Log for the past few days… just hitting highlights.
I’ve been going out of my way to do stairs. Four-five flights of marine grade stairs (a little steeper than what you find in normal settings). It’s been wearing my legs out.
Attempted an ME bench session yesterday morning. I say attempted because somebody that I asked to hand the bar off to me decided they were going to spot me and stole a rep at a much lower weight than where I should have gotten yesterday. I threw a temper tantrum on the inside and refused to go up any further. I had descended, touched, and got the first 2 inches quick. I had not stopped moving… just slowed a bit. He meant well and I’m really trying to judge people by their motivations instead of just how their actions come across so instead of yelling profanities for a solid 5 minutes, I nodded and threw on the slingshot and got a couple of sets of 3 or 4 or something. I don’t know. I was still pretty pissed.
That night, I did a DE OHP workout because I hadn’t really done an ME workout so I just counted it as an accessory workout. 155 for 9x3 and then some JM presses on a smith machine at 205. I think it was 3 sets of 8.
Today I went in and just wanted to focus on dips. I did 50 band assisted dips (not counting the warmups I did with extra band help just to get going) with a grey band. That was about it. I messed around on a shoulder machine for a couple of minutes, but the dips pretty much wore out my triceps and I felt good about the work. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
Wow… I’m really slipping on this. I thought I had been better.
6/16
HIIT session on rower. 6 15 sec x 45 sec intervals (my rowing technique is way out of whack)
20 min on moderate speed treadmill to cool off
6/17
DE Squat night
315 8 x 3 box squats
3 sets AMRAP GHR (not many reps- top set was maybe 8)
6/18
Leg accessory night
Had a long day so I made a bargain with myself to do 100 bodyweight squats in my room so I could just get a shower and go to bed… I would soon pay for that.
6/19
Little soreness in the morning. I was optimistic that if I did a lot of walking I could flush it out. What I hadn’t counted on was 5 trips up and down 4 flights of marine grade stairs. By the end of the day, my legs were useless for the most part. I was moving so slow I actually was not losing my wind going up stairs. That’s slow.
6/20
ME OHP
Worked up to a double at 275. Had to fight myself not to throw more weight on and ruin the night. First rep was fast. Missed the second attempt from getting out of the groove. Third attempt went up moderate pace. I have more in the tank, but I’m going to wait a couple of weeks to find out what my new top single is. I’m hoping for a 290. If I can do a double, that’s good for 10-15 lbs typically on a single (for me).
5 sets of dips AMRAP (10, 8, 7, 7, 6) elitefts gray band for assistance
I don’t know what to call the last exercise I did. I used to do it back in the day and had forgotten about it until I saw someone doing it the other day. Basically you do a pullover while standing up using a lat pulldown machine.
3 sets of 8 @ 70 lbs
Catching up the log a bit from what I did while shoreside… because I suck at doing this when I’m not home.
Hit a 285 OHP (10 lb PR) and a 535 deadlift (best it’s felt in a while). Also hit 2 doubles for 545 on rack pull from no 4 pin (which is right about where my weak link is) a week afterwards.
Hopefully these are signs of good things to come. Haven’t got to train though in about a week. Last training day was Friday and had to travel Monday for training on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday were both long work days. I’ll get to hit it tonight hopefully.
7/19 ME Bench night
Worked up to the easiest 365 I’ve done in a while. When I went to 385, I was slow and one spotter grabbed a little early. I’m not mad at him. I missed some of my cues.
I learned something again tonight- my actual technique is still shit. Well… I’ll rephrase that- my execution is inconsistent and shit.
My 365 lift was 95% on technique for me (that’s not to say overall, but 95% of the best technique that I can execute with). My shoulder popped out after the first 4 inches on the way back up, but it’s all good. Setup, breathing, bracing, and execution were pretty good other than that.
My 385 was a bit rushed. I was more anxious than I should have been and didn’t dig in and execute my checklist. I didn’t breathe in and get as rigid as I need to. I think I could’ve gotten it if he hadn’t pulled it, but I’ll never know.
Followed up with 4 sets of 3 closegrip bench at 315.
I’m actually excited by this. I need to spend a bit more time benching. I haven’t lost any strength… I’ve gained a good bit and my technique has just eroded. That being said, I can get technique back.
JM presses- 5x3 275lbs
Dips- gray band assist- 3x8
Cable rows with lat bar- 2x8 and 3x10 180
Really wasn’t feeling it tonight. Was the co-star of a shitshow at work and really wanted to just get a shower and go to sleep. Last JM press went to shit. I was planning on it being the last rep, but I hate losing a rep one way or the other. Dips are progressing. Cable rows were also encouraging. I got really pissed after the second set because I’m letting someone occupy space in my head rent free and went for it. Should have done 12’s from the outset. Still felt good.
7/23 Max Effort DL sort of (stupid stupid stupid)
Shouldn’t have done it. Should’ve stopped around 400 and worked some volume to tweak my form. But sometimes I’m an idiot.
Worked up to 515 for 2 singles. Form felt like shit. Trying to narrow my stance a bit and it wasn’t working. Hamstrings and erectors still haven’t forgiven me for the kB workout that was from nowhere.
Third attempt I tried sitting down past the bar and mistimed the pull coming back up. I really needed to work my form.
Hit a set of 5 ugly ass barbell rows at 425.
Set of 8 RDLs at 335.
When I got back down to 245, I wanted to throw the bar. Really stupid night.
Tomorrow night I’ll have some time to pay for my sins with GHR work.
8/23 DE OHP offshore
First… feel like shit. I picked up a cough somewhere that’s been with me for a couple of weeks. It’s fucking with my breathing and bracing.
5x5 155 OHP
Alternating sets of 12 on facepulls.
That was all I had tonight.
I’m 9 weeks out from my next competition which will just be a push/pull comp. The bad news is I’ll spend 6 of those weeks offshore and won’t have access to a log for those weeks.
I’m looking at programming for this intelligently. The pull is from a 16 3/4" height, so I’d like to open at 530 aiming for a 600 3rd attempt. My log press has been tracking fairly well with my barbell press, so I’ll likely take an opener at 245 with an eye on a 290 - 300 3rd attempt.
Went to medic for a cough that I’d had for a while. This was after lunch, nicotine, and caffeine. When he took my vitals, my blood pressure was high. It’s been a while since I checked it, but it is significantly higher than I remember it. So tonight’s workout featured 15 minutes on the bike for cardio prior to hitting some triceps work. Then a 5 minute cool down on the treadmill.
Can’t win for losing sometimes. Until I get my blood pressure under control (especially while offshore) I need to focus on getting some cardio improvement. I also ate 4 bananas and have drank a shit ton of water. Going back in the morning to have it checked again for a baseline.