Higher Reps. Week 8. Deadlift

BW - 207

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X5
225X4
275X3
315X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

BB Rows - 155X13, 10, 10, 8
super-set with
Leg Curls - X15, 15, 15 (straight-weight)

Stayed up late watching basketball, and was just beat.  I decided to concentrate on volume on the Deadlift since I knew I would have trouble with reps on rows and leg curls.

Higher Reps. Week 8. Bench

BW - 210

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
135X4
155X3
185X2
205X2, 2, 2, 2, 2.5

CG Bench, no leg drive - 165X5, 5, 5, 4
Flat-back Bench, no leg drive - 135X10, 7, 10
DB Press - 35'sX18, 12, 10, 10
all above super-set with
Face-Pulls - X20, 20, 18, 18, 18, 18, 20, 15, 18, 15, 15, 15

Dips -
BW+45X8
BW+45X5/BWX8 (drop-set)
BWX15

DB Curls - 30'sX18, 12, 10, 10

Solid session.  Upped the volume sets on full bench to 205.  Went for 3 on the last set, but it wasn't there.  I'll stay at this weight for next week; the last week of this block of programming.

Increased weight on the full bench seemed to cut into my CG Bench.  The X5 sets were harder than last week, and I could only get 4 on my last set.

Flat-backing was okay though.  I got into a conversation with a guy between the 2nd and 3rd sets, and that's why I was able to push back up to 10 reps on that last one.

DB Pressing with a more neutral, or 'relaxed' grip, came back on a bit.

My shoulder felt more stable and I had less twinging and popping after all the face-pulls last week, so I'm keeping those in for a bit.

210+45X8 is a Rep PR on dips.

Higher Reps. Week 8. Squat

BW - 210

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2

Pause Squats - 255X3, 3, 3

High Bars - 185X15, 10, 5, 5, 5, 5

Single-Leg Press - 1.5ppsX15, 18, 15, 15

Leg Extensions -
Pyramid-Up X15, 15, 15, 15, 10 (top set heavier than previous)
Back-Off X22

Good session.

255X3 is a Rep PR on Pause Squats.

185X15 matches my best PR when I'm fresh, so doing it in a fatigued state is pretty awesome.

Single-Leg work was a bit harder than expected.

Managed to push the top weight up a bit on extensions.

Higher Reps. Week 7. Deadlift

BW - 210

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X5
225X4
275X3
315X2
345X1
305X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

BB Rows - 155X20, 12, 10, 10
super-set with
Leg Curls - X20, 18, 15, 15

DB Rows - 65'sX20, 15

Okay session.  After the last couple of weeks, punching the weight up on the sets of 3 to 305 seemed like a good idea, but it felt heavier than I expected and my nagging low back thing is back a little bit here the next day.  Hmmmm.

155X20 is a PR on rows.

65'sX20 is actually a PR on DB Rows technically, I think.

Higher Reps. Week 7. Bench

BW - 211 (what the shit?)

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
115X5
135X3
155X3
185X3
195X2, 2, 2, 2, 2

CG Bench, no leg drive - 165X5, 5, 5, 5

Flat-back Bench, no leg drive - 135X12, 8, 6

DB Press - 35sX12, 10, 10, 10
all of the above super-set with
Face-Pulls - X20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 15, 15, 15, 15, 15, 15, 15

Dips - BWX10, 15, 15
super-set with
DB Curls - 30sX10, 10, 10

Exhausting session.  I added a 5th double onto my sets of 195.  It actually may have been the strongest of the five.

Close-grips still feeling a bit weak.

Added reps to all my flat-back sets.

My left shoulder has been bothering me, and that's why I'm throwing in all these face-pulls.  I also turned my grip in on the DB Press, and that may have contributed to some lower reps.

Was gassed by the time I got to dips.  The face-pulls were pretty light, but maybe they added enough fatigue to cut into the end of my workout?  Who the fuck knows.

Higher Reps. Week 7. Squat

BW - 206

Squat -
95X5 (paused)
135X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2

Pause Squats - 245X5, 5

High Bars - 185X10, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Squat -
225X1
245X1
265X1
275X1

Single-leg extensions -
Pyramid-upX12, 12, 12, 12, 12
Back-offX20

Had business elsewhere in town last night, so I went to an "away" gym that I've use before in the area I was heading to.  So crowded.  So many people doing weird stuff.

Anyway, I thought the best way to stay sane amidst the chaos would be to just squat as much as possible.  I may or may not have been slightly inconveniencing several people who seemed used to having that space free for other stuff.  At one point, a guy doing really unstable lunges was reaching out and using the end of my barbell to keep himself steady.  I waited until his set was over, and politely pointed out that I was using it.  So weird.

Anyway, squats all went well.  245X5 is a PR on pause squats; my 5th in a row.  With High Bars, I was just looking for volume. 

Normally, I would have done single-leg work on the leg press at this point, but both the "regular" leg press and the horizontal leg press machine at this gym were occupied.  Paul Carter has this "fatigue singles" concept that he uses sometimes where you work back up with singles after all your main work-sets to test speed.  What I did here is very much NOT by his book about how it's supposed to go.  It was kind of fun nonetheless.  I worked over the winter to make 275 my heaviest "I can and will squat this any day" weight, and it was nice to test that in a fatigued state and find it very much there for me.

All the leg presses still had a queue, so I just did single-leg extensions instead.  I actually kind of liked this, and may do these WITH single-leg presses next week and see what that's like.

Accessory +Biceps. Week 6

BW - 208

Machine Pullovers -
Warm-upX12
Work-setsX15, 13 (straight-weight; same as last)

Chin-ups - BWX4, 4, 3 (double-paused)

Pull-downs (medium, neutral grip) - X18, 14, 12 (straight-weight; same as last)

Reverse-Grip, EZ Bar, Preacher Curls - 40ishX15, 12, 10, 10
DB Curls - 35sX12, 12, 10, 10
all curls super-set with
Rope Extensions - X20, 18, 16, 16, 18, 18, 15, 15 (straight-weight)

BB Curls - BarX22

Decline Sit-Ups - X10, 10, 10

Good session.  Was able to push the volume on the pull-overs and pull-downs.

Instead of doing AMAP on the decline sit-ups, I'll try to build total volume.

Higher Reps. Week 6. Deadlift

BW - 205

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X5
225X4
275X3
315X2
335X1
295X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

BB Rows - 155X15, 10, 10, 8
DB Rows - 65sX18, 15
all rows super-set with
Leg Curls - X20, 20, 15, 15, 14, 12 (straight-weight; increased from last week)

Okay session, but everything felt heavy for some reason.

Still managed to push the reps up on the DB Rows.

Higher Reps. Week 6. Bench

BW - 208

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
135X4
155X3
185X2
195X2, 2, 2, 2

CG Bench, no leg drive - 165X5, 5, 5, 5

Flat-back bench, no leg drive - 135X11, 6, 7

DB Press - 35sX15, 12, 10, 10

Dips -
BW+45X6
BW+45X5 / BWX15 (drop-set)
BWX15
super-set with
DB Curls - 30sX12, 12, 10

Ab Wheel - X15, 12, 10

Pretty good session.  All the benching genrally felt good.

DB Pressing felt stronger today.

I guess I've never done dips with a 45 before.  Didn't even occur to me when I was doing them.  So...Rep PRs there.

Trying to get back on the ab wagon.

Higher Reps. Week 6. Squat

BW - 210

Squat -
95X5 (paused)
135X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X2
275X1

Pause Squats - 245X3, 3, 3

High Bars - 185X10, 8, 8, 5, 5, 5, 4

Single-Leg Press -
1ppsX28
1.5ppsX18, 15, 15

Leg Extensions -
Pyramid-upX15, 15, 15, 11
Back-offX20

Good Session.  245X3 is a Rep PR on Pause Squats.

On High Bars, for a while I was thinking, "If I just keep squatting, does that mean I can skip everything else?"  I ultimately decided, after the initial AMAP sets, that I would do sets of 5, and when I couldn't do that, move on to assistance.

Surprisingly, the single-leg work was stronger this week even after all the squats.

Accessory +Biceps. Week 5

BW - 209

Jogged to and from the gym; about 15 minutes each way with some intermittant walking.

Machine Pullovers -
Warm-upX10
Work-setsX15, 12 (straight-weight; same as last week)

Chins - BWX6, 3, 4 (double-paused)

Pulldowns (medium, neutral-grip) - X16, 12, 10 (straight-weight; same as last week)

Reverse-grip, EZ Bar, Preacher Curls - 40ishX20, 15, 14, 12
DB Curls - 35sX10, 10, 10, 10
all curls super-set with
Rope Extensions - X22, 18, 15, 15, 15, 15, 15, 15

BB Curls - BarX20

Decline Sit-ups - X15, 10, 3*

Everything went well.

*wasn't sure if my low back was loving this or not.  Otherwise, the movement felt pretty good, and it was nice to have something different to do besides Ab Wheel. 

Higher Reps. Week 5. Deadlift

BW - 210

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X5
225X4
275X3
315X2
325X1
295X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

BB Rows - 155X17, 11, 10, 9
DB Rows - 65sX15, 14
all rows super-set with
Leg Curls - X25, 20, 20, 18, 18, 15 (straight-weight)

Good session.  I'm taking my work-sets on Deads back to the floor to see if the lingering strain I've got in my low back will be alleviated by it.  I'm writing this 3 days later and it feels MUCH better.  At the same time, I backed it off from deficit sets of 5, to conventional sets of 3 at the same weight, so the work-load was less as well.

155X17 is a Rep PR on BB Rows, and I managed to push the reps on all the sets a tad.  I credit this completely with backing off so much on the deads.

DB Rows similarly benefited.

Higher Reps. Week 5. Bench

BW - 206

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

CG Bench, no leg drive - 165X5, 5, 5, 5

Flat-Back Bench, no leg drive - 135X10, 6, 5

DB Press - 35'sX15, 11, 8, 10

Dips - BWX21, 15, 12, 10
super-set with
DB Curls -
25'sX18, 15
30'sX12, 8

Good session, but gruelling. 

Decided to try sets of 5 across on the CG/No-Leg bench instead of going for max reps on each set.  Felt like more quality reps this way.

Pushed the reps a bit further on the flat-back bench.

DB Press was especially hard after all of the above.  I think that's a good sign?

21 is the most dips I've ever done.  I don't track Rep PR's that high, but it's some kind of PR.

Higher Reps. Week 5. Squat

BW - 206

Squat -
95X5 (paused)
135X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
245X2
275X1

Pause Squats - 235X5, 5

High Bar -
185X8, 6, 5
135X8*, 10

Leg Extensions -
Pyramid-up - X15, 15
Back-off - X22

Single-Leg Press - 1ppsX20, 20, 18, 18

235X5 is an all-around PR on pause squats.  Both sets were grinders on the last reps, though.  I was planning to progress, alternating sets of 3's and 5's and increase the weight every other week.  I'll still try the 245X3 sets next week, but I'm prepared to adjust moving forward if need be.

After grind on the Pause Squats, I was diminished for the High Bars and couldn't even make 10 reps.

*After a few sets of 185, I dropped down to 135 and thought about doing Fronts (I'm done with the Hack Squat machine; made my back feel awful), but decided to do burn-outs on High-Bars instead.  On the first set, for the first 5 reps I did 1.5 reps.  That is, stopping half way up and going back down before going all the way back up.  This felt dumb, but it did "burn out" my quads.

Used a different leg extension machine, and it was a lot heavier.  That's why I have fewer pyramid sets.

Switching out lunges for single-leg presses for a while.