the form down well then build up cautiously, last thing I need is to try to go too heavy too fast with improper form and drop that sucker on my neck :P

I'll be sure to let you know how I like em, bro :D

Alex Devenyi

05-18-2006, 03:46 PM

WORKOUT:

Farmer's Walking: 135/each x100ft for warm-up, 195/each x85 (tripped), 185x100ft.
Tripped myself up there for a second, it was either go down or drop them.

Front Squats: 85x6, 115x6, 145x6, 175x6 (rep PR).

Incline Bench Press: 85x6, 105x6, 125x6, 145x6.
Staying at this weight as my form was a bit shaky. First time doing these, feels a bit awkward.

Saxon Side Bends: (35lb DB) x8/8/8.
Going up to 40 nex time.

Decline Bench Situps: BWx60/50/30.

Tried out behind the neck push jerks too with just an empty bar to try to get the feel for them. Considering doing them Saturday.

Alex Devenyi

05-21-2006, 08:11 PM

WORKOUT:

Behind the Neck Push Jerks: 95x1, 105x1, 115x1, 125x1, 145x1, 145x1.
145 the second time was pretty easy. Gonna work slowly up on these, they really kill my tris. Dan wanted me to try these out, only thing is I haven't yet learned how to easily lower the sucker without smashing myself, so I set it up in a rack where I press it from behind the neck but then rack it in front. Dunno if that's cheating or not though, and it won't work for reps.

Trap Bar Deadlifts: 150x6, 220x6, 290x6, 350x6.
These are pretty tough on the grip, tougher than farmer's it feels as my arms have to reach farther away from my body for these. I feel it a lot more in my upper back too thanks to the bar, and had to readjust my grip a few times doing the last 6. Pretty tough.

Weighted Dips: (BW+55) x3, (BW+45) x4, done.
Tris were devastated.

Full Contact Twists: (bar+25) x20/20/20.
Going up to 30 next time.

Alex Devenyi

05-24-2006, 11:11 AM

WORKOUT:

Got stung by a wasp trying to get my plates out of my shed, then had to get this big ugly spider out of my log. It had made a nice web between the log and the plates and was a squirrely little sucker to get out. I need to clean my plates too, they're muddy.

Log Cleans: 110x1, 135x1, 160x1, 185x1, 210x0 (close!), 210x0.
Real close on the first 210, second one was only about chest-high.

Log Presses: 85x8, 105x8, 125x8 (rep PR, hurt though).
Got 125 for all 8, going to 130 next.

Log Rows: 125x5, 155x5, 185x5/5/5.
Going up to 190 next time.

Sled Dragging: Started off with 300, dropped to 275 and then 250. Finished maybe 200ft total, probably less.
Dragging this sled in the grass sucks, cause my grass is really thick. It takes like a supreme effort just to get going and I had a couple breaks. I have to pull almost in a square as I don't have enough room to go straight and back.

Plate Pinch Block: 35x1 each, 50x0, 45x0, 40x0 (almost though for both), then did 35x3 each hand.
Got this new pinch block off of Ebay, lots of fun. My pinch grip is weaker than before, need to keep working on it.

Alex Devenyi

05-26-2006, 05:28 AM

WORKOUT:

Farmer's Walking: 130 each x100ft, 150 each x100ft (but barely!), 150 each x100ft (better).
FINALLY got to use the implements I got off of Lance. I've noticed something about using these in my yard compared to the ones in my gym. While the ones in my gym are smaller and less balanced, Lance's are more balanced but the handles are a bit thicker than I'm used to so it's a lot more taxing on my grip than before. Lance's are also a lot longer so the weight's farther out, something else I need to get used to. Also, since I'm walking on an area with a slight slope and in thick grass, it makes the walking a LOT tougher. Definitely going to have to try the street next time. The lack of chalk and the fact that it's raining might have something to do with it too :P

Discouraging about the farmer's since I can normally do about 50lbs more normally. Oh well, off to work to finish off the rest. Will post later.

Alex Devenyi

05-26-2006, 04:22 PM

Rest of the workout.

Front Squats: 95x6, 125x6, 155x6, 185x6 (PR!).
185 was tough but I got it, last rep or two was rough.

Incline Bench Press: 85x3, 105x3, 125x3, 145x3, 165x2.
Tried going up for the 3rd but got nowhere, had to let the spotter take it.

Alex Devenyi

05-28-2006, 04:40 PM

WORKOUT:

Behind the Neck Push Jerks: 85x1, 115x1, 145x1, 175x0 (close!), 165x1 (PR!).
175 was real close, I think I can nail it and more next time.

Farmer's Deadlifts: 115/each x1, 155/each x1, 195/each x1, 235/each x1, then dropped 50lbs and did 185/each for 5x5.
Grip was fried, back annihilated, awesome workout. This was a blast, tough as crap. For fun, I added it all up together to see how much I moved total, and it was just a smidge over three tons. Sweeeeeeet :D

Weighted Dips: (BW+45) x8/8/8/8.
These went down a little bit, probably from hitting up Kyokushin more often. Sticking with 45 for one more workout.

Full Contact Twists: (bar+25) x20/20/20.
+5-10 next time.

Timed Decline Situps: 52 in 60 sec, 32 in 60 sec.
These are for Raleigh mostly.

Sled Dragging: 275lbs, dragged it about 3x each for a good distance apiece. Not sure what the overall amount was, but man am I smoked after that one.

Alex Devenyi

05-30-2006, 02:43 PM

WORKOUT:

Just going to rep out with 140 today in the log press a few times, see how I do.

Log Presses 85x5 (warm-up), then did 140x8. Rested a bit, then did 140x6. Rest, then did 140x5. Rest, then did 140x1 (barely!). Total of 20 reps.

Alex Devenyi

05-30-2006, 03:08 PM

I also tried out some sledgehammer levers today and I've almost got it from the bottom for a single each arm. I thought I had it but it looks like my elbows bent a little bit during the left and just a little bit during the right :p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtbiRmG7mCY

Alex Devenyi

05-31-2006, 03:10 PM

Forgot to log in the other stuff I did last night. I did a quick 1.5 mile run (getting timed on this for Raleigh), then did three 80yd sprints up a hill near my house then walked down to cool off before sprinting up again. I then jogged back to my house and busted out a max set of push-ups, only got 55 but not too bad for doing all that pressing before.

Got "Keys to Progress" in the mail finally too, an awesome read :D

Alex Devenyi

06-03-2006, 03:05 PM

WORKOUT:

Farmer's Deadlifts: 115 each x5, 185 each x5, 255 each x1 (PR!), 235 each x1, 235 each x1.
Did good on these today.

Behind the Neck Push Jerks: 45x1, 85x1, 135x1, 155x1, 175x0 (still almost), 155x1, 155x1.
I'm a bit slow on the press and my feet were wider than they should've been for some of them, so I brought them in somewhat on the last two 155s and they went up a lot easier. Gotta do that next time.

Military Presses: 45x1, 65x1, 95x1, 115x1, 135x1, 145x0, 135x0.
Not bad.

Alex Devenyi

06-06-2006, 05:04 PM

WORKOUT:

It's still raining but not as hard, so I said to hell with Mother Nature, threw on some old clothes, and did some farmer's walks up and down my street in the rain.

Farmer's Walking: 165 per hand for several sets, just shooting for max distance each time in 50ft increments.
Lots of drops due to slippery implements, back's fried, grips not too bad but for some reason Lance's implements seem much harder to grip than the ones I'm used to. I had to wheelbarrow the weight up and down the hill to my street (twice for getting them down there, and twice getting it back up since I split up the weights) and that just finished the slaughter on my body. I had a tough time getting it back up the second time, not a lot of fun in really slick grass with lots of roots.

Alex Devenyi

06-12-2006, 04:49 PM

Got 5th place out of 13 in the under-202 class at the 2006 Mudcat, you can read all about it here: http://www.brutestrength.com/forum/index.p...opic=537&st=20# (http://www.brutestrength.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=537&st=20#)

Taking a few days off then getting right back into a basics workout, specifically The Power Look from McCallum's Keys to Progress. It goes a little something like this.

You start with squats and warm up with a light weight. Toss some weight on, do 3 reps, repeat. Once you can't get three reps, toss on some more and do a couple singles. No min/max sets, as many as you can do while getting heavier each time. He then says bench press but I want to change that to overhead press (Dennis doesn't though, so we'll probably alternate the two). Do the exact same thing: warm up, toss on weight, do 3 reps, repeat until you can't get 3, toss on more weight, do a couple singles with that weight. You then hop into bent-over rows (5x5, the first 5 being as much as you can handle and each set dropping 10lbs), and then the final one: progressive pulls.

You start off by doing triples in the power clean as before. Once you can't get three though, you start high pulling it while you keep adding weight. Once you can't get three with the high pull, you toss on more and start doing deadlifts. Once you can't deadlift for a triple, you toss on some more weight and do a couple singles. We'll probably end with some gripwork and that's about it.

Sounds fun to me :M:

Alex Devenyi

06-14-2006, 10:31 AM

Starting the new routine tomorrow, gotta keep doing lots of push-ups and running though for Raleigh. I need at least 62 pushups in a minute to get a 95%, I just nailed 50 today :P

I want to toy around with that routine more too, especially since the progressive pulls gave me some good ideas. I like how you start off with a harder exercise first then go into a less difficult one, and it gave me some ideas. For squats, I'm thinking about starting off with fronts then switching to backs once it gets too much to handle. Then for overheads, do behind the necks, military press, and push presses in that order. It might be too much though, I'll have to test it out, but since it'll only be twice a week it might not be too bad.

Alex Devenyi

06-15-2006, 06:54 PM

Did the "Raleigh" workout, as I like to call it.

SIT AND REACH TEST: You basically have your feet 8" apart on a platform with a tape measure at 15" right at where your toes are. You need 17" (so 2 inches from your toes) to get a perfect. I'm around 18-20 so not too bad, just need to make sure I warm up well enough. I tried about three times, best being 18".

MAX PUSH-UPS IN ONE MINUTE: 52, still need 10 more though to get a 95%. I can do more, just not as fast :p Gotta work on my speed for these. You need to touch your chin to their fist (I'd better make sure my jaw's closed so I don't KO myself dropping onto their fist :p), so I put down one of my 2oz bag gloves as it's about the right size.

MAX SIT-UPS IN ONE MINUTE: 68, should be in good shape for these. You only have to cross your arms over your chest and sit up until your elbows touch your thighs, so these are just like crunches basically.

VERTICAL JUMPS: I have no idea how they score this one. So I'm just doing some vertical jumps trying to see how high I can get. I know it's from a standstill with no running, but that's about it. I did about 5-6 jumps.

1.5 MILE TEST: I finished the whole thing in ~11:20 or so, not too bad. About a seven-minute mile pace, and that's with occasional breaks to stretch my lower back (it started cramping up big-time, probably not enough of a warm-up for it, it's still touchy from the Mudcat) and some fast walking. I'd basically run until I was too tired to keep going then would power-walk and give myself 10 breaths to recover. Didn't realize this would be so tough but then again I'm trying to haul ass so I guess that's probably why.

Tomorrow will be about the same workout, except I'm going to bench before the push-ups as that's how they do it in Raleigh.

Tim Myrick

06-16-2006, 01:06 PM

Alex Devenyi

06-16-2006, 01:18 PM

Nostalgia. I remember tests like this from middle school. I remember in the 7th grade I got perfect on the V-sit and reach (legs spread, not sure how far we had to go), 72/73 pushups, the best score for guys on sit-ups (which was about 15 less than the best for girls!!!) a little over 30" vertical (I think 31", I played basketball, nine pullups (I never had really done them back then, let alone to a deadhang!), and got a 6:21 mile. Pretty similar stuff to what you guys had to do, with a little variance.

Yeah, most physical tests don't seem to be all that different :D I've done Marine Corps PFTs (max dead hang pullups, max crunches in 2 min, 3-mile run), Army PRTs (max pushups in 2 minutes, max situps in 2 min, 2-mile run), Recon screening (Marine Corps PFT like above plus swimming and a ruck run), and ones for my Kyokushin Karate promotion (knuckle pushups, bodyweight squats, situps, and pull-ups).

I was hoping to have my run time under 10 minutes by now, but with all the preparation for the Mudcat and the body conditioning in Kyokushin my legs were too sore to run a lot :p

Alex Devenyi

06-17-2006, 10:13 AM

Woke up and did some stretching then tested out my sit and reach test, max situps in one minute, and max pushups in one minute.

SIT AND REACH: Got to 17" today 2/3 times, thanks to Bob Anderson's "Stretching" book.

MAX PUSHUPS: 57 this time, only five more to go. Hopefully adrenaline'll kick in and I'll knock those couple out quick.

MAX SITUPS: Only got 52 today, I think a lot of it has to do with doing it with minimal padding so my back kept smacking against the floor and distracting me.

At work now but I'm going to test my 1RM bench after closing, then do another max set of pushups and situps in one minute, then go do my jumps and a run.

Alex Devenyi

06-17-2006, 03:43 PM

Tested my 1RM in bench, got 185 easy but could barely move 205. I think the pushups from this morning wore me out. I'll still shoot for 205, adrenaline should help me.

MAX SITUPS IN ONE MINUTE: 44, did these on the decline bench at its lowest setting. Not bad, probably just a bit worn out from this morning.

MAX PUSHUPS IN ONE MINUTE: 62, nailing the last one right on the buzzer. I had to stop twice to catch my breath, so if I attack them fresh I should be able to nail them all.

Going to go jump and run later on tonight.

Alex Devenyi

06-24-2006, 03:12 PM

WORKOUT:

Dennis started without me so we did overhead pressing first off.

Military Press: 95x3, 105x3, 115x3, 125x3, 135x2.

Power Jerks: 145x3, 155x3, 165x2.

Got an extra rep with military presses and not too bad on the power jerks. Cool!

Front Squats: 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 185x3.

Back Squats: 205x3, 225x3, 245x3, 265x3, 285x3, 305x3, 315x1.

Lot of squatting, we did the back squats with a box since it's been a little while so we wanted to get used to it. I didn't really lose much at all, looks like I gained some strength since I last squatted as the first 315 wasn't too bad and I almost got the second.

Bent-Over Rows: 175x5, 165x5, 155x5, 145x5, 135x5.

Deadlifts: 225x3, 255x3, 285x3, 315x3, 345x3, 375x1.

Since we were running out of time we decided to do only deadlifts. I was basically getting booted out on my 375 so I only did a single. Still, after all that, 375 ain't too bad.

Alex Devenyi

06-30-2006, 08:02 PM

WORKOUT:

It was drizzling on and off the whole time but we said "hell with it" and did a home workout anyways.

Log Presses: 95x1, 115x1, 135x1, 155x1, 175x0, 170x0.
I did the first four then threw on a belt for 175. 175 got up to about my chin, then I tried 170 which was a little bit above eye level. If I tackle 170 next time first, I should be able to nail it.

Atlas Stone: Several attempts with a 220-225, best was picking it about 6-8" off the ground and almost onto my lap. No chalk or tacky, we should've used at least chalk though cause now we have some funky-looking forearms :lol:

Keg Shoulders: Keg weighed 70lbs. We did 30 shoulders, 15 each side, one hand on the bottom and one hand on the side.

Keg Presses: Using the same keg, I did 15 military presses overhead. Had to clean it about 3-4 times total throughout the presses.

Keg Tosses: Did 12 tosses, 6 each side. You basically hold it like you deadlifted it, then spin around and throw it with a sharp jerk of the hips. Really felt these in the obliques.

Dennis then did some keg squats, 15 each side, but I passed on these as I have Kyokushin tonight and don't want to wreck my legs just yet.

Twist-Yo-Wrist: 25lb plate, up and down, 2 sets total.
These babies are tough. Thanks to Mike Landrich for these B) Got some pix at the bottom.

8lb Sledgehammer Levers: Did a few singles each side. Pictures below. Left hand was giving me trouble as my thumb is still sore from getting stoved Tuesday. Mine looks higher than I got, but Dennis can vouch for me that it almost touched my nose :D

Alex Devenyi

07-02-2006, 05:39 AM

WORKOUT:
Crap workout today. Lifting alone, still tired (only slept about 6 hours last night), not thinking about it (since my little brother's coming home from Iraq today on leave, I pick him up at 5pm tonight), and woke up with a slightly sore back. Stretched it but I guess in my mind I was worried about it so my lifts stunk today.

18" Deadlifts: 300x1, 350x1, 400x1, 450x0, 450x0.
Could barely even budge the 450 today :P No straps or belt. I've been working on trying to keep my grip in closer too so it's still a little awkward for me.

Military Press: 65x1, 85x1, 105x1, 125x1, 150x0 (halfway), 145x0 (halfway), 140x0 (nothing).
I got greedy, should've went for 140-145 instead of 150 but I was feeling pissed about the 18's and wanted to savage something. With as well as I did the 150 for though, 145 should be in the bag.

Might play around with the stone again later on today, working until 4pm now then going to pick up Blaise at 5pm, then headed back for a family reunion.

Alex Devenyi

07-03-2006, 06:22 AM

On my way out from work, I did two sets of isometric bottom pulls for about 10 seconds each. Once I got home, my brother Blaise and my cousin Jamie wanted to try out some of the strongman stuff. They were asking for me to pick up the stone (which my best to date was only getting it almost on my lap), and I managed to not only put the sucker on my lap but also stand up with it. That time actually felt a lot easier, I guess reading those instructional articles and watching those videos are starting to pay off :D Then when we were playing around with the pinch block, I picked up 50. It was really tough but I got it.

Jamie did really well with the Atlas stone, he almost was able to stand up with it. He's 195 and is a shingler, so he's always walking up ladders with an 80lb weight on each shoulder. He had a great grip too because of working hard labor and having big mitts, he pinched two 25's together first try and made it look easy. He picked up 60 with my pinch block, but couldn't get two 35's. He closed the HG250 first try too.

Blaise did pretty good too considering he hadn't slept since his 18-hour flight. He got the sucker onto his lap but couldn't stand up with it (he's got a trick knee and it was bothering him). He tried some tacky too for fun, still couldn't get it all the way up.

So I got some new PRs today:
**Finally picked up our Atlas stone all the way (about 220-225 pounds).
**Pinch block of 50 pounds.

Tony Crawford

07-03-2006, 06:05 PM

Sounds like you had fun Alex. Congrats on the P.R.'s. I just bought some HG grippers from Clay the other day. Very close to closing the HG250.

Alex Devenyi

07-03-2006, 07:56 PM

Sounds like you had fun Alex. Congrats on the P.R.'s. I just bought some HG grippers from Clay the other day. Very close to closing the HG250.

Thanks bro :cool: I have all of them, I bought them as part of that summer special they had last year. I just ordered the COCs #2 and #3 again, I had them before but they got stolen at my old gym :mad: It'll be interesting to see what kind of carryover I get from the HGs.

Alex Devenyi

07-05-2006, 02:57 PM

WORKOUT:

Military Press: 85x3, 110x3, 135x3/3/3.
Kicked ass on military presses today. 135 for 3x3 is pretty cool in my book.

Isometric Military Presses: 3 sets of 12 sec apiece.

Kelso Shrugs:
Didn't do too much with these, need to work on the technique a lot.

Back Squats: 185x3, 235x3, 275x3/3/3.
My squatting's weak :p

Bottom Position Squats: 155x1, 195x1, 235x1.
235 was pretty easy, 245 next time.

Hub Pinching:
Did the 45 with my right a few times, the 35 a bunch with my left, and picked up a 35 in each hand five times.

Brad Martin

07-05-2006, 03:26 PM

nice work on that hub lift,bro

Alex Devenyi

07-05-2006, 07:01 PM

nice work on that hub lift,bro

Thanks bro :cool: My hub pinch is probably the best of all my grips, my plate pinch and grippers aren't anything special but these came along pretty well. I need to get pix with the 45 but this one was from a while ago.

http://myspace-812.vo.llnwd.net/00387/21/85/387505812_l.jpg

rjpe99

07-05-2006, 07:13 PM

Thanks bro :cool: My hub pinch is probably the best of all my grips, my plate pinch and grippers aren't anything special but these came along pretty well. I need to get pix with the 45 but this one was from a while ago.

http://myspace-812.vo.llnwd.net/00387/21/85/387505812_l.jpg

nice - thats bad ass! I have never done those before.

Alex Devenyi

07-05-2006, 11:23 PM

nice - thats bad ass! I have never done those before.

Gripwork's addicting, once you start you can't stop :D Hub pinching's pretty fun to do, good way to challenge your buddies at the gym too then chuckle as they struggle with a 25 :D

Alex Devenyi

07-10-2006, 06:34 AM

WORKOUT:
Crap day today. Didn't start lifting until 8:30pm (Dennis was supposed to show up at 6:30), working on five hours of sleep, full day of work, not in the mindset, just sucked.

Log Presses: 95x1, 110x1, 130x1, 150x1, 170x0/0/0.
The first 170 I almost locked out, and that was with almost no leg drive and just muscling it up overhead. My left arm locked but my right didn't. The second time I tried again and screwed up my leg drive again, so I almost muscled that one out too. The third time I was spent, I cleaned the sucker and tried but it only made it to maybe chin level. @#$%.

Atlas Stone:
I filled up a 220 L barrel I managed to "strategically acquire" from a dump site near a construction zone. They were going to toss it anyways and it seems perfectly servicable to me, so I tossed the guy on duty a Mickey D's Value meal and he hooked me up. I then had to roll that big fat sucker all the way over there. Crap day for these too, couldn't even lap the sucker today.

Alex Devenyi

07-11-2006, 12:56 PM

WORKOUT:

18" Deadlifts: 300x1, 345x1 (both were double overhand), 385x1, 425x1, 465x0, 455x1 (mixed grip).
Did good on these today. Best with straps and belt before was 500, but those boxes seemed higher than the pin I'm pulling from. Before Xenia I pulled 475 with a belt and straps, so it's coming along.

Isometric Bottom Pulls: 3 times, 12 seconds each.
Almost crapped myself on the second one, had to make an emergency visit to the toilet :post-2-1145395488:

Overhead Lockouts: 95x1 several times (to get the feel for it), 135x1 three times (to try it out with heavier weight), then did 155x1, 175x1, 185x1.
Can probably do more once I attack it fresh. Trying 195 next time.

Incline Bench Press: 175x2, 165x2 (started too heavy), 125x5, 115x5, 105x5, 95x5.
Going to try 145 or so next time.

Pull-Ups: BW x8/8/8, then did 2 chins and 5 assisted chins.

Wrist Levers: 12.5x3 per hand, then did 10x3 per hand.

Good workout.

Alex Devenyi

07-12-2006, 09:09 PM

Tried out my Eagle Loops today, I did a pull-up with four, three, and finally two fingers but didn't want to try one as two was pretty tough and I don't want to screw up something. Fun though. Also played around with my COC #2, can close it pretty easily but the #3's a different story.

As for other things going on, my brother and I are going in tomorrow to talk to the Army recruiter. It's down to the wire for me (in four days I hit my 2 years out then I lose a rank if I go back in), and I want to review my options for SF one last time. My brother already made it through SFAS (Special Forces Assessment and Selection) but then got recycled cause he broke his only pair of glasses, so he ended up going LRS (Long-Range Surveillance) instead. If he smells something funny or if the deal isn't right, I'm not going.

If it's good though, well.... :KD:

Alex Devenyi

07-18-2006, 12:17 PM

Decided against SF (not ready to give up strongman), but there is a Reserve unit nearby that does PsyOps (psychological operations), definitely considering that one. The extra paycheck won't hurt, especially once I get into the police academy and am busy 8-5 five days a week.

WORKOUT:

Zercher Squats: 105x3, 135x3, 165x3, 195x3, 225x3.
Used a 2" thickbar for these, did them from the floor (deadlifted it, put it on my lap, looped my arms underneath, then stand, do three squats, then go down, put it on your lap, then hoist it off of myself).

Good Mornings: 105x1, 135x1, 165x1, 195x1, 225x1.
I've done 245 before but since it's been a bit, decided to try 20 pounds under. 225 was hard but doable. 230 next time.

Two-Hand Anyhows: 45 (bar) + 25 (DB) for warm-up each side. 65 (bar) + 35 (DB) both sides. 65 (bar) + 45 right side only, locked out the 65 for the left but dropped it before I got the DB up.
Totalled out at 110, not too bad.

Thickbar Bent-Over Rows with Kelso Shrugs: 165x5, 155x5, 145x5, 135x5, 125x5.
After each set of 5 with the 2" axle, we would do 5 Kelso shrugs. This sucker was a killer. Had to regrip on a couple occasions.

Fingertip Pull-Ups with Eagle Loops: (BW) = 4 fingers x7, 3 fingers x5, 2 fingers x2, then did the last 3 fingers for 3.
These suckers are FUN. My forearms are really sore, and my fingers have a good worked-to-the-bone feeling.

Alex Devenyi

07-21-2006, 03:53 PM

WORKOUT:
It was pouring out rain mostly the entire workout with only a few breaks, so we had to skip the thickbar deadlifts for reps.

Log Presses: 115x1, 135x1, 145x1, 160x1, 175x0 (missed it again), 170x1 (PR!).
We actually weighed the collars Mike gave us so I guess if you count them both (together they're a little over 3 pounds), it'd be 178 and 173 respectively. I dunno if I should count them though, what do you guys think?

Videos:

175 log press attempt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2X4LNbooPY
170 log press PR: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbEbN9RXcWQ

Atlas Stone: Loaded the 225 onto a 42" barrel right next to it, then did a 3' carry to the platform and loaded the stone.

Once I started getting the grip down right, this stone started just flying up. No tacky, just used a little chalk to try to minimize tearing up my forearms. Not sure how good my form is, so any advice would be great :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMG2IInCbVA

Keg Squats: 15 each side with an 80lb keg.
Filled up the keg to 80lbs then did 15 squats on each shoulder, going to parallel each time.

Keg Presses: Did 5 presses with the 80lb keg, not too bad.

Fun workout. We're doing some closes with the COC #2 right now to work grip, drinking some Budweiser, and watching FIRST BLOOD.

Alex Apostol

07-24-2006, 10:39 PM

Nice log, son. You beat me and Deez. But not for long!

Alex Devenyi

07-25-2006, 08:21 PM

Nice log, son. You beat me and Deez. But not for long!

178's going up Saturday, so you'd better hurry the heck up! :FF:

Might as well get better about posting my martial arts workouts in here as well.

KYOKUSHIN KARATE:
Good workout today. Straight kumite (sparring) focus. We did several rounds on the pads with the following combinations:

**Lead low roundhouse kick to the inner thigh, lead straight-rear shita tsuki (sort of like an uppercut) to the solar plexus. Did both sides, 5 minutes each.
**Rear low roundhouse kick to the outer thigh followed up by a lunging knee to the solar plexus. Both sides, 5 minutes each.
**Lead push kick (basically a front kick but with a bit of a lunge to it) to the gut to a rear low roundhouse kick to the outer thigh. Both sides, 3 minutes each.
**Lead straight-rear straight (the old 1-2) to the solar plexus. Both sides, 2 minutes each.
**Rear straight. Both sides, 1 minute each.

Totals out to be 32 minutes of padwork each, or just about 11 rounds. Add into the fact that you've gotta hold for the other person the same amount of time and you get little rest between them. Real tough workout, we were all hurting by the end.

Finished off the day with some fingertip pushups, knuckle pushups (concentrating on the first two), then some abwork (crunches, oblique crunches, reverse crunches, and accelerated leg raises), then did some Ikken exercises (a form of standing meditation; mostly to relax you after a tough workout).

Alex Devenyi

07-26-2006, 02:14 PM

WORKOUT:
Tons of PRs and goals made today.

Back Squats: 185x3, 235x3, 285x3, 285x3, 285x3.
+10 pounds from last time, looking good. Finished them off pretty strong and going well below parallel like I always do.

Bottom Position Squats: 185x1, 245x1, 315x1 (huge PR, +80lb!).
Last time was really too easy, so I tried 245 for the second and crushed it with no problem. At my friend Tony's urging, I tossed on three wheels and though the form was a bit shaky I still crushed it.

Military Press: 85x3, 115x3, 140x3, 140x3, 140x2. (+5lb PR)
Good shit, almost got the third but after battling it for almost 10 seconds it wasn't going anywhere.

Isometric Overhead Presses: 3 sets of 12 seconds apiece.

Plate Rows: 3 45's (135) x5, 4 45's (180)x3/3/3, then did 5 45's (225) for 1 rep, almost two.
Got a picture of me going for the 5-plate row, will post later on once I can upload it. These are fun, they're pretty rough and it mimics picking up a stone pretty well.

Hub Pinching: 45x0 both hands despite several attempts (broke the floor a few times), then did 42.5 (35 with three 2.5lb plates inside) several times each hand.
Got a pic of Dennis hub-pinching a 45 in each hand and standing, he's a maniac. Will post that one later too.

Alex Devenyi

07-26-2006, 08:49 PM

Those pix as promised. The plate row picture caught me right at the end of the first rep and preparing for the second one. Dennis' face is priceless, but his hub pinch disgusts me as it's getting so good. He also did several pinches per hand with a 45 and a 2.5 inside, and managed to break a 45 with a 10 from the floor.

Alex Devenyi

07-29-2006, 02:50 PM

Went and checked out the Pittsburgh Barbell Club today, an Olympic weightlifting club in Bridgeville (about 20-25 minutes from me) that's located in the Martial Arts and Sports Complex there. The MASC is owned by former Steeler lineman Craig Wolfley and his wife Faith.

Rege was the guy I first got in touch with, so once I got there he introduced me to the other coach that was there, Alex (I'm now officially known as Alex #2 :D). I saw a few of the other guys finish their workouts then once there was only a few of us around, Alex primarily put me to work.

He made me do some power cleans to see how those looked then a few hang power snatches with just the bar and then with 10kg on (so I think that's 30kg). Then he made me do a few snatches from the floor and was giving me pointers the whole time. (I was alternating with a big friendly guy who's an ex-powerlifter and just getting into O-lifting too). We then tossed on 10kg each side for 40kg total, then I must've did at least eight or nine snatches that way. On the last three, he had me holding them up then going down into a full overhead squat a couple times each. I lost my balance once or twice on the overhead squats until Alex showed me how to do them properly. I also did some hyperextensions, tried a few glute ham raises (ouch), jumping full squats with a barbell overhead like in overhead squats, and he even made me try pistols (got one with the right leg and almost with the left leg).

Overall, I had a blast. I'm getting my USAWL membership today and while the monthly fee is only $50 (which includes three times a week O-lifting and full access to their gym, which is really nice. Thickbars, trap bars, lots of racks, platforms, and a ton of heavy bags and a boxing ring as they also teach martial arts out of there. My kind of place!), it can be $10 a session if you don't go more than five times a month. I'll probably only be going Saturdays for right now as the other days I either work or have Kyokushin Karate.

My coaches are Regis Becker (http://www.csoonline.com/read/060105/heavylifter.html), a big white guy who put in a "light" workout today by working up to almost 100kg in the snatch and even more in the clean and jerk. He knows his stuff and seems to be a really cool guy. My other coach is Alexandre Chtanine. He was a former member of the Soviet weightlifting team CCCP in the late 70's (I think) and makes that stuff look disgustingly easy. I got a bit of an ego-stroking from him too as Alex said I have the physical skills to become a great O-lifter if I work hard at it. They both said I have really good flexibility (I could do the full squats pretty well and my shoulders aren't too stiff), good explosiveness (they said my lifts looked pretty good for the first time ever trying them), and since I have a good foundation with overhead pressing already from strongman and whatnot, plus strong legs and a strong back.

Going to write down some stuff on the snatch here so I can remember a lot of it. I'll probably practice with my bo staff just to keep getting a feel for it.

**Hand placing for me should be slightly past the little rings on the barbell.
**Feet should be about shoulder width apart and toes pointed slightly outwards.
**Back arched and chest out, leaning forward JUST slightly almost as in a good morning.
**Keep your head up!
**Keep the bar as close to your body as you can at all times.
**Arms should be locked during the initial pull until you finish shrugging then they sort of chicken-wing up and lock out to catch it on top as you squat underneath it.

I'm sure some of that doesn't make sense but it's there for me primarily :D I had a blast, I'm definitely going back next Saturday.

Alex Devenyi

07-30-2006, 02:20 PM

Weighed in with clothes and without shoes at 185 :o Time to up the cardio some I'm thinking.

Tried my Atlas stone after work about a dozen times, couldn't even break it off the ground. Still too worn out from O-lifting yesterday I guess.

Alex Devenyi

07-31-2006, 06:21 PM

Couldn't get to Kyokushin tonight due to no cash to buy gas. Ended up working out at home instead. Went and did about 15 minutes out on the heavy bag, then went downstairs and did some shadowboxing for a good 20-25 minutes. Going to work on some kata later on and do some stretching.

Alex Devenyi

08-01-2006, 08:26 PM

KYOKUSHIN KARATE:
We did "ippon kumite the Kyokushin way", as Sempai Harvey called it :D We paired up with each other and one person would be the attacker, throwing either lead straights or reverse punches (to start), the other would be the defender and either counter or do a pre-emptive strike. After two minutes, you would switch then repeat. You would do two in a row (eight minutes of it total), then get a four-minute break as the others did it, then repeat. We did it several times and though we started off light we were going fairly hard near the end. We then did some padwork for front kicks (two minutes for lead, two minutes for rear), then did our abdominal workout, fingertip push-ups, and knuckle push-ups on bricks. To cool down, we did five minutes of Ikken then called it a night.

Stuff I learned or need to work on:
1) Lead straight counters:
**Left gedan-barai while moving to the outside, rear gedan mawashi geri. Can follow up with chudan mawashi geri or hiza geri to gut.
**Right chudan soto uke, left straight to solar plexus or near shoulder.
**Right gedan-barai while moving inside, left shita-tsuki.
**Left gedan-barai while moving to outside, left hiza geri to gut.
**Left chudan soto uke while moving to outside, right shita-tsuki or seiken to oblique.
**Left gedan-barai, left shita-tsuki (Yuki is very quick with this one).
**Left chudan uchi uke while simultaneously doing a lead gedan mawashi-geri to the inner thigh.
2) Reverse punch counters:
**Left chudan uchi uke while moving to outside, right shita-tsuki to solar plexus.
**Left chudan uchi uke while moving to outside, right hiza geri to gut.
**Left gedan-barai, left shita-tsuki.
**Left chudan soto uke, right straight to solar plexus or near shoulder. Can also be shita-tsuki.
3) When they attack with a low roundhouse kick, I need to angle my foot better for the blocks or do what I did once or twice and actually go in a circular movement around them as they kick (almost like going with the kick but not actually getting hit). I did that pretty well but never countered off of it, I need to.
4) Need to bring my knee up when doing my front kicks so I don't stub my toes like I did tonight.
5) Push-ups were weak but probably because I'm a bit burnt out today.
6) Don't square up to the opponent so much, off-center myself more.

WAR WOUNDS: Stubbed big toe on right foot, cut left foot, bloody lip (one solid punch by Yuki), and a huge lump on my right forearm from blocking a high kick.

Alex Devenyi

08-02-2006, 06:24 AM

WORKOUT:
Short workout today, going to the MASC tomorrow night for O-lifting so I didn't want to crush myself.

2" Axle Deadlifts for Reps: Warmed up with some lighter weights, then did 315 for 10 reps in 60 sec.
The last 3 were the hard ones, I got 7 in the first 30 sec but then with all the time to regrip and catch my breath it took a lot longer. Once I get used to it, I should have at least 15 in the bank for these.

Zercher Squats: 145x3, 195x3, 245x0, 225x0.
My stubbed toes and sore calves from last night probably didn't help too much with these. Disappointing.

Bodyweight Dips: Repped out with 20 in one set.

Alex Devenyi

08-03-2006, 07:54 PM

WORKOUT:
Meant to hit up the MASC for some O-lifting but by the time I got finished doing some paperwork to be an Army Reserves prospect, it had already started and I wouldn't have gotten much of one in. So instead I hit up my gym and did some stuff in the back.

Hang Power Snatches: 45x3, 65x3, 85x3, 95x3, 95x3.
I was going to do full snatches but decided to do hang power ones instead so I could get a better feel for the movement and also since I was using regular plates and not bumpers. Not bad.

Overhead Squats: 45x3, 65x3, 75x3, 75x3, 85x3.
ATG. Starting to get a better feel for these. I had to focus on making sure the bar was more behind me than right above me and really keeping those heels down, but I started doing much better on these I think. I at least felt a lot more balanced on most of them.

Power Clean and Power Jerk: 95x1, 115x1, 135x1, 155x1, 175x1.
Not bad after all that intense shoulder stuff from before. My power clean sucks once it gets heavy, I use too much brute strength and not enough technique. 175 wasn't too bad, but my shoulders were fried so I decided that was good for today.

Treadmill: 20 minutes, nothing too intense, various inclines and speeds.

Plate Stacks: 2x20 each side, using five 45's.
Got this idea off of Craig Smith at KiltedThrower.net. I set up a platform behind me about waist-high then stacked five 45's on one side. Then, twisting at the sides and on the balls of my feet, I would move the stack from one side to the other, 20 times per set (so moving the stack 4 times total). These worked my obliques pretty nicely, I like them. Incredibly noisy however, as rather than crunch your fingers between the plates you have to kind of drop them on top of one another.

Medicine Ball Breakfall Throws: 6 or 8 times with a 10lb ball.
Something I used to play around with before: while on your knees you toss the medicine ball forcefully over your head and then let yourself fall forward into a breakfall. A Judo guy taught it to me, increases your upper-body explosiveness and helps your ukemi (falling skills) at the same time.

Nice little workout. Felt a lot of spring in my step after all the explosive exercises and the cardio. Weighed in at 185 before the workout (got my BF% tested too, I'm at 20.49%), 181 after workout. Gotta drop those few extra pounds so I'm 175 by Xenia (Sept 16th).

Alex Devenyi

08-05-2006, 04:43 PM

WORKOUT:

Mediocre one today. Spent most of the day at the Wise and Wellness cheering on several members of this forum then finally managed to get in the gym. Shitty food (mostly all fast food today), less than optimal sleeping time, and standing out in the hot sun for several hours didn't help too much.

Trap Bar Frame Carry: 255x50ft, 305x50ft, 305x50ft, 355x0.
Grip was trashed pretty quickly, might be because of the several attempts I made at picking up the Inch Dumbbell Jedd of the Diesel Crew brought along. Who knows. These are a whole different animal than farmer's walking, if you don't grab the trap bar just right it'll be wobbling like crazy or seriously off-balance. Just not my day for these.

Power Jerks: 80x1, 110x1, 140x1, 170x1, ----.
Pooped after the 170, nothing left. Was shooting for 190 or even 200 as I'm feeling pretty good my overhead is right around there.

Plate Rows: 3 45's x3, 3 45's x3, 4 45's x3, 4 45's x3, 5 45's x1.
Learned something important about these: if they slip you'd better move your feet away quick! Almost crushed my toes.

Curls: 50x5, 60x5, 70x5, 80x5, 90x4 (5 was a partial).
Just decided to do them since I never really do them and as a supplement since my bis always feel pretty sore after working with stones. Not bad.

Alex Devenyi

08-06-2006, 09:28 PM

My buddy Dan came over and we did some cross-training in the backyard, him sharing with me a lot of the new stuff he's been picking up (he's a brown belt in Budo Taijutsu, basically ninjutsu) and me sharing with him what I can from Kyokushin that would be applicable to that. Went over some combinations, joint locks, and counters then decided hey, let's do some sparring. We did it Kyokushin rules, no hand protection so no strikes to the face (well, light strikes only in this case).

Dan did pretty well for not sparring as often as I do, he does have quite a few street fights under his belt though so I know he's no sissy. He also had prior training in Hapkido I think. We went for a good 10 minutes maybe, light to medium contact. Noteworthy stuff was me popping him in the floating ribs that took his breath away (he said he was thankful we were only going somewhat light lol), him blocking some of my kicks pretty well (still dinged him with some good roundhouse kicks to the thigh though), and a spinning hook kick that would've been ugly if it connected. He got in some good shots back, a few solid front kicks and one or two shots to the gut plus one good sweep. Shins are a little beat up now but that's all.

Alex Devenyi

08-08-2006, 06:31 AM

20060807 WORKOUT:
Couldn't make it to Kyokushin on time (would've been 40 minutes late by the time I got there), so I did a light workout down in my basement, working on my blocks and punches, then warmed up for kicks and did a bunch of those too. Mostly working on technique than trying to kill myself.

TODAY'S WORKOUT:
Met up with Dennis at about 0630 for a workout. Felt tired already but managed to do all right.

Back Squats: 155x3, 225x3, 290x3 (PR!), 290x3, 290x1.
Pooped on the last set, didn't have much else left. Got some video because a female powerlifter I know was saying I was pretty near full squats, but today only maybe the first one looked like it and that was because of the camera angle. Second one's about parallel and the third one's are just below parallel. I've been using a narrower stance for the last few workouts, more Olympic-style squatting than powerlifting I guess. Maybe next time I'll use the 285, the 290 might've been too heavy for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSoX1L-5scg

Military Press: 85x3, 115x3, 140x1, 135x3, 135x2.
Have to drop back down to 135 for a workout and see how that feels. The warm-up sets and the 140 were wider than I normally go, which might have something to do with it.

Plate Rows: 3 45's x3, 3 45's x3, 4 45's (+25) x3, 4 45's (+15) x3, 4 45's (+15) x3.
This time I put some additional plates on top to make it more difficult. I left the top one face-up so there'd be a shelf to put on extra plates so there wouldn't have to be as big of a jump.

Isometric Overhead Press: 12 sec from start position, 12/12 sec from midway position.

Fingertip Pull-Ups: All with bodyweight.
**All four fingers x6
**1st three fingers x6
**Index and middle x3,
**Middle finger x1 (PR!).
**Middle finger x1
Finally got that one-finger pull-up I've been wanting. Did it the second time so I could try to get some video but the guy who filmed for me didn't start the camera until AFTER, when I was getting down. I managed to snag a bad picture out of it at least, you can see it at the bottom.

Then I just did about 10 minutes of cardio to cool down and came back home so I could eat.

Alex Devenyi

08-08-2006, 08:02 PM

WORKOUT:
Good Kyokushin workout tonight, just me and my sempai. We did all of the following, one of us holding the pads and the other striking, then switched. We added in some punches occasionally after the kicks and doubled up on the kick every now and then as well.

**Left lead low roundhouse kicks to the inner thigh (2 min) then right lead low roundhouse kicks to the inner thigh (2 min).
Need to pivot more on the ball of my foot for the left leads, rights aren't too bad though.

**Right rear low roundhouse kicks to the outer thigh (2 min) then left rear low roundhouse kicks to the outer thigh (2 min).
Make sure I get my knee more past the target as I strike. I'm sinking the bodyweight into it fairly well and using that downward 45 degree angle, I just need to pivot more and get that knee going.

**Left lead middle roundhouse kicks to the obliques (2 min) then right lead middle roundhouse kicks to the
obliques (2 min).
Same deal with the pivoting and the knee here, also need to work on firing it from a similar chamber to the front kick to be more deceptive with it.

**Right rear middle roundhouse kicks to the obliques (2 min) then left rear middle roundhouse kicks to the obliques (2 min).
Same deal as leads.

**Left lead front kicks to the gut (2 min) then right lead front kicks to the gut (2 min).
Good power and pushing, just need to get the knee up higher and thrust straight in more.

**Right rear front kicks to the gut (2 min) then left rear front kicks to the gut (2 min).
Same deal as leads.

**Left spinning back kicks (2 min) and right spinning back kicks (2 min).
I pretty much sucked at these at first but then got the feel for them near the end. I need to try to stay tight and not go too wide, face where I'm turning, and lean more towards the point of impact.

All totaled, it comes out to 28 minutes of padwork of me actually striking, then 28 minutes of holding the pads and getting struck (which especially with my instructor you can still feel a chunk of em). We then did some fingertip push-ups and some knuckle-pushups on bricks (focusing on the first two like always), then that same ab routine which I really like (today we did 100 crunches, 40 oblique crunches each side, 40 reverse crunches, then 25 accelerated leg raises which are buttkickers).

Alex Devenyi

08-10-2006, 09:46 AM

WORKOUT:

Log Clean and Presses 108x4, 138x2, 168x1/1/1/1/0,1/1.
These pretty much killed me. 2-3 minute rest in between each one. Banged the hell out of my chin coming down from the 4th one, I tasted blood momentarily. Took a 10-minute break after this one, most of which I spent on the floor.

Atlas Stones: Despite several attempts, could not even budge my 225. This is starting to irritate me, as I've gotten it fairly easily before. I might need to make a smaller stone and also do this right off the bat and save the log presses for afterwards.

Now I'm outside putting together my new yoke so I can try it out later on this afternoon.

Alex Apostol

08-10-2006, 09:59 AM

I'm still waiting for you to beat harrison on yoke, fag. :F:

Alex Devenyi

08-10-2006, 10:26 AM

I'm still waiting for you to beat harrison on yoke, fag. :F:

I gotta put it together, that stuff's packaged up like an Egyptian mummy.

Alex Devenyi

08-10-2006, 11:59 AM

Yoke: 280 for 50ft, 350 for 50ft, 420 for ~12ft (rolled ankle). Walked it back without problems, tried again and only got 3ft before I felt that pain in my calf again. So then I just did power stand-ups with 470 and 500 just to break the ground and hold then put it back down. EDIT: It looks like the yoke weighs about 100 pounds so I fixed up the weights.

Grass isn't the best to walk on, the first two were relatively easy and the 420 wasn't too bad until I dropped into a little dip my dog had been digging and my ankle rolled a bit and I felt slight pain up my left calf. Still a bit sore. Next time I'm going to have to do these down on the road, which sucks because I keep all my weights in the shed in the back and the road to our side is a hill so we have to cart all that weight down my steep front yard to use then back up again. That's a workout in and of itself :p

Alex Devenyi

08-10-2006, 08:28 PM

KYOKUSHIN KARATE:

Myself, Sempai, Yuki, and Derek tonight. More padwork.

**Simultaneous lead low roundhouse kick to the inner thigh and lead straight. Did 2 min left and right side twice each (8 min total).
The timing is big on this one. I found if I throw the punch right when it feels like my toes left the ground they hit on contact. You need to use the forward force of the low roundhouse to get power into the left jab at the same time.

**Simultaneous lead low roundhouse kick to the outer thigh and lead straight. Did 2 min left and right side twice each (8 min total).
Same with above, I found for me it's best to start throwing the punch right when I'm turning my hip over to drive that roundhouse kick downwards into the thigh. A lead shita-tsuki works really well here too (basically like an uppercut). My low roundhouse kicks to the outer thigh are looking pretty good.

**Simultaneous rear low roundhouse kick to the outer thigh and thrust punch. Did 2 min each side (4 min total).
This one feels pretty natural, as since the leg sweeps right into him your body's already moving forward and the foot is there so BAM, the punch that follows has a lot of power. Same deal with the hip here.

**Lead front push kick followed quickly by lead punch. Did 2 min each side twice (8 min total).
You can't really do these simultaneously, at least I can't. The key is to drive your foot into the target hard like you're kicking down a door and trying to land the punch at the exact moment your foot touches the ground. I could feel my sempai's punches through the thick pad coming in HARD.

**Lead high roundhouse kick. Did 2 minutes each side (4 min total).
My "high" roundhouse kick is only slightly higher than my middle, since I can't kick all that high yet :P My sempai did say I was doing really well on these though, I was getting that knee past the target and had the right angle so I was popping the hand mitt pretty hard.

All told it ends up being 32 minutes of padwork for myself, not to mention 32 minutes of holding them for others. Even though I had a thick pad covering my thigh, I could still feel my sempai's low roundhouse kicks to the outer thigh pretty good. We then did some fingertip pushups and knuckle pushups on bricks, but skipped the abwork for tonight.

Alex Apostol

08-10-2006, 10:01 PM

Alex Devenyi

08-11-2006, 04:35 PM

Shit you rolled it?! You're trying too hard to own my PR. = p

I was talking with Dan, he said he's done it a number of times in tennis shoes. He recommended using some heavy-duty boots to give support to my ankles, something I'm definitely going to be trying. It's still a bit tender but it feels fine now.

Alex Devenyi

08-13-2006, 05:47 AM

20060812:

Took the day off to give my calf a rest. I had opened the gym at 0545 that morning so when I got off at 1200 I tried depositing my check (missed the bank closing by two minutes), got a haircut, then took a nice long nap.

My friend Terry and her boyfriend invited me to a Hawaiian luau at his place, so I took my ex from before, Jenny. It was pretty fun, they had a nice fire going and plenty of good food which I was certainly not shy about. Open bar too but since I had to work today (right at this moment actually :D) I didn't drink anything. Saw a few people from HS I had been wanting to talk to, so it was cool.

Calf's feeling a lot better today, going to hit it hard on Tuesday.

Alex Apostol

08-13-2006, 10:00 AM

I've had horrible experiences with New Balance and I think some forum members have as well. They claim to have good ankle support but they really don't.

Alex Devenyi

08-13-2006, 10:55 AM

I've had horrible experiences with New Balance and I think some forum members have as well. They claim to have good ankle support but they really don't.

I hate them too, mostly because that's what they made us wear in boot camp and I never liked them. I've got my old infantry combat boots, those babies give some ankle support.

Alex Devenyi

08-16-2006, 05:46 AM

20060815:

Kyokushin tonight. Myself, Sempai, Yuki, and a new guy named Kevin (he made it to blue belt under my sempai about five years ago then stopped training for a while). Since it was basically his first class in a long time, we took it relatively easy on him padwork-wise.

We decided to do a lot of kicking tonight, so we warmed up with 20 of each (both the left and right sides, so 40 total): lead mae geri, rear mae geri, lead gedan mawashi geri, rear gedan mawashi geri, lead yoko geri, rear yoko geri, ushiro geri, and inside crescent kicks. Totals out to be 320 kicks.

We then busted out the pads and did the following. All were one minute instead of our normal two, except for the punching at the end.

**Lead mawashi geri to the inner thigh (left and right). 2 min total.
My sempai said these are looking really good, for the last 15-20 seconds of each I was doubling up on them and they were hitting really well. About time I started getting something right :D lol

**Lead mawashi geri to the outer thigh (left and right). 2 min total.
Need to turn my hip over a bit more to get that downwards angle on the thigh, probably just need to stretch a bit more and work on my flexibility.

**Rear mawashi geri to the outer thigh (left and right). 2 min total.
I very slightly wind up on these, need to avoid that. Most of them hit pretty well though, I'm slightly dropping my weight into them and getting that good angle, just need to work on getting that timing down exactly.

**Rear gedan mawashi geri to the inner thigh (left and right). 2 min total.
This is used if you're fighting someone who's fighting either southpaw (if you're a rightie) or conventional (if you're a leftie). You step to the outside slightly and fire a low roundhouse kick right to their inner thigh while keeping your hands up to protect yourself (as if you were countering a jodan mawashi geri). I need to make sure I pivot more here.

**Lead yoko geri to the gut (left and right). 2 min total.
Fairly fast but very weak. At most it'd be a light jab to push someone back and open them up for something else right now. I'm trying to move with it like a lead push kick and that seems to be helping with some power there.

**Rear yoko geri to the gut (left and right). 2 min total.
Have to learn how to get my hips into it at just the right moment, I did it once or twice and really sent my sempai flying but my timing seems off otherwise. I tend to do these flat-footed, I can't do the edge of the foot yet. Flat-footed seems better to me anyways.

**Rear straight (left and right). 2 min rounds, 4 min total.
He was teaching a different way today, one Yuki's a big fan of. We tend to rotate a lot into our strikes which though they pack a lot of power slows them down somewhat. It also exposes us a lot more to counterattack. Yuki was teaching us to be more in-tight and not expose yourself as much, which was definitely different for me and will take some getting used to. Seeing him and how hard he hit like that though is definitely inspiration enough to practice it.

We then finished up with some conditioning. 10 fingertip push-ups, 30 knuckle push-ups (with a timed hold at the end; my sempai wants me to bring mine in tight-elbow next time as I do mine wider than normal), and some abwork (80 crunches, 40 oblique crunches each side, 40 reverse crunches, and 30 accelerated leg raises).

Then, under supervision from my instructors, I did some work on the makiwara. Did about 20 strikes per hand for seikens, urakens, shita tsukis, shutos, and tettsuos (I think that's how you spell it; hammerfists). Then did 10 strikes each hand for haitos, since I'm not very good with them yet.

Good workout. Kevin was hurting pretty bad throughout it, they had him doing 30 seconds on some of the exercises. I was like that the first time I was there though, so nothing bad on him. Missed lifting that day so I'm going to fit it in today (20060816). Just going to max on deadlifts.

Alex Devenyi

08-16-2006, 11:51 AM

20060816:

Tested my max deadlift today.

Deadlifts:
185x5
245x3
315x1
375x1
435x0 (right above knees)
425x1 (raw, PR!)

Raw is with no straps or belt, just chalk and in my socks. Then tossed on straps and a belt and tried 455 twice, could only break it off the ground though. Happy with what I've got for right now.

Patrick McGuffin

08-16-2006, 02:42 PM

CORE STRENGTH!! :EP: Good job Alex.

Alex Devenyi

08-16-2006, 06:01 PM

CORE STRENGTH!! :EP: Good job Alex.

Thanks dude! :D I'm trying to close in on 2.5x bodyweight soon.

Alex Devenyi

08-17-2006, 02:40 PM

WORKOUT:

Atlas Stone: Carried the 225 for 5ft then loaded it, then did 3 carries of 10ft each to the barrel then loaded it.
I managed to do the first one without tacky but after that I couldn't budge the sucker. So I tossed just a little bit on my forearms and the sucker went up real easy. I think my crushing strength between my forearms is my weak link here, need to find some good exercises to strengthen that. Happy with the three carries though, not too bad (had to stop on the 2nd and regrip the stone), just need to get it high enough above my hips so I can walk fast. The first one I was dragging ass because of that.

Log Clean and Press:
108x4
138x2
168x2
168x2
168x1 (got the second clean but no press)
168x1 (got the second clean but no press)
Then just cleaned 168x3, almost 4.

Block Weight Tossing:
Something I haven't done in a long time. Mine's the hex head of a 35. This got a lot easier from last time, I pretty much tossed it from hand to hand for a minute or more. Going to bring it to my Kyokushin Karate class tonight to let some of the other guys try it so I'll probably do more there.

Alex Devenyi

08-19-2006, 02:36 PM

WORKOUT:
Hit up the O-lifting club today, just myself there training aside from Rege so I got a good intense workout in.

Shrug Pulls: 40kg (88lbs) x3/x3.

Hang Cleans: 50kg (110lbs) x3/3/3.

Squat Clean to Front Squat to Jerk: 60kg (132lbs) x3/3.

Shrug Pulls: 60kg x3/3.

This is a guesstimate on actual sets, I did a lot of triples of all these different exercises. I bend my arms too quickly on the cleans when they're lighter, but less so when they get heavier. I need to learn how to get that shrug down perfectly and let it flip up naturally. I also have the tendency to "catch" the bar rather than let it fall into place.

Gotta remember to: keep the scapula together, feet shoulder-width, head up, chest out, back arched, ass out. Arms are just hooks, it should be all back. Let the initial pull go to its maximum before you move your arms.

As for the jerk, I tend to do it "soft" from what Rege says, meaning I don't immediately lock out my arms but rather try to push it up again after it's lost all its power.

Oly Back Squats:
80kg (176lbs) x5
90kg (198lbs) x3
110kg (242lbs) x3
125kg (275lbs) x2
90kg (198lbs) x10

Kicked some butt on squats today. 275x2 ATG, a new PR. Rege helped me get my breathing in check which I think made all the difference as 275 was only supposed to be a single but I doubled it and probably could've done more.

Rege says I have the strength and flexibility, if I can get my technique down really well then "you're going to be fricking dangerous" is what he told me. Then Rege left so I decided to toss in some overhead stuff and some dumbbell flyes to try those out.

Military Press: 65x1, 95x1, 125x1, 150x1, 160x0 (close).

Power Jerks: 160x1, 185x0/0/0 (first two were very close to lockout, last one nowhere near).

Dumbbell Chest Flyes: 30x5, 30x5, 30x5, 40x5, 40x5.
I feel silly doing these, but if they help, hey, whatever works. I don't know if I'm doing them right though. My friend Greg told me to try them out with a two-second pause at the top and bottom so I did that.

Going to try some sled dragging and/or car pushing sometime today as well.

Alex Apostol

08-19-2006, 05:12 PM

Nice work, but failing on 185 jerk? Flyes? Wtf? Just kidding fag.

Alex Devenyi

08-20-2006, 06:06 AM

Nice work, but failing on 185 jerk? Flyes? Wtf? Just kidding fag.

:D:

I probably could've gotten the 185 power jerk if I hadn't done those jerks before with 60kg. I need to tackle it fresh one day and see how that goes. The flyes someone recommended to me as something that could help crushing the stone to make the liftoff easier. I don't know if I like them though, I'm going to try the brick lifting too and compare the two, see which I like better.

Alex Devenyi

08-22-2006, 03:17 PM

WORKOUT:

Atlas Stone: Did two 5ft carries with the 225 and loaded (no tacky), two 10ft carries and loaded (no tacky), then tossed on just a few drops of tacky and did a final 10ft carry to load and two shoulder attempts (neither got close, need to work on that).

Uploaded one of the 10ft carries, you can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V18Q8G9LkmM

I think I'm finally getting my stone "style" so to speak. I've noticed if I use my hands more like a Zercher deadlift I can better crush the stone and get it a lot better. Sweet. Bis are feeling sore now.

Log Clean and Press:
85x5 (just presses to warm up)
108x3 (clean and press each rep)
138x3 (clean and press each rep)
168x3 (one clean)
168x0 (one clean and three attempts, @#$%....)
168x1 (tried for 2, couldn't get it)

Trying to work on locking these out "hard" like Rege is teaching me. I can see a difference that way. I tried doing the 138's more like a power clean and focusing on that shrug pull too. The log flipped up pretty fast and whacked me in my chin as it went into position. Ouch. Better think of something else :lol: Too much playing around with the stone I think. Might do log again this week then, or next time do log first then stones and just alternate them like that.

Alex Devenyi

08-23-2006, 10:16 AM

Had Kyokushin last night. Since my sempai had a doctor's appointment the next morning (one of those don't eat anything the day before deals), he just did some kata and took it easy so Yuki worked with me a lot tonight on technique.

Yuki started me off with standing in Sanchin and working on my middle punches, upper punches, side urakens to the face, side urakens to the kidneys, straight urakens to the face, and doing the four basic blocks. He then got me moving in Sanchin and then Zenkutsu practicing the punches and blocks. Lots of good info here, hope I can remember it all:

**Seikens: Keep your elbow tight as you roll your hips forward, your hips should lead everything you do. Think of your obliques as a catapult for your fist.

**Urakens: Think of these as if you're holding a towel and want to snap it at someone. The fist should roll towards you like a koken then snap forward at the last instant like a whip to maximize impact. Make sure your hip is still leading! It's all in the hips.

**Gedan-Barai: Your hip should turn with your blocking arm when it circles up near your chin then turn back as it's sweeping down. At the last instant, turn your hips away from it again. That adds a lot of power. Let gravity do most of the work here for bringing down the gedan-barai. You can also drop your weight very slightly into the gedan-barai to make it more damaging.

**Chudan Soto Uke: Yuki does a very different version of this so it's something I need to work on. His doesn't come out like a circle. His is more like a shita tsuki and an uraken almost, it's tough to explain.

**Chudan Uchi Uke: Like all blocks, make sure you aren't centered when you block so you can better defend yourself. Visualize your side as that catapult again, and make sure that the fist circles back just a little bit at the end and that it's across your body.

**Jodan Uke: Hand should be right at the eyebrow level. Like the gedan-barai, you can move your weight into it by going very slightly upwards.

We then finished off with 20 fingertip pushups, super-slow knuckle pushups (counting to 10 in the up, middle, and down position then back up; did that about three times), some light stretches, 100 crunches, 50 oblique crunches per side, and some Ikken (two minutes natural posture, one minute balanced on one leg for both legs).

Things for me to focus on:
**Relax! Let your hips lead what you do, don't try to use too much muscle.
**Practice everything slowly. We were doing weight transfer slowly and using big circles so it would be easier to learn.

RobXCanavan

08-23-2006, 10:43 AM

Hey Alex, I just noticed you are in Pittsburgh. I'm pretty close, where do you train?

Alex Devenyi

08-23-2006, 11:26 AM

Hey Alex, I just noticed you are in Pittsburgh. I'm pretty close, where do you train?

I train at three different places right now primarily. I work at Bodytech Gym along Route 19 near Wexford, so one of my days I'm there doing all my gym lifts. I have all my implements at my house so I'm training there for right now (hoping to get a storage facility soon so I can train there in their nice wide-open areas). I also do Olympic weightlifting at the MASC in Bridgeville once a week.

If you ever want to try some implements, we'd be glad to let you come hang out with us and try some. I've got a 225 stone, a 10" log, a pair of farmer's implements, a keg, a yoke, a lot of grip tools, and a sled.

Alex Devenyi

08-23-2006, 05:42 PM

So my friend Robert who's a PT where I work at offered to take my measurements and since I was bored at work and actually fairly curious, I let him. I compared them to the "Grecian Ideal" from SandowMuseum.com and was pretty stoked about how a lot of them turned out. I guess I can take pride in my measurements at least once a year, doesn't mean I'm gonna start doing pec-dec flyes or dumbbell kickbacks though :lol:

WRIST: 6.5" (yeah, kind of skinny :P)
CHEST: Ideal is 42.25", I measured in at 42". Not bad for rarely doing any direct chest work.
WAIST: Ideal is 29.5", my fat ass measured in at 36". Yep, time to lose a few pounds :lol:
HIPS: 36", I have 41". Fat ass is right :P :lol:
BICEPS: 15.25", I've got 15".
FOREARMS: 12.25", mine are 13.5" in comparison :lol:
THIGHS: 22.5", I have 23". Thunda thighs!
CALVES: 14.5", I have 15.5".
NECK: 15.75", mine's 16.25".

Alex Devenyi

08-25-2006, 10:45 AM

20050824:

Intense workout at Kyokushin tonight. We did all basics today, and lots of them. My arms hurt just looking at the totals again.

**Seiken chudan tsuki: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Seiken jodan tsuki: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Seiken gedan tsuki: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Double seiken chudan tsukis: 40 times, 80 punches total.
**Jodan-chudan-gedan seiken tsukis: 40 times, 120 punches total.
**Shita tsuki: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Seiken ago tsuki: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Double seiken ago tsuki: 40 times, 80 punches total.
**Uraken sayu gammen uchi: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Uraken hiza uchi: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Uraken ago uchi: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Uraken downward blow to nose: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Shuto gammen uchis: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Shuto hiza uchi: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Shuto uchi uchis: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Shuto sakotsu uchi: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Shuto sakotsu uchikomi: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Shotei chudan: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Shotei jodan: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Shote gedan: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Koken jodan: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Koken chudan: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Hiraken jodan: 40 times, 40 punches total.
**Fore-knuckle fist chudan: 40 times, 40 punches total.

By this time we had thrown 1200 punches so we decided to take a five-minute water break. We then hopped right into some kicks and blocks, though nowhere near as bad as above was:

**Mae geri (rear): 40 times each leg, 80 kicks total.
**Yoko geri (rear): 40 times each leg, 80 kicks total.
**Chudan mawashi geri (gear): 40 times each leg, 80 kicks total.
**Ushiro geri: 40 times each leg, 80 kicks total.
**Inside crescent kick (rear): 20 times each leg, 40 kicks total.
**Outside crescent kick (rear): 20 times each leg, 40 kicks total.
**Gedan-barai: 40 times, 40 blocks total.
**Chudan uchi uke: 40 times, 40 blocks total.
**Chudan soto uke: 40 times, 40 blocks total.
**Jodan uke: 40 times, 40 blocks total.
**Shuto mawashi uke: 40 times each side, 80 blocks total.

We then worked on some combinations, my sempai had some pretty interesting ones as he was trying to emphasize counterattacking right off the block.
**Preparation position for chudan uchi uke to block, followed by backfist to nose and gyaku tsuki. 40 times each side.
**Gedan-barai to shita-tsuki with same arm, followed by gyaku tsuki. 40 times each side. (He actually taught a seiken off of this one, but to me shita tsuki falls into place much better and he liked the idea.)
**Chudan soto uke to uraken with same hand, followed by gyaku tsuki. 40 times each side.
**Jodan uke to downwards tettsui to nose, followed by gyaku tsuki. 40 times each side.

We then did some movement drills, working on shifting our bodyweight using the different blocks and seiken chudan tsukis, then after 15 fingertip pushups, 20 knuckle pushups on bricks, and some abwork (100 crunches, 50 oblique crunches each side, 50 reverse crunches, and 25 accelerated leg raises), we called it a night.

All totaled out it ended up being almost 2000 punches/hand strikes, 400 blocks, and 400 kicks. Holy crap, no wonder why my arms were sore today.

20060825:
Light workout today, as I'm doing more tomorrow. Just did some farmer's walks. I was going to try Mike's plate crushers but I didn't get a chance before I had to work.

Farmer's Walks:
155/hand for 100ft, easy warm-up (stumbled a bit near the end though).
185/hand for 50ft with one turn (ripped open callus and lost it on turn).
185/hand for 50ft with one turn (hand with ripped callus dropped it again).
225/hand (with straps) for a mere 8ft.

That ripped callus gave me a lot of trouble. It bled all over the bar the first time making it slick, so I had to clean it off and put on a bandage. The second time it was killing me on the liftoff, but I still managed to get it the 50ft. I've been slacking on farmer's too and it shows, my hands can normally take a lot more. Disappointing day. Some of it could be from all the striking we did the night before, but I know it's also because I'd been slacking on these a bit.

This Silver Sneaker asked me why I was wearing all red today (red workout shorts and a red USMC T-shirt). I just jokingly told her "I wear red so the blood doesn't show", thinking of the old Civil War commander that did the same. She saw me bleeding all over the floor before though so that didn't go over too well with my boss who overheard it :P

Hopefully this callus won't give me too much problems tomorrow, going to do some O-lifting and axle deadlifts for reps (they have an Apollon's Axle at the O-club so I'll probably use theirs), then having some buddies over to try out some strongman stuff and to do some sled dragging. They'll be using whatever they want.

Alex Devenyi

08-26-2006, 01:29 PM

WORKOUT:

O-lifting session at the MASC. Just a couple of us there: myself, Bob (a former powerlifter getting into O-lifting, started a few weeks before I did), Al (he's good, just met him today), and Alexandre the coach.

He had me warm up, so I did some hang cleans and hang power snatches to warm up. He then had us doing a lot of work on the snatch today.

Hang Power Snatches:
Just the bar for 2-3 sets, a few times apiece.

Full Snatches:
30kg (66 lbs) 2x1
40kg (88 lbs) 5x1
45kg (99 lbs) 2x1
50kg (110 lbs) 4x1 (only got the first one out of 4 though, more later on)
52.5kg (115.5 lbs) x1 (nailed it, PR for the day)

The 50kg seemed easy at first, I nailed the first one no problem. The next two however I was (in Alex's words) "looking at mushrooms and not up at Pluto." He showed me how by keeping your head up it helps keep you balanced as if you look down while forcing it up it shifts more of your bodyweight forward. The fourth was because I tend to rush to the standing portion, he told me to catch it in the overhead squat position then once you feel balanced stand.

The 52.5kg was my best lift of the day according to Alex. I kept it close to my body, locked my arms out at the right spot, stayed in the overhead squat position until I felt balanced then locked it out without too much problem. Alex said with a little more work on my technique I have a 70kg (154 lbs) snatch in me.

The Pittsburgh Barbell Club competes twice a year, once in the summer and once in the winter. Alex said he wants me to try for the winter competition, though when that will be I don't know. Still, very cool.

Stuff to work on for the snatch:
** "Show your rings", as Alex said. Hands right outside the rings.
** Pull the bar up your thighs, keeping it as close as possible.
** Practice the form in the air (Alex calls it "meditation"), working on keeping good form.
** Don't pull with my arms. Pretty good about that today, only did it once or twice.

My buddy McKenna's coming over in about 20 to go train, so I'll probably have more. Taking it light though.

Alex Devenyi

08-27-2006, 06:52 AM

20060826:

The workout with my buddy McKenna was a good one. He showed me a little trick he learned when he used to train with Steve MacD. We set up my yoke to a decent height, then you would pick up the Atlas stone and "load" it over the yoke. Then you'd run around the yoke as quick as you can, pick it up again, "load", and repeat. They would do this a lot for endurance with a lighter stone. McKenna's about 4" taller than me so the yoke was a little high for me, so I didn't always get them over the yoke but I did get it right up against it several times, enough to load a smaller barrel.

Atlas Stones:
We did that for three sets each, though on the last set I only managed to do one as I felt a weird pinch in my right bicep. Feels better today, but still a bit sore.

Farmer's Walks:
Warmed up with 115 per hand for 100ft with one turn, then tossed on 165. McKenna's back is still healing a bit so the turns were messing him up a little bit, so he decided to just walk as far as he could up the street then I'd walk it back. He walked it about 150', then I walked it about 110' back (without chalk, as we left it by the starting line :P). He then took it the remaning 40'. We then tossed on 185 per hand and did the same. He got 120', I walked it back about 100'. We then put all the stuff away.

Plate Crushers: Three 5lb plates crushed together for about 28 sec.
Tried Mike's idea out, I like these. 5lb plates did seem kind of easy though, haven't tried 10's yet but we'll see.

Not a bad day at all, especially for doing farmer's the day right before. Only crappy part was when we were putting all the stuff away in my shed and found out the hard way there's a wasp nest in there. I got stung square on the nose so when I went out later on that night I looked like W.C. Fields until the swelling went down. I need to hit it up with a can of Raid sometime this week, zap all those little mofos. Luckily I still have my mosquito netting from the Marine Corps :D

The video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hOSAJ_TNrE

Corey DuCharme

08-27-2006, 07:41 PM

Alex Devenyi

08-28-2006, 06:42 AM

Thought I'd see what you've been up to lately. Sounds fun, except for the wasps!! I love watching them twitch around on the ground after they get sprayed. :EL: How much does the stone you were using weigh? That sounds like a good workout plopping it over the yoke until you can't any more. You should try carrying it if you can to get ready for Xenia.

Are you talking about pinch gripping plates? Have you done two 25's smooth side out yet? My best ever was two 35's to full lockout, but I can't do it consistently yet.

Man, those crazy karate workouts are insane. I couldn't even remember all that stuff, let alone do it!!

That stone weighs 225, so it's a decent training tool for Xenia since the first two stones look to be 208 and 235. This was my first time doing the yoke way, before I would do a 5' carry and load to warm up, then 3-4 10' carries and loads. What I'm thinking about doing next time is setting up the yoke so I have to carry it 10', get the stone over the yoke, run around, load it again, then go and carry it back, then try to repeat it.

This was actually an idea by Mike Landrich to work on crushing strength for stones. He had three plates in his hands held together in front of him and then would just crush it as hard as he could and hold for a certain amount of time. My pinch grip is okay, I don't do it as consistently as I should but I've managed to get 50lbs with my pinch grip block so now I just need to work on doing it with two 25's. I've been cursed with small hands though :(

Yeah, it was definitely tiring :D Hoping it helps me lose those last few extra pounds though. Weighed in at 181 today :p

Alex Devenyi

08-29-2006, 01:52 PM

WORKOUT:

Axle Deadlifts for Reps:
5 hang power snatches with empty bar
5 hang squat cleans with empty bar
135x4 on regular Olympic bar
225x3 on regular Olympic bar
275x2 on regular Olympic bar

Then tossed on the belt and chalk and threw 315 on the 2" axle.

315x12 in 60 sec (+2 rep PR)

Not bad for my lower back feeling weak already.

Log Presses (clean once and press for reps):
88x3
118x2
143x1
173x0 (cleaned it but no press)
173x0 (again, clean but no press)

Had to move to a different spot, I smashed up all the patio blocks in this area. I took off my belt for the clean and presses, and it actually felt a lot better. The clean went up a lot more smoothly and with less effort.

Log Presses (clean and press each rep):
128x5
138x4
148x3
158x2
168x1
178x0 (got the clean, no press)

Since there's no karate tonight (my instructors are hitting up the game), I'm contemplating hitting up the O-lifting club.

Alex Apostol

08-29-2006, 02:02 PM

Corey DuCharme

08-29-2006, 02:39 PM

Nice deadlifts, I'd be hard pressed to get 12 in sixty seconds. Keep at that log, you'll get it by contest time.

Alex Devenyi

08-29-2006, 02:42 PM

Hmm, what happened to your log press being better than mine? And I've only maxed out one time on it, and it was easy, fag. Heh heh heh.

I'm going to pull 405 next week before you start talking crap about my deadlift. HEH HEH.

I had to find a new spot to do log presses on my patio, the one area where I used to is destroyed now. The clean once and press for reps was ridiculously more difficult that way. I also had to change the shoes, wasn't wearing my lucky pair :cool:

You'd better pull at least 375 before you start bragging about 405 :BP:

Nice deadlifts, I'd be hard pressed to get 12 in sixty seconds. Keep at that log, you'll get it by contest time.

Thanks Corey. Back was a little sore too and I stopped for about a 5 second rest, so if I can get it all together, I'm shooting to have 15.

Once I lost the belt and found that nice little area, the others felt much better. I like the idea of using a 5-4-3-2-1 for these, so I may just up it slightly each time. I know I have 1 or 2 reps in me right now, I want at least 4.

Alex Apostol

08-29-2006, 03:13 PM

You'd better pull at least 375 before you start bragging about 405 :BP:

Psch, I did 390 last week.

Alex Devenyi

08-29-2006, 03:42 PM

Psch, I did 390 last week.

Where's the vid? :FF: :D

Alex Devenyi

08-31-2006, 11:26 AM

WORKOUT:

Log Cleans:
148x5
158x4
168x3
178x2
188x1
198x1

For these and log presses, I'll be adding 5-10lbs each session or so, depending on how it feels. My ultimate goal is to press about 2-3 reps with the 175 log at Xenia on September 16th so it's coming down to the wire right now. 198 was easy, I've done 210 before, but I'm more concentrating on doing reps this time around than singles.

Far from done, more to be added as I do it. Accidentally hit the POST button :D

Farmer's Walk:
First had to wheelbarrow down all the weight I'll be using to the street below twice (so about 180 pounds per load), going through the grass sucks but once you hit downhill it's not bad. Getting it back up is the pain in the butt :p

Then I had to explain to a community cop in an undercover car what I was doing, as he drove by when I was unloading my batch :p It's pretty much a given I need to get some storage space at an enclosed facility now.

135 per hand for 100ft (one turn at 50ft; real quick). Hands were feeling tired already though.
195 per hand for 100ft (one turn at 50ft). Kicked my ass but I finished it.
195 per hand for only about 8ft.

Hands died on the last one. Then I had the fun of schlepping all that crap up the hill again. Fun times.

Tried using tape sticky-side out over my arms to give the Atlas stone a shot to see how that worked. The left side was too tight and the right was too loose, kept slipping off and prevented me from getting any kind of grip. Might need to work with it a little bit. Or just say "f%ck it" and hope my tat doesn't get too messed up.

Alex Devenyi

09-03-2006, 04:25 PM

WORKOUT:

Atlas Stone:
Crap day for these. My 225 was still wet from the rain last night so it barely budged without tacky. Even once I used some of my brand new Ostlund tacky, I still only managed a 5' carry and load. Just not feeling these today. Going to have to go balls to the wall Tuesday on it, last day with them before my mini-contest and then Xenia.

Log Clean and Press (clean each rep):
138x5
148x4
158x3
168x2
178x1 (PR, officially a bodyweight log press)

Very cool. Weighed in at 178 this morning so this is now a legitimate bodyweight log press. I'm really liking the 5-4-3-2-1 approach for log presses, the lighter weights let you focus on technique so whenever you do the heavier ones you're already in a nice groove. The 178 wasn't bad at all, it did lock out soft (something I'm trying to avoid) but it wasn't too bad, even managed to hold it up there for several extra seconds just to see my badass reflection in the window B) :lol:

Farmer's Power Holds:
225 per hand for a measly 16 seconds.

Figured I might as well do something else while I'm at it, yet didn't feel like carting all the crap down to the road. So I figured toss on 225 per hand and see how long I could hold onto it, since the 450 frame I'll be doing at Xenia will be somewhat similar. Had to do it out on my grass instead of the patio, as I know those suckers will smash it up even more. Next time I should probably do a warm-up set or two for 30 seconds each.

Alex Devenyi

09-05-2006, 08:18 PM

09/05/2006 KYOKUSHIN KARATE:

Good workout. Lots of kihon and a big emphasis on kata tonight. Warmed up with a lot of running in place, jumping jacks, and squat kicks then hopped right into the kihon. Did several hundred handstrikes and a couple hundred kicks and blocks. We then worked on Ten no kata, Tsuki no, Ju Ni Ho, the Taikyokyus, and the first two Pinans. No knuckle conditioning or abs tonight, my sempai had to go pick up his daughter so we had to cut the class a bit short. Total time was about 1.5 hours, the beginning was fairly tough but by the end I only had a mild sweat going on.

Alex Devenyi

09-06-2006, 01:13 PM

09/06/2006 STRONGMAN:

Atlas Stones: All these were done with my 225lb Atlas stone and without tacky. Took a short break between sets. The area where I'm keeping my stone is getting really muddy, might need to move it.

Set 1: Carry 10' and load onto barrel, roll off, carry 5' and load onto barrel, roll off, carry 2' and load.
Set 2: Carry 10' and load onto barrel, roll off, carry 5' and load, done.

Decent workout today. I should get the first two stones at Xenia easy, hopefully the tacky will help me get that 280.

Log Clean and Press (clean every rep):
143x5 (didn't finish in 60 seconds though, this one hurt already)
153x3 (was trying for 4, @#$%....)
163x1 (couldn't even get 2nd rep, was shooting for 3)
173x---
183x---

Stones must've worn me out a good bit, log pressing was rough today. Decided to back off for now and hit it hard again Friday using the same weights.

Doing 2" thickbar deadlifts for reps with 315 in 60 sec later on, going to do it right before I go to work.

Corey DuCharme

09-06-2006, 01:51 PM

Alex Devenyi

09-06-2006, 03:47 PM

I was going to do log press and stone loads tonight too. :D I'm getting excited for the contest already.

Have you ever used tacky before? It will help a ton. What size log are you training on?

Hope the deadlifts go well for you, warm up a lot so any tightness from earlier is worked out.

I'm excited too, should be a fun contest. I used tacky the first time I did stones (which was also at Xenia). My form was terrible then though, I was basically rowing them up to my chest and tossing them up on the platform. I got the 208 and almost the 225 that way.

My log's a 10", I got it off of Lance at BruteStrength through his basic strongman package. I never really did much with an 8", I heard they're harder to clean but easier to press so we'll hafta see.

I have to wait until closing (10pm) so I'll hafta make sure I get a good warm-up in. I'll be seeing you there! :cool:

Corey DuCharme

09-06-2006, 05:59 PM

Alex Devenyi

09-06-2006, 07:09 PM

The tacky is going to help you a ton, and I think the 8" log will too. Cleaning 175 shouldn't be too difficult. Being able to pop that skinny log off the top of your chest is going to add at least two reps.

Kick some butt on the deads, but be smart with it. You only have a week and a half to recover!!

I'm hoping so :D

After today I just have Friday and Monday then that'll be it. Friday will be farmer's, log, and sled and Monday will be a mini-contest using only about 80-85% the contest weight for all the events. Just something light to give it all a decent workout and get psyched up.

Alex Devenyi

09-06-2006, 08:34 PM

Rest of the workout:

Deadlifts:
Warm-up (all with Olympic barbell):
135x5
225x4
275x2

Then tossed on a belt, chalked up, and set the timer for 60 seconds.

Axle Deadlifts: 315x9 in 60 seconds.

Each one was a battle, just too far from the other ones. Not bad, still 25% under my personal best for these. I still had a good bit left in the tank afterwards I felt but didn't want to push it since the comp's coming right around the corner. One more time for these on Monday, we'll see how that goes.

Alex Devenyi

09-10-2006, 07:07 PM

Haven't had Internet access the past couple days.

09/07/2006 KYOKUSHIN KARATE:

Butt-kicker of a workout tonight. Started off with lots of bodyweight squats and kiba-dachi holds (for the non-karateka out there, basically holding a deep squat for time) plus lots of kihon (focusing primarily on hand strikes and blocks from Sanchin). We then did some movement and weight transfer drills, then a LOT of kicking. Kicking up and down the dojo, from low kicks (like kin geri, which is basically a snap kick to the nuts) to high kicks (like jodan mawashi geri, a high roundhouse kick to the head). To focus on the snapping portion at the end, we would do a kick then after we retracted it into itsd chamber, hold it for a second or two then step into the next kick. Those were tough. We did those several times for a variety of kicks. The last part was even tougher, as now we basically hopped 45 degrees to the side, threw the kick, then held the chamber for a few seconds then hop to the other side and repeat. My legs were calling me dirty names by this point. This was our "warm-up", as Yuki called it.

Luckily, Yuki decided to take it light on us after that and we mostly concentrated on doing Taikyokyu Ichi by the numbers, concentrating on form and technique. We then sped it up and focused on power as well. After we did that for a while, we then concentrated on instead of stepping with the punch, we would instead shift right after the block and execute the strike (for those who don't know what shifts are, you basically do almost like a short hop as your lead leg becomes your rear leg and your rear your lead as your hips swing around with your punch). We did that slow to work on technique, then fast. We finished up by doing two rounds on the pads using that same idea, shifting for both a left and a right punch. I staggered John a few times while he was holding the pads for me, cool in my book as he's literally a hundred pounds heavier than I am. Yuki said I have the shift down pretty well, now to start incorporating it into my kumite effectively.

09/08/2006: STRONGMAN

Farmer's Walking:
130 per hand for 100ft with turn at 50ft (quick light warm-up, no worries at all)
165 per hand for 100ft with turn at 50ft (can feel the soreness in my legs from the day before, no worries though)
200 per hand for 100ft with turn at 50ft (PR! Kicked ass on this, very painful though)

At the turn the 200 seemed to come around to the front okay, but when I took the first couple steps it almost turned me 90 degrees to the left. Had to stand there straining to turn it back for a good 5-6 seconds, which raped my grip. Definitely a good PR for the day. Guess I got all pumped up watching the WSM Super Series on TV today :D Legs are hating me right now.

Sled Dragging:
305 sled for 100ft (very easy, kept up a good pace the whole time)
345 sled for 100ft (PR! Difficult but not impossible, hardest part was the mild incline near the end)

I've officially maxed out my sled with what plates I have now despite the fact my legs were killing me. Won't be doing too much tap-dancing for the next couple days :P The sled holds eight plates total, so I had four 45s and four 35s on there. I'm thinking about picking up two 100s both for the sled and the yoke. Let my neighbor's son try out the sled too, he pulled 70 for 100ft and was real proud of himself.

Power Jerks with Olympic Barbell: 105x1, 125x1, 145x1, 165x1, 185x1 (PR!)
185 went up real easy too, the lockout was soft but not as bad as I used to be. Three good PRs in one day, can't beat that!

Pull-Ups: BW x8/6/4/3.
First time I ever did pull-ups after farmer's in the same day I think. Whew. Now my traps and my legs both hate me, not to mention my arms and hands. Time to take a nap.

Alex Devenyi

09-11-2006, 08:10 PM

[09/11/2006 STRONGMAN (MINI-CONTEST)

Just want to give a shout-out to all my fellow brothers in arms, cops, firefighters, federal agents, and everyone who helps keep us safe so the average Joe can sleep at night. I'm proud to be a part of both the Marine Corps and Army, to share the good and bad times with my fellow warriors, and once I become a cop I know I'll be damn proud of that too. A bit sappy I know, but on the five year anniversary from 9/11 I figure it's okay to be a little sappy.

EVENT #1: ATLAS STONES
Contest event is to carry a 208 ten feet and load it onto a 55-gallon barrel, carry a 235 five feet and load it onto another barrel, and finally load a 280 onto a barrel. I only have a 225 stone so all these were done with the 225. Decided to use tacky too just to see if it would be enough for all three.

Managed to get all three in a little under a minute, but that's also counting time where I had to start the timer and then pick up the stone, plus rolling the stone off the barrel twice so I could do the other distances. My timer isn't very exact, so I'm judging the best I can here. Not bad at all. The last one held me up for a bit because of all the indents from the stone getting rolled off so I actually had to move it back about two feet, pick it up, carry it over, then load it. My goal at the contest is to get all three stones.

15-minute break

EVENT #2: FRAME CARRY
Carry a 450 frame 100ft, with one turn at 50ft. Don't have a frame so I will do 205 per hand and shoot to finish in under a minute.

205 per hand for 100ft, with turn at 50ft. (PR! Finished in about 30 seconds or so, kick ass...)

That's a 20lb PR per hand for farmer's since I started doing them intensely again. I could get used to getting an extra 5lbs per hand per workout! B) Legs are feeling a bit sore already.

15-minute break

EVENT #3: LOG CLEAN AND PRESS (CLEAN EVERY REP)
Contest weight is 175. Presses are a weak event for me so far, hence why I started training intensely in O-lifting. This is all done with my 10" log, the one at the competition will be an 8".

Got 2 reps, almost 3. Rep PR. Broke my bling on the last attempt (my "bling" being my cheap imitation gold Japanese kanji necklace :( )

15-minute break

EVENT #4: TRUCK PULL
Just doing the max amount of weight I can put on my sled (345) for 100ft and timing to see how long it takes. This one will be far from accurate, but it'll give me an idea at least.

345 for 100ft in 19 seconds. Not bad at all. I was going to pull it back but decided to take it easy and instead loaded up my car and drove them back. Banged my finger a bit putting the plates away but it's fine.

15-minute break

EVENT #5: 2" AXLE DEADLIFTS FOR REPS
These are actually right after the frame carry it looks like so it's a bit out of order, but I have to drive to the gym to do these so I'd rather save them for last. 315 for max reps in 60 seconds.

Managed to do 12 reps in 60 seconds. Pretty good, considering that was my max before and after four tough events. I was sacrificing form a bit near the end admittedly, pulling more with my upper body than with my legs. I was just in the zone, thinking all about getting those reps.

Corey DuCharme

09-12-2006, 06:49 PM

Good job, looks like you are all ready for the contest. See you Friday.

Alex Devenyi

09-12-2006, 09:11 PM

Good job, looks like you are all ready for the contest. See you Friday.

Thanks bro. I'm feeling good, taking a rest all week and just stretching, maybe do a little running tomorrow since I'm still at about 177 right now. Going to try to drop the last one or two on the way up, spitting in a cup during the drive just like I had to do before a couple of my matches back in the day :P

See you Friday.

Corey DuCharme

09-13-2006, 02:31 PM

Dropping weight like Louden Swain in "Vision Quest". Kick Chute's butt!!! If you've never seen the movie, I highly recommend it. I'm running tonight too.

Alex Devenyi

09-14-2006, 09:45 AM

Dropping weight like Louden Swain in "Vision Quest". Kick Chute's butt!!! If you've never seen the movie, I highly recommend it. I'm running tonight too.

I'm getting really frustrated with all my scales. Yesterday I weighed myself three times on three different scales at almost the same exact time and got 175, 180, and 184 :p Irritating. I did some HIIT last night and I'll probably go for a run today and maybe some HIIT again early Friday, then go weigh in at night. If I don't make it at night, I'll just try to cut it all by the morning.

Corey DuCharme

09-14-2006, 03:09 PM

I've only been weighing myself on one scale which has proved to be accurate in the past. Don't forget that Orie said his scale tends to be a little generous to those of us trying to make weight.

Alex Devenyi

09-14-2006, 06:54 PM

I've only been weighing myself on one scale which has proved to be accurate in the past. Don't forget that Orie said his scale tends to be a little generous to those of us trying to make weight.

I'm not too concerned with it. I'm trying to get there at 6pm when he starts doing the weigh-ins so if I'm over I'll go hop in the sauna or on a treadmill in my old Marine Corps MOPP gear and just sweat em off. How's your weight looking?

Mike Hess

09-15-2006, 07:13 PM

Good luck this weekend!!!!

Mike

Alex Devenyi

09-17-2006, 07:03 PM

Good luck this weekend!!!!

Mike

Thanks Mike! Corey did really well, I did okay, nothing special.

I'll be recovering for a bit due to dropping that 280# Atlas stone on my ankle so this journal might be quiet for a bit, but I'll be getting back into it soon. I think my base strength levels are holding me off on a lot of stuff, so since I won't be doing any competitions for a while I'm going to work three exercises really hard with maybe events once in a while: deadlifts, overhead squats, and power jerks.

Corey DuCharme

09-18-2006, 05:25 PM

Tenacious D is your new name. You never gave up or complained all day, nothing to be ashamed of there. Working on the basics is a good plan, something that I plan on doing too.

Alex Devenyi

09-19-2006, 06:37 AM

Tenacious D is your new name. You never gave up or complained all day, nothing to be ashamed of there. Working on the basics is a good plan, something that I plan on doing too.

Thanks bro :) I just figured it was the luck of the draw. Even if I hadn't, Jon would've still beaten me in most of the events and won anyways, I would've just had a better showing. Shit happens. It seems to be healing pretty good, I can put weight on it and the swelling's gone down so hopefully by Saturday I can hit up an O-lifting session and get back into it.

Alex Devenyi

09-21-2006, 01:20 PM

Got my heel X-rayed today, hopefully it's not fractured but there's a possibility it might be. Will keep you all posted.

Alex Devenyi

09-22-2006, 09:38 AM

09/22/06:

Start of "The Gimp Workout", I guess, since it doesn't look like I'll be doing much of anything any time soon. I'll mostly be doing upper-body stuff for now, split up into two different workouts. I'm also going to really focus on a lot of grip stuff now, my main focus being closing heavier and heavier grippers (shooting for the HG300 right now) but on Saturdays having a "fun grip day" where I'll do 3-4 different exercises and just play around doing the fun stuff I've always wanted to. Cardio's pretty much out the door so I'm just going to throw in some speed bag work 2-3 times a week to get at least something.

Weighted Pull-Ups:
BW+10 x3
BW+10 x3
BW+25 x3
BW+25 x3
BW+25 x3

25's were really easy, probably just go to 30 next time though to do a slow steady progression.

Flat Bench Press: 115x3, 145x3, 175x2, 165x3, 165x3.
WOW. It's laughable how bad my bench press is. 170 next time, the 165's were a bit too easy but the 175 was too tough.

Kneeling Zercher Lockouts: 105x1, 195x1, 285x1, 305x1, 335x1. Held each for 10 seconds.
I tried doing reverse hypers and regular hypers before these but it was killing my heel. So then I had this brainstorm. You're basically on your knees, thickbar a little bit below chest level, then you wrap your arms underneath like a Zercher, hoist it up, and hold. A good bit tougher since you can't use much leg with it. Not sure what kind of carryover it'll have, but I gotta do something for my lower back.

Heavy Grippers: Closed the HG200 15x per hand (12 closes with right, 9 with left).

Corey DuCharme

09-22-2006, 03:55 PM

Alex Devenyi

09-22-2006, 06:18 PM

So what's up, is your heel/ankle broken or does it just hurt like crazy and need time to heal?

Your workout looks creative and fun. Grip work is tons of fun too. What does a HG300 equate to as far as Captain's of Crush?

Sometimes you need a major switch to make progress anyway. I hear you about the bench presses, mine are pathetic as hell!! Even though a lot of guys on here dis' the bench, I think it will have a strong carryover to OHP. I am going to start doing them too.

Hey, try some seated good mornings for your lower back. No weight bearing on your foot but a heck of a back strengthener from what I've heard.

Thankfully, it's not broken. If it was, it would never heal properly and might need surgery from what my doctor said. Mine's just been bashed pretty good and needs some time to heal up. They were shaking their heads when they asked what did I do for the next several hours after I injured it :D

I've heard the HG300 is a little less difficult than a COC#3, which I think is a good estimate as I can move in the handles of the HG300 a bit more than the COC#3. That's a good idea about the seated GMs, I overlooked that one. That's definitely on the tp-do list now then and I'm gonna scrap those kneeling zercher lockouts.

Yeah, definitely need some work on that bench. I can put more overhead than I can bench right now.

Alex Devenyi

09-23-2006, 04:49 PM

09/23/2006 STRONGMAN WORKOUT:

Big group today. There was me, McKenna, Dennis (finally!), my friend Natalie, and her boyfriend Fei. Natalie weighs about 105 pounds and set world powerlifting records in the deadlift (broke the record with 265, then broke her own record with 292 in the same meet) and set state records for bench (132). Fei's a strong guy who's looking into doing some strongman. I took it real easy today, didn't want to mess up my heel but I still tossed in a few little things here and there.

It was just me, Natalie, and Fei to start so I busted out the log and let them try. Fei managed to work his way up to 205 for a double, impressive for the first time touching one. Natalie cleaned the log empty (85) but couldn't press it, so we'll work with her on that :D

We then hit the road and let them try out some farmer's. Fei took it light since he did squats the day before, so he and Natalie did the same weight, 115 per hand. She got the whole distance with the turn, so she did really well. Future WSW winner maybe? :D

We then hit up the Atlas stone. Fei couldn't pick it up, I picked it up and threw it off me once to show him how, all the while balancing on the ball of my bad foot but it was still tough for him. Understandable, as stones are tough in general and it was also a bit wet from the rain before.

We then did some grip stuff while we were waiting on Dennis to bring over the thickbar, and McKenna zipped in and did some log presses, worked his way up to 230 for a couple. Once Dennis came, we had Natalie use the 2" thickbar and she worked up to an easy 245 on it. I did a double overhand dead with the 245 just once and we messed around with it a little bit, also doing some keg presses with my keg (it weighs about 85-90 right now).

McKenna and Dennis wanted to do stones, so we hopped on back to the stone and McKenna and Fei (using tacky) did some loads over the yoke with us stabilizing. Dennis managed to lap and almost stand up with the 225 using tacky. We let Nat use my keg and she threw it over about 4-5 times.

Dennis was down for some yoke, so McKenna brought it down the hill before he left. Dennis, Fei, and Nat did 200, 250, and 290 for 100ft total, then Dennis at my urging did 340 and kicked its butt. I figured what the hell, let's do it, and did 100ft with the 340 but basically walking on the ball of my right foot the whole way. I was barefoot and in jeans, so I'm officially a maniac. Cool.

Natalie and Fei left then Dennis finished up with some thickbar presses, he was using about 110 so when he was done I cleaned it, sat down with it, and did some seated presses with it while sitting on my picnic bench and just repped out with it until I got tired. We then played around with my pinch blocks then came in and had a beer.

Alex Devenyi

09-24-2006, 03:30 PM

09/24/2006 GIMP WORKOUT:

Seated Overhead Presses in Power Rack: 95x3, 115x3, 125x3, 125x3, 125x3.
These are definitely a lot tougher than standing military presses for me at least. 125 was kicking my ass but I did it. I'll go up to 130 next time but if I get less than 6 reps (out of the 3x3 work sets), I'll probably go back down to 125 again.

Weighted Dips:
BW+45 (185+45 = 230 total) x3
BW+70 (255 total) x3
BW+70 x3
BW+70 x3
BW+70 x3

Not too bad with the dips. Going to have to try 75 next time.

Cambered Bar Seated Shrugs:
135x8
185x8
225x3

I don't like these one bit, pain in the ass to set up for and to perform.

Seated Dumbbell Shrugs:
70's x8

I like these, I'll do these instead of the cambered bar.

Speed Bag: 10 minutes at a moderate pace, only got it going good for about 30-40 seconds or so. Definitely out of practice.

Push-Ups: 32, 18.

Arms are dead after all that.

Heavy Grippers: Did 5 closes of the HG200 with each hand, making sure each one could fit a credit card between the grippers then crushing it. A lot tougher than repping out with it I've noticed. Got 3-4 good closes with both hands, the last one or two weren't there though. Gotta give my grip a break for a bit.

Corey DuCharme

09-24-2006, 04:51 PM

Alex Devenyi

09-24-2006, 05:05 PM

Good workout Alex, looks like you are doing well training around your injuries. The seated dumbbell shrugs sound interesting to me, I may try them some time. I have to load my own d-bells though, so it's a pain to use them.

You are so opposite of most people on the seated OHP!! :LOL: Most guys add at least twenty pounds when doing their seated presses. I bet when you get back to doing them standing you will have gained a lot of strength.

Speed bag work is so much fun, I have only ever used a cheap Everlast sporting good store one, but I got pretty decent on it.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks Corey, just trying to stay busy so I don't go crazy. It was something that just sort of hit me when I was getting pissed off at the cambered bar seated shrugs, and I figured what the heck, let's try it. It'll at least give me some gripwork too because then you have two big fat dumbbells to hold onto. Nothing like farmer's, but I'm thinking on the last set I'll just hold it until it falls out of my fingers.

That's what I've heard too! :D I'm also weird in the fact that I was actually power jerking more with a log than with a barbell for a while there too. My overhead is ridiculous :p

The speed bag is going to be my cardio, since the pool just got closed a week before Xenia when I hurt myself. Hopefully I'll be able to get back up to where I was before, I used to be a nut on that thing.

GregMonfredo

09-24-2006, 05:17 PM

Alex Devenyi

09-24-2006, 07:24 PM

I dunno if you saw this, but Eric Patterson wrote an article on conditioning doing stuff like speed bag work. He incorporates other things into it too to keep it exciting. http://www.elitefts.com/documents/bored.htm - Just thought you might be interested so you don't get bored just hitting the speedbag the entire time everytime you wanna do cardio.

Thanks for the link! I do some of these already as I train in Kyokushin Karate (a full-contact style that focuses on knockdown fighting and hard hitting), but there is some good ideas in there too that I never thought about. A lot of that I'll have to wait until my heel's all better though, I tried doing some rotations on it to see how that felt and MAN, it didn't feel good :eek: :D That's pretty much why I'm limited to the speed bag and a few other things, can't really do anything with my lower body right now :p

Alex Devenyi

09-27-2006, 03:26 PM

09/27/2006 GIMP WORKOUT:

This will be edited a bit as I'm not totally finished until after work.

Weighted Pull-Ups:
(BW+35, so 183+35= 218) x3/3/3/3/2.
Missed the last one by a mere few inches, bummer.

Good Mornings: 135x5, 155x4, 175x3, 195x2, -----.
Before my last set (I was going to hit 215 or 225, about 20-30 pounds below my best single) I had to show some old lady around the gym and when I got back two guys had taken it all off and were yes, doing curls in the squat rack. I tried these out standing since the weight was light, and my heel didn't bother me at all since my feet weren't moving at all.

Once work's just about over, I'm going to toss in some bench, a couple sets of push-ups, and a good 12-15 minutes on the speed bag.

Alex Devenyi

09-28-2006, 07:36 PM

Rest of the workout.

Just did my max push-ups in a minute (a mere 50), then held the halfway down position for about 20 seconds. Then did about 12 minutes on the speed bag. Got into a good solid rhythm for about three straight minutes, starting to get some skill back with it.

Alex Devenyi

10-02-2006, 02:32 PM

Took a few days off as the heel was feeling better, so I decided to take it easy, let it get better then get back into it. Did 15 minutes on the speed bag yesterday, solid rhythm but time to work on something more than just circle punches.

Beginning of my "Back to Basics" routine, focusing solely on getting my gym lifts and base strength levels up. Using Hoffman's Standards to judge the majority of my lifts, trying to get to Bronze or Silver in all of them. Went a bit lighter than normal to get back into it, see how the heel holds up.

10/02/2006 GYM WORKOUT:

ATG Back Squats: 165x5, 190x4, 215x3, 240x2, 265x1.

265 went up without too much trouble, so 270 next time. 275x2 is my personal best, my goal this time around is to hit 325 (Bronze standard, based off of Hi Bar Squats).

Good Mornings: 135x3, 165x3, 195x3/3/3.
205 next time, these weren't bad at all. My best to date is 245 for a single. No standard set by Hoffman, so I'm looking to do over 300 by the end of this.

Power Jerks: 95x3, 125x3, 155x3/3/3.
160 next time, these were tough but doable. My wrist flexibility needs some work. My best is 185 for a single, looking to get well over 200 by the end of this (240 is the Bronze standard for clean and jerk, so that's what I'm using for power jerks).

Weighted Dips:
(BW+75 = 185+75 = 260) x3/3/3/3/3.
80 next time, these kicked my ass but I got them all so it's time to go up.

Going to go do some gripwork in a bit then hit up Kyokushin Karate tonight.

Alex Devenyi

10-03-2006, 06:16 PM

10/03/2006 MARTIAL ARTS WORKOUT:

Did my daily routine to warm up (some kata, breathing exercises, joint rotations, dynamic stretches, the plank, a horse stance hold for time, and some vaccuums), a nice little one that takes about 30 minutes but not only helps my dynamic flexibility but wakes me up and gets me going. Works better than coffee. Held the plank and horse stance for 60 seconds each, first time I added both of these so starting off low.

Then I went and did my "kumite workout". I warmed up with a couple minutes of rope-skipping with my speed rope, mostly just normal skipping but did a few cross-overs for fun (though after smacking my bare toes once, I remember why I used to wear shoes when doing that :D). I then went out and did 6 rounds on the heavy bag. 1st round was all punches, 2nd round all kicks, 3rd round combinations and the sabaki pattern, 4th round block and counter-punching, 5th round off-centering and kick counters, and the 6th was combinations again.

Hopped in the house next and did some calisthenics in a circuit: push-ups, mountain climbers, sit-ups, and bodyweight squats. Did 3x25 of each, all four in a row with no rest, wait a minute, then do it again two more times.

Took a nap after that as I was hoping to go to my Kyokushin Karate class, but when I woke up I was late already and feeling tired as hell. Didn't get enough sleep last night so that nap messed me up.

Alex Devenyi

10-04-2006, 03:01 PM

10/04/2006 GYM WORKOUT:

Woke up and ran 2 miles today. A long miserable 2 miles. I hate running. Finished in about 15:30.

After that I showered up, got a haircut, got dressed up, then hit up the police academy. They want me to take the physical abilities test on October 18th, so that's a good sign. It was funny though. I had my hair cut short and military-style and was dressed up in a nice black dress shirt, gray slacks, and black dress shoes. All the students kept calling me "sir", they all thought I was a cop already :lol:

Then went and hit up the gym.

Overhead Squats: 55x5, 75x4, 95x3, 115x1, ----.
Lost the second rep with 115 so I decided to call it quits. Lot tougher without the O-lifting shoes I was using before, I definitely need to get a pair of those now.

Power Snatches: 65x3, 85x3, 105x3/3/3.
Slow progression on these, want to make sure I keep good form. 110 next time.

Power Cleans: 115x3, 145x3, 175x3, 165x3/3.
After doing these, I'm thinking about making the power cleans 5-4-3-2-1 and making the overhead squats 5x3. I could've done the last two sets with 175 but my form was looking off with the first set so I decided to drop to make sure I'm still doing it okay.

Doing some speed bag work later on tonight.

EDIT: I'm actually going to make the overhead squats 3x12, so I can do them more frequently and get used to them.

Alex Devenyi

10-05-2006, 08:36 PM

Yesterday I did a good 20+ minutes on the speed bag, working on straight and circle punches and really striving to get a good rhythm going. Slowly starting to get some of it back, nowhere near as fast as I used to be though.

10/05/2006 KYOKUSHIN KARATE:

Didn't do much else today besides Kyokushin, just a good bit of stretching. I got there and it was just me, my sempai Harvey, and John. Lighter than normal workout tonight. We started off doing lots of different hand strikes and blocks in Sanchin, then switched over to Zenkutsu and did transitions up and down the dojo for block-punch combos, then into Kumite stance for kick-block-punch combos. I'm pretty stoked as my jodan mawashi geri (high roundhouse kick) could actually hit someone in the head now without having to pull them down. Fooled around with a few other things like the Brazilian kick (a high snapping roundhouse kick that goes downwards at a 45 degree angle) and some of the kumite kata.

We then did a good bit of kata, specificially Pinan Sono Ichi and Sono Ni. I won't need to know these two katas until I test for green belt (I'm only a yellow, testing for blue soon hopefully which is right before green) so I'm ahead of the game. Pinan Sono Ichi was looking decent, and I finally got all the movements down for Sono Ni. Ended with our usual ab routine (crunches, oblique crunches, reverse crunches, and accelerated leg raises) although for the first three on the last 10 we did a 5-second hold for each rep. Butt-kicking. Then we did some knuckle push-ups, I've got an open cut on my hand so I decided against bricks for today but John and Harvey used them.

STUFF TO WORK ON:
**When stepping outside to do a gedan barai, turn and block simultaneously, not turn then block.
**Don't drive with the blocking hand until you're following it up with a punch right after.
**Make sure to exaggerate the pivot you use for the Brazilian kick to get that momentum behind it.
**My shuto mawashi ukes need to have a larger circle for testing purposes. I shorten mine up a lot.
**The Yuki version of chudan uchi uke is coming along, I just need to remember sometimes that it's not like a backfist and still should be circular, just not as big as one.
**KIAI on Sono Ni on the nukite and the final jodan uke.
**I was doing better with it today, but I'd still like to make sure I'm turning my hips so my kick comes more from the center each and every time.
**In the beginning of Sono Ni when you do the jodan-chudan block, the jodan block can go past the forehead but you need to bring it back to the temple. They're picky about that at testing.

Going to go do some more push-ups in a bit, just want to make sure I'm still working on those hard as I want to do well on my Army physical fitness test.

Alex Devenyi

10-06-2006, 06:14 PM

10/06/2006 GYM WORKOUT:

Deadlifts:
225x4 (quick warm-up, double overhand)
285x5 (all but one were double overhand)
315x4
345x3
375x2
405x1

Adding 5lbs next time, going up slowly but surely. All of these were raw, no belt or straps, just socks and chalk.

Flat Bench Press: 115x3, 145x3, 175x3/3/3.
Guess I just needed to get in the groove of these again, these were really easy this time. 180 next time. Doing these flat-backed, no arch.

Bent-Over Rows: 115x3, 145x3, 175x3/3/3.
Going up to 180 next time with these.

Then went home and ran two miles. Did a lot better this time around, 14:40 and only had to stop and walk for about 10 seconds there. I hate running on the street all the time though, tough on my shins. I then went and tested my max push-ups in two minutes and got 62. I need 70 to get a perfect for the Army, but this 62 wasn't all in one set so I gotta work on that. Not bad after benches and rows though.

Alex Devenyi

10-07-2006, 04:22 PM

10/07/2006 O-LIFTING/STRONGMAN:

First time back to O-lifting in a while, so Alex put me to work. Warmed up with just the bar for some snatches and clean and jerks, then he had me doing a lot of C&Js. Each one was a squat clean into a split jerk O-lifting style.

Clean and Jerks:
40kg (88lbs) x1
50kg (110lbs) x1
60kg (132lbs) x1, x1
65kg (143lbs) x1, x1
70kg (154lbs) x1
75kg (165lbs) x1, x1, x1, x1, x1

75kg is my current max for these, simply because this was my first time going high on these and Alex wanted me to stop at 75kg. I didn't have too much left in me after all the pressing anyways, but next time I'll go for more.

With 52.5kg and 75kg, that gives me a total of 127.5kg (280.5lbs) to start. Going to keep working on these hard.

Then went home, rested for an hour, and Fei and Nat came over for a strongman session.

Log Presses: 85x5 (warm-up), 178x3, 198x0 (maybe a third of the way).

Didn't do too much more than this. Fei worked up to 225 I think, he went for 245 but the clean screwed him. We got Nat to clean the log a few times and helped her get it up, then she did some axle presses. She did 65x12 with the clean, but we had to help her get the 85 up, which she did for 6.

Front Carries: 200 for 100ft (drop and turn at 50ft), 290 for 100ft (drop and turn), 360 for 100ft (drop and turn), 410 for like maybe 5-10ft.

Should try a belt next time, might get more. Nat did these a couple times with 200, and Fei managed to crank out the 410 for 50ft.

Yoke: 290 for 100ft (drop and turn at 50ft), 360 for 100ft (drop and turn), 410 for 100ft (drop and turn, I did have one drop during it though at about 75-80ft), then tossed on a belt and did 480 for 50ft.

The 480 was rough, I walked so slow. Fei did the 480 without a belt and crushed it. Nat did 290 for 100ft, it was awesome. Some old lady walking by had the most pained expression on her face seeing her in action :D

Yoke Bottom Position Squats: 200x1, 290x1, 360x0.
My legs were dead after all the squat cleans, yokes, and front carries. Nat did 200 and almost 250 I think. Fei did 410 and tried 480 but couldn't get it. These were real tough, as you're starting from a below parallel squat position then just standing up with the suckers. Fei's idea, a fun one too.

Car Pushing:
Each one of us then pushed my Saturn for as far as we could.

Fun times. I'm real sore now, but it was a blast. They had me do a lot more than I intended, which was good. They both did really well too.

Nicolette L.

10-09-2006, 11:01 AM

Looking GREAT!!!!! Good job. Keep it up.

Alex Devenyi

10-09-2006, 11:22 AM

Looking GREAT!!!!! Good job. Keep it up.

Thanks :D It was pretty fun, I was sore as heck yesterday.

Alex Devenyi

10-10-2006, 05:47 AM

10/09/2006 KYOKUSHIN KARATE:

I'm probably going O-lifting on the 10th so I decided to take it easy for most of the day and just train in karate a bit, stretch, and go to class that night. Through odd intervals at the day when I wasn't studying or surfing the Net, I was working on a lot of stretching and really focusing on my kata.

Class tonight was good. Lot of basics to warm-up from Sanchin, did 30 per hand of each of the following:

Seiken chudan tsuki, seiken jodan tsuki, seiken gedan tsuki, seiken age tsuki, shita tsuki, uraken sayu gammen uchi, uraken hiza uchi, shuto gammen uchi, shuto uchi uchi, shuto sakotsu uchi, shuto hiza uchi, shuto sakotsu uchikomi, vertical empi, horizontal empi, gedan barai, chudan uchi uke, chudan soto uke, jodan uke. Fell back into kokutsu dachi and did 40 shuto mawashi geris per side.

We then did some transitions up and down the dojo. We would do block-punch combinations at first then right after use the same block but really work on getting that bodyweight into it. We used all four blocks with seiken chudan tsuki. We then worked our kicks, specifically mae geri, yoko geri, and mawashi geri. We did the kicks individually to start (snapping them back to the center after each strike), then did some kick-block-punch combinations.

From there we hopped into Kumite Dachi and worked on a lot of sparring counters and techniques.

**Counter to rear straight: Lead soto uke-rear shita tsuki.
**Counter to left straight: Lead uchi uke-gyaku tsuki.
**Counter to lead shita tsuki: Lead gedan barai-lead shita tsuki.
**Counter to lead mae geri: Lead gedan barai while shifting lead foot back to center-rear gedan mawashi geri-lead chudan/jodan mawashi geri.
**Counter to rear mae geri: Rear gedan barai as the lead foot moves back-lead gedan mawashi geri-left straight-right straight-jodan mawashi geri.
**Counter-throw to right straight: Lead soto uke-rear shuto uchi to neck-both hands grab gi-rear knee to gut-turn all the way around while mimicing shuto mawashi geri movement.

We then did three rounds of sparring each. I faced my instructor twice and John once since we were the only three there. These were pretty short but sweet, as we went hard on each other the whole time. Can't remember everything but there are a few things that stick out in my mind that I either need to work on or managed to do that shows I'm doing something right.

1) Need to work on setting up or following my kicks with punches and my punches with kicks. Too often I just stick to one or the other.
2) Managed to almost pull off the same counter-throw we went over today on my sempai, I didn't get him down but I did manage to get him away from me.
3) My lead mae geri is decent, I just need to remember to THRUST with it at all times. One of the lead front kicks I did to my sempai was more of a snap and I banged my toes off of his elbow.
4) Keep your hands up more when in kicking range.
5) Managed to counter John's jodan mawashi geri fairly well, he launched a rear one and though I got caught in the head my lead arm managed to absorb most of it. Landed a nice counter right straight at the same time and dropped him on his butt, which was cool.
6) Got a spinning back kick to work too, I missed with a high kick so I spun around lightly with one to see if I could catch John and though he managed to get one arm down I still got a little piece of him.
7) Watch your breathing! For some reason after the second one I felt really winded. I did take some solid gut punches from both of them though, could be something to do with it. Still, I want to make sure I'm breathing and staying relaxed.

Alex Devenyi

10-10-2006, 07:11 PM

10/11/2006: GYM WORKOUT

Ran about 2 miles first thing in the morning (truck was blocking the way to the rotunda where I turn around, so I turned around at the truck) and finished in about 14 minutes even. Getting better every time I run it, I hope that keeps up. Did some mild stretching too.

Meant to hit up the O-lifting club tonight, but by the time I remembered it was almost 7. The session starts at 6:30 and only goes to 8:30, so I would have had about a half an hour once I got there. So instead I went and did my Monday workout today, which was a good thing as I made some kick-ass gains.

ATG Back Squat: 170x5, 195x4, 225x3, 245x2, 275x1 (really easy), 295x1 (PR!).
Kicked ass on these tonight, I guess I got motivated by having a couple of the more serious guys that train there cheering me on and I raped it. It was also cool hearing somebody say during my 275 "Now THAT's how you squat!" This was awesome, best thing of the night.

Good Mornings: 145x3, 175x3, 205x3/3/3.
Not bad, had one of the guys check my form too and he said it was decent. Wanted to make sure as they moved the power rack from the last time I was doing these regularly so it's a different view now and tougher to tell. 5-10lb increase next time, depending on how I'm feeling.

Power Jerks: 100x3, 135x3, 160x3/3/3.
The last one on both of these locked out soft, had to battle it to get it up. 165 next time unless I'm feeling burnt, then I might stick with 160.

Weighted Dips:
(BW+80 = 182+80 = 262 total) x3/3/2/0.
BWx4
I was so dead after those first couple sets when I tried BW I couldn't even do 5 reps. Kicked my ass.

Decline Situps: BWx20/BWx20/BWx15.
Steepest it can get, I have to be careful not to bang my head off the ground going down. Haven't done these in a long time and it shows.

Max Push-ups in 60 Sec: A measly 50.

Cooled down by doing several kata (Tensho, the Pinans, the Taikyokyus, Sanchin, Pinan Sono Ni, and Tensho). Going to stretch before bed and try to work in some grippers.

Alex Devenyi

10-11-2006, 09:53 PM

10/11/2006 ENDURANCE WORKOUT:

Was going to go run two miles again, but it was really pouring out so I decided I'd just toss in some cardio after I finished work.

Rowing Machine: Did 15 minutes at a good pace, 3:15/500m, level 10 intensity. Not bad, watching Parco P.I. at the same time sure helped too.

Max Push-Ups in Two Minutes: Managed to get 70, which is exactly what I need to get a perfect score for the Army PFT. This was after the rowing too when I had already been using my arms for a good while, so this was good. Did a fair amount of resting but it's the end result that counts.

Max Sit-Ups in Two Minutes: A mere 55, 25 less than what I need to get a perfect score. My abs were still pretty sore from the day before though, so I think that probably has a lot to do with it. By 20 I was already feeling it bad.

Speed Bag: Did 15 minutes on the speed bag, starting to get some of the speed back. Mostly worked on straight punch to circle punch combinations (right straight punch to right circle punch, left straight punch to left circle punch, repeat).

Alex Devenyi

10-12-2006, 08:49 PM

10/12/2006 KYOKUSHIN KARATE:

Didn't do much else today thanks to midterms :P Abs still have a fair amount of DOMS.

Me, Sempai, Yuki, and John tonight. My sempai's going up to the Honbu (main dojo) to get reviewed and they're going to see how he runs classes so he did his lesson plan.

We warmed up by doing a lot of the traditional preliminary exercises and stretches, then hopped right into kihon. Did 20 of each of the follow, 10 at a fairly controlled speed and 10 as fast as you can. Basically all the hand strikes and blocks we did Monday from Sanchin. We also did block-strike combinations from Sanchin which was a different feel than what we normally do.

Next came kicks. We did about 20 of each. Mae geris, yoko geris, and mawashi geris, all chudan. We then did mae geri-gedan barai-gyaku tsuki, yoko geri-chudan uchi uke-gyaku tsuki, and mawashi geri-jodan uke-gyaku tsuki. Then came something new: we would do the block on the same side as the kick simultaneously. We did that about 20 times apiece, and that was definitely a different feeling.

Next we did seiken chudan tsuki, seiken jodan tsuki, and uraken mawashi uchi up and down the dojo, 20 times apiece, then gedan barai and chudan uchi uke in the same fashion. We then added a gyaku tsuki and did all four blocks 20 times apiece, then came something weird: jodan uke-uraken mawashi uke. That was new to me, didn't get the feel for it till near the end.

We then worked a lot on the first few movements of Taikyokyu Sono Ichi, trying to first get the block and strike almost simultaneous, then eliminated the step and instead did a shift to follow up for the punch. We did the same with Taikyokyu Sono San. We did both of those for a good bit, then just worked on shifting while double punching for a bit. Ended with a couple sets of push-ups: tight-elbow knuckle, wide hand knuckle, tiger pushups (diamond push-ups with your butt in the air and nose touching between your hand), and knuckle dive bombers.

STUFF OF NOTICE:
**When doing the shift, the strike should roll off the hip and fire like it's a slingshot.
**Jodan uke needs to be closer to the head and pop out more sharply.
**When you finish a technique with a strike, don't leave your arm hanging out here straight. Draw it back in so you can not only prepare yourself for the next attack but be ready to strike with that same hand again if you need to.
**Yuki recommended to all of us to bend over knees a little bit more and feel more like you're floating rather than rooted to the ground. This is mostly to improve our footwork. Or, in my words: "More Muhammad Ali and less George Foreman."
**The shift shouldn't be an exaggerated jump, it should be a barely perceptible hop.
**My shoulders seem noticeably more relaxed since I began using the speed bag again, definitely a good sign.

Alex Devenyi

10-17-2006, 11:04 AM

Did my Army PFT test on Saturday, didn't do as well as I expected but more than enough to pass. First up was max push-ups in two minutes. I cranked out 40+ quickly but then I got pegged for not going down far enough and had to slow down a lot which hurt me. Ended up getting 57 total, which is okay considering they're real strict on how they count them. Max sit-ups in two minutes was tough too, as they only hold your feet with their hands so it's a lot tougher than wedging them under a couch say. Got about 58 in two minutes there too, which was good considering my abs still had some DOMS from Wednesday. Two-mile run was good, around late 15:00's.

Today I hit up Kyokushin. Yuki was basically the man of the hour today, showing us a lot of different techniques all focused on the idea of "floating" rather than staying rooted rigidly to the ground. Your knees should be bent and relaxed, you should be able to bounce up and down easily. The bouncing shouldn't come from your legs though, it needs to come from the hara, your center. So we practiced just slightly bouncing that way for a while then began incorporating it in some techniques: seikens, urakens, shutos, and ukes.

We then hopped into zenkutsu and worked on snapping our kicks back to the center and keeping our weight forward when we land so we can flow effortlessly into the next. Mae geris, ushiro mawashi geris, soto mawashi geris, jodan mawashi geris, kin geris, and hiza geris. We then did ushiro mawashi geris right into mae geris with the same foot to work on making sure our weight was forward.

Did some stretching after that, then Yuki had us doing an exercise to really feel that bouncing feeling. We held our hands in front of us, left over right (if we were turning to the left; right over left if turning to the right) and felt as if there was a balloon there. Every time you went down the balloon was compressed a bit, and when you went back up it was whole. By coordinating the upward part with a jodan uke or chudan uchi uke (the main two we worked on) and turning into the block, you can get a tremendous amount of power with little effort. Very difficult though, took me a good while in the beginning to get a feel for it but by the end he said it was looking halfway decent.

That was all for today, light class as tomorrow we'll be doing a lot of takedowns and hold breaks then work on some kumite possibly.

Alex Devenyi

10-24-2006, 09:29 PM

Been slacking here for a while. Basically I had two PT tests (one for the Army, one for the Allegheny County Police Academy), both of which I passed (the academy one rather easily), then just Kyokushin classes. Going to be a lot of sparring this weekend for our little get-together.

10/24/2006 KYOKUSHIN KARATE:

Straight kumite day today. Lots of good training. There was four of us today, so we did two on two and alternated every round of 2 minutes. We went for about 20+ rounds, most of them back to back but every now and then we had a little break in between. I know I needed it, my stamina wasn't a problem at all but my left shin caught a few elbows and shins and got banged up pretty quick. A few gedan mawashi geris from Yuki to my calf pretty much killed my left leg, and I banged my right heel off of somebody which is still really tender. (For those of you who don't know, I basically chipped it about a month ago by dropping a 280# Atlas stone on it). Icing the left leg tonight and took some Ibuprofen, feeling better already. Thighs feel fine, got popped in the nose once but it's okay too.

Had some decent counters that I'll try to remember the best I can. Some of these I did, some of these were done to me and I tried out and liked.

Straight punch counters:
**Gedan barai to shita tsuki with the same hand (can be lead or rear).
**Chudan soto uke with simultaenous gedan mawashi geri on the same side. (For lead side, you can also do chudan or jodan if they're open).
**Gedan barai or chudan uchi uke to get inside, left-right shotei to the biceps (wear out their punching arm), can follow with a kick.
**Lead leg mae geri.
**Chudan soto uke while moving to the outside followed by shita tsuki with other hand.
**Jab straight counter: gedan barai with rear hand, chudan soto with lead hand while moving to the outside, rear leg hiza geri.

Mae geri counters:
**Shuffle to the outside and land a gedan mawashi geri to the back of the knee then follow up with attacks.
**Circle your lead leg like you're doing an outside crescent kick but with your lower leg folded in, then plow into them.
**A little Bujinkan trick I pulled off: rotate your hips to move your body out of the way for a thrust front kick, then bring it back against the leg to steal their balance as you counterattack.

Mawashi geri counters:
**Move lead leg back to the center and out of range of the kick, then counterattack with the lead leg. Can also shift back the lead and counter with the rear.
**Step to the outside and gedan mawashi geri to the supporting leg of the kick.
**For chudan mawashi geri that strikes to the right (if you're in a left lead stance), double-forearm block it then step with the lead foot over into a spinning back kick with the rear leg.
**Do the "Yuki shuffle" to their outside, moving your body out of their kicking range, and counter with your own gedan mawashi geri.
**Some of them were doing crescent kicks to not only avoid the gedan mawashi geris but also to counterattack, but I didn't get to play around with that one yet. Looks fun though.

All in all, good tough workout. We all got a little beat on, got our lumps, and got some good training out of it.

Alex Apostol

10-25-2006, 12:19 AM

When are you going to jerk over 185?

Alex Devenyi

10-25-2006, 09:29 AM

When are you going to jerk over 185?

As soon as I lift again fag. :FF:

Alex Devenyi

10-26-2006, 08:33 PM

10/26/2006 KYOKUSHIN KARATE:

Just three of us tonight. Another kumite focus, but this time light and working a lot on counters. Informal bow-in then hopped right into some shadowboxing, specifically the movements we were going to be practicing on each other next. Naturally, we practiced some henka of each version as well. We did both sides for 10 for each of us, then went twice through so we got to do each combination about 40 times. Light contact mostly, but we laid into each other every now and then to keep each other honest. Left leg felt decent today, a few gedan barais during the mae geri hurt but otherwise okay. Heel is slightly better too.

**Counter to 1-2 punch: Rear gedan barai, lead gedan barai with simultaneous lead mae geri.
**Counter to 1-2 punch: Rear gedan barai, lead gedan barai with simultaneous lead gedan mawashi geri to the inner thigh.
**Counter to 1-2 punch: Rear gedan barai, lead chudan soto uke while moving to the outside followed by a lead shita tsuki.
**Counter to 1-2 punch: Rear gedan barai, lead chudan soto uke while moving to the outside followed by a rear shita tsuki and a lead shita tsuki.
**Counter to lead mae geri: Gedan barai while moving to the outside, then gedan mawashi geri to the back of their knee.
**Counter to rear gedan mawashi geri: Move lead leg back into a modified version of neko-ashi (same length just wider) to get it out of range, then quickly counterattack the kicking leg with your own gedan mawashi geri.
**Counter to lead gedan mawashi geri: Move lead leg and rear leg back at the same time, moving the lead leg back into that modified neko-ashi stance. Then use your own rear leg to counterattack their kicking leg with gedan mawashi geri.

Some of the variations we played around with was throwing the first two kicks with the first block, making the second punch a lot weaker. Instead of shita tsukis, Yuki and Harvey used shoteis (palm strikes) occasionally, which definitely hurt. The gedan mawashi geris can also go chudan or jodan, depending. Light workout tonight as Saturday we're meeting up at 0600 then rolling up to Maryland, staying at the Gashuku until 1400, then heading back.

Alex Devenyi

10-29-2006, 03:19 PM

Went to our Gashuku yesterday in Maryland, it got moved from the college to the nearby dojo instead so it was a little crowded. We mostly just did a lot of kihon to warm up, then some kumite shadowboxing then had lines set up where you would do a different technique or combination on each one. We then did some shadowboxing up and down the place (which was messy cause of all the people), then went over some self-defense stuff. The gun defense portion was mostly just gun safety, and the knife defense stuff was pretty basic and nothing fancy; mostly to get the people who've never touched one used to the idea.

Ended with some quick kumite, maybe only a minute or two each. I got some young kid who I made the mistake of underestimating first thing and his aggressiveness caught me off guard at first. Can't remember all that happen, I know the first gedan mawashi geri he did I blocked with my left leg which numbed it up right off the bat (it's still all beat up from Tuesday) and I landed a decent chudan mawashi geri to his ribs. He got me with a front kick (I was too busy thinking of how to counter it more than just DOING it), and somewhere in there I landed a flying hiza geri which connected okay. More kicks than punches this time, I still need to work on grouping the two together better though.

I think I stoved my right big toe badly from something yesterday, I think it was kicking him from too far out. Ever since I've been trying to extend my range out I've had some problems landing properly with some of my techniques as I'm still getting used to it. Got it all taped up today, hurts but nothing untolerable.

Alex Devenyi

10-31-2006, 03:38 PM

10/31/2006 GYM WORKOUT:

PL-Style Back Squats: 195x5, 225x4, 255x3, 285x2, 315x1, 335x1 (PR!), 335x0.
At first I thought the 335 was a little too high and went for it again but couldn't get it. I was bummed until one of the PLers that works out there said it was a legit squat, actually a little lower than parallel. I haven't maxed on these in a while and back when I was squatting pretty often I only did 325 for a single. 10-pound PR and I think a lot of it has to do with the Oly-style squatting I've been doing.

Good Mornings: 135x3, 175x3, 215x3/3/3.
Easy. 225 next time.

Power Jerks: 115x1, 135x1, 155x1, 175x1, 200x0 (couldn't get left arm to lock out), 195x0. Dropped 50lbs then did 145x5/5/5.
Bummed about that 200, it locked out pretty soft with the right and couldn't get the left. Need to explode more.

That's all for today. Going to hit up Kyokushin in about 40 minutes here.

Alex Apostol

10-31-2006, 05:27 PM

10/31/2006 GYM WORKOUT:

Power Jerks: 115x1, 135x1, 155x1, 175x1, 200x0 (couldn't get left arm to lock out), 195x0. Dropped 50lbs then did 145x5/5/5.
Bummed about that 200, it locked out pretty soft with the right and couldn't get the left. Need to explode more.

That's all for today. Going to hit up Kyokushin in about 40 minutes here.

A good power jerk shouldn't need any locking out.

Alex Devenyi

10-31-2006, 08:54 PM

A good power jerk shouldn't need any locking out.

That's why I think it was more of a form issue than anything. A lot of my PJs end up looking like push presses when the weight gets heavy.

10/31/2006 KYOKUSHIN KARATE:

I won't bore you guys with all the details now. Almost 2 hours tonight, lots of padwork and kicking, then did some leg conditioning (kicking each other on the inside and outside of the thighs to toughen them up), and ended with a drill for closing the distance. My legs are hurting now, bad day to squat :p

Alex Devenyi

11-02-2006, 05:12 PM

Last night did 15 minutes on the speed bag, nothing extraordinary. Shoulders were a bit sore and got it going a few times nicely for a little bit, but still need a lot of work.

Skipped karate tonight because my legs were still real sore. Got some nice bruises on my inner thighs, tough to walk around a bit. Once I warmed them up and stretched them a bit then worked out a bit, they started and still are feeling a lot better.

18-Inch Deadlifts:
245x1
295x1
345x1 (all were double overhand, no belt)
395x1 (mixed grip, no belt)
445x1 (mixed grip with belt)
495x0 (psyched myself out)
475x1 (PR!)

I was pulling 475 before but that was with straps, so this is a good PR. I think the idea of five plates just psyched me out, so next time I'll toss on a 25 and two 10's instead and I should get it.

Flat Bench Press: 125x5, 145x4, 165x3, 185x2, 205x1.
Meant to do Hepburns with these but forgot until I was getting ready to do the 3rd set.

Bent-Over Rows: 115x5, 135x4, 155x3, 175x2, 195x1 (PR, easy), 205x0 (not today).
Did all of these with a hook grip to start getting used to it for O-lifting. Hook grips are rough on the thumbs I've noticed. Got to get used to that. The 205 was just barely short of touching my gut.

Full Contact Twists: bar +45 x12/12/12.
Good weight for these, try one more like this then probably go up.

2" Axle Power Holds: All were double overhand.
195 for 20 sec
225 for 6 sec
215 for 8 sec

I used to do power holds after shrugs then just hold them for as long as possible, but today I thought I'd try them out with a thickbar. Huge difference, works your hands hard (mine were already fried trying them and now they're really gone). 205 next time, once I can do that for 20-30 sec I'll keep going.

Alex Devenyi

11-06-2006, 05:45 PM

Did some Army training this weekend out in the cold, ended up catching something as I'm all clogged up and coughing my head off. Still went and put in a hard workout today after I took some meds.

11/06/2006 GYM WORKOUT:

Oly-Style Back Squats: 175x3, 215x3, 255x3/3/3.
Not too bad, going up 5-10 next time.

Good Mornings: 135x1, 165x1, 195x1, 225x1, 255x1 (PR!), then dropped 50lbs and did 205x5/5/5/5/5.

My traps were really sore by the end of all this.

Military Press: 85x5, 105x4, 125x3, 145x1, 155x0.
Might have to make these singles next time, doing a 5-4-3-2-1 for these is too tough.

Weighted Dips:
BW+95 (175+95 = 270) x1 (PR!)
BW + 80 (255) x3/3/3/2.

Full Contact Twists: (bar + 45) x12/12/12.

Fingertip Pull-Ups:
All four fingers x5
First two fingers x5
Middle finger x4 (rep PR)
Last two fingers x2
Thumbs only x1
All four fingers x5

No karate tonight, I don't think they'd appreciate me hacking phlegm all over them right now.

Nicolette L.

11-06-2006, 05:51 PM

AWESOME JOB! Great pr's. You are making great progress keep it up.

Alex Devenyi

11-06-2006, 07:19 PM

AWESOME JOB! Great pr's. You are making great progress keep it up.

Thanks :D Glad to see I got something despite hacking up all over the place. Sure didn't make any friends today.

Alex Devenyi

11-08-2006, 07:34 PM

11/08/06 GYM WORKOUT:

Squat Cleans: 85x5, 115x4, 145x3, 175x2 (PR!), 205x0 (didn't attempt).

Once I shrug pulled the 205, I knew it was going to be too much. Rather than damage my body, I decided to damage my pride and let it go for another day. As it is, I did 175x2, which is 10lbs over as high as I've gone so far and most were with pretty decent form. The second 175 was more a power clean than a squat clean though. Need to be more explosive and use more leg drive.

Overhead Squats: 45x12, 55x12, 65x12.

Just working on form with these, getting comfortable with them. Threw a 2.5 plate under each heel, that helped a good bit. Just ordered a nice pair of O-lifting shoes today so once those come in the mail I won't have to use the plates anymore.

Hang Power Snatches: 55x1, 75x1, 95x1, 115x1 (ugly) , 115x1 (better), 125x0.

Didn't pull my body under the bar in time for the 125, that second 115 must've taken a lot out of me. I'm definitely thinking I'm trying to go too heavy with these before I get used to them, so I'll probably do all my O-lifts a lot lighter and for reps, say 3x8 for now.

Weighted Pull-Ups:
BW +30 (175+30 = 205) x2
BW+17.5 (192.5) x3/3/3/3.

Worn out from all the overhead movements.

Horizontal Swings: (17.5 dumbbell) x8/8/8.

Captains of Crush:

Did two cheat closes with the #2 for about 15 sec apiece, then did two cheat closes with the HG250 for 15 sec apiece.

No speed bag tonight, some douchebag deflated it.

Nicolette L.

11-08-2006, 07:42 PM

Man, Whatt are you taking for that cold? It is not the Flu is it? Take care of you. You will be better for it.

Alex Devenyi

11-09-2006, 09:03 AM

Man, Whatt are you taking for that cold? It is not the Flu is it? Take care of you. You will be better for it.

I'm just taking a decongestant so I can breathe, that's about it. The throat's better but I still feel run-down a bit. It's slowly getting better.

Alex Devenyi

11-10-2006, 06:14 PM

11/10/2006 GYM WORKOUT:

HAPPY MARINE CORPS BIRTHDAY!!!!

Feeling sick as all hell today, got even worse. Had a pretty crappy workout as a result.

Deadlifts:
225x1
275x1
335x1 (all these were with double overhand grip)
395x1
455x0 (threw on belt and straps, not today though)
435x0 (my stance felt too narrow because I didn't have straps)
435x0 (ditched the straps and got to about knee level)
365x9 (rep PR; said fuck it, tossed on straps, and repped out 365)

My head felt like it was going to explode on the 365, but it was a good workout. Absolutely dead by the end of it. I did these in the morning, the rest was after I got out of work.

Incline Bench Press: 105x5, 125x4, 145x3, 165x2, 185x1 (PR!).
The 185 was actually really easy, my buddy Steak was spotting me and he was like WTF did you need me for?

Shrug Pulls: 135x8, 155x8, 175x8.
Just mostly working on good form and explosiveness.

Hub Pinching:
Barely cracked the 45 with each hand, so I just repped out with the 35 with each hand until failure, rested, then did it two more times. Probably around 15-20 reps per hand.

Alex Devenyi

11-11-2006, 01:23 PM

11/11/2006: OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFTING

Happy Veteran's Day. Hit up the O-lifting gym, first time in almost a month thanks to drill and Kyokushin. Because of that, I put in a pretty solid session today.

Snatch:
20kg (empty bar) x3
30kg (66lbs) x3
40kg (88lbs) x1
50kg (110lbs) x1, 1
60kg (132lbs) x1, 1, 1 (PR!)
50kgs x1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1

My first two 60kg snatches were pretty ugly, somehow I invented a "lunge snatch" and actually ended up on my left knee but then struggled to stand up. Everyone was like WHOA! :p One of the guys lent me a pair of O-lifting shoes and I killed the 3rd one, so I think it had to do with me not concentrating on my heels and ending up on the ball of the foot. The 60kg snatches were a 5kg PR.

Things to work on:
**Keep your shrug pulls tighter to your body.
**Lean over the bar more in the starting position.
**Don't bend your arms too soon!
**Get the bar back behind your ears, I missed the two 50kg's because of that.
**Concentrate on your heels!

Clean and Jerk:
50kg (110lbs) x1, 1, 1
60kg (132lbs) x1, 1
70kg (154lbs) x1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

My cleans are getting better, the initial shrug pull is good and my coaches said I have a good body position. I need to be more explosive though and work on letting my legs and back to do most of the work. Some of my jerks were still soft, they say it's because I look too calm under the bar and need to go GYAHHH!!! and just nail it hard. The last couple that I did with that kind of intensity locked out easily. Alex recommended bent-arm pullovers to strengthen up my elbows, he thinks that's the reason why I lock out soft sometimes.

Things to work on:
**Shrug pull was better here for some reason.
**My wrist flexibility sucks ass, I definitely need to work on that. They said it's pretty good but I just need to get used to handling the weights that way.
**Work on your breathing! It should be a natural inhalation as I squat clean the weight then a light exhalation as I stand up, a medium inhalation before the jerk, hold your breath until it's locked out and they give you the signal to go down.
**Once again, concentrate on exploding from the bottom and landing on the heels. They said my explosiveness is good, I just need to do it the whole way through the lift.

Squat Clean to Front Squat:
50kg (110lbs) x3 (squat clean once, front squat three times)
60kg (132lbs) x3/3/3/5

The last set of five my wrists were slightly off to the side so they were bent awkwardly and it killed. Yet another reason to work on my wrist flexibility.

Bent-Arm Pullovers: Empty bar x8, just to have Alex work with me on the form.

Hoping to do a little strongman later on today if the rain clears up, I'd like to do some farmer's and front carries. No log today, my shoulders are fried :p

Alex Devenyi

11-13-2006, 03:23 PM

11/12/2006 SPEED BAG:

Did about 20+ minutes after work, definitely showing some improvement.

11/13/2006 GYM WORKOUT:

Power Jerks: 95x3, 125x3, 155x3/3/3.
I went lighter on these to better work on my form, I still have a tendency to lock out soft so I want to work on these. Finished up with pressouts (a little thing Alex showed me to work on locking out), 95x8.

Oly-Style Back Squats: 145x1, 185x1, 225x1, 265x1, 305x1 (PR!).
Slight GM on the 305 but it was still pretty solid. I am definitely an Oly-style squatter, it not only feels much more comfortable for me but I feel a lot stronger doing them. 315 is right around the corner, probably by the end of the month.

Good Mornings: 135x5, 185x3, then did 6 singles with 230.

Weighted Dips:
BW+85 (260) x0
BW+70 (245) x0
BW only x10/10/10.

Tris were dead already. I definitely think I'm trying to cram too much in one day.

Horizontal Swings: (20lb DB) x8/8/8.

Going to do some block weight tossing later on.

Did about 2 hours of Kyokushin as well, didn't go hard the whole time due to still feeling a bit under the weather. Big focus on kumite counters today, took a lot of kicks to the inner thigh and some sharp kicks and punches to the gut.

Corey DuCharme

11-13-2006, 04:01 PM

Nice PR!! 315 should be an easy step up for you if you keep training hard.

I know what you mean about too much stuff in one workout. When I get settled into my new place I'm hoping to keep things simple.

Alex Devenyi

11-13-2006, 04:03 PM

Alex Devenyi

11-15-2006, 03:02 PM

11/15/2006 KARATE/GYM WORKOUT:

Worked on some footwork drills earlier today, experimenting with various stepping techniques and the Blitz Movement Drill (several quick lunges in succession), plus one I just learned for kata where you do the kata but don't use your arms at all so you're only concentrating on your footwork. Did that for the Taikyokyus and the two Pinans.

Deadlift for Reps:
(warm-up) 185x5, 245x4, 285x3.
315x20 (with straps and belt; rep PR)

This was a pretty slow 20 to be honest. I started stopping between reps for a break by about rep 9, and by rep 15 I was literally on one knee catching my breath. Didn't time it, just going for 20. Not bad.

Clean and Jerk:
(warm-up) 95x2, 115x2.
135 for 3 singles.

Was shooting for six but I'm feeling burnt after the deadlifts. Should've done em last. Live and learn. I'm going to take a break for a while then after work do some pull-ups and thickbar power holds, skipping incline bench and the rest of the C&Js.

Alex Devenyi

11-19-2006, 06:24 AM

11/16/2006: KYOKUSHIN KARATE

Did about 2 hours of a lot of shadowboxing and combination work, plus some drills to apply some of our new combinations and takedowns. Ended by doing a bunch of kata and learning Pinan Sono San.

11/18/2006 OLYMPIC WEIGHTLIFTING:

Took it light today, really concentrating on having a good squat clean technique. Kept 60kg (132 pounds) on the bar after warm-up and did at least 15-20 singles with it. My squat clean was looking better near the end after using some of their advice, so that's definitely cool. As a burn-out near the end, I cleaned the 60kg and did 3x10 in front squats with it, nothing major, just to keep my wrists in that position for a while longer to get them used to all the bending. I've been stretching them so they don't bother me today. I was all excited to try strongman again as I didn't think it was raining, but it just started no more than a mile from my house. I still tried out my Atlas stone a couple times, but it was just too slick by then.

My buddy finally convinced me to try out a supplement (by offering to buy me the first batch :D ), so I'll be taking Nitrobolic Extreme for the next while and whey protein shakes.

EDIT: Forgot to put down the stuff to work on:

**Drive through your heels, not your toes!
**Once the bar is about two inches above the knees, jump!
**Almost drag the bar up your thighs, don't leave a lot of "real estate" between you and the bar.

Alex Devenyi

11-20-2006, 03:01 PM

11/20/2006 GYM WORKOUT (MELB):

Trying a more Westside-style approach to really work on a lot of my weaknesses I've been discovering and to improve my main lifts. I'm focusing on deadlifts, squat cleans, jerks, and snatches specifically.

Deadlifts while Standing on 6" Box:
135x3, 225x3 (warm-up)
275x1
315x1
335x1
355x1

355 definitely felt like my max today, though by next time I'll most likely be able to do more. These are a lot more intense than I thought they would be, I feel it a lot more in my hamstrings.

Overhead Squats: 45x8, 70x8, 95x8.

95x8 was pretty tough but not too bad. Starting to see some improvement on my form, though I'm still anxious to get my Oly shoes.

Reverse Hypers: Empty x8, +20 x8, +50 x8.
Easier than I thought, so add 20 pounds next time.

Circuit Training:
1) Spread-Eagle Situps x20/20/20 (just bodyweight)
2) Sitting Medicine Ball Twists x12/12/12 (15-lb medicine ball)
3) Box Jumps (5 jumps to 28", 5 jumps to 32", 5 jumps to 36")

I did all three of these in a row, then rested a short bit then did it again.

Heavy Grippers: Doing a couple cheat closes here shortly, will edit in a second.

Supposed to do some yoke today, but I'll let it pass since I have Kyokushin shortly and we won't be having it Thursday. Might toss it in on Thursday.

Corey DuCharme

11-21-2006, 05:14 AM

I might be missing something, but when did you decide to focus on olympic lifting? Have fun with it. I admire it greatly, but for lack of better instruction and discipline, I have not pursued it.

Alex Devenyi

11-21-2006, 10:53 AM

I might be missing something, but when did you decide to focus on olympic lifting? Have fun with it. I admire it greatly, but for lack of better instruction and discipline, I have not pursued it.

I've done it for a couple months now, mostly just going on Saturdays when I can and both my coaches say I have the ability to become a really good O-lifter. I'm also doing an O-lifting meet in late January so I really want to work on the technique as that's primarily what's holding me back. Not to mention I think getting decent numbers on both of those will definitely help my overhead and other lifts :cool:

Alex Devenyi

11-21-2006, 01:53 PM

11/20/2006 KYOKUSHIN KARATE:

This was a light workout today, about 1.5 hours this time. Worked a lot on more combinations, some evasion and counters, and kata.

11/21/2006 GYM WORKOUT (MEUB):

Snatches:
Muscle Snatch: 45x5 and 65x5.
Hang Snatch: 65x3, 95x2, 115x0. Quickly went into....
Power Snatch: 115x1, 135x0/0/0/, 125x1, 130x0.

The 135 was always close, the pull got to right about my chin level but I wasn't getting the lockout. 125 was like nothing, 130 I was real close. Probably would get it fresh.

Dumbbell Snatches:
40x3 each hand
55x3 each
70x3 each
85x1 each

On the second rep of each 85, it flew up easily enough but my shoulders were spent. I should probably do these as my ME and then do barbell snatches for 5x3 I'm thinking.

Bent-Arm Pullovers: 35x5, 55x5, 75x5/5/5.

Go up 5lbs next time.

Bodyweight Dips: One set of 12.

Did these immediately after the pullovers.

Circuit:
1) Decline Sit-Ups: (BW x20/20/20; steepest incline possible which was around 50-60 degrees)
2) Horizontal Swings: (20lb DB x12/12/12)
3) Jump-Drop Pushups: (x10/9/5 from 4" boxes)

Next time I should do the dips afterwards, my tris were dead and really screwed me on the jump-drop pushups.

Alex Devenyi

11-23-2006, 11:55 AM

11/23/2006 GYM WORKOUT (DELB):

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Dynamic Oly-Style Back Squats:
45x3, 135x3 (quick warm-up)
185x3
155x3 for seven sets with blue resistance band

I started off with 185 without anything, but then spotted one of the resistance bands they have lying around my gym and got a brainchild. It took a few experiments, but I found a way of hooking it up under the power rack so I could use it as a band. It practically yanked me down into the bottom and then it was tough getting back up, so I guess it does the job. I may do these just PL-style though, it's a little rough on the knees trying to go down and up quickly Oly-style. My hips felt weird, everything else was cake though.

Squat Cleans from Boxes:
115x1, 1 from 20" boxes
115x1 from 18" boxes
115x1, 1 from 16" boxes

The 16" seems the best, it's right where I can get the most explosiveness out of the pull. Form looked pretty good today, I used the advice I learned earlier (pull close to the body, once past the knees jump, focus on the heels) and all looked much better.

Strict Axle Curls: 35x5, 65x5, 85x2, 75x5, 75x5.

Go up to 80 next time.

Reverse Hypers: Just the bar for 40 reps.

Thanks to Dan for this idea. This felt pretty good.

Circuit:
1) Hanging Knee Raises: 8/8/8 (easy, go up to 12 next time)
2) Bicycles: 20/---/--- (abs still have some DOMS so I passed on these)
3) Gymnastic Hanging L-Holds: 5 sec/9 sec/3 sec.

Hub Pinching:
45 x0 per hand (dammit), 35+5 x1 per hand, 35 x4 per hand. Then I did "hub pinch walks" with a 25 in each hand: 45', 25', and 15'. As soon as they dropped, I picked them back up and went walking again.

Stairmaster: Did 15 minutes of interval training at Level 8. Went up 60 floors, a little over 1.25 miles.

Mike Landrich

11-23-2006, 05:24 PM

My big question for you, is did you eat all the turkey and pumpkin pie you claimed for your own? Tomorrow this'll be you :C:

Claudia_Ferrari_B

11-23-2006, 08:32 PM

how come im not able to get notifications in my email box when someone replies here...?

Alex Devenyi

11-24-2006, 04:27 AM

My big question for you, is did you eat all the turkey and pumpkin pie you claimed for your own? Tomorrow this'll be you :C:

I pigged out to be honest :D About five plates' worth: country biscuits, cranberries, turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Not to mention the three pieces of pumpkin pie :p

how come im not able to get notifications in my email box when someone replies here...?

I think under Thread Tools you can subscribe to a thread so they'll email you if someone replies. I'm not sure if it's working or not though.

Alex Devenyi

11-24-2006, 04:30 AM

11/24/2006 (DEUB):

Started working out at 5am, before I opened the place. I work straight until 5pm so I figured by then I wouldn't want to be anywhere near this place so I worked out early. Quick and light today.

Dynamic Split Jerks:
45x3, 75x3 (warm-up)
100 for 10 singles, using a green band for the dynamic part.

Took some fiddling around with the band to get it to the right spot, as it was yanking my left side more quickly than my right for a few singles, but by the end it was in the perfect spot. My main focus was locking these out hard, as that seems to be my weak point right now.

Press-Outs: 95x8, 95x8.

A lot lower than they were last time I'm thinking, as they were a lot harder this time. Once again, locking out and holding it for a second then continuing. Only did two of the three sets, feeling the first two bad pretty good and I don't want to waste myself today when I'm O-lifting tomorrow.

Snatch Pulls from Boxes:
115 for 2 singles from 16" boxes
115 for 3 singles from 12" boxes

Working with 85% my 1RM snatch, just trying to get a feel for the movement. Once I get it down, I'll be going much heavier. 12" seems ideal for these, 16 makes the movement too small for me.

Once I get used to the volume, I plan on adding in a bench movement on this day too. As it is, my tris are still feeling it from Tuesday so I'm passing on that.

Alex Devenyi

11-27-2006, 10:11 PM

11/27/2006 HOME WORKOUT:

Quick and dirty today, worked outside near my garage. Some of my stuff smells like cat shit, dunno why.

Got a video of today too: http://youtube.com/watch?v=X0lu0XAeoSA

2" Thickbar Cleans:
105x1
135x1
155x1
175x1 (continental clean)
195x0 (continental clean, close but not this time)

If I had chalk, I probably would've gotten the 195. Oh well.

Double Overhand Thickbar Deadlifts:
205x1
255x0

Just too slick, couldn't get a good grip on it. Yet another reason why I should've bought chalk before working out :P

One-Arm Deadlifts:
135x1 per hand
185x1 per hand
205x1 per hand

These were badass, haven't done these in a long time and got a 20-pound PR.

Then I went to karate, had about a two hour class. Pretty quick but intense warm-up, the rest was more working on movement and body mechanics so not too stressful. Lots of great knowledge and stuff to work on though, so I took copious notes.

Alex Devenyi

12-04-2006, 12:27 PM

11/29/2006 GYM WORKOUT:

Real quick one tonight unfortunately, too tired.

Dumbbell Clean and Press:
25x1
40x1
50x1
60x1
70x1
80x1
90x0 (right was just short of lockout, left about 2" below that)

I can probably crush 90 next time if I have more energy.

Military Press: 85x3, 105x3, 135x3.

Was hoping to do two more sets of 135 but by then it was already 11pm.

12/4/2006 GYM WORKOUT:

2" Axle Clean and Press:
65x1 (warm-up, tried doing it Karlsen-style but still need work)
105x1 (squat clean)
135x1 (squat clean)
160x0 (ugly continental clean, no press)

The 160 was really ugly but I got the clean eventually.

Axle Jerks from Rack:
160x1 (soft but quick)
175x1 (took two tries but got it)
185x0 (not feeling it today)

Deadlifts:
275x3 (double overhand, no belt)
340x3 (mixed grip, no belt)
405x3
405x3
405x3 (all 405s were with belt and straps)

Incline Bench Press:
85x3
125x3
165x3
165x2
165x2 (got stuck on the third attempt)

Seated Rows:
110x8 (real light warm-up)
160x8
180x8

For these, I used the thick rope triceps attachment so it was more like doing a rope pull. Rough on the grip and I felt it right in the middle of my upper back. I like this.

Alex Devenyi

12-06-2006, 07:02 PM

12/06/2006: GYM WORKOUT

Oly-Style Front Squats from Rack:
95x3
135x3
175x3
205x3
225x3 (PR I guess)

Oly-style meaning full squats, hand position like in a clean and not arms crossed. Wrists felt pretty good on this one, only one that I felt some discomfort after was after the 225.

Dumbbell Swings:
40x1
50x1
65x1
80x1
95x0 (close though).

Going to try 90 next time.

Behind the Neck Push Jerks:
95x1
115x1
135x1
155x0.

Shoulders feel pretty worn out.

Crucifix Flyes: (15lb dumbbells)
Set 1: Did 8 reps, held to side for 10 seconds, then did 8 reps and held to side for 10 seconds.
Set 2: Did 8 reps, held to side for 10 seconds, then did 5 reps.

Got this idea off of Svend Karlsen in "Viking Power."

Reverse Hypers:
Bar +50 x12
Bar +70 x12
Bar +90 x12

Max Push-Ups in 60 sec: Got 50. Could be better.

Hub Pinching:
45x0 per hand
35 + 5 x1 per hand
35 + 7.5 x1 per hand
45x0 (broke the floor with left hand)
45x0 (got to knee height with left hand, broke with right)
45x0 (couldn't budge it)

Finished with a good bit of stretching.

Took the civil service test for the Pittsburgh Police Department today. There was about 1000+ people testing, I think I did pretty well though. I have my oral interview scheduled for January 3rd, so if that goes well I just might get it.

Corey DuCharme

12-07-2006, 07:52 AM

Alex Devenyi

12-07-2006, 10:21 AM

225x3!!?? That's awesome Alex. My PR in the Oly front squat was 235 and I'm afraid I couldn't touch that now.

You'll do fine with your oral interview, just be sure to be honest. They care more about that then minor troubles from your past. I hope you get in.

Thanks Corey :D Like you said at Xenia, I've got strong legs, I just need my weak upper body to catch up :p

I'm not too worried about it. I know I'm going to become a cop no matter what or where, so if Pittsburgh doesn't work out there's always other places. I'm not tied down to just one place, I'll go virtually to any good-sized city.

Alex Devenyi

12-07-2006, 09:18 PM

12/07/2006 KYOKUSHIN KARATE:

Shorter than normal workout, less than an hour. Just John and me for most of it, Harvey was popping in occasionally but was mostly cooking us some chicken to watch the Steelers game.

Since it was a short one, John and I went balls to the walls and did a lot of work on the focus mitts. Lots of combos and going fast, working hard. Got a nice sweat and gasping for air by the end of it.

Alex Devenyi

12-09-2006, 04:07 AM

12/08/2006 GYM WORKOUT:

Forgot to mention, I finally got my O-lifting shoes. These babies rock.

Overhead Squats:
45x3
65x3
85x3
105x3
115x2 (lost 3rd on the way back up)

These were done Oly-style, all the way to the ground.

Good Mornings:
115x3
165x3
205x3
205x3
205x3

Dumbbell Bench Press:
40's x3
50's x3
60's x3
70's x3
80's x3

I was looking for a weight I could do 3x3 with, which I'm guessing is the 70's as the 80's is just a little bit too heavy.

Standing Calf Raises:
220x12
240x12
260x12

Reps were nice and slow, the lowering portion having the heel go a couple inches past the toes. Never done these before.

Alex Devenyi

12-09-2006, 06:47 PM

12/09/2006 OLYMPIC LIFTING:

Snatches:
Did several with 40kg (88 lbs) to work on form, basically a few sets of triples followed by overhead squats to warm up.
Did a single or two with 50kg (110 lbs).
Did 3-4 singles with 60kg (132 lbs), my old max.
65kg (143 lbs) for a single, new PR.

At this rate, I'm going to be snatching more than I can clean and jerk :P Matt helped me a ton with these today. He showed me how to basically pull the bar into the space below the gut and around the hips, then once it hits there is when you do the shrug pull and only go as deep as you need to when you snatch, you don't necessarily need to do a full squat. Let the weight push you down, not you push yourself down.

Clean and Jerks:
Did 2-3 singles with 60kg (132 lbs).
Did 2-3 singles with 65kg (143 lbs).
Did a single with 70kg (154 lbs).
Did a single with 50kg (110 lbs).
Did a single with 55kg (121 lbs).
Did a single with 60kg (132 lbs).
Did a single with 65kg (143 lbs).
Did a single with 70kg (154 lbs).
Did a single with 75kg (165 lbs).
Attempted 80kg (176 lbs) but failed.

My clean form is slowly coming along, either the 60kg or the 65kg Rege said I did "textbook perfect", I just need to do that all the time. The others were all due to a number of things: bending too soon with the arms, feet a bit too far out before the jerk, jerking soft, etc.

Two things to really work on: my hand and foot placement were a bit tight according to Matt and Rege, I need to extend a little bit. For the 80kg I was a bit too wide so now I know approximately where to go. As for the jerks, Rege suggested for my presses and jerks really making sure I lock it out and hold for several seconds.

STRONGMAN WORKOUT:

Front Carries:
110 for two quick sets of 50ft to warm up.
200 for another two quick sets of 50ft to warm up.
360 for 50ft, then on the second set did 50ft with one drop. (with belt)
410 for two sets of about 10ft each. (with belt)

Kicked ass on these today, was hoping for more with the 410 but it was way better than last time so kick ass. Fei did the 410 for a full set of 50ft but the second one killed him coming back. Natty got 290 for 50ft, awesome job since she's like maybe a buck-10 if that. My little brother got 360 for a while, he did really good too.

2" Axle Clean and Jerks:
65x1-2 (mostly to give an idea on how to do them to the others)
85x1
105x1
155x1
175x0 (couldn't clean or jerk it, sucks)

That was pretty much it for the day. I know I was dead, I can barely walk right now. Natty and Fei worked out pretty hard the day before and kicked some butt today, so they were beat too. My brother got a lot of video, hoping to upload and edit it sometime this weekend.

Alex Devenyi

12-11-2006, 03:54 PM

12/11/2006 GYM WORKOUT

One-Arm Dumbbell Clean and Press:
45x1 each side
55x1 each side
65x1 each side
75x1 each side
85x1 right side but not left
55x5 each side

Standing Box Deadlifts from 6" Box:
205x1
255x1
305x1
355x1 (put on belt)
405x0 (got to knee height but couldn't get any higher)
385x0 (barely got it from the floor, hamstrings were dead)

Incline Bench Press: 75x6, 95x6, 115x6, 135x6

Go up 5-10 next time.

Bent-Over Rows: 115x6, 135x6, 155x6, 175x6

Go up 5-10 next time.

Side Bends on Steroids: 45x3, 45x3, 45x3

Plate Curls: 10lb x6, 10lb x6, three 5's x4/3.

Hub Pinching:
Played around with the 45 a bit, broke the floor with the left and right and got to near the knee.

Max Knuckle Push-Ups in 60 sec: 48

Max Bicycles in 60 sec: 56 (left-right counting as one)

Alex Devenyi

12-12-2006, 09:03 PM

12/12/2006 KYOKUSHIN KARATE:

Butt-kicker of a workout tonight. 4 rounds of 2 minutes apiece working on nothing but high roundhouse kicks from both the rear and lead leg. The last two rounds we were doubling and tripling them up too so that got us all breathing hard. We then did a three-station circuit of shadowboxing, rope-skipping, and the heavy bag for 2 minutes apiece with no rest for three sets, so a total of 18 minutes straight right there.

Yuki then led us through a hardcore stretching routine which kicked my ass and that I want to incorporate a lot of into my routine, then we did some kicks over chairs at the heavy bag to work on that as well. Ended with some abwork and some standing meditation. Good workout.

Alex Devenyi

12-13-2006, 06:25 PM

12/13/2006 GYM WORKOUT:

Oly-Style Back Squats: 185x3, 225x3, 265x3/3/3.

Add 5-10 pounds next time. Legs were still sore from yesterday's Kyokushin workout, but they still weren't too bad, just the last rep of each set of 265 was tough.

Strict Presses Behind Neck: 65x3, 85x3, 95x3/3/3.

Add 5-10 next time as well. I'm not too worried about poundages on these really, just working it hard and staying as strict as possible. I hold for a few seconds at the top to make sure I'm locked out, and the reps are fairly slow and controlled.

Hang Snatches: ----

Meant to do these before the PBNs, but two of my buddies were doing high-rep clean and presses with a light weight where I usually do them so I did the PBNs first. Good to see them trying out some new stuff. Then my boss came in so I had to stop for a while, so I figured since I did the PBNs I'd skip them for today.

Wide-Grip Pull-Ups: BW x4, 4, 4, 4.

Way wider than I normally do them, pretty fricking tough.

Reverse Hypers: bar+50 x12, bar+100 x12.

Was supposed to do one more set but it was late and my stomach was growling. 100 felt a bit too heavy too, I'll probably go back down to 90 and do that for 3x12.