Upper Push, Good Mornings, Curls

sRPE @7

BW - 225

Reverse Grip Bench - 

195X3 @9.5

205X1(PR) @7.5

225X1(PR) @10

DB Bench - 40sX16, 15 @~10

Machine Flyes - X13 @10

Good Mornings -

225X5(PR) @6

265X5(PR) @9

Gaspari Bar Hammer Curls - 40X11, 10, 9 @10

I'd only done RG bench once before so anything over 198 was gonna be a PR.  Took a while to start getting the set-up comfortable.  Hit the uprights on the set at 195.

I've done GM a few times but always for sets of 8-12.  I think the heaviest I'd gone on GMs on any bar previously was 185.

Legs and Back, and Shoulder Testing.

BW - 215

Leg Curls -
Warm-up - X10, 10, 10, 10
Work Sets - X10, 10, 10-10-10-15 (drop-set at end)

Hack Squat -
100X10
120X10
140X10
160X10
180X10

GHR (to parallel, and using a broomstick to maintain alignment) - BWX5, 5, 5, 4

DB Bench -
45sX10
55sX8
65sX12, 10, 10
super-set with
Chin-Ups - BWX5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Chest-Supported Rows -
45X5
90X10

Trying to make sure I get good hamstring work in while I can't Squat or DL.  Cut out leg extensions today in favor of more leg curl volume.  Also tried adding this GHR approach.  My P.T. has me doing bodyweight goodmornings like this: holding a broomstick against my tailbone, upper back and skull to maintain alignment.  That's not challenging and is for drilling the pattern.  Thought I'd try it with some BW GHR's to parallel to try and get some good, hip dominant hamstring work in.  They were hard as hell, but no back-pain.

Wanted to get a 2nd flat, DB bench work in before my next P.T. session so that I'd have some more feedback to provide.  Last time I worked up to 65sX5; basically just until it felt like real weight.  I checked my logs and saw that my best with the 65s was 15 reps, so I thought I'd push a little harder this time and see what was up.  Got within 3 reps of that, but I also MATCHED the total volume of my best session with the 65s.  That's not surprising because with my Incline having gone up, there's no reason that the strength shouldn't generally be there.

Kind of burying the lead because the main point is that my shoulder felt fairly okay throughout, and the next day.  I expect the P.T. to recommend moving on to light BB bench now.

Reps and Volume. Week 16. Squat

BW - 215

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
275X11, 4, 2

High Bars - 225X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

GMs - 135X10, 10

Single-Leg Extensions - X20, 17, 15

275X11 is an all-around PR.  However, 11 is my number to beat, so I'll be repeating this day next week.

This really re-fatigued my low back after having just recovered from Deadlifts on Friday.  I may do accessories only on Deadlift day this week, and think about alternating like that.  I'll also be making big changes to my programming starting next week as I start looking to get in shape for a vacation in early March.

Everything else went well.

Reps and Volume. Week 15. Squat

BW - 213

Squats -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
245X15, 5

High-Bars - 225X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

GMs - 135X10, 10

Single-Leg Extensions - X20, 16, 15

245X15 is a Rep PR, and together with 19+ total reps meets my goal for this weight.  Moving up to 275 next week.

Also, my 315 felt like it may have been a touch high this week, however it was ridiculously easy.  That should boost my confidence for the 315X1 going forward.

High-Bars are juuuuust starting to feel like I might need to do more reps with 225 for the volume supplement.  Since next week's jump on Low Bar from 245 to 275 is larger than normal, I'll still plan on sticking to 5X3.  That's actually the last week of this phase before I start shaping up for a beach vacation in early March.  No reason to expect to push assistance extra hard in that instance.

Back to Good-Mornings and my low back felt totally fine.  I really, really hate this movement, but it felt better today than it has in a while.  In effort to feel a good stretch in both my glutes and my hamstrings, I ended up bending my knees a bit and letting my hips move down at the "bottom" of the movement.  That seems technically incorrect, but my hips and spine felt perfectly stable/neutral, and I was able to really feel the stretch all through those two muscle groups before firing back up into the starting position.  Both areas are fairly sore today as well.

Reps and Volume. Week 13. Squat

BW - 207 (basically forgot to eat all day Sunday)

Squat -
BarX10, 10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
305X2, 1, 1
225X10

High-Bars - 225X3, 3, 3, 3, 2

GHR - BWX10, 10, 10
super-set with
Single-Leg Extensions - X20, 15, 15

Back strain seemed almost gone, but I was still really nervous about going in to squat today.  I warmed up with empty bar low-bar and high-bar squats since high-bars seemed to aggravate the injury the most last week.  Both felt good so I went forward.  The goal for 305 was 2 reps, which I got for a Rep PR.  The goal was also 13 total reps with the weight.  I thought, "fuck it, I'll just play it safe and do it with singles."  Because of my caution I was slow at the bottom and wasn't getting much rebound.  This was making everything harder, and I felt whatever muscles are strained in my back really working hard on the 2nd single, so I decided to stop.  I did a back-off set with 225 and called it good.  Still, I'm filled with more confidence for next week, and I think it's time to go ahead and get my 315 squat done.

I re-tested High-Bars with an empty bar and they still felt good so I moved on to them.  Here I thought I would play it safe and do sets of 3 instead of the sets of 5 I'd been doing.  What I didn't do was remember that I'd been using 205!  Only after the 2nd set did I realise I'd jumped weight up that much, but decided to move forward with it.  On the last set, I hesitated a moment in the bottom on the 3rd rep and didn't feel confident I could get it back up so I let it go.  Still, these sets also worked to increase my confidence for next week.

I didn't want to tempt fate with Good Mornings, so I did some glute-hams instead and super-setted them with the single-leg work.  All good.

Reps and Volume. Week 11. Squat

BW - 211

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X1
295X3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 2

High-Bars - 205X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

GMs - 135X13, 10

Single-Leg Extensions - X20, 18, 15

Good session.  295X3 is a Rep PR and, along with 14 total reps, my goal for that weight.  I'll move up to 305 after Thanksgiving, and everything looks on track to hit 315 next month and start working towards my next squat (and other lift) goals.

All the assistance was good.  135X13 is a Rep PR on GMs, and I pushed up the reps on the single-leg work.

Reps and Volume. Week 10. Squat

BW - 206

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
285X5, 3, 2, 2, 2

High-Bars - 205X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

GM's - 135X10, 10, 8

Single-Leg Extensions - X20, 16, 14 (straight-weight; same as last week)

Good session.  285X5 was my goal, and 4 reps more than I've done with this weight.  I also got my total volume goal of 14 reps, but it was a slog.

5X5 volume sets on High-Bars were fine.  I could possibly consider bumping up to 215 here, but the volume sets on low bar are only going to get harder next week with 295, so we'll have to see.  I stayed at 185 on those for 6 weeks even though it got easy, and my low bar kept going up.  No need to go nuts on the accessory work as long as the main lift is still moving, right?

Good Mornings are still brutal, but this session felt like a bit of progress as I started contemplating a Rep PR with 135 on the 2nd set.  The thing that makes them so hard is that my eccentric is agonizingly slow because I'm working so hard to keep my back flat while I push my butt back.  And I wait until I feel the bar weight shift fully onto the back of my traps and off of my delts before I drive back up.  It ends up being a 3-4 second tempo on the eccentric.

Pushed the reps up on single-leg work a bit this week.

Reps and Volume. Week 9. Squat

BW - 203

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3, 3
275X7, 2, 3, 3

High-Bars - 205X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Good Mornings - 135X10, 10

Single-Leg Extensions - X20, 15, 15 (straight-weight)

275X7 is a +2 Rep PR, and an all around PR.  I stalled out on repping 275 in late Feb./early March before moving my focus to conditioning and fat loss for the spring and summer.  I'd been looking forward to working my way back up to the day when I could go for this one again.  I felt good walking into the gym, and the initial warm-ups felt good.  The 1st set of 225X3 didn't feel awesome, so I took a 2nd set and it felt good.  I needed 6 reps for a PR with 275.  The 6th rep didn't feel too slow, to I took a 7th, slower rep.  I also took some video for the first time in a while, and I see that I'm knee caving pretty hard.  That will be something to keep focused on, but I'm very happy to get this 275 goal well out of the way so I can continue the march to 315.

I also upped the weight on my High-Bar "volume" sets.  I didn't know if I'd be able to get 5X5 at the increased weight after all the heavy sets of Low Bar.  Feel good about those.

Now that my schedule has freed up and I can Squat and Deadlift on different days again, I'm able to add GM's back to squat day.  I hate GMs.  But I've felt a lot of soreness in my glutes after lower body days lately, and so I know I need to get some of this kind of work back in.

Was able to push reps on single-leg work a bit, as well.  Just one of those days where you're able to push on everything.

Reps and Volume. Week 4. Squat

BW - 201

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X1
245X10, 3, 3

High Bars - 185X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Good-Mornings - 135X8, 8

Single-Leg Extensions - X15, 15

Good session back after taking a week off from barbell work.

245X10, and for 16 total reps meet my goals for that weight, so I can move up to 255 next week.

Everything else was fine.

Reps and Volume. Week 2. Squat

BW - 197

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
235X13, 5

High Bar - 185X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Good Mornings - 135X8, 8

Single-Leg Extensions - X18, 15

235X13 is an all-around PR.  Beats my phase goal for reps, with the 2nd set of X5 it meets my required volume.  Moving up to 245 next week.

Volume sets of High Bar were a bit harder after the Low Bar sets.  It will be interesting to see how these feel as the Rep sets on Low Bar continue to get heavier.

Good Mornings felt slightly better this week.  Slightly.

Dat Quad Pump.

Reps and Volume. Week 1. Squat

BW - 199

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
225X14, 5

High Bars - 185X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Good Mornings - 135X8, 8

Single-Leg Extensions - X15, 15

225X14 ties my Rep PR, and meets my phase goal for this weight.  I also met my volume goal of 18+ total reps.  So next week I move up to 235 and shoot for one set of 12+, and 17+ total reps.

5X5 with 185 was very do-able here.  I might stick with it again next week, and then consider upping the weight slightly.  The idea here is just to get extra, quad-dominant volume.  Not trying to beat any rep or volume records here at this point.

Good Mornings were much harder than I expected.  Last time I did these, I did sets of 10 with 145.  I'll definitely be sitting with 135 for awhile and trying to push the reps up on that.

The High-Bar volume did the trick, because my quads were fried by the time I got to single-leg extensions.  These were all done with one, single plate, and I still could barely get the final reps on each set/leg.

LRB 365: Big-15. Phase 1. Week 2. Arms and Squats

Sunday
BW - 198 (bah)

Incline DB Curls - 35sX10, 10, 10, 10, 8

PJR Pullovers - 55sX10, 10, 6 (aborted)

Single-arm cable pull-overs with my right arm - minimal weightXlots

Ab Wheel - 5 sets of 10

Monday
BW - 200 

Calf Raises - 285X15, 305X15, 15

Squats -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
115X5
145X4
175X3
215X2
245X1

205X12, 5

Leg Curls - X20, 20, 14, 12

Lunges - BWX30, 30, 26, 20

Triceps strain in my right shoulder was really acting up at the bottom of each pullover rep.  I hoped it would start to get better from the work, but it didn't so I shut it down and tried to just get some blood through it with some high-rep isolation.  Feels much better today.

The 245X1 on squats was all fucked up.  I think my mind wandered, and I got way out over my toes out of the hole and had to Good Morning it up.  I almost took it again, but wanted to get on to the real work.  205X12 is a Rep PR and my 2nd highest projected 1RM since I reset to lower depth in the Summer of '12.  Still sucking wind toward the end of the 1st set, and sucking wind with shaky knees all through the 50% set.

LRB 365: LRB Split. In Review

This will be short, as I suspect the LRB Split and the Strong-15 Short cycle go hand-in-hand in a way that will result in a more complete picture emerging at the end of that 2nd cycle.

Generally speaking, the goals for this cycle were to maintain top-end strength on the main lifts relative to where they've been during the conditioning cycle, while allowing some more carbs back into the diet in order to stimulate muscle growth by going hard with the assistance lifts.

My bodyweight started out hovering in the 192 range at the end of the conditioning cycles, and by the end of the LRB Split was hovering around 195-196.

I set the following PRs on assistance work in chronological order:
RDL: 
205X8
225X9
245X10 (with straps)

DB OHP:
20sX25
25sX35
30sX28

Front Squats:
135X10
145X8
155X9

T-Bar Rows:
95X8
110X7

Barbell Rows:
145X9

Good Mornings were a new movement to me with this cycle and I progressed them as well:
135X8
145X7
145X8
145X10

Regarding Front Squats, I was doing them every week.  They were the first assistance exercise following back squats on Heavy Squat days, and they were the main movement on Light Squat days.  All the PRs were set on Light days, however it's worth noting that while I PR'd with 135X10 on a Light Squat day at the beginning of the cycle, by the end I was doing 135X8-10 for four sets across as assistance on my Heavy Squat days.  In addition to all that, I kept my stance narrow on all the Leg Pressing, and went hard to push reps on leg extensions.  Increasing quad size/strength was my primary goal for this cycle, and I feel good about the results.

I also got some good hamstring volume in with all the RDLs and GMs in addition to the maintenance Deads.  Had sore hamstrings every week.

Lots of shoulder volume on the cycle as well.  In addition to the DB OHP, my regular Press was getting within 5 lbs. or so of PR territory by the end.  Lots of high-rep Inclines, Upright Rows, and Rear Delt Flyes to round it out, all pun intended.  Although I honestly haven't noticed very much growth in my delts.  Hopefully, we'll see some of this work translate into Bench strength on the upcoming cycle.

All in all, I had a really good time through most of this cycle.  Hitting PRs on Fronts and RDLs was really fun, and seeing my wheels growing as a result was really great as well.  Near the end, I had a little bit of a crisis of confidence because I didn't instinctively know if my Every Day Max had improved, and was grumpy about what to set as my goals for the Strong-15 Short Cycle.  In the end, re-reading the manual, and reading an inspiring post by Carter along the lines of the Patience and Belief mantra that he and Brandon Lilly have been going over helped me get my head on straight.  I've decided to program lower for the Strong-15 Short than I did for the Strong-15 at the beginning of the program.  My final singles for the next cycle will be right around weights I've hit a million times before.  With the work I did on this cycle, and the extra back-offs I'm planning for the first few weeks of the next, I'm confident that I will be crushing the weights all the way up to the end.  And isn't that what we're supposed to do?

LRB 365: LRB Split. Week 6. Back - Heavy

BW - 198

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
155X5
185X4
225X3
245X2
275X1, 1
285X1

Barbell Rows -
95X8
135X8
145X8, 9, 7

Good Mornings -
95X8
135X8
145X10, 10, 8

DB Curls -
20sX20
25sX22, 13

Love deadlifting.  These were all fast.  Focused on form and visualization.

Was at the 'away' gym, so no T-Bars.  Did BB Rows instead.  Kept everything strict as hell, and with controlled reps.

145X10 is a PR on GMs.

No free barbells, and I hate curling EZ bars, so just did more DB curls.

This is was the last day of this split.  Taking a couple days off, and jumping right into the Strong-15 Short Cycle.  I'll probably try to review this cycle on Monday.

LRB 365: LRB Split. Week 4. Back - Heavy

BW - 196

Deadlift -
135X5
155X5
185X4
225X3
245X2
265X1
275X1, 1

T-Bar Rows -
45X12
70X8
80X8
90X8
100X8
110X7

GMs -
95X10
115X8
135X8
145X8, 8, 6

BB Curls -
BarX12
65X6
BarX30, 20

Was feeling aggravated, so this session was the perfect thing.

Deadlifts were all fast and strong.  Focused on speed and technique, in particular:  1) pushing through my heels, but not letting the balls of my feet come off the mat.  2) keeping my triceps and lats locked out, but keeping my shoulders a bit loose.  3) chest-up, back fixed (always working on this).

100X8 and 110X7 are Rep PRs on T-Bar Rows.  Kept fairly strict with my back close to parallel.

Good-Mornings starting to feel less awkward.  All around PR.

Curls were curlier.

LRB 365: LRB Split. Week 2. Back - Heavy

BW - 194

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
155X4
185X3
225X2
235X1
245X1
255X1

T-Bars -
25X18
45X12
70X10
90X15
95X8

Good-Mornings -
95X8
115X8
135X8, 8
145X7

BB Curls -
BarX10
65X5
BarX22, 18, 12

I've got my program stored on google drive, and I couldn't get it to pull up on my phone, so I had to wing the #'s on this day.  It turns out I low-balled the Deadlift #'s, and should have gone up to 275.  Oh well, everybody always says stay as light as you can so...

Then I went way over on T-Bars.  I was supposed to work up to 70 for max reps, and ended up going a little over my week 4 #'s.  Again, oh well.  90X15 and 90X8 are both Rep PRs.

Then I went right ahead and fucked myself up a little on GMs.  It's clear now that the way I periodically mess myself up with Squat position exercises is on low-to-moderate weights where I try to lock out so explosively that my lower back rounds at the top, and something in there gets strained as hell.  I figured it out before my top sets and those were alright, even though I had to be really ginger about it.  All in all, this will be healed up pretty quickly, but I definitely don't think I maximized this movement today.

My empty bar curling has dropped way off of my 45-or-so rep previous efforts.  Or I was tired.  Not sure.

LRB 365: Off-Week Training. Back

BW - 190

GMs -
BarX8
95X8
115X8
135X8, 8

 Wide-grip pulldowns - X20, 20, 16 (to a top set)

Hypers - BWX18, 16

Machine Curls - X28, 11/5 (to a top, drop-set)

Hanging Leg-Raises - 5X5

Good-Mornings are a new movement to me.  Felt it in my back yesterday, but feel it in my hamstrings today.  Interesting.

UB: Strong Week 4. Squat

Defranco Mobility Work

Good-Mornings - BarX10X2

Standing Calf-Raises - 305X15, 365X15, 385X15

Squats -
BarX10
135X5
155X5
185X5
215X5
235X5

Front Squats - 125X11, 125X6

RDL - 175X10, 6

Hammer and Tire - 4 rounds of 20, 1 round of 15 swings "per arm."  10 minutes

I have some sort of strain or something in my mid-back on the left-hand side.  It's been bothering me for two weeks.  I've set Deadlift and Chin-up PR's with it, so it hasn't been interfering with my lifts so far.  However, I got the idea that it might interfere with my Squats today, so I did some empty-bar Good-Mornings with the idea that if a back-strain was going to hamper squats, GM's would be the best candidate for warming-up that part of the back before-hand.  If that makes sense.  Hard to say if it worked or not.  My back didn't bother me during squats, and the painful area felt the same after the work-out as it did before.  This may just be something I have to ride out.

For the calf-raises I again raised the weight on the first two sets, but not the top set.  So increasing volume but not top weight.  Next session I will go up another plate, and I think that will be the full stack.  I don't know how much of this increase is neural and how much is muscular at this point.  Calf training is kind of dicey anyway, as true gains seem to mostly come from being heavier, and weight-training is more of a topper.

I decided to break from plan with Squats a little bit, in that I didn't add weight to the warm-up sets the way I have been.  The way I laid out the program was 5X5 to a top set of 5, and that every week all 5 sets would be heavier than the week before.  All of a sudden this week I had the thought that as I'm working in PR range on the top sets, it might be a good idea to not be pushing as much on the lead-up sets.  So I worked up to, and set, a 5 Rep PR, but the total, accumulated weight for my Squat workout was less than originally programmed.  I feel totally fine about how this worked out as I hit my top-set goal.  It was certainly the hardest set of the cycle so far, but the reps moved smoothly.  That seems to be on target.  Next week will push me into projected increase to 1RM territory on squats.