W1D1 - 3/4/2018
Weight: 73.8kg
High Bar Squat
61 @ 7 -> 10,10,10,10,10
Incline Bench
54.5 @ 7 -> 10,9,8,8,8
Lateral Raise
9.5 @ 7 -> 10,10,9
Chin Up
76.5 @ 7 -> 11,10,8
...and away we go again. Same schedule, calories, and mostly the same exercises. Starting at previous block’s week 2 weights and volumes.
W1D2 - 5/4/2018
Weight: 73.9kg
Deadlift
133 @ 7 -> 8,8,7
DB Bench
26.5 @ 7 -> 10,8,8,8
DB Face Pull
11.5 @ 7 -> 10,10,10
Belt Squat
76 @ 7 -> 10,10,10
BB Curl
35 @ 7 -> 10,10,10
Leaving deadlift volume same as last meso since I’m still a bit wary of my lower back tweak. Felt fine while pulling today, but don’t want to tempt fate.
Couldn’t match the reps from last meso on deadlift, which was very disheartening. Might have to revisit deadlift programming after this meso since last block obviously didn’t work.
Still pushing too close to failure on DB bench.
W1D3 - 7/4/2018
Weight: 73.7kg
High Bar Squat
65 @ 7 -> 10,10,10,10
Wide Grip Incline Bench
55 @ 7 -> 11,9,9
DB Upright Row
15.5 @ 7 -> 11,10,9
Cable Row
52.5 @ 7 -> 12,10,10
Concentrating on squeezing my lats when initiating the concentric on bench press seems to really help for some reason. Maybe stopping me flaring too early?
W1D4 - 8/4/2018
Weight: 74.2kg
2" Deficit Sumo Deadlift
115 @ 7 -> 8,8
Close Grip Bench
63 @ 7 -> 9,9,8
High Face Pull
34.5 @ 7 -> 10,10,10
GHR
76 @ 7 -> 10,10
DB Hammer Curl
14.5 @ 7 -> 10,10,9
Switched out conventional deficit and RDLs to try and reduce my lower back volume a bit. Back felt okay, but definitely think there’s something about the deficit that aggravates it if I’m not careful.
First time doing GHRs. Haven’t done a curl type movement for years. Surprised how natural the movement felt, but kept the sets low anyway, just in case I’m crippled with DOMs tomorrow. Worst part was the pain in my quads where they rested on the pads. Obviously need more body fat to act as a cushion
W2D1 - 10/4/2018
Weight: 74.6kg
High Bar Squat
65 @ 7 -> 10,10,10,10,10,10
Incline Bench
57 @ 7 -> 10,8,8,7,7,7
Lateral Raise
10 @ 7 -> 10,9,8,8
Chin Up
77.5 @ 7 -> 11,9,8,8
Hmm, think the cause of my back tweak might be my arching on incline bench.
Reps on incline bench plummeted after first set again. Might try supersetting my lat raises with chin ups instead of bench next week, see if the extra rest between sets helps.
W2D2 - 12/4/2018
Weight: 74.2kg
Deadlift
140 @ 7 -> 7,7,6,6
DB Bench
27.5 @ 7 -> 9,7,7,7,6
DB Face Pull
12 @ 7 -> 10,10,9,9
Belt Squat
80 @ 7 -> 10,10,10,10
BB Curl
37 @ 7 -> 10,9,9,8
Slowed my deadlift setup right down, was rushing the reset between reps a bit. Felt a lot more consistent which should help judging RPE.
Bench reps tanked again. Don’t seem to have made much progress since last block, which isn’t the best news. Might have to try stopping 5 or 6 reps short of failure, see if that allows me to better keep the reps up in subsequent sets.
W2D3 - 14/4/2018
Weight: 73.9kg
High Bar Squat
67 @ 7 -> 10,10,10,10,10
Wide Grip Incline Bench
58 @ 7 -> 10,9,8,8
DB Upright Row
16.5 @ 7 -> 10,9,8,8
Cable Row
56 @ 7 -> 10,10,9,8
Tipping forward a bit on squats, need to remember to keep my weight further back on my feet.
Slowed down the eccentric a lot on the incline bench and things felt a lot more stable. Still arching too much though.
W2D4 - 15/4/2018
Weight: 74.4kg
2" Deficit Sumo Deadlift
120 @ 7 -> 8,8,8
Close Grip Bench
66 @ 7 -> 9,7,7,7
High Face Pull
36 @ 7 -> 10,10,9,9
GHR
76.5 @ 7 -> 10,10,10
DB Hammer Curl
15 @ 7 -> 10,10,10,10
Warm up on deads felt really hard for some reason. Was fine once I got to my working sets though. Weird.
Close grip went a bit to pot today. Need to get tighter, spending a lot of energy trying to keep the bar balanced, it gets a bit wobbly with my hands being closer together.
Put the heel pads a bit higher on the GHR and seemed to take the pressure off my quads nicely, much more comfortable.
W3D1 - 17/4/2018
Weight: 74.7kg
High Bar Squat
67 @ 8 -> 10,10,10,10,10,10,10
Incline Bench
58.5 @ 8 -> 9,8,7,7,7,6,6
Lateral Raise
10.5 @ 8 -> 10,9,8,8,8
Chin Up
78 @ 8 -> 11,9,8,8,8
Managed to keep my forward weight shift under control this time on squats, but back started rounding a bit. For some reason flexing my quads before I descend seems to help keep my back straight. Weird. Last couple of sets looked much better.
Let the RPE get too high on the later sets of incline bench. My ego just wouldn’t let me drop below 6 reps. Annoying.
W3D2 - 19/4/2018
Weight: 74.6kg
Deadlift
143.5 @ 8 -> 7,6,6,5,5
DB Bench
28 @ 8 -> 9,8,7,6
25 @ 8 -> 8,8
DB Face Pull
12.5 @ 8 -> 11,10,9,9,9
Belt Squat
85 @ 8 -> 9,9,9,9,8
BB Curl
38 @ 8 -> 9,8,9,8,8
Slower deadlift setup going well. Makes reps far more reproducible, which means I can start judging RPE a lot better.
Experimented with some back off sets on bench as the reps were getting a bit low.
First hot day of the year today. Temperature was definitely taking a toll by the end of the session.
W3D3 - 21/4/2018
Weight: 74.9kg
High Bar Squat
69 @ 8 -> 10,10,10,9,10,10
Wide Grip Incline Bench
59.5 @ 8 -> 10,8,7,7,6
DB Upright Row
17 @ 8 -> 10,9,8,8,8
Cable Row
57.5 @ 8 -> 10,10,9,8,9
Squats starting to get challenging now, form mostly holding up. Bit of knee slide in later reps, but not too bad. I think most my problems would be solved by just staying tighter pretty much everywhere.
W3D4 - 22/4/2018
Weight: 75.3kg
2" Deficit Sumo Deadlift
123 @ 8 -> 8,7,7,7
Close Grip Bench
67 @ 8 -> 9,8,7,7,6
High Face Pull
37 @ 8 -> 10,10,9,9,9
GHR
77 @ 8 -> 10,10,10,10
DB Hammer Curl
15.5 @ 8 -> 10,10,9,8,8
GHRs seemed a lot easier this week, wonder if I’m doing them slightly differently.
W4D1 - 24/4/2018
Weight: 75.3kg
High Bar Squat
69 @ 9 -> 10,10,10,10,10,9,9,8
Incline Bench
60 @ 9 -> 9,7,7,7,6
55 @ 9 -> 8,8,9
Lateral Raise
11 @ 9 -> 10,10,9,8,8,8
Chin Up
78 @ 9 -> 11,9,8,8,7,8
Urggh, so many sets. Bleh. Glad that’s over with. Stomach felt a bit upset at the start of the session, but calmed down by the 4th or 5th set of squats.
One unique thing about the last week of a meso is that it’s the only chance I get to practice RPE. Once I establish what my rep limit is on the first set, I can then think about how the earlier reps feel on subsequent sets as I approach failure.
W4D2 - 26/4/2018
Weight: 75kg
Deadlift
147 @ 9 -> 6,6,6,5,5,5
DB Bench
28.5 @ 9 -> 9,8,8,7,7,6,6
DB Face Pull
13 @ 9 -> 10,10,9,9,9,9
Belt Squat
87.5 @ 9 -> 8,8,8,8,8,8
BB Curl
39 @ 9 -> 10,8,8,7,8,8
Deadlifts looking good, back nice and flat. Quads felt knackered afterwards though, which obviously affected belt squats later on.
Woke up with bad elbow/bicep pain yesterday, presumably because of the high volume chin ups the night before. Didn’t affect me too much in todays session, luckily.
W4D3 - 28/4/2018
Weight: 75.1kg
High Bar Squat
71 @ 9 -> 9,9,9,8,8,8,9
Wide Grip Incline Bench
61 @ 9 -> 9,8,7,7,6,6
DB Upright Row
17.5 @ 9 -> 10,9,8,8,8,7
Cable Row
59 @ 9 -> 10,9,8,8,8,9
Definitely felt elbow/bicep a bit today on the cable rows and squats. The cause when squatting seemed to be the bar rolling when coming out the hole. Keeping upper back tighter and pulling down on the bar stopped it bothering me. Hopefully deload will sort it out completely.
Quads felt fatigued as early as the first set. Maybe a sign I exceeded my MRV on Thurs belt squats?
Pushed the last set of squats to RPE 10, then remembered I’ll probably be needing my quads to deadlift with tomorrow. Oops.
W4D4 - 29/4/2018
Weight: 75.2kg
2" Deficit Sumo Deadlift
126 @ 9 -> 6,5
110 @ 9 -> 8,8,8,8
Close Grip Bench
68 @ 9 -> 8,8,7,7,7,7
High Face Pull
38 @ 9 -> 10,9,8,8,8,8
GHR
77.5 @ 9 -> 10,10,9,8,9
DB Hammer Curl
16 @ 9 -> 10,9,9,9,9,9
As feared, deadlifts were a write off, had to drop the weight quite a bit. Hips were rising quite high on the two sets I attempted at my target weight, presumably indicating it was my quads that were super fatigued and I was shifting the load to my hamstrings?
Lower back felt good. Issue was definitely caused by twisting on hard reps whilst benching. Keeping a big belly of air and concentrating on bracing hard every rep seems to have sorted it.
Lessons from this block:
- Supersetting bench and medial delt work might not be the best idea. Rear delt work doesn't seem to interfere, but lateral raises/upright rows seem to contribute to fatigue (using front delts maybe?)
- Ego is still a problem, preventing me from stopping at prescribed RPE. Seems worse on movements I'm carrying over from previous block as I feel obliged to get extra reps to prove I've made gains and the last block wasn't a waste.
- Don't rush the setup on deadlifts between reps.
- Ensure I'm bracing correctly on every rep for bench to avoid twisting lower back on more grindy reps.
- Keep upper back tight when coming out the hole on squats to stop the bar rolling and the ensuing elbow pain when I need to stabilise it.