Finnegan's Wake

[finnegan]

Sounds like a good time. Have fun, man.

After reading up on your Vegas trip, I figured you'd approve.

 

[Klotz]

You're a blacksmith AND a lumberjack?

I feel like such a eunuch.

 

[finnegan]

Upper Body, pt 1

Bench Press
205 x 5
225 x 5
255 x 5
275 x 5
305 x 3

Hammer Curls
55 x 5
65 x 5
70 x 5
75 x 5
80 x 5

Isometric Pushup
40 seconds each position, 1 minute rest between positions

Leg Raise Crunches
15 x 3

Impressions I woke up this morning with doms in, of all places, my right obliques. What the hell is that all about? I guess the Zerchers finally caught up to me. I've been having my way with them up until now, so I guess this is fair.
Bench went up easy today until the last set, which is what I expected. I'm frustrated on this lift. Not only am I getting into weight ranges that would really suck to get pinned under, but I've seemed to stall around 300 for a couple of months now. I think I'll substitute close grip bench press for overhead press for a while. My shoulders are doing fine, but my triceps need a little shoring up.
The last set of hammer curls were sloppy as hell on the left arm, but I moved the weight from point A to point B.

 

[finnegan]

You're a blacksmith AND a lumberjack?

I feel like such a eunuch.

Hey, at least I'm not a fire fighter as well. The term we use is woodbuster. Its a bit different, in that we burn all the wood we cut in a huge bonfire later in the evening.
Some woodbusters at a festival in New York (I'm not among them):

 

[finnegan]

Upper Body, pt 1

Bench Press
205 x 5
225 x 5
255 x 5
275 x 5
305 x 3

Hammer Curls
55 x 5
65 x 5
70 x 5
75 x 5
80 x 5

Isometric Pushup
40 seconds each position, 1 minute rest between positions

Leg Raise Crunches
15 x 3

Part 2, Also Known as Finnegan Punishes His Triceps for Being Pansies



Close Grip Bench Press
185 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 5
245 x 5
255 x 5

Dumbell Snatches
55 x 5
65 x 5
70 x 5
75 x 5
80 x 5

Pullups
BW x 5, 4 sets
BW x 7, 1 set

Hanging Jackknifes
10, 3 sets

Impressions Ow. On the 80 lb snatches, I got sloppy on the last descent, and banged the fuck out of my forearm on the plates, and have a nice Silver Dollar sized welt to show for it. Oh well. That will teach me to keep better form.
The Close grip Bench was rough, but I got through it.
The most important thing from tonight is that I now have a pullup bar (almost). I put an old standard bar across the opening to the loft in the garage, and it held. I need to nail it down, as I was sliding all over the place doing the hanging jackknifes. I also put a thin piece of plywood over my head area. If I didn't bump, it wasn't a rep.

 

[finnegan]

Woodbusting

Woodcutting (axe, machete) 30 minutes

Hauling Big Ass Logs
2 sets, 4 hours per set. Nuked my arms, back, and legs.

Stump Squats/Deadlifts/ Pushes
10, various weights, all over 100 lbs

Megalith Building

2 stones, one approximately 350, the other over about 2000 lbs, the tractor helped.

Impressions Fuck I'm tired. Moved about two tons of logs, and another 300 or so of stumps. I'll take a picture of pile tomorrow if I can. The stones, included here due to some physical force being necessary to position or in the case of the smaller one, pick up one end, really fucking suck to move
The zerchers, I think, have helped; as well as the deadlifts. I'm not nearly as sore as normal, and I was moving larger pieces of burnature.

 

[fat_wilhelm]

I need to nail it down, as I was sliding all over the place doing the hanging jackknifes.

I wouldn't. Let it float. Of course, I have no experience with this, but I presume a free-to-move bar would mandate complete and total core control. If you can remain steady enough to keep the bar relatively stationary, it would seem to me an indicator of a core made from steel cable.

Does this make sense or am I talking out of my ass?

 

[finnegan]

I wouldn't. Let it float. Of course, I have no experience with this, but I presume a free-to-move bar would mandate complete and total core control. If you can remain steady enough to keep the bar relatively stationary, it would seem to me an indicator of a core made from steel cable.

Does this make sense or am I talking out of my ass?

Makes sense to me. If I slide too far, I've got to turn around on the bar, which means more exercise until I have total core control w/po BS leg assists.

 

[finnegan]

Woodbusting, Pt 2.

Moving Big Ass Logs
Ugh. We chopped, moved and tossed about three tons of wood today. Fuck I'm tired. Went about 5 hours straight the first time, rested (erected more standing stones), and then organized the woodpile/ got more wood for another 4 or so hours.

Megalith Building
Three stones, each about 500 lbs. Prybar usage, team deadlift, etc. Fuck I'm tired.

 

[finnegan]

Okay. I've recovered a bit, so I'll attempt to make the previous posts a bit more coherent. We hauled a lot of long trees out of the woods at the festival grounds, cut them into 3, 4, 5, or 8 foot long pieces, and then loaded them onto a flat bed trailer. We (me and one other guy) then unloaded the wood onto the pile (usually one man tossing or flipping it). If the tree could not be taken out of the woods, we would cut it on the spot and walk it out. Most logs wiegh around 35-75 lbs. Some weigh considerably more, depending on the tree.
The stumps were brutal. A couple of them were over 300 lbs.

The standing stones we did as a favor for the site owners. They wanted a nice display area for their information center, so we pulled two approx. 500 lbs stones out of the nearby creek, and (with the fortunate arrival of another woodbuster) the three of us lifted, pushed, walked, and flipped them into their places so that they were standing stones. The other stones we pulled are probably going to be benches.
The one ton stone was set up as decoration. We didn't do a whole lot as far as lifting on it, but just pushing against it/ nudging it took everything we had as the tractor set it into place.

Impressions
all in all, a good busting. We've got enough for an 8 foot tall cabin if we so desire, and a few interesting center pieces. I can definitely tell that my strength training has payed off. It wasn't until today that I realized I was manhandling logs that I could barely lift last year. Lifting heavy not only gave me more raw strength to move all this shit, but it also taught me much better body dynamics when I was lifting. My conditioning has also payed huge dividends. I am tired, but I normally can't walk right now. Two hard days, and I can probably recover within a day. I can feel the doms coming, but I know that it isn't going to be as bad.

 

[DEVILsSON]

Cool shit. Sounds exhausting.

I would keep the OHP and instead add heavy dips or close grip benches on top...perhaps let CGBP be your 1st assistance exercise and OHP your 2nd assistance exercise after bench press. In other words prioritize. You can even shift CGBP as your primary exercise and do bench or OHP as your 2nd and 3rd.

I tried Zerchers last workout and I could definitely feel it in my core as wellas my legs. I really enjoyed them. I used a couple rolled up t-shirts in the crooks of my elbows to prevent the bad brusing. Call it a pussy move but I rather avoid the bad bruising. I also noticed my form is spectacular compared to my backsquats...granted I was using much lighter weight but nevertheless...

 

[finnegan]

Cool shit. Sounds exhausting.

I would keep the OHP and instead add heavy dips or close grip benches on top...perhaps let CGBP be your 1st assistance exercise and OHP your 2nd assistance exercise after bench press. In other words prioritize. You can even shift CGBP as your primary exercise and do bench or OHP as your 2nd and 3rd.

I tried Zerchers last workout and I could definitely feel it in my core as wellas my legs. I really enjoyed them. I used a couple rolled up t-shirts in the crooks of my elbows to prevent the bad brusing. Call it a pussy move but I rather avoid the bad bruising. I also noticed my form is spectacular compared to my backsquats...granted I was using much lighter weight but nevertheless...

I think I'll try this out for a while (CGBP). I've being doing normal Bench for months as primary, and its probably time to switch it up.

 

[finnegan]

Zercher Squats
205 x 8
255 x 8, 2 sets
275 x 8
275 x 5

Pullups
1,3,5,7,5,5,3,1 total: 30

Deadlift
225 x 8
275 x 8
325 x 8
350 x 8
350 x 5
325 x 10 (anger set)

BORs <overhand grip>

85 x 8
105 x 8
180 x 8
200 x 8
200 x 5

Misc:
100 or so crunches, a couple chinups for fun, etc.

Impressions
Not a bad workout. I'm still sore from woodbusting, and I could tell on the Zerchers. My legs just weren't having it today. I blew up my workout shorts (seems to be a rash of that going around) on the 4th rep of 255. Now, I'm not one to get embarrassed, but when both the Roosevelts are trying to leave the White House, that is a different story. I'm just glad I work out at home.
Once again, my grip sucked today. Once I get some money freed up, I'll be ordering a couple of CoC grippers. I'm tired of this shit.

 

[Cap'n]

Once I get some money freed up, I'll be ordering a couple of CoC grippers. I'm tired of this shit.

You'll probably just need the #2.

I bet you could close the #1 pretty easily, so you might as well just get the harder one and do negs/ singles on it. If you want to get more than just the #2, get the #1 for over crushes.

If your grip fails on the DL's and BOR's, try static holds. One handed, two handed. Just load a dumbell or barbell with a lot of weight, lift, hold.

 

[finnegan]

You'll probably just need the #2.

I bet you could close the #1 pretty easily, so you might as well just get the harder one and do negs/ singles on it. If you want to get more than just the #2, get the #1 for over crushes.

If your grip fails on the DL's and BOR's, try static holds. One handed, two handed. Just load a dumbell or barbell with a lot of weight, lift, hold.

Thanks for the tips. I'll give that a try tonight.

 

[finnegan]

Recovery/ Conditioning

Alternating Dumbell Rows (pushup position)
45 x 10, 3 sets

Deadlift
225 x 10, 3 sets

Pullups
1,3,5,7,5,5,3,1 1 negative (grip work test)

Spartan Bars (see post #33 for description)
60lbs top/ 35 bottom x 10
70 lbs top/ 35 bottom x 10
85 lbs top /45 bottom x 10
100 lbs top/ 45 bottom x 10

Axle Grip test
25 lbs plate, 2 seconds

Impressions
Good workout. The Spartan bars were killers tonight. The last set sent me into the wall twice when the weight came. Otherwise, nothing noteworthy except I lasted about 10 seconds on the Pullup negative, which was the last thing I did.

 

[finnegan]

Close Grip Bench Press
185 x 8
205 x 8
215 x 8
225 x 8, 2 sets
235 x 8

Hammer Curls
30 x 8
40 x 8
50x 8
55 x 8, 2 sets
65 x 8

OHP
95 x 8
115 x 8
135 x 8, 2 sets
145 x 5

Chinups
1,3,5,7,5,5,3,1 total: 30

Leg Raise Crunches
15 x 5

Impressions The CGBP wasn't too bad today. The last set was the only one that I struggled any with. I'll up the weight next time.
I'm happy to bust out chinups like this. It feels good to do all those exercises in gym class that just weren't going to happen for a 285 lb kid.
I've been looking through some logs, and my OHP doesn't seem to be proportionate to my bench press. I know the answer to correct this is to do them more, but anyone have any other tips (foot position, wrists bent or straight, etc) to help me out?

 

[bacon]

Here's some good advice from out buddy Keith Wassung.

http://www.martygallagher.com/riverhorse/riverhorse_more/234_0_14_0_C/

 

[fat_wilhelm]

Are you talking strict press or push press?

 

[finnegan]

Are you talking strict press or push press?

Strict.