Wednesday, March 31, 2021

March 30, 2021 – Week 3, Day 2

Mobility Prep
 
14” Jack Stand Pulls
135x5
185x3
225x1
275x1
315x1
365x1
405x1
Added Straps
455x1
501x2
501x2
501x2
501x9

Paused Romanian Deadlifts (3 seconds mid-shin, beltless)
145x3
235x3
Added Straps
325x8
325x8
325x8

Lateral Step Downs (15.5”)/ Copenhagen Planks (ver 1)
bwx3x10/10—bwx20/20 seconds
bwx3x10/10—bwx20/20 seconds
bwx3x10/10—bwx20/20 seconds

Seated Band Hamstring Curls/Single Leg Calf Raises (0-3-0-3 tempo)
(2)mb’sX20/bwx10/10
(2)mb’sX20/bwx10/10

Stretching
 
Comments: I wasn’t feeling like this was going to be a good day. I had to start taking allergy stuff again. I was still miffed about push pressing from the day before. Worried (irrationally I hoped) that things were going to not work out and I’d be still the same. Knees were really achy. Kind of worried that my back would just up and seize up on me from all the new work. Trying to not think like that or about that. I haven’t had to do any traction on my back in weeks now. It does seem quite apparent that there were some deficiencies in previous training with how sore I’m getting on some exercises that are light even. But in just these past two weeks, I’m feeling some muscles and areas getting work that rarely did or not in that way or never at all and others where I’m feeling more solid in spots. Not that I’ve grown or gotten thicker but that stuff feels tight and strong. And that’s a good thing. Right into the movement prep. Oof, ATG split squats did not want to happen today again. Not soreness this time but just the knees not liking it on stretched out back leg. I stopped and took the car buffer to my knees to get them warm and blood flow. Seemed to help a little but still was a rough start to the workout. Knee ache (especially the right one) carried on through the warm-ups, though it seemed to feel better by the second round at least. Stuff was feeling like work. Second run through of this stuff usually does feel a lot better. Then into the garage to lift some weights. I had setup stuff during my lunch break to try and get stuff moving along as per usual. There was a bit of break between the warm-ups and lifting as I applied athletic tape to my shins to keep the scabs from reopening. Going to probably have to do that for a few weeks and probably not a bad idea to do if I got keg stuff again. Another day of block pulls from 14”. My father had leftover wood from making an elevated garden plot so he made me a more stable platform so I didn’t have to worry about boards sliding under my feet. So for today, the plan was doing 3x2 and then a max rep set leaving 1-2 reps in the tanks. Pretty much using 500lbs. Getting used to setting my lats on pulls and it does feel easier to do this with these kind of straps vs figure 8’s. Things were feeling heavy. My working weight wasn’t feeling so nice. I figured kind of expected considering the effort I put into the keg loads and the farmer’s picks that this might take a hit. I was not feeling keen that I’d get more than 5 reps really with keeping them clean. I got really anxious before the last set. It’s part of that urgency. Sometimes it works out great for me, other times not so much. This was feeling like a not so much as I was feeling like I was going to spew all of the stuff I drank. But I finally got it to calm down and get ready to go. Felt like nothing compared to the other sets. Just kept going, rep after rep. Told myself not to get greedy and stopped when I felt it slow down enough that it wasn’t a straight crisp pull. It was very tempting to go for 10 reps. I know I had 2 more there. Maybe even 3. This was very surprising to me. Deadlift has been feeling like shit ever since I pulled 585lbs for a single in early December last year. I had secretly hoped that I’d pull 8 or more reps as that had been how many reps I had pulled with 500lbs back in 2012. Another thing was in 2019 prepping for (yet another failed attempt) USS Nationals was about this weight for 8 reps with a thick bar and wearing a suit. But again, trying to be happy but not get bold because I’ve seen what happens when I’m feeling confident. So on to the pause rdls. As seems to be the case, more weight. Plan to be 10lbs more than my top set last week for 3x8. I took big jumps for little warm-up to get ready. I’m getting pretty good at these. I took a bit longer with my rests, not just because these end up being long sets but I have to brace for a long time and I need to make sure that I’m recovered so that I don’t let something slip. Then on to the other stuff. As with last time, pairing of single legs and the weird planks. I had been told not to worry about raising the platform height any more but I did because the setup I had that was more stable was going to be 1.5” higher than last time. I'’ getting better at these. Only had the one rep where I slightly lost my balance on the very first set. Most of the hesitancy was that first rep each side and just dealing with the discomfort in the right knee. Planks are still planks. The jump to the next version seems like a bit one at the moment. So the last item of the session being the band leg curls (nothing to really say there) and the tempo calf raises. I was dreading those a little considering how freaking hard they were. But color me surprised that I got through both sets without needing my other leg to assist on any of the reps. I was expecting improvement but not that much. Ate another big dinner and stretched and then iced my knees before bed. Looking forward to a day of rest.


No comments:

Post a Comment