Today’s was another workout that might better be described more in terms of power-endurance. Now these small distinctions – although they make for some great armchair discussion (and I’m all for that, too) – amount to nil in the real world. Going in, I made an educated guess (according to how I felt, how the lead-in priming sets felt, my last similar outing, what my last few workouts entailed, etc…) as to the proper loading for each of these movements, then I loaded-up the bar and pushed that particular weight as fast and as hard, and with as minimum rest between sets as possible. Was it a perfect bull’s-eye hit? No. But the end result is that this was a kick-ass workout that ended-up being skewed a little more toward the power end of the modality spectrum than I’d originally aimed for. All my body knows is that it better damn well adapt before it gets flogged with the next onslaught. This is the true nature of the game. The proper mix of intelligence, planning, single-minded focus and the willingness to bust ass.
Both of these movements were performed under the 21-rep, rest-pause scheme, with every concentric performed as fast as possible. The snatch-grip low pulls were performed in the rack, with the bar set just a fraction below knee level; bar above navel every rep.
- behind-the-neck push press: 135 x 5; 155 x 3; 175 x 2; 195 x 21, rest-pause method, mostly in groups of 2s. 11:20 time to completion. Compare at 190/14:15 last outing. I interjected approximately 4 sets of 2, straight bar muscle-ups as “cns prompts” at points during the set where I felt my rep “snap” beginning to faulter.
- snatch-grip low pull, out of the rack: 135 x 5; 185 x 3; 225 x 21, rest-pause method, 3s across the board. 7 minutes flat. Straps on all reps. Full & fast triple extension on every rep.
The next couple of weeks are likely to be hit-or-miss on the workout (as well as the blogging) front, as much of my limited free time will be swallowed-up in the home sale/moving/transitioning process. I plan on riding this 21-rep-method pony on through the other side of the transition, at which point I’ll re-assess and change up as indicated by that re-assessment. So, a little bit of randomness and plenty of unknown is headed my way.
Bring it on.
Theory to Practice 