Really appreciate the further input. Just for clarity, are you implying that I shouldn’t have the PR set that carries through to my 3x10-12 (which I consider my heavy day) on top of the “non-exhaustive” 20 rep set, as it may no longer qualify as a light day?
This stuff is so far outside of my learning, and there seems to be so few programs that play with this much.
Are these done on two different days?
Monday
Squats 3 x 10-12
RDLs 3 x 6-8
Leg curls 2 x 15-20
Friday
Squats 1 x 10-12 with an extra 2.5lbs
Back-off set of 20
Leg extensions 3 x 8-12
Leg curls 3 x 8-12
Friday feels like the much easier of the two days as it stands.
I would only do squats for 20reps on Friday. Warm up then do the 20rep set.
Legend. Thank you. Not gonna turn down an excuse to do less work from an experienced lifter like yourself. I’m sure it’ll probably help me get more out of the 20 rep set knowing it’s my only set of the day. 
And not gonna lie, I don’t know if it’s a mental thing but I still feel a little fatigued from doing it the way I did last week despite my heavy leg day coming tomorrow. Was just going the “hard work” path, but looking at other programs maybe it is a bit much and I’m underestimating the damage a 20 rep squat can do even if the weight feels light for most of the set.
I believe that you need to feel mentally good about your program.
The concern is that you consider cortisol. (A single difficult 20 rep set is quite a task.)
Do you take a periodic “working rest” week, where your weights are around 60% of 1RMax? (20 rep squats need to drop closer to 50% that week.)
I was (and am) feeling mentally good about it, and enjoying it. Just after observing as much as I can about high-rep squat programs I was cautious of how maybe over time it might become a recovery issue as I don’t have any experience with sets as high as 20 on the squat.
Yeah, over the years I feel I’ve become pretty good at reading my body. I always feel like my timing on an extra rest day or two, or a full deload week seems pretty spot on. I must add that I wasn’t finding recovery an issue - was just doing a lot of overthinking about how to program my squats when no longer wanting to hit under 10 reps. The inclusion of a 20 rep set just exposed a massive gap in my learning so was hunting for some advice.
IMO, to get stronger on your 10 rep sets, there is a place for lower rep squats. The only reason I stopped doing them was I felt that I was at the limit of what I believed my patella tendon would tolerate.
It was always my belief, when I was competing, that 10 reps was the sweet spot for thigh (quads) hypertrophy. I now lean to the idea that 20 rep squats might be the optimal for hypertrophy.
For pretty much my entire time lifting I did sets of 5-8, sometimes dipping into 3s. Those days are fully behind me. I have a serious adductor tear from an old soccer injury… longus is fully torn and everytime I get to the point where I’m pain-free and back to my sets of 5 eventually it would just aggravate again. It was a pointless endeavour. Sets of 10 seem absolutely fine even going pretty close to failure. My form is tighter, I have less fear, I can still progress without the constant 2 steps backwards, and if anything ever feels iffy it’s easier to autoregulate and stop the set when the reps are higher.
I did experiment with other exercises, but squats… I frickin’ dig 'em and as long as I can continue you do them safely in higher reps then I will continue to always do them.
In the spirit of changing my leg days slightly so I can approach them fresh I’m gonna take a deload today, some light 5s for speed on the squat and just breeze through some RDLs much lighter than I’ve been doing. A couple of old injuries feel very, very slightly aggravated so it’s about bloodflow today. I haven’t had 2 days without intense training for a few weeks and just the one light day creates 3 days of rest on a mostly every other day program. This will allow me to attack next week with the right focus. I am also contemplating moving the RDLs to the 20 rep squat day to balance the workload a bit. On set of 20 is easier for me to get through than 3x12.
Tonight there is a Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer gig that I never planned to go to, but tickets have become available so if I can find someone to go with me tonight should be fun!
Awesome music choice there, used to love listening to those bands.Hope you enjoy it!
Still trying to find someone as it’s so short notice. Might go on my own however sad that sounds.
Cardiff Castle has been getting some great gigs lately! From a completely different side of the music spectrum, off to see Suede and Manic Street Preachers next month too!
Good session today. +1 on two sets of bench. Back to where I was a month ago but with super strict form. This is what reverse pyramid training does for me. I’m happy to get the reps when my body has made the progress and is ready for them. You know, rather than the “my body will not beat my mind fuck yooooooooou” aggression I slip into to get an extra super shit rep on straight sets. I just can’t stay disciplined enough which means it’s just not worth it and leads to stagnation eventually… it’s too hard to measure how much you messed with your form when you’re not consistant with it.
As I do RDLs in the 5-8 rep range quite intense, I have finally switched to giving them their own day instead of after 3x12 on Squats. As my strength came back sessions were becoming too long and gruelling - and I can’t use continued progress as a reason to keep at it anymore. I used to do that all the time in every lower session and how hard I was pushing myself actually ended up being a detriment to my overall wellbeing. My philosophy on the gym is very different now and whilst I am happy to do some things I hate, I want to continue to love the gym and approach each lift with the intent they deserve.
This of course means the 20 rep squat will come after RDLs on a different day. I know a lot of people say not to do deadlifts before squats, but I think the absolute load of RDLs compared to conventional is fine. My posterior is so much stronger than my anterior right now so any weight on my quads is still baby weight for my erectors/lower back. Any bit of lower back fatigue I do get will keep me more honest with the 20 rep squat anyway, and not push it too hard which is always a risk. No matter what I do I find it difficult to leave much in the tank but believe I can progress on the 20 rep squats for a long-time whilst not destroying myself in that set. There will always be the option of doing the squat set first but gonna see how it plays out for a while - at least whilst the 20 rep squat has so much growth that will come from novelty.
Did my sporadic rare weigh-in today to see where I’m at. I feel like for the past couple of weeks I’ve intentionally overate a bit. I’ve been more consistant with the cardio and on those days add 150cals back in - which is fine. I have a bad habit though, whenever I have a really good training session where I gained a lot of reps on various exercises I sometimes also eat slightly more because I don’t want to risk not being in a decent surplus to get the full profit from the amazing workout. Rationally I know what I’ve already been eating and doing lead to the great workout (or series of) in the first place, but still can’t help myself.
Anyway, the weigh-in was a perfect example of how the scale can mess with your head. I was 172.8lb two weeks ago, weighed in first thing this morning at 174.6lb. I was not happy with that rate of gain at all. I looked in the mirror, felt fat, and berated myself for eating those intentional extra few calories. I started to quickly catastrophize thinking about how long my bulk could carry on for/whens the next cut. As I went to put my tshirt back on I felt another wee coming on, and then another number 2. Weighed myself again afterwards and was 173.4lb. Right back at that ~0.3lb/week weight gain I aim for. I looked in the mirror again and felt lean, strong and ready for another good few months of bulking. All in the space of a few minutes.
It’s nice to be aware of these things to realign yourself and stop reacting so damn emotionally to a number on the scale.
Interest in my log seems to have dropped off a bit. Could be my ramblings and the fact I haven’t been tracking weights much, also likely to be because my online time being so much lower has tarnished my loyalty to so many other guys logs - so I kind of deserve it. I will try to be better!
19/06/24
Seated OHP Press
62.5kg x 5
56kg x 9 (+1)
50kg x 12 (+2)
Another win for reverse pyramid training! Was a very hard grind to match what I did last week for the top set but some really solid back-off sets means still some great progress!
DB Bench
34kg x 10
34kg x 10
34kg x 9
A way off from where I was a long while back with this lift and I have a ton of excuses for that; injuries and a layoff… but being over 15kgs lighter is probably the main one! I am confident i’ll be back to where I was without carrying around all that extra timber! I could probably do half my body weight in each hand for a set of 4 or 5 right now so my relative strength is actually a fair bit higher despite feeling like I’m still catching up.
V-Grip Cable Rows
85kg x 12
85kg x 12 (+1)
85kg x 12 (+2)
Maybe a little cheaty in the last rep of the last set but I’m not bothered too much by that.
Tricep pushdowns
27.5kg x 13
30kg x 9
30kg x 8
20mins on the skillbike, gear 4. Was around 5.5miles. Need to track properly but just focusing on getting it in at the moment.
People want to see weights!!!
Show us the weights lifted lol
But yeah when you type the workout out its good to see it.
Got caught up with the football last night, forgot to do the weekly shop so ordered a takeaway. Double chicken burger and chips. Weighed my chips and according to some national fish and chips site that tries to calculate the average calories, 15oz (400g+) is around 900 calories! Pair that with the burger and I ended up probably in an 800-1000 calorie surplus yesterday. Pissed off with myself! It shouldn’t bother me so much but it does!
Lesson learned though. Even if it wasn’t through the calories, it would be learned through the digestion anyway. v_v
21/06/24
RDL
145kg x 7
145kg x 6 (straps failing me)
145kg x 6 (terrible terrible form)
I was so focused on the straps with the last set that I got my setup all wrong. I didn’t take as far as a step back from the rack as usual and got all out of sync. Backs been hurting since that set, hopefully it doesn’t seize up later. Fed up of these fucking straps. Need to invest in some new ones, maybe I’ve just got too much use out of them. I probably should have made the last set a back-off but they were moving up so quick on the first 2 sets. Annoyed with myself.
Squats
65kg x 20
Nice and simple. Only second time doing the 20 rep set and its certainly hard work even with a lower weight! Will go for 67.5kg next week.
Wide grip cable rows
75kg x 13
77.5kg x 11
77.5kg x 9
EZbar curls (strict)
40kg x 11
40kg x 9
40kg x 10
Leg Curls
40kg x 20
40kg x 20
Cable rear delts just a ton of reps in a few sets.
I love this!! Such an important realization.
Paybacks are a B!tch! Lol.