Old Man Texas Method. Week 3. Volume Day

BW - 229

Squat - 340X5, 5, 5

Press - 127.5X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Deadlift - 290X5, 5

Everything went pretty well tonight.  After adjusting the program to be more in line with the info that's out there about it, Squat weight is light enough that I can really focus in on technique every set.  Still not sure I'm happy with this bar path, but I'm trying to determine where the bar path "starts."  Does it start and end where I'm fully standing?  Or does it start a bit later?  Final set shown.

After the first set of Press, I was skeptical about 5X5 at this weight, but it all worked out!  Glad I had faith in the programming on this day.  Final set shown.

This weight was practically speed work for DL, but we'll see how it goes.  Technically this is a 2X5 PR, as I haven't done sets across on DL since September of '16.

Old Man Texas Method. Week 2. Intensity Day

BW - 230

Squat - 370X5

Bench - 225X5

Chin-Ups - BW; 33 Reps; 8 Sets

Everything went pretty well on this day.  I've been listening to the Starting Strength podcast with Matt Reynolds, and they've elaborated on the Old Man Texas Method.  To keep in line with that, I started by dropping the AMRAP back-off sets from this day. And starting this week, I will be making some other little tweaks, and we'll see how it goes.

Bar path on Squats still looks troublesome, although these felt good.

Was supposed to do 222.5 on the bench, but I just couldn't take it anymore and went on to 225.  Moved well.

Chins started off feeling a little stronger, and got a few more reps on the initial sets, and was able to get the same total reps as last time in one less set.

Starting with the next workout, we'll see Squats on Volume Day get a little lighter, but heavier and more sets on the light day.  I'll start alternating Press with Bench again this week, and there will be many more sets on Volume Day for these with a little less weight.  Also DL will happen on both VD and ID for as long as that works.  Not resetting the DL to sets of 5 yet though. Want to see if DL on VD can help keep driving the weight up on ID.

Greyskull LP. Session 25

BW - 231

Press -
152.5X3
137.5X8, 5

Chin-Ups - BW; 30 Reps; 8 Sets

Squats -
370X5
335X7, 5

152.5X3 and 137.5X8 are both Rep PRs on Press.  I think a 4th rep would have been there at 152.5, but I let the bar get out in front of me too far and got on my toes.  Pretty clear in the first video.  The set of 8 at 137.5 was also RPE 9.5 or so.

On Chins, I got a couple more reps, and one less set than last time.  Progress.

No PRs on Squats.  I've I'd been paying attention, I might have gone for a 6 rep PR on the first set.  I've been starting to feel a little beat up by Squats, and my form was getting bad (bad bar path and bad depth).  Today I made a game time decision to switch to the same phase that Press is in:  Top set followed by AMRAP @ 90% and another set of 90%X5 for volume.  Knowing I would only have one set at 370, I really took my time.  Focused on bar path and depth.  I'm feeling like the days of toying around with these advanced novice LP strategies like Greyskull are coming to an end for the Squat, and I will need to move back into some intermediate programming very soon.  I've managed to stretch it out almost a full year on Squat and Bench, so that's not too bad.

Greyskull LP. Session 24

BW - 234 (wow)

Bench - 212.5X5, 5, 8

Chin-Ups - BW; 29 Reps; 9 Sets

Deadlift - 365X5

212.5X8 is a Rep PR, and 3X5 is an LP PR.  First set felt tough, and I didn't expect this many reps on the final set.  Maybe could have gotten an 9th rep though.  We'll call it RPE 9.5.

Didn't have any juice on chins today.  Most sets I've needed to hit my number since I change to this volume approach.  We'll see how it goes next session.

365X5 is a Rep PR on Deadift.  Really taking my time between reps.  Starting to have some nagging low-back discomfort again, but it didn't seem to be aggravated by the pulls.  I suspect it's bad bar path on Squats causing problems.

Greyskull LP. Session 23

BW - 229

Press -
150X3
135X9, 5

Chin-ups - BW; 28 total Reps; 7 Sets

Squats - 365X5, 5, 5

135X9 is a Rep PR on Press.  I originally programmed for the third back-off set to be 80%X5, but that didn't feel right on the day.  I'm still playing around with how to use the back-off sets but not let tonnage drop too far.  1st and 2nd set shown.

On chins, I got the same total reps as last session in less sets.  Feels like progress.

365 for 3X5 is an LP PR.  I feel like I should have gone for a 6th, but it's feeling very heavy, and the technique looks off.  Depth is borderline-to-high, and bar path is poor.  Sigh.

Greyskull LP. Session 13

BW - 231

Press - 142.5X5, 5, 6

Chin-Ups -
BW+25X3, 3
BWX10, 7

Squat - 355X5, 5, 7

142.5X6 is a Rep PR on the Press.  Felt pretty good I think.  Tried to video it from the back to see if I could learn anything new from that angle, but the phone fell over.

231 (BW)X10 is a Rep PR on Chins.  No video on this day.

355X7 is a Rep PR on Squat.  Finally.  It's taken me 4 weeks to dig myself out of the hole I found myself in after my Thanksgiving trip where I ended up not squatting for 3 weeks.  4 weeks to undo 3 weeks.  What a pain in the ass.  Anyway, things had started to feel better last week, and everything felt really good all through warm-ups on this day.  The first set was hard in the usual way of a 3X5, 2nd set felt really good, and I was fired up for the last set.  Also, the video of the first working sets showed a really solid bar path.  Hopefully this is a sign of what the coming weeks will be like.

Greyskull LP. Session 11

BW - 228

Press - 140X5, 5, 6

Chin-Ups -
BW+22.5X4, 4
BWX10, 7

Squats - 350X5, 5, 6

140X6 is a Rep PR on the Press.  These felt okay.  Noticing a tendency for my hips to shoot out a little too one side or the other at the transition/sticking point.  Can't really see it in the video.  May try a different angle to see if it's visible.

Chins felt pretty good.  7 reps on the 2nd back-off set may be a PR of sorts for this programming.

Squats felt much better today.  I worked on controlling the eccentric a lot more today.  Sacrificed some pop out of the bottom for a bit better of a bar path.  Still not nearly as good as it was before Thanksgiving, but better.  And as a result, I was able to go over 5 reps on the AMRAP set.  Needed 7 for a Rep PR, but was happy to not be struggling as much.

Greyskull LP. Session 7

BW - 229 (big lunch, I guess)

Press - 135X5, 5, 8

Chin-ups -
BW+20X3, 3
BWX8, 5

Squats -
345X5, 5
275X10

135X8 is a Rep PR on Press. Felt pretty good going into the set, but this was definitely RPE 10.

Reset the chins back to 20 and will work up again in 2.5 lb. increments.  See if I can bust through 30.

Squats are a shit show right now.  Getting really off my heels.  Where the problem used to be the bar sliding forward in the hole, now it's moving forward through-out the descent.  Really baffling that a couple of week lay-off could fuck it up this bad even with the reset.  After the 2nd set of 5 (shown), I just said fuck this and did an AMRAP set at 275 just to try and get some quality volume in.  Even those reps are technically poor despite having the strength to rep them out.  Starting to formulate a programming shift for squats and/or considering a consultation.

Novice LP. Session 57 (Greyskull Squats and Press)

BW - 228

Bench -
227.5X5
205X5, 5

Squat -
370X5
330X5, 8

Chin-Ups - BWX25 total reps (lost track of individual sets)

Phone died so no video of this session.

My sleep and general recovery were a mess heading into this session, so I was kind of dreading it.  Things went pretty well, though.

227.5X5 is a Rep PR on Bench.  5th rep was absolutely RPE 10.  Really wasn't sure if it was going to lock-out.  Hopefully my recovery can be in better shape next week when I take a run at 230.

370X5 is a Rep PR on Squats.  Squats just felt really good today.  I felt like the bar was staying "over my heels" on every rep, and I had a lot of pop coming out of the hole.

This was my first time experimenting with AMRAP on the 2nd back-off set.  I decided to move back into back-off sets after the last squat workout where I ended up cutting the 2nd set across at 4 reps.  But I didn't want to abandon the AMRAP set, so I'm doing a sort of mash-up of Advanced Novice/Greyskull LP here.  I'm well aware that there's risk of bastardizing tested programs, and that mash-ups often result in worse results than choosing one method or another.  However, the AMRAP sets seemed to be yielding results.  I will keep a close eye on this as I move forward.  I'm not sure if the 1st set of 5 is necessary, or if it would be better to do a single, AMRAP back off-set.  My suspicion is that this will yield more ultimate volume, even if it possibly costs me a rep or two on the AMRAP.

Anyway, despite feeling like crap all day, this was a good session.

Novice LP. Session 55 (Greyskull Squats and Press)

BW - 229

Bench -
225X5
202.5X5, 5

Squat - 365X5, 4

225X5 is a Rep PR on Bench.  Nice milestone.  Reps were all pretty smooth, and got in some leg drive without my butt coming up.

365X5 is a Rep PR on Squats.  Weight was shifting off my heels a bit again today, and so the bar was drifting forward at the bottom of the movement. I believe that was taking a bit of a toll on me.  The 4th rep on the 2nd set felt like such a grinder, I didn't go for a 5th.  Also, my low back is still a little dicey.  I was going to go for a 3rd set, but realized I was supposed to be somewhere in 30 minutes, so I cut if off there.

I will revisit 365 on my next squat session.  If I run into trouble on it again, I will start progressing the first set and drop back to 90% on the 2nd and 3rd, with AMRAP on the 3rd.

Novice LP. Session 53 (Greyskull Squats and Press)

BW - 229

Bench -
222.5X5
200X5, 5

Squat - 360X5, 5, 6

Chin-Ups - BWX7, 5, 4, 5, 3, 2 (26 total reps)

222.5X5 is a Rep PR on Bench.  Missed the 5th rep last week, but managed to squeeze it out this week.  Butt came up a bit.

360X6 is a Rep PR on Squat and 3X5 is an LP PR.  Right adductor was bugging me early on in warm-ups, but was ready to go as the weight got heavier.  Recorded my last warm-up, and bar path looked good.  Continued to look good through the work sets, and was able to get a really clean, extra rep on the AMRAP set.  Felt good about this one, and excited to go for 365 next!

Knocked out some more chins to finish it up.  Started off strong, but the bottom fell out.  Was using one of the less optimal chin-up stations at the gym.

Novice LP. Session 42 (Greyskull Squats and Press)

BW - 228

Press - 125X5, 5, 8

Squat - 325X5, 5, 8

Chins - BWX7, 4, 4

8th rep on Press was a grinder.  I was hoping another 9 rep PR was going to be there, but it wasn't.

325X8, however, is a Rep PR.  Still having trouble staying upright with a straight bar path, but videoing the first two sets is helping me correct that going into the AMRAP set.  Strength feels like it's there for more, but my wind isn't there for more.  Feel like I can't get full breaths between the last couple of reps.

Chin-up strength was a little better than last session.

Novice LP. Session 41 (Greyskull Squats and Press)

BW - 228

Bench -
212.5X5
192.5X5, 5

Squat - 320X5, 5, 8

Chin-Ups - BWX7, 3, 3

Negative Chins (0/0/3) - BWX4, 4

Bench went really well.  Warm-ups felt a little off-kilter, but the top set was fairly easy.

320X8 is a Rep PR in squats.  Was getting hard to breath by the end.  Focused on a more upright torso, and it felt good, and the bar path looks good:

Not a lot of gas left for chins, though.  Plus a little bit heavier.  So I threw in a couple sets of negatives to get good volume in there.

Novice LP. Session 38 (Greyskull Squats and Press)

BW - 224

Press - 120X5, 5, 9

Squat - 330X5, 5, 7

Chin-Ups - BWX5, 5, 5

Good day.  Belt helped a lot with both barbell lifts.

Reset Press to the Greyskull protocol and 120X9 is a Rep PR in Press. If I hadn't known it would take 9 for a PR, I wouldn't have gotten there.  Last rep is maybe the slowest rep I've ever put overhead.

Low-back is feeling much better.  330X7 is a Rep PR in the squat.  6 would have been a PR, but I felt like I could get 7 going into this set, and planned my 'breaks' accordingly.  3 reps non-stop, 2 reps, 1, 1.  Still getting forward a bit coming out of the hole on some reps, but by keeping a more upright torso, I'm fixing that a bit, and some of these reps look damn near perfect despite the relative intensity.

Because I did a ladder up on chins the day before as part of a conditioning circuit, today I just tried sets of 5 across.  Still mulling over how I want to progress these going forward.