Sets of faahve

Mr. CooL ICE · 16-11-2017 10:25am

November 16. W4D3-2

Squat:
20kg x 3
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
* sleeves *
100kg x 5
* belt *
120kg x 3
130kg x 3
135kg x 3 (9)
127.5kg x 3
127.5kg x 3
127.5kg x 3

Up to x3 @9. Form felt dodgy. Kept leaning forward. Realised my shoulders weren't locked as tight as possible. Elementary stuff. What makes it worse is that I didn't realise this until the last set :rolleyes:

Bench (tng):
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 4
80kg x 4
90kg x 4 (9)
85kg x 4
85kg x 4
85kg x 4

Up to x4 @9. Grand.

Incline CG bench:
40kg x 6
50kg x 6
60kg x 6
65kg x 6 (9)
60kg x 6
60kg x 6
60kg x 6

Up to x6 @9. Getting slightly better at these.

Grand day.

Mr. CooL ICE · 17-11-2017 10:10am

November 17. W4D4-2

Block pull:
40kg x 5 (from floor)
70kg x 5 (from floor)
90kg x 5 (from floor)
110kg x 5 (from floor)
110kg x 3
130kg x 3
150kg x 3 (9)
142.5kg x 3
142.5kg x 3
142.5kg x 3

Up to x3 @9. Was expecting to pull much more but strength just wasn't there today. I pulled 160 for a triple from the floor last week so 150 from blocks was disappointing. Oh well.

JM Press:
20kg x 8
30kg x 6
40kg x 6
50kg x 6
60kg x 6
65kg x 6 (9)
60kg x 6
60kg x 6
60kg x 6

Up to x6 @9. Grand.

One-arm DB row:
25kg x 6
32.5kg x 6
32.5kg x 6
32.5kg x 6

Up to x6 @9. Was running out of time so didn't reach a 9, but I was pretty close anyway.

Meh day.

Alf Veedersane · 17-11-2017 11:43am

I seem to find pulling from blocks harder than from the floor...

Mr. CooL ICE · 20-11-2017 10:31am

November 20. W5D1

Squat:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
* sleeves *
100kg x 5
120kg x 3
130kg x 3
140kg x 3 (9)
132.5kg x 3
132.5kg x 3
132.5kg x 3

Up to x3 @9. For the first time in weeks, squats felt good. All I had to do was ensure shoulders remained tight. I can't let such a basic cue fail me again.

Bench (tng):
20kg x 7
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 7
80kg x 7 (9.5)
75kg x 7
75kg x 7 (9.5)

Up to x7 @10. 80 was a 9.5. I was going to shoot for 85x7. If I gave myself some extra rest, I could have done it, but didn't have enough time today. Good though because I only managed two drop sets.

Close grip bench:
70kg x 5
70kg x 5
70kg x 5
70kg x 5

Up to x5 @8, repeat. My CGBP is bigger than this, but had fatigued myself at this point. Which was kinda the aim, I guess.

Good day. But wonder what it would have been like if I gave myself more time...

Mr. CooL ICE · 22-11-2017 11:41am

November 22. W5D2

Knew today was going to be a longer session than usual, so made extra time. But rain and traffic happened so the extra time I made meant nothing. Still had to rush everything.

Bench:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 3
80kg x 3
90kg x 3 (8.5)
85kg x 3
85kg x 3
85kg x 3

Up to x3 @9. Form was shakey but didn't feel weak. Maybe I'm not used to benching first? It's been 2nd lift of the day for the last 2 months.

Deadlift:
70kg x 5
90kg x 5
110kg x 3
* belt *
130kg x 3
150kg x 3 (9)
140kg x 3
140kg x 3
140kg x 3

Up to x3 @9. Rushed these. Felt strong until the last rep of 150, where form completely fell apart. Drop sets were grand though.

Push press:
20kg x 3
30kg x 3
40kg x 5
50kg x 5
50kg x 5
50kg x 5

Up to x5 @8, repeat. Felt grand. Could possibly have gone higher, but time.

Front squat:
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
80kg x 5

Up to x5 @8, repeat. I could possibly have gone higher, not sure. But also, time.

Meh day.

Mr. CooL ICE · 24-11-2017 10:20am

November 24. W5D3

Pause squat:
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 5
120kg x 4 (9)
112.5kg x 4
112.5kg x 4
112.5kg x 4

Up to x4 @9. Happy enough with 120kg as I haven't pause squatted in ages. First time with this stance.

I hate pause squats, but my form has always felt better when they've been part of my programming.

Pin press (chest level):
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 4
80kg x 4
90kg x 4 (9)
85kg x 4
85kg x 4 (9.5!!!)

Up to x4 @9. Top set felt great, but drop sets just started falling apart out of nowhere.

Snatch grip RDL:
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
* straps *
80kg x 5
100kg x 5
100kg x 5
100kg x 5

Up to x5 @8, repeat. Knew I could RDL more than before and that grip was a limiting factor. Still tough as hell though. Me fookin hamstrings!

Ok day. Had one of the most stressful days ever yesterday so was glad to just get through this session intact.

Alf Veedersane · 24-11-2017 10:44am

You find you have the hang of RPE now?

I know them drop-set weakness feels all too well.

Mr. CooL ICE · 24-11-2017 11:02am

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

You find you have the hang of RPE now?

I know them drop-set weakness feels all too well.

Nope. I don't think I'll ever get the hang of it properly. But I think I'm better at it than before.

Mr. CooL ICE · 27-11-2017 10:18am

November 27. W6D1

Squat:
20kg x 3
40kg x 5
60kg x 6
80kg x 5
* sleeves *
100kg x 5
* belt *
120kg x 4
135kg x 4
140kg x 4 (9)
130kg x 4
130kg x 4
130kg x 4

Up to x4 @9. Squat numbers slowly coming back to where they should be, but with form feeling much more solid.

Bench (tng):
20kg x 3
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 3
80kg x 3
90kg x 3 (9)
82.5kg x 3
82.5kg x 3
82.5kg x 3

Up to x3 @9. Was hoping top set would be 95-100kg but 90 was definitely a 9. Felt way heavier than expected.

CG floor press:
60kg x 6
65kg x 6

Up to x6 @8, repeat. I felt a sharp pain in my right medial delt unracking for the 65kg, but finished the set anyway. Walked around the gym, moving my arm and doing air lateral raises to loosen it up. I knew nothing was damaged and I could walk it off, but I didn't have a whole lot of time left so just left.

Even as I type this, my shoulder feels perfect. Typical

Mr. CooL ICE · 29-11-2017 10:29am

November 29. W6D2

Bench:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 4
80kg x 4
85kg x 4
90kg x 4 (9)
82.5kg x 4
82.5kg x 4
82.5kg x 4

Up to x4 @9. Happy with this

Deadlift:
50kg x 5
90kg x 4
110kg x 4
130kg x 1
140kg x 2
150kg x 4 (9.5)
140kg x 4
140kg x 4
140kg x 4

Up to x4 @9. Top set was a disaster and had complete form breakdown on last rep. Drop sets all felt good and I kinda realised part of my setup had been arseways. Long story short; if I feel comfortable in the setup for sumo, it means I haven't performed the setup properly.

OHP:
20kg x 6
30kg x 6
40kg x 6
50kg x 6
50kg x 5
50kg x 3

Up to x6 @8, repeat. Don't know wtf I was doing here. My mind decided to wander and I didn't do what I was supposed to do and realised I was lifting heavier than I should have been.

Pause squat:
60kg x 6
80kg x 6
90kg x 6
90kg x 6

Up to x6 @8, repeat. Was running out of time so not sure if 90kg was a 8 or not. Just decided to get some bit of volume in.

Not a good day.

Mr. CooL ICE · 01-12-2017 2:47pm

December 1. W6D3

Squat w/reverse bands:
20kg x 5 (no bands)
40kg x 5 (no bands)
60kg x 5 (no bands)
80kg x 5
* sleeves *
100kg x 5
* belt *
120kg x 2
140kg x 2
150kg x 2
155kg x 2 (9)
145kg x 2
145kg x 2
145kg x 2

Up to x2 @9. This program had asked for squats with wraps on the even weeks, but I ignored that aspect as I don't have wraps so did normal squats. But the point of these days is to overload the squat, so I had an idea and hung purple bands from the top of the rack so it gave a similar training effect to wraps. It felt bloody weird. Like, 120kg is a warmup but also when the bar starts to feel heavy. I could have gone to 160, I reckon, but this was my first time doing these so I decided to stop at my old 3RM, 155.

So yeah, after these, I want to be an equipped lifter!

Bench (2ct pause):
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 2
80kg x 2
90kg x 2
95kg x 2 (9)
87.5kg x 2
87.5kg x 2
87.5kg x 2

Up to x2 @9. These were fine.

Red band rows:
x 10
x 10
x 10
...and counting

This was supposed to be pendlay rows up to x6 @8, repeat, but I completely messed up my time this morning. Instead of only doing warmups, I left the gym early and decided to do a few sets of 10 rows with a band under my feet.

I'm seriously annoyed that I ran out of time. This program is scarce enough with the direct back work so I shouldn't miss this. Oh well.

Weird day.

Mr. CooL ICE · 04-12-2017 10:30am

December 4. W7D1

Squat:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
* sleeves *
100kg x 3
* belt *
120kg x 2
130kg x 2
140kg x 2 (9)
132.5kg x 2
132.5kg x 2
132.5kg x 2

Up to x2 @9. Was hoping for maybe 145, but wasn't strong enough today. Form felt good, aside from one rep in a drop set (can't remember which).

Bench (tng):
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 6
80kg x 6
85kg x 6 (9.5)
80kg x 6
80kg x 6
80kg x 6

Up to x6 @10. Reckon I could have gone for 87.5x6 but any time I had a true 10 set, I'd barely manage a single drop set. At least stopping at 9.5 meant I could get some volume in.

CG bench:
70kg x 4
75kg x 4
75kg x 4
75kg x 4

Up to x4 @8, repeat. Bar kept swaying towards the left. I've always had problems keeping a symmetrical bar path with CGBP.

Had a weekend of staying up late, eating rubbish and not moving very much so under those circumstances, today was pretty good.

Mr. CooL ICE · 06-12-2017 10:19am

December 6. W7D2

Bench:
20kg x 8
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 3
80kg x 2
90kg x 2
97.5kg x 2 (9)
92.5kg x 2
92.5kg x 2
92.5kg x 2

Up to x2 @9. Was thinking beforehand of going for 100x2. But in an effort to better learn RPE, I have to start using the RPE chart and stop winging it. The 90kg set felt like a 7, so that meant todays estimated 1RM is ~104kg which meant that a set of 2 @9 should be around 96.1kg. I compromised.

The 97.5kg felt more like an 8.5 but considering it matched a previous 2RM with more in the tank, I'm dead happy.

Deadlift:
40kg x 1
70kg x 3
90kg x 3
110kg x 3
* belt *
130kg x 2
150kg x 2
165kg x 2
157.5kg x 2
157.5kg x 2
157.5kg x 2

Up to x2 @9. New sumo 2RM. Was feeling super confident and ignored the RPE chart because the stars aligned and I was able to dial in a controlled setup and aggressive pull from the floor. Last drop set was dogsh1t though.

Push press:
20kg x 4
40kg x 4
50kg x 4
50kg x 4
50kg x 4

Up to x4 @8, repeat. Grand.

Front squat:
60kg x 4
80kg x 4
90kg x 4
90kg x 4
90kg x 4

Up to x4 @8, repeat. Grand.

Great day for the parish.

Mr. CooL ICE · 08-12-2017 11:44am

December 8. D7D3

Pause squat:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 3
120kg x 3
130kg x 3 (9)
122.5kg x 3
122.5kg x 3
122.5kg x 3

Up to x3 @9. I wanted to give up and go home during these. Hate pause squats. Ugh. But form felt alright.

Pin press (chest level):
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 3
80kg x 3
90kg x 3 (9)
85kg x 3
85kg x 3
85kg x 3

Up to x3 @9. Were grindy and bar path was a bit all over the shop.

Snatch grip RDL:
70kg x 4
90kg x 4
110kg x 2 (!)
100kg x 4
100kg x 4
100kg x 4

Up to x4 @8, repeat. Went for 110kg but no way was a set of 4 going to be an 8, so I backed down. My poor hammies

Grand day.

08-12-2017 12:55pm

Sumoooooo

Mr. CooL ICE · 11-12-2017 10:20am

bluewolf wrote: »

Sumoooooo

Ermahgerd! Serrmerrr!

Mr. CooL ICE · 11-12-2017 10:30am

December 11. D8D1

Squat:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
* sleeves *
80kg x 5
100kg x 3
120kg x 3
135kg x 3
145kg x 3 (9)
137.5kg x 3
137.5kg x 3
137.5kg x 3

Up to x3 @9. Top set was grand. Last drop set was a little sloppy and I tweaked something in my left lower back. Will stay mobile.

Bench (tng):
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 3
80kg x 2
90kg x 2
97.5kg x 2 (9)
92.5kg x 2
92.5kg x 2
92.5kg x 2

Was thinking of going heavier but it was cold in the gym and I was a little tired after the weekend. Drop sets were pretty easy though.

Close grip floor press:
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
80kg x 5

Up to x5 @8, repeat. Last set was probably a 9.5. Had planned on doing this lower but just left some weight on the bar and didn't think about it too much. Glad I finished it anyway. Hope I didn't induce unwarranted fatigue.

Expected the body to be wrecked after doing some spotting yesterday, but was surprisingly fine. Good day overall.

Mr. CooL ICE · 13-12-2017 10:46am

December 13. W8D2

Bench:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 3
80kg x 3
90kg x 3 (9)
85kg x 3
85kg x 3
85kg x 3

Up to x3 @9. 90x3 was possibly an 8.5. Even with the RPE chart, a 9 would have been 92.5 so I decided to leave it for another day, despite expecting to hit 95. Sure enough, the drop sets got progressively easier so, umm, I probably just wasn't warmed up.

Deadlift:
70kg x 3
90kg x 3
110kg x 3
* belt *
130kg x 3
150kg x 3
170kg x 3 (9)
160kg x 3 (9.5)

Up to x3 @9. New sumo 3RM. Warmups just felt good so I decided to go nuts. But the 160kg was hellishly slow and grindy so I decided to leave it at the one drop set.

OHP:
20kg x 5
30kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5
45kg x 5
45kg x 5

Up to x5 @8, repeat. Was grand.

Pause squat:
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 5
100kg x 5
100kg x 5

Up to x5 @8, repeat. Could possibly have gone higher but I was running out of time so wanted to at least get the volume in.

Good day.

Mr. CooL ICE · 15-12-2017 11:10am

December 15. W8D3

Reverse band squat:
40kg x 5 (no band)
60kg x 5 (no band)
80kg x 5
100kg x 4
120kg x 3
140kg x 2
150kg x 2
160kg x 2 (9)
150kg x 2
150kg x 2
150kg x 2

Up to x2 @9. I honestly have no idea if 160 was a 9 or not because this lift variant is so alien to me.

2ct pause bench:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 4
80kg x 2
90kg x 2
95kg x 2 (9)
90kg x 2
90kg x 2
90kg x 2

Up to x2 @9. Was graaand.

Pendlay row:
40kg x 5
50kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
70kg x 5
70kg x 5

Up to x5 @8, repeat. Probably could have gone higher for this, but it's been a long time since I've done these so form and some sort of a back pump was more important.

Good day. Next week is a bit of a deload followed by testing. Lets hope the unavoidable festivities over the weekend don't affect me too badly.

Mr. CooL ICE · 20-12-2017 5:38pm

Jaysus, forgot to log Monday's session.

W9D1

Squat:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 3
* belt *
120kg x 2
140kg x 1

Bench:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 3
80kg x 2
90kg x 1
95kg x 1

Deadlift:
70kg x 3
90kg x 3
110kg x 3
* belt *
130kg x 2
150kg x 1
160kg x 1

SBD up to a single of approx 92% of estimated 1RMs. Grand

Mr. CooL ICE · 20-12-2017 5:42pm

December 20. W9D2

Squat:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 3
* belt *
120kg x 1

Bench:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 3
80kg x 1

Deadlift:
70kg x 3
90kg x 3
110kg x 3
* belt *
130kg x 1
145kg x 1

SBD warmup routines, going no further than 80% of estimated 1RMs. Grand

Had pints last night, so took the morning off and went at lunchtime. The difference in my general mobility is huge when I train later in the day. Sinking the hips down for sumos just came so easy.

Testing 1RMs on Friday. Woop woop!

Mr. CooL ICE · 22-12-2017 12:19pm

W9D3

Squat:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
* sleeves *
80kg x 5
100kg x 3
* belt *
120kg x 2
130kg x 1
140kg x 1
150kg x 1
160kg x 1 (2.5kg PR)

Was slow, but solid. Never lost position. No obvious sticking point. Could possibly have gone for 165kg but decided to save my body.

Took a video of the 150 and depth was borderline. Need to pay more attention to this going forward.

Bench:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
60kg x 3
70kg x 3
80kg x 2
90kg x 1
100kg x 1
107.5kg x 1 (2.5kg PR)

Repeated 60kg warmup because I was shrugging my shoulders. The 107.5 was slow as hell, but no obvious sticking point.

Deadlift:
70kg x 3
90kg x 3
110kg x 3
130kg x 1
140kg x 1
150kg x 1
160kg x 1
170kg x 1
180kg x F
180kg x F

Had a deadlift fart at 150. The 170 was slow and grindy and nothing compared to the triple recently. No PR here. Oh well.

Might try conventional next week for the craic.

Alf Veedersane · 22-12-2017 1:38pm

Nice work!

Dtp1979 · 22-12-2017 4:29pm

Youve made huge gains in squat and bench this year well done. How much did your deadlift go up by?

Mr. CooL ICE · 22-12-2017 5:58pm

Deadlift hasn't gone up much, but it's a tricky one. Did 175kg in February, then did a dodgy 190kg during the summer and switched to sumo for a while where I managed 170kg x 3, but no 180kg.

Dtp1979 · 22-12-2017 10:48pm

In the past year what have your squat and bench increased by?

Mr. CooL ICE · 23-12-2017 10:05am

Best breakdown I can do is this.

February meet: 140kg (HB), 90kg, 175kg

Learned low bar and over the course of the summer got a range of rep PRs. Squatted 147.5x5, 155x3 and 157.5x1. Benched 90x5 (tng), 95x3, 97.5x2. Deadlifted 175x3 and 190x1.

September meet: 155kg, 95kg, 170kg, going 3/9 in a day I want to forget.

After the meet, I changed my squat stance because I had a tendency to lose tightness at the bottom and bar always shifted forwards. This mainly involved widening my stance (from around 120% shoulder width to ~ 150%), feet at 45 degrees (as opposed to 30). This was difficult as I had glaring mobility issues and hip weaknesses that made depth very hard to reach. I also changed from conv to sumo stance to work on hips and leg drive.

Tested maxes at the end of October before going on holidays: 150kg, 105kg, 170kg.

Tested maxes yesterday and got 160kg, 107.5kg, 170kg.

Dtp1979 · 23-12-2017 11:26am

Nicolas Cage wrote: »

Best breakdown I can do is this.

February meet: 140kg (HB), 90kg, 175kg

Learned low bar and over the course of the summer got a range of rep PRs. Squatted 147.5x5, 155x3 and 157.5x1. Benched 90x5 (tng), 95x3, 97.5x2. Deadlifted 175x3 and 190x1.

September meet: 155kg, 95kg, 170kg, going 3/9 in a day I want to forget.

After the meet, I changed my squat stance because I had a tendency to lose tightness at the bottom and bar always shifted forwards. This mainly involved widening my stance (from around 120% shoulder width to ~ 150%), feet at 45 degrees (as opposed to 30). This was difficult as I had glaring mobility issues and hip weaknesses that made depth very hard to reach. I also changed from conv to sumo stance to work on hips and leg drive.

Tested maxes at the end of October before going on holidays: 150kg, 105kg, 170kg.

Tested maxes yesterday and got 160kg, 107.5kg, 170kg.

Jesus 17kg increase on Bench is a lot

Edit. Sorry 17.5kg

Alf Veedersane · 23-12-2017 2:15pm

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Jesus 17kg increase on Bench is a lot

Edit. Sorry 17.5kg

The 90kg bench in the comp in February wasnt a PR, iirc.

That said, big jump in the bench all the same

Mr. CooL ICE · 23-12-2017 2:24pm

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

The 90kg bench in the comp in February wasnt a PR, iirc.

It was

Everything in February was a PR so that's a good reference point for progress.

Alf Veedersane · 23-12-2017 2:36pm

Nicolas Cage wrote: »

It was Everything in February was a PR so that's a good reference point for progress.

Holy sh*t!

I'd thought it was 95 and obviously still impressive improvement.

17.5kg? Holy sh*t!!!

I was delighted with 7.5kg!

Bottle what it is you're doing and I'll buy in bitcoins.

Dtp1979 · 23-12-2017 2:47pm

Think I’ll just go copy and paste your entire last year and follow that for 2018

Mr. CooL ICE · 23-12-2017 3:20pm

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Think I’ll just go copy and paste your entire last year and follow that for 2018

In some ways, I made a balls of this year tbh. There is a lot I could have done better.

If there's anything I learned where I could go back in time one year and tell myself anything about my time spent in the gym, it would probably be to up the frequency and variation of my bench training.

I'd also tell myself to do something about my weak hips.My squat has only gone up 2.5kg since July/August, which is crap on paper. But how I move the weight is far better.

Alf Veedersane · 23-12-2017 3:38pm

Nicolas Cage wrote: »

In some ways, I made a balls of this year tbh. There is a lot I could have done better.

If there's anything I learned where I could go back in time one year and tell myself anything about my time spent in the gym, it would probably be to up the frequency and variation of my bench training.

Anything specifically that you think would have improved your bench

Mr. CooL ICE · 23-12-2017 4:15pm

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Anything specifically that you think would have improved your bench

Hmm, maybe you read that wrong? Upping benching frequency and bench variations seems to be helping me a lot.

Texas method had benching 3 time a fortnight and I made only a tiny bit of progress there over the course of a couple of months. RTS had me doing bench variations 4 times a week. It's a format that worked for me in only a few weeks so I'll stick with it.

Alf Veedersane · 23-12-2017 4:25pm

Nicolas Cage wrote: »

Hmm, maybe you read that wrong? Upping benching frequency and bench variations seems to be helping me a lot.

Texas method had benching 3 time a fortnight and I made only a tiny bit of progress there over the course of a couple of months. RTS had me doing bench variations 4 times a week. It's a format that worked for me in only a few weeks so I'll stick with it.

Ah. I read it as saying if you'd go back a year from now, you'd bench more.

Three times a fortnight is pretty poor frequency alright. Was there not even a decent variation alongside that?

Mr. CooL ICE · 23-12-2017 11:19pm

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Three times a fortnight is pretty poor frequency alright. Was there not even a decent variation alongside that?

Probably. But at the time, I wanted a squat-centric program and Texas method gave me that.

Re benching; RTS has the volume phase generally built up as such: Comp bench Monday, partial bench Tuesday, tng bench Thursday and triceppy bench Friday. There is more to it than that, but that's the general breakdown.

Alf Veedersane · 24-12-2017 12:03am

Nicolas Cage wrote: »

Probably. But at the time, I wanted a squat-centric program and Texas method gave me that.

Re benching; RTS has the volume phase generally built up as such: Comp bench Monday, partial bench Tuesday, tng bench Thursday and triceppy bench Friday. There is more to it than that, but that's the general breakdown.

I know and sure look i don't think I would necessarily know differences until I experienced them myself.

Mr. CooL ICE · 29-12-2017 12:27pm

December 29

More mobility than usual. Stiff as a plank. Did absolutely none since the 22nd.

Squat:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 5
120kg x 3
120kg x 3
120kg x 3

No real plan here. Kinda figured I'd go for a triple @ RPE 9 without belt/sleeves. The third triple felt less than an 8, so I was probably just loosening up by then. But form felt shakey and generally inconsistent.

Pause squat:
100kg x 5
100kg x 5
100kg x 5

Because I'm a masochist. I hate pause squats. But I acknowledge that my regular squat form improves when pause squats are a regular part of programming. Sets again felt easier as they went on.

Bench:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 3
80kg x 3
80kg x 3
80kg x 3

Again, no plan. Seeing where I was at. 80 felt better as I went on.

BTN press:
20kg x 10
25kg x 10
30kg x 10
30kg x 10
30kg x 10

Plan on having some BTN variant in regular rotation soon. Hopefully will address some delt imbalances. Mild pump afterwards.

Pullup:
x 3
x 5
x 5
x 5
x 5
x 5

Have done pullups once in the last 3 months. Experience tells me strength in pullups goes away pretty quickly but I was happy to put out some sets of 5 with bodyweight without any real struggle.

Was hoping for some medial/rear delt pump afterwards but have an overall torso pump instead. How bad.

Also, a handful of roses and after eights counts as post gym nutrition, right?

Mr. CooL ICE · 03-01-2018 10:18am

January 3

Was supposed to be in the gym yesterday, but they decided to reduce their opening hours for Tuesdays and Thursdays. Reduced gym opening hours. In January. Madness.

Today, I kindly asked them to revert this as my 4 days/week plan for the next few months has been scuppered. Might have to find myself a new gym if it doesn't work out. Bad time of year to do it.

Deadlift (conv):
70kg x 5 (yanked off the floor. crappy setup)
70kg x 5 (better; legs -> hips, legs -> hips)
90kg x 5
110kg x 5
* belt *
130kg x 3
150kg x 2 (crappy setup)
150kg x 1 (better)
170kg x 1
185kg x F
180kg x F
170kg x 1

No real plan here, except to see if my conventional deadlift had miraculously gotten better while exclusively doing sumo. Ah well

Deadlift (conv) to knees:
110kg x 5
110kg x 5
110kg x 5

Some arseing about.

Bench:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
75kg x 5
85kg x 5
85kg x 4 (jayyysus)
80kg x 5

More arseing about.

Pullup:
x 3
x 6
x 6
x 6

Overhead front plate raise, 3030:
10kg x 10
10kg x 10
10kg x 10
10kg x 10

Thumbs down lateral raise:
5kg x 5 (jayyysus, not even close to parallel)
2.5kg x 5
2.5kg x 10
2.5kg x 10
2.5kg x 10

Thought these were a waste of time as I wasn't feeling any burn or anything. Then I tried putting my gym bag over my shoulder... So, yep, they did something alright.

Alf Veedersane · 03-01-2018 10:38am

Nicolas Cage wrote: »

Thumbs down lateral raise:
5kg x 5 (jayyysus, not even close to parallel)
2.5kg x 5
2.5kg x 10
2.5kg x 10
2.5kg x 10

Thought these were a waste of time as I wasn't feeling any burn or anything. Then I tried putting my gym bag over my shoulder... So, yep, they did something alright.

Been doing these with my red band I usually use for pull-aparts and the like. Handy way to get in some work on these at home.

Mr. CooL ICE · 05-01-2018 10:03am

January 5

Squat:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 5
* belt *
120kg x 3
130kg x 2
130kg x 2
130kg x 2

No plan here. First time squatting in a week so expected to be a bit crap, but still wanted to go heavier than last week's triples @ 120kg. 130s were slow but always room for more in the tank.

SSB squat:
20kg x 1
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 4

First time using this. Only read articles and watched videos so roughly knew what to expect. 80kg was a piece of piss and I felt I was going through the motions. Then at 100, gravity started hitting me from all sorts of angles. Racked it after 4 because I was genuinely fearful of collapsing forward. Interesting.

Bench (tng):
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 6
80kg x 6

No plan here either. Just keeping everything fluid.

OHP:
20kg x 5
30kg x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 5

Same as above.

Pullup
x 5
x 5
x 10

For last set, did a 6th by accident and just continued. Haven't done a set that long in a while. Think bodyweight pullups are too easy for now so weighted, here I come.

Grand day

Alf Veedersane · 05-01-2018 10:19am

Yeah, the SSB will try to fold you over in the hole. I found myself having to brace harder and harder to prevent that and I really feel the effort it in my abs/mid-section afterwards.

05-01-2018 10:20am

Ooh cool. Just read up on ssb and it says it pushes you forward all right. Interesting

Mr. CooL ICE · 08-01-2018 10:40am

January 8. W1D1

For now, I use the volume phase of the RTS Avatar program as a template to get some volume in over the next few months, or until I decided that competing is on the horizon. For the first few weeks, I'm doing more direct back hypertrophy work and slightly less benching. Am also swapping out pin squats for pause squats and a few other things like that.

Squat:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
* sleeves *
100kg x 5
* belt *
120kg x 4
130kg x 4
135kg x 4
127.5kg x 4
127.5kg x 4
127.5kg x 4

Up to x4 @9. Few shakey reps here and there due to losing back tension, but I was able to correct them for the following rep. Nice having this awareness.

Bench:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 4
80kg x 4
85kg x 4
80kg x 4
80kg x 4
80kg x 4

Up to x4 @9. Could possibly have gone higher but something was off. Not sure what. Probably because I didn't get my favourite rack this morning and being a creature of habit, that can cause issues.

BTN press:
20kg x 5
25kg x 5
30kg x 5
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
40kg x 5
40kg x 5
40kg x 5
40kg x 5

Up to x8, repeat. Banged the bar off the back of my head a few times but aside from that, grand.

Grand day.

Mr. CooL ICE · 09-01-2018 10:24am

January 9. W1D2

Deadlift (conv):
70kg x 5
90kg x 5
110kg x 5
130kg x 4
145kg x 2
145kg x 1

sumo:
130kg x 1
140kg x 4
132.5kg x 4
132.5kg x 4

Up to x4 @9. Recorded my form for the 145s and it was terrible; rounded back despite feeling ok. Decided there and then that I'll go back to faking it. Sumo felt solid then, even if the 140 wasn't near a 9

SSB squat:
60kg x 6
80kg x 6
90kg x 6
85kg x 6
85kg x 6
85kg x 6

Up to x6 @9. The 90 wasn't quite a 9 but I'm not quite used to the movement yet, so played it safe for now. Felt the bar pushing my forward but was able to fight against it. Also, my lack of conditioning may have been a limiting factor too.

OHP/pullup superset:
20kg x 5/BW x 4
30kg x 5
40kg x 4
45kg x 4/BW x 6
45kg x 4/BW x 6
45kg x 4/BW x 6
45kg x 4/BW x 5
45kg x 4

Wasn't intending on supersetting these and was going to do +5kg for pullups, but time was limited today so did what I could to get the work done. Also, conditioning was letting me down.

Disappointed with how crap my conventional deadlifting is but sumo has felt good for a long time, so may as well work on getting the numbers up for that instead.

Mr. CooL ICE · 11-01-2018 10:53am

January 11. W1D3

Pause squat:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 5
120kg x 5
112.5kg x 5
112.5kg x 5
112.5kg x 5

Up to x5 @9. Got an achey lower back midway through the 120. Went off and foam rolled my glutes and hams which I had forgotten to do, but no joy. Knew I was bracing my back correctly, which is the usual culprit of squats feeling crap. Realised before last set that I hadn't been bracing my feckin core correctly. I never do that! And then last set felt piss easy. Ugh.

Bench (tng):
20kg x 6
40kg x 6
60kg x 6
70kg x 6
80kg x 6
87.5kg x 6
82.5kg x 6
82.5kg x 6
82.5kg x 6

Up to x6 @9. Nice to know I could probably rep 92.5x6, which would be a TNG rep PR.

Thumbs down lateral raise:
2.5kg x 20
2.5kg x 20
2.5kg x 20
2.5kg x 20

Had only a rough idea of what I would do here. Figured I'd go AMRAP up as far as 15 but decided to move on and stopped at 20. Last two sets, I was grimacing in pain for the last ~5 reps.

2.5kg might seem small, but I'm keeping with the principal laid out in a few medial/rear delt hypertrophy guides I read whereby they specify to keep the weigh low and reps high. Might aim for 5kg x 15 in the future if this becomes too easy.

Grand day.

Alf Veedersane · 11-01-2018 12:54pm

Better off keeping the lateral raises lighter and doing them properly for higher reps than going heavier and doing a triple extension to do them and getting less work on the delts.

Same as things like face pulls...people go heavier and end up getting less benefit for the muscles they want to hit.

Mr. CooL ICE · 12-01-2018 9:57am

January 12. W1D4

Pendlay rows:
40kg x 6
60kg x 6
70kg x 6
75kg x 6
80kg x 6
75kg x 6
75kg x 6
75kg x 6

Up to x6 @9. Had a good bit of accidental leg drive towards the end of the drop sets.

Close grip bench:
40kg x 6
60kg x 6
70kg x 6
77.5kg x 6
72.5kg x 6
72.5kg x 6
72.5kg x 6

Up to x6 @9. Had it in my head that leg drive wasn't important for a triceppy exercise, but then corrected that when I almost failed the 70kg warmup. Think I was confused with JM press setups. Arms were ready to fall off by the end.

Reverse hyper:
70kg x 6
90kg x 6
90kg x 6
90kg x 6

Up to x6 @8, repeat. Am out of practise with these. There was always room left in the tank but trying not to use momentum was the hardest bit.

Overhead plate raise:
10kg x 10
10kg x 15
10kg x 15

Used a bumper plate instead of small plate and it made the top portion easier. Wanted a few more sets of these but time was an issue.

Grand day

Mr. CooL ICE · 15-01-2018 10:40am

January 15. W2D1

Squat:
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
* sleeves *
100kg x 5
* belt *
120kg x 5
135kg x 5
140kg x 5
132.5kg x 5
132.5kg x 5
132.5kg x 5

Up to x5 @9. Wanted to call 135 a top set because last week was 135x4, but the voices in my head told me to stop being a pussy and that I was capable of more. Sure enough, 140 was a 9. The drop sets damn near killed me though.

Bench:
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 5
85kg x 5
80kg x 5
80kg x 5

Up to x5 @9. The 85 was a 9.5, as was the 2nd drop set, so I called it quits at that. I think I was genuinely fcuked after squats.

Klokov press:
20kg x 5
30kg x 7
30kg x 7
30kg x 7

Up to x7 @8, repeat. Was running short on time so rushed warmups. Was hoping for another two sets. Oh well.

Good day.

Sets of faahve

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