HLM. Week 6. Day 2.

BW - 227

High Bar Pause Squat - 245X5, 5, 5

Bench -
240X3
190X5, 5, 5, 5

RDL - 320X5, 5

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.

LRB Back & DL. Week 3. Deadlift

BW - 208

Deadlift -
135X5
185X5
225X3
275X2
295X3, 3, 3
315X1
335X1, 1

T-Bars - 90X18

Lever Shrugs (with 3 sec. hold) -
380X3
470X3
560X3
605X3
380X21

Hypers - BW+10X15, 15, 15 (plate held behind head)

RG Curls - 50ishX17, 15, 10

Decided to try the Fatigue Singles option on the Deadlifts today when the 295X3 were moving so well.  I thought 335 moved pretty well for being fatigued.

On hypers, I'd been doing BW+X20 but then my low back would feel to fatigued to use added weight on the next set.  On this day, I tried stopping the first set at 15, and found I felt able to use added weight on the 2nd set, and then felt good enough to do a 3rd set also with weight.  Neat.

LRB Back & DL. Week 1. Squat

BW - 207

High Bar Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X5
155X3
175X2
185X1
155X5, 5, 5, 5, 5 (135 - 155 sets done in 10:50)

RDL - 135X25, 18, 13 (56 total)

Single-Leg Press - 1ppsX20, 20, 20, 20

Incline DB Curls - 25sX12, 13, 10

I was very skeptical of this 5X5@60% from the LRB Basebuilding manual but the pace made it a lot of work.  I based this on an EDM of 255, although my best High-Bar Squat is 255X5 and I've done 155X20.  However, getting all the work-sets and the bulk of the warm-ups done in just over 10 minutes, all while moving the bar as fast as possible while keeping good form...well, I was sweating my ass off, anyway.  We'll see how it plays out.  It doesn't "feel" like strength work because all the reps were fast, and my conditioning seemed to be the only limiting factor.  May need to bump the weights; I'm not sure.

The RDLs are "350 sets," that is trying to get 50 reps in 3 sets.  Grip was the limiting factor here.  Next time I'll bring the straps out, and maybe up the weight slightly.

Haven't done single-leg pressing in almost a year.  Thought I'd go back to that here as the purpose of this day is actually to try and finally start building some more strength of the floor on DL.  Last April, I was up to 1.5ppsX18, so I'll start shooting to beat that immediately.

I'm throwing a smattering of biceps in on all my days to see if frequency can help make up for my lack of motivation to have a lot of biceps volume on any one day.

Higher Reps. Week 3. Deadlift

BW - 209

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X5
225X4
275X3
315X2
345X1

1/2" Deficits - 295X5, 5, 5, 5

BB Rows - 155X15, 9, 8, 8

DB Rows - 65sX12, 12

all rows super-set with
Leg Curls - X20, 16, 15, 12, 12 (straight-weight; increased from last week)

Solid session.  345X1 was easy (used to be stapled to the floor, and was about my max a year ago).

Deficits moved faster as well.  Managed to get 5 reps on all 4 sets, although my conditioning is still getting in the way here.

155X15 is an all-around PR on BB Rows.

DB Rows were smoother.

Hamstrings were lit up pretty much from the first set of curls. 

Phase 1. Week 9. Deadlift

BW - 211

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X5
225X4
275X3
315X2

345X3, 2

Deficit Deads - 275X5, 5, 5

RDL - 225X8, 8

BB Rows - 135X15, 11

Session went better than I expected coming in.  345X3 is a Rep PR, and my phase goal for this weight.  Actually, I've never Deadlifted 345 before, so every rep with that today was a PR, hahaha.  I think I will move up to 355 next week, but I'm a bit on the fence about it, and may play it by ear.  If everything sucks and feels heavy, I might go with 345 again, but shoot for 4 on the first set or 2 sets of 3.  If the 315X2 feels even okay, though, I will go ahead and go for 355X2+.

Deficits felt good after the first set.  That seems to happen with these sometimes; that the first set feels rougher than the others.

RDLs actually felt pretty strong.  Time to start pushing them to sets of 10.

The jump my rowing strength took the last couple of weeks seems to have solidified pretty well.  Time to start thinking about either upping the weight, or adding another set at this weight and see if I can push it to 3 sets of 10+. 

Phase 1. Week 9. Bench

BW - 212

Bench -
BarX10
95X5
115X4
135X3
155X2

185X8, 4

Cambered Bench - 135X6, 6, 4

Incline - 135X5, 5, 6

Dips - BWX14, 10, 8

Ab Wheel - X10, 10, 10

I felt like today was gonna be the day and it was.  185X8 is an all-around PR, and my phase goal for this weight.  Finally get to move up next week.

I must have just been on today or something, because the cambered bar was moving a lot faster as well, and even the 14 reps on dips at 212 is an all-around PR.

Phase 1. Week 5. Deadlift

BW - 212

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X2
325X2, 1

Deficit Deadlift (45 lb. Plate) - 275X3, 3

RDL - 225X3, 3

BB Row - 135X10

Under the weather today, and everything felt heavy as shit and broke slow off the floor.  Goal for 325 is 2X3 and then 1X5.

The deficits still felt okay, so considering I'm sick, I'll take that as a good sign.

Out of gas for RDLs and Rows.

Phase 1. Week 4. Deadlift

BW - 209

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X4, 4

Deficit Deads - 275X3, 3, 3

RDL - 225X5, 5

Good session.  2 sets of 4 with 315 was my goal, so I will move up next week.

Deficit deads felt faster than ever.

Phase 1. Week 4. Squat

BW - 207

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
115X5
135X4
155X3
185X2
225X2
245X6, 3

High-Bar Squat - 185X5, 5, 5

Front Squat - 155X5, 5, 5

245X6 is a Rep PR.  Last rep was pretty slow, but I may have been able to get one more.  Beat my goal for this weight, so moving up next week.

First set with high-bars felt faster than they have.  Next week, I may be able to add a set or 2.

Phase 1. Week 3. Deadlift

BW - 208

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1 (mixed-grip)
305X4, 4 (mixed-grip)

Deficit Deads (45 lb. plate) - 275X3, 3, 3 (mixed-grip)

RDL - 225X3, 5

BB Rows - 135X10

Awesome session.

For the 305 I was either going to do 3X3 (like I did last week), or 2X4.  I would know which when I hit the 3rd rep of the 1st set at 305.  That rep felt very good, so I hit a 4th.  It was a little slower than I would have liked, but the 2nd set of 4 was even better.  So good, I thought about doing a 3rd, but I'd already planned to add a set to my next movement, so I moved on to make sure I had gas for that.

Speaking of which, the deficit deads felt very good.  Smooth and pretty fast.  Next session, if regular deads go well, I might try to bump these up to sets of 5.

RDLs are feeling better.  Still trying to be super strict with my knee angle.  Managed to get 5 when I went for it on the 2nd set.  Will try for 5 on both sets next week.

Only managed to get 10 again on Rows keeping everything strict and squeezing the rep at the top.

Phase 1. Week 3. Bench Press

BW - 208

Bench -
BarX10
95X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
185X5, 2

Cambered Bar Bench - 155X3, 3, 2

Incline - 135X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Felt under-slept and over-stressed coming into the gym today, and it may have contributed to a feeling of struggle throughout the session.

Nevertheless, 185X5 is a Rep PR.  This was without a spotter.  My goal for this weight is 8 reps.  My left elbow started bothering me a lot during the top sets.  Not the golfer's elbow that I've had, but more of an undefined, comprehensive ache.

The cambered sets were very difficult, and the elbow continued to ache.  Less reps per set than last session.

I dropped the incline down to 135, and did sets of 5 until they started to slow down.  Everything felt a little better after these.

Phase 1. Week 2. Deadlift

BW - 209

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
305X3, 3, 3

Deficit Deads - 275X3, 3

RDL - 225X3, 3

BB Row - 135X10

All strap-less.  I can't remember for sure, but I think I only used mixed grip on the 275X2 set of Deads, and on both the deficit sets.

The 315 and 305 sets were way slower off the floor than I expected.  For now, I'm going to assume I need to re-acclimate to the movement after barely touching it through 12 weeks of the Big-15.  I will stay at 305 for my back-off sets until I'm satisfied with the speed on both those and the top single at 315.

Regarding my speed off the floor, it's convenient that I already had deficit deads programmed in here.  When I sat this up to have 3 heavy assistance movements on Deadlift day, I wasn't sure how many sets of each, so I limited it for this session to see what I had left in the tank by the end.  Based on this session, and my need for bottom-end work, I will add at least one more set to the deficits moving forward, and possibly more.

My hamstrings feel decently tight/sore today, so I'm going to leave the RDLs at 2 sets for now.  However, I may end up moving the rows to another day so I can do more quality volume, in which case I will add another set of RDLs here.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 5. Squat

BW - 199

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
155X4
185X3
205X2
235X1
245X1
255X1

Paused Squats - 215X3, 3, 3

Leg Press - 3ppsX22, 20

Leg Curls - X16, 12 (same weight as last session)

Standing Calf Raises - X18, 15 (same weight as last session)

Last squat session of the cycle.  Pretty awesome, although I was out of gas after the 3rd pause squat set, so I shut it down there.  I filmed my squats, and this was the first time I've ever filmed my lifting.  I wanted to make sure I was getting depth (I reset my squats about a year ago to go deeper) and it turns out I may have been worried about nothing the last year:

That's my 235.  The rep actually felt really easy, like barely a warm-up easy.  I recorded the next 2 attempts as well from different angles so I could see which angle might be most helpful for the future.  Here's my last single at 255:

This felt like it slowed way down about half way up, but watching the video it looks pretty fast and smooth.  I think I need to adjust my perception of what is fast/easy and what is slow/hard.

For all the assistance, I stayed at the same weight as last time, but got more volume on everything. 

All in all, feeling pretty good about where my squat is at after the LRB Split and the Strong-15 Short.  Looking forward to how the high-rep back-offs will go on the upcoming Big-15 cycles.

 

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 3. Bench

BW - 199

Bench -
BarX15
95X5
115X4
135X3
145X2
155X1, 1
165X1

135X17, 5

Incline - 95X15, 10

Dips - BWX12, 10, 8

Solid session.  I was trying to cue 'Speed' hard on the singles and the back-off sets.  It definitely helped some, although sometimes it causes me to forget the pause on the back-offs.  135X17 is an all-around PR even including the days when I bounced the bar off my chest.

I moved inclines over to the less steep bench so that I could load the lift a bit more for the rest of the cycle.  95X15 is a Rep PR in incline on either bench.  The combination of the flat bench and the shallower incline angle caused more stress on my triceps.  They were really burning on the 2nd set here.

Pretty tuckered out, and so I cut the dips short after 3 sets.  Getting to that point in the cycle.

LRB 365: Strong-15 Short. Week 2. Deadlift

BW - 198

Deadlift -
135X5
155X5
175X4
195X3
225X2
255X1, 1
275X1

225X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

RDL - 225X12, 15 (straps on 2nd set)

BB Shrugs - 405X6, 315X16

Chins (neutral, shoulder-width grip) - BWX10, 6, 4

Curls - 65X14, 6

Deadlifts were strong.  Cueing myself with 'Shins' and 'Speed,' especially on the back-off sets.  I've been tearing up my shins by starting reps off with them slightly above the bar, and pulling the bar into them instead of up them.  Held the 275 and the last back-off set for time.

Then my grip started giving out on my first set of RDLs.  12 was a Rep PR, but then I added straps for the 2nd set and set an all-around PR with 15.

Was getting pretty tired at this point, and my shrugging strength wasn't what it usually is.

At this point I was so tired I almost forgot about the chins and went straight to curls.  But I remembered.  A month or so back I did chins at an 'away' gym that didn't have a very good set-up, and I ended up doing neutral grip chins at shoulder width.  The next couple of days my mid-back was really sore from that.  I filed that away, and that's what I'm going to do for this cycle and see what the effect is.  With my scapula retracted, it almost feels more like a high row.

LRB 365: LRB Split. Week 1. Press - Heavy

BW - 197

Press -
BarX10
65X5
85X5
95X5, 5
105X5

Bench -
95X5
105X4
125X3
135X2, 2
145X1
155X1

Upright Rows - 85X10, 10, 10, 10, 10

V-Bar Pushdowns - X35, 30, 18, 15, 12

Forgot shorts, and had to work out in jeans.  The confusion caused me to forget my mobility and stretching warm-ups until I was half-way through my Press sets.  Ha.

Press felt good.  My goal for this cycle is 125X5, or 10 more pounds a week.  That would be a PR.  Could be ambitious, but since Bench isn't getting pushed as hard, gotta shoot for assistance PRs.

Bench was fine.  155 is well below my Every Day Max, so I focused on getting tight and moving it fast.

Upright Rows were solid.  If I can hit either 105 for multiple sets of 10, or for more than 10 reps in one set by the end of the cycle, that will be a PR.  Again, that's adding 10 lbs. a week.

I want to do bench dips for my triceps assistance on this day, but there wasn't a good/free spot in the gym to set up for these, so I opted for push-downs.  However, I almost exclusively do rope push-downs, so I thought I would switch that up anyway.  Will the grip matter?  Will I be able to do bench dips next time?  Will I vacillate uncertainly between different movements every week?  Who cares.  It's triceps assistance.  Just get some work in.

LRB 365: Conditioning. Week 4b. Deadlift

BW - 191

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
155X5
185X3
225X2
275X1, 1, 1
225X5

BW Ladder Circuit -
Squats - 5 up to 25, back down to 5
Sit-ups - 5 up to 25, back down to 5
Chins (supinated) - 2 up to 10, back down to 2
Push-ups - 4 up to 20, back down to 4

191 is a BW low going back to sometime in late 2011.

Drank too much and too late the night before.  Thinking about lifting just made me want to lay down, so I backed off the weight on the deadlifts a bit and focused on speed through lock-out.

Circuit all went pretty well actually.  Only had to Rest/Pause the push-ups.  This is the easier of the two bodyweight circuits, however.

LRB 365: 100 Reps. Week 3. Dead

BW - 198

Pause Squats -
BarX10
95X5
135X5
175X3, 3

Deadlift -
135X5
155X5
185X4
225X3
245X2
275X1, 1
285X1

BB Shrugs - 135X70, 30 (no straps)

Weighted Vest - 25 minutes walking

Another good session.  Nothing really to say, as everything went about as it should have with bar speed, etc.

Forearms were really burning after the shrugs.