March 27, 2023 – Week 3, Day 1

Bottom Up Kettlebell Presses/Dumbbell Pullovers (3 seconds stretch)/Cobra Stretches (5/15)
15’sx10/10x10/bwx3
15’sx10/10x10/bwx3

Viking Presses (push press, facing away, hands 11” down handles)
Pauses (5 seconds in dip)
empty(26)x3
+45(59)x3
+90(92)x3
+135(125)x3
+180(158)x3
+225(191)x3
+235(198)x3
+245(205.5)x3
No Pauses
+260(216.5)x6

Feet Elevated Pull Ups (swiss bar, 2 second holds)
bwx3
bw+20x8
bw+20x8
bw+20x8

DeFranco Band Pullaparts (30 seconds)
mbx25
mbx28
mbx30

Kettlebell Tibialis Anterior Raises (3 second holds)/Single Arm Overhead Band Triceps Extensions (3 second eccentrics)
34x10/10 – lbx12/12
34x10/10 – lbx12/12

Stretching
 
Comments: Had done what I could on Sunday to get body feeling good after sleeping in Saturday and then having to get back to somewhat a normal schedule for work. I did soft tissue work and did foam roller too. I wasn’t sure how things would go but I was trying to remain optimistic and just take what I learned from last week and make adjustments. My neck decided to get tense and stiff before I went to bed Sunday so I put Icy Hot on both sides of my neck/base of skull to try and get things to relax. Not keen on taking any ibuprofen until I see the doctor since they are concerned about the enzyme levels for certain liver functions in my blood. Will maybe find out Thursday. It had been really nice outside and I was somewhat tempted to setup for the workout during my lunch break. It is a good thing I didn’t as storm came through and it rained for a few hours. It was still raining just a little by the time I was done with work for the day. Starting things off was a circuit of exercises. Same as last week with it being bottom up kettlebell, dumbbell pull over and cobra pose. Too light on the kettlebell and the other stuff was decently challenging. So went with my 15’s instead of the 10’s. The larger size of them made balance a good bit tougher and I had to actively use my grip to crush and keep braced rather than actively with the smaller pair. With was a good thing. Pull overs I went a bit of a more short stroke style with the returning the weight to the start as opposed to keeping the arms straight. These felt better. I’m ending up touching the floor on some reps. I think I had a better idea about what I was to with the cobra poses. Then it was time to go outside in the wet to do viking press. It appears the plan is going to be alternating between push press and strict press weeks. But that could change. I was a bit surprised the sun came out but I had to get some of the standing water away from the setup. I had not been thrilled with how things went last week with these as far as how things felt. The handles had too much give and the weight in hand wasn’t that much relative to what was loaded. It was also not easy to add and subtract weight with the height. So I had to address those things. Using the many crash pads I had as a set of steps helped with the loading and unloading of weight. As far as the handles, I had thought about moving where I gripped them. The empty weight would be the same, would hopefully cut down on the flex/angle as well as increase the weight in hand percentage. In theory. Moved my hands down 11” and taped those sections off. It pretty much solved the issue here as less flex/wobble and the weight in hand increased from being only 64.5% to 73.3%. So the same weight will actually be heavier than what it was when I did it last time. So now it was time to see what was what. Plan here was to work up to 3x3 with 3-5ct pauses at RPE 6-7. I had thought 225lbs added would be where I was. Empty weight my knees weren’t too thrilled about the pause in the dip but I got comfortable with it as I went. I actually ended up feeling like I could do more weight and instead of doing straight set weight, I added 10lbs each set. Last set I was to do no pauses (I had done 5 seconds because of course) and either keep the weight the same or add up to 10% more for a set of 6-8 reps at RPE 7. I decided to add 15lbs and decided to see what was what. Adding weight is tricky and reps can vary as I go from the movement as the lever isn’t fixed and secure (can move back and forth and side to side). First two reps were really easy and then it started to feel tougher after that. Took my time to get things feeling balanced for the rest of the reps (only did 6). I’m definitely feeling better about these after this session. I don’t really know what to expect as far as actual contest weight or weight in hand but I have a feeling I should be working to get what I’m doing up to at least a single with +315lbs (like 257lbs in hand) added and I guess hope that I’ll adapt to a more stable setup at contest. Get more comfortable and maybe some neutral grip support/lockout stuff. So that was good. No shoulder/serratus/lat issues. At least that was the end of needing to use math to determine what I was actually lifting for the day. Next thing was feel elevated pull ups. Same as last week (swiss bar grip, 2 second holds. 3 sets of 6-8 reps) but slightly higher RPE allowed (6-7 so a range). I had felt good with these last week and was kind of surprised that the holds didn’t seem to fatigue me as hard as they tend to do. I had already planned to just do bodyweight to warm up and then put 20lbs in the backpack on my lap. This felt comfortable and very similar to how last week felt. I was expecting some reps to drop off but nope. I may need to adjust expectations I guess for next time. Even though it wasn’t raining, I went into the garage for the next thing. Didn’t want to be standing on a wet band for the timed band work. DeFranco pullaparts. 3 sets of 30 seconds this week and notes were to use same band as last week. I figured after watching video that it probably was best for what was being worked to just do a single front raise to get into position and just do the pullapart part of the exercise for the reps. Obviously this allowed more focus on the external rotation and more reps being completed. Reps increase every set. Ended up with 83 reps total over the three sets. Last thing was the unlikely superset; tibialis anterior raises and band triceps. Same as last time. I felt that I should probably stick to roughly the same weight for the kettlebell stuff but that I needed to increase the band tension on the triceps. I was already doing 20 reps with a lot of RIR even with the eccentrics. I decided I’d do the light bands and aim for just the 12 reps, even if I felt good for more. Because I know how my triceps/lat inserts get on these when I increase the band tension a lot. I get twitchy arms for a day. The left side decided to be somewhat difficult today. With the leg, that side just seems to fatigue quicker. The right side does fatigue but it seems to not be until near the end of the set. My left elbow has been aching lately. Not with everything. Only seems to be with some movements and not always. But it does feel a lot like when the PA jabbed my elbow to drain. So I’m wondering if this just me not having as much fluid/inflammation there that I’m just feeling stuff now. So some slight discomfort. But adjusting hand position did seem to help and as I did more reps. I think I was distracted that I forgot I had planned to grip the bands differently so as not digging into my palms so much. Oh well. Put stuff away and ate dinner before stretching. Iced knees before bed.