As I previously mentioned in my log, I received an offer to work as a career firefighter in my home town of Bridgeport, CT upon my successful completion of the Connecitcut Fire Academy. The CFA has a policy of not allowing any details of the program to be made public, so despite my original desire to discuss academt details and how it impacts my training as a powerlifter, I will not be able to get into the nitty gritty. It is reasonable to assume that I will be doing lots of cardio, manual labor, and experience a loss in ability to eat sufficient calories for growth; but that's all I can discuss. Right after I competed at the RPS Raw Dawg Nationals meet where I posted a 1960 total in sleeves @ 239 lbs (750-515-795), I began the CT State Fire Academy. Due to this quick transition and an extremely demanding academic course load that typically sees me without Internet or phone access for 18 hours per day, I will do my meet write up this weekend when I'm able to go home for the first time. Sorry for the delay guys. Going forward, my training will consist of only two days per week - a squat / deadlift day on Saturday, and a bench press day on Sunday. Training during the week is unfortunately impossible due to the academic load.

Fortunately, I was able to have some spare time in the evenings to train during this first week. Generally after meets, I like to just have fun training, go by feel, and chase a great pump. Here's what went down:

8/17

Medium Grip Incline Bench Press w/ EliteFTS Shoulder Saver
275x8, 295x8, 305x8, 305x8

Illegal Wide Grip Bench Press (feet up)
225 3x15

Low Incline DB Incline Flies
40's X 15
40's X 15
40's X 12

DB Six Ways
5 sets 10 reps w/ the 15 lb DB's

DB Rear Laterals (head on bench)
45's 3x12

- I typically do these with 60 lb DB's, but let the weight down at a quicker but controlled level. I decided to drop down in weight a bit and try to control the negative as much as possible, which is tough to do from this angle. Got a really strong burn in my rear delts and definitely will be doing this variation again.

Rolling DB Tricep Extensions
60's X 10
65's X 10 - rep PR
70's X 8

Unilateral Band Pushdowns
75 reps each arm