July 26, 2022 – Week 8, Day 2

Drinky Birds
mb+15x10/10
mb+15x10/10
 
Hip Airplanes (5 second holds)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10
 
Suited Deadlifts
No suit
135x3
225x3
315x2
Added Straps
405x2
Added Suit
475x1
545x1
610x2 PR+5lbs
 
Suited 18” Jack Stand Pulls (straps)
495x1
565x1
635x4
 
Chest Supported Barbell Rows (straps)
135x10
185x6
225x8
225x8
225x8
 
Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squats
bwx10/10
10’sx10/10
40’sx10/10
40’sx10/10
 
Band Seated Leg Curls
sb+abx25
sb+abx25
 
Stretching
 
Comments: I was a little anxious for this workout. Last heavy deadlift session. I think it was because it was potentially the heaviest deadlift workout of the cycle and it was the week before the show. Looking through past training cycle ends under Drew, this hasn’t exactly been out of the norm. First contest prep had me pulling in the 80-85% range raw, second contest was 86% range in suit, third was 88% and last show had me doing my heaviest pull the week before as part of the training. Other than the second contest, the deadlift has felt great and it has been PRs (second show I missed a lift in training going too heavy and was still recovering from elbow/wrist/neck injuries but still tied for 1^st). The trend does seem heavier and higher. I didn’t want to put out too much effort before the show. I need it to be there. So that was the source of my nerves but on to training. Drinky birds back again. I’m seeming to find the groove on these as these seem to be feeling better. I think this is also the first time I didn’t need to take a lap to recover between sets as these can be quite fatiguing. Then into the garage for hip airplanes. Since I got them all done last time (eventually) without support, that was the goal here. Never going backwards. I feel like I was able to do it quicker this time (as far as less mistakes). Right leg is having a much better time with balance and everything on these. Left side ends up being a bit tougher. Then on to the heavy stuff, deadlifting with the suit. So plan here was to work up to a top double of the training cycle. Could be a PR, just had to be something that was smooth and I had something in the tank. I felt like that at minimum I should do 585lbs for this double. Most I’ve pulled for reps had been 571lbs for that easy triple and then it has been lighter than that (did 610lbs for 3 toughish singles two weeks ago). This really hasn’t been that long of a training cycle to really push things and let them grow but it is what it is at this point. I want to win and I want to get to Nationals and actually go. This would be the fourth time (2012, 2015, 2017 and 2022 maybe). After having my leg bleed everywhere last week, I had to do the tape method for my shins. Works better than socks. Raw lifting warming up didn’t feel as good as it did last week so expectations were tempered. I had plans based off how things felt to determine the jumps I’d make. I was going no higher than 615lbs today. Since last set of raw pulls wasn’t feeling as powerful as last week, I went with a 70lbs jumps for the first single in the suit. Either I’m really grasping at straws to figure out why there are inconsistencies with suited pulls or it apparently matters what order I put the spandex underwear layers on. The two of the same brand are interchangeable but the other brand has to be the one on top of the other two or the suit sliding is worse it seems. So first pull with suit felt ok but not so much that I’d make a bigger jump then I just did so I did another 70lbs. If that felt like crap, then I’d go for 585lbs for the double. But if not, then I’d have to figure out what I was doing as it is hard to not pushing things. 545lbs felt real easy so now it was deciding if I just do like 595lbs for a double or go up to a PR attempt of 610lbs. I can probably do more than that but haven’t really peaked for repping in a suit like a triple or double like I have for singles. Always with reps in the tank. Any really, going with 600lbs just would lead to me inching up the slide anyways. 545lbs had felt real good which was why I bothered with attempting PR. Worry was that I overreached and screwed everything up. I didn’t (or at least that isn’t immediately apparent). First rep was a little out of position but I didn’t panic at lockout and was able to make the second pull like a speed pull. I felt like I maybe had 3 more reps if I got them like that second rep. So definitely a triple was there at least, even if I got bad movements. So that was nice. I sent video to Drew to make sure it looked within recoverable standards as I got things setup for the next thing; 18” pulls with the suit on. Since I wanted to use the same bar (it doesn’t really flex and has crap knurling), that meant a bit of time to take off weights and put the jack stands on and add weight. This did give me some time to drink something. But I also knew this could make that first lift feel a bit rough with the downtime. Plan for this was work up in singles to a weight that I could do 2-4 reps with 1-2RIR. Something that ideally should be heavier than the double I did last week at 14”. Depending on feel really I was thinking between 635-675lbs. I knew as soon as I did 495lbs that lower end was wiser. I was feeling deadlifts and the pull height is a lot less pop and more lower back, especially since I can’t make the suit as tight as possible for these kind of pulls. I also didn’t want to do touch and go style that sometimes is tempting to do with block/rack pulls. These were fairly challenging. I did four and I still felt I had 1-2RIR but Drew feels I probably should’ve called it at 3 reps. Just going to have to recover hard. More downtime putting all that weight away to get things ready for the next thing, and really the rest of the workout. This gave me more time to get liquids down. This was going to be easier stuff as the pulls was the main thing and the rest is just extra stuff. Chest supported rows followed. Only to do 225lbs for 3x8. I did the same warming up that I did for last week as far as reps. I wasn’t going full bore here as I knew this was to be easy and should be easy. It wasn’t something that required a lot of effort. But I still felt like it should’ve been easier. Left forearm/insert area was feeling a little tight. But this was still easy enough to be mostly an afterthought. From there on to Bulgarian split squats. Wasn’t specified how to load them but it was implied dumbbell. Advised to do two warm up sets to get blood flowing and then aim for 2x10 with 3RIR. It has been a bit since I’ve done these normal style and with more than a little weight really. I tried to do bodyweight with no knee sleeves but knees were too cranky and on they went. Not going to tempt fate this close or make things harder to recover from due to pride. I probably could’ve done more weight and still kept to the effort range but I’d have needed to use the plateloaded dumbbells as going from 40’s to 70’s was definitely going to be too much. But it also wasn’t like I was doing nothing here. Finished up with band curls. 2x20-25 with RPE 7-7.5 or 3-5RIR. It gets a bit difficult to have band tension for both legs and be this kind of rep range. I’ve used the strong and average band before but using more than that becomes and issue with keeping things anchored down. I will possibly have to try something different next time I’m to do these with any greater intensity. But these felt pretty darn easy and I was tempted to do another set just make up for it. But I didn’t. Because I know that reduction of volume is part of the plan as well. Don’t need junk volume this close. Put stuff away before eating way too much leftover grilled salmon (and a pizza) before stretching and icing my knees before rolling into bed.