Two days of 2-a-day workouts is definitely a challenge as far as recovery and sleep is concerned. Waking up this morning for another workout was definitely a hard decision to make when my alarm was buzzing away on my wrist. Anyway, I got up and took care of what I needed to take care, and actually felt pretty good by the time I was done. I skipped the last 2 movements, but that’s ok. I got the meat and potatoes movements done, and called it a day as I was just feeling demotivated by the time I finished with the 3rd exercise.
Today’s workout:
Close-Grip Bench Press – 175×5
- I had wanted to go for 185, and frankly probably had it in me, but 175 felt close enough to a RPE8, that I didn’t want to push it too hard today. Compound that with the general fatigue and sleepiness that I was contending with, calling it at 175 just seemed like the right idea.
2-Count Paused Close-Grip Bench Press – 140x8x2, 140×7
- I really started to feel awake during the paused work, and the weight felt light on my chest. I’m working on being as consistent as possible with the pause length, but it can be hard to maintain a proper count cadence with your entire upperbody contracted to prevent a weight from pressing down onto your chest. Anyway, I was able to hit 140 for sets of 8 and then a set of 7, overall, that’s good volume in my book. I’m considering using progressive sets for the supplemental work, but I’ll wait until the next training block to make that change.
- Progressive sets are sets where weight increases each set, assuming the top end of the prescribed range was hit. For instance, I hit 140 for 8 on the first set, with a prescribed range of 6-8, so if I was using progressive sets, then for the next set I would have tried to use 145 or 150 and seen where I was at this point.
Standing Band Crunches – 20×3 w/ EliteFTS Average Band
- Super set ab work with the paused bench sets. Just trying to get some hard core work in every day. That’s definitely a weak link in my lower body movements, so I need to strengthen it up. I need to figure out which movements are really working for me aside from the ab wheel rollout. I want these standing band crunches to be good, but we’ll see as I move forward. I’m going to start giving dead bugs and RKC planks a try as a super set with my upper body movements.
- I’m also going to start getting more low back work in by way of the back raise bench.
2-Arm Bentover Dumbbell Row – 40x15x3
- I slowed the tempo down on these and tried to perform each rep deliberately. Forced my scapulae to go into full extension at the bottom and retracted hard at the top to try and feel my rhomboids contracting hard. The slower tempo definitely made a very big difference; I don’t think I’ve ever felt my rhomboids contract in isolation like this.
- I tried taking my elbows out to 90 degrees to my torso, but that aggravated my shoulders from some reason, so I stuck with a 45 degree elbow angle. This definitely helped with hitting my rhomboids, while a 90 degree angle probably would have hit the rear delts much harder.
Ramble on Fitness 