Week 6 Update

Week 6 is now done, next up is a one week deload, followed by starting another 6 week block. Today was my deadlift day (day 4) and I stuck with dialing the volume back on this one to a traditional 5/3/1 program. For my deadlift this worked out perfect and I believe it will give ME the right blend of volume/intensity and allow me to progress. I stress this volume worked for me which means it will NOT work for all. I walked away from today's workout with my lower back feeling good and I smoked my final set.
What I was suppose to do.
3 work sets for 1 rep at 465 lbs so with all the warm up sets leading up, it would have looked like this:
135 x 10, 225 x 10, 275 x 5, 315 x 5, 365 x 3, 405 x 3, 465 x 1 3 work sets
What I changed back to (traditional 5/3/1) and how it went today without AMRAP.
135 x 10, 225 x 10, 275 x 10, 315 x 5, 365 x 5 work set 1, 415 x 3 work set 2, 465 x 1 work set 3 DONE
What I have found for deadlifts is a AMRAP set with my top weight (last set) is a PROGRESS killer period. 
In my last blog I wrote about how my accessory work was going to change. My deload week is not going to include any of these. It will just be bare bones for volume and intensity. Moving forward after the deload week this is how my program will look for week 1.

Day 1

Military Press 5 x 5 @ 75%

Bench Press 2 x activation sets, 1 set MYO

Wide Grip Pullups pyramid set

Tricep 2 x activation sets, 1 set MYO

Day 2

Squat 5 x 5 @ 75%

Front Squats 2 x activation sets, 1 set rest\pause

RDL 2 x activation sets, 1 set rest\pause

Day 3

Bench Press 5 x 5 @ 75%

Bench Press Heavy with sling shot 1 x activation sets, 1 set rest\pause

Seated Med Width Rows 2 x activation sets, 1 set rest\pause

Seated Narrow Grip Pulldowns 2 x activation sets, 1 set rest\pause

Tricep 2 x activation sets, 1 set MYO

Bicep 2 x activation sets, 1 set MYO

Day 4

Pause Squat 3 x 5 @ 60%

Deadlift 5/3/1 standard protocol

Walk with weight

Grip work

Since I wrote the last blog, I did more of the rest/pause, myo and another one called pyramid set with no issues. I explained the rest/pause and this time I'll explain how I did the MYO sets and the pyramid set.

First the pyramid set, something I got from Josh Bryant. I had good upper back DOMS for two days after. This one works great for pullup movements so I chose wide grip pullups. My back was already warmed up from the benching so I did one warm up set at RPE 4. Do 1 rep rest 15 secs, 2 reps rest 15 secs, 3 reps rest 15 secs, keep going up by one rep until you feel the set is at RPE9-10 and then start going back down by 1 rep until your back down to 1 rep. Do not go past 30 secs of rest between sets. You do NOT want your muscles to fully recover. One set is all you need. I worked up to 7 reps and then back down to 1. 49 reps condensed into one prolonged set.

Next is MYO reps. First up doing these on smaller body parts like biceps and triceps was not too bad overall. What I found for me was if I picked a weight that got me 10 reps (RPE 9) on my first set then I was shooting for 3 reps in all my other sets. If I was higher up in my reps (over 15) for the first set then I was shooting for 5 reps in all my other sets. This week I did dips and seated incline DB curls using myo reps. Again by the time I get to these body parts it does not need much warm up. I was taking about a 10-15 sec rest between all sets and did just ONE MYO set. Both body parts felt pumped at the end and the last set was big time absolute failure. The warm up sets are also used to judge the weight you can handle for your activation set.

Dips warm up BW x 10 2 sets, activation set BW x 17 RPE 9, 10-15 sec rest, BW x 5 repeated for 5 sets.

Seated Incline DB Curls  20 x 10, 25 x 10, 40 x 10 RPE 9, 10-15 sec rest, 40 x 3 repeated for 5 sets.

With all these specialized training techniques you'll notice one common thread, prolonged sets with minimal rest or no rest seemingly work better. Many of them have fancy names but many are essentially the same just manipulated in a different way. Trial and error gym rats...

how-2-set-styles-may-build-muscle-in-half-the-time

Cardio yes I started back into doing this one. My excuse was the air dyne bike at the gym was busted for about a month before it was fixed. Sad excuse but but...

Anyways hitting the air dyne bike about 4 x a week. Before I was doing a short lung busting 4 min program, now I dialed back the intensity and increased the time. Still not pleasant but I wore my heart rate monitor for one session and it was at 145 bpm, a good zone for me.

Before:

4 mins 20 secs on intensity at 65ish 10 secs off  intensity 30ish

Now 

12 min 20 secs on intensity at 55-60 10 secs off intensity 30ish

Going from 60 to 65 for intensity on one of these bikes makes a BIG difference. The rule on these type of bikes is simple MORE HUMAN EFFORT = BIKE KICKS YOUR ASS MORE.

Week 6 Highlights

Military Press 135 lbs x 1

Squat 385 x 1

Bench Press 320 x 1

Sumo DL 465 x 1

The effort you give in the gym, will drive your results. Just be SMART with the effort PART gym rats.