April 3, 2023 – Week 4, 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 (strict, facing away, hands 11” down handles)
empty(26)x3
+45(59)x3
+90(92)x3
+135(125)x3
+180(158)x3
+205(176)x3
+231(195)x6
+208(178)x6
+208(178)x6
+208(178)x6

Feet Elevated Pull Ups (swiss bar, 2 second holds)
bwx3
bw+35x8
bw+35x8
bw+35x8

DeFranco Band Pullaparts (30 seconds)
mbx29
mbx30
mbx33

Kettlebell Tibialis Anterior Raises (3 second holds)/Single Arm Overhead Band Triceps Extensions (3 second eccentrics)
36x10/10 – lbx12/12
36x10/10 – lbx12/12

Stretching
 
Comments: Schedule was a little off Sunday. Attempting to do stuff like get thoughts in order about training as well as try to make some adjustments to my diet. Ended up being a bit later than I would’ve liked for the evening so had to forgone the soft tissue work. I will say that I’m glad that I’m not feeling any of the issues I had coming into this training session like I did that first week after stone to shoulder. So maybe it was more a getting used to it and having the shoulder still recovering from the competition. Things at this point should be fairly streamlined with things I think as far as the setup and teardown. Starting things off was a circuit of exercises. No changes to what I did last week as far as weight, sets, tempo or reps. The mobility and training aspect make sense for viking press (and actually should be helpful for sandbag toss). This had been where my left trap/serratus stuff had acted up last time and nothing so happy about that. Then it was time to go to do viking press. It was dry out but it did look like it would storm so I had plans to get this done and put the setup away potentially quickly if necessary. This week was the strict press work. Plan was work up in triples to a top set of 4-6 (2RIR) and then take some weight off and do three matching rep sets. Now this wasn’t going to be as simple as the first week I had been doing these with my grip on the ends where it was wobbly and the weight in hand was a good bit less. Last week had been with it at the marked off sections that were a lot better but increased the weight. So going up in weight could actually be tricky as far as weight in hand from last time as the weight I did last time was 171lbs or so whereas the same weight would be about 191lbs this time. Initially did the 45lbs jumps and it was feeling a little rough (I was planning like 5lbs weight added as that would be a decent overall jump) so I did switch to 25lbs jumps after four plates added. The form is really clicking on these now. I feel like I probably had left 10lbs here for this same reps. I think I didn’t set down after the third to go heavier because the implement shifted to the left slightly and it made lockout a lot tougher on the third rep so I stuck with it. As the reps can be inconsistent due to not being the most secure setup. But this went quite well and I went with a smaller drop in the weight for the down sets and those were powerful. It will be interesting to see how I feel with this next time around. I was talking with my dad the other day how I was feeling good with training so far for this show. It is starting to feel like how I was in prep for PA Dutch 2022 and that had been a good one. Hopefully this continues with my confidence. Next thing was feel elevated pull ups. Same as last week (swiss bar grip, 2 second holds. 3 sets of 6-8 reps). I went up 15lbs here and I think I pushed these a little harder than the previous two weeks more to make up for what I felt was leaving effort to spare on the viking press. These are also part of it for working the upper body for the viking press. Unlike with other pressing, there isn’t really anything that is being rested on the body, it is all muscles supporting on this. So this idea of training it this way feels very smart. Trying to get shoulder mobility to be a thing here too. I went into the garage for the next thing just out of habit. I think also so that I could try and set things up for the last thing as well as put away stuff from earlier. DeFranco pullaparts again for 3 sets of 30 seconds. Did them the same way as I did last week with the focus just being the pullapart. These felt better on my shoulders compared to last week too. I was expecting an increase in reps but not to the point I’d get over 90 reps over the sets haha. I was definitely starting to fatigue by the end of the last set. Finishing up with tibialis anterior raises and band triceps. Same as last time. I’m not sure why but I decided to add a little weight to the kettlebell here. Left side does seem to struggle more here. First set was tougher for some reason. I think fatigue of the foot and placement of the handle do seem to matter for quality of the set. I stopped initially at 8 reps and then did 9 reps with the right by mistake so did 2 more on the left and 1 more on the right to get 10 before doing the first set of triceps. I used the same band tension as last time but switched up the hand position to a more neutral grip. One to see if that was nicer on the wrists and hands (it was) and if it did anything for the left elbow ache (not really). I stuck to the same rep range as this does make it tougher with this grip as it takes more of the band in the grip. But that is fine for now. I know I can eventually push the reps a bit more here. But lower end for now with this band. Second set felt better for the tib raises. Fatigue for the triceps/shoulders on the second set but I did feel like if things lined up I could do more reps. Put stuff away and tried out a new vegetarian dish. Needs work. Stretched out afterwards.