Last day of intensity. Max singles.
Bench w/ delay;
Warmup - 45x10, 95x5, 135x5, 160x5
Working - 185x1, 205x1, 225x1, 230x1 (5LB PR), 235xFAILx6
Yes you read that right. 6 fails. They got progressively closer until I dejectedly gave up. Feels pretty nice to end the day getting crushed under the bar many times in a row, especially when I should have had every single one. I kept getting stuck right on the edge. Oh well. Next time. Happy w/ 5lb PR. 225 felt easyyyyy.
Close grip w/ black pad;
Warmup - 185x1
Working - 225x1, 240x1, 250xFAIL, 250x1 (5LB PR), 255xFAIL
Pretty tired near the end of these sets. Maybe 6 fails in a row had something to do with it. Felt nice to hit 250 after the first attempt at that weight didn't even come off the pad.
Shoulder press;
Warmup - 45x10
Working - 95x5, 115x5, 135x2, 145xfail
Russian Twist = 45x20x2
I'm so happy to be done intensity work. My shoulders and elbows are really feeling it. I'm excited to do some lower weights w/ good technique... especially on squats since I finally figured out technique while I was doing singles.
My PR's as they stand now (and for the next few weeks) are:
Bench: 230
Squat: 265
DL: 373
Total = 868
Body weight today was 163.5
Right now I never want to max out again. I think that's how you're supposed to feel at the end of intensity.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
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What made you think you could get 235 after the first two failed reps? It seems like a waste of energy to me, as well as an injury waiting to happen.
ReplyDeleteDon't argue with reason here, Frank. I have tried that before...
ReplyDeleteYou guys definitely hammered the 1RMs way way way way waaaaaayyyy too much this intensity cycle. I trust Rene to fix that for the next one.
ReplyDelete-- Brian, you won't be as hardcore with a torn pec / elbow injury / ... doing rehab work with 1.5 lbs DBs. Stopping after two failed lifts looks like a good rule.
ReplyDelete-- Like Nathan wrote below, and Rene somewhere else, doing max singles for the entire block is not "optimal". I also did this, and plan on some changes.
-- Congratulations on making really big improvements. Rene will turn you into a lifting god (just stop listening whenever he talks about clothing, haircuts, etc).
Yeah, I got hurt, I think it was technique. Only deadlifted once in the past 10 days or so, because its the only thing that doesn't make me hurt. It sucks balls. I'm learning, but I would happily have just gone up 5lbs from my last workout, than try 10, struggle, and go into recovery.
ReplyDeleteDanny: I agree with doing less 1RM next time intensity rolls around. What will you replace them with?
ReplyDeleteBrain, this is a good question, and I think that it should be answered on a personal basis. Based on my very short experience with RTS (only one cycle; now in middle of second), I felt that the strongest time interval was week 1 of the intensity block. From that point on, I was partially dead. So now my plan is:
ReplyDelete-- Week 1: max singles @ 10
-- Week 2: 2-3 reps @ 9.5
-- Week 3: 2-3 reps @ 10
This makes sense on paper, and there is only one way to find out if it also works in practice.
There are a lot of options here, so just do whatever Rene says.
RTS suggests a variety of set/rep protocols. Try: http://people.csail.mit.edu/beckmann/rts-notes.pdf
ReplyDeleteSubsection "Intensity Protocols".
I was originally planning for a 3-rep week 1, a 2-rep week 2, and a 1-rep week3.
ReplyDeleteThen things got a little bit out of hand, and there was lots of grunting, shouting, back slaps, and trash talking if I remember correctly. The atmosphere went from controlled aggressive to slightly overheated, and I believe all of us hit PRs on third attempts (even after 2 straight failures)
Next time, reason will prevail. My deads were better in the second week (will skip 3rd week), squats were best in the third, but felt freshest in the first, bench was strongest in the first, and closegrip lockouts in the third. Apparently, results are all over the place.
For the next intensity phase, I plan:
week 1: doubles @9
week 2: doubles @10
week 3: singles @10
While we used the intensity block this time to hammer out maxes (and overload the nervous systems), we will have increasing stimuli up to overload in the next round.