Close-Grip Bench, Belt Squats, Upper Back

sRPE @7

BW - 226

CG Bench - 

-    up to 235X1(PR) @9.5

-    210X3(PR) @8

-    185X3, 3 @6.5

Belt Squat - 

-    105X10, 10 @7/8

-    140X6 @9

Upper Back Attack - 

-    Cable Rear Delt Rows - X17, 17, 13 @9/10

-    Cable Rows - X15, 14, 11 @10

-    Cable Retractions - X12, 11, 10 @9/10

A couple of nice PRs on CG Bench.  The Data Driven Strength guys recently put out 3 new RPE charts based on recent studies.  I initially copied over the "Average Rep Capacity" chart for my use, but after the last couple of sessions, I've revised to the "Low Rep Capacity" as it seems to line up better with how my heavy singles compare to my heavy triples.  

I've always fucking hated Belt Squat.  I was always trying to do them and maintain BB Squat position with a high chest etc.  I recently saw videos of Mike Israetel doing them for bodybuilding where his upper body was somewhat relaxed, he was holding onto the bars, and was just trying to go as deep as possible.  More like a Hack Squat or a Leg Press.  I tried that out today and it felt GREAT.  Couldn't use as much weight because of the longer ROM, but very happy to have another tool for training legs that I actually might like!

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

sRPE @6

BW - 214

Squats - 

315X1 @7

185X14 @6

Press - 85X8 @6

Decline CG Cambered Swiss Bar - 115X12 @7.5

Rower - HIIT; 9 rounds / 16 minutes

Intro week and just hitting 1 of each work set.

In addition to working for fairly novel Volume PRs, I'm also scaling everything down.  Looking for a simpler format that I can build back onto. 

Starting off with 4 sessions per week, 2 of my main movements per session with 1-2 Supplement/Accessory slots, and conditioning. 

5-6 sessions per week was no longer proving sustainable.  So I'm tearing my program down to the studs and building back up based on some stuff the Data Driven Strength crew put out there:

- Strength focused work is specific to the test (likely similar movements/rep ranges), may only require single digit sets per week, can likely be done further from failure, and will still contribute to hypertrophy.

- Hypertrophy focused work is generalizable to the muscles being worked, likely needs 10-20 sets per week, and should be biased closer to failure.

An example of how that is playing out in this block:

Bench - 4 sets @7

Press- 4 sets @6-8

Dips - 4 sets @6-8

CG Decline Cambered Bar (Dips supplement) - 2 sets @~8

OH Extension (Triceps accessory) - 2 sets @8-10

In this layout, each of my 3 main pressing movements get 4 sets, and overall hypertrophy gets 16 sets.  That's actually only 3 fewer sets than last training block when I was training 5 days a week, and 5 fewer sets than BBM Powerbuilding 1.1 where I was training 6 days a week, and which was one of the most successful training blocks I had in 2022.

The shakier set up is on lower body where I'm assuming that Squat, Deadlift, and Toes-to-Bar share enough musculature to provide a hypertrophy stimulus for each other.  But those are also generally my best lifts and have more room to plateau or regress while I figure out a more sustainable way to train.

Mid-Rep Volume PRs. Week 1. Session C.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 208

Deadlift - 

365X1 @7

275X9 @6

Cambered Bar Bench - 145X6 @7.5

Reverse Cambered Bar Bench - 135X19 @9.5

Pull-Downs (Myo-Reps) - X20, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 @8/7

DB Incline - 50sX12 @8

Leg DOMS starting to clear up a bit, and DL wasn't as much of a hassle as I thought it would be.

The low-fatigue strength work on cambered bar followed by a rep out on reverse cambered bar is based on something I heard in the Data Driven Strength podcast: that while long-ROM may be best overall for hypertrophy, partial ROM may provide greater hypertrophy in specific regions of the target muscle.  I spit-balled this idea over IG DM with one of their coaches, and this seemed like a good time to try it out: in the wake of failing to lock out my bench in the mock-meet on NYE.  The podcast was one of these two:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6jTJvUy94stznENZBJ41N9?si=827bbb37a8714c04

https://open.spotify.com/episode/31wELM8XdHOoONP5CcNRnx?si=683df7f60e624d07

I can't remember which.

Block 17. Cycle 1. Session B.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 218

Bench -

215X1 @8

185X3, 3 @~6

175X3 @5

Chin-Ups - BWX4 @7

Density - 2 reps every 0:30; 3:00; 12 total reps @8

DB 1-Arm Rows - 75X10 @7

Squat -

320X3 @5.5

195X14 @5

DB Curls - 30sX10 @6.5

As expected, this session was much tougher than session A.  I decided to move Squats from Slot A3 to Slot B3 because I put Deficit DL in A4.  Because DL is a focus this block, I decided it was better to be fresher for the DL accessory than for Squats.  I may need to either give myself a much longer break between the upper-back work and the Squatting, or pull back a little on RPE on 1-2 of the upper back movements.  Those Density Chins are really high in short-term fatigue, and I do want to try and keep sRPE <@8 or lower on average this block.  I kept it <@7 on average last block, and believe I saw benefits from that.

On the bench, I'm trying out an idea this block that the Data Driven Strength guys talk a lot about: A highly specific top set, followed by low-rep / low-RPE volume work.  Aiming to keep rest times between the volume triples at around 90 seconds.  Once the block is fully ramped up, should be doing 1@9 followed by 5X3 @6.  Overshot RPE slightly here in the low fatigue intro week.