3 weeks out, day 1, deadlifts and squat assistance

To honour the March 8th passing of Larry Scott , the first Mr. Olympia, I did a set of preacher curls.  Anyone my age or older almost assuredly tried out a "Larry Scott bicep and shoulder" routine found in a muscle magazine.  He had incredible shoulders and arms and was a constant presence in the magazines when I was growing up.  I never built big arms or wide shoulders but I sure tried to when I was much younger.  There is a nice tribute to his place in history here.

Slowly but surely the icons of my youth are fading away...

As for my own competition preparations, today was deadlift day.  Since I went 'heavier' last week, this week was designed to be lower in intensity.  I did the first four sets top down and then did 5 sets of 3 from the ground with approx 76% of my 1 RM.  Speed and groove were both good.

I cut my sets of wide stance squats one set short because things were starting to feel off.  I think it was just residual fatigue from the deadlifts.  I'm definitely looking forward to tapering the volume in the coming weeks.

Top down deadlifts:  315x3, 405x3, add belt, 495x3, 545x1

Deadlifts:  add belt, 475x3x5 sets   25 total work reps, 73.2% avg intensity

Wide stance squats:  135x10, 225x5, 275x5, add belt, 315x3, 315x3

Back extensions:  15, 15

barbell preacher curls:  65x12

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