Friday, March 27, 2020

March 26, 2020 – Week 2, Day 2

5 Minutes NordicTrack Treadmill

Mobility Prep

Deadlifts
45x10
135x5
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x2
365x1
405x1
455x1
Added Straps
495x1
525x1

Yoke Hand and Thigh Lifts (straps, 27” bar height)
180x1
270x1
360x1
450x1
540x1
630x1
720x1
810x1
900x1

Zercher Squats
45x10
95x5
135x5
185x5
225x15

Overhead Walking Lunges
bw+10x10/10

Crunches/Lying Leg Raises/Plank
Bwx30/30/60 seconds

Side Planks
bwx60/60 seconds

Stretching

Comments: It was a bit slow going this time around. I slept in a good bit since off work. Had some more equipment arrive. It wasn’t the stuff I was expecting. A bit stressful having everything come in piecemeal like this. Stuff on time, stuff early and stuff delayed. Right shoulder still sore and achy. Knees achy as hell. Back too. Vertebrae feel like something has been gnawing on them. Same warm-ups as last time. My sound system wasn’t as good for a good deal due to battery power. Not sure how to charge the speakers, if they can be. So today was initially going to be just deadlift, some light squats and abs but since I indicated I could do some of the other stuff at home with what I got, some things were added. I was dreading deadlift. I’ve been dreading it since the last time I did it. I had hoped and extra week of rest would be enough to get my confidence back but nope. Out on the patio for the deadlifts. I will say that the knurling is great on the this bar but it doesn’t roll very good. Not using that as an excuse. Everything felt heavy. My knees were achy so I had my copper sleeves on. Just felt no power. I hated it. Also felt like I couldn’t keep the very base of my lower back tight. Things were feeling at least 40lbs heavier. I was not sure I was going to do anything over 495lbs. Since I had failed to get 5 with 525lbs last time, this was to be a redo. If I had not looked at the video of the 495lbs lift, I would’ve stopped and probably shut down the rest of the workout and go mope. Video seemed to suggest that it went up fast enough that it wasn’t my max for the day. Got my psyche up and tried but it was slow and terrible. Shaking a little to lockout. I thought I could just go from there but no. I was disgusted with my weakness. I know that is harsh and not healthy but I feel deeply wounded when deadlift isn’t cooperating. I can’t be bad at both deadlift and log to go far in strongman these days. I texted Mike after that and said how much deadlifts sucked. I sent a clip later and he stated I was trying to get my hips down too much and squatting it up. Maybe I deteriorated my form from not having it watched a few sessions and just thinking that a little was good as far as getting the hips down so more must be better. Back was feeling tight. Not able to get any sports massages of any kind really. I’ll have to try hips higher next time but I fear that I’ll still have anxiety about two bad deadlifts sessions in a row. A third would just set me off. I shouldn’t be so focused and set on this but it would be a lie if I didn’t indicate how it was making me feel. I had to keep moving forward. I told myself that deadlift isn’t an event at the next contest I have planned. So next was the hand and thigh lift again. No axle yet but I remembered I had my adjustable yoke. Kind of a better setup to be honest as the whole thing comes up and the drop is short and nothing but the implement itself having to support the weight rather than the rack. But I didn’t realize it only went so far down with pins. I was like, damn, what now? I flipped the crossbar and then stood on a wooden board on top of my mbpowercenter throwing keg. That won’t break. With that, I was successful and it was maybe 2” lower than contest height. Better to be safe than sorry. I also put on knee braces to keep my knees from aching. I tried the high thigh position with the first weight but that was just too much unnecessary movement. I could do it with just above the knees and get better tension. I was going up in 90lbs jumps. I was giving myself an ultimatum to do at least 800lbs but aim for 900lbs today. Do this or don’t bother training anymore. This month has been a crapshoot and joy has been a fleeting thing with all the changes. Cherishing those moments. I wanted to feel the power of 900lbs being lifted. This would be the most I’ve picked up in my hands. I’ve had over 1000lbs on my back. I was going to feel very stupid if I missed it. I put on a song from Waitress: The Musical on that I enjoy. Kind of because an outing to see it will probably be cancelled due to the COVID19 and what it makes me feel and think about. It was heavy but I crushed it. 200lbs more doesn’t seem that far off but I know that I need to be smart with building up to it with these partial lifts. I knew my upper back and traps and glutes were going to be really sore after this. This kind of righted the ship for me. Zercher squats next. Been a while. In fact, it has been a while since I’ve done non box squat squats. Plan was light stuff, work up in low rep sets to a top set and do 10-15 reps with plenty in the tank. I’m generally pretty good with these kinds of lifts. No power rack yet so this was off the saw horses. This is fine for now but when weight goes up, it won’t be so easy. I wore the knee braces around my arms so that the bar didn’t dig in so much. 225lbs was still pretty easy but unracking it was a bit tougher and I wanted to keep this easy as the suggested weight had been 185lbs. Only issue was my right calf was not liking these full squats. No issues with any of the other weights. No issues when I stopped. It was a feeling down near the ankle insert. That was it for the barbell work. Outside for a set of walking lunges. It has been awhile. My legs were warm from zerchers so these didn’t bother my knees figured I’d do these up the street so slight incline. Just did 10lbs as this has been many months since I’ve done these and I know my legs will be sore from the full squats on zerchers and lunges. Happy with how these felt and went. Abdominal work I did inside. First thing was triset of crunches, lying leg raises and then a plank. I was only supposed to do like 15-25 reps but I did 30 by mistake on the crunches so I did the same for the lying leg raises. Been a while since I did this stuff too. I think my back needed it. Plank was tough after the prefatigue. I didn’t add any weight for the side planks since I don’t have a 50lbs plate here and I figured that bodyweight was fine for right now with everything going on. Finished up with stretching and eventually iced my knees.


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