HLM. Week 13. Day 1. (full-auto day 3)

BW - 218

Squat -
300X2 @6.5
320X2 @8
290X5 @7.5
297.5X5, 5 @8, 9

Incline Bench -
147.5X6 @6
165X5, 5, 5 @8, 8, 9

Chin-Ups - BWX4, 3, 3, 3, 3 @~8.5-10

BB Rows - 190X8, 8, 8 @8, 8, 9

Gonna make some program changes.

HLM. Week 12. Day 3. (full-auto day 2)

BW - 217

Safety Squat -
225X5 @ 6
250X6 @ 7
262.5X5, 5, 5, 5, 5 @ 8, 8, 8, 8.5, 9

Press -
125X2 @ 6.5
135X1 @ 7.5
140X1 @ 8
122.5X5, 5, 5, 5 @ 8, 8.5, 8.5, 9.5

Deadlift -
315X2 @ 6
350X2 @ 7.5
322.5X6, 6, 6 @ 8, 8, 9

Conditioning (next day) - brisk 20 minute walk

Solid session, thought it did run a bit long.  That's a combination of this fully auto-regulated approach (initially) yielding a higher volume of work sets than I've been doing, and a bit more socializing with some of the die hards in an otherwise empty Friday gym.

SSB had 250 as the estimated weight for the day.  Took 225 for my test set, and that suggested 250+, and when I took 250 it ended for being X6@7, so I made another jump.  I meant to shoot for X6 on the work-sets, but I'm so conditioned to do 5s that I cut the first set a rep short.  Whatever.  Just happy to have been over the target intensity for decent volume.

As always with Press, I hope today will be the day it feels strong, but it never is.  Nevertheless, 140X1@8 was the target, and was squarely hit.  Volume sets got heavy kind of fast, and I overshot a touch with a 4th.  No big, I don't think.

Deadlift was very solid.  I might have done a 3rd rep with 350  to try and hit @8, but I'm more concerned with the back-off sets at this time.  The weight felt just right on those, and rewarded me with sets of 6.  It did get to @9 somewhat faster than I would have liked, but it was the end of the session, and already more volume than I've done pulling from the floor in...over 2 years according to my logs.

All video is of top sets, and final volume sets.

HLM. Week 12. Day 2. (full-auto day 1)

BW - 221

Low Bar Pause Squat -
245X5 @6
275X5, 5, 5,5 @ 8, 8, 8, 8.5

Bench -
210X2 @7.5
215X3 @7
225X3 @8.5
207.5X5, 5, 5 @8, 8.5, 9

3" Block Pulls -
305X5 @6
335X5 @9
317.5X5, 5, 5 @8, 8.5, 9

Since I'm dieting and have been having these weird quad pain issues, I decided to just open it up and go sort of full auto-regulation on my programming.  Gonna try and stop worrying about the specific weight on the bar, the specific reps/sets, and just try to hone my ability to hit RPEs.  I've missed enough reps anyway. 

Generally, I know what movements I'm going to do that day (although I may need to change the order to make the "main" movement first), and I'll have a target rep range for each movement.  Sets of 1-3, 2-4, 4-6, etc.  And on the main movements, a top set range and then back-offs.  The straight-sets and back-off sets will all be RPE Stop sets.  For "light" movements like Pause Squats, I will shoot to keep rest times ~2 minutes to limit total number of sets.  "Medium" movements, ~2-3 minutes.  Main or "heavy" movements will have ~2 minutes between test /final warm-up set and top set, 2-3 minutes between top set and first volume / back-off set, and then ~2 minutes between volume sets.

So for Low Bar Pause Squats, I was targeting 4-6 reps around 275.  Test set/last warm-up of 245X5@6 pointed me right at 275, and that worked well.  My intent is to go for @9 RPE Stops, but I've only been doing 3 sets on this day, and figured a week to pivot into higher volume might not be terrible, especially since I'm still dealing with quad issues.  So I hit a 4th set @ 8.5 and called that good enough for this week.

Bench was a little all over the place.  Was looking for a top set of 2-4 reps in the 235 range.  Went for a test set with 210 (90% of target) and felt like it was almost @8 after 2 reps.  So I added 2.5% and tried again, but this time got X3@7.  So either I wasn't fully warmed up for 210, or my technique was off.  Anyway, this ended up being more predictive.  Took the 5% jump to 225 and it was just a hair over @8 for 3 reps.  Back-off sets ended up getting to @9 pretty quickly.  This is why I might need to move the main movement to the beginning of the training session.  Just in case adding additional volume to the initial movement of the day may negatively impact ability to do volume on the primary movement.

Block-Pulls went okay although I overshot the first work-set, and ended up with a top set and back-offs (not the plan, but whatevs.  AUTO-REGULATED).  305 is heavier than the test sets I've been doing, but this felt @6 and this movement has been moving really well the last couple of weeks.  But 335 was definitely not a weight I was going to pull for sets across.  Backed down to 317.5, and that felt like a weight I was going to pull all day, but with the 2-3 minute rests, I got to the end fairly quickly, which is how I planned for this to work.  So yay me.  Tried to get video of all top sets and final volume sets, but missed the Bench top set.

HLM. Week 11. Day 3. and Week 12. Day 1.

W11.D3.
BW - 222

Safety Squat - 250X5, 5, 5, 5 @ 8

Press -
132.5X3 @ 9
122.5X5 @ 7.5
125X5, 5, @ ~9
120X5 @ 8.5

Deadlift -
345X3, 3 @ ~8.5

W12.D1.
BW - 218

Squat -
335X1 @8
315X3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 @~8 (last set @9)

45 degree Incline Bench  - 165X5, 5, 5, 5 @8

Chin-Ups - BWX4, 3, 3, 2 @~9

BB Rows - 215X3, 3, 3 @8

Conditioning - Treadmill Sprints - 20 second sprint / 120 second walk; 7 rounds

Nagging quad pain is playing hell with my squats.  W11.D3. also just seemed to be an "off" or "down" day in general.  Press top-strength was underwhelming, although back-off strength was higher avg. intensity that previous.  Deadlift was definitely down.

Then I went out-of-town for 3 days.

I hoped that the extra day off would help with the quads, but not really.  Squat strength on W12.D1. was definitely limited by pain.  Was hoping to work up to a triple @ 8, but ended up doing a single @ 8 (no video) and doing triples for the back-off.  These intensities are disappointing, but at least I hit another 2-year BW low coming off a wedding trip.  Anyway.  I knew I wasn't going to be able to handle much volume at a decent intensity for back-off sets of 5, so I decided to use the "fatigue drop" / "RPE Stop" technique of doing volume sets until the RPE rises a certain amount.  In this case, I dropped to 3's @ 8, and did them until I hit a 3 @ 9 with that weight.

The high-incline bench was taken on this day, and I hate the gym's other incline bench because it's got a curve at the top that makes it much closer to a flat bench.  I was at the gym earlier in the afternoon than normal because I'd take an extra day off after our trip, so I dragged a particularly sturdy DB incline bench over to a power rack and used that instead.  Actually may be my favorite incline set up I've used at this gym.

Chin-Ups and rows were fine.  Rows felt a little weaker than last week, but no big.

Top-Sets and or final volume/back-off sets shown.

HLM. Week 11. Day 2.

BW - 220

Pause Squats -
270X5, 5 @ ~8
277.5X5 @ 8

Bench -
220X5 @ 8.5
197.5X5, 5, 5 @ ~7.5

3" Block Pulls -
285X5 @ 5
325X5, 5, 5 @ 8

First session in over a week and a half that felt "normal."  No low back trouble, and no quad trouble.

277.5X5 is technically a PR on Pause Squats, but I haven't done low bar pause squats in a long time.  This puts them right around 80% of my full squat which is fairly normal based on my history with this movement.  Switched from High Bar to Low Bar for these in the hopes that raising relative intensity of my squat supplementals will help with this weird quad DOMS and/or strain I've been having.  My theory is that lower relative intensity is allowing some de-training to take place between full squat days.  Going to stick with SSB for my "medium" day this week.  Hopefully, I can keep the relative intensity at or above this level, plus a touch more volume.  Otherwise, I'm not sure I know what squat variant would fall in between full and paused low bar squats.  Possibly regular High Bars or beltless Low Bar.  If none of those work, I may try tempo squats.  I've never used those before, though.  Last set shown.

Bench is 10 lbs. off a 5 Rep PR.  @8 and after a weird couple of weeks, I'm okay with that.  I couldn't do full power bench last week because of my back, and the week before I did 245X1@10 and 212.5X3@8, so 220X5@8.5 seems like a bit of a bounce back.  Still toying around with how to do back-off sets of 5 after a top set of 5.  Basically dropping 10% here, but the RPE feedback seems off.  Top set and last back-off shown.

Block pulls felt good.  This is only the 2nd time at this height, and the 1st was beltless.  Last set here (shown) was probably 8.5. 

HLM. Week 11. Day 1.

BW - 219 (lightest since Sept. '15)

Squat -
365X3 @ 8.5
335X5 @ 9
315X5 @ 9

High Incline Bench -
155X5 @ 7.5
160X5, 5, @ 8.5
160X5 @ 9.5
150X5 @ 8

BB Row - 210X5, 5, 5 @ 8

Low back was finally feeling good, so I took squats for a ride, and the back was fine....however the left quad is very unhappy.  I'd been experiencing some nagging quad achy-ness two weeks ago, but it had seemed to be fading right before I threw my back-out.  It was back with a vengeance on this day.  My working theory is that all the novel movements I used to work around the back pain last week (leg press, belt squat) maybe provided novel stress on the quad issue as well while de-training the back-squat a bit, and then upping the intensity with a fully loaded low bar back squat blew it back up.  Feels somewhat better the next day, but we'll see.  I was limping around after this session, and having trouble with stairs.  I'm going to try switching my light squat movement mid-week from paused high-bar to paused low-bar and see what effect that has.  I've a feeling, in general, that I need to bring the relative intensity of my variations closer to that of the full squat.  Hopefully, it helps with this as well.

So this is all to say, Squats were interesting.  Managed to work up to an okay triple, but the resulting quad pain played hell with the back-offs.  I videoed the top set and the first back-off, but when I had to drop to 315, I was too disgusted to want to see it back on tape.

Oh, there was also a full PL meet going on in the gym this day.  Luckily, the were in the final flights of squats when I got there, and the rest of my session didn't cross-up too much with the lifters warm-ups.

High Inclines went fairly well.  Looking at the video of the last couple of session, I was pretty sure general fatigue was possibly inflating the RPE a bit.  I have to be careful with assuming that ahead of time, because pressing movements for me drop off a cliff very quickly rep-to-rep.  Nevertheless, I was open to higher intensities being available to me on this day, and they were.  160X5 is a Rep PR at this bench angle.  3rd set was feeling dicey, so I dropped down for the 4th.  Only took video of the final set of 160.

Skipped chins because my preferred chin station was a camp ground for lifters competing on this day.

Rows came in very strong today.  210X5 is a Rep PR for both deadstop and hanging rows (usually "stronger" on hanging rows).  Only took video of the first set when I decided to go to 210 to make sure I wasn't kidding myself about form.

HLM. Week 10. Day 2.

BW - 224

Belt Squat - 165X5, 5, 5 @ 8

Feet-Up Bench -
205X1 @ 8
180X5 @ 6.5
195X5, 5, 5 @ ~8.5
185X5, 5 @ ~8.5

Chest-Supported T-Bar Row - 125X5, 5, 5 @ 8
super-set with
Seated Leg Curls - X10, 10, 10, 10

"Novelty Week" or "My Continued Adventures with Back Pain" continues!

Back was a little bit better on this day, but still didn't feel like I was ready to load my spine.  Hoping the third session of the week will be

Tried out the belt squat for the first time.  It took me 7 sets to arrive at the 165 work weight I used.  It's a very different squat feeling, and took a long time to dial-in technique so that I felt like the weight was staying over mid-foot, I wasn't falling forwards or backwards (the weight being attached at the hip caused the upper body to feel a bit more out of control), and that I could apply full power to the movement.  I do feel like I got some work in here.

Tried full power bench, but my back wasn't liking it.  Went with feet-up.  It was still painful at times (mainly getting on the bench and in position), but I got through it.  These numbers are low compared to what I did with this movement when I was rehabbing my adductor, but I think low back pain just takes a bigger toll on everything.  Overshot a little bit with 195 on the back-off work and couldn't sustain it for 5X5, so had to drop down to 185.

I really couldn't think of what to do in place of block pulls here.  So I went with Chest-Supported rows again, but for lower reps, and superset it with leg curls to get some hamstring work in.  I tried lying leg curls, but my back HATED that, so I had to switch to the stupid seated machine.

Because I wasn't doing any movements where I'm concerned about long-term proficiency, I didn't grab any video.

HLM. Week 10. Day 1.

BW - 222

Leg Press - 200X8, 8, 8, 8, 8 @ ~8

High-Incline Bench -
150X5, 5 @ ~9
142.5X5, 5 @ 8

Chin-Ups - BWX3, 3, 3

Chest-Supported T-Bar Row (neutral grip) -
100X6 @ 9.5
75X8, 8, 8 @ ~8

Threw my back out right before I left work for the gym.  Lately, I've been shrugging off back spasms within a few hours.  This one was really bothering me, though.  Went to the gym and tried to Squat.  Worked up to 185X1.  I took 225 out of the rack and it hurt pretty bad so I re-racked it.  Waiting a minute, and took it again.  I got it for a single, but the pain was too distracting to maintain, and the intensity was too low to be useful for training.

The regular leg press was occupied, so I used this antique one in another part of the gym.  I was about 3 sets in when I realized I'd forgotten the gym has a belt squat.  Whatever.  If my back is still giving me trouble on Wednesday, I'll try it out. 

Inclines went okay, and chins were fine.

Didn't want to even try to mess around with bent row, so I used the chest-supported T-Bar.

Back pain sucks.  No video.

HLM. Week 9. Day 2 and 3.

Day 2 BW - 221

High Bar Pause Squat - 257.5X5, 5, 5 @8

Bench -
245X1 @10
212.5X3 @8
197.5X5, 5, 5, 5 @8

Block Pulls (3" mats) - 305X5, 5, 5 @8

Day 3 BW - 221

Safety-Bar Squat -
262.5X5, 5 @~7
275X5, 5 @~9

Press -
155X1 @9.5
122.5X5, 5, 5 @~8
115X5, 5 @8

Deadlift -
365X1, 1, 1 @8
342.5X5 @8

Few weird situations going on with these two sessions.  Day 2 was at an away gym with no belt.  Day 3 was back at my regular gym, but I forgot my shoes and had to lift barefoot. 

I went full over to RPE this last week for a few reasons:
1)  Not sure how the diet is going to impact programming, and auto-regulating intensity seems like a good move.
2)  Since I started the diet, I've had pretty intense DOMS going on in my quads.  I'm actually concerned I wasn't getting ENOUGH intensity on my squat supplements to keep up adaptation, so I'm hoping auto-regulating intensity will help with that.
3)  The beltless thing, the shoeless thing, and mysteriously crapping the bed on bench as the away gym, meant I wanted a solid framework for "guessing" what weight I needed to use.

Videos are all top sets, final top sets, or final back-off sets.

HLM. Week 9. Day 1.

BW - 221

Squat -
385X3
310X5, 5, 5, 5

High-Incline Bench - 150X5, 5, 5, 5

Chin-Ups - X3, 3, 3

BB Rows - 200X3, 3, 3

My quads are getting really achy.  Kind of a DOMS way, but kind of unusual as well.  They were distractingly achy during my first back-off set of squats.  And I woke up to them aching this morning.  For me, DOMS is usually a 24-48 hours later thing.  I would think it had to do with diet, but I don't see a reason why that would be effecting my quads and not anything else.  It may just be that back squat objective intensities are just the highest of any of my lifts.  I'm going to try using RPE to see if it raises the objective intensity of my Squat assistance movements so that my legs get more acclimated to heavier loads.  I started off this program with assistance at 80% of BACK-OFF sets on light day, and 90% on medium.  I've been saying they were too light, so I think that's biting me in the ass.

Anyway, top set of Squats felt @ 9.  Didn't get much sleep the night before.

Last back-off set felt @ 8.  Fatigue was tempting me to rush these AND get sloppy with them.  Really had to focus to be both patient and focused.

Last set of Inclines felt @ 8.  Looks fast though.  Again, poor sleep.

Had to use the shitty pull up station for neutral grips.  They were fine.  Was hoping my lighter bodyweight would make a noticeable difference, but I guess 3% isn't that big an off set, haha.

Rows were fine.  No straps.  Played around with hook grip a little, but finished with plain ol' DOH.  Gym was crowded so no video.

HLM. Week 8. Day 3.

BW - 222

Safety Bar Squats - 260X5, 5, 5, 5

Press -
150X3
120X5, 5, 5, 5

Deadlift - 345X3, 3

Tempting to credit the first week of diet work from BBM with the weight loss here, but it was also a weekend morning session as opposed to my usual weekday afternoon.  Still, that's my lowest bodyweight since April '17.

Top set of SSB felt @ 7.5, looks @ 6.5.  I'm a couple weeks into documenting this "feels" RPE and "speed" RPE data, so it's time to start thinking about how I want to use it.

Top set of Press felt @9.5, looks about like that.  It's so strange because the first two reps looks like I could do a set of 5, but just a little bit of bar path deviation ups the difficulty on the 3rd rep into max effort territory.

Last back-off set felt @ 7, and looks @ 6.  For me, there seems to be two kinds of "feels" RPEs right now: Strength and Fatigue.  This felt @ 7 because I was just getting gassed.  I guess the lesson here is that I should add some conditioning in, and get my work capacity up.

2nd set of DL felt @ 7 and looks @ 6.  Definitely not heavy enough, but I hope that's in part because the programming has been working.

HLM. Week 8. Day 2.

BW - 226

High Bar Pause Squat - 230X5, 5, 5

Bench -
230X5
185X5, 5, 5

Deadlift - Elevated 5" (4" block + 1" mat) -
275X5 @ 6
290X5 @ 6.5
305X5 @ 7
315X5 @ 7
345X5, 5 @ 8

Paused HBS were all very easy being at the beginning of a wave.  @6-7, but I forgot to take notes.  Last set shown.

Top set of Bench felt @ 8, looks @7.

Back-offs were very easy.  Again, the beginning of a wave, but probably still too easy.  I need to adjust either by % or by going off of top set RPE.  Felt @ 6, looks @ 6.

Benching across from me on this day was powerlifting legend, Beau Moore.  Just casually benching 455 with no lift off or spotter.  Said hello, and shook his meaty, meaty hand.  Friendly guy.

So I had a few back spasms this week.  I used to get them more frequently, and I've often associated them with RDLs.  RDLs seem to help my Deadlift, but they also seem to aggravate my spine.  I thought I was toeing the water with only 2 sets a week, but here we are again.  OK.  To be fair, when I say that RDLs have always helped my DL, I haven't tried that many DL variations.  Basically just RDL and deficit pulls off of a plate. 

So I decided to try block pulls from about the same height as my RDL depth.  I'm still using straps so I can focus on technique and not on grip, but I did work up to 275 double-overhand before I added the straps.  I had no idea what the weight would be so I decided to work up to a set of 5 with 275, and titrate up, rating RPE as I went, and adding 5% at a time.  I ended up making a double-sized jump to 345 from 315, but that ended up being about the right weight.  Now I was surprised that I was able to do 345X5 @ 8 for multiple sets here (I could have done more than 2 sets, but wanted to play it safe because of all the volume leading up to this weight).  In fact, this is the same weight I'm programmed to do for two sets of triples on Friday from the floor.  That either means that my DL strength is lapping my programming, or this block height is NOT disadvantageous for me.  Next week I will try lowering it to just the 4" block and see if that takes some weight off the bar.  Still want this to be a "medium" day.  The last set felt @ 8, looks @ 7.5.

HLM. Week 8. Day 1.

BW - 227*

Squat -
365X5
290X5, 5, 5

High Incline Bench - 145X5, 5, 5, 5

Chin-Ups (neutral grip) - BWX3, 3, 3

BB Rows - 190X5, 5, 5

*Day 1 of a new diet.  I'm working with a dietitian from Barbell Medicine.  BW should start to drop going forward, and training will have to be adjusted as necessary.  That could go a couple of ways.  The one thing I want to make sure is that I'm both keeping practice of high intensity weights in the program, but that I'm also keeping plenty of volume in.  So, will continue with top sets and back-off sets, but top sets may stop majority 5s and 3s, and become something more like 1-3 heavy-ish singles before back-off work.

Top set of squats was pretty good on this day.  Felt @ 9, looks @ 8.

Back-offs were all fast.  Last back-off felt @ 7.5, looks @ ~7.

As the Press has continue to feel harder than "it should," I've decided to switch from the lower incline bench for my Medium pressing movement to a higher incline.  To start, I just used last week's top-set weight of Press as my weight.  Maybe on the light end of the correct range.  Last set felt @ 8.5, looks @ 6.5.  It feeling so much harder is probably a fatigue issue plus a bit of "novelty" of the movement.  I may need to seek some guidance on "feels" RPE vs. "speed" RPE. 

Chins were fine.  They continue to not feel any stronger, but also not feel any weaker.  It will be interesting to see what happens with them as I drop weight.

Rows were very easy.  Likely far too easy.  Last set felt @ 6, looks @ 6.

HLM. Week 7. Day 3.

BW - 227

Safety Bar Squats - 290X5, 5, 5, 5

Press -
145X5
115X5, 5, 5

Deadlift - 340X5

290X5 is a Rep PR on SSB.  Last set "felt" @ 8.5, bar speed is @ ~7.

Press top set felt @ 10, looks @8.5.  Not sure what to think about that.  Doesn't seem like fatigue.  The warm-up sets were harder than I would have liked as well.

Last back-off felt @7, looks @7.

Deadlift top-set felt @ 7 for overall strength, but @ 8 for grip.  Bar speed looks @ ~7.  Gonna drop straps for all sets of rows, and see if that's enough of a kick in the butt for grip to keep pace.  I won't drap straps for heavy RDLs because they go to shit double-overhand for me.

HLM. Week 7. Day 2.

BW - 228

High Bar Pause Squats - 255X5, 5, 5

Bench -
255X1
205X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

RDL - 305X5, 5

Last set of paused HBS felt @ 7, looks @ 6.  Rep PR.

255X1 is a PR on Bench.  Felt @ 10.  Didn't get video of last warm-up single, but it was surely faster than this.  Will look to see if the top set of 3 in a couple of weeks feels @9 or less.  Otherwise, could be in trouble.  Last set of back-offs felt @ 8, looks @ 7.

RDL technique was a little all-over the place today, BUT the bar was solid against legs for all but 1 rep.  This last set felt @ 7, and looks max @ 6.

HLM. Week 7. Day 1.

BW - 226

Squat -
400X1, 1
320X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Low Incline Bench - 205X3, 3, 3, 3

Chin-Ups - BWX2, 3, 3

BB Rows - 185X7, 7, 7

Top set of Squat was a shit show.  It looks like I let my chest drop when I hit the hole, sliding the bar forward of mid-foot, and making the concentric an RPE 10 gut punch.

I decided to take it again.  I'm showing the last warm-up single and this 2nd top single to compare speed on both.  The second single was a "feels" RPE @ 8, but while it was a touch higher than the last warm-up, the speed wasn't much slower, so would be a "bar speed" @ 7.

320X5X5 is a 5X5 PR.  All sets were strong.  I rated this last set @ 7.5, and video looks close to that.

Inclines were fairly tough at this weight.  205X3 is a Rep PR.  Last set was a "feels" @ 9.5, and video was "speed" @ 8.

Chins were fine.  No video.  Tried to stop @ ~9.

Rows were also fine.  I used straps on the last set just to make sure I could focus on the lift.  Last set was "feels" @ 7, and "speed" @ 6.

HLM. Week 6. Day 3.

BW - 227

Safety Squat - 270X5, 5, 5, 5

Press -
150X1
120X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Deadlift -
350X1, 1, 1
320X5

Going to try tracking RPE "feels" after sets, so that I can compare them to "bar speed" RPE from the video.

Last set of SSB felt @8.  Video says @ 6.  Started dialing-in a new cue to "keep my triceps in my lats" on these.  Felt like upper back looseness was making it difficult to keep my chest "up" coming out of the hole. I believe the lower arm position caused by this bar makes it less natural to keep the upper back muscles tight.  Trying to push my triceps into my lats to open my chest up, and that seemed to help.

Top set of Press felt @9.  Video says about the same.  Was hoping this weight wouldn't feel so tough.

Last back-off set of Press felt @ 8.5.  Video says about 7.5.  These were all fairly easy, so my rating was probably due to keeping rests between back-off sets at 2 minutes or less. 

For the DL, I rated both the first and third top-sets @ 7.5.  Video definitely says they're at about the same speed.  Not sure about RPE.  May need to film my last warm-up set in order to get accurate bar speed RPE for singles.  These all felt smooth, and relatively easy.

For the back-off set, it felt @ 7.  Video says about 6.5.

HLM. Week 6. Day 2.

BW - 227

High Bar Pause Squat - 245X5, 5, 5

Bench -
240X3
190X5, 5, 5, 5

RDL - 320X5, 5

No easily perceptible change in bar speed between the first and last reps of the last set.  So probably RPE 6 at most.  Going back and looking at my heaviest session with this movement from a few weeks ago, that would appear to be the same there.  I probably need to up the intensity a bit to get into @7-8 range at least for the last set (shown).

Top set of Bench is interesting.  Felt like at RPE 9-9.5, but bar speed between 1st and 3rd rep looks more like @7.5.  Mis-grooved the 2nd rep which made it feel harder than it should have been.  But technique break-down often comes with high-intensity work.  As far as the discrepancy  between "bar speed RPE" and "feels RPE," I would submit that my bench strength tends to drop off a cliff more-so than other lifts.  Nevertheless, I will try to keep this discrepancy in mind.   Back off -sets were all easy <@6.  Top-set and last back-off shown.

I think I'm finally figuring out some stuff on the RDL bar path.  I'm just not pushing my butt back far enough to keep the bar in contact with my legs throughout.  This really felt like it started to click half-way through the last set.  For me, the cue might not just be "butt back" OR "bar on legs," but rather BOTH push back so that the bar feels SOLID against the legs.  The only thing is that my low back "feels" less extended this way, although it looks fine.  No real difference in the bar speed between first and last reps, but it "feels" tough, so I'm gonna call the 2nd set @6.  Last set shown.

HLM. Week 6. Day 1.

BW - ??? (un-reliable scale at away gym)

Squat -
365X3
305X5, 5, 5, 5

Medium Incline Bench -
165X1
145X5, 5, 5, 5

Chin-Ups - BWX3, 3, 3, 3

BB Rows - 195X3, 3, 3

Had a conflict tonight, and so got my work-out in at an "away" gym that I found in the area.  The gym was mostly fine, however none of the barbells had a center knurling, and the only spare belt they had was a nylon and velcro affair. 

Because of the above, I conservatively lowered my top-set weight for squats from 380 to 365.  I kept the back-off weight the same, however.  Top set weight was fine, however the old problem of sliding forward at parallel instead of dropping down below parallel crept back in here.  Something to watch out for.  Same problem was apparent on a few reps of the back-off sets.  Top-set and last back-off shown.

The incline benches at this gym were standard 45 degrees, whereas the one I usually use is more horizontal.  To gauge it, I worked up to a heavy-ish single, and then backed off.  The back-off weight ended up being a bit too light, so I just kept rest periods down.  Main floor of this gym was packed, so no video of anything but Squats.

No neutral grip chin options available, so these were all supinated.  Felt fine on my wrist actually, and generally fairly strong.  Still tried to keep all sets below RPE 10.  Last was probably @10, but whatevs.

BB Rows, were not from the floor, but from a fairly horizontal hang position.  Wasn't sure if the staff would appreciate me doing Pendlay's on their regular gym floor with iron plates even though it was a padded floor.  These were fine.

HLM. Week 5. Day 3.

BW - 229

Safety Bar Squats - 260X5, 5, 5, 5

Press -
142.5X3
145X3
115X5, 5, 5

Deadlift - 340X3, 3

SSB squats were fairly easy with the Wave 1 weight reduction.  Last set shown.

Mis-loaded the top set of Press with a 5 on one side, and a 2.5 on the other.  Decided to reset with the correct weight, do the set, and then just drop one set off the back-off work so that the total volume "slots" were the same.  Correct top-set and last back-off shown.

Deadlifts felt great.  This is 50 lbs. off my best 2X3, so it SHOULD, but is HASN'T, so I'm HAPPY.  Last set shown.