04 Jan Zane Geeting Arnold Classic Meet Prep Weeks 2 and 3 with VIDEO

I’m currently training to compete at the 2018 XPC Finals at the Arnold Classic Sports Festival. I’ll be lifting raw with wraps in the 198 lb. class and looking to best my PR total of 1720. Daniel Dalenberg is handling my 2x per week training split, and Tucker Locken my diet. 

The reason for combining these 2 weeks into one log entry is a small bump in the road that left me not getting much done on week 2. I went into the training cycle with a bad head and chest cold that caused a new and interesting problem for me. I had a bad coughing fit at the beginning of week 2 that resulted in a badly strained right oblique. This was surprisingly painful and made every subsequent cough, or trying to brace my core really uncomfortable. Because of this I skipped the Tuesday night session altogether and waited until Friday to get back into the gym. That session was a feeling out process of what I could and couldn’t do, and wound up being a primarily upper training session. Week 3 was a deload with a lot of technique work. Here’s video of my squats from the lower session…

And here’s what the training sessions consisted of…

12/22/2017, Friday night combo session

I decided to see how bad the oblique was in this session. I knew there was some pain while bracing, but I didn’t know what that would feel like while moving under load.

Warm up

BW squat, Donkey kicks, Banded GM’s, Banded Cat/Camel, McGill’s, More BW squatting

Squat

Worked up to 330×5, shut it down

Bench

Warmed up to 255×3, then… 295×5 and 305x3x2 sets

Floor press

5 sets of 8 reps

Front raises

4 sets of 12 reps

Lat pulldowns

5 sets of 8 reps

Hammer curl/Band pressdown SS

5 sets of 15 ea.

• That was it. Bench work felt good and didn’t bother my side. The squats were not a good call, I needed another week.

12/26/2017, Tuesday night upper deload

This was a deload session, just some light stuff to get the blood flowing. Everything went as it should. Cough was just about gone and the side healing.

Warm up

Side laterals, Scarecrows, Standing DB OHP, Push ups, Cat/Camel, McGill’s

Floor press

3 sets of 5 reps with 225

Front raises

3 sets of 12 reps

Lat pulldowns

4 sets of 8 reps

Face pulls

100 total reps with a band

Hammer curl/band pushdown SS

5 sets of 15 ea.

• Like I said, good session, recovering well.

12/29/2017, Friday night lower deload

This was a very welcome deload to give the side a few more days recovery. I did want to move enough weight to feel like I did something, but not enough to cause any more irritation. It was a very good gauge to see where I was actually at.

Warm up

BW squat, Hip airplanes, Banded GM, Banded Cat/Camel, McGill’s, Donkey kicks, More BW squatting

Squat

Warmed up to 420 for 5 doubles working on form (video above)

Deadlift

Warmed up to 405 for 3 doubles

Barbell rows

3 sets of 8 reps

Pulldowns

3 sets of 10-12 reps

DB bent rows

5 sets of 12 reps

• The end.

This catches us back up to speed in training. The oblique is still a little sore, but nothing to complain about. I think I’m good to resume week 4 as scheduled. Stay tuned for that.

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Zane Geeting

Zane Geeting is a pro multi-ply powerlifter with best lifts of a 935 squat, 625 bench, and 765 deadlift. He is coming back to competitive PL after a year and a half layoff that was a result of several serious injuries including a severe rupture of the right pec that could not be repaired. Zane has an extremely busy schedule that would make most people quit before Friday. He works 55+ hours a week as a finance manager. As a renaissance man, he is also currently restoring a 140 year-old farmhouse and maintaining a hobby farm. Despite all this, Zane still finds time to train 2-3 times per week, as well as coach other lifters.  

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