Block 19 (Tier 2). Cycle 1. Session A.

sRPE @6

BW - 218

Curls - 75X10, 10 @7.5

Bench - 

210X3 @7

180X6 @6

Gaspari Bar High Front Raise - 50X8 @7

Deadlift - 

400X1 @7

340X4, 4 @5

Solid start to the new block.  I'm really excited to be jumping into Tier 1 and Tier 2 Emerging Strategies work.

For the pivot, I also used Tier 2 programming, which is to say the pivot block programming that had yielded the 2nd highest starting % for a prior training block.  While I did this for all 8 of my main movements, I'm primarily concerned about the 3 movements that are the focus of the block: Curls, Press, Squats.

When I did this pivot previously for Curls, it yielded a 97.8% drop-off from the end of the prior block.  This time it yielded 97.9%!  Curls in particular tend to have a big drop-off for me between blocks with an average start of 89.2%.  Really happy about this.

Bench came in slightly under target in both rep ranges.  After the curls, it seemed like I was "feeling the Bench in my forearms" a lot.  I've had curling first in a session interfere a bit with Press, but usually not with Bench.  We'll see how it goes.

Deadlift felt pretty strong.  DL is my only Squat accessory this block.  Not intuitive to me, but my 2nd best Squat block using Emerging Strategies was a block where I only Squatted and Deadlifted for 1@8 and 4X4 @6.  Excited to see how it goes revisiting that!

Pivot Block. Cycle 2. Session C

 BW - 222

Beltless Press - 125X3 @7.5

DB Full Front Raises - 20sX10, 10 @7/9

Beltless Pause Squat - 275X3 @5.5

Beltless Squat - 205X15 @5.5

Leg Press - 4.5ppsX15 @6.25

Bench Dips - BW+35#ChainsX15, 15 @6/8

Inverted Rows (feet flat) - BWX13, 13 @7/8.5

Last session of the pivot.  As I've had some very mild adductor DOMS after these beltless sessions, I'm optimistic that I WON'T have crippling adductor DOMS as I start the next dev block.

Pivot Block. Cycle 1. Session C

 BW - 222

Beltless Press - 125X3 @7.5

DB Front Raise - 17.5'sX10, 10 @~8

Beltless Pause Squat - 275X3 @6

Beltless Squat - 185X15 @5

Leg Press - 4PPSX15 @6

Bench Dips - BW+70(chains)X12 @8

Inverted Rows (feet flat) - BWX12, 12 @6/8

Trying to find a good way to allow fatigue to dissipate on squats without losing adductor fitness and struggling with DOMS in the first weeks of the next block.  

Pivot Block. Cycle 2. Session C.

 BW - 230

Waist - 44"

X-2-3-3 Tempo Chins - BWX9, 8, 7 @8/9

Bench Dips - BWX20, 20, 20 @6/8.5

Knee Raises (above parallel) - BWX9, 8, 7 @~8

DB Full Raise - 12sX12, 12 @6

super-set with

Hammer Curls - 12sX12, 12, @~7

Pivot Block. Cycle 1. Session C.

 BW - 230

Waist - 43.75"

X-2-3-3 Tempo Chins - BWX8, 8, 8 @7/9

Bench Dips - BWX20, 20, 20 @6/9.5

Knee Raises (above parallel) - BWX8, 8, 8 @6/9

DB Full Raise - 12sX12, 12 @6

super-set with

Hammer Curls - 12sX12, 12, @6

Small Session. Shoulders

BW - 230

Delt-Raise Giant Set with: 25s
Rear-Delts - 8, 8, 8
Sides - 6, 6, 6
Fronts - 6, 6, 6

Small Session. Shoulders

Delt-Raise Giant Set with: 25s
Rear-Delts - 8, 8, 8
Sides - 5, 5, 5
Fronts - 5, 5, 5

Small Session. Shoulders

Delt-Raise Giant Set with: 25s
Rear-Delts - 8, 8, 8
Sides - 5, 5, 5
Fronts - 5, 5, 5

Small Session. Shoulders

Delt-Raise Giant Set with: 25s
Rear-Delts - 8, 8, 8
Sides - 7, 5, 4
Fronts - 6, 4, 4

Started the giant-sets out with rear delts to make sure they got the most work.  I was surprised, though, how much easier it was to raise the 35s from the rear than from the front or side.  Makes me wondering if I'm doing really shitty rear-raises that are pulling in a lot of the surrounding musculature.  They don't feel any sloppier than the other two planes, but something to think about.

And at the same time, my rear delts are sore as shit the next day, so....

LRB Back & DL. Week 3. Pressing

DB Inclines -
35sX8
45sX8
55sX8
65sX8
55sX8
45sX8
35sX12

Cable overhead raise - X15, 15, 15 (straight-weight)

Cable Face-Pulls - X20, 20, 20 (straight-weight)

Rope Pushdowns - X100 (R/P 50, 25, 25)

Another session at the hotel gym.

Pyramiding up and down on the DB Inclines worked really well.

The combo of overhead raises and face-pulls worked the hell out of my rear delts.

My triceps are still tender from the 100 rep set 2 days ago.

All in all, this was a really great session despite using a hotel gym.

Conditioning. Week 1. Upper Body

BW - 205

Cuff Work - Lots (capsule stretching, band dislocations, pull aparts, 5lb. plate "cleans," front raises with various grips, band external rotations)

Bench -
BarX20, 20
95X6
115X6
135X6
155X8

BB Rows -
BarX15
95X10
135X15, 12, 15

Chins - BWX10, 5, 5

Decline Sit-Ups - BWX10, 10, 10

Being very careful with the shoulder since I seemed to re-aggravate it by sprinting (!).  Just tried to run through a sequence of everything I've ever done for shoulder cuff and shoulder prehab.

That included an extra warm-up set with just the bar, and more reps and smaller jumps on the warm-up sets.  Originally I programmed for 12 reps of 155, which would normally be slightly challenging but completely do-able.  Everything was very tentative today, and I cut it at 8.

The lay-off and tentativeness about the shoulder seemed to cut into my rowing as well.  This felt more like a neuromuscular issue than a strength issue.  My mind just didn't want to let my body "get after it" today on these.

Chins were okay, though.  Programmed for 20 total, and got it in 3 sets.  Hoped to go over on the last set, but 5 was the limit.

The crunches I did in my BW circuits in the last block did not set me up well for decline sit-ups.  Originally hoped to do 60 or so total reps, but had to bring that down, and will adjust my programming for this block accordingly.