April 6, 2017 – Week 5, Day 2

5 Minutes Percor AMT

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx10

One Leg Leaning Calf Raises
BWx5/5
BWx5/5
BWx5/5
BWx5/5

Regular Box Touches (12” Box)
BWx25

Squat Therapy (16” Box)
BWx25

Sumo Box Touches (12” Box)
BWx25

16” Front Box Squats
45x10
95x5
185x3
185x3
185x3
185x3
185x3

16” Rack Pulls
45x10
95x5
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x2
315x1
365x1
405x1
425x5

Hip Airplanes (supported)
BWx5/5

Crunches
BWx35

Band Side Bends
ABx25/25

Stretching

Comments: Some things are calming down but other things are definitely escalating. Really trying to prioritize getting sleep while keeping food intake up. Been hard this week, will have to play catch up this weekend. Started out with the AMT. Heart rate up to only 155bpm. I was little surprised it was that with how tired I’ve been feeling. I had been contemplating briefly going right home from work and falling asleep and lifting tomorrow but I had plans tomorrow. Calf work is going well. Still a slight disparity in difficulty with the legs but it feels like it is evening out. Another session of switching up the order of box touches. Two for two on feeling better on the SI joint and hip compared to the other way. No issues with squat therapy. Felt the easiest it has ever felt. Sumo box touches felt tough but it was more because my quads were fatigued from doing squat therapy right before. Front box squats after that. First time getting the power rack to do these so slightly different in getting used to the correct unracking height and walk back to the box. Same as last time with working weight for five sets of three but more weight. Kept to the EOMOM style to keep on some kind of pace. I had been a little worried with the fairly large jump from the last warm-up to the working weight but went well. Definitely tougher than last time I did these but it is more weight. I felt I got better as I went with my positioning. Fourth set felt the best to me. On to rack pulls. Again, working up to a top set with the aim being 1-5 reps. Keep going as long as they are good form and I feel comfortable doing it. This time, I used a bar with somewhat decent knurling (the same one I’ve been using for pulls from the floor). I had been worried about bending it but since I’ve been doing these with controlled negatives and literally setting it down on the pins, I figured that shouldn’t be a concern. I’m not good with hook grip and alternated grip is not something I want to do while my back is still recovering so I want to try and push the double overhand as much as I can before strapping in. I like that what used to be exhausting (the set of ten with the bar) no longer is. Top set was much like last session in that it was tough on the grip but it held out until the very end. Really felt my hamstrings working on these. Feeling my hamstrings get sore is like a threshold has been reached. Similar to when I first die 275lbs on the box squats for reps. I felt them working then and seemed to let me know I was getting my mojo back. I feel good for loads more. It wasn’t until I was about three plates deep on rack pulls that I realized I had not done the hip airplanes. Since it wouldn’t be good to do those in the middle of another exercise, I waited until I was done with rack pulls before getting to do those. I couldn’t use the setup I had used last time so I was little cramped where I could do them. I did my set of five each side but then did some additional reps as I didn’t feel like they were the best I could do (I lost my balance doing them on both sides). Maybe I was rushing it. Balance will improve, I know it will. After that, it was an easy set of crunches and then some side bends with a band. Felt less tightness in my weak side on side bends compared to last time so that is good. Despite feeling “drained” this was a really good session. Home to stretch, eat and sleep.