Pressin' Out Week 5. Day A.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 226

Press - 

-    up to 150X1 @9

-    135X3, 3, 3 @~8

DB Bench - 65sX13(PR), 8, 7 @10

GHR - BWX14, 10 @~10

EZ OH Extensions - 55X15, 11, 8, 6 @10

Upped the weight and dropped the reps on the Press back-offs.  Now that volume has ramped up on accessories, I should be getting enough hypertrophy volume for Delts and Triceps that I can pivot work on the main lift to lower reps.

Nice to grab a DB Bench PR.  Doing DB Bench after heavy Pressing really lights up my pecs. 

Didn't look closely at my program, and inadvertently skipped upper back work.  Life goes on. 

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 5. Session B.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 221

Bench - 

225X1 @9.5

185X3, 3 @6.5/7

Cable Laterals - X9, 9 @10

GHR - BWX12, 10, 8 @7.5/10

45-degree Hypers - BWX12, 12 @9/10

Chest cold that started last Thursday is still kicking my ass.  Just got in and did whatever I felt like, and left before I started feeling worn down.

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 5. Session A.

sRPE @9

BW - 221

Squats - 270X3, 3, 3 @~6

031 Tempo Work:

-    Leg Extensions - X12, 11 @10

-    DB 1-Arm Rows - 90X11, 11, 11, 11, 10 @8/10

-    EZ OH Extensions - 40X11, 11, 11, 9 @7/10

Under the weather and dragging ass.  Got a good workout on what I could get through, but hit the wall hard and cut out conditioning and the last set of triceps.

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 4. Session F.

sRPE @8

BW - 222

BB Rows - 145X8, 8, 8 @7/8

031 Tempo Work:

-    BB Curls - 60X9, 8 @10

-    CG Bench - 110X10, 10, 10, 10, 10 @8/9

-    GHR - BWX12, 12, 12, 12, 12 @6.5/9.5

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 10 minutes

Had a few days off for the spouse's birthday.  Once again, this style of training seems better able to "withstand/absorb" schedule disruptions compared to the strength-oriented training I'd been doing.  

Probably time to at least start thinking about how I could train for strength performance in a way that would also allow for an inconsistent schedule.  I've got some inklings, but nothing I'm putting on paper yet.

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 4. Session E.

sRPE @8

BW - 221

Press - 100X3, 3, 3 @4.5/5.5

031 Tempo Work:

-    DB Bench - 60sX10, 7 @10

-    Leg Press - 3ppsX9, 9, 9, 9, 9 @7/10

-    Lat Pushdowns - X10, 10, 10, 10, 9 @8/10

Good session.  

Pausing the DB Bench with the side of the DBs touching the the side of my trunk.  Streeeeeetch.

Leg Press was bugging my left hip a little.  Will probably go away.

On Lat Pushdowns, I'd been having an issue where my triceps were getting tired just from holding the extension.  I tried relaxing my elbows slightly, and that seemed to keep them a bit less engaged.

Running late and had to skip conditioning.

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 4. Session D.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 224

Deadlift - 335X3, 3, 3 @5/6

031 Tempo Work:

-    Lying Leg Curls - X9, 9 @10

-    Pull-Downs - X10, 10, 10, 10, 10 @7/9

-    Machine Flyes - X10, 10, 10, 10, 10 @7.5/9

Rower - HIIT; 10 minutes

Good session for pull-downs.  Felt a lot of burn during the session, lats were already sore a few hours later, and are still quite achy the next day.

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 4. Session C.

sRPE @8

BW - 224

Chins - BWX2, 2, 2 @~7

031 Tempo Work:

-    EZ Face Pulls - X11, 11 @10

-    Incline Bench* - 95X10, 10, 10, 10, 10 @6.5/10

-    Roman Chair Squats - BWX10, 10, 10, 8, 6 @9/10

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 10 minutes

*Finally found the technique on Incline that's giving me the sensation I'm looking for, that is, a stretch feeling across the upper chest and front delts: 1) Wider grip; hands at the rings.  2) Arms flared to 90 degrees throughout; "guillotine" style.  3)  Driving my elbows towards the floor right before the concentric; getting a vertical forearm under the bar to push through.

Roman Chair 2 cycles ago (before the lower volume, intensity technique cycle) I did 5 sets of 8.  Turns out strength hasn't gone up enough to hit 5 sets of 10, lol.  These were hard, but like most BW-only movements, don't seem to be systemically fatiguing.  I also played around with trying to "kick" my feet into the brace out of the bottom to try and shift as much of the tension to my quads as possible.  That kind of felt like it was working.

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 4. Session B.

sRPE @9

BW - 222

Bench - 175X3, 3, 3 @~5.5

031 Tempo Work:

-    DB Seated Press - 

    -    50sX7 @10

    -    45sX8 @10

-    RDL w/Straps - 160X10, 10, 10, 10, 10 @7/8.5

-    DB Curls - 

    -    20sX10 @6

    -    25sX10, 10, 10, 10 @7.5/10

Rower - HIIT; 10 minutes

Was purt'near out of gas by the fourth set of RDL.  Really had to drag myself through the rest of the workout.

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 4. Session A.

sRPE @8

BW - 224

Squat - 270X3, 3, 3 @5/6

031 Tempo Work:

-    Leg Extensions - X12, 10 @10

-    DB Rows - 90X10, 10, 10, 10, 10 @7/9.5

-    EZ OH Extensions - 

    -    45X10 @10

    -    35X10, 10, 10, 10 @7/8

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 10 minutes

Starting the new wave.  Volume back up, and proximity to failure back down.  Except on the first tempo movement.  Those movements are "coupled" to the initial, strength movement of the day, and because they're only 2 sets, I've decided to take those to failure for this block.  We'll see how that goes on the various DB pressing movements.  

Really milking the tempo on the OH Extensions and so had to back the weight further down.

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 3. Session F.

sRPE @8

BW - 227

BB Rows - 135X8, 8, 8 @6/7

031 Tempo Work w/ Intensity Techniques:

-    BB Curls w/Lengthened Partials Drops Sets - 60X9/3, 7/2 @10

-    CG Bench Press w/ Rest-Pause - 120X10/4, 7/4 @~0

-    GHR w/Lengthened Partials Drops Sets - BWX15/3, 12/3

After a week of travel and emotional labor, I felt physically and mentally out of sorts heading into the gym today.

What I thought would be the last warm-up on Rows ended up being the first work set.  That's fine.

Hypertrophy work all went well though.  Some of that is the benefit of load not mattering nearly as much as result.  

I wasn't sure if Mechanical Drop Set or Rest-Pause was going to be the way to go with GHR.  I went ahead an tried the Drop Sets and it ended up being ok.  My hamstrings were quite sore afterwards. 

Next week, I go back to straight sets staring a bit further from failure and no intensity techniques.

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 3. Session E.

sRPE @8.5

BW- 221

Press - 100X3, 3, 3 @5/6

031 Tempo Work w/ Intensity Techniques:

-    DB Bench w/ Lengthened Partial Drop-Set - 60sX9/3, 7/3 @10

-    Leg Press w/ Rest-Pause - 3ppsX10/4, 7/4 @10

-    Lat Pushdowns w/ Lengthened Partial Drop-Set - X11/4, 11/3 @10

Rower - HIIT; 10 minutes

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 3. Session D.

sRPE @8

BW - 222

Deadlift - 325X3, 3, 3 @~5

031 Tempo Work w/ Intensity Techniques:

-    Leg Curls w/ Lengthened Partial Drop-Sets - X10/5, 8/4 @10

-    Pull-Downs w/ Lengthened Partial Drop-Sets - X12/3, 8/3 @10

-    Machine Flyes w/ Lengthened Partial Drop-Sets - X10/4, 9/3 @10

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 10 minutes

Wasn't sure how the reduction in set volume this cycle combined with everything being taken "past failure" would effect recovery markers.  Generally I feel as well or better recovered than when I was doing more sets further from failure, and the various trackers in the RTS app seem to agree.

I had provisionally conceived of this as "Deload by HIT," but I wasn't sure how that would play out in practice.  Jury is still out, but it's looking like a "maybe."

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 3. Session C.

sRPE @8

BW - 221

Chins - BWX2, 2, 2 @~7

031 Tempo Work w/ Intensity Techniques:

-    Face Pulls w/ Long ROM Drop-Sets - X16, 13/5 @~10

-    Incline Bench w/ Rest-Pause - 95X11/5, 8/4 @9.5

-    Roman Chair Squats w/ Long ROM Drop-Sets - BWX10/2, 8/3 @9.5/10

Rower - HIIT; 10 minutes

Tried just doing rear delt row partials as the first drop set on Face-Pulls, but they were too easy.

Might need to move my grip out again on Inclines as it still feels primarily Triceps.  Also I keep tucking my elbows strength-style, instead of keeping them flared.

Wasn't sure if I'd get "stuck" in the bottom of the Roman Chair Squats when I hit failure or not, but turns out you can just lean forward and get stand up pretty easily. 

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 3. Session B.

sRPE @8.5

BW - 222

Bench - 170X3, 3, 3 @4.5/5.5

031 Tempo Work w/ Intensity Techniques:

-    DB Press w/ Long ROM Drop Sets -

    -    40sX15/2 @10

    -    45sX8/1 @10

-    RDL (belt and straps) w/ Rest-Pause - 160X12/6, 12/5 @9.5/10

-    DB Curls w/ Long ROM Drop Sets - 25sX11/3, 10/3 @10

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 10 minutes

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 3. Session A.

sRPE @8.5

BW - 220

Squats - 270X3, 3, 3 @4.5/5.5

031 Tempo Work+:

-    Leg Extensions w/ Long ROM Partials - X11/3, 11/2 @10

-    1-Arm DB Rows w/ Long ROM Partials - 90X9/3, 7/2 @10

-    EZ OH Extensions w/ Long ROM Partials - 

    -    60X7/2 @10

    -    50X8/2 @10

Rower - HIIT; 10 minutes

I'd dabble with the Long ROM Partials drop sets before, but hoo-boy it's a whole other thing to do almost a full session of that.  I'll be doing these or rest-pause sets on all my supplements and accessories for this 2 week microcycle.  Hopefully?

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 2. Session F.

sRPE @7

BW - 222

BB Rows (beltless) - 160X8, 8, 8 @7/8

031 Tempo Work:

-    BB Curls - 60X9, 9 @9.5/10

-    Close-Grip Bench - 

    -    120X9, 9 @8.5/9.5

    -    115X9, 9, 9 @9/9.5

-    GHR - BWX9, 9, 9, 9, 9 @7.5/9

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 10 minutes

I think I did Rows with my belt last time, but whatevs. 

On CG Bench, I really seem able to "put it in my triceps."  Triceps definitely feel like what is giving out on these, but also getting noticeable front-delt soreness from them. 

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 2. Session E.

sRPE @ 7.5

BW - 220

Press - 95X3, 3, 3 @4.5/5

031 Tempo Work:

-    DB Bench - 60sX9, 9 @9/10

-    Leg Press - 3ppsX9, 9, 9, 9, 8 @8/10

-    Lat Pushdowns - X9, 9, 9, 9, 9 @8/9.5

Rower - HIIT; 10 minutes

Upper body pressing and pulling muscles have a bit of DOMS the next day.  Quads just feel "muted."  Expect they will feel very interesting in the next couple of days.

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 2. Session D.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 220

Deadlift - 315X3, 3, 3 @4/5.5

031 Tempo Work:

-    Leg Extensions - X10, 10 @8.5/9

-    Pull-Downs - X9, 9, 9, 9, 9 @8/9.5

-    Machine Flyes - X8, 8, 8, 9, 9 @7.5/10

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 10 minutes

I think I was a little too cute doing the Squats/Leg Curls and Deadlift/Leg Extensions thing.  I think I'll flop those around starting next cycle.  In this case, the day before I did 5 sets of 8 on Roman Chair Squats, so it was a bit silly to do 2 sets of Leg Extension the following day, when Leg Curls would have had more impact following Deadlift.

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 2. Session C.

sRPE @7

BW - 221

Chins - BWX3, 2, 2 @9.5/8

031 Tempo Work:

 - EZ Face Pulls - X11, 10 @9.5

 - Incline Bench - 

  - 115X9, 9 @9/10

  - 95X9, 9*, 9 @9/10

 - Roman Chair Squats - BWX8, 8, 8, 8, 8 @9/10

Rower - HIIT; 10 minutes

*Started out Close Grip on Inclines, but was feeling it all in my triceps, so I moved the grip out to a moderate grip and it felt more balanced across all 3 pressing muscle groups. 

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 2. Session B.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 221

Bench - 170X3, 3, 3 @5/6

031 Tempo Work:

- DB Seated Press - 40sX9, 9 @~9

- RDL w/Straps - 160X9, 9, 9, 9, 9 @8/9.5

- DB Curls - 25sX9, 9, 9, 9, 9 @8.5/9.5

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 10 minutes

Feeling shaky and woozy after the last couple of sets of RDL, and a little bit on curls, too.  Maintaining the slow tempo that close to failure is a whole other thing.