Starting Intermediate Work

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21

6/13/18

Deadlifts w/belt: 385x5@7, 395x5@7, 415x5@8.5, 395x2x5@8-8.5–A 5% decrease from a top heavy set seems to capture the RPE fairly well when I’m doing more than 3 sets. I wish I could get these moving up quicker, but I’ll take what I can. I believe I’ll be one of those who can squat more than deadlift fairly soon. I ended LP on a 425x1x5@RPE9.5, without any other deadlifts having come before. I should be back at the 425 in two weeks but at a lower RPE–a la progress. Slow progress.

Bench, 1ct pause: 255x5@6, 265x5@7, 275x2x5@8-8.5, 265x3x5@8–Feeling good on these. Both of my presses seem to be increasing really well, at least judging by the volume and ability to maintain weight throughout some fairly heavy sets.

303 Tempo: 310x8@6, 315x8@7, 320x2x8@8–Man, these suck.

22

6/15/18

3ct Pause Bench: 255x4@7, 265x4@7.5, 285x4@9, 280x4@9–These felt great. The increased volume in pressing movements is really seeming to help.

Squat w/belt: 390x4@6, 405x4@7, 420x2x4@8, 405x4@8–I can presumably squat 500 at this point. I’ll look forward to getting skilled with some heavier weights to give it an actual shot in the near future, after finishing the Bridge. Although, it looks like it has some heavy singles and doubles, which will get me close.

2ct pause DL: 355x4@6.5, 365x4@8, 370x4@8.5, 370x4@9–These were pretty much a guessing game in terms of weight. I should be able to triangulate them after another session.

23

6/17/18

Press: 170x1x5@6.5, 180x1x4@7, 195x5x4@8–Still killing it with my pressing movements. They’re responding extremely well to volume. I’m also adapting to the volume and able to keep my rest time at 3 minutes while retaining a similar weight through all sets.

Pin Squat: 335x1x4@7, 345x1x4@7.5, 355x1x4@7, 370x1x4@8–Man, my RPEs are decided almost entirely by technique in these pin squats. In terms of actual weight, which is supposed to be at RPE 9, I could have probably gone another 20lbs.

Barbell Rows: 225x1x8@6, 227.5x1x8@7, 230x4x8@8-8.5

Now I run a summer camp for a week and will have to catch up with my third training session somewhere in the middle of it….

24

6/24/18

A week with only a light set of squats while running this summer camp. Glad to be done. Had to split this workout into two, doing part last night and part today. I finished benching last night at 11 and called it quits.

Deadlift: 385x1x5@6, 395x1x5@7, 420x1x5@8, 435x1x4@8.5, 420x1x4@8–I screwed the rep schemes up on these and got on track for my last two sets by way of 4s.

1ct Pause Bench: 265x1x4@6, 275x1x4@7, 295x1x3@10, 285x2x4@8-8.5, 275x1x4@8, 265x1x4@8–I tried going for it on that third set. I think I really let out the tension on my arms for that fourth rep when adjusting my arms. It’s good to see where a fail point is either way, and I got back on it with the rest of my sets. I’m surprised by how little difference I feel between 1 ct and 3 ct pause benches.

Squats no belt: 315x1x6@7, 335x1x6@8, 355x2x6@9–nothing special. I’m very tired.

25

6/26

Pause Bench, 3ct: 275x1x3@7, 285x1x3@8, 290x1x3@8.5, 295x1x3@9, 285x1x3@9

Squat/belt 470x1x1@9-9.5, 440x1x4@9, 410x1x4@8, 405x1x4@8–I screwed these up, calculating for an RPE 9 at my top end. It’s great to know I can get 470 up without too many issues other than being slow! However, I’m going to have to take it easy on Thurs to account for the over-exertion here.

Pause DL, 2ct: 340x1x4@7, 360x1x4@8, 375x2x4@9–I at least hit a few mix grip for the practice but otherwise used straps to keep the shoulder work even. I’m considering getting a deadlift bar to better work the hook grip and/or keep an overhand grip longer throughout the warmups. It doesn’t helped that I audibly dislocated a knuckle while rolling, which makes it damned hard to retain an overhand grip. (It doesn’t really hurt until 335 or so, so I forget about it.)

26

6/28/18

I’m very tired today as it was a tough night of rolling last night. I had some full stand-up combat with my friend and instructor, a blackbelt, who’s not the physically strongest but obviously technical (which means I have to use more non-technical energy) and scrappy. In fact, he’s what I’d call Montana strong–an avid outdoorsman and a sort of no-quit mentality. It was a blast, but rolling with him and a couple other tough dudes tuckered me. Today, then, I had to make sure not to push myself too hard on anything but presses, which, given the fact that we only do them once a week on the Bridge and given that I halfway missed a week, I wanted to take very seriously.

Press: 215x1x1@8.5, 197.5x2x4@8, 190x2x4@8–Once my body recovers, I think I could hit a 225 press fairly easily. The proof, however, is in the pudding.

Pin Squats: 345x1x3@7, 365x1x3@8, 385x1x3@9, 365x2x3@9–The set of 385 really wore me out. Part of it was I let the bar roll too far forward and had to essentially come out of the hole with absolutely no stored tension. That was tough, so I dropped the weight, which turned out about right given the fatigue I’d developed.

Barbell Row: 185x1x6@6, 195x1x6@7, 205x1x6@7, 225x2x6@8-8.5, 205x1x6@8–I’ve been around the 225 mark at an RPE 7 at 8 reps. Obviously, that’s not how today worked. I had to be honest and drop the pride and the weight and, despite no inclination to finish these exercises–likely even an active desire to just go shower up–get them done.

27

6/30/18

Deadlift: 455x1x1@7.5, 470x1x1@8.5, 405x1x4@7, 415x3x4@8–A good deadlift PR for me, both the 455 and 470 hit with a mix grip. Switched to straps for the volume.

Pause Bench, 1ct: 315x1x1@7.5, 322.5x1x1@8.5, 290x2x4@8, 280x2x4@8

Beltless Squat: 315x1x6@6, 325x1x6@7, 340x1x6@8, 335x1x6@8, 330x1x6@8, 325x1x6@8

28

7/2/18

Squat: 455x1x1@7, 475x1x1@8.5-9, 425x2x3@8, 415x1x3@8, 410x1x3@8–I probably need to take my top squat down by ten lbs to 465 or so to actually keep it at an 8. The truth is it’s kinda fun seeing what I can do, practicing some truly heavier weights for me. Plus, I’m not convinced I’m gauging these right. It’s tough getting out of the hole, yes, but I really go fairly fast after that. Makes me think I really need to work some volume in pin or paused squats.

Pin Bench: 275x1x3@7, 280x1x3@8, 285x1x3@9, 280x1x3@9, 285x1x3@8.5–I’m finding pin movements are very technical. I got to the third on my last set, and it felt easy. I placed the bar in the right place, and I gotta figure out where that was.

2ct Pause DL: 370x1x3@7, 380x1x3@8, 395x2x3@9

29

7/4/18

Press w/belt: 205x1x1@9 (no belt), 220x1x1@8.5 (w/belt), 205x2x3@8, 197.5x2x3@8

Pin Squat: 350x1x3@6.5, 355x1x3@7, 370x1x3@7, 375x2x3@8.5-9–Good lord these are difficult judge. It doesn’t help that I had to use a belt for a bit just to deal with a little lower back pain, which fixed itself just fine during the sets.

Barbell Row: 225x1x6@6, 230x1x6@7, 235x4x6@8

30

7/6/18

Deadlift: 455x1@something, 480x1@8.5, 440x4x3@8–I was a little worried my deadlifts were lagging, but they’re coming along just fine now. I’ve just needed to get used to singles after all that volume, and a lot of that also comes with getting used to the mixed grip. I should’ve probably started higher than 440 for the volume, but so it goes.

1ct Pause Bench: 330x1@8.5, 315x3@10, 295x3@8, 290x2x3@8–I should have factored in fatigue for that 315. I got it up, but just barely….

Squat, no belt: 320x6@6, 330x6@7, 350x2x6@8, 340x2x6@8–This is where I was hoping my bench would be, but maybe someday :slight_smile:

31

7/8/18

Squat: 480x1@8.5, 430x3@8, 420x3@8–I was concerned that I wasn’t going far enough down on my heavy squats. I recorded myself, and I’m happily getting plenty low!

3ct Pause Bench: 280x3@7, 285x3@8, 290x3@9

2ct pause DL: 375x3@7, 385x3@8, 395x3@8.5

32

7/10

Press: 225x1@8, 235x1@9.5, 205x3@9–Well, I have only a tainted victory on my presses. I videoed myself and found that I was giving a very slight toe-lift at the 235, almost creating a mini-push press. I redid 225 and ensured that I could get that with strict form but was a little tired to try the 235 again. Besides, I was off program doing these. I’ll get it soon…

Pin Squat: 340x4@8, 345x4@8, 355x4@9

Barbell Rows: 235x6@6, 240x6@7, 245x2x7@8

33

7/12/18

It’s my final day of the Bridge, and I’m pretty tired. I rolled hard in jiujitsu last night, got a bad night’s sleep, and am working out fairly unrecovered. I pushed through in both deadlifts and bench and hit some decent PRs, especially with the deadlifts–although the RPEs of my movements were higher than they should have been. I had to back off a lot on squats and have a pretty darned light day for what I’ve been hitting. Now I’ll have three days off and hit the last 7 weeks of the strength training template for a fun online meet. I want to see what kind of numbers I can hit and then move into more parcelled training between jiujitsu and strength training. I got outmaneuvered by a more technical and energetic player last night who couldn’t submit but certainly stymied me, which has me on a friendly but serious warpath to regain some jiujitsu technique and energy.

Deadlift: 455x1@7.5, 500x1@9.5, 455x1@9.5, 445x2@8

1ct Bench: 335x1@9, 300x3@9

Squat: 275x6@6, 285x6@7, 300x2x6@7.5-8

34

I’ve been on vacation this week, if one can count visiting family vacation. I’ve managed to get away and workout, hitting most of my sets. There were mostly nice kilo plates in the gym, so I have some strange numbers. They were fun to practice with either way. I’m now using the Strength Template for about 6 weeks to train for a very unserious but fun online meet. It’s a good excuse to see what I can hit as an early intermediate and use it as a way to set some goals.

7/16

Squat w/belt: 485x1@8.5-9, 415x2x4, 405x2x4

1ct Bench: 340x1@8.5, 290x2x4, 280x2x4

3ct Bench:225x8@6, 235@8x7, 225x6@8, 205x8@8, 185x8@8

7/17

Deadlift w/belt: 485x1@8, 402.3x4@7, 413.4x3x4@8–I lowered my weight a bit on my single so as to not overdo myself on the proportionate volume. I need to do the same with my squat, as excited as I am to hit that 500.

Press w/belt: 226x1@8, 193x4x3@8-9

Didn’t have time to hit my squats today. We had a zoo trip planned, which was unfortunately more miserable than any squats I could have hit.

7/19

2ct Pause Squat: 430x1@8, 385x3@7.5, 402.3x2x3@9

Floor Press:315x1@8, 286.6x3@8, 292.1x2x3@9

Press no belt: 181x6@8, 165.3x8@7, 170.9x2x8@8, 165.3x8@8

7/21

2ct Pause Deadlift: 474x1@9, 440x3x3@8-9–I seemed to have overcome a plateau in deadlifts as I was hitting numbers fairly close to a belted competition deadlift. I’ll be happy to see what happens during my next comp deadlift section.

Touch-n-go bench: 335x1@9, 315x3x3@8-9–I was surprised that these were around the same as a comp bench for me. I have a feeling I’ve just lost the touch with them. Also, the bench I was on had a huge pad and was tall enough that I couldn’t get good leg drive.

SLDL: 253.5x8@5, 275x8@6, 303x8@7–Didn’t get to finish these sets. So it goes. I need to get a more concrete feel for SLDLs.

35

7/24

A tired day. I’m trying to recover from this vacation and 10 days of sub 6 hours sleep. Also, the bourbon. Too much of it…. I pushed myself pretty hard, though, today considering.

Squat w/belt: 475x1@8, 410x4x4–The first rep was a true 8 from what I could tell, which also means that I need to work squats harder. I think I’ve detrained a bit and should be a little higher than this, albeit I may simply be feeling fatigue from last week. I think I’ve allowed my second and third squat days get too light, so I’ll crank those back up.

1ct Bench: 345x1@9, 295x4x4: That first rep was too difficult. I don’t think I got any leg drive into it, so it was harder than it should have been. The rest went fairly smooth.

2ct Bench: 195x8@6, 205x8@7, 225x3x8@8–I’m glad to be hitting some sets of 8. I’d like to better adapt to some time under tension for jiujitsu.

36

7/25

Deadlifts: 490x1@8.5, 430x4x4–I overtshot on the intensity for the volume on these. In all honesty, they weren’t that bad, so I may be undershooting on my singles intensity.

Press: 230x1@9, 195x4x4–Really, the intensity on that single should have been lower. I had poor technique on the lift, other than I DID keep my heels down and can actually press that amount. I may move from a bench to a press focus in the future to get my press to 250, which wouldn’t take too long. Then again, a 400 bench would get me more high fives from my football students :slight_smile:

Squats, no belt: 285x8, 295x8@7, 315x8@7.5, 325x8@8–I got a pressure headache on the last couple of reps here. I’ll have to go hit a final set later today or tomorrow. If these keep up, I may just have to lower the reps to 6, which is still hypertrophically biased but may prevent the headaches from coming on. They hit right at 6 when they come.

37

7/27

2ct Pause Squats: 415x1@8, 400x3@9, 385x3@9, 375x3@9

Floor Press: 315x1@8.5, 305x3@9, 290x3@9, 285x3@9–These were screwy today, and I figured out the reasons: I need to continue to press before squatting to prevent the occasional golfer’s elbow to flare up, and I need to set my j hooks higher off the floor, otherwise I’m de fact doing 1.5 presses for the singles.

Press, no belt: 157.5x8@6, 162.5x8@7.5, 165x2x8@8-9, 155x8@9–I went ahead and switched to the Press 1.5 for these volume presses. I generally use 2.0.

38

7/28

2ct Pause Deadlift: 480x1@9, 445x3@9, 425x3@9, 415x3@8.5

Touch-n-go Bench: 345x1@9, 325x3@9, 315x3@9, 305x3@8.5–I need to adjust up a little on the latter numbers. The fatigue doesn’t seem to be as great. I should probably be at 310 on the bench and 420 or so on the deadlift.

SLDL: 275x8@?, 305x8@7, 320x3x8@8–I suck at judging RPE in high volume sets.

39

7/30

Squat, w/belt: 485@8-8.5, 415x4x4@7-8.5–I’m finally getting the gist of the Strength Template down and getting my numbers correct :slight_smile: Squat’s going up. 485 just wasn’t terribly hard; 455 was much harder since I got out over my toes. I WANT to hit 500 just to do it, but that’ll come soon enough.

1ct Pause Bench: 350@8.5, 297.5x4x4@7-8.5

2ct Pause Bench: 200x8@6, 210x8@7, 230x3x8@8-8.5

40

7/31

Oh Lord, this Strength template is tuckering me out! I don’t think it helped that I had to start on week 6, not having the buildup of frequency/volume that seems to emerge in the first part of it at a bit lesser of an intensity, but, man, I’m tired! So it goes. I’m excited to see if and how the strength manifests itself as the volume and frequency seems to diminish starting next week.

Deadlift: 455x1@7.5, 500x1@10, 420x4x4@8–I accidentally did an extra set here…. Either way, this was one of the hardest set of deadlifts I’ve had to do. That 500 should have been easier, but I think my body’s just tired. For volume, I did more last week, but I was staying pretty close to an RPE 8 throughout with the fours at 420. I probably should have dropped 10lbs or so for the final set or two.

Press: 225x1@8, 230x1@9, 197.5x3x4

Squat, no-belt: 290x8@6, 300x8@7, 310x3x8@8