Give me strength, or give me death!

[Phedder]

Agree with OH bro, it'll come. Good to have you in The House :clap:

Coming together again already Good to be there mate, perfect training environment :twisted:

RTS Volume Block - W1D1

Squats

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

3x120kg

5x5x140kg (B) - @ around 8s

Deadlifts against chains

2x5x60kg

3x60kg + 20kg chain

3x100kg +20kg chain

3x140kg +20kg chain @7

3x160kg +20kg chain @8

4x3x160kg +30kg chain @8s-8.5s

Front squats

8x60kg

3x5x80kg

Ab wheel rollouts

3x12

3x10 +10kg sand bag

GHRs - assisted

4x6xbw

Awesome session today, volume fixes everything Was in the gym for around 2 hours, squats starting to feel solid again, finding my groove. First time deadlifting with chains and I really liked it, will be a good secondary movement for this cycle. Next week I'll use 40kg chain and have them load 1-2inches earlier.

Vid of squats and deads:

[Phedder]

Yesterdays session;

RTS Volume Block W1D2

Comp Bench

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

2x80kg

3x100kg

4x3x110kg @8,8,8.5,9

2x3x105kg @8,8.5

Paused Pin Press - 2 board height

2x5x60kg

5x100kg@8

5x110kg@8.5

2x120kg@9.5

2x5x100kg@8

Pull ups

3x8xbw

Chest Supported Row

2x10x20kg

4x10x30kg

Face Pulls

3x20x100lb

SS

Lateral Raises

3x10x25lb

Pretty good session today, bench felt a little out of groove and it shows on the video, but still felt relatively easy. First time using pin presses and they felt a little awkward due to the bar bouncing on the pins a bit, will have to figure out a way to keep a bit tighter.

[Phedder]

RTS Volume Block W1D3

Deadlifts

2x5x60kg

3x105kg

2x145kg

2x2x185kg (B) @8,8.5

2x2x195kg (B) @9s

2x2x185kg (B) @8.5s

Paused Squats

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

3x120kg (B)@7

2x3x130kg (B)@8s

3x140kg (B)@9

2x3x130kg (B)@8.5s

Romanian Deadlifts

4x10x100kg

Ab Wheel rollouts

12xbw

3x10xbw+10kg

Okay session, was hoping to go a bit heavier for deadlifts but they were feeling harder than expected, still up from last week though. I seem to be having to work harder off the floor now and finding lockout a bit easier, will be interesting to see if that hangs around once I'm back using 5+ plates. Pause squats were a bit off, having been a few weeks since doing them. Found I was drifting a bit in the hole so need to work on my tightness. 3rd reps were all fairly slow, but the weight felt really light and manageable which is good. Just takes a lot of effort to get that weight moving from a dead stop.

I'll put the vid together with tomorrows bench work and put it up as one, I'll probably stick to twice a week vids from now and maybe not bother getting all working sets.

[Phedder]

RTS Volume Block W1D4

3 Second Paused Bench

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

2x80kg

6x2x100kg @8s-8.5s

Floor Press

5x60kg

5x80kg

3x5x100kg @8.5,9,9

2.5x100kg @10 - Changed to close grip

5x90kg @8

Lat Pulldowns

4x12

Seated Rows

4x12

Dips

17

3x10

3 Sec paused bench went well, felt a tonne of tension holding the pause for so long. Should hopefully transfer to better strength off the chest. I wanted to do 5x5x100kg for my floor press, had Beast give me some advice to bring my grip in because my triceps were weak, I only managed 2 reps at 100kg then dropped it to 90kg for the last 5. Felt so much weaker with the closer grip, I'll be doing them that way from now on to bring up tricep strength. Threw in some dips at the end for a bit more work there as well.

I'll put the vid together for yesterday and today and chuck it up after I've had some dinner =P~

Vid:

A tad long... I'll probably only film half or so of my top sets from now, just see how things are looking in general.

[Phedder]

RTS Volume Block W2D1

Squats

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x2x140kg (Loose belt)

5x3x160kg @8s (B)

3x170kg @9 (B)

Deadlifts with chains

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

3x100kg +40kg chains

3x140kg (B) @7 +chains

6x3x160kg (B) @8s-9s +chains...Sometimes.

Front Squats

4x10x60kg

15x60kg - High bar Squats SS after the last front squats.

Squats went well, big improvement from last week. Got a bit cheeky on the last set but it worked out well. Building my confidence with the weights again, will probably do doubles next week.

I love and hate chains! When they're behaving they really fit my deadlift groove, can tell I'm slowly improving my lockout which has typically been my weak point. However, I couldn't get the damn things to stay on! Carabiners kept coming loose mid set, so I'd end up pulling a rep with only 1 side of chains loaded. Good core exercise that one :pfft: I think I got 3 maybe 4 good sets where nothing went wrong, and another 3 or 4 which became broken sets. Do the rep, fix the problem then do remaining reps. Next week I'll have a good play around trying to get them set up properly, figure out a way to keep the carabiners on or another way to connect them, need them to load a bit earlier too. Cut the core work from the end, was getting too late after mucking around with the chains so much between sets. I'll tag that on the end today and get a vid up eventually.

[Phedder]

RTS Volume Block W2D2

Bench

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

3x80kg

2x100kg

6x2x115kg @8s-9s. Last set a 9.

Pin Press - 2bd height.

5x60kg

5x100kg

5x3x110kg @8s-9s

Tri-Set

Lat Pulldowns 4x12

Seated Row 4x12

Ab Wheel 4x10, 1 warm up 3 with 10kg sandbag.

Last 2 sessions:

[Phedder]

I took yesterday off training because I woke up with a really sore throat. Seemed to work a charm, woke up this morning absolutely fine, so today was catching up and I'll bench tomorrow.

RTS Volume Block W2D3

Deadlifts

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

3x140kg

2x180kg (B) @7.5

2x200kg (B)@8.5

2x2x210kg (B)@9s

2x200kg (B)@8.5

2x180kg (B)@7.5

Paused Squats

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x130kg (B)@7

2x140kg (B)@8

2x2x150kg (B)@9s

2x2x140kg (B)@8.5s

Romanian Deadlifts

3x10x100kg

Reverse Hyper-Extensions

4x10x50lb

SS

Ab wheel rollouts

4x12 +10kg sandbag

Another solid session, good to get a bit more weight on the bar for deadlifts. up quite a bit from last weeks doubles. Will probably do 4s or 5s next week to really hammer in some volume. Pause squats another good jump, again weight up on last week. Used the reverse hyper for the first time, great machine and exercise. Will definitely be using it for getting a little more volume through the glutes and hams. Heading in again tomorrow midday for some bench work so will put top sets together for a vid then.

[Phedder]

RTS Volume Block W2D4

3 Count Paused Bench

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

3x80kg

5x3x100kg @8s

1x120kg @8.5 - Comp pause, really nice and smooth lift. Those long pauses made this feel like cake

Close Grip Floor Press

5x60kg

5x5x90kg @8s

Lat Pulldowns

3x12x60kg

SS

Seated Cable Rows

3x12x45kg

Rope Climbs

3 sets up and down, only using upper body.

SS

Dips

3x10xbw

Really good session, everything felt nice and smooth. Up a rep from last weeks long pauses and still felt pretty easy, the 120 was fantastic as well. I'll likely be opening somewhere around there for CDs, hoping for 130+ finally. Good to have a play on the ropes too, really got the grip burning and whole upper body working. Weighed myself on the calibrated scales at the end of my session as well, 104.1kg after drinking a lot of water. Weighed myself as soon as I got home too, 104.1kg again. Cheap $10 digital scales are well calibrated, good to know :grin:

Last 2 sessions:

[Phedder]

RTS Volume BLock W3D1

Squats

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x140kg

6x2x160kg (B) @8s-9s A little frustrated here, doing triples last week at 160, with 1 set at 170 I was aiming to go a bit heavier today. I was using a different bar, couldn't get it to quite sit right and never felt fully confident with it on my back, got better as the sets went on though. Will either aim for 3s or 4s with 160 next week or up to 170 for doubles, see how it feels.

Deadlifts against chains

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x140kg

5x2x140kg (B) + 40kg chain @7s

2x160kg (B) +40kg chain @8

1x180kg (B) +40kg chain @10 - Got way out of groove here, ended up being a grind from knees to lockout. Should have been a fairly smooth double, but ah well.

Leg Press

6x10x160kg

So not the greatest session, but still good to get some more volume in. I did that this morning before work which probably didn't help, with only a coffee in me and still half asleep Crazy busy day at work as well meant I didn't really get to eat anything significant until about 7pm, got through maybe 100g chicken and some rice after training and had to pack the rest and didn't find time to eat it until 7. Also, turns out my legs aren't used to higher reps anymore. They kept cramping up on me all night, not the best look when you randomly wince and start walking funny :pfft:

[OnlyHuman]

Just chalk it up to a suboptimal session ...

Liquid calories must be prepared in advance for such busy days tho.

Blend up some protein, bananas, yogurt, oats and honey... Takes only a minute to drink. Just an idea

Smash the next session!

[Phedder]

Cheers OH, I totally agree preparation is key. Still trying to figure out how to best balance my schedule at the moment, it'll get there :nod:

Todays sessions was better, first time actually training at Cityfitness as well, so took some getting used to finding the best bars and plates to use etc.

RTS Volume Block W3D2

Bench

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

3x80kg

3x100kg

3x110kg @8

2x3x115kg @8.5,@9

2x3x110kg @8.5s

Close Grip Floor Press

8x60kg

5x5x90kg @8s

Standing DB Press

3x8x20kg

DB Rows

10x30kg

10x40kg

10x54kg

15x36kg

Lat Pulldowns

3x12x?

Seated Row Machine

3x12x? - Really good squeeze of the shoulder blades on this one.

Face Pulls

2x15x?

No video today, will put up some of yesterdays vids at some point, can't really be bothered at the moment. Nothing great either, some shaky squats then some not shaky squats, quick deadlifts then not so quick deadlifts

[Phedder]

RTS Volume Block W3D4

Weigh in:103.5kg

Deadlifts

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x140kg

4x180kg (B) @7.5

3x4x190kg (B)@8, 8.5, 9

2x4x180kg (B)@8, 8.5

Pause Squats

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

3x120kg @7

4x3x140kg (B) @8,8.5,8,9

5x140kg (B) @8.5 - No pause, just regular squats.

Romanian Deadlifts

3x10x100kg

Ab wheel rollouts

4x10 +10kg sandbag

SS

Reverse Hyper-extensions

4x10x50lb

Good session tonight, 4 reps on the deadlifts were getting a bit tough, I prefer to keep them reps down on these as bad form starts creeping in on the final reps. Still the weights feel good, will be nice once I switch into the intensity phase, less sets, less reps, more weight

I'll chuck together the vids from my last squat/dead session and this one, todays was miles better.

[Phedder]

Did the Relay for life last night, ran 12 laps as intervals, 530m averaging about 2:30 a lap I think. I'm definitely not a runner, calves are so ridiculously tight today

RTS Volume Block W3D4

Extended Pause Bench

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

3x80kg

3x4x100kg @8s - Up another rep per set from last week, felt great so decided to push onwards with comp length pauses

1x110kg

1x120kg

1x127.5kg PB \:D/ About bloody time! Stoked to nail that, especially after doing a bit of volume. Felt pretty good, bit of grinding but it got there. Confident of nailing this as a 2nd attempt at comp and aim for 130+ as a 3rd. Big comp bench PB coming either way :grin:

10x100kg - Just because.

Pin Press

3x100kg

2x120kg @10 - Went for a 3rd but lost the groove.

4x3x110kg @8.5s

CG Chin ups

4x10xbw

SS Overhead BB Press

4x10x40kg

Seated Rows

3x12

Face Pulls

3x15

Dips

3x15

Overall a really good session, some massive squats and board presses from the crew :clap: Next week I'll treat as a semi deload, stick with the volume guidelines for RPE but drop the number of sets back, 2-3 instead of 5-6 and then into a 3 week intensity block to take me into CD champs.

[Monarchking]

nice PB there, you will be stoked. I am chasing the exact same number

[Phedder]

nice PB there, you will be stoked. I am chasing the exact same number

Cheers MK, absolutely stoked :grin: I've attempted and failed that 4-5 times before I think, even failed it T'n'g so to nail it with a solid pause and after a bit of volume feels great. My bench is slowly getting less pathetic You'll get there man, just keep plugging away at the volume :nod:

[OnlyHuman]

Well done Phed :clap: more to come!

[Phedder]

Cheers OH, more from you as well. Those deadlifts are flying up, even with the pause, and no belt! I'll be watching my back there

Here's a quick clip of todays bench, my final extended pauses at 100, then 120 and 127.5

[Big john]

Cheers OH, more from you as well. Those deadlifts are flying up, even with the pause, and no belt! I'll be watching my back there

Here's a quick clip of todays bench, my final extended pauses at 100, then 120 and 127.5

Nice work on the PB there Phedder, always good to hit something you've been after for so long. time to move on to bigger benches now mate :nod: 8)

[Phedder]

Cheers John, bench PBs are always the sweetest :grin:

RTS Semi-Deload, W4D1

Squats

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

3x140kg (B)

3x160kg (B)@8.5

3x170kg (B)@9

3x150kg (B)@8

Deadlifts with chains

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x140kg

2x145kg +40kg (B) @7

2x2x175kg +40kg (B) @8.5,9

Front Squats

8x60kg

6x70kg

6x80kg

5x100kg (B)

Will get in some core training at work. Felt okay today, still not the biggest fan of training earlier in the day. Squats at 160 felt a bit out of groove but decided to push it to 170 anyway, glad I did because that didn't feel much harder. Need to work on staying tighter and more upright, weight felt like nothing on the back though which is a good sign, just a little unsteady in the hole. Deadlifts I used the new chain attachments, felt awesome. Chains loaded right from the bottom, and stayed in position well.

This is a semi deload week, still following the volume RPE protocols but cutting my work sets in half, preparing for 3 weeks of intensity work before CDs

[Phedder]

RTS Semi-Deload W4D2

Bench

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

3x80kg

3x100kg

3x4x110kg @8.5s

CG Floor Press

8x50kg

5x90kg @7

5x95kg @7.5

5x100kg @8 - PB

Seated DB Press

15x10kg

12x16kg

12x18kg

12x20kg

JM Press

3x12x20kg - Just trying these out...Interesting

Seated Row

4x10

Lat Pulldowns

3x12

Face Pulls

3x20

Finished up with some RC work. Good session today, everything felt pretty smooth, and hit a PB on the floor press, I don't think you're supposed to do that on deload weeks :pfft: I made sure to use the right plates as well tonight, yesterday I had a client who when unracking the bar with 1 plate per side almost lost it to one side. Put those plates aside, threw on another pair and carried on. I weighed them later, one weighed in at 23kg, the other one 18kg. Two 20kg plates of the same brand :doh: Been through and since labelled all the plates that are out by more than 1kg, still seeing plenty of bars down there loaded with 22kg on one side and 18kg on the other :pfft:

[Phedder]

RTS Semi-Deload W4D3

Deadlifts

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x140kg

2x180kg (B) @7

2x2x200kg (B) @8.5, 9 - These were harder than they should have been, but I'm not really bothered for this week. Start pushing hard on Tuesday

Paused Squats

lots x 60kg

3x100kg

3x120kg

2x3x140kg (B) @8.5s - Felt easy but hit sticking points on last reps.

5x140kg (B) @8 - Normal reps, no pause.

15x60kg

RDLs

15x60kg

2x10x100kg

Ab Wheel

12xbw

10x15kg plate

10x20kg plate

6x25kg plate

10x15kg plate

SS

GHRs

2x10 - Pole assisted

3x5-8 Slow negatives then using a chair to help push back up.

Reverse Hypers

3x10x40lb

A bit more volume on the assistance than I probably should have done, but this will be tapered back over the next 3 weeks as well so good to get it in while I can. In again tomorrow morning for some bench and back work.

Weighed myself when I got home at 102.1kg, so I've let that slip a little over the past week which could be why I felt a little weaker today. Luckily I stocked up on chocolate milk and chicken for the week

[Phedder]

RTS Semi-Deload W4D4

Bench

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

3x80kg - 3 sec pauses

3x3x105kg @8.5s - 3 sec pauses

1x110kg @8 - comp pause

2x1x120kg @8.5,9 - comp pause

Board work

3x110kg @7.5 - 2bd

3x120kg @8.5 -2bd

2x130kg @9 - 2bd. First time holding 130, felt good.

2x120kg @8.5 - 1bd.

OH Press

3x10x40kg

CG Chin ups

2x10

8

Seated Row

3x12

Face Pulls

3x15

Dips

3x10

Decent session, extended pauses still feeling strong, up 5kg and down 1 rep from last week. Time to start pushing these to 110+. Board work felt great, first time ever using boards and I was supposed to be doing pin presses but hadn't been liking how they felt, boards were much better. Replicates a comp bench much closer and still lets me get more volume through my sticking point. Will use boards for the next 3 weeks leading into comp.

Here's the vid from my last two lower body sessions, haven't filmed any of this weeks bench work.

[Phedder]

RTS Intensity Block W5D1

Squats

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x140kg (B)

1x160kg (B)

5x1x180kg (B) @9s-9.5s I wanted doubles, and tried on the 2nd set but hit the safety on one side which threw me off for the 2nd rep. Disappointed here, the weight felt light on my back but just couldn't keep good positioning coming out of the hole. Something to work on for sure.

3x140kg (B) - Form check.

Deadlifts with chains

2x5x60kg

3x100kg

2x140kg

2x145kg (B) +40kg chains

2x175kg (B) +40kg chains @8.5

3x2x185kg (B) +40kg chains PB @9,9.5,9.5 - These felt great, first rep on the last set was a bit of a grind but put 100% into the 2nd rep and it came up fine.

Front Squats

5x60kg

5x80kg

2x5x100kg

GHRs

3x8xbw - Had a eureka moment after watching some videos last night, I'd been using it how the last person had left it set up, meaning my knees were usually on top of the pad. Put the foot plate right back so my knees were against the back of the pad, and viola, easy bodyweight reps instead of struggling and needing a chair or pole to help me back up.

Overall a decent session, bit disappointed with squats but they'll get there. Strength is definitely there, form is just off currently.

Vid:

[Phedder]

RTS Intensity Block W5D2

Comp Bench

lots x bar

2x5x60kg

3x80kg

3x100kg

1x110kg @7.5

3x120kg @10 - Rep PB - 3rd rep was the slowest I've ever done

3x117.5kg @9.5

3x115kg @9

Floor Press - Medium grip. Will move out to comp grip for the next 2 weeks.

5x60kg

3x100kg

3x3x105kg @9s

Lat Pulldowns

3x12x60

Seated Row

3x12x50

Face Pull

2x15x120

Lateral Raises

2x12x25lb

Dips

2x15

Pretty good session today, happy with the PB at 120. Previous was 2 reps at 120 and I think those were touch and go, first rep here was attempted pause but ended up being a bit quick :shifty: Big thanks to Quigley for some advice on bench, as you'll see when I put the vid up there's plenty to work on Turns out I'm tucking and flaring too much for a raw lifter, need to tuck a bit less and really keep the elbows under the bar.

[Phedder]

You can here me crack up laughing at myself for how slow that 3rd rep at 120 was :pfft: