Oak's "I think ill go pro" training log....

[AustrianOakJr]

I'd like to chime in and say it doesn't get any easier at 40 either, lol. I just find the older you get the more you learn your body. What works for it, what doesn't, and what hurts it. I took about 3 years off from BB flat bench because it put too much stress on my shoulders. But now I'm back doing it and it seems fine with proper warm ups. The body is all give and take.

Yes, I figured if 20 to 30 is definitely noticeable......im just hoping I dont fall right apart by 40! I dont do BB flat bench for that very reason.....it bothers my shoulders to go heavy. DB's seem to do the trick though and decline BB is fine as well. I wish I could figure out a way to make the tendinitis go away in my arms and keep the SI joints from flaring.....id be like a new man!

[AustrianOakJr]

I just wanted to note that walking BB lunges = insanely sore glutes. I think i found the exercise that really engages my glutes.

[rewaste]

Hey Oak just noticed your Thread here Your Deads day is very well put together. Since your not at 40 yet lol I'm there. The Back is amazing in the way it will adapt to the work load. The only injury I've got that hinders my working out on squats is my Shoulders but that was from Being Airborne for 20 years and lots of bad landings with loads that were not that even. I find it real hard to put my arms on the bar during squats unless I warm up my shoulders a bit. I hope that link I shot to you help you I know it is a ball buster

[AustrianOakJr]

Thanks again for that link. I might give it a go. Im actually revising my deadlifting and the plan you sent me would actually work pretty well with it. I am moving my deadlifts to back day instead of ham/glute day. I am going to start doing more glute isolation work and I want to seperate my deadlifts because my low back has a tendency to totally take over on deadlifting leaving my glutes without much of a workout.

[rewaste]

I totally understand. I have good quads my hams have lacked so hitting them 2 times a week now is working great. I really want to add some size to my hams and As my wife says grow that Ass lol.

[JimmyChitwood]

Yea, I am looking at an inzer belt that looks exactly the same as Chris'. I might opt to spend the money on that....or there is one in the 30 dollar range on ebay that looks exactly like the one you listed there......except I can get it my size. But i agree a ducktaped, dungeon belt would look good though......especially if I cut myself while drilling new holes and bled all over it. Now THAT would be tough.

I'm not surprised you're wussing out on the dungeon belt idea. Actually...it would look no worse than Chris's. But I hear you on buying the one that fits (even though "ebay" on your credit card statement doesn't look as cool as "House of Pain"). Do what you gotta.

I laughed out loud when I read this. Good stuff. You must be right in the midst of the ole' diet, getting ready to tear it up for the Masters debut in March, eh?

I laughed out loud when I saw how he parks his belt on a purple pillow and snaps close-ups of it.

I just wanted to note that walking BB lunges = insanely sore glutes. I think i found the exercise that really engages my glutes.

Who tol' ya? JIMMY tol' ya. You owe me money.

[AustrianOakJr]

I'm not surprised you're wussing out on the dungeon belt idea. Actually...it would look no worse than Chris's. But I hear you on buying the one that fits (even though "ebay" on your credit card statement doesn't look as cool as "House of Pain"). Do what you gotta..

Well, I actually bought the cheapie from BB.com - its like 20 bucks and looks every bit as good (or bad) as the house of pain. But still "House of PAIN" > "BB.com" on the statement. I put my request in with jo for the Cardillo belt so we'll see what happens with that. I cant justify dropping 80 bucks on it for myself so it'll have to come as a gift.

Who tol' ya? JIMMY tol' ya. You owe me money.

Well you are LUCKY it worked, OK? LU-CKY.

Actually, I was thinking I was going to re-arrange my schedule and put my ham and glute isolation on mondays.......But I am still having a hard time walking.....let alone training them again today. So thats not gonna work this week. I had to deadlift my giant old Ariens snowblower into the back of my truck last night by myself and my hams and glutes were locked on for the rest of the night screaming at me. I got the snowblower in the truck though......and thats the important thing.

[kcjoynt]

Subbed! Really good stuff in here, walking lunges definitely bring the pain..

[JimmyChitwood]

Well, I actually bought the cheapie from BB.com - its like 20 bucks and looks every bit as good (or bad) as the house of pain. But still "House of PAIN" > "BB.com" on the statement. I put my request in with jo for the Cardillo belt so we'll see what happens with that. I cant justify dropping 80 bucks on it for myself so it'll have to come as a gift.

I'm sure it'll be fine for guys like you and I. Or for me, at least. I wouldn't know the difference between a great belt and an OK belt without asking anyway, and probably won't unless I get all crazed about powerlifting.

I had to deadlift my giant old Ariens snowblower into the back of my truck last night by myself and my hams and glutes were locked on for the rest of the night screaming at me. I got the snowblower in the truck though......and thats the important thing.

Shweet. My snowblower must weigh 300 pounds or so, and is awkward as all get-out to try to pick up. DLing that puppy would be a pretty meaty move. Nice going.

I had to rearrange my week too. I guess I did one too many sets for legs Friday, 'cause they were still whining at me this morning.

[AustrianOakJr]

Subbed! Really good stuff in here, walking lunges definitely bring the pain..

Great....good to see you.

I'm sure it'll be fine for guys like you and I. Or for me, at least. I wouldn't know the difference between a great belt and an OK belt without asking anyway, and probably won't unless I get all crazed about powerlifting. .

Yep....the heavy lifting is just a means to an end for me. I suppose a PL meet would be fun to try, but I just dont see myself as a PL'er.

Shweet. My snowblower must weigh 300 pounds or so, and is awkward as all get-out to try to pick up. DLing that puppy would be a pretty meaty move. Nice going..

Well, I cheated a bit.....if im being honest. I got underneith it and got it up off the ground, but my dang tailgate was too tall and required me to not only deadlift the snowblower but also curl it to get it up there so I had to set it down. Then I set the handlebars on the back of the gate and leveraged it up there with a little power clean/shoulder press action. All while yelling "AAAAARRRRRR" and fist pumping like I set a PR or something. It was cool.

I had to rearrange my week too. I guess I did one too many sets for legs Friday, 'cause they were still whining at me this morning.

Well tell them to "STOP WHINING"!

[AustrianOakJr]

HAMS AND GLUTES

I did a little ham and glute work last night. Decent session. I tried doing the glute bridges and pull throughs first. I would still like to figure out a way to completely seperate my glute and ham isolation work from my deadlifts but putting those DL's on my back day makes for three days where legs are getting hit pretty hard and I am not recovering fast enough.

Single Leg Glute Bridges

BW X 12
12kg Kettle X 12
16kg kettle X 12

PULL THROUGHS

1/4 stack X 15
1/2 stack X 15
Whole stack X 15

SUMO DL's

225 x 10
315 x 10
315 x 10
315 x 10
315 x 10 (rest pause for last two)

LEG CURLS

90 X 10
105 X 8
120 X 4 (long negative - forced failure)

*45 X 8
*45 X 8 (w/ forced reps)
* Toes out straight, very strict

[kcjoynt]

HAMS AND GLUTES

I did a little ham and glute work last night. Decent session. I tried doing the glute bridges and pull throughs first. I would still like to figure out a way to completely seperate my glute and ham isolation work from my deadlifts but putting those DL's on my back day makes for three days where legs are getting hit pretty hard and I am not recovering fast enough.

Single Leg Glute Bridges

BW X 12
12kg Kettle X 12
16kg kettle X 12

PULL THROUGHS

1/4 stack X 15
1/2 stack X 15
Whole stack X 15

SUMO DL's

225 x 10
315 x 10
315 x 10
315 x 10
315 x 10 (rest pause for last two)

LEG CURLS

90 X 10
105 X 8
120 X 4 (long negative - forced failure)

*45 X 8
*45 X 8 (w/ forced reps)
* Toes out straight, very strict

That looks like it's going to equal a sore posterior tomorrow...

[JPlevell]

Impressive work outs in here...

[AustrianOakJr]

That looks like it's going to equal a sore posterior tomorrow...

My hammies are sore but its nothing like after I did lunges last week. Gonna hit them again on friday!

Impressive work outs in here...

Thanks.....Im always aiming to impress.

[JimmyChitwood]

Well tell them to "STOP WHINING"!

I did. Hit legs again yesterday. Brought one of my consultants with me who expressed interest in training with me - apparently inspired by my progress this spring/summer. It was pretty funny.

[AustrianOakJr]

I did. Hit legs again yesterday. Brought one of my consultants with me who expressed interest in training with me - apparently inspired by my progress this spring/summer. It was pretty funny.

Funny how? Was he crushed beneath a squat bar?

[AustrianOakJr]

DEM LEGZ...

Another day in the dungeon. I hit legs again today and I hit them HARD. Im gonna hurt tomorrow. I think I have hit a bit of a stride with my diet being on the money, keeping my weight steady, energy high, and injuries at bay (except my elbow). I set a PR with my leg press today and got 9 pps X 11. BAM. I did lunges again this week and I was noticeably stronger than last week. I took a vid to check my form.....I probably should have done it on the set before since this was really an extra set I threw in for the sake of the video. BUt, figured I would throw it up.

LEG PRESS

6 pps X 12
8 pps X 12
9 pps X 11 (PR)
9 pps X 7

WALkING BB LUNGES

135 X 20 steps
155 X 20 steps
165 X 16 steps
165 X 10 steps

LEG EXTENSIONS

Most stack X 10 (big squeeze and long negative)
Most stack X 8-9 (same)
SINGLE LEG, HALF STACK X LONG TUT X "enough to make it hurt real bad"



done

[coloBB]

nice work man. I miss doing walking BB lunges at my old gym... nothing quite like them!

[AustrianOakJr]

So we have been having a problem with a strange odor in our house for the past week or so. It was driving us absolutely insane. It would be there for a an hour and then gone for the rest of the day and then pop back up (seemingly randomly) at some other time. I was going absolutely nuts trying to figure it out. I thought it was a musty smell coming from our basement so I am down there spending hours throwing out anything and everything that looked musty (old boxes in storage).......im scrubbing the floors and walls with bleach and mold blocker......I bought a dehumidifier to dry the air.......Then, I bought a mold test kit for our living space which came up negative so I figured that couldnt be the problem. Next I realized the smell was seeping through our vents so I started taking duct work apart and I discovered there was a HUGE intake air leak in the basement which explained why the smell was coming through the vents. So I fixed the leak.

Finally, after about a week of these handstands I finally correlated the smell with my shower time (no, im not THAT stinky). So I thought......maybe its the hot water heater? So I took my shower and then went immediately down stairs and stuck my nose in the exhaust pipe inlet of the water heater........and I almost died right there and then. Almost passed out on the concrete floor. So there it was. Unfortunately I had to run to work. So I got to work and I was asking a colleague of mine who knows a lot more about hot water heaters than I and he said that I better get back home b/c if I am smelling whats coming out of the water heater that means the exhaust is blocked and CO is leaking into the basement. Now, what really had me freaked out is that my daughter got sick about two days prior so now im thinking shes had a dose of CO. So I ditch work and come home to yank the pipe out of the wall. And what I found is picture below:



This is a picture of a dead, toasty squirrel's face plastered up against the inlet funnel of the water heater exhaust. I took this pipe off and it was the most rancid smell I have encountered. I had to pry this squirrel out of its resting place only to find one more squirrel behind it.....yes TWO dead freaking squirrels in the pipe. I was gagging on the odor it was so bad. So long story even longer......I got them out, cleaned the piping with bleach, and reassembled the whole thing and now my house smells nice again.....well, except for my bad gas, but thats another story. As for my daughter, the doctor said that because she had a fever and the amount of CO from that heater is pretty small (and in the basement) and our CO monitor was reading 0 ppm then it is in most likelihood just a virus she had. I went out and bought another CO monitor just to double check the readings on the first and we are good to go. But MAN....what a battle. I just had to share that because I thought its was ridiculously gross and funny at the same time.

[AustrianOakJr]

nice work man. I miss doing walking BB lunges at my old gym... nothing quite like them!

I am really loving them.....I think this exercise may be what I have been missing for a while. I am so sore AGAIN....the glutes are just wrecked.

[Big G6]

So we have been having a problem with a strange odor in our house for the past week or so. It was driving us absolutely insane. It would be there for a an hour and then gone for the rest of the day and then pop back up (seemingly randomly) at some other time. I was going absolutely nuts trying to figure it out. I thought it was a musty smell coming from our basement so I am down there spending hours throwing out anything and everything that looked musty (old boxes in storage).......im scrubbing the floors and walls with bleach and mold blocker......I bought a dehumidifier to dry the air.......Then, I bought a mold test kit for our living space which came up negative so I figured that couldnt be the problem. Next I realized the smell was seeping through our vents so I started taking duct work apart and I discovered there was a HUGE intake air leak in the basement which explained why the smell was coming through the vents. So I fixed the leak.

Finally, after about a week of these handstands I finally correlated the smell with my shower time (no, im not THAT stinky). So I thought......maybe its the hot water heater? So I took my shower and then went immediately down stairs and stuck my nose in the exhaust pipe inlet of the water heater........and I almost died right there and then. Almost passed out on the concrete floor. So there it was. Unfortunately I had to run to work. So I got to work and I was asking a colleague of mine who knows a lot more about hot water heaters than I and he said that I better get back home b/c if I am smelling whats coming out of the water heater that means the exhaust is blocked and CO is leaking into the basement. Now, what really had me freaked out is that my daughter got sick about two days prior so now im thinking shes had a dose of CO. So I ditch work and come home to yank the pipe out of the wall. And what I found is picture below:



This is a picture of a dead, toasty squirrel's face plastered up against the inlet funnel of the water heater exhaust. I took this pipe off and it was the most rancid smell I have encountered. I had to pry this squirrel out of its resting place only to find one more squirrel behind it.....yes TWO dead freaking squirrels in the pipe. I was gagging on the odor it was so bad. So long story even longer......I got them out, cleaned the piping with bleach, and reassembled the whole thing and now my house smells nice again.....well, except for my bad gas, but thats another story. As for my daughter, the doctor said that because she had a fever and the amount of CO from that heater is pretty small (and in the basement) and our CO monitor was reading 0 ppm then it is in most likelihood just a virus she had. I went out and bought another CO monitor just to double check the readings on the first and we are good to go. But MAN....what a battle. I just had to share that because I thought its was ridiculously gross and funny at the same time.

I remember when my Granny would make squirrel gravy for breakfast. Ah the good ole days and what a wonderful aroma. LOL Seriously though, she did make good squirrel gravy. I bet that was a rancid smell. We bought a house once that attracted rats like crazy because of openings in the crawl space. Long story short, 11 rats about 8-10 inches long and dead over a few months and I had to crawl around down there on my back and belly getting them out. You cannot low crawl fast enough while dragging dead and dying rats. I feel your pain, but at least you only had to do it once and not several times like i had to.

[AustrianOakJr]

I remember when my Granny would make squirrel gravy for breakfast. Ah the good ole days and what a wonderful aroma. LOL Seriously though, she did make good squirrel gravy. I bet that was a rancid smell. We bought a house once that attracted rats like crazy because of openings in the crawl space. Long story short, 11 rats about 8-10 inches long and dead over a few months and I had to crawl around down there on my back and belly getting them out. You cannot low crawl fast enough while dragging dead and dying rats. I feel your pain, but at least you only had to do it once and not several times like i had to.

I have never had squirrel, and I do like game meat.......but it probably wont happen after this episode unless im starving to death and stuck in the woods.....and even then.....I dont know...

Yea, I gotta get up on the roof and put a cage over the top of the chimney so the little jerks dont get back down there.......im not doing that again.

[tsajdak]

I have never had squirrel, and I do like game meat.......but it probably wont happen after this episode unless im starving to death and stuck in the woods.....and even then.....I dont know...

Yea, I gotta get up on the roof and put a cage over the top of the chimney so the little jerks dont get back down there.......im not doing that again.

Man, I can't imagine what that smell must been like once you took that stack apart. What a relief once you found it and got it remedied though. And good job on those lunges, good to see your back holding up.

[JimmyChitwood]

Walking lunges looked pretty good, by the way. You were getting a little bit of lean in there on a couple reps, but like you said...it was an extra set tossed in at the end anyway. Glad to hear the booty likes em.

Haa!! Great story w/ the squirrels. Can't believe you let the meat go to waste, though. High protein, low fat food source. Way to let the family down, ya hump.

You had me laughing there. Reminded me of Christmas Vacation when Griswold asked "what's that smell?" and cousin Eddy elbows him in the ribs... "Fried pussycat. Heh heh heh."

[Work-Hard]

[Work-Hard]

This is what your story reminded me of...

[AustrianOakJr]

Man, I can't imagine what that smell must been like once you took that stack apart. What a relief once you found it and got it remedied though. And good job on those lunges, good to see your back holding up.

It was disgusting.....actually, I just wheeled the garbage can to the curb and after three days of sitting out in the cold they were still wreaking up a good 5 foot radius around the can.....freaking disgusting.

Walking lunges looked pretty good, by the way. You were getting a little bit of lean in there on a couple reps, but like you said...it was an extra set tossed in at the end anyway. Glad to hear the booty likes em.

Yes, I was feeling the lean......form suffers a bit on the last few reps of each set.

Haa!! Great story w/ the squirrels. Can't believe you let the meat go to waste, though. High protein, low fat food source. Way to let the family down, ya hump.

Funny how there seems to be this automatic response programmed deep within our being to just RUN away from that rancid smell. There would be no hunger great enough that would allow me to overcome the gag reflex that smell brings about.

You had me laughing there. Reminded me of Christmas Vacation when Griswold asked "what's that smell?" and cousin Eddy elbows him in the ribs... "Fried pussycat. Heh heh heh."

This is what your story reminded me of...

HA! Love that movie......makes me want to run out and rent it.

[Work-Hard]

Yeah, its a huge hit in our house. My wife makes me watch it about three times a week between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Our christmas movie rotation consists of

1. Christmas Vacation
2. Home Alone
3. Planes Trains and Automobiles
4. Elf
5. A Christmas Story
6. Scrooged (with Bill Murray)

[fltallpaul]

So you only train legs these days huh? Seems that way but I know how badly you want that overall so its great to see you putting in the work.

As for the squirrel...it makes me sad. They are nice animals which give my dog hours of enjoyment as she hopelessly chases them around the park...so far she is 0 for 759, but overly optimistic.

[Work-Hard]

So you only train legs these days huh? Seems that way but I know how badly you want that overall so its great to see you putting in the work.

As for the squirrel...it makes me sad. They are nice animals which give my dog hours of enjoyment as she hopelessly chases them around the park...so far she is 0 for 759, but overly optimistic.

Paul have you seen the movie "UP" My daughter loves it and you story reminded me of it.