7/11 - Squat Day
Squat Worked up to 4 singles at 600, 625, 650, and 685
- I was happy with the speed of the 685 set. However, I did see a slight shift forwards and backwards in my knees when I hit the hole. Fellow EliteFTS teammate Joe Schillero said that I might gain some stability from squaring up my toes a little more (not pointing them out as hard). I think he may be onto something, because when I transitioned back to a wider stance squat after the Arnold I increased the degree to which I point my toes out. I hadn't seen any instability prior to this session, but as we know, heavy weight is what's going to bring the bad habits out. My offseason training wasn't heavy enough to identify form flaws such as this. Thanks again, Joe.
Reverse Band Squat (EliteFTS Average Bands choked from top of the monolift) 725x1 740x1
- It felt nice to get some really heavy weight in my back again. This reverse band set up is a great gauge to see where I'm at. They take literally nothing off at the top and about 40 lbs out of the hole - enough overload to reap the benefits from that type of training, but not so much where the weight on the bar becomes irrelevant to my current strength level.
Duffalo Bar Pause Squats 525 3x3
GHR's superset w/ Hanging Leg Raises 4x15 on each exercise, BW only on the GHR's, slow tempo
7/13 - Bench Day with the Maestro
Fellow teammate and friend Vinny Dizenzo made his way down to my home gym, Gleason Performance Training, to help me and top USAPL 63kg lifter Ewa Januszkiewicz out with our benches. Vinny's been a great mentor and role model to me in the sport, so having him around really got me motivated to SFW.
Bench Press 405x1 455x1 - 5 lb gym PR
Bench Press w/ Mad Dog Slingshot 505x2 515x2 525x2 545x2 - PR
- Feeling this kind of weight in my hands was awesome. My PR before the Arnold was 535 for a single, so this is a great indicator of a potential PR on the horizon. I misgrooved (hate this term, but it's actually what happened) the fuck out of the first rep, but was able to save it, tighten my form back up, and make the second rep.
Incline Bench Press w/ EliteFTS Shoulder Saver 295x3 315x3 335x3
- These have taken the place of the football bar incline bench presses I've been doing in the past due to elbow pain. This ROM felt great and there was no pain to be had.
Reverse Grip Pushdowns 100 reps in as few sets as possible, did em in 3
This bench day was a great confidence builder going into the peaking phase of meet prep. I haven't been PR'ing my AMRAP bench days this training cycle, but my singles look much smoother than they did last prep, and my indicator exercises (slingshot bench, incline bench) are all on the upswing. Sometimes you can't be killing everything. Training under the watchful eyes of Vinny was also a lesson in confidence. I've made some minor changes in my bench set up and execution recently. But after reviewing them, Vin just reminded me that I need to have confidence in what I'm doing first and foremost, and since everything looks good right now, to just be aggressive and attack the weight with confidence. I tend to get a little nutty and in my head with technique analysis sometimes, so this lesson was definitely welcomed.
7/14 - Accessory Day
Band Assisted Pull-ups 6 sets of 15 reps, changing grips on tee EliteFTS monkey bar pull-up attachment each set. Yuuuup, I said band assisted pull-ups. I wanted to keep these higher rep, so go ahead and judge me!
Seated DB Front Raises (supinated hand position) 5x10
One Arm DB Side Raises 5x10 up to the 45's - I always try to do my side raises as strict as possible, but today I went with the one arm approach and used just a bit of body English to handle some more weight. These really rocked my delts as I haven't done them in some time.
Band Pullaparts 50 reps with monster mini band
Standing Cable Rows 5x15 I grabbed these from Paul Carter and they felt awesome. I can see these becoming a staple exercise, and not just an ace card for when I want some variety in the mix.
Assisted Dip Machine Pushdowns superset w/ Machine Preacher Curls 4x15-20
7/16 - Light(er) Bench Day
Bench Press Worked up to 430 for 6 singles, 2 minute rest periods
Fat Bar Floor Press (Airex Pads under elbows) 405x2 425x2 - PR 435x2 - PR - more progress on bench indicators!
Swiss Bar Standing Military Press 185x6 205x6 225x6 225x6 - sadly...haven't touched this kind of weight on standing military's since my strongman days. This was a funny reminder at how bad my overhead press has gotten, how much overhead press sucks, and how much I don't miss doing it.
Pronated DB Flies superset w/ Band Pushdowns 4x10 up to the 55's, which is a PR, into light band Pushdowns for 30-40 reps per set.
