Monday, March 28th - Squats

Warm-Up:
Hard Foam Roll
McGill Big 3
4 PRI breathing drills that my friend and old training partner, Paul Milano, showed me over the weekend. These are tough, but the hope is that once I get better at these, the weekly trips to PT for low back tweaks will become less and less frequent.
Static hip stretching

Lying Leg Curls
4 sets 15, 12, 10, 8 reps pyramiding up in weight each set. 1 second hold at the top, 3 second negative.

Duffalo Bar Front Squats (beltless)
After warmups
415 x 5
435 x 5
455 x 5
465 x 5
465 x 5, immediately drop to 375 x 5, drop to 275 x 5, drop to 195 x 5
Collapse into a writhing heap of misery on the floor x 10 minutes

Notes: I typically use a backwards safety bar for front squats due to having issues with the bar rolling on me and either giving me a charley horse in my bicep, or choking me out. I don't feel like battling with a rolling barbell considering I don't compete in the front squat. My goal is just to hit my quads, core, and upper back with that movement. The safety bar was being used at the gym this night, so I decided to try using my gym's new Duffalo Bar. The experiment turned out to be awesome. The Duffalo Bar loads my body just like a straight bar front squat, minus getting choked out or rolling on me. It hits my core and upper back noticeably harder than the SSB did. Sticking with this variation now for my front squatting!

Leg Extensions
4 sets 15, 12, 10, 8 reps pyramiding up in weight each set. 1 second hold at the top, 3 second negative.

Hack Squats superset w/ Seated Band Hamstring Curls
3 sets 15 reps, no lcokout, constant tension on the quads
to
3 sets 20 reps, 1 second hold at the top

Another excruciating leg session courtesy of coach Mike. This was a lot of fun despite how challenging it was.

Tuesday, 3/29 - Bench

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press (using EliteFTS Loadable Dumbbell Handles, 12.5 lbs each)
Warmups - 25's, 50's, 75's x 10, 100's x 6
122's x 6
132's x 6
142's x 6 x 2 - no lockout, continuous tension on the chest

Duffalo Bar Bench Press (feet up on the fat pad)
265 x 8 x 2 - ashamed to say that these were not easy!
255 x 8 x 2

Notes: Program called for regular benching, but my back was cramping up a bit and I opted to throw my feet up. I guess I get like 300 lbs out of my leg drive on the bench?!

PVC Bench w/ Kettlebells (aka the Ghetto Bamboo Bar)
4 sets 12-15 reps, haven't done these in forever. Focused on keeping constant tension on the chest and slow eccentrics and concentrics.

Banded 4 Ways
3 sets 10 reps

Rear DB Laterals w/ head on low incline bench
55's x 10 x 3

Strip the Rack Press
5x5 with 175 lbs