Team Best

Starting Over

Written by Josh on February 12th, 2012

For the last 4 months or so I’ve been only hitting the gym on the weekends. Most months I don’t hit every weekend either – usually there’s something going on for at least one of the weekends that doesn’t allow me to get in. The reason I’ve been lifting so infrequently is that we had new baby girl in December. That and I’ve been working all kinds of hours at my job right now and it’s going to get worse.

Needless to say, Pop-tarts and Hot Pockets have been a staple in my diet lately. I’m around 198 LBs, I’ve lost some strength and I’ve gained some fat. The other day in the gym my brother told me that it had been almost 2 years since he tore his bicep. I almost lost my breath when he said that… really? It’s been that long? What have I really accomplished in that 2 years besides taking last place at the Best of the Midwest?

I’ve always known that I wasn’t done competing yet – and I’ve set 2013 as the year that I’m going to compete – and win. I’m hoping Zack takes this journey with me this time – he’s mentioned that he’s interested. I know my job isn’t going to allow me to hit every workout – at least through August of this year. I know that and I’ve accepted that. But, I think I have enough stability at home now that Charlotte is here and healthy, to stop eating the Pop-tarts and Hot Pockets, to make it into the gym at least a few more times a week or probably more likely hit the gym in basement a couple times a week. It’s time to stop waiting and start doing.

Even though it’s only been about 4 months, it feels like a long time that I’ve been lifting sporadically – it feels like I’m starting over. And in sense, I am. Things definitely aren’t the same as they were when I dieted and competed for my first time back in 06/07. It’s been 5 years, I’m married with 3 kids, I’m in my late twenties – approaching thirty. But I’m preparing myself to get in the best shape I’ve ever been – and I’m excited.

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New partner

Written by Zack on December 11th, 2011

Well, as I mentioned in a previous post my brother is a very busy man at this point in his life.  Working a ton of hours and having baby number three coming any day now has limited his free time and he decided the best thing for him was to give up training during weekdays.  I can’t say that I blame him, that is a lot of stuff being thrown at you at one time…but if I know Josh, I know once things calm down he’ll reorganize and be back at it again.  That did leave me a jam though.  I thought about training solo, but it would be tough to find good spotters for heavy lifts and tough to stay motivated and on track.  I thought about joining a different gym, but most of them are pretty pricey and there is no guarantee that they would be any better.  I decided that I would contact Joe Farrell http://ironblayde.com/blog/ and see what he thought about training together.  I met Joe through an email that he had sent to the head of the powerlifting at CornHusker State Games, he forwarded that email to me about a lifter in Omaha that was looking for a powerlifting coach.  After that I had met with Joe a few times and gave him a few pointers, mostly because he was already very technically sound and we went our separate ways.  So now I was reaching out to him to propose a lifting partnership, and it’s a lot harder than one would think.  People lift at different times, in different areas, have different goals, philosophies, techniques and on and on  so in the beginning it is much like asking a girl on a first date.  Joe said that he wouldn’t mind giving it a try, so we started lifting 2 weeks ago and it’s been going good.  He is a hard worker, doesn’t mind pushing himself and bottom line wants to get stronger and that is exactly how I am. 

As far as training goes I’ve ressurected the 5/3/1 and I’ve been lifting 5 days a week. 1-Squat/Legs, 2-Bench/Chest, 3-Shoulders, 4-Back, 5-Arms/Grip.

Here are some of the highlights from last weeks training:

Bench – 410×3 & 315×14

Squat – 495×4

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Life, Change and What’s next…

Written by Zack on December 4th, 2011

I know that I’ve started off several blog posts with “I haven’t posted in a while” but here I go again.  I haven’t posted in a while mainly because I hadn’t anything that worth while to post about, but here is what’s been going on.  I got married!  And that was a lot more work than I thought it would be.  Many evenings and weekends that I would normally spend training were taken up with wedding chores.  I don’t regret spending the time to do them, but it did impact training.  In other news, Josh and I did a powerlifting meet.  We were really getting bored with training and basically treading water so we jumped into the Omaha Open.  Both of us knew that training would be tough because of my upcoming wedding and Josh dealing with a heavy workload that included many 15 hour work days. The powerlifting meet came and we both did decent, Josh more so than myself.  I put up numbers that were ok for anyone but myself.  After that meet I found myself disappointed in my performance and ready to get back in the gym, train harder and compete on a higher level.

In an earlier blog post I had wrote about losing weight and doing a lot of cycling and running, which I really enjoy in the summer months, and the possibility of doing a triathalon.  After the powerlifting meet I felt like all of this cardio had a negative effect on my strength training and now I’m changing my mind and changing directions.  Now I find myself wanting to get strong and wanting to break new ground on the powerlifting scene again.  I think getting the first meet post injury under my belt helped a lot too.  Last time I competed I got my award and went to the ER, this time I was able to go home.  So I hope I can return to the balls out training that I’ll need to put up some BIG numbers.

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Digging my way out

Written by Josh on October 2nd, 2011

I competed last October in The Best of the Midwest bodybuilding competition and ended up with less than stellar results. Prior to that, I competed in March 2010 in 100% RAW powerlifting meet where I “came up short”.

What’s the reason that we lift? The reason that we compete? For me, it’s to get better. Not necessarily to beat anyone else, but to challenge myself to get better. However, my last few times out — I haven’t.

To be honest, since last October, we’ve continued to workout on our regular schedule – but the intensity just hasn’t been there.

So when Zack asked me to compete in a powerlifting meet in November I said yes. In my head, I made a promise to myself though – that I’d give it 100%, and that I would get better than I was before – because otherwise, what’s the point? It’s time to dig my way out of this rut. I can’t keep putting this much time and energy into something unless I’m getting something out of it. Its time to get going.

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Not everything in life is about timing

Written by Zack on September 25th, 2011

Although the timing isn’t ideal (One week after my wedding and Josh is swamped at work) Josh and I decided to enter a powerlifting meet.  It’s a small, non-sanctioned meet…but it’s something to put on the calendar, and a reason to train harder.

We had previously taken a full 2 week break from training, something that I don’t think we’ve ever done.  Starting back this week we were getting back in the flow of the gym and decided to work up to some heavy singles to see where we are at – and more importantly were we need to be.  Squat – I did a triple with 455, Lame.  I think Josh did 365?  Bench – I did 375, again disappointing.  Josh hit 305.  Deadlift – I got 575 and Josh hit 435.  I was pleased with both our deadlift numbers. 

So now we have a base to build on and 8 weeks until showtime, and I’m excited!

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