Yea that explains why doing just a couple was so hard. Those are harder than a actual GHR machine. If you want to do more reps and can't that way, try doing them band assisted.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LQm9rdzZlRk

2018-01-12
Block Pulls (bar right below knee)
3x354 @6
3x386 @7
3x420 @8
3x386 @7
3x386 @7
3x286 @8

Comp Bench
6x185 @6
6x195 @6.5
6x205 @8
6x195 @6.5
6x195 @8

Cable Rows
8x140 @6
8x150 @6.5
8x170 @8
8x160 @8

GHR
5x5

Today was awesome - one of my best days in months. I felt strong, got a lot of volume in, and most importantly fixed a big flaw in my bench.

I decided to go with rack pulls as my main deadlift assistance exercise this block. I'm slow around the knees so this should help.

The bench slot today is normally reserved for an assistance exercise, but I opted to go with just regular bench instead because I felt that the extra practice for my form would be more beneficial. I read a good cue last night and applied it today and it was like I had an epiphany. The cue was: put maximum pressure into the front of your shoe to improve leg drive. Once I shifted my weight from my heels/midfoot onto my toes, things really started clicking. I felt tight as hell, my shoulders stayed pinned to the bench, and my leg drive was phenomenal. I finally feel like I understand what it means to drive back into the bench with my legs. I'm so excited to try out this new form tweak when I do max bench next Monday.

I cheated on every rep of my GHRs (nordic leg curl). I pushed off a bosu ball at the bottom to help myself get up. I also lowered myself way too quickly on some reps - this is just because my hamstrings didn't have the necessary strength/control. This is my first time doing them so I'll get better of course. I really liked the way they worked my hamstrings.

May try out those nordic leg curls at some point; I've seen them before, and they seem like something I should be doing.

I'm assuming the 3x286 in the last line of rack pulls is a typo?

haha yeah. Shoulda been 386

2017-01-15
Squat /w Belt
6x354 @6.5
6x386 @7.5
6x420 @9 (PR)
6x381 @9

Comp Bench
6x215 @7
6x225 @8.5
6x232 @9 (PR)
6x210 @9

Incline Bench
8x135 @7.5
8x140 @8
7x145 @10 (failed here)
8x135 @9

The weights felt heavier than I wanted despite the PRs. Squat felt awkward and my lower back was getting tired which is usually a bad sign.

Bench leg drive is 100x improved with the "put pressure into toes" cue and forcing my knees below my hips. Today I definitely felt that my squats tired me out for bench.

2018-01-16
Deadlift /w Belt
6x353 @7
6x386 @8
5x420 @10 (failed 6th)
6x376 @9

Spoto Press
5x205 @7
5x215 @8
5x225 @8.5
5x230 @9
5x210 @8
5x210 @9.5

1-1/2 Squat /w Pause
8x185 @6
8x205 @6.5
8x230 @8
8x215 @8


Pretty terrible day on deadlifts. I hit 5x435 @9 last week so this is quite the step back. Quite simply, I just didn't feel fully recovered from yesterday's workout. My legs were already feeling pretty tired when I started warming up with 135. I'm not going to get too worked up over one bad day, but if this trend continues I'll have to reevaluate things.

Spoto felt great. My setup and leg drive is improving every session.

2018-01-17
High Bar Squat
4x308 @6.5
4x340 @7.5
3x375 @10 (failed 4th due to technique)
4x330 @9

OHP
6x110 @6
6x120 @6
6x132 @7.5
6x140 @9
6x120 @7
6x120 @8.5
3x120 @9.5

1-1/2 Bench
5x145 @6
5x155 @6.5
5x165 @7
5x170 @8
5x155 @6.5
5x155 @8


The failure on high bar was embarrassing. The first 3 reps were smooth and fairly easy, but on the 4th rep my weight shifted backwards a bit, the bar went into a bad path, and my upwards movement immediately stopped. That being said, my high bar technique was much better this week than last. I like how it gives my back a bit of a rest.

I finally got some more volume in on my pressing movements by dropping the weight on my fatigue sets by 10%+ as opposed to the usual 5-7%. My leg drive on bench continues to improve and it feels fantastic.

2018-01-19
Block Pulls (right below knee)
5x309 @5.5
5x346 @6.5
5x385 @7.5
5x400 @8
5x363 @7
5x363 @8

Comp Bench
4x215 @6
4x225 @7
4x235 @8
4x210 @6
4x210 @6
4x210 @8

Cable Rows
7x140 @5
7x160 @5
7x180 @6
7x190 @6.5
7x200 @8
7x180 @8

GHR (nordic leg curl variation)
6x5


This is my 2nd Friday in a row where I killed it. My block pulls were incredibly strong today and I had lots of energy. It felt nice to perform above expectation and get 30 reps in after having a ****ty deadlift day on Tuesday.

I'm liking the switch to a 2nd competition bench during the week as opposed to doing some variation (I suppose pause bench is similar though). Since I bench every session, training the motor patterns at a lower intensity and doing 2 variations seems better than 1 competition bench and 3 variations. I'm really happy with the volume I was able to put in here and was able to work on optimizing my feet positioning.

I'm still getting the feel of GHR and my main focus is using my hamstrings and glutes to lift me up as opposed to my core. I'm still using assistance on every rep and it's probably going to take me awhile to figure it out.

How is your paused bench different from competition? Just a shorter pause on the paused bench?

They're pretty similar. For comp bench I pause for a 2-count and sometimes I can be inconsistent. For pause bench it's usually 3 or 5 counts and more focus is spent on keeping the lats activated while paused.

Word.

I use "paused" and "competition" kind of interchangeably to denote a one count pause, and then just use two or three counts when it's called for (and notate it as such). Wasn't sure which was standard.

Yeah, I do the same as you. I only list "comp" to distinguish between touch-n-go bench. You can assume a 2 count pause for comp.

2018-01-22
Squat /w Belt
4x386 @7
4x420 @8
4x447 @9 (PR)
4x403 @9

Comp Bench
4x230 @7
4x240 @8.5
4x247 @9 (PR)
4x225 @7
4x225 @8
4x225 @9

Incline Bench
7x135 @7
7x145 @9
7x135 @9


I had 250 on bench but expected things to feel heavier. Video below shows my full setup. I'm working on getting my hips below my knees by tucking my feet back. Also trying to bring my feet in and toes straight out. I'd still like to be able to get my feet underneath me more but I don't have the mobility.

typo up there. I'm working on getting my knees below my hips, not the other way around

Nice set!

And knees below hips is the only real way I've found to be able to get decent leg drive while keeping my ass on the bench during tough reps. Looks like you're making consistent progress.

Squat/DL numbers remain inspiring as usual.

2018-01-23
Deadlift /w Belt
4x386 @7
4x415 @8
4x445 @9.5
4x398 @9
4x308 (beltless) @5

Spoto Press
3x225 @7
3x235 @8
3x245 @9
3x225 @7.5
3x225 @7.5
3x225 @8
3x225 @9

1-1/2 Squat
6x225 @6
6x250 @7
6x280 @8
6x265 @8


This is the second sub-par week in a row on deadlifts and I'm officially concerned. I hit 4x445 @9 last time I did 4s (~2 months ago), and this is weaker than 5x435 which I hit 2 weeks ago. I was hoping to hit 5x440 next week but I don't see it happening.

I'm not sure what's going on, but here are some possibilities in order of most to least likely in my opinion:

1. I've been lifting fasted in the mornings lately, and I used to lift in the afternoon. I always had big lunches on deadlift day so it's possible that I'm just weaker since my belly isn't as full. This doesn't effect my squat or deadlift however and doesn't explain why I was able to pull 5x435 on week 1 of this cycle in the morning.
2. My form is breaking down. I gotta take some vids but I feel like I might not be doing as good a job of packing my lats and raising my chest. I also might be starting with my hips too low.
3. The extra hamstring work I've added in (hamstring curl variation twice a week) isn't allowing for enough recovery time for deadlifts. This one makes sense but I don't really push myself too hard on these assistance lifts and I feel recovered, so who knows.
4. Renewed focus into my bench leg drive has caused my leg muscles to work harder and not recover enough in time for deadlifts.
5. I need a deload (unlikely since I just had one 2 weeks ago and my other lifts are doing great).

Bench and squat felt good.

2 More thoughts regarding deadlift progress:

1. I could be stalling/regressing due to the fact that the powerlifting gods don't ever let you improve all 3 lifts at once.
2. It's possible that choosing block pulls as my main deadlift assistance exercise was not a good choice. I chose them because I get slow around the knee, but I'm sure if I improved my speed off the floor, I'd also be faster around the knee. I might go back to the pause deadlifts instead. I've done nothing but praise them in this log.

Given the fact that your SQ is doing well that makes me think time of day and meals isn't what's causing it. Although for me I wasn't fond of training first thing/fasted.

Are you doing hamstring work after DLs on same day? But idk I doubt you're over the MRV, how many total sets do Hams get?

Are you having great SQ/BN days on the same day you "suck" at DL? Because if you had a great SQ day on Monday and a **** DL day on Tuesday I'd say it's prob variance. Yesterday was like a 1/10 day for me, today was 9/10, and I have absolutely no explanation.

Reading through your log it looks like DL days are accompanied with just some lighter volume SQ, not on the PR days. They also came the following day after hitting heavy SQ and BN PRs. You might switch the order of days next week (DL day before heavy SQ/BN day) and see what happens.

Deficits>block pulls, iyam.

Well with a full belly, I can use the extra weight as leverage in the deadlift. For squats, I still need to squat that extra weight up.


Pretty good idea. I'm such a stickler for my routines that this will probably be a last resort, but it would be interesting to see what happens.

The more I think about it, the more I think the block pulls are the issue. Usually it's tough to tell what assistance exercises work and which ones don't when I switch them up every month. If I happen to be getting stronger with block pulls, is that because the block pulls are working or is it just carryover from the last month where I did deficits instead? Considering I took 2-3 weeks off before this cycle, I think it lends more credence to the block pulls being a problem. I'm going to switch to pause deadlifts.

2018-01-24
GPP Work
Shoulder external rotation exercises
TKE's 3x20
6x100m sprints (45s rest)
25 pullups
3 bear hug walks
Foam rolling + DeFranco's Agile 8


I'm going to try to do more GPP work to improve my conditioning, rehab, and mobility. I probably won't log it every time, but this is what those workouts will look like.



2018-01-25
HBBS
5x286 @6.5
5x320 @8
5x352 @8.5
3x375 @9 (wanted 5)
5x320 @8

OHP
7x110 @6.5
7x120 @6.5
7x132 @9
7x115 @8
7x115 @9.5

1-1/2 Bench
8x135 @6.5
8x140 @7
8x145 @7.5
7x150 @10 (no attempt at 8th)


Pretty good day. My form on high bar feels better every week and I really enjoy doing them. I cut my set at 375 short because I could feel my form breaking down and 5x375 was optimistic anyway. There's some videos below if anyone has any comments. One obvious flaw is that I am letting my knees cave a bit, but it's not too bad.

I burned out on bench. Oops.

2018-01-26
3ct Pause Deadlift
4x287 @6
4x319 @7
4x354 @8
4x319 @7.5
4x319 @8

Comp Bench
5x205 @6
5x215 @7
5x225 @8
5x205 @6.5
5x205 @7
5x205 @8

Cable Rows
6x170 @6
6x180 @6.5
6x190 @7
6x200 @7.5
6x210 @8

Nordic Leg Curls
3x5


My legs were exhausted today from the get-go - particularly my quads.

I'm definitely happy with the decision to swap out the block pulls for paused deadlifts. I was doing a great job of keeping the weight on my heels and engaging my hamstrings - something that may have been lacking recently in my deadlifts. I feel like I might have a tendency to lean forward a bit while pulling which favors my quads over my hamstrings.

Aside from leg positioning and leg drive, one of the things I focused on today with bench was keeping my chest up. I realized sometimes let my chest sink as I lower the bar onto it, which results in a lack of tightness and worse performance.

The leg curls are slowly getting better. My form was improved today and they were much more exhausting, so 3x5 was enough.

2018-01-29
Squat /w Belt
5x376 @7
5x408 @8
5x438 @9 (PR)
5x394 @9

Comp Bench
5x225 @7
5x235 @8
5x245 @9 (PR)
5x225 @8.5
5x225 @9

Incline
6x135 @7
6x145 @7.5
6x155 @8
6x165 @9
6x150 @9


Squats were uncomfortable today but I was able to add 3 pounds to my 5rm. I haven't been enjoying squat lately, it's just heavy, exhausting and sucks. Might be time for a deload soon.

Bench kept on pace with being my hottest lift right now. I took some videos from the side today and I'm generally pretty happy. My knees are clearly below my hips, and leg drive is solid. Two flaws are that sometimes I lose my shoulder positioning when locking out (2nd rep of final set), and when I start getting tired it looks like I rush the descent a bit.

2018-01-30
Deadlift /w Belt
5x376 @7
5x408 @8
5x436 @9.5 (PR)
5x398 @9

Spoto Press
4x205 @6
4x220 @7.5
4x235 @9
4x215 @8.5
4x215 @8.5
4x215 @9

1-1/2 Squat /w Pause
7x225 @6
7x255 @7
7x285 @8
7x260 @8



Deads felt pretty good again today and much better than last week. I added 1 pound to my 5RM from 3 weeks ago, but I scored it @9 3 weeks ago, so it's a wash.

Focused on 3 things today:
1. Engaging hamstrings by bringing hips back and getting tight
2. Leg drive into ground before starting pull
3. Pull angry and with force

I took some vids from the side today and immediately noticed a flaw in my bar path. It's most obvious on my final rep when I'm exhausted. I'm letting the bar drift forward around my knee and lifting with a backwards "c" motion instead of going straight up and down. I think focusing on keeping my shins straight by engaging my hamstrings will go a long way to fixing this. Second to last rep (1:00) looks perfect.

2018-02-01
High Bar Squat
4x308 @6
4x340 @7.5
4x375 @9
4x353 @9

OHP
5x125 @6.5
5x135 @8
5x145 @9
5x132 @9

1-1/2 Bench
4x165 @6
4x180 @7
4x195 @7.5
4x205 @8.5
4x190 @7.5
4x190 @7.5
4x190 @9


I really love high bar squats and will probably keep them in the routine for the next block. I like being able to keep my back more upright.

I'm probably going to deload next week. Starting to get pretty sore. My elbow feels like it's going to explode.