Block 10. Cycle 1. Session B.

BW - 228

Waist - 43.75"

sRPE @ 6

Bench -
200X3 @7.5
170X7, 7 @7

CG Bench -
165X6, 6 @7/8
155X6 @7.5

Rack Pull-Ups - BWX5, 5, 5 @7/8.5

GPP Day -
- Circuit: Straight-Arm Pull-Downs, Seated DB Press, Hammer Curls - 7 minutes; 3 rounds; sets of 10
- Rower - LISS; 20 minutes

Nice little upper-body session. 

200X3 @7.5 is interesting because that's about at 99% of where my bench was at the end of the previous, aborted cycle.  That was back on 12/22.  So almost a month later, with minimal training, bench strength is about where it was.  Not sure if there are any take-aways, but if the lift trends upwards from here, and especially if I get a couple of larger-than-average jumps (my Bench tends to have those), I could end up with a good little bench block.

I had to drop weight on the last set of Close-Grips, as the RPE started jumping pretty fast.  All good (probably).

Rack Pull-Ups were fairly easy, especially as I'm still dropping a set from each movement in this first week.
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GPP Day went well, too!  Was able to move through this combination a bit faster and with more reps, resulting in getting a 3rd round in the same amount of time.  I think the prior GPP day's circuit probably had a lot more biceps involvement in each movement and that created more fatigue.

Also doubled my time on the rower with no difficulty.  Will probably switch to HIIT next week.

Block 10. Cycle 1. Session A.

BW - 229

Waist - 43.75"

sRPE @ 7

Squat -
320X3 @8
275X7, 7 @~7

Front Squat -
150X9 @7.5
145X9, 9 @7

Sumo DL w/ Straps - 290X5, 5 @7

GPP Day -
- DB Circuit: One-Arm Rows, Upright Rows, Curls - 7 minutes; 2 rounds; sets of 7-10
- Rower - LISS; 10 minutes

First session getting back to it after a rough few weeks of derailed training and a week of travel.

Testing some stuff I've observed with Emerging Strategies in this block.  Based on the last year of using that framework, my best results occur in the first 5 cycles of a training block, and then taper off for a couple of cycles before I pass my peak.  This will be a 10 cycle block where the first 4-5 cycles are my "2nd best" rep ranges and assistance movements transitioning into a 2nd round of 4-5 cycles with my "greatest hits" rep ranges and assistance movements.  With no pivot block in between, I'll see if I can extend my Time to Peak and if the cycle-to-cycle gains stay high, or if it still tapers off after the first 4-5 weeks and/or peaks around 7-8 weeks.

Something else I'm trying is cutting a set from each movement in the initial session/week to see if that helps with DOMS after little to no training the last couple of weeks.

Squats and Front Squats both went well.

Sumos w/ straps we're way off where I expected them to be on paper, but I was just a little gassed at this point, and didn't want to push the sRPE up.

Also taking advantage of the office gym to get some conditioning and some isolation/hypertrophy work that I always find it difficult to wedge into regular training sessions.

Block 9. Cycle 2. Session C, D., Cycle 3. Session A.

BW - 227, 230, 228

Waist - 43", 43.75", 43"

sRPE @ ~8 for all

2.C:
Bench -
205X3 @8
155X15@9.5

Chin-Up 1.5s - BWX6, 6, 6 @~10

Upright Rows (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rests) - 90X12, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 @~9

Curls -
65X12, 12 @8, 10
55X12 @8.5

2.D:
Deadlift -
375X3 @8
290X15 @9

RDL - 290X7 @9.25

Hack Squat (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rests) - 75X17, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 @8/8.5

3.A:
Chin-Ups - BW+25X4, 4 @~10

Press -
147.5X1 @8.5
135X3, 3 @8

Dips - BW+20X10, 8 @8.5, 9

WG Pull-Downs (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rests) - 85X20, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 @8.5/8

Block 9. Cycle 2. Session B.

BW - 227

Waist - 43.25"

sRPE @ 7

Squats -
320X3 @7
265X16 @8

High-Bar Squats - 265X7 @8

Hip-Thrusts (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rests) - 135X17, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 @9/7

Solid, bounce-back session.

Messed up the top set of Squats and stopped one set early.  Should have been going for ~335 @8 here.  Then I lost count on the back-off set and ended up doing an extra rep, and STILL hitting under target RPE @9.  We'll try to dial that in next week.  Eventually, it will be have to be heavy enough, right?

265X7 is a Rep PR on High Bar Squats.  I dropped weight and hit a quick triple on high-bars to make sure technique was dialed-in, before jumping back up to the work weight.  Worked well.

Hip-thrusts were interesting this week.  Pushed the RPE on the top set pretty good, but all the myo-reps sets were too easy.  Probably want to up those to 6 reps each for next time.

Block 9. Cycle 2. Session A.

BW - 232.9

Waist - 43.5"

sRPE @ 8

Chin-Ups - BW+17.5X4, 2 @~10

Press -
152.5X1 @9.75
137.5X3 @9.5
127.5X3 @8.25

Dips - BW+10X10, 10 @8,9

WG Pull-Downs (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rests) - 85X18, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6 @8/9

Weak session.

Chin-Ups and Press just weren't quite there for me on this day.

With Chins, my BW spiked on this day, and that really does seem to make a huge difference even accounting for total weight.

But when Press also took a step back, I thought maybe it was just an off day.  I still tried to push for my target weights, but both the top single and the first set of 3 were clearly to heavy on this day and so I backed off for the second set of 3.

Dips were slightly better, but the RPE shouldn't have jumped so much on the second set.

Pull-downs were fine though, lol.

Block 9. Cycle 1. Session D.

BW - 227

Waist - 43"

sRPE @ 7

Deadlift -
370X3 @8
275X15 @8

RDL w/Straps - 275X7 @8

Hack Squats (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rests) - 75X15, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 @8.7/7

Conditioning (following day) - Rower; HIIT (20/100 sec.); 5 rounds

Interesting session.

DL went really well.  Like all the powerlifts in this first week, the target weight for 15@9 ended up being too light, and just like all the others, I didn't give a shit and will just try to get @9 next week.

275X7 is a Rep PR on RDL.  With straps, but I kind of don't care, because I'll probably train this lift with straps from now on.  The movement just feels more focused with double-overhand.

I was worried about the Hack Squats, because single-leg Hack Squats in the pivot block were such a shit show.  Ended up just fine.  These were all fairly deep as well.

Got access to the gym in my office building and am starting to do conditioning on off-days.

Block 9. Cycle 1. Session C.

BW - 230

Waist - 43.75"

sRPE @ 7

Bench -
220X3 @8.25
155X15 @ 8.5

Chin-Ups 1.5s (bottom-half) - BWX3,3; 3,3; 3,3 @9/10

Upright Rows - (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rests) - 90X10, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 @8.5

BB Curls -
65X12 @9
60X12 @9
50X12 @8

Okay session.

I hoped to push Bench to 225 for the top 3@8, but warm-up made that seem unlikely, and it turned out coming in roughly on target at 220.  Back-off set came in a little under target RPE @9, but I expect that on the first week or so as I dial-in the target weights.

Based on something Greg Nuckols said on a recent podcast, I thought I'd try a version of 1.5s on Chins.  With this version, I get within a rep or 2 of failure on the full reps, and then I do half-reps in the bottom ROM to within a rep or 2 of failure.  Not sure how to put my performance on these in context.  Last block, I started un-weighted chins by getting 10 total reps across 3 sets.  Here, I got 9 total, full ROM reps across 3 sets, plus nine, half-ROM reps.  So...that's more?  I will say, I felt a little "fresher" after these sets than I think I do after sets of full reps.  We'll see!

Haven't done upright rows in a while.  Thought I would be starting out with more weight for more reps, but whatevs.  My traps were really sore a couple days after doing these.

Curls were also a bit weaker than I expected.