Block 5. Cycle 2. Session B.

BW - 217

Bench -
237.5X2 @9
200X6, 6, 6 @8

Cambered Bar Bench - 165X5, 5, 5 @8

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!

Video is of top sets and final work sets.

Block 5. Cycle 2. Session A.

BW - 218

Squat -
350X2 @8.75
307.5X6, 6 @~8.5
300X6 @9

High-Bar Squat - 240X5, 5, 5 @8

Bench-Grip DL - 290X5, 5, 5 @8

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.

Video is of top sets and final work sets.

Block 5. Cycle 1. Session C.

BW - 217

Deadlift -
360X2 @8.75
300X6, 6, 6 @7.5

Pause Squat -
235X5, 5 @7.5
240X5 @7.75

Axle Bench - 185X5, 5, 5 @8

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.

All video is of top sets and final work sets.

Block 5. Cycle 1. Session B.

BW - 218

Bench -
230X2 @9
195X6, 6, 6 @8

Cambered Bar Bench -
157.5X5, 5, 5, @8

Chin-Ups - Density Block - 7 minutes; 12 sets; 19 total reps

Solid start to upper-body lifting on the new block.  Bench ended up coming in a solid 5 lbs. ahead of expectations for the top double.  So that's now Squat and Bench that have started the block strong.  Fingers crossed for DL on Friday.

Cambered bar bench felt great.  I haven't trained that movement since 2014 so, ya know...PR or whatever.  The % of comp bench came in right about where I expected.  Nice to see that may be well dialed in.

Chin-ups.  "Hello, Darkness, my old friend."  Gonna try density training this time around.  We'll see how it goes.

Video is of top sets and final work sets.

Block 5. Cycle 1. Session A.

BW - 221

Squat -
340X2 @9
290X6, 6, 6 @8

High-Bar Squat -
230X5, 5 @~7
240X5 @8

Bench-Grip DL w/ Straps -
280X5 @7
285X5, 5 @~7.5

Good start to the new block.

Squats came in feeling MUCH stronger than expected.  First cycle squats have been ~93% of the previous cycles e1RM.  That had me expecting ~342.5 for the top double.  The warm-up sets of 6 @6 and @7 ended up going 8-10 lb.s heavier than expected, and I ended up hitting just over 95% for the top double.  Back-off sets of and High Bar sets were likewise strong.  All in all a great start to squatting this cycle.

BGDL also ended up blowing past expectations.  Based on my one previous cycle with this movement, I expected 65% of prior block's DL e1RM.  Ended up hitting 88%.  Upon further consideration, I don't believe I used straps last time on this movement, and was overloading grip.  I also have adjusted my DL stance since then to get "a little more leg" into the start.  Anyway, I was actually fairly tired when I got to these and it was super frustrating that I kept having to add weight to get to target RPE, lol.  I want to go @8 on these, but by the time I loaded 285, I just wanted to be done.

Video is of top sets and final work sets.

Pivot Block. Session C.

BW - 221

5-3-0 Tempo DL - 225X5, 5, 5, 5 @~6

HB Split Squat - 65X7, 7, 7 @~6

Push-Ups on DBs - BWX11, 10, 7 @8/10
super-set with
BB Curls - 55X10, 10, 7 @8/10

Last session of the Pivot.  Felt bone tired walking into the session, and was afraid I was getting sick.  Started feeling better during the DLs, and was okay by the end.  Skipped conditioning.

Expected DB Push-Ups to have been easier.  Maybe just novelty.

Pivot Block. Session B.

BW - 215

5-3-0 Tempo Bench -
122.5X5 @6
130X5 @6.5
135X5, 5, 5 @~7.5

DB Single-Arm Seated Press - 40X10 @8.5

DB Single-Arm Row - 60X12 @7.5

Flexed-Elbow Hanging Knee Raise - X8, 8, 7 @8/9.5

Went a little over on temp bench just to get a plate per side.  No big.

Going to be doing Chin-Up density work next block, so I came up with the idea to do my ab work with a bent-arm hang.  The hang was harder than the ab work, but it's also a pivot block so whatevs.