I'm currently in a off season style of training, trying to bring up weak points and improve body composition for the duration of the summer. At the end of summer I will reevaluate where I stand, and decide whether I would like to compete in the late fall, or wait until the XPC Finals in March of 2016.
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Tuesday was my first speed/rep day of the training block, and I was very pleased with how things went. I'm running with the Yoke Bar against average bands for my speed work on squats...and it's very humbling. I forgot how hard I really have to accelerate into these bands, and in conjunction with the Yoke Bar, it's just a very tough movement. However, things went as planned and I felt pretty good with my performance. I think after a training block of this as speed work, that anything afterwards is going to feel like a walk in the park. Speed deadlifts were pretty light and easy, but as they were intended to be for the day.
I also implemented/created a new sissy squat movement. Really the movement isn't anything new, and is probably decades old. However, how I rigged it up with my rack was pretty cool. It absolutely fried my quads, and I think I've found something I'm going to be keeping in my programs for a long time. With no access to a leg press, hack squat, leg extension, or any other direct quad machine, this is perfect for my needs. I can probably ensure that if I get better at these, and begin to load them, my squat will thank me. I'll still use some reverse Prowler/sled drags, but just the difficulty of this shows I need to do more of it.
Grip work has been back in, and it's already kicking my ass. My little hands need so much work. I feel that they've certainly gotten stronger, but the Rolling Thunder is such a difficult thing for me. My goal is to get 115 pounds on each hand, and that's not going to be easy. But I'm pretty sure that will translate over to less grip issues. If I can get that figured out, I expect my deadlift numbers to finally make some improvement.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlKq9yU23GU]
Items Used in this Training Session
SS Yoke Bar
Fat Gripz
Average Bands
EZ Loaders
Chains
Monster Mini Bands
Box Squat Box
Warm Up
Reverse Hyper - 290x4x12
Grip Work
A1) Rolling Thunder - L/97.5x1, 82.5x5, 72.5x8; R/100x1, 85x6, 75x10
B1) SA Fat Grip Pull Up Hang - 2x8 sec per hand (these are super tough)
C1) Hex DB Hold - 2x10 sec per hand with 30lb DB
A1) SSB Speed Squat vs Average Bands
First rep paused in the hole
65x10
65x5 - add bands
95x3
115x2
135x2
155x2
170x12x2
180x5
205x5
235x10 - PR
B1) Sumo Speed Deadlifts vs 6 Chains
135x5
135x5 - add chains
185x3
225x2
255x8x1
C1) Wtd Walking Lunges
3 sets (12-20 steps per leg)
D1) Rack Sissy Squats
4x15-20
E1) Seated SSB Good Morning vs Forward Bands
2x15
F1) Buzz Saw Planks
4 sets