Hybrid Training. Week 7. Light Lower and LSR

Tuesday:
BW - 226

Squats - up to 260X5, 5

Pause Squats - 245X3, 3, 3

Bench-Grip DL - up to 255X3

GHR Hypers - BW+45X15, 15, 15
super-set with
GHR Sit-ups - BWX15, 15, 15

Wednesday:
BW - 225
Incline Treadmill Intervals - jog 4 min./walk 2 min.; 3.6 miles; 45 minutes

Tried upping the weight on speed squats by 5 lbs., but they were slowing down a lot, so I cut it after 2 sets.  Not sure what I want to do here going forward.

Upping the weight by 10 lbs. on pause squats was fine, however.  Maybe save weight progression for the pause squats, and leave the speed squats fairly light?  Until I'm jumping off the ground?

Worked up to a top-ish triple on BG DL.  This was done double-overhand and I basically went up until grip was becoming a factor.  Movement felt pretty good on this day, and I didn't seem to have any back issues crop up in the interim.

Same with GHR Hypers.

Per the coach I consulted with from CHP, I'm going to start doing incline treadmill work for my Long Slow Run day, until my overall speed and endurance increases enough for me to do the LSR jogging outdoors.  These were boring as hell but fine.  I see my winter stretching out before me...

Vacation Prep. Week 4. Press

BW - 206

PBN -
BarX20
65X5
85X4
95X3
115X2
95X14, 7

Upright Rows - 95X10, 10, 8, 8, 8

Treadmill - 25 minutes; incline walking

Been a long time since I've done upright rows.  I liked this session.  Short and to the point.  I hit the shoulders hard, but was able to balance out elbow extension and flexion this way.

Vacation Prep. Week 3. Bench

BW - 205

Incline -
BarX30
95X5
115X4
135X3
155X2
185X1
145X19, 7

Hammer Bench - 50X20 (burn-out set)

Plate Full Front-Raise - 25X20, 15, 15
super-set with
Incline DB Flyes - 30sX15, 15, 15
and
DB Rear Delts - 30sX20, 20, 20

Treadmill - Incline Walking; 30 minutes

Because I didn't get to the gym yesterday, I threw in assistance work today in addition to the main lift.

145X19 is a Rep PR for Incline, and would also be a Rep PR for Flat Bench.  Together with 21+ total reps it meets my goal and I will move up to 155 next time.

I didn't really want to do the hammer bench because of time, but since I did it last week and my Incline was stronger this week, I thought I should at least get one set in.

But I really want the bench assistance focus to be on shoulders, and so I did this tri-set, and liked it.

Vacation Prep. Week 2. Deadlift

BW - 209 (?)

Deadlift -
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X3, 3
315X2
365X1
315X5, 5, 5

Deficit Deads (1" plate) - 225X3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Treadmill - 30 minutes; incline walking

 Kind of played things by feel today, and was focused on tweaking my deadlift set-up.  I videoed a lot of the sets along the way and used those to make adjustments as I went.  I very quickly refined the set-up to get my shoulders directly over the bar.  From there I worked on finding a starting position for my hips.  My focus here was on: 1) Hips below shoulders (#MarkBell).  2)  Hamstrings feeling tight.  3)  Hamstrings being low enough to accomplish 1. and 2., but not so low that they shoot up before the bar leaves the floor.  And finally 4) Bottom Position on subsequent reps being the same as on the first rep.

Here's a video of a set with 275 where I felt like I got it dialed in (I forgot to video my sets at 365 and 315, dammit):

Then I decided to see if I could keep the same feeling with deficits.  I hit my biggest deadlift numbers using deficits for additional volume, but I also suspect that's where I started to develop bad habits on my set-up.  Here's a video of a deficit set where I'm dialing in the same 4 points above:

Vacation Prep. Week 1. Press

BW - 209

PBN -
BarX20
65X5
85X4
95X3
115X2
125X4, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1

Chin-ups - BWX10, 6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4 (38 total reps)

DB Curls - 30sX18, 12, 11
super-set with
Overhead Extensions - 50ishX25, 15, 12

Treadmill - 30 minutes; incline walking

125X4 is a Rep PR.  Together with 14 total reps, that takes me to the end of a full cycle of PBN.  I'll start over next week working up to 135 as my over warm-up and then repping out lower weights again.

Everything else was fine.

Vacation Prep. Week 1. Squat

BW - 213

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
275X8, 3, 3, 3

Bulgarian Split-Squats - BWX20, 16, 15

GHR - BWX10, 10, 10

Treadmill - 30 minutes walking; slight incline

My target with 275 is 12 reps.  I got 11 last week, but I was strangely intimidated by the weights today.  Maybe that's must my subconscious saying, "you're in a caloric and carb deficit, you won't be able to lift this."  Whatever.  Before this last month, 275X8 would have been a Rep PR, so it's not terrible.

Oh my fucking God, I forgot how much those split squats can hurt.  Good stuff.

Still tweaking my GHR set-up and execution.  I feel plenty of 'H,' but not so much 'G.'  I started pushing my hips through hard close to the top of the rep and that seemed to help.

Reps and Volume. Week 14. Accessories

BW - 209

PBN -
BarX20
65X5
85X4
95X3
115X7, 4, 3, 1
super-set with
Chin-Ups - BWX10, 8, 6, 5, 6 (35 total)

DB Rows - 70sX20, 12

Machine Pullovers - X12 (upped the weight)

RG Preacher Curls - 50ishX15, 10
super-set with
DB Press - 45sX15, 10

DB Curls - 30sX12, 13
super-set with
Rolling Triceps - 30sX15, 12

Incline Treadmill - 15 minutes; walking

Mixed session.  115X7 is a Rep PR, and combined with 15 total reps meets my goal for this weight.  Moving up next week.

Everything else was a mix of slightly better, about the same, or slightly worse.  Weirdly, my biceps curling strength seems to be regressing.  May need to just try switching out some movements for a while.  I've been doing those same two types of curls, in the same order, on Saturdays for about 20 weeks straight.

Reps and Volume. Week 14. Squat

BW - 211

Squat -
BarX10 (paused)
95X5 (paused)
135X5
185X4
225X3
275X2
315X1
225X20

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

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

Incline Treadmill - 15 minutes; walking

315X1 is a one-rep PR, and 225X20 is an all-around PR!  I took last week completely off in the hopes that my low-back strain would finish healing up, and lookee!  Two big PRs.  I knew that if my back was healed that the 315 would be there for me, but I was totally surprised by the 225X20.  That was a goal I was looking at for mid-January at the earliest.  That sets my total work-set volume level for the march to 365; meaning the workweight will gradually increase and the reps decrease but the total number of sets will be dictated by matching this level of volume.

I videoed the 315X1, but didn't get the 225X20 because I wasn't expecting it:

After the two PRs, I almost just left for the day, but I still got some other work in.

225X3X5 on High-Bars all felt solid.  Don't yet feel the "need" to go  for 5X5 with that weight so I'll let it ride.

I was finally starting to truly run out of gas so I cut the hamstring/quad isolation short at 2 super-sets. Got some quick treadmill work in, and called it a day.

Reps and Volume. Week 13. Bench

BW - 206 (fuck me)

Incline -
BarX30
95X5, 5
115X3
135X2
155X1
155X13, 5

Reverse Cambered Bench - 205X5, 5, 3, 5, 5

DB Bench - 55sX12, 10, 10
super-set with
DB Rear Delts - 30sX20, 17, 20

Hammer Curls - 40sX15, 14, 10, 8

Incline Treadmill - 20 minutes; walking

Good session.  155X13 is a Rep PR and only 2 off my best flat bench with that weight.

Pushed the weight up again on lock-outs with the reversed cambered bar.  That middle set of 3 is because I changed up my foot and shoulder positions simultaneously resulting in a greater ROM on the movement and also hitting the hooks at lock-out.  I corrected everything and got back to 5's.  Still, I should probably just repeat this weight next week.

Upped the reps on DB Bench and curls, and upped the weight on rear delts.

Reps and Volume. Week 12. Accessories

BW - 209

PBN -
BarX20
65X5
85X3
95X2
115X1
95X16, 8
super-set with
Chin-Ups - BWX12, 6, 7, 5, 5 (35 total)
and
CG Pull-Downs - X16, 15 (straight-weight)

Machine Pullovers - X15 (burn-out set)

RG Preacher Curls - 50ishX16, 13
super-set with
DB Press - 40sX16, 14

DB Curls - 30sX18, 12
super-set with
DB Rolling Triceps - 30sX18, 12

BB Curls - 50ishX15 (burn-out set)

Standing Calves - X12, 15, 12
super-set with
Seated Calves - 90X15, 15, 15

Incline Treadmill - 20 minutes; walking

Whew, that looks like a lot.  With the super-setting, it didn't take much time, though.  And a lot of those movements only had 2-3 sets so it's not THAT much stuff.

If you actually add it up, that's 9 sets of Pressing, 8 sets of Lats, 5 sets of biceps, 2 of triceps, then 84 non-stop reps of calves.  Compare that to my last full Squat day, where I did 18 sets of squats, 3 sets of quads, and 2 of hams/glutes.  That's 25 sets vs. 23 sets.  This is a day to fill in little gaps and therefore just has more variety instead of being focused on building one specific movement.

95X16 is an all-around PR for all OHP.  Together with the total volume goal of 18+ means moving up to 105 next week.

For the calf work I'm adding in to try and take advantage of BW gains, I did these super-sets completely non-stop just going from one machine to the other.  This hurt like hell, but combined with the high-incline walking immediately afterwards, my calves finally got sore for a few days.  So this will be something I stick with.

Reps and Volume. Week 10. Bench

BW - 208

Incline -
BarX30
95X5, 5
115X3
135X2
155X1
135X15, 6

Reverse Cambered Bench - 185X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

DB Bench - 50sX16, 14, 10
super-set with
DB Rear Delts - 25sX20, 20, 20

DB Hammer Curls - 35sX20, 16, 12, 12

Seated Calves - 90X15, 15, 15

Incline Treadmill Walking - 20 minutes

Wasn't able to hit bench on my regular day, and will be traveling this week, so I got it in on Saturday instead.

135X15 and for >18 total reps meets that goal, so I move up to 145 next time.  Shoulder feels terrible for the first several reps with the empty bar, but by the time I get into the high-teens/low-20s with it everything feels okay and I can do the rest of the programmed day.

Bumped the lockout/triceps work up to 185 for 5X5.  I'll move up to 195 next time.  My thinking with these right now is:  We've got a pin-press bench at the gym.  If I can take this lockout work up to 225 for 5X5 with the cambered bar, then I will move that weight over to the pin-bench and try to stay at that weight while gradually increasing the ROM with ever-lower pins.  All other things being equal, the pin-presses should be easier than the reverse cambered bar.  With the bar, the pad on the camber sort of makes you pause the reps because of the way it sinks into you.  At the same time, you have to keep really tight to stabilize the bar so it doesn't roll forwards or backward on your chest.  With the pin-presses you can actually stop the bar on the pins without having to keep it stable.  Anyway, hopefully this will work out and I can take the pin presses with some good weight down at least to the point where my elbows come even with my center-line.  That seems to be the threshold beyond which ROM starts to aggravate the shoulder.

DB Bench was solid.  Bumped the reps up well past where they've been the last two sessions.  Need to get these to 60-65s for 15-20 to be back in the range of my best DB benching.  If I can do that after Inclines and volume lock-out work, I will feel pretty happy about it.

As my bodyweight is going up, I've been toying with the idea of some direct calf work to add some extra intensity work onto the volume I'm getting by walking around with an increased load.  Tried seated calves followed by incline treadmill on this day, but my calves didn't have any soreness or DOMS.  That's not the be-all-end-all, but I would expect some DOMS for a muscle group/movement pattern I haven't trained directly in a long time.  If I'm gonna do this, I may need to hit it harder and with more variety.