I came to the quick realization today that I am now 7 weeks in training for my 1st gear meet in Debeque, IA which is at the end of March. That means I'm just over half way, which is just flat out exciting and makes me a little nervous. Just a little.

Today was a Dynamic Effort (DE) Upper Body training. That means I was training for speed and I was bench pressing.

The picture above demonstrates the set-up and looks badass...



8x3 @ 135lbs+bands
2x5 @ 155lbs w/o bands

3x15 bwt.push-ups
3x? 25lbs pull-ups
4x6 DB Military Press

The push-ups were a failed attempt to help relieve some pain in my shoulder - my thinking was to get a good stretch through the front side of the shoulder but after thinking through it I was probably doing more harm then good. I was causing humeral extension with the push-up motion and increasing that because I was doing elevated push-ups. That is where my "stretch" feeling was coming from, which felt good, but the pressure I was putting in my shoulder due to the motion would likely cause more pain from impingement then it would cure. What I should have done, one option amongst thousands, is to stretch the front side/ant.delt/pec to help create space in the joint and then activate the back side musculature to help bring my shoulders in a better postural position and alieve some pressure and take stress out of the front side of my shoulder. That's what I should have done ... live and learn and now you know.

The pull-ups went god-aweful - I had no improvement from the last time I did them a few weeks back. I think this is going to be a much need area of improvement and that is only going to help shatter my bench records. The stronger the base the stronger the structure!

The military press went well. It was a little lighter than I'd hope for but I worked it hard and my shoulders are still feeling good.

It was a good day, and damn I feel like a gansta...