Seti's TM log

[seti]

You're probably right. I'll probably do 3x3 at the same weight. I was just thinking that since press is less of a stressor, it could still serve as recovery after bench, but then again: 6x3 would be probably too much.

As chins are easier, I thought that focusing on them would bring it up better. I'll keep doing this for a few weeks, to see if I adapt to the stress before them, and if they will start to increase. Do you think that alternating pull-ups with chins would be better?

[seti]

06/07 Recovery day

Squat
20kg 2x5
60kg 1x5
100kg 2x5

Bench
20kg 1x5
60kg 1x5
70kg 1x3
80kg 1x2
90kg 2x5

Weighted dips
BW 1x5
16kg 3x5

[seti]

06/09 Intensity day

Squat
20kg 2x5
60kg 1x5
100kg 1x3
115kg 1x2
130kg 1x1
147.5kg 1x5

Press
20kg 1x5
40kg 1x5
60kg 2x5
70kg 6x3

Deadlift
20kg 1x3 (power clean)
60kg 1x3 (power clean)
80kg 1x1 (power clean)
100kg 1x1 (high pull)
120kg 1x1
140kg 1x1
157.5kg 1x5

Chins
9,6,5

Great workout, squats felt hard but solid, presses felt even better than 5x3 on Sunday, deadlift was awesome, last time's 155kg 1x5 that was grinded out had definitely something to do with the too much power cleans before that. I even had gas left for the chins.

[seti]

06/12 Volume day

Squat
20kg 2x5
60kg 1x5
100kg 1x5
115kg 1x2
130kg 5x5

Bench press
20kg 1x5
60kg 1x5
80kg 1x3
90kg 5x5

Power Clean
20kg 1x3
50kg 1x3
62.5kg 1x1
67.5kg 1x1
72.5kg 1x1
77.5kg 7x1 (missed the second attempt)

Good workout, squats as usual, although 5th set this time was a bit tougher, shows that even though the weight is the same, every workout is a bit different. Bench was tricky, I was considering midway through that I may stick to 4x5, but after the 3rd set, it felt easier so I went with the 5 sets, Power Cleans were deceptive as well, after I failed the 2nd 77.5kg, I was thinking it might be a problem, but fortunately I've just sucked it up and went on, the last rep was the best, so it was a good idea. I skipped chins this time though, will try it on recovery day, see how it fits.

[seti]

06/14 Recovery day

Squat
20kg 2x5
60kg 1x5
105kg 2x5

Press
20kg 1x5
40kg 1x5
60kg 1x2
70kg 3x3

Weighted dips
Bodyweight 2x5
+18kg 3x5

Chins
8,6,4

Dips probably fried triceps enough that it affected the chins, because I had plenty of gas left this time. Presses felt a bit on the hard side, which might not be a good idea since it's recovery day. What matters though is that lower body and back took only a rehabilitating workload. Only question mark is going to be the bench on intensity day. Will see how it goes.

A side-note: my traps are pretty much constantly sore from the power cleans and deadlifts, nothing bad, just feels like when a less-trained bodypart gets some training.

[seti]

06/16 Intensity day

Squat
20kg 2x5
60kg 1x5
100kg 1x3
120kg 1x2
140kg 1x1
150kg 1x5

Bench press
20kg 1x5
60kg 1x5
80kg 1x5
90kg 1x3
105kg 1x4 (PR)

Deadlift
20kg 1x3 (power clean)
60kg 1x3 (power clean)
80kg 1x1 (power clean)
100kg 1x1
120kg 1x1
140kg 1x1
160kg 1x4
160kg 1x1

Chins
9,7,6

Less than a perfect workout indeed. Squats as usual, on the bench it's a PR, but I was aiming for 5. We'll see what happens 3 weeks from now, because 2 weeks of presses are next. On deadlift I got stuck exactly where I did at the end of february, 160kg, 4 reps. I'll keep the weight the same, and see if I'll improve. The next week I'll be able to do only the volume day, so that will mean some extra rest from deadlift. This schedule will mess up my press progress a bit, but there's no guarantee that I can add a set of 3 every workout this time anyway, so I guess it's ok.

[seti]

06/19 Volume day

Squat
20kg 2x5
60kg 1x5
100kg 1x5
115kg 1x2
130kg 5x5

Press
20kg 1x5
40kg 1x5
60kg 1x2
72.5kg 3x3 (PR)
60kg 1x9

Power clean
20kg 1x3
50kg 1x3
60kg 1x1
70kg 1x1
75kg 1x1
80kg 7x1 (missed the 3rd rep)

Good workout, will probably increase squats to 132.5kg next week. Presses definitely improved, I even managed to do the 9th rep on my back-off set, I like the results of this Starr method so far. Power cleans still going up, felt quite solid, except the 3rd try that might have been an uneven pull (bent arms?). I've paid extra attention to keep the elbows extended after that.

Going on a short vacation, so I'll only be able to train a week from now. I'll do another volume day then, bumping up the weights in the squat and power clean, and will try 4 or 5 set on the press, depending on how they will feel.

[Antigen]

Hi seti. I've been making steady 1kg/week progress on my monday 5x3, I had a bad gym week last friday and didn't do my wednesday session, it affected the intensity session press and I missed 93 a few times and didn't PR my 5x1. I normally do 90% of my 5x1 weight for recovery day press.
I wouldn't consider 72.5x3x3 a recovery load as it's near PR levels. 65x3x3 might work for recovery though.

It seems you have two press focused weeks (with light bench on recovery day) per one bench focused week. If you don't like that huge delay between heavy bench sessions you could roll through your scheduled days with a 3 days of press, 1-2 of bench pattern.
wk1 press, press, press
wk2 bench, bench, press
wk3 press, press, bench
wk4 bench, press, press
wk5 press, bench, bench etc
or
wk1 press, press, press
wk2 bench, press, press
wk3 press, bench, press
wk4 press, press, bench etc

In the first you'll never go longer than about 10 days week without a volume or intensity workout on bench. The second it's 19 days but it's a lower ratio of bench to press.

[seti]

Thanks for the tip Antigen. I'll see how my bench goes next time. As long as it won't degrade, I think I'll keep the current schedule for now. If it degrades I'll reconsider the pressing schedule.

About the light pressing, would you also consider the 72.5kg 3x3 not light enough for a bench week? How about 70kg 3x3? Considering it's a bench week, plus by then my 72.5kg should be around 5x3 or 6x3, would it be still too much? I'd definitely agree if it were a press week with 3 pressing sessions, but if it's bench on volume and intensity, then a near max press wouldn't be appropriate as recovery in your opinion?

[seti]

06/26 Volume day

Squat
20kg 2x5
60kg 1x5
100kg 1x5
115kg 1x2
132.5kg 4x5

Could have done the fifth set, but I try to be careful with adding volume. Also I was not sure how it would affect the power cleans.

Press
20kg 1x5
40kg 1x5
60kg 1x2
72.5kg 4x3 (PR)
60kg 1x8

This time I couldn't do the 9th rep on the back-off set.

Power Clean
20kg 1x3
50kg 1x3
60kg 1x1
70kg 1x1
75kg 1x1
82.5kg 7x1 (PR)

Weighted Chins
BW 1x3
+6kg 3x3

Just experimenting with chins, I try not to add too much stress at a time. It was a good workout, next week I'll up the squats to 5x5 I think. The press will shift, since I've missed two workouts last week. Next Intensity day I'll go for 5x3, then it's bench week after that. Power Cleans are crawling up nicely so far, although I'm racking the bar considerably lower on the top weight. It's not a squat clean yet, but if it get's real extreme I might lower the weight and perhaps go for doubles. I'm hoping to progress to 90kg before that happens, but we'll see.