The Flywheel Effect.

[B][U]January 23, 2022: Close Grip Bench Press[/U][/B]
165 pounds x 1 rep [8 RPE]
115 pounds: 3 sets x 8 reps

Still not sure on my RPE ratings... This may have ben a 7. Doesn't matter though since it's solidly in my 6-8 RPE range regardless.
Work capacity seems to be increasing steadily. Had no issue doing the 3x8 today. Main work went well also.

[B][U]January 24, 2022: Good Morning[/U][/B]
135 pounds - 6 sets x 3 reps

MUCH improved technique this week. I recorded a few sets thinking I would upload one of them, but now I just don't have the time so you'll have to take my word for it. Felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head and my head was going to pop off of my shoulders, but aside from that they felt great, lmao! Honestly happy with how these looked and felt today though. Dropped the weight by 20 pounds to make sure I could focus on technique, but this gives me something to build on in the coming weeks.

[B][U]January 27, 2022: DB Bench Press[/U][/B]
60's - 6 sets x 3 reps
Did 2 more sets than last time with the 60's. I'd guess this is around 70% of my max, but I still struggle to get the first rep started sometimes when I'm not in position.

I found out last week that my position is being eliminated at work. Last day is next Tuesday. Been at the same place for 26 years. It's all good - getting a nice separation package. Hardest thing will be leaving all the people I've gotten to know well over the years. It's impacted my lifting right now though. I missed the last 2 days because I was working late, trying to wrap up a bunch of projects before I'm done. It should be a temporary thing. Once I'm done I'll start the search for a new job in earnest, but should have more free time than I typically have had until I start working again.

[B][U]February 1, 2022: Yoke Bar Squat[/U][/B]
155 pounds + 4 Chain x 3 reps
Easing back into it after 5 days off. Didn't want to get anywhere near failure. I was actually planning to do some light bench work as well, but just the warmups and working sets of squat pretty much wiped me out.

Today was my final day at work. I haven't been feeling particularly stressed, but I've worn myself down trying to wrap up various projects I was working on, relaying critical info to other parties, and trying to capture/save as much info as possible for future reference. Lost a fair amount of sleep as a result. And then there also has been some emotional fatigue - not super easy to say goodbye to people I've been working with closely for decades.

Focus shifts now to finding a new job. It keeps getting suggested to me that I should take the time off and collect unemployment, but that's just not my style. Now is an amazing time to be looking for a job and I intend to take advantage of that. I can afford to be picky and leverage the shortage of workers as a bargaining tool. And anyway, I will feel unsettled until I have a job locked up, and wouldn't truly enjoy the time off anyway. Probably won't say much else about this until I have a job secured, but it provides some context for my current (and perhaps near future) training frequency and intensity.

[B][U]February 3, 2022: Bench Press[/U][/B]
95 pounds + 4 Chain x 3 reps

These last 2 days I've been dealing with the worst DOM's I've had in years - from hitting golf balls, lmao. Needed to get my mind on something else after leaving my job on the final day, so I went and pounded golf balls for 30 minutes. Figure I easily hit over a hundred balls in 30 minutes after not hitting a single ball for 2 or 3 years. Was not expecting it to wreck me like it did. My left lat was cramping up when I laid down to sleep, and could hardly grip anything with my left hand. Feeling marginally better today.

Anyway, that's the primary reason I didn't lift yesterday. Got back to it today with some benching. With the chains this was close to 170 at the top of the lift. Happy to have hit a triple pretty easily (6-7 RPE). I think I should be back to going all out again starting in my next session.

[B][U]February 4, 2022 Sumo Deadlift[/U][/B]
355 pounds x 1 rep [8 RPE]

Felt great during the ramp up. Probably did too many reps though because I fatigued very quickly. Was hoping to be more around the 375 range @8, and it was probably doable but I just ran out of gas. This was unbelted work. Had to redo the top rep because my grip gave out on the first attempt even though it moved very quickly. So the final rep was with straps.

[B]Bench Press - 3 Count Pause:[/B] 155 pounds x 1 rep (8 RPE)

[B]Lat Pulldown:[/B] 15 pounds + 2 Chains - 4 sets x 12 reps

[B]Dip:[/B] BW - 3 sets x 6 reps

Decided it was time to kick things up a notch. Rewrote my programming because the best way to guarantee I do something is to have it preplanned. Will be doing 3 exercises per day. Not sure how many days per week, but it will be determined by my level of fatigue, and may vary.

This was my first time doing either lat pulldowns or dips since 2019. Supersetted them, and they went better than I expected. Bench work was very solid as well, staying very tight and stable during the pause.

[B]Stiff Legged Deadlift:[/B] 245 pounds x 8,7,7

[B]Reverse Lunge:[/B] 45 pounds x 5,5

[B]Yoke Bar Squat:[/B] 135 pounds x 7,7,7

This wrecked me. Not a lot of volume for most people, but I'm nowhere near acclimated to this amount of work. Will keep pushing until the body adapts.

Deadlifts went well. I tightened them up a bit as I went along, and the final set was actually the easiest. Plan here is to do a 3 week wave, increasing by 1 rep each week (8,8,7 and then 8,8,8) and then increase weight.

Found out today that I cannot do lunges... Though I don't notice it anymore in my day to day activities, I'm still not fully healed from my fall down the stairs last fall and my left foot cannot handle the pressure on the toes. Changed to a Brazilian Split Squat on the second set of 5 and will probably use that moving forward. Goal is to work up to 3 sets of 10 with 2-3 reps in reserve on each set. Wanted to do that today but it just wasn't happening.

Legs were rubber before I even started the squats. Goal here is the same as for the lunges - 3 sets of 10 with 2-3 reps in reserve. I should be able to work up to this within the next week or two and then make some good jumps in weight from there.

[youtube]nYwZKt5SW2A[/youtube]

[B]Larsen Press:[/B] 125 pounds x 8,8,8

[B]Cable Row:[/B] 15 pounds + 2 chain x 12,12,12

[B]Floor Press:[/B] 135 pounds x 5,5,5

Solid effort all around. Larsen Press was harder than expected. Took it pretty easy on the rows, and will increase weight as I acclimate to the volume.

[B]Wide Stance Snatch Grip Deadlift:[/B] 310 pounds x 1 rep
This went well. Top rep was at 7-8 RPE.

[B]Seal Row:[/B] 95 pounds - 3 sets x 7 reps
Seal Row was...interesting. It's a lift I like but don't have a great way of getting setup for. Ended up laying on one of my adjustable plyo stands, which worked okay. I then put my dip bars so that they were sitting above my legs and used those to help stabilize myself. It kind of worked - well enough that I plan to keep doing them for now. You can somewhat see the setup in the video below.

[B]Romanian Deadlift:[/B] 275 pounds x 3 reps / 235 pounds - 2 sets x 7 reps
I overestimated how much I could do by quite a lot. My plan was 285 for 3 sets of 7. Did 3 at 275 and could tell that was NOT going to happen, so I dropped down to 235 and that felt like a decent starting point.

[youtube]FegC5KH1SwU[/youtube]

[B]Incline Bench Press - 30 Degree:[/B] 155 pounds x 1 rep (8.5 RPE)

[B]Lat Pulldown:[/B] 20 pounds + 2 Chain - 3 sets x 12 reps

[B]Dip:[/B] Bodyweight - 3 sets x 6 reps

Both Incline Press and Dips were harder than expected today. Fatigue is starting to accumulate. I'll take a rest day after tomorrows lower body workout.

[youtube]q15flw47eq8[/youtube]

[B]Stiff Legged Deadlift:[/B] 240 pounds x 8,8,7

[B]Decline Crunch:[/B] BW + 40 pounds x 15,15

[B]Yoke Bar Squat:[/B] 130 pounds x 8,8,8

Both deads and squats felt marginally easier this week, but this workout still kicked my butt.
Shoulders started bothering me yesterday and I didn't sleep well because of it. Thinking it's from the dips so I'm planning to swap those out for pushups. I'll be taking a rest day tomorrow.

[B]T-Shirt Bench Press:[/B] 155 pounds x 1 rep

[B]Lat Pulldown:[/B] 2 Chains - 3 sets x 12 reps

[B]Close Grip Bench Press:[/B] 115 pounds - 4 sets x 8 reps

Took 2 rest days since my shoulders were bothering me quite a bit. Still feeling it today, but it's a little bit better.
T-Shirt Bench flew up easily. Honestly felt pretty light. 155 was supposedly 90% of my max, but definitely felt like quite a bit less than that.

[youtube]Saf1Fv2nlm0[/youtube]

[B]Deficit Deadlift:[/B] 320 pounds x 1 rep (8.5 RPE)

[B]Seal Row:[/B] 95 pounds - 4 sets x 8 reps

[B]Romanian Deadlift:[/B] 210 pounds - 4 sets x 8 reps

Deadlift moved smoothly, but was a little higher RPE than I wanted.

Seal Rows were better this time around. I at least hit the planned number of sets and reps, but it still felt quite awkward. I'll probably try doing them with the low row cable next time around. All I need to do is slide the plyo box further into the rack and I should be able to get into a position where I'd be pulling almost vertically. This would be easier to setup, and save me a bunch of time changing out plates between the 3 exercises I'm doing on this day.

Dropped the weight from 235? to 210 on RDL's and was able to hit all the scheduled sets and reps on this today as well. The weight was fairly light, but the big challenge for me right now is just getting in 8 reps without feeling like I'm going to pass out. I seem to be getting acclimated to it somewhat. :)

[B]Floor Press:[/B] 135 pounds - 3 sets x 8 reps

[B]Cable Row:[/B] 4 chain - 3 sets x 12 reps

[B]Larsen Press:[/B] 125 pounds - 5 sets x 8 reps

Man, this kicked my butt! Didn't realize until I was posting this now that I only did 3 sets of 5 on floor press last time around, so getting to 8 on all 3 sets this time was a massive jump. I also changed up the order so this was done first. It helped obviously, but made Larsen Press much harder. I literally took about a 20 minute rest after the 3rd set on Larsen Press, and the final 2 sets were still a grind. Guess it's to be expected when I increased the total number of reps on this day by 17 compared to the previous time I did this workout, lol.

Anyway, it feels good to have finally built up my work capacity to the point that I can pretty much do all of my planned sets/reps at the planned weight. I'll be watching my recovery closely and adjusting as needed.

[B]Stiff Legged Deadlift:[/B] 250 pounds - 3 sets x 8 reps

[B]Situp:[/B] 3 sets x 15 reps

[B]Reverse Yoke Bar Squat:[/B] 135 pounds 3 sets x 8 reps

Added 10 pounds and 1 rep on SLDL's.

Added 5 pounds on the squats along with doing them reversed. Essentially reversed means that the bar is sitting upside down from how it's intended to. The results in the camber going up instead of down, and being slightly more forward. It basically moves the center of gravity forward further, making it almost closer to a front squat than a high bar squat. I'll probably continue doing them this way.

Solid day today. I'll take a rest day tomorrow and then the next couple of sessions will be testing out max's.

[B]Competition Squat:[/B] 245 pounds x 1 rep ~8 RPE
[B]Larsen Press:[/B] 180 Pounds x 1 rep (9 RPE) [B][PR][/B]

Well, today was meant to be a rest day, but I had to scratch that. Unexpectedly ended up schedule a weekend trip - leaving tomorrow evening and returning on Monday. So got in some work today and will try to do the same tomorrow.

Squats felt awkward. Not especially heavy, but my movement pattern was out of whack. Goal was to be around an 8 RPE, and I ended up pretty close to that.
Larsen Press moved easier than expected. I don't think I've ever done more than 155 on it previously. 175 felt like around a 9 RPE. 180 felt about the same. Decided to stop there even though I may have had another 5-10 pounds in me.

I'll be doing something similar tomorrow. Planning to do an 8 RPE single on OHP and then a Max Attempt on Stiff Legged Deadlifts.

[B]Overhead Press:[/B] 105 pounds x 1 rep (8 RPE)
[B]Stiff Legged Deadlift:[/B] 355 pounds x 1 rep (10 RPE) [B][PR][/B]

OHP felt great today. 3 reps is my max at 105, so I ended up about where I would expect to for an 8 RPE.
Never maxed out on Stiff Legged Deads before. I've been using a projected max of 345, which was a pretty decent guess. This was a true max today. Barely broke if off the floor, and doubt I could've done another 5 pounds.

I'll be out of town until Monday afternoon. Doubt I'll get a workout in on Monday, so I should be nice and fresh for my next session.

[B]Sumo Deadlift:[/B] 385 pounds x 1 rep [8 RPE]
[B]Close Grip Bench Press:[/B] 165 pounds x 1 rep / 175 pounds x fail

First workout in 5 days. Went better than expected. I got some nasty food poisoning on Monday evening and was still feeling the effects yesterday. Feeling much better today, but energy level is still pretty low.

Deads went great. Still need to work on my setup - probably getting closer to the bar, because I can see that I'm still rolling it into position as I pull the slack out. Starting in that position would help a lot with consistency I'm sure.

Even though the deadlift was only about an 8 RPE, it sapped me of most of the energy I had. Had a slight case of the shakes as I did my close grip bench, and it showed. 175 felt like it should have gone up easily, but it just stopped dead and I had nothing left to push through it.

[youtube]SsCHr6la5jE[/youtube]

[B]Bench Press:[/B] 175 pounds x 1 rep (8.5 RPE)
[B]Snatch Grip Deadlift:[/B] 355 pounds x 1 rep

Bench was feeling much better today. Was shooting for a top rep at 8 RPE and may have just slightly overshot that, but not by much.
The snatch grip turned out to be much more difficult than I had anticipated, and I hit a grinder at 355. Glad to have finished the rep cleanly. ;)

I'll be going back to some higher rep stuff starting tomorrow.

[youtube]dVfBADsKCwE[/youtube]

[B]3 Count Paused Bench Press:[/B] 165 pounds x 1 rep [9 RPE]
[B]Lat Pulldown:[/B] 2 Chains - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Close Grip Bench Press:[/B] 130 pounds - 3 sets x 6 reps

Third day in a row doing some kind of benching, so I suppose it's no surprise that it was feeling harder than expected. Solid session nonetheless.

[B]Snatch Grip Deadlift:[/B] 330 pounds x 1 rep
[B]Low Cable Seal Row:[/B] 4 Chains x 12/8/8 reps
[B]Romanian Deadlift:[/B] 230 pounds - 3 sets x 6 reps

Tried doing Seal Rows using the Low Row Cable. It actually worked quite well. The one downside is that I can't quite get a full range of motion. I elevated my platform but still could've used another inch or two of extension at the bottom. I still like it better than the other setup I had been using though, so I'll probably stick with this for a while. I'll try to remember to get video of the setup next time.

Side note - I realized after posting yesterday that I actually did twice as many sets as I was supposed to on Close Grip Bench. Was supposed to be 3 sets of 6 (which is also what I logged it as here), but I actually did 6 sets. I was doing my sets in between some unrelated work and just spaced out. Guess that explains why the workout felt harder than expected, lmao!

[B]Floor Press:[/B] 145 pounds x 5/4/4 reps
[B]Cable Row:[/B] 4 chain - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Larsen Press:[/B] 135 pounds - 3 sets x 5 reps

Pressing all felt relatively easy today. It should have since this is week 1 of a 3 week ramp, working up to 3 sets of 5 on floor press and 5 sets of 5 on larsen press.

[B]Stiff Legged Deadlift:[/B] 270 pounds x 5/4/4 reps
[B]Decline Crunch:[/B] 3 sets x 20 reps
[B]Reverse Yoke Bar Squat:[/B] 175 pounds - 3 sets x 5 reps

This day wrecks my legs pretty good. Can't get over how much more difficult it is to do the SSB squats with bar reversed. I had planned to do that exercise with 190 pounds, but that definitely wasn't happening. Even the 175 may be too much in the coming weeks. Great session overall though.

[B]30 Degree Incline Bench Press:[/B] 160 pounds x 1 rep [8.5 RPE]
[B]Lat Pulldown:[/B] 4 Chains - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Close Grip Bench Press:[/B] 135 pounds - 3 sets x 6 reps

Feels good to be progressing on bench press. I still remember about 2 years ago thinking that I might never Incline Press 135. Sometimes it seems like progress is happening at a snails pace, or not at all, so it's nice to look back a year or two into the past and see how much progress has actually been made.

[B]Paused Sumo Deadlift:[/B] 360 pounds x 1 rep
[B]Low Cable Seal Row:[/B] TBD
[B]Romanian Deadlift:[/B] 240 pounds - 3 sets x 6 reps

Sumo felt great today. I setup closer to the bar, which prevented the roll I typically have. 360 went up pretty easily, even with the pause.
I was unable to fit in the Seal Rows along with the deadlift work, and will try to get those done later this evening. Shooting for 3 sets of 12.

[B]Floor Press:[/B] 145 pounds x 5/5/4 reps
[B]Cable Row:[/B] 4 chain - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Larsen Press:[/B] 130 pounds - 4 sets x 5 reps

Added 1 rep to Floor Press and 1 set to Larsen press compared to last week. Been changing up what attachments I'm using on the Cable Rows - used a rope this week. Solid session - feels like I'm making consistent progress right now.

[B]Stiff Legged Deadlift:[/B] 270 pounds x 5/5/4 reps
[B]Situp:[/B] 3 sets x 20 reps
[B]Reverse Yoke Bar Squat:[/B] 170 pounds - 4 sets x 5 reps

Added 1 rep to SLDL. On the squats I reduced the weight by 5 pounds and added a set. Don't think I would have been able to complete this at 175 pounds. It doesn't help that this is my most difficult day and it's also the day where I'm most fatigued. I may change around my rest days to help with this. Speaking of rest days...tomorrow will be one for me - much needed.

[youtube]oGN-_-7t094[/youtube]

[B]T Shirt Bench Press:[/B] 160 pounds x 1 rep
[B]Lat Pulldown:[/B] 4 Chains - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Paused Close Grip Bench Press:[/B] 130 pounds - 4 sets x 6 reps

Work capacity is improving. Got this done in less than 30 minutes. T-Shirt Bench was around a 7 RPE - clear progress there. Close Grip was a challenge. Last set was around a 9 RPE. This is the 6th and final round for this cycle though, and it's intended to be the most challenging.

Here's video of the single, along with the second set of close grip:
[youtube]fVWz0_QRS_o[/youtube]

[B]3-Inch Deficit Deadlift:[/B] 330 pounds x 1 rep
[B]Low Cable Seal Row:[/B] 4 Chains - 3 sets x 12 reps
[B]Romanian Deadlift:[/B] 230 pounds - 4 sets x 6 reps

Both Deadlift variations moved smoothly and felt relatively easy. RDL's in particular are getting easier each week despite increasing weight and reps/sets.
The Cable Seal Rows seem to hit lats more than upper back, so not a perfect replacement for a normal seal row, but they're still a good exercise.

Video shows the Deficit Deadlift and the Seal Rows.
[youtube]3cJRONBwXKk[/youtube]