On Bench supplements this block, the back-off protocol is ramping RPE. I've been doing straight weight with short-ish rests and letting the RPE ramp as fatigue builds. Coach wants me to ramp weight on back-off sets instead of doing straight sets even if it means longer rests. I was probably a little too aggressive with the weight jumps here, but Rep PR.
82.5 is an all-time weight PR on Barbell Curls, and so every rep and set here is a PR as well.
I skipped the back-off set on Bench trying to keep volume down outside of this blocks main lifts. Kind of wish I hadn't because I didn't realize I was projecting a 13 Rep PR this week. Oh, well, maybe I'll do that next week instead of the top set. Although does that generate more pressing fatigue ahead of the last Press session of the block? Hmmmm....
Deadlift was feeling really strong. 10 lbs. over last week's weight at the same RPE. Back-off sets were a little harder though.
273 (BW+52.5) would be a PR for 2 sets of any reps (i.e. 2X1 PR), and I got 3X4. That's two weeks in a row hitting volume PRs on Dips. If everything keeps progressing, I should expect to hit lifetime some lifetime PRs for Dips this block. These are actually probably all PRs for weight added, but I've always tracked with BW included. A bright spot in what is an otherwise rocky training block to-date.
Dips progress definitely not showing positive carryover to Bench so far. Negative, in fact, doing them back-to-back. My e1RM on top sets has declined every week so far. However, the back-off sets are maybe showing a little bit of progress.
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.
GPP Day -
- DB Circuit: One-Arm Rows, Upright Rows, Curls - 7 minutes; 3 rounds; sets of 8-10
- Rower - HIIT; 5 rounds; 10 minutes
Solid little session.
Went in expecting to get a lot more on LBS and Sumo than the previous session, and that turned out to be true. Just the way I felt on the previous session, and some experience of how this tends to go over the last year played into that expectation. Still, I used RPE on warm-ups to calibrate what the top set would actually be. I tend to go in with the assumption of a larger than average jump, but a 4% jump is WELL above average for me cycle-to-cycle.
First set of back-offs on the Squat were a touch harder than target, and so dropped back on the 2nd set. I expect to be adding a set to each movement over the next couple of weeks, so don't see any reason to push intensity on those now.
Front Squats ended up not progressing as quickly. Maybe just fatigue still from the low bar sets.
Sumo was a bit weird. This is actually the same e1RM as last week, but the RPE dropped slightly on the 2nd set. I think it's technical acclimation coming into play. Likely see a big jump next week if I had to put money on it.
On GPP Day, I still got a third round of the circuit. Switched over to HIIT from LISS on the rower. Last week was just an intro for that. Cut the total conditioning time in half, and will look to add a round or two every session until I'm up in the 7-10 range. Then maybe switch movements?
Chin-Ups - BW Density Block; 7 minutes; 7 reps on first set; 31 total reps
Decent session.
I pushed the weight on the top set of bench a touch higher than was indicated, because getting a lift-off for the top sets has seemed to give a little boost. I was probably just a smidge ambitious, but no harm. The annoying thing will be if I end up using the same weight next week.
I dialed-it in tigher for the back-off sets. The first two were good, with the second being a particularly rock-solid @8, but the difficulty on the third jumped for some reason.
Cambered bench was well locked-in.
Got another rep on the first set of chins, but the same number of total reps. All good.
Video is of top sets and final work sets of the barbell lifts (using my phone as a timer during chins, so can't really take video).
Head cold is still lingering and I think it was messing with me during this session.
Top double on Squat went really well, but the back-off volume was WAY harder than it should have been. I think I was just running out of gas. Even when I backed the weight down it still seemed like I was about to hit a wall.
Proactively pulled the high bar intensity back, and ended up being at the same weight as last week.
I did manage to bounce back and hit the wide grip DL right on target. Hope the other sessions this week go a bit better.
Found the right intensity with Pause Squats fairly quickly (as opposed to bench). Weight ended up being pretty fair below the initial target it to be based on my history with this movement, though. We'll see if it takes a big jump.
I had to hunt around a lot on bench. Because of what happened with Squats on session A, I expected it to come in well below original target weight, but it end up coming in much closer. Then the top set ended up leading me to underestimate the back-off weight. Could mean a few things. Off the top of my head: A) I tired myself out a bit finding the top triple, but then recovered between sets enough to show higher fitness on the back-off sets, or B) after the prior volume block, I'm better able to perform higher rep sets than lower rep sets. We'll see how the block plays out.
Deadlift went very smoothly. Top triple ended up exceeding target weight. I still backed-off to the target back-off weight, and while that did end up being under target RPE, I'm fine with treading lightly on DL.
Low back was finally feeling good, so I took squats for a ride, and the back was fine....however the left quad is very unhappy. I'd been experiencing some nagging quad achy-ness two weeks ago, but it had seemed to be fading right before I threw my back-out. It was back with a vengeance on this day. My working theory is that all the novel movements I used to work around the back pain last week (leg press, belt squat) maybe provided novel stress on the quad issue as well while de-training the back-squat a bit, and then upping the intensity with a fully loaded low bar back squat blew it back up. Feels somewhat better the next day, but we'll see. I was limping around after this session, and having trouble with stairs. I'm going to try switching my light squat movement mid-week from paused high-bar to paused low-bar and see what effect that has. I've a feeling, in general, that I need to bring the relative intensity of my variations closer to that of the full squat. Hopefully, it helps with this as well.
So this is all to say, Squats were interesting. Managed to work up to an okay triple, but the resulting quad pain played hell with the back-offs. I videoed the top set and the first back-off, but when I had to drop to 315, I was too disgusted to want to see it back on tape.
Oh, there was also a full PL meet going on in the gym this day. Luckily, the were in the final flights of squats when I got there, and the rest of my session didn't cross-up too much with the lifters warm-ups.
High Inclines went fairly well. Looking at the video of the last couple of session, I was pretty sure general fatigue was possibly inflating the RPE a bit. I have to be careful with assuming that ahead of time, because pressing movements for me drop off a cliff very quickly rep-to-rep. Nevertheless, I was open to higher intensities being available to me on this day, and they were. 160X5 is a Rep PR at this bench angle. 3rd set was feeling dicey, so I dropped down for the 4th. Only took video of the final set of 160.
Skipped chins because my preferred chin station was a camp ground for lifters competing on this day.
Rows came in very strong today. 210X5 is a Rep PR for both deadstop and hanging rows (usually "stronger" on hanging rows). Only took video of the first set when I decided to go to 210 to make sure I wasn't kidding myself about form.
No easily perceptible change in bar speed between the first and last reps of the last set. So probably RPE 6 at most. Going back and looking at my heaviest session with this movement from a few weeks ago, that would appear to be the same there. I probably need to up the intensity a bit to get into @7-8 range at least for the last set (shown).
Top set of Bench is interesting. Felt like at RPE 9-9.5, but bar speed between 1st and 3rd rep looks more like @7.5. Mis-grooved the 2nd rep which made it feel harder than it should have been. But technique break-down often comes with high-intensity work. As far as the discrepancy between "bar speed RPE" and "feels RPE," I would submit that my bench strength tends to drop off a cliff more-so than other lifts. Nevertheless, I will try to keep this discrepancy in mind. Back off -sets were all easy <@6. Top-set and last back-off shown.
I think I'm finally figuring out some stuff on the RDL bar path. I'm just not pushing my butt back far enough to keep the bar in contact with my legs throughout. This really felt like it started to click half-way through the last set. For me, the cue might not just be "butt back" OR "bar on legs," but rather BOTH push back so that the bar feels SOLID against the legs. The only thing is that my low back "feels" less extended this way, although it looks fine. No real difference in the bar speed between first and last reps, but it "feels" tough, so I'm gonna call the 2nd set @6. Last set shown.
First week of a new squat wave, so the assistance is light. HB Pause squats were easy. Last set shown.
Bench is also at the beginning of a new wave. Last time I did 225X5 on bench, it was probably around an RPE 8. This was not above a 7 for sure, and probably a 6 (6.5?). Back-offs were very light, so I kept rest time at 2 minutes or less. Top set and last back-off shown.
Still trying to have more control on the RDLs to keep them from swinging out at the bottom. Went a little slower, and also tried to get really deep on the 2nd set. Bar is still swinging out a bit. 2nd set shown.
Was again nervous about the top set of Squats. 20 lbs. heavier than last week, and the heaviest weight since rehabbing my adductor. And once again, the weight was pretty easy, an the adductor feels fine. Unfortunately, the first set was above parallel. Wah-wah. I deliberated about what to do, and ultimately took it again. Better depth, but still borderline. Decided to take it and try to do better in the future. Originally, the program was to do a single and 5X5 back-off. Since I took an extra single, I decided to only do 4X5 to keep the volume "slots" as programmed. Both singles, and last back-off shown.
After last week's Inclines, I was pretty sure I 4X5 @ +10 lbs. wasn't going to be great. I was prepared to be surprised, but I could tell from the first couple of reps that I needed to cut to 3 reps if wanted to get all of the volume in without a lot of @9+ RPE sets. Totally at peace with that decision. I've decided to incorporate that into the program going forward for the last week of each 3 week Bench wave. I really want the Incline weight to be the same as the back-off weight on heavy Bench day for the psychological benefits of having handled the weight already on the "harder" movement, so that it may "feel" light on the main movement. Last set shown.
I was running out of time, and my right wrist has been bothering me, so I decided to skip Chin-Ups. They can sometimes aggravate my wrists, and I'd like those joints to be fresh for alternate grip DL later in the week.
Week 1 of a new 3-week DL wave, so intensity drops down on BB Rows, but I upped the reps to 7 per set. These did take a little more "leg" to complete all the reps in the sets, but I kept pretty good torso position and the bar touched in the same area (just above the belt) on all reps. Gym was crowded, and so I couldn't get video where I was working.
Paused High Bars felt good, and looked good. Weight is probably too light. Last set shown.
Top set of bench felt solid. Didn't feel the need for a spotter. This weight is my 3X5 PR, so this is as it should be. Back-off sets were almost speed work. Top set and first back-off shown (forgot to film last back-off).
RDLs were nice and heavy. Nevertheless, I focused on a really controlled eccentric and reversal to try to correct the issue of the bar swinging out on the reversal. Seemed to help a bit. Hamstrings are very sore today. Last set shown.
Also, I ordered my first belt today. Should show up in a 4-6 weeks.
Ramp up week for my HLM program now that adductor feels good enough to get back to training Squats and DL. Got some feedback from SS coaches Brent Carter and Michael Wolf on the design.
I don't think I've ever done Paused High Bar Squats, so...Rep PR! I'm treating this session and the next as a sort of introduction to movements and program, and so didn't worry too much about pushing intensity. This weight was fine, and I felt a bit worked afterwards. Intensity will increase from here. Last set shown.
I dropped the top set of Bench back 5 lbs. from last week's 5X1. Again, treating the last two sessions of this week as a ramp up to the program. 195X5X5 felt like a solid work-weight, though. Top set and last back-off set shown.
295X5 is a Rep PR on RDL. This was the only movement where I was "going for something." Straps help so much here, but I use "Oly" straps so this weight still stressed my grip a bit. Still worth it to be able to feel out the more important details of the movement. Filming the first set, I realized that the weight was swinging out when I initiate the concentric. Cleaned it up a bit on the second set, but still not totally locked in. I'm fairly certain this is because my knees are shooting forward, but I'm not positive on the cue to fix it yet. Last set shown.
Getting back to only doing 3 movements in a session sure made it feel like I was getting out "early."
Well. 1st Intensity Day in a three weeks due to illness and schedule. Probably went better than I should have expected. 410X3 is an all-around Squat PR. Couldn't get that 3rd rep on the 2nd set, and dumped it like an asshole. Both sets shown.
Shoulder and elbows felt like shit after dumping the bar off my back. Still managed to get the prescribed work sets, but it was hard as hell. 2X3 PR. Both sets shown.
At this point, I was out of gas and everything hurt. I had a dim hope that Deadlift might miraculously come through, but that was not the case. The 1st rep with 395 was slow and felt like the slowest of my life. I knew there was not another rep there. I threw in a back-off set at 365. The way I felt, I was sure I could get 3, but hoped for 5. Stopped at 3. Good news, I guess, is that 395X1 is a Rep PR.
I knew I wasn't going to be back in the gym for several days due to Memorial Day schedule for myself and the gym, so I through in a little bit of chin-up assistance that I knew could be done relatively safely and with less impact on my overall physical feeling.
Not sure what my plan is for the next 2-6 weeks. I have family coming into town, and then a big camping trip. All of this will impact schedule, recovery, etc. I'm not sure how best to approach that yet.
Squats went pretty well. Still trying to get better depth. Maybe marginal improvement on this day. Last set shown.
Bench was pretty tough. Got a lift-off for the last two sets just to try and save energy. Strength was there, just the medium volume/medium intensity set up for pressing movements on the middle day is always tough. Last set shown.
Decided to mix things up on Chins. I'd told myself I was going to get to 50 total reps on a day before I decided this volume approach wasn't working. Well 50 is an arbitrary number. I knew I needed to change it up, because I was starting to dread chinning at the end of this day. I consume a lot of stuff from various Starting Strength people, and SS adjacent stuff. Inspired by stuff Andy Baker wrote here, and also some of the Barbell Medicine stuff (recently splintered off from SS). The BM guys talk a lot about the importance of volume over intensity, and even over tonnage which is interesting. I don't consider myself nearly smart enough to really grok the big picture of half the stuff they present, and definitely not to experiment with on my own on the main lifts.
But for chins?
From what I gather, their point of view is that intensity doesn't matter nearly as much as volume. Specifically, that once work weight gets into the 70%+ range, it becomes largely equal in it's ability to drive hypertrophy. And that, after a proper novice phase, hypertrophy becomes far more important to strength gains than the neuro-muscular effects trained by super-high intensity. That singles, etc. are still important practice for strength sports, but take a lot more out of you than lower intensities that are just as effective at driving strength. In some ways, it reminds me a lot of Paul Carter's strength programming. i.e. Working up to 1-3 heavy singles, and then do a bunch of sub-max back-off sets.
So that's all to get down what I'm thinking about it at this moment. And that's why I'm moving to less sets of chin-ups (high intensity/stress) and adding in sets of pulldowns and chins to keep the overall volume up on the prime movers in the movement. I had been doing 8-10 sets of Chin-ups @ around 40 total reps. I'm moving that down to 4 initial sets here @ 19 total reps. Then I have 3 sets of pull-downs and 2 sets of biceps for a total of 9 sets "for chins." I will look to add reps to the chins until I get up to about 25 (per Andy Baker's link above). But if the 1st set reps aren't increasing and/or the total sets required to get my reps is plateauing or going up, then I will add a set to pull-downs and/or curls. If I get to 5+ sets of chins, 5 sets of pulldowns, and 3 sets of curls (Andy Baker, again), and there is no progress, I will have to add a 2nd day. I'll reset the 1st day back down to 4, 3, 2, and then both days will follow the previous progression, but the movements on the 2nd day will be those from Baker's 2nd day.
The only problem if figuring out where to put that if I'm on a 3 day split and Deadlifting twice a week. Maybe Intensity Day.
Press and Deadlift were both pretty hard on this day. On both the tops sets and back-off sets. Both top sets definitely felt like RPE 9-10, as I think you can see in the videos below. We'll see what happens with these lifts over the next couple of weeks. I may need to find a way to introduce a bit more direct volume.
Also, I listened to a podcast with Matt Reynolds, Starting Strength coach, about the "Old Man" TM, which is what I'm doing a version of. They talked about the "light" day squats needing to feel as hard or maybe harder than the volume day squats. The idea being that you shouldn't be recovered enough from Monday for these to be easy, but they're light enough that you will be mostly recovered for Friday's Intensity set. These were pretty easy, and I likely will need to add weight or sets. However, since the switchover from what I had been doing to TM is already an overall increase in volume, I don't want to rush to make more changes, before I see what happens with the initial programming.
Top set of Squats felt pretty good at the time, but looking at the video I can see that I was getting on the front of my foot on almost every rep. May need to video my warm-ups on Intensity day to try and get that dialed-in before the work set. Back off set felt very easy. It's probably somewhere around 70% of my max so it should.
220 for 3X5 is an LP PR on Bench. REALLY thought I wasn't going to get this after the 2nd set. And you can see that the last rep on the last set in the video was absolute limit strength, RPE 10. Depending on how this went would determine when I would switch over to TM for Bench. I don't see any reason to wait.
Manage to get my chins in one less set than last time. Need to watch myself, as I think I might be starting to cut depth a little bit.
152.5X3 and 137.5X8 are both Rep PRs on Press. I think a 4th rep would have been there at 152.5, but I let the bar get out in front of me too far and got on my toes. Pretty clear in the first video. The set of 8 at 137.5 was also RPE 9.5 or so.
On Chins, I got a couple more reps, and one less set than last time. Progress.
No PRs on Squats. I've I'd been paying attention, I might have gone for a 6 rep PR on the first set. I've been starting to feel a little beat up by Squats, and my form was getting bad (bad bar path and bad depth). Today I made a game time decision to switch to the same phase that Press is in: Top set followed by AMRAP @ 90% and another set of 90%X5 for volume. Knowing I would only have one set at 370, I really took my time. Focused on bar path and depth. I'm feeling like the days of toying around with these advanced novice LP strategies like Greyskull are coming to an end for the Squat, and I will need to move back into some intermediate programming very soon. I've managed to stretch it out almost a full year on Squat and Bench, so that's not too bad.
135X9 is a Rep PR on Press. I originally programmed for the third back-off set to be 80%X5, but that didn't feel right on the day. I'm still playing around with how to use the back-off sets but not let tonnage drop too far. 1st and 2nd set shown.
On chins, I got the same total reps as last session in less sets. Feels like progress.
365 for 3X5 is an LP PR. I feel like I should have gone for a 6th, but it's feeling very heavy, and the technique looks off. Depth is borderline-to-high, and bar path is poor. Sigh.
