Dumbbell snatches for time; 5 per arm, alternating (previous times in brackets) 40lb - 25 seconds (25) 45lb - 24 (28) 50lb - 28 (30) 55lb - 32 (51) 60lb - 1:01 (2:03)
Only the 60lb set needed to be broken up. I failed the third rep with my left arm, but only needed a few breaths before going again.
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50 deadlifts @ 205lb Time = 6:11
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Drop sets Weighted pull-ups - 25lb x 6, 4, 3 Pull-ups - bw x 3, 3, 2
All pull-ups were strict, with exactly 60 seconds rest between each double set. Not my best performance with this routine, but by this point I was cream crackered.
This is a deal the Panthers absolutely should not make. Smith is 33, yes, and he won't play for too many more years (he signed a three-year contract extension in April). But he remains the Panthers' best wide receiver, and because of his age the price the Panthers could extract from another team would not be nearly enough to account for his worth to Carolina.
Put it this way. Have you ever owned a car that you absolutely loved despite its flaws? You and the car had tons of great trips and memories together. And it still ran just fine. But then it was getting sort of old and you went to a dealership, looked at the new models and asked how much you could get if you traded the car in for something else?
And then the salesman comes back and you are absolutely horrified by his lowball offer. You think to yourself, "This car is worth a lot more to me than it is to someone else. I think I'll just keep it."
That car is Steve Smith at this point in his career. As I wrote in the previous blog post, I'm absolutely fine with the Panthers trading running back DeAngelo Williams at a spot where the team has two other solid backs. But Brandon LaFell isn't consistent enough yet to be a No.1 receiver in the NFL, and the Panthers certainly don't want to have to start Louis Murphy as a No.2 guy. His hands aren't consistent enough.
Smith requested a trade in 2010 after the 2-14 season, but that wasn't granted and he ultimately made peace in returning to the Panthers, especially once they drafted Cam Newton. He told media members in the Panther locker room Wednesday that he planned to finish his career in Carolina. Of course, it's ultimately not his choice -- he doesn't have any sort of no-trade clause. Smith said Sunday after the Panthers dropped to 1-6 that the losing had grown "monotonous" and "tiresome." But No.89 can still play and can still scare defenses, and the Panthers' off-and-on offense still needs him desperately. The Panthers should not trade him. As for DeAngelo? See the blog post just below this one -- I'm fine with that.
Mark Martin has four poles in the Sprint Cup series this year. Photo from cbssports.com.
While watching NASCAR Race Hub today on Speed, an interesting point was brought up. In the Overdrive segment with Bob Dillner (@bobdillner), and Matt Clark (@MattClarkMC) were discussing the fact about giving bonus points for qualifying. I had thought about this a while back, and adopting more of a points system along the lines of Formula 1. With them, there is a high premium on qualifying, and they only give point down through 10thplace. A typical field of cars for them would be 25. But anyway, back to the segment on Race Hub.
It was stated that maybe three points should be given for pole, two for second, and one for third starting position. Well I wasn’t sure how much of a change it would have had on the points, so I did some research. I will highlight some of the battles instead of just throwing out a ton of numbers. After the Atlanta race, Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin would be tied with 833, instead of Keselowski having a nine point lead over Hamlin. Harvick would leap frog Bowyer, and lead by four points. The most interesting part of the point system would have to deal with the battle between Kyle Busch, and Jeff Gordon to get into the chase.
Kasey Kahne also has four poles this season in the Sprint Cup series. Photo from the Chicagotribune.com.
Kyle Busch had 746 points compared to Gordon’s 734, but with the bonus for qualifying Busch would have 758 to Gordon’s 739 after Atlanta. Gordon would receive two bonus points under this system for his 2nd place starting position, so the gap would close from 19 to 17. You have to account for the change in racing, because changing the points like this would change a lot throughout the season. Besides that, if we played out Richmond like it happened, Kyle Busch would have led Gordon by two after the race. Kyle Busch would be in the chase if this format was adopted. The last race was exciting already, but if Gordon knew that he needed to win that race, what else would have happened? Would we have another Paul Menard incident, but instead of Childress, it was Hendrick quarterbacking a caution? We will never know unfortunately.
I think this would be a good thing for NASCAR to look at, as well as Matt Clark’s thoughts about a chase mulligan, even though Bob Dillner is totally against that idea. What you didn’t see about the points system other than what I talked about above was how it tightened everyone. Changing those few of points could mean the difference in two-tires, fuel only, or no pitting. The excitement level would go up for the racing just by giving incentive for an event that is struggling for our fans to watch anymore. Just think about how different this chase would have been had Kyle Busch been there. Until next time.
Opening lap wreck with Grand-Am standout Ricky Taylor at the wheel. Picture from V8Supercars.com.au
I have talked about the Australian V8 Supercar series in some of my last posts, so I figured I would give them a dedicated posting. Speed has a tape delay on these races, and it finally aired Saturday night. The race happened at Surfer's Paradise in the Gold Coast of Australia. The track is known as the Concrete Canyon to the drivers. They really know how to put on a show, as the picture I opened up the post with shows. This race is known as an Enduro, each team has their normal driver, but they get a co-driver from outside the series. Greg Ritter is the normal driver of the car shown in the picture above, and his co-driver was Ricky Taylor. He races Daytona Prototypes in the Grand-Am series.
Ricky Taylor's Grand-Am Daytona Prototype SunTrust Corvette. Picture from autoweek.com.
The story behind the picture above is that the V8 Supercar guys use a standing start to begin the race. Think Formula 1, where everyone is sitting on the grid, and once the lights go out, it's time to go. Well since the international drivers start the race, and most aren't used to this, some people stalled. When this happened, it instantly created a gridlock. Here is the highlight video from V8Supercarofficial's YouTube channel. You can also see the second try at the standing start, and more chaos. Other than Juan Montoya hitting the jet-dryer at Daytona, where have you seen this much excitement in racing?
Before you say it, the international drivers can drive. Here is the list and in parenthesis are their background: Nick Heidfield(F1), Marco Andretti(Indy Car), Darren Turner(DTM/Lemans), Sebastian Bourdais(F1, Indy Car, Grand-Am, LeMans), Richard Lyons(SuperGT), Mika Salo(F1), Simon Pagenaud(ALMS), Jeroen Bleekmolen(Porsche Supercup), David Brabham(GT1), Graham Rahal(Indy Car), Frank Montagny(F1), Justin Wilson(Indy Car), Ryan Briscoe(Indy Car), Will Power(Indy Car), Stephane Sarrazin(LeMans), Gianni Morbidelli(F1), Nicolas Minassian(LeMans/Indy Car), Max Papis (F1/Indy Car/NASCAR), Peter Kox(DTM/BTCC), Jamie Campbell-Walter(FIA GT), Peter Dumbreck(LeMans/DTM), Mike Conway(Indy Car), Ricky Taylor(Grand-Am), James Hinchcliffe(Indy Car), Boris Said(NASCAR/Grand-am), Marc Lieb(LeMans), Lucas Di Grassi(F1), Tonio Liuzzi(Superstar Series). As you can see, many forms of motorsport are represented, and they all are very talented. Unfortunately NASCAR is in season, so we can't showcase our stars in this race. I'm sure Marcos Ambrose would love to make a return, and take some friends such as Juan Montoya, Brad Keselowski, and maybe even Carl Edwards. I was sold on the driving talent of these guys when I was watching an earlier race and Jacques Villeneuve was filling in for an injured driver. He drove three races, and was towards the back for everyone. That guy jumps in a Nationwide car, and battles for the win, but can't even break into the top-20 against their guys, come on now.
I have gone on long enough, but at least I have filled this one with a ton of pictures, and video for you to look at. The Australian V8 Supercar guys put on some awesome racing that has all the bumping, banging, and mirrors flying that lends itself to some exciting racing. I am planning the trip to Austin in May 2013 to see these guys in action, and I can't wait. One of my friends going, who was part of the Lexington Goat Herd, which was our group of friends who owned GTOs. She is convinced that we can steal a Holden while we are there. Check for us on the news, you may see a 5 foot nothing girl, followed by a 300 pound guy being locked away for it. I'll leave you with a video of 3-time Winston Cup Champion Darrell Waltrip and his ride in a V8Supercar from last year. He talks a lot when he is scared, and as you can tell he won't shut up. Until next time.
Both racks were being used, so these push presses were preceded with a power clean to get the bar to my shoulders. I don't think that affected the presses too much, as my 1RM for cleans is 145lb. I got the bar overhead with my first attempt, second rep at 120lb, but didn't lock out with my right arm.
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Dumbbell bench press 45s x 5 plus 20 push-ups 50s x 5 plus 20 push-ups 55s x 5 plus 20 push-ups 55s x 5 plus 20 push-ups
I did this using rack bench presses a few weeks ago as part of a PT session. Both racks were being used - by a personal trainer whose name rhymes with "Derek" - so I went for straightforward db benches instead.
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Amrap 12 5 db military presses @ 35s 10 db push presses @ 35s 15 dips Score = 2 rounds exactly
I completed the second round with about 30 seconds remaining, but I couldn't complete another shoulder press without resorting to a dip and push motion. This was a damn sight tougher than I expected. The push presses were the only movement that felt comfortable.
B. For Time Run 300M 30 HSPU Run 300M 60 Push Up Run 300M 30 Thrusters 45/30kg - My time was garbage!! 16:53. It took me so long to do the HSPU's with the ab mat! I really struggled with them and did singles...I took this wod for granted, damn it! (I also did 100 push ups the day before so my arms were TOAST but that's not an excuse, it's a fact!) ha! Anyway, pretty upset with my time but it just means I have to work on my upper body a lot more and focus on HSPU's.
My Front Squat PR in June was 165lbs so I'm glad that I easily did it for 2 this time! Looks like I struggled with it but it went up! I can only get stronger..!
