Day 28

Mass Day

1. Pendlay Row
185x7; 185x7; 185x7; 185x7 (+1 on all sets)

2.  RDL
225x12 (+2); 225x6 (50% set); 135x15

3. Seated DB Press
70x9 (+1, PR); 70x4 (50% set)

4.  Strict BB Curl
65x12; 65x12; 65x8

5a.  Suitcase DL
155x3; 155x3; 155x3 (+20 lbs)

5b. Windmill
53x4; 53x4; 53x4

5c. Facepulls
80x20; 80x20; 80x20 (+5 lbs)

6a, 6b, 6c:  2 rounds of leg raises; hypers, and calve raises

Notes
Off to a slow start but ended up decent.  Bumped up weight and reps on most stuff. I still find Pendlays to be hard as hell.  I'm really working on hammering my core each session.  I want it to become a strong point.

Day 27

Jog/Run
-3.5 miles
-40 minutes
-Avg HR140

Golf
-8 holes, +5

Notes
Calves were screaming during the run. They are sore as hell today.  I walked for about 30 seconds 3-4 times. I'm starting to get a little miffed at the forefoot running.  I guess I just expected a "switch" at some point.  I need to be jogging with more frequency, but its just hard to fit everything in.

Day 26

Strength/Power

1. Power Clean and Jerk
185x1; 185x1; 185x1; 185x1; 185x1

2. Hang Clean and Jerk
185x1; 225x1 (PR)

3.  Deadlift
370x1; 395x1; 405x1; 405x1; 405x1; 335x3; 335x3; 335x3
(78%), (83%), (85%), (70% back-offs)

4.  BTN Jerk
135x3; 185x1; 185x1; 185x1; 185x1

5.  BTN Press
135x1; 145x1; 155x1; 165x1; 115x12 (AMAP +2)
(singles same as DL %'s) (AMAP remains at 60%)

6.  Chins
BWx6; 45x3; 35x3

7. 3 Month Position Pullover
25x8; 25x8; 25x8

8a. Decline Deadbugs
2x5

8b. YTIs
2x5/5/5

Notes
Crisp session.  Matt said my cleans looked "athletic."  I'm not sure if he was joking, but if he wasn't, thats a good sign. Again, I'm just doing these to keep a groove.  I cannot really go up in weight without bumpers.  Matt also said the deadlifts look really good. He knows everything I'm doing so knows what it should look like.

I kinda feel like I need more volume for the BTN presses, but I'll just go with it as prescribed by the Strong-15 (for bench).  One minor change - I'm keeping the AMAP at 60% until I can bang out solid 20 reps at 115.

The Robertson Pullover remains my new favorite exercise.  I love it for so many reasons.  It gives a great lat stretch, improves shoulder mobility, hits the abs hard, and allows me to practice breathing in an overhead position.  The coolest part however, is the bench gives you feedback on spine neutrality when you are in the most stretched overhead position possible. I just think its a great movement.

Day 25

Golf
-27 total holes
-84 first 18 holes, +4 on the final 9 holes

Notes
Really fun day on the course.  I played  much better than my score, but its still early in the season for me.  Putting is much improved. I'm scoring high right now because I just have hugely errant shots.  No groove as of yet.  My old handicap is still in the system from 2010.  I was a 4, and its already trending to 6 haha.  Oh well.

I'm so happy to come back to NH and play at Bretwood.  36 holes with each 18 playing around 7000 yards.  We always play from the tips.  Its good golf and a good challenge.  I like the exercise as well.  18 holes is 5-6 miles.  So 27 means I was out walking for about 6.5 continuous hours today.  If my heart rate monitor is correct (based on 9 holes), that is a 3000 calorie burn.  Time to really clean the diet up and take advantage of this activity level.

Lifting is on the back burner for the summer.  Two days a week just to maintain muscle and strength.  Hopefully, I can get a nice press and some sort of deadift PR since those are the only things I'm focusing on.

Day 24

Golf
-18 holes
-85

Notes
Skipped the morning conditioning session I had planned because I was exhausted when I woke up Saturday morning.  Walking 18 holes is plenty of exercise for one day (5-6 miles with 20lb bag).

Day 23

Cardio

Stairstepper
-30 minutes
-2.1 miles
-486 calories

Abz: 3 Month Position Pullover
-20x8; 20x8; 20x8

Golf
-9 holes
-+5
-1096 calories

Notes
Long day and long week.  Tough Mudder is still up in the air, but I've recently learned that it is on a mountain.  So, I'm going to split my low intensity cardio between jogs and stair stepper.  Two days to each if I can.  One thing that I'm taking into consideration is all of the walking with a golf bag.  18 holes is easily 5-6 miles.  So, I'm keeping that in my mind in terms of recovery, etc.

Looooooooove the pullover, as described in Mike Robertson's latest article.  The stretch feels amazing, and I was really surprised at how hard my abs were working. I love these type of core exercises. Improving shoulder

Day 22

1. RDL
185x5; 185x5; 225x10; 225x5 (50%)

2.  DB Press
85x4; 70x8 (PR); 70x4 (50%)

3. Pendlay Row
185x6; 185x6; 185x6; 185x6

4.  BB Curl
Barx20; Barx20; Barx20

5a.  Suitcase Deadlift
135x4; 135x4; 135x4

5b.  Facepulls
70x20; 70x20; 70x20

5c.  Windmill
53x3; 53x3; 53x3

Notes
Solid session.  I'm utilizing the Big-15 for mass day from here on.  So Monday is strength/power utilizing the Strong-15, and Thursday is hyptertrophy utilizing the Big-15.   The Big-15 is essentially this:

40% x 5

50% x 4

60% x 3

75% x 2

85% x 1

70-77% x AMAP + 50% set

The only problem I have with this is DB OH press and RDL aren't really conducive to the overload sets. I'm thinking I may re-arrange this day so that I start with Pendlay rows.  Then I use the Big-15 for Pendlay and DB press, and then do RDL for reps. I like that because the Pendlay were very hard today after pre-exhausting with the RDLs.