Merry Christmas

Training has been so so lately. Been doing more olympic lifting lately, while trying to stay more or less contest ready for powerlifting. Final exams kicked the crap out of me this time, I think I'll take some advice from from one of my training partners to just back off on the training during exam weeks. I'm going to try to start posting more regularly as I am going to try and compete in olympic lifting, powerlifting and I may do a strongman meet just for fun. This should be a crazy year. My training business predator barbell will be putting on a strongman meet this year some time around June and a powerlifting meet just not sure when yet. I'm doing massages out of my house, and I will also be doing massages out of Breakaway fitness three part days a week starting in January. That's it for now Merry Christmas and I hope everyone exceeds their hopes an dreams next year

good to go

Well I finally got every thing set back up after almost a year. Now I just need to recruit a few more people to train with. Training is going well, Barry brought a slingshot back from Vegas. This has been a fun addition to our bench training and of coarse Gwen made me one. I got a new pair of Olympic lifting shoes yesterday and I had to try them out today. I was pleased that I still have the flexibility to do full cleans. I quit at 100 kg as my wrists and elbows started to protest. Then went up to a fairly easy 150kg front squat with my arms crossed. It was a good day as I haven't done full cleans for close to 10 years. Next week I'll be adding briefs to my squat days which will be great as feel done with raw squatting. 12 weeks from the battle in Montreal. Its time to go.

back at it

Well I've been here 10 months now and slowly the training and the training areas are coming together. I took down the squat rack and on tuesday I get my monolift back from powder coating I'll be putting it up. Training; this was just a intro week nothing to heavy or hard at least until today. Today was power cleans, clean pulls, then triples deadlifting. everything felt good until 190 kgs on the deadlift that's when I found out that my body is not use to cleans and such because I barely pulled a triple at 190. I plan to do this for a couple of months. Then get ready for the Battle of Montreal in January.

time for a break

Well I kept training after the meet and hit some good numbers for me. I got a 425x5 raw squat week 1 and 450x3 week 2, and did the same numbers for conv deadlift Hit a 520 bench in a very old fury shirt last week. Now it is time for a break. Most everything is ready for the push/pull on oct 16 ( for info go to www.predatorbarbell.com ) I was going to go to the cpu westerns but I'm thinking not as there has been a big debate on their forum about lifters lifting in other federations and banning these lifters from the cpu. So maybe I'll drop a little body fat to be healthier and start to focus on a cpf meet.

wow 6 weeks have past already

So training and school are going great. I had a great meet in Idaho falls netting me six more world records 4 awpc and 2 wpc raw. I was asked about my records the other day. So we went thru them and it turns out I have broken 14 world masters records in four weight classes over the last four years. So here I am in my late 40s and likely in the best shape of my life and for sure the stronger than I ever was in my 20s or 30s. There is something to be said for hanging in there, when I was at this last meet there were so many guys in their 50s 60s and a few in their 70s still going strong. Seeing these old bulls never fails to inspire me to continue. Not only are these guys and girls strong but they are mentally sharp and they still have that sparkle in their eyes that shows that they are truly alive. Life tries to beat us all down but finding something that you truly love to do and challenging yourself everyday to become better than you were yesterday seems to keep us young at heart. Next meet for me is the CPU westerns in Nov I'm just going to bench at this meet. Then I hope to get my monolift set up somewhere and I'll be getting ready for CPF nationals in may. I still have some goals in that weight classes and it will be my last years as a master 2. I'll try to update a little more often.

last two weeks

On the 25 th had the strongman training day it went well. There were eight of us training that day. There is more video on the utube site. I pulled the truck hand over hand in 25.8 sec which turned out to be 5th place. I think even Ryan beat me and he only has one leg. Car deads I got 17 reps for a win. log clean and press I got 230 lbs for the win. super yoke went 570 for 50' tide with Cameron. And last was stones I couldn't get the 260 today. Cameron did though which was his first time. Thanks to everyone who showed up. So this week I sent in my entry fee for the AWPC/WPC raw worlds in Idaho. Sept 3rd I'm not sure why I decided to do a raw meet but it should be fun. Had a full blown squat workout on Thursday and I'm still sore today on Sunday. I have to deadlift today warm ups are going to take a while.

july 12th week

it was a heavy week this week speed bench day I got up to 335 plus dbl minis for a 3 board tri press. thursday I worked up to a 495 single in a raw squat. saturday worked up to a 585 shirted 2 board. sunday turned in to a massive day we pulled deadlifts then went to carry and drag next was stones and lastly we did some log clean and presses. next week is a deload week. I'm putting on a strongman training day at Breakaway fitness hopefully there will be a good turnout.

week of july5th

Tuesday speed bench nothing to exciting here up to 235 plus dbl minis some tris back and we were done. Thursday rock bottom squats worked up to a 405 triple and 495 singles with a drop set of 405 to a high box for 21 reps. followed by one leg leg press I'm still having problems with my right leg. Saturday shirt work. Raw singles are slowly coming back then some shirt work I had on my oldest shirt and I think I shut it down at 425 just ran out of gas did some tris land mine rows and some clean and press with a log. Sunday pulled sets of five conv deadlifts then did some car deads for some rep work we did two sets. All in all a good training week. After only training twice last week I came to the conclusion that until I'm done school I'll just do what I can.

first full week of training

First full week of training in like forever.speed bench on Tuesday and squats on Thursday nothing to exciting. Shirted bench on Saturday Barry and I worked technique with 455 but the story of the day was Mary benching 225 for two singles and 230 for a single her previous best was 175 and misses at 185 in her last meet. Just an amazing day. Today we pulled some deads Barry was working with a new suit and had trouble setting up conv doing a couple of singles with 405 then pulled an easy 405 455 sumo Mary pulled in the video 315 x2 raw then put on a loose suit and did 320 and two more singles at 315. I pulled 455 x1 and dropped 495 at the top using a over hand hook grip finished the day with 3 sets of tire flips Mary did 4 and last we did some log lifting, the cleans were a challenge with all the other work we did earlier. all in all a fun day. the you tube site has the log presses

2010 bc championships

So first cpu meet in 5 years It went ok I got a 230kg opener and lifted 240 second but got a technical call, on the third attempt I lifted my head on the way down and didn't even try to press it as I wasn't going to get whites anyway. Barry in this video got a national record with his opener then just went big for his second and third. It was good to see Jeremy coatea sorry Jeremy I'm not sure how to spell your name. He competed in his first meet and struggled with the bench. I'm sure he'll be back stronger than ever with what he learned at this meet

Robert O. Smith 1943 - 2010Robert O. Smith today lost his battle against pancreatic Cancer, passing away in Vancouver. Robert O. has been a long time member of the CPU and lifted with every organization known to man, just for the chance to compete in our great sport. Robert O. is a true ambassador of the sport and was extremely well liked where ever, when ever and with who ever he showed up to compete with. I think he told me at one point he lifted in 26 events in one year and had lifted in every state I believe, all while over 50 years of age. His passion to compete is something we all should strive for. Our prayers go out to ROBO and his family.

Jeff Butt, CPU President

I first met Rob in 1998 and he was one of the people influenced me to continue in powerlifting. He was a great guy always helpful and fun to be around. I talked with him a few weeks ago and he gave know indication that he was in this much trouble. A testament to his character, to not burden others. You will be missed Robo

sunday april 25

Had a great training day. Had 4 others come out to join the fun. My body weight is still going up with all the studying I'm doing, but it seems to be helping my lifts. We didn't go all out as I wanted everyone to try a bunch of things. we did log lift, farmer's walk super yoke, tire flip, truck pull, atlas stones, and the prowler for those brave enough to try it. We went up to 440 farmer's 480 yoke I got a 225 log press I only brought up to 260 for the stones which I placed much to my surprise. The truck was pulled on a uphill slope but not as steep as the one we pulled on in prince george. I've posted more video on the my utube site posted on the links at side here. All in all we had a great day.

Training @ kamloops barbell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYs1Vc2P6E0
Had my first real training day since moving to Vernon In the video I believe the last squat was 495 plus green bands. Squatting and dead lifting went well considering my lack of training lately. I never did manage a complete glute ham raise. It was so much fun to train with some guys that are serious about training. It was a hour and half drive each way so I'm not sure how often I'm going to get over there, but I'm really going to try for a couple of time a month. Kamloops barbell rocks

fat and happy

those of you who follow my blog may remember when it was called fat and happy Well the weight is slowly creeping back up and my lifts are going back up. On monday I worked up to a 405 three board press Wednesday I worked up to a 110 kg power clean then after some clean pulls I got a 455 conv dead lift which sucks. On saturday I did overhead presses with field stones I went up to a 70kg stone for 1 clean and 5 presses. next was log press went up to 180 x3 with the small log then went to the heavy log which is 195 for a double then 215 which was a struggle I didn't fully commit to the clean so I had to do it twice and barely got the press. This log is a bear, the handles are 4 inchs wider than the small and it is so much harded. Sunday started with 56lbs weight for height then 4 sets of 5 for tire flip with my bigger tire the extra body weight seems to help. next farmer's walk 300lbs for 100 feet 440 for 60 then 40 feet and on the video 500 for 25, I am so out of shape last was stones four stones the first time then 3 the next I was out of gas. I was thinking of going to abbotsford in may but I think I'm a little to far out of shape.

weapons of my mass destruction

So I decided today to do some metabolic training.
First off let me say today I really missed my training partners.
the plan was to do prowler with70 lbs uphill low handles 30 steps. then back with vertical handles. next two handed swings with the 56 lb weight then 20 overhead presses with a 90 lbs log,then a 30 step sled drag with 140 lbs, then 30 steps farmer's walk 300lbs and last backsquat 135lbs for 20 reps. I did an exercise then let my heart rate drop to 65% before doing the next exercise.
low handles on the prowler, sled drag, and farmers walk all got my heart rate to 95% (165 b/min)
swings and squats got me up to 90% , log press and vert handles on prowler about 85%
First round took 9 mins 2nd took 13 mins and the third I dropped log press and swings to finish in 13 mins by the third round I had to sit down to get my heart rate back down. So my goal is to get thru a full three rounds in under thirty mins.

spring break

Training has been hit and miss the last 3 weeks I missed almost two weeks of training do to exams and assignments. Nothing to much to report. Volunteered today to do massage at the women's basket ball nationals. It was great to be in a compeative atmosphere I went straight from the competition to the gym and squatted 585 for a triple. which I was very happy with considering my lack of training lately. This week was spring break for me so I got some good training in. we got finals in three weeks so likely my training will go for shit again.

motivation

So after I posted last weeks training, despite be a little hung over I got motivated to train.Studying has come to a halt anyway. I couldn't train on Saturday so I benched today 315/2 and got crushed by 335 threw on a shirt 365/5 385/5 405/3 435/3 Moved on to hack squats with a cambered for a warm then on to the car deadlift pulled a few sets of triples then max out. lastly I did some 340lbs farmers walk

Week 2 of 3 weeks of hell

SO week two is done At school we are doing 6 amjor exams two quizes and have two assignments do in 3 weeks. Studying hours have been 11 to 16 in a day. Making training difficult and recovery even harder. The bench was back on track this week did a reasonablely easy 325 single narrow grip. rack pulls went wellon sunday then did stone loading and weight for height . moved tuesday to wednesday but I was still flat couldn't even pwr clean 225 so I fininshed with a 205 pwr clean and press. then just went through the motions for the rest of the training day. Thursday pulled 505 sumo this was the first time I pulled sumo since last may. The adductor seems to be healed so now I need to get the right leg stronger. Sn pulls and clean pulls are coming along

this week

Well saturday was a disaster narrow grip bench 325 just crushed me went to 4 board press and couldn't even get 405 out of the rack. CNS was completely shot. Sunday did some rack pulls went 455 conv and had my normal shaking going on no muscle syncronicity at all switch to sumo and pull 525 and shut it down to let my nervous system recover. tuesday, moved the standing press up a little more did power cleans and shoulder presses Some inclines then snatch high pulls lastly hang split snatches spliting with both sides to keep a balance between sides. Today high box squats went up to 555 for a triple and then dropped to 405 for 20 some good mornings and some bugarian split squats and I was done. I'm doing lots of single leg work right now as I've got an imbalance from right to left. My traps were killing me the last couple of days It's been a long time since I've done high pulls. We've got 5 midterms in 15 days so training studying eating and once in a while sleeping is all I've been doing

f--k yeah

So last week was nothing to write about got one solid bench workout in and one poor attempt at strongman. Basically school work buried me last week. Monday was a great upper body training day doing military press, inclines, bent over rows. Today I did bellow parallel back squats the stance was a little narrow as I was in a squat rack. I got up to a 505 single then 315/ 20 with no hip pain. I was happy with this as this was the first time since last may that I tried to back squat bellow parallel. Lately I've been doing lots of front squats and hang cleans combined with some help by a third year massage therapy student my hips are loosening up.It feels great to be training with heavier weights again. Hopefully by march I'll be back up to speed I'm not sure but I think I'm going to drop down to 198 or so. I want to compete at 198 and I don't feel like putting myself through the making weight process even though I would be much stronger at 10 to 15 lbs heavier.

jan 4 thru 17

The week of the 3rd I got two training days in. I'm also walking 5 k to school every day Gwen is picking me up after school. Week of the 10 th I got all four days of training in. Training weights are still down, but are coming back. I'm pushing the bench as I'm only planning on doing a bench only this year. I need to fix the trouble I've been having in the low back and hips. I will be still training lower body just not putting it thru meet training. Sundays training was deadlifts tire flips and farmer's walk. I think the neighborhood now have something to talk about their new neighbor I have a great road beside my house it is about 500' long and only has three drive ways off of it. It is a bit of a hill but it is prefect for farmer's, prowler, maybe even super yoke.

happy new year

So happy new year

Well I've decided that there is something seriously wrong with me I moved down on the 23rd of Dec and by the end of Christmas day I had a place to bench deadlift and use my dumbbells. By noon on boxing day I had a cardio and stretching room set up, and I hadn't unpack my clothes yet.

Joined Break away Fitness on the 28th got a squat and speed bench workout in.

Trained back on the 30th

I've trained new years day every year for the last 20 years a great way to start the year

Today I did a max effort bench 3 board press

pwr cleans

conv deads

lastly 3 sets of 3 stone loading

Because of my life has been a little crazy lately, I basically have not been training for the last four months. My body doesn't feel any better for it. My strength is way down no surprise there. Also as I was training today I noticed that my body firing all over the place I had very little synchronicity at the start of each exercise. I really hope that I will not have to lay off like that again for a long time. My goals for this year is to do a bench only at nationals in Montreal this year and to fix the issues I've been having in my hips and low back. Also to try and get some people here training for powerlifting and strongman.