Band YTW’s
µb’sx10
µb’sx10
µb’sx10
µb’sx10
µb’sx10
µb’sx10
Axle Strict Presses w/ bands (head through on last rep only) (+22lbs bottom/+40lbs top)
26x3
56x3
86x3
116x3
146x3
176x5
176x5
176x5
176x5
176x5
26x3
56x3
86x3
116x3
146x3
176x5
176x5
176x5
176x5
176x5
Paused Pull-ups (1 second)
bwx5
bwx5
bwx5
bwx5
bwx5
bwx5
bwx5
bwx5
bwx5
bwx5
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Presses (5 second eccentrics)
46’sx10
46’sx10
46’sx10
46’sx10
46’sx10
46’sx10
Paused Band Pullaparts (3 seconds)
mbx15
mbx15
mbx15
mbx15
mbx15
mbx15
Paused Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extensions (2 seconds)
80x15
80x15
80x15
80x15
80x15
80x15
Stretching
Comments: So I guess Spring was a lie. Snow squall the past two days but very little snow, just a ton of wind. Below freezing the past two days again. And just as I was about to put away my warm-ups as it has been quite warm recently and going for walks in just shorts and shirt. I was feeling pretty worn from Saturday late night training going into Sunday. Abs were sore from the sandbag holding step ups which might have been an intent (or side effect) that could actually benefit yoke walk since I have issues with getting the same stride/lean compared to farmer’s walk and frame carries. Legs heavy too so my recovery walk was slower as well. Almost felt winded. My father said it was probably due to the cold and wind taking the air out of my lungs with each breath. It ended up being even colder and windier today. So not only was it below freezing today, the wind was howling. Cold I’m good but added wind not so much. On to the workout. Starting things off with shoulder and upper back stuff. YTW’s with bands. 3x10 on these with brief pauses again. I wasn’t told I did them wrong last time (other than that last set where I know I messed up) so did that again. Again I had an issue with the last set getting the motions the right sequence but wasn’t as egregious as I was able to get back on track and keep it the right rep count. From there it was axle strict presses with bands. A little bit different here from what I’m used to as far as the workload. Plan was to do 5x5. Not an unusually workload normally but I haven’t really had that. Usually lower reps and higher sets or lower sets and higher reps. I know part of that is that long levers and such don’t need as much volume from what I’ve gathered as far as being optimal and keep from overtraining. So it was interesting to see this. Now as written, it was to be 5x5 with 5lbs more than what I did the downsets with last week after the struggling that was getting a working set right. However, I decided I’d go just scooch higher so that I didn’t have to deal with fractional plates and could just do 30lbs jumps all the way to the bank. I dropped doing the set without bands with just the empty bar as the bar is so light and unlike the log, it isn’t near as heavy to start and the form feels different. Added support layers as I went while removing clothing layers that would get in the way for the upper body. Last set before working weight had felt a little tougher than I would’ve liked. Shoulders seemed fatigued. I was wondering if I was too confident with things during the first set but I got into a rhythm. The wind was bad during these and thankfully the camera only got knocked over during my rest breaks three times. Besides the first set, I felt that I had 2-3RIR consistently across the sets. Still working that lean back style of press here. From there it was on to pull-ups. 5x5 this week with bodyweight but I was advised to do 1 second pauses. Ugh. My biceps were feeling sore from the other exercises working them in a stabilizing role. They were sore from the sandbag work on Saturday night (sandbag loads and bearhugging for those darn step ups). So I wasn’t too thrilled to be doing holds that would make them work harder and fatigue them more. I brought out my chalk for these and I’m not sure what happened but there was moisture in my chalk container and it had frozen. There was a layer of ice around the block of chalk so I had to split it in half and mash it to use it. Never had that happen before. Guess that is what I get for accidentally leaving it at the strongman gym for a week? The pauses really seem to make these a lot harder as the sets go on. Fatigue makes it harder to keep my body from swaying which fatigues things even more to stop that. First set felt fine but definitely could tell there were reps on other sets where I was leaking energy/power stabilizing. I felt like I had 2-3RIR in me for most sets but the last set I was struggling and that was closer to 1RIR. After that was done, I moved into the garage for the rest of the workout so that I didn’t have to deal with the wind and cold. Also so I could ditch the pants as they were going to hinder the next exercise. Next up was shoulder work. Seated dumbbell presses with 3-5ct eccentrics again. Plan here was 3x10-12 with 3RIR on them. Since I got 3x12 with my solid 40’s, I’d have to use my plateloaded dumbbells and that can be tricky. Longer and they revolve. Didn’t want them sliding on my warm-up pants but also didn’t want the collars biting into my legs so I put on my knee sleeves for these as well. Put two 10lbs plates each side of the handles so 46lbs. I was only aiming for 3x10 today since my experience has been that these are harder than the solid dumbbells for this kind of stuff. Obviously if these felt great, I’d aim for the 3x12. Initially these were fine and I was thinking that 3x12 (or going for 12 that first set) was fine but each rep just got harder and harder. The feeling I get when doing these 5 second eccentrics on overhead presses is like my shoulders and triceps are in a pressure cooker. Feeling the bone marrow steaming and that the meat is about to fall off the bones. And I’m surprised I don’t see steam coming off my body when I do these. Tenseness in the right side of my neck near base of the skull flared up a little on this first set but nowhere near as bad as it was last week on that off balanced rep with incline. So didn’t need IcyHot. No further issues like that on any of the other sets. Paused pull aparts were after that. I didn’t increase band tension as I felt it was still appropriate and that I could focus on not just spreading the band but controlling and contracting the upper back and shoulder muscles. I think I succeeded on that so perhaps I can go up a little bit on these. But I could still stick to the same and keep doing the mind-muscle connection. Last item was triceps extensions. Nothing said about anything specific so again I went with dumbbell. I didn’t want to mess with the plateloaded dumbbells for this (I also hadn’t taken them a part yet) so I brought out the 80lbs solid dumbbell. Like the shoulder pressing, I was aiming for the lower end of the rep range with these 2ct holds. Getting the dumbbell up to start that first set through me off balance a little but once I started, it felt not much different from how 70lbs felt last week. So that is a good sign. I felt compelled to get 3x15 with this. I think if I hadn’t gotten 15 reps with some in the tank still on the second set, I wouldn’t have pushed for that many on the last set. It was definitely not 3RIR for that very last set but it also wasn’t a max effort. I feel this went better as far the strict press part of the session compared to last workout so I may have finally gotten things figured out with where I’m at for this cycle. Put stuff away while cooking dinner. Ate, followed by stretching and icing my right knee before bed.
Comments: So I guess Spring was a lie. Snow squall the past two days but very little snow, just a ton of wind. Below freezing the past two days again. And just as I was about to put away my warm-ups as it has been quite warm recently and going for walks in just shorts and shirt. I was feeling pretty worn from Saturday late night training going into Sunday. Abs were sore from the sandbag holding step ups which might have been an intent (or side effect) that could actually benefit yoke walk since I have issues with getting the same stride/lean compared to farmer’s walk and frame carries. Legs heavy too so my recovery walk was slower as well. Almost felt winded. My father said it was probably due to the cold and wind taking the air out of my lungs with each breath. It ended up being even colder and windier today. So not only was it below freezing today, the wind was howling. Cold I’m good but added wind not so much. On to the workout. Starting things off with shoulder and upper back stuff. YTW’s with bands. 3x10 on these with brief pauses again. I wasn’t told I did them wrong last time (other than that last set where I know I messed up) so did that again. Again I had an issue with the last set getting the motions the right sequence but wasn’t as egregious as I was able to get back on track and keep it the right rep count. From there it was axle strict presses with bands. A little bit different here from what I’m used to as far as the workload. Plan was to do 5x5. Not an unusually workload normally but I haven’t really had that. Usually lower reps and higher sets or lower sets and higher reps. I know part of that is that long levers and such don’t need as much volume from what I’ve gathered as far as being optimal and keep from overtraining. So it was interesting to see this. Now as written, it was to be 5x5 with 5lbs more than what I did the downsets with last week after the struggling that was getting a working set right. However, I decided I’d go just scooch higher so that I didn’t have to deal with fractional plates and could just do 30lbs jumps all the way to the bank. I dropped doing the set without bands with just the empty bar as the bar is so light and unlike the log, it isn’t near as heavy to start and the form feels different. Added support layers as I went while removing clothing layers that would get in the way for the upper body. Last set before working weight had felt a little tougher than I would’ve liked. Shoulders seemed fatigued. I was wondering if I was too confident with things during the first set but I got into a rhythm. The wind was bad during these and thankfully the camera only got knocked over during my rest breaks three times. Besides the first set, I felt that I had 2-3RIR consistently across the sets. Still working that lean back style of press here. From there it was on to pull-ups. 5x5 this week with bodyweight but I was advised to do 1 second pauses. Ugh. My biceps were feeling sore from the other exercises working them in a stabilizing role. They were sore from the sandbag work on Saturday night (sandbag loads and bearhugging for those darn step ups). So I wasn’t too thrilled to be doing holds that would make them work harder and fatigue them more. I brought out my chalk for these and I’m not sure what happened but there was moisture in my chalk container and it had frozen. There was a layer of ice around the block of chalk so I had to split it in half and mash it to use it. Never had that happen before. Guess that is what I get for accidentally leaving it at the strongman gym for a week? The pauses really seem to make these a lot harder as the sets go on. Fatigue makes it harder to keep my body from swaying which fatigues things even more to stop that. First set felt fine but definitely could tell there were reps on other sets where I was leaking energy/power stabilizing. I felt like I had 2-3RIR in me for most sets but the last set I was struggling and that was closer to 1RIR. After that was done, I moved into the garage for the rest of the workout so that I didn’t have to deal with the wind and cold. Also so I could ditch the pants as they were going to hinder the next exercise. Next up was shoulder work. Seated dumbbell presses with 3-5ct eccentrics again. Plan here was 3x10-12 with 3RIR on them. Since I got 3x12 with my solid 40’s, I’d have to use my plateloaded dumbbells and that can be tricky. Longer and they revolve. Didn’t want them sliding on my warm-up pants but also didn’t want the collars biting into my legs so I put on my knee sleeves for these as well. Put two 10lbs plates each side of the handles so 46lbs. I was only aiming for 3x10 today since my experience has been that these are harder than the solid dumbbells for this kind of stuff. Obviously if these felt great, I’d aim for the 3x12. Initially these were fine and I was thinking that 3x12 (or going for 12 that first set) was fine but each rep just got harder and harder. The feeling I get when doing these 5 second eccentrics on overhead presses is like my shoulders and triceps are in a pressure cooker. Feeling the bone marrow steaming and that the meat is about to fall off the bones. And I’m surprised I don’t see steam coming off my body when I do these. Tenseness in the right side of my neck near base of the skull flared up a little on this first set but nowhere near as bad as it was last week on that off balanced rep with incline. So didn’t need IcyHot. No further issues like that on any of the other sets. Paused pull aparts were after that. I didn’t increase band tension as I felt it was still appropriate and that I could focus on not just spreading the band but controlling and contracting the upper back and shoulder muscles. I think I succeeded on that so perhaps I can go up a little bit on these. But I could still stick to the same and keep doing the mind-muscle connection. Last item was triceps extensions. Nothing said about anything specific so again I went with dumbbell. I didn’t want to mess with the plateloaded dumbbells for this (I also hadn’t taken them a part yet) so I brought out the 80lbs solid dumbbell. Like the shoulder pressing, I was aiming for the lower end of the rep range with these 2ct holds. Getting the dumbbell up to start that first set through me off balance a little but once I started, it felt not much different from how 70lbs felt last week. So that is a good sign. I felt compelled to get 3x15 with this. I think if I hadn’t gotten 15 reps with some in the tank still on the second set, I wouldn’t have pushed for that many on the last set. It was definitely not 3RIR for that very last set but it also wasn’t a max effort. I feel this went better as far the strict press part of the session compared to last workout so I may have finally gotten things figured out with where I’m at for this cycle. Put stuff away while cooking dinner. Ate, followed by stretching and icing my right knee before bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment