Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Strict press 5 rep max

So it appears my shoulders have gotten weaker. I've been having some issues with my left shoulder, always finding it out of socket and whatnot. The shoulder likes to roll out of socket because I have a weak supraspinatus, so I've been doing supraspinatus exercises throughout the day, but it hasn't made any noticeable difference yet. Anyways, because there seems to be something off with my shoulder it's been hard to push it, and so I think it's gotten weaker.

I've always been aware of my weakness in overhead press, one reason why when Jerry asked us to make goals for the year I listed one handstand pushup. Well, it seems that I'm not the only one so Jerry's starting us on a strength cycle for shoulder strength. I'm pretty excited.

Monday we found our 5 rep strict press max, then rep out at 80%.

Back in November my max was 120, so I wanted today to be 125. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Instead, I only got up to 110. The ten pound decrease was a little disheartening, but my shoulders just didn't feel that strong today. The record for the rep out set was 16, so I made it my goal to get 17. I rested a few times near the end, but 85# was light enough that I got 17. Honestly I think I might've had one more in me, but mentally I was already celebrating reaching my goal. For my shoulders the strength drops off so quickly, what I can easily do at 105 I can't do at 115. Like the difference in difficulty is huge. I guess that's what happens when you're exercising small muscles. ...I would also like to note that I did a better job of keeping the core tight, up preventing an arch in my back. It's still difficult to engage my core like that, but as long as I keep progressing, the sky's the limit.

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