LRB 365: Big-15. Phase 1. Week 2. Shoulders and Bench

Friday
BW - 199 (this seems inappropriate)

Upright Rows - 60X15, 15, 15, 15, 12 (45 sec. rests)

DB Rear Laterals - 25sX15, 15, 15, 12, 12 (45 sec. rests)

Saturday 
BW - 201 (1/2 a large pizza, 2 bowls of jambalaya, 4 chicken legs, and a bowl of orange sherbet between sessions helped a little)

Bench -
BarX15
85X5
95X4
115X3
145X2
165X1
155X12, 4

Chins (shoulder-width, neutral grip) -
 BWX5
+15X5
+20X3, 3
+25X2
+30X1
+25X9, 3
BWX6

DB Incline -
50sX19, 10, 5
40sX9, 9

Weight has been holding steady at 200 for a week or so, and then dipped down, so I ate it back up.

Both myself and my spotter lost track of the # of reps on my back-off set.  I lost track around 10 or 11, and then got 1 or 2 more.  My spotter said "Not sure, I think like 14."  But I told him I was going for 13, and I think he was just being 'positive.'  I'll just assume I matched last week and move forward.

201 (BW)+25X9 is a Rep PR.  Interestingly, my right triceps was feeling aggravated by this movement.  I guess the triceps does cross  the shoulder (see: Rolling Triceps Extensions), and my triceps have had a lot of soreness so far on this program, plus the bench beforehand...it was just weird.

I upped the weight on the DB Inclines a bit.  The effect here was like 50% sets with the 50s though.  Instead of stopping after the 5 rep set, or gutting out a couple more sets of 5-or-less sets, I decided to drop the weight and get some better volume.

LRB 365: Big-15. Phase 1. Week 2. Front Squats

BW - 200

Standing Calf Raises - 3 sets of 15

Front Squats -
BarX10
65X5
85X4
95X3
125X2
145X1
125X19

RDL -
135X10
225X12, 8, 8, 11 (straps on last set)

Leg Press - 3ppsX15, 12, 12, 11

Remembered to do the calf raises this time.

125X19 is a Rep PR by default as I've never done high-rep fronts.  It's right at or above a projected 1RM increase as well.  Honestly, I think 20 was do-able, but it's my conditioning that's holding me back.  I've upped my walking frequency the last few weeks, and I'm hoping my wind starts to catch up to my strength so I can squeeze some more out of these high-rep squat days.

I did the front squats in clean position, and I think the strain on my wrists diminished my grip strength for RDLs.  Grip was a limiting factor on all 3 sets until I added straps for the 4th.

I think 3ppsX15 is a good baseline for narrow-stance leg pressing after high-rep front squats.  I'll keep working to push the reps on that weight.  On the last set, I though my right VMO was going to pop clean off.

LRB 365: Big-15. Phase 1. Week 1. Arms

BW - 200 (holding remarkably steady)

Incline DB Curls - 30sX15, 15, 13, 10, 10 (45 sec. rests)

PJR Pullovers - 50X15, 15, 12, 10, 8 (45 sec. rests)

Ab Wheel - 10, 8, 10, 9, 9

LRB 365: Big-15. Phase 1. Week 1. Press

BW - 200

PBN (seated) -
BarX10, 10
55X4
65X3
85X2
95X1

85X17, 8

DB Rows -
60sX12
70sX12, 9, 8, 8

DB Bench - 55sX18, 11, 8, 7

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4
225X3
245X2
275X1

Um...I think this is the first time I've ever done seated PBNs.  Is that weird?

The hardest part of these is unracking them by myself.  My shoulders felt...vulnerable in that position, so I started leaning back a little and that seemed to help.  85X17 is an all-around PR in BTN pressing.  Are you supposed to be stronger seated vs. standing? 

DB Rowing felt more stable than it ever has in the past.  No low back discomfort like I've had in the past with them, however my abs started cramping up at the top of the rep on the last couple of sets.  I redoubled my focus on keeping my shoulders steady, and that seemed to help.  My goal for the cycle is 75sX12+.  Should get there, and go past it, although this pressing day only happens 3 times in the 6 week cycle.

18 reps with the 55s is an all-around PR on DB Benching.  My goal for the cycle is 60sX15+.  Again, should get there even with only 3 sessions.

I am NOT supposed to be Deadlifting on the Big-15, however I don't feel confident that my technique is settled, much less ingrained enough to justify taking 3+ months off from pulling.  So I will do maintenance pulls during these sessions.  275 is only 87% of my EVERYDAY Max, and, once again, this programmed day only occurs every other week.

Today with the pull, I worked on something Paul Carter's been talking about which is finding the spot where your hips don't get so low that your shoulders and knees get away from the bar path.  This seems to involve a more vertical shin position for me, but with the shins still already touching the bar at the start.  Another big difference is that this has my chest starting off down a bit more, and so I have to cue chest up even harder after the pull starts to keep a neutral spine.  The 275 was fast, but it should be, and therefore it's hard to judge the form tweaks. 

LRB 365: Big-15. Phase 1. Week 1. Shoulders

BW - 200

Upright Rows - 55X20, 18, 15, 12, 10 (30 sec. rests)

DB Rear Delts - 20sX20, 18, 15, 12, 10 (30 sec. rests)

LRB 365: Big-15. Phase 1. Week 1. Arms and Squats

Friday-
BW - 200

Incline DB Curls - 30sX20, 15, 12, 10, 8

PJR Pullovers -
40X20
50X17, 13, 12, 8

Ab Wheel - X10, 10, 8, 8, 8

Saturday-
BW - 200

Squats -
BarX12 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
115X5
145X4
175X3
215X2
245X1

205X11, 6

Leg Curls - X20, 15, 12, 10

Lunges - BWX30, 20, 20, 20

Woo-ee.  I wish I didn't end up with hangovers so much on squat days.  Between that and not having kept up with my conditioning, today was a shaky, sweaty, brutal affair. HOWEVER, 205X11 is a Rep PR.  And this is more full squat volume than I've had in over a year.

Forgot to do the 3 sets of calves before squats.

On the small session of arms the day before, I probably went a little heavier than I should have.  Think I'll stay at these same weights for the X15 day.

Ab strength has dropped off the last couple months.

LRB 365: Big-15. Phase 1. Week 1. Bench

BW - 200

Bench -
BarX15
85X5
95X4
115X3
145X2
165X1

155X12, 5

Chins (shoulder-width/neutral grip) -
BWX5
+15X5
+20X3, 3
+25X2
+30X1

+25X6, 4
BWX8

DB Incline - 45sX21, 12, 11, 10

1st session on the Big-15 cycles.  This will run for two 6-week cycles.  Looking forward to it.

155X12 is an all-around PR.  My goal on bench this cycle is to hit 155 for 15 or more.  I should hit that, and possibly fairly quickly.  If I hit 15 before the 6 weeks are up, I think I will continue to rep 155 for the rest of cycle 1, but possibly bump up the warm-up weights to a top single at 175, or my previous Everyday Max.  I would like to hit 225X1 sooner rather than later in the next year, and while 155X15 technically projects to that, I figure I can milk 155 for a few reps above that to help cement the musculature I will need when I finally attempt it.

This was my first time doing weighted chins, so these are all PRs to some degree, but really more like baselines.  My goal for the 6 weeks will be to hit BW+25X10.  Again, if I hit that before the 6 weeks are up, I will just keep pushing the reps.  Jesus, anything over 10 is usually a decent chinning-day for me anyhow.  Maybe this will help change that.

Another thing I will be doing for the 1st phase will be focusing on DB movements for a lot of the assistance/accessory work.  I've largely stayed away from that stuff for compound movements the last couple of years, and I think at least this 1st body-building phase is a good opportunity to explore them, and with gusto.  My initial goal is set at 55sX15 for Incline, but because it's such an under-used movement for me, it could ramp up really quickly, so if I hit 55X15+ next week and the week after, I will bump the weight up.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short (and LRB Split). In Review

My goals for the LRB Split and Strong-15 Short Cycle boil down to:
1)  Chase Rep PRs in assistance work to build supporting musculature.
2)  Focus on the Squat overall.
3)  Eat real food, prepared by myself as much as possible, and try to eat "normally."

More detail on each of these.

1)  Rep PRs.  I covered a lot of the Rep PRs under the LRB Split here.  DB OHP, T-Bar Rows, Fronts, GMs, RDLs. 

Under the Strong-15 Short, I had Rep PRs in Bench, Incline Bench, and more RDLs.  Additionally, the way Paul Carter programs Squats and Deads, you could look at my back-off sets as volume PRs.  5 sets of 3 for both Pause Squats and Deadlifts after working up to the day's single.  In my last Deadlift workout, I backed-off to 4 sets of 3 with 295.  Now I've lifted 295X8 before, but the density of volume is even more here, AND the bar speed was fast on all the reps.  For Pause Squats, at the end of the Strong-15 I did 1 set of 3 with 215.  At the end of the Short Cycle, I did 3 sets of 3 with that same weight. 

Leg Presses were also introduced and used in both cycles and the weight/reps were pushed throughout; you could say weight/rep PRs and volume PRs were set on that as well, but 1) it's a machine and therefore highly variable and 2) it's a seldom used exercise for me and so is ripe for improvement.

2)  Squat Focus.  For the LRB Split, I wanted to emphasize quad development as much as possible, so I did Front Squats on both leg days.  On the heavy squat day, I did 4 sets of 10 with fronts after my back squats, and on on light squat day, fronts were my main movement.  The program calls for working up to a few fast triples on that movement, however I over-rode that, and pushed for max reps on the last set 531-style.  I set Rep PRs every week on that day.  This was all in addition to Leg Presses, BW Lunges, and Leg Extensions.  Really trying to take what Dan Green says to heart.

For the Strong-15 Short, I decided to back all my goals down from what I did on the full Strong-15 earlier this year.  I decided for Bench and Deadlift I would program so that my top single at the end of the cycle would be my Everyday Max (EDM), 175 and 315 respectively.  For squat I programmed to hit 255, or 10 lbs. over what I thought my EDM was.

The culmination of the squat focus was that I killed my pause squats and top singles every week, including the EDM+10 in the last week.  And my legs are bigger.

3)  Diet and Food Prep.  Not a lot to say here.  I'm an avid cook, so the main thing was making time one day a week to cook a large amount of lifting friendly food.  This mostly consisted of a variety of grilled meat with some vegetables and rice on the side.  No supplements, and minimized eating out as much as possible.  Over the two cycles my weight slowly and steadily climbed from the low 190s to the low 200s.  About an 8-10 lb. swing, or about a pound a week.

Conclusion.  I had a great time running these.  I looked forward to every training session and felt like I got a lot of good feedback from what I ran.  I set modest goals and hit them.  Now I can only hope I'm setting the stage for continued progress.  It's been an awfully slow climb for me this last year and a half considering how light my weights are.  I'm pretty good about not comparing myself to what other people are doing, but because I like to read up about this stuff it's hard not to notice 175 lb. guys on straight linear progression squatting 450.  I want weight on the bar, but I've just got to be patient and believe it will come if I keep putting in the work and the time on a consistent basis.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 5. Deadlift

BW - 205

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4, 4
225X3
245X2
285X1
295X1
315X1

295X3, 3, 3, 3

RDL -
245X2 (double-overhand)
245X7 (mixed grip)
245X14 (straps)

Shrugs -
455X5
365X17

Chins (neutral, shoulder-width)- BWX8, 5, 4

DB Curls - 40sX10, 7

Last workout of the Short-15.  Everything went pretty well, but as usual on this cycle's deadlift day I was exhausted by the end.

The 315X1 (my Everyday Max) felt good, and actually looked even better on video:

My grip on my left-hand got a little slippy double-overhand here, so I'm not 100% this lift would pass in a power-lifting competition.

I tried to keep going double-overhand on my back-offs, but it got dicey, and by my last set of 295X3, I had to go full mixed-grip:

Just like my last two sessions with Squat and Bench, this is my first time ever seeing myself deadlift, and to my eyes these look good.   I'm pondering if I should ask some Internet guru or other for a 'form check,' but the more I think about that the more distasteful it gets.

I wanted to go double-overhand strapless on RDLs to get more grip work in, but it was clear that wasn't happening today.  I ended up pulling a PR with straps at 245X14.

Since it was the last session I decided to go all-out and bump the weight up on shrugs by 50 lbs. for both sets.  Felt strong.

Chins and curls felt weak after all this other work.  I was able to use the adjustable chin station so I got that elusive neutral/shoulder-width grip I've been toying with.  My whole upper back is achy today from all this work, and it's impossible to say if any one movement contributed more than any other.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 5. Bench

BW - 199

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
115X5
135X3
145X2
165X1, 1
175X1

145X14, 6

Incline - 115X14, 6

Dips - BWX13, 10, 8, 5, 5

Nice, PR-laden session.  The 175 felt good, and I videoed again, and it looks about like it felt:

The video just supports what I know, which is that I'm having a bitch of a time reconciling leg drive with keeping my butt on the bench.  175 is what I've got down as my EDM for bench.

The back-off set is an all-around PR at 145X14.  I videoed that as well, but didn't see anything particularly informative.

115X14 is an all-around PR on Inclines.  So Rep PRs that project new highs in 1RM for both flat bench and incline.  That's what the program is designed to do here, and hopefully the top end strength really is moving.

Nothing spectacular on dips, but I did get more reps per set that previously.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 5. Squat

BW - 199

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X4
185X3
205X2
235X1
245X1
255X1

Paused Squats - 215X3, 3, 3

Leg Press - 3ppsX22, 20

Leg Curls - X16, 12 (same weight as last session)

Standing Calf Raises - X18, 15 (same weight as last session)

Last squat session of the cycle.  Pretty awesome, although I was out of gas after the 3rd pause squat set, so I shut it down there.  I filmed my squats, and this was the first time I've ever filmed my lifting.  I wanted to make sure I was getting depth (I reset my squats about a year ago to go deeper) and it turns out I may have been worried about nothing the last year:

That's my 235.  The rep actually felt really easy, like barely a warm-up easy.  I recorded the next 2 attempts as well from different angles so I could see which angle might be most helpful for the future.  Here's my last single at 255:

This felt like it slowed way down about half way up, but watching the video it looks pretty fast and smooth.  I think I need to adjust my perception of what is fast/easy and what is slow/hard.

For all the assistance, I stayed at the same weight as last time, but got more volume on everything. 

All in all, feeling pretty good about where my squat is at after the LRB Split and the Strong-15 Short.  Looking forward to how the high-rep back-offs will go on the upcoming Big-15 cycles.

 

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 4. Deadlift

BW - 200

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4, 4
225X3
245X2
275X1
285X1
295X1

265X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

RDL - 245X11, 6 (no straps)

Shrugs -
405X10
315X21

Chins (supinated) - BWX10, 5, 5

DB Curls - 35sX21, 9

Fun day at the gym.  Got drawn into some good conversation with one of the bigger/stronger guys at the gym after I started spotting his bench sets.  Meant longer rests between a lot of my sets, but this guy is friendly and eager to talk shop, and so I think it's best to roll with that and soak up as much information as I can.  I actually spotted him on OG T-Bar Rows (assisted reps) the other day as well.  Some interesting pointers from both conversations:
1)  He finds using a shorter bar on the old-school T-Bars to be easier leverage-wise.  He finds the full length bar sometimes seems to want to pull him forward, and it's easier to stay back with the shorter bar.
2)  He feels like once he started going touch-and-go with his deadlifts on rep sets he saw more improvement in his back strength.
3)  When he was body-building and squatting just to parallel, he felt like he strongly felt parallel like his hamstrings and hips would almost lock and bounce right there.  Since he's started going super deep with his squats that's completely disappeared.  I asked him if he thinks he's stronger since he started going deeper and he said he thinks so, but he didn't seem sure about that.
4)  After his main sets of bench press, working up to 330X5, and then backing off to sets of 5 around 305, he did sets of 5 paused with a cambered bar, and was singing the praises of that assistance exercise.
So right there are interesting points to keep in mind about 4 key movements.  Look forward to talking with him more in the future.

Deadlifts were strong today.  Honestly, I don't even remember much about the 295X1.  I set-up and before I knew it the pull was over.  I look forward to deadlifting all week and then don't even remember my top single.  Wtf?  The back-off sets were only okay.  They're doing some remodeling on the gym, and the new-ish platform I was pulling on wasn't level.  I kept shimming it up to try and fix it, but nevertheless the bar kept rolling away from me between reps. 

Instead of holding deadlift reps for time, I decided to save all my grip and attack 245 again on RDLs without straps.  So 245X11 is a Rep PR without straps.  The 2nd set was largely hampered by grip, so I feel this was the right choice.

Shrugs were a lot stronger this week.  Chins were weird because the adjustable station I've been using to do shoulder-width, neutral grips was unavailable due to the remodeling, so I had to do plain old supinated.  10 reps at 200 lbs. isn't bad for me lately though.

I don't track PRs on DB curls for god's sake, but curling was surprisingly strong today, and 35sX21 is certainly a personal best.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 4. Bench

BW - 202

Bench -
BarX10
95X5
115X4
135X3
145X2
155X1
165X1, 1

145X13, 5

Incline - 105X12, 8

Dips - BWX12, 8, 6

Good session.  145X13 is a Rep PR.  The back-off sets for the last 3 sessions, 125X20, 135X17 and this 145X13 all have higher, projected 1RMs than any other in my lifting history.  Ah, but will I ever see myself stronger in the lower rep ranges?  Only time will tell.

Also, got a good tip from reading this post by John Phung about leg drive.  The basic take-away is barely keep your butt touching the bench as opposed to letting your body actually rest there.  I'll keep going with this and see if it continues to feel good.

105X12 is a Rep PR on Inclines.  This is on the shallower, curved incline bench. 

Dips were alright.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 4. Squat

BW - 203

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X3
185X3
205X2
235X1, 1
245X1

Pause Squats - 205X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Leg Press - 3ppsX20, 16

Leg Curls - X20, 16 (heavier than last week)

Decent session.  My right knee has been feeling wonky this week.  At first it seemed like squats were making it feel worse, and then by the end of the pause squats, it seemed to feel better than when I started.  Just wait and see.  Hope it's not a side effect of the weight gain.

Cuing hard with 'chest up' and pushing through 'heels.'  245X1 was good.  The 3rd reps on the last couple of pause squat sets were a little wild card as my form tried to break down, but there was no doubt of hitting them all.

Keeping my stance close on leg press, and quads continue to burn.

Hoping the leg curls will help with the knee.

Skipped calves.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 3. Deadlift

BW - 201

Deadlift -
135X5
165X5
185X4
225X3
245X2
275X1, 1
285X1

245X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

RDL - 245X12 (with straps)

Shrugs -
405X7
315X18

Chins (neutral, shoulder-width) - BWX8, 6, 5

Curls -
65X16, 8
45X15, 12

Good deadlifting today.  Everything felt strong and smooth.  Held the 285X1, and the last back-off set for time at the top.

Was pretty tired after all this.  I was pretty sure I could get an all-around PR on RDLs if I did one all-out set with straps, and I did.  Up till now, I've been using my back-off DL weight as my RDL weight.  Possibly, I should stay at this weight and stop using straps for the extra grip work...

Loading and un-loading the bar for shrugs felt like it took years, I was so tired.

Chins felt okay despite the low energy.

Even though I was tired, I had a while to wait for the bus, so I did 2 extra sets of curls just with an empty bar.  Yeah, yeah, I know.  "If you've got energy for extra curls, you could have done extra RDLs or chins." 

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 3. Bench

BW - 199

Bench -
BarX15
95X5
115X4
135X3
145X2
155X1, 1
165X1

135X17, 5

Incline - 95X15, 10

Dips - BWX12, 10, 8

Solid session.  I was trying to cue 'Speed' hard on the singles and the back-off sets.  It definitely helped some, although sometimes it causes me to forget the pause on the back-offs.  135X17 is an all-around PR even including the days when I bounced the bar off my chest.

I moved inclines over to the less steep bench so that I could load the lift a bit more for the rest of the cycle.  95X15 is a Rep PR in incline on either bench.  The combination of the flat bench and the shallower incline angle caused more stress on my triceps.  They were really burning on the 2nd set here.

Pretty tuckered out, and so I cut the dips short after 3 sets.  Getting to that point in the cycle.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 3. Squat

BW - 198

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X4
185X3
205X2
225X1
235X1, 1

Pause Squats - 195X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Leg Press -
2ppsX30
3ppsX20

Leg Curls - X20, 12

Calf Raises - X13, 10

Walking - 30 minutes

Nice session.  All the squats felt well grooved as I was cuing "chest up" hard.  Both 235s felt strong.

Pause squats were more challenging this week and a lot of fun.  I'm going to try to keep the number of sets up next week, but that may require cutting back on some of the other assistance if I'm feeling wiped.

Leg Press was all narrow stance.  My quads were burning after the 2nd set.

Was pretty tired at this point so I just got a couple sets each on the curls and the raises.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 2. Deadlift

BW - 198

Deadlift -
135X5
155X5
175X4
195X3
225X2
255X1, 1
275X1

225X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

RDL - 225X12, 15 (straps on 2nd set)

BB Shrugs - 405X6, 315X16

Chins (neutral, shoulder-width grip) - BWX10, 6, 4

Curls - 65X14, 6

Deadlifts were strong.  Cueing myself with 'Shins' and 'Speed,' especially on the back-off sets.  I've been tearing up my shins by starting reps off with them slightly above the bar, and pulling the bar into them instead of up them.  Held the 275 and the last back-off set for time.

Then my grip started giving out on my first set of RDLs.  12 was a Rep PR, but then I added straps for the 2nd set and set an all-around PR with 15.

Was getting pretty tired at this point, and my shrugging strength wasn't what it usually is.

At this point I was so tired I almost forgot about the chins and went straight to curls.  But I remembered.  A month or so back I did chins at an 'away' gym that didn't have a very good set-up, and I ended up doing neutral grip chins at shoulder width.  The next couple of days my mid-back was really sore from that.  I filed that away, and that's what I'm going to do for this cycle and see what the effect is.  With my scapula retracted, it almost feels more like a high row.