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[April Mathis]

04/26/2012 Bench

Bench Press
barxsome
135x8
225x3
275x3
315x3
365x3
Add carpet (paused reps)
405x3 PR
425x1 PR
435xmiss
435x1 PR

Flat DB Press
140sx9 PR
140sx8
140sx5

PecDec (paused reps)
120x10
90x10x2sets

Good bench day. Don't know why I missed 435 the first time, as 425 felt easy enough to double it. I think my setup was a little better on the second attempt, and got it, but it was slow and not easy. My shoulder felt good today full-range until 365, but still hurt some with that weight at the bottom. The small difference with the carpet press helps though so the heavier weights felt better after that. Db pressing was good too. I really wanted 10 with 140s on the first set though and it was feeling easy until the 9th rep then got hard fast, lol. Still 1 rep better than before.

[April Mathis]

Video of me benching 365x3, 405x3, 425x1 (not on video), 435x1:

http://www.ironscene...carpet-press-pr

[April Mathis]

04/29/2012 Moderate Squat/Heavy Deadlift

Squat w/Cambered Bar (newer one)
barxsome
Add doubled green bands
barx3
155x2
245x2 loose belt
295x2
335x1x3sets

Deadlift off blocks (4" I think)
225x3
315x3
465x3 loose belt
535x1
605xmiss a couple inches off the blocks
565x1 think this might be a PR sadly

Shrug Machine
315x10x4sets paused reps

Lat Pulldowns wide neutral-grip
150x10x4sets paused reps

Well I learned that doubled green bands are really fucking heavy at the top, lol. I had no idea what they are, I just thought that since the bar was lower than a regular bar, it would be a good idea. I know that 335 plus the bands felt like quite abit more at the top than the 635 I did last week. Glenn told me later they add about 450-500lbs. I'm not sure it is that much, but felt like over 700lbs. on those sets anyways. Deadlift was ok. I wanted to get 605 off the blocks, but I only managed to get it up a couple inches. I think the most I have done on these before might be 545 though. If so, I guess the 565 wasn't too bad, but I don't remember for sure.

[April Mathis]

04/30/2012 Shoulders/Triceps/Biceps

Modified Triceps Presses
barxsome
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x5
135x15

Shoulder Press on smith machine
135x8x4sets

Reverse PecDec
75x10x3sets each side

Band Triceps Pushdowns
Blue bandx15x4sets

DB Concentration Curls (short rest up to 75 reps)
30x10,10,10,10,10,9,8,8 each arm

Rear Delts with mini band
3sets of 20

Shoulder is getting much better. About halfway through I got under the squat bar a few times and hurts very little (where it's just barely noticeable) to hold the bar now, so it is almost healed enough to squat with it. I will probably wait about 2 more weeks to do so, however, so I don't reinjure it. This is also the first time I have done any shoulder pressing on a bar (yes it was smith machine but similar positioning to a barbell) and it felt good to about chin height, so I stayed no lower than that even though the weight was light.

[April Mathis]

05/03/2012 Bench

Floor Press w/Fat Bar
barxsome
150x5
200x3
240x3
290x3
330x3
380x2
Add reverse green bands
420x3
460x1
490x1 cheated (my butt was off the floor to finish it)

PecDec
60x50x2sets

Bench with the barx50x2sets and some shoulder stretching

Good bench day. I have avoided floor pressing for years, because it always hurt my shoulder a lot to do them even with light weight, but today I tried it with Glenn and it was ok with the fat bar. I warmed up in smaller jumps to make sure. I guess everything from 330 up would pretty much be a pr, but it's not really comparable to that long ago.

[April Mathis]

Later this evening I did some assistance work:

Flat DB Press
50sx10
80sx8
110sx8
140sx8
165sx2

Shrug Machine
405x10x4sets slow reps

Face Pulls
100x10x4sets

DB Rows
165x10x2sets each arm

Standing Cable Rows
100x10x2sets slow reps

Shoulder Horn
10sx8x3sets

I haven't been doing enough back stuff recently and I didn't do any assistance work earlier so this was alright.

[April Mathis]

05/06/2012 Heavy Squat/Light Deadlift

Squat w/Cambered Bar (black one)
barxsome
155x3
245x3
335x2
425x1 loose belt
475+40lbs. chainx1
475+80lbs. chainx1 loose belt/loose wraps
475+140lbs. chainx1 loose belt/medium wraps
475+240lbs. chainx1 tighter belt/tighter wraps
480+320lbs. chainx1

Deadlift (no belt on all sets)
225x3
Add purple bands
225x3x4sets
275x2x2sets

Knee traction with mini band
3sets of 20 each side

Good squat today. I wasn't sure how easy or hard it was going to be at first with this bar so that's why the smaller jumps at first. And my knees were sore so I put the wraps on a little early. With deadlift I'm just going to pull a little heavier against bands each week until the meet. Two of my best gains on my deadlift were just pulling with bands like this for 5-6 weeks and then going for a heavy pull, so I will just try it again. Probably next week I will try to squat (or even just unrack and hold some weight) with the regular bar to see if my shoulder feels good enough to be able to compete or not 6 weeks from now. If not I will just lift at the one in August instead. I'm taking most of this next week off though. Deload a few weeks ago wasn't enough, because my joints are still hurting a lot. So that will leave 4 weeks heavy and then a week off before the meet, which is a good layout anyways.

[April Mathis]

Squat video from yesterday (last 2 sets): http://www.ironscene...atting-w-chains

[April Mathis]

Took a week off.

05/13/2012 Moderate Squat/Heavy Deadlift

Squat w/Safety Squat Bar (using handles in power rack; walked out)
barxsome
155x5
245x5
335x3
425x3
515x3 loose belt
605x3 loose belt/loose wraps

Rack Pulls (from top of knees)
225x3
315x3
405x3
495x3 loose belt
585x3
655x1 (missed 2nd)
675x1
495x10 PR for reps

Later I did:

Barbell Shrugs with Cambered Bench bar (behind back)
135x8
225x8
315x8
405x8x3sets

Pullups
BWx8,7
BW+20lbs.x4,4

Weighted Decline Situps (weight behind head)
BW+20lbs.x8x4sets

Today was ok. A lot of volume. Squats were all easy. Didn't get what I wanted on rack pulls, but not too far off from the best I've done on them.

Still can't squat with a regular bar without my shoulder hurting. I tried when first warming up and it is a lot better than it was, but I want to wait till it fully heals. I also want to squat with a regular bar at least a few times before competing. So, I'm going to wait and compete at the SPF raw pro-am in August if everything goes well, instead of competing in June.

[April Mathis]

05/14/2012 Shoulders/Triceps

Shoulder Press on smith machine
barxsome
135x8
155x8
175x8
195x8

DB Side Raises
15sx8
20sx8
25sx8

DB Front Raises
20sx8
25sx8
30sx8

Reverse PecDec
60x10x4sets each side

Triceps Pushdowns close-grip
60x15x4sets

Band Triceps Pushdowns
Doubled black mini bandx20x4sets

Shoulder work is feeling much better each time. The shoulder raises and reverse pecdec didn't hurt at all this time and with slightly more weight on each, although still light.