I didn’t have as much time at the gym today, so I opted to cut everything down by 1 set and bump up the reps. So like instead of 5×10 aim for 4×12.

While that helped on time, it also showed something else that I need to work on: putting myself fully into every set.

I pace myself for sure. I know I have 5 sets to go, so I’ll pace for those 5 sets to ensure I get them. In general that’s good because there’s something to that effect. But I think sometimes I should strive to be fully there for each set and not pace it. So like instea of 1 group of 5 sets, I have 5 groups of 1 set, if you will. That each and every set is fully balls-to-the-wall. Probably not something to do every time, but sometimes yeah… this would be good.

Doing this somewhat today was really good. I actually felt today was more productive and not as exhausting. That’s gotta be a good thing.

On shrugs, I did the first set Meadows-style. While resting between sets, I did some “air shrugs” and found pinching my shoulder blades together was something I wasn’t doing. Remember, I’m trying to fix my posture during shrugs so I don’t kill my spine. I then opted to do the remaining sets trying to keep my shoulders pulled back and just shrugging normally (no 3-second hold). The goal was to just have the 1 “warm-up” set and then have the other sets be with the shoulders back and just rep-out.

Ended doing the curls 21-style. Just thought I’d try it. Nice pump but I question if it’ll do anything truly useful. Might be something where if I had a dedicated arm day and did a lot of direct biceps work, just 1 set of things to finish and away I go. shrug

In other news, I start to rethink the 5/3/1 approach. I’ll say that doing something like normal 5/3/1 followed by Joker Sets, followed by first-set-last (in the 3-5 sets of 5-8 reps) seems pretty appealing. But then I start think about how damn beat up I get and that’s not good. But I dunno… with RP fueling my diet, I may be able to pull it off. That was one big appeal of Strong-15 was not feeling as beat up. So I dunno. Back to waffling I guess.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Basebuilding

Chins

• BW x 8
• BW x 5
• BW x 4
• BW x 3

BB Rows

• 115 x 12
• 115 x 12
• 115 x 12
• 115 x 10

BB Shrugs

• 70e x 12
• 70e x 15
• 70e x 15
• 70e x 15

Wide, Neutral-grip Lat Pulldowns

• 130 x 12
• 130 x 12
• 130 x 12

Hammer Curls

• 30e x 10
• 30e x 8
• 30e x 6
• 30e x 6

BB Curls (21’s style)

• 45 x 21’s
• 35 x 21’s
• 35 x 21’s