Tempo always takes a while to get used to, especially a new tempo, so I was fine with it being difficult to get the tempo pulls dialed-in.
And I also know that Hack Squats can be pretty tough, especially relative to Leg Press. I did NOT expect them to be "almost hitting failure with 10 lbs." tough. My left leg in particular seemed to kind of hate these. I tried staggering which leg I started with, but it didn't seem to make much difference. Not really looking forward to doing these again this week, but kind of curious what full hack squats are going to be like next block. I'll be doing them for myo-reps, and right now I'm thinking it will be fairly looooow weight.
Neutral grip DB bench, keeping the elbows close to mid-line throughout, is meant to be pivot assistance for Dips.
Trying out some reverse grip curls because my right brachioradialis has been kind of achy during the prior block from chins. Seeing if some more direct hypertrophy work for it while I'm not doing chins will help when I bring them back next block.
I'll have a bit more focus on Press next block vs. Bench, and so I've reduced the total Bench variation sets for the pivot, and upped the total reps on the Press variation. Press used Paul Carter's 350 method (3 AMRAP sets until you can get 50 reps, then up the weight next session). Blew past 50 here, so I'm going to up it to the 35s next week. That's a bigger jump than I would take in a developmental block, but with only a 2 week pivot and such high reps, I feel comfortable ramping intensity quickly here.
All the chin-up volume in the last block seems to have done wonders for the ol' flexed-hang knee raise. I've always done these as a partial curl-up, but I had no problem going knee to bar on these sets, and reps/set were comparable to past pivot blocks despite the longer ROM.
Reducing the tempo a bit on the PL variants this pivot to see what that's like. Also, made a game-time decision to do them beltless. Everything actually felt a bit tight and creaky. Maybe even more ready for a pivot block than I thought.
Pullovers felt solid. All reps paused at the top and bottom.
I'm going to be doing Barbell Hip Thrusts as an accessory next block, and I like to find ways to acclimate to upcoming, relatively novel development block movements in the preceding pivot block if I can. One thing that should certainly be true: doing this movement with two legs, should be MUCH EASIER than getting it set up for single-leg work. The weird descending RPE is because of getting acclimated to the set-up and execution.
Some ups and down on the last session of this training block.
257(BW+30)X4 ties a lifetime Rep PR on Chins. They didn't feel strong, but tying a Rep PR isn't nothing. Maybe poised to jump to some all-time PRs next block. That would be nice.
Rack Chins did feel strong. Even though I got less reps on the first set, I got more total overall reps, and sometimes you've got to be happy with that.
Dips definitely took a step back. Weighted sets were much harder this week with only ~4 more lbs., and BW back-off sets were much harder. HOWEVER, 262(BW+35)X8 is a lifetime Rep PR.
80X8 on Barbell curls is a lifetime Rep PR. These made nice, very linear progress here. Probably because I haven't had them in a regular development block in a long time.
All-in-all this block demonstrated to me the power of being able to put together a consistent run of training. Almost a year into using the Emerging Strategies framework (I may do a fuller write up of this to help organize my own thoughts), and I can see that a full ~7 "week" training block usually nets around 5-6% increases. Training Max is around 96%, and usually increases around 12% by the end of a full block. The big challenge is stringing those together around life interruptions.
Lots of PR stuff on DL. 405X2 and 315X12 are both lifetime rep PRs, and while both project lifetime e1RM PRs, that sub-maximal 405X2 really feels like one.
Similar to the other PL movement sessions this week, I dropped the second set of 12.
Press definitely didn't feel any stronger, but also didn't seem to backslide.
Bench high reps felt terrible on the warm-ups, but then the singles just seemed to lock in somehow, and I had a big, 10 lb. jump over last week, even with self lift-off. Hit the first back-off set, but it felt like it wasn't there (forgot to get video), so I skipped the second set, similar to Squats the day before, since this is the last week of this block. Just didn't feel like backing off more in the last week.
Likewise, chin-ups and pull-downs were all comparable to last week. Plateaued at the end of the block.
Leg Press (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rest) -
4.5ppsX18, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 @9/8.5
Hard downturn in Squats this session as I try to push my block length pass my estimated time-to-peak. Top single was hard kind of out of nowhere based on warm-ups. First back-off set was so much more difficult than expected, the option was to drop weight, or just stop. Because this is the last squat session of the block, I just cut it and went to accessory. Didn't get video of the set of 12.
Leg Press did add some reps to the activation set, but with having skipped the 2nd set of 12 on Squats, who knows about that.
Another solid session as this block winds/comes to a close.
Chins continue to make slight progress. This was an increase in total weight on the weighted sets, and a block rep PR for unweighted chins.
Rack chins didn't get as many overall reps this session, but I played with the set-up, and got them feeling more stable in general.
Dips hit block PRs in both total weight X8, unweighted total reps, and e1RM for both. And these are both right around my all-time WeightsXReps for Dips even though the RPE is submaximal.
Tried to push the DL a bit. Was hoping to get in striking range to try 405X1 and 315X12 next week. That may be a bit of a stretch, especially if my Time-to-Peak is truly 7 weeks and I see a plateau-and-or-regression next week. Still wanted to make the push, and it went okay. Pushed the top single an extra five lbs., but it was a touch heavier than I'd hoped it would be. Pushed the weight for 12's by just 2.5 lb.s, and it worked out well.
Added a couple of reps to the activation set of GHR myo-reps.
I've been flagging Week 7 as my peak week since I've been using Emerging Strategies, and I will say that motivated me to dial-in a little tighter today.
Solid jumps on OHP.
Nice 5 lb. jump on Bench top set. 177.5X12 is a 12 Rep PR. Second set was much tougher for some reason.
Reps on Chins were comparable to last week, but BW was up 3 lbs. so it feels like progress.
Pull-Downs felt/have been feeling kind of plateau-y so instead of repeating the weight on the 2nd set, I dropped back to the work weight from week 1. That was 90X12 @8 on the first set in week 1, so 90X14 @9.5 on the second set feels progress-ish.
