Pressin' Out Week 4. Day C.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 223

Press - 125X3, 3, 3 @7.5

DB Seated Press - 45sX12, 10, 8 @~10

Chins - BWX3, 3, 3 @8/9

Adductor Machine - 150X11, 10 @~10

Rope Pushdowns - X12, 11, 9 @10

Solid.  sRPE trending down throughout this week.  I'll add a tad more volume over the next couple of weeks as long as that trend continues.

Pressin' Out Week 3. Day C.

sRPE @8

BW - 224

Press - 115X3, 3, 3 @~6.5

DB Seated Press - 45sX10, 9, 7 @~10

BB Flexion Rows - 185X6, 6 @9/10

Leg Curls - X12, 9 @10

Rope Pushdowns - X11, 10, 9 @~10

Felt totally gassed when I got home from this session for some reason.  Probably stress.

I decided to do BB Rows instead of DB Rows to save a little time.  These were a little bit more fatiguing than I expected so I might add a deficit next time.  That should bring the weight down and give me a comparable or better stimulus with less absolute fatigue. 

Pressin' Out Week 2. Day C.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 225

Press - 115X3, 3, 3 @~6.5

DB Seated Press - 45sX10, 9 @~10

Chins - 

-    BW+25X1 @9.5*

-    BWX3 @8

Adductor Machine - X14, 13 @~10

PJR Pullovers - 45X13, 12, 11 @9.5

*Weighted Chins are definitely aggravating my left forearm.  I hate to have to sideline that lift for a while after spending so much time spent trying to improve it, but I may have to do that to give the tendinopathy time to calm down.

Still the first time I've been able to squeeze in a 3rd session in a couple of weeks, so I'm happy about that.

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 4. Session B.

sRPE @9

BW - 222

Bench - 175X3, 3, 3 @~5.5

031 Tempo Work:

-    DB Seated Press - 

    -    50sX7 @10

    -    45sX8 @10

-    RDL w/Straps - 160X10, 10, 10, 10, 10 @7/8.5

-    DB Curls - 

    -    20sX10 @6

    -    25sX10, 10, 10, 10 @7.5/10

Rower - HIIT; 10 minutes

Was purt'near out of gas by the fourth set of RDL.  Really had to drag myself through the rest of the workout.

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 3. Session B.

sRPE @8.5

BW - 222

Bench - 170X3, 3, 3 @4.5/5.5

031 Tempo Work w/ Intensity Techniques:

-    DB Press w/ Long ROM Drop Sets -

    -    40sX15/2 @10

    -    45sX8/1 @10

-    RDL (belt and straps) w/ Rest-Pause - 160X12/6, 12/5 @9.5/10

-    DB Curls w/ Long ROM Drop Sets - 25sX11/3, 10/3 @10

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 10 minutes

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 2. Session B.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 221

Bench - 170X3, 3, 3 @5/6

031 Tempo Work:

- DB Seated Press - 40sX9, 9 @~9

- RDL w/Straps - 160X9, 9, 9, 9, 9 @8/9.5

- DB Curls - 25sX9, 9, 9, 9, 9 @8.5/9.5

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 10 minutes

Feeling shaky and woozy after the last couple of sets of RDL, and a little bit on curls, too.  Maintaining the slow tempo that close to failure is a whole other thing.

3 Day Full-Body Hypertrophy. Week 1. Session B.

sRPE @6

BW - 218

Bench - 165X3, 3, 3 @~5

031 Tempo Work:

DB Seated Press - 40sX8, 8 @8/9

RDL w/straps - 165X8, 8 @~8

DB Curls - 25sX8, 8 @7.5/9.5

Body is definitely feeling the shift from strength-focused work to hypertrophy-focused work.  The DOMS isn't bad, but it's very noticeable and it's head-to-toe.

Post-Vacation Maintenance Day

sRPE @5

BW - 215

DB Press - 45'sX8 @8

Dips - BWX9 @8.5

Toes-to-Bar - BWX5 @9

Single-Leg Machine Leg Press - X10 @7.5

Chest-Supported Rows - 115X15 @8

DB Curls - 30sX13 @10

Rower - HIIT; 10 minutes / 6 rounds

Just got back from vacation and decided to mash up a lot of stuff from the little maintenance block that didn't get covered before I left.

BBM PB I Block 1. Cycle 4. Session C.

sRPE @7

BW - 203

Deadlift - 

385X5 @~8

365X5, 5, 5 @~7/8.5

Hammer Incline - 120X8, 8, 8 @7.5/8.5

Seated DB Press - 35sX15, 12, 12, 12 @9.5/8.5

Standing Calves - X20, 20, 20 @~8/10

385 is a 4 Rep PR on DL, and 365 is a 2X5 Volume PR.  This is also a PR e1RM.

BBM PB I Block 1. Cycle 3. Session C.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 207

Deadlift - 

375X5 @7.5

355X5, 5, 5 @7/8

Hammer Incline - 120X8, 8, 8 @8/9.5

DB Seated Press - 

45sX7 @10

35sX12, 12 @8/9

Standing Calf Raises - X17, 17, 17 @~7/8

375X5 is a 4 Rep PR, and 355 for, effectively, 4X5 is a Volume PR on Deadlift.  Top set felt great, but, RPE aside, these back-offs were heavy and hard.  Definitely felt like an "earned" Volume PR instead of "I haven't done sets of 13 in a few years, oh look a volume PR."  Also, gym is humid as hell right now.

Hammer Inclines felt heavy but also smooth?  Avg. RPE was slightly lower than with the same weight last week.

DB Press however cratered.  I assume it was a combination of general fatigue from climate and DL plus specific fatigue from the Hammer Inclines, although...why didn't that effect them this much the previous two sessions?  I dunno, but my delts were definitely feeling more fatigued heading into DB Press.  Maybe I'm just getting more efficient at targeting delts on the Hammer machine.

BBM PB I Block 1. Cycle 2. Session C.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 202

Deadlift - 

370X5 @8

355X5, 5 @7/8

Hammer Incline - 120X8, 8, 8 @8/10

Seated DB Press - 

45sX13 @ 10

40sX12, 10 @9/10

Toes-to-Bar - BWX6, 6, 6 @~8

Standing Calf Raises - X16, 16, 16 @~8

Last session before vacation.  Added the TTB in since I'm skipping all the GPP sessions this week.

On Deadlift, 370X5 is a Rep PR, and 355 for, effectively, 3X5 is a Volume PR.

On TTB, 3X6 is a Volume PR.

BBM PB I Block 1. Cycle 1. Session C.

sRPE @6

BW - 202

Deadlift - up to 365X5 @8

Hammer Incline - up to 120X8 @8

DB Press - 

40sX13 @10

35sX12, 12 @8

333 Tempo Standing Calf Raises - X16, 16, 16 @6/8.5

Can tell I haven't done 5s on DL in a while because this ties some old 5 Rep PR from probably back in my Starting Strength days.

Checked my logs, and this is my first time doing direct calf work since 2014, lol.

Block 19 (Tier 2). Cycle 5. Session C.

sRPE @7

BW - 216

Squats -

375X1 @8

320X4 @7

305X4, 4 @6/6.5

295X4 @6

Dips - 

BW+25X8, 8 @7/8

BW+20X10 @10

Pull-Downs - X12, 12, 12 @7.5/8

DB Press - 45sX10, 10 @~8

While my priority is on reorienting my lifestyle around my Diabetes diagnosis, I'm just focused on staying SOLIDLY on target RPE with good quality reps/sets.  Precise, controlled, full ROM reps with minimal "breath breaks," and if RPE creeps up even 0.5, take weight off. 

Block 19 (Tier 2). Cycle 4. Session C.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 216.5

Squat -

390X1 @8.5

330X4 @6.5

325X4, 4 @6/7

315X4 @6

Dips - BW+30X8, 10 @7/10

Pull-Downs - X12, 12, 12 @6/8

DB Press - 50sX10, 8 @8/9.5

Squat was maybe a bit down from last week.  As I was adding volume on the back-off sets, I tried to make sure RPE stayed in the pocket, and wasn't hesitant to take weight off the bar to make that happen.

Block 19 (Tier 2). Cycle 3. Session C.

sRPE @7

BW - 218

Squat - 

385X1 @8

325X4, 4, 4 @6/7

Dips - BW+27.5X8, 10 @7/10

Pull-Downs - X12, 12, 12 @6/7.5

DB Press - 48.75sX10, 9 @8/10

Very nice squat session despite being a weekend morning session.  No kinds of PRs, but I believe that top single more or less matches my best top set in the past year when I did 385X2 @9 at the end of a training block back in September.  Since it's the middle of the training block, that's very encouraging. 

Everything else was very solid as well, and sRPE was on target despite adding a set of Squats and a set of Pull-Downs.

Block 19 (Tier 2). Cycle 2. Session C.

sRPE @7

BW - 221

Squat - 

375X1 @8.5

325X4, 4 @~7

Dips - BW+28X8, 7 @7.5/9

Pull-Downs - X12, 12 @7/9.5

DB Press - 47.5sX10, 8 @8/10

Weird session.  Weird week.  All lifts were either flat or down over last week.

Block 19 (Tier 2). Cycle 1. Session C.

sRPE @6

BW - 220

Squat -

365X1 @6.75

315X4, 4 @~5.5

Dips - BW+25X8, 8 @7/8

Pull-Downs - X12 @6

DB Press - 45sX10 @7

Pretty good start to the block for Squats.  

Last time I ran this pivot, Squats started at 103% of the end of the previous block.  This one's a little less clear.  At the end of the last block, I hit 345X1 @~6 which has an e1RM of 400, and 300X8 @7 which has an e1RM of 425.  This new session had respective e1RMs of 410 and 407.5.  So the single rep strength e1RM was higher, but the lower rep strength e1RM was lower.  My general rule is the best e1RM of the day wins, so that means I dropped from 425 to 410, or 96.5%.

I figure if I've only run something twice, it's best to average the two together to decide if it's worth running again in the future.  The average of 103% and 96.5% is 99.75%.  Still very, very good, but not as good as the next best pivot which had a 101.1% increase.  So that pivot moves into Tier 2 for future consideration.  

Again, a very good start to this block for Squats, and for all 3 of my focus lifts.  Now, I get to look forward to seeing how much these increase cycle-over-cycle during this Tier 2 training block.  Still trying not to get unreasonably excited! 

Pivot Block. Session C.

BW - 219

sRPE @5

RDL - 185X12 @6

DB Press - 37.5sX12 @5

Machine Flyes - X20 @7.5

SA Pushdowns - X20 @8.5 

Block 12. Cycle 5. Session B.

 BW - 233

Waist - 43"

sRPE @ 8

BB Curls - 70X13, 13 @8/8.75

DB Curls - 35sX12, 12 @8/8.5

Bench - 

235X1 @8

197.5X4, 4, 4, 4 @~6

Deadlift - 

415X1 @8.5

360X4, 4, 4, 4 @~6

DB Press - 42.5sX10, 10 @7.5/8

70X13 on BB Curls is a Rep PR and projected new PR Max.

360 for 2X4 is a volume PR on Deadlift, and I did 4X4.  Top set didn't feel any stronger this week though.

DB Overheads felt generally stronger this week, as I chose to point my head up a bit more throughout the movement and not worry about pushing my head through at the top.

Block 12. Cycle 4. Session B.

 BW - 232

Waist - 44"

sRPE @ 8

BB Curls - 67.5X13, 13 @~8

DB Curls - 35sX12, 12 @8/9

Bench -

225X1 @7.5

192.5X4, 4, 4, 4 @6

Deadlift - 

415X1 @8.5

355X4, 4, 4, 4 @~6

DB Press -

40sX10 @7.5

43.75sX10 @~9

Same weight on BB Curls for 2X13 as last week, but it was slightly lower effort.

DB Curls were slightly more weight, but at slightly more effort, so more or less flat.

First 225 bench since my gym re-opened, and it and the back-offs all moved very well.

415 is a new lifetime PR on DL, but the effort was higher that last week, probably more or less flat on the top set, but the heavier back-off sets moved very well. 355 would have been a Volume PR at 2X4, and I did 4X4.

DB Press took a little step back.  All good.