Dips, Hack Squats, Curls, Shoulders

sRPE @8

BW - 224

Lever Dips - 180X15, 11, 11, 9 @9.5/10

Hack Squats - 100X13, 10, 9, 8 @9.5/10

DB Incline Curls - 

-    20sX12 @10

-    15sX13, 12, 10 @9.5/10

super-set with

DB Incline Laterals - 15sX12, 9, 8, 7 @9.5/10

Start of the Lever Dips wave.  Will probably add a half plate next week and see what happens.  Once I settled on Bench Dips and Lever Dips as my movements for the first two waves, I was on the fence about what order they should go in.  On one hand, Bench Dips are a bit more "body in space," like the main lift, but the pressing angle of the lever dips is more similar and it's a bit easier to load.  We'll see what happens.

All reps of Hack Squat continue to be metal on metal at the bottom.  Feeling good.

Combo of Lever Dips and Incline Laterals got me some nice, anterior delt DOMS the following day.  

Cambered Bench, Quads, Curls

sRPE @7.5

BW - 223

Cambered Bench - 

-    up to 230X0 @11

-    155X6, 6, 6 @7/8.5

Both-Feet Elevated Split Squats - BWX12, 11 @~9

Open Hip Leg Extensions - X10 @9.5

Rope Curls - X12, 10, 10 @9/10

Tried to chip my previous Cambered Bench PR, but it wasn't there.  Failed pretty shortly off the chest.

Elevated my front foot for Bulgarian Split Squats.  Took some setting up, but once I got it I could really feel it in my quads.

Also messed around with moving the pad way back on Leg Extensions so I could open my hips more and lengthen the RF.  Also put a pad in front of my shins to try and close the knee angle a bit more.

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 3. Session B.

sRPE @8.5

BW - 222

Bench - 170X3, 3, 3 @4.5/5.5

031 Tempo Work w/ Intensity Techniques:

-    DB Press w/ Long ROM Drop Sets -

    -    40sX15/2 @10

    -    45sX8/1 @10

-    RDL (belt and straps) w/ Rest-Pause - 160X12/6, 12/5 @9.5/10

-    DB Curls w/ Long ROM Drop Sets - 25sX11/3, 10/3 @10

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 10 minutes

Pivot. Week 1. Session B.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 223

Deadlift - up to 365X1 @7

Bench - up to 205X1 @7

All movements below done with mechanical drop-sets where I took the full ROM to failure and then did long-ROM partials to failure:

Cable Rows w/ Thoracic Extension - X11/5, 10/5 @~10

Seated Leg Curls - X12/8, 11/5 @~10

Seated OH Cable Extensions - X14/4, 10/4 @~10

Much better pivot session and what I probably should have done in the previous session.

Just worked up to a smooth single on DL and Bench and then played around some more with the drop-set partials.  Lots of burn on all of these.

Block 1 (Accumulation). Cycle 1. Day 1 (Squat focus).

BW - 215

Squat - 247.5X7, 7, 7, 7 @6/7

DB Bench - 55sX8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 @6/7

Trap Bar DL (High Handles) - 245X8, 8, 8 @6/7

Conditioning - Treadmill HIIT; 7 rounds

First day of the new cycle!  Very happy to be revving things up.

Quads felt fine during Squats.  I have "normal" DOMS less than 24 hours later, and we'll see how that trends over the next 24.  Otherwise, these felt great.  Estimated target weight for the day was 252.5, and happy to have ended up in that ballpark.  Mostly happy to just be squatting for volume (and reps) pain free, but am hopeful that I can see a robust increase in intensity through this block since this weight is about 100 lbs. under my best set of 7.

Over 3 years since I did DB flat bench, so I had no target.  First set with the 55s was really awkward, and I thought I might have overshot, but the 2nd set was @6 tops, and then I sailed through until I hit a conservative @7 on the sixth set.  Depending on fatigue and recovery for the first week, I would expect these weights to be higher next week.  Didn't grab any video of these.

I've never used a trap bar.  Ever.  It was fun!  If a little strange feeling.  I decided to use the high handles for this cycle as they seem to involve less legs, and therefore more back?  The range of motion feels very strange, but it was all good.

Enthusiasm about training is high.

HLM. Week 3. Day 1.

BW - 227

Squat -
375X3
300X5, 5, 5, 5

Incline Bench - 190X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Chin-Ups - BWX3, 3, 3

BB Rows - 195X3, 3, 3

This might have been the smoothest set with 375 I've ever done.  I 100% that the Starr Protocol has allowed me to "reset" to better depth on the squat.  That depth seems to be taking some stress off of the adductor (I still feel a twinge in it moving through parallel, but nothing at the bottom), and it's giving me a stronger rebound out of the hole.  I was nervous going into this set as this is 20 lbs. heavier than the heaviest weight I've handled since I went on the protocol.  They just felt great.  Top set and last back-off set shown.

190X5 is a Rep PR for inclines.  This was a challenging weight on every set.  My grip is medium-close (top thumb knuckle on the smooth; about 1.5" out from Press grip), and the combination of the angle and the  closer grip makes the ROM feel forever long.  I had a spotter stand by for the last couple of sets.  I'm programmed to go up to 200 next week, but I'll play it by ear.  It would be great if the strength is there for it, but I'm prepared to do triples if necessary.  Last set shown.

Chin-Ups were whatever.  I'm just doing 3 sets and trying to leave a rep in the tank on every set (RPE 9, I guess).  The BB Rows will either trigger additional adaptations that allow chins to maintain/increase, or they won't.  Tired of living and dying by my chin-up strength for a while.

Rows felt a bit heavier than I expected after last week even though I was only doing triples.  A reminder that with movements that rely on smaller amounts of muscle, something that felt easy at 175, can feel much tougher 20 lbs. heavier even with less reps.  So I added the belt to makes sure I kept everything tight.  Had straps on hand, but those definitely weren't necessary.  Last set shown.

Reps and Volume. Week 15. Bench

BW - 214 (PR)

Incline -
BarX30
95X5, 5
115X4
135X3
155X2
165X12, 5

Reverse Camber Bench - 205X5, 5, 5, 4

DB Bench - 55sX12, 10, 7
super-set with
DB Rear Delts - 30sX20, 20, 15

DB Hammer Curls - 40sX15, 10, 10

165X12 is an all-around PR for Incline, and matches a Rep PR for Flat Bench.  I had that as a back-of-mind goal for this session, and I'm happy to hit it.  The 5 reps on the 2nd set meets my goal 15+ total reps, so moving up next week.

However, the reverse camber bench was not good.  My shoulder started hurting after the 1st set, and I missed the 5th rep on set #4.  My shoulder was really achy by that point and is really achy today.  I'd settled on the hypothesis that whatever is wrong with my shoulder was only exacerbated by heavy movements that took the elbow behind the center line of my body, but that is CLEARLY not the case with this short ROM lift.  So until I get examined by a professional, I don't know what.  I'm just going to have to abandon this movement for now.  Next week, I will try some machine pressing and see what that's like.

DB Bench was okay, but felt like it could have been better if my shoulder wasn't bothering me so much.

Reps and Volume. Week 10. Bench

BW - 208

Incline -
BarX30
95X5, 5
115X3
135X2
155X1
135X15, 6

Reverse Cambered Bench - 185X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

DB Bench - 50sX16, 14, 10
super-set with
DB Rear Delts - 25sX20, 20, 20

DB Hammer Curls - 35sX20, 16, 12, 12

Seated Calves - 90X15, 15, 15

Incline Treadmill Walking - 20 minutes

Wasn't able to hit bench on my regular day, and will be traveling this week, so I got it in on Saturday instead.

135X15 and for >18 total reps meets that goal, so I move up to 145 next time.  Shoulder feels terrible for the first several reps with the empty bar, but by the time I get into the high-teens/low-20s with it everything feels okay and I can do the rest of the programmed day.

Bumped the lockout/triceps work up to 185 for 5X5.  I'll move up to 195 next time.  My thinking with these right now is:  We've got a pin-press bench at the gym.  If I can take this lockout work up to 225 for 5X5 with the cambered bar, then I will move that weight over to the pin-bench and try to stay at that weight while gradually increasing the ROM with ever-lower pins.  All other things being equal, the pin-presses should be easier than the reverse cambered bar.  With the bar, the pad on the camber sort of makes you pause the reps because of the way it sinks into you.  At the same time, you have to keep really tight to stabilize the bar so it doesn't roll forwards or backward on your chest.  With the pin-presses you can actually stop the bar on the pins without having to keep it stable.  Anyway, hopefully this will work out and I can take the pin presses with some good weight down at least to the point where my elbows come even with my center-line.  That seems to be the threshold beyond which ROM starts to aggravate the shoulder.

DB Bench was solid.  Bumped the reps up well past where they've been the last two sessions.  Need to get these to 60-65s for 15-20 to be back in the range of my best DB benching.  If I can do that after Inclines and volume lock-out work, I will feel pretty happy about it.

As my bodyweight is going up, I've been toying with the idea of some direct calf work to add some extra intensity work onto the volume I'm getting by walking around with an increased load.  Tried seated calves followed by incline treadmill on this day, but my calves didn't have any soreness or DOMS.  That's not the be-all-end-all, but I would expect some DOMS for a muscle group/movement pattern I haven't trained directly in a long time.  If I'm gonna do this, I may need to hit it harder and with more variety.

Phase 1. Week 4. Accessory

BW - 209

Machine Pullovers - X15, 15, 8

Chins (Close, V-Grip) - BWX5, 4, 3 (paused at bottom)

Close-Grip Pulldowns - X12, 11

BB Rows - 135X10, 5

Hammer Curls -
25sX12
30sX8
20sX12

Transitioning this day into a straight body-building style lats day.  My shoulders and elbows were starting to feel beat up, so I thought cutting out extra OHP and triceps work might be beneficial for now.  This routine is based mostly on Dorian Yates lat training.  By being almost total lats, there was no difficulty doing this the day after I deadlifted, however I may still prefer to have rows on the Deadlift day.

Pullovers, pulldowns and rows were all very strict with a strong concentric, squeeze at the contraction, and a controlled eccentric.  I stopped every set when I could no longer complete full ROM in this strict fashion.  An interesting note, my triceps were quite sore the next couple of days from the pullovers.

I'm hoping that doing pullovers to pre-exhaust my lats, and then pausing at the bottom of my chins will help the chins carryover to lat growth instead of just practicing the movement of chinning.

LRB 365: LRB Split. Week 5. Back - Light

BW - 199

RDL -
95X10
135X8
185X5
225X5
245X5 (no straps; held last rep for 20 seconds)
245X10 (straps)

Cambered Bar Pull-downs - X20, 20, 20, 16, 11 (to a top weight)

Hypers - BWX30, 30, 25, 25

DB Curls -
20sX20, 20
25sX20

Hanging Leg-Raise - 5X5 (slow eccentric)

Good, balls-out session.  245X10 on RDLs is an all-around PR (never even done 245 before).  I really wanted to go for 10 on the last set, and I knew it would take straps for that.  To make up for it, I did 245 on my next to last set and held the last rep for time.

Since I had the straps, I ended up trying them out on my last two sets of pull-downs as well to see if it would allow me to get extra reps on my top sets.  Inconclusive.  I've been doing these at my "away" gym which has a traditional pull-down bar.  I was at my regular gym yesterday, and I'd never really thought about it, but the bar I use there is a home-made bar with an additional camber in the middle.  I can't find a picture of one like it on the webs, so you (imaginary readers) will just have to imagine the traditional bar, with another camber in the middle.  The point is that the ROM with this bar is much deeper, and so these reps were very different from those I've been getting on this cycle.

More R/P on the hypers to get more reps in.  This really feels like a superior way to do these sets for me right now, as opposed to taking it up till failure and stopping the set.

Watched a really great old video of Doug Young the other day.  Made me decided to do DBs instead of the preacher machine.  More fun anyway.

More humbling leg raises.  Basically hurling my ankles towards the bar and then trying (and failing) to keep them from falling back to earth.

LRB 365: Conditioning. Week 4. Incline

BW - 197

Incline -
BarX20
95X5, 5
115X3, 3
135X1, 1, 1
115X5

BW Ladder Circuit -
Dips - 3 up to 15, back down to 3
Chins (neutral grip) - 2 up to 10, back down to 2
Push-ups - 3 up to 15, back down to 3
Hanging Leg-Raises - 3 up to 15, back down to 3

Slightly tweaked my right shoulder again, though not as bad as last incline session.  The strain clearly occurred on the incline benching this time, and now I suspect that was the culprit last time as well.  I'm generally doing inclines the same as flat bench, that is to say, with a close-grip and pausing the reps on my chest.  Next time I will try bringing the bar down only to about my chin and not pausing, and see what happens.

Bodyweight stuff was pretty solid, thought I still had to R/P the 5th and 6th sets.