November 14, 2022 – Week 4, Day 1

One Arm Half Kneeling Dumbbell Strict Presses (3-1-1-0 tempo)
15x5/5
35x3/3
55x10/10
56x10/10
57x10/10
58x10/10

Paused One Arm Half Kneeling Band Lat Pulldowns (3 seconds)
sb+mmbx12/12
sb+mmb+mbx12/12
sb+lbx12/12

One Arm Overhead Band Triceps Extensions (0-2-0-2 tempo)
lbx13/13
lbx13/13
lbx13/13

Front Foot Elevated Split Squats (4”, 3-0-3-0 tempo)
26’sx10/10
33.5’sx10/10
40’sx10/10

Suitcase Carries (10 second holds at start)
145x50’/50’
145x50’/50’
145x50’/50’

Stretching
 
Comments: Seemed to get decent rest over the three day weekend. But of course all that goes out the window as soon as I start working on Monday and all the people that are out and the day trying cram in the day off of work into it as well. Did find out the events for PA Regional show and entry form should be posted by next Sunday evening. As luck would have it, there are some event crossover between Arnold and PA Dutch. Good events for me too for the most part. It is later by a week so honestly, I may entertain doing that show and then take a two week beach vacation to make up for missing last year. I got the leave and seniority. With the newer exercises, of course I was dealing with DOMS in those areas. Namely the glutes from the one leg rack pulls and biceps from the incline thick grip curls. Both with tempo as well. To be expected. Shouldn’t hamper training as never let soreness that was recoverable be a factor anyways. Just noticing. Since it got really cold just in the past day and probably going to be cold for a good bit now, I decided that as well as the work stress that was going to happen to split the workout again. Upper body stuff during lunch break and the lower body stuff after work. Didn’t have to sweep up stuff this time but did need to wear my warm-ups with the temps. This workout was pretty much exact repeat of last week with intent to increase weights/effort range on everything. Single arm strict presses while in the half kneel stance again. Allegedly one more week of these and then a switch. Same as last week with it being 4x8-10 and the tempo but aiming for less RIR compared to last time. My aim was only a slight increase in weight. The jump had come from the changes in the TUT with the tempo shift so can’t expect that kind of progress each time. So just a small jump and maybe if things were feeling ok (fatigue in shoulders builds quickly on these, like a slow cooker) I could add a tiny bit of weight with the fractionals so that it’s like the same weight every set anyways. Left side was feeling comfortable after the first set aches and whatnot were done. Right side had some still but less compared to last week I feel. Getting more comfortable. May need to switch back to that being the side that is lagging going forward with how these feel. Only hesitation with that was on the last set for the left side that I made a mistake and misgrooved and didn’t have breathing right and I was struggling for the last rep and stopped. I set it down, took a breath and reshouldered it and pressed it easy. This exercise can feel so difficult if I get off balance and I think I forget that since I can usually keep my balance quite well on things like this. Next was one arm lat pulls again. These will probably be changing next week. Maybe. Same as last week. I knew I could push these up again and still be ok effort wise. More tension and less discomfort in the elbows. I wasn’t exactly expecting to be going up in band tension every set like I did with the overhead stuff today but it just felt right. Similarly, I may need to start with the right side first going forward as well on these. Don’t mind the cold or training in it if it’s not windy or really dark out. Moving right on to the triceps stuff. Again, same as last week but indication was to increase the effort a good bit and I knew I’d need to essentially double the tension to get within the right range based off last week. The band tension was right but not able to get 15 reps each set like last week. Band tension was a lot harder for the right side to complete compared to the left side. I already start on the right side for these anyways. Triceps twitching like last week but didn’t last as long. Back to the grind and then it was time to train after about 4hrs later. Tempo FFE split squats were up next. With last week, I felt maybe that I didn’t get myself warmed enough to do these and that might have hampered things as far as weights and just how my right leg felt emphasizing the stretch. So I did some additional movements that seemed to get things feeling right. The coldness in the garage as well as the heat/moisture I had given off made my foot platform slick if I went barefoot so I wore my converse shoes instead. Pretty close to that really. With how 25lbs had felt last week, I was expecting to do 26lbs for all sets. But it ended up being pretty easy. Enough so that I felt I could do the 40lbs dumbbells. But needed to do a set in between that rather than trying to go heavier than that. I hadn’t planned to so I just put all the weight on the one side of the dumbbells that had the easier to remove collars on. Really surprised how comfortable 40’s were feeling here. It is baffling to me how things will feel difficult and then suddenly shoot up. Last thing for the session was the suitcase carries. Of course outside in the darkness. Had to setup lights and course. Street sweeper came a day early so no debris (because there is expected to be bad weather tomorrow). Again (ad nauseum) same as last week with the sets and such. This was the only one that indicated a specific increase of 5-10%. These have been pretty easy for me so I went with the 10% increase. Holds were ok. These are getting a lot less taxing on me. Also feeling like I can move quicker as well. Put stuff away and stretched before eating pot roast. Iced knees twice before bed.