Today was different. I worked out at The Gym Maui.

I’m in Maui for my younger sister’s destination wedding, but that doesn’t mean I stop lifting! 🙂

It’s a pretty cool gym. From the pictures on the wall, I get the feeling it’s been around for a few decades. You can tell at the core it’s a hardcore bodybuilding gym, but it’s obviously evolved to the changing face of the modern fitness industry. When I was looking for a gym to visit while in Maui, it seemed to fit my needs the best. That said, it’s not 100% to my needs – I lift more in a strength/powerlifting style, and The Gym Maui is more bodybuilding oriented. That’s not to say it’s a bad gym — it’s great, actually, and I was able to do all I needed without problem.

But for example, the bench. The uprights weren’t actually upright, but were arched and the hooks were deep. Plus, there was no adjustment. As a result, pressing the bar out of the hooks was awkward because it was a little further behind and it was almost a half-press for me — just not the best leverages here. Then when you want to rack it, you want to hit the uprights then come down into the hooks, but the uprights were swayed back so you had a long way to travel to hit the uprights — again, not great when you’ve got a lot of weight in your hands. There was another bench that had straight uprights, but the hooks were even lower and the bench had a squishy cushion (not good for stabliity). Ah well. It’s minor nitpicks, but I’m happy with things overall. Frankly, seeing all those Hammer Strength machines made me drool a little bit. 🙂

But also, things were simply different. Many of my movements today were on selectorized machines, and things were just slightly different. Different gearing, different pulley diameters, counter weights, etc. and one’s numbers can’t be quite the same. So I adjusted as I could so I could still get good work. Those Cybex selectorized machines tho – very very smooth.

All this to say, if you just look at the numbers this session may not look like a progression, but from a workload perspective, it was.

Pulldowns were fine. One big takehome from running RP’s MPT is putting pulldowns first and going heavy on them — I’ve always put pulldowns as a later movement, but putting them first and going heavy? It works well!

Benching was a little bit of ego today. I was scheduled to do 220 but I did 225 because I hate the “almost-next-wheel” weights: 130, 220, 310, etc.. Stupid I know, but whatever. I enjoyed the session.

I did skip ab work because I did need to get going. Got a late start, and I’ve got things to do around the island today (like visiting Keālia Pond.

RP Physique, Mesocycle 1.1

• Neutral-Grip Pulldown
  • 90 x 10
  • 130 x 5
  • 160 x 9
  • 160 x 8
  • 160 x 7
  • 160 x 7
  • 160 x 6
• Wide-Grip Pulldown
  • 130 x 8
  • 120 x 9
  • 120 x 8
  • 120 x 8
  • 120 x 8
  • 120 x 8
• Underhand EZ-Bar Row
  • 125 x 10
  • 125 x 10
  • 125 x 10
  • 125 x 10
  • 125 x 9
• Cable Upright Row
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 10
• Bench Press
  • 45 x 10
  • 135 x 5
  • 185 x 3
  • 225 x 6
  • 225 x 6
  • 225 x 6
  • 225 x 6
  • 225 x 6
  • 225 x 5
• Incline Wide-Grip Bench Press
  • 155 x 10
  • 155 x 10
  • 155 x 9
  • 155 x 8
  • 155 x 8
  • 155 x 6

Last week my “lower” day was pretty bad, so I had to auto-regulate down on this workout. I was glad I did. I felt like I got good work, but not wrecked. My lower back continues to be a little nagging on me, but I know that’s just from the workload – so this is good.

I pushed decently hard, but again not out to kill myself here. Not ideal for the 4th week of the cycle, but better to get some work than to kill myself and sacrifice the whole macrocycle.

One odd thing out of this? Heavy Skullcrushers give me one heck of a pump. My guess? I have to move slow, so it’s a lot of time-under-tension.

Anyways, that’s that.

RP Physique, Mesocycle 1.1, week 4

• High Bar Squat
  • bar x 10
  • 135 x 5
  • 185 x 3
  • 230 x 10
  • 230 x 10
  • 230 x 8
  • 230 x 6
• Front Squat
  • 160 x 10
  • 160 x 10
  • 160 x 8
  • 160 x 8
• Seated Leg Curl
  • 125 x 10
  • 125 x 10
  • 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 8
• Skullcrushers
  • 50 x 10
  • 70 x 5
  • 100 x 8
  • 100 x 8
  • 100 x 8
  • 100 x 8
  • 100 x 6
  • 100 x 6
• Military Press
  • 125 x 8
  • 125 x 8
  • 125 x 8
  • 125 x 6
  • 125 x 6
  • 125 x 5

Week 4. The big “reaching overload” week.

All went pretty well. I really think they did a great job at properly graduating the weeks here. So long as you are honest in your assessments when filling out the “seed data”, things do tend to progress well week over week.

My triceps are killing me tho. 🙂

Dips. Man, I forgot how much I love/hate them.

BB Rows. Technically was to do 180 today, but eh – why not 185 for that nice round plate math. Again, it’s the final week, intended for some intentional overreach. I was feeling good, so why not.

I did have to bail on the situps. Session was already 2.25 hours long (ugh) and I had to get home for an early morning meeting.

1/fail, 2-3 minutes rest.

RP Physique, Mesocycle 1.1

• Incline Medium Grip Bench Press
  • bar x 10
  • 95 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 195 x 8
  • 195 x 8
  • 195 x 8
  • 195 x 7
  • 195 x 7
  • 195 x 6
• Dips
  • BW x 9
  • BW x 8
  • BW x 8
  • BW x 8
  • BW x 8
  • BW x 7
• Close-Grip Bench Press
  • 150 x 8
  • 150 x 8
  • 150 x 8
  • 150 x 7
  • 150 x 6
• Barbell Bent Over Row
  • bar x 10
  • 95 x 5
  • 135 x 3
  • 185 x 8
  • 185 x 8
  • 185 x 8
  • 185 x 7
  • 185 x 7
  • 185 x 6
• Narrow-Grip Pulldown
  • 140 x 10
  • 140 x 9
  • 140 x 9
  • 140 x 8
  • 140 x 8
  • 140 x 7
• Upright Rows
  • bar x 10
  • 75 x 5
  • 105 x 10
  • 105 x 9
  • 105 x 8
  • 105 x 8
  • 105 x 8
  • 105 x 7

Today – not so good.

I’m tired. Sleep has been poor all week – thank you Daylight Saving Time. And some other things have me run down, so despite feeling awesome yesterday, today I was gassed from the get go. I figured with all the wear and tear coupled with the fact tomorrow I’ll be leading classes all day at KR Training, I needed to cut back today to not dig too deep a recovery hole. Let my body recover so I can go into next week strong.

Thus, I treated today kinda like a deload, cutting things in half. Most were scheduled for 5 sets, but I only did 3. Weights were the same as scheduled. Reps were kept like “4/fail” — enough to get some work, but no where near exhaustion.

I am wondering if this is situational, or actually is training-related. That is, is it due to the poor sleep? Or could it be this is too much? The MPT is very high volume, and moderate-to-high frequency. There are a few variables one can change in training: intensity, frequency, volume. Generally it needs to be a balancing act of inverse proportions. For example, if intensity is high, you shouldn’t also have high frequency and high volume; instead, maybe medium frequency and low volume. Well, this variation on the template puts me into high intensity (relatively speaking), so it may be things are too much — and I need to change my regulation on it regarding volume. Not sure, but it’s an interesting thought.

RP Physique, Mesocycle 1.1, week 3

• Hex-Bar Deadlift
  • bar x 10
  • 135 x 5
  • 225 x 3
  • 275 x 1
  • 290 x 6
  • 290 x 6
  • 290 x 6
• Low-Bar Good Morning
  • bar x 10
  • 125 x 8
  • 125 x 8
  • 125 x 8
• Leg Press
  • 135 x 10
  • 245 x 5
  • 370 x 8
  • 370 x 8
  • 370 x 8
• Calves on Leg Press
  • 130 x 8
  • 130 x 8
  • 130 x 8
• Barbell Curl
  • 45 x 10
  • 65 x 5
  • 80 x 8
  • 80 x 8
  • 80 x 8
• Barbell Shrug
  • 185 x 10
  • 275 x 8
  • 275 x 8
  • 275 x 8

Today went well. Not much to say other than that.

Worked to keep rest periods to 2 minutes (except during bench press, 3 minutes). Working 2/fail. I am getting much better about estimating that, and it’s really good when you hit it because the way the templates are structured, if you hit it right it makes for fairly consistent sets. It can be amazing what 1 more rep closer to true failure can take out of you and how much it can destroy later sets (and getting in volume).

One take-home is working on my eye positions, especially when benching. I noticed when benching my eyes tend to look “downward”, and as a result so goes my bar path. I am working on looking more up (trying to see my forehead, if you will), so that I can have a better bar path. Just like when driving a motorcycle, the bike goes where you look? Same with the bar.

RP Physique, Mesocycle 1.1, week 3

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

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