Longer note. Got a draft of the peaking program I'm designing fleshed out. But I'm open to suggestions and critiques to make it as well planned as possible. So I'll be posting it in case anyone wants to take a look at it. Most of the accessory exercises have TBD for their loads. This is to enable some agency for my friend. Let him pick the appropriate load for the target rep ranges since he has a better sense of where he is for the those. Also, accessory exercises were chosen to enhance how he already squats and benches (no need to change what already works). Here's the current program: Current maxes: Squat: 515 Bench: 385x3 (415-420 estimate) Week 1 (87.5% of current/ projected 1RM) Day 1: Bench press: 3x3 360 1x6 335 Seated Shoulder Press: 3x8 185 Triceps pushdown: 3x15 TBD Incline Flys: 3x15 TBD Lateral Raises: 3x15 30 (2 15s) Day 2: Squat: 3x3 450 1x6 415 RDLs: 3x8 225-255 Leg Extension: 3x12 TBD Seated Leg Curl: 3x12 TBD Hip Abductors (superset): 3x15 TBD Hip Abductors (superset): 3x15 TBD Day 3: Smith Machine Incline Press: 3x6 285 Close Grip Bench Press: 3x12 225 EZ Bar Skull Crushers (Dumbbells work too for joint health): 3x15 TBD Lateral Raises: 3x15 30 Cross Cable Flys: 3x15 TBD Day 4: Narrow Stance Smith Machine Squats: 3x6 315 Horizontal Leg Press: 3x12 TBD Leg Extension: 3x12 TBD Seated Leg Curl: 3x12 TBD Lateral Lunges: 3x30 (total for both legs) Body Weight Week 2 (90% 1RM) Day 1: Bench press: 3x3 375 1x5 345 Seated Shoulder Press: 3x6 185 Triceps pushdown: 3x15 TBD Incline Flys: 3x15 TBD Lateral Raises: 3x15 30 (2 15s) Day 2: Squat: 3x3 465 1x5 425 RDLs: 3x6 225-255 Leg Extension: 3x12 TBD Seated Leg Curl: 3x12 TBD Hip Abductors (superset): 3x15 TBD Hip Abductors (superset): 3x15 TBD Day 3: Smith Machine Incline Press: 2x5 285 1x6 255 Close Grip Bench Press: 3x8 235 EZ Bar Skull Crushers (Dumbbells work too for joint health): 3x15 TBD Lateral Raises: 3x15 30 Cross Cable Flys: 3x15 TBD Day 4: Narrow Stance Smith Machine Squats: 2x5 345 1x6 315 Horizontal Leg Press: 3x8 TBD Leg Extension: 3x12 TBD Seated Leg Curl: 3x12 TBD Lateral Lunges: 3x30 (total for both legs) Body Weight Week 3 (92/92.5% 1RM) Day 1: Bench press: 2x2 385 1x4 350 Seated Shoulder Press: 3x6 185 Triceps pushdown: 3x15 TBD Incline Flys: 3x15 TBD Lateral Raises: 3x15 30 (2 15s) Day 2: Squat: 3x2 475 1x4 435 RDLs: 3x6 245-250 Leg Extension: 3x12 TBD Seated Leg Curl: 3x12 TBD Hip Abductors (superset): 3x15 TBD Hip Abductors (superset): 3x15 TBD Day 3: Smith Machine Incline Press: 2x4 285 1x6 255 Close Grip Bench Press: 3x6 235 EZ Bar Skull Crushers (Dumbbells work too for joint health): 3x15 TBD Lateral Raises: 3x15 30 Cross Cable Flys: 3x15 TBD Day 4: Narrow Stance Smith Machine Squats: 2x4 355 Horizontal Leg Press: 3x6 TBD Leg Extension: 3x12 TBD Seated Leg Curl: 3x12 TBD Lateral Lunges: 3x30 (total for both legs) Body Weight Week 4 (95% 1RM) Day 1: Bench press: 3x1 395 1x2 355 Seated Shoulder Press: 3x4 185 Triceps pushdown: 3x15 TBD Incline Flys: 3x15 TBD Lateral Raises: 3x15 30 (2 15s) Day 2: Squat: 3x1 490 1x2 435 RDLs: 3x4 245-250 Leg Extension: 3x12 TBD Seated Leg Curl: 3x12 TBD Hip Abductors (superset): 3x15 TBD Hip Abductors (superset): 3x15 TBD Day 3: Smith Machine Incline Press: 3x4 285 Close Grip Bench Press: 3x4 225 EZ Bar Skull Crushers (Dumbbells work too for joint health): 3x15 TBD Lateral Raises: 3x15 30 Cross Cable Flys: 3x15 TBD Day 4: Narrow Stance Smith Machine Squats: 3x4 315 Horizontal Leg Press: 3x4 TBD Leg Extension: 3x12 TBD Seated Leg Curl: 3x12 TBD Lateral Lunges: 3x30 (total for both legs) Body Weight Bridge (Week 5) Day 1: Bench press: 3x8 255 1x20 225 Seated Shoulder Press: 3x4 185 Triceps pushdown: 3x15 TBD Incline Flys: 3x15 TBD Lateral Raises: 3x15 30 (2 15s) Day 2: Squat: 3x3 345 1x10 315 RDLs: 3x4 225-255 Leg Extension: 3x12 TBD Seated Leg Curl: 3x12 TBD Hip Abductors (superset): 3x15 TBD Hip Abductors (superset): 3x15 TBD Day 3: Smith Machine Incline Press: 3x6 225 Close Grip Bench Press: 3x12 185 EZ Bar Skull Crushers (Dumbbells work too for joint health): 3x15 TBD Lateral Raises: 3x15 30 Cross Cable Flys: 3x15 TBD Day 4: Narrow Stance Smith Machine Squats: 3x6 255 Horizontal Leg Press: 3x12 TBD Leg Extension: 3x12 TBD Seated Leg Curl: 3x12 TBD Lateral Lunges: 3x30 (total for both legs) Body Weight Max Day(Week 6): Bench: 390 410-420 425-435 depending on second attempt Squat: 495 520-530 535+ depending on the second attempt Thank you for reaching the end! #asknostr #fitness #fitstr #liftstr

It's nice to feel stronger again. I dropped about 23 lbs from September to the end of October and it was a big adjustment before the muscle memory really started to kick in

Great deadlifting session today. Tried out a new preworkout and it's a heavy hitter. Finally pulled 440 for the first since my diabetes diagnosis. Jumped to 455 after that, and my top set for the day was at 465 . Back off set was at 385x4. Finished with a set of snatch grip deadlifts at 335. Those were at a much more appropriate load than last time. Guess 475 is the goal for the end of the year. We'll see how that goes before I start working towards 500.

I'm glad you got a system worked out for preventative care

I know exactly what you mean. Those cracked discs were the Air Force's parting gift to me lol

Improving hip mobility and strengthening both the core and posterior chain has been beneficial with my pain in my lower back from herniated discs. Anecdotal of course, but having a rough idea where muscular pains originate from in the kinetic chain is always helpful.

The app I currently use counts warm up sets. Its closer to 7. And it's all I did today too

Had a great deadlifting session. Still a bit congested, but that didn't matter today. Got up to 425lbs for a single and worked back down to 390 conventional. There was enough time left today to finish with a set of snatch grip deadlifts. Kinda overestimated the difficulty. Will definitely need to up the weight next time. Feeling fucking great.

That's still great depth

Is it only available on iOS for now?

That's a fair point. Depending on how well he's doing, we can go to 95% of max as singles in week 3 and then week 4 would be singles around 97-98%. Having doubles at 92% in week 3 is just a little bit more of a cautious, conservative approach. The goal is to minimize cns fatigue and to protect his joints and tendons as much as possible. But we can definitely adjust the loads and intensity if he's not being sufficiently challenged by the 3rd week.