Probably should have gone with 270-275, but ventured on the lighter side and got in four good reps instead. A lot of back-off sets, though, woof. Still a little sore from previous session so the hi-ba and pulls were not fun, but bar moved fast on all the sets. Happy Thanksgiving everybody.
This was a tough one. I targeted 500 for 3 as the top set and it more 8 than 9 on the RPE scale so I went to 515, but then for some reason I didn’t rest long enough. Hoo boy, I was seeing the silver flies. Rest of the session wasn’t too bad, but said fuggit and bagged the assistance work. Deload week is indeed well-timed.
Back to sets of 5 - joy. I’m sticking with no belt on squats for another cycle just to see where it takes me. Reps all moved liked they should for the first week and even kept rest periods down to about 2 minutes without issue. Decided to swap in ‘speed’ DLs for paused DLs since I will be doing block pulls for the feature DL variation on Friday. Might as well keep one of the days tethered to full range work.
2-board bench press 235x5; 225x8x5
High-bar squat 235x5x4
Paused DLs (at knee) 345x6x2
Good mornings 185x4x12 RPE 6
DB rows 65x2x15 RPE 6
DB curls 25x2x15 RPE 6
DB kickbacks 25x2x15 RPE 7
DB side laterals 15x2x15 RPE 6
Changing it up on bench with the 2-board. Easy top set and back-offs but definitely lots of sets. I’m trying paused DLs but at the knee this time and started on the light side just to get the feel of things. Pretty clear that I don’t want to use it much because it could reinforce a hitch to my technique.
3" Block pulls 385x4; 355x7x4
Spoto presses 195x8x5
High bar squats 240x7x5
Bench press 205x5x4
DB concentration curls 25x2x15 RPE 6
NG pushups Bwx2x15 RPE 6
Face pulls 80x2x15 RPE 6
Abs
Block pulls always kick my ass and while the weights were lighter this week I can still tell I’m not as good with these as I am off the floor. Chest was still a bit sore from Wednesday and as I type this right now, it’s even sorer.
Squat 330x5; 295x6x5
CG floor press 225x6x4
Deadlifts 385x6x4
One-arm DB military 45x5x15 RPE 7.5
Close-grip pulldowns 110x2x15 RPE 7
Leg extensions 80x2x15 RPE 8
Leg curls 80x2x15 RPE 8
Abs
Top set of 330 on squats was fairly easy and managed to bust through the 6 back-off sets without much of a problem. Will be interesting to see how all of this unbelted squat work will help when I put the belt back on.
Squat 365x5 RPE 10; 315x6x5
CG floor press 230x6x4
Deadlift 405x6x4
DB military press 50x3x15 RPE 8
CG pulldowns 120x3x15 RPE 8
Leg extensions 85x2x15 RPE 8
Leg curls 85x2x15 RPE 8
Abs
Took some willpower to get to the end of this one. The top set of squats might not have been a full-blown 10 on the RPE scale, but close enough to call it as such. Still, that was a 5-rep pr (at current BW and without a belt) and is a weight I haven’t done for 5 in nearly a decade. The back-off sets were rough. I’ve been using the TX power bar and no belt for lighter deadlift days (Monday and Wednesday), but 6 sets of 4 with 405 was somewhat of a challenge.
2-board press 285x5 RPE 10; 250x7x5
High-bar squats 285x5x4
Paused DL (at knees) 405x5x2
Good mornings 225x3x12 RPE 8
DB rows 95x2x15 RPE 8
DB curls 37.5x2x15 RPE 8
DB kickbacks 37.5x2x15 RPE 8
Face pulls 90x2x15 RPE 8
Abs
I misloaded the bar on my first crack at what was supposed to be 285. It felt weird and slightly unbalanced when I unracked it. Did 4 reps and stopped to see what the deal was - derped it by putting a 10 on one side and 5 on the other. Evened it out and then did 285 for real. A lot of backoff sets, but good bar speed throughout. Knees and lower back were still cranky from Monday’s work, so the high-bar squats and paused DLs sucked a little. Oh man, deload can’t come soon enough.
3" block pull 455x4 RPE 9; 405x6x4
Spoto presses 225x7x5
High-bar squats 285x6x5
Bench press 235x5x4
DB concentration curls 35x2x15 RPE 8
NG pushups BW+light band 2x15 RPE 8
DB lateral raises 25x2x15 RPE 8
Abs+calves
Top set with 455 wasn’t my limit (475 maybe for an RPE 10), but the fatigue I’ve accumulated in my lower back it would have wrecked the rest of my session and perhaps next few weeks. Still, the reps felt solid all things considered. I’ve put in a lot of bench and squat direct and assistance work these past few weeks as well, so the deload will be really helpful.
Starting a new training cycle with the Juggernaut AI app. It’s pretty cool and way more flexible than the spreadsheet, which I find amazing that we’re at this point tech-wise. It actually uses in-workout adjustments to weights based on the prior set’s difficulty if you want it to. Of course, plenty of people will ignore their bodies and plow ahead stubbornly, run themselves into the ground and then blame the program. Since I’m in week 1, I stayed at the lower end of the RPE/RIR range so it was low-stress session.
Squats are still on the lighter side, but going up to 8 reps is never fun haha. Still, no problem getting through the session in relatively short order.
Another good pump-type workout. I have tended to loathe the Juggernaut AI hypertrophy phases, mainly because I’ve been bogged down in the “> 5 reps is cardio” mindset and didn’t appreciate the need to balance stuff out over the long term.