Rebooting my goals- Ironman Cozumel, 1900+ total, and a lot of pain.

[JSully]

That's some crazy rowing. I youtubed 405lbs barbell rows and there aren't many people doing decent reps with that weight. 315 x 10/8 ain't shabby either.

define "decent reps"

IMO, the reps should only be strict until you get to about 80%. Afterwards I believe some cheat (low back movement) is perfectly acceptable. Rows are a fantastic core exercise in addition to upper back. For those of us that don't do low back work (outside of deadlifts) some cheater rows are great. I'm not talking like standing all the way up into a shrug.. I'm just talking about a little english to get the weight moving and really pulling into your midsection. Not to mention the secondary posterior chain activation.

[J.C.]

I believe some cheat (low back movement) is perfectly acceptable. Rows are a fantastic core exercise in addition to upper back. For those of us that don't do low back work (outside of deadlifts) some cheater rows are great.

I agree with this.

[Alex.V]

I doubt my reps look remotely flawless- hard to keep the upper body totally immobile when hauling a high percentage of bodyweight. The 315 was pretty solid, though. The heavy set... definitely a cheat row or three in there.

Chevy- tell me about it... All that crap takes place in the last 20 miles, too. Because clearly that's when I'll be feeling my best. Going to try another 90 miler this weekend, do some hill repeats for the last ten and see if I survive.

Larry, damn straight. If you ain't got guns, you ain't got shit. Squats? Just an excuse to check out your flexed arms in the mirror.

Wednesday was an hour on the bike trainer.

Thursday, deadlifts:

135 x a bunch
225 x 5
315 x 4
405 x 4
495 x 4
545 x 3
605 x 2
635 x 1
495 x 10

I'm pulling like a pussy, still. 90 pounds off my max and it was slow. But the good news is I'm feeling less beat up on these than I was a few weeks ago. Hopefully they'll come back soon.

Trap bar shrugs, lateral raises, a bunch of stretching, and 3 miles at an 8:00 pace on my new shoes (taking it easy, breaking them in.) Did some drills- butt kicks, strides, etc. Asics Kayanos- awesome running shoes.

Today is carb up. Good times.

[JSully]

is the mile time in your signature accurate? 4:42?

if so, fuck you.








*sigh*

[Invain]

is the mile time in your signature accurate? 4:42?

if so, fuck you.








*sigh*

Lol x 2. I honestly think if I tried to run a mile right now my time would be 10+ minutes.

[f=ma]

hey i wanted to say thanks for the advice the other day, very much appreciated.

do you pull conventional? strong!

[Alex.V]

hey i wanted to say thanks for the advice the other day, very much appreciated.

do you pull conventional? strong!

No problem man, anytime.

I pull sumo- my leg proportion is all wrong to pull conventional, though I realized I should be doing more conventional work regardless.

Invain, Jake, my mile might not suck, but push the distance out to oh, say, two miles.... and there are literally ten year olds running circles around me. Y'all might be surprised at your mile times- there's something to be said for the pure stubbornness and pain tolerance that lifting instills in you. Of course, at about 1.5 miles your body simply tells you to go fuck yourself, and stubbornness no longer counts.

This weekend I spent a lot of time on my wee little bicycle. But first!

Friday- Mikeller's Beer Geek Brunch, still an amazing brew. As was the westvleteren 12 I had after it.

Saturday- DE bench work, absolutely nothing exciting here. Fast triples with 275, then did some reverse band work, and a whole shitload of shoulder stability miscellany. I knew I'd be hitting a long bike, so I didn't push it.

Bike- 91 miles, moderately hilly course, 5 hill repeats on this:



Only about 350 meters per repeat, but it's about an 18% grade.

This wasn't bad until about mile 89, at which point I bonked. Hardcore. I'm there in my granny gear trying to get up the little hill in my neighborhood and this fat dude goes blazing by me on a mountain bike. It hurt my soul.

Sunday I did legs, naturally. DE, mostly:

Squats:

bar x lots
135 x 10
225 x 5
315 x 5
405 x 5
Added briefs
405 + lights x 3 x 6

These were great... VERY fast, felt very easy. Amazingly enough, my legs stopped hurting after the warm up sets.

Good mornings with 275 (sets of 8), plenty of stretching, went home and didn't move.

[Stumprrp]

Great lifting Belial

[CarlP]

Friday- Mikeller's Beer Geek Brunch, still an amazing brew. As was the westvleteren 12 I had after it.

Leg work after 91 miles is impressive. But the real question is, how do you obtain a rare brew like the westvleteren 12?

[Alex.V]

Thanks guys. You mean this stuff?



I have my sources....




(ebay or belgianshop.com)

[Stumprrp]

Good to see another craft drinker around.

[larsen540]

Good job on the squats keep up the hard work

[FearFactory]

Are you sure you aren't part man, part machine?

[Alex.V]

Good to see another craft drinker around.

drinker slash addict.

[Alex.V]

Adrian, thanks man.

FF- If so, this shit better be under warranty, because parts are going to start falling off soon.

Monday was a 5.5 mile run at a 7:45 pace around my favorite hilly as fuck trail. I have a part time running partner now (apparently) who enjoys trying to jump forward and pass me on the hills... which is good. I need that kind of push so I'm not just doing the big guy shuffle.

Tuesday, played with my bench shirt- Got a long way to go to get used to these things. I was letting it pull my elbows in too much at the bottom (as it loaded up), and that was killing me about five inches off the chest. So did a bit more rep work at lower weight, turned out ok:

Bench:

Bar x lots
135 x 10
225 x 6
315 x 6
365 x 2
405 x 1
added shirt
405 x 2
445 x 1
405 x 4
405 x 3

Didn't really mean to go so high in reps... paused at the top of each and refocused, by the end they looked MUCH smoother.

Lower back is bothering me less after these as well- think my flexibility's improving, and I ALMOST have an arch now!

Windshield wipers and weighted pull-ups (+90 for sets of 10) to finish off, as well as EVEN MORE CURLS.

These were awesome.

Went out for an easy run afterwards, 3 miles, 8:15 pace.

[GazzyG]

Now this is a journal I can get behind! All this beer talk is making me thirsty!

You need to come to England, Belial, we have breweries older than your country! Some good ales to be had!

Also, your running times are insane. I can't even remember the last time I ran in anger...

[JSully]

we have breweries older than your country!

that just sounds so badass

[Alex.V]

Gaz, you gotta let me know the names of some good English/Scottish beers. I do love Harviestoun's Ola Dubh series... big fan of cask aged scottish ales and all. Not all that many English breweries with much distribution here though!

Did I post a picture of the spread for the party I'm hosting this weekend?

[FearFactory]

[GazzyG]

Right, mega post to follow.... be warned...

[GazzyG]

One of my favourite English beers is Hobgoblin, by Wychwood brewery.



Seeing as I'm Cornish, I also enjoy a pint of Cornish Tribute, by St Austell Brewery.



Other good English breweries include:

and a much more recent brewery, but still very nice, is of Nottingham (yes, Robin Hood Nottingham).

Some of the beers these breweries produce don't make it into big retailers but are instead brewed only for local pubs. A good example would be which is brewed almost exclusively to be drank at which is reputedly England's oldest inn, est 1189ad.

Anything by any of those breweries is WELL worth a tipple.

Right, beer-geek-fest over. I shall allow your lifting to recommence...

[Alex.V]

Hobgoblin is damn good.

Just so you know, I did a quick printscreen of your post and am taking it with me to Sam's Quik Shop (an unbelievable beer store in this area)... I do believe I've at least seen most of these in there, simply have not purchased... (If I see low ABV, I often glance over, which is obviously a bad habit!)

Nobody really does a bitter like the English.

Castle Rock, have heard of as well and never picked up. I've been on a bit of a Belgian kick for the last year, but do clearly need to branch out. Thanks for the recommendations!

[Alex.V]

Yesterday was ME legs, btw... more practice with the suit. Did squats:

bar x lots
135 x 8
225 x 8
315 x 8
405 x 4
added belt
495 x 2
added suit, straps down
545 x 2
straps up
585 x 2
605 x 2
645 x 1
645 x 1 (Last single felt a bit shallow)
615 x 3 (Really just testing how much I had left in the tank)
no suit or belt
315 x 10

These felt pretty good- damn do I need practice, though. Thankfully the suit I'm using (Centurion wide stance) pretty closely tracks my squat stance, so I don't need to make any MAJOR adjustments.

Single leg leg press, who gives a crap how much weight or reps. Calf raises, stretches, then

Run- 4.2 miles @ 7:45 pace.

Easy.

That's it.

[GazzyG]

All that leg work, followed by a run? You're a mental person!

And nps on the beer! You know us Brits, we like a pint lol. And I'm with you on the European stuff, some nice beers out there, even the lagers, though I'm not generally a lager drinker.

[f=ma]

strong. how wide is your stance? do you ever use briefs only? ive contemplated getting some just for fun. which cozumel are you going to do?

/pestering