Grown Ass Man Strength Training!

Now that the football season is finally over it's time to start throwin' around some heavy ass weights!  Suffered a high ankle sprain in the last game of the year against William Patterson (didn't miss a snap) but fuck it, gotta walk the walk and live the code.  I promised my buddy Jim Rizzolo that after the season ended we'd hit the weights hard and I had to live up to it ankle or no ankle.  Even big CJ Vines joined us, as we cranked out an awesome strength and power-building workout.

Me, Rizz, and CJ on the "All MAC" punt
shield--going to miss playing with these guys

Everyone was sore.  Everyone had injuries coming out of the season.  Didn't matter.  Sitting on our asses and making excuses why we couldn't get in the gym is only cheating ourselves.  I can tell it's going to be a great offseason lifting with these two guys.  They're willing to do whatever it takes to pack on muscle and get stronger just like they were willing to do whatever it took to get it done on the football field.  They were great teammates and players and now they're going to be two strong dudes moving forward.


General Warmup
Dynamic Warmup

Shoulder Work--Banded face pulls x 12
--Band Pull-Aparts x 15
--Scapula Pushups x 10

Old School Deadlift

--Pushups x 10

Power 
1) Band Resisted Kettlebell Swings--3x5

Strength
2) Deadlift Variation--2x5 at 7 RPE (Weight that you would fail at 8 reps on)

3) Speed Deadlift Variation--3x3 at 60% of estimated 1RM

Assistance
4) Weighted Scapula-Contracted Back Extensions--3x12

Muscle-Building Complex--3 Rounds
5a) Feet-Elevated Inverted Rows--12-15
5b) Banded Good Morning--12
5c) Hanging Straight Leg/Knee Raise--Submax (Final set to failure)

Core/Conditioning--2 Rounds
6) Single Arm KB Farmer's Carries--70 lb kettlebell w/ 30 lbs of chains around neck--2 laps each arm

This workout was BRUTAL on the entire posterior chain.  By the end of the workout all of our grips, upper and lower back's especially were on fire!  This was an awesome workout for CJ and Rizz especially because they both want to improve their pull up numbers and their posterior chain strength, so heavy deadlifts, inverted rows, and carries are just what the doctor ordered!

Ever seen someone deadlift big weights without
carrying around a ton of muscle?

If you want to pack on muscle that looks good and can back it up with some serious strength you HAVE TO DEADLIFT in some way shape or form.  Don't back down just because deadlifts are tough.  Who knows, maybe they'll make a man out of you!