*6 Weeks from RPS Lexen Spring Fling*

Tuesday I took the day off of work and drove up to JL Holdsworth's facility The Spot Athletics in Columbus, OH. I first met and interned with JL and his staff 2 years ago now, and working and training with them taught me a lot. I always love the opportunity to chat with those guys about training, business, and life in general. Training-wise I needed to work up to some doubles with the SS Yoke Bar and figured this would be a good excuse to get up there and see their new facility. This is the first time I've taken some heavy(ish) straight weight with the SS Yoke Bar in a while and things are starting to pick up the intensity as this meet is getting closer..

Warmup:

A1. Isometric Planks (side plank, bird dog, plank) - 3 sets 15 secs each

A2. GHR - 3 sets of 8

A3. Hip Ext/Flexion w/ mini band - 3 sets of 12 each direction

B. SS Yoke Bar Squats w/ 16 inch Box

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY2Vx6rhYGE]

420x3

470x2

490x2

500x2

510x2 (rep 'PR')

On these heavy lower body training days I've been rotating SS Yoke Bar Good Mornings and SS Yoke Bar Box Squats. The biggest weakness I've been working to address this training cycle has been my upper back, and having this bar that pitches me forward and forces me to focus on my back and grind through tough positions is a great thing for me to continue to work on.

C1. Hip Belt Squat - 4 sets of 12

With these I use a really wide stance, and sit back the whole time while holding the sides of the belt squat machine to keep my balance. Then with all my reps I really try to keep my knees behind my ankles and use my glutes/hips/hams without shifting forward into my quads.

C2. Standing SS Yoke Bar Mid-Back Extensions - 4 sets of 10

Not sure what these are actually called, but this is where you stand in your squat stance with the SSB and round your upper back forward, then arch hard and contract your lats to build your upper back. 

D1. Heavy Spud Strap Pulldown Abs on Lat Pulldown - 4 sets of 10

D2. More Standing SS Yoke Bar Mid-Back Extensions - 4 sets of 10

More from Joe Schillero:

Twitter097995-black-paint-splatter-icon-social-media-logos-Instagram-logo-squareYoutube