UB: Conditioning Week 3. Bench, Hammer & Tire

Defranco shoulder mobility

Bench -
BarX15
95X5
135X2
155X2
170X2X3

OH Triceps Extensions - 45X20, 55X12

Chin-ups (V-Grip) - Gym BW 204X10

BB Curls - 45(Bar)X18, 65X15, 45X15

Hammer&Tire - Swing for 30 seconds, rest for 10; 10:30 minutes; 20-23 swings per round

Reverse Crunches (with hip raise) - 10, 10

Solid Session.  The first set of 170 felt kind of hard.  The 2nd rep of the 2nd set felt really hard, and the last set felt easy.  My set up felt tight every time, so I don't know.  I got all the reps in without having to scream for help, and that's what matters.

I downloaded a great new timer to my phone that helped with these Tabata-style hammer swings.  Now I can set the work AND rest periods, plus the screen goes green during work time, and red during rest time, so I don't have to get the phone close enough to read, I can just watch for the color change.  My swings per 30 seconds were up and down today, but generally 1 or 2 more than last time, and I did 1 more round of swings than last time.  Progression, y'all.

UB: Conditioning Week 2. Squat, Deads and Sprints

Defranco mobility work

Squats -
BarX20
135X5
185X5
205X5

Deadlift -
135X5
225X2
275X2X3

BB Reverse Curls - BarX20, 35X15X2, BarX20

Incline Sprints - 10 sprints, 11 mintues

New addition to the gym, and I walked by, like, 5 times today before I noticed it:

A monolift, for God's sake!  I doubt I will ever use this unless all the squat stands and power racks are occupied.

Speaking of which Squats felt okay today.

Deads, however, felt awesome.  I know 135 is light, but it never felt as light as today.  It felt like nothing at all, and I'm wondering if that's partially due to the squatting beforehand.  It felt so light, that's why I decided to jump straight to 225 for just one more warm-up set.  That felt fast as well.  Then the first work-set felt heavy, and all the others felt pretty easy.  Not light, exactly, but I was still able to focus on speed and form because I had full confidence in my ability to pull the weight.  This is different from how my heavy sets of the other 3 movements have felt, but it could just have been a good day.  We'll see how it goes next time.

Sprints were interesting.  I got the programmed amount in, but it took a little more effort than I expected.  The idea is that the first week or two are relatively easy, and I hope I haven't programmed my jumps to big.  On the other hand, it was spring forward, and I was on less than 6 hours of sleep.  We'll just have to see how it goes next week.

UB: Conditioning Week 2. Press, Hammer & Tire

Defranco Shoulder Mobility

Press -
BarX10
95X2
115X1
125X2X3

Inverted Row, 45 degrees - BWX10, 7

Hammer Curls - 20sXAMRAPX4

Push-ups - BWX20

Hammer Swings - 30 seconds swinging, 10 resting (around 20 swings per round); 10 minutes

At home - Reverse Crunches (2 sets of 5) and Partial Planche Push-Ups (2 sets of 5)

80%er.  Wasn't sure how the 125 would move, as 2 reps is the most I've ever gotten with that weight.  First set of 2 was almost easy, 2nd set was harder, and the 3rd set was a bit of a grind on the last rep.  Probably all as it should be, and suggests my strength is holding steady 3 weeks following the strength phase.

This 30/10 second split of hammer swings is Paul Carter's recommendation, and not the way I've done these in the past where I would do at least twice that many swings and take a longer rest. This is kind of a pain in the ass because I have to keep a clock running that I can see, and keep doing the math in my head, which inevitably gets off as I start to get really worked. His idea is to try and get more swings in the 30 sec. each session, but this is seriously a lot of shit to keep track of, so I may just increase the time every week like I do with sprints.

UB: Conditioning Week 1. Bench

Defranco Shoulder Mobility

Bench -
BarX15
95X5
135X2
155X2
170X2X3

OH Extensions - 45X20

Bent Rows - 95X15, 8

BB Curls - 35X15, BarX20X2

Reverse Crunches - X20, 10

Treadmill - 12 minutes, 4.1 speed (2 minutes longer, one point faster than previous block)

This weekend was hell to start the conditioning block on.  Between work and rehearsals I only have Friday night through Sunday day free to train, and this weekend I had auditions on Saturday afternoon that I had to prepare for on Friday night, and cooked and competed in a chili cook-off on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon respectively.  Thus the treadmill.

Good bench session.  These sets of 2 at 85% are more challenging than I expected, but totally do-able.  Kind of cool actually.  I can see why guys like Jamie Lewis like doing lots of sets of heavy triples, doubles, singles.  It'll be interesting to see if these get harder, easier, or one then the other as this block progresses.