March 16, 2023 – Week 1, Day 2

Kettlebell Arm Bars
15x5/5
15x5/5

Close Grip Axle Floor Presses
26x5
56x5
86x5
116x5
146x3
176x3
206x3
236x3
266x10
246x10

Dumbbell Z Presses (2 second holds)
10’sx5
40’sx5
70’sx10

One Arm Band Rows (30 seconds)
sbx20/20
sbx23/23

Band Y Raise Holds
µbx30 seconds
µbx30 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: Second workout for the week. I wasn’t too sure how things were going to go as some things were still feeling sore from contest (left shoulder/neck) and other stuff was feeling the session the day before (legs and lower back). On the plus side, I didn’t need to take as much allergy medications to make the day tolerable. Near the end of the last training cycle, this day had been a bit reduced in intensity and it does seem from reviewing things (Drew is competing next week so I got all workouts for this month) this day will still have less but will be a bit more intense with the pressing (rather than a heavy and light). In general, seeing a shift away from squats and pulls having their own days and working on getting used to holding weight overhead for the viking press. As with the last cycle, this day started off with thoracic mobility. It had been those thread the needles last time. This time it was kettlebell arm bars. Same number of sets but not nearly as many reps. The motion requires a bit more effort/energy to do. I’ve done these in the past like 2017-2018 era of training. At the time, it was me using like a 53lbs kettlebell as it was the only one at the gym. So 15lbs didn’t feel like that much really. Honestly, I was hoping this wouldn’t feel too bad and that it wouldn’t aggravate the achy left shoulder. Like the thread the needles, I just did these one side on to the other and no breaks between sets. Turning to the left side does seem to feel easier. From there it was on to pressing. Axle and it was my choice of a close grip variation of either benching or floor press. Since floor press was what was indicated initially, I decided to go with that and just your standard floor press with close grip. I think I also went with the floor press as it would provide more stability for my shoulders and my lower back as well as not putting my hip flexors in a stretch. Floor press was interesting. Plan was to work up in sets of 3-5 reps to a top set of 8-10 with 3RIR. I decided to do 30lbs jumps starting with the empty axle. I was expecting to do 266lbs for my top set. Wrists weren’t bother me too much but the bar path did feel a little weird. I notice that sometimes I have to catch myself on these and reset as I get out of position. Video says these were moving pretty smooth and fast but I felt that I probably would’ve been better to cut it a rep or two earlier than I did to really feel like I had 3RIR. But could just be in my head. The next thing was to drop off a little and do a rep set of matching and then report the RIR. 20lbs off matched the reduction needed and I tried to belt them out in a clip. Got a little fatigued and got the last two reps. I may need to adjust things and go for just a slight increase for next time to not be overdoing it. Especially with how my pressing has felt at times trying to build upon itself (though may be different not doing circus dumbbell). Some more pressing after that. Z presses with dumbbells. Plan here was a top set of 12-15 with 3-4RIR after doing several work up sets of 5 reps. I wasn’t really thinking to go that heavy here. I didn’t realize I had done 70’s for so many reps previously when programmed. I’d not have tried that weight if I didn’t see I’ve done it for 16 reps previously. Granted, these were to be with 1-2ct holds at lockout (again, emphasis for viking press). I did 10’s no problem and then 40’s I was hesitating here and I probably should’ve done this for a set of 15 reps and leaving 4RIR. But I decided to press on with the 70’s. Shouldering them sucked as I tried to curl them like I had done with those floor presses with bands. I guess I can’t do that for this kind of weight next time. So after that strain, I got some reps. My upper quads (especially the right side) were cramping a little from the position of stretch. I tried to go for the bare minimum but I stopped at 10 reps when I knew if I did push it, I’d be doing so with 0RIR with this tempo. Leave reps in the tank. Too heavy, too soon. The axle stuff was a bit more understandable. I think that if I had a variety of the solid dumbbells that I wouldn’t keep going for the bigger jumps since the plateloaded stuff can be a hassle for setup. Oh well. As with the axle, I’ll need to adjust weights for next time (and probably need to use less weight here). From there it was on to band stuff. One arm band rows again. This time instead of set reps and slight pauses, these were to be done for 30 second sets. Same thing as far as moving with the band and getting rotation. Strong band works for these. I tend to get better as far as being efficient and getting more reps on things that involve rowing/lat stuff compared to shoulders/triceps with fatigue. 20 reps the first set and then 23 reps the second set. Could feel the lats after that. Last thing was another timed exercise. But just one long hold instead of reps. Band y raise holds. I know how fatiguing holding that position can be and it indicated to use just one band with lower RPE. So I decided I’d use a micro band this first time and see how that went. It went ok enough. I feel that I can push for a mini band next time assuming things feel good. Put stuff away and since the workout was done fairly quickly, I stretched out before starting dinner. No lower body related things so didn’t ice knees before bed.