July 19, 2022 – Week 7, Day 2

Side Planks with Banded Clamshell (Dynamic, 3 second holds) 
mbx10/10
mbx10/10

Hip Airplanes (5 second holds)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Suited Deadlifts
No suit
135x3
135x3
225x2
315x2
Added Straps
405x2
Straps
495x2
495x2
495x2

Suited 14” Jack Stand Pulls (straps)
565x2
590x2
617x2

Chest Supported Barbell Rows (straps)
135x10
185x6
225x4
270x2
315x7 PR+1 rep
275x10

Hatfield Bulgarian Split Squats (3 second eccentrics)
65x3/3
115x8/8
135x8/8
155x8/8

Single Leg Band Seated Leg Curls
sbx20/20
sbx20/20
sbx20/20

Stretching

Comments: With the plan for this week being related to the beach vacation that didn’t happen, this workout was also kind of in limbo initially so got the training for it a little later than usual but I had nowhere to go so no problem. I was a bit surprised that still be pushing the deadlift this close. And unfortunately, the temperature is rising and low 90’s. So fans on full stop. But body was feeling ok. Starting with the mobility warming up. Side plank banded clam shells back again. No clue if just a copy-paste or a reason they are back (seeing as back to the drinky birds next few workouts). I kind of missed these. No cramping in the glutes or legs at all today so that was good. Then into the garage for hip airplanes. These were tough but because I pushed for unsupported. I was able to eventually get 2x10 with them without needing to hold anything for support. So that was neat and deserving of a little clenched fist self-celebration. I wasn’t expecting to achieve this that quickly. Obviously it can be cleaned up a ton (have no misses, have better control, etc). From there it was on to deadlifting. Which wasn’t unusual. What was was that this was to be another day in the deadlift suit. More so than last week really. Plan was to do “form work” with 485lbs for 3x2. Take my time to rest and get perfect setup each time and really control the reps. Suit work can be tough, especially in the heat. You can’t actively rest when the suit is on. I kind of figured that if things were feeling good, that I’d just do 495lbs and plate jumps. Of course this would mean that things had to feel better than they did last week. I did 405lbs for a double without the suit and it felt pretty darn good so I was in for 5 plate pulls. That first set felt really good. Easy and crisp. Fully in control of every aspect. However, I noticed that I was bleeding profusely from my left shin. I apparently had a nick on there from last week that hadn’t really healed up. So I didn’t need to rest that much here but with the blood gushing (on the bar and needing a wad of paper towels) I had to stop that so I could continue. Managed to get a band-aid on and then wrap my shin with athletic tape. I’m going to have to see if my long socks will cover or if I’m just going to have to tape up my shins for the show. Second set was just as good. I got a little careless for the third set. I guess more of a wanted to see if going off the roll in (the suit restricts me so much with moving my legs in) vs getting everything set. Nope, the other setup is better. I think I was impatient and curious as for something like a deadlift ladder with a suit on question as it has been an event that has shown up a bit in higher levels recently. But happy that this was moving like it should. Noticed at this point that I was wearing through a bit of calluses on my hands. I think because of the heat and sweat really. Just got to be mindful and keep skin on hands healthy and get rid of dead skin. Nothing that is like a tear, just worn. Anyways, on to more pulls. Last week had been a top set of pulls from 14” with no suit. This week with the suit for 3x2, working up a bit each. Plan here being some overload but also working where the suit starts to stop. 16” had been what I think works for raw pulls as far as an overloading but not suited. Needs to be lower, the 12-14” range. I was debating going to 12” but decided to stick to the written plan of 14”. I know 12” can work but maybe 14” can too. I’m not against trying stuff to be the best I can. Plan as put out was hoping that 560,585,610 would be comfortable doubles. I didn’t really want to do too much here as far as working up as I should feel pretty decent from pulls (but it takes time to setup the jack stands after stripping all the weight down). I went a little heavier than as easier plate weight math. I was expecting this to feel a little rough after waiting but manageable. Definitely not getting as much pop as I was with the floor pulls but this was ok. Definitely kept me from going really crazy here and just stick to 25lbs jumps. Second set felt about the same. Last set I went a little heavier. Not entirely sure why. I just had to squeak a few extra pounds on there. It was heavy but it felt the best of the doubles as far as the suit working for me. So that was nice. This wasn’t to annihilate, just to stimulate. Very close now and just getting things to feel primed for competition day pull. Abs were tense from bracing in the suit so much in this heat. Stomach a little queasy from heat too but didn’t want to down too many fluids until I was done with the pulls. From there on to rows. Chest supported rows with the bar. It has been a bit. These can be tricky to gauge as sometimes after a break, weights I normally can just rep out can be off-putting. Plan here was work up to a top set of 6-8 (1-2RIR) and then take off 10-15% for a set of 8-12 (3RIR). Well things started off feeling good so I was thinking I could go for the higher end of things. Maybe hit a PR. Once I got above 225lbs though, I could tell it would be tough. Arms starting to feel that weight. Left biceps/forearm feeling it the most. Just wouldn’t be able to just go nonstop repping, have to break it up. I had already committed at that point to doing 315lbs. It was heavy but I got 7 reps. Tried for 8 but couldn’t quite get it high enough so I didn’t fight it and stopped. These can be tricky with that and I probably could do 8 reps or even 9 reps if I reset my approach and tried again. Took off 40lbs for the down set. I was kind of expecting these to feel light. They didn’t. Got stopped at 10 reps when it became harder and I knew better than to push it beyond that. But that was fine. Some days it is holds and pauses and other days it is just heave it like a beast. Hatfields again but not really. Notes indicated that intent had been to have those last week be the split squat version of it. Less load but still be able to overload I guess. Same parameters as far as difficulty and effort with 3 second eccentrics and a slight pause. It was going to be more a matter of a trust in my knees. See, this isn’t the first time I’ve had these programmed in training under Drew. Last time I was to do these, my left knee kept giving out on me and I went to urgent care and came back and finished the workout minus the hatfield split squats. Need to assess pain (if any) and see how these felt. Did a double each side with my bodyweight and that was fine but the thing was needing to see how the ssb on my back would change things up. I felt confident enough that I’d be able to do 50lbs added for the sets. There was some discomfort but that was more just finding a good handhold position for my wrists. These felt pretty darn good. I did rerack after each side just to give myself a little break and limit time under the bar. Short rest between sides and normal rest between sets. I felt that I was not using enough weight so I went up 20lbs a set as long as things felt good. I feel that next time around, that I can do a bit more on these and would be interested in trying to considering how these felt. Finished up with single leg band curls. 3x15-20 at RPE 7. Strong band. It can be hard to gauge on these as sometimes I set the bench too close and others too far. This was a further away situation as this was kind of tough. But it felt good on my knees after the other stuff. Like pumping it up. I swear the ROM feels and looks like it is more than what it shows on video. Put stuff away and ate pot roast before stretching. Iced knees before bed.