Yeah, actually, that’s a good point. Given that I fell shy of 5 reps on press and bench and I use JW’s standard increments, the difference is only 5 lbs in each case: 150 (calculated) v. 155 (Beefcake) and 270 (calculated) v. 275 (Beefcake).
Perhaps keeping them the same is the right option. I successfully ran the second half of Beefcake based on the higher values, so I know I can hit the reps…
That’s probably what I’ll do. Thanks for pointing that out!
7WP, Deload - d7
Saturday - 23 April 2022
Workout: Easy conditioning & BB curls, 0800-0855 (55 minutes)
1-pump burpees + 24-kg KB swings - 2x(25 + 25), 25-second rest between
Bike@120-140 bpm - 10 minutes
Weighted vest walk - 30 kg - 15 minutes
BB curls - 116
Fasted. Did the work, finished the deload week. I might jot down some thoughts in the morning, but either way, it’s on to Pervertor, Anchor tomorrow.
Killing it Sven! I think you’re going to want to buy a few extra “P” and “R” buttons for your keyboard, you’re going to wear them out.
Thanks, my man—this sentiment actually made me laugh out loud!
7WP, Deload - summary
I’ve found myself with a few minutes here this afternoon, and tomorrow’s going to be crazy, so I figured I’d go ahead and summarize the deload week…
So, yeah, last Monday: hit a 3-plate squat (plus 10 lbs) for 5 decent reps! That was awesome. But it was all down hill from there. Okay, maybe not ALL downhill—deadlifts went alright—but I failed to hit 5 reps on the press and bench top sets (though I was close on bench). JW’s formula says I should use 150 for my press TM and 270 for my bench, but based on @hustlinghat’s suggestion, instead of reseting to those values (which actually correspond to my TMs in the first half of Beefcake), I’m going to use the TMs from the second half: I already know I can handle the work, so that’s what I’m going to do: handle the work.
My diet this week was AWFUL: I ate what I wanted, when I wanted, with no real regard for what it was or how it was impacting my body. Sounds familiar, no? (Check out my last 7WP summary.) This lapse in conscientious eating during 7WP seems to be a weak point for me, so it’s time to turn that around. Again.
I will begin Pervertor, Anchor tomorrow. My goals for the week ahead are:
Easy conditioning will consist of the daily burpees + swings, followed immediately by 10 minutes on the bike followed by a 1-mile weighted vest walk or by a weighted vest walk to and from the park with a run of 9+ laps around the track in between.
Hard conditioning will consist of pushing the sled on squat/deadlift days and Farmer’s Walks on press/bench days.
I still feel like the extra volume is helping my back grow, but I’m going to take a break from daily chin-ups/pull-ups and instead add band face pulls, mostly for variety. I’m going to continue with daily front squat tabatas, but just once-a-day instead of twice. My intent is to drive some fat loss with these instead of driving my appetite for gaining.
Cleaning up my diet is obvious, and recalibrating food intake means reducing the amount I’m eating relative to what it was during Beefcake. So really I’ll just be cutting out some of the calorically dense post-workout snacks (cashews, almonds, and celery with peanut butter, mostly) and reducing the amount I’m eating at each meal—e.g., two eggs instead of three, two burgers instead of three, etc. The first week or so of this might be mentally painful, but hopefully not any harder than just paying attention to when I’m full rather than forcibly eating beyond that point. Assuming I understand the concept correctly, this is really just one of Pwn’s “diet breaks.”
Finally, my TMs for this cycle are:
Press - 155 lbs
Squat - 325 lbs
Dead - 365 lbs
Bench - 275 lbs
I’m pumped for the Pervertor PR sets, Jokers, Widowmakers. This is gonna be fun!
Pervertor, Anchor - c12w1d1
Sunday - 24 April 2022
Workout: Squat, 1310-1435 (85 minutes)
Warm-up
Throws + jumps
Begin: 1329; End: 1432; Duration: 63 minutes
Squat - 130x5, 165x5, 195x5 | 230x3, 260x3, 295x6 (rep PR) | 310x3, 325x3 | 230x20 (rep PR)
Pull-up/chin-up - 10, 10, 10, 10, 5/5
HLR - 18, 16, 16
Dip - 60 - 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
BPA - red - 10 high + 10 mid + 10 low
Good morning - 115 - 10, 10, 10
Push-up - 30
Assistance totals:
Push - 80 reps
Pull - 80 reps
Single-leg/core - 80 reps
Two PRs in a single workout: I knew this Pervertor template was going to be fun!
Took forever, though. Wasn’t sure how I was going to superset stuff, if at all, but I ended up working some assistance moves in between the squat warm-ups, then focused on the main work, jokers, and the Widowmaker, and finally finished up with the remaining assistance. I was moving slowly after the squats, and now I’m full-on toast!
Squats felt strong, and I’m really happy with the last 4 sets. Should’ve pushed the 3+ PR set to 8 reps, but I had 6 in my mind and stopped it there. Glad I was able to hit 3 reps at 95% and 100% of my TM without too much effort, and even more glad to have nailed the Widowmaker shortly after those. Took about 21 minutes from the first main set until the bar was stripped and the plates racked after the 20-rep set.
This week’s schedule is already weird, but here’s how I’m planning to run the rest of the week:
Let’s hope things work out as I intend…
Already it’s super-late today, and I’m still thinking to get in my daily work and hard conditioning, but that may come in small bites here and there throughout the rest of the day. Anything I don’t get to today will be paid back throughout the week (with interest, of course).
Hell yea, double PR days!
Pervertor, Anchor - c12w1d1
Sunday - 24 April 2022
Workout: Daily work + hard conditioning, 1620-1645 + 1745-1805 (25 + 20 minutes)
Band face pull - red - 25, 25, 25, 25
1-pump burpees + 24-kg KB swings - 25 + 25, 25 + 25
Tabata DB front squats - 2x35 lbs - 8x20/10
Sled push - 8x50 yds, 135 + sled = 222 lbs
Time: 9:47
Okay, daily work is done. Went BFP, B+S, BFP, FST, BFP, B+S, BFP, one right into the next, more or less without rest. That arrangement worked well, will likely continue with that as I move forward.
2x35 lbs with that front squat tabata is a 5-lbs increase (per hand) from where I left off before the deload. I got 8s across, which was my goal. And as hard as the actual squatting was, the real challenge was in keeping the DBs up during the work—my shoulders are dead. I dropped the DB to my sides as soon as the 8th rep was finished, and kept them there until the start of the next work interval. Once again, there’s now lots of room to improve on those!
I still owe 8x50 yds of the sled push (with 3 plates), and my intent is to squeeze that in yet today—it’s really only 10-15 minutes worth of work, and 15-20 minutes total time when you include setup and teardown. I’ll edit that in once it’s done.
If for some reason I don’t get to it, I’ll pay 25% interest (so 10x50 yds with 3 plates). That sounds horrible, so let’s just find a way to get it done today…
Edit: Sled push done. Not a stellar time, but—yep, you guessed it!—that was just about getting the work done. And, man, if I don’t sleep well tonight…
Pervertor, Anchor - c12w1d2
Monday - 25 April 2022
Workout: Easy conditioning, 0910-0955 (45 minutes)
1-pump burpees + 24-kg KB swings - 2x(25 + 25), 25-second rest between
Bike@120-140 bpm - 10 minutes
Weighted vest walk - 30 kg - 15 minutes
Fasted. Felt good to move my legs and burn off some nervous energy. Daily work and calves to follow this afternoon, maybe a bit later than usual.
Pervertor, Anchor - c12w1d2
Monday - 25 April 2022
Workout: Calves & daily work, 1615-1710 (55 minutes)
Belted CR - 135 - 25, 20, 15
Jump rope tabata - 4x40/10, 4x40/10
Band face pull - red - 25, 25, 25, 25
1-pump burpees + 24-kg KB swings - 25 + 25, 25 + 25
Tabata DB front squats - 2x35 lbs - 8x20/10
Getting the work done was the win today. Sets went CR, JR, CR, JR, CR; then, BFP, B+S, BFP, FST, BFP, B+S, BFP. That’s it for today.
Pervertor, Anchor - c12w1d3
Tuesday - 26 April 2022
Workout: Bench, 1020-1135 (75 minutes)
Warm-up
Throws + jumps
Begin: 1035; End: 1132; Duration: 57 minutes
Bench - 110x5, 140x5, 165x5 | 195x3, 220x3, 250x8 (rep PR) | 265x3, 275x3 | 195x20
BPA - red - 10 high + 10 mid + 10 low
Bulgarian split squat - L/R - 2x25 lbs - 15, 15
Band pushdown - red - 30
Pull-up/chin-up - 10, 10, 10, 10, 5/5
Ab wheel - ramp (18) - 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
Seated DB press - 2x40 lbs - 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
Assistance totals:
Push - 80 reps
Pull - 80 reps
Single-leg/core - 80 reps
Another decent day, even if it took forever again. Super-happy with that 3+ PR set: anything over 5 reps would’ve been a PR, but 250x8 represents a 20-lbs increase over my last 3+ PR set, which was 230x8, in December 2021. Followed that up with some jokers at 95% and 100% of my TM, then the 20-rep Widowmaker.
And let me tell you, THAT was excruciating! I blasted through 15 crisp, solid reps before they started to slow down a little, had to pause at the top after rep 18, the 19th went up alright, but I almost didn’t get rep 20. I did, eventually, but even then, the lockout on my right side was sketchy at best. It’s like I totally lost the MMC: I was fully focused on willing the right side to finish the move, but my right pec and tris just weren’t responding. It was a very STRANGE feeling indeed—like I was watching someone else try to lock it out, almost an out-of-body kinda thing.
80 reps of assistance in each category is a major timesink, 'cause even though I did a set of each during bench warm-ups, it still took another 30 minutes to finish them up after that Widowmaker. Luckily I wasn’t pressed for time today.
Daily work and hard conditioning still on the agenda for this afternoon.
King of benching
Thanks for that, Tim!
Pervertor, Anchor - c12w1d3
Tuesday - 26 April 2022
Workout: Daily work & hard conditioning, 1555-1650 (55 minutes)
Band face pull - red - 25, 25, 25, 25
1-pump burpees + 24-kg KB swings - 25 + 25, 25 + 25
Tabata DB front squats - 2x35 lbs - 8x20/10
Pwn’s The Last Castle - AMRAP, 20 minutes
a) Farmer’s walk - 25 yards - 2x77 lbs
b) 6 alternating DB snatches - L/R - 35 lbs
c) Farmer’s walk - 25 yards - 2x77 lbs
d) 10 KB swings - 24 kg
Rounds: 7; Time: 21:44
Hard conditioning is, well, HARD. Knocked out the daily work first, that went alright. Front squats weren’t easy, but they certainly didn’t get harder today, so that’s something. Then into The Last Castle.
Originally wanted to do 10 rounds, but time and energy made 8 a more reasonable goal. Or so I thought. When push came to shove, I had to keep the work as close to 20 minutes as possible, so I figured I’d shoot for as many as I could get. I had just finished the DB snatches on the first side in Round 7 when the timer expired, so I finished up the full round and came in at 21:44. That’s a poor showing, but maybe not so bad when you consider I haven’t done these in awhile—yet again, I’ve got room to improve!
Holy cow mate. Smashed it. Quality
Kind of crazy we both managed to nail a rep PR for 8 on our first bench days of Pervertor! Good omen!
Both of you are perverts 
That is some solid benching. Congrats on the PR!
@simo74, @davemccright, @shaneinga - Thanks for commenting, guys! I was quite happy with how things went yesterday, particularly given how cranky my left shoulder has been lately.
@tlgains - That had me genuinely laughing out loud.
Pervertor, Anchor - c12w1d4
Wednesday - 27 April 2022
Workout: Deadlift, 0855-1035 (100 minutes)
Warm-up
Throws + jumps
Begin: 0918; End: 1029; Duration: 71 minutes
Deadlift - 150x5, 185x5, 220x5 | 260x3, 295x3, 330x8 (rep PR) | 350x3, 365x3 | 260x21 (rep PR)
BPA - red - 10 high + 10 mid + 10 low
Deficit reverse lunge - L/R - 2x25 lbs - 15, 15
Push-up - 30
Pull-up/chin-up - BW - 10, 10, 10, 10, 5/5
HLR - 18, 14, 12, 6
Dip - 60 - 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
Assistance totals:
Push - 80 reps
Pull - 80 reps
Single-leg/core - 80 reps
Good gosh—that was draining! But two rep PRs in a single workout again, so I guess it was worth it. 330x8 is a 45-lbs increase over my last 3+ PR set, which was 285x8 in December 2021, and 260x21 is a 5-lbs increase over my last deadlift Widowmaker, which was 255x21 in January. Really happy with the 3+ PR set, and the Widowmaker PR is icing on the cake. For the record, I used straps for all but the warm-up sets.
My left shoulder was really acting up today: pain all around, up toward my traps and neck, into my upper pectoral, down to my forearm and even affecting my grip. Not sure what I’ve done to it, but I think I keep aggravating it during my sleep—I’ve been waking up due to the pain when I’m on my left side. Ugh.
Not sure how I’m going to make it through the daily work and hard conditioning today, as I’m absolutely dead right now. Luckily I’ve got a few hours until go time, and there’s left over taco meat in the fridge for lunch, so…