A little late to getting this training log posted, so I’m going to keep it pretty straightforward. I have a few ideas for increasing the density and volume of my warm-ups to hopefully stimulate some more hypertrophy over time per information put out by Matt Wenning (he usually does around 100 reps of 3-4 different exercises prior to the main movement regardless of max effort or dynamic effort). That said, none of that applies to this day’s workout.
I’m not a particular explosive lifter, I never have been so I’m hoping that by including dynamic effort days into my programming, I might be able to tap into these more explosive muscle fibers. In the grand scheme, I’m hoping this will make me a more explosive grappler with regards to sweeping and rolling my opponents. We shall see how it all works out, but for now here’s the workout:
Speed Bench – 45x20x2, 95x10x2, 115×5, 130x3x5, 135x3x5, 145x3x5
- Speed on everything through 135 felt pretty good. I definitely noticed speed drop off pretty significantly with the 145, but it was still relatively speedy. I’m going to stick with the same intensity ranges going into the next block of training to see if the strength I develop in this block will help transfer to being a more explosive bencher.
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press – 65x8x3
- I’m pretty happy with this movement. In general, I’m not particularly strong with dumbbells, or on an incline, so I’m just trying to get whatever I can out of this movement. I knew I could hit 3×8 with this weight as long as I gave myself ample rest intervals, so to increase the training effect, I opted for shorter rest periods. This made the last set a true challenge, which is what I wanted. I’m going to keep using the same weight for a couple workouts and see if I can improve how they feel before bumping up to the next dumbbell that I have (75s).
2-Arm Dumbbell Bentover Row – 45x15x3
- I’m really enjoying this movement, it’s the second time this microcycle and it just feels great. I’m definitely feeling my rhomboids working much harder than I have ever felt before. Last set found me using a little more body English than I would prefer, so I’m going to stick with this weight and try to get to the point that I can complete the volume comfortably with minimal form breakdown before bumping up the weight.
One thing I did this workout was include more upper back work before the main movement in the form of band pull aparts and face pulls. Hit 100 total reps on the pull aparts and then 3×20 on the face pulls. Made me feel more stable in my bench set up which was probably a big contributor to the overall positive feel of the workout.
Ramble on Fitness 