I am one month into my meet prep for my foray into the 198 class. There is still a lot to learn about my form with the changed bodyweight and leverages, but I am getting there. This has been a good month of training in particular because my body has been feeling better.
I have over 30 hard years under the bar and I can't keep at it without a lot of thought. Getting and keeping my body in good working order is a big part of programming for me nowadays. Fortunately with paying so close attention to this, I feel better than I can remember in decades.
That all said, it was a solid month. There are a few tweaks that will hopefully be apparent with how I showed what was ADDED, SWAPPED, and REMOVED.
MONDAY - DYNAMIC BENCH
-Dynamic bench with football bar 8x3
-Football bar tri ext 3-5 sets of 10 ADDED Micro mini band
ADDED-One arm dumbbell rows 3-5 sets of 10
-Band pushdowns 3 sets of 15
-Band pullaparts 3 sets of 15
ADDED-45 degree back raises 2 sets of 20
REMOVED-Inverted rows with football bar 3-5 sets of 10-15
I jacked my right hand up a little using the football bar for speed work. I had my hands tilted back which was no bueno. I cocked them forward the next week and the problem was solved.
For the tri extensions I added some bands just to switch up the numbers. I have been pushing this movement hard and did not want to spend another month cycle chasing down the numbers I already been pushing.
I removed the football bar inverted rows and replaced them with one arm dumbbell rows. I felt I was missing the benefits from a unilateral upper body movement. Those rows are one of the exercises that helps keep my back feeling well.
WEDNESDAY - CORE WORK
CIRCUIT:
-Rear elevated split squat 5 sets of 10 (each leg)
-Back raise 5 sets of 10
-Pullup 5 sets of 10
-Glute ham raise 5 sets of 10
-Roman chair situps 5 sets of 10
No changes here with exercises. I did however change my pacing. The first week I timed the session and was gassed by the end of it. I already do enough conditioning so I don't really need to treat this session as such. It's purpose is to grease the wheel. I keep a decent enough pace to feel a little sweat and a little heavy breathing, but still keep it at a rate where each rep is quality rather than rushed.
FRIDAY - 3/5/1 BENCH
-Bench 3/5/1
-Close grip bench with shoulder saver 3-5 sets of 3-6 repsREMOVED bands
-Inverted barbell rows 5 sets of 10 ADDED 40 lbs chain and elevated feet
-Band pushdowns 3 sets of 15
-Band pullaparts 3 sets of 15
ADDED-45 degree back raises 2 sets of 20
Like I said earlier, finding my form is really a work in progress, but whatever. I'm trying. We are changing out the supplemental movement on close grip shoulder saver bench by removing the micro bands we were using. It's not a big change, but this way we are not chasing the same numbers for another cycle. We are going with straight weight and can start fresh with a blank slate as far as numbers are concerned. The goal is to improve this lift each week of the block.
For the inverted rows, they were getting a little too easy and I did not want to start going up into the 20's for reps. So I added 40 lbs in chain and elevated my legs by putting the heels of my feet up on a chair. This definitely makes the move more challenging.
SATURDAY - 3/5/1 DEADLIFT AND SQUAT
- Safety bar box squat 3/5/1 SWAPPED 3x5 FSL with Dynamic squat 9x2
- Dead squat bar/Trap bar dl 3/5/1 SWAPPED 3x5 FSL DL with 3x5 FSL RDL'S
ADDED-Planks 3 x 1 minute - added
ADDED-45 degree back raises 2 sets of 20
REMOVED- Ab wheel rollouts 3x10
With squatting I am just feeling really slow. I am not firing from my glutes and hamstrings at all. One might not think this is not important for a bench only guy, but I rely heavily on leg drive. Plus I just hate feeling weak as piss.
I think the change in leverages due to weight loss really have me grasping at form. My squat stance has continued to get more narrow and I don't think it's helping matters. So I am swapping out my regular squat FSL sets wide stance dynamic box squats. It will help get me firing from my glutes and hamstrings again. Plus it might help me to get my stance back out a bit on regular squats.
Also to help with the whole posterior chain issue I am swapping out my regular deadlifts on FSL work to RDL's. I have never done these and I'm sure I need the work. This is why I have also added 45 degree back raises in to each session that didn't have them as well. Now that I am feeling well, I need to start building up strength through my hmastrings, hips, glutes, and back.
So there are my changes and the rationale behind them. I have gotten much better at simply not haphazardly changing things. The bones of this program have been great, now let's see if the little tweaks make it even better.
Stay tuned for next month when I evaluate this block after I finish it. Thanks for reading.
Been great following your journey over the years!
I heard JP Carrol talking about getting his glutes to fire/warmed up before squatting by sitting on a bench and flexing them unilaterally to feel them firing independently and get them ready to perform the training session. Sitting helps you feel the difference in contraction and helped me really dial in getting them involved.
He said it really helped out so, maybe something simple to try before your next session.
Appreciate the log and great info!