Sumo deadlift:
4 x 104 kg
4 x 124 kg
4 x 144 kg
4 x 164 kg @RPE 7
4 x 169 kg @RPE 8
4 x 164 kg @RPE 8
Paused squat:
4 x 62 kg
4 x 82 kg
4 x 92 kg @RPE 7
4 x 97 kg @RPE 8
4 x 94.5 kg @RPE 8
Leg curls:
8, 8, 7 x 70 kg
Hyperextensions:
15 x BW+10 kg
2 x 15 x BW+20 kg
Roman chair leg raises:
3 x 15 x BW
Training was good today. I kept things light on deads and paused squats, and I think my top sets were true RPE 8s. I notice that I’ve lost strength in comparison to the end of my last training cycle, but I’m sure I’ll regain that over the next eight weeks. I want to shoot for a few new PRs in this cycle: 150 kg high-bar squat, 130 kg paused bench and a 230 kg deadlift without a hitch.
Funny thing: I tried doing the ab wheel this morning and it hurt like a biatch. Couldn’t even do three reps from the knees. It seems as though I strained an ab muscle doing those last week. I instead did some hyperextensions and some easy leg raises to get the blood flowing into the core muscles. Hope things will be healed up by next week.
Was pretty pissed off this morning. I stayed last night at a hotel/hostel beside the place where I had a meeting this morning, and in the internet the hotel rooms looked quite nice. Turns out the place was a dump full of sixteen year-olds making a clamour until the early morn. So I barely slept at all and hit the weights with a wrath. I could tell I was tired, but I was happy with my top sets.
I probably sound like an old man complaining about the damn kids, and I actually do feel old when I consider that I’m twice as old as some of them. Dem bones.
Yeah, I’m so excited that I’m thinking of doing a YouTube “unboxing” video in German for the Deutschland powerlifting crowd. Seems to still be uncharted territory in the language. Too bad I don’t have the same charm as all them YT fitness gurus…
Squat:
4 x 62 kg
4 x 82 kg
4 x 104 kg
4 x 109 kg @RPE 8
4 x 104 kg @RPE 8
Rack pulls (knee height):
4 x 104 kg
4 x 144 kg
(add belt)
4 x 184 kg
4 x 204 kg @RPE 8 (PR, with quite a bit left in the tank)
4 x 199 kg @RPE 8
Bulgarian KB split squats:
10, 9, 9 x 16 kg
Farmer’s walks:
2 x ca. 52 m x 42 kg
Trained for the first time today with my new Inzer Forever. Felt awesome. I’m not used to training with a belt and might still need to tighten it a bit, but the 204 kg rack pulls felt like a breeze. At the knee is normally a sticking point for me, too. I’m excited to see how this will help out my deadlift performance on Monday.
Brought my wife to my “strength gym” today to train with me (when we train together, we normally go to a commercial gym a bit further out). Her reaction: nice, but too dirty for her taste… I think I’ve found the right gym.
OHP:
4 x 40 kg
4 x 50 kg
4 x 52.5 kg @RPE 8
4 x 50 kg @RPE 8
Floor press:
5 x 60 kg
4 x 80 kg
4 x 90 kg @RPE 7
3 x 100 kg @RPE 8.5 (shit!)
Competition bench press:
5 x 80 kg
4 x 90 kg
4 x 100 kg @RPE 8.5 (fatigued…)
Seated rows:
8 x 75 kg
2 x 7 x 80 kg
Triceps band pushdowns:
3 x 12 x double red
Was again at the commercial crapshoot today. Things felt a bit heavy and I might’ve pushed it a tad too much on floor press. I was hoping to hit four reps at 100 kg but stopped as soon as fatigue set in. At least I know I’m now good for 5-6 reps on a good day if I want to go a little bit more intense.
My favourite part of today’s training was that a young broseph, after having his training partner ask if he could take the 20 kg plates that I was clearly using, proceeded to do some kind of half muscle-ups on the power rack while I was in there doing floor press. Some dirt fell into my eye from his shoes, so of course I had to speak with him about it. I told him that he should generally ask to work in with someone and at least wait until the person is done their exercise, but he just said some kind of ignorant remark and walked off.
Sumo deadlift:
5 x 62 kg
5 x 104 kg
5 x 144 kg
5 x 164 kg
(add belt)
5 x 184 kg @RPE 8.5 (rep PR)
5 x 174 kg @RPE 8.5-9
Squat:
5 x 62 kg
5 x 82 kg
5 x 92 kg
5 x 104 kg @RPE 8
(add belt)
5 x 114 kg @RPE 9
5 x 106.5 kg @RPE 8.5
Leg curls:
2 x 8 x 70 kg
Leg raises from Roman chair:
3 x 12 x BW
First time deadlifting with the Inzer Lever belt this morning. It felt pretty good, my top set was a rep PR and I definitely had at least another rep to two in the tank. I need to work on synchronizing my set-up routine with the belt, since I wear straps for anything greater than a triple (I pull with hook grip) and the whole process is now much more complicated. I think that distracted me somewhat on my first reps.
I tried squatting with the belt but was unable to achieve my normal depth and the ensuing “rebound” effect of a deep high-bar squat. Either I will try to keep my belt for true near-maximal attempts and/or I will try to wear it a bit higher so that it doesn’t affect my hips. I’m thinking, though, that I won’t need the belt for squatting until I get down to doubles or so.
Decent training session, it feels good to go moderately heavy again.
Bench press (TnG):
5 x 70 kg
5 x 85 kg
5 x 95 kg
5 x 105 kg @RPE 9-9.5
5 x 100 kg @RPE 9
Incline DB press:
5 x 23.5 kg
5 x 28.5 kg
2 x 5 x 31.5 kg @9
Chin-ups:
6, 5, 5 x BW 15 kg
DB curls:
3 x 7 x 15.5 kg
Band curls:
3 x 15 x blue
Band pull-aparts:
8 x 15 x double red
Was very tired going into today’s session and had next-to-no drive. No idea why, I think I’ve been sleeping poorly the last couple of nights. Anyways, I got up to the weight that I had hoped for and it wasn’t too much of a struggle. This was about 2.5 kg short of my last PR at 5 reps, which I probably could’ve hit, too, so I shouldn’t complain. Might’ve been a bit over RPE 9, so I’ll have to watch out that I don’t push it too hard this Sunday. My bench goal for this cycle is to hit 130 kg, but I’d also love to be able to get 120 kg for a paused double.
My left rotator cuff also felt a bit odd this morning, so I did a ton of “no money” stretches and extra single-arm pull-aparts with the band in order to get some blood flowing into that region. Don’t want to take any chances.
[quote]MightyMouse17 wrote:
How are you liking the RPE training?[/quote]
I’m enjoying it so far, but I haven’t really reached a stage at which I could comment on its efficacy.
I think the biggest challenge for me is - as always - trying not to overshoot the projected intensity for the day. I need to err on the side of too little intensity instead of always going a .5 RPE over what the program says.
That said, I really like just ramping up to the top set and then doing fatigue drops based on what I can handle on that given day. I believe that in the end I’m using a similar volume to other methods, but I feel mentally much, much more free on this program than when I use prescribed set/weight schemes. Not sure if that makes sense.
Squat:
5 x 60 kg
5 x 80 kg
5 x 95 kg
5 x 105 kg @RPE 8.5
5 x 110 kg @RPE 9
5 x 102.5 kg @RPE 9
Rack pulls (knee height):
5 x 100 kg
5 x 140 kg
5 x 170 kg
(add belt)
5 x 190 kg @RPE 8.5
5 x 205 kg @RPE 9 (PR)
5 x 195 kg @RPE 9
Bulgarian DB split squats:
2 x 8 x 18 kg
45-degree hypers:
2 x 20 x BW double red band
Training actually felt quite good today even though my top set of squats was butt. Trained at the commercial gym with my wife and had to use a pretty shitty bar beneath which I couldn’t really get tight. But my rack pulls felt really good despite this. Lifting from the knee is a normal weak point for me, so hitting a five-rep set with that weight was a real nice feeling.
OHP:
5 x 40 kg
5 x 45 kg
5 x 50 kg @RPE 8
5 x 55 kg @RPE 9
Barbell floor press:
5 x 50 kg
5 x 80 kg
4 x 100 kg @RPE 8.5
Competition bench press:
5 x 80 kg
2 x 3 x 100 kg @RPE 8.5
Seated rows:
8 x 75 kg
8 x 80 kg
8 x 85 kg
Incline bench DB curls:
7, 6, 6 x 12 kg
Training today went fairly well. I went a bit more intense on my assistance exercises than I planned to, but that was OK. I think 4 x 100 kg on floor press is a PR, but it didn’t feel especially taxing. We trained at the commercial brosville today and I had to hear comments the whole time about how my training is dangerous. Yep, overhead pressing is more dangerous than doing bench press partials with 20 kg on a Smith machine. Suck it up.
Sumo deadlift:
4 x 104 kg
3 x 144 kg
2 x 164 kg
(Add belt)
2 x 184 kg
3 x 204 kg @RPE 9-9.5 (PR)
30 sec. rest
1 x 204 kg @RPE 9
3 x 194 kg @RPE 9
Paused squat:
4 x 62 kg
4 x 82 kg
4 x 104 kg @RPE 8
3 x 104 kg @RPE 8
Ab wheel:
3 x 8 x BW (from knees)
Training was decent today, although there were definitely some issues. I hit a PR triple, although I was technically shooting for four reps in this workout. My right strap came loose during the third rep, which messed with me. I ended up getting that fourth rep after about a half-minute rest, but I won’t count it.
As per a tip that I received I tried out a low-bar, below-parallel, narrow-stance squat today and it felt really good. I like the combination of posterior chain recruitment from the low bar position and the comfort of a narrow stance. Will probably try to train with that for a while.
Bench press:
4 x 70 kg
3 x 90 kg
2 x 100 kg
4 x 105 kg @RPE 8.5
4 x 110 kg @RPE 9 (PR, vid)
3 x 110 kg @RPE 9.5
Incline DB press:
4 x 25.5 kg
4 x 28.5 kg
4 x 33 kg @RPE 8.5
3 x 35.5 kg @RPE 9.5 (sheeit)
4 x 33 kg @RPE 9
Chin-ups:
3 x 7 x BW 10 kg
DB curls:
3 x 7 x 15.5 kg
Band pull-aparts:
7 x 15 x double red
Training today went well. I hit a new touch-and-go rep PR at 110 kg and left one rep in the tank. The first three went up really fast, I was pleased. I kinda overestimated myself on incline DB press and couldn’t hit my prescribed reps.
I also spotted a meet on the horizon that I will register for. It’s on the 20th of July, which fits perfectly into my training plan. It’s being organized by Germany’s only real raw federation and is only a push/pull event, but I’m happy with that as my squat is my weakest link anyways. I’m hoping to hit 130 kg bench/230 kg deadlift. We’ll see.
Here’s that quadruple (sorry for the bad camera angle):
You may wanna try to keep your elbows tucked longer at the bottom of the lift. Whatever works for you though, for me that way i feel like for some reason I’m stronger off my chest. Your form does look very consistent, nice work.
And good luck on your push/pull meet if you decide to participate
