John Phung

Weekly Review: Best Song to Get Pumped Up Before a Workout, Sumo or Conventional Deadlifts, Warm Up for Weightlifting & Ring Chin Ups

October 1, 2011 — Leave a comment

I haven't watched the 2011 version of Conan the ~~Vegetarian~~ Barbarian yet (and not sure if I ever will), but the original Conan starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was simply awesome.

The theme song "Anvil of Crom" from Conan the Barbarian (1982) gets me real pumped up before training and makes me want to unleash some ruthless aggression on the barbell. Listen to it below:

Here's another one from Conan the Destroyer:

Man, I AM PUMPED UP!

Anyways, here are some good reads this past week.

Stuff You Should Read

John Alvino has the answers the question "What's better: Sumo or Conventional deadlifts?"
Charles Poliquin explains the best way to warm up for strength training (I have to try out using a higher weight than my work set...makes perfect sense!)
Chinups/Pullups are a staple upper body exercise, however not everyone can do them on a straight bar without experience pain in the wrists, elbows or shoulders. Jason Ferruggia shows you a better way to do chinups

In Weekly Review Anvil of Crom, Arnold Schwarzenegger, chinups, conan the barbarian, Conan the Destroyer, conventional deadlift, motivational music, pull-ups, pumped up, sumo deadlift, warm up

Texas Method Workout Log: Weds Sept 28 [Intensity]

September 28, 2011 — Leave a comment

Squat

390lbs: 3
395lbs: 2

Over Head Press

215lbs: 2,1,x,x

2RM PR! 225lbs here I come

Deadlift

460lbs: 3,3

In Workout Log deadlif, over head press, Squat, Texas method

SCORED! 540lbs Olympic Weight Plates for $50

September 27, 2011 — 4 Comments

Recently I managed to score 540lbs of Olympic plates for only $50! 12 plates, 45lbs each. Check out the pictures below:

They were on the classified ads website Kijiji, which is eBay's version of Craigslist.

My brother sent me the listing, and right away I contacted the seller. A few hours later, they were mine!

Normally Olympic plates cost anywhere from $0.70-1.00 per pound.

But according to my calculations, I spent a little over $0.09 (9 cents!) per pound.

I'm in the process of building a garage home gym, so this will definitely cut down on the cost.

Details:

6 of the plates are silver in color, with the text "STANDARD BARBELL 45LBS 20.4KGS". I'm pretty sure these are ~~crap~~ made by CAP. I've read some reviews about CAP plates, and apparently each plate vary in how much they weigh. I'm going to have to weigh them myself to get an accurate measurement.

The other 6 plates was a pleasant surprise. They are York 45lbs Olympic plates, and judging from the looks of it, they appear to be York's "Deep Dish" version.

The weights were stored in a shed and are not in the best condition. The York plates are very rusty, but I plan on using some "Evapo-Rust" from Canadian Tire to remove it, and refinishing them with some sort of rust-proof paint.

Now to complete my garage home gym, all I need is a high quality Olympic bar, a few more plates (2x25lbs, 4x10lbs, 2x5lbs & 2x2.5lbs), a power rack, a bench and some gym flooring or horse stall mats and then I'm set.