Week 6 of 16

Day 1 (Wednesday, 3/23/11)

Bench
2x205
1x225
7x1x245 (89%)

Squat
1x5x250 (50%)
2x4x295 (60%)
2x3x345 (70%)
5x2x395 (80%) [belted]

~20 min. break

Squat
1x3x270 (55%)
1x3x320 (65%)
4x3x370 (75%)

Seated Cable Rows
8x100
8x110
8x120
8x130
2x8x120

Hanging Leg Raises
4x5

DB Fly EQI
20lbx90sec.

Hip Adduction
3x15x110

Comments: So I moved my bench grip in after the first or second set at 245 to pinkies on rings (I have been using middle fingers on rings).  This grip felt both stronger and easier on the shoulder, win!  I wanted 5 solid singles at around 90% and ended up with 7, overall a good bench day.

The best I can figure it I strained a muscle in my upper back 1.5 weeks ago when I suit squatted.  The upper back still didn't feel 100%, but quite a bit better than last week Sunday.  I had tweaked my right low back though on Sunday and that was talking to me a fair amount today.  I debated skipping my second round of squats but figured I'd only stop if I felt some real pain and I remained clear of that.  During the second round I started to really dial in my form.  I was using a focal point that made me look up throughout the squat which helped me lock my upper back in position, I was lowering more aggressively during the last 1/4 of the rep which gave me good stretch reflex, and I felt really tight, solid, and stable throughout.  Now if I can start using this technique when I put the suit on I'll be in business.

I'm thinking the plan will be to get through a high volume squat week this week (half-way there already), another high volume week next week, then take a deload week on all 3 lifts.  This will put me at 7 weeks of raw training for squat and deadlift (8 weeks of bench), 1 week deload, then 6-7 weeks training in squat suits.  I want to be very fresh before I start working in the gear, but I want to get closer to the gear work before I take weight off the bar.  Hopefully I can get my body to cooperate and get me there.


Day 2 (Friday, 3/25/11)

Deadlift
1x5x295 (50%)
1x4x350 (60%)
1x1x350 (60%) [right low back sore, must be causing muscular inhibition because this weight was moving SLOW, shut it down]

Incline Pause Bench
5x135
5x145
2x5x155
5x145

Band Face Pulls
4x12xlight

External Rotations
3x10x5

Comments: I have been working through a decent amount of pain the last few sessions and it caught up to me today.  I tweaked my right lower back while squatting on Sunday with a lot of upper back pain.  Although I made it through Wednesday's squats reasonably well, my body would not cooperate today.  For whatever reason, 60% felt like 85%+ so I figured there was no reason to risk further injury and shut it down.  It was pretty damn hard to focus on anything after this, it was very difficult for me to call a workout like this.  Now I just have to see if I can recovery quick enough to compete in early June, otherwise there is a meet August 14 in the Twin Cities that I could do.



Day 3 (Sunday, 3/27/11)

Floor Press w/chains
5x185
5x185+25lb
5x185+50
3x185+75

Pull-throughs
20x70
3x20x100

Bench
4x135
3x3x165
2x2x195 (70%)

Leg Lowering
3x8

External Rotations
2x10x5

Comments: So I've done a lot of stretching of both hip flexors, especially the affected side.  I've also done some foam rolling and the back hasn't loosened up considerably.  So I thought it would be best to remain very conservative until Wednesday and if I feel good go through the warm-ups and see what happens.  If I can get my crap together by week 8 I will plan on competing in June.  A total shit week but I'll try to get some positive momentum back.  Although the optimistic in me is thinking, well bench went pretty well.