View All Posts: Craig_Pfisterer
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| » Adventure Time! (Go to post) | 04-03-2011 @ 15:07 | ||
General_ill said:Not checked in for a while but some good stuff going on. How long until your fully back to health. Thanks, I'm practically back to 100% now. Just a few more self tests. | |||
| » Adventure Time! (Go to post) | 04-03-2011 @ 12:03 | ||
Post Edited: 04.03.2011 @ 19:23 PM by Craig_Pfisterer March 03, 2011 - Extra WorkoutDouble Band Leg Curls IW#3'sx30 IW#3'sx30 Rotary Hip Extensions 73.7x25/25 PR+11.3kgs 73.7x25/25 Machine Hip Abductions 54.5x25 PR+9kgs 54.5x25 Belt Squats 47.5x25 PR+11.3kgs 47.5x25 Ankle Chain Weight Lying Leg Curls 5'sx250 Band Face Pulls IW#1'sx100 Band Press Downs IW#1'sx100 Band Straight Arm Lat Pulls IW#1'sx100 Comments: Kind of a stressful day at work so it was good to have an easy workout. Everything went well. I added more weight than I thought I did for the hip extensions but still not bad. Had to take a rest doing abductions so I'll stay at that weight. Belt squats are getting easier. Did all the reps for leg curls with ankle weights with no breaks. Face pulls I only had to take a break once. Hung out with my little sister and dad and ate three burritos at Chipotle. | |||
| » Adventure Time! (Go to post) | 03-03-2011 @ 14:36 | ||
MrSmall said:Nice pressing mate, better edit that 175kg though  Haha, thanks. Meant to put 125kgs. | |||
| » Adventure Time! (Go to post) | 03-03-2011 @ 14:21 | ||
Post Edited: 03.03.2011 @ 14:36 PM by Craig_Pfisterer March 02, 2011 - ME UB Dynamic Warm-ups Axle Push Presses 34x5 47.5x3 61x3 75x3 88.5x3 102x1 111x1 120x1 129x1 PR+6kgs 138x1 PR+15kgs 145x0 125x2 PR+1.5kgs & 1 rep Close Grip Barbell 4-Board Presses 104x3 118x3 131.5x3 145x3 159x3 PR+6.8kgs Neutral Grip Pullups bw+2.3x8 bw+11.3x8 bw+20.4x8 bw+29.5x6 PR+2.3kgs Dual Axis Rear Delt Machine 25x12 29.5x12 34x12 33 Minutes of Stretching Comments: Today was another test of sorts. One part was testing my leg/recovery. Last week my lower back acted up from lifting heavy for my lower body and I had to cut my upper body workout short. The other part was trusting in Dave Ostlund's pressing ideas. I hadn't been following them to a T as I had kept in push pressing for about half of my overhead training. I decided however, right before my injury, to make push pressing a smaller part. Of course after I was injured, it had to go away for a bit completely. When I read one piece where Dave was doing pressing with both 36.3kgs of chain and 54.4kgs of chain, I realized that that was a way to sort of train push press (or at least simulate it) while working on bridging the carry over from strict press to push press. This was still kind of theory though so today would shed light on that. My goal weight was very light as my best push press with an axle was 123kgs. I knew I should be good for more as my best was 129kgs with a log so that was the minimum I'd accept. Weight felt light on the warm-ups so I did a triple with 88.5kgs (supposed to be my first single). Singles were quite easy and I only used the rehband belt which is good since that usually all I use when I do clean and presses. On 129kgs, I noticed I did a little bit of a double dip. I made sure that wasn't the case for the next set. Got psyched and blasted 138kgs up. Awesome. 15kgs PR. Overhead is moving along nicely. I went looking for my hard belt for the next set and I noticed it floating in the air. Or that is what it looked like in the mirror. A young kid, wearing a shirt the same color as my belt, had borrowed it to do some deadlifts. I bemused as he had it all the way to the last cinch in the belt and it was still a bit loose on him. I get teased for having a "girl's belt" because of my narrow waist so you can imagine how small this kid was. I waited until he was done before I asked him if I could borrow my belt back for a set. He seemed a little embrassassed (my belt wasn't in my bag but like a foot away so understandable to think it was gym property). Had a close miss with 145kgs (need more triceps) and lent him back my belt so he could do another set of deadlifts. I sucked on the downset, I lost my balance on the second rep, made the next a grinder to lockout and then only got my left arm near lockout on my next attempt before having to rack it. Had a bit of a break before board presses as I had to return to my car for my bungee cord as well as tear down the weights. Rather than keep hammering away at the weight, I went down 6.8kgs. Only had a little struggle but got a triple with 350lbs for a pr. Going up slow on these. Now I changed things a bit with pullups and I'm going to apply this to my other 4x8 exercises (except for one which I'll explain later). My feeling is that it is harsh to jump into a PR weight on dips and pullups with not much warm-up. One unintended result is that when I get to PR weight on the final set, I'm actually quite fatigued rather than hitting it fresh. Tested out weight for the new rear delt exercise. Went home first rather than stretch as my GHR had arrived and my dad and I were going to take it over to Max Fitness. My kind of final test will be to do one with my bodyweight, without any discomfort or pain, and that will let me know if I'm ready to begin event training again. Glute hams will be 4x8 with straight weight (when I get back to doing them) until I'm strong enough to do them with at least 10lbs added. Did some stretching when I got home. This makes two nights back to back where I've been up past 12. Need to get some sleep. | |||
| » Adventure Time! (Go to post) | 02-03-2011 @ 14:44 | ||
| March 01, 2011 - ME LB Dynamic Warm-ups 15" Rack Deadlifts w/ Light Bands quad No Bands 61x5 84x5 102x3 125x3 143x3 165.5x3 184x3 Add Bands (+184kgs) Add Straps 25x3 43x1 66x1 84x1 106.5x1 129x0 79x5 Rack Suspended Safety Squat Bar Lifts w/ Chains (+70.3kgs) 29.5x3 52x3 70x3 93x3 111x3 134x3 152x3 Hammer Strength Iso-Lateral Kneeling Leg Curls 34x8/8 PR+13.5kgs 34x8/8 34x8/8 34x8/8 Reverse Hyperextensions 91x12 PR+9kgs 91x12 91x12 28 Minutes of Stretching Comments: Milk idea was a bust as I was gassy all day so I'm discontinuing that. I guess I'm back. Left shoulder blade/middle back area was acting up even with the light weight but I wasn't going to let that ruin my training. Was not ready for this band tension haha. Couldn't break 25kgs off the pins without strapping myself to the bar. I was worried it would be a short workout but I got better as I added weight. Missed 129kgs below the knees so not really close. I was upset at the time (I thought my PR from 2" lower was higher than it was) but figured I wasn't quite back yet. I think 125kgs would have went if I had tried that but I was stupid and thought that was my previous PR (actually 120kgs). On my down set as I was getting ready to pull my first rep, my ratchet belt came loose. Oh just great. Just went with it. First rep was really tough and I thought a double would be it today. But I kept my pace slow, focused and took my time and managed to get a fiver. Form felt really good as I was using my body as a lever and getting my legs into it. Took a while to tear down and set up the next exercise. Just calling them lifts as it's not a squat or a goodmorning, it just a get it up any way you can type deal. My plan was go up by 13.5kgs but 29.5kgs was too easy and I went plate-quarter-plate jumps instead. Standing up with the weight sucked as that was when it went from the lower back to middle back and hit that stupid shoulder blade area. Got up to the weight that injured my hamstring (not including chain weight) so a bit of a personal victory there. Then did leg curls and bumped up the weight a considerable amount since the weight last time was really easy and I was doing more for higher reps on my DE LB day. Left leg obviously not as strong as the right yet. My GHR raise arrives tomorrow so I may switch to doing those next week with just bodyweight and work my way up from there. Otherwise, I may do another week of these. I've kind of dropped doing strict reverse hypers and doing them with momentum but not letting the weight control the movement as I'm doing them correctly now (stopping the weight). It was late when I got home so I did some stretching. | |||
| » Adventure Time! (Go to post) | 01-03-2011 @ 03:57 | ||
| I wasn't very hungry yesterday and I tried to get more calories in by eating 1/4kgs of raw almonds and added that to 1kgs of plain yogurt. Bodyweight is almost down 10lbs from what I was before I got injured. I need to redouble my efforts and work on getting more calories in. Going to start adding milk to my shake before bed now. Perhaps that will help some. February 28, 2011 - Extra Workout Band Face Pulls IW#1'sx100 Band Press Downs IW#1'sx100 Band Straight Arm Lat Pulls IW#1'sx100 Ankle Weight Lying Leg Curls 2.3'sx250 Comments: I had been debating over whether to do face pulls instead of lat pulls or to add face pulls as something to the gym based extra workouts or just do both. Went with that option. Had to take a few breaks for the face pulls but none for the other stuff. Right behind the knee on my right leg is a little tender. Probably from working hard with the added leg curl based exercises and volume. My Sling Shot for benching arrived today. Interesting, I'll need to do some testing with it. I'm hearing talk of upcoming contests now and it has me excited. Granted there aren't any event details but at least I have dates now. May 28th will most likely be my first contest back, just waiting to see whether I'm aiming for the Kumite or Battle of the Bad Ass (they're both on the 28th, otherwise I'd be doing both). So three months out at this point and hopefully I'll have time to get in a eight week training in to prep. The other two at the moment are one at Brute Strength Gym on July 2nd and the Cardinal Classic in Michigan on July 23rd. | |||
| » Adventure Time! (Go to post) | 27-02-2011 @ 22:33 | ||
| February 27, 2011 - DE UB Dynamic Warm-ups Close Grip Bench Presses w/ Chains No Chains 20.5x10 Add Chains (+22.6kgs) 20.5x2 43x2 61x2 84x2 107.5x2 107.5x2 107.5x2 107.5x2 107.5x2 107.5x2 107.5x2 107.5x2 Neutral Grip Seated Dumbbell Presses 29.5'sx8 34'sx8 38.5'sx8 43'sx8 PR+2.3kgs Parallel Bar Dips bw+61x8 PR+4.5kgs bw+61x8 bw+61x7 bw+61x7 Bent Over Rear Delt Dumbbell Raises 37.4'sx12 37.4'sx12 37.4'sx12 35 Minutes of Stretching Comments: Strange how my right hamstring was bothering me more than my left today. Things are definitely getting closer to normal, I think. Last day of chains for speed bench, switching to bands. Not much different than last time despite the increase in weight. My abs were quivering as I was setting up for dumbbell stuff. Not sure what that was about. Not bad, 43kgs was going quite well, probably good for at least ten reps if I pushed it but since I was doing just eights this week, I paused the eighth rep. First set of dips was tough, second one not so much. I've reached a point where this exercise won't be increasing every week but that is fine. Got all the reps fairly easy for rear delts so I'm upping the weight next week. | |||
| » Adventure Time! (Go to post) | 27-02-2011 @ 00:31 | ||
| February 26, 2011 - Extra Workout Double Band Leg Curls IW#3'sx30 PR+5 reps IW#3'sx30 Rotary Hip Extensions 62.3x25/25 PR+5.6kgs 62.3x25/25 Machine Hip Abductions 45.5x25 45.5x25 Belt Squats 36x25 36x25 Ankle Chain Weight Lying Leg Curls 5'sx250 Band Press Downs IW#1'sx100 Band Straight Arm Lat Pulls IW#1'sx100 Comments: Got a lot of good sleep. Two sets definitely streamlines everything on the extra workout day. Had to take a break for leg curls on the second set so I'll stay at this rep range for next time. Continuing to push the weight on hip extensions. I had looked at my PR's on abductions and found I was using 45.5kgs for 25 reps several years ago so I knew I had to at least match that. Not bad. Belt squats aren't bad for one set but going for the second set is torturous. Only one break on the ankle weight leg curls and I got all the band stuff with no breaks. Probably bump up the band tension for those. I'm trying to set up some bench marks for my recovery. I hope to be back to 100% on all of my gym work by March 22nd. I want to get back to event training by April 3rd. Finally, I want my first contest back to be either May or July. | |||
| » Adventure Time! (Go to post) | 26-02-2011 @ 04:11 | ||
| February 25, 2011 - DE LB Dynamic Warm-ups 18” Safety Squat Bar Box Squats w/IW#3’s clinched No Bands 27x10 47.5x2 Add Bands (+43kgs) 27x2 47.5x2 70x2 93x2 116x2 116x2 116x2 116x2 116x2 116x2 116x2 116x2 Safety Squat Bar Split Squats 61x10/10 75x10/10 88.5x10/10 Arched Back Stiff-legged Goodmornings 61x8 61x8 61x8 61x8 Single Leg Seated Leg Curls 32x12/12 32x12/12 32x12/12 35 Minutes of Stretching Comments: Doing my best to deal with injury, boredom and frustration. Lower back is loosening up at least. Left calf muscle was still cramping in the morning. I found out why the back extension bench was gone. The locking mechanism had malfunctioned and a friend got hurt when it came loose. So it is either being repaired or thrown away. My dad showed up to talk about contests and training crap I had brought up earlier as well as keep an eye on me so I wouldn't push myself too hard. My plan was speed squats and volume so that wouldn't be tough to stay light. My form was off on box squats for the first two working sets but I got it down pat for the others. Left side of my lower back was being a party pooper but nothing unmanageable. Barely any complaints from the hamstring. Moved on to split squats for reps. These sucked since the bar is on my back for all 20 reps. Quite exhausting. Since the back extension bench is gone for the time being (or forever) I did a super strict style of good morning with an arched back and straight, stiff legs. Since I was new to this and my hamstring is full of suck, I used light weight and worked on staying strict and getting a deep stretch. Seated leg curls were easy and it matches my old PR for them. Finished up with stretching. Ordered a Sling Shot bench band. Should be something different. | |||
| » Adventure Time! (Go to post) | 25-02-2011 @ 02:29 | ||
| February 24, 2011 - Extra Workout Double Band Leg Curls IW#3'sx25 PR+5 reps IW#3'sx25 IW#3'sx25 Rotary Hip Extensions 56.7x25/25 PR+5.6kgs 56.7x25/25 56.7x25/25 Hip Abductions 22.5x25 22.5x25 22.5x25 Belt Squats 25x25 25x25 Ankle Chain Weight Lying Leg Curls 5'sx250 Band Press Downs IW#1'sx100 Band Straight Arm Lat Pulls IW#1'sx100 Comments: Trying to stay positive and keep from mentally tearing myself down. Made some changes to my extra workout stuff. I think that I'll just do two sets instead of three so it goes by a little quicker. Lower back was still stiff but not as bad as yesterday. Looks like the Y got rid of the back extension bench I was used so I'll have to come up with something to replace it. | |||
| » Adventure Time! (Go to post) | 24-02-2011 @ 22:15 | ||
Wiegieboard said:You make that pressing look easy. 45 minutes stretching the other day! How do you feel after that? Are you tender the day after? Thanks. It's all smoke and mirrors. It looks easy but it feels hard haha. Stretching relaxes me and helps my muscles and what not recover. Never really notice anything after. | |||
| » Adventure Time! (Go to post) | 24-02-2011 @ 13:51 | ||
| February 23, 2011 - ME UB Dynamic Warm-ups Barbell Strict Presses w/ Chains No Chains 20.5x10 Add Chains (+32.6kgs) 20.5x5 32x3 43x3 54.5x3 63.5x1 72.5x1 81.5x1 88.5x1 95x0 77x5 Close Grip Barbell 5-Board Presses w/ IW#2's dbl (+77kgs) 61x3 75x3 88.5x3 Comments: Damn it all. Extremely frustrated but I'm trying to calm down and think things through rationally. My lower back was tight, almost feeling compressed. I tried out pressing with 32.6kgs of chain as opposed to 52.6kgs to get a different feel and hopefully bridge the gap between straight weight and chain presses. Would have liked to press more. I felt crappy and called the workout after three sets of 5-board (which were awful) as my back kept hurting. I tried to do some band traction type things to loosen it up to no avail. My hips were also bothering me off and on all day. I noticed that they would ache occassionaly the past few weeks. Same pain I felt on January 2nd when the I first noticed it doing hip thrusts. My hope is that my hamstrings are still weak and my lower back just did way more than it usually does or something. Took a long, hot shower to loosen it up as well as some hip mobility and a lower back and hip massage. Looks like I'm not ready. My little ego trip the day before was stupid and it shows. Going to have to dial it back quite a bit. I'm going to look back through my log to when I had this kind of lower back issue before (much worse then as I couldn't rest it doing manual labor jobs every day) and see how long it took to have it ease up. Balls. | |||
| » Adventure Time! (Go to post) | 23-02-2011 @ 13:30 | ||
| "Remember hamstring when I told you I'd take it easy?" "That's right Craig, you did!" "I lied." "Ahhhhhh!" February 22, 2011 - ME LB Dynamic Warm-ups Deadlifts w/ Light Bands Doubled No Bands 61x5 84x5 102x3 Add Bands (+65.8kgs) 61x3 84x3 102x3 125x3 143x3 165.5x1 184x1 197x1 206x1 215.5x1 188x3 15" Front Squat Harness Box Squats w/ 5" of Foam 61x3 75x3 88.5x3 102x3 115.5x3 Hammer Strength Iso-Lateral Kneeling Leg Curls 20.5x8/8 20.5x8/8 20.5x8/8 20.5x8/8 Strict Reverse Hyperextensions 81.5x12 81.5x12 81.50x12 45 Minutes of Stretching Comments: Things don't always go as planned. More often then not, they won't. I was going to take it light, go 63% and maybe 72% if I felt good today. Today was the first day since the injury that I walked from work to my car (roughly 1/2 mile) which is the most walking in one go I've done by far. Achy at times but felt good some times too. I went to Max Fitness and was messing around with band set ups for deadlifting once I got back to 100%. I brought my scale so I could get accurate readings. Light Bands stretched 6' and anchored by dumbbells gave me 68kgs but since my scale is an inch or so, I subtracted 2.2kgs to get 65.8kgs of band tension. I had my Average Bands too but the Light Bands provided just the right amount of tension. I was curious, so I tried a Louie Deadlift (sumo, arched back stiff leg style) with 61kgs and no issues. Went on to do my dynamic warm-ups and the only time my hamstring was noticeable was the leg swings which was always an issue. I kind of secretly told myself if 102kgs was easy and no twinges, I'd go at it today. Well, three sets later and no twinges, I switched over to the band setup and started working for a max. My hamstring did get sore but it wasn't like it was super tight or it was going to explode. Just sore and weak. Had to use a crappy belt since I didn't bring any of mine today. I expect to do a lot more once I'm 100% back. Good news is my grip was holding in like a champ despite the lay-off. Next I went on to a new exercise, front box squats to foam. Used a narrow stance and no belt since I want to work on my core strength. Very tough, going to have to take it slow on these. Also didn't want to chance it as I wasn't in the power rack for these since that was in use. Used a Hammer Strength machine for leg curls. I'll do these until the GHR arrives and also until I'm doing at least 34kgs for reps. Left leg was sore but the weight was manageable enough that I did all the sets with no rest. Reverse hypers went well. Apparently all the hip extensions I've been doing have great carry over haha. Finished up with a lot of stretching. Took antiinflammatories and iced my leg. Obviously I'm watching it to see if this was too much, too soon. I'll back off accordingly if I must. But it feels good to be lifting somewhat heavy again. | |||
| » Adventure Time! (Go to post) | 21-02-2011 @ 22:42 | ||
| Kind of glad I had off work today since I was beat up from the day before. Incredibly bored, did the next three weeks worth of school work. This down time due to injury has let me see that a lot of things and I don't just mean in regards to training. Most of my social contacts are through strongman/gym interactions and on top of not really being able to talk frequently, this time of year is extremely busy for several friends with many getting ready for the Arnold (both amateur and pro) to new additions to their families, injury and returning to school. I guess the social component is something that most might overlook. Looking back, my training really started to skyrocket when I started training with others. And I miss that. February 21, 2011 - Extra Workout Band Press Downs IW#1'sx100 Band Straight Arm Lat Pulls IW#1'sx100 Ankle Weight Lying Leg Curls 2'sx250 Comments: First time doing all the reps on press downs with no rest. Might continue to stay here or up the band tension to IW#2's. Getting very close to doing the same with the lat pulls. Since I don't have chains at home and 1kgs is just way too light, I secured small dumbbells to my ankles with therabands to add to the ankle weights. Still quite easy but it's going to be after trying out 11lbs on Saturday. Tomorrow will be another testing day for my hamstring as I attempt 63% of my deadlift and 60% for my assistance lifts. | |||
| » Adventure Time! (Go to post) | 20-02-2011 @ 23:35 | ||
Post Edited: 20.02.2011 @ 23:37 PM by Craig_Pfisterer February 20, 2011 - DE UBDynamic Warm-ups Close Grip Bench Presses w/ Chains No Chains 20.5x10 Add Chains (+22.6kgs) 20.5x2 43x2 61x2 84x2 103.5x2 103.5x2 103.5x2 103.5x2 103.5x2 103.5x2 103.5x2 103.5x2 Neutral Grip Seated Dumbbell Presses 32'sx5 36.5'sx5 41'sx5 45.5'sx5 PR+2 reps Parallel Bar Dips bw+56.7x8 bw+56.7x8 bw+56.7x8 bw+56.7x8 Bent Over Rear Delt Dumbbell Raises 37.4'sx12 PR+1kgs 37.4'sx12 37.4'sx12 45 Minutes of Stretching Comments: Quite a few aches today. Left hamstring was tight from yesterdays session and my right bicep was a little achy but no where near as bad as yesterday. Benching went well, although it was a little sloppy at the start. I'm thinking that when I get back to doing normal workouts for the lower body, I will alternate between bands and chains for bench (three week waves) but alternate between barbell and ssb for box squats but always use band tension. Still thinking it over though. Shoulders were a little off, though that might be from having to clean the weights now. Royally screwed up getting the 32kgs dumbbells to my lap. I think the clean knocks off two reps or so off what I can do fresh. Did the bare minimum and got the 45.5kgs dumbbells for five reps. Lower back got real tight during this set. Moved on to dips. First time doing these without propping the weights up on bench. Managed to get all the reps this time so very happy with that. I think once I can do sets of eights with 81.6kgs, I'll be benching over 181.5kgs. Rear delts were off to a rough start as it made my right shoulder blade ache. Not sure what was up with that. Quite a bit tougher but the weight felt much more manageable as the workout. Did a ton of stretching, a lot of emphasis on the hips, glutes and hamstrings. Left one was extremely tight, had to bite my lip some times due to the tension. In other news, I may be co-promoting a contest this year. Still in the planning phase. | |||
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