Meet videos

Meet videos are in the process of uploading here. We only started taking videos somewhere in the second bench attempts. I think Perry has more videos?

It might take a couple hours for them to be live, though ... Oh, and shout out to Dee for taking the videos.

Nathan : 9/18 & 9/19

▼ 1. 9/19/09 - Sat - BENCH LOCKOUT

Time: 2:00. Weight: 222 (after gym).

  Realized that I could use bands instead of chains and I don't have to go to TPS. So I did my first lifting at the Z center in months.

  This ended up being a pretty hard workout. I'm quite satisfied; I feel like I hit all of my reps at the right RPE without overshooting at all.

• Warm-up : bike 10 mins

• Reverse band bench w/ purples warm-up, 245x3 @ 8 (too light, doesn't count), 275x3x2 @ 8, 285x3x1 

@ 8, 295x3x3 @ 9

If they go straight down, bands stop slightly below my lockout. Because they are pulled to the side a bit, I'd guess there is about 5 lbs of total tension at the top, but hard to say. Very little regardless. Video on second and sixth set.

• Floor press warm-up, 225x5x5 @ 9-10

This is my lockout assistance. 225 was a very good weight for this, last sets were slow. Video on fifth set.

• A: Dips BW+45 x 6,8,6,6

Want to incorporate some kind of movement that lets my shoulders move freely. This supplement slot is a good place for it.

• A: Pull-ups 10, 8, 8, 8

Was going to slack off and do something lame, but then Frank said he didn't think I could do 6 pull-ups. Well, I can, damn it.

▼ 2. 9/18/09 - Fri - DEADLIFT

Time: 2:00. Weight: ??

  I'm way too slow on the early exercises, I need to speed up a lot.

• Warm-up : bike 10 mins

• Conventional deadlift 135x5x3, 225x5x3, 315x4, 365x3, 405x2x6 @ 8

Video on second and last set. Back isn't perfectly straight on any of these, it is a flexibility issue.

• Squat w/ chains 135x5x3, 225x5, 275x5, 275+80x3, 275+120x3x5 @ 8-9

Going for 3x6. Video on first set with 120 chain and last set. Went barefoot to try that out. Felt pretty good so I will stick with this for a few weeks.

• Rack pull 2'' below knee

Skipped due to time constraints, again. Need to get faster.

• Abs - V-ups 10, 10, 15, 15

Asked Dee what ab exercise I should do. She told me to do these. They were brutal.

VIDEOS:

20090918 - second set dead 405 x 2

20090918-sixth set dead 405 x 2

As I said, back isn't perfect on these, but I've never had perfect conventional deadlift form. So I'll just deal with it since it is at least consistent, and doesn't seem to get worse with increasing weight.

20090918- warm up squat 275 x 3

20090918- first set squat w chain 275+120 x 3 (first rep missed)

20090918-fifth set squat w chain 275+120 x 3

I don't notice too big a difference without shoes, but I did like how it felt so I will stick with this for a little while. My ass pops out a little bit, which I would rather it didn't, but overall I'm not too displeased about my form.

20090919 - rev band bench w purp second set 275 x 3

20090919-rev band bench w purp sixth set 295 x 3

Pretty happy with my arch and form on these. Ass comes up a little bit, but I blame that on the bench I was using that has a big whole where I want to set my ass down to keep it in place. I didn't realize my entire belly was exposed, which amuses me.

20090919-floor press fifth set 225x5

Last rep is slow. Not much else to say about this.

Nathan : 9/11 Videos

Deadlifts: Slight round in lower back, but it doesn't get worse as the rep progresses at least. I think this is more an issue of set-up than strength.



Chain squat : I'm leaning way more forward than I thought I was.



Chain squat w/ belt : Leaning slightly less forward, but still not what I thought I looked like.

Veronica: Aug 21 - squat (retry)

--squat: 13 sets of 5, some empty bar, some 25lb (practice) bar
--cardio: running outdoors, 2 miles
--stretching: 1 yoga class

I am still trying to learn correct form for squats, and today's attempt went much better than yesterday's! (I didn't give up and leave.) Once I got over the geekiness of having a webcam at the gym, it was excellent to be able to review each rep in slow motion. I took "Starting Strength" with me and tried to follow those instructions word-for-word.

There must be some mistake in my form, though, because tonight I am lying down with a bunch of lower back pain. Fortunately, icing my back, ice cream, and good music on the internet can distract me from this.

Here are the last 3 reps with the empty bar:





Tips, anybody?

My next task is to brainstorm about which style to learn, and whether to go back to a trainer who I met in April (she's kind of pricey & far away but a great teacher).

Video: Laura Phelps-Sweatt Raw Bench

It looks like we all still have lots of work to do...