Low-Rep Volume PRs. Week 1. Session A.

sRPE @5.5

BW - 219

Squat - 

250X3

275X1

285X1

300X1 @6

280X3 @6

Press - 85X5, 5, 5 @4/5

DB Laterals - 25sX9, 9 @~10

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 10 minutes

Intro week.  Just hitting 1/3 - 1/2 of target volume, and being very conservative with RPE.

I'll be focused on low rep Volume PRs this block, and I'm reminding myself how I used to warm-up for this kind of work: Ramping rep sets to 90-95% of target back off weight, then ramping singles with 5% jumps to top single, then back-off sets.  This has worked very well in the past for dialing in both the top sets and the back-off sets.  I got away from this while I was working in higher rep ranges because doing ramping sets of 8-17 reps would fucking suck.

Pivot. Week 1. Session B.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 223

Deadlift - up to 365X1 @7

Bench - up to 205X1 @7

All movements below done with mechanical drop-sets where I took the full ROM to failure and then did long-ROM partials to failure:

Cable Rows w/ Thoracic Extension - X11/5, 10/5 @~10

Seated Leg Curls - X12/8, 11/5 @~10

Seated OH Cable Extensions - X14/4, 10/4 @~10

Much better pivot session and what I probably should have done in the previous session.

Just worked up to a smooth single on DL and Bench and then played around some more with the drop-set partials.  Lots of burn on all of these.

Pivot. Week 1. Session A.

sRPE @6

BW - 221

Box Squat - up to 345X1 @9

Wide-Grip Press, paused on chest - up to 125X2 @10

Pull-Downs with end-ROM drop-set - X10/6; 10/5 @~10

Been a roller-coaster couple of weeks fighting through a lingering cold, traveling for 3 days, then coming back with the flu.  Decided to stop trying to eke out gains from the prior training block, and just pivot and start a new block (hopefully) next week.

The planned new block would be lower rep work, so my plan here was to work up on some relatively novel variations to try and stimulate the skill of low rep work ahead of starting the block.

It's possible box squats are no longer novel enough for this kind of thing, as I pretty quickly aggravated my right glute.  So now I have that on top of everything else, lol.

WG dead-stop presses were fun if a bit awkward to figure out the grip width and walk out.

REALLY liked the mechanical drop-set on the pull-downs.  This kind of thing is becoming more popular in the body-building world as the literature around end-range partials for hypertrophy continues to grow.  What I did here was take a long ROM pull-down to technical failure then keep going only brining my upper arms down to ~parallel.  The burn on the drop-set partials was real.  

Med.-Rep Volume PRs. Week 4. Session B.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 220

Chins - BWX3, 2, 2, 2 @9/8

BB Rows - 135X14, 10 @7.5/*

BB Curls - 65X11, 11, 11, 11 @6.5/8

DB OH Tate Press - 35sX11, 10 @ ~10

*I tweaked my back the day before on my first back-off set of Squats.  It felt fine heading into this session, and then I tweaked it again on my 2nd set of rows.  Bum-mer.

On Curls, this year I've been pushing my Volume PRs up to 4X20 before increasing weight.  However, the last few weeks pushing sets with 60 lbs. was right up against the wall as far as what I could handle, and I'm 99% sure I was about to bounce of the wall if I tried to push sets of 16.  I was already mentally and physically fatigued from the back tweaks, so I decided to increase weight and drop reps down to something more "get-able."  65 for 4 sets of 11 is a Volume PR.

With the back tweak, I was nervous about getting set up for the Hermano Press, so I messed around with seated DB OH Tate Press instead.  They were ok, but not my favorite. 

Med.-Rep Volume PRs. Week 4. Session A.

sRPE @7

BW - 222

Squats - 

315X1 @6.5

255X6, 6, 6, 6 @5/7

Press - 105X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 @6/7

JM Press - 75X16, 16 @8/9.5

105 for 6 sets of 3 is a Volume PR on Press.

I'm annoyed by the Squats because back in  July, prior to all the schedule disruptions I've had, I hit 265 for 4 sets of 9 at comparable RPEs.  Mike T. always says, "you can't get back, you can only move forward," but it's hard not to want to be back where I was only 3 months ago.

Med.-Rep Volume PRs. Week 3. Session D.

sRPE @7

BW - 224

Deadlift - 

365X1 @6

385X1 @7

285X6, 6, 6, 6 @~6

Dips - BWX9, 9, 9, 9 @7/10

Band-Assisted Chins (medium band under knee) - BWX4, 4, 4, 4 @~8 (w/straps)

On Dips, 4 sets of 9 at this BW is a Volume PR.

Med.-Rep Volume PRs. Week 3. Session C.

sRPE @7

BW - 223

Bench - 

205X1 @5.5

225X1 @7

175X6, 6, 6, 6 @~6

Toes-to-Bar - BWX5, 4, 4, 4 @8.5/7.5

Reverse Safety Bar Box Squats - 200X4, 4, 4, 4 @~7

Felt much better in this session that I have for the last couple.

On TTB, at this BW, that's a 5 Rep PR and a 4X4 Volume PR.  

Upped the intensity a bit more on the Eliminators than what I'd programmed for, but I'm still exploring the movement.  It's amazing how challenging the upper back so much make my legs feel so SLOW at this low of an absolute weight.

Med.-Rep Volume PRs. Week 3. Session B.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 224

Chins - BWX3, 2, 2, 2 @9.5/8

BB Rows - 135X13, 13 @6.5/8

BB Curls - 60X15, 15, 15, 15 @8.5/10

EZ OH Tate Press - 75X13, 10 @8/10

60 for 4 sets of 15 is a Volume PR on Curls.  Barely got all of these.

Coming off several days of a bad cold.  Skipped 'A' session this week.

Med.-Rep Volume PRs. Week 2. Session D.

sRPE @5.5

BW - 224

Deadlift - 365X1 @7

Lying Leg Curls - X10, 10, 8, 7 @~10

Machine Dips - 180X14, 12 @~9

V-Bar Pushdowns - X22, 5 @6.5/10

Lat Pushdowns - X11, 10, 8, 9 @8.5/10

Caught a cold.  Went to the gym to see how it would go, but could tell from working up on DL that meaningful strength work wasn't going to happen today without a subpar performance that would also drive me into the ground.

Subbed in a bunch of low-stress hypertrophy work for the usual volume.

Med.-Rep Volume PRs. Week 2. Session C.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 223

Bench - 

205X1 @6

165X6, 6, 6, 6 @~5

Toes-to-Bar - BWX4, 3, 3, 3 @7.5/6.5

Reverse Safety Bar Box Squats - 190X4, 4, 4, 4 @~6.5

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 7 rounds / 12 minutes

4 reps at this BW is actually a Rep PR on TTB.

Med.-Rep Volume PRs. Week 2. Session B.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 222

Chins - BWX3, 2, 2, 2 @9/7.5

BB Rows - 135X12, 12 @6/7

BB Curls - 60X14, 14, 14, 14 @7/9.5

EZ OH Tate Press - 75X12, 12 @7.5/8

Rower - HIIT; 6 rounds / 10 minutes

60 for 4 sets of 14 is a Volume PR on Curls.

I'd been thinking about trying Incline Tate Presses instead of flat since I'm already doing JM Presses.  A buddy at the gym has been doing BB Tate Presses, and it suddenly occurred to me to try Overhead with an EZ Bar.  These actually felt pretty good, and my triceps are a bit sore the next day.

Med.-Rep Volume PRs. Week 2. Session A.

sRPE @6

BW - 226

Squats -

275X1 @5.5

305X1 @6

245X6, 6, 6, 6 @~5

Press - 100X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 @5/6

JM Press - 70X15, 15 @~7

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 10 rounds / 6 minutes

100 for 6 sets of 3 is a Volume PR on Press.

Med.-Rep Volume PRs. Week 1. Session D.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 222

Deadlift - 

365X1 @6

275X6, 6, 6, 6 @~5

Dips - BWX8, 8, 8, 8 @~7

Banded Chins (medium band under knee) w/straps - BWX3, 3, 3, 3 @~7

Had to skip conditioning to make it to an event.

Dragging ass coming into the gym yesterday AM.  Was worried DL was going to be a shit-show even with the planned low-RPEs.  But after I got warmed up everything was fine.  

Dips are so explosive lately that I'm starting to wonder if they're too explosive?  Like is this a different movement now from weighted dips?

My hands were feeling beat up from DL, so I used straps on the Band Chins.  It was actually nice as I was able to really focus on my back, and it has responded by feeling fairly sore today!  So maybe I'll keep the straps on these for a while?