Squats and Leg Work

This morning was Leg day. The day many people dread and others love to hate. I always have mixed feelings about leg day because to tell you the truth it scares me a bit. But as Kris Gethin says "Do what you Fear!" My fear of leg day comes from letting my Squat form get loose and sloppy in the past and tweaking my back. Recently I started pushing myself on Squats to focus more on form and function. I now focus much more on increasing abdominal pressure to ensure my body is tight and protecting the spine. Keeping with my have fun with it theme, this morning I started with squats and keeping it heavy at 70% of my 1RM (rep max) for 4 Reps. Rest time for heavy squats is whatever it takes to recover. This is normally 2-5 minutes because you want you CNS (central nervous system) to recover. I followed up the squats with bodybuilding style accessory exercises keeping the rest periods down to a minimum I try and aim for 40 secs but make sure to keep it under 1 minute. This keeps the lactic acid and the blood pump in the muscle which ignites the growth response. Workout logs below

Squats
Warmup sets
135lbs X 3reps sitting and stretching pause reps to loosen up the hips and muscles.
2 sets 135lbs X 10 reps get blood flowing
1 set 225lbs X 8 reps
Working sets
6 sets 355lbs X 4 reps

Leg Extensions
2 sets 250lbs X 12 reps
2 sets 250lbs X 10 reps
1 set 250lbs X 8 reps

Narrow Stance Leg Press
3 sets 400lbs X 12 reps

Wide Stance Leg Press
3 sets 400lbs X 13 reps

Kneeling Leg Curls
4 sets 75lbs X 12 reps
1 set 75lbs X 10 reps

All my secondary work is reps to failure which is why there are different sets with the same weight for less reps. The more you push the more fatigued the muscles become and the less reps you can do unless you increase your rest periods.

As always if you have any questions feel free to ask.

God bless
Travis

Have fun with it!

Hey all,
Can't believe it has been this long since I posted. I guess that is what happens you're having fun. Real been busy this year with the kids Taekwondo. I started off the year after my powerlifting meet with a new program from Jim Stoppani called Down and Up Mass. I really enjoyed this program and saw great gains especially in my legs. I followed that program up with another one from Jim called 6 Weeks to Sick Arms which focuses on the arms. I saw great muscle definition increase as well as some thinning out of the fat in my arms. I then did the first 3 weeks of Jim's Superman program. This program focuses on supersets to decrease workout length and keeping similarly volumes per muscle group. This program I saw an increase on upper pec development.

This week I started my own thing and decided that I am going to do what feels like needs to be done for me in my body and my fitness goals. I enjoy following the programs that Jim puts out but I am having so much fun in the gym right now. This week I have been working on going heavy in the 3 main moves and then following it up with Bodybuilding accessory exercises. I am also adding what is called feeder exercises to each day for a specific body part. This week it is arms. This is just to get a pump and get that blood flow into the muscle. Light weight for 20-50 reps. The following is what I have done this week.

Tuesday
Biceps and Triceps
Don't remember exact workout
Wednesday
Chest
Bench Press
Warmup
2 sets 135 lbs X 20reps
1 set 225 lbs X 8 reps
6 sets 245 lbs X 4 reps
2 sets 155 lbs X 8 pause reps
2 sets 135 lbs X 10 reps super wide grips

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
5 sets 65lbs X 8 reps

Cable Biceps Curls
Superset
Cable Incline Triceps Extension
3 sets of 30 reps

Today
2" deficit Deadlift
Warmup
2 sets 135lbs X 8 reps
1 set 225 X 8 reps
1 set 315 X 6 reps
6 Sets 355 X 4 reps

T-Bar Rows
1 set 45 X 15 reps
1 set 90 X 11 reps
3 sets 115 X 11 reps
1 set 140 X 8 reps

Wide grip Lat Pulldowns
3 sets 200lbs X 10 reps
1 set 200lbs X 8 reps

Barbell Curls
Superset
Standing barbell Triceps extentions
3 sets 40 lbs 20 curl and 30 ext reps

So that is it for this week so far.  Tomorrow will be Squats and Legs. I haven't decided exactly what I am doing yet but plan on keeping a log of my workouts.

I also have started Taekwondo with the kids and now have moved into the adult classes. So I am doing it 3 nights a week which is really good because it makes me stretch which is something that has been lacking in my training.

If you all have any questions feel free to ask.

God bless
Travis

Personal PowerLifting Meet

Hi all,
Sorry it's been a while but I have kept to my goals..... I am a week late on my personal meet but I did it this morning. I am excited to say that I made significant progress and am totally happy with my results.

So back in November I tested my lifts and set goals based on those lifts. So I tested then with my Squat at 355lbs, bench at 285lbs, and deadlift at 475lbs with a total of 1115lbs and that was on November 10, 2013. At that time I set goals at Squat 425lbs, bench 350lbs, and deadlift 525lbs for a total of 1300lbs.

Today I was feeling pretty good when I arrived at the gym. I  started of with some light warm up and then got down to it following the same programs as I did back in November. On Squat I hit 415lbs, bench I hit 325lbs, and deadlift I hit 505lbs for a total of 1245lbs.

I  am completely excited about it and am looking forward to reaching for my next goals. I have to thank Muscle Pharm President Cory Gregory for the motivation and the advice of ensuring you are chasing the goals that you want and not chasing goals that don't fit with what you want. I also have to thank Jim Stoppani for his information, motivation, and Pre JYM.

So my next goal is to lean out while gaining strength. I want to shoot for the 10% body fat now. I have again entered the 100K Transformation Challenge from Bodybuilding.com. I am going to follow a program called Down and Up Mass by Jim Stoppani. I am going to follow the eating plan of his Shortcut to Shred program while incorporating cardio acceleration. I am going to be using Pre JYM before and after my workouts adding Muscle Pharm Glutamine to my post workout. I am going to also be using Muscle Pharm Combat and Shred Matrix.

Thank you all for your support. I look forward to updating on my journey.

God Bless
Travis

Update

Hey all,

Just wanted to give you an update on my power lifting. Today I got to lift with a couple friends as a fun day. We had a deadlift party. This was an idea I got from Metroflex Long Beach. They had posted earlier in the week that they were going to do one on Thursday morning. The gym I go to was closed on Thursday, so I decided to see if people wanted to do on on Friday. Another reason that I wanted to do this is that Jim Stoppani offered a challenge on his Facebook page for people to do 25 reps on deadlift with 250 lbs. Deadlift, of course, happens to be my favorite lift so I could not pass up the challenge. He also stated that if you recorded it and posted it on his Facebook page that he would give you a lifetime membership to his personal website www.jimstoppani.com. This was just more motivation for me to try it out. I also decided that if I made the 25 reps that I was going to go for a PR on the deadlift at 500 lbs. My previous best was 475 so it is a good jump up in the 3 weeks that I have been focusing on maximal strength. Below is both videos, I hope you enjoy them.

God Bless
Travis Miller

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi all,
Just wanted to take the time to say thank you for all your support. That on this day set aside to be thankful, I am thankful for all my family and friends. Remember this day isn't just about all the wonderful food. It is about reflecting on all aspects of our lives and giving thanks for everything whether it is a straight up blessing or it is a trial that forces you to be stronger in your life. Be thankful for it all.

A few things I am thankful for:
1. God - I am thankful for Jesus Christ being my Lord and my Savior. His grace and mercy are wonderful.
2. Wife - My beautiful and wonderful wife who supports me through it all. She is an awesome woman who bring sweet joy to my life.
3. Kids - My 3 wonderful kids who constantly bring me joy and challenge me daily.
4. Family - All my family who reminds that I have been loved for 36 years.
5. Friends - Friends bring laughter and inspiration, help and care, and many more things.
6. Leaders - My leaders in church and at work who are there to help me in my endeavors.
7. US Military - These men and women who selflessly sacrifice for a greater purpose. This includes their families who also give up so much.
8. The Iron - These items of various weights are always true to who they are...200 lbs is always 200 lbs.
9. Role Models - These are those people who have achieved what I am looking to achieve and they provide so many of us great information.
10. Thanksgiving food - Yes this is something I am thankful for....I call this Epic Cheat Meal Day.

God Bless.....remember to be thankful

Travis Miller

P.S. Oh Yea, Second week of my power lifting journey went well.....Tomorrow is deadlift Friday...getting together with friends and hitting the gym.....gonna be a blast.

End of Week 1 of my Powerlifting Journey

Hi all,

So I was planning on writing this on Sunday or Monday but now it is Tuesday and I am finally getting to it. Last week I talked about reevaluating and refocusing my goals in the direction that I want to move in. I also mentioned that I was going to start following Mike O'Hearn's Power Bodybuilding program to get my strength up so I can have a personal powerlifting meet to see if I have made gains. My goal was to increase my overall total to 1300 lbs from my current best at 1115lbs.  Here is what happened this last week.

On Monday, which is my natural rest day I started reading up on powerlifting and different strength programs to help me improve my strength and technique. I found information on Westside Barbell and their program called The Conjugate Method combined with The Dynamic Method. As I read up on the programs and the story behind Westside Barbell, I found myself interested in their program and the techniques they use. So I wrote a program based off the information on their site and other sites talking about them.

This week was a fun week and I enjoyed following the Westside Barbell Method of training. I have been sore in new ways and in different muscles. I tried new types of exercises that challenged me mentally and physically. Below is what I have been doing.

Tuesday - Dynamic Effort Bench Press
Wednesday - Bench Extra Work
Thursday - Dynamic Effort Squat/Deadlift
Friday - Squat/Deadlift Extra Work
Saturday - Max Effort Bench Press
Sunday - Max Effort Squat/Deadlift

Dynamic Effort is speed work. This is where you perform exercises to increase the explosive strength. This strength helps with the start from the bottom of the press, squat, and deadlift. This work includes working between 50-60% of your 1RM doing explosive reps sometimes with bands and chains to add variable resistance to help reduce bar deceleration throughout the rep.

Max Effort is maximal strength work. This day of the week you push to a 3RM or a 1RM and try to hit new personal records (PRs). This helps build muscular strength and is done with a variety of exercises to ensure your muscles don't adapt and that you CNS (central nervous system) doesn't get burnt out.

Both the Dynamic and Max Effort days consist of 1 main exercise to focus on explosive or maximal strength respectively. These days are followed up with assistance work which consists of bodybuilding type exercises focusing on the major muscle groups used for each main movement. So on bench day the first assistance work is for triceps followed by upper back and shoulders. On squat and deadlift day the assistance work would be glutes, hamstrings, lower back. All these should be 8-10 reps but the rep range can vary to keep the muscle confusion principle working.

Extra work is essentially a recovery workout by working the same muscles used the day before with lighter weights and higher reps. These workouts should be less than 30 minutes and can be as early at 6 to 12 hours after the previous day. I, for the sake of time, wait until the next day. I always end this exercise with a conditioning cycle of tabata style work. This is also the day that I hit abs hard because they are one of the most important muscle groups.

This is what I did this last week and this week has started off just a good. The cycle for this program is on Dynamic day week 1 is 50%, week 2 is 55%, and week 3 is 60%. Then you drop back down to 50%. I am going to throw in week for as a repetition week where I do the main lifts for 6-10 reps which will help with the groove of the movement. This is to help improve my technique, which is knowledge from listening to Mark Bell's Powercast and Brandon Lilly's YouTube page.

Any questions feel free hit me up on twitter @travismiller1

God Bless
Travis

Power Lifting Status and Goals

Hiya,
So last time I posted that I was shifting my focus from aesthetics to strength based goals. This was because I am not really an aesthetic kinda guy, but I really love the feeling I get lifting heavy weights. So, I also mentioned that I was going to be testing where my current lifting status is by performing a simulated power lifting meet and then I would reevaluate my goal for January 3, 2014.

Today I went to the gym feeling a little under the weather because of head congestion. but I wasn't going to let it stop me from getting the results I wanted. Yesterday, I did some research on the order of a power lifting meet and what a typical warm up progression for 1RM (rep max) would consist of. The meet would consist of the lifts in the order of Squats, Bench Press, and Deadlift. The typical warm up for testing 1RM is as follows:

50% 1RM for 8 reps followed by 2 minutes rest
60% 1RM for 5 reps followed by 2 minutes rest
70% 1RM for 3 reps followed by 3 minutes rest
80% 1RM for 1 rep followed by 3 minutes rest
90% 1RM for 1 rep followed by 5 minutes rest
100% 1RM for 1 rep followed by 5 - 15 minutes rest
+2~5% increase followed by 5 - 15 minutes rest
Continue until unable to complete rep

Today I went with my approximate 1RM and based my test off of those. In the order of Squat, Bench Press, and Deadlift. The only thing I didn't do that would have been allowed in a meet would be 3 attempts at a given weight. I decided that because of time that when I hit my first failure I was done. So where do I sit as a power lifter?

Squat at 355 lbs - I was estimating 400 lbs
Bench at 285 lbs - I was estimating 315 lbs
Deadlift at 475 lbs - Previous best was 455 lbs
Total at 1115 lbs

I was a little disappointed on the squat and bench but it is understandable because I had been focusing on aesthetics instead of strength. I am totally excited on breaking my personal best on deadlift and that makes up for the squat and bench.

So here is where I am at for my goals. Deadline is still January 3rd, 2014. I am still setting my eyes on the 1300 lbs total with Squat at 425 lbs, Bench at 350 lbs, and Deadlift at 525 lbs.

Many people will tell you that it is an unrealistic goal but The question isn't if their opinions are going to let me but rather who's going to stop me!

God Bless,

Travis