HLM. Week 12. Day 2. (full-auto day 1)

BW - 221

Low Bar Pause Squat -
245X5 @6
275X5, 5, 5,5 @ 8, 8, 8, 8.5

Bench -
210X2 @7.5
215X3 @7
225X3 @8.5
207.5X5, 5, 5 @8, 8.5, 9

3" Block Pulls -
305X5 @6
335X5 @9
317.5X5, 5, 5 @8, 8.5, 9

Since I'm dieting and have been having these weird quad pain issues, I decided to just open it up and go sort of full auto-regulation on my programming.  Gonna try and stop worrying about the specific weight on the bar, the specific reps/sets, and just try to hone my ability to hit RPEs.  I've missed enough reps anyway. 

Generally, I know what movements I'm going to do that day (although I may need to change the order to make the "main" movement first), and I'll have a target rep range for each movement.  Sets of 1-3, 2-4, 4-6, etc.  And on the main movements, a top set range and then back-offs.  The straight-sets and back-off sets will all be RPE Stop sets.  For "light" movements like Pause Squats, I will shoot to keep rest times ~2 minutes to limit total number of sets.  "Medium" movements, ~2-3 minutes.  Main or "heavy" movements will have ~2 minutes between test /final warm-up set and top set, 2-3 minutes between top set and first volume / back-off set, and then ~2 minutes between volume sets.

So for Low Bar Pause Squats, I was targeting 4-6 reps around 275.  Test set/last warm-up of 245X5@6 pointed me right at 275, and that worked well.  My intent is to go for @9 RPE Stops, but I've only been doing 3 sets on this day, and figured a week to pivot into higher volume might not be terrible, especially since I'm still dealing with quad issues.  So I hit a 4th set @ 8.5 and called that good enough for this week.

Bench was a little all over the place.  Was looking for a top set of 2-4 reps in the 235 range.  Went for a test set with 210 (90% of target) and felt like it was almost @8 after 2 reps.  So I added 2.5% and tried again, but this time got X3@7.  So either I wasn't fully warmed up for 210, or my technique was off.  Anyway, this ended up being more predictive.  Took the 5% jump to 225 and it was just a hair over @8 for 3 reps.  Back-off sets ended up getting to @9 pretty quickly.  This is why I might need to move the main movement to the beginning of the training session.  Just in case adding additional volume to the initial movement of the day may negatively impact ability to do volume on the primary movement.

Block-Pulls went okay although I overshot the first work-set, and ended up with a top set and back-offs (not the plan, but whatevs.  AUTO-REGULATED).  305 is heavier than the test sets I've been doing, but this felt @6 and this movement has been moving really well the last couple of weeks.  But 335 was definitely not a weight I was going to pull for sets across.  Backed down to 317.5, and that felt like a weight I was going to pull all day, but with the 2-3 minute rests, I got to the end fairly quickly, which is how I planned for this to work.  So yay me.  Tried to get video of all top sets and final volume sets, but missed the Bench top set.