Pressin' Out Week 6. Day A.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 225

Press -

-    up to 155X1 @9.5

-    135X3, 3, 3 @7.5/8.5

DB Bench - 65sX14(PR), 9, 6 @~10

Roman Chair Squats - BWX11, 10 @~9

Pulldowns - X11, 8 @10

EZ OH Extensions - 55X16, 11, 7, 7 @10

Upped the top single a bit on Press, and grabbed another Rep PR on DB Bench.  

Pressin' Out Week 4. Day A.

sRPE @7

BW - 224

Press - 

-    up to 150X1 @9.5

-    125X5, 5, 5 @8/9.5

DB Bench - 65sX12(ties PR), 8, 7 @~10

Roman Chair Squats - BWX13, 10 @9.5

Pull-Downs - X11, 9 @~10

EZ OH Extensions - 55X14, 10, 9, 8 @~10

Small bump in Press strength over last week, and tied DB Bench PR.  Overall difficulty of the session was down a little bit over last week as well, even though I added set volume.

Pressin' Out Week 2. Day A.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 224

Press - 

-    145X1 @9.5
-    125X5, 5 @~9

DB Bench - 65sX10, 7 @~10

Roman Chair Squats - BWX12, 9 @~10

Pull-Downs - X10, 8 @10

EZ OH Extensions - 55X13, 8, 8 @~10

Gnarly head cold had me sidelined the last few days, and missed my 3rd training session last week.  Solid return.

Dippin' into Dips Week 4. Day A.

sRPE @8

BW - 226

Dips -

-    BW+100X1(PR) @10

-    BW+60X5, 4 @10

DB Incline - 50sX12, 8, 7 @~10

Roman Chair Squats - BWX12, 11 @~10

Pull-Downs - X9, 7 @~10

DB OH Extensions - 60X10, 8, 8, 7 @10

Happy to get a PR rep with the 100# DB.  Tried to go for some Volume PRs with a 60# DB, but didn't have the juice.

Despite the holidays disrupting training, I've hit a couple of milestone Dips PRs with 2 plates last week, and the Hundo DB this week.  I'll probably just mess around the rest of this week, and then start a new block next week.

Dippin' into Dips Week 2. Day A.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 225

Dips - 

-    BW+85X1 @10

-    BW+35X5, 5 @~8

DB Incline - 50sX12, 8 @10

Pull-Downs - X10, 7 @10

Roman Chair Squats - BWX13, 10 @~10

DB OH Extensions - 55X12, 9, 8 @10

Had a few days of travel last week so missed a day of training.  Still, adding a little volume this session was no issue.

Chin-Up War Week 8. Day A.

sRPE @7

BW - 223

Chin-Ups - BWX9, 5, 4, 4 @10

CS Rows - 135X13, 9 @~10

Roman Chair Squats - BWX15, 12 @~9

BB OH Extension - 45X12, 10 @9

BB Curls - 85X13(PR), 8(PR) @10

Chins felt a little flat week-over-week.

Rep and Volume PRs on Curls. 

Dips, Quads, Curls, Shoulders

sRPE @7.5

BW - 223

Bench Dips - BW+25# ChainX16, 12, 10, 10 @10

Roman Chair Squats - BWX10, 10, 10, 10 @9.5/10

DB Preacher Curls - 20sX14, 12, 10, 10 @10

super-set with

Seated DB Laterals - 20sX9, 9, 9, 7 @10

Adding weight to the Bench Dips to get the reps more in the range I expect to eventually be training full Dips in.  Much triceps burn.

Thought about doing something higher stress for legs, but it was pretty darn sweaty in the gym, and I wanted to make sure I had energy to drive through the full workout.

I think this may be the first time I've done DB Preacher Curls?

Cambered Bench, Roman Chair Squats, Curls

sRPE @6

BW - 225

Cambered Bench - 

-    up to 215X1 @9.5

-    155X6, 6, 6 @7/8

Roman Chair Squats - BWX12, 10, 9 @~8

DB Incline Curls w/ rest-pause partials - 15sX16/11, 14/8, 12/8 @~10

Looking at the numbers, Cambered Bench was flat over last week, but it subjectively felt more "under control" if that makes sense.  I had hoped to match my PR of 225 today, but that's ok.  

Upper Push and Quads

sRPE @7

BW - 219

Bench - up to 205X1 @8

Single-Ply Bench - up to 245X1 @9.5

Dips - BWX8, 7, 6 @8.5/9

DB Curls - 25sX12, 10, 8 @8/9

super-set with

Roman Chair Squats - BWX11, 10, 8 @8.5/9

Posterior Chain was still very sore from the last "instinctual" training session.  So I focused on Pressing movements and a quad-heavy lower body movement.

Only the 2nd time I've ever broken out the bench shirt.  Was a lot trickier than I remembered.  Had to add a belt to hold it in place so that the tensest part stayed on my sternum instead of sliding up towards my collar bones.  Even so, I still had some technical challenges in the assisted portion of the lift.  On the 225 rep, it actually tried to windmill coming off my chest and I had to pull it back into position.

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 4. Session C.

sRPE @8

BW - 224

Chins - BWX2, 2, 2 @~7

031 Tempo Work:

-    EZ Face Pulls - X11, 11 @10

-    Incline Bench* - 95X10, 10, 10, 10, 10 @6.5/10

-    Roman Chair Squats - BWX10, 10, 10, 8, 6 @9/10

Stationary Bike - HIIT; 10 minutes

*Finally found the technique on Incline that's giving me the sensation I'm looking for, that is, a stretch feeling across the upper chest and front delts: 1) Wider grip; hands at the rings.  2) Arms flared to 90 degrees throughout; "guillotine" style.  3)  Driving my elbows towards the floor right before the concentric; getting a vertical forearm under the bar to push through.

Roman Chair 2 cycles ago (before the lower volume, intensity technique cycle) I did 5 sets of 8.  Turns out strength hasn't gone up enough to hit 5 sets of 10, lol.  These were hard, but like most BW-only movements, don't seem to be systemically fatiguing.  I also played around with trying to "kick" my feet into the brace out of the bottom to try and shift as much of the tension to my quads as possible.  That kind of felt like it was working.

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 3. Session C.

sRPE @8

BW - 221

Chins - BWX2, 2, 2 @~7

031 Tempo Work w/ Intensity Techniques:

-    Face Pulls w/ Long ROM Drop-Sets - X16, 13/5 @~10

-    Incline Bench w/ Rest-Pause - 95X11/5, 8/4 @9.5

-    Roman Chair Squats w/ Long ROM Drop-Sets - BWX10/2, 8/3 @9.5/10

Rower - HIIT; 10 minutes

Tried just doing rear delt row partials as the first drop set on Face-Pulls, but they were too easy.

Might need to move my grip out again on Inclines as it still feels primarily Triceps.  Also I keep tucking my elbows strength-style, instead of keeping them flared.

Wasn't sure if I'd get "stuck" in the bottom of the Roman Chair Squats when I hit failure or not, but turns out you can just lean forward and get stand up pretty easily. 

3 Day FB Hypertrophy. Cycle 2. Session C.

sRPE @7

BW - 221

Chins - BWX3, 2, 2 @9.5/8

031 Tempo Work:

 - EZ Face Pulls - X11, 10 @9.5

 - Incline Bench - 

  - 115X9, 9 @9/10

  - 95X9, 9*, 9 @9/10

 - Roman Chair Squats - BWX8, 8, 8, 8, 8 @9/10

Rower - HIIT; 10 minutes

*Started out Close Grip on Inclines, but was feeling it all in my triceps, so I moved the grip out to a moderate grip and it felt more balanced across all 3 pressing muscle groups. 

3 Day Full-Body Hypertrophy. Week 1. Session C.

 sRPE @6

BW - 222

Chins - BWX2, 2, 2 @~7.5

031 Tempo Work:

EZ Cable Face Pulls - X8, 8 @~7

Incline Bench - 95X8, 7 @~7

Roman Chair Squats - BWX8, 5 @8/7

Plan originally was to increase proximity to failure (and reps) week-over-week in 3 week waves.  I hit the first two sessions pretty close to failure just out of enthusiasm for novelty.  Got some pretty good hamstring DOMS for my trouble, so I forced myself to be more conservative in this session. 

Mid-Rep Volume PRs. Pivot Session E.

sRPE @7.5

BW - 225

Box Squat - up to 380X1 @9

Roman Chair Squat - BWX10, 10, 10 @7/9

Dips - up to BW+65X1 @8

Decline Bench - up to 225X3 @7.5

Cambered Bench - 135X6, 6, 6, 6 @7/8

Messing around the couple of sessions before I go on a trip.  Decided to work up on Box Squat. Everything felt really good, especially once I called spotters in.  Heaviest I've squatted to a box is 335X5, so this is certainly a PR on this lift.

Worked up on Dips just because I haven't hit them in a couple of weeks.

Then a buddy from the Konjugate Krew came in and I worked in with him on Max Effort Bench stuff.  I'm sure I've done Decline Bench in my life, but I have no record of having done it going back 13 years.  So...PR?

Mid-Rep Volume PRs. Bench and Pivot Session C.

sRPE @6.5

BW - 221

Bench - 

215X1 @6.5

235X1 @8

190X9, 9 @8/9

Behind-the-Back 1-Arm Cable Laterals - X13, 13 @~10

GHR Sit-Ups - 

BW+10 (on chest) X8 @9

BW (hands behind head) X8, 8 @~8

Roman Chair Squat - BWX11, 10, 10 @9/8

190 for 2 sets of 9 is a Volume PR on Bench, and my stretch goal for this block.

BTB Cable Laterals are my choice for fucking around with the hot new BB trend: Long-ROM Partials.  Great delt pump.

I always do GHR sit-ups with my hands on my chest.  I forgot how much of a difference it actually makes to put them behind my head.  I can't tell if the additional tension is more from that weight being moved further from the hinge, or from the longer stretch on the abs.

I've worked out at this gym for over a decade and never once used the Roman Chair for BW Squats (only for rear-foot elevated split squats).  These seem like a solid, low stress quad movement!