Press+ Saturday: Meet the Yak & My Pasty Butt

TODAY'S session takes a back seat to the advent of Nathan, who comes with the built-in alias 'the Yak.' Nathan hails from Two Rocks - fifty minutes drive each way. He says that, having lived remotely all his life, he's used to long commutes. Obviously not all of our members live in places convenient to PTC Perth; there are plenty, like Kong and Nathan, who invest the time because they want to train with the best equipment, and learn from some of the best in the state.



So our team gains another promising new member! I'll be updating the PTC SM athlete bios in due course. First let's give Nathan more opportunity to show his mettle. His was a light session today; for all his enthusiasm, the fella did just compete a week ago... and managed to injure his back doing so.



Ah yes, that's right, 'the Yak' was in the mix at the WASM qualifier also. Already comp experienced. Excellent to see. But, as I told him, even if my crew were not either working or sick at home today, they'd be forgiven for not training this soon after a competition anyhow, and he should most definitely be seeking treatment for his complaint and not attempting to train through it.


Hours beforehand, Ryan and Mat were in the gym doing some overhead press. I recruited them to spot me as I did my money sets on bench. I'm glad I did, as Ryan has had enough PL comp experience to know when a press hasn't been paused long enough, and at 140 kilograms, mine were not. Bad sign. I immediately shed 10 kilos and continued with the programmed triples. These were better. I do have to scale back my aspirations for a comparable bench to my best.


The combination of dropping axle OHP from the program and taking a time-out to introduce Nathan to just some of what we do meant that I had more in the tank than expected when it came time for Hammer Strength chest press. I could have done 8 or 10 rep sets here for the prescribed four sets, I'm pretty sure, but I kept them to six. I could have done another couple of those, too. So I clearly need to mess with this comp prep template and get it working better for me, stat.


I did make the threat of another body re-composition update. So here it is. I was feeling pretty bloated in these pics, and my Fitbit scale tells me I've climbed from 26% back up to 29% body fat. And the heaviest I've reached (and maintained) in my lifting career.

PRESS+ Saturday August 12th
stretch
Bench press (paused):
bar x 10
60 kgs x 6
100 kgs x 3
120 kgs x 1
140 kgs x 3
130 kgs x 3 x 3
Incline BB bench press:
65 kgs x 4 x 8
DB front raises (p/h):
7.5 kgs x 10
10 kgs x 10
12.5 kgs x 2 x 10
seated French press:
20 kgs x 4 x 10
super-set w/Tri-pushdowns:
full stack x 25 PR
full stack x 3 x 15
HS chest press (p/h):
45 kgs x 6 x 6 PR
super-set w/HS bicep curls (l&r):
17.5 kgs x 3 x 10
Cardio: Assault bike 5 minutes @ 50 rpm