Han Shot First

[Aaron Montgomery]

8/25/2017

The Bridge W2 GPP1

Baker Rows (7 min): 100lb x69 reps total
Ab stuff (7 min): planks and leg raises
BB Curls (7 min): 62.5 x47 reps total
Grip work (bb hold w/FgZ, finger curls, wrist curls, rev wrist curls)
Cardio: N/A (have to walk around UTSA 3x/week now)

Hopefully hurricane Harvey doesn't make my power go out for too long, or mess up my training schedule. Local reports are saying we'll have anywhere from 8-22" of rain Anytime we get more than 2" in a day it floods the roads around here. On the bright side, if it does flood, I won't have to go to school on Monday

[Aaron Montgomery]

8/26/17

The Bridge W2D3

- DL (5@6, 5@6, 5@8 x3 sets):
135x5
225x5
275x5@RPE6?
295x5@RPE7?
315x5@RPE8 x3 sets
- 1ct paused Bench (5@6, 5@7, 5@8 x4 sets):
135x5
157.5x5@RPE6
167.5x5@RPE7
175x5@RPE8 x4 sets
- 3-0-3 Tempo Squat (8@6, 8@7, 8@8 x2 sets):
135x8
150x8
160x8
170x8

Extremely distracted during today's session. Reading up on hurricane Harvey. Looks like we'll be getting a lot of rain...

[Euby]

Aaron, how are you able to do sets across with the same weight and maintain RPE 8?

[Aaron Montgomery]

Aaron, how are you able to do sets across with the same weight and maintain RPE 8?

I was reading updates on Hurricane Harvey and local weather, so I was taking 6-8 minutes between some sets. I wasn't paying attention to the lifting session very well, so RPE gauge was probably off.

[Euby]

I've been dropping around 5-10 lbs per set for the multiple @8 sets and it seems to work well for me with around 4-5 minutes rest. I have been taking 4 minutes rest on bench/press/CGB, and 5 minutes rest on squat/dead movements. Maybe with 6-8 minutes I could do sets across and stay in the right zone.

Stay safe with all this rain. I have lots of family in downtown Houston and they are pretty much flooded and unable to get out too much. I live on the Gulf Coast of Alabama so hurricane's are near and dear to my heart...in a bad kind of way.

[Aaron Montgomery]

I've been dropping around 5-10 lbs per set for the multiple @8 sets and it seems to work well for me with around 4-5 minutes rest. I have been taking 4 minutes rest on bench/press/CGB, and 5 minutes rest on squat/dead movements. Maybe with 6-8 minutes I could do sets across and stay in the right zone.

Stay safe with all this rain. I have lots of family in downtown Houston and they are pretty much flooded and unable to get out too much. I live on the Gulf Coast of Alabama so hurricane's are near and dear to my heart...in a bad kind of way.

The program calls for 4-5 minutes rest between sets, according to Jordan. Which is what I usually try to do. It's fine dropping weight by 5-10lb to stay in the right RPE range.

I live just outside San Antonio, and we were originally supposed to get 20" of rain, but we ended up getting a lot less than that. Still got broken branches and knocked over fences in our neighborhood, but nothing serious like Houston. This confirms that I never want to live in an area that gets hurricanes.

[Aaron Montgomery]

8/22/17

THE BRIDGE: Week 3 Day 1 (Mod Stress)

210.6lb @?cal/day (not keeping track anymore)

- Squat (5@RPE6, 5@7, 5@8 x3 sets)(5 min rest)
185x5
225x5
255x5@RPE6?
270x5@RPE7?
285x5@RPE8?
285x5@RPE8
285x5@RPE8.5 (felt a LOT better compared to last week's session)
- CGBP (4@7, 4@8, 4@9 x2 sets)(4 min rest)
135x4
155x4@RPE5?
165x4@RPE6.5?
175x4@RPE7.5?
185x4@RPE9
185x4@RPE8.5
- Rack Pull, just above mid shin (7@6, 7@7, 7@8 x2 sets)(5 min rest)
135x7
225x7
265x7@RPE7?
280x7@RPE8?
295x7@RPE9
295x7@RPE9.5 (probably shouldn't have done the last rep)

SQ - Didn't enjoy these, but didn't feel dead afterwards, guess that means I'm adjusting to all this volume.
CGBP - If my 1RM calculations are correct, my CGBP is identical to my comp. bench. Rather interesting.
Rack Pulls - Back felt a LOT more fatigued than last week. Probably because I really pushed it on my last deadlift session.

Now that school has started, I'm not keeping track of calories or macros anymore. I have an idea of how much to eat a day to maintain my weight, so we'll see if I'm successful or not. Guessing that I'm eating 4300-4500/day, as opposed to 4700.

[Aaron Montgomery]

8/31/17

The Bridge: W3D2

- Pin Squat (4@7, 4@8, 4@9 x2 sets)(4-5 min rest):
135x4
185x4@5?
225x4@RPE6?
240x4@RPE7?
250x4@RPE8?
265x4@RPE9
265x4@RPE9
- OHP (5@6, 5@7, 5@8 x4 sets)(4 min rest)
85x5
95x5@RPE6.5?
100x5@7?
107.5x5@8
107.5x5@8.5
105x5@8
105x5@8
- P. Rows (8@6, 8@7, 8@8 x3 sets)(3-4 min rest)
135x8
150x8@RPE6?
160x8@RPE7.5
170x8@RPE8.5
160x8@RPE8
155x8@RPE8

Pin Squat - Getting more used to these. I'm consistently leaning forward as I try to get off the pins, so the bar isn't following a straight line up. On the bright side of things, this squat variation doesn't agitate my inguinal hernia surgery sites like the paused squats do.
OHP - meh. Anterior delts felt sore and tired before I finished warming up. Guessing CGBP has something to do with that.
P. Rows - Working on being more strict, and using less body English. Hence the lower weights this week. Saving my lower back for deadlifts and rack pulls.

[Aaron Montgomery]

9/02/17

The Bridge W3D3

- DL (5@6, 5@6, 5@8 x3 sets)(5 min rest):
135x5
225x5
275x5@RPE6?
300x5@RPE7.5
320x5@9
300x5@8.5
285x5@8
- 1ct paused Bench (5@6, 5@7, 5@8 x4 sets)(5 min rest):
135x5
160x5@RPE6.5?
170x5@RPE7.5
177.5x5@RPE8.5
172.5x5@8
172.5x5@8
172.5x5@8.5
- 3-0-3 Tempo Squat (8@7, 8@8, 8@9 x2 sets)(4 min rest):
45x8
95x8
135x8
155x8
165x8
175x7@9

DL - Lower back felt exhausted before hitting my top set. I think sitting with bad posture in my car for 6+ hours/week during the school year is messing up my lower back. Since putting on weight I don't fit in my Focus ST anymore. If I try to sit up straight, I have to open the sun roof and move my head over to the right. Ridiculous. Don't have any issues in my suburban...
Bench - Was so tired after deadlifting that it messed with my bench a bit.
Tempo Squat - I hate these more than any other lift, except maybe cleans. No clue how to gauge RPE. Even 95x8 sucks. Pretty sure Jordan and Austin are drinking bourbon right now and laughing their heads off that people on the interwebz are actually doing what they tell us to do. What next, 20 rep squats? I may switch to 5-0-0 tempo squats in a week or two...

[Aaron Montgomery]

9/09/17

Spent the last 5 days in Houston with a disaster relief team from a few different churches. Got a lot of experience in post-flood cleanup and demolition. For the homes we helped, we had to remove everything that was below 4' from the houses, except studs. Did some scouting in the inner city. There's definitely a lack of help from both the government and volunteers in less-rich areas, though that's not surprising. Functioned on a sleep, food, and sodium deficit all week. Got 3-6 hours of sleep each night, ate less than 1/2 what I normally do, and didn't have enough sodium considering all the sweating that took place. But it was a good opportunity to help and serve people that couldn't afford to pay for this kind of work.

Going to repeat week 3 of the Bridge next week.

The Bridge W3D3

203-204lb

- DL (5@6, 5@6, 5@8 x3 sets)(5 min rest):
135x5
225x5
275x5@RPE6-7?
290x5@8?
290x5@8.5
275x5@8
- 1ct paused Bench (5@6, 5@7, 5@8 x4 sets)(5 min rest):
135x5
145x5@RPE6.5-7?
155x5@7.5?
160x5@7.5?
165x5@8
165x5@8
165x5@8
- 3-0-3 Tempo Squat (8@7, 8@8, 8@9 x2 sets)(4 min rest):
45x8
95x8
135x8
135x8
145x8

Went to bed early and got up late, so I got about 11 hours of sleep, which is nice. Took 200mg of caffeine so my head had lots of energy, but my body definitely wasn't up to lifting today. The warmups felt much heavier than usual, even 275 felt heavy on the deadlift.

Hopefully getting some sleep, eating more, and getting creatine back in my system will help with next weeks sessions.