Pivot. Week 2. Day A.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 227

Squat - 

-    up to 305X1 @6.5

-    275X3, 3, 3 @6/7

CS Rows - 115X9, 8, 7, 7 @~8

GHR (Westside/To-Parallel) - BWX8, 8, 7 @8/9

super-set with

Machine Laterals - X10, 9, 8 @8/9

Incline Rear Delt Laterals - 15sX9, 10, 9 @8/9

Rower - HIIT; 7 rounds

Low back felt fine the last day or so after tweaking it during Monday's DLs.  However, I felt some discomfort in my last Squat set.  I started warming up for BB Rows, and it didn't like that at all so I switched to Chest Supported and that was fine.

I started warming up on GHRs with my normal, "jack-knife" technique, but low back felt a little off still.  I switched to a Westside-style only coming down to parallel.  I'm not sure I've ever done those before, but they were much easier than expected; about 2/3 of what I can do jack-knife.  I didn't feel it in my glutes nearly as much, but the hamstrings were clearly the limiter.  A viable alternative for me to leg curls!

Dips, Good Mornings, Curls, Shoulders

sRPE @8

BW - 225

Bench Dips - BW+35# Chain X16, 11, 10, 9 @~10

Buffalo Bar Straight-Leg Seated Good Mornings -

-    135X11, 12, 11, 10 @8/9.5

1-Arm Behind-the-Back Cable Curls - X12, 9, 9, 8 @10

super-set with

1-Arm Behind-the-Back Laterals - X10, 9, 8, 8 @10

Really nice 3 week wave on Bench Dips.  All reps here are nice and deep with a slight pause at the bottom.  Moving on to Machine Dips in the next wave where I will target increasing weight in the 8-12 rep range before moving on to full dips in the last wave.

Wanted to do something hamstring-y for DL assistance, but didn't really know what.  I've done my go-to RDLs and GHRs in the last couple of weeks so I wanted something different.  Seated Leg Curls seemed to "small" for the 2nd movement of the day, but Deficit DLs seemed a bit too intense.  In the end, I came up with one of the more "conjugate" things I've ever tried.  I think this is my first time really using the Buffalo Bar, this is my first time doing Seated GMs, and I also put my feet up on a calf-stretch board so that they wouldn't slip out from under me when I was pushing into the floor.  Waiting to see what feels most sore from these today or tomorrow!

Speaking of soreness, long-ROM cable curls and laterals never disappoint.

Texas Method Team Training. Week 5. Intensity Day

BW - 225

Squat - 310X5

Bench - 197.5X5

Deadlift - 310X5

My back and side were tight all day, but I worked my hamstrings over really well before lifting, and everything went great!  Squats were really fast, bench took focus but nothing was a grind, and deadlifts were smooth.

Hybrid Training. Week 3. Heavy Lower

BW - 226

Deadlift -
up to 322.5X1
then 305X3, 3

Squat - up to 255X3, 3, 3, 3

Hanging Legs - BWX10, 10, 10

Deadlift felt pretty good.  Form felt solid, bar against legs the whole time with chest up, etc., and no low back issues.

Squatting after DL, which I haven't done in who knows how long, took a lot of focus.  Definitely more of a focus/will effort than a strength effort.

I think it's going to take some time to dial-in what the weights/reps should be week over week as I alternate Squat/DL as Main/Accessory.  My instinct right now is that the %'s and Reps shouldn't be interchangeable on them.  I feel like I can handle more reps on Squat at Accessory %'s than on DL.  I'm thinking slightly higher % and lower reps for DL as accessory, and the opposite for Squats as accessory.

Trying to keep my knees completely locked through-out the leg raises.  I've been diligent about working on lengthening my hamstrings, and I want to see that carry through to execution of this simple movement.

Hybrid Training. Week 2. Light Lower

BW - 230

Lying Leg Curls - warm-up set

GHR - BWX4, 4

Cable Pull-Throughs - X8, 8 (straight-weight)

Standing Single-Leg Curl - X6, 7 (straight-weight)

Hanging Leg Raises - X8, 8, 8

My left adductor was badly strained for a few days following my tempo run on Wednesday, so I didn't do any squatting on this day.  Instead I did a lot of hamstring work.

I've never done pull-through's before.  They were more challenging to jump into that I expected.  The cable kept trying to tip me over backwards.

I had some mild sore-ness in my erectors the day after this, which is something I haven't felt in a while.  Seemed productive.

Overheads

BW - 214

Seated PBN -
BarX21
65X5
75X5
85X12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12
super-set with
Machine Reverse Flyes - X12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12

Slow Rack Pulls at the knee - 135X5, 5, 5, 5

Upped the weight on both PBN and Flyes this week, and still got 12 reps on all sets.  Two weeks ago, I fell 3 sets short of that with 75.  Progress.

I'm really surprised, but these really light and slow rack pulls leave my hamstrings really sore the next days.  I know, I know, DOMS does not equal Hypertrophy, yada-yada.  Just surprising.

Legs and Back, and Shoulder Testing.

BW - 215

Leg Curls -
Warm-up - X10, 10, 10, 10
Work Sets - X10, 10, 10-10-10-15 (drop-set at end)

Hack Squat -
100X10
120X10
140X10
160X10
180X10

GHR (to parallel, and using a broomstick to maintain alignment) - BWX5, 5, 5, 4

DB Bench -
45sX10
55sX8
65sX12, 10, 10
super-set with
Chin-Ups - BWX5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Chest-Supported Rows -
45X5
90X10

Trying to make sure I get good hamstring work in while I can't Squat or DL.  Cut out leg extensions today in favor of more leg curl volume.  Also tried adding this GHR approach.  My P.T. has me doing bodyweight goodmornings like this: holding a broomstick against my tailbone, upper back and skull to maintain alignment.  That's not challenging and is for drilling the pattern.  Thought I'd try it with some BW GHR's to parallel to try and get some good, hip dominant hamstring work in.  They were hard as hell, but no back-pain.

Wanted to get a 2nd flat, DB bench work in before my next P.T. session so that I'd have some more feedback to provide.  Last time I worked up to 65sX5; basically just until it felt like real weight.  I checked my logs and saw that my best with the 65s was 15 reps, so I thought I'd push a little harder this time and see what was up.  Got within 3 reps of that, but I also MATCHED the total volume of my best session with the 65s.  That's not surprising because with my Incline having gone up, there's no reason that the strength shouldn't generally be there.

Kind of burying the lead because the main point is that my shoulder felt fairly okay throughout, and the next day.  I expect the P.T. to recommend moving on to light BB bench now.

Training: Deadlift

BW - 208

Deficit SLDL (on a plate) -
135X5
185X4, 4
225X3, 3
245X3, 3
265X2, 3
245X4
225X4
185X10, 10

Chest-Supported T-Bar Row -
45X5
90X9, 7, 6
70X9

Why not.  I originally planned to hammer RDLs for a couple weeks.  However, I kept thinking about this weird (to me) concept of the Stiff-Leg Deadlift that's been floating around.  Since I was a teenager, I always thought an stiff-leg DL was done by keeping the legs locked and perpendicular to the ground, and bending only at the waist so that the bar descends in an angle AWAY from the legs as it moves to the floor.  Basically a movement for the erectors.  And if you search for it on the 'net, that's still a pretty common definition.

For a few years now though, I've been seeing Paul Carter do what he calls a deficit stiff-leg.  To me it looked like an RDL that just started off the floor.  That is, the knees locked but slightly bent, and the butt moving backwards and forwards as the bar goes up and down basically staying in contact with the legs through the movement.

I did find an piece by Bret Contreras where he describes the SLDL this way, but it still just seemed like an RDL with a different starting position.

I decided on this day to just break down and try it.  I was very cautious however about making sure my low back didn't round at the bottom.  Keeping the back flat and NOT bending the knees in order to drop the bar those last few inches is really tough, and so these reps were slow and not at all explosive.  I don't know.  My hamstrings are sore today, so I'll try it again next week.  Still feels a lot like an RDL, though.

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 15. Squat

BW - 213

Squats -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
245X15, 5

High-Bars - 225X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

GMs - 135X10, 10

Single-Leg Extensions - X20, 16, 15

245X15 is a Rep PR, and together with 19+ total reps meets my goal for this weight.  Moving up to 275 next week.

Also, my 315 felt like it may have been a touch high this week, however it was ridiculously easy.  That should boost my confidence for the 315X1 going forward.

High-Bars are juuuuust starting to feel like I might need to do more reps with 225 for the volume supplement.  Since next week's jump on Low Bar from 245 to 275 is larger than normal, I'll still plan on sticking to 5X3.  That's actually the last week of this phase before I start shaping up for a beach vacation in early March.  No reason to expect to push assistance extra hard in that instance.

Back to Good-Mornings and my low back felt totally fine.  I really, really hate this movement, but it felt better today than it has in a while.  In effort to feel a good stretch in both my glutes and my hamstrings, I ended up bending my knees a bit and letting my hips move down at the "bottom" of the movement.  That seems technically incorrect, but my hips and spine felt perfectly stable/neutral, and I was able to really feel the stretch all through those two muscle groups before firing back up into the starting position.  Both areas are fairly sore today as well.

Reps and Volume. Week 9. Deadlift

BW - 209

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4, 4
225X3
275X2
315X1
335X2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2

RDL - 185X15, 15, 15

Chest-Supported Rows - 90X15, 13, 11, 10

Single-Leg Curls - X15, 15, 10

Made a mistake on my notes for the day, and only thought I needed 14 reps at 335, but it was supposed to be 16.  Oh well, I could have gotten another set, and I was planning on staying at this weight next week anyway and just upping the reps-per-set.  Might like to start working toward 4X4 at this weight before moving up again.

Been awhile since I was able to fit in RDL.  The reps and volume were there much stronger than the last time I was doing these regularly.  That's a little surprising because my top end Deadlift strength has been off, and I thought it was because I hadn't been getting heavy hamstring and glute work in, so now I'm not sure.  The one caveat here is that I didn't have any chalk today, and so I strapped up for these.  It's possible that grip strength may have been limiting me on these more than I previously thought.  Regardless, as long as I'm pulling a bunch of volume sets on DL, I don't see any reason not to stay with straps for these for awhile and make sure I'm really getting the most work on the back of my legs.

Rows felt stronger, and single-leg curls continue to suck all the ass.

Full Body. Week 2. Squat

BW - 208

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X3
225X2
235X8, 5

DB Bench -
40sX15
60sX15, 10, 9

BB Complexes (Deadlift focus) - 95X2X15
1-Arm RDL, *Upright Row, OHP, Cheat Curl

BB Rows - 145X10

Good session.  Squats felt great, an no issues with my knee.

Pushed the reps on DB Bench a bit.  As soon as I get a 10th rep on the 3rd set, I'll add another set.

This Complex is rounding out.  Once again, my hamstrings are quite sore the next day from these, although my lats aren't as sore as they were last week.  *These started to turn into High-Pulls by the last few sets, and I'm not sure if I should just do those the whole time.

Thought to do one burn-out set of rows at the end, so I threw a 25 on each side.  Ended up being a bit more weight than I needed for my purpose because I was so gassed from the complexes.  Next week I'll just leave it at 95 and also may switch to underhand, Yates row.

Full Body. Week 1. Hill Sprints

Hill-Sprints - 15 sprints; just over 15 minutes

First day back out on the hill felt good.  Not trying for any particular speed, just wanted to go for 15 sprints or 15 minutes, whichever came last.  Will go to 20 and 20 next time if everything feels good.

Also, my lats and hamstrings are sore as hell from before the sprinting.  Can that be from the complexes on Monday?

Higher Reps. Week 3. Deadlift

BW - 209

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X5
225X4
275X3
315X2
345X1

1/2" Deficits - 295X5, 5, 5, 5

BB Rows - 155X15, 9, 8, 8

DB Rows - 65sX12, 12

all rows super-set with
Leg Curls - X20, 16, 15, 12, 12 (straight-weight; increased from last week)

Solid session.  345X1 was easy (used to be stapled to the floor, and was about my max a year ago).

Deficits moved faster as well.  Managed to get 5 reps on all 4 sets, although my conditioning is still getting in the way here.

155X15 is an all-around PR on BB Rows.

DB Rows were smoother.

Hamstrings were lit up pretty much from the first set of curls. 

Higher Rep. Week 1. Deadlift

BW - 209

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X5
225X4
275X3
315X2
365X1
345X2, 2, 2

Deficit Deads -
275X5, 5
295X5, 3

BB Rows - 155X12, 8, 8, 8
DB Rows - 60X12, 12
all rows super-set with
Leg Curls - X20, 20, 15, 15, 15, 15 (straight-weight)

Hmmmmm.  Think my body might be trying to tell me something.  After last week's deadlift session, something in my low back has felt...off.  I did mobility and stretching all week, didn't have any problems on Squat day, but still came in today with some trepidation.  I didn't exactly feel anything 'wrong' today in that area, but my speed off the floor seemed diminished in the way it often is when I'm coming back from a low-back tweak.  Then lying in bed last night and again this morning, the 'off' feeling in my low back seemed a bit stronger. 

Considering that, and that my squat and bench strength also seem to be waning a little bit, I believe it may be time to make an adjustment.  I'd already started transitioning my accessory work from heavy strength movements to body-building style hypertrophy movements.  I believe it's probably a good idea to back the weights off on the main movements as well.  What I'm considering doing with Deads, as an example, is lowering the top single down to the 315-335 range, and then going straight to deficits as my back-offs.  I bumped the deficits up to 295 in this last session, because 275 is starting to feel to easy.  I might stick with that, but also looking at reducing the deficit from a 45 lb. plate to something a little smaller.  This is all spit-balling right now, but I expect the actual plan to be close to this.  I'm going to spend some time thinking about adjusting the Squat and Bench programming in a similar fashion.

Back to this session, I already noted that I bumped the deficits up to 295 for the last two sets.  If I move forward with that, I might back straight off to sets of 3 instead of trying to push 5's all the time.

155X12 is an all-around PR on BB Rows.  The DB Rows were okay.  It's a movement I suck at, and have to focus really hard not to over-rotate and stress my lower back.  Fucking low back.

All the leg-curls super-setting were tough.  I was sweating like a pig, and those things always make my hamstrings scream.

Phase 1. Week 2. Deadlift

BW - 209

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
305X3, 3, 3

Deficit Deads - 275X3, 3

RDL - 225X3, 3

BB Row - 135X10

All strap-less.  I can't remember for sure, but I think I only used mixed grip on the 275X2 set of Deads, and on both the deficit sets.

The 315 and 305 sets were way slower off the floor than I expected.  For now, I'm going to assume I need to re-acclimate to the movement after barely touching it through 12 weeks of the Big-15.  I will stay at 305 for my back-off sets until I'm satisfied with the speed on both those and the top single at 315.

Regarding my speed off the floor, it's convenient that I already had deficit deads programmed in here.  When I sat this up to have 3 heavy assistance movements on Deadlift day, I wasn't sure how many sets of each, so I limited it for this session to see what I had left in the tank by the end.  Based on this session, and my need for bottom-end work, I will add at least one more set to the deficits moving forward, and possibly more.

My hamstrings feel decently tight/sore today, so I'm going to leave the RDLs at 2 sets for now.  However, I may end up moving the rows to another day so I can do more quality volume, in which case I will add another set of RDLs here.

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: 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.

Weekend Training

Friday:
Jump Squats - bodyweight; 10 sets of 3

Lunges - bodyweight; 10 sets of 3 each leg

Band RDLs - doubled band under feet; 3 sets of 20

Incline Sprints - 30 yards; 20 minutes

Saturday:
Push-up Progression -
BWX10
Doubled-BandX5
"Reverse Grip"X15
Doubled-BandX6
BWX20
super-set with
Band Pull-Aparts - 5 sets; 165 total reps

Band Medley -
Front Raises; Cross-overs, Upright Rows, Reverse Curls AMRAP

Working around my low-back strain (almost healed), and my heavy rehearsal and performance schedule.  I think I'm good to get back in the gym for at least an upper-body dominant session, but I'm not rushing because I need to be 100% when my new show opens in 2 weeks.  So I'm adhering very closely to the shake diet and getting in a lot of light band work and some conditioning to help make sure I don't erase my gains while I'm out of the gym.

UB: Reps Week 5. Squats

Defranco hip mobility

Squats -
BarX20
95X10
155X6
195X3
265X1
195X18, 6, 6 (30 total reps)

Hamstring curls - 5 sets of 10-15

Standing Abs - 4 sets of 8-15

Awesome squat session.  195X18 is a Rep PR, and a projected increase to my 1RM.  Also, 24 combined reps on the first two work-sets is a cycle best, and getting 30 reps in 3 sets ties my cycle best.  20+ reps is in the bag next week.  I hope to use a power rack, but it was f'ing busy as hell in the gym today.  I'm scheduled to squat again on Sunday, though, so it likely won't be as packed.