Monday

It was just Coach A and me tonight. Dan did deadlift openers for the up coming WABDL meet this weekend in Rancho Cordova, Ca. Dan did a real nice 515 and I think he should be good for 551 or more this weekend. Dan weighs 210.

I trained by myself for the  first time in a very long time. Here is what I did.
Cable Bar Bench- 3 warm up sets, then I did 1 heavy set, and then two Max Effort set at 275 for 5 reps, and 4 reps. Cable Bar is much tougher than regular bench.
Single Arm Db Shoulder Press- 1 warm up x6, then 2x6 at 75
Flat Flyes- 3x10 top set at 60.
Superset Tri's- Overhead Extensions- 3x15, Push downs- 3x10,
No Abs tonight.

Tonight was weird, its been a long time since I trained in the garage by myself. Oh well, I am sure some of the guys will return or God will bring me some new guys to train. I hope that all is well with all of you. Stay strong and keep the faith.

Coach George Phipps  

Big changes in the gym

My Son Matt left today for Bemidji Minn. It will take him and his brother Peter two and half days to drive the 1700 miles from Reno to Bemidji. I will miss Matt so much, it has been great training with him these last two months. Matt is in the best shape of his life and I hope he has a great year this year playing linebacker for one of the best divison 2 programs in the country. I love training with my son as we push each other and get the best out of each other. I will miss him being here big time. The  gym is also changing in that some of the guys have new jobs and can't make it anymore and Coach A (Dan) is starting the football season and won't be able to make it up anymore. Big B (Brant) is also going to back to law school, so as you can see things will be a lot different over the next few months.

Barry and I are trying to figure out how we can make a gym work together, and we have started to look for a place to rent. I will keep you posted on how things work out. I have started training more women in the mornings, which has been good. So, I'll have to see how things are going to work out at night, Peter will be back in a few days so he'll start training with me, and Adam has been talking about coming back to the gym, which would be great.

Life is full of ups and downs and change is a big part of all of our lives. I am at a point in my life were change is the big word to describe what's been happening to me. My kids are all grown and out of the house and I am getting older by the day. People come and people go, but I'll continue doing what I've been doing for as long as God gives me the strength to continue. I would like to encourage all of you to enjoy each and every day, and every time you can have fun training, enjoy it! It's a gift to be able to get stronger each day. Your health is one of the greatest gifts you can have from God, so do everything you can to take care of yourself.

Coach George Phipps           

Thursday- The Guys

Matt and Peter-
Leg Press- (verticle machine) 3 warm ups x10 reps. Then 3 heavy work sets by 10 reps.
Lopes Hams- 3x12
Heavy back Extensions- 3x15
Abs- V Ups- 30 reps, Denise Austins 30 reps, Toe touches 30

Coach Phipps- I did recovery work tonight.
Leg Press- 60% of normal 2 set of 20 reps
Leg Curls- 3x15
Back Extension- 2 mins body weight.
Banded Pull Ups- (warm up with a light band, orange) and then used a mini band for 3 sets of 8 reps.

Tuesday- the guys

Banded Curls- (Jump stretch bands orange or green) These can be done on a cable pulley machine. 4x10
Alternate Hammer Curls- 3x10
Alternate Banded Lat Pull ins- These are great for the Lats. Use grey or green bands. 3x15
Barbell Shrugs- 3x15
One Arm Rear Delts- 3x10
Abs- Body Curls- 30, Incline Denis Austins- 25

Wheat Grass

A very close friend of mine told me of the benefits of wheat grass last year, I didn't believe the health benefits at the time but after doing some research found that wheat grass is indeed very good for you. I lost a bet and had to drink some wheat grass as a result. So, if you haven't checked out the health benefits of wheat grass you should. Wheat grass is very close to broccoli in health benefits. The taste leaves lots to be desired but several health food stores offer it in a smoothy, so go drink some wheat grass.

Coach George Phipps  

Monday- the guys

Bench Press- warm ups x 5 reps, then worked up to a Max Effort 5 reps. We did 2 sets.
Single Arm Db Shoulder Press- 1 warm up x5, then 3x5 These are done with the most weight you can handle for each set.
Incline Flyes-3x10
French Press (db's) 3x10
Over head Banded Tri Extensions- 3x15
Abs- Crunches: 2x50

I did recovery work. Light weights high reps for one set. 
Db Bench- 50's x45
Db Shoulder Press- 45's x25
Db Flyes- 40's x25
Tri Push Downs- 50 reps
Overhead Tri Extensions- 50 reps (orange bands)

Big B worked in a shirt (rage X 48 single ply) and set a new PR with a real nice 405.This was the first time Brant has benched this much. Good job Big B!

Thursday- the guys

Squats- (Max Effort Triples) warm ups x 5, then add briefs and work up to a Max Effort Triple.
Stiff Leg Deads- (Max Effort Triple) warm ups x 5's then work up to a Max Effort 5 reps.
Weighted Straight Leg Sit ups- (Weight behind the head) 1x25x 25 lbs. Incline Hip ups- 25

Tonight was tough. I am badly over trained, so I had a bad night, but Matt and Coach A did great. I hope everyone is doing good.

Coach Phipps

Barry and Me

I have a very close friend who is a tenth degree Grand Master in Kenpo Karate. Barry and I have toyed with the idea of teaming up and soon that maybe a reality. Barry would teach Kenpo and I would train his students to be stronger and more explosive. Below I have some links to Barry's site. He has put up some real nice pictures of me and some of the lifters I coach or compete with. So, check it out and I'll keep you posted.

Coach Phipps   

http://www.barryelwoodskenpo.com/Site/ISSA_strength_training.html

http://www.barryelwoodskenpo.com/Site/contacts.html

http://www.barryelwoodskenpo.com/Site/EKKA.html

Back From Seattle

Driving from Seattle to Reno is long and hard in a moving truck. The big  Ryder 26 footer was slow and bumpy, which meant ten and half hours from Seattle to Weed, Ca. That's right around 550 miles. The view through Oregon was beauitful but in that big slow truck it was also long and uncomfrotable. We got to Reno Monday afternoon. We have been unpacking my sister for the last two days, man I'll be glad when everything is moved and put away. I should be posting Thursday's work tomorrow. I hope all of you are doing good.

Coach Phipps   

What's Up with Me

I am coaching summer weights at Reno High. We start at 7 am, which totally sucks, but I got to do it. I coach the varsity at 7 am and then the JV's at 8 am. Monday thur Thursday. I am going to Seattle tomorrow to move my little sister down to Reno. Lori and her daughter are going to live with us for a while. I hope all of you are doing well. Just remember that each of you can be a fire work, (Katy Perry) so let your light shine. When you think you can't do something just believe that you can and trust that God will help you and you can overcome anything.

Coach Phipps   

Thursday- the guys

Tonight we did strong man training.

We threw a 50 lbs truck tire, discuss style. This is great for the core. Three throws on each arm four times.
Flipped the 900 lbs. Tire. The World's Strongest Men flip a 1000 lbs tire, so this baby is heavy. We did 5 flips for 3 sets. This was super tough on me. Matt rocked and rolled and so did Dan. Matt did 5 flips in 18 seconds.
Leg Press- 2 warm ups and then 4x10
Abs- 60 V-Ups

This is was tough night. Matt looks great, and he is kicking his dad's butt. I am so proud of him. I can't wait to see him play at Bemidji State this year.

Coach Phipps

Tuesday- the guys back training

Tower Alternate curls- 3x12
Cable Curls- 3x10
Reverse Grip Pull Ups- 30 reps total.
Db High Pulls- (upright rows) 3x10
Abs- Body Curls- 30 reps, Denise Austin's- 30 reps, V-ups- 30 reps

Monday-the guys

Cable Bar Bench (you can look up what a cable bar is by searching the web) The Cable Bar builds great strength especially off the bottom.
Warm ups- 2-3 sets of 5, then Two Max effort sets of 5-6 reps.
Shirt work (old Rage X single ply) All of these are done off two boards. 335x5, 365x5, 385x5,395x4
Db Shoulder Press- 1 warm up x6, 2x6 I worked up to 85's
Flat Flyes- 1warm up x10, then 3x10 I went up to 60's.
Banded Over head Extensions- 3x15
Tri Push downs- 3x15

Tonight was great. I had one of the best nights in several workouts. I hope everyone isdoing well. Stay strong and healthy.

Coach Phipps 

It's Official

My Son Matt signed with Bemidji State on Friday. I posted a few weeks ago that he was going to go to West Virginia Westlyn, but they withdraw his scholorship at the last minute because they had a kid who they didn't think would make grades, so they offered my son his scholorship, but the kid made grades this time, so they had to cover themselves and throw Matt under the bus. This sucked so bad! But, as God would have it Matt is going to one of the best D2 football programs in the country. Bemidji State is in North central Minnasota, and it gets super cold there in the winter, but they have a great program, and I am so proud of my son.

We had a big signing party at the house on Saturday. I bought a keg and lots of food and we watched the UFC fight and had a great time celebrating Matt's signing. It looks like I'll only have this week to train with Matt before he leaves, so I am hoping that we can have some fun together before then. I wish everyone well. I hope you're all following the blood type diet and training hard.

Coach Phipps

Thursday- the guys

Speed Squats- Do 2-3 warm up sets x5-7 reps, then do 75%x5x3. These must be done as fast as possible in order to be worth while.

Rack Pulls- (Pins set just below the knees) work up to 2 Max Effort sets x 5 reps. Coach A (Dan) went 525 on these. Matt and I were beat up from push each other these past few weeks. Either of us were very good tonight.

Abs- Knees to Chest- 30 reps, V- Ups- 30 reps, Body Curls- 30 reps

One for the ladies

Ok, let's do a circuit. Do these one after another without a break between exercises.

Step Ups- 10 reps on each leg
Leg curls- 15 reps,
Calf Raises- 15 on each leg.
Lat Pull Downs- 12 reps
Db Flyes- 10 reps
Crunches- (chin up and chest up, just clear your lower back from the floor)
Do Three Sets of this circuit!

Use your roller when you get home.

Have fun,

Coach Phipps   

Monday- the guys

Banded Floor Bench- (Use Jump stretch black or orange bands) Band around the backand held in the hands. Warm ups- Do 3 warm ups x5 reps, then add bands and try to go as heavy as you can for two set. The two top sets are what we're looking for.

Incline Db Bench- 1-2 warm ups x8, then 3 Top sets x8.
Incline Flyes- 1 warm upx 8, then 2x8

Db French Press- 3x10
Tri cable Push downs- 3x12
Over Head Banded Tri Extensions- 3x12

Abs- Body curls- 25, Weighted Bend Knee Sit ups- (25 or 45 lbs.) Knees to Chest 40 reps.