Training: Deadlift

BW - 213

Deficit Stiff-Legs:
135X5, 5
185X5, 5
225X5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Chest-Supported T-Bars -
45X5
70X5
90X9, 7, 7
70X9
45X11

Hypers - BWX20, 20, 20, 25, 25

Chins (dead-hang, close-grip) - BWX3, 2, 2

Just pounding out some volume today.  Feeling more comfortable with the Straight-Leg/High-Hip Deadlifts.

I realized it had been almost a year to the day since I'd done hypers.  Oh, and in that time my deadlift has gone South.  So...

Been awhile since I've done true dead-hangs.  Talking straight-arms, torso facing directly forward at the bottom and with a controlled start to the concentric.  Humbling.

Training: Pressing

BW - 212

High-Incline Bench -
BarX25
95X5
115X4
135X2
155X2
135X15, 8

Incline DB Flyes - 30sX15, 15, 15

RG Curls - 40ishX23
DB Hammer Curls - 35sX20
DB Curls - 30sX18
WG Curls - 50ishX18
Preacher Curls - 40ishX11

Pushed the weight up a bit this week, and probably still left 1-2 reps in the tank on both sets with 135.

Worth noting: one of the strongest guys in the gym mentioned to me this day that he didn't really like the High-Incline bench for strength development very much.  He said he gets better  carry-over to both his flat bench AND his front press from the "regular" incline bench.  In the case of our gym, that's actually an unusual, arched incline bench.  You can see both benches in this picture:


The High Incline is in the foreground and you can kind of see the Arched Incline behind it and to the right (also reflected in the mirror on the back-wall).

The guy said he thought the High Incline was better for body-building.  The guy is strong as hell and has been working out of that gym for a long time, so I'll take it on faith that he's spent some time with both and that his opinion is based on experience.

No skin off mine either way, as I was only hitting this for a couple of high-rep weeks as a break before I got back to pushing the other incline anyway.  Interesting feedback, though!

Training: High Bars

BW - 212

High Bar Squats -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X3
225X2
255X1
205X11, 9, 8

Hack Squats -
1ppsX10, 10, 11

Good session.  I went up to 255 for my last over-warm-up on High Bars just to see how it was moving.  My best ever High Bar Squat is 255X5, I believe.  This single moved pretty well, but the bar was positioned a little bit too high on my neck and so it was fairly painful resting on bone.  I also got 1-2 more reps per work set here for 4 more total work reps than last week.

Hack Squats felt a bit better this week as I got more in the groove.  I thought about adding more weight but said screw it, it's just extra quad volume.

I start rehearsing a new show next week so my schedule's going to go in the toilet.  I'm going to run Paul Carter's Strong-15 Short cyle as a twice-a-week program with a Squat/Dead day and an Incline/Chin day, and then get in some extras at the office gym or what-not as time permits.  Just stuff like biceps and leg curls, maybe some machine rows and that kind of thing.  Nothing crazy.

Training: Deadlift

BW - 208

Deficit SLDL (on a plate) -
135X5
185X4, 4
225X3, 3
245X3, 3
265X2, 3
245X4
225X4
185X10, 10

Chest-Supported T-Bar Row -
45X5
90X9, 7, 6
70X9

Why not.  I originally planned to hammer RDLs for a couple weeks.  However, I kept thinking about this weird (to me) concept of the Stiff-Leg Deadlift that's been floating around.  Since I was a teenager, I always thought an stiff-leg DL was done by keeping the legs locked and perpendicular to the ground, and bending only at the waist so that the bar descends in an angle AWAY from the legs as it moves to the floor.  Basically a movement for the erectors.  And if you search for it on the 'net, that's still a pretty common definition.

For a few years now though, I've been seeing Paul Carter do what he calls a deficit stiff-leg.  To me it looked like an RDL that just started off the floor.  That is, the knees locked but slightly bent, and the butt moving backwards and forwards as the bar goes up and down basically staying in contact with the legs through the movement.

I did find an piece by Bret Contreras where he describes the SLDL this way, but it still just seemed like an RDL with a different starting position.

I decided on this day to just break down and try it.  I was very cautious however about making sure my low back didn't round at the bottom.  Keeping the back flat and NOT bending the knees in order to drop the bar those last few inches is really tough, and so these reps were slow and not at all explosive.  I don't know.  My hamstrings are sore today, so I'll try it again next week.  Still feels a lot like an RDL, though.

Training: Pressing

BW - 208

High-Incline Bench -
BarX25
85X5
95X4
115X2
135X1
155X1
115X20, 10

Incline DB Flyes - 30sX15, 15, 15

RG, EZ Bar Curls - 40ishX20
DB Hammer Curls - 40sX15
DB Curls - 30sX15
WG BB Curls - 45X20
Preacher, EZ Bar Curls - 40ishX15

For the couple weeks after my vacation, I just wanted to get some high rep work in on movements that I haven't pushed very hard, and so I decided to just move over to this bench temporarily.

This thing's probably around 60 degrees, so it's almost more of an overloaded front press.  In the past I've only really used this thing when the "regular" incline wasn't available.  I always hated it because I couldn't handle anything near the same weight, and didn't see the point if I was already doing 45 degree inclines AND overhead work.  I sometimes struggled to get 95X10 at this angle when I used this movement for a supplemental lift.

I expected to only work up to 135 and then do medium-to-high reps with 95.  What a nice surprise that 135 was so easy, that taking another single at 155 was a no-brainer.  After that, I knew 95 was going to be way to light for a work-set.  115 was just right.  I probably left 2-3 reps in the tank on the first set, and 1-2 on the 2nd.  This is good feedback to get as my regular incline has been moving faster than my OHP.  I'm instantly planning on using this to supplement regular incline and/or OHP in the future.

Biceps circuit inspired by some more recent Paul Carter stuff.  My brachialis were screaming for 2 days after this.

Training: High Bars

BW - 208

High Bar Squats -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X3
225X2
205X10, 8, 6

Hack Squats - 1ppsX10, 10, 10

First day back in the gym after a two week vacation.  Just gonna ease myself back into things with a couple movements a day.  My schedule is about to get fraught, which will limit my training opportunities, however I didn't want to kill myself coming out of the vacation gate just because of that.  I'll probably just cruise for a couple of weeks, and maybe try out Paul Carter's short peaking cycle as a twice a week program when my schedule gets tight.  As a way of coming out the other side with my strength at my recent baseline.

Anyway, High Bars were solid.  205X10 is a Rep PR, and it's possible I could have gone for an all-around PR of 13 reps on the 1st set, but, again, not trying to kill myself out of the gate.

On the Hacks, I kept my feet close together and as far back as I could, and had my knees going straight forward to try and get maximum quad activation.  My heel was coming off the plate slightly at the very bottom.  This is such a strange movement.  It doesn't feel heavy, but I still have to push hard coming out of the hole, and it's still slow to get back to the top.  Interesting.