The Trip Back To Montana

[anelson]

I catch myself making no bench gains for all of 2019. This displeases me.

Me:
Age: 36
Sex: Male
Height: 6'2 (1.88 m)
Weight: ~220 lbs
PRs (dishonor be upon me): 340/207.5/400/140 (SQ/BP/DL/PR, in pounds) (updated 5/28/20)
Limitations: Inconsistent sleep (<6 hrs most nights) due to 3 young GainzZz Goblins.

[anelson]

We've been snowed in (which in north Alabama means everything is paralyzed by <1" of accumulation), so I'm logging my first two sessions late.

Monday:
Volume Bench: 5 sets of 5 reps of 125 lbs (~70% of 1RM)
This was easier than I expected, which could be related to benching fresh, rather than after squats. U/L split for the win!
Density Press: 18 reps of 100 lbs in 8 minutes (~80% of 1RM)
These went about as planned. I went 3,3,2,2,2,2,2,2 with no major grinders.
Density Chins: 11 reps in 7 minutes
Ugh, I hate chins, and I can't quite figure out why. Some mumbo-jumbo about supporting my bodyweight the whole time, maybe?
DB Curls: 20 reps (to failure) of 25 lbs
Fun.

Wednesday:
Volume Squat: 5x5x205 (~70% of 1RM)
Not too bad, stayed in the @7-8 range with 5 minutes between sets.
Light Deadlift: 3x5x235 (~70% 1RM)
No worries.

[mgil]

Looks like a good plan!

[BenM]

Haha @ Gainz Goblins! Think you just penned a new nickname for mine.

Good luck with it! I hope it works out well, I’ll be following with interest

ETA: We had some fun with it this morning. She doesn't like it:

[anelson]

Friday:
Intensity Bench: 2 sets of 3 reps of 150 lbs (~85%)
Smooth.
Backoff Bench: 16 reps of 135 lbs in 7 minutes (~75% of 1RM)
8x2, done as a density block.
Density Press: 30 reps of 85 lbs in 8 minutes (~70% of 1RM)
Hit my 30 rep cap, so I'll up the weight next time.
Chins: 10 reps (1,2,3,1,1,1,1) in ~5 minutes
Still hate chins. Honestly, I should just switch them out for Pendlay Rows.

[anelson]

Monday:
Intensity Squat: 2 sets of 3 reps of 235 lbs, 5 minute rest (~80%)
A bit harder than I would've liked, but not unexpected (more on that later...)
Backoff Squats: N/A
Intensity Deadlift: 5 reps of 265 lbs (~80%)
As expected.
Rows: N/A

My 20 month old did her best Linda Blair impression throughout yesterday evening. She settled down by about 11 pm, but her mom and I were still in puke alert mode all night. I decided to hit my main lifts and get back to Barf Watch 2018.

[anelson]

Wednesday:
Volume Bench: 5 sets of 5 reps of 130 lbs, 3 minute rest
These were a touch light last time, so I added 5 lbs instead of my planned 2.5.
Density Press: 19 reps of 100 lbs in 8 minutes
3,3,3,2,2,2,2,2. I'm going to have to be careful with these as volume bench becomes more stressful. The last 2-3 mini-sets were a bit more grindy than I'm comfortable with long-term. If that continues, I may cut the time down to 6 or 7 minutes, to trim the last couple sets. Or I could just have a little self-control, and stop myself before I turn it into a Press 3.0.
Density Chins: 13 reps in 7 minutes
Improving...
DB Curls: 21 reps (to failure) of 25 lbs

[anelson]

Friday:
Volume Squat: 5 sets of 5 reps of 205 lbs, 4:45 rest
Last set was @9-ish, so that's not great.
Light Deadlift: 3 sets of 5 reps of 235 lbs, 3:45 rest
Meh, they were fine.

I had Ye Olde Butt Pee all day Wednesday and Thursday, so I was down about 2 lbs and feeling pretty depleted. Between that and titrating down my rest times, I'm not too concerned about the RPE creep yet. It bears monitoring, though...

[anelson]

Monday:
Intensity Bench: 2 sets of 2 reps of 160 lbs (~90%)
Heavy, but doable.
Backoff Bench: 14 reps of 137.5 lbs in 7 minutes
6x2, 2x1 done as a density block. No increase next time.
Density Press: 27 reps of 87.5 lbs in 8 minutes
2x4, 5x3, 2x2. No increase next time.
Chins: 10 reps (1,2,3,1,1,1,1) in ~3:30
Done as a ladder, using rest times equal to the set times.

[anelson]

Wednesday:
Intensity Squat: 2 sets of 2 reps of 250 lbs, 5 minute rest
As expected.
Backoff Squats: 1 set of 5 reps of 210 lbs
Backoffs after a heavy (85%+) set always feel strange to me. They never feel heavy, per se, but I have this weird sensation of not really firing on all cylinders, like I should be able to move them faster than I am.
Intensity Deadlift: 3 reps of 285 lbs
As expected.
Rows: 3 sets of 5 reps of 135 lbs
As expected.

[anelson]

Friday:
Volume Bench: 5 sets of 5 reps of 135 lbs
A little grindy, but I expected that coming in. The plan called for 132.5, but that's the lamest of all possible weights, so I jumped to 135.
Density Press: 18 reps of 100 lbs in 8 minutes
Yep, the aggressive bench increase got me here.
Density Chins: Pressed for time, so I hit a set of 5 and called it.

[Wilhelm]

Lol @Lamest of all possible weights.

[anelson]

Monday:
Volume Squat: 5 sets of 5 reps of 210 lbs, 4:45 rest
A bit grindier than I would have liked, but no worse than last time (I think). I forgot to video my last set, so I have only my feels to go on, though...
Light Deadlift: 3 sets of 5 reps of 240 lbs, 3:45 rest
No grinders.

Running on 4.5 hours of sleep after watching Tom Brady's defense squander a great effort (Peyton Manning says hi!), so I felt like I was just punching the clock here.

[anelson]

Wednesday:
Intensity Bench: 2(F),1,1,0(F) of 165 lbs, 3:00 rest
5x1 was scheduled, but I decided to test on the first set. I failed my third rep, but could have probably done a couple more pounds for a double. I locked out the third single, but recorded it as a failure due to a raised butt.
Backoff Bench: N/A
None planned.
Density Press: 31 reps of 87.5 lbs in 8 minutes
4x4, 5x3. Without bench backoffs, I was fresher for these. I'll go ahead and bump the weight next time, but temper my expectations.
Chins: 11 reps (1,2,3,1,2,1,1) in ~3:30
Done as a ladder, using rest times equal to the set times. I was able to start the second ladder, so that's an improvement.

[anelson]

Just recording some of my thoughts/lessons learned as I approach the end of my first 4 week cycle.

1) My heavy press density blocks were either too heavy or too long. I found myself approaching the Carl Zone (tm) on the last couple mini-sets. I don't want to drop heavy-ish presses altogether, so I'm going to cut a couple minutes off the end of the block.

2) I think I was overly aggressive in adding weight to bench volume day. It wasn't too taxing, but I think I would've been better served to titrate up the volume instead of the weight. I'm going to reset to ~70% and add a set or two.

3) I didn't really like the configuration of my intensity days. I never could get the back-off sets dialed in stress-wise after the intensity work. I'm going to turn intensity day into a hybrid power/strength day. Something like a single at 85-95%, then 3-5 triples in the 80% range.

[anelson]

Friday:
Intensity Squat: 3 sets of 1 rep of 265 lbs, 5 minute rest
Tried for a double on the first set, but failed the second rep halfway up. It was weird, I've never failed one that far up. I would've rated the first about an 8.5, so I dunno what happened...
Intensity Deadlift: 2 reps, 1 rep of 305 lbs, 5 minute rest
As expected.

[anelson]

Monday:
Volume Bench: 7 sets of 5 reps of 125 lbs, 2 minute rest (~70% of 1RM, HNFM = 389)
Only a few slow reps towards the end of the last couple sets, so I think I'm in the sweet spot here.

Density Press: 14 reps of 100 lbs in 6 minutes (~80% of 1RM, HNFM = 350)
I went 3,3,2,2,2,2 with no major grinders, so cutting time seemed to work as intended.

BB Curls: 3 sets of 10 with 65 lbs
Got a little cheat-y on the last couple reps. I'm going to try something like the method outlined here, with allowances for my lack of equipment.

DB Concentration Curls: 4,3,2,1 with 25 lbs.
No incline bench, so I'm subbing these.

General notes: If I combine the HNFMs from bench and press, it looks like I'm really blasting my triceps and front delts. I've got 96 hours to recover, so that should be fine. I'll ride this scheme out for the rest of the four week cycle, but I might add some direct chest work (DB flyes, pullovers, etc) the next cycle. (Paging @Hanley, @mgil, @PatrickDB, et al for thoughts on that)

[Hanley]

General notes: If I combine the HNFMs from bench and press, it looks like I'm really blasting my triceps and front delts. I've got 96 hours to recover, so that should be fine. I'll ride this scheme out for the rest of the four week cycle, but I might add some direct chest work (DB flyes, pullovers, etc) the next cycle.

Yeah, the stress bench and press isn't really additive. Seems like it should be, but the triceps and front delts can take an enormous amount of stress and recover quickly (pecs much less so).

I think you'll be fine.

[anelson]

Wednesday:
Volume Squat: 5 sets of 5 reps of 210 lbs, 4:30 rest
Happy Volume-times Day to me... Back to cutting rest times. I'm planning to maintain the weight until I get rest times down to 4 minutes. Had another weird [near-] failure on set 5, rep 3. It stalled about mid-way up and started to come back down, but I caught it and finished the rep. No problems on the next two, though, so whisky-tango-foxtrot...

Light Deadlift: 3 sets of 5 reps of 245 lbs, 4:00 rest
The feelzzz said these were tough, but the video says they weren't too bad.

[Wilhelm]

Happy Volume-times Day to me