Fear and Logging in Los Angeles

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 21 - Volume Block Wk 3 of 3 – D1

BW: 166.7

Squat felt good through the top single, but then my set at ~80% got a little grindy so, since I upped volume pretty good last week, my H value was pretty high for the last two weeks, and I've also gone up 5 lbs on my top single 3 weeks in a row, I decided to ease of and give myself a break moving into Intensity block next week.

One thing I've noticed is that, once I've given myself permission to take 'er easy, it becomes very difficult to put forth any kind of effort. It's like a nocebo that makes me mentally check out and want to just wrap that shit up.



LBBS - Strength
E1RM: 308
H-Value: 625
BW+: 171
Weight Reps RPE
200 x 3 @6
240 x 2 @7
265 x 1 @7
285 x 1 @8
250 x 3 @8

Touch & Go Bench - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 233
H-Value: 533
BW+: 123
Weight Reps RPE
185 x 3 @6.5
185 x 2 @5.5
205 x 2 @7.5
185 x 5 @8
170 x 5 @7

Curls - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 99
H-Value: 150
BW+: 51
Weight Reps RPE
85 x 3 @8

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 21 - Volume Block Wk 3 of 3 – D2

BW: 165.4

Conventional DL - Strength
E1RM: 373
H-Value: 642
BW+: 209
Weight Reps RPE
295 x 2 @7
325 x 1 @7
345 x 1 @8
310 x 4 @8
290 x 5 @7.5

Incline Bench - Power
E1RM: 189
H-Value: 901
BW+: 106
Weight Reps RPE
130 x 5 @6.5
140 x 3 @6.5
150 x 3 @7
160 x 2 @7.5
175 x 1 @8
175 x 1 @8.5

DB Concentration Curl - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 96
H-Value: 428
BW+: 42
Weight Reps RPE
40 x 8 @5
50 x 8 @5
60 x 8 @7
70 x 5 @6.5
70 x 8 @8

1ct Pause HBBS - Power
E1RM: 224
H-Value: 612
BW+: 121
Weight Reps RPE
155 x 5 @6.5
165 x 3 @6.5
175 x 3 @7
185 x 2 @7
200 x 1 @7.5
200 x 1 @7

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 21 - Volume Block Wk 3 of 3 – D3

BW: 166.6

I've made good progress the last few weeks. I've pushed myself quite a bit, so I want to make sure I:

a) treat the start of Intensity block next week as something of a recovery week. Do a few moderate doubles and some lightish volume work, just enough to stay fresh

b) consolidate my gainzz now. I think a mistake I've made over and over in the past is, after moving forward, I try to keep going, like when you rampage in Risk until you're so dispersed you can't defend any of the territory you've conquered. I want to avoid that by giving myself a chance to recovery and by giving myself a chance to adapt to this new level.

LBBS - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 293
H-Value: 758
BW+: 135
Weight Reps RPE
200 x 4 @6
220 x 5 @7
225 x 5 @6.5
225 x 5 @7
225 x 5 @7.5
225 x 5 @7.5
225 x 5 @8

Comp Bench - Strength
E1RM: 235
H-Value: 941
BW+: 132
Weight Reps RPE
190 x 3 @7
205 x 1 @6.5
220 x 1 @9
190 x 5 @8
160 x 5 @6

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 21 - Volume Block Wk 3 of 3 – D4

BW: 167.6

I was a little weary today, which wasn't surprising with a big effort yesterday, so I didn't push very hard. I've probably overreached a bit on Press, so I'll need to use the Intensity block to recover and get to feeling fresh again.

Weekly Tonnage:
Squat: 12470
Dead: 6225
Bench: 8045
Press: 1420

SGDL - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 294
H-Value: 197
BW+: 137
Weight Reps RPE
225 x 5 @6.5
230 x 5 @7

Press - Strength
E1RM: 144
H-Value: 1708
BW+: 83
Weight Reps RPE
105 x 3 @7
125 x 2 @7.5
140 x 1 @9.5
120 x 2 @7
95 x 5 @6

Curls - Strength
E1RM: 108
H-Value: 413
BW+: 60
Weight Reps RPE
80 x 5 @7
90 x 3 @7.5
100 x 1 @8

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 22 - Intensity Block Wk 1 of 3 – D1

BW: 166.9

As planned, I'm treating this week as a semi-recovery week. Squat didn't feel awesome, but didn't feel horrible. Just meh.

LBBS - Strength
E1RM: 302
H-Value: 642
BW+: 162
Weight Reps RPE
185 x 3 @5
225 x 2 @6
255 x 2 @6.5
270 x 2 @8
260 x 2 @8.5

Touch & Go Bench - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 226
H-Value: 206
BW+: 99
Weight Reps RPE
135 x 5 @5
165 x 5 @5
155 x 6 @5

Curls - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 107
H-Value: 350
BW+: 51
Weight Reps RPE
55 x 5 @5
65 x 5 @6
75 x 5 @6
85 x 5 @7.5

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 22 - Intensity Block Wk 1 of 3 – D2

BW: 165

Conventional DL - Strength
E1RM: 375
H-Value: 466
BW+: 200
Weight Reps RPE
295 x 2 @6
315 x 2 @6.5
330 x 2 @7.5
315 x 3 @8

Incline Bench - Power
E1RM: 193
H-Value: 778
BW+: 109
Weight Reps RPE
130 x 5 @6
140 x 3 @6
150 x 3 @6.5
160 x 2 @7
175 x 1 @7.5
180 x 1 @8.5

DB Curls - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 101
H-Value: 426
BW+: 48
Weight Reps RPE
40 x 8 @5
50 x 8 @5
60 x 8 @6
70 x 8 @7.5
80 x 5 @7.5

1ct Pause HBBS - Power
E1RM: 225
H-Value: 651
BW+: 124
Weight Reps RPE
155 x 5 @6.5
165 x 3 @7
175 x 3 @7
185 x 2 @6.5
200 x 1 @7.5
205 x 1 @7.5

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 22 - Intensity Block Wk 1 of 3 – D3

BW: 165

Bench is maybe feeling the effects of 220 last week; double at 210 was much harder than expected. Need to recover in the next week or so.

LBBS - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 293
H-Value: 416
BW+: 139
Weight Reps RPE
205 x 4 @6
225 x 5 @6.5
230 x 5 @7.5
230 x 5 @7.5

Comp Bench - Strength
E1RM: 231
H-Value: 776
BW+: 127
Weight Reps RPE
190 x 3 @7.5
200 x 2 @7
210 x 2 @9
200 x 2 @8

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 22 - Intensity Block Wk 1 of 3 – D4

BW: 165.6

Wrapped up the week easy, skipping SGDL. I'll see how using week 1 of Intensity as a semi-recovery week works.

Weekly Tonnage:
Squat: 9390
Dead: 5100
Bench: 6415
Press: 1260

Press - Strength
E1RM: 143
H-Value: 745
BW+: 79
Weight Reps RPE
100 x 3 @6
110 x 2 @7
120 x 2 @7.5
130 x 2 @8.5
120 x 2 @8

Curls - Strength
E1RM: 70
H-Value: 286
BW+: 27
Weight Reps RPE
45 x 6 @5
45 x 8 @5
45 x 8 @5
45 x 10 @6

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 23 - Intensity Block Wk 2 of 3 – D1

BW: 165.2

Had to move Tuesday's workout to today. I generally don't handle changes to my routine well, but overall today was pretty decent for a grim, cold, cloudy day on short rest.

LBBS - Strength
E1RM: 307
H-Value: 705
BW+: 163
Weight Reps RPE
205 x 3 @6
235 x 2 @6
260 x 2 @7
270 x 2 @7.5
260 x 2 @8
250 x 3 @7.5

Touch & Go Bench - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 233
H-Value: 462
BW+: 123
Weight Reps RPE
190 x 2 @7
205 x 1 @6.5
165 x 5 @5.5
165 x 5 @6
165 x 6 @8

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 23 - Intensity Block Wk 2 of 3 – D1A

BW: 165.5

Picked up curlzz from yesterday..

Curls - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 109
H-Value: 538
BW+: 51
Weight Reps RPE
85 x 5 @7.5
85 x 5 @7
75 x 7 @7.5
75 x 7 @8
65 x 9 @7.5

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 23 - Intensity Block Wk 2 of 3 – D2

BW: 166

Press - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 135
H-Value: 384
BW+: 60
Weight Reps RPE
100 x 5 @7.5
100 x 5 @6
100 x 5 @6.5
100 x 6 @6.5

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 23 - Intensity Block Wk 2 of 3 – D3

BW: 165.4

I've been pushing my Power lifts a bit the last month or so. Probably a good place to consolidate some.

Conventional DL - Strength
E1RM: 374
H-Value: 591
BW+: 203
Weight Reps RPE
295 x 2 @6.5
315 x 2 @6.5
335 x 2 @8
315 x 3 @7.5
295 x 3 @6.5

Incline Bench - Power
E1RM: 191
H-Value: 1047
BW+: 109
Weight Reps RPE
135 x 5 @6.5
145 x 3 @6.5
155 x 3 @7.5
165 x 2 @7.5
180 x 1 @8.5
180 x 1 @8.5

DB Curls - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 101
H-Value: 452
BW+: 48
Weight Reps RPE
40 x 10 @5
60 x 8 @6
60 x 8 @5.5
70 x 8 @7
80 x 6 @8.5

1ct Pause HBBS - Power
E1RM: 225
H-Value: 757
BW+: 124
Weight Reps RPE
160 x 5 @7
170 x 3 @7.5
180 x 3 @7.5
190 x 2 @7.5
205 x 1 @7.5
205 x 1 @7.5

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 23 - Intensity Block Wk 2 of 3 – D4

BW: 163.9

Top bench double was going to be too grindy again, so I just did a single. I don't want to be hitting 9+ multiple weeks in a row. I'll try to consolidate where I am now and get these RPEs down a bit before moving up any more.

LBBS - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 294
H-Value: 443
BW+: 140
Weight Reps RPE
210 x 4 @6
230 x 5 @7.5
230 x 5 @7
235 x 5 @8

Comp Bench - Strength
E1RM: 231
H-Value: 855
BW+: 128
Weight Reps RPE
190 x 3 @8
200 x 2 @7.5
210 x 1 @8
200 x 3 @8
190 x 3 @8.5

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 23 - Intensity Block Wk 2 of 3 – D5

BW: 164.4

Same as bench, I've probably pushed press a bit too far so I shut all sets down @8 to let me recover.

SGDL has become very skippable, whenever I feel dead/squat fatigue is potentially more than I want.

Weekly Tonnage:
Squat: 10350
Dead: 3710
Bench: 7840
Press: 3680


Press - Strength
E1RM: 141
H-Value: 718
BW+: 79
Weight Reps RPE
100 x 3 @6
110 x 2 @6.5
120 x 2 @7
130 x 1 @8
120 x 3 @8
110 x 3 @7.5

Curls - Strength
E1RM: 108
H-Value: 933
BW+: 61
Weight Reps RPE
80 x 5 @7
90 x 3 @8
100 x 1 @9
90 x 3 @7.5
80 x 7 @7.5

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 24 - Intensity Block Wk 3 of 3 – D1

BW: 165

I was a little disappointed with squat today. Didn't feel bad, but I may be in need of a little recovery time.

I also feel like my Intensity block is both too long and also doesn't provide enough volume. At the end of my Volume block, my legs had a nice pump and felt really good. After 2+ weeks of Intensity, they feel kind of skinny again. Maybe a 2 or even 1 week Intensity block makes more sense. I also think I need to work in a Recovery week as I haven't done that in a while.

In that spirit, I ended up doing a Recovery-style workout for bench, just some reps to get some active rest.

LBBS - Strength
E1RM: 302
H-Value: 753
BW+: 167
Weight Reps RPE
205 x 3 @6
235 x 2 @6
260 x 2 @7
275 x 2 @8.5
260 x 2 @7.5
215 x 5 @7

Touch & Go Bench - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 193
H-Value: 204
BW+: 73
Weight Reps RPE
100 x 5 @5
110 x 5 @5
120 x 10 @5

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 24 - Intensity Block Wk 3 of 3 (Recovery) – D2

BW: 164.3

Decided to formally make this a recovery week, so just getting some active rest in.

Conventional DL - Strength
E1RM: 359
H-Value: 282
BW+: 183
Weight Reps RPE
185 x 5 @5
205 x 5 @5
225 x 5 @5
275 x 1 @5
300 x 1 @5

Curls - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 89
H-Value: 208
BW+: 33
Weight Reps RPE
45 x 8 @5
45 x 8 @5
55 x 10 @5

Touch & Go Bench - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 209
H-Value: 209
BW+: 79
Weight Reps RPE
110 x 8 @5
120 x 8 @5
130 x 10 @5

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 24 - Intensity Block Wk 3 of 3 (Recovery) – D3

BW: 164.7

Toying with doing some 8s for Recovery weeks. It's funny how, once I've decided it's a 'recovery' week, I check out mentally completely. I find 8s on squat tough in general, and I had zero desire to get started today. The idea of doing 195x8 filled me with cold dread. But I do like the pump.

I tried something a little different with bench since I've already had 2 'recovery' sessions. Did a few light triples and then a couple of light singles. I'm trying in general on a recovery week to work up to a single at around 80%ish of e1rm, just to keep myself sharp.

I've been re-thinking my program. I'm at a point (around 90% or so of all-time PRs) where I typically start to hit a wall, and I don't know if just adding weight, even over the course of several weeks to a month, will work much longer. This was basically where I was (with this program) about a year ago. About 10-20 lbs north of here is where I blew up, and I didn't really feel it coming on. I may need to do different programming, or do shorter 'blocks'/work in regular recovery weeks. I'm not entirely sold on my blocks as, when I look at them they're kind of build similarly to Smolov (base mesocycle = Volume block, intense mesocycle = Intensity block), which is a peaking program. I don't think that's the kind of program you can just keep running.

LBBS - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 290
H-Value: 342
BW+: 155
Weight Reps RPE
155 x 8 @5
175 x 8 @6
195 x 8 @6
225 x 1 @5.5
255 x 1 @6.5

Comp Bench - Strength
E1RM: 227
H-Value: 299
BW+: 121
Weight Reps RPE
120 x 5 @5
150 x 3 @5
160 x 3 @5
175 x 1 @5
200 x 1 @6.5

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 25 - Volume Block Wk 1 of 3 – D1

BW: 165.8

Still trying to work 250 up to a comfortable set of 5. I wonder, though, if I'm being a little too cautious sometimes; ,aybe I just need to push out 5 to move forward.

In any case, today felt decent. Not great, but modest progress over the end of the previous Volume block, which isn't always the case in week 1 of a new block - usually there's a little rust (another reason to re-think how & for how long I do my Intensity blocks). Trying to add additional volume on Strength day as well using back-offs.

LBBS - Strength
E1RM: 308
H-Value: 864
BW+: 175
Weight Reps RPE
210 x 3 @6
240 x 2 @6
265 x 1 @7
290 x 1 @8.5
250 x 3 @7.5
225 x 5 @6
225 x 5 @6.5

Curls - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 111
H-Value: 425
BW+: 51
Weight Reps RPE
85 x 5 @7
85 x 6 @7.5
85 x 5 @7.5
75 x 9 @7.5

Touch & Go Bench - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 233
H-Value: 608
BW+: 124
Weight Reps RPE
185 x 3 @7
205 x 1 @7
185 x 5 @7.5
170 x 5 @6
170 x 5 @7
160 x 5 @7

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 25 - Volume Block Wk 1 of 3 – D2

BW: 164.6

I've missed the last few press sessions, so today was mostly about just getting back into it.

Press - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 140
H-Value: 456
BW+: 76
Weight Reps RPE
45 x 5 @5
75 x 5 @5
85 x 5 @5
95 x 5 @6
115 x 1 @7
125 x 1 @7

[Hiphopapotamus]

HPS Week 25 - Volume Block Wk 1 of 3 – D3

BW: 164.6

Felt fine until my top single, which was harder than expected. Don't know how much that was a result of not doing much deadlifting the past two weeks, but I'll need to be careful next session not to push too hard again.

Overall, I didn't feel super-energetic today, so I tried to find a happy balance between not-grinding and doing nothing.

Conventional DL - Strength
E1RM: 375
H-Value: 693
BW+: 213
Weight Reps RPE
300 x 2 @6.5
325 x 1 @6.5
350 x 1 @8.5
315 x 3 @8
275 x 5 @6

Incline Bench - Power
E1RM: 185
H-Value: 490
BW+: 100
Weight Reps RPE
135 x 5 @6.5
145 x 3 @6.5
155 x 3 @7.5
165 x 2 @8

DB Curls - Hypertrophy
E1RM: 101
H-Value: 456
BW+: 49
Weight Reps RPE
40 x 8 @5
60 x 8 @6
60 x 8 @5.5
70 x 8 @7.5
80 x 6 @8.5

1ct Pause HBBS - Power
E1RM: 227
H-Value: 709
BW+: 128
Weight Reps RPE
160 x 5 @6.5
170 x 3 @6.5
180 x 3 @7
190 x 2 @7
205 x 1 @7.5
210 x 1 @8