Pull, Press, Rest, Press Again

I NEEDED to allow more time for the adductor to heal. The work I did with the yoke and prowler drag, while not recruiting it nearly as much, still taxed the muscle to an extent I did not appreciate until I tried to deadlift the following week. Even stiff-legged pulls were hitting it. So it was time to back right off for a while, I surmised, and returned to more pressing.



My last press session could have gone a lot better than it did. I began with axle squats to test out the adductor. Again, it gave no indication it was compromised until it suddenly did, at the fourth rep of 120. It didn't hurt, it was just a warning twinge to tell me it wasn't 100 per cent yet. I had hoped to pull tonight, but with this information I switched back to my press routine.



I have managed to do something to my right elbow in the interim which was annoying me during bench (and barbell curls, predictably) but fine with most other movements. I mistimed my money set on axle overheads, so did two more max effort sets after it (which fatigued me), and I then lost the groove and couldn't power out of the last rep in a paused triple of just 140 on bench.



However, I like the idea of doing multiple maximum effort sets on axle OHP going forward. I will likely have to split up my benching from my overhead so I don't keep repeating what happened on this occasion. I'll see how this goes in 2019.



Press+ Thursday December 6th
Axle squats:
20 kg x 10
70 kg x 10
120 x 4 - healing, don't push it
Axle OHP (strict):
40 kg x 10
60 kg x 5
80 kg x 3
100 kg x ME 7 FAIL, 6, 5
Bench press (paused):
60 kg x 5
90 kg x 3
120 kg x 1
140 kg x 2 FAIL
Triceps pushdowns:
114 kg x 20 PR
100 kg x 15
86 kg x 15
Standing barbell curls:
22.5 kg x 3 x 10 - reduced loading due to right elbow
Dumbbell front raises (p/h):
10 kg x 10
12.5 kg x 2 x 10
Chest press machine (p/h):
25 kg x 4 x 10
Cardio:
assault bike 5 mins @ +55 rpm



Pull+ Thursday November 27th
Deadlifts:
70 kg x 10
120 kg x 5
Stiff-legged deadlifts:
170 kg x 3
Axle OHP (strict):
20 kg x 10
50 kg x 5
70 kg x 3
90 kg x 3
110 kg x 3
Seated rows:
neutral narrow 114 kg x 20 PR, 15, 10
underhand wide 96 kg x 3 x 8
DB side raises (p/h):
10 kg x 4 x 10
Face-pulls:
59 kg x 4 x 20 PR - go heavier next time
Cardio:
assault bike 5 mins @ +55 rpm