Getting this started a little late but the beginning is in my journal....

Started on 11-15-2006
Starting weight 384 pounds:
Starting Measurements:
Right Bicep -15" ... Left Bicep-15"
Right Forearm -13.5" ... Left Forearm -13.5"
Right Thigh -32" ... Left Thigh -32"
Right Calf -19" ... Left Calf -19"
NECK-19"
STOMACH-62"

Monday:

Olympic Squats 5x5 (same weight)
Benching 5x5 (flat, close grip or regular)(same weight)
JS Rows 5x5 (same weight)
Accessory (low volume triceps and abs)

Wednesday:

Olympic Squats 5x5 (reduced 15-20% from Monday) or Front Squats 5x5
Standing Military Press 5x5 (same weight)
Deadlifts 5x5 (same weight) (if you pull 2.5x bodyweight do 3x5)
Pull ups 5x5 (use weight if you need it)
Accessory (biceps and abs)

Friday:

Olympic Squats 5x5 (working up each set)
Benching 5x5 (flat or incline)(same weight)
Rows 5x5 (same weight)
Accessory (low volume triceps and abs)


The idea is simple: pick a weight you can do for 5 sets of 5, and if you complete all the sets and reps, then next time bump the weight up 5 or 10 pounds.

Before beginning the program it is important to establish 1 rep maxes for the squat, bench press, military press, and deadlift, and 5 rep maxes for the squat, bench press, rows, military press, and deadlifts.

The first week, it is important to begin very conservatively and prepare to set new 5 rep maxes on about the 4th-6th week, rather than the 1st or 2nd week. It will take some time for your body to grow accustomed to training this way, and in the beginning you’re gonna be sore as hell.

If you get all the sets and reps, then you increase the weight (5-10lbs) for the next week, and if not, you keep the weight the same.

Try and set new 5 rep maxes on weeks 4-6 for beginners , and weeks 3-4 for veterans and then move to a 3x3 for 2x per week.

Run the 3x3 for 2-3 weeks, drop the squatting frequency to 2x per week (or even every 4-5 days if you need the additional recovery), and try setting records on the 4th or 5th workout. (Also, weight increase are the important thing here).

Then cycle down to 1 set of 3 for 2 or 3 workouts, and maybe even go for a max single at the end.

So basically what you get is a 4-6 week prep phase, followed by a 3-5 week peaking phase.

Olympic Squats 5x5x125
Benching 5x5x115
JS Rows 5x5x150
Low volume triceps 5x5x45

Walk
WALK
WALK.........4 miles...outdoors!!

Tonight I was asked what keeps me going???What helps me fight the daily headaches and pain??? The Lord's help....and this story I found a few months ago and then I found the video...could you give up??? Quit??? Let some pain stop you from enjoying a day with your son??? Your family??? Not me!!!

I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay For their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.

But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in Marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a Wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and Pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back Mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. On a bike. Makes Taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much--except save his life.
This love story began in Winchester , Mass. , 43 years ago, when Rick Was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him Brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors told him And his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. ``Put him in an Institution.''

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes Followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the Engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was Anything to help the boy communicate. ``No way,'' Dick says he was told. ``There's nothing going on in his brain.''

"Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a Lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed Him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his Head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? ``Go Bruins!'' And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the School organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, ``Dad, I want To do that.''

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described ``porker'' who never ran More than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he Tried. ``Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. ``I was sore For two weeks.''

That day changed Rick's life. ``Dad,'' he typed, ``when we were running, It felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly Shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

``No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a Single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few Years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then They found a way to get into the race Officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the Qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, ``Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he Was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick Tried.

Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii . It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud Getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you Think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? ``No way,'' he says. Dick does it purely for ``the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick with A cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best Time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world Record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to Be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the Time.

``No question about it,'' Rick types. ``My dad is the Father of the Century.''

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a Mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries Was 95% clogged. ``If you hadn't been in such great shape,'' One doctor told him, ``you probably would've died 15 years ago.'' So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass. , always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

``The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types, ``is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.''





And the video is below....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4B-r8KJhlE

http://www.teamhoyt.com/

Front Squats 5x5x110
Standing Military Press 5x5x110
Deadlifts 5x5x125
Pull ups 5x5
Biceps 5x5x45
Abs 5x5x45

Good workout today...strength is returning! I'm about sore from the weighted crunches! I think I'll try to get in a couple of miles of walking tonight!

Breakfast:
2 boiled eggs
cup of tea
32oz water

Lunch:
can of tuna
2 tbsp of mayo
boiled egg

Dinner:
Roast Beast

What an amazing story. I'm really in a different place in my life in terms of fitness and thinking how that will (hopefully) change my quest to become a Mom (i.e., a much healthier pregnancy) and then very much be a part of how I raise my children (keeping them active). It turns out our goals are very similar. You have your own inspiration...but for the record, you're inspiring me too!

Setting a good example for your children is the most difficult and most rewarding challenge there is, I think...and the longevity that comes with it...the return on that investment...is nearly timeless.

Breakfast:
2 boiled eggs
cup of tea
32oz water

Lunch:
can of tuna
2 tbsp mayo
32oz water

Dinner:
Chicken breast
32oz water

Olympic Squats 5x5 110x115x125x135x150lbs
Benching 5x5x110lbs
Rows 5x5x45lbs
Triceps 5x5x45lbs
Abs5x5x45lbs

Up way too early this morning and got to work on the 5x5's. Time sure flyes when your having fun! Now I'm off to the gym to set those new 1 rep max!! It's like having another goal to beat each week!
I'm afraid I'm becoming a junky!! A workout monster!!!




Well got in another 4 miles walking!! I got to get some rest....I'm aching all over tonight! Got my gallon of water in today!!

Ok, yeah, I'm thinking I've gotten SO much more flexible lately...but that's just pushing it! ROFL

Hey, you know I think I might be headed into "workout junkie" mode with you. I saw my trainer at the gym today and told him what I went through to get there (beggin cousin for ride and telling him "just 2 hours man...I just need 2 hours") and my trainer was laughing and calling me a junkie. But you know, I needed that fix. Thank God I'll have my car back by Saturday when I plan to return!

Crack me up about the 27 degree "freeze" man! But why I'm writing is...there is NO better exercise than tossing your fat clothes! And there is no better work for your body than weight training (IMO). Your "reveal" is going to be impressive!

I will say this, though...even though this is addicting, I'm doing it to make my life better and that includes life BALANCE so I'll always focus on building it IN to my life and not trying to build my life around it, ya know?

Happy Friday and keep it up!