Dips, Leg Press, Shoulders, Triceps

sRPE @7

BW - 223

Lever Dips - 225X9, 8, 7, 6 @10

Leg Press Drop Sets - 270X11, 225X9, 180X7, 135X7 @10

DB Incline Laterals - 15sX10, 12, 8, 7 @8/10

super-set with

DB Incline Extensions - 15sX12, 16, 10, 12 @7/10

First day back after 5 day camping trip.  Everything felt good.

Went up to 5 total plates on Lever Dips.  Historically, this lift has been ~90% of Dips, so I'm cautiously optimistic about how the wave of regular Dips will kick off next week. 

Heard some of the science folks talk recently about promising studies on Drop Sets compared to Rest Pause approaches.  I did a lot of Rest Pause recently inspired by Mike Israetel, but haven't done Drop Sets much.  Thought I might give it a shot here and there on compound, low-specificity accessories.  

Between the Drop Sets and the Super Sets it was like 45 minutes in and out of the front door.  That basically demands I start doing HIIT conditioning at the end of sessions again, lol. 

Bench, Legs

sRPE @7

BW - 221

Bench - 

-    up to 250X1 @10

-    205X1, 1, 1 @6/7

Belt Squat - 105X11, 9, 8 @~9

Smith Machine Incline Bench - 65X10, 12, 12 @8/10

Leg Extensions - X12, 11, 9 @10

Top set on Bench was a real grind.  That puts my rolling "gym week total" at 1060.  Probably still have some headroom to push that up on Deadlift and Squat in the coming week, but everything would likely have to be perfect to add to the Bench.  Or maybe get a hand-off.  Maybe.

My new, Mike Israetel inspired technique on Belt Squats continues to feel great.  No longer a high fatigue, low-specificity Squat supplement, but rather a smooth, hard-burning compound quad accessory.

I don't think I've ever actually done any kind of Pressing, Squatting, etc. in a Smith Machine before.  Always just used it for Inverted Rows and BW JM Press.  Everyone always talks about Smith Machine like it's "weenie," etc., so I expected to be able to use more weight than I could for barbell Incline.  NOPE.  Glad I decided to warm-up a little instead of just jumping to a couple of 25s+.

Still had some gas left, and threw on some more quad assistance.

Close-Grip Bench, Belt Squats, Upper Back

sRPE @7

BW - 226

CG Bench - 

-    up to 235X1(PR) @9.5

-    210X3(PR) @8

-    185X3, 3 @6.5

Belt Squat - 

-    105X10, 10 @7/8

-    140X6 @9

Upper Back Attack - 

-    Cable Rear Delt Rows - X17, 17, 13 @9/10

-    Cable Rows - X15, 14, 11 @10

-    Cable Retractions - X12, 11, 10 @9/10

A couple of nice PRs on CG Bench.  The Data Driven Strength guys recently put out 3 new RPE charts based on recent studies.  I initially copied over the "Average Rep Capacity" chart for my use, but after the last couple of sessions, I've revised to the "Low Rep Capacity" as it seems to line up better with how my heavy singles compare to my heavy triples.  

I've always fucking hated Belt Squat.  I was always trying to do them and maintain BB Squat position with a high chest etc.  I recently saw videos of Mike Israetel doing them for bodybuilding where his upper body was somewhat relaxed, he was holding onto the bars, and was just trying to go as deep as possible.  More like a Hack Squat or a Leg Press.  I tried that out today and it felt GREAT.  Couldn't use as much weight because of the longer ROM, but very happy to have another tool for training legs that I actually might like!