28 Mar Zane Geeting, Off Season Weeks 1 and 2

I recently competed in the XPC Finals at the 2018 Arnold Classic where I had a lack-luster performance totaling 1710@198 raw with wraps and luckily winning the 198 class. I’m now in an off season training cycle working on bringing up some weak areas.

I was feeling pretty beat up after the meet so I really eased back into training before starting my off season cycle. For this block of training I’ll be rotating bench one week with standing overhead press the next on upper days, and deadlifting every other week on the lower days, while squatting every week with varying volume and intensity based on whether or not I’m pulling that week. So basically:

Week 1- Bench with Squatting for volume, no deadlifts

Week 2- OHP with low volume squat and a good amount of deadlift work.

Here’s what the first 2 weeks looked like:

Week 1, Day 1, Upper Training

Warm up: McGill’s, Cat/Camel, Bird dogs, DB OHP, Side laterals, Scarecrows, Push ups

Bench

Warmed up to 195x10x5 sets

Dips

5 sets of 10-12 reps with bodyweight

Standing French press

4 sets of 10 reps

Seal rows

5 sets of 10 reps

Side laterals

3 sets of 10 reps +1 drop set w/2 drops

• Very light, very easy. Felt good.

Week 1, Day 2, Lower Training

Warm up: BW squat, McGill’s, Donkey kicks, Cat/Camel, Glute bridges, More BW squatting

Squat

Warmed up to 380×8

Belt squat

5 sets of 10 reps

Barbell rows

5 sets of 8 reps

Lat pulldowns

5 sets of 12 reps

Machine shrug/EZ bar curl SS

5 sets of 15/10

• Good session, took longer than expected at 2.5 hours. Need to decrease rest time between sets

That wrapped up week 1 of the off season. I think the overall workload was spot on to get started, we’ll see how that changes as I progress. I will be timing rest periods between sets, especially on the accessory stuff.

Week 2, Day 1, Upper Training

Warm up: McGill’s, Bird dogs, Cat/Camel, DB OHP, Side laterals, Scarecrows, Push ups

Standing OHP

Warmed up to 150x8x3 sets

Dips

5 sets of 10 reps with bodyweight

Standing French Press

4 sets of 10 reps

Seal rows

5 sets of 10 reps

Side laterals

5 sets of 15 reps

• Good session, was a little over the RPE of 7 on the OHP, but I think it was related to shorter rest periods and fatigue setting in. I’ll monitor this in the coming weeks.

Week 2, Day 2, Lower Training

Warm up: BW squat, McGill’s, Donkey kicks, Cat/Camel, Glute bridges, Hip airplanes, More BW squatting

Squat

Warmed up to a single at 510

Sumo Deadlift

Warmed up to 425×3, then… 475×10

Belt squat

5 sets of 10 reps

Lat pulldowns

5 sets of 10-12 reps

Machine shrug/EZ bar curl SS

5 sets of 20/10

• Called it good there. I was going to do some block pulling after the pulling from the floor, but decided to ease into that in the coming weeks. My lower back wasn’t feeling awesome and I didn’t want to beat it up. I’m also working on pulling hook grip again. In this session I used it up to 425, then used straps for the top set of DL.

That was it for week 2. So far things are feeling really good, my BW is staying around 218 even with increased calories and more red meat being added into the diet. I’m looking forward to seeing how things progress, I’m feeling very positive about it.

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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
• Zane Geeting, Off Season Training Update - January 7, 2019
• Zane Geeting, Last 3 Off Season Training Sessions - November 6, 2018