July 19, 2023 – Week 4, Day 2

Paused Hatfield Bulgarian FFE Split Squat (3”, 2 seconds)
65x5/5
115x5/5
155x8/8
155x8/8
155x8/8

Front Squats (3-1-0-0 tempo)
65x3
95x3
125x3
155x8
155x8
155x8

Nordic Curl Negatives
bwx5
bwx5
bwx5

Kettlebell Power Pin Swings
113x7
113x7
113x7
113x7
113x7
113x7

Hollow Rocks
bwx30/16/4

Stretching
 
Comments: Yeah, so work was a bear coming back to it. I had 83 missed calls alone. I’d say the bare minimum of things while I was out was done and done late (like a week late). I actually logged in Monday at Midnight just to prune the e-mails down as I knew it would take hours to resolve things while I was out and I had a full plate with work as I was trying to not have a lot of things to be covered while I was out. No breaks besides restroom (I did have meals). I have a feeling I’m going to do this all week and maybe even Monday as well to get things caught up before I start getting additional work (which I still was getting due to interoffice politics). For training, I did bring out the fans after not using them Monday. It was getting muggier and I think the brutal pace with work had drained any tolerance (or tan) I had built over the past week to heat. This session had suggested weights for stuff this time around. Drew had not necessarily been available to review beyond numbers initially due to his own trip situation but commented that ideally I shouldn’t be doing more on the single leg variation of choice than the front squats so as not to over tax the CNS of the core. Still using the same exercise of paused hatfield ffe Bulgarians. RPE was lowered slightly from last time with the plan being 3x8. But weight was suggested to be 155lbs so I went with that as I didn’t expect to be using more than that for the front squats with the modifications. I was initially worried when I started to feel the same sensation I had in the left side inner thigh/hip when it got aggravated doing the bigger diameter stone deep laps in prep for PA Dutch this year. I’m not too sure what would be the cause of it as didn’t feel this at all during vacation training. My thinking was maybe too much stress on the hip flexors/abs from the hollow rocks and the paused dead bugs but it might have just been going up 30lbs on the half kneeling presses Monday. Who knows with my body these days (years). Also not helpful when my left glute/ham cramped up when I was doing the lift on my right side for the first set. But thankfully none of this seemed to be an issue or get worse. This was certainly easier compared to last time and I didn’t feel like I had to undo my soft belts to breath and recover. Probably because less weight and less reps. I definitely could’ve done more weight to be in the RPE range. But I guess this is fine for a first true session after the deload vacation break. I should also note that ROM and ease of it getting the deep stretch felt a lot easier than normal. Then it was on to front squats. Still tempo work. Slight increase in the RPE and some changes. Increase in sets (3x8) but decrease in the eccentric (3 vs 5). But I do feel that last time I did push things a bit too close on the RPE range so I did stick with 155lbs to be on the safe side. Again, coming back. Wanted to make sure stuff was feeling good. There are aches in the left knee but manageable and I feel like not as bad as would feel if bar was on my back. Plan was to take 3 mins rest and report back RIR on the last set. I was a little paranoid that I would take too long rest (kind of happened last time sucking wind) but I ended up doing closer to 2 mins. I felt good on these. Nordic curls were up next. Same as last time. It does seem like these are starting to hit the point where a change up is needed (and it looks like from reviewing the next thing that that is already known and planned for). Lower legs were feeling a little more agitated than usual because I had been doing different exercises while on vacation as well as doing 3 miles walks in sand so things had been feeling a little more worked. Such as my left lower leg (tib and sometimes the soleus) cramping slightly. Well decided to cramp up on the first set so I had to take a brief break to shake out the leg before resuming. There was some slightly concern in the back of my head because of what had happened that one time when doing these and my lower leg strained. I have to keep telling myself I can keep going and that these get better as the sets go. Then swings. It seems the focus is less on the weight and more of increasing the volume and power while decreasing the time it takes to do so. As in, shorter rests being the suggested method of progression and then adding weight once that is at minimal. Since this was 6x7 and the suggested was 112lbs, I decided to just see how this went with all the 25’s I could fit on the handle I have and aim for the shorter side of the rests. The smaller plate diameter certainly makes the setup and go quicker without worrying about clearance. The weight wasn’t feeling heavy but I could feel some fatigue accumulating from the repeated effort. I inadvertently took shorter rests than anticipated. I had meant for it to be 75 seconds and ended up being more like 50 seconds. I guess the timing I had from pacing previously was from when my legs were fatigued more from the previous exercises. I’m not too sure how to proceed as I’m not sure if this is just an off-season thing or if this will be something that will continue into the contest prep. Last thing was the hollow rocks. So I did get confirmation that back and forth is one. I’ve gone a bit more used to them from being every other session on vacation. I can do them on hard floor. I wasn’t too sure if I maintained for higher reps but I guess I did here. Almost to the point where I can do all the reps in two sets. I guess I got one more session of these before something changes. Cooked dinner and stretched before bed.