Week 1 Day 3
Deadlift 460x1; 405x6x3
Bench press 225x5x3
Squat 315x5x3
DB concentration curls 25x2x12 RPE 6
Pushdowns 90x2x12 RPE 6
Had to cut things short for this session, but still got some good work done. Good speed on deadlifts, but elbow was a tad cranky on the bench press. Little bit of Advil and ice helped take care of it. Week 2 of the peak coming up next.
Week 2 Day 1
Squat 375x1; 320x4x3
Spoto presses 230x5x3
Reverse band DLs 435x4x2
Underhand grip pulldowns 3x12 RPE 7
Leg extensions 2x12 RPE 7
Leg curls 2x12 RPE 7
Weighted situps 2x12
Squat felt good today. Top single with 375 seems like a good ‘opener’ for test day in a couple of weeks. Spotos and reverse band moved like speed work, so I’m feeling on point so far through roughly the first half of the peak phase.
Week 2 Day 2
Bench press 275x1; 240x7x3
Belt squats 160x3x12 RPE 7
Deadlift 305x4x3
Close-grip pulldowns 3x12 RPE 7
Drag curls 2x12 RPE 7
Single-arm pushdowns 2x12 RPE 7
Front raises 2x12 RPE 7
Abs
Lots of bench sets. Top single of 275 was nice and fast, probably a 7 or so on the RPE scale. Belt squats had my quads screaming as I really slowed down the rep speed. Rest of the session was uneventful. Friday will be a tough one with all 3 big lifts.
Week 2 Day 3
Deadlift 495x1; 430x6x3
Bench press 235x5x3
Low bar squat 325x4x3 (no belt)
DB concentration curls 30x2x12 RPE 7
Pushdowns 90x2x12 RPE 7
DB lateral raises 20x2x12 RPE 7
Pull-throughs 90x2x12 RPE 7
Abs
Protocol originally called for 485 for a single, but I just said to hell with it and went for the 5 plates pull. Nice and smooth lift, probably would have been good for a triple. Back-off sets with 430 were easy, but the cumulative effects of this session and everything else during the week was enough to affect my squat sets. None of the reps were grind-y or anything, but could definitely feel it by the third set. Final peak week starts Monday and then it’ll be time to taper prior to test day on the 5th.
Good thinking here.
Week 3 Day 1
Squat 385x1; 330x4x3
Spoto press 235x4x3
Reverse band DL 425x4x2
Underhand grip pulldowns 3x12 RPE 7
Leg extensions 2x12 RPE 7
Leg curls 2x12 RPE 7
Abs
Nearly had a mishap (stumbled) during one of my warm-up sets and was concerned it would screw me up for the top single. Luckily though, managed to get on track and top single with 385 was pretty solid, maybe an 8 on the RPE scale. Back-off sets weren’t too bad either. Hopefully this means I can finally get a PR on my squat next week, haha.
Week 3 Day 2
Bench press 285x1; 245x7x3
Belt squat 175x3x12 RPE 8
Deadlift 305x3x3
Close-grip pulldowns 3x12 RPE 8
One-arm pushdowns RPE 8
Front raises 2x12 RPE 8
Abs 2x12
Nice push on top single with 285, but elbow was starting to really gripe at me by the end of the back off sets. Some Advil and ice helped calm it down and it should be OK going forward with the taper coming up.
I started wearing elbow sleeves about a year ago. My elbows have never felt better.
I wear them, too. I have golfer’s elbow but I don’t play golf, lol. It’s mainly biceps exercises that really aggravate that tendon.
Week 3 Day 3
3" block pull 435x1; 375x5x3
Bench press 245x5x3
Squat 335x3x3
Pushdowns 3x12 RPE 8
DB lateral raises 2x12 RPE 8
Pull-throughs 2x12 RPE 8
Lunges
Abs
That’s it. Tapering next week and doing my test day on Saturday. Training cycle has been pretty good for the most part, minus the occasionally-nagging elbow. Looking forward to seeing what I can do.
We’re all watching.
Hope I do you all proud.
Did a light day of the big 3 on Monday and some light stuff this evening. Looking forward to Saturday.
Test day
Squat 173.5/183.5/190x
Bench press 125/132.5/137.5
Deadlift 225/235/237.5
Tried to keep it within the confines of the metric system, so this works out to about 1230-ish. So I made an improvement on all three lifts, but I’m more satisfied with the squat and bench figures. I’ve not been on the + side of 400 and 300 on those lifts in ages. The deadlift was a massive struggle to get through because I lacked the long intermission time between lifts that I usually have at a meet and no crowd to give a boost. Still, I’ll take the PR.
Focus going forward will be to let the golfer’s elbow situation get better and figure out when and where I’ll do a meet so I can qualify for next year’s drug-tested nationals.
Oops, haven’t posted in a while. Didn’t quit or anything. I’ve been bogged down big time working from home and trying to guide remote teaching for 2 elementary school kids. I’ll get back into the swing of posting my training next week.
Week 1 Day 1
Squat 295x6; 270x6x6
Floor press 205x5x5
Paused DLs 350x7x4
Feet-up bench 185x4x10 RPE 7
Chin-ups BWx2x15 RPE 7
Leg extensions light x3x15 RPE 7
Leg curls light x2x15 RPE 7
Abs
Lots of squats and everything else. Not too bad though in terms of the expended effort, even though I left off the belt for squats and DLs.
Week 1 Day 2
Bench press 230x6; 215x7x6
High bar squat 245x4x5
RDLs 315x5x4 RPE 7
Good mornings 165x3x12 RPE 7
Single-arm pulldowns 55x2x15 RPE 7
Cable curls 55x2x15 RPE 7
Cable pressdowns 55x2x15 RPE 7
Face pulls 55x2x15 RPE 7
Ab wheel
This took a decent amount of time, but felt like a pretty good balance between volume and weight.
Week 1 Day 3
Deadlift 415x5; 380x7x5
Spoto press 195x6x6
High bar squat 240x6x6
Bench press 205x4x5
Hammer curls 30x2x15 RPE 7
Tricep kickbacks 30x2x12 RPE 7
DB lateral raises 25x2x12 RPE 7
Staggered stance RDLs 145x2x15 RPE 7
Lunges & Abs
Another pretty long one today. Not hard, just a bunch of reps.
Interesting routine. Any soreness?
Little bit of soreness, but I’ve become accustomed to the volume over time - even on the DLs.
It’s the Juggernaut AI powerlifting program. I tend to get training ADD, so subscribing to one keeps me on task and this one is pretty affordable.
Week 2 Day 1
Squat 305x6; 275x6x6
CG floor press 215x5x5
Paused DL 365x6x4
Feet-up bench 195x4x10 RPE 7.5
Chin-ups BW+10 2x12 RPE 7
Leg extensions 50x2x15 RPE 7
Leg curls 50x2x15 RPE 7
Abs