Conditioning. Week 1. Upper Body

BW - 205

Cuff Work - Lots (capsule stretching, band dislocations, pull aparts, 5lb. plate "cleans," front raises with various grips, band external rotations)

Bench -
BarX20, 20
95X6
115X6
135X6
155X8

BB Rows -
BarX15
95X10
135X15, 12, 15

Chins - BWX10, 5, 5

Decline Sit-Ups - BWX10, 10, 10

Being very careful with the shoulder since I seemed to re-aggravate it by sprinting (!).  Just tried to run through a sequence of everything I've ever done for shoulder cuff and shoulder prehab.

That included an extra warm-up set with just the bar, and more reps and smaller jumps on the warm-up sets.  Originally I programmed for 12 reps of 155, which would normally be slightly challenging but completely do-able.  Everything was very tentative today, and I cut it at 8.

The lay-off and tentativeness about the shoulder seemed to cut into my rowing as well.  This felt more like a neuromuscular issue than a strength issue.  My mind just didn't want to let my body "get after it" today on these.

Chins were okay, though.  Programmed for 20 total, and got it in 3 sets.  Hoped to go over on the last set, but 5 was the limit.

The crunches I did in my BW circuits in the last block did not set me up well for decline sit-ups.  Originally hoped to do 60 or so total reps, but had to bring that down, and will adjust my programming for this block accordingly.

Full Body. Week 3. Bench

BW - 206

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X5
155X4
185X3
225X2
255X4, 2

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
185X1
175X7

BB Complex - 95X4; 4 sets
Clean, Front Squat, Push-Press, Front Squat

Everything seemed hard today.  However, 255X4 is an all-around PR in Pause Squats, but I'd hoped to do 2X4.  After the first set, I knew that wasn't going to happen.

Still being cautious with my left shoulder strain.  The strain didn't get aggravated in this workout, but it was really "tired" feeling afterwards.  I'll stay at 175 on Bench and try to hit 10 reps with it.  That would match me previous 10 rep PR.  Doing that with fewer carbs and calories in my diet than previously would be solid, I feel.

Complex was hard as hell today.  I did 10 sets of 3 last week, and that seemed super-human to me during this session.  I did come up with a wrist-saving compromise on the Front/Press/Front issue, and that is to use a rack position on the first Fronts, but use cross-arm on the second and let it drop to the floor from there.

LRB 365: Conditioning. Week 3. Bench

BW - 196

Bench -
BarX15
95X5, 5
135X3, 3
155X1, 1, 1
135X8

BW Ladder Circuit -
Dips - 2 up to 10, back down to 2
Chins (neutral grip) - 2 up to 10, back down to 2
Push-ups - 2 up to 10, back down to 2
Leg-Raises - 3 up to 15, back down to 3

Good Session.  Had to fight the urge to either up the weight on the top Bench single, or go for more reps on the back off set.  But instead I remembered to save it for all the dips and push-ups.

No problem with my shoulder tonight.  It was really achy when I was stretching my pec out before hand, but I took some time with band dislocates and that really loosened it up well.

All the bodyweight movements got some rest/pause on the top sets, but this was by far the best bodyweight circuit on an upper day of this cycle.

LRB 365: Conditioning. Week 2. Deadlift

BW - 195

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
155X4
185X2
225X2
275X1, 1
315X1
275X5

BW Ladder Circuit -
Squats - 3 up to 15, back down to 3
Sit-ups - 2 up to 10, back down to 2
Chins - 2 up to 10, back down to 2
Push-ups - 3 up to 15, back down to 3

My afternoon was a cluster-fuck of leaving work early for one appointment that got cancelled because of weather, and another that ended up being so delayed that I could have stayed at work.  Raining so hard, I needed to take the bus to get from home to the gym, but I just missed a bus and had to wait 20 minutes for the next one.  Ended up having to wait 15 minutes for a bus to get home afterwards.  Was supposed to walk with the weighted vest today, but torrential downpour delays that.

Despite all that frustration, this was a solid-to-nice session.

Deadlifts were all strong, BUT 315 was a touch slower than I would have liked, and 275 might have been a bit much for the back-off.  I'm trying to stick with 25s/45s as much as possible on this phase, but I may have to use some 10s to back this down from 315/275 to 295/245 next time.  Or not.

Best ladder session yet.  Pretty clear now that the Bench days with the dips and push-ups in the ladder are significantly harder for me than these.  My shoulder strain from last session wasn't hindering me UNTIL I stupidly tried to loosen it up even more with some dislocates half way through.  Then it was righteously pissed at me.  Anyway, on Lower day I'm upping the rep intervals for Squats and Sit-Ups all the way back up to the programmed 5, and Push-Ups up to 4.