Recent training

Saturday - Lower body pull emphasis

Deadlifts, 3x315, 1x405, 1x425, 1x455

Felt pretty good overall. I lost my lordosis a little on the 455, so I stopped for the day. Strength was better than expected, though.

Trap Bar Deadlifts, 5x225, 3x315, 5x315, 3x365, 2x405

I hadn't ever done these before, so I played around with them a bit. More than anything, I found my grip to be a limiting factor here as I wasn't sure where to grip it at. Felt pretty good though.

Glute Ham Raises, 3x8 (Hole #4)

Ab Wheel Rollouts, 3x8

I hit a ton of golf balls this night, as my wife bought me a pair of clubs for my upcoming birthday. Needless to say, I was a little sore the next day ;)



Tuesday - Lower body squat day

I didn't do a whole lot today -motivation was a little low and I had a ton of other things going on. What I did do was productive though.

Front Squats, 3x135, 3x185 (to 12" box)

Good clean reps. Hip mobility and lumbar stability are looking and feeling good.

Back Squats, 5x225, 5x275 (to 14" box)

Went an inch deeper this week and it appeared as though my back position was staying neutral. I think another inch or so and I'll be below parallel, so things are coming around here. It's taken a little while, but I think the reward will be worth it (i.e. better hip mobility and a healthy low back over the long haul!)

Step-ups, 2x8 with 50's

Tall Kneeling Cable Chop, 2x8 with 50#

It was short and sweet, but I'm really encouraged by my squat patterns overall. If I can clean up a little lagging L-R asymmetry, I should be doing really well.

Stay strong
MR

This week's workouts

Tuesday

Lower body squat session

Foam rolling

Magnificent Mobility Drills

Hip pre-hab/activation circuit

Back Squats to 15" box, 5x225, 5x275

Working on getting things symmetrical and smooth here. Since I'm typing this two days later, I can tell I'm getting better quad activation on the left side, which is definitely a good thing.

RDL's, 5x245, 5x265

DB Reverse Lunges, 2x8 w/50's

Glute-Ham Raises, 2x8

Tall Kneeling Lift, 3x8

KB Swings, 2x15 w/24 kg. KB

Pretty good workout overall. I'm trying to develop a base and get my lifts smoothed out before I leave on vacation. I'm also finding I have a ton of soft-tissue stuff going on in my left plantar fascia/lower leg; some extra work on these areas has started to relieve that nerve injury I was dealing with. Perhaps it was a mild nerve entrapment? Who knows...

Wednesday

1 hour Krav maga class

Thursday

Upper body day

I/O Warm-up

Barbell Bench, 5x185, 195, and 205

Wow, I'm still really weak on this. I think getting a hand-off in a few weeks when the gym opens will make a big difference though. Pecs feel great, though, so it's time to start pushing a bit.

Inverted Rows w/feet on physioball, 3x10

Face Pulls, 8x80. 2x8 w/90

Skullcrushers, 2x10 w/70

DB Curls, 6x40, 8x35

Split Stance Cable Push, 3x10 w/50

Prone Low Trap Y, 2x12

Overall things are going well. Other than being weak and having poor work capacity, I'm in a good position to start moving forward. Like I said - develop a training base and some connective tissue strength now, and hopefully when I get back I can start to crank things up.

Stay tuned...

MR