Training Update Strengh phase almost done

Well I did the queen workout of the strength training workout the other day. This is the Heavy day of Week 2 of the Strength Phase. In this workout the last set is 2 reps at 100% of the 1Rep Max (1RM) that all the workouts have been calculated from.

The workout goes 5 reps at 85% 1RM, 4 reps at 90% 1RM, 3 reps at 95%, 2 reps at 100%.

It is really neat to be able to complete 2 reps at a weight that you'd originally established as a 1rep max. It's sort of theoretical in my case, because I don't go about setting the 1RM in a true 1 rep fashion. I either take a wild guess, or do reps of 3 or 4 and extrapolate.

My squat isn't the best when I get up to these higher weights. It's more of a mental thing as I am just tentative and don't go down as far as I should. I just sort of picture a full body implosion. Leg press went fine as did hamstring curl which in years past I haven't done so well at.

Throughout my weight workout I up the weights (or lower) as necessary. In hypertrophy, if I can the 6 sets at 12 reps and it feels too easy, I'll start upping the weight by a little.

During week one of strength I do 4 sets at 6 reps of progressivly harder %s. It all went pretty well, and I upped weight a tad. By this time I don't seem to get and real soreness from the workouts, just a dead fatigued feeling in the legs. It is hard enough that I'll only workout 2 days a week with 2 days in between. I've started to ride for an hour on the off days a day after lifting the legs are totally dead. No snap whatsover on the bike.

I noticed that when riding during hypertrophy that the legs had some snappieness to them even though they felt very fatigued from the lifting. In strength phase the are just logs. But that will change in another few days as things start to transition into the power phase.

For upper body I continue to just mix it up. Some reps on this horizantal chest press machine which I like because it puts my arms in a cycling position. Upright rows sometimes. Wes turned me onto these external rotator excercises. Which are hard as heck. Literally 5-8 lb dumbells with full teeth gritting.

When I get into the power phase next week I'm going to switch to pushups and try to aim for some clapping pushups to get that quick power push. I'm hoping this will help when mtn biking and working the bike on the terrain, pushing down to eek out speed off the trail. I'l also do some hang cleans (light weight) just to get that hip thrust motion.

And also comes more riding. Right now I've just gotten on the bike a few times for an hour or so. Mainly in the mornings just to try and get used to the cold a little bit. But soon comes some sprints, Muscle endurance intervals and long miles.