January 30, 2023 – Week 15, Day 1

Paused Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses (3 stages)
3 seconds, clean once, 1 push press + 2 jerks
26x3 R
26x3 L
26x3 R
26x3 L
26x3 R
26x3 L
26x3 R
26x3 L
2 seconds, clean every rep, jerks
26x3 R
26x3 L

Axle Push Presses w/ bands (+22lbs bottom/+40lbs top)
No Bands
46x3
Added Bands
46x3
76x3
106x3
136x3
166x3
166x3
166x3
169x3
172x3

Paused Band Assisted Pull Ups (1 second)
(pin 24)
abx8
(pin 18)
sbx10

Split Stance Band Paloff Presses (10 second holds)
mmbx4/4
mmbx4/4

Lying Band Triceps Extensions (3 second holds)
µbx15
mbx10
mmbx5
lbx15
lbx15

Stretching
 
Comments: With a consolidation of stressors, it kind of has become with this prep that one week is stressful and the other isn’t. One week where it is stuff definitely withing my capabilities and then the other week being the one where I’m pushing and testing things. Just noticing that that seems to be the case as it stands right now with allowing for things to get the rest and focus they need. Probably with how half the events being in my wheelhouse and the weights and efforts required being quite manageable the other half required effort on my part and anxiousness. Another observation is that what I’m doing for the elbow seems to finally be working, at least cosmetically. Still hesitancy and aches but the swelling of the bursitis has really gone down. Not sure if it is the meds really as I noticed it going down the most over the weekend and I had forgotten to take a dose before heading out to train. Been smarter with the ACE bandage wrappings and adjusting during the day. I don’t need the gauze to pad my elbow when working anymore either. So that is good news I guess. So this workout was a mixing of the start from two weeks ago, stuff from last week and new stuff. First part of the day was form/skill with what is essentially the empty dumbbell handle. Same thing as far as 4-5 sets of 3 reps. Last time I had done clean every rep with 3 phase pauses of 2 seconds. I had decided to work on things a little differently as far as what things I felt needed it. So one was wearing the knee sleeves as I mentioned I probably should’ve done two weeks ago when I did these to help my joints recover. I had asked Drew about implementing jerks for the dumbbell. This isn’t like with axle where there was a sense of urgency/desperation (I mean a little bit now that 5 weeks out) because I’ve done push press for building up and off season with circus dumbbell and then do jerks. Wasn’t able to do that really last time with the elbow fracture and other stresses. So indication was to do a complex of push press and then jerk(s). So I decided to do the first four sets of this workout as 3 second pauses at the 3 phases and only do one clean. Push press the first rep and then jerks the other two reps. Light enough to control the weight back to the shoulder without it slamming into my shoulder. Left elbow felt tight and achy initially in the rack position for the drive but it felt fine after that first set. There was some slight discomfort in trying to control lowering the weight. For the last set, I felt like I wanted to have things flow from one thing to the next so I did 2 second pauses like last time for the phases and did clean every rep. But did jerks every rep rather than push presses. Feeling decent with these. Then it was on to axle push press against bands. Plan here was to try to do 10-15lbs more than last time for 5x3 but dictate it based on speed of movement and keeping these moving fast. So more weight and one less set with slightly longer rests here. I wasn’t too sure how these would go as sometimes these feel terrible. I did a set without bands it moved really smooth and fast and then added the bands it felt hard at lockout lol. Took a few sets to get my shoulders, elbows and upper back feeling good. I felt that I’d increase weight during the sets if I felt good. My hope was that with my knees feeling better that I’d feel better on these as well. I’m happy these were moving like they should. I went up 3lbs after the first three sets and then again for the last set. Maybe we got the recovery thing figured out for my upper body to put forth the effort that has been hidden by fatigue. I’ve not felt good about axle really since April last year and this was I think the first session in a long while I didn’t hate it. Starting to enjoy it again I guess and that’s always important. Having belief and hope that it will be better and improve. Moved on to band assisted pull-ups. This was a bit different even from the change from last week. Same idea as last time with a lower rep hard set and second set at lesser intensity with more RIR left. The hold was decreased to 1 second and rep range was 5-8 with 1-2RIR. I couldn’t lower the band pins any lower and it would be too easy since I did 2 second holds with this band last week with the same RIR. So this meant lowering the band tension from the strong band to the average band. Back to having elbows feeling the holds with less assistance. I’m just glad my abs aren’t feeling sore like they did last week doing these from stones and ab wheel. The second set was more th same as last time but reduced reps as well. Back to using the strong band. I may have used too much assistance assuming how tough things would be. I probably could’ve lowered the pins 1-2 and been closer to the effort but this was still good. It felt a little weird swapping back in the strong band after the average band. Into the garage to finish up the workout with more band stuff. Split stance paloff pressing again. Same as last week with 2x4 with 10 second holds. These seemed to be just as challenging as last week. Usually I feel like I adapt to stuff pretty quick. Not the case here. This was tough on the midsection and lower body but I was also feeling the shoulders and upper body this time around here. Maybe I was slightly further away from where I was before with the anchor point and tension? Oh well. It was work and effort and that was what was needed. Last thing was lying triceps extensions. No free weights this time. I think that was needed as the left elbow hasn’t been a fan of them since the bursitis stuff started really. And definitely not since getting it drained again. So this time it was using bands with holds. I was advised to do a lot of warming up to get the feel for this and get it right. That was good advice as I would’ve probably have jumped in with a band that was too light thinking it would be too much. The ROM on these and the strength curve felt nice on the elbows. Had some issues with my shoulder flexibility and my hair getting in the way trying to get the band secure under the bench for these. Especially the second set. Put stuff away and ate a roast with a pizza. Stretched and iced knees before bed.