Explosive Floor Press, Rant, and Ideas

First of all, if you haven't seen this, check it out:

Thoughts for the day regard improving strength through warmups and pure tonnage:

You may realize it or you may not--either way, it'll get you thinking. Not only do we get better and increase our 1rm on our lifts by becoming technically proficient and consistent, but also we get stronger by increasing our work capacities and what our bodies can handle. Let me define that for you as tonnage. Tonnage refers to the amount of weight moved over various sets and reps. In my opinion, this is very similar to the physics principle of work: f•d. Now, over the course of a program, tonnage progresses in some manner, whether it be linear, undulating wave-like, or some other form of periodization. When your body is able to handle more tonnage from week to week...you get stronger.

Dinner post training: 1lb ground turkey

 

 

When you combine that with technique and consistency, you have a program and you cannot fail unless you get hurt, do dumb stuff, etc. While not all the sets and reps are ever set in stone, they are should be laid out in such a manner as to increase your total tonnage from week to week in a manner that allows you to handle more weight, raise work capacity, and do so all in a way that isn't too much for your body to handle in a short time. This is why it is so important to include a progression of the warmup sets to your top weight. If you keep the same warm up weights from week to week, your total tonnage might only increase if your top set or working sets increase.

Now, imagine increasing all your sets working up to your highest weight. Say you normally take the bar, 135, 185, 225, 275, etc. What if you start taking the bar, 145, 195, 225, 285, etc all the way to your working weight. Some people might say that those light weights are negligible because they such a low percentage. What if you're working in the 90-95% range for the day and you increase all those weights in the 70-85% range warming up too? We know that the 80% range is where peak force is produced and it is my belief that you get the most bang for your buck here. This is exactly why you'll see me doing things like:

1x5 (5rm) @ RPE 10
3x2 @ RPE 8
4x3 @ RPE 8
These rep schemes all allow you to train in that 80-85% region

Now, because you are increasing all of your warmup sets, your work/tonnage can easily increase by 300lbs from week to week for a single day...aka over 1000lbs a week. That means that in 10 weeks, you increase your bodies ability to do work by over 10,000lbs. THAT is strength. All in all, think about what you're doing, why you're doing it, and how to be better.


Today was a down day of sorts. I'm definitely beat up from yesterday

Floor Press
Barx10
95x5
135x5
165x3
195x2
205 6x2 @ rpe 6-7
135 2x15 @ 6

Incline DB Press
65 3x15 slow

100 band pressdowns

Standing DB Military
50lbs 4x6
65lbs 1x6

Band Fly's 3x15

Concentration curls
15, 15, 8, 6, 10 each arm