Sumo DL
bar, 5@135, 3@225, 1@275 (belt), 1@305, 1@335, 1@350 (5 lb PR from last week)
*was suppose to do 2 more singles and then 3x2@335. I feel fully that I have the strength for this but on my 350 pull my hips pulled on the right side mostly at the top of the lockout. After that, I tried stretching and moving around and then went to do another single at 350 but I could feel I would rip something if I continued to grind and break the floor. So I decided to stop pulling for the night and rest my hips. They have been their usual tightness with a little extra tightness in the groin area. Hoping I can keep it together for the meet.
Bench
bar, 5@95, 2@115, 5x2@125…very easy, used no leg drive due to right hip pulling a bit.
Incline DB Row
3x8@35s
DB Glute Bridge
8@50, 2x8@100
Peaking Cycle, Taper Week, Day 2, Paused Squat/Bench
Paused Squat
bar, 5@95, 5@135, 3@165, 2@185 (belt), 1@205, 1@225, 1@235, 4x2@205
*Felt pretty good on these. Tested out my groin and hip a lot before moving up in weight and I only felt sore there with no pulling in the right hip so that was great. Had a higher bar placement on my back today which also felt pretty good. Walk outs and confidence was up as well and that’s where I need to keep it for the rest of the week and next week.
Bench
bar, 5@75, 5@95, 3@115, 2@130, 3x2@140, 3@140 amrap
*Fairly decent benching tonight and was able to use leg drive fairly well. No hip issue or pulling. I had great control of the weigh up until the 140 by flaring my elbows a bit more than normal. I think that will be helpful for after the meet to try to work on that control I was feeling at light weights and progress from there. The 140s were okay, slightly inconsistent but overall very happy where I am. Hope I can bench 155 at the meet.
Cable Low Row Paused
3x8@100
DB Curl
3x8@20s
Leg Curl
2x20@30 for rehab
*Starting carb cut and weight cut for the meet in 11 days. I have about 10lbs to drop which will be very interesting and miserable to we’ll see how that goes!
Bench with commands
bar, 5@95, 2@115, 1@130, 1@140, 3x1@150 (5 lb PR and volume PR), 4@135 amrap…short 1 rep to match PR, 2x5@95
*Very happy with this, the first single was not awesome but I got better on the 2nd and 3rd singles. Hoping to hit 155ish at the meet in 1 week
Sumo DL
5@135, 2@185, 2@225, 5x2@245…working on form, nothing special here other than realizing I need to go back to a more wide sumo stance and then my hips and groin doesn’t hurt as much. Just less power off the ground BUT in the long run I want my hips happy.
Triceps Pushdown
3x100@50
Lat Pulldowns
3x8@120
Band Pullaparts
3x15@ 1 mini band
Squat
bar, 5@95, 2@185, 1@225 (belt), 1@245, 3x1@265 (match PR from February plus 2 more reps), 3@245 amrap (short 1 rep to match PR)
*Happy with how the weight felt on these. I used the higher bar position and was much better out the hole and staying upright which allows me to grind better. The first rep was okay, 2nd single was darn near perfect and the 3rd single was a little slower but still okay. The 245 amrap was well controlled but slow.
Sumo
bar, 5@!35, 2@225, 1@275, 1@315, 4x1@335, 1@225
*These were okay. I was really testing out my hip pain with the wider stance. Much better for my hips and groin. Barely hurting over the weekend after these which is great compared to my 350 pull on Monday where my hip and groin hurt for most of the week. Just not as much power off the floor but I think that means I can’t be afraid to stick with it and grind it off the floor. Opener is tomorrow so we’ll see how that goes. I want to hit 365 at the meet.
Leg Press
3x10@ 2 plates
X Band Walks
3x8@1 mini band
DB Incline Row
3x8@35s
Squat
2x5@bar, 5@95, 2@135, 1@185 (belt), 1@205, 1@225, 1@245, 3x1@165
*I was not thrilled about how squats felt tonight. The position on my back was just heavy and it felt heavy the whole lift even starting from 185. I’m gonna chalk it up to squatting 2 days ago and maxing and I’m gonna chill about the squats. Hopefully meet day my warmups will be super smooth and then my opener sails up. Goal is 275.
Bench
2x5@bar, 2@95, 1@115, 1@130, 1@135, 3x1@115
*Super pumped about bench. 135 flew up like nothing and my groove was on point and my leg drive and everything. Just need to do that on meet day and not let nerves and over-thinking get to me. My goal will be around 155.
Deadlift
2x5@bar, 5@135, 1@225 (belt), 1@275, 1@315, 1@335, 3x1@275
*These felt pretty good. I would have liked to see 335 move off the ground a little bit faster but I think I just need to be a bit faster with my setup and getting down to the bar. The 275 pulls were pretty good, my last pull was actually my best pull since I just went with speed off the ground instead of trying to pack my lats. Either way, meet day will be interesting with the sumo. My goal is 365 but I will take any meet PR at this point because I want to keep my hips healthy and try for 9/9.
Squat
Opener: 246 lb…very easy
2nd attempt: 264…Definitely a grinder but smooth
3rd attempt: 270…went conservative because of how hard 264 was and I failed the rep. Very unhappy with my squat performance overall but not too surprised because my training has not been pointing to bigger numbers on squat anyways. An awesome goal would to open at my next meet with 270!
Bench
Opener: 137 lb…Flew up. Definite confidence booster.
2nd attempt: 148.8…2 red lights by the side judges. They saw my butt lift a bit.
3rd attempt: 148.8…2 white lights so it was good! My butt started to come up but screwed my right side down as hard as I could so only the left side judge caught me. Gotta work on this in training! Not the number I was wanting but again, maybe I can open with this at my next meet!
Deadlift
Opener: 330…Literally the easiest I’ve ever hit. Crazy easy.
2nd attempt: 352…Also very easy. I surprised myself greatly with how easy it was. Was all smiles from there.
3rd attempt: 363…Easy. 22 lb PR and I couldn’t have been more excited. Felt like I had 375 in me even but I’ll be patient and continue to train with my new found sumo technique and get 400 soon!
Paused Sumo (paused right below the knee)
5@135, 5@185, 4x4@225 (RPE 5)
Incline Bench
8@bar, 5@65, 5x5@75…easy but I could tell if I went heavier that it would start to effect my shoulder which is good because I think I need to get stronger at these to help my bench.
Box Squat
5@bar, 5@95, 5@135, 5x5@165 (RPE 7)
*These felt pretty good, had some weird bar positioning on my back however so tried to work on tucking my shoulder a bit more to even it out. Plenty of work to do.
DB Bench
12@25s, 4x12@30s…very easy touch and go. My pecs and shoulders were tired from yesterday’s incline bench.
Cable Lat Pulldown
4x10@100
Cable Triceps Pushdown
3x12@50
Squat
bar, 5@95, 5@135, 5@165, 5x5@185…fairly easy but would have loved it to be easier. I am wearing my rehbands right now instead of the SBD’s because I want to not rely on them as much. Just need to get past the mental block with my knee.
RDL
10@135, 4x8@185…very easy but on the last set I kind of tweaked my right knee a bit so I will watch for that
Cable Pullovers
4x12@42
Leg Press
4x12@2 plates each side
Abs: Planks with elevated feet on a stability board
3x30 seconds
Transition Phase, Week 1, Day 1, Paused Sumo/Incline Bench
Paused Sumo
2x5@135, 4@185, 4@225, 6x4@245 (beltless)…These were relatively easy, I’d say an RPE 8. I am just very sore from last week and I could tell it was catching up to me on the last 2 sets. Very happy with how it felt though.
Incline Bench
8@bar, 5@65, 5@75, 5x5@85
*These went better than last week. It’s decided that touch and go is much better for my shoulder health and groove then paused. So I’ll keep going with these and hopefully it will translate to bench.
My BF is starting me on a new training cycle and so we decided to switch some things up with my reps schemes and my supplementals. He chose the Conjugate Method to base the majority of the cycle off of and is adding in things when we need to personalize for me. Either way, trying new things in the gym is annoying but fun because hopefully I’ll be getting all kinds of PR’s to boost some confidence.
Conjugate, Week 1, Day 1, Speed Bench/Close Grip Bench
Speed Bench with mini band
8@bar, 5@65, 2@95, 10x2@105 (rest 90 sec-120 sec in between each set)
Close Grip Bench TnG
5@95, 3x7@115, 8@115 amrap…Pretty difficult actually
Conjugate, Week 1, Day 2, Block Sumo Pulls/Paused Squat
Block Pulls (~2.5 in or 2 45 lb plates each side)
5@135, 3@225, 2@275, 2@295, 2@315, 2@335, 2@355, 2@365!, 3x5@315
*Crazy sumo pulls today. The 355 and even 365 were still pretty easy for doubles. It was just so mechanical from that height. I think I will try 1 45 lb plate each side next time though because it was just easy today. Obviously I’ll keep these in the rotation as well because overloading is awesome and i’m glad I could do it. The 5’s at 315 were also relatively easy except for getting off balance a bit.
Paused Squat
bar, 5@95, 2@135, 2@165, 9x2@185 (90-120 sec rest), 4@185 no paused amrap
*Not thrilled with these at all. My right knee was a touch aggravated from sumo pulls so that was irritating me and I just wasn’t able to be explosive at all. Put my belt on by the 3rd set and was still struggling to be explosive. The amrap was also pretty pathetic. My legs just gave out on me. Hopefully they’ll get better but I did just come off of pulling some heavy numbers on block pulls.
Banded Leg Press (2 mini bands each side)
2x12@1 plate, 12@1.5 plates
Reverse Lunges
3x8/8@25s
Leg Curl
12@50, 12@40…irritated my right knee
Laying Leg Raises
3x15
Density Kettle Bell Swings (as many sets of 12 as I can get in 10 minutes)
8 sets@ 25 lb kettle bell.,these were okay. I couldn’t really get into these for some reason
Conjugate, Week 1, Day 4, Chained Squats/Chained Sumo
Chained Squat (chains ~40lb at the top)
bar, 5@95, 5@135 (no chains), 4@135, (add chains), 4@155, 4@185 (belt), 4@205, 4@215 (RPE 10), 3x3@195 (RPE 8), 6@195 (RPE 10)
*Form was not awesome, last set I went for the 6 reps because I wanted to get it over with. I had spent a lot time under the bar and my back was starting to go. Pretty happy overall though with the weight I was able to move.
Chained Speed Sumo
5@135, 2@225, 12x1@255 (60-90 sec rest)
*Moved pretty well but towards the end my form was breaking down a bit due to fatigue.
Deficit Conventional
6@135, 6@225, 3x6@205…exhausted at this point but was able to power through after dropping the weight a bit
Conjugate, Week 2, Day 1, Speed Bench/Regular Bench
Speed Bench with mini band
5@bar, 5@bar (add band), 5@75, 2@95, 9x2@115
*These were actually pretty good. A couple sets I let the bar bounce too much on my chest but overall my groove and leg drive went well.
TnG Comp Bench
3x7@120, 9@120…1 rep up from last week at 115 so pretty happy with this. Could have gotten more but my form was starting to fall apart and my right lower back was cramping.
Chest Supported T-bar Row
10@55, 4x10@70
Incline Pushups
15, 12, 12
Machine Flies
2x20@10
Cable Face Pulls
3x15@45
EZ Bar Curls
3x"21"s @ 40
Paused Speed Squat
bar, 5@95, 2@135, 2@165, 8x2@185, 13@185 (not paused and added belt)
*Very excited about this rep PR. My form held together very well for 12 of the reps and was a grinder on the last rep. I could have kept going but I literally couldn’t get air into my lungs due to my awesome conditioning so very proud I was able to get that many.
Banded Leg Press (mini band on each side)
12@1 plate, 3x12@1.5 plates each side
Reverse Lunges
3x8@30s R/L
Seated Leg Curl
2x20@40
