I like it! If the gym is open Thursday morning I’ll do this; I have no frame of reference for rep numbers, but it looks nuts. If not, I’ll pick some bodyweight nonsense and flop around for a bit.
I did another back workout yesterday, and I’m headed down to do something in a few… then headed on some long flights!
Not as hardcore as 401 T-Bar DLs, but today I did this:
10 kcal Assault Bike
20 slam ball
20 burpees
10 kcal Assault Bike
19 slam ball
19 burpees
10 kcal Assault Bike
18 slam ball
18 burpees
And just keep doing that until you get to…
10 kcal Assault Bike
1 slam ball
1 burpee
It was pretty awful… lol
That looks horrific. How long did that take?
It was pretty awful. It took me about 70 minutes, but I’m old and slow, so you could likely kick it out in hour or less. But yeah, TERRIBLE! lol
Quick meadows question for you. Where he states:
3 sets. 10 reps RPE 9. How had you been structuring your sets, as if you use the same weight (which in some cases he tells you to do), i wouldn’t be having RPE 9 on the first and last set without a deviation on the reps.
Option 1 Same weight but only the last set gets the correct RPE
Set 1 100kg x 10 RPE 7
Set 2 100kg x 10 RPE 8
Set 3 100kg x 10 RPE 9
Option 2 Reduce the weight so every set gets the correct RPE
Set 1 105kg x 10 RPE 9
Set 2 100kg x 10 RPE 9
Set 3 95kg x 10 RPE 9
Option 3 Same weight and only get last reps on last set, RPE on all sets
Set 1 100kg x 12 RPE 9
Set 2 100kg x 11 RPE 9
Set 3 100kg x 10 RPE 9
Just wondered what you’d been doing previously as his programmes are pretty silent on it *(unless I’ve missed it).
Hey man! Sorry to be a little slow responding.
It’s a great question, and I’m not always real consistent. I’d say it’s a little more dependent on movement than anything. I typically want that first set to be pretty close to RPE 9, because he usually doesn’t ask for volume on really “hard” movements - so option 1 is the one I am least likely to employ.
If I’m doing a bigger pressing movement, I’ll usually just let the reps range a little (like I’m ok to lose a rep or two on subsequent sets). I also might really flex and stretch every rep on the early sets; and then get a little looser later as I fatigue. Reducing weight is pretty much the same thing, I just don’t care to manipulate it usually.
If it’s a pulling exercise or an arm exercise, I’ll definitely just go from really strict to a little body English - as long as I’m getting more pump rather than less (I think this makes sense, but let me know if not). I am fine to reduce weight here if it’s a cable stack or something, because I don’t like cheating where I think it reduces load (I think there’s less use in doing a rope pressdown you can’t flex all the way out, for instance).
If it’s something like rear delts or side raises, I’ll hit the top end of the rep range every time but those last reps might just be like an inch of movement and more of the set looks like that as I get deeper into them.
At the end of the day, I can’t really predict what RPE 9 is, and it’s almost always “safe” movements - so I just go until I’m pretty sure I’m about to fail on that first effort and then do as many as I can for the subsequent sets so I match the effort if not the performance.
Did that make sense? Sometimes (often) I just ramble.
Thank you for the detailed response and yes made sense. You out much more thought into what it meant for different movements which I’d not considered at all. Thank you
I don’t know that I put any thought into it - it just kind of played itself out that way over the years!
I’m back in the States, my friends, although I did miss my final flight and got stuck in Chicago last night. I’m on the next one out, which is still pretty late in the morning, but I’ll get back to my kids for Thanksgiving dinner this afternoon.
On a side note, I’m pretty confident now I’ve had bronchitis these last few weeks. I’ve been on tons of planes, so I’m pretty sure I’m Patient Zero for planet Earth. Sorry about that.
Hope all are well and Happy Thanksgiving!
I’m home for a few weeks, barring a surprise, and I was motivated by @davemccright - so I figured I’d jump into 28 Days Later and kickstart back some good habits.
Today was all quads, and a really tough jump back into it. Tons of volume, tons of questioning my life decisions.
Seated Leg Curls
Warmed up over 3 sets
3 x 12
Double drop set last set
Leg Press
Rested every rep on the stop at the bottom for a complete stop - that was way harder than I thought it would be!
2pps/8
4pps/8
5pps/8
6pps/7
7pps/8 + 5pps/8 + 4pps/6
Belt Squat
1pps/6
2pps/12 x 3
2pps/12 + 1.25pps/8 + 1pps/6
BSS Drop Set of Death
One set - just jumped in with light DBs, but still felt brutal
30/8 + 8s + 20/8 + 8s + 10/8 + 8s + BW/8 + 8s
Leg Extension
Worked up to a drop set of death on this, too. On this one the hold is all the way in the flex position.
3 sets of 8 working up
1 drop set of death where it’s 8 reps, then 5s hold, dropping back down to the starting weight
Absolutely finished! As I write this down I remember I was supposed to do 100 TBDL or however many until I die. I will get that in this weekend!
Italy was awesome. We averaged 10.5 miles of walking a day. We got to see Roman ruins and ride the gondola and eat all the pizza and pasta and drink all the wine. Super fun. The work part of the trip was great, too; it was really good to meet all the team out there and build some relationships and learn from them vs just send them emails/ Zoom calls.
I’m still glad to be home! Going straight from work trip to work trip (and getting stuck) means I’ve only been home with my kids something like 5 or 6 days out of the last 5 weeks. Glad to be back for a bit!
The first few workouts of week 1 are a BRUTAL introduction, but such a great primer for what’s to come. I felt like I was recovering like a machine by the time week 3 rolled around! So excited to see you run through it!
Chest today - @davemccright you’re not kidding; this was a tough one too. Rebuilding those good habits and forcing a recovery focus is what I want right now, so good to hear that was your experience.
I was incredibly weak on everything today, which was disappointing but also pretty much what I should expect as I’ve basically only been in hotel gyms the last couple months (and no resistance training at all for the last week or so). The high volume is what the doctor ordered in this situation - I’m not strong enough to get anything out of just a couple all-out sets.
Chest
DB Bench
30/20
50/10
70/8
80/8
90/8
100/5 - oof
75/23 (no lockout) + 60/10 (full lockout)
Incline
1-2s pause about 2” above chest
45/8
95/8
135/8
155/8
165/8
175/5 - seriously?
Bench
1-2s pause on chest
Absolutely no ability to push by this point. Good chest pump though. @rugby_lifting I ended up dropping weight each set to stay at 8 reps.
165/8
155/8
145/8 x 2
Machine Flye
3 x 12
@rugby_lifting on these I just lost a rep or so each set, so I was doing somewhere between 10-14 reps as it went.
Assisted Dips
4 sets of bottom half reps with 30s breaks
Leg Press Calves
This was interesting, you do reps for a minute, rest a minute, and repeat for 4 sets. By the end of each set, I was just doing a partial every few seconds.
Time to put up the Christmas tree and watch “the game”!
Another grindy back day after church and taking the kids to the “Trolls 3” movie.
One-arm BB Row
-/8
25/8
50/8 x 4
Pulldowns
6 x 10
2 sets wide
2 sets medium
2 sets neutral
HS Row
2pps/12 x 4
DB Prone Shrug
65/10 x 4
Giant Set - 4 rounds:
Pretty smoked after this one!
I am seriously still sore after Friday’s quads workout. Like legs buckling on dog walks sore. Hopefully that magical recoverability starts kicking in soon!
Today was all hammies. I have owed some TBDL for several days, so I finally did them. It was excruciating.
10 minutes bike
Just trying to loosen up
TBDL
135/100
This was brutal and probably took me like 10 minutes. I was determined to hit 100, so that’s just what I went after… I was taking breaths between every rep by the end. I think if I wasn’t so beat up, I could have actually performed on this one, so it’s something to revisit. “Thanks” for the idea @T3hPwnisher!
Seated Leg Curls
Just work up to a top set of 10 with good full reps
Leg Press
Feet high and wide with a slow eccentric - makes these more hamstring.
Used the top peg for the weight which seemed to make… no difference.
2pps/8
4pps/8
5pps/8
6pps/8
7pps/8
Lying Leg Curl
Warmed up then one triple drop set for 30 total reps
DB RDL
Pretty crampy by this point!
Slow eccentric and full reps with a butt squeeze at the top (my own, unfortunately)
75/8 x 2
65/8 x 2
Leg Raise
4 sets
Standing Calf
2 warmups
2 sets of 10 + 10s flex at top x 3 (30 total reps and 30s flex)
Way to get after it dude! You gave it hell. How’d you like Trolls? We saw that on Wednesday.
Thanks man! If I didn’t have a number to beat, and I was just doing unbroken reps, that would have only been like 40. I think it worked a ton of soreness out, though.
I liked Trolls; it was cute. I like all those movies, though. I don’t need my kids’ movies to give me some deep, meaningful message - something lighthearted, entertaining and universal is plenty.
Shoulders today! This one was fast and easy… just the way I like ‘em.
No warmup or anything extra because I was squeezing this in during kids’ practices.
Cable Rear Delt
5 x 12-15
DB Side Raise
25/ 8-10 x 4
Front Raise
30/12 x 4
Seated DB Press
30/8
40/8
50/8
60/8
70/7
Had more, but just kinda missed
Superset 4 rounds:
that’s what she said
I like that shoulder session so much that I may have to steal it! And also can’t believe how much weight you were using for the overhead presses. 
This is just me in general these days. Life is too heavy: I don’t need that in my off time. Having a kid is a great excuse to go see kid’s movies, haha.