Sunnyday's Training Journal

[cook]

Happy birthday!

[Sunnyday]

Happy birthday!

Thanks, cook! Been a gloomy one due to rain, soggy everything, and lots of fog, but the empty gym was about the best thing that I could have had happen today.

[Mac]

Happy Birthday Sunny!! You look not a day over 32...

[Sunnyday]

Happy Birthday Sunny!! You look not a day over 32...

Thanks, Mac! I'll take 32.

[Sunnyday]

Wednesday 1/4 bench and some pullups

20 min warmup

Bench press: (each rep paused, press to lockout, reset shoulders at top, repeat)
bar x 5
65x 5
85 x 5
100 x 5
112 x 5 - had planned 5x5 at this weight but it FLEW up!
5 x 115 x 5 with a 2-count pause at the bottom YEAH!!

Neutral grip pullups:
4 x BW+35 x 5

Had to stop there and head to an appointment

[Sunnyday]

There's a powerlifting meet in my future!

USAPL full power (squat, bench, deadlift) at Exile Fitness in Rosedale, MD (where Levrone trains btw)
Date: Saturday, March 18

I'm 10.5 weeks out today!

[Sunnyday]

Just stumbled across this article on Frank Zane and thought I'd share the link. A great read!

http://www.simplyshredded.com/simply...nk-zane-2.html

[Sunnyday]

Thursday 1/5 lower body stuff

30 min warmup

Squats:
2 x bar x 5
2 x 95 x 5
2 x 115 x 5
3 x 135 x 5
walked out 145 but the low back just didn't feel up to it. No sense risking injury at 10 weeks out.

Sumo deads:
135 x 1
155 x 1
175 x 1
6 x 195 x 1 - with 60 sec rests

Had planned some good mornings but the low back was already feeling funky so I opted for safer exercises.

Seated leg curl:
3 x 50 x 10

Nordics:
2 x BW x 8

Horizontal calves:
3 x 150 x 5 with 5-sec hold at top and 2-sec hold at bottom

[Sunnyday]

Friday 1/6 bench, pullups, and some odds and ends

30 min warmup

Gym was busy but I got a bench right away and no waiting for anything! Rare for this time of year AND because the elementary schools had an early dismissal today.

Bench press: (each rep paused, press to lockout, reset shoulders at top, repeat)
bar x 5
65 x 5
85 x 5
105 x 5
115 x 3 - felt heavy, stripped the bar down and started over (which was a GOOD thing)
bar x 5
65 x 5
85 x 5
105 x 3
115 x 3 - CAKE WALK, YEAH!
125 x 3 - this FLEW up so naturally I had to keep going!
130 x 3 - best in 3 months
2 x 132 x 3 - 11 lbs below my best ever triple but considering my heavy bench days have been in the toilet the last 3 months I'm THRILLED! Praying I can ride this gravy train to some bigger weights with equal or better technique.

I got done with benching and thought that was it. Just as I was packing up I get a text from my husband, "Leaving work now, I'll get the kids, have a great workout!"

Hell to the YEAH!

So naturallly I HAD to take full advantage of the situation.

Wide grip pullups:
3 x BW+35 x 5 - third set was a grind so I stopped there

Dips:
3 x BW x 12

Standing bb curl:
3 x 35 x 12 with about 30 sec between sets

Inverted rows:
3 x BW x 12 with a 1-sec hold at top of each rep

Decline DB pullovers:
3 x 45 x 10

Not bad considering I benched for well over an hour and was pretty tired after that alone.

[Sunnyday]

Saturday 12/31 squats n deads

20 min warmup

The snow chased everyone away so NO wait for a squat rack today!

Squats:
bar x 5
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 3
145 x 3 - a little shaky considering it's my 6RM, go figure
155 x 3 - felt like I was squatting a Prius and I've hit this for a solid 5 recently.
Decided to move on

Sumo deads:
135 x 1
155 x 1
175 x 1
195 x 1
6 x 200 x 1 - with 60-90 sec between singles
My original plan was to pull 226 for the same number of singles at the same interval. The bod insisted that wasn't going to happen and 200 was a ROUGH grind! Go figure, since I pulled 215 earlier in the week and it felt pretty good compared to this.

Rack pulls:
well I had planned to try for 315 but nooooooo. Opted for a few pulls at a percentage over my work sets of deads
each of these bare hands, no straps/wraps, just below the knee, with a 3-count hold at the top
135 x 1
155 x 1
175 x 1
195 x 1
215 x 1
3 x 235 x 1

[Sunnyday]

I've been living in Maryland for 23 years and have been searching all that time for legit pizza. Well friends, I'm glad to say I've finally found legit pizza within a reasonable commute of my house.

Acappella Italian Restaurant in Fallston, MD is turning out legit brick oven pizza. It's a little out of the way (for me) but if you're within a reasonable commute, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Service is awesome too!

Pictured is their margherita with fresh mozzarella and fresh basil. Crust is on point, not a hint of sogginess! Sauce is perfectly balanced.

image.jpg

[Sunnyday]

Monday 1/9 bench and some upper body stuff

30 min warmup

Bench press: (each rep paused, press to lockout, reset shoulders at top, repeat)
bar x 5
65x 5
85 x 5
4 x 105 x 4 - with a 2-count pause at bottom
115 x 4
121 x 4 something went funky in the palm of my left hand. Decided to stop there to keep from making it worse.

Neutral grip pulluos:
3 x BW x 10

Incline bb:
3 x bar x 20

Leaning DB lateral raise:
3 x 15 x 12/side

Reverse DB fly,leaning on incline bench:
3 x 15s x 10

Hand release pushups:
3 x BW x 12

Pinwherl curls:
3 x 15s x 12

V-bar pressdown:
3 x 25 x 12

[Sunnyday]

Tuesday 1/10 squats n deads n stuff

30 min warmup

GYM WAS EMPTY! - Seems to be a trend on Tuesday in 2017

Squats:
bar x 5
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5 - felt awful, as in awfully painful. Set Plan B into action
Did walkouts with 155 and 165
Did 2 x 145 x 4 quarter squats with the safety bars set as high as they'd go
Low back and entire left hip capsule were upset, who knows why THIS time. Ugh.
Dropped 30 lbs off the bar and did...
6 x 115 x 4 - moved well although not pain free at least I could hit proper depth, a whopping 40 lbs below last week's working sets of 4 and 50 lbs below my best-ever. Blah.

Sumo deads:
I dialed these down 25 lbs just to make sure I could get it done pain free
135 x 1
155 x 1
175 x 1
8 x 190 x 1 with 45 sec rests. Last week I was pulling 215 for this time interval but I'll take it that I could at least move it pain free.

RDLs:
3 x 135 x 6, dropped back 2 reps/set so I wasn't pushing it too far. No pain but I could feel a TON of pressure at L5/S1 throughout each rep

Horizontal calf machine:
3 x 5 with 5-sec hold at top and 3-sec hold at bottom

[Sunnyday]

Wednesday 1/11 bench only

30 min warmup

I've been struggling in training this week with an upset hip. What set it off I have no idea, maybe weather, maybe just in a "mood", your guess is as good as mine. Chiro even said it felt "sticky" during my adjustment this morning. Ah, the joys of severe osteoarthritis! -Not.

The hip was giving me the finger all through bench warmup and each time I'd try a little leg drive it would scream NO. Lovely. Well I was determined to bench something, even with no leg drive
Bench press: (each rep paused, press to lockout, reset shoulders at top, repeat)
bar x 5
65x 5
85 x 5
100 x 5 - very rough to here with no leg drive, played around wth setups to sneak around the hip issues and ramped it up REAL SLOW
105 x 5
110 x 5
115 x 5
120 x 5
125 x 5 first 3 reps were solid, next 2 were slow but no help at all. This is where I was at the end of the summer. Feels good and like I'm back on a good path of progress.

Ran out of time as the above took 2 hours. Worth it if I get my bench back where it was in mid-September.

[Sunnyday]

I have a decision to make and it has to do with my meet the weekend of March 18. I have an opportunity to meet and train alongside world record holders Ray Williams and Dennis Cornelius, but it would be on the same day as my meet. I know where I'm leaning but with limited space on meeting these guys I take a chance on getting blocked out of both the meet AND the training opportunity. To me it's a no-brainer though.