Hybrid Training. Week 9. Light Upper

BW - 227

Warm-up:
Cable Pushdowns - X20
Cable Stiff-Arm Pushdowns - X15

Bench  - 177.5X2, 2, 2, 2

CG Bench (4/0/0) - 157.5X3, 3, 3, 3

Rolling, EZ Bar Extensions - 80X6, 6, 6

Chest-Supported Rows - 115X8, 6, 9
super-set with
Chest-Supported Retractions - 115X10, 9, 9

Reverse-Grip Preacher Curls -
50X8, 8, 8
drop-set - 50X6, 40X4, 30X3

Face-Pulls - X20, 18, 15

Good session.  Had a lot of energy for a Friday.

Bench moved pretty fast.  I got a hand-off for all my work-sets to make sure I could stay as tight as possible.  Losing that little bit of tightness unracking myself seems to make a real difference in speed.

Added 1 sec. to the eccentric on close grips.  No problem at all.

Tried switching to rolling ez bar extensions this week.  Not sure if I got much out of them.  Will try to push them a bit more next week.

Really dug chest-supported rows to near failure into the retractions.  There was a bit of controlled thoracic extension on these as well.  My upper back was achy as shit for the next two days.

Hybrid Training. Week 9. Tempo Run

Tempo Run: 3.25 miles; 37:40

I came in almost exactly 50 seconds over target here.  Most of that happened in the first half mile where I got behind by 20 seconds.  It took me a long time to settle into a pace close to target.  Finding pace continues to be the biggest challenge for the tempo runs.

I've got one more tempo run next week, shooting for 2.5 miles as race pace (so 25 min.) and then I'll taper for the race at the end of September.

Hybrid Training. Week 9. Heavy Lower

BW - 228

Squat - 265X2, 2, 2, 2, 2

Bench - 165X3, 3, 3, 3

Deadlift -
340X1, 1, 1
295X3

GHR Sit-Ups -
BWX15
+25X10, 10

I forgot to upload my updated spreadsheet to google drive, so I had to fly by the seat of my pants here.

Turns out I was supposed to Squat 275X5, 5.  Oh well.  Got good and warmed up doing these easy doubles.

Wanted to nab the Bench back-off sets I missed on Sunday.  This was the correct weightXreps.  Moved great.

I felt good about putting in some bench between squatting and DL so that I'd have a bit more lower-body recovery.  Felt pretty good going into the pulls, and just told myself to expect slow and heavy.  They were slow and heavy, but no real doubt about completing any of the reps.  Felt pretty fried after the 3rd single, so I hit a triple and called it good.

Hybrid Training. Week 9. Intervals

Intervals - 4, 1/2 mile intervals @ ~5:00

I wanted to go for 6, 1/2 mile intervals today, but I felt awful by #4.  I think it was a combination of heat, and lifestyle over the past few days.  A good friend moved to town this week, and my sleep and diet were really disrupted for a few days afterwards.  I'll get back on course this week.

Hybrid Training. Week 9. Heavy Upper

Skipped my LSR like an asshole.  Think I paid for it later.

BW - 227

Bench - up to 205X1, 1, 1, 1, 1

Dips -
BWX5
+10X4
+20X8
+25X6

Chins, supinated - BWX7, 5, 5

Cable Rows - X10, 8, 6 (straight-weight)

I forgot to do my back-off sets on bench.  I wish I had because my shoulders and elbows felt really achy after all the heavy singles, and I would've liked a bridge to the dips.  The first rep of each dip set felt pretty awful.

Chins and Rows were fine.

Hybrid Training. Week 8. Light Lower

BW - 229

Squats - 257.5X3, 3, 3

Pause Squats - 247.5X2, 2, 2

Deadlift, 3 sec. pause at knee on eccentric -
205X3, 3
225X3, 3

GHR Hypers - BW+45X15, 15, 15
super-set with
GHR Sit-Ups - BWX15, 15, 15

Everything went pretty well here.  Squats probably still a bit slow for true speed work.

My low back was feeling a bit off, so I wanted to do a DL variation that would force me to stay light.  I decided to do these paused eccentric DLs and do them double-overhand.  At 225, the last rep was slowing down enough, and the grip was getting loose enough, that I stayed at that weight.

Hybrid Training. Week 8. Light Upper

BW - 229

Warm-up - Rope Triceps/Lats Pushdowns Superset

Bench - 167.5X3, 3, 3

CG Bench (3/0/0) - 157.5X3, 3, 3, 3

Incline, Paused Tate Press -
35sX6
40sX4, 4
giant-set with
DB Rolling Triceps -
35sX12
40sX7, 4

DB Rows - up to 80sX8, 6

Rope Face-Pull - X20, 15, 12 (straight-weight)
giant-set with
Rope Lat Pushdowns - X12, 10, 8 (straight-weight)

DB Hammer Curls - 35sX8, 7, 5 (paused on thigh)

That all looks like a lot of stuff, but it's actually just 5 things:
Barbell Bench - 7 sets
DB Triceps - 3 sets
DB Upperback - 2 sets
Cable Upperback - 3 sets
DB Biceps - 3 sets

Triples all moved nice and fast on the Speed Bench.

The 3 second eccentric with 157.5 wasn't nearly as challenging as 4 second eccentrics with 155 last week.  Kind of felt more like explosive work.

Giant-setting the Tate Press with the Rolling Triceps worked pretty well, but I was surprised how few reps I was able to get on the 2nd set.  Not sure if I should have stayed with the 35s or if I need to just start with the 40s (I'll probably do the latter).

That rope giant-set for upper back is still brutal.