Block 10. Cycle 4. Session B.

BW - 229

Waist - 43.5"

sRPE @ 7

Bench -
207.5X3 @8
180X7, 7 @7, 8
162.5X7 @7

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

Rack Pull-Ups - BWX8, 8, 8 @8.5/9.5

Well that sucked.

Top strength on Bench was completely flat for the 2nd week in a row, but this time back-off set strength nose-dived after the first set. 

I then backed way off to see how Close Grips were going to go, and the back-off weight ended up being the work weight.

Sleep hasn't been great this week, so maybe there's a recovery issue.  Looking back at the last year+ of training with Emerging Strategies, I've never had two lifts plateau in week 4.  This is really throwing a wrench into the experiment of doing back-to-back, 4-5 week "greatest hits" blocks.  When I started this experiment, I told myself I would switch to Phase 2 if two lifts plateaued or regressed in Week 4, but I didn't really expect it to happen.  On the other hand, it might be fun to have different stuff to do next week....

Block 10. Cycle 3. Session B.

BW - 228

Waist - 43.75"

sRPE @ 7

Bench -
207.5X3 @8
177.5X7, 7, 7 @~7

CG Bench - 170X6, 6, 6, 6 @7.25/8

Rack Pull-Ups - BWX7, 7, 7 @~8

GPP Day -
- Circuit: Straight-Arm Pull-Downs, DB Press, Hammer Curls - 7 minutes; 3 rounds; sets of 8-10
- Rower - HIIT; 7 rounds; 14 minutes

Okay upper body day.

Right elbow was feeling a bit sensitive, and slowed down the lock out on my top triple, raising the RPE.  I was able to increase the weight slightly on the back-offs, but all-told e1RM was relatively flat from last week.  Expect a bounce back next week!

Closed-grips were a little better initially, but the RPE ramped up fairly quickly.  This may be somewhat a function of adding an extra set to both bench movements.

I ended up not adding an extra set to the rack pull-ups because I always had this set a 3 sets for this program, i.e. I didn't drop a set for the first two weeks like I did with everything else.  I'm also getting extra upper-back work on the GPP days, so no big.

sRPE ended up being right about on target, I think.

Block 10. Cycle 2. Session B.

BW - 227

Waist - 43.75"

sRPE @ 6

Bench -
205X3 @7.5
175X7, 7 @~7

CG Bench - 167.5X6, 6, 6 @7

Rack Pull-Ups - BWX6, 6, 6 @7.5/9

GPP Day -
- Circuit: Straight-Arm Pull-Downs, DB Press, Hammer Curls - 7 minutes; 3 rounds; sets of 10
- Rower - HIIT; 6 rounds; 12 minutes

Solid upper-body session.  sRPE was sub-target for the 2nd week in a row, so if I'm feeling well fatigue-wise next week, I'll be adding a set to each movement.

Bench took a 2% jump in e1RM this week, which is above average for the last year.  In my best training 4 training blocks over the last year, bench jumped about 3% in week 2 on average, but the TM on the first week for those bench blocks was 92.7% on average (below the mean for the year), and this block started at 98.9% (the highest of the year).  So year-best TM and an above average jump in week 2, are a combo that I haven't seen on bench in the last year, and an auspicious start to the block.

Last week, RPE on Close-Grips ramped quickly on the sets across, but this week I was able to both add weight, and maintain it at target RPE.  Nice to have that on track in week 2 as well.

Added a rep to all the Rack Pull-Ups but BW was down, so whatevs.  I'm not going to stress over these, even if the data says they were one of my top-6 DL accessories in the last year.  They'll progress or they won't.

GPP Day went very well.  Got another 3 round in 7 minutes on the resistance circuit.  I added weight to all movements, and still hit 10 reps on all sets.  Thought I would add 2 rounds to the HIIT, but only adding 1 felt right in the moment.

Didn't get video of my top set of bench.

Block 10. Cycle 1. Session B.

BW - 228

Waist - 43.75"

sRPE @ 6

Bench -
200X3 @7.5
170X7, 7 @7

CG Bench -
165X6, 6 @7/8
155X6 @7.5

Rack Pull-Ups - BWX5, 5, 5 @7/8.5

GPP Day -
- Circuit: Straight-Arm Pull-Downs, Seated DB Press, Hammer Curls - 7 minutes; 3 rounds; sets of 10
- Rower - LISS; 20 minutes

Nice little upper-body session. 

200X3 @7.5 is interesting because that's about at 99% of where my bench was at the end of the previous, aborted cycle.  That was back on 12/22.  So almost a month later, with minimal training, bench strength is about where it was.  Not sure if there are any take-aways, but if the lift trends upwards from here, and especially if I get a couple of larger-than-average jumps (my Bench tends to have those), I could end up with a good little bench block.

I had to drop weight on the last set of Close-Grips, as the RPE started jumping pretty fast.  All good (probably).

Rack Pull-Ups were fairly easy, especially as I'm still dropping a set from each movement in this first week.
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GPP Day went well, too!  Was able to move through this combination a bit faster and with more reps, resulting in getting a 3rd round in the same amount of time.  I think the prior GPP day's circuit probably had a lot more biceps involvement in each movement and that created more fatigue.

Also doubled my time on the rower with no difficulty.  Will probably switch to HIIT next week.