Cleans, Push Press, Front Squat

Saturday - 2/23/13
Push Press - 3 sets
95x7
95x7
95x7

Hang Clean - 3 sets
95x8
115x6
125x6
125x5

Front Squats - 3 sets
135x8
155x7
155x6

Bent Bar Bicep Curls - 1 set
50x10
70x16

Afterwards, my wrists were a mess. Still kind of sore today.

I'm a little behind, so tonight's workout might be deadlifts AND bench, if I can manage it.  Gotta get caught up somehow.

Squats, the Turkish Get Up, and Good Food

Ok big update!  Squatted last week on I think Saturday.  Didn't do too bad, but my left knee is still really bothering me.  It hurts when I go down, but only during warm ups.  Once it's warm, I'm fine.  Anyway, here are the sets.

Saturday - 2/16/13
Squats - 4 sets
135x8
185x5
245x5
245x5
235x5
235x5

Weighted Chinups - 5 sets
25x7
25x5
25x6
25x5
25x5

Yea, I kind of punked out on the chinups.  I'll admit I was exhausted before we even started.

Then on Sunday, I tried something new to me - the turkish get up.   My buddy James has been doing them for a while and he spent a few minutes showing me the motions.  I could try and describe it to you, but instead, check out the video.  A lot easier than me giving a shitty explanation.

I started with light weight, did a few reps on each side.  And then I just dropped the weight completely.  Not only was it hard just getting up, but keeping decent form was tough too.  Did 3 sets of 5 reps on each side.

Afterwards, we fucked around with some kettlebells, doing some swings and some snatches.  Nothing crazy, but enough to just kind of get me introduced to working with them.  Honestly, I haven't done much with kettlebells ever.

Next, we did a "sprint" workout using ropes, tabata style.  20 seconds of swinging the ropes furiously, then 20 seconds of rest.  Rinse and repeat for 6 sets.

And finally, a simple 100 consecutive jump ropes to finish off the day.

All in all, not my usual type of workout, but it worked.  I really like the get up, and I have no problem mixing in a day with kettlebells and some miscellaneous stuff to round things out.

Then, Sunday evening, my wife and I made a fantastic dinner.  We cooked some chicken wings in italian dressing, broiling them in the oven for an hour.  For sides, my wife blanched some brussel sprouts, then cut them in half and sauteed them in a pan with garlic and oil.  I also sliced a sweet potato into thin medallions, and sauteed those in a pan with a lot of butter and cinnamon.  Near the end, I added some heavy cream and 2 teaspoons of brown sugar.  Popped a cover on it, lowered the heat, and let it cook for another 10-15 minutes.

Overall, the whole thing was one of the best meals I've had in recent memory.

A Weak Bench Day

Benched solo last night, and really sucked it up.  Big time.  I managed 3 sets of flat bench, and 3 sets of incline dumb bell press, but I was feeling weak the whole time.  I did 2 sets of dips too, but I didn't use a 45lb plate.  Sucked.

And just like the little girl that I am, I went home and ate a bunch of valentines day chocolate to make myself feel better.  I'm embarrassed to say it worked... at least until today.

Thursday - 2/14/13
Flat Bench - 3 sets
95x10
135x6
195x3
185x5
185x5

Incline Dumb Bell Press - 3 sets
55s x 8
60s x 5
60s x 5

Weighted Dips - 2 sets
25x9
25x8

Ferrero Rocher and Reeses Pieces - Too Many
Chocolate x 10
Coconut x 10
Peanut Butter x 10,000

Deadlifts and Rows

Monday - 2/11/13
Deadlift - 5 sets
135x10
225x6
305x5
295x5
285x4
275x3

Barbell Row (from deadlift position) - 3 sets
95x10
105x8
105x8

This workout was a little weak, but I was tired as hell from a lack of sleep recently.  I tried a different row position at the suggestion of my buddy James.  I went really light, but it definitely worked.  My back was a sea of pain (in a good way) afterwards.

Next is bench, probably tonight.

Cleans, Press and Front Squat!

As I think I alluded to last week, we decided to switch things up a bit in regards to the clean and press.  Instead of trying (and failing) to correctly perform such a complex movement, without any real coaching, we instead broke the movement down into it's individual parts.  The hang clean, the push press, and the front squat.  We concentrated on form, while doing heavy enough weight that we weren't wasting our time.  Here are my sets.

Tuesday - 2/5/13

Hang Cleans - 4 sets

45x5

95x8

95x8

115x6

115x6

Push Press - 3 sets

95x6

95x6

95x6

Front Squat - 3 sets

95x8

135x6

135x6

Hammer Dumbbell curls - 1 set

35x15 each arm

After this workout my wrists were beat up.  After the hang cleans, I thought my wrists were a little tight.  The push presses (which started resting on our shoulders) destroyed them.  And then the front squats did us in big time.  Afterwards, wrists were really sore, but today they seem to be much better.  

Can't wait for deadlifts again on Thursday.

Squats on Thursday, Laziness over the Weekend

As the title suggests, I squatted on Thursday, and was lazy over the weekend.  My knee has been bothering me, and I'm not sure why.  Maybe I nailed it with the bar when I was doing deadlifts?  I've done that before, but the pain/discomfort hasn't lasted this long.  Also, I think that's something I would remember happening, and I don't.

Either way, the knee was bothering me so I took it a little easy on the back squats.

Thursday - 1/31/13
Squats - 5 sets
135x10
185x6
225x8
235x6
235x6
235x6
235x5

Weighted Chins - 5 sets
30x7
30x5
30x4
25x5
25x3

Man, was I exhausted after the squats.  I went super deep, probably too deep, if you can even do that, and I was cooked afterwards.  The knee was shaky in the first set, but started to feel better as the workout went on.  The chins started strong, but I just ran out of gas near the end.

The next day, my knee was still hurting.  And today, 6 days later, it's still bothering me.  Not serious, but enough that I feel it when I'm going up stairs.