Exerbabble for 4-15-7

Today’s workout:

Quest for 315: Phase II, Day A1, Workout IX

RDL:
3 @ 95 lbs
3 @ 185 lbs
3×5 @ 240 lbs (+5 lbs)

Alternating Sets:
One-Arm DB Shoulder Press: 3 @ 20 lbs; 10×5 @ 40 lbs (+1 rep, all sets)
Wide-Grip Pull-up: 3, 3, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 @ BW

Glute-Ham Raises: 3×6 @ BW (+1 rep)

One-Arm DB Shoulder Press:
F @ 50 lbs (right side)
5/4 @ 45 lbs
1 @ 50 lbs (left side, PR)

current bodyweight: 162.4 lbs (-1.4 lbs, weekly average of 162.85)

I don’t normally lift on Sunday, but I woke up this morning feel energetic. Literally. After a long sleep, I woke up and immediately felt, “I want to lift today.” Maybe it’s the zinc, but I only took it last night. Who knows.

RDLs went just fine. On the squat rack opposite me was a pair of guys quarter-squatting 135 lbs. I almost wanted to say something. You know, take off the maxi pad they had on the bar, and show them proper depth. Afterwards, they did some leg presses. Must have been leg day or something. Thing is, they’re regulars, so I bet they’re convinced that’s how you’re supposed to squat. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll get my chance, but I was in the middle of my sets, and I tend to rest too long as it is.

Shoulder presses were grueling. Every fifth rep was a struggle, I swear. I wasn’t sure if I’d keep up the pace until I hit the 8th set and felt like I was almost done. That last rep went up incredibly slow, but I got it.

I’m not sure what happened during the fourth set of pull-ups. I like going all the way down so I’m not cheating my ROM, but if I stay in that down position for a split second too long, I can’t get back up. Stretch reflex, maybe, but whatever, all I care is that I get all the way down. First couple sets, I was alternating with a chick who was doing wide-grip pull-ups weighted. She doesn’t screw around. Though, I’ve never seen her squat or deadlift. Har har. Yeah, I’ll put my dick away.

(As in, whenever I play Smash Bros with my friends, it ends up turning into a dick-waving contest. If it’s one on one with one life left, eventually we’ll stand there for a minute doing nothing but taunting. “This is my dick!” “This is my dick!” “This is MY dick!” Er, ahem.)

I need to do my glute-ham raises slower, and not use as much momentum. Moreover, I slip a little bit on the pad. Gotta watch that.

One of my goals has been to overhead press 50 lbs. So I tried it. Power cleaned it up, got it halfway, and my arm stopped. Why the set with 45 lbs? The 10×3 protocol typically requires a 5RM, so I wanted to make sure I could press it five times. My right side stopped at four. That’s fine with me, as it was the end of the freaking workout. The only reason I got them at all was because I let my upper body recover during glute-ham raises.

After stretching, I realized my left side has been pressing better lately. So I grabbed a 50 lb dumbbell with my left hand, power cleaned it to my shoulder, and was able to press it overhead. WOO HOO! I’ve been starting my 10x day with my left side, so next cycle, I’ll start with my right arm. I’ve been starting my 6x with my right arm, so I’ll reverse that, too.

Huh. I just punched some numbers into the exrx 1RM calculator. 5 @ 45 lbs has a theoritical 1RM of 51 lbs. 4 @ 45 lbs has a theoritical 1RM of 49 lbs. Curious.

And I have to say that while pressing 45 lbs, my abs were going crazy. I’ll have to stay disciplined about staying tight and not torquing my spine in one direction or the other. No leaning!

10×3 has made a believer out of me. I recall that 5 @ 40 lbs was my pure 5RM when I started this routine. As in, I couldn’t do a 6th rep no matter what. I was able to follow the progression, and the increased weight will also be a pure 5RM.

Adjustments: Reset to 10×3 and increase to 45 lbs. Woohoo! Cap my wide-grip pull-ups at 3 reps and try to hold three reps for as many sets as I can. Oh, and increase RDLs 5 lbs.