banded deadlifts

today was deadlift day and i completed up to 200kgs for doubles with bands. Now bands on the deadlift are entirly different animal. It is hard to get the right angle in order to get the most out of the bands. Its a work in progress and look forward to building up some serious speed in the next two months while i am in school!

School and Squats

Second week of electrical school and have alot on my hands but making everything work and getting amazing workouts in at the same time. Yesterday i hit a banded PR and feel amazing about it. I hit a 405 squat with approx. 240 lbs in band tension. and it felt fast.

anyone looking into trying bands i would highly recommend it !!!

bicep pain deadlifts bench

today i benched and deadlifted with pretty bad bicep pain. but got through all my sets and reps

bench
90kg x5
105kgx5
120x5

deadlift

150x5
175x5
200x5

3rd cycle start

Today i started my 3rd cycle of 5/3/1 and hit a pr for reps on the squat

squats
155x5
180x5
205x6 rep PR

Banded deadlift all doubles

70
90
115
140

continuing on with my deload week

been a really hectic week at work and feel like im not even doing a deload week. working harder at work then today went and did all 3 lifts in one day so i dont have to do it tomorrow instead i will do light assistance work tomorrow after work. Everything is going good so far!

new baby bearded dragon and on to my deload week

again sorry for the lack of blogs but all is well in my training world hit a Pb for reps with 220kg on the deadlift with 6 so that's good. i am now on my deload week getting ready to hit my third cycle full on again. I am getting serious strength gains with this 5/3/1 especially adding in light band work and working serious speed on all the lifts. i feel extremely explosive. Now for the reason i have been MIA is because i just got a baby bearded dragon that i named atlas. Hes 2 months old and bright orange so my attention has been mildly fixed on him for the last 2 days.

Looking forward to hitting  my third cycle just as hard as my previous two.

squats speed squats and bench

on monday it was the start of the  third week in my second cycle of 5/3/1

mon

squats
172.5 x5
195x3
217.5 x 3

wed
speed squats with 280llbs in band tension
125x3x2
135x1x2
147.5 x 1x2

bench

102.5 x 5
115x 3
127.5 x 3

sorry for the late post

i have been really busy with work, training and this certification plus a small building project i am doing for a new or a couple of new baby bearded dragons i hope to be getting soon. that being said everything is going to be resuming as properly starting tomorrow with daily updates thank you for the patients to the 5 people that read my entries haha

Cycle 2 week 1 deadlift day

Had to change the schedule up this week due to the gym closer for good friday. Btw happy easter. sets of 5 have always been a b**** on the deadlift for me but today it felt great and got all reps with  no issues.

Deadlifts
150x5
172.5x5
195x5

bent rows
130x 3x5

Shrugs
170 x15
210x10
230 x8

Over all today was a good day and got alot accomplished. Moving on to week 2 of the second cycle.

sore shoulder and still benching away

Today was speed squat bench and shoulder press day. On that speed squats I used 130 kg of bar wieght and approximatly 250lbs or 112.5kg of band tension for 6 sets of 2 then moved on to the bench and did a my first set with 90kg  for 5 then did 102.5kg for 5 then finished off with 115kg for 5. my shoulder has been bugging me and I believe its a shoulder cuff problem. Moved on to the Shoulder press and did 60,70,80 kg all for 5. This really killed the shoulder and I then proceeded to stretch it and do some light cuff movements.

apology and first week of second cycle

Just wanted to apology for being MIA over the weekend but had other matters that needed my attention. Yesterday i started my second cyle of the 5/3/1 program I felt that this time my body was better prepared to handle the 5's with the realitly heavy wieghts

Squats

150x5
172.5 x 5
195x5

calve raises
150x20

leg extensions

2x15

ham curls

2x 15

then i did some light cardio and walked home for about a 3km walk

speed squats with light bench and military press

today was the deload day for bench and military press pretty simple and easy but i put some serious band tension on 125kilos of bar wieght and about 300lbs in band tension and did some speed squats from a box for triples. man is that hard to control.!

Grippers

Picked up my grippers for the first time in about a month and started doing some high rep sets of 15-20 reps with the CoC 1.5 then picked up my V2 gripper from www.worldofgrip.com and did some sets of 6 with level 9. I always feel great after taking a break from grippers for a few weeks and always come back stronger. So i believe more gripping is to begin once again.

Deload week starts

I am now on the deload phase of the program. so today was light squats for speed and then did some good mornings and glute ham raises to finish off the work out. The squats were 3 sets of 5 going in succession  (90,112.5,135) then did light good mornings with 70 kilos and then finished it with bodyweight glute ham raises for 2 sets of 15 reps. I think that this exercise is going to be a bigger staple in my training regiment from now on.

Fridays are made for pulls

Today was my last day of  week 3 of the 5/3/1 program  next week is a deload week and I gotta say it came just in time. I was starting to get some hamstring tenderness after speed squats on wednesday. and this coming week will be a great week to heal up and start the whole thing over again. I will be adding 5kg to my squat and deadlift training maxes and i will be adding 2.5kg to my bench press and military press training maxes. Today I just stuck to the program and did not go balls out on the last set, I just finished with a single.

Deadlift
167.5x5
190x3
212.5x1

Bent Row
125x5x5

Shrugs
190x1x20
215x1x15
230x1x10

Remember to check out the website. www.untamedstrength.com  check out the new Tshirts and grab one if you like em and don't forget  its never to late for strength

Bench Shoulders and some speed squats

Today was bench and push press day and  just realized i made a big mistake in my calculations for both the bench and the press i forgot to use a training max instead i been using a real max anyways. the work out went like this.

Bench press

90x5
110x3
120x5

push press

67.5x5
75x3
85x2

speed squats with 200lbs in band tension

60x3
100x3
120x2
140x2

I decided to use a stronger band and cut back on the wieght to really focus on some serious speed. I would say 200lbs of  band tension at the top is a conservate estimate at best. It truly felt like 500 at the top  but off the box my speed all the way through felt really good. The push press and bench press on the last set of both a managed to do more then the required single rep which is a plus!

Monday is made for some serious squats

Yesterday was SKWAT day and I was really looking forward to this week and hitting some good numbers. This is the start of week 3 of the 5/3/1 program.

Squat

167.5 x5
190x3
212.5 x3 PB for triple

Leg extensions
didnt really pay attention to weight just focused on the movement and the burn
15,12,10 were the reps

Leg curls
did the same with these as extensions

Calf raises
2x20 with 4 plates on each side.

This day was really successful and achieved a rep PB on the squat with 212.5kg around 468 pounds for a pretty clean triple ass to grass with very little strain I probably could have squeezed out an extra rep but I leaned on the side of caution

friday is deadlift day

Nothing like getting home from the last work day and letting it all go on a heavy day of deadlifts. Friday was deadlift day and didnt get a chance to post it over the weekend. But heres how it went.

Deadlift

157.5x3
180x3
202.5x3

Bent rows
130x5x3 5 sets of 3 reps

Shurgs

190 x 2x15

at the end of the session i did some light stretching and used my trigger point therapy to roll out some kinks. over all this program is really feeling good i must say. even though that is only the ending of the second week. next week we go on to a set of 5 a set of 3 and a set of 1- failure

dont forget to check out my web page. Also check me out on youtube under bigburns60

Bench and press with some speed squats

I was busy last night studying for my certification and did not get a chance to write my work out but here it is

Bench press
100kgx3
115kgx3
130kgx3

Push press
70kgx3
80kgx3
90kgx3

Speed squats w/ light bands and off a 18in box

70x3
110x3
150x2
170x2

Certifications

Just wanted to give me opinion on certifications and how they are of benefit to aspiring fitness professionals. now im not claiming that i am the master trainer however i spent alot of time reading books on training, human anatomy and physiology and even sports psychology.and its great to gain knowledge through reading but that wont give you any kind of  accredidation when it comes to becoming a coach or trainer. Facts are fitness facilities are all looking to have there trainers be certified in some kind of fashion. Now there is a ranking of certification ranging from the need of a BS in somthing to acheive that cert to weekend courses and a exam that give you a certification. In my opinion not one being better then the other beside potential wage.

My point is that as long as your always gaining knowledge and becoming a master of your trade and your happy with your progress it doesnt matter what certification you have. Always strive for more. Dont be complacent in what you do in life. Always make yourself better, and stronger!

Week 2 squats

Squats

157.5 x 3
180 x 3
202.5 x 3

good mornings

120 x 3 x 3

Calf raises

170 x 3 x 10

Leg extension

160lbs x 3 x10

Ham curls

130lbs x 3 x10

rope crunches

3x15

Today was a great day felt really easy and tonnes of speed out of the whole!

deadlifts

Today was the last day of lifting for me this week. As i stated before that I am giving the5/3/1 program a shot and adding my own little twists along the way. Today was deadlift and the work out broke down as follows.

deadlift
145 x5
167.5x5
190x5

front squat
90x5
105x5
115x5

bent row
110 3x10

shrug
170 3x10

hyper extension

3x10

lat pull downs
180 3x10

rear delt flies

150 3x10

rope crunch
130x15 150x12 160x10  these numbers are in lbs

over all I would say this week was a pretty successful one. wieghts felt good and the programming felt on point next week will be 3's

Who is the real king of lifts?

I have been battling this question since the first time i touched a barbell. Squats or Deadlift? I used to be in the party of the deadlift but that's really only because i couldn't for the life of me figure out the squat form. However. once a solid form is established i have to say that there is no lift that can activate the central nervous system quiet like the back squat.

I like to call it a metabolic lift if you squat more everything in your body will get stronger not just your legs like a lot of people think. anyone who has performed a set of heavy pause squats know that your core is sore for days.

The simple act of baring a great weight across your shoulders and effectively loading up your body stressed everything from your toes to your forehead.....

more to come in upcoming E-book

What lift is king? 

Speed squats and power bench

Continuing along with the 5/3/1 program i am putting my own twist on it and adding in a speed squat session on Wednesdays with bands before i hit the bench and military press. Here is how the day went.
all the weights will be in kilograms

Speed squats off box
light band tension 100lbs at the top
65kx 3 100x3 120x3 140x3

Bench
85x5 100x5 115x5

military press
65x5 75x5 85x5

then i did some tricep work

close grip board bench

110 3x10

I then added 30 mins of cardio doing a light incline walk.

Over all i would say today was a great day!

Today was an active rest day but got some grip training in

did some closes with the coc 2.5 each hand with holds then moved on to the Vulcan gripper and did some high reps with that also.

Working alot on the new site that is soon to be coming... Please anyone who wants to msg me please do i want to hear any and all comments thank you!

First day back

Today was my first day back in the gym since my competition last week. I had some serious rust i needed to shake off. However after some good warm up sets and light stretching i was squatting like normal. I am giving jim wendlers 5/3/1 program a shot. and heres how my day went down

Squats 3x5
145kgx5
167.5kg x5
190x5

calve raises
160kg 3x10

Leg extensions
3x10

leg curls
 3x10

rope crunches
3x10

Over all the day felt great and feeling good to be back in the gym and getting stronger

Introducting Untamed Strength

This is the inital blog post of Untamed Strength. This will be to get strength and fitness information. I will post daily on a new strength and fitness revelation, tip and everything to do with human development. look forward for new  information. I look forward to providing everyone with my passion and knowledge!