February 9, 2023 – Week 16, Day 3

Band Assisted Thread The Needles
mbx10/10
mbx10/10

Swiss Bar Bench Presses w/ bands (+28lbs/+48lbs)
No bands
40x3
Add Bands
40x3
70x3
100x3
130x3
160x3
180x2
200x2
220x2
240x6

One Arm Band Rows
sbx15/15
sbx15/15

Single Arm Dumbbell Y Raises on Incline Bench (Iso Hold)
No Rest
6’sx5/5
11’sx5/5
16’sx5/5
Full Rest
21’x12/12

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/bwx30 seconds
bwx15/bwx30 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: Body was still feeling the heavy suit work from the night before. Not sure if I can make up for it with sleep with how behind I feel with work. Needed to get through this workout in decent time as plan was to do training with my younger sister afterwards for contest prep stuff. Honestly, other than the benching, this workout is light weight and less breaking down and more like corrective and refreshing. So first thing was the “thread the needles”. Mini band with the floor mat and switching sides with no rest. No intercoastal or lat tightness compared to last week. I think I focus a bit more on the rotational aspect rather than trying to move the scapulae. I may need to refocus intent on these and work on getting the feeling for both actions of this movement. Then on to the only thing with any real weight with swiss bar bench press. Bands added this time. I asked for clarification on what kind of band tension I should have and suggested go to was 10-15%. Don’t really have a top single weight to base things off of at this point here and last time I did these without a pause I screwed up with having a lower rack height that made it not pleasant for me. I had to reject the band setup since it has been a bit and it came out a little heavier compared to last time I did these for board pressing speed work. I was initially thinking that 250lbs here for the top set (work up in sets of 2-3 reps to top weight of 6-8 with 2-3RIR) but started to reconsider and went with initially 30lbs jumps and triples and then to 20lbs jumps and doubles. So that adjustment lead to 240lbs. This didn’t feel too bad. I think I wasn’t too used to the bands at this point to really know what I could push out for a lot of reps against the bands. I hesitated a little after the sixth rep and decided that I should stop there when I knew I had 3RIR. Would’ve been nice to get two more reps here but I felt this was the smarter choice after last time two weeks ago with the goof up on the rack height. I seem to feel best when not hitting grinding reps really for pressing. So next was a band rows. One arm at a time and for 2 sets of 10-15 reps with like 4-5RIR. Indication was to be having a good stretch and contraction and having my body moving/rotating in the thoracic. I had asked if half kneeling was advised and it was whatever allowed me to stay loose and most mobile. So standing I feel would allow that. I was a bit surprised that I needed a strong band to even be somewhat on point with the higher end of the rep range. Sometimes with these kind of motions I get a lot of tension at the point of contraction when at the hardest point mechanically. Didn’t feel that this time. Also happy that the anchor system I used was heavy/sturdy enough to not be a problem. It does feel nice to have the rowing exercises changed up. Upper back is fun to train and responds well to volume and other things like tempo and then come back and blow away the previous numbers when unencumbered. These did feel good and I made myself take a break between the sets. After this was done, it was time for the Iso Y raises. I had thought maybe last week but nope. I guess Drew wanted these to be more weight as indication this time was to still warm up in sets of 5 reps but to take a 2-3 minute break between the sides on the top working set. It had been more fatigue from the first half that affected the second half. So with getting a breather, I felt I could push these up another notch. Really requires a good bit of bracing and control. The hold for the left arm was tough. I only hit the minimum reps here (12-15). Wasn’t sure how the other side would go. But I guess that has always been the second half and fatigue masks things as this ended up being a bit easier than the first part of it. Just thought it wasn’t I guess. It is always a treat and interesting to see how different unilateral based stuff plays out and how it gets implemented into other things I do in a very dynamic sport with weights. The easier stuff for mobility to end. Overhead single arm stuff with anchor point being around my knee again. This may continue to be a thing through the end of this training cycle. Same band tension and setup and reps and such. Trying to not be so “frantic” with the reps and have them be smooth and controlled. Improve rep quality and intent. Then be active in the stretch when holding. Get the lats, triceps and shoulders mobile but stable. Neither side really felt tighter than the other. Slight aches in the left elbow. The finisher for the evening training session was the knees over toes calf raises with stretch again. Well as best as I can stretch them with my ankle mobility. I feel like getting better. Some aches in the ankles and feet. I was a bit curious how they’d feel after having to do ankle/calf work just the evening before that was equal or greater intensity. Again, hip mobility stuff optional but did deep squat holds but shortened the hold time to about 30 seconds instead of 45 seconds. Put stuff away and got stuff setup for my sister and moved stuff around during that. Put that away and ate dinner before stretching. Iced my knees and wrapped arm for a bit before bed. Need to try and get to bed earlier Friday so I can get out to train Saturday earlier to make sure I got people there to assist. It might make sense to get used to earlier days anyways as show coming up in less than 30 days.