Training: High Bars

BW - 208

High Bar Squats -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X3
225X2
205X10, 8, 6

Hack Squats - 1ppsX10, 10, 10

First day back in the gym after a two week vacation.  Just gonna ease myself back into things with a couple movements a day.  My schedule is about to get fraught, which will limit my training opportunities, however I didn't want to kill myself coming out of the vacation gate just because of that.  I'll probably just cruise for a couple of weeks, and maybe try out Paul Carter's short peaking cycle as a twice a week program when my schedule gets tight.  As a way of coming out the other side with my strength at my recent baseline.

Anyway, High Bars were solid.  205X10 is a Rep PR, and it's possible I could have gone for an all-around PR of 13 reps on the 1st set, but, again, not trying to kill myself out of the gate.

On the Hacks, I kept my feet close together and as far back as I could, and had my knees going straight forward to try and get maximum quad activation.  My heel was coming off the plate slightly at the very bottom.  This is such a strange movement.  It doesn't feel heavy, but I still have to push hard coming out of the hole, and it's still slow to get back to the top.  Interesting.

Vacation Prep. Week 3. Squat

BW - 205

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
275X5, 3

High Bars - 225X3, 3, 3
super-set with
Low Bar Paused - 225X3, 3, 3

Front Squat - 135X11

Crunched for time, so I did a bunch of squat variations with short rests instead of 30 minutes on the treadmill.  Lots more fun this way.

The 315X1 moved okay, but the rep sets of 275 felt like shit.  Getting out of gas and just feeling shaky on the way up.  One or both of those may be due to the diet.  Anyway, that's another reason I decided to go with squat variations for my volume instead of regular squat sets.

I've never super-set (giant set?) high-bars with paused low bars.  I really liked it.  It's neat to be able to leave the bar in one spot with the same weight on, and get this kind of work in.  Also, my quads and hamstrings are both fairly "tired" feeling the next day.  That almost certainly means they'll be really sore tomorrow.

After the last pair of triples on that, I felt like it was time to be done with those, but I wanted to do one more thing.  I decided to just strip it down to 1pps and rep out some front squats.  I'm sure that also contributes to my quads feeling exhausted today.  My tracker told me this was an all-around PR, which seemed crazy to me.  I checked this morning, and found a flaw in the app.  13 would have been a Rep PR, but I would have needed to get up closer to 20 for an all-around PR.  Still, coming within spitting distance of a Rep PR after all the other volume ain't nuthin'.

Reps and Volume. Week 1. Squat

BW - 199

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
225X14, 5

High Bars - 185X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Good Mornings - 135X8, 8

Single-Leg Extensions - X15, 15

225X14 ties my Rep PR, and meets my phase goal for this weight.  I also met my volume goal of 18+ total reps.  So next week I move up to 235 and shoot for one set of 12+, and 17+ total reps.

5X5 with 185 was very do-able here.  I might stick with it again next week, and then consider upping the weight slightly.  The idea here is just to get extra, quad-dominant volume.  Not trying to beat any rep or volume records here at this point.

Good Mornings were much harder than I expected.  Last time I did these, I did sets of 10 with 145.  I'll definitely be sitting with 135 for awhile and trying to push the reps up on that.

The High-Bar volume did the trick, because my quads were fried by the time I got to single-leg extensions.  These were all done with one, single plate, and I still could barely get the final reps on each set/leg.

Higher Reps. Week 3. Squat

BW - 212 (coming off weekend vacation)

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
265X2

Pause Squats - 225X5, 5

High Bars - 185X12, 6

Hack Machine -
50X10
100X10
220X9, 10, 4

Leg Extensions -
pyramid up X15, 15, 15, 15, 10
back off set X20

Lunges - BWX20, 20, 20, 20
no rest super-set with
Hypers - BWX20, 20, 20, 20

Solid session.  The double at 265 was fast.

225X5 is an all-around PR on Pause Squats.  Didn't even occur to me coming into the gym that would be the case.

185X12 on High Bars is only 3 reps off of my best, which was set fresh at the start of a workout.  Getting that close to my best after all the low barring feels solid.

Hacks suck, and seemed to be aggravating my lower back.  Try again next week.

At the end of this session I probably had the biggest quad pump I've ever had.  It felt like my legs wouldn't bend properly at the knee.  Had trouble getting to sleep that night because my quads felt so "tightened up" that I had to lay on my side with my legs folded back to get any relief.

LRB 365: Big-15. Phase 1. Week 3. Arms and Squats

Friday
BW - 202

Incline DB Curls - 25sX20, 20, 20, 20, 15 (30 sec. rests)

PJR Pullovers - 40X20, 20, 20, 18, 15 (30 sec. rests)

Ab Wheel - 12, 12, 12, 12, 10

Saturday
BW - 202

Calf Raises - 305X15, 15, 15

Squats -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
115X5
145X4
175X3
215X2
245X1

205X15, 6
145X15

Leg Curls - X20, 18, 18, 15
super-set with
Lunges - BWX20, 20, 20, 20

Stretched my triceps out really well before the pullovers by tying a band low on a squat rack, grabbing it behind my head and slowly stepping away from the rack.  Take a step, hold for 15-20 seconds, take another step.  Right triceps still got sore at the shoulder, but it seemed to help, and my triceps isn't nearly as sore there the next day.

205X15 is a big all-around PR since I rest to squat deeper last year.  If I get 18 reps, that would represent my best all-time lift.

I've got my birthday coming up at the end of the month, and just like last year I'm going to do my Birthday Squats.  Last year I squatted 125X35 for my 35th, and this year I'm aiming for 135X36.  So I'll be doing 145XAMAP sets at the end of all my squats to get ready for it.

Decided to super-set my leg curls and lunges.  Pretty good/hard.  Drastically reduced the number of lunges because my quads had so much less time to recover from the squats.  Bodybuilding, y'all.

LRB 365: Big-15. Phase 1. Week 2. Front Squats

BW - 200

Standing Calf Raises - 3 sets of 15

Front Squats -
BarX10
65X5
85X4
95X3
125X2
145X1
125X19

RDL -
135X10
225X12, 8, 8, 11 (straps on last set)

Leg Press - 3ppsX15, 12, 12, 11

Remembered to do the calf raises this time.

125X19 is a Rep PR by default as I've never done high-rep fronts.  It's right at or above a projected 1RM increase as well.  Honestly, I think 20 was do-able, but it's my conditioning that's holding me back.  I've upped my walking frequency the last few weeks, and I'm hoping my wind starts to catch up to my strength so I can squeeze some more out of these high-rep squat days.

I did the front squats in clean position, and I think the strain on my wrists diminished my grip strength for RDLs.  Grip was a limiting factor on all 3 sets until I added straps for the 4th.

I think 3ppsX15 is a good baseline for narrow-stance leg pressing after high-rep front squats.  I'll keep working to push the reps on that weight.  On the last set, I though my right VMO was going to pop clean off.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 4. Squat

BW - 203

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X3
185X3
205X2
235X1, 1
245X1

Pause Squats - 205X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Leg Press - 3ppsX20, 16

Leg Curls - X20, 16 (heavier than last week)

Decent session.  My right knee has been feeling wonky this week.  At first it seemed like squats were making it feel worse, and then by the end of the pause squats, it seemed to feel better than when I started.  Just wait and see.  Hope it's not a side effect of the weight gain.

Cuing hard with 'chest up' and pushing through 'heels.'  245X1 was good.  The 3rd reps on the last couple of pause squat sets were a little wild card as my form tried to break down, but there was no doubt of hitting them all.

Keeping my stance close on leg press, and quads continue to burn.

Hoping the leg curls will help with the knee.

Skipped calves.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 3. Squat

BW - 198

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X4
185X3
205X2
225X1
235X1, 1

Pause Squats - 195X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Leg Press -
2ppsX30
3ppsX20

Leg Curls - X20, 12

Calf Raises - X13, 10

Walking - 30 minutes

Nice session.  All the squats felt well grooved as I was cuing "chest up" hard.  Both 235s felt strong.

Pause squats were more challenging this week and a lot of fun.  I'm going to try to keep the number of sets up next week, but that may require cutting back on some of the other assistance if I'm feeling wiped.

Leg Press was all narrow stance.  My quads were burning after the 2nd set.

Was pretty tired at this point so I just got a couple sets each on the curls and the raises.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 1. Squat

BW - 196

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
115X5
135X4
165X3
185X2
205X1
215X1
225X1

Pause Squats - 165X3, 3, 3, 3

Leg Press - 2ppsX24, 20, 18

Leg Curls - X20, 15, 12

Standing Calf Raises - 245X18, 16, 14

Solid session, as it should be at these weights.  Playing with explosiveness again on the squat.  Previously, I made the mistake of focusing on driving my hips through hard at the top, and this was causing low-back strains.  This time I took the opportunity of these light weights to think about making the bar come up off my shoulders at the top.  That did happen on every rep, including the pause squats, and no low-back trouble. 

I doubled-down on the sets of Pause Squats initially recommended in the manual.  However, what I'm taking to heart is this little nugget,

"The lower the intensity, the more volume you are going to need.  So that would mean more back off sets to be added on.  If you choose to play with that, don't go haywire.  Add in 1-2 extra back offs in addition to what the program calls for and go from there."

I'm actually programing lower for this cycle than I did for the Strong-15 cycle to begin the program, so I think it's a perfect opportunity to explore the extra back-offs.  My form was extremely tight on all these.  So much so, that my mid-back is really fatigued, and a bit sore today.  I'm enthused.

Leg press was all done narrow stance to hit the quads harder.

Curls and Raises were curly and raisin.

LRB 365: LRB Split. In Review

This will be short, as I suspect the LRB Split and the Strong-15 Short cycle go hand-in-hand in a way that will result in a more complete picture emerging at the end of that 2nd cycle.

Generally speaking, the goals for this cycle were to maintain top-end strength on the main lifts relative to where they've been during the conditioning cycle, while allowing some more carbs back into the diet in order to stimulate muscle growth by going hard with the assistance lifts.

My bodyweight started out hovering in the 192 range at the end of the conditioning cycles, and by the end of the LRB Split was hovering around 195-196.

I set the following PRs on assistance work in chronological order:
RDL: 
205X8
225X9
245X10 (with straps)

DB OHP:
20sX25
25sX35
30sX28

Front Squats:
135X10
145X8
155X9

T-Bar Rows:
95X8
110X7

Barbell Rows:
145X9

Good Mornings were a new movement to me with this cycle and I progressed them as well:
135X8
145X7
145X8
145X10

Regarding Front Squats, I was doing them every week.  They were the first assistance exercise following back squats on Heavy Squat days, and they were the main movement on Light Squat days.  All the PRs were set on Light days, however it's worth noting that while I PR'd with 135X10 on a Light Squat day at the beginning of the cycle, by the end I was doing 135X8-10 for four sets across as assistance on my Heavy Squat days.  In addition to all that, I kept my stance narrow on all the Leg Pressing, and went hard to push reps on leg extensions.  Increasing quad size/strength was my primary goal for this cycle, and I feel good about the results.

I also got some good hamstring volume in with all the RDLs and GMs in addition to the maintenance Deads.  Had sore hamstrings every week.

Lots of shoulder volume on the cycle as well.  In addition to the DB OHP, my regular Press was getting within 5 lbs. or so of PR territory by the end.  Lots of high-rep Inclines, Upright Rows, and Rear Delt Flyes to round it out, all pun intended.  Although I honestly haven't noticed very much growth in my delts.  Hopefully, we'll see some of this work translate into Bench strength on the upcoming cycle.

All in all, I had a really good time through most of this cycle.  Hitting PRs on Fronts and RDLs was really fun, and seeing my wheels growing as a result was really great as well.  Near the end, I had a little bit of a crisis of confidence because I didn't instinctively know if my Every Day Max had improved, and was grumpy about what to set as my goals for the Strong-15 Short Cycle.  In the end, re-reading the manual, and reading an inspiring post by Carter along the lines of the Patience and Belief mantra that he and Brandon Lilly have been going over helped me get my head on straight.  I've decided to program lower for the Strong-15 Short than I did for the Strong-15 at the beginning of the program.  My final singles for the next cycle will be right around weights I've hit a million times before.  With the work I did on this cycle, and the extra back-offs I'm planning for the first few weeks of the next, I'm confident that I will be crushing the weights all the way up to the end.  And isn't that what we're supposed to do?

LRB 365: LRB Split. Week 3. Squat - Heavy

BW - 196

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X4
185X3
195X2
205X1
225X1
235X1

Fronts -
95X10, 10
115X10
125X10

Leg Press -
2ppsX12
3ppsX10, 10, 14

Lunges - BWX24, 22, 20, 18

Good session.  Squats felt the strongest they have in a long time.  Everything felt so easy, I was worried about depth.  I dropped the top set way down, thighs-to-calves.  That slowed it down a bit, but still felt strong.

Fronts felt solid as well.

On the last set of leg press, I moved my feet closer together to try and shift some more to my quads.  Maybe?

My glutes are sore again today, but I was still doing the short step out on Lunges.  Dunno.

LRB 365: LRB Split. Week 2. Squat - Light

BW - 194

Front Squats -
BarX10
85X5
95X5
105X5
115X4
125X3, 3
135X8 (Rep PR)

Leg Extensions - X33, 30, 25, 24

Lunges - BWX24, 22, 22, 22

Adductor Machine - X27, 20, 24, 20

135X8 is a Rep PR on Fronts, projects to a new 1RM, and I left reps in the tank.  The program calls for 5, 4, 3, 3, 3 to a top triple.  What I wanted to do for the cycle is hit a 3 Rep PR that also projects an increased 1RM on the last session.  Initially, I determined what that set would need to be (155X3), and programmed back to work up to it.  However, since this is more of a body-building day, I decided to hit the last set for reps, 531 style, and ended up with an all-around PR.  I'm going to keep the same weights that I've programmed, but keep going for rep maxes if I feel good like I did today. 

I kept the same weight as last time for extensions, and just got more reps.  I might up the weight slightly next time.

Adductor machine was occupied, so I did lunges next.  I played around with  my form to try to shift the emphasis from where it had been (my glutes) to my quads.  I kept my upright posture, but stepped out just far enough that my heel could stay on the ground at the bottom of the lunge.  This seemed to work well, and we'll see if I have any glute soreness again.

Jumped on the adductor machine after this and upped the weight from last time.  Had to drop it back down after the 2nd set, though.  Want to make sure I'm getting quality reps.

I programmed for sit-ups this day, but I was way short of time and had to bolt.  Same old story.

5/3/1 Full-Body: Cycle 5. Week 3. Bench/Dead

BW - 203

Pause Squats -
BarX5
95X5
135X5, 5
185X3
210X3
235X1

Lunges - BW 5 sets of 10

Bench-
BarX15
95X5, 5
130X5
150X3
165X6

Deadlift -
135X5
185X5, 5
225X5
260X3
290X8

Tough session, but with some good results.  This was the last week of 531 Full Body.  I have a tight schedule this week with 2 public readings and rehearsals for same.  Also, I'm going to try and squeeze 2+ full cycles of 531 BBB in before I start rehearsing my next show after the new year.  Therefore, I made the executive decision to combine my last 2 Full Body sessions into one, so that I can start BBB this weekend.  The big loss here is that I had to drop my final session of Kolkovs.  Everything else that got skipped (chins, leg curls) will be present in the next phase.

Pause Squats felt solid.

My quads felt mega-pumped after the 5X10 lunges.

165X6 is a tiny, tiny all-around PR on the bench close-grip and pausing every rep on the chest.  I was hoping to go for 8, but 6 was a grind.  The 150X3 was the best feeling set of the bench session as far as tightness of set-up.  Feeling positive about the adjustments I've made, and the results.

290X8 is also a small all-around PR on Deadlift.  I started making a small adjustment here, which is basically just keeping my hips a tad higher.  The bar still banged the fuck out of my knees, but didn't tear up my shins at all.  The last couple reps here were also really tough grip wise, and the final rep BARELY locked out.  I still managed to hold the weight at the top for a second or two, but I could be beginning to see the upper limit of my double-overhand grip.

5/3/1 Full-Body: Cycle 3. Week 1. Press/Dead

LRB Diet - Day 33

BW - 197

Hypers - 5 sets of 15; 30 second rests

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95, 135X5
155, 180, 205X3

Klokov Press -
BarX10
55, 60X5
70X20

Deadlift -
135X5
135X5 (RDL)
185, 215X5
240X10

BB Shrugs -
225X10
315X5
405X5 (add straps)
405X3, 3
405X5
365X5, 5
315X12

Full-bore, balls out session for me.  +10%.

I've shortened the rest on the hypers and lowered the reps a tad because I like the "pump" feeling I get in my low back.  It seems to help me keep my arch at the bottom of the pause squats to have my low back warmed up this way.

Going into my last set of pause squats, I thought about trying to rep it out a bit, but reminded myself that this is still kind of part of my warm-up, and that I still had a lot of lifting to do.  I'll put that idea on the back-burner until next cycle.  Not talking anything crazy; just going for 5 on the top set.

Continuing to PR on Klokov's in the higher rep range.  This was an all-out effort to get the 20.  Looking forward to what happens with this lift as the numbers continue to climb.  I assume that at some point the rep range on the top set will start to spiral down.

I'm renewing my focus on form with the deadlift a bit.  I'm trying to stay tight and almost motionless at the bottom of each rep so that the only  movement is taking a breath and/or taking the slack out of the bar before I start the next concentric.  This felt really great today.  I probably left a rep or two in the tank, and my low back didn't feel taxed at all after the top set.  It was actually my legs that seemed to be getting fatigued this way.  Front squats may return in my near future if that continues.

On to CNP shrugs!  OK, I made sure to note which level I stuck the pins in this time, because I'm positive it was lower than last time.  I was pulling these off just above my knee, and it was fucking hard to get up into position, yet kind of awesome at the same time.  I have zero illusions that pulling 405 from above the knee will help me pull 405 off the floor, but it was still a grind at the beginning of every set, and I'm sort of proud of them in context.  Rather than hit a high rep back-off set on 315 after the 405's the way I did last session, I decided to up overall volume by dropping to 365 for a couple sets and then hitting a modest back-off set.  I just wasn't ready to be done shrugging, but I was done with 405.

5/3/1 Log: Cycle 2. Week 2. Squats

Warmed-up with a lot of stretching and flexing of the left hip.  Trying to get the strained area ready to go.

Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X3
155X3
170X3
195X3
220X3

BB Front Split-Squats - 75X8X3

BB Front Squats - 115X8X2

Well, I got through the bare minimum on back squats without any major discomfort in the left hip.  Pretty sure it's the TFL and not the Sartorius.  I played with foot placement a little bit, but it was inconclusive.  However, paying special attention to keeping my knees out seemed to help.  That makes sense as the strain is most apparent when raising the knee straight up, and much less so when raising it at an angle.  I decided not to tempt fate and just got the required reps.

5/3/1 Log: Cycle 1. Week 0. Squats

Defranco's Agile-8

BB Squat -
45X5
95X5
135X5
155X3
175X3
200X3

BB Split Front Squats - BarX10X3

Front Squats - 55X10, 75X10X2

Much like Bench Day is now Bench and Back Day, this is now Squat and Quads Day (although I'm feeling it pretty good in my Glutes as well).  Seriously, I was rubber-legged on the trip home, and the front of my thighs are definitely making their presence known today.  This is good as I chose this accessory work for this day specifically for this purpose.  I'll get my back and hamstring work on Deadlift day.

Trying to adhere to the deload week 0 idea here so I didn't go for reps on the last set of squats.  Few notes here though.  I watched a Rippetoe video about squat grip, and it totally fucked up my session.  This was killing my shoulder and I was having trouble keeping the bar on top of my delts.  When I tried to abandon this and go back to my regular grip, I couldn't remember how to do it!  Really frustrating.  I had to take a break a do shoulder-dislocates to try and loosen my shoulder back up.  It's been months since I've had problems in my left shoulder, so this made me none too happy.  Also my wrists felt beat to shit as well.  In fact, my wrists took a beating all day.  On the bright side, I was getting great depth all day!  Don't know why.  I'd been worried after my last heavy set on BLAB that I'd cut the last couple of sets high.  Maybe just having that in my mind got me down into the hole more.  A really funny thing happened too me.  After my first work-set, I heard a voice behind me saying "Do you have to go so low?"