Today we are about 4 weeks out of our meet. We worked 3 Board Bench Press with 40lbs of chains in our Shirts.. Fred is breaking in his new Titan Super Katana single, while Nick is using his Inzer single Phenom. Everyone in our group hit new PR's .. great job!!
3 Board w/Chains:
Nick: 355x1, 405x1, 425x1, 445x1, 465x1, 475x1
Fred: 355x1, 405x1, 425x1, 445x1, 465x1
Ed: (Raw) 355x1, 405x1, 425x1
Kellie set a new PR, working up to 145 w/ Chains
Justin worked up to 285 w/Chains
Today we deadlifted with bands from the top for heavy sets of 1.. the bands from the top teach you to accelerate off the floor, and the weight becomes heavier at the knees.. working thru lockout.
Nick: 315x1, 405x1, 495x1, 545x1, 565x1, 585x1, 605x1 (fail)
Fred: 315x1, 405x1, 495x1, 545x1, 565x1, 585x1 (near lockout), 605x1 (fail)
Kellie: up to 325x1
Justin: up to 445x1
Accessory work:
Lat Pull downs to the front - Close Grip
140x15, 160x15, 170x15, 170x12
Weighted Roman Chair Back Raises
25x15, 35x15, 45x15, 55x12
This is a de-load week.. meaning we don't work out and allow the bodies to heal fully. The reason we do this is we are 5 weeks out from the meet, and we want to "peak" at the meet, rather than be at the tiring end of a long work-out cycle.
Today was Squat Future - meaning we squatted in the rack with bands suspended from the top, which stretch and lighten the weight at the bottom of the squat.. this condition your body to handle the heavier weight at the lift off and in the top portion of the lift. Conditioning the Central Nervous System to handle 500 or 600 lbs plays a big role in future successful lifts. The reason why this lift is called the "Squat Future" is because it is a weight that you will be able to Squat in the Future..
Then we hit the 4 Boards for Close-Grip - working the Triceps real hard here. I didn't slide out to Competition grip until the last set..
275x4
315x4
365x2
385x1
405x2
365x5
For Upper Pec/Front Delt accessory work we worked an exercise we haven't worked in awhile - Floor Dumbbell Presses.. we did these presses with the elbows out to the side to maximize upper Pec/Front Delt work and less triceps.. boy did we feel it after the sets.. felt real good
80x10
100x9
105x6
105x4
We finished up with Elbow Lat Pulldowns where we isolate each lat individually by sitting with our back to the Lat Pulldown machine, and using a Dip-Arm Sleeve to put our upper arms in, and do sets of 15, contracting the lat to the max..
Today's Max Effort Bench Press exercise was the Future method.. where we attach bands to the top of the power rack while we bench press. This causes the weight to be lighter at the bottom of the press, and heavier at the top..the bands are stretched as the bar is lowered down to the chest. It is called the "Future" method because it is a weight you would be able to lift in the future...
Tonight was a strong night for most.. Kellie Set a new PR with 255+40lbs chains at 295lbs, Justin 335+40 at 375lbs, Nick at 495+40 for 535, and a super near miss at 555.
All 3 Deadlifts Video...
We followed this up with Good Mornings for 8-10 Reps, Cable Pull throughs, and Weighted Situps.
Good Mornings:
Nick 4 sets 315x8
Justin 4 sets 205x6-8
Weighted Situps 50lbs sets of 10-15.. Justin is the Ab king using the 10lb medicine ball after that!!! Strong!
Today was 60% Bench Reflex presses.. 8 sets of 195x3 for Nick, Fred, and Ed.. 135x3 for Justin. Today, Nick sorted with his leg drive, while Ed really excelled at the end. Ed set a personal PR with a 5 board Tricep Lockout of 500lbs. STRONG!
5 Board Triceps:
Nick- 275x6, 335x6, 375x4, 395x3, 425x1, 445x1, 455x1, 465 (fail)
Ed- Took it up to 500lbs with no failure! Great job Ed!
Fred- Looked real strong, taking it to a fail at 435.. I think he had more in him, but he did 395 for 6 and it really exhausted his tri's early..
Justin- Amazing performance from a mid 200's Raw bencher.. great job, going north of 325 on the Tricep Lockouts!
Nick did Dumbbell Shoulder Presses, while Justin, Ed, and Fred did Standing Overhead Presses
We finished up with Seated Mid-Range Rows heavy..
Nick: 120x10, 160x10, 200x10, 220x8, 260x6
Today was Speed Squats .. 8 Sets of 2 reps at 60% of 1 Rep Max.. we did 8 sets with a Box Squat, and then an additional 3 sets without a Box so we could work on feeling the proper depth, stop, and rebound. We followed up the Speed Squats with Heavy Stiff-Leg Deadlifts, Heavy T-Bar Rows, and finally Weighted Situps..Doing the squats without the box, light weight, we really focused on our form challenges, and we all have different Challenges.. Kellie - keeping her Knees pushing out, Nick - Keeping chest up, Justin .. Hitting competition depth..
Nick has good chest up here.. Good shin position.. hitting 275 like it was 500.. high speed.
Weights, Reps, & Video..
Kellie: 8 Sets of 155x2, 3 Sets of 155
Justin: 8 Sets working up to 185, then 3 sets of 175
Nick: 8 Sets up to 265x2, 3 Sets of 275.
Stiff Leg Deadlift:
Kellie 4 sets up to 165x4, Justin 4 sets up to 245x4, Nick 4 sets up to 405x3
Today we work heavy emphasis on the triceps by using a closer-than-normal grip in the bench press. It is not quite so close as a "Tricep Press", but it is approximately body width apart, with hands inside the Index marks on the bar. This is about 4-6 inches closer on each side than a normal bench. We started out with sets of 3 reps.. and worked up to max singles which is normal about 90% of a normal Bench Press 1 Rep Max.
Today was a Max Squat test for Justin & Kellie - where they worked on making sure they could get to competition depth.. and got used to some light knee wraps. Kellie did great with a 225lb Max Squat and nearly nailed 235lb.. Justin broke his old PR with a strong 235!! Great job Justin & Kellie!
Tonight, I (Nick) lifted alone, and I am pretty confident with my squat depth, having nailed it for 515 back on 12/26, and 540 with Chains off a box 2 weeks ago, so I went with some heavy Rack Pulls to work on what I consider my weak point - which is my deadlift from Knees, up to Lockout. I went heavy, but was able to put in some serious volume as well:
Rack Pulls(Below Knee)
135x2
225x2
315x2
405x2
495x2
515x2
535x1
505x2
505x2
505x2
405x6
405x6
405x6
405x6
Can you say TIRED HAMSTRINGS!!!!?!?!??! Tune in Wednesday for some great Max Effort Chest Work!
