Mat pulls (9)
565 x 8
Initially did 7, stood-up, then immediately thought I could get another so I quickly re-wrapped and grinded up an 8th. I'm counting it, I've rest-paused on the ground much longer than that.

ATG SSB squats
Worked-up to 240, 290 x 8

Alternating SSB lunges
150 x 16
Did these after deloading the bar from the squats and proceeding without rest.

Deep Bulgarian split-squats
45 lb plate x 8 each side
Just some knee prehab.

Slow ab wheel reps
5, 5
Pausing at the hardest point is always killer, makes planks feel like a vacation in comparison.

Ate extremely well on the trip, although I started running out of food on Sunday. Nothing dire but had to use a naaaasty meal-replacement carton shake before bed rather than just a straight protein shake. The two Chipotle orders I brought with me were life-savers, and I ate big at every restaurant we went to. The hotel was above a pub so good food was never far away during the day (ordered their amazing lobster bake on two separate occasions). Final meal was a massive feast at the best Indian restaurant I've ever been to. My efforts paid off as I felt fantastic throughout the weekend despite drinking and sometimes getting 6 hours of sleep.

Monday:

Swiss bar bench

185 x 5

225 x 5

270 x 4, 5

225 x 8, 10, 10

-

Super-set with Dumbbell rows

115s x 8, 10, 10, 10

Arnold press
50s x 10
-
Giant -set with rear-delt flyes and Swiss bar band-resisted curls

Band curls

Currently in Half Moon Bay for George's birthday trip over the weekend. Since this is a blog here's a pic while I wait for George to check-in:

Got in a fasted workout consisting of 50 burpees and some shadow kickboxing before breakfast today. 

I prepared well for this weekend and the partying. Organic protein shakes, protein bars, canned tuna, and pistachios are my snacks, along with my multivitamins. Also pre-made a big thermos of organic cran and grapefruit juice with vodka, which always leaves me feeling great after a night of drinking (after Halloween last year I hit a deadlift PR the next day and my friend was astonished I was even able to workout). To top it all off, stopped at Chipotle and got a burrito and a burrito bowl with double meat and guacamole so I have easy access to food in the room. Not worrying about low-carb dieting right now, I trained hard this week and I'm going to need decent calories while out of town. 

Also going to make myself so some stretches every day, my back has been killing me. 

Squatted up to 450x1 with the Yukon bar, and then did drop-down sets of 365x5, 315x8, 225x8, 135x8, and 45x8. Similar to what I did with the straight bar but much deeper reps on the top few sets. 

Today:

Press
155 x 3
175 x 3
197.5 x 3
-
Last set super-set with NG chins x 10

Push press
197.5 x 4

Press
155 x 7, 8, 8
-
Super-set with NG chins x 10, 10, 45lbs x 10
Taking a break from the cleans, my right forearm has been feeling nasty for a few weeks now. I think I strained something from one of the early times I did Poundstone curls.

Band-resisted incline dumbbell press
50s x 10, 10, 10
-
Super-set with NG chins x 45lbs x 10, 10

Keg curls
165 x 12, 12

Going on a trip to Half Moon Bay tomorrow for George's birthday over the weekend, going to actually bring some food with me instead of relying on outside food and protein shakes.

Swiss bar bench
235 x 5
265 x 3
300 x 1
225 x 3 x 8, 9, 9
Wielding this is getting easier. Thought I might have had another 300 in me.

Kroc rows
160 x 21 

Dumbbell rows (super-set with bench sets)
115 x 8, 9, 9

Swiss bar tricep extensions
45 x 10, 10
Extreme stretch on these, actually made it pretty challenging.
-
Swiss bar curls
45 x 15
Against bands 45 x 10
Liked the banded set, gonna do that more.

Feeling a bit better today, don't feel like I desperately need a nap.

 Felt really run-down yesterday. Despite getting enough sleep I woke-up in a fog and had to take a nap after work. Set-out to do a deadlift max of 615 and didn't budge it, then tried to do 500x8 and could only get a single rep. Knocked out 405x15 after, which is a light-enough weight to not need my brain firing on all cylinders. Happy to have gotten that done, then did some ATG SSB squats with 240x2x10.

Press
145 x 5
170 x 5
185 x 5
-
Last set super-set with NG chin-ups
10
Ugh, hate seeing my top-set be so low, but I was struggling before this reset. Press is always the roughest when losing weight. Read a recent T-Nation article reminding me that a lot of it comes from losing cushioning as fat and fluid retention dissipates, and it's not necessarily the muscles being so drastically weakened. This felt like a stronger showing than the rough 190x3 I gutted out last week, as well. But fuck that reasoning, this is weak and I need to get stronger.

Axle press
140 x 2 x 8 (clean every rep)
150 x 9 (clean once and press away)
- 
Super-set with NG chin-ups
12
45 x 10
90 x 9

Did this while juggling work-from-home meetings and office tasks on my phone, managed to get through it in 2 hours which isn't as horrible as it could have been. Going to do some pump-bro accessory work in the evening after my in-person job when I can be free from distractions.

Now that I'm fully vaccinated I'm also in the market for a boxing or Muay Thai gym again, have a few in mind to hit-up. 

 Yukon squats
335 x 3
380 x 3
435 x 2, 3
Drop-down sets of 365 x 5, 315 x 6, 225 x 8, 135 x 8, 45 x 8

Iron Woody leg curls

Getting the hang of this bar. More of a feeling like it's going to slide down my back than the straight bar.

Going this low in bar weight has also allowed me to deepen my squats. I noticed before they were getting high to the point where I wasn't confident a judge would pass them. I'm probably overdoing it now by going below parallel, but that's OK.

Diet has been pretty strict, although I had a cheat day on Sunday. Brother was visiting on Saturday night so I had a pizza feast with family then, too.

Yesterday:

Deadlift
Up to 550x5

Belt squats
6 plates, 8 plates, 9 plates x 10

SSB lunges
150x20

Split-squats for knee rehab

Knees have been feeling muuuch better since squatting deeper and doing some rehab exercises (extremely deep bodyweight split-squats).

Been pretty strict with my diet this week, going low carb except peri-workout for the most part.

Been having gnarly stomach issues the last few days. Eating has been rough but I've been forcing it down. Have also not been feeling like I'd get enough rest when I wake up even though it's 6-7 hours.

Yesterday took the Yukon bar for a spin working up to 405x5 of deep squats.

Press

Up to 190x3

-

Last set super-set with neutral grip chin-ups

10

Axle press

140x8 (clean every rep)

140x8 (clean first 5 reps)

140x8 (clean first rep)

-

All super-set with neutral grip chin-ups

12

Got my second COVID shot on Saturday. Yesterday was the sickest I've probably ever been in my life. At one point I felt myself about to pass out while taking a leak so I had to rush to my bed and then gradually work my way up to being able to leave the room. Gnarly. Feeling a lot better today although a still little tired after 9 hours of sleep. 

Before I got hit I managed to get in a session with a Swiss bar, working up to a 265x5 bench.

Worked up to squatting 375 and then felt a sharp pain in my left knee. Shut the session down after this.

Warm up wasn't great and I was resting long between sets because work was so insanely busy. Planning on doing a full body workout with SSB box squats tomorrow and sets of five with the Swiss bar before getting my second COVID vaccine. Frustrating when I was looking for a satisfying squat workout to be the payoff for making it through an annoying work day, oh well. 

Worked up to a 355 bench press last night. Glad to be at that level after I failed 365 not too long ago. Wanted to get a heavy bench single in before I start training with the Swiss bar more. 

Trained 3 times yesterday, starting with a fasted session first thing in the morning consisting of 5 min on the bike, 45 burpees, 100 jumping-jacks, 3 min shadow kickboxing, and a quick burn-out on the bike again. Don't remember the total time.

Did bag work and jogging the rest of the day. 

Fallen behind on this, just going to start up again instead of trying to be perfect and wait for an opportune moment to have time and recollect everything. 

Mat pulls (2)

550 x 5

* Fuck yeah, felt sluggish this whole session and every rep of this was a slow one, but I remembered to use my legs and just keep grinding the bar up. The last rep took a long time to complete so I didn't bother trying to rest-pause and get another. Really glad at how consistent my performance has been on this mat pull cycle, no days where I've been unable to break the bar off the ground. Had a headache and watery eyes after, the tears were a new thing.

SSB ATG squats

240 x 8, 10, 10

Tibialis raises x random number

* Got this exercise from kneesovertoesguy for knee health. Still working on th set-up.

In other news, I put in an order for a Swiss bar and a buffalo (Yukon) bar, both from Titan. Looking forward to benching with the Swiss bar, for some reason that thing makes going back to a regular barbell feel amazing. 

Had a friend over yesterday when I needed to get my mat pull session in. Historically I find that friend workouts can be distracting, but this was really productive. I put earbuds in for the max set, which I'm going to do everytime a guest is with me because it makes all the difference in getting me into my own place and exerting a full effort. Mat pulled 550x6 (1 rest pause) off 3 mats.

My knees have been hurting so I'm taking a break from belt squats. They might not actually be the sole culprit, it could just be parallel squatting in general. I heard about this Instagram dude "kneesovertoesguy" who specializes in exercises for healthy knees and it gave me a reminder to do deep squats for them, so I did 200-220 lb SSB ATG squats after the deads. And I swear this was the first night in awhile that my knee pain didn't flare up. I also felt some achiness on the first few reps of the squats and that went away quick. Had my heels propped up on patio tiles with 10 lb plates underneath while doing so. Going to keep these up, I definitely feel better after doing them.

This entry is going to be a bit scattered because I'm using voice narration to record this at 10:00 p.m. as I eat dinner about an hour and a half before bed and about 30 minutes after I finished an eye-bulging squat session. I saved my training for after work since I only had one job today, but I honestly didn't hustle as much as I should have due to being so busy during my 9 working-hours and honestly feeling kind of chill when I finally clocked out.

Squatted up to 490x1 and then realized I didn't have my belt on. Hey, that's a PR without a belt. Holy shit did it feel different. My waist is really thin now It was my core that was the weakest link. My legs handled the weight fine, experience knee pain today but I figured out the belt squats are really doing that. Going to take a break from them. Going deeper with them would help a lot too, going to figure that out.

Belted up and hit 490x4. Probably had a 5th in me but my back started getting pumped and fatigued so I called it. I'm pretty happy with this. Progressing my squat the way I have while losing weight and going down below 200? Can't complain.

Did the drop-down sets and hit 405x5 while fighting the urge to crumple over, I never used to be able to hit that after a max 5. Couldn't do more than 315x5 though without my back yelling at me so I stopped there and did the usual 225, 135, and 45 x 8. Honestly even 135 was hard on my back. To be clear there's no pain and nothing was tweaked.

Did a bunch of leg curls with the purple band (I think it's the equivalent of an elite FTS monster). Really have no good option but to pop a 10mg edible to calm me down for bedtime. I also take melatonin in cases like this to counter eating carbs before bed which I hear reduce the body's natural production of it. 

Wow, weighed 195 in the morning.

Mat pulls (4)
550 x 6

Belt squats
6 plates x 10
8 plates x 6 (got interrupted by a call from my boss)
9 plates x 10

SSB lunges
150 x 24

Not mindblowing but much better than last week's attempt, I was happy about this. Tried to eke out more reps by rest-pausing and my back just felt too fatigued, I couldn't budge the bar.

Did a lot of stretching and massaging via a massage gun on my back yesterday, it paid off today because it felt good. Do more of that.

  I haven't been posting about every night training session, but yeah, it's been nightly. It's my way of coping with two jobs, I don't even see it as a chore (unlike lifting). I come home and typically hit 3-5 rounds on the bag and then go for a jog while zoning out to music. I actually have to force myself to cut the running short in the interest of making it to bed on time. It's really the music that makes it addicting, I enjoy it more when I'm doing something physical. The only bad part is I like to microdose edibles doing it and that's bad for the wallet, but otherwise it's a good habit and it releases energy accrued during the day. Not to be on a high horse because I have a ton of my own shortcomings, but I don't understand how people can work in offices and not workout. Where does their energy go?

Hit a simple squat workout of 430x3x8 on Monday, which I'm really pleased about. First set felt a little miserable and then the last set felt LIGHT.

Tuesday:

Bench press

235x5

275x5

310x3

245x12 (super-set with dumbbell rows of 115x9)

* Ugh, that's some bad regression. Had a "wtf" moment when I felt how heavy 275 was. Should be noted that my traps and real delts are sore from farmers' walks I did the day before yesterday. Not going to chalk it up to that but it's something to note. 

* Attempted first set last but miscounted like a meathead and had it 10 lbs heavier.

Decline bench press

245 x 8, 8

-

Super-set with dumbbell rows

115s x 9, 9

Didn't record the rest due to work and moving so fast between sets.

Hit 205x3 in the axle press yesterday. Moved at a really good clip for the rest of the session and finished in a little over an hour. Going to aim to do that more.

Felt lousy waking up today. Kept waking up in my sleep and had stomach issues. Thought about skipping my fasted workout, which usually prompts me to do it even more.

5 minutes at level 4 on the exercise bike

40 burpees

5 minutes shadow kickboxing

1 minute of hook duck hook drill

2 minutes at level 5 burning out on the exercise bike

Unfortunately I forgot the time that I started so I don't have a precise runtime. Somewhere around 15 minutes.

Seriously surprised at how easy burpees become just from doing them. Used to feel tired at 20. 

The hook drill is something I got from Instagram. It's real simple, left hook, duck, right hook, repeat nonstop. I think I explained it before in a post recently now that I remember. But yeah, really liking Instagram for boxing tips. 

Feeling way better after working out and getting breakfast (2 eggs, some cartoned egg whites, smoked salmon, strawberries, two mini Kodiak protein pancakes drizzled with maple syrup, a latte, and about half a scoop of whey protein). 

 Yesterday was a bit of a mess. Woke up at 6:40 and got ready to train, but due to workload and phone meetings I didn't actually get to even pulling 315 until 2pm. Ate a big breakfast that got wasted as I got caught up in work tasks. Tried to keep the fullness extended by munching on bananas, some Girl Scout cookies, and taking some protein, but I really needed to table plans and just eat a full meal because I was hungry by the time I got to lift anything. Felt unfocused, too. Got up to 550x3 and then another 3 reps mat pulling off 4 mats. 

Went to my second job at this point and then realized my back was tweaked on my left side and was progressively feeling worse. Didn't get too bad luckily, just some pain when bending. Came home from job 2 and banged out 405x10 with no warm-up (TNG) and then did belt squats and SSB lunges (150 x 20). Definitely a punch-the-clock evening.

Now that I'm physically in the office, where I'm primed to sit down and focus on work, my work load is light and I have a ton of down time. Oh well, things being inconvenient make the gains better.

Finished off yesterday after work with 3 hard rounds on the heavy bag followed by a run. Was planning on not taking any edibles this whole week but found out I have to work in-person at both jobs so I took 13 mg (which is quite a bit for me, I rarely go above 7) to ensure I fell asleep early. I did, but got woken up by a really cute mourning dove cooing outside my window. Got about 7.5 hours and feeling good.

I've really upped my coffee game lately. Got rid of my old Mr. Coffee machine, partially out of concern about drinking hot coffee filtered through plastic every day, and am using a ceramic pour-over method with freshly ground beans and filtered water. I do taste a difference, but it's not major. It also takes a little longer but it's still very easy to make. Worthy trade-off for going plastic-free.

A few hours later at my leg is fine. Practiced some hard shadowboxing in the yard. Instagram has been a boon for getting drill and combo ideas in a quick format. YouTube tutorials are great but they're a little more involved with lengthy intros and the commentary. I like Instagram because I can see a 5 second tutorial clip and instantly get it. This was simply throwing a left hook, ducking, right, repeat.

Had my fasted workout interrupted by some crazy thigh pain. Wasn't sure if I pulled something or if it was just awakening DOMS from those SSB squats, but I stopped at rep 13 of burpees out of concern. At this point I had done 8 minutes of the exercise bike and burpees. Took a break here to walk around and do some chores like water my plants, assessing my leg. Went back to about 5 more combined minutes of the exercise bike and light shadow kickboxing. It just feels like really bad soreness but some injuries start off that way except the soreness never goes away, so I'll be taking it easy on my legs today. Planning on hitting the heavy bag later.

SSB squats
410 x 5, 5
415 x 5
Last set done with a set of 15-rep hise shrugs at the end.

Banded SSB good mornings
110 x 12, 12

I'm liking these 2-week breaks ("breaks") using the SSB bar. The load isn't that heavy but it feels like a different kind of hell with the nature of the bar. It's not something I want to run for long in any consecutive manner since my straight bar sessions are so much higher and I don't want that to regress if I can help it.

Did 4 hill sprints last night and a jog.

Axle press
Up to 195 x 5
* Was curious to see how this would fare after the log training. It...was the same. 

Band-resisted axle press
140 x 8, 7
-
Super-set with chin-ups
10, 14

Got a work call from my boss here and had a 20-30 min phone meeting.

Band-resisted incline axle bench
180 x 9
190 x 8
-
Super-set with weighted chin-ups
50 x 10
50 x 8 and then bodyweight chins x 5

Chest flyes, curls

Crazy busy day again. Got asked to come in-person tomorrow, thankfully I'm off from my old job then and won't have to work 12 hours.

Mat pulls (5)
550 x 8 (2 rest pauses)
Honestly was hoping for more than 6 non-rested reps just for the sake of surpassing my old numbers but this isn't bad either (and I was heavier then). Same deal as last week, the weight felt light and then my back just tired out and felt pumped. Took my shirt off due to the heat and belt was loose. Also worth noting that I've been remarkably consistent in my performance since reinventing how I think about leg drive, haven't had a missed rep in awhile.

Belt squats
5 plates, 8, 9 x 10 reps

Banded leg extensions
Put these in as a break from heavy lunges. Left hip is a little achy lately.

Very busy work day, including an in-person meeting with a contractor from a water company - luckily it was 5 min away from home. I literally finished up this workout and then was meeting the guy 15 minutes later, my eyes may have been a bit bloodshot. 

 Did 3 easy rounds on the heavy bag yesterday.

Today was a fasted workout again comprised of biking, 36 burpees, shadowkickboxing, some jumping-jacks, and finishing off on the bike. Total time was 25 minutes. Taking an extra day off from the weights to allow my back to recover before pull day after log pressing and then helping with the move.

Came back after work last night and did some log pressing. The pain in my arm is getting better. Dropping the weight and using a hard hip thrust to roll the log up is making a difference over time. My arms still feel beat up the day after log pressing but that feels like normal wear and tear, whereas this infliction actually felt deleterious and a sign to check my form. I'm now a stronger log presser for it; truly, the gift of injury.

Going to help a friend move today. Just did a fasted morning workout for 20 minutes. 5 minutes on the bike, 35 burpees, shadow kickboxing, and finishing off with 6 hard minutes on the bike at a higher resistance level.

Repeated the mat pressing, pretty much the same deal as last Saturday. Worked up to 315x3, 315x4, and 315x4. Afterwards, I benched 275x5 and immediately dropped down to 225x5. Those bench sets were really all I could do honestly, I'm stunned at how much of a triceps killer the partial presses have been. I could experiment with doing ROM progression this way and then gauge how my bench press is affected by that. All sets were super-setted with T-bar rows.

Did three rounds on the bag yesterday, went pretty easy on it too besides some flashes of explosiveness here and there.

SSB squats
Up to 400 x 7, 8, 8
*Was planning on doing 410 when I saw I only did 400x3x5 last time, not sets of 8 like I thought. And shit this was tough. The last rep of the last set was the closest my back has come to just outright collapsing but still getting it up (I failed once or twice in a power rack with safety bars in the Portland gym years back). I basically had to good morning it partially up. No injury or anything, guess all those mat pulls have done me good. I say that and then I'll probably injure my back warming up with 225 or something soon, that's usually how it goes.

I should explain that because I don't deload on a strict schedule anymore I'm breaking up my 3-week mesocycles with some squat variations. I think maxing out close to 550 every three weeks is just a bad idea, especially on a calorie deficit. I was grappling with this because the golden rule is to not mess with a successful formula but then I remembered I've already been doing this anyway, either with the SSB bar or sets of 8 with a straight bar.

Finished off with a bunch of band leg curls.

 Today was a planned rest day, but it ended up being needed due to how crazy busy I was between working from home, chores, and having to go to the DMV. I think I'm going to hit the bag when I get home from the office though, as well as stretches.

Since I'm making this post out of free time in the office more than anything here's a random post-workout meal shot from the other day. Leftover lengua taco and two homemade salmon bagels. I think I ate more once I arrived at work and only left it at this because of time.

 Worked up to log pressing 205 x 3 and then 2 yesterday. Felt bad pain in my arm, which made me stop, then try again and ignore it, and by the end of the session? It actually felt BETTER. Weird stuff that was messing with my head. Next time I'm aiming to do 6 strong reps, no hesitation in mind. Watching a Kalle tutorial on log pressing from last year that I hadn't seen before helped me, too. Pull the weight back with the scapula, like in a bench press almost, and think about pressing overhead and back too. My log's a big one so it wants to stray out in front of me.

With these cues, the weight felt like air. I'm really antsy to give it another go already but I'm keeping disciplined for my arm.

Another crucial cue is to hump the weight up, don't just pull it with the arms. Pretending I have a belly helps. Had to get rid of my lever belt for doing this so I'm going to order a Cerberus back-support belt from Kalle's site for log pressing and stones.

Mat pulled 550x9 off 6 mats yesterday. The weight felt really light and then my back just suddenly gave out on rep 7. Unwrapped and then suddenly realized I must have more in me so I immediately got back down and lifted for a fairly easy single, got on my knees to rest, and then got another single that wasn't too hard. So the rest pauses are back. Looking back 2 years ago I was doing 7 reps rest pauses included so I am definitely stronger now.

Did fasted cardio in the morning yesterday. Working from home but thankfully didn't get interrupted in the 20 minutes I did it in. Started with the exercise bike, then shadow kickboxing, then 30 burpees, and then the bike again.

Good thing, because breakfast before a hike with George was McDonald's. We spontaneously stopped at a cheese farm on the way to the spot and I got some high quality salted chocolate that I indulged in, along with pasture eggs and local brie cheese. Hike was mostly flat, unfortunately, so it wasn't much of a workout, but it was a gorgeous trek.

Had basically a rest-day yesterday, something I rarely do. Did stretches and some light shadow kickboxing.

Today I spontaneously got the idea to do partials for the bench press. Haven't messed with bench press ROM in over a decade when I used to board press, pin press, and floor press during the wannabe Westside phase. Kept the kegs from squat day and removed all but 2 mats on each. Took some experimenting to get things feeling right (esp not letting the plates bounce), worked-up to a set of 295x5 and then 2 sets of 315x4. Not pushing failure, just stopping before it felt like I might have to really fight for reps. I'll up the ante in follow-up sessions. Didn't really feel easier than benching honestly, feels like the triceps are doing way more work and that I'm pressing from more of a dead-stop each rep. I used to feel that way about floor pressing, which these felt like, while board and pin pressing were unmistakably easier than full benching.

I just realized writing that distinction out that with board and especially pin presses I felt much more comfortable letting the weight unload and then slamming it back up, while floor pressing and now keg pressing I'm keeping my triceps engaged and not letting myself lose control of the bar. In this case, it's because the plates had a tendency to roll on the mats. 

After the last set of 315 I immediately went down to 225 and did 8 pause reps. Log pressed 175x8 after, felt pain in my left arm but it's whatever at this point, as long as it's not getting worse. Every press was super-set with T-bar rows, up to 5 plates x 10.

Finished with chest flyes and then a bastardized set of Poundstone curls. Used elbow sleeves for added difficulty and straps that the bar hung down from so they were hammer curls (for the sake of my painful arm bone). Got up to 30, though maybe for the sake of numbers I'll be more liberal with form and really strive to work up to 100.

Got some low-key celebrations with friends going later for Persian New Year, expecting to eat big and show them how we do it.

 Squatted 540 the other day, which is a PR. It wasn't easy but it was pretty smooth. Set-up my kegs as safety apparatuses.

Been doing jogs and shadowboxing sessions everyday, went out last night in the rain and boxed after a jog.

Also posting this tricep exercise here, I like that it's so simple.

https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-master-the-bodyweight-skull-crusher?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+t-nation-articles+%28T+Nation+Articles%29

Came back a couple of hours later after lunch and doing some work-from-home.

Axle press
160 x 3 x 8
-
Super-set with wide-grip pull-ups x 45lbs x 8-9

Band-resisted dumbbell press
50s x 12
This set-up has been a real bitch for such light weight. Getting the bells in position is shockingly hard. Figured out today to stand up with them and keep them on my lap as I sit down.

Iron Woody band chest press

Curls

Axle pressed up to 220x1 but couldn't get up 230 via two attempts. Proud of that 220 effort though, just lazily walked up with no belt, skate shoes on, and glasses. Went up slow as snails but had in my mind not to quit.

I keep getting hungry really quickly during my workouts. I don't mind the discomfort, just conscious of catabolism while losing weight. My breakfasts are much smaller than last year but I don't think the time between eating and training reflects that. Stopped it here to go eat lunch.

Also read on Emevas' log about reducing high fat meals before bed due to stomach problems, I'm going through the same thing. Been having salami with my protein shake before bed just for satiety, sometimes with other high fat foods like olives, and my stomach kills me when I wake up.

Did some light log pressing and bicep curls Friday night along with training a friend in the bench press.

Yesterday came home from work and hit the heavy bag for three rounds before going on a 20-minute jog.

Today:

Mat pulls (8)
550 x 9

Belt squats
6 plates x 10
8 plates x 10
9 plates x 10

SSB lunges
150 x 16
200 x 14
-
Super-set with banded leg curls

Ab wheel rollouts, reverse crunches

Bench press
Up to 350 x 1
370 x 0
275 x 7, 6 (last set drop-down to 225x5)
225 x 10
* Well shit, 350 felt pretty easy so that sucked to get pinned under 370. Fighting with the weight made my problem arm hurt too (nothing serious). This is my exact performance at my powerlifting meet where I hit 350 (although that came up much slower) and failed 370, but I was 20 lbs heavier then so there's that.
-
Super-set with dumbbell rows
100, 125, 125 x 10

Banded chest flyes

 Arm started hurting again from log pressing yesterday. Only made it up to 195x4 (no leg drive, strict pressing) despite cleaning only the first rep. To be clear, though, I got the log up, just couldn't press past 4 reps. I'm astonished that my performance on the log matches or is even a bit worse than my axle press. It does feel like I need to keep repositioning the thing on me constantly, and that kills momentum compared to the up and down automation of a straight bar. 

Came back at night in the rain to axle press 160x3x8 along with some band-resisted dumbbell pressing for my chest. 

Today was crazy. Never gotten so many calls from my boss before, and I was pretty much coordinating and filling things out the whole afternoon while trying to make a max squat session work. It did, but between working on my phone between sets, talking to my boss, and then eating because shit was taking long and I wanted enough fuel, merely building up to the money set took over 2 hours. But hey, the real work was done in a compact-enough amount of time to be challenging.

Squats
Up to 510x2
Drop-set down to 405x6

Got interrupted with a work call, took care of that and then restarted the strip sets.

405x6
315x10
225x10
135x10
45x10

I could have gotten 510x3 but my right shoe felt unstable from the wet patio paver due to rain. Going to workout a safety catch mechanism for next session, probably using the kegs if I can't find anything to buy. 

Gonna return at night (probably in the rain) to do good mornings and abs. Sucks to have more lifting waiting for me after spending so long in the trenches today but I get to have everything I want done thanks to a home gym, I should be grateful for that. 

After pulling teeth to get the last two Sundays off for these birthday excursions I'm probably going to have to settle for having picked my battles and just not do friend stuff this weekend because of work. They're planning an early hike on Sunday about 2 hours from me and I work in-person until 12. I don't have a day off and while I'm not fatigued I want at least one break during the week to do fun crap.

Crazy fun weekend ski and birthday trip to Reno and a ski lodge, extending into Monday. I'll start with Friday night. I combined two days into one to free up the weekend and did SSB squats at night after log and axle pressing during the day (which I already recorded back then).

SSB squats were 400x3x5, which was pretty easy, followed by banded-resisted good mornings. Finished this up in an hour by about 9:00pm and then went straight to my car in a t-shirt and sweats despite the rain (I was hot) and picked up a Thai food order for the birthday celebrations, which was delicious.

For the trip I had ordered another entire case of Orgain protein shakes, which I once again nearly finished for the second weekend in a row. Ate really good food at restaurants too, but in-between that I had jerky strips, RX protein bars, and various flavored pistachios and peanuts (buffalo wing flavor was my favorite).

Skiing kicked ass. It was my first time but since I've done board sports for much of my life balancing was really easy. I fell three times and was leery about my legs getting twisted and my knees feeling some strain, but it was no worse than a BJJ practice match. I was careful about falling properly. Kept getting told I'd be really sore in the morning - I wasn't, at all. Since it wasn't all downhill skiing my conditioning was liable to be to be tested and I was prepared to tough it out, but it was a walk in the park. This is good, since my cardio sessions have fallen in frequency.

Really sucked having to work remotely on two days of the trip from the hotel though but I made it work.

Adding my entry for this day in a segmented approach so just thought I'd mention for my assistance work I benched 260 for two sets of eight and one last set of seven.

Moved on to do a set of log pressing. Loaded up 185, cleaned it once, and cranked out four shaky reps before I had let go. then I realized it's controlling the drop-down in an attempt to not make noise that's been hurting my left radius bone. Did a quick setup of two tires with a patio paver on each, set the log up with 175, and then did 5 smoother reps before dropping the log. No pain. Do this from now on.

Pressing the log while not feeling great was a whole other level of fight. I'd always wondered how a bigger log was supposed to be harder because the range of motion is shorter but it really does feel oppressive and crushing. not sure if I mentioned this before but I got the biggest size I could find within my price range, 12".

My strength may not be where I want it to be but I was happy with the session and how I'm learning new things in my current state of struggling for gains. Just the other night I read something from Kalle that dropping down a weight class isn't always worth it and I'm finding that right now, I'm not too sure if the strength loss makes up for the lighter competitors and poundages I'll be dealing with. Up for the challenge though and I'm too close to 198 already (yeah yeah, sunk-cost fallacy...).

Mat pulled 550x9 off 9 mats. Trying out a reset to push for higher reps instead of starting from 5.

Bench pressed 315x4, felt really weak and shaky. Combination of work stress (done while working too) and aforementioned work taking up enough time that I was hungry after breakfast. I need to start training much sooner after I eat to account for inevitable delays. No more than 30 minutes after the last bite.

Went on a birthday trip over the weekend to wine country that lasted until Monday. I brought with me an entire case of Orgain protein shakes, two cans of tuna, a bag of pistachios, two RX bars, and a Quest bar. Didn't make use of the tuna or RX bars but I damn near finished the entire case of Orgain. Ate out at a lot of good restaurants. Carbs were extremely high and I'm in one of those phases now where my body just feels like eating entirely "clean" for the moment. On the last day I did some swimming and also went on a short hike.

Feeling a little sick now, and also nauseous in the morning.

Yesterday I went out to log press and just ate shit. My left radius bone has been hurting from this movement and it finally reached a point where I had to call it quits. Managed to get a rep of 210 despite the pain, then dropped the log mid-roll on the second because all of a sudden my back hurt. Came back at night and just did an axle press session of 205x3 (exactly what I expected I could get after wrestling with the log and feeling sick), then 3x8 of 155 super-set with pull-ups and chin-ups.

Back to the log, when I came in I sat-down with lunch and watched some log press tutorials from Kalle and one other channel. I was pretty arrogant to think I had it all down just because I did it once before in competition. I was probably able to get away with uneducated form doing it once, but repeated training with this thing calls for more attention. 

Squats
395 x 3
450 x 3
507 x 3
Drop-down sets of 405 x 6
315 x 10
225 x 10
135 x 10
45 x 12

Noticed I was dawdling a little putting the plates back and stumbling around so decided to punish myself with some extra reps on 405 and 315.

Woke up at 6:30 to hit this before a work meeting at 10:00 only to be told to not bother coming in and that I can work from home. Have the afternoon to do that and relax a little before a job number two in person.

Really pleased with how strong I felt on 507. I want to set up the kegs as safety mechanisms as I keep going heavier. Really don't want to dump the weight on a concrete patio if I ever need to.

Will hit up a second workout for hamstrings and abs before going to work.

Planning a late birthday trip this weekend to Calistoga for wine tasting. Ordered a batch of protein shakes and have three remaining RX bars.

Mat pulls (6)
585 x 2
Felt like I had no firepower.

Deadlifts
505 x 8

405 x 10

SSB lunges
150 x 16
200 x 14, 14

Bad/good news about my log, it's only 85 lbs and not 95. So I've been training with weights 10 lbs lighter than I thought. Worked up this time to several sets of 205, and made it up to 5 reps on the last set. I was totally wrong about the roll-up being harder than the press, too. I think that only applied when I was doing higher reps and my biceps fatigued faster than my pressing muscles.

Anyway it's amazing how much concentration and form make a difference on the log. I failed to get even one rep with 195 the first time I tried to wing it, but repping 205 this time was fine. I need to get comfortable with at least 230, which is the competition weight.

In other news, I'm also working on procuring a 215ish lb Atlas stone, and possibly a 300 lb one if I can even pick that one up. In talks with a local guy for pick-up on Friday.

 Came back last night after work and did 145x2x10 on the log (clean every rep). Got me breathing hard. The roll-up is much harder than the press. Makes me wonder if elbow sleeves are an aid or not. Also did some rear-delts and curls.