Dexter's Log

[dcw]

BW: 200.6
Assault Bike - 20min HIIT - 5 x 30s on/90s off, 5 x 20s on/100s off

Pullup 6min AMRAP - 5,5,4,4,4,4 [26]

Knee Raise 6min AMRAP: 10,10,6,4,4,4 [38]

[dcw]

Today's Training: The Bridge 2.0 Week 5. Day 2.
BW: 200.2
-
Pin Squat (w/o belt)
255x4@7
275x4@8
295x4@9 x 3 sets
-
Press:
190x1@8 (PR!!)
167.5x4@8 x 5 sets
*All time Press PR!
-
BB Row:
180x9@8
190x8@8 x 4 sets
*I dropped the weight on these from last week to keep it @8 with good technique. In previous weeks the last few reps were always junky, so I think this is better.

[dcw]

The Bridge 2.0 Week 5 Day 3
BW: 200.2
-
Comp Deadlift:
365x1@7
390x1@8
355x4@8.5
350x4@8.5
345x4@8 x 3 sets
*The reps are much faster when I really focus on setting my back hard during the set up, and then driving through the floor as hard as possible. You can literally see the different between the reps where I "pull" the bar off the floor (slow) and when I "push" the floor away from me (fast).
-
2ct Pause Bench:
225x4@7
240x4@8
250x4@9 x 3 sets
*The Pause could be a touch longer on these.
-
Beltless Squat:
250x8@7
260x8@8 x 4 sets
*Form got a little loose on these. Need to slow it down a little to clean this up.
-

[dcw]

BW: 201.2
Assault Bike - 20min HIIT - 6 x 30s on/90s off, 4 x 20s on/100s off

Chinup 6min AMRAP - 8,8,5,5,5,5 [36]

Ab Wheel (from knees) 7min AMRAP: 20,20,20,15,15 [90] - I'd like to get these to 20x5, at which point I'll try them from the feet. - Had to add a minute to the AMRAP because it takes a long ass time to do 90 reps. I like 45-60s rest between bouts; I feel that is just about the right amount of rest to get the most volume each bout.

[dcw]

Today's Training: The Bridge 2.0 Week 6. Day 1.
BW: 200.2
-
Competition Squat:
375x1@8 - This ties my all time squat PR.
345x4@8
345x4@8
345x4@8.5
340x4@8
.
Competition Bench:
275x1@7
305x1@9 - Didn't set up tight enough and I paid for it. Warmups were flying up. Don't get lazy folks.
265x4@8
265x4@8
265x4@9
260x4@8
.
2Ct Pause Deadlift:
290x3@7
305x3@8
315x3@9
315x3@9
315x3@9
.
Great day of training.
.

[dcw]

BW: 199.6
Assault Bike - 20min HIIT - 7 x 30s on/90s off, 3 x 20s on/100s off
Pullup 6min AMRAP - 5,5,5,5,5,5 [30]
Knee Raise 6min AMRAP: 10,10,8,5,5,5 [43]

[dcw]

Today's Training: The Bridge 2.0 Week 6. Day 2.
BW: 200.2
-
Pin Squat (w/ belt)
275x3@7
295x3@8
315x3@9
315x3@9
315x3@9
*Tweaked my lower back on my last warmup set. Went back to 135, put my belt on, and worked back up cautiously. Was able to get all of my work sets in. Hooray.
-
Press:
180x1@7
195x1@8.5 (PR!!)
175x4@9
165x4@8
165x4@8
165x4@8
*Another press PR. I let the single get in front of me towards lockout and had to get weird to save it. Would have been an easy 8 otherwise.


*I"ve also noticed on my bench and press, that my "volume"@8 weights are always lower than what the percentage chart says they should be. For example, the chart said today should have been 175x4x4@8, and on Monday my bench volume should have been 275x4x4@8. I'm thinking I may need to modify the chart a little for my bench and press. My squat and deadlift have been spot on with the chart. All in all it's no big deal, as long as I'm getting in the volume at the right prescription, who cares?

Thoughts?
-
BB Row:
180x9@8 - why the hell can't I count correctly?
195x8@8
195x8@8
190x8@8
185x8@8

[dcw]

The Bridge 2.0 Week 6 Day 3
BW: 201.6
-
Comp Deadlift:
375x1@7
395x1@8
350x4@8 x 4 sets
*I did a better job of setting my back all the way.
-
2ct Pause Bench:
240x3@7
250x3@8
260x3@9 x 3 sets
*Pauses were better
-
Beltless Squat:
250x8@7
265x7@8 can't count
265x8@8
265x9@8 made up for first set
265x8@8
-

[dcw]

BW: 200.6
Assault Bike - 20min HIIT - 10 x 30s on / 90s off

Chinup 6min AMRAP - 8,8,6,5,5,5 [37]

Ab Wheel (from knees) 7min AMRAP: 20,20,20,20,15 [95]

[dcw]

Today's Training: The Bridge 2.0 Week 7. Day 1.
BW: 200.2
-
Competition Squat:
380x1@8 - PR! Only took me three years, lol.
345x4@8
345x4@8
345x4@8
345x4@8
.
Competition Bench:
280x1@7
305x1@8 - Bar speed was much better. Bar path, however, was a little wonky.
265x4@8
260x4@8
250x4@8
250x4@8
.
2Ct Pause Deadlift:
295x3@7
305x3@8
315x3@9
315x3@9
315x3@9
.

.
[Edit: Video up]

[Wilhelm]

Congratulations on the squat, @dcw!
Those sets of 4 with 345 make me think you have quite a bit of headroom over 380.

**Yeah, just saw it on IG. Easy AF. ++

[dcw]

Thanks, @Wilhelm !

I agree. It's been soooooooo long since I've regularly done singles (cuz "fahves", amiright?) that I think over the next several months my E1rm will go up significantly just from the practice. I also think that's why I've been able to hit my volume sets on the higher end of the recommended percentages; I'm just not great at doing singles, yet.

All of this productive training has me thinking about competing again. (rubs palms together)

[dcw]

BW: 204.2 (Had chinese takeout for dinner last night...LOL)
Assault Bike - 20min HIIT - 10 x 30s on / 90s off
Pullup 6min AMRAP - 5,5,5,5,5,5 [30]
LEG Raise 6min AMRAP: 8,5,5,4,4,4 [30]

[dcw]

Today's Training: The Bridge 2.0 Week 7. Day 2.
BW: 202.6

-

Pin Squat:
285x3@7
300x3@8
315x3@9 x 3 sets

*PSA: I would not recommend getting too much sun on your back and shoulders the day before squatting. The extra padding from the hoodie helped, but not much.

-

Comp Press:
180x1@7
200x1@FAIL
165x4@8 x 2 sets
160x4@8.5
155x4@8

*I HATE missing reps in training, but there’s a few lessons to be learned here.
1) How you fail a lift can be helpful in determining what you may need to improve. For me, I always fail at the same point in the ROM, at or just above the forehead, and I have a tendency to let the bar drift forward. This tells me that I need to focus on technique during my back off sets, and that pin presses from the forehead would be a useful assistance exercise if/when I do a press focused block.
2) Missing reps causes fatigue that may not be useful - I had to scale my back offs down from what was planned to stay in the prescribed RPE. Had the single gone better, or, alternatively, had I picked a more appropriate weight for it, the back offs could have been heavier with the same RPE.
3) It’s still no big deal. I hit 195x1@8 last week, and I’ve made a ton of progress on my press these past several weeks. Some days it just doesn’t happen, and THAT'S OK.
4) I should just switch to a double layback press....haha...no, no I shouldn’t.

-

BB Row:
185x8@7
195x8@8 x 3 sets

[dcw]

The Bridge 2.0 Week 7 Day 3
BW: 200.2
-
Comp Deadlift:
375x1@7
405x1@8.5
355x4@8 x 4 sets
*Was gonna do 400, but said “screw it” and went to four plates. Also, switching back to hook grip. Mixed grip made me windmill and feel crooked. This moved well considering my four plate greed.
-
2ct Pause Bench:
245x3@7
255x3@8
265x3@9 x 3 sets
*Still sunburnt. These hurt.
-
Beltless Squat:
255x8@7
275x8@8 x 3 sets
*Still sunburnt. These hurt too.
-
This marks the end of the Bridge 2.0 for me. There is an 8th week that’s a low stress week, but I’m jumping right into an abbreviated four week hypertrophy block next week. I’ll do a write up this weekend of The Bridge 2.0 on thoughts/mistakes/takeaways/etc. Stay tuned.
-

[dcw]

BW: 200.2
Assault Bike - 20min HIIT - 10 x 30s on / 90s off
Chinup 7min AMRAP - 10,8,6,5,5,5,3 [42]
Ab Wheel (from knees) 7min AMRAP: 20,20,20,20,20 [100]

[dcw]

Below is a quick recap of my results and thoughts on the bridge. I did a much longer and more thorough analysis yesterday, but my browser crashed when I hit submit and lost everything. Oh well, lol.
----

-Changes in 1@8 for each lift from Week 2 to Week 7:
Squat - 350 to 380 (+30lb)
Bench - 280 to 305 (+25lb)
Press - 175 to 195 (+20lb)
Deadlift - 375 to 405 (+30lb)
*Some were closer to 7 and some were closer to 9, so there's some error here. The trend is up, however.

-Changes in e1rm for each lift from Week 1 to Week 7:
Squat - 370 to 410
Bench - 305 to 330
Press - 190 to 205
Deadlift - 405 to 430
*These numbers don't mean much to me as the 1@8 do, since those are actual performances under the bar.

-For conditioning on the Assault Bike, I went from 20min LISS to 20min of HIIT with 30s on / 90s off. The HIIT is brutally hard, but I didn't notice any negative effect on my training. Cool stuff.
-AMRAP Chins went from 35 to 42
-AMRAP Ab wheel (from knees) went from 75 to 100

-I gained an average of about 5lb of body weight (from ~196 to ~201), and it appears to have been mostly muscle gained in my back, thighs, and hips. Also cool stuff. Wasn't really trying to lose or gain. I was just eating enough to support my training, and the increase in volume did its work.

All in all, I think this is pretty impressive progress for only seven weeks given my shortcomings (listed below).

---

I think that I did a decent job of judging RPE. I only overshot/undershot a few times. I find that the closer to @10, the easier it is to judge. IE - I know for sure what a @9 is, but not so much on @7. My ability to judge will get better as time rolls on.

However, I think that I could have done a better job of selecting more appropriate weights for my back off work, and, in general, I went too heavy. I don't think I went over on RPE, per se, but I was definitely at the highest possible end of the useful intensity range. Going forward I think I need to be a little more conservative on what weights I pick for my back off work.

-

I think I executed this template with about an 80-85% success rate, and I think it's a useful template for the audience that it's targeted for.

I'm now going to do the first four weeks of BBM's 7 Week Hypertrophy Template, and then I'll start BBM's 12 Week Strength Template to prep for a USAPL meet I'm doing in August.

Thoughts?

[dcw]

7-Week Hypertrophy Template
Week 1 - Day 1
BW: 202.0
-
Comp Squat:
280x6@6
300x6@7
320x6@8
320x6@8
*Trying not to have "happy feet" between reps. These felt good.
-
Comp Bench:
205x6@6
225x6@7
237.5x6@8
237.5x6@8.5
*Bench took a temporary hit since I’ll be training without the elbow sleeves for this meet. •
-
BB Row (Myorep):
155x14@8 then 5,5,5,4 [33 Reps]
*Myorep sets are a type of rest-pause. I do one “activation set” of, in today’s case, 14-16@8. From there you alternate between resting for five deep breaths and doing a set of 3-5. You repeat until the first time you hit one rep less than your first set of 3-5. I was able to get three sets of five (fahve?) before I could only do four and stopped. This was fun.
-
BB Curl: 60x12x3
LTE: 70x12x3
-

-
[edit: added video link]

[dcw]

BW: 202.6
Assault Bike - 20min HIIT - 10 x 30s on/90s off
Pullup 8min AMRAP - 6,4,4,4,4,4,4,5 [35] - Sticking to pronated grip since I'll be doing bicep curls 3x/week the next four weeks.
Ab Wheel (from standing) - 4,2,2,2,2,2,2,2 [18] - These are brutally hard with my long arms, long legs, and short little torso. Hoping to make some progress here.

[dcw]

BBM Hypertrophy Template W1 D2
BW: 203.4
-
Comp Press:
125x6@6
135x6@7
145x6@8
145x6@8
*These were all over the place. I have two significant issues with my press technique. 1) I corkscrew counter clockwise, which either causes or is the result of an asymmetrical stance and a strange shoulder asymmetry I've always seemed to have. Now, I'm not trying to be perfectly symmetrical, but I think i've let things creep into territory that is limiting my progress. 2) Ever since I've done Press 2.0, I've been really lazy on the eccentric and just kind of let the weight drop down. So, for this four week block I'm going to play around with my set up to get a better start position and do my presses with a stretch reflex at the bottom to make myself control the eccentric a little better. If it doesn't work I can always go back to what I was doing before. With a powerlifting meet on the horizon my press isn't really a priority anyway.
-
RDL:
185x8@6
205x8@7
225x8@8
225x8@8
225x8@8
*I've always responded well to these, but man they suck. I'm definitely sore today (day after doing these) in my hamstrings, upper back, and traps.
-
DB Bench (Myorep):
65ea x 16@8; 5,5,4 [30 reps]
*Chest is sore
-
BB Curl: 62.5x12x3
LTE: 80x12x3
*Biceps and triceps are sore
-
*It's been awhile since I've done training that's made me noticeably sore. I don't know how I used to function several years ago when my only metric of "progress" was how sore I was the next day. Man I was a dumbass, lol.
-