Notes: Another good squat session. I let my form lapse (looked down) and it made the single way too hard. The next w/ 405 was much easier and 425 wasn’t much more difficult. I was going to bump up to 440, but decided just to bag the PR and move on to the snatch-grip pulls. The double with 435 was technically a PR since I’ve only done it for singles in the past. It was only 205, but the 205x14 set with the SSB had me wheezing and my legs were on fire.
Notes: Last time benching with the monster minis and I managed to hit another PR. I might have been able to swing another five pounds, but the single with 300 was hard enough that I didn’t want to chance it. Stayed with that weight for the 3-board lockouts. My triceps were completely shot by the end of the foam presses. I’ll hit up the assistance work for my upper back and other stuff tomorrow.
[quote]Phillip Wylie wrote:
Nice work, novaeer! How are you liking your RTS program?[/quote]
Thanks Phil.
A lot so far. My squat and bench seem to improve every week, so that’s obviously a good thing.
Deadlift hasn’t gone as well, but that is due to me screwing up on the DL programming rather than the fault of the program. I put in too many pulls from the floor (or farther). I’ll probably be rotating my DL movements more frequently or alternate between a full range lift and some type of block pulls from here on out. I might bounce some ideas off Mike or Brady over at the new RTS forum.
-weight fell off the box so I just decided to quit there
High box squats +140c
285x1@8
325x1@8
355x1@9 375x2x1@9+,10 (PR)
Green band side bends
3x20
Kneeling green band ab pulldowns
3x20
Notes: The box pulls felt pretty good, although my right hamstring was pretty tight throughout the session. I really flubbed the top set with 515 as I managed to just graze the box on the left side. I need to add another board or two to make the boxes big enough so that I can do reps without this happening again. I decided to push the high box squats hard tonight. The first single with 375 was tough but not an absolute grinder - which the next one ended up being. Once the chains really started to load up, it took almost all I had to finish the rep. I even had a little patechial hemorrhaging around the eyes - now that’s max effort.
Notes: Brother and his fiancee are in town so I kept this session short. I took the time to test out my bench press and I am pretty happy with the results. Even 355 didn’t feel like a max, but I decided not to push for 365 even though that is a goal I’ve had for a long time. So to summarize, in the past 12 weeks I went from an iffy 335 bench to a fairly easy 355. When I get the time, I’ll put up some videos from the past couple of bench sessions.
Notes: And that was it. Nothing much to write about, but the deload is something I need to do since I’ve been going almost non-stop for the past 12 weeks. On Thursday and Friday I’ll probably up the percentages a bit, but keep it in the 60-70 percent range.
-had to leave for dog training class; came back and finished session about an hour later
Reverse band squat (dbl minis)
405x3x3@8 avg RPE
Notes: Since my next meet is on Sept 12th, I’m going to run 2 wk blocks for volume and intensity. I’m treating the meet as a test day, so I’m not going to set up any kind of peaking cycle. Today marked the best feeling DLs I’ve had in about a month. Even though it was only 405, my form was consistent and the weights flew up nice and smoothly. After I got back from my dog training class I did a 3x3 with reverse band squats instead of the high box squats with chains since I’ve had positive results with this lift in the past.
Notes: Working in the competition style bench with commands just so I can get used to the pause again. All the reps moved easily so no problem. Close-grips also felt nice and light.
-had a constant threat of poo during last two sets
Romanian DLs
185x5
225x5@6
275x5@7
315x5@8
365x5@8
-Will do abs and obliques tomorrow
Notes: Squats felt pretty good aside from the fact that I had to fight off the constant threat of poop, haha. The RDLs were pretty good. I think my best ever is 405x4 or 5 reps and the 365x5 went really easy and with this being a 3-wk run with the RDLs I should get a chance to try and set a new 5RM. I’m going to drop the squat supplement from this point on and focus on the two main cyclic lifts and in particular the competition lifts.
Notes: Bench felt pretty good tonight, although lifting off with the chains is a good bit harder than it was with the monster minis using a heavier bar weight. I was flaring a little too much on my reps so I need to get that cleaned up. I kept the same weight on the 2-board and that felt about right. The last set was harder than the prior 3 because I clanged the damn j-hook. I was spent by the last set of floor presses and I think getting 10 reps might have been questionable.
As an aside, I’ve decided not to do the Sept meet and instead just do a normal 6-wk mesocycle then have a skills evaluation day in order to gauge my progress (while saving a little money). I’ll still be lifting at the APA meet in November up in Delaware.
Notes: Solid session. Form was good for the most part on the deadlifts. Got a little sloppy on the initial rep of the fourth set, so it was a little harder but not too terribly difficult. The squats also felt spot on, but I was starting to slow down on the last set and figured it was a good time to stop since I wanted to keep the RPEs below 9 this week. Right shoulder was feeling a wee bit tight, but the shrugs helped to loosen it up.
Notes: Lower back was a bit tender from deadlifting yesterday, but it started to loosen up after a few sets and didn’t really affect my ability to arch. My power off the chest after the press signal has improved a good bit. I think the double with 315 might be a PR for paused bench, but I’ll have to check on that. Close grip bench was pretty easy as well.
I finally got around to loading some videos onto YouTube. I hate Windows MovieMaker. If anyone has any alternative programs they use to edit and compile videos, I’m all ears.
Notes: Lower back still had plenty of cumulative tightness from benching and deadlifting, so I kept the volume down on squats today. Form felt a little off and knees were a bit achy, but managed to get the work done. I belted up on the last set of RDLs and my lower back thanked me for it, LOL. The 405x5 was a tie with my old PR and from what I can remember this was a good deal easier. Next week starts the intensity block. Let the good times roll.
