BBM Peaking Block. Cycle 1. Session B.

sRPE @7

BW - 212

Bench (paused first and last reps) - up to 185X5 @7.5

Pause Squats - up to 275X6 @~8

Cambered Bar Bench - up to 160X6 @9

Machine Flyes - X10, 10, 10 @7/8.5

Rower - HIIT; 16 minutes

As usual, the long lay-off over Thanksgiving meant my first day back was great, but then soreness on this second day was a bit of an obstacle.

Weight on Bench was a fine starting point, but execution just felt a little off due to soreness.  Hoping this bounces back a bit as I get back in the groove.  (although I expect my pecs to be pretty sore in a day or so from this workout).  

I did add a pause on the first and last reps.  I expect we'll be pausing in the mock meet.  This block will be mainly singles and doubles on bench.  I only paused the first and last reps because this workout sets my "training max" for next week, and I wasn't sure that the e1RM from a fully paused set of 5 would give me as accurate of a starting point i.e. it might have artificially lowered the max.

Squats felt a little wonky from soreness, but pausing actually sometimes helps with that.  For me, not trying to bounce out of the hole can help things like adductor fatigue be less noticeable. 

BBM PB I Block 2. Cycle 3. Session C.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 207

Deadlift - 

425X1 @7.75

395X3 @7.75

375X3, 3, 3 @~7.5

Pause Bench - 

200X5 @9

190X5, 5, 5 @8.5/9

Dips - 

BW+45X9 @8

BWX18, 8 @10/9

Seated Calves - 90X18, 14, 14

395X3 is a Rep PR, and 375 for 4X3 is a Volume PR on DL.

BBM PB I Block 2. Cycle 2. Session C.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 205

Deadlift - 

415X1 @8

385X3 @8

365X3, 3 @7

Pause Bench -

190X5 @8.5

180X5 @6.5

185X5 @8.5

Dips - 

BW+45X8 @8

BWX16 @10

Seated Calves - 90X17, 13, 14, 14 @7.5/9

Technique improving rapidly on Pause Bench.

BBM PB I Block 2. Cycle 1. Session C.

sRPE @6

BW - 204

Deadlift - 

425X1 @9

385X3 @8

Paused Bench - up to 180X5 @8

Dips - up to BW+45X7 @8

Seated Calves- 90X14, 14, 12 @8/7.5

Pivot Block. Cycle 2. Session B

 BW - 223

Paused Dips - BWX8 @6

Rope Extensions - X15, 15 @7/9

Paused Bench - 195X3 @6.5

DB Bench - 55'sX15, 12 @8

Leg Raise - BWX10, 8, 7 @8,7,6

Band Chins (under foot) - BWX8, 8 @~8

Pivot Block. Cycle 1. Session A and B.

 BW - ~225

Session A.

Band Chins (knee) - BWX4, 4 @6

DB One-Arm Rows - 80X8, 8 @~7

BB Curls - 60X14@6

DB Hammer Curls - 32.5'sX10, 10, 10 @7/8.5

320 Beltless Deadlift w/ Straps - 275X3 @5.5

GHR (low setting) - BWX11, 11 @~7

DB Upright Rows - 40'sX12, 12 @7.5/9

Session B.

Paused Dips - BWX7@6

Rope Pushdowns - X15, 15

Paused Bench - 190X3@6

DB Bench - 50'sX15, 15 @~6

Leg Raise on Elbows - BWX10, 10, 10@6/8

Band Chins (foot) - BWX7, 6 @7

Mostly old favorites here so nothing to really note.  Hoping a lot of banded chin up work of varying difficulty combined with sub-maximal chin ups (in dev blocks) will start to yield gains where other chin up strategies have fallen short.

Haven't done Paused Bench in a while.  Felt totally comfortable.

Block 7. Cycle 2. Session A.

BW - 228

Waist - 42.5"

Squat -
355X1 @8
362.5X1 @8.75
367.5X1 @8.75
322.5X4, 4 @8
292.5X7 @7.5

Paused Bench - 190X4, 4, 4 @8

Deadlift w/ Straps - 345X3, 3, 3, 3 @8

Solid session even though I was dog tired running on only 4 hours of sleep.  I got an iced coffee on the commute to the gym, and just kept topping it off with water all session to keep the caffeine drip running.  Seemed like it may have helped get through.

Squats felt pretty good.  The second to last single was on the heavy side, but then the top single felt as easy if not easier.  I thought about going up one more, but I didn't want to push it with so much work still to do in the session.  Back-offs all felt very good.

I pushed the weight up a bit more than projected on both Paused Bench and DL w/ Straps.  All went pretty well.  DL felt fairly heavy, but still @~8, and it IS meant as overload, so...

Video is of top sets and final work sets in each rep range.

Block 7. Cycle 1. Session A.

BW - 222

Waist - 42"

Squat -
350X1 @7.5
357.5X1 @8.5
362.5X1 @9
317.5X4, 4 @7.5, 8.25
267.5X7 @7

Pause Bench - 187.5X4, 4, 4 @8, 8, 7.5

Deadlift w/ Straps - 340X3, 3, 3, 3 @8

Conditioning - Rower; HIIT; 20 second rounds; 5 rounds

Solid first session.

This is designed to be a higher-intensity block in a full-body layout with tightly ascending singles to 1@9 on the main lifts followed by 2X4 @8 and 1X5-7 @8, then a slightly lower intensity variation, and a variation with a bit of overload.  The last back-off set on the main is 5-7 because I want to see if I can learn a little "RPE on the fly," and also to give myself elbow room for better and worse days without having to add additional work sets to hit the target. 

On Squats, the expected top single target ended up being correct, although warm-ups felt good enough that I thought I might go up.  However, 357.5X1 was right @8.5, so I stuck to the plan.  The second back off set of 4 was noticeably more difficult than the first.  That seems about right given the fatigue I would expect to have accumulated on this lift by that point.  I screwed up my formula projecting the weight for the final back-off set.  It should have been closer to 290, but I don't mind so much on day 1, and we'll see how it goes now that I've fixed it.

Been so long since I benched with a regular pause that I kept forgetting to pause on the first rep.  These sets actually got easier as it went along, so it will be interesting to see where the offset between this and the TnG version ends up by the end of the block.

I don't think I've ever really done much conventional DL with straps.  I guess-timated a 5% bump over mixed-grip, and that seems like it will be fairly close depending on where comp DL falls at the end of this first training cycle. 

Video if of top sets and final work sets.