June 12, 2023 – Week 14, Day 1

Cobra Stretches (5/15)/Bottom Up Kettlebell Presses/Dumbbell Pullovers (3 seconds stretch)/Cobra Stretches (5/15)
bwx3/15’sx10/20x10/bwx3

Sandbag Tosses (Bottle Drill)
30x1
30x1
30x1
30x1
30x1
30x1

Viking Presses w/ bands (strict, facing away, hands 11” down handles, +17lbs/25lbs)
empty(26)x2
+45(59)x2
+90(92)x2
+135(125)x1
+180(158)x1
+200(172.5)x1
+225(191)x1
+250(209)x1
+225(191)x2
+225(191)x4
+202.5(174)x4
+202.5(174)x4

Swiss Bar Chest Supported Rows
110x3
162x3
214x3
264x8
264x8

Defranco Band Pullaparts (2 second holds)
mbx15
mbx15

Incline Band Tate Presses (1 second holds)
lbx5
lb+(4)mbx4/lb+(3)mbx5/lb+(2)mbx5/lb+mbx6

Stretching
 
Comments: Even when I’m aware of the upcoming changes to my routine, it is still stressful, even when it is something I want to do. Like visiting family. It cases me stress and I don’t like that it does but it doesn’t seem to be something that I can completely resolve. Just like how I can’t stop the nerves from coming when competing even though I’ve done over 40 competitions over more than a decade. And when upcoming things arise, little annoyances seem to magnify and intensify how they affect me. I feel that I’m becoming more aware of this in the past two years. Monday at work was dumb and never seeming to get caught up. Rain storm was here most of the day and I unfortunately had things I needed to do outside for training. I was trying to think how best to “water proof” things and rationalizing that I’d only need the viking press setup for this workout likely. But waiting it out seemed the best thing as the rain did stop and it didn’t come back. There were some nerves going into this week of training. I’m tired and I worry this is too much to be at my best at the show. It has seemed to work out for me with these peaks. Sometimes how the body feels is a lie. Mobility stuff same as last week with it being reduced and I kept it to being the sandwich. Can really tell how stiff stuff is that first set of cobra poses and how things loosen up for the second round of it. Outside for the bag toss drill. Stuck to 30lbs and bottle drill. Don’t want to be overdoing things. Goal being 6-8 tosses. Went with less.  I didn’t feel satisfied with how they were feeling until the last two. First was just a little soft touch and the next two had good power but I was launching myself forward which means energy lost upward. Fourth toss got a little sideways with uneven release. Keeping this light and just trying to get things lose for the hip snatch and drive. And getting my ankles to help out. Viking press yet again and a strict press week. I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a heavy day focus or not but figured it would be something like 80%. Not quite. It seemed the plan was to work up to a top set of 3-4 reps working up in doubles and then singles. Something leaving 1RIR. Oh and with bands. I hadn’t quite thought about how to setup bands on this setup as it isn’t as straightforward as the barbell rig I used when facing the weight. I initially thought I had a good setup that had a band for each side with me standing on the bands linked together. It felt like a decent amount of tension and it would be fully added to weight in hand vs the weight on the arm calucation. It felt tough but I was still moving the weight. So I initially was thinking that I’d probably need to do 225lbs added and got set for it and the single was easy so I thought too light so I went for 250lbs added, thinking the 225lbs would be the down sets (2x4). I got set and it felt like the false start situation I had with the push pressing last week. I reset and got a rep with it but when I went for the second I could tell this was a big nope. Great. So dropped it back down to 225lbs and went at that and I got two reps before getting stuck going for the third with the implement wanting to tip to the left. Partially my fault as I used the big bumper plates as I was worried about the rain. I realized that the setup with the bands wasn’t working out as the bands would move and twist. So after making an adjustment, I had no further issues with the exercise. Other than a lot of pressure on body doing these and having to steady myself after the set until lightheadedness went away. Just annoyed that I felt I was screwing everything up with the missed reps this close to competition. So I was a bit frustrated with heavy training this close and new variation on an exercise I had not experienced really with. But that could just be a me thing and letting the stress affect me more than usually does. I left stuff out so I could move on as I felt I had added a lot of time to the session with this band pain. I knew the rain wasn’t coming back. Garage work to finish things up. Chest supported rows with the swiss bar. Indication was 2x6-8 RPE 6-7, leave 4RIR. I was annoyed with the pressing and just did the same weights I did as last week on these and did 2x8. Hands and arms were feeling Saturday training. I ended up pausing the last rep in the stretch before going for it. I think partly to not have things be sloppy and to kind of reset. Defranco band pullaparts replaced the lateral raises. 2x12-15 with 4-5RIR and 2 second holds. I’ve done Defrancos for a lot of reps and volume before and but not with holds. I wasn’t sure how those would go but I figured that I could tolerate a mini band. That did seem to work out right for these. Last thing was the band incline tate presses. Drop set but limited to 15-20 reps to have that be the reduction in intensity. So still with multiple bands. Again, annoyed with things and did one warm up to try and speed things up as it was already late waiting for the storm to pass. Started with the same bands as last week and made sure that I didn’t screw things up with position and have bands slide off the back of the bench. I was successful in that regard. Managed to increase reps here and able to stick to more than the light band for the end of it. Put stuff away as I started to cook dinner. Stretched and iced my knees before bed. I need to get things under control.