Higher-Rep Volume PRs. Week 6. Session A.

sRPE @8

BW - 218

Squat - up to 315X1 @7

Leg Press - up to 4ppsX7 @10

Press - up to 145X1 @9.5

Push Press - up to 155X1 @8

A good deal of low back discomfort has crept in the last couple of days, and it made Squats pretty difficult.  I'd hoped to work up to something fairly heavy today, but it took several warm-ups just to be able to get to 315 so I called it there.

No problem on Leg Press or any of the other movements.  I worked up on Leg Press to set a baseline for training that movement next block.  I was mentally a bit wiped from working through back pain on Squats and maxing Leg Press, so I just worked up on the Press movements.

Pretty good block on Press.  I finished last block and started this one with an e1RM ~130.  I think having multiple singles plus the overload movement were helpful.  Not an earth-shaking idea, but this is the first time I've truly overloaded Press so it was nice to see a promising result.  At the least, I think it made me more comfortable with heavier weight in my hands on the set-up.

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

sRPE @7.5

BW - 219

Squat - 

315X1, 1 @~6

215X17, 17 @~7

Press - 

115X1, 1 @~6

75X14, 14 @6.5/8

Push Press-  125X4, 4 @7/8

Rower - HIIT; 12 minutes / 7 rounds

On Squats, 215 for 2X17 is a Volume PR.

On Press, 75 for 2X14 is a Volume PR.

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

sRPE @7

BW - 219

Squats - 

315X1, 1 @~6

205X17, 17 @6.5/7

Press - 

115X1, 1 @~6.5

75X13, 13 @6.5/7

Push Press - 125X4, 4 @7/7.5

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 00:30 sprints; 7 rounds / 12 minutes

205 for 2 sets of 17 is a Volume PR on Squats.

75 for 2 sets of 13 is Volume PR on Press.

Timed my 17 rep set of DL last Saturday, and it came out around 50 seconds with 4 breath rests.  Upping my HIIT sprints from 00:20 to 00:30 to get a little closer to matching up.  Did feel a bit more burn post 00:20 so I could tell right away I had some acclimation to the shorter sprints.

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

sRPE @6

BW - 219

Squats - 

315X1 @5.5

185X17 @5.5

Press - 

110X1 @7

75X13 @7

Push Press - 120X4, 4 @~7

Rower - HIIT; 7 rounds / 12 minutes

Intro week.  Just one set per rep range on the mains to feel things out.  

Squats were much stronger than usual following a deload/pivot.  I did some extra warm-ups sets with BW and empty bar.   Also maybe the ME work on Saturday maybe?

Left shoulder was a little aggravated after the back-off set on Press, but Push Press was OK and it feels mostly fine the next day.

BBM Gen.S+C Block 2. Cycle 4. Session A.

sRPE @7

BW - 208

High Bar Squat - 

300X1 @7

290X3 @8

270X3, 3, 3 @~6.5

Press - 105X6, 6, 6, 6 @6.5

Push Press - 100X3; emom; 10 minutes

Band-Assisted Nordic Curls - BWX6, 6, 6 @6.5/8.5

Rower - HIIT; 16 minutes

Hit last week's top single on High Bar and it felt like a warm-up, so I went up.  Nice little data point in my new approach of hitting the same weights until they feel "easier than they're supposed to."

Press was also slightly easier across the board.

My wrists were feeling a little banged up after HBS (I use a narrow, thumbs-around grip on that variant) and Press.  So I controlled the eccentric a bit more on the Push Presses.  It actually felt better in general to do them that way, so I'll switch over to that.  Who knows, maybe I'll trigger a smidge more hypertrophy with the slower eccentric.

BBM Gen.S+C Block 2. Cycle 2. Session A.

sRPE @6

BW - 206

High Bar Squats -

285X1 @7

275X3 @7.5

255X3, 3, 3 @~6

Press - 105X6, 6, 6, 6 @~7

Push Press - 95X3 EMOM 10 minutes

Band-Assisted Nordic Curls - X6, 6 @~9.5

Rower - HIIT; 14 minutes

Full Body. Week 4. Bench

BW - 207

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X4
155X4
185X3
225X2
255X5

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
185X1
175X10

BB Complex - 95X5; 3 sets
Clean, Front Squat, Push-Press, Front Squat

Solid session.  255X5 is an all-around PR on Pause Squats, and 175X10 matches my previous 10 rep PR, and on reduced carbs and calories.  I went for an 11th, but couldn't get it.

Full Body. Week 4. Squat

BW - 206

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
255X7, 3

DB Bench -
60sX16, 12, 6
45sX12

BB Complex - 95X5; 3 sets
1-Arm RDL, High-Pull, Push-Press, Cheat Curl, Yates Row

Gym closing early for Memorial Day, so I had to train in the AM.  I never feel as "strong" training in the morning.  Regardless of sleep and whatever.  I was hoping to approach 10 reps with 255 on the Squat, but I was having trouble even keeping my form tight and consistent.

Tried to push reps on the DB Bench, and I eked out a few on the first set, but then the bottom dropped out.  Finished off with the 45s to just try and up the overall volume.

Complex moved up to 5 reps this week, and was: Hard.  As.  Hell.  Gasping for air after 3 sets, and my forearms were screaming after 2.  Crazy.

Full Body. Week 3. Bench

BW - 206

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X5
155X4
185X3
225X2
255X4, 2

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
185X1
175X7

BB Complex - 95X4; 4 sets
Clean, Front Squat, Push-Press, Front Squat

Everything seemed hard today.  However, 255X4 is an all-around PR in Pause Squats, but I'd hoped to do 2X4.  After the first set, I knew that wasn't going to happen.

Still being cautious with my left shoulder strain.  The strain didn't get aggravated in this workout, but it was really "tired" feeling afterwards.  I'll stay at 175 on Bench and try to hit 10 reps with it.  That would match me previous 10 rep PR.  Doing that with fewer carbs and calories in my diet than previously would be solid, I feel.

Complex was hard as hell today.  I did 10 sets of 3 last week, and that seemed super-human to me during this session.  I did come up with a wrist-saving compromise on the Front/Press/Front issue, and that is to use a rack position on the first Fronts, but use cross-arm on the second and let it drop to the floor from there.

Full Body. Week 2. Bench

BW - 207

Pause Squat -
BarX10
95X5
135X3
185X3
225X2
255X3, 3, 3

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
185X1
165X12

BB Complex - 95X3; 10 sets
Clean, Front Squat, Push-Press, Front Squat

Okay session.  The 3 sets of 3 with 255 matches my best for Pausers which was done just a few weeks back.  These were still a little grind-y though.  I was going to progress up to sets of 4 and 5, but I'm questioning the wisdom of that.  At the very least I may want to look at doing fewer top sets.

Bench was going okay, but then the bar drifted left on the set of 155 and I strained something in my left shoulder.  I was able to complete the bench workout, and also do the push-presses in the complex, but it's definitely needed icing and anti-inflammatories since.  165X12 matches my previous Rep PR.

I pushed up both the reps per set and the total sets on this complex.  But it's still a killer.

Full Body. Week 1. Bench

BW - 207

Pause Squat -
BarX10
95X5
135X3
185X3
225X2
255X2, 2, 2

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
185X1
155X15

BB Complex - Clean, Front Squat, Push-Press, *Front-Squat
95X2; 7 sets

Super low energy today.  I managed to hit all the Pause Squats, but really had to psych myself up for Bench and grind out the 15th rep.  The bad knee didn't display anything like pain during the squats, but I could literally feel it pumping up with blood.  Maybe that means there's already a good deal of inflammation in there?

Even though I was so low energy today, this complex seems significantly hard than the other despite having "bigger" movements in it.  Could be the accumulated fatigue from this first full week of full body and conditioning training, though.

*Getting from the push-press to the front squat and then returning the bar to the floor continues to be awkward.  On the last couple of sets, I tried switching to back squat, but that was just okay.  I contemplated Overhead-Squats, but when I was at the press lockout, it just seemed like a bad idea, so I skipped it.

Full-Body. Trial Week.

BW - 208

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X3
185X3
225X2
255X2, 2, 2

Bench -
BarX20
95X5
135X3
155X2
185X1
155X15

Complex - 95X2, 2, 2, 2, 2
(Clean, Front Squat, Push-Press, Front Squat)

Next Day:
One-Mile Run - under 11:00

My knee was bothering me the last few days so I took time off from training.  It was still feeling wonky, but I felt like it was time to get back in the gym and see what was what.

My plan for May has been to do three days of full body training in the gym with complexes as finishers, and two-three days of starting to ramp up conditioning now that the weather's better.  I haven't done complexes in two or three years, so I wanted to take a week to try some stuff out.

My bench day programming seemed like a good place to start.  With pause squats not having a bounce at the bottom, I knew I'd feel safer on them.  Everything went well here.

On bench, I'm backing down to a lower section of my tiered programming for hitting 225, but with no back-off sets.  15 reps with 155 is actually my calculated target for 225, so that's kind of nice to have there even though I didn't quite make is to 225 in my last strength phase.

This complex had mixed results.  I have zero Oly training, so I knew the cleans would be more like reverse-grip cheat curls and I'm fine with that.  Going from front squat rack position into the press position was awkward, and getting the bar back to the floor after the 2nd front squat was REALLY awkward.  Both were kind of rough on my wrists.  I may ask one of the Oly guys at the gym for advice, or I may switch out one or both front squats for overhead squats.

The next day I did a mile run; my second of the season.  Last week, I came in about 10:45.  I was under 11:00 this time as well, but my time-keeping was off so I don't know exactly.  My knee was a bit tender at first, but after about a 1/3 mile or so, it got warm and felt good.  I'm still WAY over my best ever, sub-8:00 mile times, but this is just an acclimation period.