YMCA Seattle Summer Classic: Saturday, June 26th

If any of my friends or family would like to see me compete at my first powerlifting meet, the YMCA Seattle Summer Classic is being held on Saturday, June 26th at the Meredith Mathews East Madison YMCA, located at 1700 23rd Ave. Seattle, WA 98122. Lifting begins at 9am, and there's no telling at this point precisely when I'll begin lifting. However, once I've submitted my entry form, I may be able to get an approximate time for you. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Day Four, Week Two: Board Press

Day four brought me back today to board presses. Last week, 305 was more difficult than 325 was today. Sweet! I'm really hopeful for my upcoming competition, at which I'd like to put up 365.

Speed Bench Board Press Day
Exercise	5/8 2010	5/15 2010	Week Three	Week Four
3-Board Press	135x10	135x10
	225x5	260x5
	255x5	270x5
	270x5	280x5
	280x5	290x5
	290x5	300x5
	300x5	310x3
	305x3	315x3
	305x4	320x3
Push Press	135x4	155x4
	165x4	165x4
	175x4	175x4
	185x3	185x3
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Press	75x12	80x12
	85x12	90x12
	100x8	100x9
Overhead Tricep Extension	140x12 (Y)	140x12 (Y)
	150x10 (Y)	150x11 (Y)
	155x9 (Y)	155x10 (Y)

(Y) Machines at the YMCA

Day Three, Week Two: Deadlifts--Plus New Personal Best!

With day three I returned this morning to deadlifts. Three or four weeks ago I was disappointed at failing to lift what I'd put on the bar. Today, I left the gym excited and encouraged, lifting a new personal best of 485! Next week I'm goin' for 495, baby!

Deadlift Day
Exercise	5/7 2010	5/14 2010	Week Three	Week Four
Deadlift	135x3	135x3
	225x3	225x3
	315x2	315x2
	365x1	375x1
	405x1	415x1
	445x1	455x1
	455x1	470x1
	465x1	485x1
Face Pulls	140x12 (P)	160x12 (P)
	155x12 (P)	170x12 (P)
	170x10 (P)	180x10 (P)
Underhand Pulldown	160x12 (P)	160x12 (P)
	170x11 (P)	170x12 (P)
	175x8 (P)	175x10 (P)
Reverse Curls	55x12	55x12
	60x11	60x12
	65x6	65x8

(P) Machines at the PRO Club

Day Two, Week Two: Heavy Bench Press

Yesterday brought me back to heavy bench presses. Additionally, in preparation for competition I'm pausing with the bar on my chest for a full second before pressing. That really makes it tough, and I was unable to make any progress.

Heavy Bench Day
Exercise	5/5 2010	5/13 2010	Week Three	Week Four
Bench	135x8	135x8
	185x6	185x6
	225x3	245x3
	235x3	255x3
	245x3	265x3
	255x3	275x3
	265x3	285x3
	275x3	295x3
	285x3	305x3
	295x3	315x2
	305x3
	315x2
Medium Grip Incline Press	180x12	185x12
	195x10	195x12
	195x8	205x7
Shoulder Press Machine	50x12*	70x12*
	65x12*	90x12*
	80x12*	110x10*
Triceps Pressdown	90x12 (P)	90x12 (P)
	100x8 (P)	100x10 (P)
	100x7 (P)	100x7 (P)

* Weight is per arm
(P) Machines at the PRO Club

Day One, Week Two: Squats

On Monday I returned to squats. My IT band has been acting up again lately; in the week leading up to this workout the pain had returned with a vengeance. (My therapist has a theory about it, and I'll post about that later.) Fortunately, this workout didn't aggravate it too much.

You'll notice that instead of a 4th working set of 3, I have 3 singles. This is because I accidentally put more weight on than I had intended, which left me weak for the second rep at the intended weight, and my third had to be with still less weight. I'm beginning to think my competition goal for the squat is a bit too high.

Squat Day
Exercise	5/4 2010	5/10 2010	Week Three	Week Four
Squat	135x6	135x6
	225x5	225x5
	275x4	275x4
	315x3	335x3
	350x3	370x3
	385x3	405x3
	415x3	440x1
		425x1
		405x1
Floor Cleans	135x10	145x12
	145x10	155x10
	150x10	165x10
Good-mornings	185x10	195x12
	205x10	215x10
	225x10	235x10
Dumbbell Lunge	30x10	37.5x12
	30x10	37.5x10
	30x10	37.5x10

Day Four, Week One: Board Presses

For day four yesterday I was introduced to board presses, an interesting exercise intended to get rid of so-called "sticking points," that point along the movement of the bench press that's difficult to press past.

Speed Bench Board Press Day
Exercise	5/8 2010	Week Two	Week Three	Week Four
3-Board Press	135x10
	225x5
	255x5
	270x5
	280x5
	290x5
	300x5
	305x3
	305x4
Push Press	135x4
	165x4
	175x4
	185x3
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Press	75x12
	85x12
	100x8
Overhead Tricep Extension	140x12 (Y)
	150x10 (Y)
	155x9 (Y)

(Y) Machines at the YMCA

Day Three, Week One: Deadlifts

With day three I returned a few days ago to deadlifts, which last cycle left me disappointed and discouraged. I felt better this time, and am doing fewer sets. I have two more of these before I leave for Hawaii; I'm hoping I can get up to 495 by then (*crosses fingers*).

Deadlift Day
Exercise	5/7 2010	Week Two	Week Three	Week Four
Deadlift	135x3
	225x3
	315x2
	365x1
	405x1
	445x1
	455x1
	465x1
Face Pulls	140x12 (P)
	155x12 (P)
	170x10 (P)
Underhand Pulldown	160x12 (P)
	170x11 (P)
	175x8 (P)
Reverse Curls	55x12
	60x11
	65x6

(P) Machines at the PRO Club