RTS Pivot Block 4. Week 1. Day 1.

sRPE @8.5

BW - 229

High Bar Squat - 

-    230X10(PR) @6

-    245X10(PR) @7.5

530 HBS - 245X5, 5, 5 @8/9

20 minute circuit - 

-    BSS - BWX16, 14, 10, 10 @8.5/10

-    Pendlay Row - 135X11, 10, 8 @10

-    Press - 90X7, 7, 7 @9/10

Stationary Bike - SIT; 0:20/1:40; 10 minutes

Add knee sleeves and get a 40 lb. HBS 10 rep PR.

I will say my knees actually didn't feel great after the tempo squats, and were pretty creaky on the BSS.

RTS Pivot Block 1. Week 1. Day 1.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 225

High Bar Squts -

-    175X10 @6.5

-    185X10 @7.5

530 Tempo High Bar Squats -

-    165X5, 5 @~8

-    175X5 @8

Feet-Up Bench - 145X10, 10 @8/8

530 Tempo Feet-Up Bench - 115X5, 5, 5 @8/9

Press- 

-    85X8 @9

-    65X10, 10 @8.5/10

First session training under Reactive Training Systems.  Doing a Pivot block to start, and then regular training commences next week.

Haven't done High Bar Squat, or any barbell Squat over ~5 reps, in quite a while.  RPE is probably more reflective of acclimation limits rather than strength.

Coach said he likes Feet-Up Bench for Pec hypertrophy, and for sure these lit up my chest.

But my arms were also absolute jelly by the time I got to Press. It reminded me of doing drop-sets on a cable stack where no matter how light the weight feels in your hands, you just can't move it very well.

Pressin' Out Week 9. Pivot

sRPE @6

BW - 225

Press - up to 170X0

Machine Flyes - X7, 7, 7 @8/9.5

super-set with

Machine OH JM Press - X6, 7, 6 @9/10

Deadlift - up to 365X1 @7.5

SLDL - 275X5, 5 @~6

Twisting Rope Curls - X10, 8, 7 @9/10

Machine Calf Presses - X8, 9, 9 @8/10

Tried hitting 170 again on Press, but still not there.  Likely, I'll take a few days off then come back and start a Bench focused block.

I've been dealing with some plantar fasciitis or similar the last few months.  Saw direct calf work as one of the suggestions from BBM to maybe help work through it.  I've started taking the bus to and from the gym a bit more to cut back on walking.  Will look to supplement that with some more conditioning work in the gym until this clears up.

Pressin' Out Week 9. MAX

sRPE @6

BW - 225

Press - 

-    up to 1675.5X1(PR) @10

-    170X0, 0, 0

Bench - up to 245X1 @9.5

JM Press - 85X5, 5, 5 @~8

Hack Squats - 150X5, 5 @8

Incline Rear Delt Flyes - 12sX12, 11, 10 @~10

Chipped my best Press for a new PR.  It felt really good, so I made several runs at 170 with no luck.

Was still feeling good, and thinking about pivoting to Bench focus for a while, so I went ahead and worked up on it.  That's my first straight bar bench since 7/3/24 when I hit 250.  Not a bad place to start if that's what I decide to do.  

Pressin' Out Week 9. Day C.

sRPE @ 7

BW - 226

Press - 125X3, 3, 3 @~7

High Incline DB Bench - 55sX11, 8, 6 @10

Deficit Flexion Rows - 145X9, 9 @9/10

super-set with

Seated Leg Curls - X10, 8 @~10

Pushdowns - X9, 8, 7 @~10

Almost skipped this session because of schedule.  But also maybe a sign that overall stress (life, gym, etc.) is starting to get a bit much, and may need to look at a pivot.

If things are going well on Monday, I could try to chip my lifetime Press PR, and then pivot to the next thing.

Pressin' Out Week 9. Day B.

sRPE @8

BW - 223

Press - 125X3, 3, 3 @~7

Cable 1-Arm Front "Y" Raise - X11, 9, 8 @10

Squat - up to 275X1 @6

super-set with

Lying DB Curls - 20sX11, 9 @9/10

ATG Pause Squats - 225X5, 5  @7/8

PJR Pullovers - 60X9, 9, 9 @7.5/8.5

Didn't push so hard on the PL Squats this week, and don't feel so beat up the next day. Still a tough session.

Possibly this training block is starting to have run it's course.

Pressin' Out Week 9. Day A.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 224

Press - 

-    up to 160X1 @10

-    135X3, 3, 3 @7/8.5

Cambered Bar Bench - 155X6, 6, 6 @8/9.5

GHR - BWX12, 10 @8

super-set with

Machine Pullovers - X11, 9 @8/9

EZ OH Extensions - 55X13, 11, 9, 8 @10

Top end strength wasn't quite in the same place as last week on the Press.

Upped reps on Cambered Bench and OH Extensions over last week.

Pressin' Out Week 8. Day C.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 223

Press - 125X3, 3, 3 @7

High Incline DB Bench - 50sX13, 9, 9, 8 @~10

Chins - BWX3, 3, 3 @7.5/9

super-set with

Copenhagen Planks - BWX14, 14 @~9

Pushdowns - X14, 9, 8 @10

Solid session.

Need to be better about doing Copenhagen Planks.  They just hit different than the adductor machine.

Pressin' Out Week 8. Day B.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 222

Press - 125X3, 3, 3 @7/8

1-Arm Cable Front Y Raise - X14, 11, 10 @~10

Deadlift - up to 365X1 @7

super-set with

Rope Bayesian Curls - X14, 13 @10

SLDL - 275X5, 5 @6/7

PJR Pullovers - 60X8, 8, 8 @8/9

Going to try and work some supersetting back in as sessions are starting to get longer.

Pressin' Out Week 8. Day A.

sRPE @8

BW - 225

Press - 

-    up to 165X1 @10

-    135X3, 3, 3 @7/9

Cambered Bench - 155X5, 5, 5 @7/9

Hack Squats - 100X10, 10 @~9

Pull-Downs - X12, 9 @~10

1-Arm DB OH Extension - 25X14, 12, 8, 7 @~10

Was feeling fatigued walking into the gym, so I took a lot of time with  my Press warm-ups.  Things started feeling pretty good as I hit 135, and I ended up tying my PR.

Despite going heavy on Press, Cambered Bench felt about the same as last week.

Because Squats were so hard last week, I decided to do something a bit more stressful than Roman Chair Squats for my Squat assistance today.

Beat the log book on pulldowns.

All the EZ bars were weirdly occupied, so I did single arm OH extensions.

Much longer session today because more warm-ups were needed on the first 3 movements, and doing unilateral work on the last one. 

Pressin' Out Week 7. Day C.

sRPE @8

BW - 224

Press - 125X3, 3, 3 @~7

High Incline DB Bench - 50sX14, 8, 8, 7 @10

Deficit Flexion Rows - 145X8, 8, 8 @8.5/10

Seated Leg Curls - X15, 13 @~10

Pushdowns - X16, 13, 10 @10

Wasn't feeling Seated DB Press today so switched to High Incline DB Bench.

Getting better acclimated to the Deficit Flexion Rows.  Still a ways to go.

Beat the log book on leg curls.

Felt like I got hit by a truck after Squats in the prior session.  Made everything today harder.  I'm super annoyed when this happens.  The only way I've found to really avoid it is to have frequent Squatting in my program, but that makes all my programs Squat focused, and I went through years of always having Squat be my best lift because of it.  Anytime I try to get away and try to really build up other lifts, Squatting starts to bury me.  But there I was again last night, starting to write out a frequent Squat program when what I really wanted to do was move on to Bench and Rows after this.  Oh well.

Pressin' Out Week 7. Day B.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 225

Press - 125X3, 3, 3 @7

Incline DB Raise - 15sX16, 12, 10 @10

Squat - up to 335X1 @9

ATG Pause Squat - 225X5, 5 @7/8

Lying DB Curls - 20sX12, 8 @10

PJR Pullovers - 55X14, 11, 10 @8/10

Sets of 125X3 felt easier across the board since I moved up to that weight for my light days.

Did a PL Squat for the first time since 7/1/24, and ripped my shorts wide open.  Gains.

Technique on the regular Squat was a bit wonky, so there's room to get that round back into form as this was on par with my best ATG Pause singles.

Beat the recent log book on Incline Raise, Lying Curls, and Triceps Pullovers.

Pressin' Out Week 7. Day A.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 226

Press - 

-    up to 155X1 @9.5

-    135X3, 3, 3 @7/8

Cambered Bar Bench - 155X5, 5, 5 @7.5/8

GHR - BWX16, 13 @~9

Machine Pullovers - X17, 14 @9.5

EZ OH Extensions - 55X12, 10, 8, 7 @10

Had to leave town unexpectedly for a few days last week, and missed a training session.

Top single on Press was about the same as last week, but back-offs were maybe a tad stronger.

Over the previous 6 weeks, I'd hit a few PRs on DB Bench, so I decided to swap it out for Cambered Bar Bench.  I will likely pivot to focusing on Bench after this Press-focused training runs it's course.  Cambered Bench allows me to start splashing in some skill work on that while continuing to "overload" the delts beyond what I can OHP, but still with a lengthened movement.

Really tried to "beat the log book" instead of just "punching the clock" and add reps on GHR and Pullovers over recent performance while maintaining good technique.  I do a lot of GHRs, and that's definitely a PR at anything close to this BW. 

After all that, Overhead Extensions went in the tank a bit on the initial sets, lol.

Pressin' Out Week 6. Day B.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 223

Press - 125X3, 3, 3 @7.5

Incline DB Raise - 15sX15, 11, 9 @~10

Deadlift - up to 365X1 @7

SLDL - 275X5, 5 @8

Rope Bayesian Curls - X12, 8 @10

PJR Pullovers - 55X13, 10, 8 @9/10

Decided I might start working PL Deadlifts and Squats back in just as singles before rep work on the longer ROM variations.  This my first PL DL since July.  Only about 5% off from my e1RM back then, so it seems like all the SLDL work has allowed me to maintain pretty well.  

I cut this off @ RPE 7.  This is probably the heaviest absolute weight I've lifted at all since July, and it felt like my back was starting to struggle a lot more than my lower extremities.  About to do a quick out of town trip, and didn't want to risk dealing with a back tweak during travel.  This is just a starting point, anyway, for working the heavier stuff back in.

Pressin' Out Week 6. Day A.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 225

Press -

-    up to 155X1 @9.5

-    135X3, 3, 3 @7.5/8.5

DB Bench - 65sX14(PR), 9, 6 @~10

Roman Chair Squats - BWX11, 10 @~9

Pulldowns - X11, 8 @10

EZ OH Extensions - 55X16, 11, 7, 7 @10

Upped the top single a bit on Press, and grabbed another Rep PR on DB Bench.  

Pressin' Out Week 5. Day C.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 223

Press - 125X3, 3, 3 @7/8

DB Seated Press - 45sX13, 11, 8, 7 @10

Deficit BB Flexion Rows - 145X8, 8, 7 @~10

Seated Leg Curls - X12, 8 @10

Pushdowns - X14, 12, 10 @10

Nice session.  Technical acclimation on the Deficit Flexion Rows has a lot of headroom, but the upper back burn was very real.  

Pressin' Out Week 5. Day B.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 226

Press - 125X3, 3, 3 @7.5

Incline DB Constant Tension Raise - 12sX14, 12, 10 @10

ATG Pause Squat -

-    275X1 @8.5

-    185X5 @6

Lying DB Curls - 20sX11, 7 @10

PJR Pullovers - 55X12, 10, 7 @~10

Everything was a bit harder today than expected.  Squats had a real -10% day for some reason.

Pressin' Out Week 5. Day A.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 226

Press - 

-    up to 150X1 @9

-    135X3, 3, 3 @~8

DB Bench - 65sX13(PR), 8, 7 @10

GHR - BWX14, 10 @~10

EZ OH Extensions - 55X15, 11, 8, 6 @10

Upped the weight and dropped the reps on the Press back-offs.  Now that volume has ramped up on accessories, I should be getting enough hypertrophy volume for Delts and Triceps that I can pivot work on the main lift to lower reps.

Nice to grab a DB Bench PR.  Doing DB Bench after heavy Pressing really lights up my pecs. 

Didn't look closely at my program, and inadvertently skipped upper back work.  Life goes on. 

Pressin' Out Week 4. Day C.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 223

Press - 125X3, 3, 3 @7.5

DB Seated Press - 45sX12, 10, 8 @~10

Chins - BWX3, 3, 3 @8/9

Adductor Machine - 150X11, 10 @~10

Rope Pushdowns - X12, 11, 9 @10

Solid.  sRPE trending down throughout this week.  I'll add a tad more volume over the next couple of weeks as long as that trend continues.

Pressin' Out Week 4. Day B.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 223

Press - 125X3, 3, 3 @~7.5

Incline DB Raise - 15sX14, 10, 9 @10

SLDL - 

-    up to 345X1 @9.5

-    275X5 @7

Rope Bayesian Curls - X12, 10 @10

PJR Pullovers - 55X11, 11, 8 @9/10

Upped weight on "light" Presses and they felt fine. 

Also upped reps on Front Raises, and upped weight on Triceps Pullovers.  All feeling good.