Delayed yesterday's training to today due to aforementioned ankle. It's a minor one, but wasn't up for much yesterday. Wrapped it in a simple bandage today and that was enough. Should be back to normal soon.
Low Bar Squat 135x5, 225x5, 275x5
315x5, 365x5 - belt Notes: Felt pretty solid here. Did these normal, without a tempo, but slightly slowing descent to allow for more control of my back and to avoid letting it relax.
Press
95x8, 135x5, 175x5,
200x5, 215x5 - belt Notes: Pretty solid here too. 215 moved a little slower than I expected but I wasn't resting too long between sets so may just have been that.
Bench
135x8, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 345x5 Goblet Squat BWx10x2, 30x10, 50x10, 70x10x2 Notes: 345 really moved fast! Maybe it was the extra day of rest due to ankle sprain but it barely registered as a work set. I was doing 345x5x4 with reps in the tank on my volume work before getting sick, so this isn't groundbreaking or anything, but I was very pleased with the bar speed. Feeling closer and closer to normal again.
Deadlift - no belt
425x3, 455x1 Standing DB Arnold Press 55x6, 65x6x2 Notes: Since I'm looking at competing in March, I do need to get my DL up to heavier loads pretty quick. I had worked up to ~90% in my bench and press, and about 75% in my squat, but only 70% in my DL even before I got sick. And given my squat limitations, the difference is greater. So I need to get a move on in my DL if I want to have enough time to improve it and set a PR in March.
Because of that, I did a slightly lighter triple that I would've in a normal ramp (425 vs 435), but followed up with a single at 455 to speed up the process of reacclimating to heavier loads. I did 495x3 and a 535 block pull from 6" before getting sick, both heavy enough to be contributory work, but well shy of getting used to weights close to my max. So need to speed up that process a bit, but walk the fine line of not overdoing it.
That said, these moved well and felt OK. I don't think I've lifted this much without a belt since March.
Lat Pulldown (wide grip neutral)
195x10, 210x10x2
Assault Bike 20/40x5 = 37 cals
Just dipping my toe back in the water. I feel about 90% back for strength but only 70-75% back for wind. Even doing a 225x5 warmup DL set winded me a bit today. Probably a combo of missing conditioning for so long + recovery from being sick. But having missed conditioning for longer stretches before, this feels like it's far more the latter than the former. Weird how the body recover. But anyway, good to be at least doing something in this realm again.
DB Curls 35x8, 45x8 - EZPZ, also just reacclimating before ramping up next week.
12-23-2019, 05:20 PM
Michael Wolf
Felt the absence of one rest day, but everything went well today. Increasing the pace of the post-plague ramp, as I get further away from it and feel better.
Bench Press 325x5, 355x5, 375x1, 395x1 Goblet Squats 60x10, 75x10x2, 60x10 Notes: Bench moved fast again. Didn't feel like air in my hands, like it did Saturday, but moved well. Did a couple singles at a little heavier weight to start getting used to handling those loads again.
Deadift - 3" belt
455x3, 495x1 DB Standing Press 70x8, 80x8x2 Notes: Since my DL is furthest away from where it needs to be to PR in March, I made a bigger jump here: 30 lbs on the triple and 40 on the single. If I make one or two more larger jumps, I'll be well enough into working weight territory for a decent amount of training before the meet.
Lat Pulldown (MAG grip)
200x10, 215x10x2 Plank
25,30,30s
Assault Bike 18/45 x7 - 53 cals.
LTEs
70, 90, 110 x10
12-25-2019, 06:11 PM
Michael Wolf
My gym is closed today for Christmas so traveled up to Big Tex for this one.
Squat: belt, sleeves
385x5, 415x1 Notes: Moved fast, easy, felt pretty light. Was able to keep a decent amount of control on descent and stay fairly tight, so pretty happy with these overall. And super happy and grateful to be able to squat again, even if low volume and frequency. If I could squat 573 with zero squat training for 2 years prior, I should be able to squat 600 if I squat and leg press once a week each.
Press: 4" Belt
Rampin fives to 205x5, 225x5.
Then 245x1, 255x1 Notes: All pretty solid. No wraps, but will start wearing them again next week for heavier, more challenging press sets.
DB Bench 100x8, 115x8x2 Hammer Strength Low Row (Plate Loaded)
"315"x10, "365"x10x2 Notes: Couldn't find 110s so used the 115s. For rows, there was only 1 cable row option and it was being used and on the complete opposite side of the gym as the DBs, making super-setting em a challenge. So just did the hammer strength thing.
DB Curls 40, 50, 55 x8 - EZPZ.
12-27-2019, 08:29 PM
Michael Wolf
Another solid ramping day.
Bench Press 335x5, 365x5, 390x1, 420x1 Goblet Squats 75x10x3 Notes: Bench moved well once again. Reps in the tank on both 365 and 420. In a pretty good place now going in to meet prep.
Deadlift: 3" belt
480x3, 525x1 Notes: Both really solid here too. Back felt a little wonky during warm-ups but got it together and top sets were great. Still a long way to go in the DL (for example, bench single was 88% of my PR today but DL single only 75%), but moving in the right direction.
Assault Bike 15/45 x9 = 66 cals. Intensity was back to about 85% of what I was doing before I got sick.
Then I remembered that I forgot to do assistance presses. I was already a little mentally past that, but didn't want to skip em altogether - so I did sets of 6 instead of 8.
KB 1 Arm Press 60x6, 70x6x2
DB Strict Curls 35x12x2
DB LTEs 40x10, 45x10
12-30-2019, 08:26 PM
Michael Wolf
First day of new 4 day split-ish, for meet prep.
Bench Press
375x3, 400x3 - wraps
300x10
Press
225x5,6,5 Goblet Squat 70x10, 80x10x2 Notes: Press was supposed to be 225x5x3, but miscounted on the second set and did an extra rep. They were a bit harder than I expected, but might've just been that I haven't done barbell bench and press together in the same day for about 5 weeks.
Squat: belt, sleeves
405x5, 445x1
Unracked and held 475 then 495 for a few seconds each, to speed my readjustment to holding heavier weights again. Notes: All good in the hood here. Knee pain is present but tolerable enough that I can mostly control my descent. They're not completely controlled so I'm not perfectly happy with technique, but about as good as they can be given my circumstances.
Deadlift: 3" belt
Up to 555x1 DB Standing Press 80x8,9,8 Notes: DL was solid. Bar speed was good on 555. My right pec was really nagging, I've strained my pec deadlifting before (because Wolf's Disease is real), so really want to avoid that. I was a little worried about that happening today, it's a bit of a judgement call cause I've had many workouts where I've felt that tug slightly but going on was fine, but a couple times where it turned into a pec strain that kept me from benching for a bit. Made the best assessment that I could, and while it tugged some, it didn't strain.
DB Press- did an extra rep by mistake on the middle set. Didn't increase weight or reps from last week, but did all 3 sets at 80 instead of one at 70 and two at 80.
DB Bench Press 110x10x3 - EZPZ. Kept these lighter and easy since it's week 1 back to harder upper body work (4 main, 2 assistance pressing slots per week, vs 3/3).
Cable Row: Wide Grip Neutral
200x10, 210x10x2
DB Curls 55x8x2
Assault Bike 15/45 x10 = 75 cals
01-04-2020, 10:54 AM
Michael Wolf
Friday, 1/3
I'm so used to Monday/Friday meet prep workouts being marathons, since I had been doing so much on them: Bench volume/press intensity or vice versa, then deadlift, then chins or pulldowns, then biceps or triceps, then conditioning. Moving deadlifts and conditioning to their own days really makes this day much shorter and easier, while also giving me an extra upper body pulling slot and arm slot per week (2x each pulldowns and rows, and 2x each bis and tris, instead of 3 total slots for each).
Also I realized I had mistakenly set up my schedule with bench and press volume vs intensity emphasis days exactly as I did in 2018-2019 USSF Nationals prep. Problem is, that was a press meet and now I'm prepping for a PL meet so want to give a smidge of emphasis/advantage to bench training. So need to flip-flop that next week. Thankfully I realized this in week 1 of the prep, where it's still relatively easy to switch.
Press: 4" belt
245x2, 265x1 @8 Notes: Wanted this to be faster but alright, I'll take it. Didn't do a back-off set of 10, as I will need to repeat press intensity emphasis on Monday to correct my schedule.
Bench
355x5x3
Then 275x5 1ct pause DB Cocaine DL 25x5, 35x5, 40x5, 45x5x52 Notes: Also will have to repeat bench volume on Monday to correct the schedule, albeit a lighter volume day (315x5x4). So I took the last set here and did a light paused set, as a compromise between doing the full planned 355x5x4, and reducing weight or sets.
It's only week 1 of this new 4 day splitsky, so don't wanna be too excited before it's fully tested but I really liked the first week. I'm so used to being destroyed by Friday's workout, having no energy left Friday night, and pretty beat Saturday too. While I preferred the M/W/F scheme for schedule reasons and at the time would still choose to do that again, those reasons are less applicable right now, so splitting it this way seems to mitigate a lot of that while being doable in my schedule.
6" Block Pull Up to 585x1 Deadlift
455x5 - straps
405x5.9 - grip mess Notes: 585 was solid, moved pretty well. 455x5 backoff was easier than expected. I originally wanted to do 455x5x2 backoff but looked at how little DL volume I've done lately and thought it was better to ease into it, even with the already fairly low %s I'm working with. But I was stubborn and did the 405 set double overhand, which normally would be fine but my grip is always quick to backslide when not pulling, so it gave out on the 4th rep, which I only completed about 90% of because of that. So I did the 5th rep with hook grip, and the 6th mixed, since .9 of a rep isn't actually a rep.
I don't recall the heaviest set of 5 I've ever done DOH because I don't track such things so have to rely on memory. I think it's 445 or 455, so 405x5 should be no problem, so I need to get it back there soon.
Leg Press 455x6, 495x6, 525x6 Cable Row (Medium neutral grip)
200x10, 215x10x2 Notes: Haven't leg pressed since 11/23 (6 weeks) so eased back in a bit with easier work.
Assault Bike 30/60 x8 = 81 cals, haven't done anything besides 15s on these since before I got sick also about six weeks ago, so eased back here too. Still did a little work.
DB Strict Curls 30x12, 35x12x2 Side Plank 16s x3, these are still surprisingly hard. Last time I did em in 2017 I don't remember them being so hard. Maybe I'm just being a wuss.
01-06-2020, 08:22 PM
Michael Wolf
Today went pretty well considering I had to do another press intensity focus and bench volume focus after doing the same thing Friday. But now I'm all on the right schedule and good to go.
Press
240x3, 260x2, 275x1
205x10 - 4" belt for all + wraps for 260 & 275. Notes: 260 went really well. Decent bounce and tight bar path. Might've had a set of 5 if a million bucks had been on the line. 275 got a tiny bit out in front of me, but at 275 you can really feel that half inch. I also wasn't as solid with my breath - so it was a little slower than it otherwise would've been, but still decent. Back-off set wasn't as fast as I wanted it to be, but still reasonably fast. Had 2-3 in the tank. Want at least 325x1 and 230x10 by the end of this meet prep, more would be better.
Lat Pulldown (MAG Grip)
210x10, 225x10x2 Plank
45s x3 Notes: I did feel my lats a bit from Saturday, not sure if it was the pulls or the rows or both. May reduce rows to sets of 8 on Weds/Sat, to make them slightly further from limit and allow for better upper body days Mon and Fri. But we'll see, I'll give myself a few weeks to adapt and if I'm still feeling my lats on Mondays, may try reducing cable row reps to 8s.