LRB Back & DL. Week 3. Deadlift

BW - 208

Deadlift -
135X5
185X5
225X3
275X2
295X3, 3, 3
315X1
335X1, 1

T-Bars - 90X18

Lever Shrugs (with 3 sec. hold) -
380X3
470X3
560X3
605X3
380X21

Hypers - BW+10X15, 15, 15 (plate held behind head)

RG Curls - 50ishX17, 15, 10

Decided to try the Fatigue Singles option on the Deadlifts today when the 295X3 were moving so well.  I thought 335 moved pretty well for being fatigued.

On hypers, I'd been doing BW+X20 but then my low back would feel to fatigued to use added weight on the next set.  On this day, I tried stopping the first set at 15, and found I felt able to use added weight on the 2nd set, and then felt good enough to do a 3rd set also with weight.  Neat.

LRB Back & DL. Week 3. Squat

BW - 208

Front Squat -
BarX8 (paused)
95X3 (paused)
135X3
155X2
165X1
135X5, 5, 5, 5, 5 (30 sec. rests)

Paused Leg Press -
1ppsX8
2ppsX8
3ppsX8
4ppsX8, 8, 8, 9

RDL - 135X30, 21

Single-Leg Press - 1.5ppsX20, 20, 20

Incline DB Curls - 25sX18, 15, 10

Good session.  Squat day geared towards building floor speed for Deadlift.

135X5X5 on Fronts was about as easy as I expected.  Focusing on maximum acceleration and shortening the rests made it a lot of work, but it doesn't seem like it would be a big deal to bump the weight a tad.

First time doing paused leg press.  Since I almost never do leg presses, I had no idea where the weight should be so I worked up.  4pps was moderately heavy on the worksets, but I was still able to focus on accelerating after the pause AND on keeping my back flat against the pad from my shoulders to my glutes.  That seemed important.  This was also done with a narrow stance a'la my deadlift stance.

Forgot to up the weights for RDLs and blasted through the 50 reps in only two sets.  Still, my glutes are way sore today.

Upped the weight a tad on single-leg press.  I might be able to go up to 2pps here.  Not sure.

LRB Back & DL. Week 3. Pressing

DB Inclines -
35sX8
45sX8
55sX8
65sX8
55sX8
45sX8
35sX12

Cable overhead raise - X15, 15, 15 (straight-weight)

Cable Face-Pulls - X20, 20, 20 (straight-weight)

Rope Pushdowns - X100 (R/P 50, 25, 25)

Another session at the hotel gym.

Pyramiding up and down on the DB Inclines worked really well.

The combo of overhead raises and face-pulls worked the hell out of my rear delts.

My triceps are still tender from the 100 rep set 2 days ago.

All in all, this was a really great session despite using a hotel gym.

LRB Back & DL. Week 3. Vertical Pulling

BW - 203

Chins - BWX11, 8, 5

WG Pulldowns - X10, 10 (straight-weight)

RG Pulldowns - X10, 10 (straight-weight)

DB Hammer Curls - 35sX10, 10, 10

I was in California for work, so I only head the hotel gym to work from.  Thus, no weight for the chins, and no DBs heavy enough for shrugs (didn't bring my straps anyway).

Still, my lats were fairly sore for the next day or two.

LRB Back & DL. Week 2. Deadlift

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
285X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

T-Bars - 2 platesX17

Lever Shrugs -
290X3
380X3
470X3
560X3
605X3
380X20

Hypers -
BW+10X20
BWX25

Reverse Curls - 50ishX18, 15, 18, 12

This was a week ago, and I don't remember too much about the session.  Guess everything went fine.

Of note, all shrugs are down with a 3 second hold at the top, and hypers are done with weight or hands held behind the head.

LRB Back & DL. Week 2. Pressing

Inclines -
BarX30
85X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
185X1
165X9, 5

Press -  65X15, 10, 10 (35 total)

BB Curls - BarX25, 25, 25
super-set with
Rope Extensions - X25, 25, 25 (straight-weight; heavier than last week)

Got one more rep on the back off set than last week.  Progress.

Reduced the weight on OHP to try and get closer to the 50 reps.  After all the inclines, I frankly feel like I could just use the empty bar.  35 total reps isn't terrible though.  I'll just stick with this weight.

LRB Back & DL. Week 2. Vertical Pulling

BW - 207

Chins -
BWX5
+10X5
+20X4, 3
+25X2
+30X1, 1, 1
BWX15

Wide-Grip Pulldowns - X8, 9 (straight-weight)

Underhand Pulldowns - X8, 9 (straight-weight)

DB Shrugs - 100sX20, 15

Reverse-Grip Curls - 40ishX25, 25, 20

15 chins at a BW of 207 is an all-around PR!  Since I just started this programming, the routine can't get the credit.  I suspect it's having Chins be the first lift of the session, after years of having them fall after something else.  Fatigue isn't masking strength in this case.

LRB Back & DL. Week 1. Squat

BW - 207

High Bar Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X5
155X3
175X2
185X1
155X5, 5, 5, 5, 5 (135 - 155 sets done in 10:50)

RDL - 135X25, 18, 13 (56 total)

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

Incline DB Curls - 25sX12, 13, 10

I was very skeptical of this 5X5@60% from the LRB Basebuilding manual but the pace made it a lot of work.  I based this on an EDM of 255, although my best High-Bar Squat is 255X5 and I've done 155X20.  However, getting all the work-sets and the bulk of the warm-ups done in just over 10 minutes, all while moving the bar as fast as possible while keeping good form...well, I was sweating my ass off, anyway.  We'll see how it plays out.  It doesn't "feel" like strength work because all the reps were fast, and my conditioning seemed to be the only limiting factor.  May need to bump the weights; I'm not sure.

The RDLs are "350 sets," that is trying to get 50 reps in 3 sets.  Grip was the limiting factor here.  Next time I'll bring the straps out, and maybe up the weight slightly.

Haven't done single-leg pressing in almost a year.  Thought I'd go back to that here as the purpose of this day is actually to try and finally start building some more strength of the floor on DL.  Last April, I was up to 1.5ppsX18, so I'll start shooting to beat that immediately.

I'm throwing a smattering of biceps in on all my days to see if frequency can help make up for my lack of motivation to have a lot of biceps volume on any one day.

LRB Back & DL. Week 1. Horizontal Pulling

BW - 205

T-Bar Rows -
1 plateX8
1.5 platesX8
2 platesX16

Lever Shrugs -
200X5
290X5
380X3
470X3
560X3
380X20

Hypers -
BW+10X20
BWX20

Got in all my accessory work that I didn't get in the day before.  I thought about adding extra sets since it was on it's own day, but then I decided to leave sets/reps as is.  I did decide to try out the lever shrug machine for a while instead of doing BB shrugs.  Just to see what it's like.

LRB Back & DL. Week 1. Deadlift

BW - 204

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
285X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Got to the gym 20 minutes before closing.  Managed to bang out all my DL sets/reps, but had to put off the accessories.

LRB Back & DL. Week 1. Pressing

BW - 207

Inclines -
BarX30
85X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
185X1
165X8, 5

Pressing -
BarX10
65X5
85X8, 7, 7

BB Curls - BarX25, 25, 20, 16
super-set with
Rope Extensions - X25, 25, 25, 15 (straight-weight)

My best with 165 is 12 reps.  Focusing on building muscle and strength in my back, etc. for a while so this is fine for now.

Need to back-off more on the front pressing.  The reps are supposed to be much higher than this.  I hadn't done any front pressing in a long time, so I wasn't sure where I would be with that; plus the fatigue from the Inclines.

LRB Back & DL. Week 1. Vertical Pulling

BW - 205

Chins -
BWX5
+10X5
+20X4, 3
+25X2
+30X1, 1, 1
BWX15

Wide-Grip Pull-Downs - X8, 8 (to a top set)

Underhand Pull-Downs - X8, 8 (to a top set)

Incline Curls - 25sX15, 15, 12

15 chins at a BW of 205 is an all-around PR.  Kind of surprising after a two week lay-off, but I'm not a super-strict chinner either.  Still, all the weighted chins were quite do-able as well, and that feels nice on it's own.

Pull-downs were all fine.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do at the gym today when I left the house, so I didn't grab straps.  The final movement here was supposed to be DB Shrugs, but, strapless, I did curls instead.