Press also felt very solid, as it should at these intensities. Top set and last back-off shown.
Deadlift felt better this week than last. Really trying to hone in on getting my chest-up and tight to start the lift. A little bit better on this day. Last set shown.
Paused High Bars felt good, and looked good. Weight is probably too light. Last set shown.
Top set of bench felt solid. Didn't feel the need for a spotter. This weight is my 3X5 PR, so this is as it should be. Back-off sets were almost speed work. Top set and first back-off shown (forgot to film last back-off).
RDLs were nice and heavy. Nevertheless, I focused on a really controlled eccentric and reversal to try to correct the issue of the bar swinging out on the reversal. Seemed to help a bit. Hamstrings are very sore today. Last set shown.
Also, I ordered my first belt today. Should show up in a 4-6 weeks.
The good belt that fits me got snagged by someone else, so I had to use one of those crappy tapered belts. Pinched like a mofo. Anyway, these Squats went okay. I wish a set that's 50 lbs. off my best set of 5 felt a little stronger, but there it is. Back-offs were easy even with the crap belt. Adductor continues to just "pinch" coming out of the hole, but also continues to bother me outside the gym. We'll see. Top set and last back-off shown.
First time doing incline bench in over two years. Because this is a curved bench, it took me some time to figure out my set-up. When I pull my feet back under me like a regular bench, I end up arching up enough that it makes this basically a flat bench. Putting my feet out in front helped keep the angle down a bit. Grip here is "medium" or about half way between full bench and Press. Definitely made for a longer, triceps heavy stroke. Last set shown.
Chins were about as strong as they've been lately. I'm just going to focus on keeping them strict and leaving a rep in the tank, and they'll be what they'll be for a while.
Rows were very easy at this weight. Had set these to be 50% of that week's DL top set weight, but I'm gonna up that to 55%. Last set shown.
First time using a SSB so...Rep PR! I was told the bar is 70 lbs. so 2 plates should be 250. Had to fiddle around with pad placement. Putting it right on tom of my shoulders, I felt it pushing down into my neck rather than my upper back, and it also made it fairly vertical feeling coming up. On sets 2 and 3, I worked to find a "natural" way to set it a bit lower on my back, and was able to use a bit more hip drive with that placement. Ideally, I'd like the mechanics to fall half way between a high bar and low bar, give the benefit of the upper back work from the camber, but also allow for a narrow-to-medium stance to lessen strain on my adductor. 1st and 3rd sets shown for comparison.
This was still the ramp up week for the new program so I just left the press top-set at the same weight as my 3X5 last week. Top-set and last back-off set shown.
Last week, 315X5 on DL felt very easy (as I would hope), so I did add weight to this movement. These were harder than I would have expected, but my set up is pretty weak. My upper back is definitely not extended or "proud" the way it should be prior to the pull. This needs work.
Ramp up week for my HLM program now that adductor feels good enough to get back to training Squats and DL. Got some feedback from SS coaches Brent Carter and Michael Wolf on the design.
I don't think I've ever done Paused High Bar Squats, so...Rep PR! I'm treating this session and the next as a sort of introduction to movements and program, and so didn't worry too much about pushing intensity. This weight was fine, and I felt a bit worked afterwards. Intensity will increase from here. Last set shown.
I dropped the top set of Bench back 5 lbs. from last week's 5X1. Again, treating the last two sessions of this week as a ramp up to the program. 195X5X5 felt like a solid work-weight, though. Top set and last back-off set shown.
295X5 is a Rep PR on RDL. This was the only movement where I was "going for something." Straps help so much here, but I use "Oly" straps so this weight still stressed my grip a bit. Still worth it to be able to feel out the more important details of the movement. Filming the first set, I realized that the weight was swinging out when I initiate the concentric. Cleaned it up a bit on the second set, but still not totally locked in. I'm fairly certain this is because my knees are shooting forward, but I'm not positive on the cue to fix it yet. Last set shown.
Getting back to only doing 3 movements in a session sure made it feel like I was getting out "early."
Pull-Downs (supinated) - X12, 9, 7 (straight-weight; same weight as previous)
Hammer Curls -
45sX5
35sX12, 10
Moved Squats back into LP mode to see if I can run them up a bit. Definitely readjusting to what "heavy" sets across feel like, i.e. what it feels like when every rep isn't fast or "easy" all the way through. I probably panicked a bit in the last session when that happened, but I got my mind more right coming into this one, and was able to approach it with more confidence. Also, getting back into my old work set routine of making sure the unrack is stable before I walk it out, and making sure the bar is settled on my back between breath and rep. Last set shown.
2nd day back to LP for Press. These all moved very well. Very happy with how it went. Last set shown.
I Deadlifted for the first time in a couple of months. Zero adductor tightness on this movement, although it's still tender outside of the gym. Just did a set at 315 to feel it out.
As far as the assistance, I'm not caring about it as much now that I'm back on all the main lifts. Pull-Ups were week, pull-downs and curls were both strong.
Pull-Downs - X11, 8, 7 (straight-weight; same weight as previous)
BB Curls - ~60X11, 10
Starr Rehab Squats were expected to be sets of 8 today, but the Squat had other plans. 6th rep with 315 was challenging technically, so I called it there and went ahead and dropped to sets of 5. These all "felt" like real work sets and my legs were nice and achy for about 24 hours following. I'm just going to switch over to standard LP progression with 10 lb. jumps (hopefully) between sessions. Adductor still feels a bit sharp on the initial warm-up sets, and feels a bit spasm-y at times outside of the gym, but nothing nearly as debilitating as it was. Current plan is to run the LP up to the mid-to-high 300's and then switch back into regular programming with an HLM, top-set followed by back-off sets approach. I'm hopeful that lower intensity back-off volume will help continue the healing process while also driving adaptation for the top sets. All 3 work sets shown.
250X1 is a Rep PR on bench. Nice to get it for 5 sets, too! The first set was really close as the descent was a bit slow, and touched a bit high. Those were the two cues I took into the other sets, and they were all much better. I may try to push this up one more time. Would be nice to notch 255 before I switch over to HLM, but we'll just have to see. Last set shown.
Chins were fine. Still strict and double-paused.
RDLs still feeling good with the straps. So good, I'm probably sand-bagging on switching back to pulls from the floor. "I'm talkin' to the man in the mirror."
Pull-downs were the same total reps as last time, with a slightly different distribution. All these chin-up accessories are probably going out the door once the adductor feels good enough to switch back to regular programming. Looking back at my log, I have added about ~15 lbs. over the course of about 2.5 months. Went from getting ~105X8 to getting ~115X11-12.
Likewise, I've taken barbell curls from getting ~50X9 on the 2nd set to getting ~60X10 on the 2nd set here. If I start to miss these movements because my chin-up strength starts going backwards, this is stuff I could potentially mix in on off days at the gym in my office building, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. The main thing is to get back to regular, progressive work on the multi-joint barbell movements.
