April 24, 2023 – Week 7, Day 1

Bottom Up Kettlebell Presses/Dumbbell Pullovers (3 seconds stretch)/Cobra Stretches (5/15)
15’sx8/20x8/bwx3
15’sx8/20x8/bwx3

Sandbag Tosses (bottle drill)
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1

Viking Presses (push press, facing away, hands 11” down handles)
empty(26)x2
+45(59)x2
+90(92)x2
+135(125)x2
+180(158)x2
+225(191)x2
+270(224)x4
+280(231)x2 (equipment malfunction)
+280(231)x4 (equipment malfunction)
+290(238.5)x4
Pauses (3 seconds in dip)
+235(198)x4
+245(205.5)x4

Paused Swiss Bar Chest Supported Rows (2 second holds)
49x4
101x4
153x8
159x9 (miscounted)
165x8

Dumbbell Front Raises (concentric) to Side Raises (eccentric, 3 seconds)
10’sx5
18’sx10
18’sx10
18’sx10

Paused Single Arm Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extensions (seated, 2 seconds)
18x4/4
32x12/12
32x12/12

Stretching
 
Comments: Got a little bit of a late start to the workout. The mobility warm up same as last week. Upper body was a bit stiff but ok I guess. Pressing easy and just needing a little more time to loosen up for the pullovers. No issues with the cobra poses. Weights were released for the sandbag toss and holy hell. 10lbs heavier than what I had thought/initially told. So that is going to be something. Also looks like 10’ or so away. Drew wants me getting multiple touches on the sandbag toss so two times a week at this point with low volume drills. Bottle drill again and trying to think about the extension/high pull (which I think needs work to get that primed up again). Stuck to same weight and reps. Bag had thankfully dried out over the weekend in the sunroom. Not doing these at “full power” as Drew indicated. Trying to get things feeling good. I think like half of these might have been good enough for 15’ clearance even like that. Casual pace on these which still ended up being like less than EMOM. Didn’t feel like this was stressing anything like last week (though that was after a lot of stone work). Viking press as has been the case and will be the case for like another 2 months. Plan was to work up in doubles and do 3x4 with 255-275lbs. Whatever felt like RPE 7-8 (2-3RIR). So I felt that with how things felt last two times (push and strict) that I could probably do over that and still be good. I felt some pressure with pressing since I know there are some really good pressers signed up. So plan was to do 45lbs jumps and doubles and see how 270lbs felt with the idea it would feel good and do 10lbs jumps. It felt “ok” but proceeded with 10lbs added. Those first two reps were the easiest that this kind of weight has ever felt. But the setup was wobbly and it hit something when I tried to do a third rep and I had to set it down. Similar to what had happened on the one set of strict pressing last week. I got again and the entire setup flips over to the left. Just kind of dumbfounded. I got it resituated and realized that the corners cut to make a portable and lightweight setup has lead to some unforeseen stability issues. Using the bumper plates was making the tower too high and top heavy. So I had to take all the weights off and use thinner plates to lower the center of gravity. This added about 20 minutes to my workout (and I was timing a roast haha). So I go again and I get two reps again before it got off balanced and I let my dissatisfaction be known. Come back after a few seconds and got the remaining two reps. I went forward with adding 10lbs more and decided that I needed to reinforce the anchor to keep it from wanting to tilt one way or the other. So used some bungee cords. That seemed to sort things out as I was able to do the last set finally with it being no problem and within the RPE I feel. So need to be mindful of that going forward to make sure things are as secure as can be with this setup I have. Then the plan was to do 225lbs added with pauses for 2x4 (3 seconds like last time). Notes stated this was also to report back RIR and that this is likely the last week of this (replace with something like bands or rebound style). I felt that since I had increased the weight by 15lbs above what was suggested for the push press that I should adjust these. I added 10lbs and would see how easy things felt to decide if I added another 10lbs. These felt quite easy so tossed another 10lbs on there. These felt snappy and easy. I left things mostly setup because I was kind of on a deadline with time at this point and went inside to do garage work. Chest supported rows using swiss bar. 3x8 with it at RPE 6-7 and 1-2ct holds. Left shoulder was feeling like a tendon was inflamed but not painful at this point. Maybe from having the viking press setup twist on me. Or just everything (pullovers, multiple sandbag toss sessions in so many days, holding rack for hatfields, etc). My thinking was that the other stuff maybe would help having stuff feel good. I’m not sure why I thought that I’d be good for a lot more on rows but I did. Usually regular rows without pauses I can see that with a new exercise. But holds I seem to not increase that quickly. Guess this was a time where I would. Or I started too light in the first place. I was fully planning on my first set to be the working weight but it still felt like I could do more so small increases over the sets. Upon review, it does seem I accidentally did an extra rep on the second set which could explain why it felt a little bit harder than the last set and good bit tougher than the first set. The rest of the workout was dumbbells. The front into laterals. I tested to make sure the shoulders and elbows were ok for this (they were). Small increase here and that seemed to be fine enough. Left shoulder was fatiguing faster than then right. These are a very interesting exercise in how they feel. You can change the focus with just how the movement progresses. Last thing was triceps. Same as last time with a dumbbell and pauses for 2x10-12 with it being lower RPE. I figured that I should be able to get 2x12 with the weight I did last week if things were feeling good. Definitely noticing the triceps working hard on these. Left side there was some shoulder tension but felt ok doing the movement (more getting into position). Less elbow aches too. So this was a pleasant surprise. Put stuff away before eating dinner. Stretched and iced knees before bed.