Block 10. Cycle 3. Session C.

BW - 228

Waist - 43.25"

sRPE @ 7

Deadlift -
370X3 @8
335X6, 6, 6 @~8

GHR - BWX17, 16 @~7.5

220 Tempo Incline Bench - 130X5, 5, 5 @7

Nice session.  Decent increase on all lifts.

Good jump on DL, especially on the back-off sets.  I was working in with someone that had a 100 and a 45 loaded on each side, so I just did that and it ended up being solid despite adding a set.

Speaking of adding a set, I stopped the second set of GHR at 16 because I just spaced that I was supposed to be doing 17.

Tempo incline was interesting.  I felt like I started picking up a lot more kinetic feedback in this session sort of "guiding me" in how to keep my elbows under the bar.  It made all the reps and sets a lot smoother and easier to execute than the first two cycles when strength seemed to be dipping quickly throughout a set.

Block 10. Cycle 2. Session C.

BW - 230

Waist - 44"

sRPE @ 6

Deadlift -
365X3 @~8
325X6, 6 @8

GHR - BWX16 @7

220 Incline Bench -
127.5X5 @6.5
130X5 @7

Solid full-body session.

I was pretty sure DL was going to bounce-back strong from last week's DOMS-laden session, and that was accurate.  Had trouble pulling 330X3 last week, but 365X3 was right there for me today on target.

GHR and Tempo Incline all felt good.

sRPE has been sub-target for 2 session in a row, which was going to be my trigger to add a set to everything.  Not coincidentally, RPS TRAC system also recommends that as of today based on my perceived fatigue metrics.

Block 10. Cycle 1. Session C.

BW - 227

Waist - 43.75"

sRPE @ 8.5

Deadlift -
330X3 @8
300X6 @7

GHR - BWX15 @7

220 Incline Bench - 125X5, 5 @~7

Adductor DOMS from Squats lit up HARD on my first warm-up set of DL.  Made all of the subsequent sets incredibly difficult, and drove up the sRPE.  Still, once the back-off set of DL got moving, the expected strength levels appear to be there, so I'm optimistic this all bounces back in Cycle 2 once the DOMS start to fade.

Block 2 (Accumulation). Cycle 7. Day 1.

BW - 207

Squat -
265X8 @ 7
250X8, 8 @6.5, 7

Tempo Incline 2-2-0 - 125X5, 5, 5 @6/7

Tempo BB Row 0-2-0 -
117.5X8, 8 @6, 7
115X8 @ 7.5

Calling this block done.  Two sessions in a row of nothing feeling very good, and having to drop intensity between work sets on almost all movements. 

Here's a data point in possible TTP (Time-To-Peak).

On to a pivot!

Block 2 (Accumulation). Cycle 6. Day 1.5.

BW  - 211

Tempo Incline 2-2-0 - 122.5X5, 5, 5 @~6

Tempo Row 0-2-0 - 115X8, 8, 8 @6

Conditioning - HIIT; Stationary Bike; 20 sec.; 7 rounds

Got in the second half of my 'A' workout after doing the squat portion following the strength athlete symposium the day before.

This was all fine.  Rest intervals were a little chaotic with some gym chatter.  No video.

Block 2 (Accumulation). Cycle 5. Day 1.

BW - 213

Squat - 255X8, 8, 8 @6.5/7.5

Tempo Incline 2-2-0 - 120X5, 5, 5 @6

Tempo Row 0-2-0 - 112.5X8, 8, 8 @6/7

Solid session over all.

Took another 10 lb. jump on squats, but that may have been a bit much this time, so I'll target a 5 lb. jump next time.

Inclines were @6 across, but rest times were artificially long due to gym talk.

Tempo Rows were solid.  Feel like I'm getting mechanically more efficient at this movement.  Only got video of the first set of these.

Block 2 (Accumulation). Cycle 4. Day 1.

BW - 214

Squat - 245X8, 8, 8 @~6.5

Tempo Incline 2-2-0 -
120X5, 5 @6.5, 7
117.5X5 @7.5

Tempo Row - 110X8, 8, 8 @6/7

Because of the larger than planned jumps I ended up taking last session, I went in with slightly elevated targets for this session.

For Squat that ended up being right on.  2nd set felt easier than the first, and 3rd set was still @6.5

With Incline, I ended up taking slightly to big of a jump, and had to come back down a bit.  The TUT here still takes a lot out of me; combined with my pressing strength tends to drop off quickly.

Tempo rows were the one lift where I didn't plan to take a larger jump (planned +2.5 over last time), but a 5 lb. jump ended up being warranted after all.  However, my 2 count hold at the top doesn't quite stand up to video scrutiny.  Oh well.

Block 2 (Accumulation). Cycle 3. Day 1.

BW - 214

Squat - 235X8, 8, 8 @~6.5

Tempo Incline 2-2-0 - 110X5, 5, 5 @~6.5

Tempo Row 0-2-0 - 105X8, 8, 8 @6/7.5

Everything felt pretty good.  Especially considering it was a weekend afternoon, which is the time I feel worst training.

Squats felt pretty good, but I had to really dial in my focus because I'd had a lot of coffee that AM.  Last set felt easier than the first two.

Tempo Inclines feel like I'm getting acclimated better.  Feels set for a real jump.

Rows start off feeling strong, but the bottom continues to fall out.  That static hold at the top is a real gasser.

Block 2 (Accumulation). Cycle 2. Day 1.

BW- 214

Squat - 230X8, 8, 8 @~6.5

Tempo Incline Bench 2-2-0 - 107.5X5, 5, 5 @6/7

Tempo BB Row 0-2-0 - 97.5X8, 8, 8 @6/7

Everything felt pretty good on this day.  No pain issues with quads or low back.

Squats actually seemed to get easier as I went on.  If I was auto-regulating volume, I would have done another set.  I'm getting plenty of warm-up reps with: BWX10, 45X10, 135X8, 185X5, 205X3, but I may need to that if the work sets continue to feel easier as they progress.  Could try reducing reps on the last couple of sets, or conversely shifting some reps from the lighter sets to heavier sets.  Could also give longer breaks between the last couple of warm-up sets.

Tempo work all felt about right.  My ego would obviously like these weights to be heavier, and after the first sets I often think I should go up, but experience has told me that my strength falls off a cliff on upper-body movements, and by the time I get to the 2nd and 3rd sets, the weight turns out to be about right.

No video of the tempo work today.

Block 2 (Accumulation). Cycle 1. Day 1.

BW - 212

Squat - 225X8, 8, 8 @6

Tempo Incline Bench 2-2-0 - 105X5, 5, 5 @6

Tempo BB Row 0-2-0 -
100X8, 8 @~7
95X8 @8

Low back pain seems all but gone, and gave me no issues on day 1 of this block.

While this is conceived as an accumulation block, I'm starting off with good 'ol 3 sets across.  As I've been struggling with injuries for so long, and had so many pivot blocks, I want to make sure I easy myself back into both volume and intensity on the big movements. 

Squat felt better than it has in a long time as neither my back, nor my quads gave me any issues here.  Focus was on very controlled reps.

Tempo incline topped out at a lower weight than I would have expected, but I've never done these before.  I took a moderate grip, but nevertheless triceps began fatiguing very quickly.  I originally conceived everything in this cycle to be 3X8, but it became clear on the warm-ups on these that the tempo was hitting me hard and fast, and so I called an audible to do these for 3X5 so that I could keep relative intensity a bit higher.

Rows paused at the top are also fairly new to me, and the weight was hilariously low.  I'm only doing a 2-day cycle this time around, and I'm a bit nervous this movement could be too light in relative intensity for a DL accessory.  However, coming of a 2.5 week low-back strain, I wanted to kick off with something that would put low intensity tension on the low back to "test" it.  Hmmmm.  We'll see.

Video is all of final sets.