Time Crunch + Forearm Pain Week 1. Day A.

 sRPE @6.5

BW  - 227   

SSB -

-    up to 300X1 @9

-    250X3 @8

Reverse SSB Box Squats - 210X3, 3, 3 @~7.5

Circuit -

-    Leg Curls - X9, 8, 8 @8

-    Hypers - BW+25 behind head X8, 8, 7 @8

-    Leg Extensions - X12, 10, 10 @8/9

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 0:20/1:40; 14 minutes    

Schedule is all over the place this month and next, plus I think I need to just back off anything that puts much stress on grip for a while.

Not letting perfect be the enemy of good, I'll just go in when I can and try to hit some stuff, and maybe a plan will emerge.

Son of a Bench Week 12. Day A.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 223

Bench - 

-    up to 225X1 @9

-    185X5 @7

Lever Dips - 205X10, 8, 8 @~10

Circuit:

-    Leg Extensions - X12, 11 @8

-    Adductor Machine - X12, 10 @8

-    Lat Pushdowns - X8, 8 @~9

-    Cable Curls - X10, 8 @8/9

1-Arm DB OH Extensions - 25X10, 9, 7 @~10

super-set with

Machine SL Calf Press - X17, 13 @10

Rower - HIIT; 5 rounds

We threw a dinner party the night before, so I was coming in pretty rough to train in the AM.  However, we're leaving town this weekend for a camping trip, so I had to train if I want to get 3 sessions in this week.  Top-end performance was quite muted.

When it came time for the Hack Squats / Pull-Downs super set, I just could not.  Did an iso circuit instead. 

Block 10. Cycle 4. Session A.

BW - 228

Waist - 43.5"

sRPE @ 8

Squat -
350X3 @8
300X7, 7, 7 @7/7.5

Front Squat -
155X9 @8
147.5X9 @8
140X9, 9 @7, 7.5

Sumo w/ Straps -
325X5 @8.5
315X5, 5 @~8

GPP Day -
- DB Circuit: Curls, Upright Rows, COne-Arm Rows - 7 minutes; 3 rounds; sets of 10
- Stationary Bike - LISS; 20 minutes

Up-and-down session.

e1RM on the top Squat set is fairly flat with last week despite being more weight.  However, 300 is a 3X7 PR fwiw.

I haven't slept well the last couple of nights, and was kind of ready to just go home after Squats.  Tried to just hit Front Squats at the same weight as last week, but it wasn't there.  Ended up having to drop to the lower weight than I've used this block just to his target RPE.  A little bummed about that, but also happy that I didn't just throw in the towel on the 4X9 or the session as a whole.

Hoped I would rally a bit on Sumos, but adding weight wasn't there.  Ended up using the same weight as last week, which is fine.

Going back and looking at the block from March/April '19 that had Front Squats and Sumos in it, I realize that they weren't all on the same day with back squats.  I probably should have paid more attention to that when I was laying out this program, but this part of the block is almost over.  I may have this session again next week, or I may move on to Phase 2, depending on how the rest of this week goes.  I need to find a way to get some better sleep the next few days, and put myself in the best position to succeed.

On GPP day, I decided to flop the first and last movements for a couple of weeks just to give them a slightly different stimulus.  Also did LISS on a bike.  May do HIIT on the bike for the next few sessions just to mix it up.

Block 10. Cycle 3. Session B.

BW - 228

Waist - 43.75"

sRPE @ 7

Bench -
207.5X3 @8
177.5X7, 7, 7 @~7

CG Bench - 170X6, 6, 6, 6 @7.25/8

Rack Pull-Ups - BWX7, 7, 7 @~8

GPP Day -
- Circuit: Straight-Arm Pull-Downs, DB Press, Hammer Curls - 7 minutes; 3 rounds; sets of 8-10
- Rower - HIIT; 7 rounds; 14 minutes

Okay upper body day.

Right elbow was feeling a bit sensitive, and slowed down the lock out on my top triple, raising the RPE.  I was able to increase the weight slightly on the back-offs, but all-told e1RM was relatively flat from last week.  Expect a bounce back next week!

Closed-grips were a little better initially, but the RPE ramped up fairly quickly.  This may be somewhat a function of adding an extra set to both bench movements.

I ended up not adding an extra set to the rack pull-ups because I always had this set a 3 sets for this program, i.e. I didn't drop a set for the first two weeks like I did with everything else.  I'm also getting extra upper-back work on the GPP days, so no big.

sRPE ended up being right about on target, I think.

Block 10. Cycle 2. Session B.

BW - 227

Waist - 43.75"

sRPE @ 6

Bench -
205X3 @7.5
175X7, 7 @~7

CG Bench - 167.5X6, 6, 6 @7

Rack Pull-Ups - BWX6, 6, 6 @7.5/9

GPP Day -
- Circuit: Straight-Arm Pull-Downs, DB Press, Hammer Curls - 7 minutes; 3 rounds; sets of 10
- Rower - HIIT; 6 rounds; 12 minutes

Solid upper-body session.  sRPE was sub-target for the 2nd week in a row, so if I'm feeling well fatigue-wise next week, I'll be adding a set to each movement.

Bench took a 2% jump in e1RM this week, which is above average for the last year.  In my best training 4 training blocks over the last year, bench jumped about 3% in week 2 on average, but the TM on the first week for those bench blocks was 92.7% on average (below the mean for the year), and this block started at 98.9% (the highest of the year).  So year-best TM and an above average jump in week 2, are a combo that I haven't seen on bench in the last year, and an auspicious start to the block.

Last week, RPE on Close-Grips ramped quickly on the sets across, but this week I was able to both add weight, and maintain it at target RPE.  Nice to have that on track in week 2 as well.

Added a rep to all the Rack Pull-Ups but BW was down, so whatevs.  I'm not going to stress over these, even if the data says they were one of my top-6 DL accessories in the last year.  They'll progress or they won't.

GPP Day went very well.  Got another 3 round in 7 minutes on the resistance circuit.  I added weight to all movements, and still hit 10 reps on all sets.  Thought I would add 2 rounds to the HIIT, but only adding 1 felt right in the moment.

Didn't get video of my top set of bench.

Block 10. Cycle 2. Session A.

BW - 230

Waist - 43.75"

sRPE @ 7

Squat -
332.5X3 @8
292.5X7 @7.25
287.5X7 @7

Front Squat - 150X7, 7, 7 @7

Sumo w/ Straps - 300X5, 5 @~8

GPP Day -
- DB Circuit: One-Arm Rows, Upright Rows, Curls - 7 minutes; 3 rounds; sets of 8-10
- Rower - HIIT; 5 rounds; 10 minutes

Solid little session.

Went in expecting to get a lot more on LBS and Sumo than the previous session, and that turned out to be true.  Just the way I felt on the previous session, and some experience of how this tends to go over the last year played into that expectation.  Still, I used RPE on warm-ups to calibrate what the top set would actually be.  I tend to go in with the assumption of a larger than average jump, but a 4% jump is WELL above average for me cycle-to-cycle.

First set of back-offs on the Squat were a touch harder than target, and so dropped back on the 2nd set.  I expect to be adding a set to each movement over the next couple of weeks, so don't see any reason to push intensity on those now.

Front Squats ended up not progressing as quickly.  Maybe just fatigue still from the low bar sets.

Sumo was a bit weird.  This is actually the same e1RM as last week, but the RPE dropped slightly on the 2nd set.  I think it's technical acclimation coming into play.  Likely see a big jump next week if I had to put money on it.

On GPP Day, I still got a third round of the circuit.  Switched over to HIIT from LISS on the rower.  Last week was just an intro for that.  Cut the total conditioning time in half, and will look to add a round or two every session until I'm up in the 7-10 range.  Then maybe switch movements?

Block 10. Cycle 1. Session B.

BW - 228

Waist - 43.75"

sRPE @ 6

Bench -
200X3 @7.5
170X7, 7 @7

CG Bench -
165X6, 6 @7/8
155X6 @7.5

Rack Pull-Ups - BWX5, 5, 5 @7/8.5

GPP Day -
- Circuit: Straight-Arm Pull-Downs, Seated DB Press, Hammer Curls - 7 minutes; 3 rounds; sets of 10
- Rower - LISS; 20 minutes

Nice little upper-body session. 

200X3 @7.5 is interesting because that's about at 99% of where my bench was at the end of the previous, aborted cycle.  That was back on 12/22.  So almost a month later, with minimal training, bench strength is about where it was.  Not sure if there are any take-aways, but if the lift trends upwards from here, and especially if I get a couple of larger-than-average jumps (my Bench tends to have those), I could end up with a good little bench block.

I had to drop weight on the last set of Close-Grips, as the RPE started jumping pretty fast.  All good (probably).

Rack Pull-Ups were fairly easy, especially as I'm still dropping a set from each movement in this first week.
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GPP Day went well, too!  Was able to move through this combination a bit faster and with more reps, resulting in getting a 3rd round in the same amount of time.  I think the prior GPP day's circuit probably had a lot more biceps involvement in each movement and that created more fatigue.

Also doubled my time on the rower with no difficulty.  Will probably switch to HIIT next week.

Conditioning and Bodyweight Circuit

Chin-ups - BWX2, 4, 6, 2, 4

super set with

Dips - BWX4, 8, 12, 4, 8

and

Intervals - 4, 1/4 mile intervals, 00:8:45 total, 00:02:11/interval

Conditioning and Bodyweight Circuit

Chin-ups - BWX2, 4, 6, 4

super set with

Dips - BWX4, 8, 12, 8

and

Intervals - 3, 1/4 mile intervals, 00:12:57 total, 00:02:35/interval

Conditioning and Bodyweight Circuit

Chin-ups - BWX7, 5, 4

super set with

Dips - BWX10, 10, 10

and

Intervals - 4, 1/4 mile intervals, 00:09:05 total, 00:02:16/interval

Much easier to get both conditioning and a light/recovery/assistance day in if I can do them all at once.  I hate running on a treadmill, but luckily there's a little bodyweight station down at the beach near where I live.  I mapped out a 1/4 mile route around the paths that brings me back there, and I can knock this all out pretty quick.

Chin-ups felt much stronger going first like this (duh).

Dips were fine.  I capped the reps at 10.

Intervals feeling a little better as I acclimate.  Still hard to pull back on the throttle out of the gate and hit target pace.  

Full Body-ish. Week 5. Squat (again) and Deadlift

BW - 208

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X3
155X3
185X2
225X2
255X1
275X1
285X1
295X1

Deadlift -
135X5
185X3
225X3
275X2
315X2
335X2
365X2
375X0

Circuit - 4 times through; no rest
Chins - BWX5
Rope Extensions - X15
Face Pulls - X20

Last day scheduled for this block, and about to go on a short vacation for 4 days.  Because of the strained shoulder keeping me from doing my programming, and because I have these days completely off coming up, I decided to just set some new PR's in Squat and Deadlift.

285X1 and 295X1 are both Rep PR's in the Squat, and 365X2 is a Rep PR in the Deadlift.  I tried to pull a single at 375, but couldn't break it off the floor.  Legs were gone. 

None of these PR's are remotely surprising giving my training the last several months, and that's why I felt confident that I could come into the gym today and fuck around and hit a bunch of PR's.

Full Body. Week 4. Deadlift

BW - 207

Bulgarian Split Squats - BWX15, 15, 15

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X2
325X6

BW Ladder Circuit -
Push-Ups - 5, 10, 15, 20, 15, 10, 5
Chin-Ups - 2, 4, 6, 8, 6, 4, 2
Dips - 3, 6, 9, 12, 9, 6, 3
Sit-Ups - 5, 10, 15, 20, 15, 10, 5

Okay session.  Pushed up the reps on the split squat.

325X6 is a Rep PR on Deadlift.

Shoulder strain has come back with a vengence.  Made the ladder circuit brutal.  Next week is the last week of the fullbody and conditioning acclimation block.  I'll have to leave out pressing movements and sub in some shoulder recovery instead.

Full Body. Week 3. Deadlift

BW - 206

Bulgarian Split Squat - BWX12, 12, 12

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X6

BW Ladder Circuit -
Push-Ups - 5, 10, 15, 20, 15, 10, 5
Chin-Ups - 2, 4, 6, 8, 6, 4, 2
Dips - 3, 6, 9, 12, 9, 6, 3
Sit-Ups - 5, 10, 15, 20, 15, 10, 5
Don't remember a ton of details about this session from Friday.

Got the split squats back up to 12 reps.  Feeling better.

315X6 is a Rep PR on Deadlift.

Ladder felt a little easier.

Full Body. Week 2. Deadlift

BW - 209

Bulgarian Split Squat (back leg on roller) - BWX10, 10, 10

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
305X7

BW Ladder Circuit -
Push-Ups - 5, 10, 15, 20, 15, 10, 5
Chin-Ups - 2, 4, 6, 8, 6, 4, 2
Dips - 3, 6, 9, 12, 9, 6, 3
Sit-Ups - 5, 10, 15, 20, 15, 10, 5

Decent session.  The split squats seemed a little harder this week.  Don't know if it was just the day, or accumulated fatigue from the first two weeks of this block.

305X7 is actually a Rep PR on Deadlift.  However, anything I attempt over 5 reps is likely to be a Rep PR since I haven't gone that high on Deads in a long time.  I had more reps in the tank.

Ladder circuit was possibly a little easier this week.  The push-ups were for sure, which is ironic because I'm still nursing a strain in some muscle down in my shoulder.

Full Body. Week 1. Deadlift

BW - 207

Bulgarian Split-Squat - BWX12, 12, 12 (each leg)

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
295X8

BW Ladder Circuit -
Push-Ups - 5, 10, 15, 20, 15, 10, 5
Chin-Ups - 2, 4, 6, 8, 6, 4, 2
Dips -         3, 6, 9, 12, 9, 6, 3
Sit-Ups -    5, 10, 15, 20, 15, 10, 5

I'd originally planned for the squat movement on this day to be High-Bars, but with the knee issue I was dealing with for a few weeks, I thought it would be smarter to go with single-leg work instead.  I wasn't sure what I would do, but I'd been thinking about the Bulgarian Split-Squat.  Similar to the barbell complexes I'm doing on other days, this is a something I did a lot of during my first year of training, but haven't done since then.  Then I saw this video of John Meadows the other day, and realized I could do them very similarly with a little sit-up bracer they have at my gym.  The genius (and hellishness) of doing them like this with the back foot on a roller is that it's easier to keep the load on the front foot and not 'cheat' with the back leg.  I like 'em.

Waving the top-weight and back-off weight down again on Deadlifts to make sure my low-back gets some recovery and is ready for the other full-body days.  On the other hand, I'm also going to let the back-off reps get above 5 for the first time in forever.  295X8 ties my previous 8 rep max, and I easily had a couple more reps in the tank.

This body-weight ladder is modeled almost exactly on a section from Paul Carter's LRB 365 program I ran last year.  By the end of July, I'm going to test myself on some military PFT standards, and that's part of the focus here.  In addition, I'm thinking about these and the complexes I'm doing on the other days as having a 'focus' on assistance movements for the big lift from the prior session.  So the session before this was Bench, and the push-ups and dips here are reflecting that.  My next session is Squats, and the complex at the end of that has RDLs, High-Pulls, and Rows as 'Deadlift focus' to follow on this session.  Bench day follows Squat day, and so the complex on Bench day has two squat movements in it.

tl;dr this was a good session.

LRB 365: Conditioning. Week 6. Incline

BW - 190

Incline -
BarX20
95X5, 5
115X3, 3
135X1, 1
155X1

BW Ladder Circuit -
Dips - 3 up to 15, back down to 3
Chins (neutral) - 2 up to 10, back down to 2
Push-ups - 3 up to 15, back down to 3
Leg-Raises - 3 up to 15, back down to 3

Forgot to do the back-off set on incline.  Don't know why.  Everything felt good.

Best run through on the upper body ladders of the whole program.  No rest/pause.  Just in time to be done with them!

LRB 365: Conditioning. Week 6. Deadlift

BW - 191

Front Squats -
BarX5
95X5

Deadlift -
135X5
155X4
185X3
225X2
275X1, 1, 1
225X5

BW Ladder Circuit -
Squats - 5 up to 25, back down to 5
Sit-ups - 5 up to 25, back down to 5
Chins (supinated) - 2 up to 10, back down to 2
Push-ups - 4 up to 20, back down to 4

Warmed-up with some super-light front squats just to start getting the movement back in my body.

Deadlifts were all fast and strong.  Really hammered the 225X5, and my hamstrings were really sore the next day.

Ladders were great.  No rest/pause on anything.  Not even push-ups.

LRB 365: Conditioning. Week 5. Bench

BW - 190 (home-style scale at an "away' gym, so grains of salt)

Bench -
BarX12
95X7, 5
135X3, 3
155X1, 1
175X1
135X8

BW Ladder Circuit -
Dips - 3 up to 15, back down to 3
Chins (V-Grip) - 2 up to 10, back down to 2
Push-ups - 3 up to 15, back down to 3
Leg-Raises - 3 up to 15, back down to 3

Tried out another "away" gym.  Little bit more of a local place called Southport Fitness.  Small, but WAY less crowded than the XSport.  Right now it is in the lead for the gym I will use to get workouts in during the work week for the next couple of months.

Bench was feeling strong so I went up to 175.  Based on an article by Dan Green, I tried playing with the way my leg drive works, but I didn't get the hang of what he's talking about.  My leg drive is still sending my butt off the bench, and I never felt like it was sending the bar back towards my shoulders as he describes.  I'll keep playing with that, and also flaring my elbows out of the bottom instead of closer to lock-out.  I also tried some different foot placements.  At the end of the day though, the best thing will be to get stronger vs. worrying about technique.

Ladders all felt pretty good, though I had to R/P some stuff as usual on upper-body day.  Dips felt as strong as they have, though.

LRB 365: Conditioning. Week 5. Squat

BW - 192

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

BW ladder circuit -
Squats - 5 up to 25, back down to 5
Sit-ups - 5 up to 25, back down to 5
Chins (supinated) - 2 up to 10, back down to 2
Push-ups - 4 up to 20, back down to 4

Don't know if I screwed up somehow on my diet or if 192 is just a spike.  I'll see what's up at my next weigh-in.

Legs were sore from sprints the day before, but squats were still fine.  Although, I did pass on a top single of 245.  Really focused on not getting over my toes this session.  I got over on the last rep with 185, however.

Ladder was as strong as it's been.  I was able to get a bit aggressive with some of the reps.  Still had to R/P a couple of the push-ups sets, though.

LRB 365: Conditioning. Week 4b. Incline

BW - 190

Incline -
BarX20
95X5, 5
115X3, 3
135X1, 1, 1
115X5

BW Ladder Circuit -
Dips - 3 up to 15, back down to 3
Chins (neutral) - 2 up to 10, back down to 2
Push-ups - 3 up to 15, back down to 3
Hanging Leg-Raises - 3 up to 9
Sit-ups - 20 up to 25, back down to 5

Jesus.  Strange gym hell.  I'm doing some work at nights in another part of the city for a couple of months, and I'm trying out some gyms in that area so that I can get my sessions in during the week without having to cram everything into the weekend.  Today's adventure involved a big, vibrant chain-gym called XSport.  I don't want to go on a pointless flame out about big-box commercial gyms, so I'll just skip to the high-lights. 

I was trying to use a free-pass I printed from their website, but that shit always comes with a mandatory sit-down with a sales person masquerading as a PT or something.  I'm cordial with these folks, as I understand they're just doing their job, and frankly their job appears to suck-ass.  I don't want to be the asshole that comes in and makes it even worse.  I'm just going to sum up my man Tony's advice with a couple brief excerpts from our exchange:
TONY:  I see you've written down what your focused on (I wrote down Squats, Deadlift).  Why are you focused on that stuff?
ME:  I want to be stronger in general and create a better athletic base for the rest of my life.
TONY:  But why these things?
ME:  Strong legs and back.  Seems like a good idea.
TONY:  Do you do any kind of balance work?
ME:  Free Squatting and Deadlifts take care of a lot of that stability for me.  Since I started Deadlifting 2 years ago, I never throw my back out anymore unless I fuck up on a Squat or Deadlift.
TONY:  But Deadlifts are for the hamstrings.
ME:  Uh...no, I'm not talking about RDLs, but full deadlifts from the floor.
TONY:  That's what I'm talking about.
ME:  Well that kind of works everything along your posterior chain from the bottom of your skull down to your knees.
[skeptical look from Tony]
ME:  Um...well...all I can say is that the biggest improvement I ever got in my Deadlift was when I improved my T-Bar rows.
TONY:  Well whatever works for you I guess.

A little bit later, Tony was asking what kind of things I was looking for in a gym, and that included this exchange:
ME:  Round plates would be great.  Those angle-sided plates can be annoying when deadlifting.
TONY:  We have those.  What's annoying about them.
ME:  It's not a huge-deal, it's just that when the weights hit the floor, the bar has a tenendcy to shift out of position if it lands on the pointed part of the plate.
TONY:  What, are you letting go of the bar?
ME:  No, just in the dead stop between reps.
[skeptical look from Tony]
ME:  You know, when it's on the ground, those plates can cause it to shift a little bit and you have to reset your feet.
TONY:  The weight doesn't touch the ground when I do deadlifts.
ME:  ...Again, I'm not talking about RDLs, but full deadlifts.
TONY [a little exasperated]:  That's what I'm talking about.
ME:  So you come all the way down...
TONY:  And then go right back up.
ME:  So you do touch-and-go.
TONY:  No.  I don't.

Anyway, he pretty quickly came to the conclusion that I just wasn't looking for what he was tasked with selling, and I got to go workout.

Inclines were fine.

Body circuit was kind of a cluster fuck because this was the MOST CROWDED GYM I'VE EVER BEEN IN!  Moving between stations, I had to look both ways like I was crossing a busy street.  Crazy.  The chin-up station was no good for leg-raises for a variety of reasons, I tried a few sets, but it was so awkward that it was hard to even get the reps out.  I had to switch to sit-ups instead.

I'm hoping one of the other two nearby gyms is better suited to me than this one.