Block 10B. Cycle 2. Session B.

BW - 229

Waist - 43"

sRPE @ 8

Bench -
232.5X1 @8.75
172.5X9, 9, 9 @~8

DB Bench - 60sX9, 9, 9 @~7.5

Inverted Row - BWX13, 13, 13 @8/9

Block 10B. Cycle 2. Session A.

BW - 229

Waist - 43.5"

sRPE @ 8

Squat -
370X2 @9
315X6, 6, 6 @7.5/8.25

WG DL - 275X9, 9, 9 @~7.5

Leg Press - 495X7, 7 @8

Block 10B. Cycle 1. Session C.

BW- 227

Waist - 43.25"

sRPE @ 7

Deadlift -
370X1 @ 9
305X7, 7 @~7

Pause Squat -
260X5 @ 6.5
280X5 @ 8

Dips -
BW+15X9 @ 8
BWX10 @ 8.5

Block 10B. Cycle 1. Session B.

BW - 225

Waist - 43"

sRPE @ 7

Bench -
230X1 @ 8.5
170X9, 9 @~8

DB Bench - 60sX9, 9 X8

Inverted Rows (fleet flat) - BWX12, 12 @7, 8

Solid session.  Nice bounce back from the day before, and shows bench progress after being flat for a couple of weeks.

Block 10B. Cycle 1. Session A.

BW - 226

Waist - 43.25

sRPE @ 8

Squat -
377.5X2 @10
310X6 @ 8.5
300X6 @ 8

WG Deadlift - 270X9, 9 @~7

Leg Press - 5.5ppsX7 @ 8

Weird session.

I felt a little out-of-it walking into the gym, but tried to rally for Squats.

Warm-ups went OK, but not great.  I backed off of my target top set weight, but it was still harder than I wanted (targeting RPE 9).  Then the first back-off was slightly heavier than I wanted it to be, but I could tell than the next set was going to be even harder, so I backed the weight off again, and hit the RPE target.  At this point, I remembered how I'd dropped a set per movement from the first week of Block 10A, and decided to do that again today to make sure I could get through it.

Then Wide Grip DL and Leg Press were all right on target.  Dunno.

Block 10. Cycle 4. Session B.

BW - 229

Waist - 43.5"

sRPE @ 7

Bench -
207.5X3 @8
180X7, 7 @7, 8
162.5X7 @7

CG Bench - 155X6, 6, 6, 6 @7

Rack Pull-Ups - BWX8, 8, 8 @8.5/9.5

Well that sucked.

Top strength on Bench was completely flat for the 2nd week in a row, but this time back-off set strength nose-dived after the first set. 

I then backed way off to see how Close Grips were going to go, and the back-off weight ended up being the work weight.

Sleep hasn't been great this week, so maybe there's a recovery issue.  Looking back at the last year+ of training with Emerging Strategies, I've never had two lifts plateau in week 4.  This is really throwing a wrench into the experiment of doing back-to-back, 4-5 week "greatest hits" blocks.  When I started this experiment, I told myself I would switch to Phase 2 if two lifts plateaued or regressed in Week 4, but I didn't really expect it to happen.  On the other hand, it might be fun to have different stuff to do next week....

Block 10. Cycle 4. Session A.

BW - 228

Waist - 43.5"

sRPE @ 8

Squat -
350X3 @8
300X7, 7, 7 @7/7.5

Front Squat -
155X9 @8
147.5X9 @8
140X9, 9 @7, 7.5

Sumo w/ Straps -
325X5 @8.5
315X5, 5 @~8

GPP Day -
- DB Circuit: Curls, Upright Rows, COne-Arm Rows - 7 minutes; 3 rounds; sets of 10
- Stationary Bike - LISS; 20 minutes

Up-and-down session.

e1RM on the top Squat set is fairly flat with last week despite being more weight.  However, 300 is a 3X7 PR fwiw.

I haven't slept well the last couple of nights, and was kind of ready to just go home after Squats.  Tried to just hit Front Squats at the same weight as last week, but it wasn't there.  Ended up having to drop to the lower weight than I've used this block just to his target RPE.  A little bummed about that, but also happy that I didn't just throw in the towel on the 4X9 or the session as a whole.

Hoped I would rally a bit on Sumos, but adding weight wasn't there.  Ended up using the same weight as last week, which is fine.

Going back and looking at the block from March/April '19 that had Front Squats and Sumos in it, I realize that they weren't all on the same day with back squats.  I probably should have paid more attention to that when I was laying out this program, but this part of the block is almost over.  I may have this session again next week, or I may move on to Phase 2, depending on how the rest of this week goes.  I need to find a way to get some better sleep the next few days, and put myself in the best position to succeed.

On GPP day, I decided to flop the first and last movements for a couple of weeks just to give them a slightly different stimulus.  Also did LISS on a bike.  May do HIIT on the bike for the next few sessions just to mix it up.

Block 10. Cycle 3. Session C.

BW - 228

Waist - 43.25"

sRPE @ 7

Deadlift -
370X3 @8
335X6, 6, 6 @~8

GHR - BWX17, 16 @~7.5

220 Tempo Incline Bench - 130X5, 5, 5 @7

Nice session.  Decent increase on all lifts.

Good jump on DL, especially on the back-off sets.  I was working in with someone that had a 100 and a 45 loaded on each side, so I just did that and it ended up being solid despite adding a set.

Speaking of adding a set, I stopped the second set of GHR at 16 because I just spaced that I was supposed to be doing 17.

Tempo incline was interesting.  I felt like I started picking up a lot more kinetic feedback in this session sort of "guiding me" in how to keep my elbows under the bar.  It made all the reps and sets a lot smoother and easier to execute than the first two cycles when strength seemed to be dipping quickly throughout a set.

Block 10. Cycle 3. Session B.

BW - 228

Waist - 43.75"

sRPE @ 7

Bench -
207.5X3 @8
177.5X7, 7, 7 @~7

CG Bench - 170X6, 6, 6, 6 @7.25/8

Rack Pull-Ups - BWX7, 7, 7 @~8

GPP Day -
- Circuit: Straight-Arm Pull-Downs, DB Press, Hammer Curls - 7 minutes; 3 rounds; sets of 8-10
- Rower - HIIT; 7 rounds; 14 minutes

Okay upper body day.

Right elbow was feeling a bit sensitive, and slowed down the lock out on my top triple, raising the RPE.  I was able to increase the weight slightly on the back-offs, but all-told e1RM was relatively flat from last week.  Expect a bounce back next week!

Closed-grips were a little better initially, but the RPE ramped up fairly quickly.  This may be somewhat a function of adding an extra set to both bench movements.

I ended up not adding an extra set to the rack pull-ups because I always had this set a 3 sets for this program, i.e. I didn't drop a set for the first two weeks like I did with everything else.  I'm also getting extra upper-back work on the GPP days, so no big.

sRPE ended up being right about on target, I think.

Block 10. Cycle 3. Session A.

BW - 228

Waist - 43.25"

sRPE @ 8

Squat -
340X3 @7
290X7, 7, 7 @~7

Front Squat - 155X9, 9, 9, 9 @~7

Sumo w/ Straps - 315X5, 5, 5 @~8

GPP Day -
- DB Circuit: One-Arm Rows, Upright Rows, Curls - 7 minutes; 3 rounds; sets of 10
- Rower - HIIT; 6 rounds; 12 minutes

Good session.

sRPE had been sub-target for two sessions in a row, and RTS' TRAC system also indicated an increase in volume, so I took their suggestion and added 1 set per movement.  This is the volume I'd originally envisioned for the program, but gave it a couple of weeks for fitness/DOMS to get inverse.  sRPE ended up being over target on this day, but this is the hardest session of the cycle, and is the only one that has rest days before it.  That's all to say that increasing the volume felt good, though hard, on this day, and that I'll keep an eye on it, but expect it should be fine.

Surprisingly, e1RM for squat on this day is the 2nd highest of the past year.  That result seems unlikely, but we'll see how it plays out.  The absolute intensity is still well off from my highest of the past year which was, I believe, 380X2@9.

Block 10. Cycle 2. Session C.

BW - 230

Waist - 44"

sRPE @ 6

Deadlift -
365X3 @~8
325X6, 6 @8

GHR - BWX16 @7

220 Incline Bench -
127.5X5 @6.5
130X5 @7

Solid full-body session.

I was pretty sure DL was going to bounce-back strong from last week's DOMS-laden session, and that was accurate.  Had trouble pulling 330X3 last week, but 365X3 was right there for me today on target.

GHR and Tempo Incline all felt good.

sRPE has been sub-target for 2 session in a row, which was going to be my trigger to add a set to everything.  Not coincidentally, RPS TRAC system also recommends that as of today based on my perceived fatigue metrics.