Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building

• Incline Press
  • 45 x 5
  • 45 x 5
  • 110 x 5
  • 130 x 4
  • 150 x 3
  • 180 x 2
  • 200 x 1
  • 155 x 14
  • 155 x 4
• DB Bench Press
  • 60e x 10
  • 60e x 8
  • 60e x 7
  • 60e x 6
  • 60e x 6
• Behind the Neck Press
  • 90 x 8
  • 90 x 8
  • 90 x 7
• BB Upright Row
  • 55 x 15
  • 55 x 15
  • 55 x 15
  • 55 x 12
  • 55 x 11
• Tricep Punchdowns
  • 70 x 40 (each arm)

A solid enough day.

I did try plowing through the reps… so close to 15. I actually went for a 15th rep but as soon as the bar was on my chest it was evident it was not coming back up. I thought I had it in me, I thought wrong. 🙂 So it was a big heave-fest getting it up. I did get it up, took a bunch of effort, and that took a lot out of me as you can see by the later weights. I was cleanly set to go up to 60’s on the DB bench pressing, but I think I lost a bit due to pushing it too far on the inclines. Oh well, I don’t feel bad about it, but I won’t count the 15th rep.

That all said, I think that all my injuries are fading pretty well. Ankle feels really good, shoulder feels good. I think my chest and back days are both settling in well, and just my squat/leg day needs to still come up some, to find really where my work weight is at. I don’t think I’m too far off from finding it, just not there yet.

I’ve been flipping through Paul’s 3 books working to absorb more of his philosophy. I have started thinking about longer-term plans now, as I emerge from this transition period. Yes, I really like Paul’s stuff. I loved 5/3/1, it really did a lot for me, but I cannot deny I felt more beat-up on the program — it’s a lot of lower-rep heavier lifting. It doesn’t have to be that way, of course, but that’s just me. Still, I love 5/3/1 and recommend it highly because it’s solid and well-rounded (principles, protocols, programs… all levels can use it, it’s just good stuff and it works if you do). It’s been fun switching to Paul’s work tho. Many same philosophies and principles as 5/3/1 (stands to reason, given Jim and Paul are friends and talk often about such matters), but certainly a different approach. And since I’m not in a pure strength-building mode, well… yeah, Paul’s stuff is fun to explore right now.

I’m thinking that once I get my weights where they need to be, I will take a trip on Paul’s specific programs, probably based around his basebuilding approach. I will readjust all my weights to match his programmed percentages, then try the 6 weeks of mass building, 1 off, 6 weeks of mas building, 1 off, then 5 weeks (or whatever it is) of basebuilding, then 1 off, then a “strength peaking cycle”, and well…. just see how it all goes. See how Paul’s protocols work out for me overall.

If nothing else so far I can say, I feel a lot less beat up. I do feel strong, but can’t really comment where my strength lies since 1. I’m not lifting apples to apples compared to what I did before (before it was all flat bench, now it’s all incline bench), 2. I’m still coming back up on things (e.g. squat). I can say I’m getting bigger. It’s quite obvious in the mirror that things are growing (huzzah, traps!). This is all good.

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building

BB Rows

• 140 x 8
• 140 x 8
• 140 x 8
• 140 x 8
• 140 x 7

Seated Cable Rows

• 90 x 15
• 90 x 15
• 90 x 15

Shrugs

• 140 x 15
• 140 x 15
• 140 x 15
• 140 x 15

Wide, Neutral-grip Pulldowns

• 90 x 15
• 90 x 15
• 90 x 15
• 90 x 15
• 90 x 15

BB Curls

• 40 x 12
• 40 x 12
• 40 x 12
• then drop set to 30, then 20, amarp

Solid day. I continue to work on having slower, more controlled movements, especially the negative.

Big experiment was dropping my shrug weight down (just used the same weight as the rows, so I didn’t have to futz with the bar). Shrug up, then really slow down. Yeah, that was pretty killer.

I can tell this is about the best my back has responded to work. Heavy-ish weights, higher reps (8-15), slower movement especially on the negative. Yeah, this works.

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building

• Squat
  • BW x 10
  • BW x 10
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 145 x 5
  • 175 x 4
  • 205 x 3
  • 235 x 2
  • 265 x 1
  • 185 x 13
  • 185 x 6
• Stiff Leg Deadlift
  • 195 x 8
  • 195 x 8
  • 195 x 8
• Leg Press
  • 160 x 15
  • 160 x 15
  • 160 x 15
  • 160 x 15
• Lunge
  • BW x 10e (5, switch, 5, switch, etc.)
  • BW x 10e (5, switch, 5, switch, etc.)
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 35 x 15
  • 35 x 15
  • 35 x 15

Happy with today. Weights and reps are going up. My work-capacity seems to be improving too. All this leg work at higher reps (with heavy weight, relatively speaking) is really killing me. Plus, I only take about 1 minute of rest between sets, so I never fully recover. It all adds up. But every week I get a little better, so it’s all good.

Just going to keep going, slow but sure. I’ll get back to where I was eventually.

Not one of my best days

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building

• Incline Press
  • 45 x 5
  • 45 x 5
  • 110 x 5
  • 130 x 4
  • 150 x 3
  • 180 x 2
  • 200 x 1
  • 155 x 12
  • 155 x 5
• DB Bench Press
  • 55e x 10
  • 55e x 10
  • 55e x 10
  • 55e x 10
  • 55e x 10
• Behind the Neck Press
  • 90 x 8
  • 90 x 8
  • 90 x 6
• BB Upright Row
  • 50 x 15
  • 50 x 15
  • 50 x 15
  • 50 x 15
  • 50 x 15
• Tricep Punchdowns
  • 70 x 40 (each arm)

Just not feeling it today. Been mighty tired as of late. In part because of simple lack of enough sleep, but then also a lot of overwork. It’s my own fault, and I just have to resolve to get to bed earlier and ensure a better night’s sleep each night.

So I wasn’t feeling it when I started, as witnessed by fewer reps on the AMAP+50% set vs last week. But again, so interesting how an extra grinding rep or 2 there affects the entire rest of the session. I cranked out the DB presses great, and the BNP was even better — I found myself hitting a good groove and going all the way down, touching the bar to the base of my neck (often it doesn’t get down the far). So things got better as I went along, but still, today just didn’t feel hot.

Ah well, these days happen. At least I still got in there and worked.

My back seems to respond to slower work.

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building

BB Rows

• 135 x 8
• 135 x 8
• 135 x 8
• 135 x 8
• 135 x 8

Seated Cable Rows

• 90 x 15
• 90 x 15
• 90 x 13

Shrugs

• 185 x 20
• 185 x 20
• 185 x 17
• 185 x 15
• 185 x 15

Wide, Neutral-grip Pulldowns

• 90 x 15
• 90 x 15
• 90 x 15
• 90 x 13
• 90 x 12

BB Curls

• 40 x 12
• 40 x 12

20 minutes elliptical

While on paper it doesn’t look like much progress, it is.

I am working to be a bit more bodybuilder-like in what I do, at least for any exercise that isn’t a power/strength movement (e.g. the 5,4,3,2,1 sets of bench/squat). I’m trying to not just move weight through space, but feel the muscle working and have the muscle really do the work. Trying to have a slower pace, not any sort of 2-0-4-0 type of tempo, but again to move slow enough and have enough of a little pause or hold or whatever to avoid momentum such that if I suddenly had to change direction I could without overshooting. That does put more emphasis on the negative (eccentric) part of the movement.

And boy, what a difference it’s making.

It’s rare that I feel my back work. I get a nice forearm and biceps pump, and something to my back, but rarely does my back (esp. the lats and traps and such) feel like they’ve been worked in any way. Sometimes I get it, but not often. Today? Really got it. I tried to make every movement something I can feel and really control. Now, shrugs, I think I’ll drop the weight on those and make them slower because I know those aren’t being done that way (I do it like Marc Rippetoe describes, which is basically like trying to clean up a barbell that’s too heavy). Or maybe I won’t and just see how many reps I can still muster and adjust from there.

Also, I’m trying to ensure I move from the elbow. I don’t want this to be a big biceps workout. Have all the movement come from the elbow, and really focus on the back muscles. I don’t get that so much with those wide-neutral-grip lat pulldowns… so I may try playing with the grip more. But all in all, yeah….

So on paper, it doesn’t look like much, but it’s progress. Just gotta keep at it. Probably need at least 3 months of this before I can really pass judgement.

ooopf.

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building

• Squat
  • BW x 10
  • BW x 10
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 165 x 4
  • 195 x 3
  • 225 x 2
  • 255 x 1
  • 185 x 12
  • 185 x 5
• Stiff Leg Deadlift
  • 195 x 8
  • 195 x 8
  • 195 x 6
• Leg Press
  • 135 x 20
  • 135 x 20
  • 135 x 20
  • 135 x 20
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 35 x 15
  • 35 x 15
  • 35 x 15
  • 35 x 12
• 20 minutes elliptical
• Foam Rolling

Happy to continue working my weights back up on squats. Everything is slowly going up. One thing I’m happier about is building up my work capacity. You spend all this time working at low reps, so things like 20 reps just kill you. It’s a slow process, slower than I’d like, but I see the progress from week to week so I just keep going.

Ankle continues to feel better, especially evident when I do the calf raises.

Today was….

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building

• Incline Press
  • 45 x 5
  • 45 x 5
  • 110 x 5
  • 130 x 4
  • 150 x 3
  • 180 x 2
  • 200 x 1
  • 155 x 14
  • 155 x 5
• DB Bench Press
  • 55e x 10
  • 55e x 10
  • 55e x 8
  • 55e x 8
  • 55e x 8
• Behind the Neck Press
  • 90 x 8
  • 90 x 6
  • 90 x 6
• BB Upright Row (wide grip)
  • 50 x 15
  • 50 x 15
  • 50 x 15
  • 50 x 15
  • 50 x 13
• Tricep Punchdowns
  • 70 x 40 (each arm)

Today was… what it was.

The lifting actually went OK, but my brain was NOT there. Had a very long day at KR Training on Saturday, and Sunday was a weird thing trying to sleep/rest but my brain didn’t want to so tho I dozed I never got solid rest. So walking into the gym this morning was very much an “I don’t wanna!” moment. I even thought about making it a “jack shit” day after inclines, but just kept going. I felt good, had a good session. But damn I’m still tired. Must work to remedy that over the course of the week.

I am always amazed at how one more rep can affect the rest of the session. I did 155 for 12 last week, and got 14 this week. But the 14th did involve lifting my butt off the bench (didn’t plan that, but it wasn’t going back into the rack without it, given I have no spotter). But that grinding took a bunch out of me. Always find that interesting.

Tried upright rows with a wider grip, sort of thing where when my upper arms are parallel to the ground, my lower arms are 90º angle. I did have to have a very slight forward lean to make my shoulder happy, but it worked alright as long as I kept that groove. It felt like there was more muscle involved and I got more out of it than narrower grips (relative to this grip). I’ll probably go with it for a while.

Just was what it was… need sleep otherwise. 🙂

Oh yeah… negatives!

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building

BB Rows

• 135 x 8
• 135 x 8
• 135 x 8
• 135 x 8
• 135 x 7

Seated Cable Rows

• 90 x 15
• 90 x 12
• 90 x 12

Shrugs

• 185 x 20
• 185 x 15
• 185 x 15
• 185 x 15
• 185 x 15

Wide, Neutral-grip Pulldowns

• 85 x 15
• 85 x 15
• 85 x 15
• 90 x 15
• 90 x 15

Incline DB Curls

• 20 x 10
• 25 x 8
• 25 x 6

BB Curls

• 20 x 50

I forgot… more stress on the negative. I just kept zooming along, “gee this feels light”, oh yeah — negative! I remembered that on my 3rd set of pulldowns. Makes a huge difference.

I think it was in something Paul Carter wrote, but the speed isn’t like a 4 count or something. It’s a speed at which I could easily and immediately (without overtravel) change direction if I had to. That works better for me in terms of finding the right pace, than trying to count to some arbitrary number. I did discover that having a hold would be good too, like pull down, hold a moment… not so much for the hold, but to eliminate the momentum. I’ll keep working on it, because I’m just not used to working this way.

Not much else to report. Was an 80% day, so I’ll take it.

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building

• Squat
  • BW x 10
  • BW x 10
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 125 x 5
  • 155 x 4
  • 185 x 3
  • 215 x 2
  • 245 x 1
  • 185 x 10
  • 185 x 5
• Stiff Leg Deadlift
  • 185 x 8
  • 185 x 8
  • 185 x 8
• Leg Press
  • 135 x 15
  • 135 x 15
  • 135 x 15
  • 135 x 15
• Lunge
  • BW x 10e
  • BW x 10e
  • BW x 5e
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 30 x 15
  • 30 x 15
  • 30 x 15
• 10 minutes elliptical

This was pretty good. I’m happy to be working my way back up with squats. Geez… I never thought I’d use the words “happy” and “squats” in the same sentence. 🙂

I realized I haven’t used a belt in a long time… few months? I’m OK with that. Once I get to a point where things are a struggle beltless, I’ll add the belt and keep going up.

The 245 went up pretty easily, so I’m going to continue upping the work-up weights by another 10#. Just going to keep doing that until I find my level. The 50% weight I upped by 10# as an audible (planned on 175) and happy I did. I think I’ll stay here for a little while tho, given I only got 10 reps.

Everything else went alright for the most part. I did stop lunges early because my legs were so exhausted by that point, I found myself wobbling too much and my ankle isn’t worth the risk.

One thing I thought about tho…..

Frequency.

When I was doing 5/3/1, I found that 4x week (typical 5/3/1 program) was too much. I tried a spell doing 2x week, and that was too little. That whole adaptation/supercompensation curve thing that Rippetoe talks a lot about in his books, in terms of trying to time recovery and when to work again. But it’s not even so much about number of times per week, but how often you hit whatever you’re working. On 3x/week 5/3/1 I was actually hitting upper body about every 5 days, and lower body about every 5 days. On this LRB setup, I’m hitting things about every 7. Granted, I’m hitting upper body every 4 days, but it’s a different setup (pull vs. push; whereas 5/3/1 was always push as a main, and pull assistance). Lower body is once every 7 days.

Is this enough for me?

I don’t know.

It’s too early to tell because I’m still working up from the injury — the weights I’m using aren’t fully pushing me yet. Plus I figure I can’t really get a handle on things until I’ve been with it for at least 3-6 months. I mean, sometimes you can tell much faster, but so far with this I can’t know for sure yet. And in some respects, I think that’s a good sign. I do like what I’m doing, it’s a good change, a different challenge — I mean, only 1 minute of rest between sets is kicking my ass. 🙂

But it’s something I think about as an interesting variable.

It was a good day.

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building

• Incline Press
  • 45 x 5
  • 45 x 5
  • 110 x 5
  • 130 x 4
  • 150 x 3
  • 180 x 2
  • 200 x 1
  • 155 x 12
  • 155 x 6
• DB Bench Press
  • 55e x 10
  • 55e x 10
  • 55e x 8
  • 55e x 8
  • 55e x 8
• Behind the Neck Press
  • 90 x 8
  • 90 x 8
  • 90 x 7
• BB Upright Row
  • 60 x 12
  • 60 x 12
  • 60 x 12
  • 60 x 12
  • 60 x 10
• Tricep Punchdowns
  • 70 x 40 (each arm)
• 20 minutes elliptical

Today felt very good. Went up in weight on everything, reps were solid. Felt good.

I thought that I should continue upping my incline weight by another 5# next week, but decided against it. That 1 rep shouldn’t be a 1RM, it should be a good working max, so even if I have a crappy day I can still hit it. I know I could go up, but…. not worth it right now. Focus on getting the 50% sets to break rep records there, and also across the board because I went up in weight on just about everything and reps were almost there across the sets. So… I think I’m settling into the groove of Paul’s program now. Rep records.