Pressin' Out Week 8. Day C.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 223

Press - 125X3, 3, 3 @7

High Incline DB Bench - 50sX13, 9, 9, 8 @~10

Chins - BWX3, 3, 3 @7.5/9

super-set with

Copenhagen Planks - BWX14, 14 @~9

Pushdowns - X14, 9, 8 @10

Solid session.

Need to be better about doing Copenhagen Planks.  They just hit different than the adductor machine.

Dips, Hypers, Shoulders, Triceps

sRPE @8

BW - 224

Dips - BWX10, 10, 6, 7 @9.5/10

Hypers - BWX16, 13, 12, 13 @9.5/10

Machine Laterals - X11, 11, 8, 7 @9/10

super-set with

Machine OH JM Press - X12, 9, 7, 8 @~10

Dips came in a couple of reps shy of where I'd hoped they would.  I'll add weight next week.

I was going to do GHR, but Adductors were still really sore from ATG Squats on Friday.  Opted for Hypers instead.  Nice reminder that you can get a decent low back pump with just BW Hypers.

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

sRPE @8 (adductor DOMS)

BW - 211

Bench - 

205X1 @7.5

135X11 @6

Box Squat - 225X8 @8

Dips - BWX9 @7

DB Full ROM Laterals - 25sX10, 6 @8.5/10

Gnarly quad and adductor DOMS from returning to squatting after a week off.  Made the first half of the session a real slog.

This will be my first time regularly box squatting.  This is with a very light touch on the box, and the briefest of pauses.  No unloading or rocking on the box.

Block 15. Cycle 3. Session A.

BW - 221

sRPE @ 6

BB Curls - 

57.5X12, 12, 12 @~8

50X21 @10

Bench - 

205X1 @7

140X11, 11 @6

Toes-to-Bar - BWX3 @7

HLR - BWX6, 6 @6

Leg Press -440X10, 10 @~7

BW jumped during vacation.  Should see the trend back downwards.

sRPE was also than lower than last week's session despite higher volume.  Going to chalk that partly up to vacation as well.  If it's still light after next week, I may look to add volume.  Likely to Leg Press.

50 lbs. would be a 19 rep PR on curls, and I got it for 21.  Nice to hit any PR since I reset to stricter form to ease left elbow discomfort.

Bench felt about how I want it to feel this block.  Top set fast, and back-off sets easy.  Between this and elbow trouble from curls, I can really fuck things up for the harder Press workout in the following session if I'm not careful. 

Hanging ab work was all easy as well.  Tempted to add volume here if this session is still so easy next week, but this is one of my lowest priority movements this block, so I probably shouldn't.

Leg Press went really well.  30lb. jump from last week while adding a set, and with no real increase in difficulty.  Also no adductor "feels" on the movement this week.  Slotting this movement in on this day so far seems to be helping meet my goal of not having a bunch of adductor issues from Squatting this block.

Block 15. Cycle 2. Session A.

BW - 217

sRPE @7

Curls - 

57.5X12, 12 @8

50X17 @9.5

Bench -

202.5X1 @7

137.5X11 @6

Toes-to-Bar - BWX3 @7

Hanging Leg Raise - BWX6, 6 @~6

Leg Press - 4.5ppsX10 @6.5

Having to do a condensed training week because of travel, so I'm not adding volume in week 2 the way I would normally.  So looking to hit full volume/intensity in Week 4 instead of next week.

Had some mild adductor discomfort on Leg Press, but I think it will be to the good for Squats in session C, but we'll see.

Pivot Block. Cycle 1. Session C

 BW - 222

Beltless Press - 125X3 @7.5

DB Front Raise - 17.5'sX10, 10 @~8

Beltless Pause Squat - 275X3 @6

Beltless Squat - 185X15 @5

Leg Press - 4PPSX15 @6

Bench Dips - BW+70(chains)X12 @8

Inverted Rows (feet flat) - BWX12, 12 @6/8

Trying to find a good way to allow fatigue to dissipate on squats without losing adductor fitness and struggling with DOMS in the first weeks of the next block.  

Block 7. Cycle 2. Session B.

BW - 226

Waist - 42.5"

Bench -
237.5X1 @8
242.5X1 @8.75
247.5X1 @9.25
215X4 @~8
195X7 @8.25

Chain Squats - 300+45(345)X3, 3, 3, 3@8

Deadlift Paused below Knee - 290X4, 4, 4 @~7.5

Solid session.

Tried to push Bench a bit a overshot slightly.  Still a slight increase in e1RM over last time.

Also pushed Chains Squats.  I had adductor DOMS going into my last session with these, and knew that was limiting me.  Upped the bar weight by 15# this time, and these were @8 max.  Felt good.

Did NOT want to DL afterwards, however.  Could have gone up in weight on these a little bit, but was just feeling gassed and ready to get it over with so stuck with the target weights.

Video is of top sets, and final work sets.

Block 7. Cycle 1. Session B.

BW - 223

Waist - 42.75"

Bench -
230X1 @ 8
235X1 @8.75
240X1 @8.75
215X4 @8.5
212.5X4 @8.25
190X7 @7.75

Chain Squats - 285+45(330)X3, 3, 3, 3, @8

Pause Deadlift - 285X4, 4, 4 @~8

Interesting session.

Bench was a little bit difficult to get dialed-in, but I did hit my target top single relatively easily, but then the back-off weights didn't quite line up with that projection.  I think execution on the top set was just above average.

I'd expected to get a lot more weight on the bar for Chain Squats.  I was struggling with some lingering adductor DOMS from Monday's Squat session, and that was likely a confounder.  I'd expect this to climb as I get re-acclimated to regular training.  Still, the proprioception of the heavy weight in the walk out and the descent may be a bigger factor that I anticipated.  I'd been hoping for an e1RM on these 5-10% over regular squat, but this was only about 0.7%. 

Pause Deadlifts went slightly better than expected.  Had targeted 90% of Deadlift TM.  We'll see what the actual DL ends up being on Friday.

Video is of top sets and final work sets in each rep range.

Block 6. Cycle 3.

BW - 227

Waist - 43.25"

Squat -
327.5X3 @8
280X7 @7

2ct. Pause Squat - 240X6 @ 6.5

Bench -
217.5X3 @7.5
187.5X7 @7

Close-Grip Bench - 180X7, 7 @7

Deadlift -
360X1 @8.5
330X3 @7.5

Plate Deficit Deadlift - 257.5X7 @6

Solid bounce-back session.  Still had some residual fatigue and tightness from the terrible DOMS I was dealing with mid-week, but felt much more recovered for this workout.

Squat is still obviously the lift that suffered the most, as the adductor DOMS were the worst of all the muscle groups.  Obviously RPE will determine what happens, but hopefully in the upcoming, final training session of this block, I can at least get back to the day 1 performance.

Bench was back on par with the Day 1 performance.  Everything felt solid.

DL bounced back about as well as Squat on the top set.  The back-off set and deficits even more so.

All video is of top sets and final work sets.

Novice LP. Session 53 (Greyskull Squats and Press)

BW - 229

Bench -
222.5X5
200X5, 5

Squat - 360X5, 5, 6

Chin-Ups - BWX7, 5, 4, 5, 3, 2 (26 total reps)

222.5X5 is a Rep PR on Bench.  Missed the 5th rep last week, but managed to squeeze it out this week.  Butt came up a bit.

360X6 is a Rep PR on Squat and 3X5 is an LP PR.  Right adductor was bugging me early on in warm-ups, but was ready to go as the weight got heavier.  Recorded my last warm-up, and bar path looked good.  Continued to look good through the work sets, and was able to get a really clean, extra rep on the AMRAP set.  Felt good about this one, and excited to go for 365 next!

Knocked out some more chins to finish it up.  Started off strong, but the bottom fell out.  Was using one of the less optimal chin-up stations at the gym.