[Michaela Aycock]

Thanks, Wanner!

Chest 1/7/19

Battle of the presses
Felt strong, but reps just didn’t have the power I wanted in them
Even though I “felt” strong, it was almost like weights felt “too heavy”, get in my set and they were just pushing through molasses
Press on!

Slight incline smith press
“225” x 5 last one forced
“195” x 7 last one forced

Incline DB press
Shot myself in the foot here on the first set lol
80’s x 4
70’s x 6
60’s x 8

Seated cable fly
Set one : 13 reps
Set Two: same weight x 9 + two drops

Wide grip dips – almost press
Set one: 6 reps
Set Two: same weight x 5 reps + single drop

Seated machine lateral raise
3 sets same weight 20-12 reps

Seated cable shoulder press
2 sets same weight x 12-9 reps

[Michaela Aycock]

As you all may have picked up on by now, I replaced my usual ham day yesterday with delts because today I had the opportunity to train legs with Joe Bennett and Terrance Ruffin

It was an honor and we had a blast

Forgive me on not knowing reps of everything, I just followed Joes lead

If more insight into the session as far as execution is wanted, then I will provide that!

Working sets listed only, but a lot of slow warm ups were done prior to each

Seated hamstring curl
2 sets 11-6 rep range w/ forced reps

Barbell front squat
225 x 7

Lying leg curl
3 working sets 6-10 rep range w/ forced reps

Barbell walking lunges
2 working sets

Hack squat
5pps x 11
4pps x 13

[Michaela Aycock]

Delts 1/4/19

Hammer strength “behind the neck” press
2pps x 7, almost 8

Hammer strength “military front press”
2pps x 6
1 p + 25 ps x 8 + 3 top partials

Seated DB lateral raise
2 sets with 20’s x 14-11 + bottom partials

Smith machine upright row
“135” x 7
“95” x 16

Bent over cable rear delt fly from low pulleys
2 sets 17-12 reps
Second set single drop set

Seated DB press
I’ve never done these last but just got the urge. A good set for me as a first movement is 70’s x 6-8
Today as the final movement was 60’s x 6

Standing ez bar front raise
1 set w/ 40# as many strict reps as I could get (don’t remember count)

[Michaela Aycock]

I prefer to keep them split!
I’d rather have higher effort and more recovery with each having their own day, vs maybe sacrificing either effort for one OR recovery within a week just to spread volume over the week.

Just think, if I do 6 sets of hams, 6 sets of quads once per week on their own day, OR 3 sets of hams 3 sets of quads 2x/ week together
Which do you think would produce more output of effort within a given day and recovery within a given week?

And volume just ends up being the same for the total week but maybe I can’t give full effort to a main movement for hams if My body is spent from a full effort set of quads if on the same day
I’d rather go all out on quads, recover, go all out on hams, recover, repeat

[Michaela Aycock]

I thought this would be something different to share.
Pics with the purple turf are yesterday

The current phase has been nothing but food and training, and treating every day just as you should treat a prep, but with a non fat loss focus

The comparison photo is April 25 2017
14 weeks out of Tampa Pro
We started that prep at 20 weeks out
And
Today in our current off season phase
They are both the same weight

I’m sharing this just to show a little more insight and transparency within the process

After Tampa Pro 2017, I have not had an “off season” phase longer than 8 weeks as I prepped for the Arnold, and then the Olympia

This year I could have done the same and prepped for the Arnold, however we wanted to utilize that time to make the improvements we want to make before the Olympia rolls around again

Our primary focus is growing my legs
I really need to fill the gap between my legs and not have narrow quads in my front double, along with my quad sweep carrying up higher closer to my hip
And that just is not going to come during a prep
There are other things I want to improve, but that is the main

It may seem drastic or obsessed to some, but I treat every single day as this is my job and mission. I love my job, but I have duties for myself to fulfill and I go to work every day seeking those.

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[Michaela Aycock]

Julie – That is awesome, thank you very much! Let me know if you have any questions along the way!

Brian – Thank you, and I sure do! I hope you are well!

[Michaela Aycock]

Back 1/2/19

This was my week for T Bar row to be back in rotation for my main row movement (not a huge deal, i just have a personal system I like to follow lol), but the gym is renovating and the entire rack and T Bar row set up was gone. Bummer.

Good day though.

Wide Grip Lat Pull Down

-Remain as upright as possible. HARD contractions, controlled eccentric, pause at stretch but no releasing tension-

Set one: 140 x 11 + stretch partials

Set two 140 x 7, drop to 100 x cant remember reps + stretch partials

Reverse Grip EZ Bar Row

-Rowing back to waist. Hard contraction, controlled eccentric, slight pause at stretch to not use momentum to drive weight

Set one: 4 25’s ps x 9

Set two: same weight x 7

T Bar Row Machine

Honestly not particularly fond of this set up, but they were good reps and got the job done.

-Aiming to keep upper body as close to parallel to floor as possible. Rowing to lower ribs. Controlled reps, hard contractions-

Set one: 5 25’s x 8.5

Set two: same weight x 6, strip two plates, dead stop reps x 5

Single Arm DB Row

-Hips square, upper body parallel to floor, no momentum/twisting/jerking-

Set one: Dead stop reps, driving weight “up” and controlling down 105 x 7

Set two: More of a “swing row” here, letting DB drift out in front of me and rowing it “back” to waist, controlling the weight through my lats/low lats entire ROM 105 x 8

Close Neutral Grip Pull Down – Staying upright, pulling down to chest, hard contractions, controlled eccentrics, pause at stretch

Into

Cable EZ Bar Pullover – Upper body parallel to floor, hard contractions, controlled eccentrics, good stretch

1 round 12ish reps each

[Michaela Aycock]

I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year!

Chest 1/1/19

A lot of people actually requested a full chest training video in my last instagram poll, so I recorded this session in full to make it such!

Will go into further detail on there as far as execution goes.

Incline Smith Press

Set one: “205” x 6

Set two: “185” x 6, 2, 1 “rest pause” set

DB Floor Press

Set one: 80’s x 5

Set two: 70’s x 8 / almost 9

Incline DB Fly

Set one: 55’s x 6

Set two: 40’s x 7

Pin Loaded Dip Machine

One set: 11 reps

Into – Seated Cable Fly

One set: 6 reps, drop x 8, drop x contraction partials x 9 + stretch

Reverse thumbless grip ex bar curl

One set: 50 x 9 x wrap thumbs x 3

DB Hammer curl

Set one: 30’s to strict failure + failure with a little momentum for a few more

Set two: rack run/drop 30’s, 25’s, 20’s, 15’s

[Michaela Aycock]

Quads 12/31

Good day today as far as movements go, I was happy with how everything went. If I had a particular critique, it would be that my pump wasn’t quite as strong as I tend to have, but I am currently on antibiotics so assuming that may play a role. Overall a good and successful day.

Hack Squat

One set: 11 total plates x 10

Didn’t feel the need for a back down set today. That was the most reps i’ve gotten with that weight in the past 4 weeks or so, previous best was 11 at my strongest so I counted this as a good day because the past few weeks have really been a fight on strength.

 

Barbell Front Squat

Set One: 225 x 8

Set Two: 185 x 9 longer pause in hole

Honestly not even sure how long its been since doing these free weight. I stick to the smith but it was taken. I was pretty pleased with these and how they felt, I know they’d make good improvements from this if kept in consistently. I did lose my balance on the 5th or 6th rep of the first set that threw me off a bit and why I think I prefer smith to keep full focus on quads the entire time. But nonetheless I was happy with these today.

 

Leg Press

Lower and closer stance than what I do for Hams, piston style reps, keeping tension on quads throughout entire ROM, and no pauses or locking out until quads fail and I had to rack

Set one: 5 pps x 15, rack, then did two more attempts but cant recall reps

Set two: 4 pps x straight set, sorry again I cant recall amount of reps

 

Leg Ext – Pause at contraction, controlled eccentric, pause at bottom whilst maintaining tension, explosive concentric

Set one: straight set x 9 + bottom partials

Set two: same weight as set one and did a double drop

 

DB Bulgarian split squat – Holding DB in opposite hand of leg being worked – constant tension on quad throughout

Set one : 40 x 14

Set two: 40, drop to 25, drop to body weight

[Michaela Aycock]

Delts w/ arms 12/29

Not so typical structure of training for me but needed to pair arms with delts today instead of separate tomorrow

Seated smith press
“185” x 5, rack, 1, rack, 1
“155” longer pause at chin x 8.5, rack, 3, rack, 1 + bottom “partials”

Single arm seated DB press
60x 8

Standing DB lateral raises
Straight sets of 12 increasing weight until I got to 30’s x 10, drop to 20’s, drop to 15’s

Close grip smith press (triceps)
3 25’s per side x 5, drop to 2 25’s per side to extend set
Then dropped to 1 per side and slid forward making it a skull crusher/extension

Seated single arm overhead DB ext
20’s x 8, 7, 6

V bar press down into ext
2 rounds 12-10 each

Rope hammer curl
Sets of 12 increasing weight until I couldn’t get 12

EZ bar bicep curl
70 x 8
Reverse grip 50 x can’t remember

Tri Set
Bent over cable rear delt fly
Lying cable upright row
Cable front raise
2 rounds 15-12

[Michaela Aycock]

Diet update Dec 29, 2018

AM shake:
Nutridyn greens
Glutamine
Natural calm
Endefen
ACV
Lemon

Nutridyn greens before meal 5 also

Off days I remove pre/intra powders
And change pre training meal to chicken and rice

Meal One:
55-60g carbs (English muffins/ bagel/ toast)
12g pb2
50g banana
1 whole egg
150g egg whites
80g chicken
Peppers & onions
3g fish oil
( off season I like to have califia farms almond milk mocha creamer in my coffee)

Meal Two – Pre Training
60g carbs from cereal or cream of rice
50g Banana
30g whey iso
–
Leg days
75g carbs from cereal
50g banana
30g whey iso

Meal Three
180g jasmine rice
112g lean beef
3g fish oil
–
Leg days
210g jasmine rice

Meal Four:
180g jasmine rice OR 250g any potato cooked
112g chicken
Green beans

Meal Five:
1 food for life brown rice tortilla or equal amount carbs via rice
112g lean poultry
(Sometimes I do oats and whey)

Meal six:
200g organic plain non fat Greek yogurt
20g whey iso
150g any fruit
12g pb2
16g almond butter
3g fish oil

[Michaela Aycock]

Hams 12/28

Lying leg curl
Controlled eccentrics
Dead stop at stretch
“Explosive” concentric
Hard contractions

Set 1: 9 full reps
Set 2: rest pause set with same weight on initial attempt and reduced weight on 2nd & 3rd attempt x 7, 7, 8

High wide leg press
Controlled eccentric sinking as deep as I could keeping hard tension on adductors

Set 1: 15 total plates x 8
Set 2: reduced weight by 3 total plates and longer pause in hole x 13

RDL on plate loaded hammer strength squat/lunge machine
Really aim to move weight with hams only and push through with hips contracting glutes hard at the top

Set 1: 3pps x 8
Set 2: dead stop reps still keeping tension on hams and hard glute contraction at top
2pps x 8

Wide stance barbell squat
No pre intention of doing these. Just went with the flow
Not impressive numbers to me, but made these hard as heck and adductors felt like they were going to rip
Controlled eccentric, pause in hole, fire on the concentric
Keeping knees pushed out and hard tension on adductors throughout
225x 11

Adductor machine
Into
DB Lying leg curl
2 rounds 12-10
2nd round did a single drop set on each
Both: Pause at stretch and contraction, controlled eccentrics

[Michaela Aycock]

Craig –

The Particular smith machine I use is unlike most and very much like a free weight bar in that it provides zero assistance or “spring”
The only thing it provides is a linear plane of motion.
So fortunately when you un rack it, the pins have no swivel or spring to try and fall back into place.

In your case, I would just aim to get under it and the bar rolled back into position and “locked in” at the top of your delts and grip in such a way to keep it in place
If you have a partner they could also assist this

Also, if your range of motion is in a consistent line and not wobbling and you are controlling through your quads I don’t think you should have much problem

[Michaela Aycock]

12/26 Back

Wide Grip Lat Pull down

Worked up to one heavy(relative) rest pause set 3 attempts totaling around 20ish reps

Bent over smith machine row

Set one: “225” x 11

Set two: “225” x 8

DB Pullover

One set: 80 x 12 drop to 50 x 7 stretch partials

Smith Machine Rack Pulls -REALLY hard contraction entire ROM

One set: 315 x 9

Chest supported makeshift incline seal row – elbows flared upper back emphasis pulling to upper rib height using cambered Bench press bar

One set: Dead stop on floor reps: Bar + two 25’s per side x 11

Bent over DB Bilateral row

One double drop set: 100’s, 80’s, 60’s

 

Weighted stretch hanging on lat pull down into stretch on weighted cable pullover – 2 rounds ~30 sec each

 

[Michaela Aycock]

12/25

Great Christmas morning
We do not do a traditional Christmas dinner, rather just a gathering at my Grandmothers at noon on Christmas Eve
And then Christmas morning our immediate family (parents, siblings/in-laws and their kids) do breakfast that my mom and I cook for everyone and then presents
And then everyone goes their separate ways as they are all married off and have their own kids except me lol
So my parents just nap the day away and eat cereal at night lol
We typically go to the movies every year Christmas night but are not this year.

Anyways enough about my personal life haha
With all that said, I went to train once everyone had left, to be honest I think I may have been a little shot and possibly affected training a bit from all the kid screaming and chaos, I’m used to being by myself and quiet 24/7 lol all good though

Chest 12/25

Flat DB Press
Had been keeping these in every week
Initially they improved great each week for a few weeks, then hit a few week span where I was only able to tie reps, so I cycled them out for a few weeks now and wanted to give them a go today
My best those few weeks that were sticking was 90’s x 6-7
So I was definitely not pleased with today’s
But all the strength I had in me for the day apparently
Set 1: 90’s x 4 controlled, pause at chest, hard contraction
Set 2: 80’s x 7 aiming to be as explosive on the concentric as I could

Incline plate loaded hammer strength press
Hard arch on chest, aiming to keep as strong of a contraction as possible throughout entire range
Set 1: 2pps x 10
Set 2: 2p + 10ps x 8

Incline DB Fly
Again pretty strong arch, really controlled eccentrics, good stretch
50’s x 9
40’s x 8

Superset
Pin loaded dip
Into
Seated cable fly
2 rounds 15-12 each

Seated DB curl
4 sets increasing weight 15-10 reps

[Author]

Posts