EXTRA SESSION

week 18 day 4

shoulders
hips

PALLOF PRESS COMPLEX
5 reps, 4 rounds

BAND EXTERNAL ROTATION
3 sets of 15

BAND CURLS
3 sets of 12

SS CARDIO
20 minutes elliptical

The bare minimum on a weekly basis will be 60 minutes of cardio, with the goal being around 80. This week I had 70 minutes plus the tabata. I have 9 weeks left, so if I hit my goal every week, I'll have done just over 13 hours of cardio. That's 13 hours I normally would not have done in meet prep. I'm looking forward to the increased capacity recovery as well as the reduced profile.

Mens Sana in Corpore Sano

DEAD LIFT

week 18 day 3

shoulders
hips

DEAD LIFT
135/135/225/315/365/405x1, (added blue/black reverse bands) 455/495x1

SS CARDIO
25 minutes treadmill

I felt like taking the dead lift up a little. It was my first time using reverse bands on the dead lift. I could definitely feel the weight at the top. My glutes barely exist and my form was crappy, so I need this kind of work.

Mens Sana in Corpore Sano

LIGHT BENCH PRESS

week 18 day 2

shoulders
hip flexors

BENCH PRESS
45x5, 135x3, 185/225/275x2

CABLE ROW
2 sets of 20

SS CARDIO
25 minutes on elliptical

I think the tabata was rough on my right leg. I've had a dull ache since Tuesday night. I'm going to do lots of foam rolling to get that IT band to loosen up and put away the tabata in favor of the fast walking for 25 mins working up to 30 mins to make sure I don't kill my leg.

Mens Sana in Corpore Sano

SQUAT

Week 18, day 1

HIP FLEXORS
SHOULDERS

SQUAT
triples to 365

PALLOF COMPLEX
5reps, 3 rounds, no rest

TABATA (elliptical)
2 min warmup
4 rounds: 20 sec on, 10 sec off
2 min cooldown

I honestly don't know if this cardio is optimal, but it's better than what I've been doing (nothing) for cardio. I think I'm going to be doing the tabata on my squat and dead lift days, and steady state cardio on my bench press days. I'll work my tabatas up to 8 rounds of 20 sec on and 10 sec off. I'm not sure how much I weigh, but I'm just going to hit the cardio hard for a set period of time (up to 8 weeks out) and then see how much progress I've made. I'll most likely switch to 4 sessions of steady state cardio and get rid of the tabata once I get to 8 weeks out.

Mens Sana in Corpore Sano

BENCH PRESS

Off week day 1

BENCH PRESS
45x5, 135/185x3, 225/275/315/345/375x1, 405x MMMIIISSSSSSS

ROWS
3 sets of 10

Missed 405 again. I got it off my chest and it drifted over my face too early. I'm going to let it go for now and just start my next meet cycle. The main goal starting out will be to lose some weight using complexes and the like. About 8 weeks out I'll drop the complexes in favor of more "normal" assistance. My goal is just to get into the 290 range. As much extra weight as I carry around, I should be able to drop that much. Since I'm using a Big Iron Gym-style template, I need to have my openers (or at least an idea) at the beginning. My openers are as follows: squat-495, bench press-365, dead lift-490.

Mens Sana in Corpore Sano