Chins, Front Squats, Triceps

sRPE @6.5

BW - 223

Chin-Ups - 

-    Avg. Band Under Foot - X5, 5, 5, 3, 3 @7.5/8

-    Long-ROM Partials - BWX5, 4, 3, 3 @~9

Front Squat - up to 225X1 @9

BW JM Press - BWX12, 10, 10 @8.5/9.5

Since I'm doing the Long-ROM partials on chins, thought I'd try out a few weeks of band assisted.  See what happens when I come back to regular chins if I do "overload" variations for both the top and bottom of the ROM for a while.  Might do under foot for a few weeks and then switch to under knee.

According to my logs, this is the first time I've done Front Squats since September of '22.  Also, apparently this is a 1 Rep PR?  I had no idea at the time, but apparently my previous heaviest Front Squat was 205X2 in 2015.  I haven't done this movement regularly since then, and I usually did it for higher reps.  Still nice to get a PR while doing ~2X weekly training.

BBM General S+C Block 1. Cycle 1. Session A.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 208

Reverse Safety Bar Squats - up to 250X5 @~8

Low Incline Bench - up to 135X8 @7.5

Press - up to 105X8 @7.5

Band-Assisted Nordic Curls - BWX6, 6 @?8?

Several days off for vacation plus being totally over the Powerbuilding template.  I really ran myself into the ground on that one.  Plan was always to do the General S+C template after that to get a bigger dose of variety.  I almost bailed entirely and wrote up my own new program.  But I decided to try out this small shift instead.  I suspect a lot of it is on me to not only accept that weights won't go up every week, but also to check in with myself during the session and ask, "that was kind of heavy.  if I go up and do another set, how will the rest of the sets / session / day go for me?"

This session, once I got in the ballpark of @8+, I called it good.

I was going to do regular SSB for this block.  However, I struggled so much doing Front Squats in the last block because of grip issues, that I thought I'd give Reverse SSB a try.  I'd only messed around with these once in a Pivot block.  More upright than SSB, which is the idea.  Easier to execute than Front Squat (for me), but harder than regular SSB.  Getting into position is tricky because you have to push the pads forward to get your shoulders into them and that means your feet are behind you at the start, then you get your shoulders positioned, and THEN find your foot position.  At that point, the balance is a little trickier because the weight is "floating" above your shoulders a bit, but not too bad.

Nordic Curls: Thought maybe I'd be able to get a couple of those unassisted, but NOPE.

BBM PB I Block 2. Cycle 3. Session B.

sRPE @8

BW - 204

Bench - 

240X1 @8

220X3, 3 @8/8.5

215X3 @8.5

190X5, 5 @~6

Front Squats - 185X8, 8, 8 @8/9

T-Bar Rows - 

115X8 @9.5

90X12, 12, 10 @8

Face-Pulls - X13, 13, 12, 12 @7.5/9

BBM PB I Block 2. Cycle 2. Session B.

sRPE @7

BW - 205

Bench - 

235X1 @8

220X3 @8.25

190X5, 5 @~6

Front Squats - 185X8, 8, 8 @8

T-Bar Rows -

105X12 @10

95X12, 12 @~8

Face Pulls - X16, 16, 16, 14 @8/8.5

I think that's an 8 Rep PR on Front Squats.

BBM PB I Block 2. Cycle 1. Session B.

sRPE @6

BW - 203

Bench - 

230X1 @8

215X3 @8

Front Squat - up to 165X8 @7.5

T-Bar Rows - 

115X8 @10

90X12, 12 @~9

Cable Face Pulls - X20, 16, 15, 14 @6.5/9

Pivot Session B.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 209

320 Bench - 195X1, 1, 1 @8.5

NG DB Bench - 65sX10 @9

Front Squat (beltless) - 185X3, 3, 3 @~8

RDL (beltless) - 275X6, 6 @~8.5

Machine Dips (plate loaded) - 270X6, 6 @8/9

DB Curls - 40sX7, 6 @10

Block 10. Cycle 4. Session A.

BW - 228

Waist - 43.5"

sRPE @ 8

Squat -
350X3 @8
300X7, 7, 7 @7/7.5

Front Squat -
155X9 @8
147.5X9 @8
140X9, 9 @7, 7.5

Sumo w/ Straps -
325X5 @8.5
315X5, 5 @~8

GPP Day -
- DB Circuit: Curls, Upright Rows, COne-Arm Rows - 7 minutes; 3 rounds; sets of 10
- Stationary Bike - LISS; 20 minutes

Up-and-down session.

e1RM on the top Squat set is fairly flat with last week despite being more weight.  However, 300 is a 3X7 PR fwiw.

I haven't slept well the last couple of nights, and was kind of ready to just go home after Squats.  Tried to just hit Front Squats at the same weight as last week, but it wasn't there.  Ended up having to drop to the lower weight than I've used this block just to his target RPE.  A little bummed about that, but also happy that I didn't just throw in the towel on the 4X9 or the session as a whole.

Hoped I would rally a bit on Sumos, but adding weight wasn't there.  Ended up using the same weight as last week, which is fine.

Going back and looking at the block from March/April '19 that had Front Squats and Sumos in it, I realize that they weren't all on the same day with back squats.  I probably should have paid more attention to that when I was laying out this program, but this part of the block is almost over.  I may have this session again next week, or I may move on to Phase 2, depending on how the rest of this week goes.  I need to find a way to get some better sleep the next few days, and put myself in the best position to succeed.

On GPP day, I decided to flop the first and last movements for a couple of weeks just to give them a slightly different stimulus.  Also did LISS on a bike.  May do HIIT on the bike for the next few sessions just to mix it up.

Block 10. Cycle 3. Session A.

BW - 228

Waist - 43.25"

sRPE @ 8

Squat -
340X3 @7
290X7, 7, 7 @~7

Front Squat - 155X9, 9, 9, 9 @~7

Sumo w/ Straps - 315X5, 5, 5 @~8

GPP Day -
- DB Circuit: One-Arm Rows, Upright Rows, Curls - 7 minutes; 3 rounds; sets of 10
- Rower - HIIT; 6 rounds; 12 minutes

Good session.

sRPE had been sub-target for two sessions in a row, and RTS' TRAC system also indicated an increase in volume, so I took their suggestion and added 1 set per movement.  This is the volume I'd originally envisioned for the program, but gave it a couple of weeks for fitness/DOMS to get inverse.  sRPE ended up being over target on this day, but this is the hardest session of the cycle, and is the only one that has rest days before it.  That's all to say that increasing the volume felt good, though hard, on this day, and that I'll keep an eye on it, but expect it should be fine.

Surprisingly, e1RM for squat on this day is the 2nd highest of the past year.  That result seems unlikely, but we'll see how it plays out.  The absolute intensity is still well off from my highest of the past year which was, I believe, 380X2@9.

Block 10. Cycle 2. Session A.

BW - 230

Waist - 43.75"

sRPE @ 7

Squat -
332.5X3 @8
292.5X7 @7.25
287.5X7 @7

Front Squat - 150X7, 7, 7 @7

Sumo w/ Straps - 300X5, 5 @~8

GPP Day -
- DB Circuit: One-Arm Rows, Upright Rows, Curls - 7 minutes; 3 rounds; sets of 8-10
- Rower - HIIT; 5 rounds; 10 minutes

Solid little session.

Went in expecting to get a lot more on LBS and Sumo than the previous session, and that turned out to be true.  Just the way I felt on the previous session, and some experience of how this tends to go over the last year played into that expectation.  Still, I used RPE on warm-ups to calibrate what the top set would actually be.  I tend to go in with the assumption of a larger than average jump, but a 4% jump is WELL above average for me cycle-to-cycle.

First set of back-offs on the Squat were a touch harder than target, and so dropped back on the 2nd set.  I expect to be adding a set to each movement over the next couple of weeks, so don't see any reason to push intensity on those now.

Front Squats ended up not progressing as quickly.  Maybe just fatigue still from the low bar sets.

Sumo was a bit weird.  This is actually the same e1RM as last week, but the RPE dropped slightly on the 2nd set.  I think it's technical acclimation coming into play.  Likely see a big jump next week if I had to put money on it.

On GPP Day, I still got a third round of the circuit.  Switched over to HIIT from LISS on the rower.  Last week was just an intro for that.  Cut the total conditioning time in half, and will look to add a round or two every session until I'm up in the 7-10 range.  Then maybe switch movements?

Block 10. Cycle 1. Session A.

BW - 229

Waist - 43.75"

sRPE @ 7

Squat -
320X3 @8
275X7, 7 @~7

Front Squat -
150X9 @7.5
145X9, 9 @7

Sumo DL w/ Straps - 290X5, 5 @7

GPP Day -
- DB Circuit: One-Arm Rows, Upright Rows, Curls - 7 minutes; 2 rounds; sets of 7-10
- Rower - LISS; 10 minutes

First session getting back to it after a rough few weeks of derailed training and a week of travel.

Testing some stuff I've observed with Emerging Strategies in this block.  Based on the last year of using that framework, my best results occur in the first 5 cycles of a training block, and then taper off for a couple of cycles before I pass my peak.  This will be a 10 cycle block where the first 4-5 cycles are my "2nd best" rep ranges and assistance movements transitioning into a 2nd round of 4-5 cycles with my "greatest hits" rep ranges and assistance movements.  With no pivot block in between, I'll see if I can extend my Time to Peak and if the cycle-to-cycle gains stay high, or if it still tapers off after the first 4-5 weeks and/or peaks around 7-8 weeks.

Something else I'm trying is cutting a set from each movement in the initial session/week to see if that helps with DOMS after little to no training the last couple of weeks.

Squats and Front Squats both went well.

Sumos w/ straps we're way off where I expected them to be on paper, but I was just a little gassed at this point, and didn't want to push the sRPE up.

Also taking advantage of the office gym to get some conditioning and some isolation/hypertrophy work that I always find it difficult to wedge into regular training sessions.

Block 4 (Accumulation). Cycle 4. Session C.

BW - 218

Deadlift -
262.5X9 @6
277.5X9 @7
345X1 @6.25
362.5X1 @7.5
380X1 @8.5
292.5X9, 9 @7.5

Front Squat -
145X7 @5.5
155X7 @6.5
162.5X7, 7, 7, 7 @~7

Dips -
BW+10X7 @5
BW+25X7 @6
BW+37.5X7 @7
BWX13 @8

Block cut short by upcoming travel.  Honestly, ready for the break.  Had a lot of late nights this week, and recovery was definitely way off.  Made lifting more of a chore than usual.

Deadlift top single in particular was harder than I wanted it to be.  A reduction in e1RM from last cycle.  Back-off sets felt fine, though.

Front Squats and dips felt pretty good as well.  Dips in particular felt very smooth.

Video is of top sets and final work sets.  Didn't get video of the top set of dips.

Block 4 (Accumulation). Cycle 3. Session C.

BW - 220

Deadlift -
260X9 @6
275X9 @7
337.5X1 @6
355X1 @7
375X1 @8
290X9, 9 @~8

Front Squat -
145X7 @6
152.5X7 @6.5
157.5X7, 7, 7, 7 @~7

Dips -
BW+15X7 @6
BW+25X7 @6.5
BW+32.5X7 @7
BWX15 @8

Good session.  Since I adjusted my DL stance, it continues to proceed nicely.  Throws a wrench in data collection over the last several blocks, but who cares?

I have had some nagging right glute/high hamstring discomfort on-and-off this calendar year, and it's starting to rear it's head again, but it actually hasn't interfered with training yet, and hopefully that trend continues.

Hoped to get 160X7@7 on Fronts, but that was gonna be a touch too heavy.  All good.  157.5 was actually what the math expected, but I find that I like to walk in the gym expecting to add 10 lbs. week-over-week, and have the mathematical projection be more of my floor.

RPE on Dips continues to be a bit trickier to predict than other lifts, but this is still right around the weight I was shooting for. 

One thing I'm finding with all my supplemental and accessory lifts is that if the RPE prescription is different from the main/first lift, I have to keep that in mind otherwise I want to go to the main lift RPE.  On Dips in particular, since the back-off set is targeting RPE 8, and the Deadlifts had been RPE 8, I kept thinking my top set was supposed to be RPE 8, and I overshoot my warm-ups.

Video is of top sets and final work sets.

Block 4 (Accumulation). Cycle 2. Session C.

BW - 219

Deadlift -
245X9 @5.5
265X9 @6.5
330X1 @6
350X1 @7.25
365X1 @8
280X9, 9 @~8

Front Squat -
135X7 @5
142.5X7 @6
150X7, 7, 7, 7 @7

Dips -
BW+5X7 @5
BW+10X7 @5.5
BW+20X7 @6
BW+30X7 @7.25
BWX14 @8

Good session.  Nice to pull 365 off the floor again.  It's been over 6 months.  Because of that, the weight feels heavy in my hands, but objectively, I think it's good.  Deadlift is just flying since I made an adjustment to move my feet back a bit and get more knee extension off the floor.  At some point, I assume that adjustment will adapt out, and we'll see where it goes from there.

Front Squats felt good.

Miscalculated my jumps early on Dips and ended up doing an extra set or two.  This was nice in a way, because the first set or two of Dips always kind of feel like shit.  Here, after the +10 set everything was feeling really good.

Video is of top sets and final back-offs.

Block 4 (Accumulation). Cycle 1. Session C.

BW - 216

Deadlift -
245X9@6
322.5X1@6
337.5X1@7
355X1@8.5
265X9, 9 @6.5

Front Squats -
135X7 @6
145X7, 7, 7, 7 @~7

Dips -
BW+10X7 @5.5
BW+15X7 @6.5
BW+20X7 @7
BWX12 @8

Not sure entirely what happened here.  I moved my feet back an inch or so on my deadlift set-up and ended up with my biggest DL in 6 months...at the beginning of a new training block.  So you could say it's the stance adjustment.  I also pulled Sumo for the first time ever earlier in this cycle.  When that came in at 112% of my Training Max (TM), I just assumed that I might be better at Sumo because I'm a good squatter.  But now my conventional pull comes in at 115% of my TM, but also with a slightly altered stance so....

I don't know.  We'll see.  I also got confused a bit by working on a bar pre-loaded with 100 lb. plates, and got it in my head that my back-off sets were supposed to be @7 rather than @8.  So I did less volume on the warm-ups, and less intensity on the back-offs.  Interested to see how it goes this week.

Front squats came in about where expected 53-58% of squat.  Movement felt very comfortable even though I haven't done them in a long time.  I think I'm just better at being "in my body" on squats than I've ever been.  How to move so that the fleet stay flat and the bar path stays fairly vertical.  Also, didn't have much trouble with the cross-arm rack position, but as weight increases, I expect the pressure on my chest to get uncomfortable like it has in the past.

Dips also came in about on target.  Expected 240-ish for the top-set weight, and ~15 reps for the back-offs.  Satisfied with where these are starting out. 

Video is of top sets and/or final work sets.

Pivot Block. Cycle 1. Session A.

BW - 215

5-3-0 Tempo Squats 225X4, 4, 4 @~6

Front Rack BB Step-Ups - BarX8, 8, 8 (each leg) @~5.5

High Incline Bench - 115X7, 7 @~6

Inverted Row - BWX7, 5, 5

BB Curls - 45X10, 10, 10 @~8

Conditioning - Treadmill; 20 minutes walking

Start of the pivot block.  Goal here is to drop stress enough to allow fatigue to dissipate, but not so much that I detrain to a point that complicates the start of my next block (excessive DOMS, etc.).  Also, to get some volume in with movement types that are in the next dev block, but weren't in the previous block.

Volume here is much higher than my previous two pivot blocks, but only about as high as the lowest volume of the last three dev blocks, and much lower than the volume in the previous or upcoming dev blocks.

Notes:
Intended to do front rack reverse lunges for a single-leg movement, but my left quad said "fuck you" to that.  Still didn't totally love these step-ups either.  Surprising, because it gave me no trouble in the tempo squat.  Will monitor closely as I'm planning Front Squats for the next block.

Inverted rows were MUCH weaker than expected.  That's good, because I can grease the groove a bit and hopefully the BB Rows in the next block will benefit.

Video is of 2nd sets of the first three movements.  Wasn't particularly  motivated to film any of this.

Hybrid Training. Week 1. Heavy Lower

BW - 228

Deadlift -
up to 285X3
back off sets - 265X6, 6

Front Squats - up to 145X5, 5

Hanging Leg Raises - bent kneesX10, 10, 5

Was very nervous coming in today because my low back had gotten so aggravated late last week.  My back still didn't feel 100%, but I wanted to see what was what.

I approached every set with laser focus on form.  This resulted in both slower reps and rapid "mental" fatigue.  However, I worked up to 285X3 with no issues at all.  On the back-off sets, I had programmed for sets of 8, but on the 6th rep of the first back-off set, it was becoming more difficult to keep the bar against my legs, etc., so I decided to stay at 6 reps.  No other apparent issues here.

Moved on to Front Squats, and was feeling really burnt, mentally.  Programmed for sets of 5 here as well, but again I felt form starting to break down at rep 5, so I stopped it there.  The reps were moving even slower as I focused everything I had on keeping good spinal position.  After the first set, my back was feeling a bit "off."  I did another set, and I could feel it starting to "pulse," so I stopped.

Went with slightly bent knees for all the ab work.  These were all paused at the bottom, and my abs were starting to cramp half way through the final set.

All in all, while I may have slightly re-aggravated my low back issue, I'm glad I was able to get through most of the workout.

Full-Body. Week 4. Front Squats

BW - 226

Front Squats -
BarX5
95X5
115X4
135X3
165X2
190X1
165X10, 7

Incline - up to 165X3, 3, 3

BB Rows - up to 165X5, 5, 5

165X10 is a Rep PR on Fronts.  Low hanging fruit.  Reps are relatively slow to focus on technique over explosiveness and max weight/reps.

Inclines and rows were fine.

Full-Body. Week 2. Front Squats

BW - 225

Front Squat -
BarX5
95X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
185X1
155X10, 10

Incline -
BarX5
95X5
115X3
135X2
155X5, 5, 5

BB Rows -
BarX10
95X5
135X3
155X5, 5, 5

First time front squatting since June '15.  155X10 is a Rep PR, hahahaa.  Ended up with a bit wider stance.  Since I lift in Chucks, it makes it easier to keep my heels down.  Also used a very controlled eccentric to make sure I stayed tight and didn't lose form hitting the hole and rebounding.  I've actually tweaked my back on this lift a few times in the past and want to err on the side of not repeating that.

Inclines were also a deliberate, controlled eccentric but really focusing on being both explosive AND controlled on the press.

Rows are rows.

LRB Back & DL. Squats

BW - 210

Front Squats -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X3
155X2
175X1
135X5, 5, 5, 5, 5 (00:30 rests)

RDL -
135X5
175X30, 15, 10

Paused Leg Presses -
3ppsX8
4ppsX8
5ppsX8, 8, 8, 10

My hands were still sore from pulling double-overhand on most of my worksets on DL on Monday.  Threw on straps and used chalk and got WAY more reps on the RDLs than I have been. Why not?  Doing the movement to build hams and glutes, not palms and fingers.  175X12 was my previous best with that weight.  Clearly blew it away with straps.

LRB Back & DL. Week 3. Squat

BW - 208

Front Squat -
BarX8 (paused)
95X3 (paused)
135X3
155X2
165X1
135X5, 5, 5, 5, 5 (30 sec. rests)

Paused Leg Press -
1ppsX8
2ppsX8
3ppsX8
4ppsX8, 8, 8, 9

RDL - 135X30, 21

Single-Leg Press - 1.5ppsX20, 20, 20

Incline DB Curls - 25sX18, 15, 10

Good session.  Squat day geared towards building floor speed for Deadlift.

135X5X5 on Fronts was about as easy as I expected.  Focusing on maximum acceleration and shortening the rests made it a lot of work, but it doesn't seem like it would be a big deal to bump the weight a tad.

First time doing paused leg press.  Since I almost never do leg presses, I had no idea where the weight should be so I worked up.  4pps was moderately heavy on the worksets, but I was still able to focus on accelerating after the pause AND on keeping my back flat against the pad from my shoulders to my glutes.  That seemed important.  This was also done with a narrow stance a'la my deadlift stance.

Forgot to up the weights for RDLs and blasted through the 50 reps in only two sets.  Still, my glutes are way sore today.

Upped the weight a tad on single-leg press.  I might be able to go up to 2pps here.  Not sure.