Notes: Squat was a little off on 375x4 because I had some ‘unfinished business’ that happened to surface right around the second rep. The weight was easy, but it was hard to concentrate if you know what I mean. First time on the ply press (basically a 1/2 board), just kept the weight lighter and focused on volume to get the hang of things. My lower back and hamstrings were trashed so I decided to skip out on the drop. Good session tonight, just gotta make sure the chamber is empty next time, haha.
Notes: Bar speed was a little slower than usual today on bench, but nothing to be concerned about. Since I don’t have enough 25s, I had to settle for doing DB bench one arm at a time. They were actually pretty hard even with just 95 pounds. Transmutation phase starts tomorrow and I actually get to put the belt back on for the main lower body lifts - yippee!!
Notes: Finally belted up on DLs and had pretty decent results. I called the 485x2 a 9 because my form wasn’t spot on and the lockout on the first rep was a little slow. Still, it felt pretty good considering my best pull in the gym is 495x2 and that was a grinder. I had forgotten how horrible squatting with the blue bands felt. The tension at the top was somewhere around 175 pounds and I could feel every last pound of it, especially when unracking the bar. My legs were wobbly on the lunges because of the squats and had a pretty decent pump going in my quads at the end.
Notes: Last time on the 2-board so figured why not go for a PR. Kept the intensity down on the pulls and tried to focus on form rather than the amount of weight. I added more weight on the close grip 3-boards this week and they completely cooked my triceps again. Shoulder was a little stiff afterward, but tomorrow’s recovery work should do the trick.
-wore loose knee wraps just to practice wrapping my own knees
Ply press (x4, 5%, RPE 8-9)
285x4@7.5
305x4@8 325x4@8.5 (PR)
310x4@8.5
Notes: Kind of a busy week at work and my brain was feeling a little fried and I just wasn’t at my best today. The weight didn’t feel heavy or anything, but my mind wasn’t cooperating with my body so I shut it down after the bench. I’m going to put this sorta crap session behind me and just have a nice relaxing day tomorrow and just kick back and watch some good ol’ college football.
[quote]undesired08 wrote:
Question for you, Brian. Are the workouts you post everything you do? What I mean is you don’t target tri’s or back specifically with RTS?[/quote]
I do my back work during the GPP/conditioning workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I don’t usually post those. Triceps are done with a barbell exercise for higher reps, like the CG 3-board w/ doubled minis. Give those a try and you’ll need a bucket of ice to cool your tris down.
[quote]novaeer wrote:
undesired08 wrote:
Question for you, Brian. Are the workouts you post everything you do? What I mean is you don’t target tri’s or back specifically with RTS?
I do my back work during the GPP/conditioning workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I don’t usually post those. Triceps are done with a barbell exercise for higher reps, like the CG 3-board w/ doubled minis. Give those a try and you’ll need a bucket of ice to cool your tris down.[/quote]
I agree with nova here big time. I noticed that some of my exercises when I took them to a higher rep range like high boards, close grip, med ball chest passes, really fried the crap out of my arms. Tire battling blew my triceps up and almost caused my arms to lock hahahaha. Just b/c it’s a big move doesn’t mean it’s not “isolating” or better yet, concentrating, the load on a specific area of a movement, and therefore a specific muscle. Good stuff nova!!!
Competition raw bench (all reps paused) (x2, 5%, RPE 8-9)
285x2@7
315x2@8
335x2@8
320x3x2@8,8,8
Mid-range rack lockouts (x4, 5%, RPE 8-9)
275x4@7.5
295x4@8
315x4@8.5
300x4@8.5
One-arm DB bench (x5, 5%, RPE 8-9)
75x5@7
85x5@8
95x5@8.5
105x5@9
Notes: Great bench session. My right shoulder has been a little stiff and achy lately, but it gave me no grief at all today. Also, no lingering negativity from Friday’s blah session. I kept the RPEs down on the lower end of the range because I didn’t have a spotter/liftoff person. I was tempted to call the 335x2 an 8.5, but 2 more reps was very plausible if I wanted to do them. Mid-range lockouts were tough, but they’re really good for teaching you to press yourself away from the bar and how to keep tight from a dead-stop.
Notes: Doesn’t look like much, but this was a pretty tough session and it won’t get any easier from eyeballing what Mike e-mailed me. Nice PR on the double with 500; I did 495 for a double in the spring, but this was much easier as I’m certain I could’ve gotten another rep. The squats were actually tougher than the pulls because of those damn blue bands. Walking out with those things on the bar was enough to zap my energy, much less do reps with them.
Notes: New exercise on bench tonight. Full range press against doubled mini bands and 90 pounds of chain. Everything was pretty fairly easy until I got to 250 in bar weight. This movement absolutely hammers the lockout and forces you to press with a lot of speed or those last few inches at the top will be damn near impossible. I didn’t drive through with my legs hard enough on the double with 415 on DLs, so my speed off the floor sucked. Reps weren’t hard, just slow. I’m amazed how much tension the CG 3-boards put on the triceps - they were toast by the last set.
Notes: Squat felt pretty solid for the most part. I went way too deep on the 2nd rep with 435 and I banged the bar on the safety pins. Kind of threw me off, but I recovered nicely. However, it was enough to allow me to do only one down set with 405. Ply press was really strong tonight. My bar speed off the chest was excellent. My back was fried from squatting and arching on the bench so I took it somewhat easy with the RDLs. Good session overall.
Competition raw bench (paused reps) (x2, 7%, RPE 8-9)
305x2@7.5
325x2@8 345x2@9 (PR)
320x2x2@8,8.5
Mid-range lockouts (x2, 7%, RPE 8-9)
305x2@8
335x2@8.5 350x2@9 (PR)
325x2@9
One-arm DB bench (x4, 7%, RPE 8-9)
80x4@7
95x4@8
105x4@8.5 115x4@9 (PR)
105x4@9
Notes: A bit of an early start to today’s session because Bill was going to be busy later on and I wanted to practice with the bench commands. I would’ve called 345x2 an 8.5, but I got a little out of groove on the 2nd rep and slowed it down. Lockouts with 350 were slow to get moving, but thankfully didn’t generate any bad feelings from my shoulders. Nice PR on the DB bench; doing them one arm at a time is much harder than you’d think.
Notes: Bit of a back off from last week, but still moved some decent weights today. Deadlifts didn’t move particularly fast though they didn’t feel heavy. Forgot how fun it was to squat with chains–just sounds cool, haha. SSB squats are tough enough, but to finish the session off with them is just cruel.
Notes: Kept things on the lower end of the RPE range today as my forearms and elbows were feeling a little beat up. Nothing too bad, but with all the added contrast on the bench I didn’t want to make things any worse. On the pulls I wanted to focus on form, particularly getting my leg drive sync-ed up. JM’s were pretty good and could really feel 'em in the triceps close to the elbows, plus didn’t hurt my elbows doing them like they always did back in the day.
Notes: Squat was pretty good overall, save for the breakdown in form I had on the last rep of the second set w/ 385. Bench with 90 pounds of chain felt pretty heavy once I got up to about 270, seemed heavier than the band and chain combo from Wednesday. On the good mornings I focused on the hamstrings and lower back rather than the amount of weight I used. I could really feel a big stretch and I’m sure that going to be sore as hell for the next couple of days.