February 2, 2023 – Week 15, Day 3

Band Assisted Thread The Needles
mbx10/10
mbx10/10

Paused Swiss Bar Bench Presses (2 seconds)
60x2
90x2
120x2
150x2
180x2
210x2
240x2
275x5
248x5

Paused Inverted Ring Rows (2 seconds)
bwx3
bw+25x10
bw+25x10

Single Arm Dumbbell Y Raises on Incline Bench (Iso Hold)
6’sx5/5
11’sx5/5
16’sx15/15

Single Arm Overhead Band Triceps Extensions (followed by 30 seconds stretch)
mmb+µbx15/15
mmb+µbx15/15

Knees Over Toes Calf Raises (3 seconds stretch)/Deep Squat Holds
bwx15/bwx45 seconds
bwx15/bwx45 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: I was just talking with my friend about how every year since 2020, it always seems like January starts off really crazy and like there is no way things can be crazier but they end up being so much so that we forget what happened at the beginning of the year when that alone previously would’ve been something people would talk about for months and years even previously. And this year seems to be on track for that. At work, my supervisor is being getting written up for defending me. Essentially, their boss wants them to put something about me being “difficult” on my EPR (which I’m supposed to get done yearly but haven’t had one since 2018). They are saying they won’t because 1) not true and 2) because the alleged incident if I was being such a way is outside of the 1/1/22 – 12/31/22 period of review (January). So they won’t sign off on the evaluation for me to be presented with one and supervisor is going to the union. It’s all dumb. Who knows how this will go and maybe it becomes something even dumber. Anyways, on to what I can control in my life, training. Upper back was feeling tense and tight. Most likely from doing the banded pull speed work considering it was a fairly big jump from last time I did them as that was no bands and same weight and this was substantial band tension for me. Or could just be subconsciously from the bull crap of the day (and that was like not even an hour into my day). This is the lower stress training session of the week for me. It was about the same as last week with really the only thing being different between alternating weeks being minor things. So first thing was the “thread the needles”. Lower band tension is the way to go as far as getting things to warm up. Thinking of scap and having mobility in the thoracic. Was definitely feeling the sore muscles described above as being involved. Noticing less aches in the elbow. Might be from not having it wrapped all the time now, letting stuff have fluid to keep things from being painful I guess. Did these with the floor mat and just alternated one way and the next with no rest. The only really heavy thing next was swiss bar benching. Pauses this time. Notes indicated that may swap in bands or something here. Things hadn’t been ideal last time. Stuff that wasn’t bothering me the first week was bothering me the second week and I was trying to think if maybe the heavier work (stones, dumbbell, pulls) had lead to that. So depending on things, I may only go up a little bit from last time. It had me worried that my recovery was really that poor for upper body stuff and scale back even more. Work up in doubles to a top weight of 3-5 with 1-2RIR and then drop 10% for matching reps. Less aches but it wasn’t feeling as good as that first week. And even that week there was a sense of detraining in the chest. A few sets in and I was feeling like it wasn’t right again. Then I thought maybe I don’t have the bar at the right height. You wouldn’t think one pin setting difference (granted decent spacing on this rack) would resolve all the problems but it did. No more wrist, shoulder or triceps issues. I felt locked and secure and comfortable. Made me feel comfortable enough to try to do the weight I wanted to do last week for more reps and it felt easier this time around. Just a little tougher on the last rep than I would’ve liked but I was pleased that I seemed to get it figured out (of course will have to see how things go next time to make sure it isn’t the other stuff but seems like this answers the question). Down set felt comfortable too. If I can get workouts to stack like this for the upper body again like I do with lower body/events then I’ll be a dangerous man. Also note that despite the ab wheel work, my lower abs weren't excruciatingly sore like last time. So that is also recovering better. Up next was the inverted ring rows. Last week of these. Again, the plan was 2 sets no more than RPE 7. 1-2ct holds and aim being 8-12 reps per set. This time weight was suggested as 25lbs added so while not necessary, this was what I was going to go for anyways. Felt that this was enough weight to actually require me to do some reps with body weight rather than just hanging braced for a little bit to test and make sure I have the rings/straps right height. Add 5lbs each time and drop 2 reps a set really. I’ve done 8 reps with 25lbs added before with these kinds of holds and that was with less RIR at the time. So this was nice to get 2x10 with a few reps left in the tank. After this was done, it was time for the Iso Y raises. Maybe this is the last week of these. I kind of hope so because this was a tough one. So change from just doing multiple sets but to work up in sets of 5 reps to a top set of 12-15 reps. Had to use different dumbbells. It was strange “pushing” this and it was hard to gauge what would be good because doing these without rest between sides is quite challenging for the second half. Made a gamble that I could do 16’s and got through it fine with holding out the left side and raising the right. The reverse though I struggled and my right side was starting to waiver and I ended up having to drop the hold for a moment to regroup and lift again to get the last two reps done. Upper back and shoulders were pumped from that. The easier stuff for mobility to end. Overhead single arm stuff with anchor point being around my knee again. Same as last week. I had to make sure I didn’t screw up the height of the anchor point as I had it one too low initially. Less aches in the elbows compared to last week. Could be from now making them ache more from messing up the bench height. Right side was feeling tighter today. As has been the case, last thing was ankle mobility tied in with calf work with option to superset with hip mobility stuff. My glutes and hips were feeling the workout yesterday so I felt it was wise to keep the hip mobility stuff going, especially with this being a deep squat with is also testing the ankle flexibility from doing the KOT stuff. Feeling more comfortable with that style but right side is still a lot tighter compared to the left. I didn’t feel like I needed to rest between the sets so just did all the exercises and sets back to back with no rest. Felt refreshed rather than worn after the session, even though stressful day at work and stewing of it on top of that. I think these kinds of sessions are needed to let me recover and keep pushing things. Put stuff away and ate pot roast before stretching. Iced knees and wrapped arm for a bit before bed.