W4D1

A
Bench: wu, 3x235 (@9), 2x3x210, 7x210 (@9.5, 3 minutes)
Facepulls: 9x12

B
Incline Bench: wu, 5x4x160 (LsRPE @7.5; 2.5 minutes)
Incline Reverse DB Fly: 5x12

Dips (bw+45): 8, 8, 7, 6 (1 minute)

Seated DB Shoulder Press (50s): 8, 7,6, 5 (1 minute)

Cable Lateral Raises: 14, 11, 10, 9 (60 seconds)

Low Incline Cable Fly: 14, 14, 13, 12 (45 seconds)

EZ Curl (60 lbs): 14, 12, 11, 10 (1 minute)

V-Grip Pushdown: 14, 13, 12, 11 (1 minute)

Other than choosing the incorrect weight for my bench 4RM (the fourth would have been a pretty big grind), everything went pretty well. Incline bench is still a bit light, but feels pretty good otherwise. Everything else felt solid; bicep tendon feels better. 85 minutes flat for today.

August 19th: 188.4
August 27th: 187.8 (-.6 lbs)
September 3rd: 189.6 (+1.8 lbs, +1.2 overall)
September 10th: 188.6 (-1.0 lbs, +0.2 overall)
September 17th: 186.4 (-2.2 lbs, -2 lbs overall)

Calorie Target: 2800

Average Calories: 2793 (240 p/83 f/302 c)

Was at or around 188 pretty much every other day this week, so not sure what's going on here. Upping to 2900 I suppose.

W4D2 (9/17)

DL: wu, 4x335 (RPE 8), 2x3x305, 7x305 (RPE 8, 3 minutes)

Front Squat: wu, 5x4x165 (3 minutes)

Single Leg Press (190): 8, 7, 6, 5 (1 minute)

Hammer Strength Row (113): 8, 7, 6, 5 (1 minute)

Quick workout because I'm flying out in a few hours, so I shaved off the T3 stuff. DL still not feeling great (or looking great, for that matter); played around with bar position on the backoffs and closer to my shins felt a fair bit better.



Probably OHPing tomorrow since I'm flying back Wednesday; hopefully my bicep tendon holds up.

W4D3 (9/18)

A
OHP: wu, 4x150 (3 minutes, RPE 9), 2x3x135, 6x135 (RPE 9, 3 minutes)
Facepulls: 9x12

B
Spoto Bench: wu, 5x4x195 (3 minutes)
V Grip Pulldown: 4x12
Incline Reverse DB Flyes: 5x12

CG BP (175): 8, 6, 5, 4 (1 minute)

Incline DB Press (65s): 8, 6, 5, 4 (1 minute)

Spoon Press (50s): 14, 11, 9, 8 (1 minute)

Bottoms Up KB Press (15 lbs): 14, 13, 11, 10 (1 minute)

EZ LTE (60 lbs): 14, 13, 12, 11 (1 minute)

DB Hammer Curl (25s): 14, 12, 10, 9 (1 minute)

Pretty decent day; everything seemed the appropriate level of difficult. Recorded another OHP video as per the request of the mestidglet; I tightened up that slight knee bend during the backoffs.



Now to eat infinite brisket tacos.

Lol @ the closeup. Nice presses.

W4D4 (9/20)

Squat: wu, 4x285 (@8.5-9), 2x3x260, 6x260 (@8, 3 minutes)

Deficit DL: wu, 5x4x245 (3 minutes)

RFESS (35s): 8, 7, 6, 5 (1 minute)

Pullups (wide, bw+15): 8, 7, 6, 4 (1 minute)

Single Leg Extension: 14, 12, 11, 10 (1 minute)

Abductor Machine: 14, 12, 11, 10 (45 seconds)

Adductor Machine: 14, 12, 11, 10 (45 seconds)

Standing Calf Raise Machine: 14, 12, 11, 10 (45 seconds)

Crunch Machine: 14, 12, 10, 9 (1 minute)

On the one hand, I got in late last night from the airport and was pretty tired this morning; on the other hand, I was in Austin for 48 hours and had brisket five times and smoked turkey three times, so maybe it offset?

Squat felt slow, but it's the first time I've had even moderate weight on my back in a while, so not terrible. Definitely had at least one more solid rep left on the backoff AMRAP, but, again, I gauged RPEV instead of RPE. Everything else moved fine; deficits (in squat shoes) were still super light, but good technical practice. 95 minutes total.

you don't seem to take in a big breathe of air before your DL pulls. In the squat video you can see a big breathe, brace hard and squat. In the DL video it doesn't seem like you do that at all. I would try to reset, take a deep breathe and tighten everything before each pull

Yeah, I know that's a leak, and I'm working on it with the deficits. My problem with doing it with conventional pulling is that my initial rep is so much crappier with respect to lower back position and general positioning than subsequent reps and the eccentric of the first rep really pulls me into a better position for later reps - I'm worried it will lead to all my reps looking as dog**** as the first one of any reasonably heavy set. I know I just need to get over it and at least do a soft reset between each rep (and probably concentrate on setting my lats each time). Meh.

W4D5 (9/21)

Pendlays: wu, 5x4x165 (2.5 minutes)

DB Bench: wu, 5x4x90 (2.5 minutes)

Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns (130): 8, 8, 8, 7 (1 minute)

DB Seal Rows (55s): 8, 7, 6, 5 (1 minute)

Cable Pullover: 8, 7, 6, 5 (1 minute)

Incline Curls (25s): 14, 9, 7, 6 (1 minute)

Bayesian Curls (15.5): 14, 11, 10, 9 (1 minute)

Pallofs (25.5): 14, 13, 12, 11 (1 minute)

HLRs: 10, 10, 8, 6 (1 minute)

All k. Engaged extreme EVCPT during the last few DB bench sets, and it helped my tendon soreness a fair bit; is there anything unearned overconfidence can't fix?

70 minutes flat.

W5D1

A
Bench: wu, 2x245 (@9-9.5), 3x2x215, 6x215 (@9, 3 minutes)
Facepulls: 9x12

B
Incline Bench: wu, 7x2x175 (LsRPE @7.5; 2.5 minutes)
Incline Reverse DB Fly: 5x10

Dips (bw+70): 6, 5, 4, 4 (1 minute)

Seated DB Shoulder Press (55s): 6, 6, 6, 4 (1 minute)

Cable Lateral Raises: 12, 10, 9, 8 (60 seconds)

Low Incline Cable Fly (22.5s): 12, 11, 10, 9 (45 seconds)

EZ Curl (65 lbs): 12, 10, 9, 8 (1 minute)

V-Grip Pushdown: 12, 11, 10, 9 (1 minute)

Good day; decently likely that I would have had a third at 245 had I needed it, which was a plus given how last week went. Incline wasn't overly difficult, but now that the relative intensity of this program is dialing up, I should probably start wearing elbow sleeves again.

Dips were slow, but doable. Everything else was pretty k. 87 minutes total.

August 19th: 188.4
August 27th: 187.8 (-.6 lbs)
September 3rd: 189.6 (+1.8 lbs, +1.2 overall)
September 10th: 188.6 (-1.0 lbs, +0.2 overall)
September 17th: 186.4 (-2.2 lbs, -2 lbs overall)
September 24th: 186.8 (+0.4 lbs, -1.6 lbs overall)

Calorie Target: 2900

Average Calories: 3046 (241 p/116 f/300 c)

Bit more of an error bar this week due to work travel plus visiting my niece at college - over half the week away from home. I'll probably target somewhere in the 3000-3100 range for this week, try to keep fat lower (less brisket should help), and see how it goes.

W5D2 (9/24)

DL: wu, 2x355 (RPE 8), 3x2x315, 6x315 (RPE 8.5, 3 minutes)

Front Squat: wu, 7x2x185 (2.5 minutes)

Single Leg Press (200): 6, 6, 5, 5 (1 minute)

Hammer Strength Row (123): 6, 6, 5, 5 (1 minute)

Seated Single Leg Curl (70): 12, 10, 8, 7 (60 seconds)

Adductor Machine: 12, 10, 9, 8 (45 seconds)

Abductor Machine: 12, 10, 9, 8 (45 seconds)

Standing Calf Raise: 12, 10, 9, 8 (45 seconds)

DL still AIDS; can't seem to get/keep my hips back while keeping my shoulders over the bar, especially on the first rep. Worked on making subsequent reps after each initial rep more deliberate, with some success. It's especially hard for me to keep my lat on the side with the supinated hand tight; my form is generally fine when the weight is sub-maximal, but gradually gets worse as it gets heavier. Short of doing a cycle of DL entirely in DL shoes, I'm not really sure where to go from here.

Everything else was somewhat decent. 100 minutes.

Are you opposed to using straps and going double overhand on heavy sets?

Not in theory, although in the past my form on the initial rep has been even worse using straps.

Yeah, setting up with straps adds a challenge as well.

hard to assess but I think you're setup a little too close to the bar.

Maybe a top-down set-up would work better, especially since you aren't using straps. Have you tried that? Or even grip and rip.

What is top down?

Basically a romanian deadlift to the bar taking your grip while as tight as possible. Which is essentially what the bar is forcing him to do in the 2nd rep of the vid.

Do you set up hooks on the outside of the rack? I like that idea a lot.

i've watched a few more times and I can almost guarantee your hips should start higher. Next time DLs come around, record a rep or set set at like 225 using the Rip setup and leaving your hips high. Don't do that rock back ****.

basically, from (roughly) this position:



just set your low back and squeeze your chest "up", and lift.

No I mean a pretend RDL with the bar on the floor. It's still a deadlift. Instead of taking the grip while loose and then tightening up against the bar, you keep your back flat and your hamstrings tight during the entire setup. Then once you grasp the bar it's just a matter of letting your knees bend until shins are close to bar, and then pull.

Gotcha.

Agree with KC. He gave me the same tip (delicious) when we worked out together in Vegas.

You mentioned you have a problem with your knees not being forward enough. Might be related. It looks like you are setting up the bar close to your shins by bringing the bar too far back on your foot. KC's suggestion will instead bring your shins forward.

I would also like to see you do as bees suggests for your setup for the first rep by taking a HUGE breath and then taking all of the slack out of the bar before you pull.

This will sound and look silly, but good practice for you might be loading up the bar with a weight you're nowhere close to being able to pull (so about 350), now get into position and get tight and pull until the slack is out of the bar.

Pay attention to what your body does. Where do your hips go? Is the bar over your midfoot? Where are your shoulders? Does the bar feel "close" to your hips? Or does it immediately fall forward, perhaps to your upper back/shoulders? You'll be able to take note of all of those things without the bar leaving the floor.

KC,

Will try, thanks.