BWare's Intermediate Training Log

[Bruce Ware]

12/10 Session 42-2 Deadlift

Well, it took a solid week to allow my hip enough rest time to ease the pain and cramping. Still not 100% but better, and I'm still completely mystified as to the cause.

Warm-ups:

Leg Curls -- 85 x 12 x 3

Deadlift warm-ups: 135 x 5; 225 x 3

working sets: 272 x 4, 4, 4, 4; 5 mins rest between; no extra reps on 4th AMRAP set

Push-ups: 20 x 3

Pyramid pull-ups (assisted): 150 x 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, failed on level 7; added 5 reps on AMRAP closer

Trap Bar Shrugs: 60 x 20 x 3

Duration -- 45 mins

[Bruce Ware]

12/12 Measurement Sunday

Tot Weight (spot) 195.2 (+1.6); (week avg) 193.9 (+1.1); (long avg) 193.6 (+0.1)

LBM (spot) 176.1 (+1.2); (long avg) 175.7 (nc)
FAT (spot) 19.1 (+0.4): (long avg) 17.9 (+0.1)

Yields an est bf of 9.2% (spot was 9.8%)

Eating avgs 112/297/91 at 2455 kcals

need more protein, but I'm happy to see my weight starting to come back up again with only minimal effect on fat
--

Session 42-3 Bench Press

Push-ups -- 20 x 3

Pull-ups (3-grip - pron, neut, wide; assisted) -- 150 x 7, 10, 4

warm-ups: 45 x 5 x 2; 95 x 3; 135 x 3; 165 x 3

working sets: 181 x 4, 2, X, X; 5 mins rest between; failed on second set; for this session I made some adjustments -- wider grip to focus more on pecs, a rolled-up towel under my lower back to push my arch up and scaps down, and wearing the belt; next time the week of 4's comes up, I will repeat at this weight, although my week of 6's and 5's will see small increases over their previous iterations

Bench Pin Press -- 105 x 12 x 4; next time, drop a set and add weight

Incline DB 1-Arm Press -- 40 x 12 x 3 each side; again, to work pecs using a unilateral exercise

Duration -- 54 mins

[Bruce Ware]

12/14 (late post) Session 42-4, Squat

Program Change -- after looking at my most recent training sessions, it appears that I've pretty much hit the wall with this variant; I have decided to go with a single top set and 2 back-off sets for the next dosage, using the "run-it-out" variant. That is, I will do a single top set of 8 reps at increasing weight every week until I can only hit 7 reps, then continue to drive weight up until I can only get 6 reps, and so on, until I reach a point where I can only get 2 reps. The back-off sets will be at roughly 85% to 90% of the top set weight.

warm-ups: 45 x 5 x 2; 135 x 5; 225 x 3

working sets:

255 x 8; back-off sets: 205 x 8 x 2; 5 mins rest between; going for 8 at 260 next time.

Deadlifts: 205 x 3 x 3

Leg Extensions: 100 x 12 x 3

Push-ups: 25, 20, 20

Chin-/Pull-ups (aiming for 5 reps, alt b/w chins and pulls, as many sets as possible, 60 secs rest between): 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4 = 6 complete sets

Duration: 58 mins

HR Data: max 174; avg 127; "fit" 41:42; "fat" 15:47

[Bruce Ware]

12/16 Session 43-1; Press

warm-ups: 45 x 5 x 2; 95 x 3

working set: 112 x 8; go for 115 x 8 next week

back-off sets: 95 x 8 x 2

Bench Press DE: 135 x 3 x 3

DB Floor Press: 80 x 12 x 3

Push-ups: 3 x 20

Chin-/Pull-ups (aiming for AMRAP x 5): 6 x 5, alt between chins and pulls

DB Tricep roll-ups: 20 x 15 x 3

Duration: 54 mins

HR Data: max 141; avg 114; "fit" 41:14; "fat" 12:42

[Bruce Ware]

12/19 Measurement Sunday

Tot weight -- (spot) 195.4 (+0.2); (week avg) 194.8 (+0.8); (long avg) 193.7 (+0.1)

LBM (spot) 176.2 (+0.1); (long avg) 175.7 (nc)
FAT (spot) 19.2 (+0.1); (long avg) 18.0 (+0.1)

Yields an est BF of 9.3% (spot was 9.8%)

Eating x-bar: 110/240/83 for 2150 kcals; eating plans a drifting and I'm not paying a lot of attention, but see that I need to drive more protein in and more calories in general
--

Training Session 43-2, Deadlift

warm-ups: 135 x 5; 225 x 3

working set: 256 x 8; go for 260 next

back-off sets: 225 x 8 x 2; 5 mins rest between

Squat DE: 225 x 3 x 3; 3 mins rest between

Standing Leg Curls: 85 x 12 x 3

Push-ups: 3 x 20

Chin-ups (pyramid; assisted): 150 x completed 7 levels and 5 AMRAP for 33 reps (got 4 reps on level 8); do pull-ups next time

Trap Bar Shrugs: 110 x 20 x 3

Duration: 61 mins

HR Data: max 161; avg 115; "fit" 40:51; "fat" 19:36

[Bruce Ware]

12/21 (late post) Session 43-3 Bench Press

warm-ups: 45 x 5 x 2; 95 x 5; 135 x 3

working set: 152 x 8; go for 155 next

back-off sets: 135 x 8 x 2; 5 mins rest between

Press DE: 93 x 3 x 3; 3 mins rest between

DB Incline Press: 80 x 12 x 3

Push-ups: 3 x 20

Chin-/Pull-ups (assisted; 3-grip (P,N,W); aim for 6's, 2 complete sets): 150 x 6 x 6

Duration: 59 mins

HR Data: max 145; avg 113; "fit" 43:42; "fat" 15:41
--

12/23 Session 43-4, Squat

warm-ups: 45 x 5 x 2; 135 x 5; 225 x 3

working set: 260 x 8; go for 265 next

back-off sets: 225 x 8 x 2; 5 mins rest between

Deadlift DE: 225 x 3 x 3; 2.5 mins rest between

Leg Extensions: 110 x 12 x 3

Push-ups: 3 x 20

Chin-/Pull-ups (assisted; aim for 6 reps, alt b/w c and p; as many sets as possible): 150 x 6 x 10

Duration: 60 mins

HR Data: max 181; avg 126; "fit" 54:13; "fat" 5:52

[Bruce Ware]

12/24 Session 44-1 Press

A truncated session; family stuff to do, plus I felt like I didn't get enough of a recovery from yesterday's session. I'll finish up the exercises I skipped tomorrow.

warm-ups: 45 x 5 x 2; 95 x 3

working set: 115 x 8; go for 118 next

back-off sets: 100 x 8 x 2; 5 mins rest between

Bench Press DE: 135 X 3 X 3; 2.5 mins rest between

Duration: 32 mins

HR data: max 150; avg 107; "fit" 15:12; "fat" 16:35

[Bruce Ware]

12/26 Measurement Sunday

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day -- great eating, a nice long 4-mile walk on a 70-degrees-in-December day. Would like to see some snow, but probably not going to happen in Virginia.

Tot Wt (spot) 196.8 (+1.4); (week avg) 195.1 (+0.3); (long avg) 193.9 (+0.2)

LBM (spot) 176.8 (+0.6); (long avg) 175.8 (+0.1)
FAT (spot) 20.0 (+0.8); (long avg) 18.1 (+0.1)

Yields an est BF of 9.3% (spot was 10.1%).

Eating X-bar: 137/300/115 for 2785 kcals.

Today's spot total weight was a unexpected jump and exceeded the +3-sigma line by 0.2 pounds, which should qualify as a Rule 1 Excursion; however, there was no qualifying match from the MR chart, so I'm going to wait to see what next week's numbers show to determine if actually had a process shift upwards for this metric. I know I've been working on getting things moving upward again, but there's a pretty large difference between my 6-sigma mean and this potential excursion, where there had been no signals if impending shift for quite a long time. Next Sunday also marks the official end of Training Year 2021, so it will be interesting to see how everything lined up this year.

[Bruce Ware]

12/27 Session 44-2, Deadlift

warm-ups:

Leg Curls -- 85 x 12 x 3

DL -- 135 x 5; 225 x 3

working set: 260 x 8; go for 265 next

back-off (RDL): 225 x 8 x 2; 5 mins rest between

Squat (DE): 225 x 3 x 3; 2.5 mins rest between

Push-ups -- 3 x 20

Pull-/Chin-ups (assisted, AMRAP x 5, aim for 7's): 150 x 35, alt between chins and pulls

DB Tricep Roll-ups: 20 x 20 x 2

Trap Bar Shrugs: 130 x 20 x 3

Duration -- 62 mins

HR Data: max 164; avg 129; "fit" 57:11; "fat" 4:51

[Bruce Ware]

12/29 (late post) Session 44-3, Bench Press

warm-ups: 45 x 5 x 2; 95 x 5; 135 x 3

working set: 155 x 8; go for 160 next

back-off: 135 x 8 x 2; 5 mins rest between

Press DE: 100 x 3 x 3; 2 mins rest between

DB Incline Press: 80 x 12 x 3

Push-ups: 3 x 20

Pull-ups (assisted, pyramid+AMRAP): 150 to level 8, made only 5 on level 9, +5 extra reps = 46

Duration: 59 mins

HR Data: max 134; avg 104; "fit" 29:47; "fat" 29:23
--

12/31 Session 44-4, Squat

warm-ups: 45 x 5 x 2; 135 x 5; 225 x 3

working set: 265 x 8; go for 270 next

back-off: 225 x 8 x 2; 6 mins rest between

Deadlift: 225 x 3 x 3; 3 mins rest between

Duration: 49 mins

HR Data: max 176; avg 127; "fit" 40:24; "fat" 8:18
--

This concludes Training Year 2021. TY2022 will start on Sunday 1/2/22, after I do my weekly measurements; and I will be continuing variant 7, the run-it-out routine. Back-offs will change to aiming for 6 to 9 reps per. On Squat day, rather than doing 3x3 deadlifts for volume, I will start with heavy rack pulls for a few weeks, and then swap in halting deadlifts for a few weeks. Most accessory exercises will remain the same.