Tuesday evening I traveled down to London, OH to train at the EliteFTS S4 Compound with my buddy Ben and teammate, Zach Gallman. I asked Zach to check out my form for OHP since he is quite the expert on overhead movements. I wasn't going too heavy, but I was hoping he could see breakdowns that might make me struggle with heavier weights. As I was going through my sets, he noticed that I was hyperextending my back which put a lot of pressure on my lower back and led to minimal ab tightness. He cued me to squeeze my glutes throughout the movement which would in turn, keep my abs tight and my trunk solid. I noticed much less pressure on my lumbar spine as well as a better shelf from my lats. The press felt much smoother and way more comfortable. If you're not already doing this in your OH movements, give it a try and I guarantee you'll notice a difference. Thanks again Zach! The rest of the workout looked like this:
A. OHP 3x5
115x5
130x5
145x5
B. Seated DB Military
45lb x 20
70lb x 20
70lb x 15 x 3
C. DeFranco DB Cleans
20lb x 15 x 3
D1. Chest Supported T-Bar Row (10 reps pronated grip, 10 reps semisupinated)
145lbs x 20 x 3
D2. Iso Low Row Machine
180lbs x 12 x 1
270lbs x 10 x 2
E1. Face Pulls w/ Spud Strap
3 x 15
E2. Machine Lateral Raises
3x20
F. Curls w/ Some Weird/Crazy E-Z Curl Bar (60 second set)
50lbs x AMRAP
G. Tricep Pushdowns w/ Tsunami Bar (3 Second Concentric, 3 Second Eccentric)
4x10
I had a ridiculous pump by the end of the workout. My shoulders and upper back were sore as shit the next day. It's always a blast to train at the S4 Compound because I can really switch up the different bars/machines to hit muscles in different angles etc.