Hey brother, still thinking about doing that meet in Carrollton? I just got my new wraps and my ticket back to the states in confirmed, I’ll be there with some dudes ready to compete!
BTW, whats the “@8” or whichever number after your sets and weights? Percentage? I tried to look, but couldn’t find it in your log.
[quote]TheTexican wrote:
Hey brother, still thinking about doing that meet in Carrollton? I just got my new wraps and my ticket back to the states in confirmed, I’ll be there with some dudes ready to compete!
BTW, whats the “@8” or whichever number after your sets and weights? Percentage? I tried to look, but couldn’t find it in your log. [/quote]
Still thinking about it. But that weekend is sandwiched with exams, so I’ll have to see how I feel about making the trip.
The numbers following the sets and weights are rates of perceived effort (RPEs). They’re just a way to gauge how hard a set is, but a bit more objective than saying, “it felt easy/hard”.
That’s what I figured, just didn’t want to assume. Thanks.
Exams can eat it… I’m glad I do online classes. I think I’ve had like 3 real exams and I’m almost done with my bachelor’s. haha
Friday 2/24/12
2 ct Pause Squat
Goal: x6 @9, drop set (90%)
7x255 @8 —> apparently I can’t count
7x285 @8.5 —> still can’t count nor can I get to depth
4x295 @?
7x265 @8.5 —> I think I need to go back to kindergarten so as to learn how to count, that or a lack of oxygen to the brain is affecting my cognitive skills
Paused squats suck period, even more so when you have to count. Hated having to hold my air and stay tight for a longer period of time, but should help in the long run. Lower back felt fatigued way before my legs.
CG Incline
Goal: x6 @9, drop set (90%)
6x205 @8
4x225 @8.5 —> omg
somexsomex135
Feels like I haven’t pressed in forever, which is sort of the case. I’ll just have to give it time. Was originally going to use Fat Gripz, but while warming up my wrists and elbows were a bit achy so removed the Fat Gripz, problem solved. Pressing just felt off. Long story short, I haven’t pressed in awhile so I need to grease the groove and stick with it until things come back.
Definitely getting strong(er) brah, keep it up!
Thanks phlegms!
Saturday 2/25/12
Bench press
Triceps felt dead and could not find my groove so just did a bunch of light sets to get back into the groove. fml
Front squat
3x275 @8 —> bar had a mind of its own
1x295 @8 —> decided to do a single b/c I could not keep the bar from slipping today
1x315 @9 —> cheap PR
0x335
With the way my schedule is nowadays, I’ll probably be changing up my lifting schedule.
Nice job, you definitely have much more there.
Nice, easy!
Good front squat. I’m jealous of your ability to use a clean grip.
Thanks guys! Feels good to hit 315, but not quite satisfying.
Got my brother to start lifting with me. Looking forward to seeing him make progress.
Sunday 2/26/12
Deadlift
3x335 @7
3x365 @7.5 —> holy shiz felt ez
3x405 @8.5
3x425 @9 —> quasimodo’d it, might be a PR
dafuq, pulling felt unusually good today.
Bench press
3x265 @8.5 —> harder than it should’ve been
2x285 @10 —> bleh knew I should’ve held back but didn’t
On the brightside, benching felt better than the past few days. But sadly still wasn’t where it should be.
Inverted row
12, 12, 10xBW
Plus lots of band pull aparts.
Good DL mang! I have no access to weights until Thursday… FFFFFFFFFFF my liFe!
Hey man, nice work on getting the 3 plate front ! I’m testing the big 3 on Friday and I’m going to throw a front squat max in there and see where I’m at. Not quite 3 plates I anticipate…
@texican: thanks man, for some reason pulling just felt right that day.
@jake_j_m: I appreciate it! Kill it when you test your maxes.
Monday 2/27/12
A nice and short session to get my mind of school and to kill time while waiting for food to finish cooking.
Bench press
3x2x275 @8
Benching is slowly feeling better.
Lots of band pull aparts and hammer curlz.
Friday 3/2/12
Squat
3x315 @7.5
1x345 @huh? —> for some reason I missed the 2nd rep
So went on to:
Front squat
3x275 @8
2x305 @9 —> felt like my upper back just shut off
1x315 @9.5 —> lol where’d my upper back go
Squats felt meh, so after the odd miss I decided to do front squats. The FS felt more natural than squats today, so went with it.
Military press
3x155 @7
3x175 @8
3x195 @8.5
Haven’t done these in a long time. Felt decent.
Inverted rowz and band pull aparts
How are you finding the RTS approach dude? I am enjoying it so far - to early to tell whether it will benefit my numbers yet though!
Are you only recording your ‘working’ sets here? I am never quite sure whether I should aim to hit 1 top set at the required RPE or several?
[quote]Adam-F wrote:
How are you finding the RTS approach dude? I am enjoying it so far - to early to tell whether it will benefit my numbers yet though!
Are you only recording your ‘working’ sets here? I am never quite sure whether I should aim to hit 1 top set at the required RPE or several?[/quote]
I’m enjoying the more total body-esque sessions very much and love the use of RPEs to make my efforts more objective.
You are correct, I only record my ‘working’ sets. @7-10 are the only RPEs that are worth mentioning so that’s what I record.
Regarding the amount of top sets you want should hit, that really varies and depends on how your training is set up. Right now, I’m slowly working my session frequency up. Since I’m aiming for higher frequency I don’t want one session to kill me, thus decreasing the effectiveness of my other sessions. So right now I only aim to hit one set of x1-3 @9. Eventually, I’ll be adding back off sets where I do singles or doubles with a weight a tad lighter than my top set for the day.
Hopefully that kinda sorta shed some light. If not, do ask and I’ll try to answer with my the limited knowledge I have.
Yeah that’s ok - just confirms my thoughts, cheers 
Keep up the good work.
I enjoyed the audible questioning of said squat
@matt: lol I didn’t realize that until you mentioned it.
Saturday 3/3/12
Another session with the brother. Good stuff. I was so happy when my brother told me how laughable his gym teacher is b/c of his major disproportionality b/w his legs and arms.
SSB squat
3x275 @8
3x305 @8.5
0x335 —> gahd the SSB sucks
3x275 @8.5
1x275 @8
1x275 @8
SSB squats were decent, would’ve loved to have gotten 335. But in retrospect it was probably too much of a reach today.
Push press
3x175 @7
3x195 @8
3x225 @8.5
1x235 @9 —> proud that I didn’t get ahead of myself by going for something heavier
Pretty happy with how these felt, especially since I haven’t done them in forever. I was reminded of how much any form of OHPing makes me feel like my eye balls are going to shoot out of my sockets at the speed of light.
Inverted row
12, 12, 12, 12
Lots of band pull aparts
[quote]Adam-F wrote:
How are you finding the RTS approach dude? I am enjoying it so far - to early to tell whether it will benefit my numbers yet though!
Are you only recording your ‘working’ sets here? I am never quite sure whether I should aim to hit 1 top set at the required RPE or several?[/quote]
Are you using fatigue percents? You can manipulate volume on your own, but fatigue percents are more accurate on a daily basis by allowing your body to tell you when it’s done. I typically use 5% fatigue on my main lifts, but if I’m too fatigued I’ll stop at the initial. How long have you been using RTS?
edit: didn’t see that Aqua already answered this lol.