Mid-Rep Volume PRs. Squat, ME Upper

sRPE @8

BW - 221

Squats - 

315X1 @7

290X9, 9 @~8

Leg Extensions - X12, 12 @~9

High Incline - 

175X1 @8.5

185X1 @9

3-Board Bench - 225X5, 5, 5 @~8

DB Tate Press - 

30sX15 @9.5

35sX12, 15, 15 @9/10

290 for 2 sets of 9 is a Volume PR on Squats.  That was my goal for the day.  "Made up" volume with Leg Extensions after that.

Then I worked in on Max-Effort Upper Day with one of my Konjugate Krew buddies.

185X1 on High Incline is a PR on that lift.

Never done 3-Board Bench before, so that's all technically PRs on that.  My best Reverse Camber Bench is 185X19, but I think that's more of a 4-board.

DB Tate Presses were fun.  I haven't done them much, but got a nice little triceps pump from them. 

High-Rep Volume PRs. Week 5. Session A.

sRPE @8.5

BW - 221

Squat -

315X1 @6

340X1 @7.5

255X13, 13, 13 @6/8.5

Press - 

125, 130X1 @~7

85X13, 13, 14 @7.5/10

High Incline Bench - 125X5, 5 @7

255 for 2+ sets of 13 is a Volume PR on Squat.  These took a lot of mental effort to get through today.

85 for 2+ sets of 13 is a Volume PR on Press.  As the reps have come up weekly on the first two sets, this is the first week I wasn't really able to push further on the final, AMRAP set.

Barely had any gas left for the Press accessory, much less conditioning.  Press volume on this day will be comparable next training block, and I think I will drop the compound Press supplement in favor of some lower stress triceps accessory.  As work sets go up and reps-per-set come down on the main movements, the supplement/accessory slots may need to shift to lower stress movements in general. 

High-Rep Volume PRs. Week 4. Session A.

sRPE @8

BW - 219

Squat - 

315X1 @6

335X1 @7

245X13, 13, 13 @6/8

Press - 

125X1, 1 @7

85X12, 12, 17 @6.5/10

High Incline Bench - 125X5, 5 @~7

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 14 minutes / 8 rounds

On Squat, 245 for 3 sets of 11+ is a Volume PR.

On Press, 85 for 17 is a Rep PR and for 3 sets of 12+ is a Volume PR.

High-Rep Volume PRs. Week 3. Session A.

sRPE @8

BW - 220

Squats - 

305X1 @5

325X1 @6.5

235X13, 13, 13 @6/8

Press - 

125X1, 1 @~7

85X10, 10, 16 @7/10

High Incline Bench - 125X5, 5 @~7.5

235 for 2+ sets of 13 is a Volume PR on Squats.

Skipped conditioning to go watch the NBA Finals.

High-Rep Volume PRs. Week 2. Session A.

sRPE @8

BW - 223

Squat - 

305X1 @6

325X1 @7

225X13, 13, 13 @6/7.5

Press - 

125X1, 1 @~7.5

85X8, 8, 15 @6/9.5

High Incline - 115X5, 5 @6.5

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 14 minutes / 8 rounds

225 for 3 sets of 11+ is a Volume PR on Squats.

High-Rep Volume PRs. Week 1. Session A.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 217

Squat - 

315X1 @6.5

225X13, 13 @6.5/8

Press - 

125X1 @7

85X8, 13 @6/10

High Incline Bench - 120X5, 5 @~7

Intro week for the new block.  That means generally minus 1 or 2 work sets on the main lifts.  Gives me a bit of head-room on the volume to start.

Last block for the barbell movements was focused on Volume PRs of 2 sets in the mid-to-high teens.  This block the reps will come down a bit and up those worksets to 3.

Fighting a cold or similar that's keeping my fatigue pretty high.

PIVOT. Session A.

sRPE @7

BW - 216

Leg Press (myo-reps) - 315X12, 3, 3, 3 @8/9

High Incline Bench - 95X10, 10, 10 @6.5/8

Rope Pushdowns - X17, 17 @~8

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 6 rounds / 10 minutes

A little discomfort in the side abs on the leg press, but not too bad.

Pivot Cycle 2. Session C.

sRPE @4.5

BW - 215

530 Tempo Squats - 235X6 @6

1-leg horizontal leg press - X8 @6

X233 Tempo Chins - BWX8 @6.5

High Incline Bench - 85X12 @6

Last session of the pivot.  On to the new training block!

Pivot Cycle 1. Session C.

sRPE @6

BW - 218

530 Squats -

245X6 @8.5

225X6 @7.5

1-Leg Horizontal Leg Press - X12, 12 @~7

X233 Chins - BWX7, 7, 5 @7/8

High Incline Bench - 85X12 @6

Overshot the mark a bit on tempo squats and had to back up.

Eccentric-only tempo chins were a surprise.  I'm almost 15 lbs. lighter than the last time I did them, but still only got about the same amount of reps.

Pivot Session C.

sRPE @5

BW - 216

Hack Squat - 100X8 @5

NG Pause Band Chins (under Knee) - BWX7 @6

High Incline Bench - 85X12 @6

RG EZ Bar Curls - 50X10 @5

Dunno my performance was crapping out at such a low weight on the high inclines [shrugs].

Pivot Block. Cycle 3. Session A.

BW - 216

5-3-0 Tempo Squats -
232.5X4 @5
245X4, 4, 4 @~6.5

Front Racked Split Squats - BarX8, 8, 8 @6

High Incline Bench -
115X7 @5
120X7, 7 @5.5

Inverted Rows - BWX7, 6, 6 @~10

BB Curls - 55X10, 10, 10 @8/9

Everything was solid, and felt pretty good.

Pivot Block. Cycle 2. Session A.

BW - 216

5-3-0 Tempo Squats -
225X4 @5
235X4, 4, 4 @~6

Front Racked Reverse Lunges - BarX8, 8, 8 @~6.5

High Incline Bench -
115X7 @5.5
117.5X7, 7 @6

Inverted Row - BWX6, 5, 5 @~10

BB Curls - 50X10, 10, 10 @ ~8

Nice light session.  I did get the front racked reverse lunges to feel okay on my quad by doing more extensive warm-up sets with BW first holding the squat stand for a set of 8, and then just free standing for a set of 8.  I would have thought the tempo squats were enough of a warm-up, but last time that proved not to be the case.  Anyway, I'm glad I got these to work, as the gym doesn't really have a good bench for the high-step ups I did last time.

Where there is video, it is of final sets.

Pivot Block. Cycle 1. Session A.

BW - 215

5-3-0 Tempo Squats 225X4, 4, 4 @~6

Front Rack BB Step-Ups - BarX8, 8, 8 (each leg) @~5.5

High Incline Bench - 115X7, 7 @~6

Inverted Row - BWX7, 5, 5

BB Curls - 45X10, 10, 10 @~8

Conditioning - Treadmill; 20 minutes walking

Start of the pivot block.  Goal here is to drop stress enough to allow fatigue to dissipate, but not so much that I detrain to a point that complicates the start of my next block (excessive DOMS, etc.).  Also, to get some volume in with movement types that are in the next dev block, but weren't in the previous block.

Volume here is much higher than my previous two pivot blocks, but only about as high as the lowest volume of the last three dev blocks, and much lower than the volume in the previous or upcoming dev blocks.

Notes:
Intended to do front rack reverse lunges for a single-leg movement, but my left quad said "fuck you" to that.  Still didn't totally love these step-ups either.  Surprising, because it gave me no trouble in the tempo squat.  Will monitor closely as I'm planning Front Squats for the next block.

Inverted rows were MUCH weaker than expected.  That's good, because I can grease the groove a bit and hopefully the BB Rows in the next block will benefit.

Video is of 2nd sets of the first three movements.  Wasn't particularly  motivated to film any of this.

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 1.

BW - 222

Leg Press - 200X8, 8, 8, 8, 8 @ ~8

High-Incline Bench -
150X5, 5 @ ~9
142.5X5, 5 @ 8

Chin-Ups - BWX3, 3, 3

Chest-Supported T-Bar Row (neutral grip) -
100X6 @ 9.5
75X8, 8, 8 @ ~8

Threw my back out right before I left work for the gym.  Lately, I've been shrugging off back spasms within a few hours.  This one was really bothering me, though.  Went to the gym and tried to Squat.  Worked up to 185X1.  I took 225 out of the rack and it hurt pretty bad so I re-racked it.  Waiting a minute, and took it again.  I got it for a single, but the pain was too distracting to maintain, and the intensity was too low to be useful for training.

The regular leg press was occupied, so I used this antique one in another part of the gym.  I was about 3 sets in when I realized I'd forgotten the gym has a belt squat.  Whatever.  If my back is still giving me trouble on Wednesday, I'll try it out. 

Inclines went okay, and chins were fine.

Didn't want to even try to mess around with bent row, so I used the chest-supported T-Bar.

Back pain sucks.  No video.

HLM. Week 9. Day 1.

BW - 221

Squat -
385X3
310X5, 5, 5, 5

High-Incline Bench - 150X5, 5, 5, 5

Chin-Ups - X3, 3, 3

BB Rows - 200X3, 3, 3

My quads are getting really achy.  Kind of a DOMS way, but kind of unusual as well.  They were distractingly achy during my first back-off set of squats.  And I woke up to them aching this morning.  For me, DOMS is usually a 24-48 hours later thing.  I would think it had to do with diet, but I don't see a reason why that would be effecting my quads and not anything else.  It may just be that back squat objective intensities are just the highest of any of my lifts.  I'm going to try using RPE to see if it raises the objective intensity of my Squat assistance movements so that my legs get more acclimated to heavier loads.  I started off this program with assistance at 80% of BACK-OFF sets on light day, and 90% on medium.  I've been saying they were too light, so I think that's biting me in the ass.

Anyway, top set of Squats felt @ 9.  Didn't get much sleep the night before.

Last back-off set felt @ 8.  Fatigue was tempting me to rush these AND get sloppy with them.  Really had to focus to be both patient and focused.

Last set of Inclines felt @ 8.  Looks fast though.  Again, poor sleep.

Had to use the shitty pull up station for neutral grips.  They were fine.  Was hoping my lighter bodyweight would make a noticeable difference, but I guess 3% isn't that big an off set, haha.

Rows were fine.  No straps.  Played around with hook grip a little, but finished with plain ol' DOH.  Gym was crowded so no video.

HLM. Week 8. Day 1.

BW - 227*

Squat -
365X5
290X5, 5, 5

High Incline Bench - 145X5, 5, 5, 5

Chin-Ups (neutral grip) - BWX3, 3, 3

BB Rows - 190X5, 5, 5

*Day 1 of a new diet.  I'm working with a dietitian from Barbell Medicine.  BW should start to drop going forward, and training will have to be adjusted as necessary.  That could go a couple of ways.  The one thing I want to make sure is that I'm both keeping practice of high intensity weights in the program, but that I'm also keeping plenty of volume in.  So, will continue with top sets and back-off sets, but top sets may stop majority 5s and 3s, and become something more like 1-3 heavy-ish singles before back-off work.

Top set of squats was pretty good on this day.  Felt @ 9, looks @ 8.

Back-offs were all fast.  Last back-off felt @ 7.5, looks @ ~7.

As the Press has continue to feel harder than "it should," I've decided to switch from the lower incline bench for my Medium pressing movement to a higher incline.  To start, I just used last week's top-set weight of Press as my weight.  Maybe on the light end of the correct range.  Last set felt @ 8.5, looks @ 6.5.  It feeling so much harder is probably a fatigue issue plus a bit of "novelty" of the movement.  I may need to seek some guidance on "feels" RPE vs. "speed" RPE. 

Chins were fine.  They continue to not feel any stronger, but also not feel any weaker.  It will be interesting to see what happens with them as I drop weight.

Rows were very easy.  Likely far too easy.  Last set felt @ 6, looks @ 6.

HLM. Week 5. Day 1.

BW - 227

Squat -

360X5

290X5, 5, 5

Incline Close-Grip Bench - 180X5, 5, 5, 5

Chin-Ups (neutral grip) - BWX3, 3, 3

BB Rows - 185X5, 5, 5

Top set of Squats were too loosey-goosey.  Look ok on video, but felt too chaotic in the moment.  May need to take more care with my warm-ups to make sure I'm ready for these top sets.  Back-off sets were easy-peasy with the intensity and volume reduction to begin the new wave.  Top set and last back-off shown.

Inclines felt pretty good.  Obviously the back-off in intensity to begin the new wave makes them easier, but I think it also allows me to lock in some of the technical stuff I developed over the last wave.  Busy gym, so no good place to put the camera and grab video of these.

Had a light-bulb moment last week and realized that if supinated chins are bothering my wrist, but I don't want the volume reduction that comes with pronated, I should try neutral grip.  Haven't done these in a while and they felt GREAT.  Honestly, strength felt comparable to supinated despite a longer range of motion.  I was shooting for RPE 9 on all these, and probably could have gotten that extra rep on all of them.

Weird % programming thing that Rows this week are with the same weight as last week, but for less reps.  I didn't even notice that until I went to log the first set.  I guess I could have added 5 lbs. at that point, but whatevs.  Again, to busy in the gym to find a spot for video.

Training: Pressing

BW - 212

High-Incline Bench -
BarX25
95X5
115X4
135X2
155X2
135X15, 8

Incline DB Flyes - 30sX15, 15, 15

RG Curls - 40ishX23
DB Hammer Curls - 35sX20
DB Curls - 30sX18
WG Curls - 50ishX18
Preacher Curls - 40ishX11

Pushed the weight up a bit this week, and probably still left 1-2 reps in the tank on both sets with 135.

Worth noting: one of the strongest guys in the gym mentioned to me this day that he didn't really like the High-Incline bench for strength development very much.  He said he gets better  carry-over to both his flat bench AND his front press from the "regular" incline bench.  In the case of our gym, that's actually an unusual, arched incline bench.  You can see both benches in this picture:


The High Incline is in the foreground and you can kind of see the Arched Incline behind it and to the right (also reflected in the mirror on the back-wall).

The guy said he thought the High Incline was better for body-building.  The guy is strong as hell and has been working out of that gym for a long time, so I'll take it on faith that he's spent some time with both and that his opinion is based on experience.

No skin off mine either way, as I was only hitting this for a couple of high-rep weeks as a break before I got back to pushing the other incline anyway.  Interesting feedback, though!

Training: Pressing

BW - 208

High-Incline Bench -
BarX25
85X5
95X4
115X2
135X1
155X1
115X20, 10

Incline DB Flyes - 30sX15, 15, 15

RG, EZ Bar Curls - 40ishX20
DB Hammer Curls - 40sX15
DB Curls - 30sX15
WG BB Curls - 45X20
Preacher, EZ Bar Curls - 40ishX15

For the couple weeks after my vacation, I just wanted to get some high rep work in on movements that I haven't pushed very hard, and so I decided to just move over to this bench temporarily.

This thing's probably around 60 degrees, so it's almost more of an overloaded front press.  In the past I've only really used this thing when the "regular" incline wasn't available.  I always hated it because I couldn't handle anything near the same weight, and didn't see the point if I was already doing 45 degree inclines AND overhead work.  I sometimes struggled to get 95X10 at this angle when I used this movement for a supplemental lift.

I expected to only work up to 135 and then do medium-to-high reps with 95.  What a nice surprise that 135 was so easy, that taking another single at 155 was a no-brainer.  After that, I knew 95 was going to be way to light for a work-set.  115 was just right.  I probably left 2-3 reps in the tank on the first set, and 1-2 on the 2nd.  This is good feedback to get as my regular incline has been moving faster than my OHP.  I'm instantly planning on using this to supplement regular incline and/or OHP in the future.

Biceps circuit inspired by some more recent Paul Carter stuff.  My brachialis were screaming for 2 days after this.