Block 8. Cycle 8. Session D.

BW - 227

Waist - 43.25"

sRPE @ 7

Chin-Ups -
BW+30X4, 3, 3 @~10
BWX6 @9.5

Rack Chins (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rests) - BWX8, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, @~9

Dips -
BW+35X8 @9.5
BWX12 @9.5

Rope Pushdowns - 90X13@9

BB Curls -
80X8, 8 @8.5, 9.75
60X18 @9.5

Some ups and down on the last session of this training block.

257(BW+30)X4 ties a lifetime Rep PR on Chins.  They didn't feel strong, but tying a Rep PR isn't nothing.  Maybe poised to jump to some all-time PRs next block.  That would be nice.

Rack Chins did feel strong.  Even though I got less reps on the first set, I got more total overall reps, and sometimes you've got to be happy with that.

Dips definitely took a step back.  Weighted sets were much harder this week with only ~4 more lbs., and BW back-off sets were much harder.  HOWEVER, 262(BW+35)X8 is a lifetime Rep PR.

80X8 on Barbell curls is a lifetime Rep PR.  These made nice, very  linear progress here.  Probably because I haven't had them in a regular development block in a long time.

All-in-all this block demonstrated to me the power of being able to put together a consistent run of training.  Almost a year into using the Emerging Strategies framework (I may do a fuller write up of this to help organize my own thoughts), and I can see that a full ~7 "week" training block usually  nets around 5-6% increases.  Training Max is around 96%, and usually increases around 12% by the end of a full block.  The big challenge is stringing those together around life interruptions. 

Block 8. Cycle 7. Session D.

BW - 227

Waist - 43"

sRPE @ 7

Chin-Ups -
BW+26.25X4, 3, 3 @~10
BWX7 @10

Rack Chins - BWX7, 3, 3, 3, 3 @~9

Dips -
BW+30X8 @7.75
BWX14 @8.5

Rope Pushdowns - 80X22

BB Curls -
75X8, 8, 8 @8/9.25

Another solid session as this block winds/comes to a close.

Chins continue to make slight progress.  This was an increase in total weight on the weighted sets, and a block rep PR for unweighted chins.

Rack chins didn't get as many overall reps this session, but I played with the set-up, and got them feeling more stable in general.

Dips hit block PRs in both total weight X8, unweighted total reps, and e1RM for both.  And these are both right around my all-time WeightsXReps for Dips even though the RPE is submaximal.

Curls were also much stronger this week.

Block 8. Cycle 6. Session D.

BW - 231

Waist - 43.5"

sRPE @8

Chin-Ups -
BW+20X4, 3, 3, 2 @~10
BWX5 @9.5

Rack Chin-Ups (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rests) - BWX9, 3, 3, 3, 3, @~9

Dips -
BW+20X8 @7.5
BWX13 @9.25

Rope Pushdowns - X19 @10

BB Curls -
75X8, 8 @9,10
65X12 @10

Okay session.  We had folks in town all of last week, so I had an extra day off between sessions, and also ate a shit ton of food.  So everything was a bit sluggish today.

Still everything generally still increased in weight and/or reps.

Block 8. Cycle 5. Session D. and Cycle 6. Session A.

5D:

BW - 226

Waist - 43"

sRPE @ 7

Chin-Ups -
BW+22.5 X4, 3, 3, 2 @~10
BWX5 X9.5

Rack Chins (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rest) - BWX8, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 @~9

Dips -
BW+30X8 @9
BWX12 @9

Rope Push-Downs - X16 @10

BB Curls -
72.5X8, 8 @8.5/10
65X10 @9.5


6A:

BW - 226

Waist - 43"

sRPE @ 8

Squat -
360X1 @
285X12, 12 @7.75,8.5

Leg Press (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rest) - 5ppsX10, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 @~8

Two interesting sessions.

Weighted Chins rep strength appears to have jumped a bit.  Chin-Ups in general are feeling more "in control."  No joy on the rack chin volume work.

Added more weight on dips, but e1RM actually went down.  We'll see what happens.

Curls maybe ticked up a tiny bit.

Squat strength on the 1@8 dropped dramatically, but this was also training on a Sunday morning, which is generally my worst time for training.  And I added 10 lbs. to the back-off sets of 12 at comparable RPE to last week.  I knew high-rep strength gains were outpacing low rep on this block, but I was surprised to have a session where they moved so dramatically in opposite directions.

I added another plate-per-side to the Leg Press, but it seems like a bigger jump than I wanted.  Will probably drop down to a 25-per-side next session to keep the reps a bit higher.

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.

Block 8. Cycle 3. Session D.

BW - 227

Waist - 42.75"

sRPE @7

Chin-Ups -
BW+15X3, 2, 3, 2 @~10
BWX4 @9.5

Rack Chins (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rests) - BWX8, 3, 3, 3, 2 @~10

Dips - BWX12, 8 @~8

Rope Pushdowns - X20 @10

BB Curls - 67.5X8, 8, 8 @7.5/10



Solid session. 

Chin strength seemed to tick back up a bit after a bit of a dip on the last BW-only session, however Rack Chins dipped a bit.

Dips surged forward.  That inflammation in my trap from the first Dips session continues to recede.  That combined with getting re-acclimated to the movement is probably just allowing me to more fully display the strength that was there.  Nice to be getting into the groove with these. 

Curls ticked up a bit as well.

Block 8. Cycle 2. Session D.

BW - 227

Waist - 43"

Chin-Ups -
BW+10X3, 3, 3, 3 @~10
BWX4 @10

Rack Chins (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rest) - BWX9, 3, 3, 3, 2 @9/10

Dips - BWX8, 7 @~8

Rope Pushdowns - X18@10

Curls - 62.5X8, 8, 8 @7/9.75

Solid session.  Everything ticked up a bit except for Dips.

Dips sometimes really bother something in my right trap area.  That was the case last week.  Still lingering discomfort coming into this session.  I decided to ditch the extra weight and just work with BW.  On my warm-up set, the pain flared up a little bit, but seemed to actually fade a bit during the work sets.

I added a set of rope pushdowns to get some extra triceps volume since the volume and load on dips are lower than I'd expected coming into this block.

Block 8. Cycle 1. Session D.

BW - 225

Waist - 42.75"

Chin-Ups -
BW+10X3, 3, 3, 2 @~9.5
BWX3 @9.5

Rack Chins (Myo-Reps / 30 sec. rest) - BWX8, 3, 3, 1 @~9.5

Dips -
BW+15X8 @8
BWX8 @8.5

Curls - 60X8, 8, 8 @7.5/9.5

Okay session.

Chin-ups felt fairly smooth for so low reps.  Saying that feels like deja vu. 

Rack chins were tougher for the myo-reps than either leg press or GHR.  Combo of the set-up being more awkward, and just being weak in vertical pull movement patterns, I guess.  Still, it sort of reinforces the idea that these are more specific to chins that pull-downs.

Dips weren't feeling great up around my collar-bone on this day.  Sometimes they give me some discomfort there.  I don't think that's the main reason for the surprisingly poor performance on the BW back-off set, but it probably contributed.  No where to go but up!

Only took video of the dips.  I'm allergic to videoing my chins for some reason.  Probably need to commit to that.

Block 4 (Accumulation). Cycle 4. Session A.

BW - 219

Squat -
255X9 @6
270X9 @7
335X1 @6.5
352.5X1 @7.5
365X1 @8.5
275X9, 9, 9 @~8

Rack Chins - BWX8, 6, 5 @~8

Sumo w/ straps -
265X7 @6
280X7 @6.5
292.5X7, 7 @7

Conditioning - LISS; 20 minutes; stationary bike

Tougher session.  Probably pushed the squats a little harder than I should have.  The last two blocks I had about a 5% jump in Cycle 4, and I was trying to will that to happen here.  It clearly wasn't in the cards, but I then tried to force a 10 lb. jump, and ended up overshooting a bit on my singles.  I brought it back in line for the back-off sets, and they felt about right. 

Rack Chins dropped off a bit, but I was also "holding the squeeze" pretty hard at the top of each rep.

I was pretty wiped by the time I got to Sumos, but they actually had a bit of a larger jump than last week.  I just really had to will my focus.

I'm traveling next week for work and vacation, and I've decided not to try and shoehorn any training into that trip, so I will be cutting this block short after this cycle.  Would have been interesting to see where it went, though.  Lots of intriguing things happening.

Video is of top sets and final work sets.

Block 4 (Accumulation). Cycle 3. Session A.

BW - 220

Squat -
252.5X9 @6
265X9 @7
322.5X1 @6
337.5X1 @7
355X1 @8.5
270X9, 9, 9 @~8

Rack Chins - BWX8, 7, 6 @~8.5

Sumo -
270X7 @6.5
285X7, 7 @7.5

Conditioning - LISS; Treadmill Walking; 20 minutes

What an adventure.  I ended up looking at last week's programmed DL numbers instead of my squat numbers.  Didn't realize it until have my last warm-up set of 9.  But that set felt @7 so....I went with it.  Top set ended up being a touch heavier than I wanted, so probably should have been closer to my original target of 345.  Still I decided to push the back-off sets up by 5 lbs., and that worked out okay...although it might have negatively impacted my sumos later in the session. 

Interestingly, this is the third block in a row of having a big jump on squats in cycle 3 and/or 4.  Interested to see what happens next week.

Rack chins took a little step back with the increase in BW.  Need to get that increase under better control.

Sumo were actually a little weaker than last week.  285 was supposed to be my last warm-up, but was clearly @7+ so I stayed there.  As I mentioned above, I suspect going a little harder on Squats earlier in the session  may have contributed. 

Video is of top sets and final work sets.

Block 4 (Accumulation). Cycle 2. Session A.

BW - 217

Squat -
235X9 @6
247.5X9 @6.5
305X1 @6
325X1 @7.5
335X1 @8.25
255X9, 9, 9 @7.5

Rack Chins - BWX9, 7, 6 @~8.5

Sumo DL -
255X7 @5
285X7, 7 @7

Squats came in a little under target, and chin strength was fairly level.  I think my stance was a bit wide on Squats.  Sumo feels like it's going to march, though.

Block 4 (Accumulation). Cycle 1. Session A.

BW - 215

Squat -
225X9 @6
237.5X9 @7
295X1 @6
310X1 @7
327.5X1 @8
250X9, 9, 9 @7.5

Rack Chin-Ups - BWX8, 8, 7 @~8.5

Sumo DL w/Straps -
245X7
275X7, 7 @~7

Nice first session for the first training block.  Had to hold myself down out of the gate because I was so jazzed to get rolling.

Squats went very well.  I was a bit hesitant to jump from 238X7 to 295X1 after not having gone over 245 for a couple of weeks, but it was all good.  The top single looks faster than it felt.  I probably left some weight on the table, but I'm fine to start a tad lighter and progress.  Back-off sets definitely felt easier than expected.  When the first back-off came in at 7.5, I decided not to go up because I thought I would fatigue quickly.  That did not happen.

First time doing rack chins.  This is setting up with a low-ish chin up bar (smith machine in this case) and putting your feet up on something in front of you.  Basically the chin-up version of bench dips.  I want to find ways to get higher rep chin-up volume in besides pull-downs and band chins as neither of those have ever really seemed to translate very much to my chin-up strength.  These felt awkward to start, but I was hitting them with confidence by the end.  Looking forward to progressing on these and possibly even moving into holding one foot up off the bench as a way of adding intensity and also stimulating the abdominal bracing portion of chin-ups.  I thought I may need straps for these, but I did not.

Also did Sumo DL for the very first time ever.  I had no real expectations.  I plugged in, like, 90% of my recent DL e1RM.  I was working in with a good lifter who was also pulling Sumo, and he kept encouraging me to go up.  Where I ended up projects as 102% of my recent DL e1RM, and that coming off a two week pivot block and never having done this movement before.  Because my squat has long been ahead of my pull, I believed there was a chance I could pull Sumo more than Conventional.  And that may be the case.  I called these RPE~7 but that might even be sandbagging a bit.  Looking forward to seeing where these go this block.

All video is of top sets or final work-sets.