Running on 3 hours of sleep. There’s a nagging pain in my left lower back (erector). My right knee is feeling wonky. And the prospect of 10+ sets of squats was not appealing to me.

But I did it anyways.

I feel a lot better. Opted to wear my STrong knee sleeves for a little more compression and support, plus I wore my belt. I haven’t worn a belt in many many moons, intentionally. But I felt today a little extra support would be good for me.

The thought of switching programs came into my head — but because of length. Today was about 2.5 hours in the gym, which is a LONG time. It really cuts into the day. That’s the one thing I don’t like about the templates is how the duration grows exponentially over the weeks.

That all said, things went pretty well. Squats (both kinds) felt really good. Skullcrushers, eventually I want to move away from them — to the forehead. I want to get back to having my head slightly off the bench and lowering the bar behind the head — more range of motion. Still, this is kinda nice for going a little heavier.

And you know, one reason that 5/3/1 keeps tugging back at me is pressing. Making it a priority movement, not just a minor accessory. I do miss heavier pressing. Ah well.

Anyways, all in all not too bad. I spent a bunch of time between sets with a foam roller working on my lower back. We’ll see how it goes.

2/fail. Strove to keep rests to 2 minutes, tho the squats got 3.

RP Physique, Mesocycle 1.1, week 3

• High Bar Squat
  • bar x 10
  • 135 x 5
  • 185 x 3
  • 225 x 10
  • 225 x 10
  • 225 x 8
  • 225 x 8
  • 225 x 8
• Front Squat
  • bar x 10
  • 155 x 10
  • 155 x 10
  • 155 x 10
  • 155 x 8
  • 155 x 8
• Seated Leg Curl
  • 125 x 10
  • 125 x 10
  • 125 x 8
  • 125 x 8
  • 125 x 7
• Stair Calves
  • 55 x 10
  • 55 x 10
  • 55 x 10
  • 55 x 10
  • 55 x 10
  • 55 x 10
  • 55 x 10
  • 55 x 10
• Skullcrushers
  • 50 x 10
  • 70 x 5
  • 95 x 8
  • 95 x 7
  • 95 x 7
  • 95 x 7
  • 95 x 7
• Military Press
  • 125 x 8
  • 125 x 7
  • 125 x 7
  • 125 x 7
  • 125 x 7

Week 3. Some weights go up, others hold steady. More sets, and now working 2/fail.

I’m also trying to get rest periods down to 2 minutes, because if I don’t I’ll be in the gym forever — already taking just over 2 hours for this session! As much a I’m enjoying this, the extreme length of the sessions does get difficult to manage when you need to get to work. 😉

That all said, the session overall went well. It’s what it is. Getting better about managing the “x/fail” setup, and I find when that happens, you get more out of it. Most important on the first set to really reign yourself in, because then you can hit things like 2 minute rests and still get more reps out of the remaining sets, especially important now that there’s 5-6 sets per exercise. Bottom line is to ensure an increase in volume session-over-session, week-over-week, and cranking out too hard too soon kills that ability.

One bad thing tho. Felt something twinge in my hip. It wasn’t bad, but enough to give me pause. It may affect squats tomorrow. We’ll see. I have zero desire to injure myself and will shut it down if there’s any problems. One thing I think may be contributing is I’ve not used a belt in a long time — the weights aren’t heavy enough. But I think as a result, I’m not bracing my torso as much as I should. I do brace, but I find that I might wane as the reps go on. I may start wearing my belt again, regardless, to at least give me cues to remember to keep braced.

RP Physique, Mesocycle 1.1, week 3

• Incline Medium Grip Bench Press
  • bar x 10
  • 95 x 10
  • 135 x 5
  • 190 x 8
  • 190 x 8
  • 190 x 8
  • 190 x 8
  • 190 x 6
• Dips
  • BW x 9
  • BW x 9
  • BW x 9
  • BW x 9
  • BW x 7
• Close-Grip Bench Press
  • 145 x 10
  • 145 x 10
  • 145 x 8
  • 145 x 8
• Barbell Bent Over Row
  • bar x 10
  • 95 x 10
  • 135 x 5
  • 175 x 8
  • 175 x 8
  • 175 x 7
  • 175 x 7
  • 175 x 7
• Narrow-Grip Pulldown
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 8
  • 135 x 8
  • 135 x 8
  • 135 x 7
• Upright Rows
  • bar x 10
  • 75 x 5
  • 100 x 10
  • 100 x 10
  • 100 x 8
  • 100 x 8
  • 100 x 8
• Reaching Sit-up
  • 15 x 10
  • 15 x 10
  • 15 x 10
  • 15 x 10

The power in the gym might go out, but the iron keeps working.

Power went out early into the session, because the office/building/industrial park where the gym is is still under construction, so power goes out now and again so they can do electrical work. Annoying, but it doesn’t really stop us. Kinda fun to lift in the dark. There’s a sort of peace, and the lower lights were actually refreshing – when the power came back on, I realized how harsh the lighting was, at least by comparison. I don’t think I want no-lights in general, but it was kinda nice for a bit.

Anyway…

Hex bars are killing me. I want to hate them so much, and I really do hate it when I’m in process of doing them. But I know they’re quite good for me. I expect over time they will really pay off for me.

Good mornings actually went went (you could say I had a good morning… har har). Really focused on keeping my knees slightly bent and not changing that. Strong focus on pushing the hips back and pushing them back through — no back, all hips. If I don’t end up feeling like I’m going all the way down, that’s fine so long as I keep the desired form of the back, lower back, knees, etc, the push, and really get the work in the hamstrings.

Everything else is what it was. I am happy I dropped the weight on the curls; better to get that volume long term, since this isn’t about the weight itself.

Striving to go 2 minutes between sets (tho I went 3 on the hex-bars, and about 1:30 on calf work). 3/fail.

Looking forward to next week, when I can go 2/fail!

RP Physique, Mesocycle 1.1, week 2

• Hex-Bar Deadlift
  • bar x 10
  • 135 x 10
  • 225 x 5
  • 285 x 8
  • 285 x 8
  • 285 x 8
  • 285 x 8
• Low-Bar Good Morning
  • bar x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
• Leg Press
  • 135 x 10
  • 245 x 5
  • 360 x 10
  • 360 x 10
  • 360 x 10
  • 360 x 10
• Calves on Leg Press
  • 125 x 10
  • 125 x 10
  • 125 x 10
  • 125 x 10
  • 125 x 10
  • 125 x 10
  • 125 x 10
• Barbell Curl
  • bar x 10
  • 65 x 5
  • 80 x 8
  • 80 x 8
  • 80 x 8
  • 80 x 7
• Barbell Shrug
  • 185 x 10
  • 270 x 10
  • 270 x 10
  • 270 x 10
  • 270 x 8

Week 2 continues to go well. Things feel dialed in nicely, tho it remains difficult to cut myself off at 3/fail.

For whatever reason, on the drive home I had a serious itch to ditch this cycle and go right back to strength training. I won’t (it’s going to be a long 16 weeks ahead), but for sure I’m itching to get back to more powerlifting-style work.

On a different note, I started to feel the slightest hint of biceps pain again. Ugh. But I blame myself, because I’m pretty sure I know what it’s from. I have slacked off on post-lifting work. I would go upstairs to the stretching area and spend about 10 minutes or so stretching and foam rolling, especially my upper back and shoulders. I firmly believe that’s what helped me overcome the problem last time, so it was bad of me to slack off. In a way it’s good because to be on then off then on then off, to see how it affects me, helps give reinforcement and support to the hypothesis, so it’s not all bad this happened. Still, I have to get back and stay on that train.

It’s one thing I continue to learn as I stay at this after so many years: there are things that may not fit a program or a template or some arbitrary goal. But my overriding goal is that, as I age, to not become decrepit. Thus work I do ultimately must serve that end. For example, when I do finish this entire training cycle and start on a powerlifting cycle, that cycle is unlikely to include things like direct biceps work and calf work, as least as far as the official program goes. But I will keep at least something in there (e.g. 3-4 sets 2x/week) because it’s proven beneficial to me in other ways.

Anyways, as for today, keeping to 3/fail and trying to get the rest periods down to 2 minutes. Also during this exercise’s rest periods, doing any equipment setup for the next exercise. And finally, if I don’t need the warmup sets, don’t bother. I need to keep moving. The sessions are getting too long, so anything I can do to cut it down is good. I mean, simply dropping 1 minute off rests throughout 20-ish sets knocks 20 minutes off the session time, which is significant.

All things lead to increased volume and work.

Couple specific notes.

Pulldowns are fine. I do think long-term I need to keep in mind doing pulldowns first sometimes, so I can get heavier work in with them.

I continue to dig the underhand rows.

Upright rows are still under-shot on weight. Compensate by reducing rest periods.

Bench Press – with the lighter weights, I’m really working on setup and technique. Getting really tight and STAYING tight. Trying to have the bar move like a piston on rails (consistent and stable bar path). And again taking a cue from Boris Sheiko, pausing that first rep (then the rest can be touch-and-go).

RP Physique, Mesocycle 1.1

• Neutral-Grip Pulldown
  • 90 x 10
  • 125 x 5
  • 160 x 10
  • 160 x 8
  • 160 x 8
  • 160 x 7
• Wide-Grip Pulldown
  • 130 x 8
  • 130 x 8
  • 130 x 8
  • 130 x 7
• Underhand EZ-Bar Row
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 8
• Cable Upright Row
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
• Bench Press
  • bar x 10
  • 135 x 5
  • 185 x 3
  • 210 x 8
  • 210 x 8
  • 210 x 7
  • 210 x 7
• Incline Wide-Grip Bench Press
  • 145 x 10
  • 145 x 10
  • 145 x 10
  • 145 x 10
• Slant-board Sit-up
  • 5 x 10
  • 5 x 10
  • 5 x 10

Days like today make me want to get back to strength-based work.

Enjoyed today. Felt good to get a little strain in, but still having to keep “3/fail” in mind. I felt this was overall a bit better because I was keeping it at the higher reps, but yet things felt heavier in a good way.

High-bar. Still not my favorite, but still good. Really working on keeping my eyes at a better position and feeling what my body is not and not watching it.

Front squats are still a great thing. Lower weight, stricter form (keeping as upright as possible so that out of the hole I don’t lean forward), is good stuff.

Skullcrushers were different today. I was trying to use the standard bar, but it was problematic dealing with the uprights/hooks, not having a huge reach-back to get the bar, etc.. Plus, the wrists/torque. So I opted to skip it today and just use an EZ-Bar, picked up from the floor. Interesting that with a narrow grip things felt too heavy, but then I changed to a wider grip and it felt better. I thought that was pretty cool, and I’m going to keep going with that.

Anyways, things feel alright. The road ahead tho will be killer. To that, while last time I ran the templates and rated my workouts always a “1”, on this? I may not. I do need to make sure I evaluate them individually.

RP Physique, Mesocycle 1.1, week 2

• High Bar Squat
  • bar x 10
  • 135 x 5
  • 185 x 3
  • 220 x 10
  • 220 x 10
  • 220 x 8
  • 220 x 7
• Front Squat
  • bar x 5
  • 150 x 9
  • 150 x 9
  • 150 x 8
  • 150 x 8
• Seated Leg Curl
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 7
• Stair Calves
  • 55 x 10
  • 55 x 10
  • 55 x 10
  • 55 x 10
  • 55 x 10
  • 55 x 9
  • 55 x 1=9
• Skullcrushers
  • 50 x 10
  • 70 x 5
  • 95 x 7
  • 95 x 7
  • 95 x 7
  • 95 x 7
• Military Press
  • 120 x 9
  • 120 x 8
  • 120 x 7
  • 120 x 6

Week 2 of the new cycle.

I do hope I didn’t over-estimate on the weights. I think I’ll be OK tho. I mean, I’m still working to stop 3/fail and reps are in the desired 7-10 range, so in the coming weeks as intensity goes up and “x/fail” goes down, it should all work out.

I still feel weird with this approach of getting volume over the course of a week instead of one day. I still have that Arnold “chase the pump” mentality, where by the end of the session you should have that skin-splitting pump. I get a pump, but it’s not skin-splitting. But this is a different approach and methodology, which is sound. I’m just not used to it. But results in the end are what matters. Plus the fact I just don’t feel totally beat up is always a plus.

Since the sessions are going to be getting longer soon, I’m going to try to cut down on rest times. For the heaviest stuff, I’ll still aim for 3 minutes. Most things I want to cut down to 2 minutes, and even 1 minute where I can (e.g. warm-ups, abs, etc.). That should also increase perceived intensity a bit. I won’t do it at the expense of good work, but if I don’t take a little care to vary the rest period times, I’m going to be in the gym forever. 😉

RP Physique, Mesocycle 1.1, week 2

• Incline Medium Grip Bench Press
  • bar x 10
  • 95 x 10
  • 135 x 5
  • 185 x 10
  • 185 x 7
  • 185 x 7
  • 185 x 7
• Dips
  • BW x 8
  • BW x 8
  • BW x 8
  • BW x 8
• Close-Grip Bench Press
  • 140 x 10
  • 140 x 10
  • 140 x 10
• Barbell Bent Over Row
  • bar x 10
  • 95 x 10
  • 135 x 5
  • 175 x 8
  • 175 x 8
  • 175 x 7
  • 175 x 7
• Narrow-Grip Pulldown
  • 130 x 10
  • 130 x 10
  • 130 x 8
  • 130 x 8
• Upright Rows
  • bar x 10
  • 75 x 5
  • 100 x 10
  • 100 x 10
  • 100 x 8
  • 100 x 8
• Reaching Sit-up
  • 5 x 10
  • 5 x 10
  • 5 x 10

OK end to the first week of this new mesocycle approach.

My mind is heavily weighed by stress at work, so things didn’t start out well – I’d try to clear my head, but stuff would just creep back in. I did not want to finish the hex-bar deadlifts because of it, but all the more reason to just press through.

Good mornings may be something I need to keep doing forever, to keep working on technique. You’d think it would be easy, but it’s not. Very easy to turn into a low-back exercise instead of a hamstring exercise. Even if the templates say for me to go up in weight, I may stay here because better technique will take me further on these than more weight will.

Leg press – foot positioning is “medium”. That is, not high, not lot, not narrow, not wide. Just a reasonable mid-way-to-everything foot placement on the plate.

Overestimated the weight on the curls. I’ll adjust.

Otherwise, an alright way to end the first week. Again, I know this meso is going to be grueling, but I expect good results as a consequence. 🙂

3/fail, 2-3 minutes rest (tho 1:30 for calves)

RP Physique, Mesocycle 1.1, week 1

• Hex-Bar Deadlift
  • bar x 10
  • 135 x 10
  • 225 x 5
  • 270 x 10
  • 270 x 9
  • 270 x 8
• Low-Bar Good Morning
  • bar x 10
  • 115 x 10
  • 115 x 10
  • 115 x 8
• Leg Press
  • 135 x 10
  • 245 x 5
  • 345 x 10
  • 345 x 10
  • 345 x 10
• Calves on Leg Press
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
• Barbell Curl
  • bar x 10
  • 65 x 5
  • 85 x 8
  • 85 x 7
  • 85 x 7
• Barbell Shrug
  • 135 x 10
  • 255 x 10
  • 255 x 10
  • 255 x 10

Today was ok, but I have some fine-tuning to do.

All in all happy with today, and generally went as expected for a first week of a new mesocycle. That said, I did have to do a bunch of estimation, especially to ensure I hit the lower-rep range, and my estimates weren’t quite right.

Pulldowns were fine. As an aside, I did like the neutral grips then the wide-grips. That ordering felt good.

The EZ-Bar Underhand Rows I’ve never done before, so I had to make a complete guess on weight. The weight was a little light, but I’m going to go with it because I think I can get more out of it if I keep these really strict — working to row the weight into my hip-crease and below my belly button. Using the EZ-bar was nice because it really kept the extreme torque off the wrists/elbows. I might dig these.

Upright row was way off in weight.

Benching went in too light, and I adjusted it before I did my set. I think I adjusted a hair too heavy for this first week (remembering, stopping 3/fail).

Inclines were too light, but again I think I’ll kept it here considering the road ahead.

So, didn’t really make the mark on the setup, but it’s alright for a first week.

RP Physique, Mesocycle 1.1, week 1

• Neutral-Grip Pulldown
  • 90 x 10
  • 120 x 5
  • 150 x 10
  • 150 x 10
  • 150 x 9
• Wide-Grip Pulldown
  • 125 x 9
  • 125 x 8
  • 125 x 8
• Underhand EZ-Bar Row
  • 40 x 10
  • 75 x 5
  • 115 x 10
  • 115 x 10
• Cable Upright Row
  • 100 x 12
  • 110 x 10
  • 110 x 10
• Bench Press
  • bar x 10
  • 135 x 5
  • 175 x 5
  • 205 x 10
  • 205 x 8
  • 205 x 6
• Incline Wide-Grip Bench Press
  • bar x 10
  • 140 x 10
  • 140 x 10
  • 140 x 10
• Slant-board Sit-up
  • BW x 15
  • BW x 10

When there are a dozen other squat racks free, why do you have to pick the one next to me?

Anyways…

First lower/leg day of the new cycle.

Generally happy with the results. I do want to get back to low-bar squatting someday, but for now this is fine. I’ve said in the past that adding front squats after “back” squats would be good assistance work — and today I started doing that. I like it. It’s humbling.

Calf work continues to be one of those things that I appreciate more and more. My feet are so much happier for the stretch and the strength.

Skullcrushers were a bit different. I did them on a normal/straight olympic bar, and worked to bring the bar to my forehead — so my elbows actually pushed towards my feet a bit instead of being a pure hinge; had to do this to avoid the uprights/hooks. I started to think to myself that maybe I should have just programmed in JM Press instead. Next time.

And the usual first-week stuff: 3/fail, 2-3 minutes rest between sets. I foresee this mesocycle being grueling as the weeks go on. 🙂

RP Physique, Mesocycle 1.1

• High Bar Squat
  • bar x 10
  • 135 x 5
  • 185 x 3
  • 210 x 10
  • 210 x 10
  • 210 x 10
• Front Squat
  • bar x 5
  • 145 x 10
  • 145 x 9
  • 145 x 9
• Seated Leg Curl
  • 115 x 10
  • 115 x 10
  • 115 x 9
• Stair Calves
  • 50 (24kg kettlebell) x 10
  • 50 x 10
  • 50 x 10
  • 50 x 10
  • 50 x 10
  • 50 x 10
• Skullcrushers
  • bar x 10
  • 75 x 5
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 9
• Military Press
  • 115 x 10
  • 115 x 8
  • 115 x 8