Dippin' into Dips Week 3. Day B.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 224

Dips - BWX5, 5, 5 @6/7

Incline DB Raise - 15sX14, 11, 8 @10

ATG Pause Squat - 

-    275X1 @8

-    185X5, 5 @~6

Gaspari Bar Hammer Curls - 45X11, 7 @10

DB LTEs - 20sX15, 11, 11 @10

Squats weren't feeling it on this day, so backed off.  Happens sometimes.

Still have some left forearm flexor discomfort lingering from the Chin-Ups blocks and/or bad Squat grip position.  Straight bar Curls weren't feeling great so switched to the Gaspari Bar.

Dippin' into Dips Week 2. Day B.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 225

Dips - BWX5, 5, 5 @7/8

Incline DB Raise - 30sX13, 9 @~10

SLDL - 

-    335X1 @9.5

-    275X5, 5 @7/8.5

Lying DB Curls - 25sX8, 6 @10

DB LTEs - 20sX14, 11 @10

Solid session despite being back-to-back.

Dippin' into Dips Week 1. Day B.

sRPE @7

BW - 226

Dips - BWX5, 5 @~6

Incline DB 45-deg. Raise - 20sX9, 8 @10

ATG Pause Squat - 

-    315X1 @9

-    225X5, 5 @7/8

BB Curls - 90X10, 6(PR) @~10

DB LTEs - 20sX11, 10 @~10

Adductors were like, "since when do we Squats 2X in 1 week?" 

Nice little Volume PR on Curls.

Reload Day

sRPE @6.5

BW - 227

ATG Pause Squat - 225X3 @6

MG Cambered Bench - 155X3 @7

SLDL - 275X3 @6.5

Chin-Ups - BW+25X3 @10

Hanging Flexed Knee-to-Chest - BWX3 @6.5

DB OH Extensions - 55X10 @10

DB Curls - 40sX9 @10

Holiday week got away from me and so I didn't train for over a week.  Swept into the gym yesterday and just hit a little bit of everything so that I can start my new training block on Monday not completely de-trained. 

Chins, Hamstrings, Pecs, Triceps

sRPE @8

BW - 221

Chin-Up Partials w/Straps - BWX7, 7, 6, 4 @10

Seated Leg Curls - X15, 14, 17, 13 @~10

Cable Flyes - X11, 10, 10, 9 @9.5/10

super-set with

Cross-Body 1-Arm Triceps Pushdowns - X15, 14, 13, 12 @9/10

Biceps were still pretty sore from training the day before, and that made Chin Partials a little uncomfortable.

The X-Body Pushdowns were probably a bit baroque, but I wanted to see what it would feel like.  Weirdly tired out my mid-trap and rear delts?  Probably some kind of isometric action back there.

Rows, Legs, Pecs, Triceps

sRPE @7.5

BW - 223

BB Hanging Rows - 

-    up to 205X5@8.5

-    185X5, 5, 5 @7.5/8

GHR - BWX12, 10, 9, 9 @10

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

super-set with

DB LTE - 15sX18, 15, 12, 10 @10

Moving the rows into a top-set w/ back-offs format to try and facilitate a 5 Rep PR next week. 

Messed around with the set-up in GHR to try and increase difficulty without making it more uncomfortable.

Might not have really done DB Skulls/LTE before.  Took a couple of sets to get the execution such that I had an intense strain in the lengthened position. 

Mid-Rep Volume PRs. Week 5. Session B.

sRPE @7

BW - 221

Chins - BWX2, 2, 2, 2 @8.5/9.5

Chest-Supported Rows - 145X8, 8 @8/9

BB Curls - 55X20, 20, 20, 20 @7/8.5

EZ Skulls (paused on chin) - 65X12, 12 @9/10

55 for 2+ sets of 20 is a Volume PR on Chins.  I'll do a different movement the next week or two, and start the reset for the next block with 60 lbs. and start working up again.

Mid-Rep Volume PRs. Week 4. Session B.

sRPE @8

BW - 220

Press - 100X6, 6, 6, 6, 6 @6/7

Chest-Supported Rows - 145X8, 8 @8.5/9

BB Curls - 55X19, 19, 19, 19 @7/10

EZ Skullcrushers (paused on chin) - 65X11, 11 @9/9.5

Moving things around ahead of a vacation that just got cancelled.

Press was a little tough to get rolling having Benched the day before.  Performance was still comparable to last week.

55 for 2+ sets of 19 is a Volume PR on Curls. 

Mid-Rep Volume PRs. Week 3. Session B.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 219

Chins - BWX2, 2, 2, 2 @~8

Chest-Supported Rows - 140X8, 8 @~9

BB Curls - 55X18, 18, 18, 18 @7/10

EZ Skullcrushers paused on chin - 65X10, 10 @9/10

55 for 2+ sets of 18 is a Volume PR on Curls.

Weather was great, and I had a date, so NO CONDITIONING FOR ME HAHAHAHA.

Mid-Rep Volume PRs. Week 2. Session B.

sRPE @7

BW - 219

Chins - BWX2, 2, 2, 2 @7/8

Chest-Supported Rows - 135X8, 8 @~8

BB Curls - 55X17, 17, 17, 17 @6.5/8.5

EZ Skullcrushers (paused on chin) - 65X9, 9 @9/10

55 for 2+ sets of 17 on Curls is a Volume PR.

Mid-Rep Volume PRs. Week 1. Session B.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 221

Intro Week; ~-1 set per movement

Chins - BWX2, 2, 2 @~7.5

Chest-Supported Rows - 135X8, 8 @~8

BB Curls - 55X16, 16, 16, 16 @6.5/8.5

EZ LTE paused-on-chin - 65X8, 8 @9/9.5

Rower - HIIT; 9 rounds / 16 minutes

55 for 4 sets of 16 is a Volume PR on Curls.

Pivot Block. Cycle 5.

BW - 223

Waist - 42.25

5-3-0 Tempo Squat - 280X2, 2 @~6

5-3-0 Tempo Deadlift - 285X2, 2 @~6

Bulgarian Split Squat - 55X7, 7 @~6

5-3-0 Tempo Bench - 155X2, 2 @~6

DB French Press - 30sX6 @6

Flex Arm Hanging Knee Raise - BWX6, 6

BB Curls -
50X10 @6
60X10 @7
65X10 @8

Conditioning - LISS; Rower; 20 minutes

Nice and fast pivot session.  Only a couple of notes.

Upped the chain weight on the BSS.  Weighed out most of the chains now, and had to mix a couple of different ones.

Switched to DB overhead extensions for triceps.  Maybe I'll keep the train moving and do yet another triceps variation for the last session of the pivot.

Only took video of the BSS because they're so goofy.

Pivot Day 2 and 3

Day 2:
BW - 216

Seated Leg Curls - 4X8

DB Shoulder Press -
45sX8
40sX8, 8, 8

CG Pull-Downs - 4X8

Single-Leg Raises - 4X8

Conditioning - Treadmill; 20 minutes walking

Day 3:
BW - 213

Bulgarian Split Squats - 4X8

EZ Bar French Press - 50X4X8

Cable Rear Delt Rows - 4X8

BB Curls -
60X6
55X8, 8, 8

Conditioning - Stationary Bike; 7 rounds HIIT

Pivot Day 1

BW - 216

Bulgarian Split Squats - BWX8, 8, 8, 8

EZ-Bar Seated French Press - 50X8, 8, 8, 8

Cable Rear Delt Rows - X8, 8, 8, 8

BB Curls - 65X8, 8, 8, 8

Haven't done rear-foot elevated split squats since Jan '15.  So awkward.

A brief exchange with Mike Tuchsherer led me to decide to go into another brief pivot while my low back heals up.  2-day pivot cycle.  Hopefully just doing one and then jumping into another dev block on Monday.

Hybrid Training. Week 5. Heavy Upper

BW - 226

Warm-up -
Rope PushdownsX20, 15
super-set with
Straight-Arm PushdownsX15, 10

Bench -
up to 190X2
then 160X6, 6

Dips -
BWX10
+10X6
+20X6, 6

Chins - BWX7, 5, 4

Lying EZ-Bar Triceps -
60X6
80X6, 5

T-Bar Rows - up to 110X6, 6, 6

Seated DB Overhead Extensions - up to a 70 lb. DBX6, 6

Straight-Arm Pushdowns - 1 set of 15

Way more volume on this day than I would normally do on this program.  Two reasons for that: A) mainly the coach that worked with me for my meet in March wanted to hear about my training with Matt Wenning, and so I was killing time till he was done with a client; and B) I wanted to start putting some of Wenning's recommendations into practice, so I was feeling out some things.

To that end, I warmed up per his recommendation by hitting some triceps and lats.  Just hit a couple of medium-high rep sets.  No big.

Bench went pretty well.  Grip is moved in per Wenning, and trying to focus on keeping elbows in through lock-out.  I was good for that one the heavy(ish) double, and the 2nd set of 6.  The first back-off set had a bit of elbow-flare about half-way up.

Then it was time to "trash the triceps and lats," per Wenning.  For the initial movements, I kept the Hybrid Training program in mind.  On heavy bench day, following the bench, the program calls for 2 hard, low-medium rep sets.  I'd been doing the Press as suggested by the manual, but Wenning's impression that I needed to get away from benching so much with my anterior delts, made me think that I should sub in a compound, heavy triceps movement.  My old favorite Dips seemed like just the ticket.  To keep the intensity higher than the volume, I went with weighted dips for the first time in a long time.  I was about 10-15 lbs. off my best for that rep range, but that's not bad as a place to start.

The program had barbell rows and then chins, but I thought I'd flop that to hit the lats first.  After that, I was bascially just going back and forth between triceps and upper back movements waiting on Bill to be done.  Tried to take everything into a range where 5-6 reps would be challenging for a couple of sets.  Trying to see what movements I might like to rotate in.  It will be dips for sure as the secondary movement for a few weeks

Training with Matt Wenning at Ludus Magnus Gym. Day 2. Speed Bench

Bigger crew today.  Some of them showed up later, and we ended up working in two separate groups.  Matt trained alongside us this time.

Warm-up -
Earthquake Bar Bench for 4 sets of 20.  Maybe a 15lb. kb on each side.
super-set with
1-arm DB rows - worked up to 90X8

Speed Bench - doubled red mini-band
6 sets of 3 up to a quarter each side
then 1 set of 3, 10 sec. rest, 1 set of 3 with 5 sec. eccentric

Skull Crushers - on the ground, long pause between reps, super slow eccentric
3-4 sets of 6-8 with 90 lbs.

Hammer Pull-downs, pulled to forehead - 3 pps.XAMAP;
2 sets, super-set with
X-Body Hammer Curls - 35sXAMAP

Bamboo bar bench was pretty fun.  They had me in at the beginning of the rotation with much lighter weights, so it never got as challenging for me as it was for some of the guys at the end of the rotation who couldn't finish their last couple of sets.

I've never done band bench before, and the first rep was an eye-opener.  The band definitely makes the bar come off your chest differently.  I was getting a ton of cue-ing from Matt and his crew on this movement.  Matt had a lot of take-homes for me on this one: "You're way anterior dominant on bench, and you're finishing with all delts.  Your grip is out to far, and your lats are weak.  Move your grip in (moved from the rings to a fingers width inside the rings), and make sure to keep your elbows in throughout the movement.  You need to warm up your lats and triceps before you bench, and completely trash them afterwards.  You need to do that for 2 years."

To his point about weak triceps, he had me start out at 110 on the floor extensions, and I couldn't get 2 reps.  Had to strip a 10 from each side, and I could continue.

Small Session. Arms

Hammer Curls - 20'sX8, 8 (warm-up sets)

super-set with

DB Overhead Extensions - 40X10, 9

Chins - BWX5, 5, 5

super-set with

Dips - BWX8, 8, 8

DB Curls - 30sX8, 6,

drop sets - 30sX6, 25sX2, 20sX3 (no super-setting on the drop sets)

super-set with

Lying DB Extensions - 30sX8, 6

drop sets - 30sX7, 25sX4, 20sX4 (no super-setting on the drop sets)

Went a little further than harder than normal since I won't have another barbell session until after the holiday weekend.

No shoulder pain with either Chins or Dips!

Small Session. Arms

DB Hammer Curls - 30sX8, 8, 7
super-set with
Rope Extensions - X10, 10, 10 (straight-weight)

Machine Curls - X8, 8, 8 (straight-weight)
super-set with
Dips - BWX10, 8, 8

DB Curls - 30sX6, 6, 6
super-set with
Lying DB Extensions - 30sX6, 6, 6

Tried to make sure I was going all the way down on Dips, but also went a bit slower to make sure my elbows didn't flare out.  Had to shave a couple reps off the last two sets to maintain.

Small Session. Arms

DB Hammer Curls - 30sX10, 10, 6
super-set with
Rope Extensions - X10, 10, 10 (straight-weight)

Machine Curls - X8, 8, 8 (straight-weight)
super-set with
Dips - BWX10, 10, 10

DB Supinated Curls - 30sX8, 6, 6
super-set with
DB Lying Extensions - 30sX8, 6, 6

Quick session at the office gym.  Dips felt good.  No shoulder pain at all.

Small Session. Arms.

Hammer Curls - 30sX12, 12, 9
super-set with
Rope Push-Downs - X10, 12, 10 (to a top set)

Machine Preacher Curls - X9, 7, 6 (straight-weight)
super-set with
Cable One-Arm Side Push-Downs - X10, 10 (to a top set)

Dips - BWX10

DB Bicep Curls - 30sX8, 6, 5
super-set with
DB Lying Extensions - 30sX10, 7, 7

I'm moving my big compound lifts to Full Body, 3X/week, and I'm adding in a couple of smaller sessions at the gym in my office building in between.  This was the first of those.

I forgot there was a chin/dip station at this gym and so I programmed in these weird side push-downs to try and get a similar plane of motion.  They actually felt alright, but if I can do real dips, I'd prefer that for now.