Words of wisdom and thoughts.

Sometimes people ask me "What do I have to do, to get stronger, or how can I be a champion, or why do you do this stuff?" My first answer for most of it besides the how do I do this stuff, is you have to be willing to sacrifice. I know for myself I sacrifice alot, I sacrifice time with my wife and daughter, I sacrifice getting to watch my favorite football team, I sacrifice eating some of my favorite foods to be healthier, it is all about sacrifice. People always say to me why don't you drink? Quite frankly I don't care to, but for the most part, I don't think it helps my training. I get a better buzz going after a PR and getting it.

Her are some examples of sacrifice I see at my gym. Ian one of our newer team members drives 2 hours each way to come and train with us every week. And every week he gives 110% in his training. I am sure there are better things he could be doing with that 4 hours he drives, but he wants to be the best at what he does. Joe, Melissa, and Troy drive 1 hour each way and give up time with the families on sundays to come and train. I know all of them also have many nights that they don't get to train until sometimes 9-10 pm at night. Chuck right now has a torn MCL and maybe a torn ACL, but for right now he is dealing with the pain, cause he has a goal. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but really if any of us were smart we wouldn't be trying to walk with 800lbs on our backs, or picking up 400# stones. Its not that we are stupid, just a different breed of people.

Why do I put myself through this pain and time away from my family every week. I do it because I love it. While some people would rather go out and drink beer, I would rather be lifting weights and hanging out with people as the same goals as me. There is no better feeling than lifting some weight you have never picked up before or knowing if it came down to it you could probably pick a car up off someone. I love going out every week and seeing my friends lift things they never thought possible.

Last thing I wanna touch on is do not allow people to bring you down. If someone wants to try and make you feel bad or tell you that you can't do something, get rid of them. Negative people are not worth being around. Also always believe in yourself, if your mind is weak so will your body. If you have a friend or training partner who is constantly telling you negative thoughts, get rid of them or don't workout with them, it will diminish your gains. One thing I always emphasize at my gym is giving positive reinforcement, we always root each other on, even it means that person might be lifting more weight than us or breaking one of our records. Most of them I even do this at contest for people I am competing against.

If you wanna be winner, you have to sacrifice and you have to be positive.

Jesse

Strongman day

Good day today. Not really for me, but for all my friends. I gotta thank all my friends as sometimes if it wasn't for them, I don't know if I would be doing all this shit I do. Seeing all them make such great progress every week, that is what keeps me driven and wanting to keep my garage gym going. I really didn't have much energy today, but I still managed a few PRs.

Log press
160 x 3
200 x 3
220 x 3
245 x 2 Still a PR I think, but this just sucked

Incline Log
240 x 9 PR

Then I stood around for a little while.

Stone series
270, 310, 330, 360 48" all time series PR

some biceps and shoulders.

Jesse

Lower body workout

I was tempted to skip todays workout as I was fucking tired. I haven't been sleeping well at all and it is catching up with me today. But I was able to push through it and have a good workout.

Close stance beltless squats
225 x 5
280 x 5
310 x 3
345 x 7 PR

DB slds
3 x 10

ab fallouts
3 x 10

That was it, hoping for at least 6 hours of sleep tonight.

Jesse

Upperbody night

Was very tired going into tonights workouts. Had a bunch of different aches and pains. I think this was attributed mostly to the change in weather. Just the nature of the game I guess, I didn't let it stop me from having a good workout.

Strict press
110 x 5 x 2
140 x 5
160 x 5
180 x 7 could have done more but I had a very new pain in my shoulder and decided it wasn't worth pushing it.

Close grip bench
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 3
275 x 1
315 x 1 I was gonna stop here, but Chuck told me it looked easy and fast, sure as hell didn't feel easy or fast.
340 x 1 5# PR Well this was a grinder, but thank god for having good training partners who know what to tell you. I really had to change up my bench form because of my shoulder. I was lowering the weight very slow and this sucked. But I got it, so doesn't matter now.

Blast strap pushups
5 x 10

Thick bar pushdowns
5 x 10

Pullups x multiple sets didn't count.

Thick bar wrist curls
5 x 10

Jesse

Deadlift night

Today was one of those workouts where I knew it had a possibility of being a good workout. I was exhausted all day and kept yawning on my way home. I don't know what it is but whenever I yawn alot, I seem to have a good workout. Today didn't dissapoint.

Power snatches
95 x 3
115 x 3
125 x 10

DL from the floor
225 x 3
315 x 3
405 x 3
455 x 3
510 x 8 all hook gripped, awesome PR!!!

Bent over rows
225 x 5
275 x 5
295 x 5

Blast strap rows
4 x 15

Band pulldown abs
3 x 20

side bends
3 x 10

Jesse

Thanks to my friends and training partners.

I gotta say thanks to my friends that come over every week and train with me. I don't know if they really know how much they help me keep my sanity and help me get stronger. I wouldn't be where I am at today if I didn't have the friends I have right now. I also don't know if the people I help train realize how happy I get when I see them make PRs every week, or how sad I get when they have a crappy workout.

I gotta really thank my wife for putting up with all my working out and having bunches of people over every week. She has always welcomed people and even put up with a few who were assholes. My wife is always cheering me on to do my best and knows what sacrifices I have to make in order to do this. Thanks to my daughter for always letting me get my workouts in, and always being my biggest cheerleader.

I really look forward to seeing how things end up this year, its gonna be fun.

Jesse

Events training day

Good day today, for the most part I accomplished what I wanted.

Log press
140 x 3
180 x 3
210 x 3
230 x 6 PR

Incline Log
230 x 11

silver dollar DL
405 x 1
455 x 1
505 x 1
605 x 1
655 x 1 PR
705 x miss so close

Stones
330 x 1
400 x miss miss miss, I am getting off the ground but not lapped. Big damn stone.
310 x 2

Was gonna hit up some assistance but I was shot. I am getting stronger, gotta love that.

Jesse

Lower body day

I felt very rundown today and didn't feel like taking a preworkout drink to give some energy. Probably should have, as what was a good workout would have been a great workout.

Power Cleans
135 x 5
185 x 3
205 x 1
225 x 1
235 x 1
245 x 1
255 x 1 Ties PR

Close stance squats
135 x 5
225 x 3
260 x 3
290 x 3
325 x 5 I could have done more but I didn't want to.

Farmers Walks
For the record this wasn't the best idea as my legs were jello.
280 each hand x 55 feet. I as gonna try and do this for 100 some odd feet but I haven't done a turn in forever and forgot kind of how to do it correctly.
315 each hand x 20 feet maybe. Still a PR as I have never picked this much up and walked with it.

Ab fallouts
3 x 10

Calf raises
5 x 10

Wasn't a terrible workout, but I wasn't happy with it. Gotta get some damn sleep and rest up.

Jesse

Upperbody Day

Great night tonight.

Strict presses
110 x 5
160 x 3
180 x 1
200 x 1
215 x 1
225 x 1 PR
230 x 1 PR
240 x oh so fucking close !!!
Had I gotten the 240 it would have been bittersweet as that would have been a bodyweight strict press.

Close grip bench
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
265 x 3
300 x 5 PR

Dips
3 x 10

Chain Extensions
3 x 10

Wrist curls
5 x 10

Jesse

Deadlift and upperback workout.

I felt quite sluggish today, but the workout turned out really good.

Deadlift from floor.
135 x 5 x 2
225 x 3
315 x 3
405 x 3
480 x 9 Rep PR, all hook gripped.

Was going to try some frame carry, but my back wouldn't stop feeling pumped.

DB rows
165#s x 8 x 3 sets

Blast strap rows
3 x 15

Abs
3 x 30

Jesse

Events and log press alltime PR.

Today was one of those days where I didn't know what was gonna happen. But what did happen, wow!!!

Log press
log x 5 x 2
160 x 3
210 x 3
240 x 3 Rep PR
260 x 1 Alltime PR
270 x 1 Holy shit where did that come from PR!!!

Incline Log
250 x 6 I think, PR none the less

Stones
270 x 1
360 x 3 to 48" Alltime Stone PR
400 x 2 misses, had it breaking the ground but that was it.

Blast strap pulls to face
3 x 10

Hammer curls
3 x 8

Sledgehammer
3 x 10 each arm.

Good day, I could have done more but I was very happy with the end result.

Jesse

Crappy lower body workout

I felt terrible today, I just did my prescribed reps and called it a day.

Close stance squats
235 x 5
270 x 5
305 x 5

DB slds
3 x 10

Calf raises
4 x 10

Fallouts
3 x 10

Somedays you just gotta do what you can, and today was one of those days. My body sounded like an orchestra from all the popping and cracking noises it was making.

Jesse

Some thoughts

I have spent many years reading about lifting weights, how to get stronger, just anything involving lifting, nutrition, and the pursuit of getting stronger. But what the hell is up with all these people that have got to make things so damn complicated !!! Whatever happened to just going in the gym and doing some squats to get your squat stronger, you want a bigger chest do bench presses, a back like a brick wall do deadlifts. I strongly believe in the theory of keeping it simple in my workouts. But this isn't to say on occasion I add in some crazy exercises.

I am working on starting my own training business soon enough, and luckily I will have a great partner in business who for the most part believes in the same beliefs as me. I can say with great attestment that there is no way in hell I will have somebody doing squats on a stability ball, hell I wouldn't have them doing them on a smith machine.

I respect anybody who is a trainer, but there are too many people who have all this special degrees and could definately tell me more about the body than I know. But the idiots couldn't tell a person how to increase their bench press by 5# in 12 weeks without making it so damn complicated it would take a genius to decipher it. I don't claim to know everything and I don't have any degrees(not in health or fitness at least) to back up my claims. I do know though that I can help people lose weight, get in better shape, and get stronger. Its easy just keep it simple...

Jesse

Upperbody workout

Good day today, if I can take two things away from my vacation time is that I have had some great workouts and I got to spend some quality time with my wife and daughter.

Strict presses
150 x 5
170 x 3
190 x 5 Rep PR

Close grip bench
215 x 3
255 x 3
285 x 7 Rep PR

Tate Presses
30 x 10
40 x 10
50 x 10
60 x 7
Wow hadn't done these in forever, forgot how good they are.

Purple band extensions
5 x 20

Wrist curls supersetted with Trainer COC closes
3 x 10

Great workout, I am sore and tired. Been sleeping alot this week, I think it helping with my recovery alot.

Jesse

Deadlift day and whatever else.

Good and bad day today. I finally hit a wall on my deadlifts, today I felt like a wreck.

Power Snatch
95 x 3 x 2
115 x 3
135 x 1
145 x 1
150 x 1
155 x 1
160 x 1
165 x 1 Alltime PR

DL from floor
245 x 3
335 x 3
385 x 3
440 x 3
515 x 1 wow this felt like SHIT! So I decided it was time to shut it down.

Frame Carry
600lbs x 60 feet no drops. Alltime PR on the frame, highlight of my workout.

Bent over rows
245 x 8, I was gonna do 3 - 4 sets of this but Chuck wanted to do stones.

stones
310 x 3
310 x 2

Wow, shouldn't have done this. My biceps were killing me after this. I did stones on sunday and shouldn't have done them today. Live and learn.

Blast strap rows
5 x 10

I was shot at this point, wanted to do core work, but I needed to call it a night.

Overall I got a nice PR on power snatch and the frame so it was worth some of the pain.

Jesse

Quick workout

Mac came over to do a overhead and squat workout. So I decided to do a small workout, while I was out there chatting with him.

KB Clean and press
96# KB x 10 each arm. Don't know where this came from, I have never done more than I believe 8 with this KB. Next I wanna get 10 each arm clean and pressing each rep.

Pullups
1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1

That was it. Nice and refreshed. Mac looked good today, hit some nice numbers on the axle and squats.

Jesse

Event training day

Wow what an eventful day. I trained my ass off today, as well as everybody else did to. I think everyone got some kind of PR today.

Super Yoke
just did pickups with
450
650
800 x 35-40 feet maybe, this is a PR but until I take this damn thing the full 60 feet I will not take it. Not sure what my problem, mainly I haven't been training yoke.

Log press
140 x 3
180 x 3
210 x 1
230 x 1 one motion press
255 x 1 Alltime log press PR

Incline Log
240 x 10 PR

18" DL off blocks
225 x 3
315 x 3
405 x 1
495 x 1
585 x 1
640 x 1 PR
650 x 1 PR

Stones
310 x 2
330 x 1
360 x 1

Hammer curls
3 x 12

Front raises
3 x 10

I was shot at this point. What a great day.

Jesse

Upper body day

Today was just okay. With everything that has been going on with our house, I have been rather stressed and I couldn't use that fire in my workout.

Strict presses
140 x 3
160 x 3
180 x 6 almost had 7 it was so damn close.

Close grip bench
185x 5
235 x 5
265 x 8

Dips
5x 5

pressdowns
5 x 10

Some pullups and grip work. Then after having a decent workout, I come inside and for some reason my knee decides to just go out on me. The fucking thing hurts like hell right now, and I have no clue what I did or how I did it.

Jesse

Deadlift night

Well first I gotta say tonight was a great workout, but I am not happy with what happened. I will explain in a minute.

Deadlift from the floor, just a belt
135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 3
405 x 3
495 x 1
525 x 1
565 x 1 Alltime RAW pr
585 x miss nothing left
Ok so my plan was to probably go for 600 tonight. But warmups were feeling terrible, usually this is a good sign, but the more I warmed up, the worse I felt. I probably would have gotten the 585 if I would have jumped to that instead of the 565, but a PR is a PR. Most people will say "Why can't you be happy, you pulled a PR!" Well I think that what makes people who are happy with 2nd place, different from those who aspire to be the best. Hell I have won contest and still found things I was not happy with. I aspire to be the best and not getting my goals is not gonna cut it.

Frame carry
570 x 60 feet PR never doen this without drops

DB rows
3 x 8

Blast strap rows
3 x 20

Abs
5 x 20

Jesse

Event training day

Log press, wow hadn't done this in a long time. Didn't go that bad.

140 x 5
190 x 3
220 x 3
240 x 1
Did one-motion presses up to 220. The 240 would have been alot better had I actually got some leg drive on it. Since Troy and Joe are training the log I will probably be doing this for a little while. It would be nice to finally get a PR on the damn log. My best is 250, so I don't think getting a PR is that far off very soon.

Incline Log press
230 x 8 PR

18" deadlift
250 x 5
340 x 3
430 x 1
540 x 1
600 x 5 PR

Stones
250 x couple
360 x 1 x 3 sets

Hammer curls
3 x 10

Overall it was a good day. It felt good to do the log again, even though I hate it. Everybody was having a good day for the most part. I am looking forward to Tuesday, I plan on going for a BIG deadlift PR!!!

Jesse

Lower Body workout

I can't believe how well this workout went, cause I felt like shit going into it.

Close stance squats no belt
135 x 5 x 2
225 x 5
280 x 3
320 x 1
360 x 3 PR
400 x 1 PR
The 400 was easy, so easy I should have done reps, but I will save it for another day.

DB slds
3 x 10

Ab fallouts
3 x 10

Calf raises
3 x 10

I was shot after the squats so I kept the accessory work light.

Looking forward to event training on Sunday, something big is gonna happen.

Jesse