Squat:
1@8: 180 kg
140 kg x 5 x 5 sets (RPE7 across)
Bench:
1@8: 127.5 kg
102.5 kg x 5 x 5 sets (RPE 7, 7, 8, 8, 8.5)
Great start to the week! Squats felt absolutely solid, though I think a few reps on my volume work were slightly high by competition/USAPL standards. Need to work on cleaning that up, but I think last week’s session was an anomaly and not a trend. Bench continues to progress very well. The RPE was creeping up on my volume work, but I think the biggest factor there was that I was keeping the rest short for the first few sets (3~ minutes) and that introduced a bit more fatigue than I expected.
Comp. Sumo:
1@7.5: 190 kg
150 kg x 5 x 5 sets (RPE7 across)
Comp. Press:
1@8: 76 kg
60 kg x 5 x 5 sets (RPE 6, 6, 6.5, 6.5, 7)
Deadlifts were moving slow today, but weren’t slowing down on the way up, if that makes sense. Just slow from floor to lockout. I attempted 200 kg for my single @8, but lost it in front of me just past my knees. Even if I had locked it out it would have been more in the 9-9.5 range today, had the leg shakes going on and it was crawling. I didn’t sleep enough last night and I was feeling pretty sore and fatigued, especially in my legs, from yesterday’s workout. I’m happy I was able to persevere and get my volume in.
Press went fairly well. I took a conservative jump over last week’s top single based on how 70 kg moved today, but 76 kg moved way faster than 70 did. I would easily have had 77.5 @RPE8, but such is the way of things. Gonna try to sleep more/better the rest of the week.
Squat, no belt:
4@7: 135 kg
4@8: 140 kg
4@9: 145 kg
4@9: 140 kg
2-ct. Pauesd Bench:
4@7: 90 kg
4@8: 95 kg
4@9: 100 kg
4@9: 95 kg
Power Cleans:
65 kg x 3 x 5 sets
Video of third set:
Squats were good today. Very good. 2 count paused bench was as well. My top set there one of the workers at the gym did me a double-solid by not only spotting me, but also counting my pauses without me even asking him to. Having someone else count the pause for some reason made the set feel much, much easier.
My interest in the Olympic lifts has been piqued over the last few weeks, so I’m going to work on my Power Clean and learn the Power Snatch and see how I like them in training.
I think the technique on the Power Snatch comes easier to me than the Power Clean. I can definitely clean it up a good bit, but I think practicing it regularly will go a long way toward honing things. I find both of the Power Olympic lifts very fun and am looking forward to including them in my training for a while!
Comp. Squat:
1@8: 182.5 kg
142.5 kg x 5 x 3 sets
130 kg x 5
Comp. Press:
1@8: 80 kg
64 kg x 5 x 4 sets
First 400 pound squat in training today! This is only 2.5 kg short of my third attempt at the USSF Fall Classic, but it was much smoother and easier. Press moved very well today too.
Power Clean technique is improving quickly. Still enjoying the Olympic lifts a lot.
Snatch was pretty good today. I had a definite press-out on the second rep of most of the doubles, but the first reps were, for the most part, solid. I was focusing mainly on timing the jump today.
Bench on the other hand came crashing down to earth today. 120 kg was supposed to be around RPE7, but it was at least RPE8, maybe even 8.5 based on how slow it came off my chest. I think Benching after Pressing in the week combined with benching immediately after snatching are big contributing factors. Hopefully this was more of a blip on the radar and next week will go better.
The Split Jerk felt much more natural and was way easier to learn than the Clean or the Snatch. I pressed out my 5th single at 75 kg because some fatigue was kicking in and I was power cleaning the weight first instead of using blocks.
Deadlifted conventional today and it felt pretty good. Pulling Sumo for the last month helped me learn to initiate the pull with my legs and do a better job of keeping my back in extension. Compared to Sumo, doing volume work Conventional is exhausting.
Front Squat:
4@7: 75 kg
4@8: 85 kg
4@9: 90 kg
2@lost-hand-positioning-and-almost-dropped-the-bar: 90 kg
More pressing-out on the snatches than I would have liked, but a lot of the reps were solid and I feel like the technique is starting to click. A couple of the reps were almost perfect.
Front squats are hard. I’m trying to figure out hand positioning so that my wrists aren’t intercepting (what feels like) the entire load at the bottom and I think the first set at 90kg was pretty good on this. The repeat set on the other hand was horrendous. Still learning!
While reflecting on training over the weekend, I came to grips with the fact that I don’t really have time to both continue training for strength and to learn the Olympic lifts at this point. So, I’m going to focus on strength.
Squats went well today. The RPE on my top single was a little higher than I would like, but it also ties my all-time PR at 185 kg, so I’m really happy with that. Press was great and I did some lat pull downs to finish off the workout.
Conventional Deadlift:
195 kg x 1@8
155 kg x 4 x 4 sets
2 ct. Paused Bench:
95 kg x 4@7
100 kg x 4@8 x 3 sets
SSB Squat:
87 kg x 6@6
92 kg x 6@7
97 kg x 6@8 x 2 sets
Conventional Deadlifts were the best today that they’ve been in months, maybe ever. My setup felt just about perfect for every rep and every rep flew off the floor. Really happy with how these went and looking forward to seeing how much I can push these over the rest of this block.
2-count Bench was solid as well. I put extra attention on retracting my scapulae in my set-up and the result was a much more stable bar path and pause than I’ve had recently.
I was going to do front squats, but they were irritating my wrists even at my second warmup set (60kg), so I switched to the Safety Bar. It makes the plate math weird, but I really like the movement.
Comp. Bench:
130 kg x 1@8
105 kg x 5 x 2 sets
100 kg x 5 x 3 sets
2 ct. Paused Squat:
110 kg x 4
120 kg x 4
130 kg x 4@8 x 3 sets
Pendlay Row:
100 kg x 6 x 4 sets
Hammer Curls:
30 lbs. x 10 x 4 sets
Bench was great today. The top single at 130 kg felt better and much more smooth than my last warmup at 120, so that was a big win and also a PR!
Paused Squats were brutal, but I was able to get all of the reps without grinding much. (I.e. not more than the normal paused-squat grind)
Threw in some curls at the end because my left elbow is starting to hurt a bit again and these have help tremendously in the past. I’ll try to hit them at least once a week and see how they go.
Close-grip Bench:
90 kg x 4@6
95 kg x 4@7
100 kg x 4@8 x 3 sets
Top sumo single was weird, my form felt abysmal, but the bar flew up to lockout and it didn’t look nearly so bad on video. Volume work was rough because I’ve had a cold all week and it’s been compromising my recovery. Looking forward to sleeping in a bit on the weekend.
Today was “Hypertrophy” day so the volume was relatively high, but the individual sets were very manageable. I really liked how quickly today’s session went. I was able to hit all of my sets, except the last couple of squat sets, on 3~ minutes of rest.
Wednesday will be “Power” day and Friday will be “Strength” day, which I expect will be shorter workouts as the volume is much lower.
Bench:
85 kg x 5
100 kg x 4
112.5 kg x 2
120 kg x 1 x 2 sets
Squat:
120 kg x 5
137.5 kg x 4
160 kg x 2
167.5 kg x 1
Conventional Deadlift:
130 kg x 3
150 kg x 2
150 kg x 2
172.5 kg x 2
182.5 kg x 1
Bro Block:
8 Super-sets of:
Lat Pull Downs: 150 lbs. x 5
Hammer Curls: 30 lbs. dumbbells x 5 (first two circuits were x8)
Session time: 1h20m
Today was “Power” day and the workout was indeed a good bit faster. I really, really like working in lower rep ranges. I didn’t have to wait any longer between sets than it took to change the weight on the bar and everything was still under RPE7.
Squat:
140 kg x 5@6 x 3 sets
140 kg x 4@6 x 4 sets
Bench:
122.5 kg x 1@7
102.5 kg x 5@6 x 4 sets (supposed to be 3 sets, oops)
102.5 kg x 4@6 x 4 sets
I thought my 4th volume set was only my 3rd and did 5.
Close Grip Bench:
95 kg x 8 (AMRAP)
Bro Block 1-arm DB Rows: 70 lbs. x 6 reps/arm DB Curls: 25 x 6 reps/arm
8 super-sets in 13:30
Session time: 1h55m
This session took much longer than I expected it to. Next week I think I’ll time my rest on the Squats to keep them moving along. Length aside, this was a great session.
Bench:
100 kg x 3@ <6
110 kg x 1@ <6
117.5 kg x 1@ 6
127.5 kg x 1@7
112.5 kg x 3@7
112.5 kg x 3@7
Deadlift:
150 kg x 2@ <6
150 kg x 2@ <6
172.5 kg x 1 @ <6
185 kg x 1@7~
172.5 kg x 3@6.5
172.5 kg x 3@6.5
150 kg x 4@6
150 kg x 4@6
150 kg x 4@6
150 kg x 4@6
Bro Block Standing DB Press: 45 lbs. Dumbbells x 6 Lat Pull Downs: 150 lbs. x 6
8 Super-sets in 15 minutes
Session time: 1h40m
Solid session today. I was especially happy with how fast all the reps on Bench moved. I was expecting the top single to feel like RPE8 since I was still a bit sore from Monday and got less than 6 hours of sleep last night, but it flew.
The Deadlift structure this week felt very good too. Working up to the top single and then having back-off volume at both 80% and 70% took a while, but it was a good amount of stress without compromising bar speed much (if at all).
No Bro Block today. The workout took nearly 2 hours and I needed to get to work. I went to Disneyland with the wife yesterday and did a lot more walking around than I’m used to, which I think raised the RPE a bit on my squats. Bench and Deadlifts felt better than Squats did, but that’s actually pretty common for me.
Squat:
152.5 kg x 4@7
152.5 kg x 4@7
152.5 kg x 4@7
152.5 kg x 3@6
152.5 kg x 3@6
152.5 kg x 3@7
152.5 kg x 3@7
Bench:
107.5 kg x 4@7
107.5 kg x 4@7
107.5 kg x 4@7
107.5 kg x 3@6
107.5 kg x 3@6
107.5 kg x 3@6
107.5 kg x 3@6
107.5 kg x 3@6
CGBP:
95 kg x 9 (AMRAP)
Bro Block:
Curls: 30 lbs. x 6
Lat Pull-Downs: 150 lbs. x 6
6 Super-sets
Solid workout today, Hanley is really on to something with this programming. I didn’t time my workout because it’s a holiday and I took my time resting and between exercises. Really happy with how progress is going.
Bench:
100 kg x 2@<6
110 kg x 1@<6
120 kg x 1@6 132.5 kg x 1@7.5 (PR!)
DL:
160 kg x 1@<6
175 kg x 1@6~
195 kg x 1@7~
Bro Block:
Seated DB Press: 55 lbs. x 6
DB Rows: 75 lbs. x 6
5 Super-sets
Both bench and deadlift were fantastic today. Hanley had 130 scheduled for bench and 190 for deadlift but noted I could go for 132 and 192-195 respectively if I was feeling excellent and, boy, was I! Very happy with how this programming has been going.
