RTS Block 5. Week 2. Day 3.

sRPE @8.5

BW - 227

High Bar Squat -

-    275X6 @6

-    285X6 @7

-    295X6(PR) @8

Bench - 

-    232.5X1 @9

-    205X4 @8.5

-    185X4, 4, 4 @~7

DL Paused below knee w/Straps* -

-    350X4 @8.5

-    325X5 @7

-    315X5, 5 @~7

Hammer Incline - 60X16, 14, 12, 12 @10

Face Pulls - X16, 15, 12 @10

2+ Rep PR on HBS.  

Bench technique felt the best it's felt since I started to tighten up to comp standards.

Pinched the palm of my index finger between two plates loading DL, and raised a blood blister under one of my calluses.  Had to strap up from there on.

For DB Bench, the knurling on the handles definitely felt like it was going to take the top of the blister off, so I switched to Hammer Incline.

RTS Block 2. Week 5. Day 3.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 223

SSB - 260X5, 5, 5 @7.5

Bench - 190X5, 4, 3, 2 @8/7

Incline Bench - 140X9, 9, 7 @~10

Deadlift Paused Off Floor - 

-    315X5, @7

-    345X3 @7.5

-    370X1 @7

CS Rows w/Straps - 

-    125X12, 8 @10

-    100X13 @10

Solid session to end the training block. 

We suspected the second block would be a bit of a step back after the steep and rapid progress of the first block.  In fact, Squat was the only lift that regressed.  Bench took a big step back at the beginning of the block but made up all that ground here by the end.  Deadlift started strong, made improvements, and then dropped off at the end.

For Squats, I'm pushing personal lifting dogma to the back, and starting in with stiff knee sleeves next block.

For Bench, I think I had a bit of a technical breakthrough the last two weeks around general tightness and specifically around tightness at the pause.  Excited to see if that carries forward.

For DL, we'll see.  There was a lot of technical work in the back half of this block around building tension before the pull, standing tall at lockout (instead of leaning back with soft knees), and having the bar path on the descent mirror the ascent.  That may have contributed to the drop-off at the end of the block as all the technique work got to be...a lot.  Hopefully it will become more ingrained and lead to good near-term results.

All in all, I'm excited to have another block of data for me and coach to look at.  I figure we'll need at least one, and probably 2-3 more before we can really start to build out "greatest hits" blocks for both development and peaking.

RTS Block 2. Week 1. Day 2.

sRPE @8

BW - 227

Squats - 

-    up to 335X2 @8

-    275X5, 5 @~7

Spoto Bench - 

-    165X3 @6.5

-    170X3 @7

-    180X3 @7.5

Dips - BWX7, 6 @~8

RDL w/Straps - 225X5 @10

Pullups - BWX3, 2 @10

Pulldowns - X7, 6, 7 @8.5/9.5

Back was feeling much better today, and Squats were fun.  I wasn't sure what I'd be able to tolerate, but I did ramping doubles starting at 275, and ended up only 10 lbs. shy of my initial target for starting the block.  Confident I'll zoom past that starting next week once back discomfort has fully dissipated.

Bench was actually much harder as I had trouble getting my legs at their usual angle because of the low back tightness.  Had to go with feet more in front of me than out to the side.

Very tentative on RDL.  Just kind of gave up on them.

BBM PB I Block 1. Cycle 3. Session B.

sRPE @7

BW - 206

Bench - 

202.5X5 @7.75

190X5, 5, 5, 5 @7/8.25

SSB Squats -

210X10 @7

200X10 @7.5

1-Arm DB Rows (myo-reps) -

85X13, 5, 5, 4, 3, 3 @9

80X12, 5, 5, 4, 3, 3 @9

DB Rear Delts - 15sX14, 13, 11 @9/10

Bench felt very good today on the technique side.  Initial set-up was good for facilitating leg drive through-out (I'm pushing hard into my heels on the set up and kind of "keeping tension in my heels" from there); Eccentric was well under control, but not too slow; Concentric had an excellent bar path as I was really finding that "slidey" spot part way up where the bar travels back for a moment instead of up.  I first heard Matt Reynolds talk about that back when I used to listen to the Barbell Logic podcast.  His theory was that it allowed the elbows to open a bit more without having to work as hard against gravity.  I don't know about all that, but it also lines up with that classic bar path graphic from Thomas McLaughlin  that shows the difference between novice and elite benchers:

Two things I still need to work on: 

Un-racking to over my shoulders.  Unrack felt good until the weight got heavier, and I realized that "over my shoulders" was further back than where I was starting on my warm-ups.  The result was that my shoulder blades weren't all the way down when I reached the correct starting position, and I had to spend some effort getting them into better position.

Foot placement.  This is a weird issue because the actual issue is my foot sliding out from under me a little under load.  This is probably more of a foot-wear/gym-floor situation, but there's only so much I'm willing and/or able to do about that.  So the other option may be to try and pull my feet back a bit.

Safety Bar Squats were a bit better this week.  I had to do some extra warm-ups because of lingering DOMS from squatting after vacation.  They didn't feel great because of the DOMS, but I was able to lift more weight and at a lower RPE than my target.  This top set is supposed to be @9, and I keep undershooting it, but I also don't want to push it if everything doesn't feel great.

Two sets of myo-reps on 1-arm DB rows really, really sucks.

Block 18 (Exploratory). Cycle 4. Session A.

sRPE @7

BW - 216

Curls - 80X6, 6, 6, 9 @~8/10

Bench - 

210X1 @6

165X13 @8.5

Machine Flyes - X10 @10

Deadlift -

390X1 @6

285X10 @5

SSB Deep Pause Squats - 195X9, 9 @~7

80 lbs. on Curls would have been a 3 sets of 1 PR, and I got 3X6 and 1X9.  Love those low-hanging Volume PRs.

165X13 ties a Bench PR.  Bench felt much smoother, stronger, and under control this week for some reason.  I think  I was just more focused on controlling the weight on the way down plus keeping leg drive tight throughout instead of trying to "pop it up" at the bottom.

Perhaps coincidentally, Flyes have been uncomfortable to perform the last couple of weeks with shoulder discomfort, but gave me NO trouble today despite being more weight.

DL also felt stronger on the top set.

Added weight to the paused, A2G SSB Squats and the RPE was actually lower than last week.  Acclimation is amazing.

Block 10. Cycle 3. Session C.

BW - 228

Waist - 43.25"

sRPE @ 7

Deadlift -
370X3 @8
335X6, 6, 6 @~8

GHR - BWX17, 16 @~7.5

220 Tempo Incline Bench - 130X5, 5, 5 @7

Nice session.  Decent increase on all lifts.

Good jump on DL, especially on the back-off sets.  I was working in with someone that had a 100 and a 45 loaded on each side, so I just did that and it ended up being solid despite adding a set.

Speaking of adding a set, I stopped the second set of GHR at 16 because I just spaced that I was supposed to be doing 17.

Tempo incline was interesting.  I felt like I started picking up a lot more kinetic feedback in this session sort of "guiding me" in how to keep my elbows under the bar.  It made all the reps and sets a lot smoother and easier to execute than the first two cycles when strength seemed to be dipping quickly throughout a set.

Block 5. Cycle 4. Session C.

BW - 221

Deadlift -
385X2 @9
330X6, 6, 6 @8

Pause Squat - 262.5X5, 5, 5 @8

Axle Bench - 190X5, 5, 5 @~8

Had a couple of extra days off due to schedule and that may have contributed to a very nice session.

385X2 @9 projects to an e1RM PR over the baseline I set when I started using Emerging Strategies, and is certainly an absolute intensity PR in that time frame.  The baseline from late September '18 was 345X3 @7.  This double at 385 was a very strong @9 as well.  The 330X6 @8 actually projects even a little higher, but I prefer to go off the top set.  Anyway, very solid DL today.

Pause Squats also came in right on target.

Axle Bench felt as good as it has yet.  Felt very solidly balanced over the forearm in a way that I'm not sure I've ever felt with a regular barbell.  Interesting.

All video is of top sets and final work sets.

Block 3 (Transmutation). Cycle 5. Session A.

BW - 213

Squat -
265X7 @6
300X3 @6
310X3 @7
327.5X3 @8
280X7, 7, 7 @7.7.5

CG Bench -
155X6 @6
165X6, 6, 6 @7

Plate Deficit Deadlift -
225X7 @6
240X7, 7 @6.5, 7

Solid session.  Busy gym, and I ended up working in with someone on Squat, and having a lot of side conversations during close-grips, so not a lot of video of those.

Quick Notes:
Squat went very well overall.  Getting comfortable with the weights being far in excess of BW again.

I've been playing with bench rep execution.  For higher intensity sets, still "resetting" between reps (taking a new breath, etc.), but for more "rep out" sets just going straight through, or in chunks.  Seems to be working much better than resetting every rep like I had been, and like I do on Squats.

On deficit pulls, playing with foot placement to try to emphasize glutes and hamstrings rather than quads for the majority of the stroke.  If I had it to do over again, I think I would prefer wider grip DL instead of pulling from a deficit to remove this issue.

Transmutation to Accumulation Pivot Day 7.

BW - 218

Bench -
195X6, 6 @8

Close-Grip Bench - 155X11 @8

3-3-0 Tempo Squat - 215X3, 3 @7

GHR - BWX6, 6 @~7

DB Rows - 80sX10, 10 @~8.5

Pushed Bench and Rows a bit harder than I was supposed to on this day.  Meathead mentality, I guess.  Trying to do more than last time, instead of sticking to the plan 100%.

Bench set-up felt off the whole time.  I couldn't seem to "naturally" get settled into the movement.  Start position and leg drive were both inconsistent, etc.  Could be the relatively light intensity making it easier for my mind to wander.  I thought moving competition movements to first in the session order would generally improve them, but that was not the case this session.  Still, it's a wash-out block, so nbd.

First time doing tempo squats, I think.  These were fine.  They were supposed to be 3-3-0, but they were probably closer to 2-2-0.

GHR felt a little better grooved today.

Pushing the DB rows into @8+ is probably not that big of a deal, it's just old "body-building" habits kicking in when DBs are involved.

HLM. Week 4. Day 2.

BW - 228

High Bar Pause Squat - 250X5, 5, 5

Bench -
250X1
200X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

RDL - 300X5, 5

HB Pause Squats still feeling good.  Last set shown.

Bench also felt good.  250X1 ties my PR, but that PR was for 5X1 so nothing to get too excited about.  First back-off was too loosey-goosey, but I got it dialed back in by the end.  Top set and last back-off shown.

RDL's also felt very good.  This was the beginning of a new wave so reduced intensity.  Last set shown.

Maintenance / Rehab Block. Week 8. Day 1.

BW - 230

Squat - 205, 215, 225X15

Bench - 240X3, 2, 2

Pull-Ups - BWX3, 2, 2 (7 total reps)

RDL - 265X5, 5

Pull-Downs (supinated) - X12, 10, 10 (straight-weight; same weight as last time)

Hammer Curls -
40sX7
30sX10, 8

Starr Rehab Squats feeling good.  Almost no adductor discomfort on this day.  Added a belt back in for the final set.

240X3 is a Rep PR on bench.  Failed on the 3rd rep on the other two sets.  Everything felt pretty good.  Just at the upper limits of my strength where execution has to be absolutely perfect.  For instance, on the 2nd set, the 3rd rep touched too high, and that was enough to throw everything off.  All 3 sets shown.

Similar to chins, I reset my pull-ups to a stricter approach.  Full hang at the bottom, and trying to touch chest at the top.  Couldn't touch, but did pause all reps.

RDLs felt very strong today.  No racks available so had to pull from the floor, but no adductor twinges.

Got all my reps on pull-downs and so can up the weight on those next time.

Curl strength seems to have rebounded or improved slightly.

Recovery Squat. Medium Bench. Chin-Ups

BW - 227

Squat - 325X5, 5, 5

Bench - 210X5, 5, 5

Chin-Ups - BWX7, 5, 5, 4, 3 (23 total)

Pull-Downs - X10, 10, 10 (straight-weight; same as last week)

BB Curls - 45X12, 12

Left adductor pain and a terrible schedule the past few, and upcoming, weeks have led me to admit that I haven't really been doing the program successfully for a couple of weeks and won't be able to really follow it for a month or so upcoming.  I'm stuck trying to formulate a sort of "maintenance" block.

Failed pretty hard on I.D. last week and then couldn't get back into the gym because of Memorial Day schedule.  Left adductor is killing me (appointment with my P.T. tomorrow) so I went with the "middle day" programmed weights.  I also started playing around with moving my stance in a little bit as I saw some stuff on the SS forum about narrowing stance and switch to squat shoes helping with this issue.  Felt maybe a little better in the session and probably helped depth the most.  Walking with a limp the next day because of adductor pain.  Video of 3rd set shown.

Because of the adductor pain, I also move my feet in on bench, and used the same middle day weights as last time.  While the leg still hurt, the weight itself felt very easy.  Possibly a stronger foot placement for this lift?  Last set shown.

Chin-ups were okay.  One more rep and set than last week.  That's pretty normal for the ebb-and-flow of this movement, but at the same time doesn't feel much like progress.

I failed to get 10 reps on the 3rd set of pull-downs last time so repeated the weight and got all the reps.  Will move up next week.

Also managed to get to 12 reps on both sets of curls, so will add weight.

Old Man Texas Method. Week 5. Middle Day

BW - 229

Squat - 300X5, 5, 5

Bench - 205X5, 5, 5

Chin-Ups - BW; 37 Reps, 10 Sets

Squats moving fast, but leave me feeling achy.  Hopefully, that's about right for the middle day.  3rd set shown.

Achy-ness from the Squats made Bench fairly uncomfortable.  Probably because I plant my feet slightly far out.  These moved well though.  Got a hand-off on the last set, and that always helps.

Chins didn't feel that strong tonight.  Dunno.

Old Man Texas Method. Week 4. Intensity Day

BW - 227

Squat - 380X5

Bench - 227.5X5

Deadlift - 390X3

380X5 is a Squat PR.  Moved pretty well.  Depth is borderline, but feels tight at the bottom.

227.5X5 ties a PR on Bench.  Probably about RPE 9.5 (i.e. couldn't have gotten another rep, but possibly could have had a touch more weight).  A good tip that came up on the Barbell Logic podcast with Matt Reynolds was that right when the bench hits a hard sticking point, allow it to drift back over your face a bit more, and that movement actually allows the elbows to extend without having to push the weight up.  The effect is that you move an inch or so closer to lockout, and through the sticking point.  I felt that very much on this last rep.

390X3 on Deadlift ties a PR.  Last rep was also about RPE 9.5  Had to reset after the 2nd rep because the bar shifted on the platform.

Greyskull LP. Session 6

BW - 225

Bench - 190X5, 5, 10

Chin-Ups -
BW+30X2
BW+25X3
BWX7, 5

Dips - BW+30X8, 8, 8

Deadlift - 305X8

190X10 is a Rep PR in Bench.  Everything felt pretty good.  Pushed this to the just about the limit, and should probably start getting a spotter for these AMRAP sets, as I almost hit the J-Hook when I went to rack it.  Tried a different video angle.  This might be the best one so far.  At least it was informative in that it showed I'm not centered on the pad, and that appears to be causing an uneven lock-out because the shoulder hangs over. 

Chin-ups did not go well.  Tried backing off the weight for the 2nd set, but it didn't help.  Time for some kind of reset.  Thinking I will drop back down to 20, and start micro-loading.  If I hit a wall there, I will possibly start over with body-weight and  a different grip, or dead-hangs.

Dips went fine.

305X8 is a Rep PR on Deadlift.  Primary limiting factor here is still fatigue.  At the end of the session, and having to breath hunched over, I just run out of gas.  Fatigue aside, I believe this is about RPE 8 for pure strength.

Novice LP. Session 67 (Greyskull Squats and Press)

BW - 228

Bench -
240X2
215X5, 5

Chin-Ups -
BW+25X3, 3
BWX10, 6

240X2 is an all-around PR on Bench.  2nd rep was slow.  You can see my spotter thought he was going to have to take it, but I didn't really ever think he would have.  However, we are definitely at RPE 10 here where technical mistakes will likely result in a miss.  Back-off sets were quite strong.  2nd back-off set shown in the video.

253 (BW+25)X3 and 228 (BW)X10 are both Rep PRs on chins.  I think that 10 rep PR can largely be chalked up to not doing a lower body movement beforehand on this day.  After hitting 405X2 on Squats, I decided to take a session off from lower body work before I reset.  I want to try and give this adductor some room to heal up.  I'll take the 10 Rep PR, though.

Novice LP. Session 65 (Greyskull Squats and Press)

BW - 227.2

Bench -
237.5X2
215X5, 5

Deadlift -
385X3
345X3

Chin-Ups-
BW+20X4, 4
BWX8, 5

Dips -
BW+25X12, 12
BWX15

237.5X2 is an all around PR on bench.  Mis-grooved the first rep, and failed on the 3rd.  A PR is a PR, though.  2nd back-off set in the video.  These are still moving okay.

385X3 is an all-around PR on Deadlift.  Finally pulling weight heavier than my meet PR.  These were definitely heavy.

247 (BW+20)X4 is rep PR on Chins.  Video is the 2nd weighted set .  BW back-off sets are starting to feel a little easier.

253 (BW+25)X12 is a Rep PR on Dips.  Finally remembered to take some video.  Upper arms are coming more or less parallel with the floor, and that's all I'm really looking for to make sure I'm getting the extra triceps work without aggravating old shoulder problems.

Novice LP. Session 53 (Greyskull Squats and Press)

BW - 229

Bench -
222.5X5
200X5, 5

Squat - 360X5, 5, 6

Chin-Ups - BWX7, 5, 4, 5, 3, 2 (26 total reps)

222.5X5 is a Rep PR on Bench.  Missed the 5th rep last week, but managed to squeeze it out this week.  Butt came up a bit.

360X6 is a Rep PR on Squat and 3X5 is an LP PR.  Right adductor was bugging me early on in warm-ups, but was ready to go as the weight got heavier.  Recorded my last warm-up, and bar path looked good.  Continued to look good through the work sets, and was able to get a really clean, extra rep on the AMRAP set.  Felt good about this one, and excited to go for 365 next!

Knocked out some more chins to finish it up.  Started off strong, but the bottom fell out.  Was using one of the less optimal chin-up stations at the gym.

Novice LP. Session 37 (Greyskull Squats)

BW - 229

Bench -
215X5
192.5X5, 5

Deadlift -
345X3
310X3

Dips - BWX11, 11, 11

215X5 is a Rep PR.  Some form breakdown really started to show though here, although it was also totally do-able.  My spotter kept saying "drive your legs," and it made me realize how loose my legs were getting after the initial lift.  Something to focus on.

First week deadlifting with a belt.  Made a huge difference.  These lifts were all much easier that last time.  Almost zero back discomfort.  Video of the top-set below.

At 11 reps, dips are starting to get much more challenging by the end of the 3rd set across.  I'll take it up to 3X12.  At that point, if the final reps are grinding, I will reset and start adding weight.  If they're still very do-able, I may try to run up to 3X15.

Novice LP. Session 28

BW - 224

Bench - 205X5, 5, 5

Band-Assisted Chins - OrangeLightBandX7, 6, 6, 5

Took a week off from Squats after hitting 365X3.  Was stoked for that PR, but my low back was feeling hammered all the time, and unracking/reracking the weight was getting painful on every work set.  I'm going to reset starting this week with the Greyskull LP on Squats (2X5, 1XAMAP).

But the regular LP is still working on Bench.  205 for 3 sets of 5 is another LP PR.  The last rep on the last set was really, really tough.  My spotter complimented me on pushing through for it.  I chalk it up to keeping focused, and executing each part of the lift correctly.  A technical error would have definitely caused a miss.

Couldn't find my usual band for chins, so I used an orange one.  Orange isn't on any of the band charts I've found on line, so I don't know how it might compare to my usual, red band.  It looked a little bit wider.

Whatever the case, everything went as programmed, except I missed the last rep on the last set.  So I'll repeat this one next time.