*7 Weeks from the RPS Lexen Spring Fling*
This weekend I went up to the EliteFTS Compound to train. I got a chance to meet Matt Smith, who trained at Westside years ago; and got some good tips from him on my box squats. After chatting for a while I trained with Todd Brock, and then Todd set up my next 7 weeks of training leading into my meet. If you've been following my logs you've seen Todd has been helping me quite a bit the past few months, and it was nice to just have him write out what to do so I don't worry about over-thinking things or deviating from what I should be doing. It follows the same basic structure I've been using, but is organized a little differently, and keeps me training with less weight on the bar leading into the meet. I think this will be a good thing, since the last few meets I've gone into meet day way too beat up and burnt out from over-testing myself throughout the cycle. Today was speed box squats and deficit speed pulls...
A. Isometrics (side plank, bird dogs) - 2 rounds of 10 seconds each position.
B. Glute Bridges w/ Tsunami Bar - 3x8 w/ 225lbs
C. Lat Pulldowns w/ Slingshot on - 3x10 neutral grip/3x10 wide grip
We did isometrics and some glute and lat training to get warmed up, activate everything we would use during squats, and get extra work in on areas that need improved.
D. Box Squats vs. Average Bands in Metal Ace Briefs - 8x3 (30-60 secs rest between sets)
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d5j5Muz4bM]
7x3 w/ 315lbs
1x3 w/ 335lbs
Over the course of these sets I brought my stance out a little more and Matt mentioned to really think about driving my head up right away off the box. He drove home that if you can concentrate on driving the head up and then just bringing the hips through, your bar path will be short and the movement will be a lot more efficient. I've struggled in the past with coming forward on my toes off the box and rounding forward, and this was the best box squats have been for me. Getting the bar path short and keeping everything tight will bring a lot more lbs to my squat on the platform, and it's slowly getting there.
E. Speed Pulls on 2" Deficit vs. Average Bands - 6x1 w/ 315lbs
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvok3l61p_s]
F. Weighted Situps w/ 120 lb dumbbell - 4x8
Really focused on squeezing the abs and expanding the trunk like you would against a belt during the squat.
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