RTS Block 6. Week 4. Day 3.

sRPE @7

BW - 226

Pause Squats - 

-    305X3 @5.5

-    327.5X3 @7

-    340X3 @8

Bench - 195X5, 3, 3, 2, 2 @8.5/7

Deadlift - 372.5X3 @7.5

TnG Deadlift - 345X6, 5, 4 @8/6.5

Smith Machine JM Press - 50X15, 12, 10 @~9.5

Solid session to end the training block.  Weights and e1RM finishing up on comp lifts, and pushed weight up on Supps and Accessories as well.

Week-over-Week from the end of the last block to the end of this one was quite good at 3.2%.  However, the peak e1RM Total (1107) is still the lowest since I added knee sleeves to squats.  This is mostly due to the taper and peak for the mock meet at the end of last block having not gone well.  

If we can get comparable week-over-week improvement next block, that should put peak e1RM right around my best since adding sleeves (1143).  And then hopefully we can keep stacking mostly positive blocks from there.

RTS Block 3. Week 1. Day 2.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 223

Bench - 

-    160X8 @7.5

-    185X5 @8

-    200X3 @8.5

-    220X1 @8.5

Incline Bench - 145X8, 7, 6 @~8

OH Cable Extensions - X16, 15 @10

Pull-Ups - BWX3, 2 @10

Pull-Downs - X9, 7 @10

DB Incline Rows w/Straps - 65sX11, 8, @10

Nice session.  Moved quickly.  

Bench drop off from end of last block was fairly minimal on top end strength even with the ladder sets.  I like relatively small e1RM drop off after a pivot/deload as a sign that it may have been well structured.

RTS Block 2. Week 3. Day 3.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 224

SSB Squats - 

-    260X5, 5 @7.5/8.5

-    240X5 @7

Bench - 190X5, 3, 2, 2 @9.5/8.5

Incline Bench - 

-    170X6, 6 @9/9.5

-    160X6 @8.5

Pause Deadlift (paused just off floor) -

-    315X5 @7

-    340X3 @7.5

-    365X1 @7

CS Rows w/Straps - 115X15, 10, 8 @~10

I pushed weight up aggressively on the first 3 lifts as a sort of RPE audit.  However, I definitely perceived the RPE to be higher so e1RM ends up being about the same as last week.  Still useful info.

I kept Pause DL weight the same to focus on a stricter pause.  Coach was looking for a full stop, and I was more slowing way down but still moving.

Higher-Rep Volume PRs. Week 6. Session A.

sRPE @8

BW - 218

Squat - up to 315X1 @7

Leg Press - up to 4ppsX7 @10

Press - up to 145X1 @9.5

Push Press - up to 155X1 @8

A good deal of low back discomfort has crept in the last couple of days, and it made Squats pretty difficult.  I'd hoped to work up to something fairly heavy today, but it took several warm-ups just to be able to get to 315 so I called it there.

No problem on Leg Press or any of the other movements.  I worked up on Leg Press to set a baseline for training that movement next block.  I was mentally a bit wiped from working through back pain on Squats and maxing Leg Press, so I just worked up on the Press movements.

Pretty good block on Press.  I finished last block and started this one with an e1RM ~130.  I think having multiple singles plus the overload movement were helpful.  Not an earth-shaking idea, but this is the first time I've truly overloaded Press so it was nice to see a promising result.  At the least, I think it made me more comfortable with heavier weight in my hands on the set-up.

BBM Peaking Block. Cycle 2. Session A

sRPE @7

BW - 210

Squat - 

350X1 @8

325X2 @7

305X2, 2, 2, 2 @~6

CG Bench - 

205X1 @6.5

190X2, 2, 2, 2 @~5.5

Plate Deficit DL - 

365X3 @~8

335X2, 2 @~6

GHR - BWX13, 13, 13 @6/~7

I expected there might be a drop-off in e1RM going from 5's to singles, and there was on Squat and a bit on CG Bench.  My Squat in particular seems to be much "weaker" as reps drop.

Deficit DL actually was a little higher in e1RM, but the rep change from 6's to a triple wasn't as dramatic either.

Skipped conditioning because I wanted to go buy a steak and go home and cook it and it was getting a bit late.

BBM PB I Block 1. Cycle 5. Session C.

sRPE @5.5

BW - 204

Deadlift - 

390X5 @7.5

370X5, 5, 5 @7/8

Dips - BWX16 @9.5

390X5 is a Rep PR and e1RM PR on DL, and 370 for 4X5 is a Volume PR.

Under time crunch.  Chose to ditch everything else and do an AMRAP on Dips to see where they are before the next block.

BBM PB I Block 1. Cycle 4. Session C.

sRPE @7

BW - 203

Deadlift - 

385X5 @~8

365X5, 5, 5 @~7/8.5

Hammer Incline - 120X8, 8, 8 @7.5/8.5

Seated DB Press - 35sX15, 12, 12, 12 @9.5/8.5

Standing Calves - X20, 20, 20 @~8/10

385 is a 4 Rep PR on DL, and 365 is a 2X5 Volume PR.  This is also a PR e1RM.

Block 18 (Exploratory). Cycle 7. Session A.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 218

Curls - 95X7 @10

Bench - 

215X1 @6

167.5X13 @8

Machine Flyes - X11@10

Deadlift -

405X1 @7

320X10 @8 (grip)

SSB Pause Squat -

210X9 @7

250X4 @6.5

300X1 @6.5

95 lbs. is a 1 Rep PR on Curls, and I did 7.  Sets of 95X10 across is a near term goal for me on this movement, so I decided to do a rep test here in the last week.  With this performance, this block seems to have out-performed the previous Tier 2, or "second best," block.  That previous Tier 2 is what my next block of Curl training is based on.  Will be interesting to see how they compare!

167.5X13 is a Rep PR on Bench.  I wish I hadn't skipped the back-off set last week, or I might have gotten two of these in a row.  I think this is my first Bench Rep PR (vs. Volume PR) on Bench in over a year.  Even though it was a secondary lift this block, it's worth nothing that the prior two blocks had Bench as a focus.

320X10 is a Rep PR on Deadlift.  Rated is @8 RPE because the bar was starting to come out of my left hand at the end.  Top single was a little harder than last week.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the SSB Pause Squats here in the last week, so I ended up working up in "big" increments.  Bar+1.25pps, bar+2pps, bar+2.25pps.  Interesting that it kind of got easier as I went up, and projects as an almost 50# increase over last week's e1RM.  Maybe it's just easier to do low reps at the end of a session.

At a bit of a minor programming "crisis" as I realize that the e1RM on my back-off sets of Bench is drastically higher than the e1RM of the top single.  PL programming would say to track off the single, and that's what I've always done.  For PL, that makes sense because it "keeps the goal the goal," but my goals are progress in a much wider variety of rep ranges.  Only tracking off of the lowest rep sets is the more conservative approach for sure.  More likely to undershoot vs. overshoot block-over-block targets in all rep ranges.  But it might also mask the actual progress being made in a block.  

For Bench this block, the back-off set had the higher RPE, and more closely mirrored the rep range of the Flyes, the accessory chosen specifically for bench.  So would it be more accurate to say I was training the higher rep range on bench this block, and if so, shouldn't I track e1RM off of that?  I think I should.  The downside is that it will likely over-project my  low-rep strength to start the next block, and I'll have to auto-regulate the weight down.  Not really that big of a deal as long as I'm conscious of it, and don't think something is "wrong."

I wrote out some new guidelines around this for future programming: 

    What rep range is getting "more" trained on the secondary and tertiary movement (higher RPE, more sets, more similar to accessory)?  Track e1RM for that range, BUT LOOK BACK at end of block and see which progressed more and base off of that.  Be prepared to have to auto-regulate projected performance in less similar rep ranges up or down at the start of the next block.

Block 17. Cycle 7. Session B.

sRPE @5

BW - 215

Bench - 245X1 @10

Chin-Ups - BWX10 @10

Squat - 365X1 @8.5

DB Curls -

40sX10 @7

45sX7 @10

Was hoping to hit a Bench PR on this last week, but I either peaked last week or shot myself in the foot with a max Press on Monday.  Still a productive couple of bench blocks.  Peak e1RM at the end of bock 15 was 240.  Peaked in Block 16 at 247.5, and last week at 257.5

I haven't hit 10 reps on chins since January '18.  But if you look at actual video of those sets, they were shit: https://ontheapron.blogspot.com/2018/01/greyskull-lp-session-14.html , and I re-set to sets of 5 trying to be stricter after seeing that video.  I should have videoed todays set.  I do feel confident that elbows were getting above ears at the bottom, and definitely that chin was clearing the bar at the top.

Block 16. Cycle 7. Session A.

BW - 219

sRPE @6.5

Curls -

80X9, 9 @8/9.5

Slower Eccentric - 65X9 @10 

Press - 160X1 @10

DB Laterals - 30sX14@10

Squat - 385X2 @9

GHR - BWX15, 16 @8.5/9.5

As is common in the last week of a training block, I find myself dropping volume a bit and reaching for some stuff for fun.

80X9 is a Rep PR on Curls.  Did a couple of those and then did more of a "bodybuilding" backoff set with a slower eccentric to failure.  Dropped the 4th workset I'd been doing.

Decided to max Press.  This was nice because it both indicated a slight increase in 1RM over the prior week's estimate and was almost EXACTLY what I estimated e1RM to be at for this week.  I don't usually get in my head about the difference between RPE based E1RM and "actual," but it was nice to see this.  The rep was a real grind.  Been a while since I'd done one of those.

Dropped the high-rep back-off set, and just did one AMRAP on laterals instead of two sets.

Worked up to a heavier double on Squat than I've been doing in this block to see what that was like.  This is my heaviest sqaut since I did a 387.5X1 @8.25 in November of last year.  This seems like at least slight improvement over that.  Interestingly, that training block also had Session A's that went Curls, Press, Squat.

Also dropped the back-off sets of 10 on Squat.  I had it as a possibility to do a 3X10 Volume PR on this day, but that just sounded hard in a boring way, and not in a fun way.

Block 14. Cycle 3. Session B.

BW - 221

sRPE @ 8

Dips - 

BW+52.5X4, 4, 4, @~8

BWX15 @ 8

Bench - 

200X3 @8

157.5X10, 10 @7/8.25

150X10 @9

Toes-to-Bar - BWX2, 3, 3 @8/9

Band Chins (under knee) - BWX5, 5, 5 @8/8.5

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.

Block 12. Cycle 5. Session B.

 BW - 233

Waist - 43"

sRPE @ 8

BB Curls - 70X13, 13 @8/8.75

DB Curls - 35sX12, 12 @8/8.5

Bench - 

235X1 @8

197.5X4, 4, 4, 4 @~6

Deadlift - 

415X1 @8.5

360X4, 4, 4, 4 @~6

DB Press - 42.5sX10, 10 @7.5/8

70X13 on BB Curls is a Rep PR and projected new PR Max.

360 for 2X4 is a volume PR on Deadlift, and I did 4X4.  Top set didn't feel any stronger this week though.

DB Overheads felt generally stronger this week, as I chose to point my head up a bit more throughout the movement and not worry about pushing my head through at the top.

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 8. Cycle 8. Session C.

BW - 228

Waist - 43"

sRPE @ 7

Deadlift -
405X2 @8.75
315X12 @7.75

GHR (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rests) - BWX16, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 @8/7

Nice session.

Lots of PR stuff on DL.  405X2 and 315X12 are both lifetime rep PRs, and while both project lifetime e1RM PRs, that sub-maximal 405X2 really feels like one.

Similar to the other PL movement sessions this week, I dropped the second set of 12.

GHRs were fine.

Block 8. Cycle 2. Session A.

BW - 225

Waist - 43"

Squat -
360X1 @8.25
257.5X12, 12 @7.5, 8.5

Leg Press (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rests) -
270X18 @8
270X5, 5, 5, 5, 5 @7/7.5

Solid session.

So far, the projected maxes for my top single and my back-off sets of 12 are at odds.  I'm going to do separate projections for those going forward.  Might be worth logging as a custom RPE.  Don't know.  This cycle the 12@8 was about 66% of the e1RM based off the top single.  That's about 5% higher than on the standard table.  We'll see where it ends up.

For Leg Press, rather than increase the weight, I figured I'd just try to add reps, and up the weight when I hit 20 reps @~8.  The myo-rep sets were a bit easier this time, but as long as the first set is increasing reps, I'm okay with that.

Video is top single and final back-off set.

Block 8. Cycle 1. Session A.

BW - 227

Waist - 42.75"

Squat -
335X1 @7.5
235X12 @6
255X12 @8

Leg Press (Myo-Reps / 30 sec. rest) -
3ppsX15 @8
3ppsX5, 5, 5, 5, 5 @7

First day of the new block brought some new stuff and some stuff I haven't done in a while, but everything went well.

Big gap in E1RM to start the block between 1@8 and 12@8.  Will be interesting to see if that gap closes over the course of the block.  Program calls for 2X12@8, but I didn't want to do extra work sets X12 because I've had so much trouble with Squat-related DOMS at the beginning of dev blocks.  Will also be interesting to see what a true 2X12@8 feels like as I get that more dialed-in. 

Haven't done regular Leg Press in a while, and first time using the density technique currently referred to as Myo-Reps. 

Probably haven't had this much of a "quad pump" in a while, although it was relatively mild compared to what I've experienced with "purer" hypertrophy training in the past.

Video is of top single and final squat work set.

Block 5. Cycle 7. Session B.

BW - 222

Bench -
252.5X2 @9.75
212.5X6, 6, 6 @~8.5

Cambered Bar Bench - 175X5, 5, 5 @8

Chin-Ups - BW Density Block; 7 minutes; 7 reps on 1st set; 32 total reps

Bench was a mixed bag here.  252.5X2 is a Rep PR, but with the @~10 it projects as a lower e1RM than last week's 250X2@~9

Frankly, the warm-ups suggested I should take 250 again, but I wanted to try for more weight.  At least it's nice to get some confirmation that I should believe my warm-up feedback. 

I decided to still go on the heavier side on the back-off sets.  The first couple of sets were okay, but the last set was definitely @8.5 and trending up. 

But I was able to add weight to the cambered bench without any trouble.  Some of that could still be acclimation to a relatively novel movement.

Also got one more rep squeezed in on the chin-up density block.

Yesterday, I was optimistic that I might be able to extend this training block another week, and today I kind of want it to be over.  It may come down to how the last session of this cycle goes.  This is definitely one of those places where a good quality coach that's familiar with both my lifting and my psychology would be helpful, but as is I gotta do for self.

All video is of top set and final back-offs.