1/30/06 - Monday

Bench - warm-up - barx10, 95x10, 135x8, 135x4, 175x10, 195x10, 215x10

DB incline #1 setting - 70x6, 75x6x2

Shoulder press - 135x4, 155x4x2... don't know why, but we didn't do a 4th set

Plate raises - 45x10x4

Tri pushdowns flat bar wide - 50x20x4, 60x20x4
supersetted with 4 sets of crunches with 45lb plate behind head (20 reps), and 2 sets of lying leg raises with a 10lb db between the feet (15 reps, and 10 reps)

the pushdowns didn't hurt as much today.. don't know why. i know i was having trouble doing the 20 reps with the 60lb last week, and the prior week.

1/28/06 - Saturday

Squat - warm up, barx10, barx8 barx5, 145x8, 145x5, put on my briefs.. 235x5, 235x3, 325x1, 425x5... this was with a light knee wrap.. i rushed them all for some reason, felt the bar move after the second rep, and that did not feel good at all. since i rushed them, i was made to do another set of 5... after this, which was more controlled and felt better, i had to sit for a while.. i even had to lay down. after giving phil a spot (there were 5 of us spotting) on his 785x2, yes that is not a typo 785x2, i started seeing stars and shit and had to sit.. felt a little sick to the stomach, layed down for a good 5-10 min.. after feeling better i got up and we moved on to rack pulls below the knee

Rack pulls below the knee - 245x3, 335x3, 425x3, 515 i couldn't fuckin move! this is the weak spot in my dead... it has to be... above the knee last week i pulled 635.. dropped 4 inches i couldn't move 515! i should be able to do that. i think i was overly taxed from the squatting and the seeing stars shit didn't help either. i started rounding my back in the rack, which is not good and a sign of fatigue. i'm usually pretty damn strict with my form, but couldn't keep it. well, looks like a weak spot i have to work on there.

Glute ham raises - bodyx8x3 and i was done for the day... went home had a bite, went to jersey had a real italian food the rest of the weekend.

1/26/06 - Thursday

I felt very flat today in my workout. for some reason, i had a loss of energy, and did not feel like usual... i can contribute some of that to tuesday's workout becuase i'm still feeling that today, but i shouldn't have been as flat as i was.

Bench - warm-up - barx10, 95x10, 135x8, 135x4, 225x3, 275x1... put on the shirt, 315x1x2, took off the shirt and did 255x3

DB incline setting #2 - 65x4, 70x4, 75x4

Close grip bench - 225x3, 245x3, 245x2

Shrug - 135x10, 225x10, 265x10x2

Rear Delt with rope - 120x10, 140x10, 160x10, 180x10

Tricep PD vbar - 50x10x3, 60x10x2
supersetted with scissor leg raises x20

that was it. flat through the bench and the close grip i died on the last set. i wasn't too happy with that. i feel ok today and tomorrow will be the real test with that being my heavy squat day.

1/24/06 - Tuesday

Squat (used our Frantz bar today and we probably will for every squat workout) - warm up - barx10, barx6, 145x8, 145x4... we put on our briefs... i got my viking briefs the other weekend, and was not able to get into them until sunday... so today i got them on and it was a bitch. 245x5, 245x3, 325x4, 365x2... my head felt like exploding at this point. these briefs added so much pressure to my legs and hips. can't wait to finally use them on saturday. now we get to the work sets with the blue bands. 225x2x4 20 sec count between sets... again by the fourth set my head felt like exploding. my upper body was all tight from the previous day's work, so my shoulder's, and forearms were tired out pretty quick while doing these sets...

Dead - 225x1x5, 315x1x5... the 315's felt slow until the 4th and 5th rep. the first 3 i was just picking up the weight. the briefs didn't make it easy for me to get down and in... something i'll get used to.

Hyper Ext Mach - stackx10x3

Lat pulldown - 150x6, 160x6, 170x6

Seated Row - 145x6, 165x6, 185x6

exhausting workout today. felt good after, felt real good after getting out of those briefs... i will say that they are much better than my last pair in support, and in comfort. so i guess they could be "pleasantly uncomfortable."

good day of rest today... not much to do, i will probably add in some ab work right now... that's about it.

1/23/06 - Monday

Bench - warmup barx10, 95x10, 135x8, 135x4, 225x3... Blue band work... these kicked our asses today, so we decided to stick with 4 sets... if we attempted another round of 4, i probably would've made it through 2 sets. so with the blue bands, 155x3x4... 20 sec count between sets.

DB Incline #1 - 65x6, 70x6, 75x6

Shoulder press - 135x4x2, 155x4x2

Plate Raises - 35x10x4

Shrug - 225x8, 315x8, 365x8

Tricep pushdowns wide flat bar - 50x20x6, 60x20x2 these sets were supersetted with 35lb plate behind the head crunches for the first 4 sets, and scissor leg raises for the last 4 sets...

light leg ext - 30x15x2, 40x20 (i counted a set as each leg done seperately then both together)
supersetted with light set of lat pulldown 110x10

good workout... i'm definately feeling the shrugs today from my traps to my mid/upper back. still feel tight, but i still need more rest.

1/21/06 - Saturday - used our Frantz bar today for squat

Squat - warm-up barx10, barx8, 145x8, 145x5, put on my hips/briefs, 235x5, 235x3, 325x1, 400x5, light knee wrap

Rack pulls from above the knee, stance was wider than conventional, but more narrow than my sumo - 225x3, 315x3, 405x3, 495x3, 585x3 used straps, 635x3

that was all i did for today's workout. i had a time constraint today, so i didn't do some of the assistance exercises that i did last week. this next saturday will be a different story as i will be training at hollywood's.

1/19/06 - Thursday - Heavy Bench

Bench - barx10, 95x10, 135x8, 135x4, 225x5, 275x2.... put on shirt 325x2 attempted third but lost air and tightness. 325x1 attempted 2nd rep, but same results as previous set... lost air and tightness. hard to do multiple controlled reps in the shirt.

DB Incline - bench set at #2... 70x4x3

Close Grip Bench - 205x3, 225x3, 245x3

Shrug - 135x10, 225x10, 245x10x2

Rear Delt - 130x10, 150x10x4 (different cable cross than usual since it was being used, and the pulleys make the weight feel lighter on this one)

v-bar pushdowns - 50x10x4, 60x10

crunches (done as a superset with the vbar pd's) - 35lb plate x 20x4
scissor leg raises 20

light leg ext - 40x20 each leg seperate and then together x2
superset with light lat pulldown, 110x10x2

that was it... about 30min longer than usual... once gear gets added it takes more time.. workout felt good overall.. heavy squat/dead day tomorrow and i may be going very early in the morning, so no crazy night for me like last week. i've learned from that mistake.

1/17/06 - Tuesday

Squat - we broke out our Ernie Frantz bar today. for those that don't know this is a bar that is/could be used in competition, and it actually weighs 55lbs, not 45lbs, and it is longer than your standard bar also. wore my briefs today.

barx10, barx5, 145x10, 145x5, 235x6, 235x3, 315x3, 365x1... broke it back down to 235 and added the green bands... 235x2x4... 20 count break between sets... partners did their 4 sets each, then i did another 235x2x4 with 20 count break

Dead - 225x1x5, 315x1x5... break between sets consisted of each partner doing their single rep which translated into about 20-25 seconds between my reps.

Hyper Ext Machine - Stackx10x3

Pull throughs - 120x8, 140x8, 160x8, 180x8

all 3 of us were still feeling the effects of saturday's workout, so we cut out some assistance exercises. overall the workout felt pretty good today. just finished eating a whole plate of stuffed shells, meatballs and 4 slices of bread... i'm about ready to call it a night. i get to rest tomorrow, and get adjusted in the morning.

Resistace Band Platform

we've noticed that our blue bands have a significant difference in tension. the typical way we would use them for bench would be to have them looped twice around a 105-110lb db handle and then through itself to stay locked on. since the tension was significantly different we've resorted to our genius to design and build a platform that can accomodate and take into consideration that band tensions can vary.. and how they can be adjusted so that it is relatively the same. i really haven't seen such a platform/utility/tool for this, and wonder if anything exists. i haven't seen anything of the sort in PowerliftingUSA. i've heard that some people just use one band and wrap it under the bench. don't know about that method.

since we didn't have the fabricated product, we again resorted to our genius, then used a second set of dumbells and 10/25lb plates for spacers to adjust the tension. now this was done since yesterday's workout had to do with the green bands, which are pretty even to begin with... this will really be tested next week when we do actually have the blue bands in our training. until then the design is being written, and it will be fabricated and put to use.

Angry

1/16/06 - Monday

Speed Bench - barx10, 95x10, 135x8, 135x4, 225x3... now onto the work sets with the green bands... 155x3, 16-20 count between sets 4 sets... after my training partners did their sets, i did another 4 sets...

Incline DB press - 65x6, 70x6x2

Shoulder Press - 135x6, 155x6x2

Plate Raises - 35x10x5

Tricep Pushdowns wide flat bar, hands slightly wider than shoulder width - 50x20x7, 60x20x1... after each set i did set of behind the head plate (35lb) crunches (4 sets), and a set of scissor leg raises for 20 reps after each of the last 4 sets of tri's

overall the workout felt great... took BodyQuick about 45 min before training... this stuff is pretty good.. felt focused, and felt faster.. give it a try. scot mendelson endorses it. i have a link on my main page to their website so you can read more about it.

i was just flipping through the jan. 2006 issue of PowerliftingUSA mag and my last meet results are posted... page 69 - last name misspelled of course... no one ever gets it right... it's as Digirolano in the mag, but should be DiGirolamo... anyway... total of 1421 - squat 556.5, bench 363, and dead of 501.5 at a weigh in of 161.75. and wouldn't you know that the Top 100 165's are listed for Nov. 04-Oct. 05... my meet being Nov. 05, so i'm not on the list. my total of 1421 would place me tied for 41st... my squat would place me at 33rd... my bench and dead didn't make the list... looks like i have some work to do. but if my total got me up there, then i'm still doing something right, and being my second meet, i see many more to come. i think tony conyers numbers are going to be one tough feat for anyone to even try to attempt at 165... 2022 total... fucking insane!! i can only move up on the list and that's exactly what i'm going to do.

1/14/06 - Saturday - Hollywood's Strength Training, Fairfield, CT

i was waiting for my new pro viking briefs to get here by UPS, which should've been around 10am, but no. when i returned home they had already been delivered.

Squat - warm up with the bar, 135x10, 135x6, put the briefs on after 135.... 225x8, 225x5, 325x2, put on my suit after 325... straps down with belt 415x1... full gear straps up, belt, wraps 505x1... full gear again for a stand up 5 second hold of 625.

Deadlift (still suited from squats) - 225x3 straps down, no belt, 315x1 straps down, belt, 405x1 straps down, belt, 495x1 straps up, not tight with belt; i got this up, the lockout at the top was a little off and i was a leaned a tad forward, so i had to drop as soon as i got it up... this is not bad considering my PR to be 501 which i did 2 months ago in a meet and haven't gone heavy since... tried again for a crisp pull, but my grip gave halfway up.. 495 straps tighter.. failed second attempt

Wide Good Mornings - 145x5, 235x5x3 stance slightly narrower than my squat stance

Glute Hams - 3 sets of 8

Hammer High Row - 1 plate each side for 10x1, 2 plates each side for 8x3

i then did leg raises for a set and was done. i was totally exhausted going into today's workout, but i brought that upon myself. i'm sure my dead would've felt a lot better if i was properly rested, and as a note to self, i can't do that again when going heavy. it's not smart.

1/12/06 - Thursday - not feeling too hot... got over a cold and then just caught something else the day before, but the workout was good and i felt good during it.

Bench - barx10x1, 95x10x1, 135x8x1, 135x4x1, 225x3x1, 275x1, 325x1 w/shirt, 325x2 w/shirt
first time putting the shirt back on since my last competition at the beginning of November. it's tighter, which means i grew a little.

DB Incline - 60x4x1, 65x4x1, 70x4x1

Close Grip Bench - 185x3x1, 225x3x2

Shrug - 135x10x1, 225x10x2

v-bar tri pushdown - 60x10x5

Plate Crunches - 35lb x 20

One arm reverse grip pushdowns - 30x15, 40x15

light, light leg ext... 30x15 each leg and one set together

light lat pull - 110x10x3

1/10/06 - Tuesday

Squat - barx10, 135x10, 225x8, 225x5, 315x5, 365x3, 275x5x2 (hold on bottom for 2 sec count by partner)

Speed Dead - 225x1x5, 315x1x5

Pull throughs - 130x8, 140x8, 160x8, 180x8

Hyper Ext machine - Stack 250x10x3

Low Row - 145x8, 165x8, 185x8

Lat Pulldown - 130x6, 150x6, 170x6x2

Plate Crunches - 35x20x3

Wore my support briefs today.

1/9/06 - Monday - Start of training for March 25th Competition

Bench - barx10x1, 95x10x1, 135x8x1, 135x4x1, 225x5x1, 175x10x1, 195x10x1, 215x10x1

DB Flat - 60x6x1, 65x6x1, 70x6x1

Front (military) Press - 135x4x1, 155x4x3

Plate Raises - 45lb platex10x5

Rear Delt Rope Pull - 110x10x5

Flat bar wide - 50x20x5

Plate Crunches - 35lb behind head x20x5

Light Lat pulldowns - 130x10x3

1/5/06 - Thursday

Bench - barx10x1, 95x10x1, 135x8x1, 135x4x1, 225x3x1, 265x1, 295x1, 225x8

DB Incline - 70x4x1, 75x4x1, 80x4x1

Close Grip Bench - 205x3x1, 225x3x2

Side Lateral Raises - 15x30x1

v-bar tri pushdown - 60x10x3, 70x10x2

1/2/06 - Monday

Bench - barx10x1, 95x10x1, 135x8x1, 135x4x1, 225x3x1,
Blue bands, we twisted these a good 4-6 times... this was hard as hell. i was seeing stars after my last set per 4 sets. - 135x3x4, 135x3x4

DB Flat - 70x6x1, 75x6x1, 75x6x1

Plate Raises - 45lb platex10x5

Rear Delt - 120x10x5

Flat bar wide - 60x10x5

Happy New Year!