Was hoping to hit a Bench PR on this last week, but I either peaked last week or shot myself in the foot with a max Press on Monday. Still a productive couple of bench blocks. Peak e1RM at the end of bock 15 was 240. Peaked in Block 16 at 247.5, and last week at 257.5
I haven't hit 10 reps on chins since January '18. But if you look at actual video of those sets, they were shit: https://ontheapron.blogspot.com/2018/01/greyskull-lp-session-14.html , and I re-set to sets of 5 trying to be stricter after seeing that video. I should have videoed todays set. I do feel confident that elbows were getting above ears at the bottom, and definitely that chin was clearing the bar at the top.
Kept with the final week theme of reaching for some heavier weights and or PRs and otherwise cutting back on things.
Decided to max-ish Bench. Not quite where I'd hoped it would be at the end of this block, but still my heaviest actual bench since Nov. '19. Did a lot of 10s this block, and will do some more low rep volume next block and see if that transfers better (not the case with all my lifts, but maybe this one). Definitely started re-learning some heavy bench lessons towards the end of this block.
219(BW)X9 on Chins is a Rep PR since I tried to re-set my form to a longer ROM. I haven't videoed my chins in a while because the reps were so low that I assumed they were a good ROM. I should probably grab videos now anytime I think I might have a PR to keep myself honest.
Pull-Downs - X12, 8, 6 (straight-weight; same weight as last session)
BB Curls - ~60X10, 9
Starr Rehab Squats continue. Adductor was bugging me a bit during the first set, but not the others. Weight has gotten heavy enough now, though, that low-back pump and conditioning are making it very difficult to complete all reps with good form. Gonna drop on down to 10 reps per set. Last set shown.
Went into this session with a lot more intel on using RPE in the BBM way (gleaned from some YouTube videos by Alan Thrall). Using the RPE chart, I was dropping the weight on the first and 2nd sets, and the third set would project to be around where it's been. 120X5 was supposed to be @6, but it felt much heavier than expected and was @7. Based on my understanding of the BBM approach to RPE, I should have stayed there at the next set. However, Press has been pretty demoralizing the last few weeks, and no progress has really been apparent. The prospect of reducing average intensity again was a real bummer. I'm about to go out of town to attend to some family issues, and really didn't want to leave it on this note, knowing I wouldn't be training again for several days. So instead I just maxed out. 165X1 is a Rep PR. That was nice to hit. Some might say that indicates progress, but frankly 165 has been right around my projected max for a while. Anyway.
Chin-Ups were okay at the new, stricter, double-paused, chest to bar execution. 1 less rep than last time, though. Whatever. Press PR.
RDL felt pretty strong. Grip seems to be the limiting factor right now. May just pack straps next time.
Got a couple more total reps on pull-downs with the same weight as last time.
Pull-Downs - X10, 8, 6 (straight-weight; +~5 lbs. from last time)
BB Curls - ~60X11, 8
Dropped Starr Rehab reps down to 15. Much better. Adductor feeling a bit better over the weekend as well.
Dunno about all this RPE business. Part of it is trying to notate it when the system that's worked so well for me for years is an app that doesn't have a convenient way to input set-by-set notes. If I had to say, these sets went @7, @9, @9.5.
Reset my form again on chins. Re-dedicating myself to a paused hang at the start and the bottom of each rep and trying to bring my chest to the bar at the top of each. Probably need to grab some video of it. I think it was more "elbows to lats" than "chest to bar."
RDLs felt okay. Probably most challenging grip-wise with the continuous tension.
Upped weight on pull-downs and they went pretty well.
Top set of Squats felt pretty good at the time, but looking at the video I can see that I was getting on the front of my foot on almost every rep. May need to video my warm-ups on Intensity day to try and get that dialed-in before the work set. Back off set felt very easy. It's probably somewhere around 70% of my max so it should.
220 for 3X5 is an LP PR on Bench. REALLY thought I wasn't going to get this after the 2nd set. And you can see that the last rep on the last set in the video was absolute limit strength, RPE 10. Depending on how this went would determine when I would switch over to TM for Bench. I don't see any reason to wait.
Manage to get my chins in one less set than last time. Need to watch myself, as I think I might be starting to cut depth a little bit.
250X9 is a Rep PR on Bench. Everything moved well. Crowded gym, so camera angle sucks.
More strict chin-up volume. Did sets before and after Deads. Thought I might do pull-downs after Deads, but decided to wait and see how a chin-only works with this volume approach. If things taper off, I'll try swapping out some medium rep pull-down volume.
350X5 is a Rep PR on Deadlift. Everything felt pretty good. RPE 9.5. Feels like I'm getting back in the swing of things again after the roller-coaster of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Wife's Birthday scheduled interruptions.
Solid session despite no PRs. 142.5X6 ties a Rep PR on Press.
For chins, I'm really trying to work my way back in with super strict technique. Today it was all about touching the bar at the top. I wanted to touch it to my chest, but that seemed impossible for some reason, so I settled for touching my neck. After three sets, I kept doing them between squat warm-ups to get the volume. Not sure what I'm doing with these right now, but I want to double-down on doing them strict whatever it's going to be. Need to get video to see why I'm not able to touch my chest.
On Squats, I focused a ton on a letting the bar settle before the rep but after my breath, and then on a very controlled descent. It took some mental adjustment to be this patient, but everything felt and looks pretty good.
Blah session. Super sporadic training schedule felt like it caught up with me a bit. Really need to get back on track.
202.5X9 is a Rep PR on Bench, though not surprising considering the run of 10 rep PR sessions leading up to it. On the 2nd work set, I felt that 10 probably wouldn't be there on the AMRAP set, and hoped to get 8. Glad I at least beat that.
I was supposed to start microloading chins today, but everything felt so off, I thought I'd just do BW sets...and didn't even get all of those. Blah.
Thought I might beat 6 on Deadlift, but I rushed a bit through the first 4 reps, and didn't have enough left in the tank to try and pull 7.
Coming back from a sporadic couple of weeks of training capped by a trip to New Orleans, I decided to pull back on most of my lifts. Backed Press and Squat up by two weeks, resetting the BW movements to be as strict as possible, and repeating the previous Deadlift weight.
140X7 is a Rep PR on Press. Definitely didn't expect that on the first day back. On the last few reps, I focused in on sort of "locking" my hips in place as the bar clears my head. Kind of creating a more stable pillar to finish the press out after the initial movement to get the bar from chest to the forehead.
For Chins, I'm looking now for full elbow extension, and a breathing pause at the bottom of each rep, and chin over the bar at the top. Reset to 3X5 at BW. I was nervous I wouldn't get them all, but I did. I've also built a calculator that will allow me to add ~2.5 to the TOTAL weight lifted after each time I get all 3X5. Basically I just plug in my body weight for that day, and it will tell me how much weight to add. I expect this to look a bit silly the first few times as I'll have a dip belt with a 2.5 hanging off of it. Third set shown.
After everything, I'm very happy with 3X5 on squats. I would have needed 8 for a Rep PR here, and that was unrealistic. Although this final set was probably RPE 8.5. I focused on letting the bar settle "back" on my shoulders after the breath. I'd noticed sometimes I would take the deep breath and immediately descend, and the bar was rolling forwards a bit. This seemed to help with that. Also continued to focus on a very controlled descent to make sure the bar path stays good. Again, felt very good about the results here. Keeping these points in mind for next week, I'm optimistic I'll feel good about getting some more reps in.
200X10 is a cool little Rep PR on Bench. Felt confident it would be there, and was probably RPE 8.5. Nice milestone I didn't even really know I was looking for.
Chin-Ups went okay. I'm going on a little trip this weekend, and I think I may reset chins and dips when I come back and try to get them all stricter. More on the dips below. Video is 2nd weighted set, and first BW set. Angle sucks, and was way off-center on the BW set.
345X6 is a Rep PR on Deadlift. Only needed 5 for a PR. About RPE 9. Felt pretty good today.
Dips were much harder today for some reason. I wish I'd gotten video, because I suspect I was going way deeper than usual. Shoulder may be in good shape for deeper dips now. I will take a little weight off, and reset using a plan I've been hatching for a chin-ups reset that takes total weight into account. Will be better about getting video, and holding myself to a stricter, fuller range of motion on both movements.
197.5X10 is a Rep PR on Bench. I was running out of gas a bit at the end, but strength-wise I think my short-term goal of 200X10 should be in reach.
228 (BW)X11 is a Rep PR on Chins. Not a cart-wheel situation as my chin form certainly isn't super strict. Something I'm pondering how I want to approach. For now, my non-strict form is still consistent, so I'm comfortable progressing it as-is. 2nd weighted set and BWX11 set shown.
335X6 is a Rep PR on Deadlifts. Would have like to have gone for 8 again, but was feeling pretty gassed on this day and decided to settle for the minimum PR.
258 (BW+30) X11 is a Rep PR on Dips. Getting pretty tough if I don't focus on breath quality and micro-breaks. 3rd set shown.
147.5X3 and 132.5X8 are both rep PRs on Press. Both were fairly difficult.
I'd been traveling all week and also had a lot of social activities, so I wasn't even sure if I was going to Squat on this day. Once I decided to Squat, I though I might just do a few reps at a medium weight. I then decided to maybe work up to a single around the original programmed weight. I then hit two PRs. 380X3 and 340X8, haha. But I am taking this opportunity to downshift to triples on the top set, and possibly eliminate the 1st back-off set of 5 reps. I like having that extra volume in there, so we'll see how I feel on a "fresher" day.
238 (BW+10)X5 is a Rep PR on Chins. Forgot to video the weighted set again, but did get the back-off set. Not fully extending the arms, but elbow above the shoulders and up around the ears is okay for me right now.
