June 13, 2022 – Week 2, Day 1

Band Pec Flyes/Wall Slides with Band
lb’sx20/mbx10
lb’sx20/mbx10

Plyo Push-ups
bwx3
bwx3
bwx3
bwx3

Incline Bench Presses
45x3
75x3
105x3
135x3
165x3
195x5
195x5
195x5

One Arm Half Kneeling Dumbbell Strict Presses
40x5/5
70x10/10
70x10/10
70x10/10

Neutral Grip Seated Dumbbell Power Cleans
10’sx5
40’sx12
40’sx12
40’sx12

Banded Push-ups
sbx10
sbx10
sbx10

Stretching

Comments: Hot and humid weather again. It had been nice-ish the past few days. Had to go to dentist appointment after work so this workout was a bit later in the evening than usual. But not a lot of stuff going on here as far as workout wise so it didn’t seem like it would drag on too late really. Not feeling terribly beat from first week back. Right triceps was twitching all day which got my eye twitching a little too. So this workout seemed a bit different from the usual stuff. I guess trying new things and doing old things different ways, etc. I had mentioned that the elbow joint had gotten really worked hard this past training cycle (mostly elbow flexion) so that is something being considered I believe with exercise selection. Also I think working on opening up shoulders and chest get things mobile for block pressing. We shall see. I know this block press medley is doable for people. Anyways, on to the training here. So first part was a superset; band pec flyes and wall slides with a band. I’ve done the band pec flyes before a good bit (when I injured the one arm) and wall slides without bands had been a mobility prep in the first training cycle. So low effort for these really and more to warm up. I know that the band pec flyes can be a bit tricky with tension and setup at the start. Tension in my left shoulder and biceps was present. These can very fatiguing very quickly it seems. The wall slides were a bit tricky here. I don’t have high ceilings so I actually touch them before getting to full extension standing so I thought I’d try them outside against the wall of the sunroom. The band tended to get caught on things and roll so pressing forward into things wasn’t really working so I just focused on what I could with these. Not entirely sure I did these right. May need to modify next time. So that started things off and then on to push-ups. Plyometric push-ups. Should be easy enough. But hard to gauge with plyometrics. I feel like I have to warm up a good bit to be making fast movements like that with my body. I don’t mind them but I seem to run into issues like with that box jump incident. But concerns were unfounded as these seem to go just fine. Incline bench press was next. These I was to do with a slight pause and do 3x5 at 75%. Not sure what that would be really as I haven’t done much above 200lbs on these (outside of log) for many years. I also tended to use a narrower grip and really use my leverages to spring board it up through sticking point. So using a wider grip and such is different. I’d have liked to go heavier here but I couldn’t in good conscience do so and stick to the leaving 3-4RIR here and being quick. No injuries, just being smart. Build from here. Just like the front squats. From there things moved into the garage. I had fans going to try and cool things down. Brought back and exercise from two training cycles ago with the one arm dumbbell presses while in the half kneeling position. Plan here was 3x10 with 3-4 RIR and I felt with how things went few times that I should be able to handle 70lbs for this. I also didn’t want to have to deal with loading up plate dumbbells for these if I didn’t have to cut down on time with it being later and first session back with these. This worked out fine. Another exercise from before was seated dumbbell power cleans. The change being to do them with a neutral grip. Upper back work that took out elbow flexion I think was the idea. Hard to tell with exercises like this as tends to be a bit of momentum. But I seem to do quite well with letting in some heave with upper back stuff with getting them strong and powerful (assuming also doing much lighter strict stuff). If I had to compare the regular style vs this style, I like these more and they feel better as far as working upper back. I wasn’t sure I could do the 40lbs for the prescribed reps and sets but I knew I could after the first rep or so. I wonder if just sticking to this weight will be a better idea here rather than going up with plate loaded dumbbells. Last thing was more push-ups. Banded push-ups for 3x10-12 with 3RIR. I was advised I could adjust tempo to make things feel better on joints. I misread what I had done in the past on these on my log sheet (as I have different band setups) and thought the one that I’ve been using recently was the one I did several years ago. That setup hand been stretching a band across the ground like anchoring for a band deadlift rather than wrapping it around myself like I do now. So I thought I did a lot more reps than I actually did and was concerned that my ability was down here. Nope, still close enough. First attempt the band slipped off my back as I didn’t cross it. Fixed that for the other sets. These are quite tough with this much band tension, even getting into position or getting out of the setup when the set is done. Finished that up no issues (lower range for the reps) and put stuff away before eating a lot of chicken sandwiches and stretching.