Block 4 (Accumulation). Cycle 1. Session B.

BW - 217

Bench -
150X9 @6
155X9 @6.5
192.5X1 @6
205X1 @6.5
215X1 @7.5
220X1 @8.25
165X9, 9, 9 @~8

DB Bench -
45sX15@6
55sX18, 13, 12 @9.5 (350 Method; 43 total reps)

Inverted Row w/feet flat - BWX12, 10, 10 @8/10

Second session of the new block went pretty well.  A bit of fatigue and DOMS from the first session, but so far doesn't seem as bad as the first cycle of the last block, so I'm hopeful I have my approach to pivot blocks more dialed-in.  We'll see how everything feels for Session C which is a full body layout.

Bench went very well, and I tried to go past my target but ended up over-shooting slightly.  Back-offs were all right on target.

DB Bench this cycle is using Paul Carter's old "350 Method."  Pick a weight you can get 15-20 reps with, and do 3 AMRAP sets with short-ish normal rests.  You use the same weight each session until you get more than 50 total reps, then you go up in weight.  Looking back through some old logs, I saw that sometimes when my bench made big progress, I was doing high rep DB assistance work.  So I dusted off this method to revisit that idea.

I threw strict, straight-legged inverted rows into my pivot block and quickly discovered that I couldn't do very many.  One day, a strong-ish guy worked in with me on those and I noticed that he put his feet flat on the ground with bent knees.  Basically unloading the feet and shank from the movement.  I'm decided to roll through into the development block with that adjustment, and it got me well into the rep range I want for this block.  I suspect that before the block is over, I will start playing with "one leg up" etc. to increase the difficulty. 

Only took video of the comp bench today.  Top two singles, and final back-off.

Block 4 (Accumulation). Cycle 1. Session A.

BW - 215

Squat -
225X9 @6
237.5X9 @7
295X1 @6
310X1 @7
327.5X1 @8
250X9, 9, 9 @7.5

Rack Chin-Ups - BWX8, 8, 7 @~8.5

Sumo DL w/Straps -
245X7
275X7, 7 @~7

Nice first session for the first training block.  Had to hold myself down out of the gate because I was so jazzed to get rolling.

Squats went very well.  I was a bit hesitant to jump from 238X7 to 295X1 after not having gone over 245 for a couple of weeks, but it was all good.  The top single looks faster than it felt.  I probably left some weight on the table, but I'm fine to start a tad lighter and progress.  Back-off sets definitely felt easier than expected.  When the first back-off came in at 7.5, I decided not to go up because I thought I would fatigue quickly.  That did not happen.

First time doing rack chins.  This is setting up with a low-ish chin up bar (smith machine in this case) and putting your feet up on something in front of you.  Basically the chin-up version of bench dips.  I want to find ways to get higher rep chin-up volume in besides pull-downs and band chins as neither of those have ever really seemed to translate very much to my chin-up strength.  These felt awkward to start, but I was hitting them with confidence by the end.  Looking forward to progressing on these and possibly even moving into holding one foot up off the bench as a way of adding intensity and also stimulating the abdominal bracing portion of chin-ups.  I thought I may need straps for these, but I did not.

Also did Sumo DL for the very first time ever.  I had no real expectations.  I plugged in, like, 90% of my recent DL e1RM.  I was working in with a good lifter who was also pulling Sumo, and he kept encouraging me to go up.  Where I ended up projects as 102% of my recent DL e1RM, and that coming off a two week pivot block and never having done this movement before.  Because my squat has long been ahead of my pull, I believed there was a chance I could pull Sumo more than Conventional.  And that may be the case.  I called these RPE~7 but that might even be sandbagging a bit.  Looking forward to seeing where these go this block.

All video is of top sets or final work-sets.

Pivot Block. Cycle 3. Session B.

BW - 216

5-3-0 Tempo Deadlift -
232.5X4 @5
245X4, 4 @6

Single-Leg Elevated Hip Thrusts - BWX15, 13 @~8

5-3-0 Tempo Bench -
135X4 @5.5
140X4, 4, 4 @~6.5

JM Press - 85X8, 8, 8 @6/7

Pull-Downs - X11, 9 @~9

Leg Raises - X17, 14 @~9

Last session of the pivot block.  Everything went very well.  Very, very ready to start my next developmental cycle.

Video of the last sets of the tempo lifts.

Pivot Block. Cycle 3. Session A.

BW - 216

5-3-0 Tempo Squats -
232.5X4 @5
245X4, 4, 4 @~6.5

Front Racked Split Squats - BarX8, 8, 8 @6

High Incline Bench -
115X7 @5
120X7, 7 @5.5

Inverted Rows - BWX7, 6, 6 @~10

BB Curls - 55X10, 10, 10 @8/9

Everything was solid, and felt pretty good.

Pivot Block. Cycle 2. Session B.

BW - 216

5-3-0 Tempo DL -
225X4 @5
235X4, 4 @6 (w/straps)

Single-Leg Elevated Hip Thrust - BWX14, 12 @8

5-3-0 Tempo Bench -
125X4 @5
135X4, 4, 4 @5.5/6.5

JM Press -
80X8 @5
85X8 @5.5
90X8 @7.5

Lat Pull-Downs - X10, 8

Leg Raises - X15, 14

Added straps for the tempo DL.  Did mixed grip on the last warm-up, and played around with breathing at the top vs. breathing at the bottom, but it was clear grip was going to drive up the RPE, and that wasn't the point of this movement.

Added a set of DL to my upcoming developmental block, so I also added a set of the single-leg DL accessory here just to keep total volume in line.  Crazy low back pump after doing these.

Tempo bench took a big jump.  Hopefully a sign of residual fatigue falling away.

Conversely, I had a hard time dialing in JM Press and then the bottom fell out on it.

Only took video of the tempo lifts today.

Pivot Block. Cycle 2. Session A.

BW - 216

5-3-0 Tempo Squats -
225X4 @5
235X4, 4, 4 @~6

Front Racked Reverse Lunges - BarX8, 8, 8 @~6.5

High Incline Bench -
115X7 @5.5
117.5X7, 7 @6

Inverted Row - BWX6, 5, 5 @~10

BB Curls - 50X10, 10, 10 @ ~8

Nice light session.  I did get the front racked reverse lunges to feel okay on my quad by doing more extensive warm-up sets with BW first holding the squat stand for a set of 8, and then just free standing for a set of 8.  I would have thought the tempo squats were enough of a warm-up, but last time that proved not to be the case.  Anyway, I'm glad I got these to work, as the gym doesn't really have a good bench for the high-step ups I did last time.

Where there is video, it is of final sets.

Pivot Block. Cycle 1. Session B.

BW - 217

Tempo DL 5-3-0 - 225X4, 4 @6, 7

Single-Leg Elevated Hip Thrust - BWX12 @8

Tempo Bench 5-3-0 -
135X4 @7.5
125X4, 4 @6

JM Press -
85X8 @8
75X8, 8 @6

Pull-Downs - X9, 7 @9

Leg-Raise - X10, 15 @6,10

Tempo DL was even harder than I expected.  Thought the weight would be light enough that I could go double-overhand, but had to switch to mixed grip and that still ended up being a challenge.  In this case, 5-3-0 means a 3 second pause right off the ground, and a 5 second eccentric.

Haven't done these single-leg elevated hip thrusts since back my DeFranco training days.  Still feels like it could be a useful movement in this context.

Nothing really to note about anything else.  Video is just of DL, Bench, and JMs.

Pivot Block. Cycle 1. Session A.

BW - 215

5-3-0 Tempo Squats 225X4, 4, 4 @~6

Front Rack BB Step-Ups - BarX8, 8, 8 (each leg) @~5.5

High Incline Bench - 115X7, 7 @~6

Inverted Row - BWX7, 5, 5

BB Curls - 45X10, 10, 10 @~8

Conditioning - Treadmill; 20 minutes walking

Start of the pivot block.  Goal here is to drop stress enough to allow fatigue to dissipate, but not so much that I detrain to a point that complicates the start of my next block (excessive DOMS, etc.).  Also, to get some volume in with movement types that are in the next dev block, but weren't in the previous block.

Volume here is much higher than my previous two pivot blocks, but only about as high as the lowest volume of the last three dev blocks, and much lower than the volume in the previous or upcoming dev blocks.

Notes:
Intended to do front rack reverse lunges for a single-leg movement, but my left quad said "fuck you" to that.  Still didn't totally love these step-ups either.  Surprising, because it gave me no trouble in the tempo squat.  Will monitor closely as I'm planning Front Squats for the next block.

Inverted rows were MUCH weaker than expected.  That's good, because I can grease the groove a bit and hopefully the BB Rows in the next block will benefit.

Video is of 2nd sets of the first three movements.  Wasn't particularly  motivated to film any of this.

Block 3 (Transmutation). Cycle 7. Session B.

BW - 213

2 ct. Pause Squats -
237.5X5 @6
250X5 @7.5
245X5, 5 @7/8

Bench -
177.5X7 @6
205X3 @7
217.5X3 @7.5
187.5X7, 7, 7 @ 7/8

Deadlift -
260X7 @6.5
305X3 @7
320X3 @8.5
272.5X7 @7

Expected this to be the final session of this block, hoped it wouldn't be, but it was.  Recent trends continued.

Squat strength continued to regress slightly.  Went in looking for an increase that wasn't there.  Even after backing off in weight, RPE ramped quickly.

Bench continued to drive upwards on the top set, and it's possible I could have eked out some more intensity over another cycle, but RPE ramped quickly on the back-off sets so I'm comfortable with moving on.

Deadlift strength continued to stagnate on the top set.  Back-off set felt very solid.

One possible take-away from the disparity in the lifts is that while all my supplemental lifts were fairly specific to the main lift, the bench supplement (close-grips) had the most similar absolute intensity.  Here are how the three supplemental lift average e1RMs compare to the comp lifts during this block:
2 ct. Pause Squat - 81.5%
CG Bench Press - 95.1%
Plate Deficit DL - 92.3%

DL supplement % wasn't that different, so why not more progress on that?  Possibly because less overall volume.  Because I've had a couple of low back tweaks set me back in recent blocks, I've been very conservative about ramping overall DL volume block-to-block.  In comparison of work slots and work reps between comp lift and supplemental lift this block:
Squat - 7 slots - 39 reps
Bench - 7 slots - 42 reps
Deadlift - 4 slots - 24 reps

Overall, Bench e1RM also showed the biggest increase.  Here are the peak e1RM comparisons to the prior block:
Squat - 383.4 -> 382.4
Bench - 239 -> 255.9
Deadlift - 365 -> 365

So the only lift that really showed tangible progress happens to be the one with the most volume and where the supplement had the least overall variation from the main lift. 

I will be looking to bring DL volume gradually more in line with the other two lifts.  Next block will be another volume, or "accumulation," block.  This is an exploratory block, and so there will be a bias towards accessory over supplemental lifts, and "DL" volume will be made up largely of upper back work (rows and chins). 

In the following "transmutation" block, I will look to hold squat and bench volume relatively constant and translate all the DL accessory volume into DL and DL supplement volume that looks more like squat volume.  In addition, that block will be slightly less exploratory and look to test the suppositions above about volume and specificity. 

All video is of top sets and final work sets.

Block 3 (Transmutation). Cycle 7. Session A.

BW - 213

Squat -
265X7 @5.5
305X3 @6.5
325X3 @7.75
330X3 @8
282.5X7, 7, 7 @7/8

CG Bench -
165X6 @6
177.5X7 @6.5
182.5X7, 7, 7 @7/7.5

Plate Deficit DL -
240X7 @7
252.5X7, 7 @7

Not sure about that 330X3 @8.  I had to go to a competition level of focused aggression that is pretty different from the other squat sessions this cycle.  Barring surprising increases in Bench and Deadlift next session, I think it's going to be time to pivot.  Everything is starting to hurt, sleep is getting tougher, etc. 

That said, close-grips made a big jump commensurate with the jump comp lift took this week.  This movement has averaged about 95% of the prior comp lift session, and this was right there.

Deficit DLs were also right in line with the comp lift.  Averaging about 92%.

All video is of top sets and final work sets.

Block 3 (Transmutation). Cycle 6. Session B.

BW - 216

2 ct. Pause Squat -
215X5 @5.5
245X5 @6.5
252.5X5, 5 @~7.5

Bench -
165X7 @6
197.5X3 @7
207.5X3 @7.5
212.5X3 @8
182.5X7, 7, 7 @7

Deadlift -
245X7 @6
300X3 @7
315X3 @8
267.5X7 @6.5

Much better session than last time.  Training at my normal time just makes such a difference.  I wish it didn't, but there you go.

Pause Squats were a bit scattered.  Previous Squat session indicated I might get a regression, and 215 moved slower than I would have liked.  But I still felt that my strength shouldn't have regressed that much, so I jumped to 245, and it ended up being slightly light.  Went up to 252.5, and it ended up being slightly heavy, so I called it good.  Dropping back down to 245 and doing a second set there just to try and get a third set @7 seemed silly.

Bench went really well.  By far the biggest jump of the cycle with a 5.4% increase in e1RM over last session on both the top set and the back-offs. 

Deadlift was much milder, but still positive.  I repeated last cycles weights, and got a slightly better RPE on the top set, but a much better RPE on the back-off set.

Looking for peaking patterns in the cycle so far:
Squat made it's biggest jump in Cycle 4, and 2nd biggest in Cycle 5.
Bench made increasingly bigger jumps culminating in Cycle 4, but then here made it's biggest jump in Cycle 6.
Deadlift made it's biggest jumps in the first three cycles with the biggest in Cycle 3. 

Pretty clear that I need to run minimum one more cycle here and see what happens.  I need to see if Squat bounces back at all from last session training in unusual conditions.  See what happens with Bench after this sessions sparkling performance, and see if anything moves one way or the other with Deadlift.

Video is of top sets and final work sets.

Block 3 (Transmutation). Cycle 6. Session A.

BW - 216

Squat -
275X7 @6.5
315X3 @7.25
330X3 @8.5
277.5X7, 7, 7 @~7.5

CG Bench -
160X6 @6
167.5X6, 6, 6 @7

Plate Deficit Deadlift -
232.5X7 @6
245X7, 7 @6.5/7

Oof.  What a bad idea.  Wife and I took the day off and went out for a big, late breakfast.  This was my second time recently trying to go train after something like that, and it was terrible.  I gave myself and hour buffer between finishing eating and getting to the gym, but I still felt bloated and low-energy.

This impacted Squats the most of all.  Maybe because it was the first lift, or maybe because it was the heaviest.  Frustrating, because it indicates a regression in e1RM, and this late in the cycle that could be true, but because I decided to train under drastically different conditions, I really don't know, and will have to wait until next Squat session to see what's happening.

Close-grips still went up in intensity at target RPE.  However, as a % of comp, this is the 2nd week in a row that the lift's progress has dropped off, which may presage a drop off in comp progress.  Still not sure if I'm measuring something useful there.

Deficits continue to progress fairly linearly.  However, opposite of close-grip bench, it seems to be progressing more than the comp lift.  Still circling the value of these comparisons.  I suspect what I want, long term, is to identify supplmental lifts that perform at a predictable % of the comp lift, and progress at a fairly 1:1 ratio.  To what ever degree that is measurable and predictable, I imagine I am in the earliest stages of tracking it. 

All video is of top sets and final work sets.