Dan's log

[Bryan Dobson]

I like your new training program! I wouldnt worry about the load numbers, as you add frequency and volume the load can be lower and you will still get a greater training effect, just don’t grind or get anywhere close to grinding, your RPEs are in a good spot.

[elVarouza]

I like your new training program! I wouldnt worry about the load numbers, as you add frequency and volume the load can be lower and you will still get a greater training effect, just don’t grind or get anywhere close to grinding, your RPEs are in a good spot.

Thanks! That's kind of what I figured, I'm just so used to grinding everything out and staying relatively fresh for each training session instead of accumulating fatigue over a longer period. I'll get used to it. Even though it's different it finally feels like I have a well put together training plan hah.

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I've been really slacking with updating here. I'm writing my training down on my phone and in google docs for Blaine to comment on but haven't felt like transcribing it here. I'll start getting better with it here. It especially helps with the RPE stuff to write down my thoughts closer to the training session. Here's one from last week for tonight:

12/25/17 Monday

Shirted bench:
352x1 @ 5.5-6
374x2 @ 7
374x2 @ 6.5
Notes: 352 was a planned warmup, and 374 is what I was targeting, so I did two singles at 374 even though 352 might’ve counted in the RPE range. Also I couldn’t let my training partner bench more than me. Low back was still feeling tight (more on that in Wednesday’s notes) but I felt like my arch wasn’t affected.
The first single at 374 has a little bobble halfway up so I called it closer to an RPE 7. I didn’t think it was strength related. A lot of times when I’m benching in the shirt I’m so focused on controlling the weight on the way down that I forget to push through all the way on the way up, if that makes sense, and can have a weird bobble in the middle.
The second single felt much smoother. It wasn’t as “snappy” as I would’ve liked but it felt fine.
I was focusing on keeping my shoulder blades back while getting the handoff and it felt like it helped.

Reverse grip pin press (½ ROM):
225x6x2 @ 5.5
Notes: Not much to say here. Probably should’ve gotten a handoff instead of starting dead stop but it was light weight on a taper week so I was lazy about it. Made sure to let the bar settle on the pins this time.

Chest press machine + bands:
45x6x2
Notes: Used a mini band.

Neutral grip pushdowns:
?x6x2
Notes: Oops, forgot to write down the weight. I think it was on one of those weird cable stacks where the weight would’ve been like “7”.

Arnold DB press:
40x6x2

Stir the pot abs:
BWx6x2

Rear delt fly machine:
130x10x2
Notes: added these like discussed last week. Pretty light weight. 190x10 would be what I’d consider a tough set at RPE 9-10.

[elVarouza]

12/27/17 Wednesday

Raw squat:
455x1x2 @ 6.5
Notes: Any raw squat I do over 405 pretty much looks like a grinder. I could probably have done that for a set of 5 or 6. Not the best angle on video but it looks like both of them were probably a little high.
My low back wasn’t feeling great today. It was feeling a little more towards “tweaked” today than just tight or sore. A few things on that:
1. I think it’s primarily been caused by the belt issues I’ve been having. A few weeks ago I wore my lever belt a little too high and tight and it hurt my rib. To avoid that I’ve been wearing a looser buckle belt and wearing it lower where it doesn’t give as much support. I’m used to wearing my lever belt pretty tight right in the middle of my stomach. I usually wear it where it feels tight before I even latch the lever. It’s been further compounded that I’ve outgrown my lever belt and the lever is at the end of the holes. This has been making the belt pinch me a lot and not really working well.
2. During the first single I was a little too paranoid about my lower back and overextended the rest of my back to compensate. You can see how overextended I am on the video. Didn’t feel great afterwards. It’s a dumb thing that I end up doing probably about once a year. My mid back always feels bad after but it’s always better within a week.
3. All that said I don’t think any of the back stuff is due to programming. I’ll feel it out during warmups next week and adjust if necessary but I think that wearing my prong belt tighter and getting a new lever belt next week will make it fine. I know that it doesn’t sound great but I’m pretty sure it’ll be okay if I focus on it.

Pause squat:
315x6x2 @ 5-5.5
Notes: These were probably a little too quick on the pauses and a little high but I didn’t want to push too hard here.

SSB Bulgarian split squats:
115x6x2
Notes: Actually had a SSB today so I did them correctly for once.

Leg extensions:
137x10x2

GHR:
BWx10x2
Notes: Program called for donkey kicks but there was no donkey kick machine at this gym (Classic Barbell; CU rec center is closed until next week) so I did GHR instead.

Ab wheel:
BWx10x2

[elVarouza]

12/29/17 Friday

Bench daddy pin press (⅔ ROM):
275x6x2 @ 6
Notes: Tried to pause on the pins better. I set up with the bench daddy closer to the elbows. It slid down a tiny bit setting up; having someone to handoff would’ve probably helped that.

CG bench:
205x6x2
Notes: Not much to say. I got sloppy and hit the pins on the 5th rep.

Band pushdowns to failure:
Purple band x20
Purple band x18

Dips:
BWx10x2
Notes: No chest press machine at the gym and I was in a bit of a hurry so I just did the easiest thing I could think of. Super easy but I probably shouldn’t do these with my pec history.

Front/side/rear shoulders superset:
15x10x2 front raises
10x10x2 lateral raises
15x10x2 rear delt flyes

DB Hammer curls:
40x10x2

[elVarouza]

12/30/17 Saturday

Raw deadlift - bands:
515x1 @ 6.5
515x1 @ 6
Notes: First set I wasn’t thinking about pulling hard the whole rep and it slowed down a little. Pulled with more vigor for the second set and it went up much easier. I do this with deadlifts a lot. It’s not uncommon for me to do 3 sets and have the 3rd set be the easiest one.
Also, deadlifts seem to never bother my back and sometimes even make it feel better so there were no problems here. My back has always been most sensitive to squats.

Sumo RDL:
275x6x2
Notes: Getting the hang of these.

Good mornings:
185x6x2
Notes: Thought about doing these with the SSB but went low bar instead. Tried to set up in my squat stance. They felt way better than the last time I did them.

Chin ups (hammer grip):
BWx6x2

DB row (chainsaws):
55x10x2

GHR:
BWx10x2
Notes: Thought there was no hamstring curl machine at Classic so I did GHRs instead. Of course I saw that there is a hamstring curl machine after I got changed. Oops.

[elVarouza]

01/01/18 Monday

Shirted bench (4 wraps):
330x3 @ 7
330x3 @ 6.5
341x3 @ 7
Notes:
These all felt pretty okay. In the last block I did 341 for doubles to the chest @ 7, so 341x3 to the 4 wrap (pretty much the chest) also @ 7 seems to be trending in the right direction.
I didn’t get the camera high enough to see my arch on sets 1 and 2 but it's there on set 3. My back was still feeling pretty meh today so the arch wasn’t too amazing.

Pin press (½ ROM):
275x5x2 @ 7
275x5 @ 8
265x5 @ 7
Notes: Took a little narrower grip here, pinky on the ring. Felt like I overshot just a little on the 3rd set so dropped it back. I was benching on the most rickety POS bench I’ve ever used, which probably didn’t help. Felt like it was going to collapse the whole time.

Chest press machine + bands:
80x5 @ 6.5
82.5x5 @ 6.5
85x5 @ 6.5
Notes: Kept increasing the weight to try to reach a 7 and the RPE stayed about 6.5. This exercise feels like it’s moving up.

JM press (smith machine):
155x5 @ 7.5
135x5x2 @ 7

Arnold DB press:
60x5x3 @ 7

Stir the pot abs:
BWx5x2

[elVarouza]

01/03/18 Wednesday

Full gear squat:
545x3 @ 7
545x3 @ 7
545x3 @ 7.5
Notes: Did some extra warmups for the back. Everything felt pretty good.
General comments: the rack was really hard to unrack from and it kept messing with my bar position and walkout. On set 3 I had to unrack it twice and the bar felt like it was slipping in my hands the whole set.
I pulled the legs up a little more so I could get better depth with the straps up. That said the straps are pretty loose on this new suit compared to what I’m used to. I doubt they were giving me much. I usually end up taking them in 1.5-2” folded over for 3-4” total.
Set 1: Felt okay. The 2nd rep was probably actually to depth. Other two really close but not quite. Was focusing on getting my knees out and it helped.
Set 2: Went with tighter knee wraps, which ended up feeling like too much for this amount of weight where it’s already hard to hit depth anyway. Depth on this set was much worse.
Set 3: Dialed the wraps back a bit but the unrack wasn’t great and messed me up a bit. I was starting to shake a little on the last rep, so I called it an RPE 7.5.

Pin squat:
315x5 @ 6.5
345x5 @ 7
345x5 @ 7.5
345x5 @ 8
Notes: The first two sets were at a higher pin. It looked too high to me on camera so I dropped it one for the final two sets. I was really gassed after the equipped squats so these were harder than usual.
I still feel like I have work to do to get the hang of pin squats. Having to slow down and wait to touch the pins is throwing me off a bit. The bar is really drifting forward on the way down as I’m reaching for the pins and it’s causing me to pitch forward some on the way up.

SSB Bulgarian split squats:
135x5
145x5
135x5
Notes: Again had the SSB today. My left leg was cramping up on the 145 set so I dropped it down for the 3rd set.

Leg extensions:
175x8
187x8x2

GHR:
BWx8
Mini band x8
Mini + micro band x8x2

Ab wheel:
+10lbs x8x3
Notes: BW reps were too easy for this RPE range so I threw a 10lb on. I’ve done these before with a 45 on my back but that’s usually more ike RPE 9-10.

[elVarouza]

01/05/18 Friday

Bench daddy:
265x5x2 @ 6-6.5
265x6 (oops, miscounted) @ 6.5
265x5 @ 6.5
Notes: RPE might’ve been a touch under the 6.5-7.5 range. The tightness in my left pec (the injured one) came back and was pretty disconcerting so I didn’t push it. I really can’t tell what’s going on with it. The tightness is in a weird place: in the center top of my pec near the clavicle. The more I arch the tighter it feels. It’s hard to pin down but it doesn’t feel like it’s at the primary site of the old tear. Any pec problems I’ve had in the past have resulted in tightness/pain at the pec/delt tie-in at the shoulder.
I don’t know if my pec’s been getting agitated from some benign thing or if it’s something to worry about. I still think it could be being caused by the shirt or bench daddy pressing into my pec.

Spoto bench:
225x5x3 @ 6.5

Band pushdowns to failure:
Blue x18, x11, x18

Chest press:
170x8
180x8x2

Front/side/rear shoulders superset:
22.5x10x2 front raises
15x10x2 lateral raises
22.5x10x2 rear delt flyes

Cable hammer curls:
110x8x2

[elVarouza]

01/06/18 Saturday

Equipped deadlift (+4.5”):
495x3 @ 6.5
545x3 @ 7.5
545x3 @ 7
Notes: I kept the suit legs lower like suggested. Felt like I got a good amount of support even with the bar up on blocks. Right leg was still rolling up on me a little. These sets felt pretty good, way better than when I did these raw. The second set I was distracted by the plates bouncing all over the place (CU gym only has bumper plates) and lost focus; the third set felt better.

Conventional RDL:
355x5x4 @ 7
Notes: Focused on staying tighter. Feels like I should be going down more but I’m going to limit of my (poor) hamstring flexibility. I think any lower would cause some back rounding or forward knee travel.

Good mornings:
225x5x2
245x5
Notes: Again focused on staying tighter and tried not to let the plates spin up although they still did a tad. Like the RDLs it feels like I should be going way lower but again that seems to be the limit before my hamstring flexibility locks up and my back starts to loosen.

Lat pulldowns:
150x5x3

Cable rows:
130x8x3

Single leg hamstring curl machine:
70x10
80x10x2

[elVarouza]

01/08/18 Monday

Bench:

44x15x3
132x10x2
187x4
231x3

Shirt:

313x4
352x2 @ 7
352x2 @ 7.5
357x2 @ 8
Notes: wasn't super happy with these. First set felt okay except I didn't actually touch on the first rep. Second set I got out of groove on the first rep. Third set the shirt seemed to completely lock up on the way down on the first rep and threw me off. I'm pretty sure I have the strength to hit this weight way easier. Tried wearing the shirt lower on my arm but the arms are so loose it slid up anyway. Getting it tightened this week.

Pin press (2/3 ROM) + bands:
205x5 @ 6.5
225x5 @ 8
225x5 @ 8.5
215x5x2 @ 7.5 each
Notes: Used doubled mini bands, around 50-60lbs each at lockout. Narrowed my grip after the 205 set.

Chest press machine:
90x5x3

JM press (smith machine):
145x5x3

Arnold DB press:
65x5x3

Stir the pot abs:
BWx5x3