Probably A Bad Idea

[nealstar]

I'm about to do something that's probably really stupid with my programming while I'm working with BBM to reduce body fat. It means there won't be any point in keeping my log over at SS any more because I don't think I'll be able to ask any SSCs over there questions about my programming while I'm doing this.

Previous Log: https://startingstrength.com/resources/ ... rehab.html

Age: 41
Sex: M
Weight: 220 lbs.
Height: 5'9"

Best Low Bar Squat: 410X3 / 365 for 3X5
Bench Press: 250X1 / 220 for 3X5
Deadlift: 390X3 / 365X5
Press: 165X1/ 145 for 3X5
Chin-ups max reps: BWX7

General description of training history:
A lot of 5/3/1 and Lift-Run-Bang on my own, then a lot of Starting Strength training with SSCs, then on my own. Now trying to incorporate RPE in hopes to find some way forward that's more fun, and less constantly Injured, in pain and/or discouraged.

[Wilhelm]

Whatever your idea is, it's probably not as bad as grinding out outmoded programming.
Thank you for adding your log, and good success to you, @nealstar


The training and programming forum is a great place to explore your ideas and ask questions.

[mgil]

Good on you for hitting the weights while cutting! Welcome aboard and I look forward to some great progress.

[nealstar]

HLM. Week 12. Day 2. (full-auto day 1)
BW - 221

Low Bar Pause Squat -
245X5 @6
275X5, 5, 5,5 @ 8, 8, 8, 8.5 https://youtu.be/zZH_9C6EXg8

Bench -
210X2 @7.5
215X3 @7
225X3 @8.5
207.5X5, 5, 5 @8, 8.5, 9 https://youtu.be/fc9TQd7imsw

3" Block Pulls -
305X5 @6
335X5 @9 https://youtu.be/O-JvDuQVv3U
317.5X5, 5, 5 @8, 8.5, 9 https://youtu.be/6kIGkzRpdrg

Since I'm dieting and have been having these weird quad pain issues, I decided to just open it up and go sort of full auto-regulation on my programming. Gonna try and stop worrying about the specific weight on the bar, the specific reps/sets, and just try to hone my ability to hit RPEs. I've missed enough reps anyway.

Generally, I know what movements I'm going to do that day (although I may need to change the order to make the "main" movement first), and I'll have a target rep range for each movement. Sets of 1-3, 2-4, 4-6, etc. And on the main movements, a top set range and then back-offs. The straight-sets and back-off sets will all be RPE Stop sets. For "light" movements like Pause Squats, I will shoot to keep rest times ~2 minutes to limit total number of sets. "Medium" movements, ~2-3 minutes. Main or "heavy" movements will have ~2 minutes between test /final warm-up set and top set, 2-3 minutes between top set and first volume / back-off set, and then ~2 minutes between volume sets.

So for Low Bar Pause Squats, I was targeting 4-6 reps around 275. Test set/last warm-up of 245X5@6 pointed me right at 275, and that worked well. My intent is to go for @9 RPE Stops, but I've only been doing 3 sets on this day, and figured a week to pivot into higher volume might not be terrible, especially since I'm still dealing with quad issues. So I hit a 4th set @ 8.5 and called that good enough for this week.

Bench was a little all over the place. Was looking for a top set of 2-4 reps in the 235 range. Went for a test set with 210 (90% of target) and felt like it was almost @8 after 2 reps. So I added 2.5% and tried again, but this time got X3@7. So either I wasn't fully warmed up for 210, or my technique was off. Anyway, this ended up being more predictive. Took the 5% jump to 225 and it was just a hair over @8 for 3 reps. Back-off sets ended up getting to @9 pretty quickly. This is why I might need to move the main movement to the beginning of the training session. Just in case adding additional volume to the initial movement of the day may negatively impact ability to do volume on the primary movement.

Block-Pulls went okay although I overshot the first work-set, and ended up with a top set and back-offs (not the plan, but whatevs. AUTO-REGULATED). 305 is heavier than the test sets I've been doing, but this felt @6 and this movement has been moving really well the last couple of weeks. But 335 was definitely not a weight I was going to pull for sets across. Backed down to 317.5, and that felt like a weight I was going to pull all day, but with the 2-3 minute rests, I got to the end fairly quickly, which is how I planned for this to work. So yay me. Tried to get video of all top sets and final volume sets, but missed the Bench top set.

[nealstar]

HLM. Week 12. Day 2. (full-auto day 2)
BW - 217

Safety Squat -
225X5 @ 6
250X6 @ 7
262.5X5, 5, 5, 5, 5 @ 8, 8, 8, 8.5, 9 https://youtu.be/_QIlZ4l1Wm8

Press -
125X2 @ 6.5
135X1 @ 7.5
140X1 @ 8 https://youtu.be/f4VAlhnLFYE
122.5X5, 5, 5, 5 @ 8, 8.5, 8.5, 9.5 https://youtu.be/SFgxHb1m12Q

Deadlift -
315X2 @ 6
350X2 @ 7.5 https://youtu.be/Rkd-zYezEwY
322.5X6, 6, 6 @ 8, 8, 9 https://youtu.be/Exs7DkAGqV8

Conditioning (next day) - brisk 20 minute walk

Solid session, thought it did run a bit long. That's a combination of this fully auto-regulated approach (initially) yielding a higher volume of work sets than I've been doing, and a bit more socializing with some of the die hards in an otherwise empty Friday gym.

SSB had 250 as the estimated weight for the day. Took 225 for my test set, and that suggested 250+, and when I took 250 it ended for being X6@7, so I made another jump. I meant to shoot for X6 on the work-sets, but I'm so conditioned to do 5s that I cut the first set a rep short. Whatever. Just happy to have been over the target intensity for decent volume.

As always with Press, I hope today will be the day it feels strong, but it never is. Nevertheless, 140X1@8 was the target, and was squarely hit. Volume sets got heavy kind of fast, and I overshot a touch with a 4th. No big, I don't think.

Deadlift was very solid. I might have done a 3rd rep with 350 to try and hit @8, but I'm more concerned with the back-off sets at this time. The weight felt just right on those, and rewarded me with sets of 6. It did get to @9 somewhat faster than I would have liked, but it was the end of the session, and already more volume than I've done pulling from the floor in...over 2 years according to my logs.

All video is of top sets, and final volume sets.

[nealstar]

HLM. Week 13. Day 1. (full-auto day 3)

BW - 218

Squat -
300X2 @6.5
320X2 @8 https://youtu.be/hpLzen633lU
290X5 @7.5
297.5X5, 5 @8, 9 https://youtu.be/qOmuIjQzt7s

Incline Bench -
147.5X6 @6
165X5, 5, 5 @8, 8, 9 https://youtu.be/uVaTtiOZDSI

Chin-Ups - BWX4, 3, 3, 3, 3 @~8.5-10

BB Rows - 190X8, 8, 8 @8, 8, 9

Gonna make some program changes.

[nealstar]

Transmutation to Accumulation Pivot Day 1.
BW - 219

SSB Squats -
235X4 @7
250X4, 4 @8, 8.5 https://youtu.be/RvN5z5XCFNo

1-Leg Extensions - X10, 12 @ 8, 9 (straight-weight)

Bench -
210X2 @6
230X2 @8 https://youtu.be/EBCJbAkCtYM
190X7 @8 https://youtu.be/LyvNIC-f7OQ

DB Rolling Triceps 3-3-0: 35sX8, 8 @8, 9
finish with tucked elbow DB Bench X10@8

3" Mat Pulls -
285X6 @6
315X6, 6 @8, 9 https://youtu.be/VYfB-JThXS0

DB Rear Delt Flyes - 30sX10, 14, 12 @8, 9, 10
finish with DB Rear Delt Rows X10@9

I was so mentally and physically ready to move on to something different, I just decided to call an audible and start the pivot block early. Everything here was improved, and with out much of a plan. I decided to do a couple of work sets of each of the compound barbell movements that were originally slated, and then move on to single-limb movements

Safety Squats were hard and weak due to the continuing quad pain. Interestingly, the quad pain was still very present in the single leg extensions, but in general feels much better today.

For Bench, the 230X2 felt very solid. I decided to do a higher rep back-off of 7-9 @8.

The way I've always done DB rolling triceps is as an overloaded eccentric movement. That is, the eccentric keeps the humerus perpendicular to the ground through flexion, but then drops down to the ribs so that the concentric is a full press movement. I decided for no reason to turn that up to 11 by adding a tempo protocol of a 3 second eccentric, and a 3 second flexed hold at the bottom. Then finished the last set with a bro-tastic burnout set of tucked elbow DB bench. I'm sure by this evening, the triceps DOMS will be real.

Mat pulls actually progressed to 9 very quickly. Not sure if that was fatigue due to the shorter rest periods used prior in the session, or more general fatigue from feeling beat up by prior sessions. Had intended to just do 2 sets @~8.

Similar to the rolling triceps, I finished rear delt raises with a rear delt row burnout set.

[nealstar]

Transmutation to Accumulation Pivot Day 2.

BW - 218

Pause Low Bar Squat -
275X2 @7
285X2 @8

Belt Squat - 135X8, 8 @8.5

Standing PBN - 95X3 @8

Bench-Grip Press (dead-stop on chest) - 95X5, 5 @8

Bench-Grip Deadlift -
245X8, 8 @~7.5
255X7 @8.5

Rope Cable Curls - X9, 8 (straight-weight)

More improved pivot work. Broke a little further out of the mold on this day by using no comp. movements. Also didn't bother getting video of anything but the BGDL. Wish I'd gotten video of the BG Press, though. Those felt good.

Squatting still difficult because of quad pain. A little better on belt squat, but obviously much lower intensity.

I used to do a fair amount of PBN, but I tried doing these as dead stops on my traps, and they felt like crap. May try them again in the future with a floating rack above the shoulders.

A year or so ago, one of the strongest guys in the gym had mentioned that he got more carryover from the press to his bench if he moved the grip out and allowed the bar to sit fully on his chest. I've had that in the back of my mind ever since. I rolled it out today, and once I found a good grip position they felt great. Feels very stable, especially with a belt on. The lift kind of starts with the hips pushed forward already to allow the bar to sit on the chest. This makes it virtually impossible to use hip drive, and thus makes the movement much "stricter."

Decided to do a wider grip DL and only use double-overhand. SGDL has always made me a bit nervous as far as technique breakdown under fatigue, but bench-grip has always felt comfortable to me. Decided to do this of high single-digit reps. The capped it with some rando-curls.

[nealstar]

Transmutation to Accumulation Pivot Day 3.

BW - 222

Squat -
250X4 @6
282.5X4, 4, @7, 7.5

1-Leg Leg Press - 160X8 @7

Bench-Grip Press -
85X5 @6.5
90X7, 7 @7, 7.5

Dips - BWX9 @7

Pull-Downs - X14, 13 (straight-weight)

DB Curls -
30sX6
25sX8

Quads are finally starting to feel a bit better. Seems like time and/or these pivot workouts are allowing the issue to dissipate. Still trouble enough to limit my squatting and leg pressing today (left hip didn't love the single-leg press), but felt MUCH better than the past several weeks.

Bench-Grip press again today to slot it into the "regular" OHP slot I had planned for this pivot block. Felt good. Getting the unrack and starting position more dialed-in.

I wanted to make sure I got good depth on Dips, and so did not push reps at all in order to protect my shoulder. My best is 22. This was X9 at a very conservative @7. Just "dipping" my toe back in the water.

Pull-Downs and Curls. Yeah.

[nealstar]

Transmutation to Accumulation Pivot Day 4.

BW - 218

Bench - 195X5, 5 @~7

CG Bench - 155X12 @8

Belt Squat - 130X7, 7 @7

GHR - BWX5, 5 @7

DB Rows - 80sX8, 7 @7

Moving "comp" lift to first in the session order. Bench ended up coming in about 7 lb.s under target weight, but I'm also being conservative.

When I used to do close-grip bench, my offset was about 80%. I dropped 80% off my bench work weight, but upped RPE to 8. I didn't do the math ahead of time, but 12 reps is right on target for that 155/(195/78.6%)=62.5%=12@8.

Ended up getting more reps at my target weight than expected. I believe that's wholly a function of a still-very-novel movement. However I need to watch this on squat movements through this block as I'm trying to let my quad strain heal up and higher-rep sets are probably not the best idea, as it pushes the total volume back up. Need to really hone in on that 2X4-5 @7. I should have stopped the first set of 130 and upped the weight.

Haven't done GHR in forever. Medial hamstrings at the knee weren't loving this, but hopefully a little SRA will help with that.

Belted up for the DB Rows as I've had issues here and there with these in the past, and it's also been forever since I did them.

Only took video of the bench sets today.

[Wilhelm]

Your gym looks really cool.
Like a boiler room.

You also really seem to have a good grasp of your programming.
Good liftings to you.

[nealstar]

Your gym looks really cool.
Like a boiler room.

When I first walked into this place in 2011, looked around, saw the reverse-hyper, smelled the B.O., I said to myself, "I am home."

[nealstar]

Transmutation to Accumulation Pivot Day 5.

BW - 217

DOH Bench-Grip Deadlift - 270X4, 4 @7

Low Bar Box Squat (beltless) - 215X4, 4 @7

Standing, Single-leg Curls - X13, 9 @8

DB Incline - 60sX8, 8 @7

Plate Full Raise - 25X15, 15 @8

DOH BG DL (lol) went pretty well got up to @7.5 on grip strength, which is fine. Doing DOH for a reason.

I think the only other time I've done box squats was when I worked out with Matt Wenning a couple of years back. These felt very solid. I kind of thought the weight would be higher, but novelty, plus the lingering quad strain plus [waves hands].

Did DB Inclines for the 4th time in 4 years, haha. These also felt fine

3 years since I did plate raises.

[nealstar]

Transmutation to Accumulation Pivot Day 6.

BW - 220

Squat - 285X4, 4 @6.5

Bench-Grip Press - 100X4, 4 @6.5

Single-Leg Press - 180X5 @7

Dips - BWX11 @7.5

Pull-Downs - X8, 10 (dropped weight)

DB Curls - 25sX13, 10

Everything felt pretty good on this day.

Quad pain was barely a tickle during squats, even if it's still causing me distraction outside of the gym, and Squats generally felt the best they have in a while. I had an e-mail consult with one of the rehab specialists from BBM, and they recommended staying this course for another week or so, but dropping leg press and belt squat. My plan for an accumulation block following this with sets of 6-8 and RPE 6/7 was agreed with. Caution was to just keep an eye on tonnage, to make sure there's not a huge jump in the next 4 weeks or so.

Bench-Grip Press didn't feel quite as natural on this day for some reason. Had more trouble finding the best grip so that the bar path felt smooth.

Per BBM, I'm going to discontinue the leg press in this block. Frankly, my left medial hip/adductor area that was hurt for so long earlier this year hasn't been loving the single-leg press, and I'd been considering dropping it for that reason anyway.

Dips felt good with more reps while depth stays good.

Pull-downs and curls were done.

[nealstar]

Transmutation to Accumulation Pivot Day 7.

BW - 218

Bench -
195X6, 6 @8

Close-Grip Bench - 155X11 @8

3-3-0 Tempo Squat - 215X3, 3 @7

GHR - BWX6, 6 @~7

DB Rows - 80sX10, 10 @~8.5

Pushed Bench and Rows a bit harder than I was supposed to on this day. Meathead mentality, I guess. Trying to do more than last time, instead of sticking to the plan 100%.

Bench set-up felt off the whole time. I couldn't seem to "naturally" get settled into the movement. Start position and leg drive were both inconsistent, etc. Could be the relatively light intensity making it easier for my mind to wander. I thought moving competition movements to first in the session order would generally improve them, but that was not the case this session. Still, it's a wash-out block, so nbd.

First time doing tempo squats, I think. These were fine. They were supposed to be 3-3-0, but they were probably closer to 2-2-0.

GHR felt a little better grooved today.

Pushing the DB rows into @8+ is probably not that big of a deal, it's just old "body-building" habits kicking in when DBs are involved.

[nealstar]

Transmutation to Accumulation Pivot Day 8.

BW - 216

Bench-Grip Deadlift (DOH) - 270X4, 4 @7, 8.5

Pause Squat to Low Box - 225X4, 4 @7

Standing, Single-Leg Curls - X13 @8

DB Incline - 60sX8, 8 @~8

Plate Full Raise - 25X15, 12 @~6.5

Conditioning - Treadmill LISS; 20 minutes

Sunday is my #1 least favorite day to train. Fatigue kicked in pretty quickly across the board at this mid-day session.

Grip was by far the limiting factor on Deadlift.

Box Squats felt very solid. Shank is nice and vertical; really pushing the lift into the posterior-chain. No quad pain during set at all. No increase in quad discomfort outside of the gym within 24 hours following session.

Ran out of gas quick on the DB Inclines.

Looking forward to switching back to full training.

[nealstar]

Transmutation to Accumulation Pivot Day 9.

BW - 217

Squat -
285X4 @6.5
290X4, 4 @7, 7.5

Bench-Grip Press -
95X4 @5.5
102.5X4, 4 @7

Dips - BWX10 @7.5

Pull-Downs - X10, 10 @~8 (straight-weight)

DB Curls - 25sX14, 10 @8

Squats felt pretty solid. Quad discomfort maybe has flared up a bit over the past 12 hours since the session, but nothing crazy.

Moved grip in a smidge on wide-grip press and it started to feel more natural. Some shoulder discomfort, so I'm glad I've decided not to use this in my next training block.

Despite the shoulder discomfort on the press movement, full depth dips felt solid.

[nealstar]

Transmutation to Accumulation Pivot Day 9.

BW - 216

Bench - 190X5, 5 @7

Close-Grip Bench - 155X11, 8 @8

Tempo Squat 3-2-0 - 210X3, 3, 3 @7

GHR - BWX6, 6 @7

DB Rows - 80sX6, 6, @7

Last session of the pivot block. Mind is definitely ready for more, and I think my body is healed up a bit.

Close-Grips are the only "big" movement I've done higher-rep RPE work on. Not sure if it's normal to have a drop off in rep strength @RPE like that at higher reps.

Squats were again supposed to be 3-3-0. I just suck at counting seconds under load, I guess.

[nealstar]

Block 1 (Accumulation). Cycle 1. Day 1 (Squat focus).

BW - 215

Squat - 247.5X7, 7, 7, 7 @6/7

DB Bench - 55sX8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 @6/7

Trap Bar DL (High Handles) - 245X8, 8, 8 @6/7

Conditioning - Treadmill HIIT; 7 rounds

First day of the new cycle! Very happy to be revving things up.

Quads felt fine during Squats. I have "normal" DOMS less than 24 hours later, and we'll see how that trends over the next 24. Otherwise, these felt great. Estimated target weight for the day was 252.5, and happy to have ended up in that ballpark. Mostly happy to just be squatting for volume (and reps) pain free, but am hopeful that I can see a robust increase in intensity through this block since this weight is about 100 lbs. under my best set of 7.

Over 3 years since I did DB flat bench, so I had no target. First set with the 55s was really awkward, and I thought I might have overshot, but the 2nd set was @6 tops, and then I sailed through until I hit a conservative @7 on the sixth set. Depending on fatigue and recovery for the first week, I would expect these weights to be higher next week. Didn't grab any video of these.

I've never used a trap bar. Ever. It was fun! If a little strange feeling. I decided to use the high handles for this cycle as they seem to involve less legs, and therefore more back? The range of motion feels very strange, but it was all good.

Enthusiasm about training is high.

[nealstar]

Block 1 (Accumulation). Cycle 1. Day 2 and 3 (Bench and Deadlift focus).

Day 2

BW - 217

Bench - 165X8, 8, 8 @6/7

High-Bar Box Squat - 185X6, 6, 6, 6, 6 @6/7

2" Mat Pulls w/ Straps - 257.5X7, 7, 7, 7 @6/7

Day 3

BW - 218

Deadlift - 242.5X8, 8, 8, 2* @6/*10 (tweaked low back)

Tempo Squat 2-2-0 - 185X5, 5, 5 @6/7

Close-Grip Bench - 127.5X8, 8, 8, 8 @6/7

Bench went from 6 to 7 pretty fast. Not sure what that was about.

High-Bar Box Squats and Elevated Deads both went fine.

Day 2 felt solid overall.

Not so much Day 3. Tweaked my back on the 2nd rep of the 4th set of Deads. Video of 3rd and 4th sets below. Probably just getting in too much of a hurry because the low intensity is kind of boring, and makes the higher rep sets seem to take forever. Feels about 80% back to normal 3 days later, and didn't prevent me completely from finishing the training session.

I have to take the tempo squat weights with a grain of salt because of the back injury. If the low back is fine this week we'll see how they do. Generally would expect these to have been heavier.

CG Bench was a shit show getting to my work weight. It took me 4 sets to find this weight, at which point I was already fairly fatigued. Theoretically that should mean this will be a conservative number come the next session.

Hope the low back continues to heal quickly. Was very happy to be starting a new cycle, and would hate to get derailed in the first week.