RTS Week 11 - Day 4

2nd Mesocycle

Week 5 of Mesocycle, Week 2 of Intensity

Press
165x2 @ 8
185x0... oops
185x2 @ 9
185x2 @ 9
185x2 @ 9.5
135x5

Chins
BWx3
45x5
55x3
70x4 (PR)
45x5
BWx6

Close Grip Incline
185x5
225x5
245x3 (PR)
225x3
225x3

Notes
Huge chin PR.  Thats both a weight and rep PR.  Definitely have never strapped on 70 pounds before.  I'm not sure I've really gone above 45 ever on chins.

Incline was very solid tonight.  I feel poised to hit a new 1-2 rep PR next week.  I will note, sometimes on these exercises I'm hitting "technical" PR's, in that I've never done that weight for those reps before.  Last cycle I hit  225x8 on week 5 and 275x1 on week 6. I'm sure on both of those nights I was capable of 245x3. Nonetheless, one thing I took away from reviewing my old journal was I incessantly tracked PR's at all weight and reps.  Generally, I think that is a really good idea for many reasons.

Bonus: HULK EFFECT
Today I trained totally fasted.  I did have a double protein shake around 1:30pm, but I didn't workout until 6:15p.m.  I've been doing this for the last 5 weeks because of lent.  Something very cool happened in the gym today.  By the time I got to chins I realized I had a huge amount of adrenaline pumping.  I was hyper aware and focused, and I could just feel my nervous system operating at full tilt.  Basically, as the session continued, I felt fucking awesome at lifting weights.  Mentally, just totally intune, and my body responded in kind with the PR's.

I was talking with Matt post workout tonight, and he mentioned an article Kiefer wrote called The Hulk Factor.  The long and short of it is the nervous system and adrenal glands kick into hypermode when strength training in a gylcogen depleted or sans carb state.  Obviously, fasting will put you into this state very quickly.  In prior weeks I've noticed this consistently happens on Fridays.  It also happened on other days, but not as frequently. At the time, I just assumed it had something to do with being in an underfed state.  I specifically remember likening it to being a caveman.  It was like I hadn't eaten all day, and now I was on the hunt.  My body called on everything hormonal and neurological to make the fucking kill.

I've also experienced the Hulk effect immediately post workout when I'm underfed and begin making food.  Its like I'm perfeclty synchronized in the kitchen.  I multi-task to the extreme and make huge savory, meat-filled meals in minutes.

I will note, I've really only experienced this hulk effect during more pure strength training. 5x5 volume squat days in total depletion just totally suck.  Huge adrenaline influxes might get me through the training, but it still feels like shit.

One last note on the missed overhead.  In the article, Kiefer mentions his own Hulk Effect took a few minutes after warmups to take hold.  This happened tonight with the overheads.  I wasn't focused or ready to go.  I wasn't "on" yet. Ordinarily missing something like that at the start of my workout might cause me to label the day as a weak day.  The strength just isn't there, so get shit done.  Yet tonight as I transitioned to chins, things really began to take off.