Beginning a Tier 2/General Strength/Transmutation block before a peaking block into a mock meet.
I will say, on paper, the difference between this block and the previous blocks seems subtle. I would characterize it as top triples on the mains, with back-off sets of 4 < 80%, and a reduction in upper back work. Maybe a slight reduction in total sets and reps.
Chin-Ups - BW Density Block; 7 minutes; 7 reps on 1st set; 32 total reps
Bench was a mixed bag here. 252.5X2 is a Rep PR, but with the @~10 it projects as a lower e1RM than last week's 250X2@~9
Frankly, the warm-ups suggested I should take 250 again, but I wanted to try for more weight. At least it's nice to get some confirmation that I should believe my warm-up feedback.
I decided to still go on the heavier side on the back-off sets. The first couple of sets were okay, but the last set was definitely @8.5 and trending up.
But I was able to add weight to the cambered bench without any trouble. Some of that could still be acclimation to a relatively novel movement.
Also got one more rep squeezed in on the chin-up density block.
Yesterday, I was optimistic that I might be able to extend this training block another week, and today I kind of want it to be over. It may come down to how the last session of this cycle goes. This is definitely one of those places where a good quality coach that's familiar with both my lifting and my psychology would be helpful, but as is I gotta do for self.
Squat top set went very well. A touch heavier than the days target. However, I probably should have pulled back on the volume sets.
High-Bars and Wide Grip Deads were fine, but I was completely mentally wiped by the time I finished my low bar sets. I didn't want to do any more squats, and after squats, I didn't want to do anything at all.
I traveled out of town this last weekend, and I think travel and vacation activities may have contributed.
To this point, available evidence had pointed to a 7 week time-to-peak. However, the squat top set looks like my second best increase of the block, and my best Week 7 Squat. Unless Bench and Deadlift convincingly crash and burn this week, I will plan on extending this block another week.
400 is a weight PR on Deadlift, and obviously a Rep PR. Nice. Felt easier than I expected, but not as easy as it looks on the video. There was some "meet day" mental focus that contributed to this lift, as there always is for a milestone. Target for next week will be 4 plates (maybe more). So we'll do it all over again, then.
Back-off sets also all felt very good, although this is a new-ish bar and the heavy knurling on TnG deadlift is brutal on the hands. I add a ton of extra chalk just to try and mitigate it.
Pause Squats felt very good. I probably could have added a touch more weight, but 275 is just nice.
Axle bench was a little tough because I still have some DOMS in my pec from the previous session. Made the first couple of works sets a little tough, but was solid by the end.
Chin-Ups - BW Density Block; 7 minutes; 7 reps on first set; 31 total reps
Decent session.
I pushed the weight on the top set of bench a touch higher than was indicated, because getting a lift-off for the top sets has seemed to give a little boost. I was probably just a smidge ambitious, but no harm. The annoying thing will be if I end up using the same weight next week.
I dialed-it in tigher for the back-off sets. The first two were good, with the second being a particularly rock-solid @8, but the difficulty on the third jumped for some reason.
Cambered bench was well locked-in.
Got another rep on the first set of chins, but the same number of total reps. All good.
Video is of top sets and final work sets of the barbell lifts (using my phone as a timer during chins, so can't really take video).
Nice 5 lb. jump in the top double on Squats, and the back-off sets went up 7.5 lbs. AND had a slightly lower RPE on average than last week. e1RM crested 400 for the firs time since I started using Emerging Strategies.
High-Bars and BGDL also trended upwards a bit stronger than in recent weeks.
392.5X2 is a Rep PR on Deadlift. My first Rep PR since using Emerging Strategies. Back felt a little "something" at the top of rep 1, but I was able to finish the session with no pain, and no apparent drop-off in performance. The feeling of "something" in my low back has been present every since, so we'll see how Comp Squat session goes today. My assumption is that everything will be fine.
Pause Squats were rock solid.
The ~70lb. axle I've been using all block was occupied, so I had to use the lighter axle. I don't actually know how much it weighs. I compared it subjectively to how heavy it felt in my hands compared to a standard barbell, and guess-timated 40lbs. for this session. All good.
Another solid session this week. Nice to get a little string of them going.
Week 5 hasn't been great for Bench to this point, so it was nice to get a bigger than usual jump this week. I was shooting for 245, but warm-ups indicated something slightly lighter. The top set was rock solid, and has been this cycle. I think some of that is down to only getting a lift-off on the top set allowing me to have a tad more energy for the actual reps.
Cambered Bench was also solid.
I only got 1 more rep in the Chin-Up density block this week, but I was 2 lbs. heavier than last week so that's alllllllright.
Another good session bouncing back from cold and (all-but-gone bronchitis).
Squats made a bigger jump than they have the last couple of weeks. Just felt much more "there." Looking forward to seeing how the block goes.
I was hyper-focused on execution today since I had one less rest day between DL and Squat days than usual. Probably gave myself longer rests between sets than usual on average as well. Closer to 5 minute rests than 3 minute rests.
High Bars and Wide-Grip DLs were all solid as well.
Sleep has been behind a little bit so I was still ready for the session to be over by the last movement. Was meeting a friend to watch a game, so skipped out on conditioning again.
Had a couple of extra days off due to schedule and that may have contributed to a very nice session.
385X2 @9 projects to an e1RM PR over the baseline I set when I started using Emerging Strategies, and is certainly an absolute intensity PR in that time frame. The baseline from late September '18 was 345X3 @7. This double at 385 was a very strong @9 as well. The 330X6 @8 actually projects even a little higher, but I prefer to go off the top set. Anyway, very solid DL today.
Pause Squats also came in right on target.
Axle Bench felt as good as it has yet. Felt very solidly balanced over the forearm in a way that I'm not sure I've ever felt with a regular barbell. Interesting.
Chin-Ups - Density Block; 7 minutes; BW; 5 reps on 1st set; 30 total reps
Conditioning - HIIT; Stationary Bike; 7 rounds
Solid session.
Even though Bench hasn't made an e1RM jump over the last 3 sessions, everything felt much better today. Inter-set fatigue seemed lower, the weights sort of..."handled" easier despite the RPE being comparable, and my head felt clearer throughout.
Got a few more reps on Chins again this session which was a bit of a surprise.
Solid sessions. Definitely feel about 95% back from being sick the last couple of weeks.
Squats definitely felt heavy heading into the top set, but the increase in e1RM over last week is about on the average for the last 5 blocks. I've been tracking week-to-week increases to see if I could reliably predict which weeks would have larger increases during a training block (an old Paul Carter idea). That kind of seems to be getting blown out of the water, but we'll give it a few more blocks.
High bars felt very good.
BG Deadlift also felt very good, although I was kind of ready for the session to be over at this point. I think I've let my conditioning work wane a bit the past couple of weeks, and it may be impacting my resistance training. I'll try to be better about logging the conditioning, and see if that helps with accountability.
Rough couple of week of training ended with a mixed bag session. Illness and poor recovery made these last couple of cycles a bit of a roller-coaster. This week looks to be a bit chaotic as well, so I'm going to stay buckled in.
Deadlift went very well this session and was clearly the best main lift of the week. DL is now pushing up against my e1RM from when injuries side-tracked me to the point that I switched over to RPE based programming back in the fall of '18. It's been a long slog back up the hill. I hope I've learned some things.
Pause Squats ended up being the same weight as last week. Not great, but not terrible. Comp Squats have been very rough the last couple of cycles, so maintaining on the supplement is probably a new win.
Comp bench was really rough this week, and getting RPE dialed-in on Axle Bench was very difficult in this session. Overall, it ended up being about the same as last week. Probably fine.
Chin-Ups - Density Block, 7 minutes; 28 total reps
Not a great session. My low back started bothering me as I was walking into the gym. Low level, but enough to feel it during the bench set up and somewhat throughout the reps. No real change to top set strength. I misloaded the back-off set, and that wasn't great. Once I got it adjusted, it was still pretty heavy and regressed quickly.
Things were a little bit better on cambered bar bench, but still a regression from last week.
Got a couple more reps on chins, but it feels more like gaming the system than an actual increase in strength.
Okay session. The last several blocks, I've had a good-sized jump in Squat strength in the 3rd and/or 4th week. Was hoping for that jump today, especially since I was fighting a cold during last week's lackluster Squat session, but it wasn't really to be. Nevertheless, I was able to put a smidge more weight on the bar at the target RPE, so it's still progress.
I am reminded that I backed-down Squat volume a bit this block to facilitate raising DL volume. Something to think on.
High-Bars were fine though.
BGDL was also solid. Interestingly, it's curving towards the same % relative to comp DL as my data on Deficits off of a plate. Not sure how to factor the straps into that.
Solid session in general. DL is getting in that range where it feels heavy regardless, and I have to prepare for that when I step up for the first rep. "It Will Feel Slow; Pull Hard."
My formula said 260 for pause squat on this day which I though was a pretty big jump considering the previous session topped out at 240 @7.5, but 260 ended up being the right number. I think I was uncertain because my comp squat performance dropped off really quickly last week, and I wasn't sure where my overall squat strength was going to be; especially following DL. Glad it worked out.
Axle bench "felt" a lot heavier in my hands this week even though the RPE was on target. Interesting.
Chin-Ups Density Block - BW; 7 Minutes; 26 total reps
Solid block. Surprised to run into Leah Lutz and Jordan Feigenbaum from the Barbell Medicine team. They're doing a seminar in the area and decided to hit my gym. Nice to meet them face-to-face.
Bench went well. 3% increase over last week. Everything felt good.
Cambered Bar Bench had an even bigger jump. Also felt good.
Got 7 more reps in my chin-up density block. Some of that may be down to time-management lessons-learned from last session. I always hit a wall at some point with progressing chin-up training. We'll see how it goes!
Head cold is still lingering and I think it was messing with me during this session.
Top double on Squat went really well, but the back-off volume was WAY harder than it should have been. I think I was just running out of gas. Even when I backed the weight down it still seemed like I was about to hit a wall.
Proactively pulled the high bar intensity back, and ended up being at the same weight as last week.
I did manage to bounce back and hit the wide grip DL right on target. Hope the other sessions this week go a bit better.
Was a little all over the place hitting RPE targets on the lower body lifts today, but still a fairly solid session. I'm writing this a few days after the fact and having been sick all weekend, so my impressions of the lower body lifts are also fairly fuzzy.
I guess the top double on DL could have gone up like 5 lbs. to hit the @9 target, but knowing I was going to be squatting right after, I didn't want to push it. Likewise the back-off sets could have gone up 5-7 lbs to try and hit @8, but I'm always conservative on DL day.
By the end of the Pause Squat sets, I did try to push the weight up a little bit closer to the RPE target.
First time doing Axle Bench. Decided to add it in after talking to a guy at the gym that was using it quite a bit. He suggested a 10% offset and that ended up being right on the money. Potentially a very useful supplement in that regard, as it seem highly specific to the comp bench with the set-up being entirely identical (grip-width, ROM, etc.), but the thicker grip seeming to necessitate a drop in absolute intensity. Looking forward to seeing how it progresses.
