Busy day in the gym. Six people training at the same time. Most I’ve ever had in the garage at once, for any event. I met, and we welcomed two new friends; Charlotte Hill and Brad Olsen. It was a pleasure to meet you both. This was also the first time John Hyer has visited. Always a pleasure. Finally, Mark Freeman came again. For Brooks and I it was dead lift day. He pulled from a 2 and 1/4 inch deficit and I pulled from the floor. Mark and John benched. We all tried to work/help Charlotte with learning to deadlift and bench like a powerlifter. We should probably all thank her for not killing us when we were all talking at once. She did great. You can check out Brooks blog at:

The Road to Nationals-Brooks Conway,

and Mark, John, and Brad’s lifting on Mark’s YouTube page at:

Mark Freeman and John Hyer

As in prior training sessions, I continued my effort to get more work in. I pulled, and as usual, it felt like it was nailed to the floor. From 555 x 3 to 462 x 4 x 3 feeling like it would be the last thing I lifted. Next I moved into pull-ups. Lately I have been giving into the easy route of pulldowns. Not anymore. I went up to a top set of +20 x 5. I also tried +30, but the dumbbell got caught on the bench at the beginning of the second rep, which I took as an omen to give it a break and go for it next time. Finally I did some chest supported rows with a close grip. The odd thing is where my hands are during the movement and my body position. The lever affect makes it a great deal heavier than the weight would indicate and your hands are out in front of your body. The net effect is that it hits mid to upper back and your posterior delts wickedly. Here is a pick of the contraption:

It is a class 2 lever. To find the actual weight lifted for a number of 45 pound plates, denoted by x, you can use the formula: weight = (x times 45)(60 + (.75 times x))/52. So, here is a chart based on the number of 45s you happen to lift:

1 plate-45 lbs

 2 plates-90 lbs 3 plates-135 lbs 4 plates-180 lbs
52.57 lbs 106.44 lbs 161.61 lbs 218.08 lbs

A bit surprising. The last cell denotes 180 pounds of plates. I have pushed it to 200 before, but it tends to make the other end lift up. I once tried to hold on with my legs and the bench pad tore up at that end. Ripped the screws right out of the board. I hope this has made the nerds smile a bit with its inclusion. Physics is always out to teach us a lesson. The actual workout weights, sets and reps are given in the following table:

Dead lift 154 x 5, 154 x 5, 264 x 4, 385 x 1,
462 x 4, 462 x 4, 462 x 4
Pull-ups, grip about a hand width wider than ‘—x 5, +10 x 5, +20 x 5, +30 x 1
shoulder width
Chest supported rows, close-grip 90 x 5, 115 x 5, 140 x 5

Finally, should anyone be interested here is the video of the pulls:

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