Day Two, Week Two: Squats

Like day one's bench presses, with squats I'm moving up in weight and down in number of reps each week. Whereas last week I squatted reps of 6, this week it was 5, and so forth.

Squat Day
Exercise	7/15 2010	7/23 2010	Week Three	Week Four
Squat	135x10	135x10
	185x8	185x8
	275x6	290x5
	305x6	320x5
	325x6	340x5
	345x6	360x5
	355x6	370x5
	355x6	370x5
Romanian Deadlift	135x12	225x12
	185x12	255x12
	225x10	275x10
Seated Row	140x12 (P)	150x12 (P)
	160x12 (P)	160x12 (P)
	170x9 (P)	170x12 (P)
Single-leg Press	165x12*	255x12*
	210x12*	290x12*
	255x12*	315x12*
* Weight is per leg, including sled weight (P) Machine at the PRO Club

Day One, Week Two: Heavy Bench Press

Back to what might be my favorite day in this routine. Whereas last week I was to do sets of 6 bench presses, this week it was sets of 5 (and next will be 4, followed by 3), the idea being to lift heavier each week. I benched 341 at the YMCA Seattle Summer Classic; at the Columbia City Classic, I'd like to shoot for 350.

Heavy Bench Day
Exercise	7/14 2010	7/22 Two	Week Three	Week Four
Bench (no pause on chest)	135x10	135x10
	185x10	185x8
	225x6	240x5
	245x6	260x5
	265x6	280x5
	275x6	290x5
	285x6	300x5
	285x6	300x3
Incline Dumbbell Press	65x12*	70x12*
	80x11*	80x12*
	85x8*	85x8*
Reverse Grip Bench Press	135x12	135x12
	155x9	155x10
	155x6	155x8
Skullcrushers w/Triceps Bar	45x12**	55x12**
	60x12**	65x12**
	70x9**	75x9**

* Weight is per arm
** Assuming triceps bar weighs 45 lbs.

Day Four, Week One: Deadlifts

To close out the workout week I returned to deadlifts today. However, because I struggled toward the end of the lift in competition, in order to work on developing more explosivity and momentum, my trainer has me preceding my deadlifts with floor cleans. Boy, those can sure be exhausting.

Deadlift Day
Exercise	7/20 2010	Week Two	Week Three	Week Four
Floor Cleans	65x10
	135x6
	155x6
	165x6
	175x6
	180x6
	185x6
Deadlift	405x1
	455x1
	505x1
Box Squats	185x3
	225x3
	245x3
	265x3
V-Bar Pulldown	150x12 (P)
	170x12 (P)
	190x8 (P)
Back Extensions (Hanging Bar)	40x12
	55x12
	60x10

(P) Machine at the PRO Club

The Results Are In!

The official results of the 2010 YMCA Seattle Summer Classic have been posted. What a joy it is to see my name in that list (scroll down toward the bottom). Still more exciting, however, is the updated list of USAPL Open Men's Records, in which you'll (for now) find my name:

Additionally, awards were not available at time of competition, as UPS had encountered some environmental issues which slowed them down. So, they were sent to the competitors in the mail, and I recently received mine (shown at left). I need to have it engraved, but even without my name on it, it's nice to have proof of my success at my first ever competition—well, success insofar as I managed a total; "first place" when I had no competition is somewhat less meaningful.

Day Three, Week One: Light Bench Press

Day three of my new workout brings me back to light bench presses with a focus on explosivity. The rationale behind these is, as far as I can tell, threefold: First, because the pectorals are stressed greatly by the heavy bench presses earlier in the week, to avoid overtraining they ought not to be targeted heavily a second time during the week. Secondly, muscles are comprised of multiple types of fibers, and whereas some are developed through slow, heavy movements, others are developed more through fast, explosive movements, so the latter fibers can be developed without overtraining the former ones. Finally, a more explosive lift is desirable in competition since the initial momentum aids in completing the lift, and as such it is useful to teach oneself to bench explosively.

Speed Bench Day
Exercise	7/19 2010	Week Two	Week Three	Week Four
Bench Press (Explosive)	135x3
	145x3
	155x3
	165x3
	175x3
	185x3
	195x3
	205x3
Standing Shoulder Press	105x12
	115x12
	135x10
Pushups	23
	15
	13
Triceps Pressdown	80x12 (P)
	90x11 (P)
	90x6 (P)

(P) Machine at the PRO Club