July 31, 2023 – Week 6, Day 1

One Arm Half Kneeling Dumbbell Strict Presses w/ Band Rows (3 second eccentrics)
10x4/4 (µb)
40x3/3 (mb)
60x2/2 (mb+µb)
80x8/8 (mmb)
80x8/8 (mmb)
80x8/8 (mmb)

Feet Up Swiss Bar Bench Presses/Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows
110x3/40’sx3
150x3/70’sx3
200x12/100’sx12
200x12/100’sx12
200x12/100’sx12

Landmine Bar Twists/Dumbbell Windmills
70x6/6 – 53x6/6
70x6/6 – 53x6/6
70x6/6 – 53x6/6

Stretching
 
Comments: I was able to sit down and get a lot of thoughts about plans for Nationals put to paper so that was a good bit of a load off. Ended up being like 6 pages of comments and thoughts. Still have things to figure out as far as best options. And I’m sure that when I get those little moments when I can relax that I’ll potentially think even clearer on things. At this point with essentially all the details for Nats (as well as seeing other people start training) has me excited to start pushing the event work. To be done with the off-season stuff. It does seem to be a more gradual shift in priorities. Last day like this for this session I think. Starting things off with tempo and band row overhead pressing. Again, higher RPE and 3x8 as the plan with the 3 second eccentrics. I didn’t really want to take a small jump with the dumbbells so aim was the 80lbs dumbbell. I was going to start with 40lbs and do 20lbs jumps but elected to start with the 10lbs and make an in-between jump with the band tension. Slightly longer rests here and pushing things here. Potentially some fatigue from pressing on Thursday. Feel like I’m getting more into the mobility and rotation groove on these. I didn’t feel like any reps were like the last bit of last week where my lockout was struggling due to fatigue. I was kind of surprised the reps went as well as they did considering how things were feeling warming up. Not as oh crap heavy as the 70lbs weight had felt that first week back from vacation. I definitely forgot to row the band on the first rep of the first set with the left side rowing. I was just thinking about getting through this session as I’d be one session closer to more event focused stuff. Supersets after that as has been the case (allegedly last of these). Feet up swiss bar bench press paired with chest supported dumbbell rows with no acceleration reps again. It sounds like these will be split up and modified as slightly different exercises going forward. I wanted to go up a bit on the press since the RPE was increased and rest was also increased. I landed on 20lbs increase and living option to add a little weight each set if I felt like I could handle it. The only thing I’ve not really liked with these paired is that I like to keep things “even” and I need a lot less warming up for rows vs benching and pressing. So even with doing the 80lbs presses, shoulders weren’t feeling 100% initially on the benching. Felt fine after that first set though. A minor thing. I was feeling my core a good bit I guess from Saturday with the increase weight on the b-stance rdls as my abs were feeling somewhat sore. Trying to make sure my legs didn’t cramp on the bench as well. I could tell that 200lbs was the limit to stay in the good graces of the RPE planned. Rows were a bit of surprise for me. I only went up 5lbs but felt really tough. Mostly my grip was feeling fatigued and hands sweaty. It wasn’t even nearly as humid or hot compared to Saturday. I may need to also consider chalk for at home at this point on these exercises once I notice this. Second set I really felt the fatigue on the pressing and it was tougher than I would’ve liked. Rows seemed to be the inverse as that felt easier. Third set I got myself a bit more into it and made the last pressing set feel similar to the first set. Rows my grip had me taking a brief pause to regrip near the end and finish out. I have noticed some golfer’s elbow discomfort in the right side but it does appear that rowing is going to be adjusted any ways. Drew and I’ve been working together long enough he gets a sense of when to adjust before I start chirping about it. Last thing was the pairing of the landmine bar twists and dumbbell windmills. I liked the increased difficulty of the dumbbell vs the kettlebell and I know I’d need to go outside to safely use the handle (as well as wear a knee sleeve to protect forearms). Use the long dumbbell handle and the smaller plates to minimize the contact issues with the garage ceiling. It would be a fairly big weight jump but I felt I could handle that and increasing the weight on the bar twists to keep it moving well. This was definitely fatiguing with the 90 seconds rest on these but I got the work done and feel that things went well and did well. Put stuff away as I let the roast set for dinner. Stretched afterwards.