We started the long weekend by visiting Elitefts headquarters early Thursday evening. We were running late because my plane was circling the Airport like Die Hard 2. So after a long day of travel, the guys picked me up and we went straight to the Compound for our Table Talk. I was a little punchy, but I gave it my all.
I was really honored that Dave asked us to highjack his gig while he was away. This is the kind of stuff that Jim, Matt, and I talk about all weekend when we're together anyway. Well, maybe a little tamer. I still hope that I can do one with Dave down the road.
Friday morning Jim went off to coach and Matt and I headed back to Elitefts for some solo interview stuff they wanted. After that Matt and I grabbed a bite. Back at the house, we waited for Jim to get up from his nap. We hung for a bit, then finally motivated to train.
Matt was only squatting and ending up hitting what he called an unassuming rep pr. It was funny because Jim and I were deadlifting when we noticed Matt was at his top set and already busting through his reps. He wasn't really feeling it when we started, so he just pushed through not making a big deal of it. Pretty dope that he hit a post-heart surgery pr. Yep, they actually gave him one.
Jim and I were deadlifting. He was crushing his planned number for reps, but felt a pop in his leg. Smartly he stopped where he was. My goal on the deadlift was 2x bodyweight which was 530. On my double with 420 the first rep was crap, and the guys reminded me to get down on the bar. I went 475 next which went fine. For my last lift with 530, it actually flew up. I feel strongly I had quite a bit in the tank, but the guys reminded me I had other lifts to do. I hit my goal so live to fight another day.
On the bench, everything went super smoothly. I kept my legs up as that doesn't aggravate my back. Before I knew it I was at my 2x bodyweight goal of 420. That went up really comfortably and once again the guys told me to stick to the plan.
It was really odd doing the squat last. Warmups went well, but as the weight got heavier I could tell I was fading. Meanwhile, I thought hitting the 2.5x bodyweight squat was going to the easiest of my goals that day. The 530 felt heavy and when I came out of the hole I started going forward. I felt Jim touch my ribs while spotting and I totally freaked that he was going to grab me. I gave it everything I had and drove back into the bar powered it up. I'll take it.
I couldn't have asked for more. I reached my goals of squatting and deadlifting 530 and benching 420. Plus I got to do it with two of my closest friends. I'm always super motivated to lift with Matt and Jim. They are great coaches and really encouraging, seriously.
After kicking ass it was time for the actual reason I headed out to Ohio--to eat Popeye's. Let's be real, I use Wendler and Rhodes as an excuse to eat glorious fried chicken, fries, and biscuits. It was delightful. Afterward, we watched a badass movie Shot Caller and found a new nickname for Rhodes--Bottles. I think it's the first nickname I gave him that he actually liked. Totally befitting for sure.
Sunday we made the short trip to Bob Evan's to fuel up before our prowler push. I ate an egg white western omelet with no cheese and dry whole-wheat toast. I not only got made fun of rightfully so by Jim and Matt but by the waitress as well. I think she said something to the effect of taking all of the flavor out of the meal. We already had plans to eat pizza later, so I didn't want to go off the rails first thing in the morning. Plus I knew I wanted to keep it light as I didn't want to see breakfast for a second time on our prowler excursion.
The prowler goal was to push its grand total weight of 270 for one mile in under 40 minutes. The good thing was we waited until it was absolutely the hottest time of the day with the sun blazing down on us. Our plan was to take 50 steps a piece until finished. It was really difficult but very doable. We busted ass and finished in 24 minutes and change. I was super impressed with all of our conditioning.
Prowler pushing was followed up with some quality pizza. Bottles also hooked us up with some Reese's Big Cups in the fridge for later. He got the good ones too, the ones with the Reese's Pieces in them. That evening we dulled our senses, shot the sh!t, and watched some more quality flicks.
Before I knew it the weekend was over and Bottles was to chauffeur me to the airport. However, before leaving I had to stop and take my usual blasphemous selfie at Jim's. I'm still waiting for the day when he has the bathroom mirrors removed for my visits. Anyway, try as they did, they could not rid me of my abs.
Damn, I'm getting nostalgic just thinking back to this a week ago. I highly recommend getting together with some good buddies and putting together a training weekend. Meathead Sleepaway Camp is always among my top vacations of the year.
