Yesterday: upper body repitition day
A. DB Floor Presses
B1. Lat Pulldowns
B2. DB Power Cleans
C. DB Military Press (palms in)
D1. Shrugs
D2. Tricep Extensions
E. DB Curls
I kept the weight and reps conservative on these lifts and forced myself not to go to failure. I think in the past that I have been pushing this session too hard and it affects my max. effort work. I decided to back off a little and focus on quality reps. …[/quote]
That looks like a good insight, Mday. It may be counterintuitive, given our drive to push more weight, but smarter sometimes not to go all out. Seems like it is working for you now.
A. Flat Bench
Worked up to a 265/1 with pause (PR) and then did 3x3 at 245
B. DB Floor Press
60/20, 70/20
C. DB Rows
90/12, 100/10, 105/8 (PR for reps)
D. Face Pulls
70/10, 70/10, 70/10
E. BB Shrugs
135/8, 225/12, 275/7
Bench felt really good today. The key for me is to keep the shoulders down and tight. My shoulder is feeling so much better and that makes all the lifts so much easier. I will have to continue the mobility/rehab work.
Things seem to be clicking right now. I just need to dial in and keep the focus for the next two weeks. One more week of max. effort work and then a deload week right before the meet.
I really have to focus on keeping my nutrition high for the next two weeks. A couple days out I would like to be at 242 so that I can cut a little before the weight in. We have a fall party on Saturday so, I should have no problem keeping the calories high this weekend.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. Get out and enjoy the last few days of fall if you can.
I spent the weekend taking some time off after several good sessions last week.
I was back at it last night and this morning with my lower and upper body accessory workouts. I kept the weight and reps in the moderate range so that I could really push things on max. effort days tomorrow (lower body) and Friday (upper body).
I have a max effort squat (Wed), bench (Fri), and DL (Mon) session before I take a deload week before the meet on Nov 8. I will base my attempts on how I do each of these sessions.
My weight is a little on the high side, 240 this morning. However, cutting five to seven pounds will be very easy for me in the last week. I figure, as long as I am under 250 with a week to go, I should be fine.
The last week my diet will be key to keeping strength levels up. It will be a lot of chicken breasts, vegetables, and cottage cheese.
Last max. effort lower body day this morning.
A. Squat
Worked up to a 315/1 (PR), 335/0, 295/3, 295/3, 295/3, 295/3
B. DB Box Stepups
45/8, 45/8, 45/12
C. Pull Throughs
160/15, 220/12, 220/30
D. Cable Crunches
150/15, 210/12, 220/15
E. Leg Press
380/25
I tied my squat PR with 315. I couldn’t get the 335 but I worked hard through the 295/3 for four sets. Form seems a little better. I am fighting to keep my arch and my knees are on a better path.
I gave myself an incredible “stress headache” when doing the last set of pull throughs. I wasn’t breathing correctly and I am paying the price this afternoon.
Tomorrow will be a day off and then Friday and Monday will be max. effort bench and DL.
Weather is going to be sunny and 60 here this weekend. We are planning on getting 18 holes in on Saturday. Golfing in November in Wisconsin is always a joy!
Dmn guy, a 2 day headache from lifting? You must be doing something to your neck. Are you jerking the weight on the pull throughs?
Breathing right? Okay, enough bed side manner. Good lifting.
Damn guy, a 2 day headache from lifting? You must be doing something to your neck. Are you jerking the weight on the pull throughs?
Breathing right? Okay, enough bed side manner. Good lifting.
[quote]hel320 wrote:
Damn guy, a 2 day headache from lifting? You must be doing something to your neck. Are you jerking the weight on the pull throughs?
Breathing right? Okay, enough bed side manner. Good lifting.
[/quote]
You got me on both counts hel. I was really trying to push the last five reps when I shouldn’t have and I ended up not getting a consistent breath and used a little too much momentum. After some ibuprofen, the head feels better today but we will see what happens tonight during my max. effort upper body session. If the head starts to hurt, I am going to shut it down and wait until Sunday and Monday to push it hard.
Friday night went well. The head was all right and I was able to get a good session in.
Worked on staying tight and shortened the stroke on the bench. This really helped take the pressure off the shouulders and allowed me to push more weight. The highlight was a 275/1 PR. I even worked in a pause.
It looks like things are setting up well. I backed off a little on the accessory days and it has resulted in a squat and bench PR the week before the meet. Tomorrow morning is my last max effort day (DL). I would like to see something above 405 for another PR.
The last week is going to be several deload type workouts. I will stick with the major movements but nothing will be above 70%. The other key will be getting enough calories to keep the weight up and allow for optimal recovery.
I had my final max. effort session this morning (DL).
I tried to really focus on form and work on keeping my shoulders back and pull the weight back into my body. 385/1 went up easily so I moved up to my previous PR 405/1. I missed on my first attempt because I didn’t have my grip tight enough. My second attempt went up fairly easily. I decided to try 425 for a 20-pound PR. I got to far forward on my first attempt and missed. I adjusted and got my final attempt, although it wasn’t pretty.
I spent the rest of the morning doing some reverse hyper work, DB box step-ups, DB lunges, and ab work.
I get into the gym on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for light deload workouts. I am feeling ready for the meet on Saturday.
I know it is the right thing to do, but backing off the last week before a meet is very difficult for me.
I have spent the last two mornings in the gym just doing some light lifting and stretching. I know this is how I need to prepare for the meet on Saturday but it isn’t easy.
I would avoid going into the gym entirely, but my wife also goes in and we drive to work together.
My body feels rested and ready to go and I have been able to keep the calories up and the weight at 239lb.