Pete's Strength after 50 Log

[VikingCellist]

7/18/17

GPP
[B7' Lat PD[/B]
57x12,12,12,10,10 47x12x2
7' HS Ab Crunch
10x15x6
C2 Rower
5' warmup, 7x20:140 HIIT

7/19/17

Nutrition: I've been sloppy. My bodyweight is the same, waist got a little smaller. Andy says "if you lose less than a 1-2 lbs a week, you aren't trying." Protein was on point yesterday and better than it has been, fat and carbs were close and last meal was a little late for comfort. I'm pretty sure 2100 cal is going to be too high for me, so I'll have to see where I can cut out some fat, maybe carbs too.

I got to bed earlier. Sleep was interrupted, but I felt okay and got to the gym a little earlier than I have been recently.

Pause Bench
80x1@7.5, 82.5x1@8
72.5x5@8,8,8.5 70x5@8,8,8.5
Why is my bench weaker? To answer the question "did the movement get too much or too little work," it was definitely the latter. By mistake, I left out the 2 count work sets Monday last week plus skipped Friday's pressing (4 sets TnG, 4 sets DB Incline) since I wasn't in the gym. I was hoping to confirm a 90kg+ e1RM, which I calculated last month, but 82.5kg felt like an honest RPE8 (e1rm=89.6), so I'll just have to get things started from here by doing the volume work. Six sets feels like a lot.

2ct Squat
105.5x4@7, 110.5x4@8, 119x4@9,9, 115.5x4@9,9
Press
30x7@6, 35.5x7@7, 37.5x7@8,8.5,9,9
These were also weaker, but I got the last rep much better. Well, last week I overshot by a point or so. Doing these sets of 7 is different than how I was cycling 5s, 3s, and singles. This is much less grind. I'm interested to see how it works.

Workout took about 2 hours. I raced through my bench warmups, same for squats and both went fine, but I'm noticing that I get pretty smoked in the gym after about 60 minutes and everything slows down. I haven't felt sore, achy or otherwise overly tired in between workouts, ie. I seem to be doing okay with the volume so far. Since my breakfast is meager, I'm going to research peri-workout snacks on Jordan's forum.

[VikingCellist]

7/20/2017

Deadlift
152.5x1@8, 137.5x5@8, 135x5@8.5, 130x5@8
Yes, fatigue since I haven't done 5s for a while. Back felt like it was not rounding. I should have shot a video to really see.

TnG Bench
65x4@6-7, 70x4@8, 72.5x4@8.5, 75x4@9,9,9,9 w/belt
Hard to find the RPEs with bench (press too). My perception of the effort seems a bit blurred by 1) paused variations during the week, 2) my level of tightness, 3) amount of leg drive 4) pacing of the reps, 5) speed of descent and 6) how psyched up I get. Not sure what to do about 1. I need to always maximize 2 and 3, decide where I want 4, 5 and 6 to be and remain consistent. I suppose keeping a cool head during training would keep a little edge for when I need a max effort, but sometimes I just want to make sure there's no question about the last rep.

Front Squat no belt, no sleeves
40x7@6, 50x7@7, 55x7@8,8,8,8
DB Incline
18sx8@7, 20x8@8, 16@8x6, 22x8@9,9,9, 20x8@9

This was really the first complete, non-deload week I did for a while. I calculated e1RMs to get a handle on where I'm starting out. Maybe they look a little low, but I'm I'm not going to assume that I'm not working hard enough since I'm at the beginning of a cycle. If this works, I should be progressing over the next weeks. Speaking of low, the video I took of my squats on Monday showed good depth.

Squat: 135kg(297)x1@7=122.5(270)x5=e1RM 151.5 kg(333)
Pause Bench: 82.5kg(181)x1@8=72.5(160)x5@8=e1RM 89.5kg(197)
Deadlift: 152.5kg(335)x1@8=137.5(303)x5@8=e1RM 165.5kg(365)

[VikingCellist]

GPP
7' Lat PD
57x12 60x12, 67x12 60x12 57x10, 47x10,9
7' HS Ab Crunch
10x15x3, 15x12x4
Recumbent Bike
30' HR: 102

[VikingCellist]

7/23/2017

Active rest
45' easy walk

I woke up with slightly stiff lower back/glutes on Sat., but after the GPP workout I was okay. Sun same thing so I took a walk and was fine again except I got some ab DOMS in the afternoon.

7/24/2017

This morning I woke up with only mild stiffness. Pre-workout whey shake. I decided against fueling in the workout, but I'll try to closely bracket carbs.

Squat
Started with Austin's warmup, then 5x40, 5x60, 1x80, 1x100, 1x115, 1x120
133x1@7.5, 137.5x1@8, 121x5@8,8,8.5,9

This was slightly lower than last week and just slightly above my 2ct squatx4@9 weights. Not sure if I really had 135x1@7 last week or if it was maybe too high.

2ct Bench
20x5x2, 40x5, 50x4, 60x4
67.5x4@7, 72.5x4@8.5, 75x4@9.5, 72.5x4@9,9, (chalk, psych, shorter rest btw. sets) 9,9,9.5

Again, I'm not sure why my RPE is all over the place with bench. From the first 2ct workouts on the 10th and 17th, I thought I'd be doing 5kg more. It could be weekly fatigue from doing all three workouts last week, fatigue after squats at the beginning today or perhaps the pause was longer.

RDL
90x7@6, 100.5x7@8, 102.5x7@9, 97.5x7@8.5,8.5,9

I drank my post-workout drink and ate an orange.

My plan is to continue in order to see if I recover and adapt to the volume. I'm not going to force any set numbers and over exert myself, but see if I can follow the prescribed RPE, maybe reduce or repeat weights and then see how things progress. Another thing I'm thinking about is cutting out the HIIT and LISS and just doing what is necessary for active recovery for now.

[VikingCellist]

Long workout, as always a lot to log:

Pause Bench
warmup 20x5x2, 40x5, 50x3, 60x2, 70x1
75x1@6, 80x1@7, 83.5x1@8, 76x5@8,8,8,8.5,9
This went as planned. Chalk seems to help.
e1RM=90.5

2ct Squat
warmups started before last bench set, no belt: 40x5, 60x5
80x4@6 (tired), belt: 90x4@6, no belt: 100x4@7, 110x4@8, 115x4@8.5, 120x4@9, 115x4@9, 110x4@8.5, 110x4@9
I suppose the sets @7,8,8.5 helped me calculate that I was where I should be: +1>last week.

Press
31x7@6, 36.5x7@7, 38x7@7.5, 38.5x7@8,8,8,9
Here again I needed a few sets to feel out how big a jump to take from last week and hone form a little.

[VikingCellist]

Deadlift
150x1@7.5, 156x1@8.5, 138.5x5@8.5, 133.5x5@8.5, 125x5@8
I slightly overshot DL today, but did the last set lower. Less than last week so I'm hoping for better recovery.

TnG Bench (no belt)
67.5x4@7.5, 70x4@8, 70x4@8, 75x4@8, 77.5x4@9,9,9,9

Front Squat no belt, no sleeves
40x7@6, 50x7@7, 57.5x7@8,8,8,8

DB Incline
20x8@6, 22x8@7, 24x8@9,9.5, 22x8@8.5,9,9

[VikingCellist]

BW: 100.5
W: 100

Squat
140x1@8, 123x5@8,8,8,8
e1RM=152
2 count Bench
68.5x4@7, 70x4@8, 73.5x4@9(paused),9,9,9
RDL
90x7@6, 96.5x7@7, 100.5x7@8,8.5,8,8
Chins
5x1 interspersed throughout workout, 5x1 in 5'

[VikingCellist]

8/1/17
BW: 100

GPP
HSILYRow
15x15,20x12x5
HS Ab Crunch
12.5x12x6
Hammer Curl
8x12x2, 10x12x3
Tricep Pressdown
24.5x10x5
C2 Rower
7x20:140

Calories
2000 (~200-300 deficit)
Macros
High (M-F): 225/160/50
Med (W): 235/140/56
Low: 245/120/60

8/2/17
BW: 99.7
W: 99
N: 43
BF: 22
F: 22
LBM:77

Comp Bench
85x1@8, 75x5@8,8,9 70x5@8
3' rest intervals
e1RM=92.4

2ct Squat no sleeves, no belt
100x4@7, 110x4@9,9, 105x4@9

Press
36x7@6, 38x7@7, 40x7@8,8,8,8.5
5' rest intervals

[VikingCellist]

8/2/17

GPP

Chins
12x1, 1x2
Curls&Pressdowns
7 min.
HS Ab Crunch
7 min.
Stationary Bike
HR: 102, 30 min.

8/3/17

Deadlift
153x1@8, 135x5@8, 130x5@8,8
Since everything felt "hard" today because of the heat, I was trying to observe bar speed objectively, rather than my effort per se.
e1RM=166.3

TnG Bench
70x4@7, 74x4@8, 78x4@9x4

After my last bench workout I was having doubts about my form so I reviewed the SS DVD. Set up was pretty good, but I need to get my head further down the bench. Grip width and lockout position are okay. I got someone to check my suspicion that I was touching too low on my chest and tucking my elbows too much, so I fixed those things this session.

Front Squat no belt
60x7@8x4

DB Incline
22x8@8, 24x8@9,9.5 22x8@9

[VikingCellist]

Comp Squat
143x1@8, 130x4@8

2ct Bench
67.5x4@7, 70x4@8, 73.5x4@9

Mid Shin Rack Pull
120x6@6-7, 125x6@8, 127.5x6@8.5

Thoughts about the first 4 week accumulation block on Jordan's General Intermediate Program.

Workouts were not any shorter than the PIP2 program from Izzy, but I could become more efficient. I was probably ready to start the PIP3 phase, but decided for three longer workouts instead of four longish ones. The increased volume didn't cause too much fatigue. I'm still not sure how the conditioning sessions affect me. I'm happy with how squats and press progressed, but probably because of my inexperience, I didn't get what I could have out of the deadlift for the following reasons. 1) Because of work, I missed the Friday workout in week one, so I only had the first Monday RDL session, so no real intensity and not enough volume to create a stress. 2) In the second week, for some reason I either miscalculated or mistrusted the OWU single and set intensity about 5% too high, so I went to the well, only did three sets and got too much stress but not enough volume in the right range. 3) The third week I repeated the same mistake in addition to doing an extra single OWU, one at about 7.5 and another at about 8.5, so too much volume at a higher range, and more than the prescribed stress again. Ideally, I would have started a little lower in intensity and done more sets and reps at the beginning to consistently drive progress.

Nutrition

Having some trouble reaching my calorie protein goal on the low carb days. Since I am trying to lose fat, that might be okay, or it could compromising muscle retention. I don't know. I'm going try another week and see how it goes.