6/20 - Deadlifts
Deadlifts (calibrated kg plates, Texas DL bar)
Worked up to 639.3 lbs / 290 kgs for 4 sets of 3
- This turned out to be the deadlift session from hell for reasons that mostly had nothing to do with deadlifting. So as many of you may know, I've had an issue with nosebleeds in the past on heavy lifts. Within the past two years, I have been able to greatly control (almost eliminate) all of my nosebleeding woes by 1) regularly donating blood to keep my hematocrit down and 2) avoiding allergy medications like the plague. They dry my sinuses out to all hell and make my nose bleed like an open faucet. Two days prior to this workout, I was helping my sister and her husband move into their new home in New Hampshire. As we pulled the moving truck into the driveway of the new home, I quickly realized that they pretty much moved into a gigantic field of pollen, and my allergies started kicking my ass. My face started itching and eyes watering like crazy to the point where I couldn't move furniture safely. So I bit the bullet, and took some Zyrtec to get over my symptoms and be a useful mover. The Zyrtec knocked out my allergies, but I realized by the next morning that my sinuses were like the Sahara Desert. As soon as I got over 500 lbs during this workout, my nose started spraying blood on every rep like I haven't seen in over two years. I wasn't about to leave the gym for a nosebleed, so I did what I could to manage the bleeding between sets and carried on. By the time I wrapped up my 4th triple with 639, I had lost so much blood that I was dizzy, nauseous, and feeling really dehydrated, despite the fact that I consumed a gallon of water before getting to the gym and was already another half gallon deep by the end of deadlifts. I felt like a sack of shit and just wanted to go home, but I quickly remembered the level of competition that is going to be at Boss of Bosses in a few short months. Powerlifting is about training when you're beat up and don't feel like it, so I pushed on through to squats.
Pause Squats
Worked up to 540 for what was supposed to be 6 sets of 2...but felt an extremely strong pull in my left vastus lateralis above where it inserts near my knee on the very first set and rep. I dumped the bar immediately and knew it was time to go home. I've tweaked various muscles tons of times and know what that feels like, but this level of tightness/pulling was truly frightening and not like anything I've experienced before.
In hindsight, I'm pretty sure the dehydration from the nosebleeds on deadlifts caused my form to get loose on the squats, particularly on the descent. I feel like I got way too far forward on my toes, and put too much weight on my vastus lateralis in a compromising position. It let me know it didn't like it. After icing/heating the injury site when I got home, I felt sure the injury wasn't too severe and would respond well to manual therapy.
6/22 - RE Bench Press
Bench Press
Worked up to 375 for 8 reps. Left quad was still sore and extremely tight, so I played it a bit safe and didn't use as much leg drive as I normally do.
Bench Press w/ Black Metal Catapult
425 for 4 sets of 6, pause each rep
Incline Bench Press w/ Football Bar (medium grip)
Sets of 2 starting at 275, 10 lb weight jumps on each set. Ended with 355 for a double on my final set for a weight and rep PR.
Cross Body Tricep Extensions w/ Light Band
4 sets of 15-25 reps, set where I choked my hands on the bands higher or lower depending on how many reps I wanted to do. Picked these up from Brandon Smitley's log and I really liked them, feel like they hit the meaty part of my triceps really well.
Cable EZ Bar Curls
4 sets 10-20 reps
6/24 - Wrapping up Deadlift Day
I was able to get a bunch of manual therapy (Graston's, electro stim acupuncture, and deep tissue massage) on the affected part of my quad for the 2 days prior to this session. The injury site responded well to treatment and I was damn near being pain free, so after consulting with my coach I decided to test out the quad by picking up where I left off on Monday. Glad I decided to go for it, because the quad held up great. Crisis averted!
Pause Squats
540 for 6 sets of 2. Did not time rest periods as I normally do for these, as my main priority was just being sure my quad could withstand the poundage / workload.
Depth Jumps w/ Weighted Vest
BW + 40 lb vest for 5x5, short but again untimed rest periods.
Belt Squat Marching
50 reps total per side
Suitcase Carries w/ Farmer's Walk Implement
4 sets 50'
6/25 - Accessory Day @ Globo Gym
Unilateral Hammer Strength Lat Pulldowns
5 sets 15 reps per side
Straight Bar Front Raises
5 sets 10 reps, worked up to 80 lbs
Machine Side Laterals
5 sets 15 reps, focused on holding each rep at peak contraction for 2 seconds and lowering the negative as slow as possible. Awesome shoulder burn on this machine.
Pronated DB Rear Laterals (head on bench)
5 sets 10 reps, probated grip hit my rear delts a bit differently than the typical neutral grip. I might have to add these back into the more regular rotation.
Cable Machine Pullaparts
100 reps in as few sets as possible, set the cables at eye level. Love how hard this exercise forces me to flex my rear delts.
TRX YTLW's
50 reps in as few sets as possible
Had to skip triceps/biceps to get to work on time.
Due to the *almost* injury that forced me to split up my lower body workout into two sessions, I pushed back my speed bench session that is normally the last workout of the week to the first workout of next week. This week was a great lesson for me in learning to roll with the punches of a training cycle and just do what I can get done to the best of my ability. I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to sticking to the plan during meet prep. But I'm slowly learning it's better to take things in stride and keep the stress levels low, rather than freak out when things don't go according to plan.