Equipment Crew- Part II

[Essexlad]

yes, i have used one once. i liked it, i got 400 for 2 reps on a 3 board. i planned on training with one after the meet today, but now i gotta rethink my plan. i might lift raw, following whatever training plan i decide on, then use a shirt and work my way up in it. i didn't do well at the meet this morning (raw), so i have to decide how seriously i wanna work a shirt or if i want to get in a shirt and work my raw bench secondary. decisions, decisions...

i weighed in at 187, lifted in the 198s. if i stay raw, i might drop to 181 for the meet in october. i missed my opener of 275 all 3 attempts, so i didn't even get to deadlift. first time i bombed out a meet, it sucks.

if i lift raw or in a shirt, i need to get back to lifting seriously and stop making excuses- no time, too much work, etc. ain't gonna cut it anymore. i was just lifting for prs today, no records, so i wasn't really under any pressure, i just punked out.

Sorry to hear that. We all have off days, especially if like Keet said you've had a lot of other pressures. Just use as fuel to really push for October!

For what it's worth I think if you've still got unfinished goals raw, hold off on a shirt for now, but that's me.

[animalfan]

I have to be honest, I haven't followed your workouts to the letter.....but haven't you been dealing with a lot of extra work, a lot of drive time, little time with your family, sporadic workouts, and being forced to work out at work with relatively inferior (if not at least just different) equipment?

I'm not trying to make excuses for you, you know where you're at and whether this is really the problem; but I think its conceivable you haven't been training under the best conditions. I know you're disappointed, but I wouldn't be too hard on yourself.

If this is really that important to you (competing and making those records), then do what you need to do.....but seriously is there much more changes you can make? You have to work and its not worth losing out on time with your family that is currently at a premium....

I feel for you and realize you're disappointed, but you seem a little taxed as it is. Just remember.....you're already a strong mofo!!

well yea, those are all factors, i just think i haven't been using the time i do have to lift as effectively as i could. i've been kinda half-assing it lately, not really following a real "plan". the records aren't really that important, but progress is (to me, most of my team are chasing and setting records, but they can).

i know that i'm not gonna be an elite lifter, even under the best of conditions i don't think i could cut it. i just compete for the fun/challenge and to know i'm making progress.

DUDE! You had the had the nads to get up there in front of many onlookers and give it a go. A winner no matter what the outcome.

How painful was the shirt the first time? I saw a guy get completely
welted up from his first time.It looked like JF did burnouts on his chest with his mazda.The back of his arms were still welted a week later.I gotta wonder if it was just too small for him or that is just what happens at first.

the shirt wasn't that painfull, but it was a little loose. i did have welt marks on my triceps for a few days, though.

Sorry to hear that. We all have off days, especially if like Keet said you've had a lot of other pressures. Just use as fuel to really push for October!

For what it's worth I think if you've still got unfinished goals raw, hold off on a shirt for now, but that's me.

i think i am going to work in the shirt after raw workouts- i've heard and read it will help with my raw work (at the top of the movement/lockout) anyway. i will be hitting my raw bench hard, though- my weakness is off the chest. if i can bring that up, i should be good.

anyway, thanks a lot guys- i just needed to vent and my wife wasn't getting it. i just wanted to btch for a few minutes without someone telling me how good i did.

[yankeemarko1]

Don't be too hard on yourself Animal. I've found that just missing a couple days or deviating from my routine completely screws with my lifts. When my AC was out, I didn't lift Wed - Sat. I missed 3 days. When I came back on Monday, my chest workout sucked. But, as the week went on, it got better.

Moral of the story? Even if you have to shorten up your workout, maybe getting in some work is better than none.

[animalfan]

Don't be too hard on yourself Animal. I've found that just missing a couple days or deviating from my routine completely screws with my lifts. When my AC was out, I didn't lift Wed - Sat. I missed 3 days. When I came back on Monday, my chest workout sucked. But, as the week went on, it got better.

Moral of the story? Even if you have to shorten up your workout, maybe getting in some work is better than none.

thanks bro.

i did end up having a nice weekend, though. my wife and i left for toledo about 3 on friday. we took the dog to a boarding place, dropped the kids off at my mom's, and took off. we checked into the hotel and went over to the mudhens game. that was a good time, even though they lost. all the good players from there are wearing tigers uniforms now

saturday morning we went to the gym in monroe for weigh ins, then went to breakfast. after i was done stinking up the meet, we walked around a few malls and ate some a huge hamburger. also drank a couple beers... then we went to a movie- watched "grown ups" with adam sandler, was a hilarious movie. after that, we hung out in the hotel room. this morning we ate at ihop (love that place), drove home, picked up the kids and the dog and ate dinner. tomorrow it's back to normal

[buffbrown21]

thanks bro.

i did end up having a nice weekend, though. my wife and i left for toledo about 3 on friday. we took the dog to a boarding place, dropped the kids off at my mom's, and took off. we checked into the hotel and went over to the mudhens game. that was a good time, even though they lost. all the good players from there are wearing tigers uniforms now

saturday morning we went to the gym in monroe for weigh ins, then went to breakfast. after i was done stinking up the meet, we walked around a few malls and ate some a huge hamburger. also drank a couple beers... then we went to a movie- watched "grown ups" with adam sandler, was a hilarious movie. after that, we hung out in the hotel room. this morning we ate at ihop (love that place), drove home, picked up the kids and the dog and ate dinner. tomorrow it's back to normal

Sounds like a good weekend brother (except that Grownups movie...God that sucked, I didnt laugh a single time).
Dont worry about that one competition, everbody has bad days. I am always impressed with your enthusiasm to compete with yourself and continue to try to set new PRs, in front of strangers, no less.
Keep your head up.

[animalfan]

Sounds like a good weekend brother (except that Grownups movie...God that sucked, I didnt laugh a single time).
Dont worry about that one competition, everbody has bad days. I am always impressed with your enthusiasm to compete with yourself and continue to try to set new PRs, in front of strangers, no less.
Keep your head up.

what?!? must be different humor than you like- it was right up my alley...

thanks buff.

[Jimbo.]

thanks bro.

i did end up having a nice weekend, though. my wife and i left for toledo about 3 on friday. we took the dog to a boarding place, dropped the kids off at my mom's, and took off. we checked into the hotel and went over to the mudhens game. that was a good time, even though they lost. all the good players from there are wearing tigers uniforms now

saturday morning we went to the gym in monroe for weigh ins, then went to breakfast. after i was done stinking up the meet, we walked around a few malls and ate some a huge hamburger. also drank a couple beers... then we went to a movie- watched "grown ups" with adam sandler, was a hilarious movie. after that, we hung out in the hotel room. this morning we ate at ihop (love that place), drove home, picked up the kids and the dog and ate dinner. tomorrow it's back to normal

sorry the meet didn't go well, man. sounds like a good weekend other than that. I've been wanting to see that 'grown ups' it looks pretty funny.

[jfindon]

Yeah I doubt I'd ever perform well at a meet, I would psyche myself out in no time. Sucks it didn't go well, but I'd imagine just getting out there again will help for your next event.

I don't really want to see Grown Ups, but I did eat at the clam place that's featured in the movie. I guess it's the scene where they're all eating together, I went there on my latest vacation to Cape Ann. Didn't know about it until I got there, their food was great. (edit: Woodman's of Essex, that's what it's called.)

Also set up a doctor appointment for tomorrow, hopefully all is decent with me. Still having the same headache, it hasn't gotten any better. Maybe it's sinus related since I've had trouble with them before.

I am feeling completely weak and useless after my extended break, I feel like I haven't lifted in a month. I'm not looking forward to seeing how weak I got, but I'm going to drop 10lbs on bench and hopefully not struggle too much tonight. I don't want to keep up with my last weight in case I strain too hard and kill myself if this head **** is more than I think.

I seriously hate breaks. I've been in a bad mood all week and haven't even been reading much here because I was depressed I couldn't work out.

[dparty82]

Yeah I doubt I'd ever perform well at a meet, I would psyche myself out in no time. Sucks it didn't go well, but I'd imagine just getting out there again will help for your next event.

I don't really want to see Grown Ups, but I did eat at the clam place that's featured in the movie. I guess it's the scene where they're all eating together, I went there on my latest vacation to Cape Ann. Didn't know about it until I got there, their food was great. (edit: Woodman's of Essex, that's what it's called.)

Also set up a doctor appointment for tomorrow, hopefully all is decent with me. Still having the same headache, it hasn't gotten any better. Maybe it's sinus related since I've had trouble them before.

I am feeling completely weak and useless after my extended break, I feel like I haven't lifted in a month. I'm not looking forward to seeing how weak I got, but I'm going to drop 10lbs on bench and hopefully not struggle too much tonight. I don't want to keep up with my last weight in case I strain too hard and kill myself if this head **** is more than I think.

I seriously hate breaks. I've been in a bad mood all week and haven't even been reading much here because I was depressed I couldn't work out.

Dang....Hope you feel better and everythings ok with the doc. Would hate to have some bad news fall onto you. I know breaks are a pain in the ass sometimes but I'm sure you will jump right back where you were in no time. Good luck tomorrow.

[jfindon]

Dang....Hope you feel better and everythings ok with the doc. Would hate to have some bad news fall onto you. I know breaks are a pain in the ass sometimes but I'm sure you will jump right back where you were in no time. Good luck tomorrow.

Thanks, appreciate it.

Tonight's session wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, I figured I'd struggle with 285lbs but I didn't. There was a noticeable difference though since I couldn't stay tight enough thanks to pressure building in my head, so I was still a bit off. It was easy though.

Bench
135x10
225x5

285x5
285x5
285x5
285x5
285x5
Add 3-board
315x3
315x3
315x3

DB Flyes

75x8
75x8
75x8


Depending on what the doctor tells me I'll be taking it very easy on deads tomorrow.

[4MEandThem]

I was holding the boards tonight for a 3 board press at close to 600lb
and the bar slipped out of the lifters grip and bounced off the boards.

Holy Sheep Dip Batman!

Quick spotters and a lot of luck. The lifter walked away like nothing happened. He was trying a different bench shirt and it screwed with his grip and width.(he went back to his old shirt)

Also funny to see lifts where lifters can't get the bar to their chest because the weight isn't heavy enough to compensate for the shirt.

[animalfan]

jfindon- hope everything works out alright at the doctor. please let us know what ya find out.

i got some good news today: we finally found someone to watch my kids for a couple hours in the morning, so it looks like i'll be going to 3rd shift. i kinda wanted to go to first, but i think 3rd will work out better. i've just got to wait for the transfer paperwork to go through and i'm good. as long as it takes place by the end of the month i'll be happy.

i'll get to see my kids when school starts back up, i won't have to miss all of my son's baseball and hockey, see my wife every day, and the overtime will be easier to deal with. i will also be able to use my gym again, and probably be able to fit an extra workout in with the team.

deadlifts tomorrow after work, i'm excited to do them more than usual. probably because i wasn't able to deadlift in the meet

[animalfan]

I was holding the boards tonight for a 3 board press at close to 600lb
and the bar slipped out of the lifters grip and bounced off the boards.

Holy Sheep Dip Batman!

Quick spotters and a lot of luck. The lifter walked away like nothing happened. He was trying a different bench shirt and it screwed with his grip and width.(he went back to his old shirt)

Also funny to see lifts where lifters can't get the bar to their chest because the weight isn't heavy enough to compensate for the shirt.

it's crazy, isn't it? i have been helping with side spotting for the heavy stuff at the gym, and did it in the meet saturday (just for my team). luckily we haven't had anything like that happen when i was there, but we're always ready for it.

the first rep i tried in a shirt dove over my face, the 2nd went towards my feet. it's weird how a shirt makes your grove so different. and yea, when you have to literally pull the weight to your chest or boards, it's a totally different movement.

[PullBig]

Hey guys im back. Been busy. Anyone know someone looking for a gym mine is going for sale as much as I dont care for the idea.

[darkfact]

jfindon- did you ever get a quote on revolvers?

I'm kind of afraid at how much more they will cost now compared to what I paid several years ago.

I'm waiting for my 3x3 efs rack to arrive so I can sell my old ptec, should be here in a couple weeks. And I just ordered a welded flat bench. Next I'm either gonna get a commercial ghd or finally double my revolvers. I'd like to just get the plates over with but it's hard to justify the cost when the main thing I need it for is the leg press. And right now I'm doing back squats and front squats before I leg press so I only use about 600lbs of plates on heavier days, more like 500ish on high rep days, but I only have 630lbs of plates so it's getting iffy even then.

I wish I didn't like ivanko so much...

[Accutron]

Hey guys im back. Been busy. Anyone know someone looking for a gym mine is going for sale as much as I dont care for the idea.

Thats too bad, why the change?

[PullBig]

Thats too bad, why the change?

Joined the army and dont want to move it.

[jfindon]

jfindon- did you ever get a quote on revolvers?

I'm kind of afraid at how much more they will cost now compared to what I paid several years ago.

I'm waiting for my 3x3 efs rack to arrive so I can sell my old ptec, should be here in a couple weeks. And I just ordered a welded flat bench. Next I'm either gonna get a commercial ghd or finally double my revolvers. I'd like to just get the plates over with but it's hard to justify the cost when the main thing I need it for is the leg press. And right now I'm doing back squats and front squats before I leg press so I only use about 600lbs of plates on heavier days, more like 500ish on high rep days, but I only have 630lbs of plates so it's getting iffy even then.

I wish I didn't like ivanko so much...

Nah, I haven't had time to call him as of late. I'll get around to it some time. I was waiting to hear back from HomeGymCentral but there's yet another company who doesn't reply to emails. I don't know what it is with weightlifting companies, but I won't bother with them again.

Just got back from the doctor, somehow I had a fever of 100.1 and they think it's a bad sinus infection, said I've likely had it for awhile which makes sense given the **** I try hacking up. I thought that was just a side effect from my sinus surgery though. The fever might be because I was chewing gum, I know mint gum can raise your mouth temp and I chew hard as hell, I can feel excess heat pretty easily. I'll take my own temp a little later.

Anyway, I asked if I should take it easy on the weight and he asked me what I thought, so I guess I don't have to refrain from anything. Need to take some Sudafed or Dayquil or something, got a prescription I can't read. Thanks for the well wishes though, now that I am fairly certain I won't die of a brain hemorrhage I can resume my heavy lifts.

[darkfact]

Joined the army and dont want to move it.

That will do it. I was in the army for 10 years. There's always people willing to lift with you especially if you're big, there'll be alot of people who will want to train with you. And some of the best gyms I've seen exist in the military, I'd bet there's some that could rival the big college athlete only gyms.

I really started getting serious about a home gym near the end of my career and it's been growing bigger and bigger every year since I've been out (4 now). I always had 2-3 people I'd be training while in the army (the benefit to me was just having a workout partner), but now in the civilian world it seems I'd have to literally drag someone in the gym to find a partner. Thank god for power racks lol.

[PullBig]

Yea I went up to look around Drum and they have a very nice gym.

[darkfact]

The last place I was stationed was ft polk, LA. The main post gym had the full line of bodymaster equipment and probably around half of the hammer strength catalog. It was huge and a blast to work out at. Plus the cardio area and weight areas were divided by basketball courts with dividers on either side, I hate when those areas are mashed together.

[jfindon]

Well the doctor did suggest I take it easy, so I did this tonight :

Deadlifts
135x10
225x5

400x3
400x3
400x3
500x3(PR)

Not much of a PR since I've never tried anything more than a single rep, but it felt pretty good. First rep was easy but as I started the second one the weight rolled forward and threw me off for the last two reps. Head was hurting, but good for that and a week off.





No pull-ups because those really pressurize my head.

[animalfan]

first workout since the meet:

deadlift: 135x10, 185,225,275,315x5, 365x3, 405x3, 415x2, 425x2x2, 435x1x3, 405,365x5
pullups: 7 sets of 5

got out of work early and hit the gym. wanted to get a quick deadlift session in before i came home and played with the kids for a bit.

[hellzlegend]

checkin in.
I've not been here for a long time. I've been pretty busy with studying SAT and other crap.
btw, is blaze still active here? I haven't seen him active in craigslist lately. Maybe cause I don't check now.
Hope everyone is doing alright.

[Accutron]

Thats really good bro, are you wearing a belt?

[animalfan]

Thats really good bro, are you wearing a belt?

i don't think j wears a belt.

how have you been, bro? haven't seen you around much.

[jfindon]

Thats really good bro, are you wearing a belt?

Thanks. animal's right, no belt.

[Accutron]

how have you been, bro? haven't seen you around much.

Not as good as JFin dl 500 with no belt, but Im doing okay.



Hope all is well with you, and you guys are having a good summer.

Im going to an antique car show tonight so that should be fun.

[Jimbo.]

Man, I was going through some of the early pages of the power rack thread... there are a bunch of dead links and racks that dont seem to exist anymore. Should we start a new one? It seems like whenever a new thread gets started that should be stuck it doesn't happen. The mod presence here is kinda disappointing. I know ctg posts quite a bit and it seems like he is the only one who stickies anything in here. But damn, thats gotta be frustrating for someone looking for a rack when we send them to that thread and the first 10 pages have a bunch of non working links.

[Keetman]

Man, I was going through some of the early pages of the power rack thread... there are a bunch of dead links and racks that dont seem to exist anymore. Should we start a new one? It seems like whenever a new thread gets started that should be stuck it doesn't happen. The mod presence here is kinda disappointing. I know ctg posts quite a bit and it seems like he is the only one who stickies anything in here. But damn, thats gotta be frustrating for someone looking for a rack when we send them to that thread and the first 10 pages have a bunch of non working links.

This is a good idea. That's the "2008" Power Rack thread anyway. I hadn't looked in there in awhile, had no idea many of the links wer dead.

We've been asking for a mod in here for awhile, but CTG is the only one that seems to peruse it. He cleans things up occasionally, but isn't here enough to be on it as quickly as necessary sometimes. When DD was here and mod'ing, it was pretty smooth....but that only lasted for about 6-7 months.


As far as the thread, it would be nice if the first post went over cage/racks/stands in general and included some pics with labels. Then have some pics, explanations, and examples of the different "classes" of cages. A little bit of work, no doubt, but it would make for a far better thread to link to. We might even be able to colaborate on the effort if anybody was interested. Even if it didn't get stickied, we can still link to it.....like my "barbell" thread.

Good thinking.




Enjoy your days working fellas.....I'm going to Cedar Point today to ride some roller coasters......sans kids!!!!!!