After a very successful meet for my Team (17 lifters competed) and I myself had a wardrobe malfunction (blown shirt) we all took a week off from training to regroup, rest and get healed up.

I myself have taken a long look in the mirror and realized some things. First off, no I could not have planned or helped that my shirt blowed out, its just one of those things that can happen for no real reason. In my 12 years geared lifting that has never happened. It was just time I guess. Unfortunately it happened to me at a meet.

The obvious thing I realized is that I am not training myself like I used to train. Meaning that I am focused on 20+ other lifters and their success which is my choice and no fault of theirs. I just need to get my training in with them more so and at a higher level than I have. Also I realize I have been on the mend for the past 2 years. I also realize that I am still training with a real injury (torn labrum) that is not getting better. Excuses it seems but reality as well.

Its time for me to step up or step down and I am not ready to do the later. Not yet. I feel there is some left in the tank. I gather inspiration from fellow teammate Jo Jordan. 7 years this man has struggled, had surgeries and battled back and here he is finally getting his wheels back under him at his last meet. I am a huge fan of Jo's and he may or may not know it but he has inspired me to step my game up. To dig a little deeper than I have been. Realize I am not out of the game yet. I thank you Jo for the inspiration you have given me and I am sure others. 7 years is a long time but time is all we have right?

With all this being said my first priority is to continue on my adjusting my nutrition. So far so good in the past few weeks. I'm not trying to get on a stage in panties but increase my frequency, times and quality of food intake. Be more responsible and push myself to stay the course to help my recovery and overall health. I'm going to get back to the nuts and bolts of what and how I used to train that made me strong(er). I'm going to continue my rehab protocol with body tempering, foam rolling, body buffering and ice baths. These things are what's going to get me back on track.

Lifting weights in the gym is just like anything in life. Your always learning, always making adjustments to get better, always pushing harder to get where you want to be but also learning about ones self. The gym is the best place for that. You have to leave your ego at the door. Not take days off when you need to be busting your ass. Pushing yourself as hard as you can then pushing yourself even harder. That weight pile will never lie to you. It will always give you the brutal truth each and every time. Its always trying to break you but you cant let it. These next few months I will be testing and pushing myself like never before but being smart about it.

The next few weeks I will take a break from the main three and focus on getting stronger again, bigger and build confidence in preparation for taking on the big three again. I will work my supplemental training like crazy, like I used to and reap those benefits like I used to. Skipping these things have brought me back to ground zero and that's how I will treat it. So here we go....

Seated BB Overhead Presses

1 x bar - 5
1 x 135 - 5
1 x 185 - 5
1 x 225 - 5
1 x 275 - 5
1 x 315 - 5

Assisted Pullups

4 sets x 10 reps

Seated Bench Mach

10 sets x 10 reps each set

Pec Dec

10 sets x 10 reps each set

Push Ups

10 sets x 10 reps each set

Rope Triceps Pressdowns

4 sets x 50 reps each set

DB Shrugs

10 sets x 10 reps each set

Abs