Phase 2. Week 4. Deadlift

BW - 209

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X5
225X4
275X3
315X2
365X1
345X4, 3

Deficit Deads - 275X5, 5, 5, 5

RDL - 225X10, 10

BB Rows - 135X16, 11, 10

Decent session.  My top-tier phase goal for 345 is 2 sets of 4.  Honestly, coming in today I expected to have to settle for 2 sets of 3.  Glad to get 4 reps on the first set, but that 4th rep and the 3rd rep on the next set were both in doubt during the attempts.  However, 345X4 is an all-around PR. Try for 2X4 again next week.

Deficits felt pretty strong.  Next week, I should probably go for a 5th set.

RDLs were okay, and Rows felt a tad stronger.  135X16 is a Rep PR.

Phase 1. Week 15. Bench

BW - 209

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
135X4
155X3
185X2
215X2
165X10, 6

Incline - 135X9, 4, 5

Dips -
BW+25X12
BW+25X5 / BWX5 (drop-set)
BWX12

Ab Wheel - X12, 12, 12

Okay session.  Still 1 rep shy of my goal for 215, and the 2nd rep was an ugly, butt-lifting mess.  I wasn't happy last week that I just did two singles and moved on, and realized that if I get stuck at low-reps on a programmed work-set, I need to add an additional, lighter set to get some more volume in.  Thus the 165 sets.  165X10 is actually only a couple reps off of a PR with that weight, and that feels kind of nice after straining with the 215.

Inclines were okay, and Dips are still feeling strong.

Phase 2. Week 8. Squat

BW - 209

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X5, 3

High Bars - 225X3, 3, 3

Fronts - 185X3, 3, 3

Lunges - BWX30, 30
super-set with
Hypers - BWX20, 20

Okay session.  I need to hit 6 reps with 275 to move up.  I went for the sixth, and ended up dumping it over my head.  Not sure if I got too far forward and that compromised the lift, or if I simply failed and the failure threw me forward.  Go for it again next week.

Pushing the weight up a bit on accessory squats.  225X3 is a Rep PR on High-Bars.

Phase 2. Week 5. Accessory

BW - 209

Machine Pullovers -
Warm-up set
Work-sets X 14, 8 (straight-weight; same weight as last week)

Chins (overhand) - BWX5, 4, 3 (paused at top and bottom)

Pulldowns (underhand) - X15, 10, 10 (straight-weight; same weight as last week)

Machine Flyes -
Warm-up set
Work-sets X20, 10 (straight-weight; same weight as last week)

DB Bench (elbows out; neutral grip ) - 50sX15, 11, 10

Rope Extensions - X20, 15, 15, 15, 15 (straight-weight; same weight as last week)

Ab Wheel - X12, 12, 12

Okay session.  Some movements felt stronger than others with no apparent pattern.  I pushed the pec work an extra week, and I think that's about right.  One week as a "get-to-know-you" and then 4 weeks of solid work.  I'll switch back to biceps next week, do that for 5 weeks, then I'm thinking I should hit some calves.  However, by the time the next 5 weeks are up, it'll be conditioning/fat-loss season and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to tweak my programming for that yet.

Phase 2. Week 3. Deadlift

BW - 213

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X5
225X4
275X3
315X2
365X1
335X4, 4

Deficit Deads - 275X5, 5, 5, 5

RDL - 225X10, 10

BB Rows - 135X15, 13, 10

Pretty good session.  335 for 2 sets of 4 was my top-tier phase goal for this weight, so I can move up next week.  I will say, these sets were both pretty damn tough, and I was not going to be surprised if I didn't make the 2nd set.  I will be pretty excited if I manage to hit my top-tier phase goal next week of 345 for 2 sets of 4. 

Deficits, as much as I'm starting to loathe them, felt pretty strong today.

Likewise I got some volume PRs on RDL and Rows.

Update:  Forgot I took some video.  365X1 and the 1st set of 235X4.

Phase 1. Week 14. Bench

BW - 210

Bench -
BarX20
115X5
135X5
155X4
185X2
215X1, 1

Cambered Bench - 135X10, 7, 5

Incline - 135X7, 6, 6

Dips - BWX17, 10, 9

Ab Wheel - X12, 12, 12

Bummer on the bench today.  My phase goal for 215 is 3 reps.  I didn't take my first rep seriously enough, and ended up having to strain so hard to finish it that my 2nd rep was over before it barely got off my chest.  I went ahead and took another one, and it was much better, but I shut it down after that.  I'll try again next week.

On the other hand, the progress on the cambered bench is maintaining from last week, even if Inclines took a bit of a hit.

BW (210) X 17 is an all-around PR on dips.

Phase 2. Week. 7. Squat

BW - 211

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X4
185X3
225X2
275X1
265X7, 2

High Bars - 185X10, 8

Fronts - 155X5, 5, 5

Lunges - BWX20, 20
super-set with
Hypers - BWX15, 15

Decent session.  265X7 is a Rep PR and my phase goal for this weight.  Moving up next week.

Hadn't taken any video for awhile, and the gym was pretty empty because of weather and the holiday, so I grabbed some form checks:

 The 275X1 looks good to me.

Most of these looked solid.  Thought there might be at least one that was high in the middle.  It's a bit hard for me to tell because of wearing all black, hahahha.

Managed to punch out a few more reps on High Bars, but Fronts are still sticking in that 5 rep zone with all the fatigue from the previous lifts.

Tried out the BW Lunge/Hypers super-set idea today.  Pretty freaking awful, and my low back was cramping like crazy when I was changing my shoes after the session.  Keeper!

Phase 2. Week 4. Accessory.

BW - 211

Machine Pullovers -
Warm-up set
Work Sets X13, 8 (straight-weight; same weight as last week)

Chins (overhand) - BWX4, 3, 2 (paused at top and bottom)

Pulldowns (underhand) - X15, 11, 9 (straight-weight; same weight as last week)

Machine Flyes -
Warm-up set
Work Sets X15, 10 (straight-weight; same weight as last week)

DB Bench (neutral grip; elbows out) - 50sX18, 12, 9

Rope Pushdowns - X20, 15, 15, 15, 15 (straight-weight; same weight as last week)

Ab Wheel - X12, 12, 12

Felt weak today, but managed to push everything to or past the same volume per movement as last week.

Have to decide whether this will have been the last week of chest focus on this day.  I originally set up the Accessory day to be:  1) Lats, 2) bodypart 'X' on a 4 week rotation, 3) Abs.  Awhile back, I also added in Light Triceps to help with my bench.  This was the 4th week of pec focus, but I'm thinking I'll go with it for another week or two until I've got my 225 bench in the books.  4 weeks may not be ideal anyway.  I did biceps previously while I was settling into this format, and that went on for 8 weeks, but that seems to long.  The plan has also been to alternate biceps in every other cycle since there is not other direct biceps work in the program.  So, once I finish with pecs I'll go back to that.  I think.

Phase 2. Week 2. Deadlift

BW - 212

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X5
225X4
275X3
315X2
365X1
325X5, 5

Deficit Deads - 275X5, 5, 5, 5

RDL - 225X10, 8

BB Rows - 135X15, 12, 10

Solid session.  2 sets of 5 with 325 was my phase goal for this weight, so I can move up next week.

Managed to keep the volume up on Deficits.

Pushed the first set of RDLs up to 10, but couldn't get there on the 2nd.

Upped the overall volume on the rows as well.

Phase 1. Week 12. Bench

BW - 211

Bench -
BarX25
115X5
135X4
155X3
185X2
205X4, 3

Cambered Bench - 135X10, 5, 5

Incline Bench - 135X10, 7, 5

Dips -
BW+25X11
BW+25X5/BWX5 (Drop-set)
BWX10

Ab Wheel - X12, 12, 12

Great session.  205X4 is a Rep PR on bench and my phase goal for this weight, so I can move up next week.  Benching was strong this week, and I possibly could have gotten a 5th rep.  But I'm glad I was able to almost match it on my 2nd set instead.

As I noted above, my benching was strong this week, and this 135X10 on cambered bench came out of NOWHERE.  The other 2 sets fell back to earth, though.  Obviously, a big all-around PR.

Moved back to the shallower incline, and got some good reps in.

Added some weight to the dips.  Didn't want to labor on with low reps on every set, though, so I did a drop-set on the 2nd, and then backed off to body-weight for the third.  236 (BW+25)X11 is an all-around PR.

Upped the reps a bit on the ab wheel.

Phase 2. Week 6. Squat

BW - 213

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X4
185X3
225X2
275X1
255X9, 3

High Bars - 185X8, 8

Fronts - 155X8, 5, 5

Hypers - BWX20, 20

Good session.  255X9 is a Rep PR and my phase goal for this weight.  Some sloooow reps at the end of both sets, though.  Still moving up next week.

Managed to push the reps on  High Bars and Fronts a bit more.

I'd been pondering swapping out lunges for hypers for a while, because sometimes my low back is really fatigued after my main squat sets, and I thought it might be a good idea to start reinforcing that area.  Plus, it could always help out with Deadlifts, too, since I've got a couple days off between squats and deads.  This is probably a good idea, as these two sets of 20 really lit up that whole area, and I was a bit twingy the rest of the night.

If I get to feeling realy froggy, I might super-set lunges with hypers.  Yolo.

Phase 2. Week 3. Accessory

BW - 210

Machine Pullovers -
Warm-up set
Works Sets X12, 8 (straight-weight; increased over last week)

Chin-ups (overhand) - BWX4, 2, 3 (paused at top and bottom)

Pulldowns (underhand) - X13, 10, 8 (straight-weight; increased over last week)

Machine Flyes -
Warm-up set
Work Sets X13, 8 (straight-weight; increased over last week)

DB Bench (neutral grip; elbows out) - 50sX15, 12, 10

Rope Extensions - X25, 15, 15, 15, 12 (straight-weight; increased over last week)

Ab Wheel - X10, 10, 10

Phase 2. Week 1. Deadlift

BW - 209

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X5
225X4
275X3
315X2
365X1
315X5, 5

Deficit Deads - 275X5, 5, 5, 5

RDL - 225X8, 8

BB Rows - 135X15, 8, 9

Good session.  365X1 is a Rep PR, and 315 for 2 sets of 5 is my phase goal for that weight, so I can move up next week.

Managed to add a 5th set of 5 to the Deficits as well.  Was getting pretty gassed at this point, though.

Really want to start pushing the RDL's up to sets of 10.  I'd hoped to be pushing multiple sets of 10 at this weight by this point in the program.

Bottom dropped out on my second set of Rows, so I added a third set to make up the volume.

Phase 1. Week 11. Bench

BW - 209

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
185X2
205X3, 2

Incline (steep) - 95X15, 12, 10

Dips - BWX15, 12, 12

Ab Wheel - X10, 10, 10

205X3 is a Rep PR, and my first time benching 200 or more.  This is only one rep shy of my phase goal for this weight.  Hope to hit that next week.

Cambered bar was in use, so I went straight to Incline.  I used the steeper bench today, dropped the weight a touch and pushed the reps way up.

May want to start adding weight to dips again.

Phase 2. Week 5. Squat

BW - 209

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X4
185X3
225X2
275X1
255X7, 3

High Bars - 185X8, 5, 5

Fronts -
165X3
135X8, 5

Way hungover and under-slept.  I was sweating buckets because of all the drinking.  Dammit, this is why I moved squats to a weekday.  Yay, Superbowl.

I didn't meet my phase goal for 255, but 255X7 is still a Rep PR.

I managed to push High-Bars again, but only on the first set.

Messed around with different weight on Fronts to see if I could break out of the 155X5 doldrums I've been in.

Skipped single-leg work.

Phase 2. Week 2. Accessory

BW - 210

Machine Pullovers -
Warm-up set
Work Sets X14, 9 (straight-weight, same as last week)

Chins (overhand) - BWX4, 3, 3 (paused at top and bottom)

Pulldowns (underhand) - X15, 10/10/12/8 (same weight as last week, drop-set on last set)

Machine Flyes -
Warm-up set
Work Sets X20, 12 (straight-weight, same as last week)

DB Bench (neutral grip, elbows out) - 50sX15, 10, 8

Rope pushdowns - X25, 20, 15, 15, 12

Ab Wheel - X10, 10, 10

Good session.