Block 15. Cycle 5. Session B.

BW - 218

sRPE @ 8

Press - 

137.5X1 @8

110X6, 6, 6, 6 @7

Deadlift - 395X1 @8

Sumo w/Straps - 337.5X5, 5, 5 @6

DB Curls - 37.5sX8, 11 @7.5/10

Rope Curls - X10, 14 (straight-weight) @8/10

110 for 4X6 is a Volume PR on Press.  Top single finally popped above the block baseline as well.  I set a 12 mo. PR at the end of the last block, and I'm within distance to maybe top that in the last couple of cycles of this block.  Still some good distance to go to get into Lifetime PR territory, but current BW is ~10-15 lbs. lighter than when I set some of those lifetime, low rep PRs.

Deadlift is stagnant-to-regressing a bit.  Not too worried about it.

337.5 is a Rep PR on strapped Sumo, and got if for 3 sub-max sets.  I tweaked my back in the middle of the first set, but was able to complete the set, and still do the others.  One of the reasons I rated sRPE a bit higher than target.

One quick note on RPE disparities apparent in something like the Rope Curls.  You might look at 10@ 8 followed-by 14@10 and say "well, you're clearly overestimating RPE on your sub-max sets."  Maybe, maybe not.  First, I'm not THAT worried about being off by 1 or 2 on RPE because over time I'm confident that it will wash out.  Second, there's a difference in approach on a low fatigue movement like rope curls.  The first set is more non-stop until I hit my RPE target.  Knowing that I want to take that last set to absolute failure, I take more min-breaks along the way, and so I'm "fresher" for the final reps.

Meet Report

BW - 222

Squat -
314
336
363

Bench -
205
220

Deadlift -
314
352
380

I wasn't feeling very motivated going into the meet this week.  I didn't have my eyes on any PRs because bench hadn't gone as well as expected the last few weeks.  The result was that I took a fairly relaxed, but workman-line approach to the day.  When I weighed in around 10 lbs. lighter than the March meet, I thought, "well, getting anything around those March #'s would be solid, then."

Squat warm-ups all felt amazing.  All the abdominal and low back issues that have been troubling it seemed to have evaporated.  Took my opener.  It was fast, look it once should have been.  Okay, well the heaviest weight I lifted in the training cycle was 325, so let's go 10 lbs. over that.  Fast. Ooookay...  Well, fuck it, let's see what happens if I jump all the way to the same weight I hit at the meet in June.  Went up a little funky, but it went up.

Like I said, heavies weight I touched in training was 325.

Bench was where I had been hoping to get a PR.  205 opener went up solid, but my 2nd was an absolute grinder.

Watching that video, I don't see much of anything that I did wrong.  This was just a limit set.  Maybe the weight loss is part of it, but it definitely means I haven't gotten stronger on this lift since March.

Deadlift warm-ups felt good like the squats did.  I went out and did 314 with no pain, no discomfort, or anything.  I started contemplating a PR, but I went out and took the same 2nd attempt that I did in March.  It was very easy.  My old coach said, "Good.  Now go get a PR."  So that's what I did.  Went one over my March lift.  Felt tougher than it looks, but it looks great, and felt awesome to get.

That goofy moment at the end is because they were having trouble with the lights not always working, so I was looking around waiting for the side judges to give a thumbs up for the lift.

So losing 10 lbs. on the bench, but gaining 5 on the DL gives me a lower total than March.  Oh well. I was 10 lbs. lighter, and I did my first 5K this month, too, and that was the thrust of my training for 10 of the last 15 weeks.  That's not meant to be excuse making, but rather the path to contextualizing the results.  For sure, some of the things I tried to do to push my bench in that time DID NOT work.  I'll be continuing with the TM team training, but that will be something to keep on eye on.  For now, I ended the meet with a lifetime PR, and that ain't nuthin'.

Reps and Volume. Week 1. Squat

BW - 227 (lowest since 12/8/15)

Squat -
BarX5
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
275X12, 4

Pull-downs - X82, 17

Lunges - BWX30, 24, 20, 26

275X12 is a Rep PR.  I thought it tied a PR and that's why I stopped there.  I didn't want to push too hard my first week back.  My goal is 16.

Using the Phase-II protocol from LRB 365 for a little meet recovery.  Basically just means single sets of 100 reps on one or two movements following the main lift.  Didn't quite get there on pull-downs, and knew I wouldn't get there on lunges.  100 reps of lunges have always been a some'bitch.

BW down to a 3 month low after one week.  Shooting for a very slow, but steady decrease to try and shed fat while maintaining as much muscle as possible.  I've always done high-fat/low-carb in the past.  Reversing that this time to see if it's more manageable (meaning I can still drink beer).

Good start to the post-meet work.

Meet Report

BW - 229 (in jeans and shoes)

Squat -

324.5X1

346X1

363X1

Bench -

203.5X1

220X1

231X1

Deadlift -

324.5X1

352X1

374X1

Total - 968

Wow, what a long day!  Got to the gym for weigh-in at 8:00 AM, and final trophies were around 7:00 PM.  

Quite tired today, but happy to have hit most of my goals.  In order: Do the meet, don't get re-injured, go 9-for-9, lifetime PR(s) on the platform, 1000 lb. total.

I let my coach put in my attempts for me, and I didn't ask what they were.  With the kilo plates, I couldn't tell by looking.  I trusted that he'd pick well, and all I had to do was execute.  363 ties my lifetime training PR in the Squat.  231 Bench and 374 Deadlift are both lifetime PRs.

I maybe had a little room to go up on the Squat, however the USAPL judges (one in particular) were calling the squat extremely strict.  When I'd done the 363 in training with commands, the gym owner (who was also a judge at this meet) thought depth was borderline.  That's why my coach stayed there for my 3rd.  I got three whites, but I believe that was a good call.

My final Bench attempt was felt like the single hardest rep I've ever successfully completed.  Looks a lot faster in video than it felt.  The bar got half way up and seemed to come to a complete stop.  From there, it was pure willpower and execution.  Keeping the pressure on, and slightly angling the bar back got it moving just enough to lock-out.  Props to my coach for his cue-ing, and to the judges and spotters for letting me finish it.

I don't know what was going on with the Deadlift, but I was significantly stronger on the platform than I'd been at any point in training.  As a result, my coach and I were both in unknown territory.  After my 2nd, he asked me how it felt.  "Great," I said.  "Easy?," he asked.  And I wasn't sure what to say, it did feel easy, but I wasn't sure how easy to call it.  He'd asked me earlier what my lifetime PR on the lift was (365X2), and he ultimately played it safe by just calling for a PR.  The way it felt, I probably  left at least 10 lbs. on the platform with that one.  That's, oddly, a good feeling.

Depending on what goes on in the coming year, I'd be happy to do another meet if it's reasonably convenient.  I would probably go more directly after numbers for that one.  I plan to drop a lot of the fat I put on for this one, so I'd love to get the 1000 lb. total one weight class lower in the 205s.  But I'll have to get well under that, so I can train back up to it, and the timing would have to be right, so we'll see.

Overall, I had a great time.  Hung out with some interesting folks, and got to see some valiant lifts.  My wife came out, and several friends did as well.  I feel very thankful for that.

Vacation Prep. Week 3. Squat

BW - 205

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
275X5, 3

High Bars - 225X3, 3, 3
super-set with
Low Bar Paused - 225X3, 3, 3

Front Squat - 135X11

Crunched for time, so I did a bunch of squat variations with short rests instead of 30 minutes on the treadmill.  Lots more fun this way.

The 315X1 moved okay, but the rep sets of 275 felt like shit.  Getting out of gas and just feeling shaky on the way up.  One or both of those may be due to the diet.  Anyway, that's another reason I decided to go with squat variations for my volume instead of regular squat sets.

I've never super-set (giant set?) high-bars with paused low bars.  I really liked it.  It's neat to be able to leave the bar in one spot with the same weight on, and get this kind of work in.  Also, my quads and hamstrings are both fairly "tired" feeling the next day.  That almost certainly means they'll be really sore tomorrow.

After the last pair of triples on that, I felt like it was time to be done with those, but I wanted to do one more thing.  I decided to just strip it down to 1pps and rep out some front squats.  I'm sure that also contributes to my quads feeling exhausted today.  My tracker told me this was an all-around PR, which seemed crazy to me.  I checked this morning, and found a flaw in the app.  13 would have been a Rep PR, but I would have needed to get up closer to 20 for an all-around PR.  Still, coming within spitting distance of a Rep PR after all the other volume ain't nuthin'.

Vacation Prep. Week 2. Squat

BW - 207

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
275X6, 3, 3, 3, 2

Bulgarian Split Squats- 20X15, 15, 15

GHR - BWX10, 8, 7

Treadmill - 30 minutes; incline walking

Squat strength may be declining a bit with weight loss and lack of calories.  Some of this could be psychological.  I was also trying for more sit-back, and that may have fucked me up a bit as well.  When I stopped doing that, some of the later work-sets felt better than the 315X1 and 275X6 did.

Added a DB to the single-leg work.  Didn't make it that much harder, so I'll up that weight a tad next time and start getting after it.

Somebody moved the GHR up to a higher setting, locked the bolt down, and stripped it so nobody could move it.  So these were a lot harder today.

Vacation Prep. Week 1. Bench

BW - 210

Incline -
BarX30
95X5, 5
115X4
135X3
155X2
185X1
135X20

Incline DB Flyes - 20sX15, 15, 15

DB Rear Delts - 30sX20, 20, 20

BB Curls - BarX35

Treadmill - 30  minutes; high-incline walking

135X20 is a Rep PR for Incline and also would be for Flat Bench.  Moving up to 145 next week.

I went round and round on what kind of assistance I wanted to do for this Vacation Prep period when I'll be in a calorie and carb deficit.  For lower body days, it was fairly easy to just pick some BW stuff.  For upper days, chins are the only viable BW movement because push-ups and dips aggravate my shoulder.  I'll be doing chins on OHP day but I didn't necessarily want to put them right before deadlifting until I see what my recovery will be like on the diet.

I ended up deciding to go with all light shoulder work.  See if I can build up shoulder strength and stability as much as possible around whatever is wrong in there.  It was hard NOT to do triceps work, but fuck it, we'll just see what happens.

Vacation Prep. Week 1. Squat

BW - 213

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
275X8, 3, 3, 3

Bulgarian Split-Squats - BWX20, 16, 15

GHR - BWX10, 10, 10

Treadmill - 30 minutes walking; slight incline

My target with 275 is 12 reps.  I got 11 last week, but I was strangely intimidated by the weights today.  Maybe that's must my subconscious saying, "you're in a caloric and carb deficit, you won't be able to lift this."  Whatever.  Before this last month, 275X8 would have been a Rep PR, so it's not terrible.

Oh my fucking God, I forgot how much those split squats can hurt.  Good stuff.

Still tweaking my GHR set-up and execution.  I feel plenty of 'H,' but not so much 'G.'  I started pushing my hips through hard close to the top of the rep and that seemed to help.

Reps and Volume. Week 1. Accessories

BW - 195 (!?!?!)

Machine Pullovers -
Warm-up - X13
Work-sets - X15, 10, 8 (straight-weight)

Chin-Ups (V-Handle) - BWX8, 5, 6, 5, 4, 4 (32 total reps)

Pull-Downs (Double-D Handle) - X18, 15, 10 (straight-weight)

EZ Bar, Reverse Grip, Preacher Curls - 40ishX20, 15
super-set with
DB OHP - 35sX20, 15

DB Curls - 25sX15, 13
super-set with
Rope Push-Downs - X20, 18

BB Curls - 45X20, 15

So I opened a new show last week.  I took the week leading up to opening off from training, and I took most of this last week off from tracking my diet.  Somehow over that time, basically 8/15 - 9/1, I lost a solid 5 lbs. of BW.  The first couple times I weighed myself last week and I was at 198 and 197, I thought it might be just a fluke, but now I've gotten consistently lighter over the last week of resuming training and NOT being strict with my diet.  I'm going to assume I've just been casually under-eating.  I'm upping my target daily intake by 250 calories for this phase, so I'll have to buckle down and make sure I'm getting enough food going forward.

Still...my abs are showing pretty well...

Anyway, adding back in a 4th day of body-building style training basically the same as what I did in my Strength and Hypertrophy phases from earlier in the year.  The genesis for this comes from Brandon Lilly's CUBE method.

I'm about 3 plates down from where I was at on Pullovers in early spring.  I expect that strength to rebound quickly once my body gets used to the movement again.

With chins, I'm still just targeting 30+ reps in the fewest sets possible.  On the last phase, I got that down to 4 sets.  After the pullovers, it took me 6 sets here.  I'll be working to try and get it back down to 4 sets.

Supersetting biceps work with Bench accessory.  I think 35sX20 is actually a Rep PR for DB OHP.  I don't really track Rep PRs for movements like that, just Proj.1RM PRs.  Pretty sure about this one though.  Seems like all that PBN volume may have helped out.

Only 2 sets of push-downs, but my triceps were really fucking sore after about 36 hours.  Good stuff.

The idea with finishing with empty bar curls was to just do one burn-out set, but when I only got to 20 reps, I thought I should add another.

Reps and Volume. Week 1. Deadlift

BW - 197

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
285X5, 5, 5

RDL - 185X10, 10, 10

Chest-Supported T-Bar Row - Bar+50X10, 9, 7

Single-Leg Curls - X20, 20, 12 (ascending weight)

Solid session.  285X5 isn't really close to a PR (I've hit 295X8 before), however the 2nd and 3rd sets were harder than I expected!  I took last week off from training and tracking my diet, and my BW had a big dip as a result.  I tried to eat up for this session though [shrug].

RDLs felt good considering I haven't done them after Deads in a while.

Decided to try some chest-supported T-Bars for a bit.  I've always hated these because I have trouble getting set-up so that breathing isn't a chore.  I played around with it a bit and got to a place that was a little better.  The one at Quads (my 'away' gym right now) is a little more aggressive looking than most, but I have no idea if the bar and handles weigh any more than an average one.  Whatever the case, I definitely didn't need to be work with anything heavier than two 25s.

Quads also has plate-loaded leg machines, which are cool.  So I did single-legs on a plate-loaded, seated machine.  Went 25, 35, 45.  Haven't done hamstring iso's in a while, and I forgot how much I hate that crampy-tickly feeling of starting to do leg-curls again.

LRB 365: Big-15. Phase 1. Week 2. Shoulders and Bench

Friday
BW - 199 (this seems inappropriate)

Upright Rows - 60X15, 15, 15, 15, 12 (45 sec. rests)

DB Rear Laterals - 25sX15, 15, 15, 12, 12 (45 sec. rests)

Saturday 
BW - 201 (1/2 a large pizza, 2 bowls of jambalaya, 4 chicken legs, and a bowl of orange sherbet between sessions helped a little)

Bench -
BarX15
85X5
95X4
115X3
145X2
165X1
155X12, 4

Chins (shoulder-width, neutral grip) -
 BWX5
+15X5
+20X3, 3
+25X2
+30X1
+25X9, 3
BWX6

DB Incline -
50sX19, 10, 5
40sX9, 9

Weight has been holding steady at 200 for a week or so, and then dipped down, so I ate it back up.

Both myself and my spotter lost track of the # of reps on my back-off set.  I lost track around 10 or 11, and then got 1 or 2 more.  My spotter said "Not sure, I think like 14."  But I told him I was going for 13, and I think he was just being 'positive.'  I'll just assume I matched last week and move forward.

201 (BW)+25X9 is a Rep PR.  Interestingly, my right triceps was feeling aggravated by this movement.  I guess the triceps does cross  the shoulder (see: Rolling Triceps Extensions), and my triceps have had a lot of soreness so far on this program, plus the bench beforehand...it was just weird.

I upped the weight on the DB Inclines a bit.  The effect here was like 50% sets with the 50s though.  Instead of stopping after the 5 rep set, or gutting out a couple more sets of 5-or-less sets, I decided to drop the weight and get some better volume.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 2. Squat

BW - 191 (wtf?)

Squat -
BarX12 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
115X5
135X4
165X3
185X2
215X1, 1
235X1

Pause Squats - 175X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Leg Press - 2ppsX24, 18

Leg Curls - 12, 16, 12

Seated Calves - 160X13, 11 (paused at top and bottom)

I'm gonna say that weigh-in is fluky either on the scale or the day.  No reason to think that's a representative weight.

Was dragging ass into the gym on this day, and the 235 felt appropriately awful.  The pause squats all felt good, and then leg presses felt awful.

All in all, good day to have programmed light.

LRB 365: Conditioning. Week 5. Bench

BW - 190 (home-style scale at an "away' gym, so grains of salt)

Bench -
BarX12
95X7, 5
135X3, 3
155X1, 1
175X1
135X8

BW Ladder Circuit -
Dips - 3 up to 15, back down to 3
Chins (V-Grip) - 2 up to 10, back down to 2
Push-ups - 3 up to 15, back down to 3
Leg-Raises - 3 up to 15, back down to 3

Tried out another "away" gym.  Little bit more of a local place called Southport Fitness.  Small, but WAY less crowded than the XSport.  Right now it is in the lead for the gym I will use to get workouts in during the work week for the next couple of months.

Bench was feeling strong so I went up to 175.  Based on an article by Dan Green, I tried playing with the way my leg drive works, but I didn't get the hang of what he's talking about.  My leg drive is still sending my butt off the bench, and I never felt like it was sending the bar back towards my shoulders as he describes.  I'll keep playing with that, and also flaring my elbows out of the bottom instead of closer to lock-out.  I also tried some different foot placements.  At the end of the day though, the best thing will be to get stronger vs. worrying about technique.

Ladders all felt pretty good, though I had to R/P some stuff as usual on upper-body day.  Dips felt as strong as they have, though.

LRB 365: Conditioning. Week 5. Squat

BW - 192

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5
135X5
155X4
185X2
225X1, 1, 1
185X5

BW ladder circuit -
Squats - 5 up to 25, back down to 5
Sit-ups - 5 up to 25, back down to 5
Chins (supinated) - 2 up to 10, back down to 2
Push-ups - 4 up to 20, back down to 4

Don't know if I screwed up somehow on my diet or if 192 is just a spike.  I'll see what's up at my next weigh-in.

Legs were sore from sprints the day before, but squats were still fine.  Although, I did pass on a top single of 245.  Really focused on not getting over my toes this session.  I got over on the last rep with 185, however.

Ladder was as strong as it's been.  I was able to get a bit aggressive with some of the reps.  Still had to R/P a couple of the push-ups sets, though.

LRB 365: Conditioning. Week 4b. Deadlift

BW - 191

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
155X5
185X3
225X2
275X1, 1, 1
225X5

BW Ladder Circuit -
Squats - 5 up to 25, back down to 5
Sit-ups - 5 up to 25, back down to 5
Chins (supinated) - 2 up to 10, back down to 2
Push-ups - 4 up to 20, back down to 4

191 is a BW low going back to sometime in late 2011.

Drank too much and too late the night before.  Thinking about lifting just made me want to lay down, so I backed off the weight on the deadlifts a bit and focused on speed through lock-out.

Circuit all went pretty well actually.  Only had to Rest/Pause the push-ups.  This is the easier of the two bodyweight circuits, however.

LRB 365: Conditioning. Week 3b. Bench

BW - 193

Bench -
BarX15
95X5, 5
135X3, 3
155X1, 1, 1
135X8

BW Ladder Circuit -
Dips - 3 up to 15, back down to 3
Chins (neutral) - 2 up to 10, back down to 2
Push-ups - 3 up to 15, back down to 3
Hanging Leg-Raises - 3 up to 15, back down to 3

Switched some things up with  my diet.  193 is at least a 9 month low (maybe longer), but need to wait and see if it sustains over the next few weigh-ins.

Bench was all good, excepting the first set of 135X3 felt heavy for some reason.  Need to warm-up more?

This upper-body BW circuit is just significantly harder than the lower body day.  It's mostly having dips and push-ups in a circuit following benching, but leg raises are also harder than sit-ups.  Got through it with some rest/pause on push-ups in particular, but was sweating like crazy.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 6. Squat

BW - 200 (wow)

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X4
175X3
195X2
235X1, 1
245X1

Cable Rows - X80, 25

Lunges - BWX40, 40, 20

Ab Wheel - 5 sets of 10

Brutally tired.  I needed to walk to keep on schedule, but I was done.  Fell asleep on the couch at 7:45, and went to bed at 8:30.  I have a feeling the lack of sleep is somehow related to the weight gain as well.

Nevertheless, Squats all felt strong.

Rows felt strong as well, getting 10 more reps than last time.

Lunges were crap, though, I'm sure due in part to hill-sprints the day before.

Feel so much better today after getting over 8 hours of sleep.

5/3/1 Full-Body: Cycle 1. Week 1. Bench

BW - 200

Pause Squats -
BarX8
95X5
115X5
135X5

Bench -
BarX8
95X5
115X5
135X5
155X4

Chin-ups - BWX5, 7, 6, 5, 4

Reverse-Hyper - 100lbs.; 5 sets of 10
super-set with
Chiropractor Crunches - 5 sets of 20-25

My gym isn't air-conditioned, but thank god it's in a basement.  Hot as hell this week.

Pause Squats were fine as they should be at this light weight.  Still, good opportunity to work on my form.  Kept well back on my heels on all reps.

Bench stalled out on me.  Couldn't get the 5th rep.  This is a bit of a bummer after all the OHP and Inclining I've been doing the last several weeks.  However, my weight is down at least 5 lbs. since I set my last 1RM PR, and that was almost 2 months ago.  I'm not happy about it, but my max may just be predictably dropping with my BW.  I suppose that's the best case scenario unless this was just an off day.  I will keep my training max the same through this first cycle, and then drop it if necessary.  Along with this, I'm also starting to track my current max vs. my all-time PR's so that I can be clearly aware of where I'm at in that regard.

5/3/1 Full-Body: Cycle 1. Week 1. Squat

BW - 201

Reverse Hyper - 5 sets of 10

Squat -
BarX10
95X5
135X5
160X5
185X5
210X5

Pendlays -
BarX15
95X8
110X8
120X8

Dips - BWX5, 7, 10, 7, 5

Chiropractor Crunches - 5 sets of 20-30

Now that my show is opened and my parents have left town, I'm finally sliding into the program I've been eyeing for a few months.  Namely 531 Full-Body.  Because I'm being an asshat, and not doing exactly the movements laid out by Wendler, this will probably take some calibration.  Case in point, I programmed Pendlay Rows and Dips instead of DB Rows and DB bench for squat day as you can see here.  The dips were fine, however I was going to try and do 8/5/3 for the Pendlays in the spirit of the 5/3/1 lay-out, and that just didn't feel like the way to do it after this first session.  If I had to do this again, I would have repped out 110 instead of working up to 120.  Some of this will be re-acclimating myself to the movement, and some just tweaking for what is going to work best.  Just because Jamie Lewis does heavy sets of 3 on that movement, doesn't mean it's going to work for me.  At least, not yet.