Tuesday 1st July - Micro Cycle 8 - Week 11 - Day 1 - Workout A Volume
Pretty good workout. Hard but making progress
Did some foam rolling at home before heading to the gym - did the bottom of my feet and lower body, mid spinal erectors and back, and my tight lats
And also hip flexor stretch/glute activation move
I should be cracking 190lbs gym weight by now, but I'm piling on some serious muscle on my legs and hips!
Body weight at gym - 192lbs in winter clothing
Workout time - 2 hours
Workout rating - 8/10
General warm up -
3 min moderate speed walk on treadmill
1 set each of my usual dynamic mobility exercises
scapular pushup on bench x 10
behind the neck band pull aparts - green mini-band help 3/4 length 2x 10
lateral deep lunge x8
situp complex on swiss ball
single leg RDL mobility + psoas activation walk
3x10 seconds rope skipping - 30secs rest
45lb oly bar complex - slow clean pull, GM onto toes, high hang powerclean, military press - 5 reps each
Full Front and Full Oly Back Squats - shoulder width stance - no Belt - Nike Free 5.0 Trainer
alternating sets between front and back squats, 45 seconds rest between each. Then 2-3min rest between each pairing
warmups
Front Squats - Bar x5, 95lbs x 3, 135x3, 185x3, 225lbs x 3 sec hold
Back Squats - Bar x5, 95x4, 135x4, 185x4
Front Squat - 225lbs x 4 --> medium strain on last rep
rest 4 min
Back Squat - controlled
1) 225lbs x 2
rest 3 mins
2) 255lbs x 1
rest 3 mins
3) 275lbs x 6 --> hard strain on last rep
rest 5mins
4) 275lbs x 6 --> hard strain on last rep
Had planned to front squat 235x3, but got carried away and just repped 225lbs
Felt pretty darn easy relatively speaking, 225 felt light across the shoulders after the 3 sec hold and is no longer caving me over.
Funny thing, I felt it mostly in my glutes! Just what you want for jump power.
The same thing for the first set of 275lb back squat worksets, but I narrowed my stance a little on the 2nd set of 275 and I felt my quads a tad too much.
First set of 275 felt so hard, that I thought no way I'd get another set of 6 with it again, but I did somehow!
Nike Free 5.0 trainers felt very wobbly on 275...definitely going to switch over to Vibram Five Fingers KSO, when they restock on the black for that barefoot feeling.
http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/products/products_KSO.cfm
It seems like every week the squats are gut busting hard, but I add 10lbs every 2 weeks I still manage to get through it all for the same volume.....Well volume is actually going up....
Single Leg Lifts
1.5 mins rest between each side
single leg kneeling deadlift - 2 sec pause at bottom - BW x 5, 2x45lb dumbbells x 8
single leg RDL - 2 sec pause at bottom - bwx5, 2x45lbs dumbell x 8
a few weeks back 90lbs combined load was brutal, after squatting 265lbs 2x6 on back squats. Today, it felt hard , but a lot easier 275lbs 2x6. Body is adapting and getting stronger, and only on once a week training!
Extra stuff, Cool down, upper body and stretches
Upper body/shoulder prehab stuff 5kg dumbell x8 (-4 reps)
close grip triangle Push up on floor - paused top and bottom x 13 (+1 rep)
Lying L-Flye cuff rotation
single arm seated Cuban rotation into press
single arm face down on bench subscap rotation - hold at top
single arm lying on side cross body raise
low pulley cable row to stomach - elbows flared, hold at body - 40kg x 10 (+5kg)
facefull to forehead - palms facing - like this
http://www.t-nation.com/article/performance_training/pushups_face_pulls_and_shrugs&cr=
with a hold - 15kg x 13 (+1 rep)
dip shrug - 5sec hold + 3 reps, BW x 20 reps with a slight hold at top on each rep
Side Plank hold
1 min secs each side - up 10 secs - woot! Finally got to 60 secs, never thought I would make it there when I started these 2 months ago, felt so hard just to reach 30 secs, but today I got 1 min, and it didn't feel anywhere near as hard. Again body is adapting nicely. Obliques are strong enough now.
Lat machine situp
BW+35lbs x 8 - (+10lbs) paused middle and bottom
That was brutal, I jumped straight in without a warmup, bad move, my left ab wall cramped up right after the set!
Stretching for whole body
Woah lats felt way looser, and hardly any shoulder pain left now when semi hanging on the chin bar! Calves as well, my right calf has finally caught up with the left side on the certain calf stretch I do on one of the gym machines. A few months back It seemed impossible for my right ankle/calf to get there due to an old ankle injury, but all the foam rolling and release work has done the job!
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