UB: Reps Week 3. Bench

Defranco Shoulder mobility

Bench -
BarX30
65X10
105X6
135X3
170X1
135X10, 6, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 3 (31 total reps)

Pull-Downs - 5 sets of 8-10

Standing Abs - 5 sets of 12

Because I failed to hit my target reps in Week 2, and then had to do a lot of singles on my way to 30+ reps, I decided to back-off the first work-set a little in the hopes of bumping up the following sets.  I had mixed results here, as you may be able to tell.  I got more reps on the 2nd set than I had the previous two weeks which is good, however it immediately devolved into triples and doubles.  Also the total reps for the first 2 sets combined isn't any better than the first two weeks, nor did I beat the total number of sets needed to reach 30+.  All in all it kind of seems like I just rearranged the deck chairs. 

I think there are two factors at play here:  1)  because I train alone, I just don't feel comfortable taking every set to the limit, and 2)  I seem to be trimming up.  I don't really weigh myself, but I pretty clearly look leaner in the mirror.  Some of this could be diet.  I haven't been paying any more attention to what I eat, but I think there's a chance I'm not eating as much as I have been.  This may be having the effect that I'm not getting growth in my pressing muscles due to a lack of nutrition.  Also, less mass means less area to distribute the load over, meaning the muscle I do have actually has to work harder to lift the weight.

All in all, I'm not super worried about this becasue I don't really care about the bench press that much.  As long as my squats and rows show improvement, that's the main thing for me, and I haven't stalled on those.  If my squat stalls out 2 weeks in a row, I will eat more going into the following week.  For now, I probably prefer being leaner to making a lot of bench progress.

UB: Reps Week 3. Back

Defranco - Rollovers into V-sit, piriformis stretch, lat stretch

Deadlift -
135X5X2
225X5X2
285X3

T-Bar Rows (unsupported) -
BarX30
30X10
50X6
75X3
60X20, 10, 5 (35 total reps)

Standing abs - 5 sets of 12-15

Deadlifts were okay.  I need to remember that just because it's not the main movement of the day, that I still have to focus and try to pull correctly.  I think my form went a bit to shit on the top set.

So my rowing strength is progressing very quickly.  That was probably predictable since I've never dedicated this much time or thought to progressing on them.  This might be one of the last worthwhile movements I ever see novice gains on.  So I have a dilemma here.  My original goal was to try and approach 30 reps with 60 lbs. on the bar.  Now that looks not only certain, but I might get it in week 5.  I could be wrong, but that set of 20 was pretty damn easy.  I could have gotten 2-3 more, but I wanted to make sure to get a quality 2nd set.  I've dropped Paul Carter a note asking for his input on this.  I have to decide whether to keep pushing the reps up with this work-weight, or up the work weight to something I'll have a harder time making 20 reps on over the next 3 weeks.

UB: Reps Week 3. Squats

Defranco Hip Mobility

Squats -
BarX25
95X10
155X6
195X3
245X1
195X13, 7, 6, 7 (33 total reps)

GHR - BWX12, 10, 10, 10, 12


195X13 is a Rep PR.  Some of the work sets/reps felt a little off, especially at the turn-around.  It feels like I  may be turning or twisting one way or the other or something.  Might bear more thought.

Upped the difficulty of the GHR bench settings by raising the cross-bar one notch.  Didn't actually seem to make that much of a difference, so next time I may drop it back down but move it forward one notch.

I worked out back to back days here, so I decided to skip the standing abs work.  Probably not the right decision, but I had an ab strain once before, and that shit makes all kinds of things difficult until it clears up.

UB: Reps Week 2. Bench

Defranco Shoulder Mobility

Bench -
BarX15X2
65X10
105X6
135X3
170X1
135X13, 4, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 4 (32 total reps)

Press -
95X5
85X5
65X5
BarX10
BarX11

Standing Abs - 5 sets of 8-15

135X13 is a Rep PR.  Bench was alright, but I wanted to get 14 reps on my first work set, and I had no confidence I would go back up so I stopped at 13.  Interestingly, after the single, the doubles were significantly easier as should be evident by my ability to get 4 reps on by final set.  I a;ls got more total reps than last session.  Possibly it would be worthwhile to try for a few less reps on the first set, in the hopes of getting more reps on the subsequent sets.  I might try this next week to see what happens.

UB: Reps Week 2. Back

Rollovers, piriformis stretch, lat stretches

Deadlift -
135X10
225X5
275X3X2

T-Bar Rows -
BarX30
30X10
50X6
60X3
70X3
60X15, 8, 5, 6 (34 total reps)

Prowler High-Lows - 90 lbs., 14 sets, 15 minutes

Standing Abs - 5 sets of 10-15

My mind was off today, plus I didn't consult my programming close enough, and so and didn't do everything the way I was supposed to.

I should have done 225X5 twice and then 275X3 once.  I didn't realize my mistake until after my first 275 set.  Rather than be done, or go back down, I decided to just do another set of 275.  No big deal.  Besides, I like Deadlifting, heh.

Same on the rows.  the set of 3 was supposed to be at 70, not 60 as I'm waving a top triple instead of a top single like on squats and bench.  No matter.  I needed to hit 14 reps on my first work-set to be on track for my goals or this movement, and I got that plus one more.  Feels good.

UB: Reps Week 2. Squats

Defranco hip mobility

Squats -
BarX15X2
95X10
155X6
195X3
245X1
195X11, 9, 10

GHR - BWX10, 12, 12, 10, 10

Standing Abs - 5X10-20

Walk home - 20 minutes

195X11 is a Rep PR.  I'm pretty stoked that I dropped from 5 sets to get 30+ reps down to 3 here, even if I just made the 30.  Two psychological things that I think contributed:  1) I think the single being heavier this week made the work sets feel lighter, and 2)  I altered my set-up a bit.  Before, when I set up under the bar I'd always try to make sure my body was tight.  This session I found myself not just getting tight through my body, but also getting tight against the bar.  What I mean by that is, I pushed myself into the bar as hard as I could without actually lifting it.  Then when I inhaled and arched the bar out of the hooks, it felt lighter for some reason.  Maybe it's mental, and maybe I was just that much tighter as a result of this tweak.  Pretty cool, though.  I still sweat like Bobby at the reading of Whitney's will because I once again stayed up late drinking the night before a squat session. 

UB: Reps Week 1. Bench

Sunday:

Timed Mile - 10:38

Monday:

Defranco Shoulder Mobility

Bench -
BarX15X2
65X10
105X6
135X3
160X1
135X12, 4, 4, 3, 2, 2, 3 (30 total reps)

Chin-ups - Gym BW 210X7, 3

Presses - 95X5, 85X5, 65X5, BarX7, BarX10

Decided to do a light one-mile run between lifting days.  Just went for something easy; I even walked a bit after the initial quarter mile.  Had to keep my focus to keep my pace down though.  When I run by myself, my instinct is too just take off.

So the numbers Paul Carter lays out in this plan call for the work-sets to be 63% of your 1RM*1.05.  For my bench, that comes out to about 130lbs.  This is one of the rare examples where I have consciously made an ego-driven change to my programming.   It just seems dumb to put a 25, 10, 5, and 2.5 lb. plate on each side for this instead of just throwing full plates on there on working on that weight for this cycle.  Also, 135 projects as my 15 rep max, same as what I'm doing on Squats.

The results were interesting.  It was easier than the Squats (have I mentioned I'm a poor squatter?), but not as easy after the first set as the rows.  Could be because I upped the weight slightly over the recommended %?  I also cut those later sets shorter than I may have needed to because, ya know, the weight is hovering over my chest with no partner to catch it.  Anyway, with the 30 second rests (it's 60 for Squats) this was a bit of a romp.  Pretty fun.