Decisions, Decisions

Lower back has been sore since Tuesday, I have been holding off training until tonight (Thursday) in the hope it would improve. Unfortunately it hasn’t but as I will be busy for the next few days, this is the only opportunity I will have to train till probably Monday/Tuesday.

The plan was to do week 2/phase 2 on bent rows and also throw in some squats.

First decision was whether to do squats to start with followed by rows or vice versa, decided to do squats first. Secondly I was thinking that there was no way my back could handle a rep max at the planned 145kg, so instead thought I would aim for a manageable triple. I was pretty confident even with a sh*tty back that I could manage 150kg for 3+ reps considering the 9 reps I did 6 days ago with 140kg.  So 150kg it was and a good choice too, as I got the triple without any hassle or drama, apart from the back getting tighter.

Moving onto the bent rows, my lower back wasn’t feeling too good and I couldn’t get into a comfortable rowing position. I also forget my percentages and weight I was meant to use, I guestimated it should be 137.5kg and I was hoping for 7-8 reps, 6 reps was all I could get though, which sucks big time! Turns out I should have been aiming for 132.5kg, so that is probably a contributing factor for my crap-ness.

F*ck it, not the end of the world and my back pain  isn’t terminal. Next week is another story. 3-4 days off now, recharge and come back hard. No miscalculations, 100% focused and boom! Target weight for bent rows will be 140kg for max reps and I want 6 reps minimal.

Finished off with some light weight pump sets on cable rows.

Back squats – breaking parallel
20kg x 5, 5
60kg x 5, 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 5
120kg x 2
140kg x 1
150kg x 3

Bent rows
60kg x 5, 5
80kg x 5
110kg x 3
117.5kg x 3
137.5kg x 6

Curl grip pulldowns
35kg x 10
65kg x 8
100kg x 11

Single arm standing cable rows
12.5kg x 10
20kg x 10
27.5kg x 12, 12, 12