Higher-Rep Volume PRs. Week 5. Session B.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 215

Chins - BWX4, 4, 3 @~7.5

Density Chins -BWX2 every 0:30; 3:00 minutes / 12 reps @9.5

Curls - 50X20, 20, 20, 20 @6.5/9

BW Skullcrushers - BWX16, 16 @~7.5

Rower - HIIT; 12 minutes / 7 rounds

On Curls, 50 for 4 sets of 20 is a Volume PR, and my end-goal for this weight.  Will probably do DB Curls next week and then reset to 55 lbs. to start the next block.

Higher-Rep Volume PRs. Week 4. Session B.

sRPE @7

BW - 216

Chins - BWX4, 3, 3 @~8

Density Chins - BWX1 every 0:15; 3:00 / 12 total reps @8.5

Curls - 50X19, 19, 19, 19 @6.5/9

BW Skullcrushers - BWX15, 15 @6.5 (long rest between sets)

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 7 rounds / 12 minutes

Chins felt a smidge stronger this week.

On Curls, 50 for 4X19 is a Volume PR.  The latter sets are getting pretty hard, and I'm having to push rest times a bit.  Still pretty confident I'll hit 4X20 next week and then be able to reset to more weight.

Higher-Rep Volume PRs. Week 3. Session B.

sRPE @7

BW - 216

Chin-Ups (w/straps) - BWX4, 3, 3 @~8

Density Chins (w/straps) - 1 rep every 0:15; 3 minutes / 12 total reps @9

Curls - 50X18, 18, 18, 18 @6/8.5

BW Skullcrushers - BWX14, 14 @6.5/7

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 7 rounds / 12 minutes

Calluses bothered me last week on chins so I tried straps this week.  Easier on hands, but not appreciably easier strength wise.

On curls, 50 for 4 sets of 18 is a Volume PR. 

Higher-Rep Volume PRs. Week 2. Session B.

sRPE @7

BW - 216

Chins - BWX4, 3, 3 @~8.5

Density Chins - BWX1 every 0:15; 3:00 / 12 reps @9.5

Curls - 50X17, 17, 17, 17 @6.5/8.5

BW Skullcrushers - BWX13, 13 @6.5/7

Rower - HIIT; 12 minutes / 7 rounds

Chins felt terrible today for some reason.

50 for 4X17 is a Volume PR on Curls.

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

sRPE @ 6.5

BW - 215

Chins - BWX4 @8

Density Chins - BWX1 every 0:15; 3:00 / 12 total reps @8.5

Curls - 50X16, 16, 16, 16 @7/8.5

BW Skullcrushers (to chin) - BWX12, 12 @~7.5

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 7 rounds / 12 minutes

Density chins have been pretty demanding in the past, so I only did 1 set of regular chins here in this first week.

On Curls, 50 for 4 sets of 16 is a Volume PR.

Inspired by the Kilo Krew, I may play around with touching the BW Skulls to a different point on each rep (neck, chin, forehead).  These were all to the chin.

Block 19 (Tier 2). Cycle 4. Session B.

sRPE @7

BW - 220

Press - 

120X6 @~10

110X7, 7, 7 @8

Chin-Ups - BWX6 @8

Toes-to-Bar - BWX4@8

Hanging-Leg Raise - BWX11 @8

BB Rows - 150X10, 10, 10 @~8

Woof.  Really bad day for the Press.

Got to jawing with some folks at the gym and forgot to do Density chins.

Block 19 (Tier 2). Cycle 3. Session B.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 217

Press - 115X7, 7, 7 @~8

Chins -

BWX6 @8

Density; 1 rep every 0:10; 1:20 / 8 total reps @7.5

Toes-to-Bar - BWX4 @~8

Hanging Leg Raise - BWX10 @8

Hanging BB Rows - 145X10, 10, 10 @~8

Session felt a bit more "upright."

115 for 2X7 and 3X6 are Volume PRs.  Think I just need to be a bit more conservative with my target weights for this movement.  Will target a 2.5# jump next week.  Will also be adding a set.

Decided to pull back on the density chins.  Last time I did 1/0:10 I got up to, like, 4:00/24 reps @10, but that's just not where I'm at now.  Gonna keep it well sub-max for a while and see how both total chins go, and general feelings of stress go.

TTB is fine, but HLR and Hanging Rows both feeling good.

Block 19 (Tier 2). Cycle 2. Session B.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 218

Press - 

120X5 @8

112.5X7 @7.5

Chins - 

BWX6 @8

Density - 1 rep every 0:10; 2:20 / 14 total reps @9.5

Toes-to-Bar - BWX3 @7.5

HLR - BWX9 @8

Hanging BB Rows - 142.5X10, 10 @8

Really up-and-down session, but generally smoother than Monday and definitely more on target sRPE-wise.

Don't know what happened with Press.  Last week was 112.5 for 2X7 @7.  Was looking for 120 for 2X7 today, but NOPE.

Generally, the first half of this session was a struggle, but the last half went well.

Block 19 (Tier 2). Cycle 1. Session B.

sRPE @6

BW - 217

Press - 112.5X7, 7 @7

Chin-Ups -

BWX5 @6.5

Density - 1 rep every 0:10; 2:20 / 14 total reps @7.5

Toes-to-Bar - BWX3 @7

Hanging-Leg-Raise (90 degrees) - BWX8 @7

BB Rows - 135X10, 10 @~7.5

112.5 for 2X7 is a Volume PR.  Don't get many PRs in my intro weeks!  

This e1RM is also at 97.9% of where I ended my last block.  I used Tier 2 (2nd best) Pivot programming, and that result is even better than the last time I ran that pivot block (before Block 14).  The average starting e1RM between block 14 and 19 is 97.83%

Chin-ups also felt fairly strong on the main set (97.4% e1RM drop-off).  Not quite as good as the last time I ran this pivot (98.3% prior to Block 12), but both this result and the average between them of 97.8% is still better than the next best pivot I've run.

Density chins were tough, though.  The 1 rep every 10 seconds is just hard for me.  I remember it being fairly brutal through-out the last time I ran it, but it yielded good results so we'll see.

TTB also starting off strong.  This e1RM is 101% of the end of the last block!  That's even better than the last time I ran this Tier 2 pivot.  Getting pivot strategies that toy with 100%+ on e1RM change pan-deload is a stretch goal.  I don't really expect to reliably have e1RM maintain much less increase over a pivot/deload, but maybe?

Rows here are actually a Curls accessory.  Again, it's not intuitive for me to increase Curls strength by doing Rows and Pull-Downs, but my 2nd best Curls block of the last couple of years was actually a Chins-focus block where I didn't do any Curl variations, but did Rows, and Pull-Downs.  So we'll see what happens running that again.

Block 18 (Exploratory). Cycle 6. Session B.

sRPE @7

BW - 218

Press - 132.5X4, 4, 4 @~8/9

Chin-Ups -

BWX8 @8

NG Density, 1 rep every 0:15; 2:30 / 10 total reps @7

Machine-Pullovers - X15, 14 @7/10

Toes-to-Bar - BWX6, 6 @8.5/10

DB Curls (myo-reps) - 37.5sX15, 5, 5, 5, 5 @~10

Looks like that 135 for 4X4 Volume PR on Press is receding into the distance.  Next week is the last week of the training block.  Maybe I'll just do 4 sets with 135 and see what I get.  Only did 3 sets here as I'm still taking the slight volume reduction from last week's TRAC recommendation coupled with sRPE creep.

Also cut density chin time in half.  I started to cut it out altogether, but then it occurred to me that cutting in half might be more like "cutting one set" than taking the whole thing out.

2X6 on TTB is a Volume PR.

When I did the 37.5s on DB Curls 2 weeks ago, I couldn't get 5 reps on all the myo-rep sets.

Block 18 (Exploratory). Cycle 5. Session B.

sRPE @7

BW - 218

Press -

130X4, 4, 4 @8/9

122.5X4 @~8

Chin-Ups - 

BWX7 @8

NG Density; 1 rep every 0:15; 5:00 / 20 total reps @8

Machine Pullovers - X15, 12 @8/10

Toes-to-Bar - BWX6, 5 @8/10

DB Curls (myo-reps) - 40sX12, 4, 4, 4, 4 @~10

Everything was a little blah today.  The TRAC system in the RTS app says I should reduce volume by 1 set on each movement in my next session.  I usually don't take that advice, especially if sRPE is more-or-less on target, but it might be a good idea.  Especially since next session is Squats, it's on Christmas Eve, and I have to go in the morning because the gym is closing early.  Yeah...

First and third sets of Press with 130 felt really good.  Form felt really locked in, but RPE still crept up on that 3rd set, so I dropped back for the fourth.  Still an outside chance I could hit a 4X4 PR at the end of the block.

Everything around my shoulders was feeling run down after Press so I focused on stopping chins @8.  That ended up being a couple reps less than last week, but that's fine.  My tentative rule was that if I drop in reps on the main set, that I add reps on the density work, and so I added 0:30/2 reps there, and that was fine.  Also added a set to the pullovers, but that was planned for this week.

At this BW, 1X6 is technically an e1RM PR on TTB.  Still can't get 2X6 which is the PR I wanted.

Upped weight on DB Curl myo-reps, but had to scale the reps back.  Will probably drop back in weight next week.

Block 18 (Exploratory). Cycle 4. Session B.

sRPE @7

BW - 216

Press - 127.5X4, 4, 4, 4 @~8/9

Chin-Ups - 

BWX9 @~9

NG Density: 1 rep every 0:15; 4:30 (18 total reps) @8

Machine Pullovers - X15 @10

Toes-to-Bar - BWX6, 5 @8/9.5

DB Curls (myo-reps) - 37.5sX15, 5, 5, 4, 3 @10/10

Stretching rests out now on Press to try and keep in target RPE range.  I think I pushed it to 3:30 between 3rd and 4th sets.  PRs still pretty far away on this movement, although there's a chance I hit a 4X4 PR by the end of this block.  However, this is the first of 3 blocks with Press as my upper-body pressing focus, so I still have a few months to see if I can coax some PRs.

Chin-ups were...fine.  First set is a little meh for the second week in a row, but the density work felt stronger.  

Really enjoying hitting the machine pullovers with a BB style.  Pause at the top, strong concentric, squeeze against legs at the bottom, slow-and-controlled eccentric.  When I finished the last rep, it was like coming out of a tunnel.  Any my lats were on fire.  

TTB crapped out a little bit.  That's slot 3 for ya.

DB curls continue to project as stronger than my BB curls, lol.  I think that's just down to strictness.  I'm fairly strict on straight-bar curls because I start to get wrist and elbow issues if I'm not.  With DBs, I can "just curl." 

Block 18 (Exploratory). Cycle 3. Session B.

sRPE @ 7

BW - 216

Press - 125X4, 4, 4 @8/9

Chin-Ups - BWX8 @8.5

NG Density Chins, 1 rep very 0:15, 4:30 (18 total reps) @9.5

Machine Pullovers - X14 @10

Toes-to-Bar - BWX5, 5 @8/9

DB Curls (myo-reps) - 35sX15, 5, 5, 5, 3 @10/10

Kind of a blah session.  Mostly because Press felt like a step back from last week, and Chins felt a bit flat.  Hopefully, that's just indicative of a down session in general and not a trend.

Block 18 (Exploratory). Cycle 2. Session B.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 218

Press - 125X4, 4 @~8

Chin-Ups - BWX7 @~8

NG Density Chins - 1 rep every 0:15; 4:30 / 18 total reps @8

Machine Pullovers - X15 @10

Toes-to-Bar - BWX4, 4 @8

DB Curls (myo-reps) - 32.5sX15, 5, 5, 5, 5 @~9

Block 18 (Exploratory). Cycle 1. Session B.

sRPE @6

BW - 216

Press - 120X4, 4 @7/7.5

Chin-Ups - BWX5 @6.5

NG Density Chins - 1 rep every 0:15; 4:00/16 reps @7

Machine Pullovers - X10@8

Toes-to-Bar - BWX3, 3 @6.5/8

DB Curls (myo-reps) - 30sX15, 3 @10/7.5

Block 17. Cycle 6. Session B.

sRPE @8

BW - 216

Bench - 

250X1 @~9

205X3, 3, 3, 3, 3 @6/7

Chin-Ups -

BWX9 @8.5

Density; 2 reps every 0:30; 3:00/12 total reps @9.5

DB Rows - 95X10, 9 @8/10

Squat -

335X3 @7.5

225X14 @6.5

DB Curls - 40sX10, 11 @8/10

Hard session.  My mid-back was fried from all the benching and upper back work, and made the late-session squats even more brutal than usual.  

Squats are about to go on the front burner for a few blocks, so maybe having them first in their session for a while will mitigate some of the issues I've been having with the lift.  I also tried to pull back a little and descend a little slower and deeper.  Kind of hoping that going uber-controlled and extra-deep for a while will force me to pull back on the weight and fill in some of the cracks that have been opening up around this lift.  Just doesn't seem productive for it to be as punishing of a lift as it has been the last few blocks.

On Bench, my current best single is 255.  Next week is the last week of this block, and as usual I'll start pulling back on training volume a bit too see if I can reach for some low hanging PRs.  Maybe a new Bench 1RM!

Block 17. Cycle 5. Session B.

sRPE @8

BW - 218

Bench -

245X1 @9

200X3, 3, 3, 3, 3 @6/~7

Chin-Ups -

BWX8 @8

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

DB Rows - 90X10, 8 @8/10

Squat -

335X3 @7

215X14 @6

DB Curls - 40sX10, 9 @8/10

Bad head cold (hopefully) started hitting it's high-water mark around this session.  Wanted to bail about half way through but slogged on.

Bench was challenging but still more-or-less on RPE target.

Everything was strong during upper-back slot.

Gas was basically gone when I got to squats.  These have been plateauing in this maintenance slot anyway.

Block 17. Cycle 4. Session B.

sRPE @7

BW - 218

Bench - 

240X1 @9

195X3, 3, 3, 3, 3 @~6

Chin-Ups - BWX7 @8

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

DB 1-Arm Rows - 90X10 @8.5

Squat -

350X3 @7.5

215X14 @6

DB Curls - 37.5sX10, 11 @8/10

No PRs on this day, but most things went well.

Bench moving nicely at these lower reps.  E1RM on the top single is averaging almost a 2.5% increase week-over-week.

Chin-Ups feeling strong the last couple of weeks.  It occurred to me that I might be trying to "force" progress by looking to add reps to the density sets every week.  I decided to sit back and say "keep those the same unless progress on the top set stalls."  Top set has been going up, and this was possibly the easiest "12-in-3:00" of the block so far.  That @8 on the last reps was the ceiling.  Possibly @7.5.

I'd intended for the DB Rows to be an @10 set on this day, but they came in under with the weight I picked, and I didn't want to do another set before Squats.

Still taking a full 5 minute break between the upper back slot and Squats, but it didn't really help that much this day.  E1RM stalled out, and everything felt pretty hard.  Even though the back-off set was @6, I was still gasping for air afterwards.  Very likely Squats move back into a primary training slot the next two training blocks.  I need to keep in mind that they're not THAT far off from where I'd like them to be relative to my other lifts currently.  But the way DL is going I have a feeling that gap is going to widen quite a bit by the end of this block.

Block 17. Cycle 3. Session B.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 219

Bench - 

135X1 @9

190X3, 3, 3, 3 @~6

Chin-Ups - BWX6 @8

Denisty Block - 2 reps every 0:30; 3:00; 12 total reps @9

DB Rows - 82.5X10 @8

Squat -

345X3 @7

210X14 @5.5

DB Curls - 37.5sX10 @8

Solid session.  Everything right about on target. 

Block 17. Cycle 2. Session B.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 220

Bench - 

230X1 @9

185X3, 3, 3 @6

Chins - 

BWX5 @8

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

DB Rows - 80X10 @8

Squat -

340X3 @7

205X14 @6

DB Curls - 35sX10 @~7

I took about a 3 minute break between bench and even starting Chins, and another 5 minute break between rows and starting Squats, and that made a HUGE difference in the energy I had available for Squatting and keeping the sRPE down in general.