RTS Block 6. Week 3. Day 3.

sRPE @7

BW - 225

Pause Squats - 

-    290X3 @5

-    310X3 @7

-    320X3 @7.5

Bench - 190X5, 4, 3, 4, 4 @~7.5

Deadlift - 365X3 @7.5

TnG Deadlift - 330X6, 6, 4 @~7

Smith Machine JM Press - 45X17, 13, 12 @9

Nice session.  Pause Squat bounced back from last week, Bench improved a little, an DL improved a lot.

RTS Block 4. Week 4. Day 3.

sRPE @8.5

BW - 228

SBS - 285X7(PR), 6, 7 @~7

Bench -

-    207.5X3 @8

-    235X1 @9

-    185X5, 5, 5 @6/7

Deadlift Paused below knee -

-    360X3 @8

-    340X4(PR) @8

-    315X4, 4 @6

DB Bench - 70sX12(PR), 8, 9 @~10

Tough session to end the block, but 3 Rep PRs on supplemental lifts.

Went 395X3, 235X1, and 405X3 on SBD this week.  On weight alone, that's a 1035 total.  That's 65 lbs. over my meet PR, and only 80 lbs. away from my lifetime PRs.  Those lifetime PRs include questionable depth on squats, and TnG on Bench with butt coming off the bench.  It will feel good to pass those strict.

Next block is a "Tier 1" peaking block that will end in a mock meet.  I don't think it's unreasonable to expect to beat my lifetime heaviest Squat of 410 if things go at least moderately well.  Beating 255 on Bench and 450 on DL seem fairly unlikely in just one more block.

I'm still looking for a meet in the fall to try and sweep my lifetime PRs in an actual meet, but we'll see.

Also need to work on strategies to mitigate heavy squats beating up my arms.  That'll be agenda item #1 for my live call with my coach next week.

RTS Block 4. Week 4. Day 2.

sRPE @8.5

BW - 229

Squats - 

-    395X3 @9

-    340X4, 4, 4 @6/7

CG Bench -

-    215X1 @8

-    185X4 @6

-    190X4 @7

-    192.5X4 @8

Pull-Ups w/Straps - BWX5(PR), 4, @~10

DB Incline Rows w/Straps - 65sX14, 9 @10

Pulldowns - X10, 8 @10

Sleep was bad the last two nights and flooding in the gym spiked the humidity so this session was rough.

Managed to add weight on Squats but RPE definitely went up, and I think depth was just passable.

Also, started to get a ton of arm pain across my brachialis area and triceps.  Tried relaxing my arms a bit, but then the bar started rolling down my back out of the hole. Then I tried brining my elbows up a bit to try and create a shelf that way, but it wasn't much better.

Lingering arm pain slapped an unexpected ceiling on close-grips.  12 lb. drop over last week.  Glad it's the last week of the block.

Unexpected PR set of pull-ups at this BW even after all the arm pain, so....wtf.

RTS Block 3. Week 4. Day 2.

sRPE @8.5

BW - 225

Bench - 

-    175X8 @8

-    190X5 @8

-    205X3 @9.5

-    220X1 @9

Incline Bench - 155X7, 5, 5 @9/8

OH Rope Extensions - X15, 15 @10

Pull-Ups - BWX3, 3 @~10

Pull-Downs - X12, 11, @10

DB Incline Rows w/Straps - 

-    60sX11 @10

-    65sX8 @9.5

Felt good coming in, but Bench quickly aggravated the forearm stress I had from Squatting the day before, and that made all pressing movements and pullups a chore.  Expect that to fade with a day of rest.  

Training: DL+Full Body

sRPE @5.5

BW - 228

Deadlift - 

-    285X3 @4

-    305X3 @6

-    320X3 @6.5

-    335X3 @7.5

-    345X3 @9.5*

PJR Pullovers - 60X9, 8 @~10

GHR - BWX10, 8 @~9

Machine Flyes - X9, 9 @10

Leg Extensions - X11, 9 @10

First time DLing in a couple of months because of schedule and forearm pain.  I supinated grip only on the arm with the forearm issues, and on all reps including warm-ups, and didn't really have any pain issues during or since.

*grip on the supinated hand was giving out on the top set ahead of everything else.  Possibly just a detraining thing, or possibly my previous practicing of alternating my mixed grip on every set was somehow less stressful on each hand than keeping one supinated on every set.

Triceps are sore as hell 36 hours later like they always are when I do DB Triceps Pullovers for the first time in a while. 

Training: Legs

sRPE @6

BW - 227

Squats - 

-    265X3 @7

-    270X3 @7.5

-    280X3 @8

Marrs Bar GM - 175X9, 8 @~9

FFE BSS - BWX11, 10 @8/9

Seated Single-Leg Curls - X8, 8 @10

SL Machine Calf Press - X11, 11 @10

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 0:25/1:35; 14 minutes

Just back from a week vacation.  Need to see about getting my forearm rehabbed.

Training: Squat

sRPE @6.5

BW - 225

Squats - ramping triples to 300X3 @7.5

Marrs Bar GM - 175X8, 8, 8 @8.5/9.5

Leg Press - 3ppsX9, 9, 8 @~9.5

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 0:20/1:40; 18 minutes

Just back from an out of town trip.  Dizziness seems to have mostly dissipated, although it came on a bit between Squat sets today, but then went away again.

I have a longer out of town trip coming up mid-October, so I'll probably keep doing these simple, old-school-ish workouts until I return:

Main Lift - ramping triples starting at 75% and going to RPE ~8

Low Fatigue Compound Antagonist - 3 sets close to failure

Low Fatigue Compound Supplement - 3 sets close to failure

Conditioning

I'm going to try DL again this week and see how the forearm is doing.  

Time Crunch + Forearm Pain Week 1. Day A.

 sRPE @6.5

BW  - 227   

SSB -

-    up to 300X1 @9

-    250X3 @8

Reverse SSB Box Squats - 210X3, 3, 3 @~7.5

Circuit -

-    Leg Curls - X9, 8, 8 @8

-    Hypers - BW+25 behind head X8, 8, 7 @8

-    Leg Extensions - X12, 10, 10 @8/9

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 0:20/1:40; 14 minutes    

Schedule is all over the place this month and next, plus I think I need to just back off anything that puts much stress on grip for a while.

Not letting perfect be the enemy of good, I'll just go in when I can and try to hit some stuff, and maybe a plan will emerge.

S/B/D/R Week 1. Day A.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 224

Squats - 

-    up to 325X1 @7.5

-    285X3, 3, 3 @6/8

BB Rows w/Straps - 

-    up to 185X6 @8

-    185X3, 3, 3 @4.5/8

GHR - BWX10, 9, 8 @8/9

super-set with

Machine Laterals - X10, 8, 8 @~8

Cable Rear Delt Flyes - X8, 8, 7 @7.5/9

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 0:20/1:40; 14 minutes

Really enjoyed this program layout prior to the Rows specialization block so going back to it for a few weeks.  This was a fun session.

Forearms didn't like the 'D' attachment on the rear delt flyes, but a buddy had mentioned using the single rope attachments.  I tried those and they felt GREAT.  

Pressin' Out Week 2. Day C.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 225

Press - 115X3, 3, 3 @~6.5

DB Seated Press - 45sX10, 9 @~10

Chins - 

-    BW+25X1 @9.5*

-    BWX3 @8

Adductor Machine - X14, 13 @~10

PJR Pullovers - 45X13, 12, 11 @9.5

*Weighted Chins are definitely aggravating my left forearm.  I hate to have to sideline that lift for a while after spending so much time spent trying to improve it, but I may have to do that to give the tendinopathy time to calm down.

Still the first time I've been able to squeeze in a 3rd session in a couple of weeks, so I'm happy about that.

Inter-Holiday Session

sRPE @5.5

BW - 227

Press (beltless) - up to 145X1(PR) @9.5

CS Rows - 135X10, 10 @8/9

Hanging Flexed Knee-to-Chest w/straps - BWX12(PR), 9, 7 @8.5/10

Pivot-y kind of session before I start a Press-focused block next week.  

I haven't done a ton of beltless Pressing, but I'm pretty sure that is a PR.  

Lockout on this an all of the singles working up to it felt different than they did recently when I was going after the Press.  I'd been hitting a pretty hard sticking point about 2/3 of the way up, and I'd tried attacking it with Pin Presses and Push Presses, with little success.  These sets hit that sticking point and slowed a little, but still smoothly pushed through to lockout.

If that feel holds through the beginning of the block, I'd be tempted to chalk it up to all of the triceps work I did on my Dips mini-block. 

I'm also pretty sure 12 reps at this BW is a Rep PR on Hanging Flexed-Knee-to-Chest, but I haven't done that variation too often.  Had to use straps on these because left forearm discomfort continues (and may become a confounder in my Pressing; fingers crossed).

Dippin' into Dips Week 3. Day B.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 224

Dips - BWX5, 5, 5 @6/7

Incline DB Raise - 15sX14, 11, 8 @10

ATG Pause Squat - 

-    275X1 @8

-    185X5, 5 @~6

Gaspari Bar Hammer Curls - 45X11, 7 @10

DB LTEs - 20sX15, 11, 11 @10

Squats weren't feeling it on this day, so backed off.  Happens sometimes.

Still have some left forearm flexor discomfort lingering from the Chin-Ups blocks and/or bad Squat grip position.  Straight bar Curls weren't feeling great so switched to the Gaspari Bar.

Block 14. Cycle 3. Session A.

BW - 220

sRPE @8.5

Chin-Ups - BWX2, 2, 2, 2, 3 @8/9

BB Curls -

60X11, 11, 11 @8/9

50X11 @ 7.5

Deadlift -

362.5X4 @7.5

325X7, 7, 7 @7

Upright Rows - 65X10, 10 @7/8

Made sure to be very conservative with everything after Chins.  Still feeling beat down after the inadvertently high sRPE sessions last week.  Chins are the main lift on this day, so "keep the goal the goal" and just punching the clock on everything else.

I have some wrist and forearm discomfort lingering from last week, so I was especially conservative with the curls.  Backed way off and did relatively slow "controlled" reps.

Was still feeling kind of gassed by the time I got through DL warm-ups.  It might be that I'm just not used to this much DL volume this late in a training session.  Regardless, I was conservative with the top set, and didn't try to push the back-off weight past last week since I was adding a set.  Back-off sets ended up being on target AND a 3X7 Volume PR.

Upright Rows were similar to curls.  Wrists weren't loving it, so backed off and did slower reps.

Block 14. Cycle 2. Session C.

 BW - 223

sRPE - @10

Press -

135X1 @8

117.5X3 @7

110X6 @9

Squat -

290X6 @7

250X10, 10 @~7

Decline Cambered Swiss Bar - 120X10, 10 @7/8.5

BB Rows - 145X10, 10 @7.5/8

Left brachioradialis has been giving me trouble this week and it was uncomfortable stabilizing on the Press.  Still got my targets on everything except the AMRAP set.

This week has been tough in general with training, so I was very conservative on the Squat and was rewarded by being right on target.

Similarly, I didn't try to increase the weight on this Decline movement as I was adding a work set.  Still got pretty hard by the 2nd set, and I was ready to be out of the gym.

I made myself to do the Rows even though I didn't want to.  Same weight as last week +1 set, and on target.

Need to start tracking sRPE again.  I define sRPE thusly: after the last work set of the last compound movement of the session, how many more sets could I have gotten at around the same weight/reps/RPE?  Definitely had two @10 sessions this week.

Block 8. Cycle 4. Session D.

BW - 227

Waist - 43"

sRPE @7

Chin-Ups -
BW+15X3, 3, 2, 3 @~9.5
BWX5 @10

Rack Chins (Myo-reps; 30 sec. rest) - BWX8, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 @~9.5

Dips -
BW+25X8 @8
BWX11 @8.5

Rope Pushdowns - X16@10

BB Curls -
70X8, 8 @8/10
60X8 @8

Solid session.

Weighted chin-up strength seemed up a bit from last week, and in line with the BW only session a few days ago.

Rack chins were bothering my right forearm today.  I've had a little bit of achy-ness there the last week or so, but it really lit up on this movement.  Tried shifting to pronated, and that may have helped a bit.  Something to keep an eye on.

e1RM on Dips dropped a bit with the addition of weight, but I expect that to start moving back up as long as I don't have any aches/pains interfering with the movement.

Curls were a little rougher today, but still represents a slight increase.

Texas Method Team Training. Week 2. Volume Day

BW - 225

Squat - 270X5X5

Bench - 175X5X5

Deadlift - 210X10X2

Squats were a little wonky getting started but were going strong by the end.  However, I was getting some kind of forearm pain along/around my brachialis.  Was really bothering me.

When I got to bench, the forearm pain made it difficult to keep an aggressive grip on the bar.  First couple of sets were really hard as a result, but as we got further from squatting, the discomfort receded, and I was able to clamp down on the bar.

Speed deads were fine.