Here are my last few days, Thursday through Monday.
Thursday was an upper back at the local commercial gym. Continued on with Pendlay rows, topping out with 4 sets of 5 at 275. My back has been feeling more locked in since adding a dedicated upper back day, so this will stay pretty much as is through the meet (and likely beyond).
Moved on to assisted pull-ups for 4 sets of 12, cable triceps extensions in the same rep range, and some incline sit-ups to finish.
Sunday was a deadlift day at Apollon. The exercise was a pull off of pin 2 with doubled bands (about 250lbs. at the top). This is a tough one and I wasn't exactly looking forward to it. To challenge my back a bit more, I worked up as high as I could without a belt, only adding it for the last couple of reps.
I made it to 275 beltless, then put it on for 320, which was 5lbs. over the last time I did this. Since I already had a pr, I said f-it and took a 45lb. jump to 365, which I also made.
My back strength has been progressing well in the last couple of months, and I feel way stronger going into this next meet then I did while preparing for the last one. Hopefully this improved back strength will carry over to the meet lifts, but I don't ever remember a time where a stronger back was not a good thing in this sport.
Finished up with 4 sets of 10 reverse hypers, Hip adduction, and cable pulldown abs.
Monday was a bench day, and more bands.
We did a full range bench with doubled light bands. I'm not sure what the tension was, but I would put it at about 200lbs.
I worked up to 210, which wasn't bad of the chest, but really kicked in hard at lockout.
For my second movement, I did something a little different. My training partner Justin had a new bench shirt (not metal) that was too tight to use, and needed some break-in just to get his hands on the bar. Since I'm about 50lbs lighter than him, I volunteered to put it on and make some light shirted board presses my second movement for some extra triceps work.
I worked up to 3 sets with 495 on a 4 board, and it broke in somewhat, but was still to small in the chest for him to use.
And this is why I like being sponsored by Metal. When I order a new shirt, I know that it will fit because the shirts are stock, and not made to order. Even though Metal will custom make stuff for me for free, I still go with stock just because I know how it will fit, and won't waste any time trying to figure out a shirt that doesn't fit like I expect.
After the benching, Anthony and I did some rep work on a dumbbell shoulder press. To my surprise, I was able to keep up with him working up to 2 sets of 10 and a final set of 15 with 85 lb dumbbells. This is a really good sign. Anthony out-benches me by about 40lbs both geared and raw, so If my shoulder strength is becoming on par with his, I can start to be optimistic about my bench for next month. It's only one exercise, but it's still a good sign.
