Week 13 of 31

Block 3, Week 5

Day 1 (Wednesday 9/22/10)

Suit Squat (42 SC, straps down, wraps)
1x4x225
1x3x275
1x2x315
1x1x365
add suit & wraps
2x3x410 (65%)
3x2x470 (75%)

Pause Bench
1x4x135 (50%)
1x4x160 (60%)
1x3x185 (70%)
1x2x210 (80%)
5x2x225 (85%)

Floor BB Skullcrushers
1x5x60
1x5x75
1x5x85
1x5x95
3x5x85
1x7x85
1x6x85

Seated Cable Rows
1x8x80
1x8x90
1x8x100
1x8x110
1x7x120
1x10x100

Comments: Benching felt really solid, definitely feel that I am making progress in form and strength with the new program. As for squats, not exactly what I had in mind. I thought I would get in the suit early in the week so I could get used to having a little more weight on my back and at the end of the week I would do some singles with the straps up.

Well the top sets were pretty hard partially because I pulled the legs of the suit up too high, and partly because I had one terrible case of acid reflux as I would get to the bottom of the squat. On my last set I felt this amazing surge of acid on my first rep. On my second rep I tried to lose some tightness to slow the velocity of the acid down and I managed to get through that set without projectile vomiting. At that point I figured this is enough in the suit for this week, I'll do some more work in a few weeks when I finish my next volume block.

Anyone had the whole acid thing happen while suit squatting? My dad said something about chewing gum before squatting (supposed to prevent acid reflux), will give that a try next time. For the record, I VERY rarely get acid reflux, but have gotten it a couple of times while squatting in a suit, this time was the worst though.




Day 2 (Friday 9/24/10)

Deadlift (deload)
1x5x270 (50%)
1x4x335 (60%)
1x4x380 (70%)
3x4x405 (75%)

CG Pause Bench
1x4x135 (50%)
1x4x160 (60%)
4x4x185 (70%)

Dragon Flags
5x8

Band Face Pulls
5x10xlight

Hip Thrust
3x8xBW

Comments: For my new deadlift program I am going to lower my max. I will be working 5% higher on my top set and I want to be a bit conservative with my first 5 week block. Therefore I will use 5 or 10 pounds below my last competition pull (551). I used 540, 550, and 560 for maxes on my last 3 blocks; I struggled with the 3rd week of the last block.

I'm going to put hip thrusts in for my new deadlift accessory exercise (in place of pull-throughs). Hip thrusts feel really good on my hips, better than pull-throughs so hopefully I'll get somewhere with them.



Day 3 (Sunday, 9/26/10)

Squat (deload, no belt)
1x5x235 (50%)
1x4x280 (60%)
2x3x325 (70%)
3x2x350 (75%)

MG Pause Bench
1x4x135 (50%)
1x4x160 (60%)
1x3x185 (70%)
5x3x210 (80%)

Incline DB Press
1x5x55
1x5x65
1x5x75

BB Stepups
3x6x115

Band-assisted pull-ups
3x6

Reverse Pec Deck
4x10x30

Lat Pulldowns
1x12x70
1x12x80
1x12x90
1x12x100
1x12x110

Band Tricep Pushdowns
5x12xlight

Reverse BB curls
1x12x35
1x12x45
1x12x55

Comments: I was able to use extended paused for all my sets this week on bench, but today was particularly good. Probably averaged a 3 second pause. Which made me think, there are two ways I can build confidence in a lift: (1) by using supramaximal or near maximal weights, or (2) dominating sub-maximal weights for volume. Right now I am REALLY liking option (2) for bench, really helping my form.

I think I managed to catch a cold, discovered the lovely thing at 5am last night. Was so damn difficult to breathe today, even incline dumbbells felt like an ass kicker. A very good time to catch a cold, I can get through the next week (first week of a volume block) while feeling sub-par. Next week is also a bench deload, the program calls for it, and my shoulder is ready for it. For squat I will up my raw max by 5 pounds to 470, going to try to get through the first 4 weeks without a belt, and I'll deadlift off a 545 max.

Phase 1 of meet prep is now complete, phase 2 starts on Wednesday. Phase 1 consisted of 3-four week volume blocks. Phase 2 will have 3-five week volume blocks with more equipment work (particularly on the last week of each block). I've set the foundation, now it's time to kick some ass.

Extra work:

-Three 40 min. walks (Mon., Thur., Fri.)
-wall slides