November 12, 2022 – Week 3, Day 4

Hip Airplanes (0-10-0-10 tempo)
bwx6/6
bwx6/6

One Leg 15” Block Pulls (3-1-1-0 tempo)
Crash Pads
65x3/3
85x3/3
105x3/3
Jack Stands
127x10/10
127x10/10
127x10/10

Paused Sandbag Heel Elevated Goblet Squats (2”, 3 seconds)
112x10
112x10
112x10

Sled Pushes to Backwards Drags
375x50’/50’
465x50’/50’
555x50’/50’

Stretching
 
Comments: So back to a four-day rotation. Since off work Friday, I was able to workout earlier in the day rather than after the work day so making training on this day feel like enough of a break from that day and this one. Only slight soreness in my arms around brachialis. Not a bad sore. In the event weather was still bad today, I was going to drive out to Lancaster but forecast had it being decent and dry so stayed home. Save where I can at this point. I am signed up for a competition in March but this is still early. Didn’t start doing event specific stuff for a show until December last year for when I did a show in October and then next show was March for this year. It also could change if I get Arnold call-up timely. Also hopefully Regional events for PA get announced tomorrow evening. But plan seems to be to ease back to 4 days and increase intensity on this 4th day. So not a lot going on for today but by no means easy stuff. Day 3 had been a mash-up of things the first two weeks and now is more focused on the upper body part of things. So this workout would be kind of expanding on the stuff missed. First thing was hip airplanes. Haven’t done them since PA’s Strongest prep finished up this year (early August). So these were back and altered. Last time there was just holds at max hip external rotation for 5 seconds. I had been proud with getting to do these sets unassisted for balance. Reps were lowered here but adding holds at max hip internal rotation as well. And giving the option to extend the hold position time up to 10 seconds (5-10ct range). Well you know me, usually going for the longer hold time. Had a feeling that I’d need to balance with assistance because been over 3 months since last did these and it was going to be longer holds. I wasn’t expecting the inner rotation hold to be that challenging. Less about the hip movement and more the balancer requirement for my lower legs on these. Really having the calves, tibs and feet working hard here in both positions. Probably because balancing on one leg for 2.5-3 minutes each set. Not sure if these were intent but this was helpful with getting things to wake up. Hit the lower legs in different ways. They got to support the rest of me. Had a rep or two that I got off balance, even with hands out. Tried to limit the amount I was doing. Sometimes the whole palm was needed and other times just a finger. This was not all of the balance nonsense for the session. A progression on the b-stance rdls by having me do single leg rack pulls. I was not sure how these would go as far as weight. I had wanted to either use enough to use the Jack Stands or that I was using the bumper plates for the top set. Plan was 3x8-10 with 4-5RIR so I had to err on the side of caution. This was a new one for me as far as movement and that’s not including the tempo. Started out with plates on crash pads. Initiating the lift with my left side was odd at first. Right side didn’t seem to have that problem. I couldn’t confidentially say that I could do 135lbs for 3x10 with a lot of RIR but felt it was best to switch to the Jack Stands as the crash pads can get uneven and things would probably be wonky with just the thin bumper plates and weights added. I feel I was able to stay in the parameters here with the selected weight. Fatigue made balance tricky on some reps. As well as grip. While each side got rest, the grip was going every set. Not overly taxing but noticeable after the tempo row work and thick grip dumbbell curls the day before. It’s a good starting point I think. Will be interesting to see how these progress. Moving on to sandbag squats. Plan was just 3x8-10 with a lot of RIRs like the one leg rack pulls. Use a light bag and pause 2-3ct. Optional to raise the heels. I decided to just keep the heels raised because did that the past two weeks. I felt that I knew what to expect here considering two weeks of similar vs no weeks for the one leg rack pulls. The pause definitely was stressing the hips (in a good way). Trying to get the hips open and knees forward. Soft lockouts here as well. Trying to stay upright in the hole on these. Mimic bottom position of a deep stone lap. These were fairly comfortable considering things. Out into the street for the last thing; sled work. Heavier this time. It has been light stuff at casual pace the past two weeks. Push 100’, rest and then drag 100’ and repeat it. This time distance cut in half and going from one right into the other. So 50’ down and back in a set. That’s more like it haha. Indication here was to do the RPE based on the effort to push the sled and just keep same weight for the drag and expect it to be easier because of how the street is sloped. I wasn’t expecting to go as heavy as I ended up doing but just seeing how last week that weight had been as easy as it was had me think I needed more weight to get into higher RPEs needed for today. 90lbs jumps would probably be the ticket. Plan was 2-3 minutes rests and going RPE 6,7,8 of the sets. Light out finally for when I’m doing this kind of stuff so moved debris around and swept as many acorns away as I could. First set would be a test. The course I set up wasn’t bad but the end of it on the push section got tough the last 3-5’ due to the manhole cover and damp ground. Which was fine, just meant that the end was tougher for the push and getting the sled started for the drag back too a little umph to get it going. I thought I was taking longer breaks than I was here (I put weights on from the garage one at a time) but turns out I was on the lower end of the suggested rest period. Similar to the tempo stuff, going casual pace does seem to let me use less weight and build up strength and conditioning on the targeted movements. This is the most weight I’ve attempt to sled push at home on this and I had plenty more. Put stuff away and stretched out. Catch up on people competing today.