S/B/D/R+ Week 3. Day C.

sRPE @8.5

BW - 227

Deadlift w/Straps -

-    up to 355X1 @8

-    315X3, 3, 3, 3, 3 @7/7.5

DB Bench - 60sX9, 7, 7, 6 @~8

Pull-Downs w/Straps - X10, 9, 8 @8/9

Cable Curls - X10, 9, 8, 8, 8 @~8

super-set with

Machine Knee Raise - X7, 7, 7, 7 @~8

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 0:20/1:40; 14 minutes

Tough session.  Not sure if it was general end of the week fatigue, the added volume from this week catching up with me, or just normal ups-and-downs of training.  Looking forward to a couple of days off.

S/B/D/R+ Week 3. Day A.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 225

Squats - 

-    up to 350X1 @8.5

-    295X3, 3, 3, 3, 3 @6/7

BB Rows w/Straps - 

-    up to 200X5 @8

-    200X3, 3, 3 @~7.5

GHR - BWX10, 9, 8, 8 @~8

super-set with

Machine Laterals - X12, 9, 9, 8, 8 @8/9

Cable Rear Delt Flyes - X9, 9, 7, 6, 6 @8/9.5

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 0:20/1:40; 14 minutes

Weather was great, and focus was strong.  Feels good to be able to handle this volume right now

Reap What You Row Week 3. Day A.

sRPE @8.5

BW - 223

BB Rows - 

-    up to 200X3 @7

-    add straps - 170X8, 8, 8, 8 @7/9.5

Pulldowns w/Straps - X8, 8, 8 @~8

GHR - BWX10, 10, 8 @8

super-set with

Bench Dips - BWX14, 10, 9 @8

BB Curls - 65X8, 7, 6, @~8

super-set with

1-Arm Cable Wrist Extensions - X10, 8, 8 @8/9

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 0:20/1:40; 8 rounds

If adding straps, adding wrist extension work, and subbing bike for rower doesn't yield any real relief by EOW, I'll have to make more drastic changes to programming.  Issues are effecting me outside the gym too much. 

Inter-Holiday Session

sRPE @5.5

BW - 227

Press (beltless) - up to 145X1(PR) @9.5

CS Rows - 135X10, 10 @8/9

Hanging Flexed Knee-to-Chest w/straps - BWX12(PR), 9, 7 @8.5/10

Pivot-y kind of session before I start a Press-focused block next week.  

I haven't done a ton of beltless Pressing, but I'm pretty sure that is a PR.  

Lockout on this an all of the singles working up to it felt different than they did recently when I was going after the Press.  I'd been hitting a pretty hard sticking point about 2/3 of the way up, and I'd tried attacking it with Pin Presses and Push Presses, with little success.  These sets hit that sticking point and slowed a little, but still smoothly pushed through to lockout.

If that feel holds through the beginning of the block, I'd be tempted to chalk it up to all of the triceps work I did on my Dips mini-block. 

I'm also pretty sure 12 reps at this BW is a Rep PR on Hanging Flexed-Knee-to-Chest, but I haven't done that variation too often.  Had to use straps on these because left forearm discomfort continues (and may become a confounder in my Pressing; fingers crossed).

Chin-Up War Week 2. Day A.

sRPE @7

BW - 224

Chins - BWX5, 4, 4 @9.5/10

1-Arm DB Rows w/Strap - 90X13, 11 @9.5

Hack Squats - 125X9, 7 @~9

BB OH Extensions - 50X10, 8 @~9.5

BB Curls - 75X13(PR), 7 @10

Just realized that 75X12 on Curls last week was also a Rep PR.

Chin-Up War Week 1. Day A.

sRPE @8

BW - 224

Chins - BWX4, 4 @9.5/10

DB 1-Arm Rows w/Straps - 85X15, 13 @9.5/10

GHR - BWX13, 12 @8/9.5

super-set with

Hammer Incline - 40X15, 12 @8.5/10

BB Curls - 70X12, 10 @~9.5

Easing into a Chin-Up specialization block.  Every day will have:

Chin-Ups

Upper Back Accessory

Legs and Pressing

Biceps

Volume on Chins, Upper Back and Biceps will tick up weekly.  Cautiously shooting for 10 work sets weekly of each, but want to ease into that as it's over 2X what I was doing last block. Volume on Legs and Pressing will look to <10 weekly work sets of each.

This session was a bit tougher than I expected it to be.  Really not sure why my pressing strength on Hammer Incline was so off. 

Chins, Hips, Curls

sRPE @7

BW - 223

Chins w/ Straps - BWX6, 5, 4, 3 @10

Hanging Knees-to-Chest w/ Straps - BWX8, 5 @9.5/8

BB Curls - 80X11(PR), 7, 7(PR) @~10

Chin strength rebounded slightly this week.  Still using straps because of bandage on finger.

Bandage kept trying to come off during K2C no matter how much electrical tape I kept wrapping it in.  Stopped after 2 sets.

Nice to hit Rep and Volume PRs on straight bar Curls.  Haven't done them since May.

Chins, Hamstrings, Pecs, Biceps

sRPE @7

BW - 224

Chin-Up Partials w/Straps - BWX10, 8, 7, 5 @10

Leg Curls - 

-    X15, 11, 12 @10

-    Partials Drop-set X11, 9, 19 @10

Lying DB Curls - 15sX12, 11, 10, 9 @10

super-set with

DB Flyes - 15sX11, 9, 9, 7 @10

Historically, Chin-Up Partials are ~107% of my full chins.  Would be cool to come in next week and bust out a set of 8 clean Chins, but we'll see.

Chins, Adductors, Pecs, Biceps

sRPE @7.5

BW - 223

Chin-Up End Partials w/ Straps- BWX9, 7, 6, 5 @9.5/10

Adductor Machine - X18, 14, 13, 13 @9.5/10

Machine Flyes - X14, 13, 11, 11 @10

super-set with

Swiss Bar Curls - 

25X16 @7

45X10, 8, 8 @9.5/10

No Biceps DOMS because of programming change + using my preferred Chin Up station resulted in a much better all around performance this week.

Gym was busy and didn't have a good spot to do Copenhagens, so just jumped on the Adductor machine.

Lower stress movements/session all around.  Didn't plan for that, but am also fine with it.

Press, Deadlift, Back, Triceps

sRPE @8

BW - 225

Swiss Bar Press - 

-    up to 140X1 @9.5

-    100X6, 6, 6 @6/7.5

Deadlift - up to 405X1 @8.5

RDL w/ Straps - 225X9, 9, 6 @9/10

Pull-Downs - X9, 9, 8, 8 @10

super-set with

Cable OH Extensions - X13, 12, 10, 10 @10

I'd been thinking about doing Log Press for my first wave of this Press block, but I didn't want to have to clean every set, and I didn't want to take it from the strongman room to the room with racks, blocks, etc.  Then I remembered we have a couple of full-length Swiss bars!  This was a fun movement.  Requires more lean back, and the touch at the bottom of the reps has to be a bit more controlled to keep from slamming into your collarbone.  Weight-wise, this is about right where I want my first Press movement of this block to me at.  

I didn't DL at the end of the last block, so I just worked up to something here and then hit RDLs.

Chins, Rack Pull, Triceps

sRPE @6.5

BW - 222

Chin-Ups - 

-    Avg. Band Under Foot - X7, 5, 4, 4, 4 @~9

-    Long-ROM Partials - BWX5, 5, 4, 4 @~9.5

Rack Pull (high-shin) w/Straps - up to 365X3 @9

Machine OH JM Press - X14, 13, 13 @~9.5

Had a few too many days off, but Chins felt pretty good.

Surprised to find I've never done plain ol' Rack Pulls before.  I've done some with tempo as part of P.T., and I did Sumo Rack Pulls with the ME Krew one day.  But I guess I've neve done plain, Conventional Rack Pulls before.  So...PR.

Looking around the gym for something to do for Triceps, and I "invented" doing JM Press on an OH Press machine.  Felt like they hit my triceps quite hard.

Chins, Deficit Sumo, Triceps

sRPE @7

BW - 218

Chin-Ups - 

-    BWX2, 2, 2, 2, 5 @7.5/10

-    Long-ROM Partials - BWX5, 4, 4, 3 @~9

Deficit Sumo DL w/Straps - up to 345X1@9.5 (365X0)

Rope Pushdowns -

-    Straight Set - X18 @10

-    /w Rest-Pause Long-ROM Partials - X12/12, 10/10 @10

Chins felt a touch stronger.  Maybe.

Never done Sumo Deficits before.  I failed an attempt at 335, but it felt technical so I took a few breaths, tried again, and got it.  Was able to go up a smidge more.  Took a YOLO attempt at 365 but it wouldn't break off the floor. 

Tried using the long-ROM partials as a rest-pause set instead of a drop set, and it worked WAY better.  Doing them as a drop-set, I'd only get maybe half as many additional reps.  But taking a few deep breaths (without even letting go of the handles), and I was able to match the full ROM reps.  Nice pump.

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 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 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.

3 Day Full-Body Hypertrophy. Week 1. Session B.

sRPE @6

BW - 218

Bench - 165X3, 3, 3 @~5

031 Tempo Work:

DB Seated Press - 40sX8, 8 @8/9

RDL w/straps - 165X8, 8 @~8

DB Curls - 25sX8, 8 @7.5/9.5

Body is definitely feeling the shift from strength-focused work to hypertrophy-focused work.  The DOMS isn't bad, but it's very noticeable and it's head-to-toe.

Low-Rep Volume PRs. Week 1. Session C.

sRPE @6

BW - 220

Bench -

triples up to 155X3 @5

singles up to 185X1 @5.5

back-off to 165X3 @5.5

Toes-to-Bar (w/straps) - BWX5, 5 @~8

Pause Squat - 225X5, 5 @~5

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 10 minutes

Intro week continues.

Not very exciting numbers, but you gotta start somewhere. 

Med.-Rep Volume PRs. Week 3. Session D.

sRPE @7

BW - 224

Deadlift - 

365X1 @6

385X1 @7

285X6, 6, 6, 6 @~6

Dips - BWX9, 9, 9, 9 @7/10

Band-Assisted Chins (medium band under knee) - BWX4, 4, 4, 4 @~8 (w/straps)

On Dips, 4 sets of 9 at this BW is a Volume PR.

Med.-Rep Volume PRs. Week 1. Session D.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 222

Deadlift - 

365X1 @6

275X6, 6, 6, 6 @~5

Dips - BWX8, 8, 8, 8 @~7

Banded Chins (medium band under knee) w/straps - BWX3, 3, 3, 3 @~7

Had to skip conditioning to make it to an event.

Dragging ass coming into the gym yesterday AM.  Was worried DL was going to be a shit-show even with the planned low-RPEs.  But after I got warmed up everything was fine.  

Dips are so explosive lately that I'm starting to wonder if they're too explosive?  Like is this a different movement now from weighted dips?

My hands were feeling beat up from DL, so I used straps on the Band Chins.  It was actually nice as I was able to really focus on my back, and it has responded by feeling fairly sore today!  So maybe I'll keep the straps on these for a while?

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

sRPE @8

BW - 217

Bench - 

220X1, 1 @~6.5

140X17, 17 @7.5/8.5

Toes-to-Bar (w/straps) - BWX6, 5, 5, 4 @8/5.5

KB Walking Lunges - 35sX12, 12, 12, 12 @7/8

140 for 2X17 is a Volume PR on Bench.

217 (BW) for 4 sets of 4+ is a Volume PR on TTB.  Used straps again because these bothered my callouses so much last week.  Felt much better on hands.  While straps didn't seem to make a difference on chin-up strength the day before, I felt noticeably stronger on this movement with them.  Same reps as last week were much easier even at a higher BW.

Staying up late to watch basketball and training 3 days in a row had me pretty gassed out on lunges, and I'm training again the next day prior to a weekend vacation.  i.e. I used excuses to skip conditioning.