Block 8. Cycle 8. Session D.

BW - 227

Waist - 43.25"

sRPE @ 7

Chin-Ups -
BW+30X4, 3, 3 @~10
BWX6 @9.5

Rack Chins (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rests) - BWX8, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, @~9

Dips -
BW+35X8 @9.5
BWX12 @9.5

Rope Pushdowns - 90X13@9

BB Curls -
80X8, 8 @8.5, 9.75
60X18 @9.5

Some ups and down on the last session of this training block.

257(BW+30)X4 ties a lifetime Rep PR on Chins.  They didn't feel strong, but tying a Rep PR isn't nothing.  Maybe poised to jump to some all-time PRs next block.  That would be nice.

Rack Chins did feel strong.  Even though I got less reps on the first set, I got more total overall reps, and sometimes you've got to be happy with that.

Dips definitely took a step back.  Weighted sets were much harder this week with only ~4 more lbs., and BW back-off sets were much harder.  HOWEVER, 262(BW+35)X8 is a lifetime Rep PR.

80X8 on Barbell curls is a lifetime Rep PR.  These made nice, very  linear progress here.  Probably because I haven't had them in a regular development block in a long time.

All-in-all this block demonstrated to me the power of being able to put together a consistent run of training.  Almost a year into using the Emerging Strategies framework (I may do a fuller write up of this to help organize my own thoughts), and I can see that a full ~7 "week" training block usually  nets around 5-6% increases.  Training Max is around 96%, and usually increases around 12% by the end of a full block.  The big challenge is stringing those together around life interruptions. 

Block 8. Cycle 8. Session C.

BW - 228

Waist - 43"

sRPE @ 7

Deadlift -
405X2 @8.75
315X12 @7.75

GHR (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rests) - BWX16, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 @8/7

Nice session.

Lots of PR stuff on DL.  405X2 and 315X12 are both lifetime rep PRs, and while both project lifetime e1RM PRs, that sub-maximal 405X2 really feels like one.

Similar to the other PL movement sessions this week, I dropped the second set of 12.

GHRs were fine.

Block 8. Cycle 8. Session B.

BW - 229

Waist - 43.25"

sRPE @ 7

Press -
147.5X1, 1 @8.5, 9.25
130X5 @8

Bench -
245X1 @8
180X12 @8.5

Chin-Ups - BWX6, 5, 4 @~10

Pull-Downs -
122.5X9 @9.5
100X10 @9.5

Funny session.

Press definitely didn't feel any stronger, but also didn't seem to backslide. 

Bench high reps felt terrible on the warm-ups, but then the singles just seemed to lock in somehow, and I had a big, 10 lb. jump over last week, even with self lift-off.  Hit the first back-off set, but it felt like it wasn't there (forgot to get video), so I skipped the second set, similar to Squats the day before, since this is the last week of this block.  Just didn't feel like backing off more in the last week.

Likewise, chin-ups and pull-downs were all comparable to last week.  Plateaued at the end of the block. 

Still weird about those Bench singles, though.

Block 8. Cycle 8. Session A.

BW - 226

Waist - 43"

sRPE @ 8

Squat -
375X1 @ 8.75
290X12 @8.5

Leg Press (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rest) -
4.5ppsX18, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 @9/8.5

Hard downturn in Squats this session as I try to push my block length pass my estimated time-to-peak.  Top single was hard kind of out of nowhere based on warm-ups.  First back-off set was so much more difficult than expected, the option was to drop weight, or just stop.  Because this is the last squat session of the block, I just cut it and went to accessory.  Didn't get video of the set of 12.

Leg Press did add some reps to the activation set, but with having skipped the 2nd set of 12 on Squats, who knows about that.

Block 8. Cycle 7. Session D.

BW - 227

Waist - 43"

sRPE @ 7

Chin-Ups -
BW+26.25X4, 3, 3 @~10
BWX7 @10

Rack Chins - BWX7, 3, 3, 3, 3 @~9

Dips -
BW+30X8 @7.75
BWX14 @8.5

Rope Pushdowns - 80X22

BB Curls -
75X8, 8, 8 @8/9.25

Another solid session as this block winds/comes to a close.

Chins continue to make slight progress.  This was an increase in total weight on the weighted sets, and a block rep PR for unweighted chins.

Rack chins didn't get as many overall reps this session, but I played with the set-up, and got them feeling more stable in general.

Dips hit block PRs in both total weight X8, unweighted total reps, and e1RM for both.  And these are both right around my all-time WeightsXReps for Dips even though the RPE is submaximal.

Curls were also much stronger this week.

Block 8. Cycle 7. Session C.

BW - 226

Waist - 43.25"

sRPE @ 8

Deadlift -
395X1 @8.25
307.5X12, 12 @8, 8.5

GHR (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rests) - BWX16, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 @~8.5

Solid session.

Tried to push the DL a bit.  Was hoping to get in striking range to try 405X1 and 315X12 next week.  That may be a bit of a stretch, especially if my Time-to-Peak is truly 7 weeks and I see a plateau-and-or-regression next week.  Still wanted to make the push, and it went okay.  Pushed the top single an extra five lbs., but it was a touch heavier than I'd hoped it would be.  Pushed the weight for 12's by just 2.5 lb.s, and it worked out well.

Added a couple of reps to the activation set of GHR myo-reps.

Was very tired by the end of this session.

Block 8. Cycle 7. Session B.

BW - 229

Waist - 43.75"

sRPE @ 8

Press -
145X1, 1 @~8
127.5X5 @ 8

Bench -
235X1 @8
177.5X12, 12 @~8, 9

Chin-Ups -
BWX6, 4, 4 @ ~10

Pull-Downs -
120X10 @10
90X14 @9.5

Nice session.

I've been flagging Week 7 as my peak week since I've been using Emerging Strategies, and I will say that motivated me to dial-in a little tighter today.

Solid jumps on OHP.

Nice 5 lb. jump on Bench top set.  177.5X12 is a 12 Rep PR.  Second set was much tougher for some reason. 

Reps on Chins were comparable to last week, but BW was up 3 lbs. so it feels like progress.

Pull-Downs felt/have been feeling kind of plateau-y so instead of repeating the weight on the 2nd set, I dropped back to the work weight from week 1.   That was 90X12 @8 on the first set in week 1, so 90X14 @9.5 on the second set feels progress-ish.