10 Weeks Out from XPC Finals @ The Arnold Classic
Last week was a solid week of training and hit PRs on both slingshot bench (405x3, 450x1) and Squats into chains (780x1) - I've been normally rotating max effort work with 5x5 submax volume anyways; but this week I had to drop things even lighter and use some lift variations to work around some aggravated injuries and just give myself a break in general. My pec and bicep have been repeatedly getting strained and I'm working on talking to some people on ways I can try to fix the cause of the problem so hopefully I'll find some good solutions there. In general doing more submax volume has been working really well for me, and rotating max effort variations in every other week. I'm going to continue that structure as I move closer into the meet.
My recovery still isn't where I'd like it to be from heavy training; I've been recovering from volume pretty well but anytime I do a max effort straining movement like the squats into chains I'm an anxious mess and can't sleep the entire next week. I'm going to continue to work on being strategic on when I go heavy and make sure I'm adjusting my following weeks of training accordingly. Just gotta get through this week and then back to building things up..
Monday's Max Effort Upper Deload:
A. Band Pull-Aparts - 3x15
B. Swiss Bar Bench (middle grips) - 3x15 w/ 225lbs
C. One-Arm Dumbbell Rows - 3x20 w/ 100lb dumbbell
D1. Band Pull-aparts - 4x15
D2. Tricep Pushdowns - 4x15
D3. Tate Presses - 4x10
Tuesday's Max Effort Lower Deload & Upper Recovery:
A. Standing Ab Pull-Down Warm-Up - 3x20
B. SSB Good Mornings - 3x8 w/ 200lbs
C. Rack Pulls Below Knee - 3x8 w/ 365lbs
D. Bent Over Rows - 3x8 w/ 225lbs
E1. Hack Squat Machine - 3x15
E2. Shoulder Raise Machine - 3x25
E3. Med Ball Tricep Pushdown - 3x25
F. Bicep Curl Machine - 1 set of 50 reps