ME Upper)

Last day of this first cycle on the condensed conjugate program, and overall I’m very happy with how this workout went. One negative, however, is that my lower back was feeling weird since doing the pause squats 2 days prior. I don’t think it was the squats specifically that caused this, but it certainly didn’t help since I was really pushing on that workout. That said, I’m really happy with how the speed squats went and felt. The speed was solid, and I felt confident under the weight regardless of how my back was feeling. so here’s the workout:

A1. Wide-Stance SSB Speed Box Squats – 8×2 @ 245

BWx20x2
65x10x2
115x5x2
155×3
205×2
245x2x8
- Again, these felt strong and fast, I think I probably could have gone a little bit heavier, but I’m glad that I didn’t push this too hard today. This is still only my first cycle of this Condensed Conjugate program and I don’t want to kill myself…not yet anyway.

B1. Wide-Stance SSB Box Squat – 1xAMRAP @ 245

245xAMRAP (3)
- Again, not happy with this. My back was just feeling funky and while the strength was there, I just didn’t want to keep pushing my luck with my lower back. I scrapped it after 3 reps and have no regrets.

C1. Seated Pin Shoulder Press (Pin 18) – 1×5 @ RPE 8-9

45×10
65×5
85×5
105×5
125×5 (RPE 9.5)
- I’m very, very happy with this set. I know I really wanted to push for 135 for a top set of 5 for this block, but frankly, I wasn’t sure I was going to get it. I just really wanted to be able to press some kind of weight, for reps that I’d never been able to hit before and this set got me there. It wasn’t perfect, and was practically a rest-pause style set, but I still got all of the reps.

D1. Seated Pin Shoulder Press – 3×5 @ 85% of heavy 5

110x5x3
- This was a brutal bunch of down sets. The weight was still heavy enough to be challenging, and I think I got myself a pretty decent strength and hypertrophy stimulus out of this.

E1. Bodyweight Bulgarian split Squats – 5×15

E2. Band Goodmornings – 5×30 @ Light band

Yeah, this was pretty brutal from a conditioning aspect. The volume isn’t too bad for my quads, but I definitely felt it in my lungs and my glutes/hamstrings with the band good mornings. Next week I push for 6 sets…so here we go!

Condensed Conjugate – Week 3/Day 1 (ME Lower/DE Upper)

This was a successful workout for multiple reasons, although I’m a little annoyed that I skipped out on the accessory work. I was running short on time during my lunch break from work, so it was just forced by circumstance to cut the workout after hitting the ME Lower and DE Upper work. That said, everything felt solid, and I felt surprisingly strong.

One thing I noticed, though, is that I need more lower body work per week. I’m going to start getting more lower body work on my extra workouts, either through more squat pattern training, or simply by way of moving more throughout the day.

A1. SSB Pause Squats (2 count pause) – Work up to a heavy set of 5 (RPE 9-10)

BWx20x2
65x10x2
115x5x2
155×5
205×5
245×5
265×5 (RPE 9.5)
- This set was tough, way tougher than I would have expected it to feel, but this is largely why I’m thinking I need more lower body work throughout the week moving forward. That said, I’m really happy with the weight that I got for this 3rd week. I’m running 3 week cycles for each of max effort movements, so this was a great number for me to switch on.
- I was certainly feeling something in my lower back on the left side, not pain, but a odd tightness. It’s the day after today, and it’s definitely tight, but luckily not restrictive or painful.

B1. SSB Pause Squats (2 count pause) – Down sets 3×5 @ 85% of top set

225x5x3
- To be fair, 85% of 265 was actually 225.25, which means I should have rounded up to 230 for these sets, but I couldn’t readily find my 2.5lbs plates, and I was too lazy to search for them. I’m not unhappy about it, the extra 5lbs wouldn’t have made a significant difference on these sets. They were light and easy, without any issues.

C1. Speed Bench Press (3 grips) – 9×3

45x20x3
95x10x3
115x5x3
135x3x9
- The warm-up volume might be excessive, but I’m fine with that. I need to learn how to generate maximal acceleration and velocity in a fatigued state, so I’m still happy with how these sets went. I definitely noticed a significant decrease in peak velocity with 135 compared to 125 from last week, but not slow enough for me to feel like I wasn’t training the appropriate attributes here.
- The medium grip sets definitely felt the best, and I’m thinking this is simply just my strongest grip on bench press, and should be my competitive grip. The grip with pinkies on the rings really hit my pecs, and the closest grip lit my triceps up like crazy.

D1. Close-Grip Bench Press – 1xAMRAP @ Speed Bench Weight

135xAMRAP (16 reps)
- I really wanted to hit 17 reps with this again, but by rep 10 my triceps were gassing out hard, and rep 16 was basically a RPE 10 effort to lock it out. I’m still happy with this. I got only 15 with 115 during week 1, 17 with 125 on week 2 and 16 with 135 on week 3. That’s a pretty decent progression, and my elbows, triceps, shoulders and pecs are all still feeling good. I can’t ask for much more at this point.

Anyway, like I said, I had to skip on the accessory work of pull-ups and dips, but frankly, I have a feeling that dips would have been a major challenge to hit the requisite reps. My triceps were completely fried by the end of my bench work.

For the next 3 week wave, I think I’m going to switch over to some front squats for ME lower body work, maybe throw some chains on the bar and go for a top set of 8 (I really want more volume on these), and I’m also considering adding in a secondary lower body movement that I can do super set with the front squats. Right now, my first thought is trap bar deadlifts as I would like to reintroduce a hip hinge, with a bar that won’t conflict with the front squat. Ideally, I’d just pick a static weight and do sets of 5, something in the RPE 6 range for the first set, and perform them with a higher hip position to really hit the posterior chain.

For DE Upper work, I’m going to drop the bar weight to 105 and throw some doubled up mini bands onto the bar, and increase the volume over the 3 weeks. Week 1 will be 10 sets (with a static grip), week 2 will be 15 sets and week 3 will be 20 sets. I’m going to try and stick with the 30 seconds of rest between sets, but will allow for up to 60 seconds as the number of sets increases week to week.

I’m going to keep the accessory work the same, and really just try and push the vertical pulling volume overall as I go.

That’s it, just have to rest up and do some extra work for my hamstrings and back today, and prepare for tomorrow’s DE Lower and ME Upper work!

Extra Workouts – 3/23/20 & 3/24/20

Since I’m working from home full time right now due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I started to figure that I had the time to spread out my workouts from the 2 times per week that I’m currently programmed for. After some thought, however, I opted to stick with my main programming schedule and start getting in some extra workouts. This is something that Westside Barbell is well known for doing to increase each lifter’s general fitness by way of GPP training. GPP stands for General Physical Preparedness, and is in essence base conditioning. The better an athlete’s GPP, the better able they are to recover between sets during a workout, and better they can recover between workouts.

In Westside, the general mode of GPP is sled work, where they will pull and push the weighted sled with a variety of different movements. I don’t currently have access to, or the space to use, a sled, but I do have an AirDyne, as well as a medicine ball, a ton of bands and a handful of extra equipment.

I’ll write a longer post about extra workouts, but here’s what I did for yesterday and today.

March 23, 2020

A1. Face Pull – 3×30 @ 35lbs

A2. Chin-ups – 3×6

B1. Overhead Triceps Extensions – 2×20 @ 35lbs

B2. Body Weight Calf Raises – 2×25 @ BW

March 24, 2020

A1. AirDyne

15 minutes steady state
4 minutes (10 seconds high/20 seconds low x 8 rounds)
6 minutes steady state

B1. Band Pec Cross Overs – 3×20 @ Mini Bands

C1. Band Pressdowns – 3×20 @ Monster Mini Bands

Training ADD and Consistency

I don’t know about you, but I love reading about new training concepts and looking at training programs and protocols. Not only do I like reading about how other trainers and athletes program sets and reps, and exercise progressions and regressions, I love trying to get into the underlying science that supports the program. The more scientifically supported a particular training program is the more interested I become, but that isn’t to say that anecdotal evidence doesn’t also sway my opinion. There’s a reason that I’ve tried a multitude of programs over the years: linear periodization, Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5×5, 5/3/1, Juggernaut 2.0, Conjugate/Westside, etc.

I’m fairly certain this is far from an exhaustive list, and if I were to consider all of the various bodybuilding-style programs that I’ve ripped out of various bodybuilding magazines, I’m sure the list would be significantly longer. I’ve tried to put at least 3 months at a stretch into each of these programs at the least, and in the case of 5/3/1, I’ve put several years into the program. I’ve seen progress made with each one, and have a serious level of respect for the authors of each of these programs.

The problem is that by sampling each of these training methodologies, I’ve almost certainly short changed my long term progress potential. I’m by no means genetically gifted for lifting, and I’m certainly not winning any powerlifting competitions, but I can guarantee that if I’d had the wherewithal to stick with a single program for an extended period of time, that I’d have seen significantly better success on the big lifts.

At the end of the day, as cliche as it sounds, consistency is key.

But it isn’t enough to simply be consistent in training, you need consistency in training style, and training progression. You often hear the phrase, “Practice makes perfect.” And in spirit, I agree with it, but it isn’t accurate enough. The phrase should really be “Perfect practice makes perfect.”

It’s too easy to practice with shit technique, and as evil begets evil, so to does shit technique beget shit technique.

So what happens if you’re constantly changing your training style, and changing the methods of progression? You stop making progress, and you start to lose the potential that you had.

Every program I listed above has some barometer for progress and success.

With programs like 5/3/1 and Juggernaut, you have rep PRs, where every week and every month you’re trying to beat the number of reps you hit on your top set from prior week/month. Simple and straightforward.
With the Conjugate/Westside method, you’re trying to beat your 1RM PRs from 6-12 weeks prior, so you’re sticking with the same handful of movements for an extended period of time.
With linear periodization or 5×5-style programs, you’re trying to complete the prescribed reps and sets with better form than the prior workout.

So where’s the problem? Well, if I start with 5/3/1 and then jump to Juggernaut, there might not be too much of an issue, but maybe after that I make the switch over to a conjugate program. This system is designed around the concept of exercise variation and staying away from the competitive lifts, which the previous 2 programs focus on.

How do I judge my progress now? The answer is that I can’t, I have to now basically reset, and begin anew with a new set of parameters, and a new system of progression to learn and get accustomed to measuring.

Why do I bring this up today? Well, because I’m still guilty of having training ADD, and I’m constantly looking for the next best program, rather than sticking with the one I’m on. It doesn’t help that I don’t have a specific goal in mind with regards to my training, aside from training consistently. This is both good and bad.

It gives me the freedom to simply have fun with my training (that’s the good), but it also gives me the freedom to simply have fun with my training (yeah, that’s also a bad thing).

Anyway, this is just a point that I, and most others, need to keep in mind. It’s good to experiment and it’s good have fun with your training, but it’s also very important to stick with a program for an extended period of time to be able to see the gradual and consistent progress over that time. If you’re going to make a change to a new program, make small changes so you can make the switch in a way that allows you to see that progress occur.

As an example, if I’m working with 5/3/1 and want to switch to conjugate, then I might start using a greater number of variations for my supplemental movement and work up to a 1RM or 3RM rather than doing volume. Or, I might throw in some dynamic squat and dynamic bench on my deadlift and overhead press days.

I’m working with a conjugate system right now, and sometime in the future, I might want to go back to 5/3/1 or Juggernaut. If that happens, then instead of doing dynamic work, I might turn my dynamic lower day into a condensed squat and deadlift workout, and my dynamic upper in a condensed bench press and overhead press workout using the 5/3/1 structure. Or another good option is that my supplemental work will be the big 4 barbell movements. On my ME Lower day, I’ll do my squat/deadlift variation, and then follow up with 5/3/1 squat sets, on ME Upper the same with bench press, DE Lower with deadlift and DE Upper with overhead press.

Anyway, I don’t really know how to end this post, as I’m starting to ramble, but feel free to let me know if you have any thoughts or questions!

Condensed Conjugate – Week 2/Day 2 (DE Lower/ME Upper)

Damn, this was an absolutely awesome workout! Increased volume and weight on everything and just feeling great across the board. Here’s the breakdown:

A1. Glute Ham Roller Hamstring Curls – 3×10

I want to hit these every day, working up to a total of 100 reps daily. For days that I’m lifting, I want to be more strict and focused on solid reps and contractions and less on accumulating volume. The goal is to warm-up my hamstrings and my knees to ensure no pain during squats, and frankly, it worked!

B1. Wide-Stance SSB Box Squat – 8×2 @ 225

BWx20x2
65x10x2
115x5x2
155×3
205×2
225x2x8
- Overall, nothing to really complain about. I was able to stick to a very strict 30 seconds rest interval between sets, and had no knee pain at all. Got some interesting contraction in the glute medius, which I’m very happy about and looking to see how this moves forward.

C1. Wide-Stance SSB Box Squat – 1xAMRAP @ 225

This set felt much better than I could have hoped for. I stuck to a 10 rep cap, again to play it safe, as I did last week. I’m thinking that next week, I will go for broke and push for a RPE 9 with whatever weight I’m using, ideally that will be 245lbs. Overall, good pace, felt the tension on glutes and hamstrings, which was the point, and had a solid brace from beginning to end.

D1. Seated Pin Shoulder Press – 1×5 @ RPE8-9

Again, just trying to get more weight on the bar with a movement that I’m weak at. I worked up to 105, which is 10lbs more than last week, and I’m very happy with that. This set was a true RPE 8. I definitely had another rep in the tank, and probably could have pushed out a second. Additionally, I really just wanted to be able to keep tight in my core, and make sure that I got my head “through the window” on each rep, to ensure that I wasn’t cutting anything short.

E1. Seated Pin Shoulder Press – 3×5 @ 85% of heavy 5

Just getting the volume in here. The reps felt really solid, and didn’t feel overly fatiguing, which tells me that I have more room to grow next week. Stuck to a strict 1 minute rest interval between sets.

F1. Body Weight Bulgarian Split Squat – 4×15

F2. Band Goodmorning – 4×30 w/ Light Band

As I said last week, my goal with this assistance work is simply to grow the volume. I stuck to a strict 1 minute rest interval, and I was seriously feeling it by the 4th set. Getting a 5th set next week is going to be an interesting challenge, and I have no idea how it’s going to feel as I continue to push the total number of sets.
It will be very interesting to see if this has any positive carryover to my squat, or if it contributes to lessening my general lower body pain and tightness.

G1. Single-Leg Eccentric Glute Ham Roller Hamstring Curls – 1×10 per leg

I had originally planned to get 2 sets like this, where I perform a bilateral leg curl, and then a unilateral eccentric, but I barely had enough juice left in my legs to get through 1 set without crapping out.

Condensed Conjugate – Week 2/Day 1 (ME Lower/DE Upper)

Today definitely went better than last week, and last week was a damn good workout. Nothing extra to write about, here’s the breakdown:

A1. SSB Pause Squats (2 count pause) – Work to a heavy set of 5 (RPE 8-9)

BWx20x2
65x10x2
115x5x2
155×5
205×5
245×5 (RPE 9)
- Still beltless, and just trying to get a few more pounds on the bar. Overall, everything felt fine, no big deal. Top set was probably a RPE 9 which is basically where I wanted to be. I’m hoping next week, I’ll be able to throw on a few more pounds with a similar RPE.

B1. SSB Pause Squats (2 count pause) – Down sets 3×5 @ 85% of top set

210x5x3
- These sets felt even better than the 195lbs sets I did last week. I have a feeling that this is mostly because of the contrast between the down sets and the top set. Stuck to a strict 1 minute rest interval between down sets.

C1. Speed Bench Press (3 grips) – 9×3 @ RPE 6

45x20x3 (switch grips each set)
95x10x3 (switch grips each set)
125x3x9 (switch grips each set)
- Sticking with the 3 different grips, and just trying to move the bar as fast as possible through eccentric and concentric. I don’t think the bar speed dropped off significantly, so I feel comfortable adding a little more weight next week.

D1. Close-Grip Bench Press – 1xAMRAP @ Speed Bench weight

125xAMRAP (17 reps)
- Really happy with how this set went. I was able to get more reps with more weight than last week, and that’s always a good measure of progress. I would have been happy with the same number of reps with more weight, but seeing a double progression is always a nice plus.

E1. Pull-ups – 6xAMRAP

8/7 (wide grip)
4/3 (medium grip)
3/2 (supinated grip)
- Few more reps on the wide-grip, so all in all, good stuff again.

E2. Dips – 6 sets double reps of pull-ups

16/14/6+2/5+1/5+1/4
- Dips took a hit this week. I had to do more rest-pause sets to hit the requisite numbers for 3 sets this time, whereas last week I only had to do it once. Just have to keep working at it. Sticking with 1 minute rest between super sets is probably a bit too short, but that’s ok. Just have to keep at it.

Here’s a brief snapshot of my workout

Current Training Plan – Condensed Conjugate

I’ve always been very interested in the programming structure popularized by Louie Simmons and Westside Barbell. It’s often referred to as the Westside Method, or the Conjugate Method, or even concurrent training. Regardless of the name that you use, I’ve always seen it as a fairly ideal system for training GPP for athletes, and while it’s been primarily popularized by powerlifters, I actually do think it’s an ideal system for that.

I’m no authority on training, in general, but this is just my opinion.

That said, my goals right now are not powerlifting-centric. I’m trying to become better conditioned, and stronger, overall. I’ve had quite a few layoffs from training over the past couple of years, and it’s been a challenge (understatement of the year) to string together any number of training days to actually say I’ve been following any kind of plan.

What I settled on, is that I really want to train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu more frequently. I’d like to be getting at least 3 days of training on the mats per week. That meant that I had to sacrifice some weight lifting time, something that I hadn’t been willing to compromise on in the past.

Coming back to the Conjugate Method, I’ve tried to implement it into my programming in the past with a mixed bag of results, but I feel like I’ve never spent long enough with it to really properly vet it. The general structure of the program is organized around a 4 day macrocycle, with 2 days devoted to lower body training and 2 days to upper body training. Those 2 days are split between the Maximal Effort Method (ME) and the Dynamic Effort Method (DE). Basically, you’re devoting one day to lifting heavy and the other to lifting fast.

What didn’t work for me was the 7-day macrocycle. I never had 4 day training days available every week. I tried pushing this out to a 10-day macrocycle, so that I was lifting 3 days per calendar week, but I didn’t devote sufficient time to this, plus I started reading more about hybrid training and consolidation of stressors and figured that the 10-day split didn’t work with my other athletic endeavors.

This brought me to this Condensed Conjugate model, again, something I’ve tried in the past, but never really put enough time into to properly vet it. I recently watched a video by strength coach named Phil Daru, where he discusses his method of training his fighters which is exactly this, and he gave it the name.

Basically, I’m looking at lifting 2 days per week, this is what I can do guaranteed every week:

Day 1 – ME Lower and DE Upper

Day 2 – DE Lower and ME Upper

Because I don’t have accurate maxes for squat and bench press, I’m going based on feel and bar speed on the dynamic days. You can see my first 2 weeks, thus far, in my Training Log to get an idea of how I’ve been structuring these workouts with specifics, but here’s a general guide:

Day 1				Day 1
Movement	Sets	Reps	Intensity	Movement	Sets	Reps	Intensity
ME Lower	1	5	RPE 8-9	DE Lower	8	2	RPE 6
Down Sets	3	5	85% of ME weight	AMRAP Set	1	AMRAP	DE weight
DE Upper	9	3	RPE 6	ME Upper	1	5	RPE 8-9
AMRAP Set	1	AMRAP	DE weight	Down Sets	3	5	85% of ME weight
Upper Assistance 1	6	AMRAP	BW	Lower Assistance 1	3	15	BW
Upper Assistance 2	6	AMRAP	BW	Lower Assistance 2	3	30	Light Band

For the assistance work, I picked mostly body weight type work that would help for hypertrophy and metabolic stress. I went with upper body assistance work on Day 1 where I was doing DE Upper, and then lower body assistance on Day 2 where I was doing DE Lower.

Ideally, I’m going to stick with the assistance movements for 6 weeks, or 2 total macrocycles.

Dynamic working weights were chosen based on bar speed and feel for the first week. On week 2, I added 10lbs to the upper dynamice and added 20lbs to the lower dynamic. If bar speed stays decent on week 2, I’ll add another equal increment for week 3, and then decide how to progress from there for the next 3 week wave. Probably increase volume with the same weight so it’s more of a conditioning block.

Anyway, here’s the basic structure, let me know if you have any questions!

Condensed Conjugate – Week 1/Day 2 (DE Lower/ME Upper )

Minor delay in getting this training log entry up, but better late than never, right? This workout was done during my lunch break on Friday, 3/13/20. This is the second day of my 2 day microcycles for this program, where I’m hitting my dynamic lower and max effort upper work, with a focus on lower body accessory work.

A1. Wide-Stance SSB Box Squat – 8×2 @ RPE6

BWx20x2
65x10x2
115x5x2
155x3x2
205x2x8
- Using my bench as a box currently as I don’t own a box squat box, and this is easier than stacking up the mats I use for block pulls. I need to use the excess mats that I have to create some pulling blocks that can be stacked into a box squat box.
- Overall, nothing to really write home about, I was just getting the work in. Speed felt solid off of the box, and speed got progressively better over time.

B1. Wide-Stance SSB Box Squat – 1xAMRAP @ Speed Squat Weight

205xAMRAP (10 reps)
- This set was at a RPE 7 or so. I definitely had more reps in me, but given the issues I’ve had with my lower back, I try to take it fairly conservatively with my lower body work. The reps felt solid, and I was able to take a clean pause without losing tightness on each repetition.

C1. Seated Pin Shoulder Press – Work to a heavy set of 5 (RPE 8-9)

45x10x2
65×5
75×5
85×5
95×5
- My shoulders are weak, and as such, my overhead press is a crap shoot. That’s basically the only reason I chose to focus on the seated press for the first 3 week macrocycle. I want to work on getting my 5RM up to 135 if I can during the next few weeks. I’m hoping the large volume of triceps work that I’m doing on the other training day will carryover, as will the sheer number of practice reps I’ll be getting on this day, especially with the down sets.

D1. Seated Pin Shoulder Press – Down sets 3×5 @ 85% of top set

85x5x3
- Nothing crazy, just getting the work in on these sets, trying to focus on maintaining a solidly braced core without heaving the weight off of the pins. After this macrocycle, I’m going to move the pins up a little bit higher and try to work from my forehead height after going from chin height for this macrocycle.

E1. Bodyweight Bulgarian Split Squat – 3×15

E2. Band Goodmorning – 3x30xLight Band

Another really good super set. The point in doing these at the end is to get in a metabolic finisher, that should help with increased EPOC as well as some hypertrophy effect depending on how well I can target the working musculature. Over the next weeks, I’m going to work on increasing the number of sets before working on increasing loading. My goal is to stick with these assistance movements for 6 weeks (or 2 3-week macrocycles), and get myself up to 8 sets of each.

Here’s a brief snapshot of my workout

Condensed Conjugate – Week 1/Day 1 (ME Lower/DE Upper)

It’s been longer than I care to remember since the last time I posted a training log (I’m sure I can just look back, but I find the idea too damn depressing), but it’s about time I get back on the horse and log my training as consistently as possible.

The past year has been full of more than a few challenges from being laid off from work, 2 growing infants and a multitude of injuries from my knees to my back and my shoulder. Regardless of logging my training, I have been working out as much as I possibly can, when my body and time allows it, but I don’t think I’ve been able to string together more than a month’s worth of consistent training in at least 2 years. I’m going to write up a blog post outlining my plan moving forward, but for now, here’s today’s training:

A1. SSB Pause Squats (2 count pause) – Work to a heavy set of 5 (RPE 8-9)

BWx20x2
- The high rep sets of body weight squats were done just to get my knees warmed up. I’ve been having serious issues with both knees with regards to painful inflammation and tightness. Generally, it hurts to simply bend my knees, squatting can be excruciating, but I’ve found if I do some high rep body weight work, I can warm up the joints and feel half-way decent. Did some foam rolling of my quads and hamstrings after each set of body weight squats.
65x10x2
115x5x2
155×5
205×5
225×5 (RPE 8)
- Went beltless on all sets, don’t think I’ll be handling weights heavy enough to warrant wearing a belt any time soon. The top set felt pretty good overall, really trying to focus on bracing and keeping my hips down and let my knees glide naturally.

B1. SSB Pause Squats (2 count pause) – Down sets 3×5 @ 85% of top set

195x5x3
- Nothing really to report here, the weight felt good and just trying to get the reps in while maintaining consistent tight form.

C1. Speed Bench Press (3 grips) – 9×3 @ RPE 6

45x20x3 (switch grips each set)
95x10x3 (switch grips each set)
115x3x9 (switch grips each set)
- Working with 3 separate grips: pinkies on rings, pinkies 1-inch in from the rings, and then thumbs 1-inch from smooth sections.
- I thought I would be working with 135, but trying to control the warm-ups through a fast eccentric and fast concentric was hard enough that I realized keeping the weight lighter would behoove me in this instance. I’m going to add a little weight next week, and just see if I can keep the cadence up.

D1. Close-Grip Bench Press – 1xAMRAP @ Speed Bench weight

115xAMRAP (15 reps)
- Just getting the reps in, trying to maintain a consistent tight form and minimizing bar drift.

E1. Pull-ups – 6xAMRAP

7/6 (wide grip)
4/3 (medium grip)
3/2 (supinated grip)
- Two sets at each grip, going for approximately a RPE 8-9 for each set, and super set each set with dips for double the reps of the pull-ups.

E2. Dips – 6 sets double reps of pull-ups

14/12/8/6/6/4
- Took 1 minute rest after each super set, working to really hit the correct amount of reps with half-way decent form throughout each set. Reps got a little hairy on the 2 sets of 6, but in general everything went fairly well.

Here’s a brief snapshot of my workout

Looking at the End

Well, it’s certainly been a hot minute since the last time I posted anything, training log or otherwise! Life has been a little crazy lately, and I can’t really say anything beyond that. Between sheer laziness about writing anything, getting laid off in June, being unemployed for 2 months, and starting a new job in September, along with simply being injured and unable to train, this year has been pretty much a wash and I’m starting from square one again.

Don’t get me wrong, starting over is hardly a bad thing. I’m happy to be pain-free and finally able to get back to training. But it’s important to acknowledge the obstacles that I’ve had to overcome this year, and be proud of where I’m at.

So all that said, on December 1st, I started a new program. The purpose of it is to recondition myself for lifting, and getting in better shape from a strength perspective in a more general fashion, with some specificity still built in. I’m not training for any competitions or anything like that, just trying to get in better shape so when I do decide to compete, I can put more emphasis on specificity and prepare properly without injuring myself.

The basic structure is utilizing a conjugate-inspired program, but with some fairly significant changes. I’m not following a typical max effort-dynamic effort structure, although I am using similar structure in that I’m working a heavy-light structure with 2 lower body days and 2 upper body days.

Here’s the basic structure:

Day 1 – Heavy Lower

Main Lift – work up to a moderately heavy single, approximately a RPE 8
Supplemental Lift – Drop to set percentage for 6×6
Accessory Lift – Explosive movement
Accessory Lift – Core movement

Day 2 – Heavy Upper

Main Life – work up to a moderately heavy single, approximately a RPE 8
Supplemental Lift – Drop to set percentage for 6×6
Accessory Lift – Horizontal pull movement
Accessory Lift – Core movement

Day 3 – Light Lower

Main Lift – Competition lift for 6×3 at set percentage
Supplemental Lift – Single leg movement
Accessory Lift – Explosive movement
Accessory Lift – Core movement

Day 4 – Light Upper

Main Lift – Competition bench press for 6×3 at set percentage
Supplemental Lift – Shoulder movement
Accessory Lift – Vertical pull movement
Accessory Lift – Core movement

I’m running each training block as a 6 week wave to start. The 6×6 starts at 55% of the top single, and works up to 68% by week 6, and the 6×3 works similarly starting at 65% and working up to 78% by week 6. Days 1 and 2 of each training block will determine the training max to be used on Days 3 and 4 for the 6 weeks of linear progression. For the next 5 weeks of the block, my heavy lower and upper movements are varied. I’m not trying to necessarily be specifically strong yet. The competition lift work is more for greasing the groove and re-learning the movement patterns rather than for any strength benefits. Additionally, I’m hoping the volume will create a slight hypertrophy stimulus that will allow me to put on some lean muscle. After the first 6 week block, I’m going to repeat the same block a second time, but push for RPE 9 on each of the heavy lifts and really try to move some weights.

Additionally, the percentages for the lighter days will go up by 2.5% in the 2nd block, while the 6×6 percentages will remain the same.

I’ll post up the first 2 weeks of training in the Training Log shortly.