Ok, I need to play a little catch up here, after my DE Upper workout on Monday, I opted to take the night off from BJJ because I just wanted to have a quiet night with my wife. My brother-in-law was out and the babies went to sleep pretty easily, so we were able to just relax and have some dinner together without having to worry about anything.
The next morning, February 12th, I was able to get in a really solid 30 minute easy run. I ran just a little shy of 2.25 miles, which is pretty good for me in my current condition, and and improvement from the prior two 30-minute runs from last week. The best part is that I just felt good the entire time – I never felt winded or run down, and my quads held up for the entire time without starting to feel heavy and leaden the way they did last week.
We had a really nasty snow storm that night, so BJJ didn’t happen again (c’est la vie, not going to beat myself up over skipping the night before), but I’m glad I was able to get my run in that morning.
I was going to lift the next morning, but woke up and realized that I really needed to shovel the driveway so I could actually get to work…so that was what I did. Ended up not lifting at all on Wednesday, and pushed my ME Lower session to Thursday, the 14th.
So, onto the workout:
Front Squats vs 1 Chain per Side: 45x10x2, 45×5 (added chains), 95×5, 135×5, 155×5, 175×5
- So this was not where I was hoping to get with today’s workout, mainly because I hit 185 for 5 on my last max effort workout; however, it should be noted that today I did far more warm up volume than I did last workout. That is both detrimental in the short-run and beneficial in the long-run. Bottom line, the additional warm-up volume left me more fatigued going into the main movement than I would normally be, so while 185 was possible last workout, and I should have been able to get up to 205 this workout, I was unable to do so due to the fatigue.
- All that said, in the long-run, this should result in positive outcomes as my overall condition will improve, and my body will adapt to the added warm-up volume. Just have to play it by ear and see how it all plays out. This is part of the reason that I’m working with RPEs for my top sets, and not with percentages or absolute figures.
2 Count Paused Front Squats vs 1 Chain per Side: 140x5x2
- My program called for 3 sets of paused work with reps from 6-8, but going into this workout it just felt like sets of 5 were optimal. So I did that, and I’m glad that I did. By the end of the second set, I felt like my head was going to split open due to the pressure build up during the pauses.
- Super set these with 2 sets of 5 on the ab wheel
Ab Wheel Rollouts – 5×3
- Did 3 total sets, the first 2 were super set as indicated above, and I just did the last set at the very end of the workout.
Split Squats – 26x15x3
- I almost chose not to do these since I was already feeling pretty fatigued, but I had the time and went for it. I’m glad I did.
I mentioned earlier that I did significantly more volume than usual for my warm-up, so here’s what I did:
- Band Hamstring Curls – 100 reps
- Body Weight Squats – 50 reps
- Body Weight Bulgarian Split Squats – 25 reps per leg
- Body Weight Back Raises – 15×4
Ultimately I want to work up to doing 4 sets of 25 with each of these movements. All put together this is honestly a great conditioning workout, but it did a fantastic job of getting my lower body prepared for the work ahead. While I was fatigued and unable to hit the numbers I wanted, I did feel much more mobile and better able to hit proper depth from the beginning of the front squats. I’ll call that a win.
One other thing to note, I was feeling pretty rundown when I woke up this morning, with severely clogged up sinuses. Hoping that this will pass soon.
Ramble on Fitness 