June 20, 2022 – Week 3, Day 1

Band Pec Flyes/Wall Slides with Band/Band Y Raises (3 second holds)
lb’sx20/mbx10/µb’sx10
lb’sx20/mbx10/µb’sx10

Plyo Push-ups
bwx3
bwx3
bwx3
bwx3

Paused Incline Bench Presses (1 second)
45x10
95x5
135x3
165x3
195x3
220x5
205x5
205x5

One Arm Half Kneeling Dumbbell Strict Presses
40x5/5
70x12/12
70x12/12
70x12/12

Neutral Grip Seated Dumbbell Power Cleans
40’sx15
40’sx15
40’sx15

Banded Push-ups
sbx12
sbx11
sbx10

Stretching

Comments: Thankfully this ended up being a three-day weekend for me. I don’t think I’d been able to handle going back to work today after how last week was without some additional breathing room. I’ve pretty much had an eye twitch since the week after the contest. Able to get some more sleep this weekend but still stressful as I’m still thinking about the job and issues rather than decompressing. I woke up and checked to make sure I didn’t have criminal history. That’s how paranoid I was feeling about things. Spent time kind of putting things to paper and deal with realities of the situation and the big take away was that I’m kind of stuck, which isn’t a great determination but it is something. Disassociate from it I guess until it is time to accept things. Figured it was best to get training done earlier in the day so I can go to bed earlier and maybe try to get some last-minute extra sleep before the screaming starts again. Left side of my neck and left shoulder were feeling tight and stiff. So first part of workout was changed. Last week it had been a superset and this week it was now a triset. Still band pec flyes and wall slides with a band but also adding in y raises with bands too. Idea with these was to get shoulders awake and balanced as well as getting the pecs to be active too. So kept same band tensions I did last week. On the band pec flyes, there felt like less tightness and strain on the left side biceps and shoulder which is where I was feeling it. These felt a lot easier. I made it a point to change angles of the movement to really get things moving well. So it was in the best interests to move the wall slides indoors. Just not a good surface outside. Also decided that I’d have to kneel to get full ROM for extension. These changes made a big difference as I was able to make this actually feel like something. Y raises were kind of tough with the longer holds. Not as fluid like moving through several like before. Shoulders do seem to fatigue from these exercises together quickly. Plyometric push-ups were next. Less concern as they went fine last week. Same setup as last week with it being 4x3 with 60 seconds rest. About the same here. I did these in the garage just as it seemed like a good change of pace and perhaps I could setup things for the next exercise as well. Which was paused incline bench press. Similar to last week but indicating 1ct for the pauses this time around. Work up to weight 20lbs more than last week’s working weights and then take off 15lbs for 2x5 after that. Sun was beaming down right on this setup so bench and bar were getting hot and it was blinding sometimes. I was curious if I’d adapt to the training from last week similar to how I was with front squats. Yes but not as much. I’ve been doing incline a lot more frequently so not as drastic. I ended up doing more reps than I had planned for warming up to get things feeling good. Right forearm/elbow were feeling tense from stuff so the tennis/golfer’s elbow sensations were flaring up so I put the compression cuffs on. I ended up adding 5lbs to the working sets from what was listed. I feel like things went well enough. From there things moved into the garage again. Turned on the fans in the garage at this point (I didn’t need them earlier). One arm dumbbell presses while in the half kneeling position for another round. Plan here was 3x10-12 with 3RIR with the 70lbs dumbbells. These were feeling quite strong today. I was pleased these went as well as they did. From there it was the neutral grip seated dumbbell power cleans. 40lbs for 3x10-15 with 3-4RIR. I felt like they had been easy last week but things can change week to week. I just noticed there was more tennis/golfer’s elbow stuff present in the right arm coming into this week from last week. These felt easy though my right shoulder was feeling a little wonky for a couple reps that first set when trying to really emphasize external rotation. Seemed to not be present other sets. Weight is moving well and I feel like I’m really getting my upper back to pull explosively on these. Took a little bit to cool down the elbow joints and forearms before finishing up the session with banded push-ups for 3x10-12 with 3RIR. Used the strong band again and trying to not overdo things (pushing reps) or screw things up setup wise. Last week I had to restart the first set as I forgot to twist the band and it slid off my back. Also trying to keep time setting up with my arms locked out less. So first set went as planned with getting 12 reps but I knew not to push things to try for top range reps each set like I did for the two dumbbell based exercises. Just try and improve the reps from last time or maintain. 11 reps that seconds set. I rushed on the third set to get setup before my rest time expired and I had the band a lot higher up than usual so it was harder. I had to stop at 6 reps to readjust it lower before getting those last 4 reps. I put stuff away, went and mowed the patch of lawn I had apparently missed yesterday, and then ate lunch before stretching.