The Year of the Overhead Press (...goes on hiatus)

[ancrcake]

Log Week 15

Accumulation Block - Week 3

(I jumped straight into week 3 as I was already two weeks into a higher volume phase)

----- Monday – Full Body -----

Paused Overhead Press (3 reps @ 55kg) RPE 9/9.5
Chin-ups (3 reps @ +20kg) RPE 9

Paused Overhead Press (5 x 5 reps @ 49kg)
Chin-ups (5 x 5 reps @ +10kg)

GHR (3 x 12 reps)

RDL (7, 7, 6+ reps @ 82.5kg)

• Note to self: Don’t be a dummy and put chin-ups before RDLs

----- Tuesday -----

Off

----- Wednesday – Upper -----

Paused Bench (6, 5, 5 reps @ 85kg)
Pull-ups (7, 7, 6 reps)

Paused 45° Incline Bench (12, 12, 7+ reps @ 50kg, 52.5kg, 50kg)
One Arm Barbell Row (3 x 8 reps @ 38.75kg)

Lateral Raise Machine (3 x 9 reps @ 46/kg)

• My bench press is piss-weak. It’s not too surprising to have very little/no progess given I’ve spent the last few months focusing on my overhead press, but given how long I’ve been consistently working out, it’s still super disappointing. At this point I’m not even frustrated anymore, I’m just a bit confused

• I’m thinking on switching to dumbbells for my bench instead. I’d move the rep range up to 6-8. Not sure what the best practices are if you want to go into an intensification block with one pressing exercise. Maybe it’s a good idea to do that with all pressing movements, but maybe it only matters with the ones you’re focusing on

----- Thursday – Lower -----

Single Leg Lying Hamstring Curl (8, 8, 9+ reps @ 20//kg)

Back Extension (12, 12, 12 reps @ 20kg)

• Loaded a bar onto my back for the back extensions. Really liked the movement overall, but this is going to be hard to maintain as the weight goes up

• Ran out of time today for a full workout

----- Friday – Upper -----

Paused Overhead Press (3 reps @ 55kg) RPE 9/9.5

Paused Overhead Press (8, 8, 7 reps @ 45kg)
Chin-ups (3 x 8 reps)

Cable Lateral Raise (3 x 10 reps @ 3.75//kg)
Physio Cable Lunge

• Looks like I misjudged the RPE a little bit from the first set today. I calculated my working set weight from an RPE 9 triple, but really should’ve worked out what weight was between RPE 9 and 10. If I’m being honest with my self, that set was RPE 9.5, but I didn’t want to admit that my strength is a tiny bit down from Monday.
  Got to fix that mentality next week; recognising days when you’re not exactly as strong as you were earlier in the week/training block is exactly why RPE training exists.

• Weirdly felt my left side delt a lot after my overhead pressing.

• Will add some rear delt and chest isolation in next week. Might also add some grip work

Thoughts:

• First week of the new training system. Early days, but I’m liking it so far

• I realised that I was getting to caught up on my heavy sets and would abosolutely need to be at peak strength the whole time to not feel like I was going backwards. So I’ve dropped the ‘Benchmark Lifts’ section, and will now just to a summary at the end of each training cycle

• In case you didn’t read the absolute ramble that were the last couple of posts I made, basically my overhead presses and chin-ups follow this pattern. Start with a heavy triple at RPE 8 or 9 (not depending on the day like the table says). Use that to find your 1RM for the day. Use the following table for the other work sets that day. The idea is to have the first working set be at RPE 8.
  

  
  
  Still working out what I’m doing with Wednesday’s benching

• I’m thinking that week 8 might have a 3RM test for Overhead Press and Chin-ups on Monday, then deload the rest of the week. It still ends up being 6 days of deload, so it should be enough. A traditional deload is a week plus two weekends at either end, so that’s 9 days. 6 light days still should be enough

[LoRez]

@ancrcake

Use that to find your 1RM for the day. Use the following table for the other work sets that day.

Finally I’m following. Didn’t quite make sense of the post before.

Kind of Bulgarian-ish auto regulation, then linear periodization for the work/backoff sets.

Looking forward to seeing how it works for you.

[ancrcake]

@LoRez

Finally I’m following. Didn’t quite make sense of the post before

Tbh, I feel like the prior posts show the absolute mess that was going around in my head lol. Sometimes this log definitely is just a brain dump, and good luck to anyone reading.

At the moment, I’m still using a weight that’s probably too heavy for the initial sets, but my ego just doesn’t want me to drop it any more than I have

@LoRez

Kind of Bulgarian-ish auto regulation, then linear periodization for the work/backoff sets.

Yeah, it’s a bit of everything, really. I think the only style of periodisation that’s not present in this plan is conjugate. That being said, most of the good training plans I’ve seen also use most types of periodisation, so it’s not like this is anything special

Fingers crossed it works out like I hope

[ancrcake]

Log Week 16

Accumulation Block - Week 4

----- Monday – Full Body -----

GHR (13, 13, 13)

RDL (3 x 7 reps @ 82.5kg)

Paused Overhead Press (3 reps @ 55kg) RPE 9
Chin-ups (2 reps @ +20kg) RPE 8.5/9

Paused Overhead Press (6 x 4 reps @ 51kg)
Chin-ups (6 x 4 reps @ +10kg)

• This was a tough workout, but I liked it. Seven RPE 8+ heavy sets of pressing really takes it out of you, but it was really satisfying. Definitely did feel a little more tired and hungry through the rest of the day.

• It’s interesting how much better much set-to-set endurance is when the reps are low. Every set pressing set today made me think “yep, that’s a hard set” and yet I could do more sets, but in a higher rep set, once I get to that point, there’s no way the next set is going to have the same performance

----- Tuesday -----

Off

----- Wednesday – Upper -----

DB Bench (8, 8, 6 reps @ 35kg)
One Arm Barbell Row (10, 8, 7+ reps @ 40kg)

Paused 45° Incline Bench (8, 7, 5 reps @ 62.5kg)
Lat Pulldown (3 x 9 reps @ 68kg)

Cable Lateral Raise (3 x 11 reps @ 3.75//kg)
Physio Cable Lunge

• I thinking that if bench press isn’t my main goal, why let myself be disappointed by it? Let’s go back to the good old Dumbbell Bench. It’s what built most of my chest anyway.

• Speaking of building my chest, holy moly, felt the DBs hitting my pecs way more. I have a very poor mind-muscle connection with my front delts, so I think this is showing me that the bench press does actually involve more delts for me.

• Happy with the way my cable lateral raise is chugging along.

----- Thursday – Lower -----

Single Leg Lying Hamstring Curl (3 x 9 reps @ 20//kg)

Back Extension (12, 6+, 5+ reps @ 22.5kg)

Smith Machine Calf Raise (3 x 10 reps @ +70kg)
Dragon Flag Eccentrics (3 x 6 reps)

• Progress with the Hamstring Curl

• Not sure why my Back Extension tanked so much this week, I only added 2.5kg

• Very difficult sets for calf raises, but I’m proud of how I ground through and made myself get those reps

• Dragon Flags felt solid

----- Friday – Upper -----

Paused Overhead Press (3 reps @ 55kg) RPE 9

Paused Overhead Press (8, 8, 8, 7+ reps @ 45kg)
Chin-ups (8, 8, 8, 7 reps)

• Ran out of time for the rest of the workout.

• The heavy triple felt noticeably easier than Monday, or last Friday. It might have been more accurate to put RPE 8.5, but given it’s a higher rep day, I made the right choice.

• Added a rep to my 8 rep overhead press since last week but was disappointingly close to adding a rep and a set

Thoughts:

• I’m happy with the way this program is panning out so far, it seems to be working for me. I did make a counting mistake when I was explaining this plan. This week had 18 total sets of pressing, not the 20 I said it would get to.

• I feel like this amount of pressing volume works for me. I feel recovered and ready to do more. Next time around, I’m thinking of doing a longer accumulation block of 5 or 6 weeks, instead of the 4 I’ve done this time. If I end up doing that, I’ll add more weeks like this to the end, so I end up having 2 or 3 weeks at 18-20 sets per week. We’ll have to see how more weeks like this in a row feel.

• When I thought about switching back to dumbbells for benching, I had a problem that I needed to fix. The increment in dumbbell weight is 2.5kg, which means that a jump to the next weight is 5kg in one go. If I’m doing double progression, going from 8 reps to 6 isn’t enough of a reduction to make that weight jump happen.
  I think I’ve thought of a solution.
  It’s paused/un-paused double progression. So basically, get to 8 reps, drop to 6 reps with the same weight, but now do a pause at the bottom. Once you get back to 8 reps again, drop to 6 reps, up the weight, and don’t pause. So basically:
  35kg – 8 reps – Not Paused
  35kg – 6 reps – Paused
  35kg – 7 reps – Paused
  35kg – 8 reps – Paused
  37.5kg – 6 reps – Not Paused

• Accumulation block is done, now on to lower reps and more weight. I’ve realised that all that time I spent doing bodybuilding-style workouts have warped my view of what is high and low volume for strength, so I’ve basically been doing nothing but accumulation blocks. Now it’s time to see if an actual intensification block will give me what I want

[ancrcake]

Log Week 17

I’m two weeks late, so you lucky bastards get a double installment of this very marginally entertaining series!

Intensification Block - Week 1

----- Monday – Full Body -----

GHR (10, 10, 6+)

RDL (3 x 8 reps @ 82.5kg)

Paused Overhead Press (3 reps @ 55kg) RPE 9
Chin-ups (2 reps @ +20kg) RPE 9

Paused Overhead Press (3 x 3 reps @ 52.5kg)
Chin-ups (3 x 3 reps @ +12kg)

Smith Machine Calf Raises (11, 11, 8 reps @ +70kg)
Dragon Flag Eccentrics (3 x 6 reps)

• The back-off triples felt surprisingly easy

• I now am crossing my hands across my chest for GHRs instead of clasping them behind me. That’s why my reps have dropped off here

----- Tuesday -----

Off

----- Wednesday – Upper -----

DB Bench (8, 8, 5 reps @ 35kg)
One Arm Barbell Row (9, 9, 4+ reps @ 40kg)

Paused 45° Incline Bench (7, 7, 7 reps @ 62.5kg)
Machine Row (10, 12, 9+ reps @ 54, 54/, 54/kg)

Cable Lateral Raise (12, 12, 9+ reps @ 3.75//kg)

• Off day for me. Everything felt weak

• I’ve had trouble keeping my shoulders set during RDLs the way I used to be able to, so I’m swapping a pulldown for another row

• I mucked around so much with different ways to chest-support rows. I don’t like lying on an incline bench to do them, I don’t like that feeling of rowing into my traps (or having to focus on not doing it). When I use the lowest incline, that side of things gets better, but then the floor is too close. I tried to use the back extension, but the handles got in the way, tried to use the GHR but it got in the way of my shoulder hanging straight down (and my face was buried in it lol), and other things. Couldn’t work it out…

----- Thursday – Lower -----

Single Leg Lying Hamstring Curl (3 x 10 reps @ 20//kg)

Back Extension (10, 7, 7+ reps @ 22.5kg)

Slow Eccentric Lying Hamstring Curl (12, 12 11+ reps @ 32kg)

Seated Calf Raise (3 x 12 reps @ +32.5kg)
Dragon Flag Eccentrics (3 x 6 reps)

----- Friday – Upper -----

Paused Overhead Press (3 reps @ 55kg) RPE 9.5
Chin-ups (3 reps @ 20kg)) RPE 9.5

Paused Overhead Press (3 x 6 reps @ 47kg)
Chin-ups (6, 6, 6 reps)

Physio Reverse Sled Drag

High-Low Cable Flyes (3 x 12 reps @ 5, 7.5, 10kg)
Physio Lunge

EZ Bar Preacher Curls (12, 12, 9+ reps @ 20kg)
EZ Bar Skullcrushers (3 x 12 reps @ 25kg)

[ancrcake]

Log Week 18

Intensification Block - Week 2

----- Monday – Full Body -----

GHR (10, 10, 7+)

RDL (3 x 6 reps @ 85kg)

Paused Overhead Press (3 reps @ 55kg) RPE 8.5
Chin-ups (2 reps @ +20kg) RPE 9

Paused Overhead Press (4 x 2 reps @ 55kg)
Chin-ups (4 x 2 reps @ +15kg)

• The back-off doubles felt easy. I’m beginning to think that the percentages for my heavy back-off sets are too low

----- Tuesday -----

Off

----- Wednesday – Upper -----

Physio BSS

DB Bench (8, 8, 8 reps @ 35kg)
Machine Row (3 x 10 reps @ 61kg)

Paused 45° Incline Bench (7, 7, 7 reps @ 62.5kg)
Chest Supported DB Row (7 reps @ 20kg – 2 x 10 reps @ 17.5kg)

Pec Deck (10 reps @ 68kg – 7+ reps @ 61/kg – 5+ reps @ 54//kg)
Sideways SA Rev Pec Deck (12 reps @ 19kg – 10+ reps @ 26kg – 7+ reps @ 19/kg)

Cable Lateral Raise (12, 12, 10+ reps @ 3.75//kg)

• What a mess that Pec Deck and Reverse Pec Deck is lol

• Really confused why my Pec Deck performance nose-dived so quickly. Pretty weird

• Good progress with DB Bench. Glad I saw a good bump from last week’s off day

• Finally figured out to make a chest-supported DB Row work. All that mucking around last week wasn’t a complete waste after all lol. I got a bench to ~30° incline, roll and fold a yoga mat up and put that between myself and the bench. Easy

----- Thursday – Lower -----

Single Leg Lying Hamstring Curl (3 x 8 reps @ 25/kg)

Back Extension (10, 9, 10 reps @ 22.5kg)

Slow Eccentric Lying Hamstring Curl (12, 12 9++ reps @ 32/kg)

• Glad I left a rep in the tank on the second set of back extensions. I really had to grind out the 10th rep on the last set, and there’s no chance I would’ve been able to do that without holding back a touch in set 2.

• Ran out of time for the rest of the workout

----- Friday – Upper -----

Paused Overhead Press (5 x 3 reps @ 55kg)
Chin-ups (5 x 3 reps @ 20kg))

• After the light-feeling doubles on Monday, I really started to doubt whether my program as-written will be enough for me to hit my goals. The RPE of the top set just didn’t seem to be dropping as fast I wanted. Going to do more heavy doubles and triples for 5 sets

• I felt a bit weaker today than on Monday, but I’m happy with what I did.

• Severely short on time due to me being an idiot. Still got a good amount of work in today

Thoughts:

• I’ve decided that for the pressing work that I’m trying to double-progress, I’m going to wait until I can get an extra rep on the last set before I progress the weight (or add a pause). It’ll help to not red-line the intensity too much, and to ensure smooth progression to the next stage

• I’ve also been getting down about a lack of progress with my overhead press, and I think I’m focusing on it too much. I’m going to start celebrating every bit of progress I make, even on something like hamstring curls. Something like this:
  “Added 1 rep to the last set ”

• I’m going on holidays in two weeks, so the plan going forwards is this:
  Heavy doubles/triples on Monday, somewhat challenging singles on Friday, test 3RM the following Monday, fly out on Wednesday

[ancrcake]

Log Week 19

Intensification Block - Week 3

----- Monday – Full Body -----

Physio Leg Extension

GHR (10, 10, 8+)
+1 rep on last set

RDL (3 x 7 reps @ 85kg)
+1 rep all sets

Paused Overhead Press (2 x 3 reps, 4 x 2 reps @ 57.5kg)
Chin-ups (3, 2, 2, 2, 2 reps @ +22.5kg)
First time doing 2 sets of 3 with 57.5kg

• The fifth set of overhead press felt surprisingly easy. I really focused in on my cues, and what do you know, they helped. I decided to go for a sixth, and my focus ended up slipping a bit which made the rep a lot harder than expected.
  Note to self: Really focus in on those technique cues; you have them for a reason

----- Tuesday -----

Off

----- Wednesday – Upper -----

Physio BSS

DB Bench (8, 8, 7+ reps @ 35kg)
Machine Row (3 x 11 reps @ 61kg)
+1 reps all sets of row

Paused 45° Incline Bench (8, 8, 5+ reps @ 62.5kg)
Chest Supported DB Row (3 x 11 reps @ 17.5kg)

Pec Deck (10 reps @ 68kg – 8+ reps @ 61/kg – 8+ reps @ 54kg)
Sideways SA Rev Pec Deck (12, 12, 9+ reps @ 19/kg)

Cable Lateral Raise (12, 12, 11 reps @ 3.75//kg)
External Rotation (3 x 15 reps @ 2.5kg)
+1 rep last set of lateral raise

• Going to have to drop the weight on Pec Deck. I have no idea why I have such a steep performance drop-off

----- Thursday – Lower -----

Single Leg Lying Hamstring Curl (3 x 9 reps @ 25/kg)
+1 rep all sets

Back Extension (10, 10, 10 reps @ 22.5kg)
+1 rep second set

Slow Eccentric Lying Hamstring Curl (12, 12 10++ reps @ 32/kg)
+1 rep last set

Dragon Flag Eccentrics (3 x 7 reps)
+1 rep all sets

• The dragon flag progress is pretty big. I don’t know if I’ve ever got them this strong before

----- Friday – Upper -----

Paused Overhead Press (3 x 1 rep @ 57.5, 55, 55kg)
Chin-ups (3 x 1 rep @ 22.5, 20, 20kg))

Physio Reverse Sled Drag

High-Low Cable Flyes (3 x 12 reps @ 10kg)
Physio Cable Lunge

EZ Bar Preacher Curl (3 x 12 reps @ 20kg)
EZ Bar Skullcrushers (3 x 10 reps @ 27.5kg)
+3 reps last set of curls
+2.5kg on skullcrushers

Thoughts:

• Got the s going in this log. Definitely good to see something visual to show the progress I’m making across the board

• 3RM test on Monday. I don’t really know what to expect. I went very low on volume today, and didn’t push the RPE too much, so hopefully that plus the weekend recovery time helps me boost to a new PR.
  I’m going to open at 57.5kg for my press, and +22.5kg for my chin ups, then add 2.5kg per attempt from there.

• My Monday workout will just be the Overhead Press and Chin-up 3RM session. I won’t fatigue myself with any lower-body stuff. I’ll do that on Tuesday before flying out on Wednesday

[ancrcake]

Log Week 19

----- Monday – Test -----

Paused Overhead Press (3 reps @ 60kg, 2+ reps @ 62.5kg, 2+ reps @ 61kg) PR

Chin-ups (3 reps @ 25kg, 3 reps @ 27.5kg) PR

----- Tuesday – Lower (mostly) -----

GHR (3 x 10 reps)
+2 reps last set

RDL (3 x 8 reps @ 85kg)
+1 rep all sets

Slow Eccentric Hamstring Curl (12, 12 14+ reps @ 32/kg)
+4(!) reps last set
I normally do this exercise after different exercises, so take this with a grain of salt

Physio Reverse Sled Drag
Bigger strides than last time , almost verging into actually big strides territory

Physio Cable Lunge
High-Low Cable Flye (3 x 12 reps @ 10kg)
Turns out this is what I did last week…Must’ve looked at the wrong week’s log

Physio Side Plank

----- Thoughts: -----

• Got myself an Overhead Press PR, which is always good, no matter how small.

• The 1RM calculator I used said that the double at 62.5kg was more impressive than the triple at 60kg, so I’ll take that. I saw it as a bit of a failure at first, so that’s a good re-frame.

• My strength did go up noticeably in the last 2 weeks of the intensification block, so I wonder what I could’ve done if I had one more week before my holiday.

• Solid Chin-up PR. I really umm’d and ahh’d about jumping 2.5kg because the +25kg triple was so hard, but I’m glad I did it. There was a bit of rounding forwards of the shoulders on the last rep, but not too badly for me not to count it as a new PR.

[ancrcake]

Summary/Plan going forwards

I’m going to go through a summary of this block, what I learnt, and where to from here.

Summary of this block

Performance Increases:

Overhead Press:
3 reps @ 57.5kg → 3 reps @ 60kg (2 reps @ 62.5kg)
Chin-ups:
3 reps @ +22.5kg → 3 reps @ +27.5kg
RDL (post GHR):
3 x 8 reps @ 80kg → 3 x 8 reps @ 85kg

Thoughts:
This was the first time I’ve run block periodisation and all up, I’m fairly happy with it. My overhead press didn’t improve as much as I wanted, but maybe extra week in the intensification block would’ve got me one more rep at 62.5kg, and then I’d have been very happy with what I’ve done in this cycle.

I’ve liked having the top triple + back off percentage volume set-up, I think it works well, but the percentages need a bit of tweaking for me

What I’ve learnt

• The plan I laid out here (below) is definitely workable, but the percentages at higher reps need to be brought down, and the percentages at lower reps needs to be brought up. The 5 rep percentage seemed to be spot on
  

  

• The intensification block would be better if it were 4 weeks long, not 3

• My shoulders don’t like 18 sets of pressing per week, especially when a lot of it is overhead pressing

• My overhead press sticking point (when maxing out) is around my chin

• My e1RM for Paused Overhead Press is 63.5kg if we use the 60kg triple and 64.3kg if we use the double

I’m sure there will be more things that pop into my head over time, so I’ll come back and add them bit by bit

Where to from here

At this point, my body fat is creeping up into an area that I’m starting to not like, so a cut is on the menu at some point in the next little while. Thing is, I don’t feel like I’ve achieved enough to justify a cut yet, so when I get back from my week away, I’m going some more training to try to get to that point.

I also want to try out someone else’s programming for a bit. I’ve had the programs by Stronger By Science for a little while now, and I want to give them a go. They’re a good set of lift-specific programs that you can franken-program together to make a plan. There’s no reason you can’t use a SBS template and combine it with another coach’s template/program to make what you want. You can have a look here (Greg Nuckols 28 Programs Spreadsheet (2024) - Lift Vault)

I’m thinking of doing the 3x per week intermediate high volume or advanced bench program, but, of course, switched to be for the Overhead Press. The only difference I can see between the two is more back-off volume on Wednesday, which seems to be a bit of an odd thing to be the only difference. Both have you testing your rep max with 85% in week 4, and all the other workload is exactly the same.

This program below is the advanced program. If you take off the work after the top set/s on Wednesday, you get the intermediate high volume plan. (Edit: Having tallied up the number of sets here, I think I’ll be taking off the back-off sets on Wednesday. There’s a lot of volume here, no need to risk overdoing it)

Any time it says “Bench Press” read “Overhead Press”, but I will keep the close grip bench presses in.

The percentages that get used during the program are definitely less than what I would program for myself, but maybe that’s for the best. Many people get good results off sub-maximal programs like 5/3/1 so maybe this is what I need.

If progress after 4 weeks is good, I’ll go on my cut satisfied with my progress, but who knows, if it’s really good, I might be tempted to run it again.

I’m going to do incline DB presses in the DB Press slot on Friday. There’s enough work here for delts that I’m going to use that to really try to hit my upper chest. I might even try out reverse grip presses, I hear that people really feel them in their upper chest

[ancrcake]

Log Week 20

----- Thursday -----

Paused Overhead Press (3 x 5 reps @ 40kg)
Pull-ups (11, 9 reps) PR

Reverse Grip Incline DB Bench (2 x 10 reps @ 20kg)
DB Helms Row (2 x 12 reps @ 12.5kg)

• For a supposedly light, re-introduction day, I definitely pushed a touch harder than I should’ve.

• The overhead pressing was surprisingly difficult today. But hey, it’s my first day back after a week+ with 0 time in the gym.

• New rep PR on pull-ups is always nice, but the DB pressing was genuinely pretty difficult, my triceps were fried. I’d heard people talking about how reverse grip benching hits your upper chest so much harder, but I didn’t feel it tbh. In the program I’ll be doing these after an Overhead Press, so this setup was a fair comparison to how they’ll be going forwards. I’m going to do a traditional incline DB bench with a pause. That should be a much more effective way to get the upper chest

Notes:

@ancrcake

• Looking at the Wednesday workout on the Stronger By Science pressing plan, I just can’t wrap my head around the pyramid sets on the way up. The reps are too high to just be warm-up sets, too low to have any meaningful impact on training progression, but just right to cause enough fatigue to degrade performance on the heavy and back-off sets.
  .
  Week 1 & 2, I’m going to start at the top sets and go from there, Week 3, maybe I’ll start at 75%, but maybe I’ll just go straight to the 2 sets @ 85%, and Week 4 I’ll start from the 2 sets @ 75%

• Using a 1RM calculator, I figured out that if I want my e1RM to go up at the end of this training block, I need to hit 6 reps @ 54kg on that final testing day

• In other news, my time away was great. Beautiful weather, beautiful places, absolutely nothing that needed to be done but to enjoy yourself

[ancrcake]

Log Week 21

SBS Press Program - Week 1

----- Monday - Full Body -----

GHR (10, 10, 9+ reps)

RDL (3 x 6 reps @ 85kg)

Paused Overhead Press (5 x 5 reps @ 48kg)
Chin-ups (7 reps – 4 x 5 reps @ +5kg)

Close Grip Bench (3 x 8 reps @ 65kg)
Machine Row (11, 8+, 8++ reps @ 61kg)

Physio BSS

Workout time: 1h13

• I need to pull back on something lat-wise today. It’s probably not a good idea to do the weights prescribed after having done RDLs

• I want to start tracking the length of my workouts, but I just keep forgetting to check the clock at the start…

----- Tuesday -----
Rest Day

----- Wednesday - Upper -----

Paused Overhead Press:
2 x 1 rep @ 54kg
4 reps @ 51kg
6 reps @ 45kg
8 reps @ 38kg
Chin-ups:
2 x 1 rep @ +12.5kg
4 reps @ +7.5kg
2 x 6 reps @ bodyweight

Pec Deck (3 x 10 reps @ 61kg)
Sideways Reverse Pec Deck (3 x 12 reps @ 19/kg)

Cable Lateral Raise (12, 12, 9+ reps @ 3.75//kg)

----- Thursday - Lower -----

Slow Eccentric Good Mornings (6 reps @ 20kg – 8 reps @ 30kg – 2 x 8 reps @ 35kg)

Slow Eccentric Hamstring Curl (3 x 12 reps @ 32//kg)

1&1/2 Leg Press Calf Raise (8, 8, 6+ reps @ 85kg)

1&1/2 Seated Calf Raise (12 reps @ 30kg)

• Doing Good Mornings with the technique coached by Renaissance Periodization. Very controlled, slow eccentric down to a light touch on safety pins. It did feel like more of a lower back exercise than hamstring like they say, so I’m going to pre-fatigue my hamstrings and give it a few weeks to see how my body adapts to it.

• I did the calf raises with a similar technique to what Jay Cutler recommends and uses, except with more eccentric control. My calves fucking hated it lol. Going to keep using it

----- Friday - Upper -----

Paused Overhead Press (2 x 3 reps @ 51kg)
Chin-ups (2 x 3 reps @ +10kg)

Paused DB Incline Bench (12, 12, 11+ reps @ 25kg)
DB Helms Row (8, 10, 10++ reps @ 20kg)

Physio Reverse Sled Drag

Physio Cable Lunge
High-Low Cable Flye (12, 14, 14+ reps @ 10kg)

EZ Bar Preacher Curl (12, 10, 6+ reps @ 20kg)
EZ Bar Skullcrushers (3 x 10 reps @ 27.5kg)

Wrist Curl (3 x 12 reps @ 17.5kg)
DB Wrist Extension (12, 12, 9 reps @ 4kg)

• There is some good news and some bad news for the incline dumbbell bench. The good news: I got the weight selection spot-on. The bad news: That weight is really light

• Also, I did really feel it in my upper chest, so doing them this way was absolutely the right call.

• Going to use DBs for curls next week. My left bicep is bigger and it’s still working harder with these curls.

• Very happy with the skullcrushers. I picked up right where I left off

Notes:

• Didn’t feel too strong this week with my overhead press. I am just getting back into it after some time off, so hopefully it all comes good next week

• I’ve got some nice DOMS all over. It is a high volume plan, but it’s not feeling too much so far. We’ll have to see how everything shapes up next week.

[ancrcake]

Log Week 22

SBS Press Program - Week 2

----- Monday - Full Body -----

GHR (10, 10, 12 reps)
+3(!) reps on last set

RDL (3 x 7 reps @ 85kg)
+1 rep all sets

Paused Overhead Press (4 x 3 reps @ 51kg)
Chin-ups (4 x 3 reps @ +10kg)

Paused Overhead Press (3 x 6 reps @ 48kg)
Slow Eccentric Wide T-Bar Row (14, 10, 10 reps @ +20, +30, +35kg)

Close Grip Bench (6, 6, 8 reps @ 68kg)

Physio BSS

• Strength on Close Grip Bench has gone up noticeably from last week. Not an enormous increase, but it’s welcome

----- Tuesday -----
Rest Day

----- Wednesday - Upper -----

Leg Press Calf Raise (8 reps @ 115kg – 9, 10 reps @ 105kg)

Seated Calf Raise (11, 11, 7++ reps @ 40kg)

Paused Overhead Press:
3 reps @ 51kg
2 x 2 reps @ 54kg
4 reps @ 51kg
7 reps @ 45kg
Chin-ups:
3 reps @ +10kg
2 x 2 reps @ +15kg
4 reps @ +10kg
7 reps @ bodyweight

Pec Deck (3 x 11 reps @ 61kg)
Sideways Reverse Pec Deck (3 x 13 reps @ 19/kg)
+1 reps all sets all exercises

Cable Lateral Raise (12, 12, 11 reps @ 3.75//kg)
+2 reps last set

Wrist Curl (12, 12, 14 reps @ 20kg)
DB Wrist Extension (12, 12, 9+ reps @ 4kg)

Workout Time: 1h16

• I will use 54kg as my rep-out weight when I do testing in week 4 of this program, so it was good to use that amount of weight again. The first set of overhead presses was 2, maaaaybe 3 RiR, so I wouldn’t be able to hit my target of 6 reps yet, so fingers crossed.

• Could’ve done more reps with my 45kg set. My form was locked in and felt almost robotic and easy. Next time through I’ll add more reps here, but for now I’m sticking to the program as-written. Next time through, I’d also add a rep to the first 54kg set.

• Really good to add 2 reps to the lateral raise. I feel like the progress on that has been so slow, so it’s great to be only one rep away from being able to up the weight to 6.25 and actually has more than a sliver of weight come up with each rep

• I should super-set my calves with my main pressing supersets to save on time next week

----- Thursday - Lower -----

Single Leg Lying Ham Curl (3 x 9 reps @ 25kg)

Slow Eccentric Good Mornings (3 x 8 reps @ 35kg*)

Slow Eccentric Hamstring Curl (12, 14, 12++ reps @ 32//kg)

Dragon Flag Eccentric (7?8?, 7, 8 reps)

• Progress on the Dragon Flags. I’m going to go for 8 reps per set next week

----- Friday - Upper -----

Paused Overhead Press (3 x 4 reps @ 51kg)
Chin-ups (3 x 4 reps @ +10kg)
1&1/2 Leg Press Calf Raise (3 x 8 reps @ 85kg)

Paused DB Incline Bench (12, 12, 10+, 7+ reps @ 25kg)
DB Helms Row (4 x 10 reps @ 20kg)
1&1/2 Seated Calf Raise (3 x 10 reps @ 32.5kg)

Physio Cable Lunge
High-Low Cable Flye (10, 9, 7 reps @ 12.5kg)
+Added weight from last week

DB Preacher Curl (3 x 10 reps @ 10kg)
EZ Bar Skullcrushers (11, 11, 10+ reps @ 27.5kg)
+1 rep first two sets of skullcrushers

Workout time: 1h20

• My body for the rest of Friday:
  P A I N

• I was having quite an off day today, so I’m glad I got in and still got some good work in

Notes:

• I was sick Wednesday and Thursday, got a bit better on Friday, but didn’t realise I was gettting a different kind of sick at the same time…Also got really shitty sleep on Wednesday night. So, given that, I think this week went really well

• I got sick on week 2 of this program, and while I do think it’s a coincidence, the thought did cross my mind that maybe this amount of volume is too much. If I was pushing at the RPE levels of my normal programming, there’s no doubt it would be too much, but that’s the benefit of using a program by someone like Greg Nuckols, they already know that.

• It’s interesting that given the amount of volume I’m doing for pressing and for lat work that on Saturday my only DOMS were abs and upper chest.

[ancrcake]

Log Week 23

SBS Press Program - Week 3

----- Monday - Full Body -----

GHR (11, 11, 7++ reps)

RDL (8, 7+, 8+ reps @ 85kg)

Paused Overhead Press (4 x 3 reps @ 54kg)
Chin-ups (4 x 3 reps @ +15kg)

Paused Overhead Press (8, 8, 7+ reps @ 485g)
Slow Eccentric Wide T-Bar Row (7, 7, 6+ reps @ +40kg)

Close Grip Bench (4+ & 1 & 2 reps @ 75kg)
The ‘&’ represents a 30 second rest

Workout Time: 1h17

• Was still a bit sick today; strength was noticeably down.

• Completely forgot my lifting straps today, so I tried to just chalk up and DOH them. Just about managed it the first set, had to split the second set up into ~3 or 4 mini sets to reset my grip, then I just mixed gripped the third set.

• Didn’t have the time for all 3 sets of close grip bench, so I settled for clusters

----- Tuesday -----
Rest Day

----- Wednesday - Upper -----

Paused Overhead Press:
3 reps @ 51kg
2 x 2 reps @ 54kg
2 x 1 rep @ 57kg
Chin-ups:
3 reps @ +10kg
2 x 2 reps @ +15kg
2 x 1 rep @ +20kg

Horizontal Cable Flye (14, 8, 8+ reps @ 10, 12.5, 12.5kg)

Cable Lateral Raise (12, 12, 14 reps @ 3.75//kg)
+3(!) reps last set

Wrist Curl (3 x 12 reps @ 22.5kg)
DB Wrist Extension (12, 12, 10 reps @ 4kg)
+2.5kg for curl, +1 rep last set for extension

Physio BSS

• The singles at 57kg felt HARD. I know I might still be recovering from being sick, but this is pretty worrying for me. Got to have faith in the program now

• Someone was using the Pec Deck, so I did some cable flyes and oh boy, they are so much better. I can get a better stretch without my shoulders bugging me like they do with bigger ROM on Pec Deck, and they really feel like they hit the pecs way harder. Thinking about using these instead.

• Big rep increases on my lateral raises the last 2 weeks, this is great for me. I can finally go to the next plate in the weight stack next session

----- Thursday - Lower -----

Single Leg Lying Ham Curl (10, 10, 9+ reps @ 25/kg)
+1 rep first two sets

Slow Eccentric Good Mornings (3 x 8 reps @ 35kg*)

Slow Eccentric Hamstring Curl (10, 12, 13++ reps @ 39kg)
Big improvements here

Dragon Flag Eccentric (8, 8, 6+ reps)

• I’m going to try moving Good Mornings to after both Hamstring Curl variations. I still feel like it’s a lower back exercise for me, and I’m not sure if it’s in a good way. I’ll try it out again next week, but if it doesn’t get any better, then I think that’s a pretty good sign that it’s just not meant for me

----- Friday - Upper -----

Paused Overhead Press (4, 4, 4, 4, 3+ reps @ 55kg)
Chin-ups (4, 4, 4, 4, 2+ reps @ +15kg)

Physio Sled Drag

Physio Cable Lunge
High-Low Cable Flye (3 x 10 reps @ 12.5kg)
+Added 1 rep second set and 3 on the third

• I went off-script here. I’m really doubting this program’s ability to get me to rep PRs at 54kg next Friday. I’m really feeling the need for more weight, and given what happened on Monday and today, I’ve instinctively dropped the volume too, didn’t even realise it in the moment.

• Felt pretty wiped out after this so didn’t do arms. I even cut out the DB Presses because I didn’t think they’d be a good idea given how I felt, and still didn’t do arms. Good call all up

Notes:

• I’ve definitely had my doubts about this program throughout and I think it’s helpful to view this an experiment where I try out higher volume, lower RPE training. I think it’s pretty clear so far that that style of training just isn’t for me. I’m going to do some lower-volume, higher weight pressing on Monday, then take it really easy on Wednesday for a (hopefully) successful Friday.

• If I can hit 6 reps at 54kg I’ll consider this a successful experiment, in the sense that I found out my answer without losing strength or wasting too much time, but I’ll be incredibly happy if I somehow manage 7 (fingers crossed, but it’s probably unrealistic).

[Cyrrex]

As someone who loves the OHP, it is great to see a log dedicated to it. Good work, fella.

[ancrcake]

Thanks, fingers crossed it progresses well from here

[ancrcake]

Log Week 24

SBS Press Program - Week 4

----- Monday - Full Body -----

GHR (11, 11, 12 reps)
+5(!?!) reps last set, wtf

RDL (3 x 6 reps @ 87.5kg)

Paused Overhead Press (3, 4, 4 reps @ 57kg)
Chin-ups (3 x 3 reps @ +20kg)

Close Grip Bench (3, 3, 7(!?!) reps @ 77kg)
+2kg AND 3 reps wtf!?!?

• I wasn’t 100% last Monday, but I was still surprised to add 5 reps to that last set. Then I checked back 2 weeks, and what I actually did since then was add a rep on the first 2 sets, so from 10, 10, 12 to 11, 11, 12, so it’s still good progress

• Going off-script for OHP again, I really feel the need to get some heavy work in if I’m going to achieve my goal.

• My close grip bench shot up this week. I know I didn’t do the extra ~3 sets of OHP this plan normally calls for, so I carried less fatigue into CGBP, but I think the five heavy sets on Friday have really done something.

----- Tuesday -----
Rest Day

----- Wednesday - Upper -----

Paused Overhead Press:
2 x 1 rep @ 50kg
Chin-ups:
2 x 1 rep @ +10kg

Horizontal Cable Flye (9, 9, 7+ reps @ 12.5kg)
Cable Reverse Flye (10, 10, 9+ reps @ 5kg)

Cable Lateral Raise (10, 10, 12+ reps @ 6.25kg)

Wrist Curl (12, 12, 10+ reps @ 25kg)
DB Wrist Extension (12, 12, 11+ reps @ 4kg)

• The singles didn’t feel as easy as I would’ve wanted, but hey, they’re not going to be fatiguing, should be alright. I did get lat doms the next day so not ideal there.

• Great to finally get to the next plate with cable lateral raises. Didn’t feel as hard as I expected either

----- Thursday - Lower -----

Single Leg Lying Ham Curl (10, 10, 10+ reps @ 25/kg)

Slow Eccentric Hamstring Curl (3 x 12 reps @ 39kg)

Slow Eccentric Good Mornings (3 x 8 reps @ 35kg*)

1&1/2 Calf Raise (3 x 9 reps @ 85kg)

1&1/2 Seated Calf Raise (3 x 11 reps @ 32.5)

• Tried Good Mornings after two rounds of Ham Curls and it still didn’t work as a hamstring exercise. I’ve had my little experiment here and it hasn’t worked. They feel pretty much the same on my lower back as they did at the start. It’s time to switch them out for something that helps me get to my goals better

----- Friday - Upper -----

Paused Overhead Press (7 reps @ 54kg)
Fuck Yeeeeeeeaah!

Chin-ups (4 reps @ +15kg)
Aww

Physio Sled Drag

Physio Cable Lunge
High-Low Cable Flye (3 x 11 reps @ 12.5kg)
+1 rep all sets

Overhead Press was goddam brilliant. I really had my doubts about this program (and as-written, I still do), but this is a genuine improvement. I thought I would end up going backwards on this program but my e1RM went up by 0.5kg (64.3 → 64.8). For 4 weeks of work, it’s not really that great, but given I thought I was going backwards, great result.

Chin-ups on the other hand… I can say that I learnt what doesn’t work programming-wise, and I also felt that I was carrying some fatigue into the test day in my lats. It’s all good info

Notes:

• I’m sure that had I followed this program to the letter it would’ve been a disaster, so adding those heavy sets really saved me here. I also realised that when I slightly changed my diet, I didn’t sit down to work out the calories exactly, and just eye-balled it. So I’ve been in a very slight calorie deficit these last 3 weeks. So it might be that with more calories, this program might have worked better for me (although doubt it). One thing’s for certain though, I did not like how long these workouts took. I’m a fan of getting my workout done within an hour, maybe 1h15 for the full-body day, so having all these workouts drag on so long was a bit of a pain.

• Lower body is still progressing well. Still sucks not to have any squatting movements in here (apart from bullshit-feeling physio stuff). I just got a BFR cuff on the advice of my physio. It did seem to make immediate improvements (in the moment) last time I went, so hopefully it helps me heal up fully.

• I’m also coming right up on 6 months of this log, so now is a good time to do a recap of that time. I’ll do that at some point this week.

• I’ve decided that now is also the right time to do a cut. Last week’s average was 80.1kg, and I’m aiming to get down to around 75kg. It will be the leanest I have been in a very long time (if ever), so we’ll have to see how this journey goes. At the very least I want to end up lighter than at the end of my cut last year which got me down to 76.4kg.

[ancrcake]

Log Week 25

Cut - Week 1

This week’s average bodyweight: 79.3kg
Change from last week: -0.8kg
Total change this cut: -0.8kg

----- Monday - Full Body -----

BFR Physio Leg Extension

BFR Physio BSS

GHR (12, 12, 12 reps)
+1 rep first 2 sets

RDL (3 x 6 reps @ 87.5kg)

Paused Overhead Press (3 reps @ 54kg – 2 x 4 reps @ 50kg)
Chin-ups (3 reps @ +15kg – 4, 3 reps @ +10kg)

• Aside from my GHR, I was feeling all kinds of weak today. This was the very first day of the cut, so it would have more to do with having peaked and tested last week than anything to do with calorie restriction

----- Tuesday -----
Rest Day

----- Wednesday - Upper -----

BFR Physio Leg Extension

Paused Incline DB Press (3 x 11 reps @ 25kg)
DB Helms Row (9, 9, 10+ reps @ 20kg)

Horizontal Cable Flye (10 reps @ 12.5kg)
Cable Reverse Flye (11 reps @ 5kg)

Cable Lateral Raise (11+ reps @ 6.25kg)

• I felt all kinds of hazy and out of it today. Strength was good but the feeling was pretty bad. I definitely had the thought that maybe the calorie deficit is was too much, but I’ve done this before and never felt quite like this.

----- Thursday - Lower -----

Single Leg Lying Ham Curl (12, 10+ reps @ 25/kg)

Back Extension (10+, 7 reps @ 22.5kg)

Slow Eccentric Hamstring Curl (2 x 11 reps @ 39kg)

Leg Press Calf Raise (10, 11 reps @ 115kg)

Seated Calf Raise (12, 11 reps @ 40kg)
Dragon Flag Eccentric (2 x 8 reps)

----- Friday - Upper -----

Close Grip Bench (3 x 5 reps @ 77kg)
Pull-ups (7, 7, 6)

Physio Sled Drag

• Pull-ups weren’t great. Maybe that’s a peaking hangover, but it easily could just be that the type of training for the last 4 weeks was terrible for them

Notes:

• The cut begins!

• Definitely feeling a bit off and flat on a bunch of the days this week, so I’ve been eating a bit more than I planned to and I think that shows in the weight difference this week. Hopefully it all comes good.
  In my experience, the first 2 weeks of a cut are the worst, then my body gets used to it.

• Didn’t end up feeling like doing a proper 6 month summary, but I’ll do a super condensed version below, now that I’ve got some sort of motivation to type now lol

[ancrcake]

6 Month Progress Report

Well…nearly 6 months. It ends up being 22 weeks not in a cut, so more like 5 months and 1 week. So keep that in mind.

Paused Overhead Press:
3 reps @ 50kg → 3 reps @ 60kg/ 2 reps @ 62.5kg/ 7 reps @ 54kg
e1RM:
52.9kg → 64.8kg

An increase of 11.9kg in my OHP e1RM over a 6 month period is fantastic.
I had done 3 reps @ 54kg before the starting point of 3 reps @ 50kg, but I was wearing a belt for that, so I’m not counting it. All of my other lifts have been beltless

Chin-ups:
3 reps @ +15kg (76.1kg bw) → 3 reps @ +27.5kg (80.1kg bw)
e1RM:
96.5kg → 113.9kg (including bodyweight)

An increase of 17.4kg over 6 months. Fucking fantastic! I’ve been focused on Pull-ups/Chin-ups for longer than OHP, so I would’ve thought I’d have a smaller increase, but this is huuuuuuge. Bear in mind though that the first number is actually for pull-ups not chin-ups. So the increase is smaller than this, but still. Incredible progress

Learnings along the way:

• Despite the fact that the numbers I’m moving aren’t particularly impressive, I started out super weak, and I’ve been training hard for 5+ years. I’ve allowed myself to recognise that I am acutally an upper intermediate as far as my potential goes and I need to adjust my programming accordingly. I can’t do 3 week waves and expect a 2.5kg jump anymore. I’m going to try out a fully-fledged block periodisation layout after this cut. I squeezed one into 7 weeks and felt like the time constraints really limited my progress, and adding only an extra 1 or 2 weeks would’ve made a big difference.

• Helms Rows are my favorite type of row. It’s basically impossible to cheat like you can with other chest-supported rows, and I really feel them hitting the right spots

• As far as I can see, I respond best to moderate volume with higher intensities. In my experiment with block periodisation, my shoulders didn’t feel so good once I pushed up into the 18 pressing sets per week range. Gotta keep it a bit lower

• There’s definitely more to write here but I can’t quite think of it right now

• Edit: Here’s something big that I missed. Over these ~22 weeks, my grip width has come in by about an inch on either hand. I was definitely stronger with that wider grip, but this new grip width feels so much better on my shoulders.

[throwawayfitness]

@ancrcake

increase of 11.9kg

@ancrcake

increase of 17.4kg

congrats on your progress. well done.

[ancrcake]

Thank you, I appreciate it. Here’s hoping for more to come