Son of a Bench Week 8. Day A.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 224

Bench -

-    up to 225X1 @8

-    185X5 @7.5

Lever Dips - 205X8, 7 @~8

Hack Squats - 100X8, 7 @8

super-set with

Pull-Downs - X9, 8 @~8

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

super-set with

Machine SL Calf Press - X10, 9 @~10

Rower - HIIT, 5 rounds

Back from a week long trip.  Basically starting the program over.  This session looks almost exactly like the 'A' sessions from the first two weeks.  It will be interesting to see if lifts progress faster, slower, or about the same.

Happy to report that I had not foot/plantar fasciitis issues at all spending 6 days walking around NYC and an upstate farm.  We'll see if any of that discomfort reemerges (i.e. was it due to training?) or if the calf work and switching ~half my conditioning to the rower helped clear that up.

High-Rep Volume PRs. Week 2. Session C.

sRPE @8*

BW - 216

Bench - 

215X1, 1 @7/6.5 

145X14, 14 @7/8

Toes-to-Bar - BWX5, 5, 5, 5 @~9

KB Walking Lunges - BW+35sX10, 10, 10, 10 @~7.5*

Rower - HIIT; 9 rounds / 16 minutes

145 for 2 sets of 14 is a Volume PR on Bench (never done 2X14 before).  

*Plate fell on my foot while loading bench.  Made the rest of the session a slog.  Also don't know how much the RPE rating on Lunges was effected by pain.  But I was awoken this AM by quad discomfort, so there was probably some stress delivered, lol. 

Hybrid Training. Week 5. Tempo Run

Tempo Run: - 2.5 m. @ 34:00

That went pretty well.  Although very slow, I never stopped or walked.

Similar to my last tempo run, everything sucks for the first mile or so, and then the pain in my feet goes away, and I can kind of zone out.  During the second mile, other aches and pains start to pop up (mostly around my hips), but they kind of subsided after a while.  By the end, I felt like I could have kept going, and that seems good.

My legs and hips were very sore the rest of the evening.  Not sure how much of that is the run, and how much of it is DOMS from lower body training the day before.

My plan is to hit the full 3 miles next week.  Shoot for 3.5 the week after, and then reset to 2.5 at a faster pace.

LRB 365: Big-15. Phase 2. Week 6. High Bar

BW - 207

High Bar Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5
125X4
145X3
185X2
215X1

185X15

RDL -
135X12
155X10, 10, 8

Lunges - BWX20, 20, 100 (last set R/P)

Solid all around session.  Still skipping calf raises because of right food soreness.

185X15 is my cycle goal for High Bars.  This was by far the most comfortable I've felt with this movement.  Finally finding a good spot on my traps for the bar, and also moved my grip in and am using a thumbs-around.  Felt good and tight throughout the movements.  I think I've set a nice baseline for incorporating this movement into programming going forward.

On the other hand, RDLs are feeling uncomfortable without straps.  I actually did my last couple of sets mixed grip.  I'm working hard to keep my knees tight and stretch the hamstrings way out.  It was kind of exhausting, and I need to replace my lost straps.

Decided to just rest/pause my way up to 100 on the last set of lunges.  Why not.

LRB 365: Big-15. Phase 2. Week 5. Squats

BW - 204

Squats -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
115X5
145X4
175X3
225X2
255X1

215X12, 5

Single-Leg Curls - X15, 20, 18, 15

Single-Leg Press - 1ppsX23, 20, 20, 20

Three days off of hectic working, drinking, and staying up late lead to a sub-par Squat session.  Big surprise.  Moving along.

I'm gonna lay off the calf work for the rest of the cycle, because I've got a lingering pain in my right foot.  I'm a little nervous it's plantar fasciitis.

Pushed the single-leg work as hard as I could.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 5. Conditioning

Hill Sprints - 10 sprints
 First Sprint, max speed - 13.4 seconds

Good to get back out to the hill again now that the weather and my schedule have relaxed a bit.  I really enjoy the 20 minute walk to and from my hill as a combination warm-up/cool-down/empty-my-mind time, plus some days I really push the pace and it doubles as additional steady-state.

The hill is also really soft right now from the accumulated moisture of the winter, but not too muddy either.  When I started walking in the weighted vest, there was still plenty of ice and snow on the sidewalks, plus it was cold, so I was using my winter boots.  Then as the ice retreated but it was still cold I kept using them just on the concrete.  All that has combined to have my feet getting a bit achy the last week or two.  Getting out on the soft hill in running shoes almost felt therapeutic by contrast.

I went as hard as I could on my first sprint and timed it to start getting a base-line to set my progression for the next phase by.  So if I'm reading the program right, for the next phase I should be looking at:

HIIT	Hills	13.4
2XWeek	Reps	Speed
Week 1	10	17.9
Week 2	10	15.8
Week 3	12	15.8
Week 4	15	16.8
Week 5	15	15.8
Week 6	15	14.9	>