Strength Training for Singles 2014: Eight-Week Workout Cycle II

I like the idea of it though.

when i first started running, i would wear the long-style swimming shorts (in summer) or khakis (when fall came; under the theory that they were "light"). but then i think my wife had some acquaintance whose husband disappeared at a festival or something and it took a super long time to find him (like a day or something). i guess he had gotten mugged and subsequently disoriented or something, so even though he ended up in the hands of the cops, it took a while to figure out who he was and who he belonged with. anyways, so that naturally launches you into a short period of paranoia. i was already having trouble/annoyance carrying my cell phone. somehow, i stumbled upon blue jeans, possibly for the insulative value when it started getting colder. but then it also solved the problem of carrying my cell phone and wallet (now secured to the pants via safety pin since jeans don't have buttons on the back) with ID and emergency contact info on a sticky note on my driver's license. obviously with the swimming trunks, anything in your pockets flies and bangs all over the place; even pants like khakis have similar, though less pronounced, properties. thus, through some quasi-darwinian process, i ended up with the denim equipment and have had no reason to move away from it.

the shock value is merely a pleasant side-effect. :) i was pretty surprised when i figured out that my pants had made more of an impression on people than my non-existent shoes at the DPRT50.

Btw, what kind of squat are you doing?

i am doing a back squat, i guess. i think i'm doing such low weights at the moment, that i haven't noticed much of a difference for bar placement. the primary issue is to find a little "meat" to set it on rather than strictly skin-and-bones. and since no cannibal would put dibs on me, that can be kind of a challenge. but, i'm trying to pay attention just to see how it adjusts while i'm focusing on keeping the motion of the bar and the stance of my back as vertical as practicable. i am also falling prey to your suggestions from way back to go super-deep with a little pause at the bottom. i want to be careful with that in that i don't want to put bizarre stresses on the knee (like when massive thighs interact with melon-like calves; neither of which problems i have...). my idea is to fill in all the gaps and try to have both mental familiarity and physical facility all the way through the motion and then the loads can be increased.

like we keep saying, we're not going to win anything, so the key is to have fun and avoid injury. oh, wait: i think that might be a decent strategy for actually winning something... :)
 
I need to look into those merino wool shirts the only way I can stop the nipple irritation is by wearing my sports bra errr hydration packs otherwise I have to do bandaids.

i have had a tiny bit of trouble on the long (for me) runs of like 3 or 4 hours in the middle of summer when it was like 85 degrees and 85% humidity and you have a soaked shirt for the last 2/3 of the time. but, another quirky thing i do is that i don't do any arm swing. i just grab the front of my shirt right over my collarbones and hold on loosely. then my wrists are resting on my chest and more or less holding the shirt in place so there isn't any relative motion between the shirt and body. and you're supposed to run smoothly anyway, right? (ha!) even when i was a kid, i could never figure out what useful things to do with your arms when you run. all the explanations and arguments i've seen (then and now) seem like post-hoc justifications rather than ex-ante optimized strategies. variations never seemed to effect anything. and hey, cyclists go fast and they have no arm swing at all, right? :)

so, when i started running this time around, i started from scratch. i tried eliminating the arm swing partially on the theory that it didn't seem to be helping me and surely used some energy. if i could find a way to tuck them away without a significant energy expenditure, why not? rotational stability is accomplished with perhaps slightly more chest rotation (since the moment of inertia is smaller with the arms in) going in the opposite direction of the head and especially pelvis, but it has never been an issue and my head is still super steady. this also had the wonderful side effect of de-linking the arm and leg motion (duh, since arm motion -> zero). that makes it easy to modify cadence and specifically crank it up to ridiculous heights since you don't have to coordinate the arms or worry about them keeping up. how likely is it that the resonant frequency of your arms will match with the cadence that feels good for your legs in the various situations you find yourself running through? just bend your knees, turn those legs over, and GO!

anyways, i guess this counts as thread self-hijacking. we now return you to your regularly scheduled programming...
 
That explains it! Shower laundering.
I've been trying to figure out why I'm always hearing the SuitMate swimsuit spinner at the gym, even when I'm the only one who's been in the pool!
Now, that I know people are using it to dry out their sweaty gym clothes, I'm going to continue to wring my suit out by hand. :D
 
Just run. Just lift. Just swim.
Has been working out well. Feeling more well-rounded.
Making good progress all around. Might need to get those heavier Powerblock dumbbells soon.
Inspired by Abide, just added weighted carry to one of my running days. The weight vest is nice, since it allows me to last a bit longer than my grip alone would allow.
 
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I need to look into those merino wool shirts the only way I can stop the nipple irritation is by wearing my sports bra errr hydration packs otherwise I have to do bandaids.

Non touching thighs would be nice too. Thats never gonna happen.

I don't have too many good things to say about squats right now since I am I one of my squats suck mode. I think one issue for max poundage in the squat is that it's a highly subjective lift. The easiest way to lift more weight is to shorten the motion, that's why powerlifters go low bar and a very wide stance. The only way a dl can really be gamed may be to sumo deadlift but for a lot of people it doesn't work. That's why I like the deep squat because it goes from to the max limit and then back up. It's easy for me to feel some consistency between lifts. Overall doing a heavier low bar parallel squat might make me stronger faster but it's not that important to me and I sure as he'll don't need bigger thighs.
I like the Icebreaker brand for Merino wool. It wicks the moisture away and doesn't stink, and you can do the shower laundry without detergent and the shirt is ready the next day, because it dries quickly. After a few times I machine-wash it. I have five or six Merino wool t-shirts now, so I only have to launder them every two weeks, even with the daily run (which is going well btw). I never thought that wool would be cooler than cotton in the summer, but it is. The Icebreaker winter gear is also superb. Pricey, but very high quality. I wear the t-shirts underneath, and continue to shower-launder them in the winter. The tracer pants are as comfortable as pajamas. I like working in fitness gear like a Russian mafioso.

I think you're right about the wide stance reducing the length the bar has to travel, but I think the main reason for the low bar position is that it confers some mechanical advantages, like reduced moment arm or something. Right now I almost like it best for the shoulder mobility it gives me. It was a struggle at first, but now I think there's a strong therapeutic effect in having to scrunch up my delts and traps like that. My left shoulder feels pretty good these days. It's always a little sore after lifting, but nothing like it was just a month or two ago. I'm also doing mobility stuff throughout the day at work. Helps a lot. Later today I'm going to make a splits stretcher out of 2x4s. I'm almost tempted to get one of those Chuck Norris type machines but I know I can get the same effect with a DIY jobbie using furniture glides and one of my bands. Right now I put the glides up against my bookcase, but I want something in front of me I can grab a hold of and pull myself in, pushing the legs out to the sides even more. I did this in Japan while training karate until I could do the splits. I'm making mobility/flexibility a point of emphasis now.

Getting serious about foam rolling also seems to be helping the right knee a lot. In general, I'm concluding that most of my issues have arisen because I haven't taken into account the fact that older recreationalists need to be more vigilante about massaging and stretching. That old meat gets tough and chewy if we don't regularly iron out the knots and adhesions.

i have had a tiny bit of trouble on the long (for me) runs of like 3 or 4 hours in the middle of summer when it was like 85 degrees and 85% humidity and you have a soaked shirt for the last 2/3 of the time. but, another quirky thing i do is that i don't do any arm swing. i just grab the front of my shirt right over my collarbones and hold on loosely. then my wrists are resting on my chest and more or less holding the shirt in place so there isn't any relative motion between the shirt and body. and you're supposed to run smoothly anyway, right? (ha!) even when i was a kid, i could never figure out what useful things to do with your arms when you run. all the explanations and arguments i've seen (then and now) seem like post-hoc justifications rather than ex-ante optimized strategies. variations never seemed to effect anything. and hey, cyclists go fast and they have no arm swing at all, right? :)

so, when i started running this time around, i started from scratch. i tried eliminating the arm swing partially on the theory that it didn't seem to be helping me and surely used some energy. if i could find a way to tuck them away without a significant energy expenditure, why not? rotational stability is accomplished with perhaps slightly more chest rotation (since the moment of inertia is smaller with the arms in) going in the opposite direction of the head and especially pelvis, but it has never been an issue and my head is still super steady. this also had the wonderful side effect of de-linking the arm and leg motion (duh, since arm motion -> zero). that makes it easy to modify cadence and specifically crank it up to ridiculous heights since you don't have to coordinate the arms or worry about them keeping up. how likely is it that the resonant frequency of your arms will match with the cadence that feels good for your legs in the various situations you find yourself running through? just bend your knees, turn those legs over, and GO!

anyways, i guess this counts as thread self-hijacking. we now return you to your regularly scheduled programming...

Broad Arrow, I found that a small item belt works best for my cellphone, although lately I've just been putting it in one of my Brooks running shorts pockets, no problem. It's one less thing to remember to bring. Maybe it bounces around a bit, but I guess I've gotten used to it.

I can't imagine running without a countering arm swing. That's the main reason I got rid of the jogging stroller after just a few uses--felt strange to run without using my arms. I would like to see a pic of your style. Very unique!

P.S., always feel free to highjack, as long as it has something to do with running and lifting, I think it fits on this thread.

Just run. Just lift. Just swim.
Has been working out well. Feeling more well-rounded.
Making good progress all around. Might need to get those heavier Powerblock dumbbells soon.
Inspired by Abide, just added weighted carry to one of my running days. The weight vest is nice, since it allows me to last a bit longer than my grip alone would allow.
I've been getting a bit more into some dumbbell stuff lately, but mostly as assistance. I like the greater range of motion and neutral grip.

That's a nice routine. I wish I weren't such a crap swimmer.
 
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If you can swim at all, that's better than I where I started off. Remember, Sced and I were both taking lessons just last year.

As who is diligent and detail oriented, I think you'd enjoy the iterative process of refining technique. The chemicals in a well maintained pool aren't bad. It really promotes upper body flexibility and conditioning. My shoulders are good now.

Plus, you're going to have a new awesome natural pool in Minneapolis.
http://bringmethenews.com/2014/10/2...ns-first-natural-pool-to-open-in-minneapolis/
 
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If you can swim at all, that's better than I where I started off. Remember, Sced and I were both taking lessons just last year.

As who is diligent and detail oriented, I think you'd enjoy the iterative process of refining technique. The chemicals in a well maintained pool aren't bad. It really promotes upper body flexibility and conditioning. My shoulders are good now.

Plus, you're going to have a new awesome natural pool in Minneapolis.
http://bringmethenews.com/2014/10/2...ns-first-natural-pool-to-open-in-minneapolis/
Yah, must be great for shoulder mobility. I was thinking that just yesterday as I was doing my mobility exercises with this: http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017YUXTQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For me, the main impediment to swimming is the (in)convenience factor. With running, I can run anywhere. Right now it's part of my commute. And with the garage gym, I can almost always fit in some kind of workout, even on really crazy family days. At the moment I'm not up for driving somewhere, changing into my swimsuit, then showering off afterwards, and driving again. But I can see it happening in the future.

That natural pool looks great! I'll have to bring the kids there next summer. North Minneapolis is not too far away.

This week I'm feeling really good about (hopefully) having established the daily running first thing in the morning, and the fact that my knees seem to be close to normal again. It's nice to be able to get up from sitting without worry. And now I just did my first somersault in decades. Haha, groundwork is great!
 
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---------------Week 4, Cycle 2---------------
14.10.26-11.01

Sunday
AM
Running
3.5 mi, 35F, no windchill, Franklin-Marshall Bridge loop. Feet felt a little numb, slept in a bit, so got to see the sunrise for a change.

Monday
AM
Running
3.5 mi, 47F, no windchill, Franklin-Marshall Bridge loop. Legs felt a little stiff and the calves tight, so I took a couple of walking breaks. Knees seem to be holding up well though, with the daily running, so I'm pleased. Slept in again, so got to see another sunrise and the awakening world of work. Lots of cyclist commuters with their bright lights at that hour.

Tuesday
AM
Running
3.5 mi, 44F, 37F wc, Franklin-Marshall Bridge loop.

PM:
Lifting
Cable Row: 2 x 10 x 150
Deadlift: 5 x 130/220/220
1-DB Row 5 x 90/90/110/110
OH Press: 5 x 90/110/110/110
1-DB OH Press: 3 x 40, 5 x 30
2-DB OH Press: 5 x 30
2-DB Bench Press: 5 x 30/50/50
Squat: 5 x 40/90/90
Neut. Pulldown: 2 x 5 x 170

Emphasized the Overhead Press a bit, 3 x 5 x 110 probably represents some kind of PR. Really enjoying pushing the OH Press now. I'm feeling more confident on the form and balance. I did my first full ROM (breaking parallel) squats since the strain almost three weeks ago. Knee clicked once or twice, but otherwise felt fine. The clicking is actually a good form cue--when I get the stance width, toe angle, and knees aligned just right, the click goes away. Added another plate increment to the deadlifts, felt good to prime the back this way again. Did some rolling and stretching 'fillers' before and in between the sets, seems to help. I did light 2-DB Bench Presses mostly for the ROM, and paused at the bottom with the dumbbells just touching my shoulders and torso. Added ten more pounds to the pulldowns. When I get up to 200 I might try chinups again.

Wednesday
AM
Running
3.5 mi, 37F, 23F wc, Franklin-Marshall Bridge loop. Toes got a little numb, but the runs are starting to feel a bit easier--no walking. Listened to music with my new Miikey MiiSport headphones. Great sound.

PM
Lifting
Cable Row: 10 x 100/150/150
Sweeping Deadlift (Green Band): 5 x 130/220/270/270
Bench Press 5 x 2 x 220
Supine Pulldown: 2 x 180, 3 x 170, 5 x 160
Neut. Pulldown: 2 x 5 x 150
Squat: 5 x 40/90/90/130/130
OH Press: 2 x 5 x 90
2-DB Row: 3 x 5 x 60

Tried Sweeping Deadlifts for the first time, as a way to get in a little more lat stimulation while I continue to build back up to my deadlift RMs. I liked it. Added another plate, so I'm close to my old 5RM already. May try triples next time.

Added another weight increment to my squats too. My right knee tolerated it fine, but there's still some tightness in the surrounding muscles, so I'll continue to take it slow.

Thursday
AM
Running
3.5 mi, 38F, 31F wc, Franklin-Marshall Bridge loop.

Friday
AM
Running
3.5 mi, 28F, 12F wc, Franklin-Marshall Bridge loop. Feet got fairly numb, but all was tolerable. The worst was on the bridges, where the wind blew fiercely at times. I'm glad I'm fit enough now to run continuously because walking would've been hard today with the windchill at 12F. I knew a few weeks ago that time was running out to get back into running shape, but looks like I made it.

PM
Lifting
Cable Row: 2 x 10 x 150
Deadlift: 2 x 5 x 270
Back Squat: 5 x 40/90/130/130/130
OH Press: 5 x 40/90, 2 x 120, 1 x 120, 2 x 3 x 115, 1 x 5 x 115
Bench Press 2 x 4 x 200
Cable Row: 5 x 190/200
N. Pulldown: 2 x 5 x 150

Deadlift felt good but heavy. I've probably lost some conditioning during this layoff and rehab. On the last set of the Squats I think I came close to a full ROM, so that's coming along. When I can consistently get a good depth, I'll start adding weight again, but right now 130 feels about right while the knee is still a little stiff. The last two workouts I've widened my stance a bit, and this feels good. The clicking or stiffness in the right knee has been a good form cue, so another blessing in disguise with respect to the DL strain, in addition to motivating me to finally do the daily 5K when I stopped deadlifts and squats while waiting for the strain to lessen.

OH Press was funny, I got stronger as I went on, and just a five-pound reduction allowed me to go from one rep to five. So finally got to use the 2.5-pound Oly plates I bought a month ago. Bench felt a little heavy, didn't attempt the last rep of both sets. Tried Cable Rows heavy, felt like a nice alternative to the 1-DB Rows.

Saturday
AM
Running
3.5 mi, 23F, 19F wc, Franklin-Marshall Bridge loop.
 
--- Week 4: Cycle 2 ---
Monday 10/27/14
DL --------- 2 x 1 x 140kg
Bench ----- 2 x 3 x 90kg
Press ------ 5 x 60kg 3 x 62.5kg 2 x 65kg
Squat ------ 5 x 80kg 3 x 90 2 x 100
Pull ups --- 2 x 6 x BW
Farmers --- 1 x 80m x 85kg
AM Bike Commute 17.3k - 37:02: 28.3 km/hr: W 11S
PM Bike Commute 17.3k - 36:40

Tuesday 10/28/14
Bench ----- 2 x 10 x 60kg
Press ------ 2 x 10 x 40kg
Squat ------ 2 x 10 x 60kg
KB Row --- 2 x 10 x 32kg
Pull ups --- 2 x 6 x BW
Farmers --- 2 x 80m x 85kg

Wednesday 10/29/14
AM Run Commute 18k - 2.08
PM Bike Commute 17.3k - 36:16

Thursday 10/30/14
AM Bike Commute 17.3k - 39:35
PM Bike Commute 17.3k - 36:16

Friday 10/31/14
Bench ----- 2 x 5 x 90kg
Press ------ 2 x 5 x 55kg
Squat ------ 2 x 5 x 60kg
DL --------- 3 x 3 x 120kg
KB Row --- 2 x 10 x 32kg
Pull ups --- 2 x 6 x BW
Farmers --- 2 x 80m x 85kg
AM Bike Commute 17.3k - 36:30
PM Bike Commute 17.3k - 34:54
 

Had the motivation but not the energy. Been thinking of doing a 2 x 10 rep scheme for days like today vs. a 1x10 just to get in some work.
Yah, that's the beauty of the six/seven lift scheme. Just get 'em in, even at high reps/low weight. Before on low energy days, or missed days, with some kind of split or body part scheme, you then have to compensate on the next workout, cause some lifts only come around once a week, right? But with the Dan John/L'Abide scheme, you work all six force/direction pairings every workout, then set the sets/reps via autoregulation or some kind of set/rep guide.

The last two workouts I've been doing the sets/reps by feel, just using the 10-rep minimum as my guide. I've also been thinking of doing my squats and deadlifts higher rep for a while, until I'm 100% confident my knee has rehabbed completely. With the push to run daily, I think I can afford a month or so of not pushing the lower body lifts, but I want to get them in. I think the main push for the next month or the rest of this cycle will be the OH Press and the upper body pulls.
 
I'm starting to wonder if maybe only pushing the DL and squat once a month is better than weekly? I'm still having some interference issues.with squats and biking and running. I'm not really sure why they cause more issues than the deadlift.
 
I'm starting to wonder if maybe only pushing the DL and squat once a month is better than weekly? I'm still having some interference issues.with squats and biking and running. I'm not really sure why they cause more issues than the deadlift.
Yeah, I dunno what the right mix is going to be for me, but heavy deadlifts probably once a fortnight, and heavy squats once a week? A lot of trainers say you shouldn't go heavy on the deadlifts too much, and that squats will help bring the deadlift up, so I'm going to go with that for a while. My push will be to get my squat 1RM up to 300 I think, and keep my deadlifts around 310-20 for a while, and just work on increasing reps at that load. I'm still thinking going with doubles, instead of singles, on heavy days too -- 5x2.

Running every day now has diminished my need/desire for more frequent lower body work, I think. We'll see. Maybe once the early morning runs become easier and faster I'll start to want to go heavy on the squats and deadlifts more often. In any case, it'll be another week or two or more before my right knee feels good enough to go heavy. So the deadlift strain really has been a blessing in disguise; the time off from heavy lower body lifts has helped me gain the focus I needed to re-establish my running, and give the daily 5K an honest try.

I agree though, that squats interfere with running more than deadlifts. I think it's because they work the quads more. As with you, how often and heavy I do the squats and deadlifts will be determined by the running, and not the other way around.

One thing I've concluded is that each main lift has carryover to the other main lifts, so I'm going to go more by feel and use those Strength Standard ratios as a rough guide of where everything should be. My bench is the most advanced, so everything will be compared to that. I'll try to bring everything up to that level without pushing the bench at all.

2:3:4:5
OH Press = 2, Bench = 3, Squat = 4, Deadlift = 5
Bench = Row = Pullup

So if Bench is 250, then OH Press should be about 165, Squat should be 330, and Deadlift about 410, and the row and pullup also 250. Basically, my back is about 70% what it should be, compared to my front. The thing is, though, that as my back gets strong, my bench will probably go up too, so it's hard to say at what point everything will be proportional.

I skipped my workout yesterday because I was feeling a bit sick and also had some domestic demands placed on me, so today I think I'm going to blast the back and then tomorrow go high volume on the OH Press. I'm also going to try a full ROM squat I think, at low weight. One other thing I've thought about is doing partial deadlifts for a week or two, until my knee is 100%. Lifting off blocks or doing "sweeping deadlifts" with a band to work the lats more. Still really liking the 6x10 protocol. It allows me to have emphases like these while still getting the other lifts in. Just have to do them light -- 2x5, when I focus on the back or OH Press and go heavy on those.
 
Reading up a bit (finally) on the knee clicking sound, and it looks like a tight ITB, pulling the patella to the outside and out of its groove, might be the culprit. This makes sense, since to unlock it from a bent position, I need to massage the painful area right above the knee on the outside. So looks like permanent damage from the dl overtraining is highly unlikely, and I can probably resume the DLs and Squats without too much worry, just gotta make sure to massage and stretch the ITB and hammies plenty.

Another sign I gotta take mobility/flexibility more seriously. I'm beginning to think I may be able to become completely niggleless.
 
I'm beginning to think I may be able to become completely niggleless.

i am in full support of that idea. i seem to recall something about how businesses lose tons of money due to "equipment down time" when the excavator breaks because you forgot to oil something. i have a hunch that the losses from being injured are larger than the gains made by all the pushing right before the injury.
 
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i am in full support of that idea. i seem to recall something about how businesses lose tons of money due to "equipment down time" when the excavator breaks because you forgot to oil something. i have a hunch that the losses from being injured are larger than the gains made by all the pushing right before the injury.
Yah, although, in my case, I'm concluding it wasn't from pushing the deadlifts per se, but the tightness I got from running, and the attendant neglect of not massaging the tightness out before deadliftng. That's why the injury wasn't acute. I started to feel something on my run home right before lifting, and the strain only really came on the next morning.

I think the niggles in my legs have always come from being too tight and/or trigger points caused by running, and my shoulder niggles from lack of mobility and/or trigger points caused by lifting and maybe use of wider and/or prone grips. Under this assumption, the solution in both cases is to stretch and massage more, and it seems to be working. For my shoulder, I've also switched to medium grips, neutral or supine, and have made an effort to strengthen the muscles around the scapulae in order to better support the joint and also counterbalance the tight anterior delt and pec muscles.
 
Been slacking on my recording here.

I came across a discussion on FB about doing less weight and I think it jives with your issues.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/alex.viada/posts/10100838754046974?pnref=story

Anyway he links to an article in the comments and in the program its interesting how less of loads they are doing. It's making me think lifting in the 70-80% range may be a good place for this program. It also is similar to the easy concept DJ an Pavel preach about.
 
Another couple of links from that thread

http://jtsstrength.com/articles/2014/06/16/juggercube/

Need a few months too read this one. Cliff notes anyone?
http://sportsci.org/2009/ss.htm
The Cliff notes are the abstract in the beginning, which is all I read. The 80/20, or 65/35 for Canova, split is pretty standard, right?. I think the same ratios apply to lifting: 65-80% just going through the motions, 20-35 percent at higher intensities, if you want to (1) speed up progress, or (2) maximize your genetic potential. I don't think there's anything wrong with lifting at lower intensities or always running at aerobic pace, but it will limit your rate of progress and/or ability to reach your potential.

For me, I've been mostly using autoregulation, but I also like the programming of the 6L x 10R program I've been using. Minimally, I gotta do 10 Reps of the 6 main Lifts. Then within that, I can varying the rep-counts/intensities. This week I've been highlighting one or two lifts each session. So a weekly scheme might be:

Mon
Deadlift, OH Press Hard
Squat, Bench, Row, Pulldown Easy

Wed
Bench, Pulldown Hard
Deadlift, OH Press, Squat, Row Easy

Fri
Squat, Row, Hard
Deadlift, OH Press, Bench, Pulldown Easy

And if I'm feeling tired in general, then just do everything 2 x 5 easy. If I'm pressed for time, just do the two hard lifts.

So that basically means that in any full workout, about 35% will be at higher intensities, and 65% at lower. Yesterday I did the Bench Press 5 x 2, and the doubles continue to feel pretty good, better than the singles I think, but I might try 3/3/4 next time in order to move things along a little quicker and get in more assistance, like 2-DB Bench Press or Pullovers.

I mostly see myself sticking within the 1-5 rep range. Lately I've been starting my workouts with 2-3 sets of Cable Rows x 10, as warm-up, but it's just hard mentally for me to do anything beyond 5 reps. To draw another analogy between lifting and running, higher reps are like longer runs; after about six miles I have to fight an increasing urge to stop and walk, just as I usually feel like stopping after 5-6 reps.
 
See that's the confusing part for me when I try to apply the 80/20 to lifting.
Out of 10 workouts 2 should be at high intensity levels. But what it doesnt't factor is do you treat the lifts as individual programs or is it all inclusive? And if you transpose the lactate threshold to lifting its probably what sub 75% max? Autoreg is working somewhat but the problem is in 10 reps its hard to judge how you are going to feel that day.
I'm really trying to simplify the plan a bit so I don't have to think about it as frequently. We kind of simplified the excercises althoug they tend to be more complicated lifts, but then there is the inherent complexity of the rep ranges and weights, and also whats the right max to use etc... So maybe everything at 75% 2 x 5? Then once a week or every two weeks do singles on the DL, and on the other days just use the trap bar at 75%? At this point I know I really only have one hard day a week in me on the deadlift, and within that day I can really only go close to max on it. This is why I think I am beginning to see the squat interference issue.

Thoughts? Am I making this too complex? I think the variability is affectng my sense of consistency.