I’ve got a bunch of quick-hitters here for you.  Rapid fire thoughts from the top of my head…

-I love the Apple Orchard on a nice fall day.  It’s especially great when your little kids are running around with you.

Capri and her long hair

-It’s great when Da Bears are 2 games up on the Packers.  We’ll see if it lasts…

-The other day one of my high school athletes said, “if I go up in weight, I’m not only gonna add the 2.5s.  That’s pointless, give me the bigger plates or I won’t bother going up at all.”  Don’t take this mindset y’all!  As long as you’re progressing in the right direction, don’t worry about how much of a jump it is.  Last week I added (from week 1 to week 2) 2.5 pounds on my last set of bench press…

And I went from 60 pounds last week  to 61.25 pounds this week  on my chin-ups…

61.25 pounds... 1.25 pounds heavier than last week.

Small increases, but STILL increases!

-Earlier in the week one of the girl’s basketball teams that I work with had a girl miss a weight lifting session because she was on a recruiting trip (a rare good reason to miss a lifting session).  The following Monday when she returned, she got a call from the college’s coach right in the middle of the lifting session with me and her teammates (a RARE good excuse to answer your phone during a lifting session).  She hung up the phone and announced to us that she just got offered a scholarship and is going to take it from this school.  Awesome… always great to be around this kind of thing!

-I’ve been doing quite a bit of grip/forearm work lately.  Right after one of my torture sets, my hand literally doesn’t function when it comes time to record my numbers on my sheet.  I seriously write with as much control as my 2-year olds.

-These days I’ve been incorporating more quad-finishers, as opposed to heavy, low rep sets for my quads (more joint friendly and less chance for injury).  Now, I still go hard and heavy from time to time, but the risk:reward just isn’t there to do so on a consistent basis anymore.  And I think my quads have been responding just fine with this set-up.  This program’s current quad finisher…

I perform reverse lunges for 8 reps per leg, then go right into 8 jump squats (deep squat before transitioning into the jump portion). I then rack the barbell and perform 8 goblet squats (only going up 3/4 of the way to keep constant tension on the quads).  I then rest 45 seconds and repeat.  Only this time I do 6 reps per leg on the lunges, 6 jump squats (1/4 depth this time), and 6 reps of goblet squats (again, only going up 3/4 of the way).

I then pick up the heavy jump rope and perform as many non-stop reps as possible (no double-hops).  On week one I got 30 reps, week two 35 reps, and then on week 3 (earlier today), I got up to 38 reps (hopefully I’ll be able to get 39 + reps on the 4th and final week of the program).

Finally, I fall into the fetal possession, suck my thumb and call for my mommy!  Quads.  On.  Fire!

-I have a BIG announcement coming next week.  For those that don’t already know what I’m talking about, I’m looking forward to sharing it with you! …

Be back soon.  Have a great rest of your week!