Rev. Band Deadlift: 3×1@425(275)/193(125), 5×1@475(325)/216(148) (num in brackets is approx weight on floor)
Good Mornings: 8@154/70, 2×8@244/111
Chest Supported Row: 10@90/41, 6@115/52(both with hammer grip), 8@115/52(wide grip)
YTWL: 2×5@8/3.6

Swapped out the chains and added in the bands. However due to the ammount of help off the floor I decided to up the weight by 50lbs. These felt quite a bit different than chains and definately in a good way. All the sets were explosive but I think 50lbs more was too much, I should have probably only done about 30lbs. The bands were slack at the top of the lift but helped a bit all the way up to that point.

Good mornings were again a little lighter, I think I’m doing too much to my back so I’m going to drop the seated good mornings this weekend and do higher rep lighter weight ones next week to try and let it recover. Changed bent over rows out for the chest supported variety which changed things dramatically! I guess I’m quite the cheater when it comes to bent overs however the narrow hammer grip also made it much harder.

I decided to try YTWLs for the first time today which was a pretty humbling experience to say the least. I should have probably waited to do these until AFTER tomorrows benching but I remembered today so I did them.

Shirt Bench: 405/184 off 1 board, 0x425/193 missed path, 1×425/193 easy
Standing BNP: 10@95/43, 10@115/52, 8@135/61
DB Tate Press: 3×15@38/17
Pull Aparts: 3×25 w/ Monster Mini choked up
3 sets external rotations w/ 10/4.5, 3 sets internal rotations w/ monter mini

Decided to move the shirt work to today instead of Wednesday as I’ll have more time on Sundays. I warmed up pretty quick and did a really easy single to 3 board with 385/175 before tossing the shirt on. I was trying a new way of setting up which should help get my shoulders pinned better however without my belt the shirt just rode up onto my throat too much and moved the path too high. 405 was easy even with the bar pretty much on my belly, 425 went even lower and I just couldn’t power it up. The second attempt at 425 I setup the old way and it went up easy.

For BNP I paused my last two reps on my traps which made them much harder but they still weren’t too bad. After doing these my shoulders feel pretty good, most of the pain I get from benching goes away so I really hope these are one of the keys to fixing my left shoulder.

Taking a page from Michael I upped the volume on the tate presses which have left my triceps twitchy and I’m sure they will be sore tomorrow. I also did the same thing with pull aparts upping the usual sets of 15 to 25s which has my left rear delt twitching away as well. By the time I finished all six sets of rotator cuff work I could barely lift my left arm above my head.

Box Squat: 3×5@375/170(with belt)
GHR: 5@bw, 5@bw+10/4.5, 2×5@bw+22/10
Seated GM: 8@135/61, 8@185/84, 8@205/93
Abs and Obliques

The box squats went well today, however I forgot to do the first set without my belt so I won’t know if I would be able to get these completely raw. I would be surprised if I could as even with the belt the 5th reps were tough all through. I think I will be able to do all three sets of GHRs with the 10kg plate next week…if I was still doing 5’s but they go up to 8’s so hopefully I’ll be able to get one set with it.

Seated good mornings were sort of blah today, I wasn’t really feeling them. That isnt’ to say they were easy I just wasn’t really into them, I think I’ll change up and do some good mornings from pins for a couple weeks instead.  I did enough abs today to make up for skipping them on Tuesday…ouch.

CG 3Board: 5×3@340/155
DB Tate Press: 2×10@43/19.5
Standing BNP: 8@88/40, 8@121/55, 8@132/60
BB Bicep Curl: 10@50/23, 10@70/32

The board work was pretty damn hard, except the last set which was the first time I felt like I got my shoulders pinned, I mean as much as you can pin them doing close grip. Half of me says that I’m over doing it on the tricep/board work but the other half says I was just tired today…which is true. I’ll have to wait until Sunday to see how it goes.

The shoulder press is a little stronger now and it felt like I had more in me so I’m happy that I’m seeing progress so quickly with these. Hopefully I’ll be “balanced” before I even know it.

Deadlifts: 9×1@320/145 + 80/36 chains
Good Mornings: 2×8@255/116
Bent Over Rows: 2×10@198/90

Deadlifts are starting to get a little heavy, at least they felt heavier this week. I really worked on exploding the weight up once I got to my knees and actually try to accelerate to the top. I kept the rest periods down for most of the sets but a couple times I took 5 minutes or more.

The good mornings got a little lighter as I upped the reps a little bit, I figured I could sustain the same weight(275) for 8’s but not today I couldn’t. I’ll work back up to 275 in the next few weeks. I got lazy and skipped abs today so I’ll do them tomorrow for sure.

Standing BTN Press: 8@88/40, 2×8@110/50
3 Board Press: 3×4@355/161, 1×5@355/161
DB Tate Press: 6@48/22, 2×6@59/27
Pull Aparts: 3×15@monster mini
3 sets internal rotations, 3 sets external rotations

Man is my BTN strength ridiculously low! Both sets at 110 were hard, the last set the last two reps were really really hard. Hopefully I can get this up a bit before nationals to hopefully add some strength and stability to my shoulders. I was worried about doing shoulder press before board presses but they went well so I’ll continue with this setup. Each set of board press I got stronger so I decided to do 5 reps for my last set and it felt like I could have done 6 or 7.

Tate presses went up in weight as I dropped the reps, at this weight these were tough. I’ll be doing higher rep work on wednesdays and lower rep on sundays. After all the sets of pull aparts and rotator stuff my shoulder felt great.

Box Squat: 3×5@360/163
GHR: 5@bw, 5@bw+10/4.5, 5@bw+22/10
Seated Good Mornings: 8@179/81, 8@201/91
6 Sets abs and obliques

I’m very happy with the box squats today, I got through all three sets without a belt. Now I did have quite a bit longer rest periods between sets than usual as Jamie shirted up and I was helping him. However this is 20lbs more than I’ve done on a box without a belt. I think I’ll probably have to belt up for next week when I go up to 375 but I’ll do my best to get at least 1 set belt free.

I did a more progressive work up on the GHRs this week and got my last set with a 10kg plate quite easily, I’ll go for two sets at this weight next week. The seated good mornings were good again, the hardest part for me is getting under the bar well and not having it too high up on my neck which is what happened my last set.

Speed Bench: 6×3@205/93
CG 3Board: 4×3@335/152, 1×4@335/152
DB Tate Press: 10@43/19.5, 10@48/22
Standing BTN Press: 8@88/40, 8@110/50, 8@121/55
BB Bicep Curl: 10@50/23, 10@70/32
BB Reverse Grip Curl: 10@50/23, 10@60/27

I was supposed to do 9 sets of speed bench but it seems that any work right off the chest causes me shoulder pain after only a few sets so I cut it off at 6 and moved onto the board work. The CG board sets were pretty easy through out but I could definately feel them in the triceps. Russian style I did 4 reps for my last set, at least Jamie said that’s what the russians do…
The tate presses were pretty easy but after the board work caused enough pain in the triceps to be noticed. The shoulder presses sound so light but they were challenging all the way through. I paused the first rep and the last rep on each set just for good measure.

Deadlifts: 10×1@305/139 + 80/36 Chains
Good Mornings: 6@255/116, 2×6@275/125
Bent Over Rows: 2×10@198/90
4 Sets abs and obliques

Chain deadlifts went well again, I was very explosive at the top really hammering the lockout and I felt it by the 8th set my glutes were sore. Which in turn made the good mornings all that much more difficult, my warm up set of 225 felt horribly difficult and I wasn’t sure if I’d even get close to 275 for my work sets. This combo is pretty damn evil and hopefully effective.

Behind the Head Press: 2×10@45/20, 10@65/30
3 Board: 4×4@345/157
Tate Press: 10@43/19.5, 10@48/22
DB Rear Delt Flyes: 15@33/15, 15@38/17
Cable External Rotations: 3×15@15/7(Supersetted)
Cable Internal Rotations: 3×15@15/7(Supersetted)

The behind the head pressing was just some feeler work to determine how it felt for my shoulder. After reading Poliquin’s most recent article (thanks Scott) I’ve decided that I’ve ignored over head work for too long and I’m paying for it with my left shoulder now. So from this point on I’ll be doing some form of over head press at least once a week, probably on my wednesday workout as it’s slightly less volume.

The board presses felt strong today, I kind of like this 4×4 thing I just did it because I couldn’t decide if I should do 5×3 or 3×5 so I went with 4×4 which actually increases the volume a bit. The tate presses after are a fun bit of tricep torture as well. Hopefully all this work will give me the lockout power I’m hoping for at nationals.

The rotator cuff work was awesome, I would do left arm internal rotation then grab the handle with my right hand and do right arm external then turn around and do left arm external then right arm internal. 60 reps total in a little over a minute…feel that burn!