RTS Pivot Block 6. Day 2.

sRPE @5

BW - 226

Bench - 

-    195X3 @8

-    180X2, 2, 2, 2 @~6

Beltless DL - 

-    315X2 @6

-    300X2, 2, 2 @5

Belt Squat (12RM AMRAP in 12 minutes) - 140X12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 6 @~9.5

RTS Pivot Block 3. Week 1. Day 2.

sRPE @7

BW - 225

Bench - 

-    up to 197.5X4 @8.5

-    185X2, 2, 2, 2 @~6.5

Sumo DL - 

-    up to 355X3(PR) @10

-    315X1 @10 lol

Belt Squat - 140X14, 9, 8, 7, 7 2 @~9.5 (12 min AMRAP with 12RM)

Sumo was supposed to be X4 @8, but last warmup felt good, so I decided to go for something.  Missed on 4, but 355X3 is still a PR.  Fatigue plus bad technique turned back-offs into a train wreck, so I just moved on.

Chin-Up War Week 4. Day A.

sRPE @7

BW - 225

Chins - BWX7(PR), 5, 4, 4 @10

1-Arm DB Rows w/Strap - 100X11(?PR?), 9 @~10

Belt Squat - 105X10, 10 @~8

EZ OH Extensions - 55X11, 10 @~10

BB Curls - 75X15(PR), 10 @9/10

7 reps of Chins at this BW is a PR, and also got another PR set of Curls.  

I think my heaviest set of DB Rows is 100X9, so that set of 11 is probably a PR too, but I haven't been keeping a log of my DB Row PRs.  I was supposed to do 3 sets today, but I forgot.  I'll likely stay at 100 next week while I add that extra set in.  

Bench, Legs

sRPE @7

BW - 221

Bench - 

-    up to 250X1 @10

-    205X1, 1, 1 @6/7

Belt Squat - 105X11, 9, 8 @~9

Smith Machine Incline Bench - 65X10, 12, 12 @8/10

Leg Extensions - X12, 11, 9 @10

Top set on Bench was a real grind.  That puts my rolling "gym week total" at 1060.  Probably still have some headroom to push that up on Deadlift and Squat in the coming week, but everything would likely have to be perfect to add to the Bench.  Or maybe get a hand-off.  Maybe.

My new, Mike Israetel inspired technique on Belt Squats continues to feel great.  No longer a high fatigue, low-specificity Squat supplement, but rather a smooth, hard-burning compound quad accessory.

I don't think I've ever actually done any kind of Pressing, Squatting, etc. in a Smith Machine before.  Always just used it for Inverted Rows and BW JM Press.  Everyone always talks about Smith Machine like it's "weenie," etc., so I expected to be able to use more weight than I could for barbell Incline.  NOPE.  Glad I decided to warm-up a little instead of just jumping to a couple of 25s+.

Still had some gas left, and threw on some more quad assistance.

Close-Grip Bench, Belt Squats, Upper Back

sRPE @7

BW - 226

CG Bench - 

-    up to 235X1(PR) @9.5

-    210X3(PR) @8

-    185X3, 3 @6.5

Belt Squat - 

-    105X10, 10 @7/8

-    140X6 @9

Upper Back Attack - 

-    Cable Rear Delt Rows - X17, 17, 13 @9/10

-    Cable Rows - X15, 14, 11 @10

-    Cable Retractions - X12, 11, 10 @9/10

A couple of nice PRs on CG Bench.  The Data Driven Strength guys recently put out 3 new RPE charts based on recent studies.  I initially copied over the "Average Rep Capacity" chart for my use, but after the last couple of sessions, I've revised to the "Low Rep Capacity" as it seems to line up better with how my heavy singles compare to my heavy triples.  

I've always fucking hated Belt Squat.  I was always trying to do them and maintain BB Squat position with a high chest etc.  I recently saw videos of Mike Israetel doing them for bodybuilding where his upper body was somewhat relaxed, he was holding onto the bars, and was just trying to go as deep as possible.  More like a Hack Squat or a Leg Press.  I tried that out today and it felt GREAT.  Couldn't use as much weight because of the longer ROM, but very happy to have another tool for training legs that I actually might like!

Mid-Rep Volume PRs. Week 5. Session C.

sRPE @9

BW - 221

Press - 100X6, 6, 6, 6, 6 @6.5/8

Toes-to-Bar - BWX4, 4, 4, 4 @7.5/9.5

Belt Squat - up to 140X7 @6

Lots of fatigue still carrying over from jumping back into the full program on Monday.  All performance feeling generally muted, and leg DOMS majorly impacting anything lower body.

Mid-Rep Volume PRs. Week 4.5. Session A.

sRPE @5

BW - 221

Bench - up to 225X1 @6.5

Press - 100X6, 6, 6 @~6

Belt Squat - 

140X7 @5

175X4 @6

BB Curls - 55X20, 14 @6.5/9

Just getting back into the gym after an unexpected 1.5 weeks off. 

Mid-Rep Volume PRs. Week 3. Session C.

sRPE @7

BW - 217

Press - 100X6, 6, 6, 6, 6 @6/7

Toes-to-Bar - BWX5, 5, 5, 5 @~7.5

Belt Squat - 

140X7 @~5

175X7, 7 , 7 @~7.5

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 9 rounds / 16 minutes

100 for 5 sets of 6 is a Volume PR on Press.

Mid-Rep Volume PRs. Week 2. Session C.

sRPE @7

BW - 218

Press - 95X6, 6, 6, 6, 6 @5.5/6.5

Toes-to-Bar - BWX4, 4, 4, 4 @6.5/7.5

Belt Squat - 140X7, 7, 7, 7 @6.5/6

95 for 5 sets of 6 is a Volume PR on Press.

2nd week in a row that the latter sets of Belt Squat were easier than the first.  Probably means I need to take even more time warming up on them.

Mid-Rep Volume PRs. Week 1. Session C.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 218

Intro week; ~-1 Set per movement

Bench - 

205X1 @6

225X1 @7

160X9, 9, 9 @~7

Toes-to-Bar - BWX4, 4, 4 @~7

Belt Squat - 140X7, 7, 7 @~6.5

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 16 minutes / 9 rounds

BBM Gen.S+C Block 1. Cycle 3. Session C.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 204

Trap Bar Deadlift - 

345X5 @8

315X5, 5, 5 @~6

Deficit Pushup Plus - BWX13, 10, 9 @8.5/9

Belt Squat - 125X2; EMOM; 10 minutes

Band Reverse Nordics - BWX7, 6 @9/10

Airdyne - HIIT; 12 minutes

Schedule crunched again this week, so moved heavy session to Thursday and got in conditioning while I was at it. 

BBM Gen.S+C Block 1. Cycle 2. Session C.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 205

Trap Bar Deadlift - 

335X5 @7.5

315X5, 5, 5 @~6

Belt Squat EMOMS - 120X11 sets of 2 reps

Deficit Pushup Plus - BWX12, 9, 7 @8.5/7

Band-Assisted Reverse Nordic Curls - BWX6, 6 @8/7

BBM General S+C Block 1. Cycle 1. Session C.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 205

Trap Bar - up to 335X5 @7.5

Belt Squat - up to 175X5 @8

Deficit Pause Pushup Plus - BWX11, 9 @7/8

Band Reverse Nordic Curls - BWX6, 6 @8/10

I think the only one of these movements I've ever done is Belt Squat.  Everything was awkward and hilarious. 

Pivot Day 3

BW - 211

Belt Squat -
115X10, 10 @~5
120X10, 10 @6

DB Bench - 50sX10, 10, 10 @6/7

Mini-Band Straight-Arm Pull-Down - 3X10 @~5

DB Hammer Curls -
30sX10 @8
25sX10 @7.5
20sX10 @8.5

Pivot Day 1

BW - 212

Belt Squat - 115X10, 10, 10 @~6

DB Bench - 45sX10, 10, 10 @~5.5

Min-Band Straight-Arm Pull-Downs - 3X10

Hammer Curls - 25sX10, 10, 10 @5/7

I need to look around for tips on how to make the belt squat less awkward to get in and out of. 

Could have gone up on DB Bench, as the weight felt easier each set, but the shoulders also felt a bit "crunchy" not having done this movement in a while, so I let it ride.

Hoping to use the band pull-downs to help a little bit with keeping the bar in groove on DL.  I may actually try it with mixed grip for shits and giggles.

Kept rest time <2 and="" aria-haspopup="true" class="goog-spellcheck-word" curls="" id=":df.3" min.="" on="" role="menuitem" span="" style="background: yellow;" tabindex="-1" the="">RPE
hilariously climbed by 1 on each set.

Transmutation to Accumulation Pivot Day 4.

BW - 218

Bench - 195X5, 5 @~7

CG Bench - 155X12 @8

Belt Squat - 130X7, 7 @7

GHR - BWX5, 5 @7

DB Rows - 80sX8, 7 @7

Moving "comp" lift to first in the session order.  Bench ended up coming in about 7 lb.s under target weight, but I'm also being conservative.

When I used to do close-grip bench, my offset was about 80%.  I dropped 80% off my bench work weight, but upped RPE to 8.  I didn't do the math ahead of time, but 12 reps is right on target for that 155/(195/78.6%)=62.5%=12@8. 

Ended up getting more reps at my target weight than expected.  I believe that's wholly a function of a still-very-novel movement.  However I need to watch this on squat movements through this block as I'm trying to let my quad strain heal up and higher-rep sets are probably not the best idea, as it pushes the total volume back up.  Need to really hone in on that 2X4-5 @7.  I should have stopped the first set of 130 and upped the weight.

Haven't done GHR in forever.  Medial hamstrings at the knee weren't loving this, but hopefully a little SRA will help with that.

Belted up for the DB Rows as I've had issues here and there with these in the past, and it's also been forever since I did them.

Only took video of the bench sets today.

Transmutation to Accumulation Pivot Day 2.

BW - 218

Pause Low Bar Squat -
275X2 @7
285X2 @8

Belt Squat - 135X8, 8 @8.5

Standing PBN - 95X3 @8

Bench-Grip Press (dead-stop on chest) - 95X5, 5 @8

Bench-Grip Deadlift -
245X8, 8 @~7.5
255X7 @8.5

Rope Cable Curls - X9, 8 (straight-weight)

More improved pivot work.  Broke a little further out of the mold on this day by using no comp. movements.  Also didn't bother getting video of anything but the BGDL.  Wish I'd gotten video of the BG Press, though.  Those felt good.

Squatting still difficult because of quad pain.  A little better on belt squat, but obviously much lower intensity.

I used to do a fair amount of PBN, but I tried doing these as dead stops on my traps, and they felt like crap.  May try them again in the future with a floating rack above the shoulders.

A year or so ago, one of the strongest guys in the gym had mentioned that he got more carryover from the press to his bench if he moved the grip out and allowed the bar to sit fully on his chest.  I've had that in the back of my mind ever since.  I rolled it out today, and once I found a good grip position they felt great.  Feels very stable, especially with a belt on.  The lift kind of starts with the hips pushed forward already to allow the bar to sit on the chest.  This makes it virtually impossible to use hip drive, and thus makes the movement much "stricter."

Decided to do a wider grip DL and only use double-overhand.  SGDL has always made me a bit nervous as far as technique breakdown under fatigue, but bench-grip has always felt comfortable to me.  Decided to do this of high single-digit reps.  The capped it with some rando-curls.

HLM. Week 11. Day 1.

BW - 219 (lightest since Sept. '15)

Squat -
365X3 @ 8.5
335X5 @ 9
315X5 @ 9

High Incline Bench -
155X5 @ 7.5
160X5, 5, @ 8.5
160X5 @ 9.5
150X5 @ 8

BB Row - 210X5, 5, 5 @ 8

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.

HLM. Week 10. Day 2.

BW - 224

Belt Squat - 165X5, 5, 5 @ 8

Feet-Up Bench -
205X1 @ 8
180X5 @ 6.5
195X5, 5, 5 @ ~8.5
185X5, 5 @ ~8.5

Chest-Supported T-Bar Row - 125X5, 5, 5 @ 8
super-set with
Seated Leg Curls - X10, 10, 10, 10

"Novelty Week" or "My Continued Adventures with Back Pain" continues!

Back was a little bit better on this day, but still didn't feel like I was ready to load my spine.  Hoping the third session of the week will be

Tried out the belt squat for the first time.  It took me 7 sets to arrive at the 165 work weight I used.  It's a very different squat feeling, and took a long time to dial-in technique so that I felt like the weight was staying over mid-foot, I wasn't falling forwards or backwards (the weight being attached at the hip caused the upper body to feel a bit more out of control), and that I could apply full power to the movement.  I do feel like I got some work in here.

Tried full power bench, but my back wasn't liking it.  Went with feet-up.  It was still painful at times (mainly getting on the bench and in position), but I got through it.  These numbers are low compared to what I did with this movement when I was rehabbing my adductor, but I think low back pain just takes a bigger toll on everything.  Overshot a little bit with 195 on the back-off work and couldn't sustain it for 5X5, so had to drop down to 185.

I really couldn't think of what to do in place of block pulls here.  So I went with Chest-Supported rows again, but for lower reps, and superset it with leg curls to get some hamstring work in.  I tried lying leg curls, but my back HATED that, so I had to switch to the stupid seated machine.

Because I wasn't doing any movements where I'm concerned about long-term proficiency, I didn't grab any video.