24 Mar Zane Geeting, High volume upper day. Not used to this.

I’m currently in a very light, high volume off season training cycle. After the XPC finals I decided I needed to increase my work capacity and bring up some weak and neglected areas in my training. The next few weeks will be training like this, the volume should increase every week. The work I do on these days still compliments the barbell lift that would normally be trained.

Sunday morning was my first “upper” day back in the gym. This is normally my bench day, so all the focus was put on the pressing muscles with special attention paid to the pecs and triceps. Here’s how the session went:

Warm up

Bird dogs

McGills

Glute bridges

Fat man rows and push ups

– I should have done more for the shoulders in this warm up

DB bench

3 sets of 15 reps w/60 lb. DB’s (slow tempo, full ROM)

DB Incline

3 sets of 15 reps, up to 60 lb. DB’s (slow tempo, full ROM)

Seated DB OHP

3 sets of 12 reps, up to 50 lb. DB’s (slow tempo, full ROM)

Side laterals

3 sets of 10 reps, up to 50 lb. DB’s

1 drop set from 50’s to 30’s to 20’s.

Rear delt DB raises

3 sets of 15 w/30 lb. DB’s

Rolling triceps extensions

3 sets of 10 reps w/30 lb. DB’s (slow tempo, full contraction)

Rope pushdowns

2 drop sets (2 drops per set)

Neck machine

2 sets of 20 reps

– That was the end of it. Everything was very light, rest periods were short on most sets (got caught up talking a couple times.) The burn and pump was ridiculous for the little amount of weight I was using here. I’m typing this on Tuesday morning and my triceps are still sore as hell. Normally I short stroke all my DB pressing then hit my triceps directly with heavier close grip pressing and extensions. Here I focused on getting that full ROM and contracting the triceps fully on everything. My tri’s are strong, but they lack the muscular endurance they’re going to need as I start handling heavier weights and taking more warm-ups on my shirted bench. If I want to get my bench back up into the 600’s, I’m going to need to be able to do more than 5-6 total sets (including warm ups) to get to the heavier weights. With the injuries I need to play it safe and take smaller jumps, so I need to be able to handle more volume. This kind of training is going to lay the ground work for being able to do that.

-Tuesday night (tonight) I’ll be back in the gym to work my weak area’s, and important areas for the deadlift. The main focus is going to be on the glutes and hips, with my usual stuff to follow. The volume should be greater than last week as well.

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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.  

Latest posts by Zane Geeting (see all)

• Zane Geeting, Training Update 1/15/2019 - January 15, 2019
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• Zane Geeting, Last 3 Off Season Training Sessions - November 6, 2018