Off-season

Session 1 of 6 (Wednesday, 6/16/10)

Standing BB Press
1x5x95
1x5x115
1x5x125
1x5x135
1x5x125

Muscle Snatch
4x6x90

Inverted Rows
5x8

Band Pullaparts
6x12xmini

DB Step-ups
4x8x40's

Very good to be back in the gym. I feel pretty good overall, left hip is pretty pissy though.

I have been trying to bring up my upper back strength/stability for awhile now. Now I have a new way of going about it. Make sure I get AT LEAST as many upper body pulling sets as pushing sets each week.

I think that muscle snatches might have some carryover for bench. It seems this exercise might improve my stability.

Step-ups are a cool exercise. I finally found a 1-leg exercise that I don't despise and doesn't feel like I am risking injury if I load it fairly aggressively. Might do these with a barbell next time.

Nationals will be in Mississippi next year. So although I certainly want to qualify for nationals come January, I don't wish to travel to Mississippi to lift weights. Wish they wouldn't have "lied" about it being in Philadelphia a couple months ago!




Session 2 of 6 (Friday, 6/18/10)

3+ sec. pause Olympic Squat (no belt)
1x4x225 (50%)
4x4x275 (60%)

CG Incline Press (paused)
1x4x95
1x4x115
1x4x135
1x4x155
4x4x145

Bentover 2-arm DB row
1x8x50
3x8x60
2x8x50

Reverse Curls (EZ bar)
1x8x45
2x8x55

Scaption
1x12x15
1x12x20
1x10x17.5

Band Face Pulls
5x10xmonster mini

Ab wheel
2x8

I really had a lot of fun. I can't recommend the long pause olympic squats highly enough. They are hard as hell and I prefer them so much over the safety squat bar which I felt did nothing for me. Definitely a mainstay accessory exercise.

I think pull-ups, 2-arm dumbbell rows, and inverted rows will make up a lot of my upper back volume in the coming months.

CG Inclines are an exercise I particularly suck at. Was pretty happy with my performance on them today.


Session 3 of 6 (Sunday, 6/20/10)

2+ sec. pause Olympic Squat (no belt)
1x4x225 (50%)
1x4x270 (60%)
4x4x295 (65%)

Pause Floor Press (POR)
1x4x135 (50%)
1x4x160 (60%)
5x4x185 (70%)

Inverted Rows
5x8

Medicine ball push-ups
3x6

Pull-ups
3x3 (trying to get chest to bar, crappy)

Step-ups
3x8x50's

Band Rows
4x12xmonster-mini

Everything is feeling good, looking forward to ramping things up. 


Session 4 of 6 (start bench cycle today) (Wednesday, 6/23/10)

Olympic Squat (no belt)
1x4x225 (50%)
2x4x270 (60%)
4x4x315 (70%)

2 sec. Pause Bench
1x4x135
1x4x175@8
1x4x205@9
1x4x195@9

Barbell Rows
1x8x120
1x8x140@8
1x8x155@9
2x8x145@8
1x8x145@9

DB Flyes
1x10x15, 20, 25, 30

Rear Delt Raises
1x10x20, 25, 25, 25

Vertical DB Flyes
1x10x8, 10, 15, 10

Inverted Rows
3x8

Pull-throughs (bands)
1x12xpurple
1x12x2purple
1x12x2purple/1black
3x10x2purple/2black

Band pullaparts
5x12xmini

Squats felt good today, I will be ready to start my squat and deadlift cycle next week Wednesday.

Thought bench might go better today. The long pauses fatigued me pretty quick.

I'm going to really attack my glutes over the next 30 weeks. It is time to get this deadlift moving. A lot of my lower body GPP will be targeted at deadlift lockout instead of good mornings and zercher rack pulls. 


Session 5 of 6 (Friday, 6/25/10)

Floor Press +44lb chains (POR)
1x4x135
1x4x155@8
1x4x165@8
1x4x175@8
1x4x185@9
1x4x175@9

Conventional Rack Pulls (1 in. below kneecap, straps, pin #1)
1x4x270 (50%)
2x4x325 (60%)
4x4x380 (70%)

JM Press
1x6x85
1x6x100
1x6x110@8
1x6x120@9
1x6x115@9

Inverted Rows
5x8

Band Face Pulls
5x10xlight

Ab Wheel
3x10

2-arm DB Row
3x10x50's

Floor press felt good, was happy with the numbers I hit. I knew I had to do a pulling exercise and didn't want to use a sumo stance so this seemed to be the best option. Next week I will start being unkind to my hips again, but figured they deserved 2 week break.

Turns out when it is hot and humid JM presses become a little more dangerous. Hard as hell to hold onto the bar at the bottom. I even tried using straps on the last set, not sure how much it helped.

Off to play 18 holes in a couple of hours. Haven't played in about a year. Tried to not do anything in the gym today that would make golfing particularly difficult. For instance, last time I played my forearm bothered me quite a bit, so I skipped the reverse curls today.


Session 6 of 6 (Sunday, 6/27/10)

Olympic Squat (no belt)
1x4x225 (50%)
2x3x270 (60%)
2x3x315 (70%)
5x2x340 (75%)

Reverse Band Bench (light)
1x4x185
1x4x225
1x4x245@8
1x4x260@9
1x4x245@8.5
1x4x245@9

Seated Cable Rows (V-handle)
1x10x80
5x10x100

Incline DB Bench (neutral grip)
1x6x50
1x6x60@8
1x6x65@9
1x6x62.5@9

Medicine Ball Pushups
1x8
1x6
1x5

Reverse Curls (EZ bar)
1x8x45
1x8x55
1x8x65
1x8x55

Band Rows
5x12xmonster-mini

A good week of training. I feel like I'm in good shape for starting my first volume block next week Wednesday.

Bench is going pretty well. Look forward to seeing what I can do on 2 sec. pause bench on Wednesday. Really happy with the exercises I have planned for this 12-week cycle. I'm confident I can make some big improvements.