Returned from an epic LA trip yesterday, starting from Thursday. Stayed at an inn near Muscle Beach, the likes of which I drunkenly found Thursday night as we were walking around exploring the empty beach. That was SUCH a cool moment to realize where I was.

Got a workout in the next day. It was crowded and the bench stations were taken up, so I just overhead pressed in the corner by the entrance, which was front and center to everyone watching. Did 185x4 and then some sets of 10 with 135 super-set with NG pullups. I was only afforded 30 minutes.

Also got some bagwork done on the bags they had, to the point where my knuckles were bleeding. Showed my friend Azzy how to throw a jab and a cross, which we've gone over before at my place.

Another moment was turning a corner into a random alleyway on the walk back from drinks one night and an automatic light turning on, lighting up a big painting of Arnold. Looking online, he's posed for a picture in this spot. Just funny to have stumbled across it by accident.

Brought my Foreman grill with me for hotel cooking, but we ate outside so much I didn't end up using it.

Great trip, one of the funnest vacations I've ever taken. The muscle geekery was through the roof.

Bench press

245 x 5

275 x 3

307.5 x 2

* Left another rep in the tank. Getting used to 300+ again, which I haven't breached in over 3 months.

225 x 10, 9

205 x 9

185 x 8, 9

-

Super-set with unilateral dumbbell rows

115 x 5 x 10

125 x 10

Dumbbell lat raises

35s x 12, 15

-

Super-set with keg curls

160 x 12, 10

Finished in 55 minutes. 

Woke-up at 5:30 today and drifted in and out of light sleep before rising an hour later and hitting 5 minutes of the bike, 40 burpees, and 40 kettlebell upright row swings (basically just combining the two into one fluid movement) before work. No knee pain when doing the squat version of burpees.

 Axle clean once and push-press
180 x 2 x 5
* I recently did 180x3x5 strict pressing, but that was a grind and my sore shoulders wouldn't have been able to replicate that this time. 

Dumbbell clean once for every 3 Arnold press reps
50s x 12
35s x 12

All super-set with chins x 10-12

Dumbbell SLDLs
125s x 17, 15

2 hill sprints backwards

Did this in 109 degree weather. The heat doesn't bother me - anything past 90 degrees all feels the same to me when training, you're hot and sweaty regardless of 95 vs 105 - but trying to stay hydrated was a killer. Lips and throat felt parched despite drinking water.

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Got 2 hours of walking in last night when I got a call from my visiting aunt while I was at George's house that my cat got out. Couldn't find him, and then today at 11am he suddenly turns up at my front door meowing.

Did 2 rounds of VR boxing, some shadow kickboxing, and a 10 minute jog.

 Squats
405 x 1, 2
Drop-down to 315 x 10, 225 x 10, 135 x 10, 45 x 10
* Continuing to improve but my hip pain didn't let me do the high reps I was anticipating with 405. Still glad I managed to move 405 some.

Bench press
295 x 3
Drop-down to 265 x 3, 225 x 7, 185 x 8, 135 x 10, 95 x10, 45 x 20
* Much better than last week. Was breathing hard after this. 

Dumbell rows
115s x 10, 10, 15

I'm interested to see how these drop-down sets will help with my bench press while losing or maintaining weight. They're how I brought my squat up in the past.

Took about an hour altogether.

Did 2 rounds of VR boxing, 3 hill sprints, and a jog afterwards. Then went on an 80-minute hike to the reservoir and back with a friend. Legs felt pretty worked after all that.

Slept good the past 2 days, and now it's my weekend. Might drive up to San Francisco to see the Dragonball movie for a second time with another friend.

Narrow SSB squats

240 x 20

* This was a win in terms of recovery progress. Same numbers as last week but without the box (which was above parallel). Some hints of knee discomfort, a tiny bit of hip pain, but body held through.

Good mornings

150 x 10

Axle incline bench

160 x 8, 7 

130 x 10

Dips

10

T-bar rows

4 plates x 4 x 8-10

Weight is down to 198. Part of that is probably from deloading off creatine. 

SSB narrow stance squats

240 x 15
290 x 10
330 x 7

Bench press
275 x 6
Drop-sets of 225 x 7, 185 x 8. 135 x 10, 95 x 15, push-ups x 7, bar x 15

Dumbbell rows
125s x 8, 8, 9
-
Super-set with facepulls 

My goal was to rep 240, knowing my hip pain wouldn't let me approach max weights. Realized after I could probably keep going. There was pain but manageable. Knee hurt on the first attempt at 225 but more warming-up and keeping tight remedied that.

Experimenting with drop-sets on the bench press since they work so well with squats on a calorie deficit.

I'm thinking about returning in the evening to do heavy belt squats and get in some curls. Keg runs too. I have in mind to do both ATG narrow squats and heavy belt squats to cover all my bases in absence of my normal heavy squats.

Shoulders were a little sore from VR boxing yesterday. That's OK, prepares me for actual martial arts training again. It's IMPOSSIBLE for me to go light in that game. The opponent throwing knockout blows just causes me to react in kind. I was delivering bombs.

OH, something I'm not sure I mentioned. I bench wider now. It's harder for me. I've always been a fairly close-grip bencher, with pinkies in the ring or inside that even. Now it's ring finger, or a little past that approaching middle. Took  advice from Louie Simmons on benching wider as a way to progress on the bench. Interesting how that coincides with squatting narrower (advice I've heard from Dave Tate or Matt Wenning, can't remember which).

Workout was finished in one hour, pleased with the pace and difficulty level that brought me. The gift of injury.

 Yesterday I VR boxed for approximately 30 minutes and went on a jog. Went out and saw the new Dragonball movie in theaters afterwards, which was great. Had the theater to ourselves. Only problem is I didn't want to sleep when we got back home.

Woke-up today and did 5 minutes on the bike, 30 burpees, and some Muay Thai kicks to open up my legs and hips.

I have two different styles of burpees. The first is using my knuckles on the floor and not squatting all the way down (those two traits don't have any relation or bearing on each other, it's just how I've done them. The knuckle support is just from my martial arts background).

The second is more contractile and less ballistic, squatting all the way and doing a push-up.

Both are hard in different ways but I can definitely do more the first way. Today I did the second, and felt a little knee tenderness but no pain.

 My thigh pain has been bothering me to the point that I could not squat without pain yesterday, and that was a light day. After a lot of experimenting and some knee pain I was able to do high, narrow-stance SSB box squats with 225 for 20 reps. Still had thigh pain but it was manageable. I will always find a way. 

Super-setted that with 225x20 deadlifts. First 10 regular, last 10 stiff-legged. Attacked next the upper-body with heavy band presses for 4 sets of 15-20 and super-set that with pull-ups. At the end, I did a 40-second pull-up. I have a minute in me, but the eccentric part started to strain my biceps as they lengthened and that'd be the dumbest thing to injure one of them on.

Yukon squats

430 x 5, 5, 5

* This was hard, especially the final rep. Thought hard about whether to continue after the first due to pain in my right upper leg/hip area, which has been bugging me for awhile when I sit for extended periods or squat heavy. Felt worse today. So I'm happy I conquered this after getting sets of 3 last week. I think I've ridden this out as long as I safely can making no changes on linear progression while on the calorie restriction that I am. 

Bench press

295 x 3, 4, 2

275x5, 225x5, 185x5, 135x8 drop set

-

Super-set with dumbbell rows x 115s x 10

Keg curls, facepulls, lat raises, keg runs

* Just went into a feral frenzy here and on the bench drop sets. It started off with my guest coming over and unexpectedly showing up in my training area. Goofing off, I started making Arnold grunts and impressions, which actually hyped me up to push super fiercely. 

Cheat day today. Time to eat.

Left knee was hurting after that squat session so I spent yesterday doing a lot of VR exercising in the boxing sim Thrill of the Fight, which is unique among other offerings on the platform in that it has no videogamey stamina bar and the only thing limiting your striking is your own physicality. It's just a great piece of software for $10 and I've gotten a lot of mileage out of it. The biggest drawback is that opponents do very little dodging and mostly just turtle-up. Adding some bobbing and weaving on their end would make it feel a lot more fluid.

SSB narrow ATG squats

240 x 5

240 x 12

260 x 10

* Listened to a podcast with Matt Wenning about training what you suck at and it bothers me my quad-dominant squat has been so untouched. That's also because it hurts my knees, which I previously had written here are actually at a very good place now. However, on rep 5 I felt sharp knee pain in my left so I reracked and added knee sleeves. Adding those and concentrating more on knee flare fixed it. 

SSB good mornings

150 x 12

170 x 10

Incline dumbbell press

80s x 10, 8

50s against band x 8

-

Super-set with dumbbell rows

115s x 10, 10, 8

Did some more shadow kickboxing yesterday afternoon, about 10 min of a YouTube home Muay Thai workout, and 1 hard hill sprint. Just as I was about to swim laps, the pool got occupied, but I had gotten a decent workout in already on top of my morning burpees and shadow boxing. So I took the opportunity of extra time to make a nice meal and then drove my dad to help him grocery shop.

 Woke-up at 6:15 this morning and decided I wanted Monday to start under my terms so I did 60 burpees and some shadow kickboxing for a total of 12 minutes. Going to be making myself sit-down and log all these missed little sessions and dietary news more.

Axle clean once and press

180 x 5, 5, 5

-

Super-set with chin-ups

10, 10, 10

Sumo deficit deadlifts
Up to 450 x 1
*  Actually fell back and had to chuck the barbell doing this with 405, yikes. Added some dirt under the patio pavers I was standing on so my heels are a little bit higher, before it was like I was standing on an ever-so-slight incline. 

SLDLs
315 x 10

Done in under an hour. 

My supervisor today, chilling on the reverse hyper:

SSB lunges (non-alternating reps)

150 x 8, 8, 8

Super-set with good mornings

150 x 8, 8, 8

• I was thinking about upping the weight today but geez, going as deep as I do on the lunges makes this amount a great challenge. Really sinking into the single leg I have to work with and then exploding up to get outta the hole. Good feeling to have my knees healthy enough for this. By the

Decline push-ups

30, 20, 10, 10, 12, 14, 10

Super-set with pull-ups

20, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Dips 

12, 10

Axle clean once and press

175 x 5, 5, 5

-

Super-set with pull-ups

10

50 x 5 - drop-down to bw x 3

50 x 8

Deadlifts

505 x 3

Solid little workout before work that ticks off all the numbers. Giving my back a break by only cleaning once which allows for increasing the weight I can press. 

5 reps on the deadlift would have been nice and probably possible, but 3 felt like a good place to stop and I'm inching my way back into heavy weight after my back felt so lousy last week. May just keep it at 3 for now as I continue to go higher, and then add reps later as a means of progression.

Using the reverse hyper throughout the day including before and after this session.

Yukon squats

425 x 5, 5, 5

Bench press

290 x 4, 5, 4, 4

-

Super-set with dumbbell rows

115s x 8, 8, 8, 8

* Switched the rep numbers for the first two bench sets from last week (chickened out on the first set and gutted through to get the 5 on the second), interesting how that worked out. And added an additional rep on the last set. Rest times were 3 minutes while last week I let myself rest longer.

Close grip bench

225 x 9

-

Db rows x 115 x 8

Iron Woody band press downs x 16

-

 Keg curls

170 x 10

Really pushed the pace today. Funnily enough was listening to an ancient iron radio episode ( they've sadly stopped updating recently so I'm going back to episodes I was listening to 10 years ago for old-time sake) and they were talking about letting yourself get everything done, time be damned. I'm at a phase in my training career where I'm really benefiting from time pressuring myself. It feels so great to get under the bar to bench, feeling tired on the first rep, and still crank out multiples.

My current approach to benching is keep upping the sets and reps until I can get five across the board with 290. 

Been 5 days with the assembled reverse hyper now and my back is feeling better. I state that with apprehension because anytime I try something new I logged that only for it to be a temporary form of pain relief, but I think this is doing good. Still some back pain when I wake up which tells me my mattress is a culprit here. But I'm looking forward to seeing how much I can push deadlifts this week.

Been using the reverse hyper throughout the day, just busting out reps of 10 to 20 as I step outside or come into the house.

Just picked up a reverse hyper! I'm literally on the drive back now in the passenger seat (my homie who lives close to the dude helped me) but I'm stoked about this thing.

Yukon squats

420 x 5, 5, 5

Bench press

290 x 5, 4, 4, 3

-

Superset with db rows

115s x 8, 8, 8, 8

Close-grip bench immediately after last set

225 x 5 - drop-down to 185 x 8

-

Superset with rows

115s x 8

Rear-delt flyers superset with facepulls

Keg curls

170 x 10, 10

Came into the session annoyed from a hectic work day and hungry. Noticed I was lagging on my warm-ups which made me hungrier and angrier. Smashed the squats.and first bench set. Felt like I was running on empty afterwards (still matched last week on bench) rest times on bench were a little longer, probably about 4 minutes rather than 3, and added another set at the end, and finally allowed myself no rest switching over to close grip bench. 

I've definitely evolved. Being accustomed to timing my rests and lifting while tired means now I can put on a consistent performance under subpar conditions. I don't need things to be perfect and take 2 hours to hit a peak 3-rep max or whatever anymore. 

 Yesterday was a good cardio day. Woke-up at 6:20 from my cat (he's been stirring me up about 15 min before my alarm every morning, which I actually appreciate) and hit 50 burpees combined with jumping-jacks, shadow kickboxing, and the exercise bike for a 10-minute workout. The cat plays with me whenever I do this in the morning, running around and tagging my arms when they're on the ground during burpees and then sprinting away. We have the same routine of wake-up, train, then eat.

After work, I took two chocolate-covered espresso bean edibles and ended up going on a nearly 2-hour run to the park and back. It was some great sight-seeing, as well as a change of pace by doing LISS cardio for that long. It made my body tired but it wasn't hard at all. Afterwards, I came home and enjoyed the hell out of half a smoothie with orange juice, spinach, blueberries, and strawberries.

Then, around 8:30pm, I swam 5 laps in the pool, which I've been doing regularly but haven't been logging. 

SSB alternating lunges 

150 x 16, 16

170 x 12

-

Superset with good mornings

150 x 8, 8

170 x 8
* As my body gets more warmed-up I can really, truly sink my leg into itself and get a deep lunge, ala the way kneesovertoesguy does them for his knee health movement. With weight, it makes lunges MUCH harder.

Incline bench

185 x 8, 10

Close grip: 185 x 7, 10, 8

-

Super-set with weighted chinups

50 x 8, 10, 8, 10, 8

Tricep extensions, curls

Took a couple of double-bi pictures post-workout. Currently hovering around 202 lbs., loaded on creatine.

Session from Thursday.

Yukon squats

415 x 5, 5, 5

Bench press

290 x 5, 4, 4

-

Superset with dumbbell rows

115s x 9, 9, 10

Close grip bench

225 x 8

Keg curls

160 x 10

Good session, will try to do another rep of bench next week while keeping weight the same.

On Friday I log viper pressed 170 x 3, 3, 5, then a set of 6 with just a clean on the first rep. Deadlifted 485x5 after in a 2-rep improvement over last week. Really good session.

At night I went on a run and by the time I came back my knee was bothering me to the point of limping. It did not get better the next day and I had to cancel a planned hike with my friends. Instead, I wore my SBD knee sleeve the whole day and we went to Crab Cove beach. The sleeve helped tremendously to the point where my limp and pain level declined as the day wore on. I also got some great swimming done in the ocean, fighting against the waves (they were small enough that I could power-swim through them, it's a really shallow and calm beach even when the waters are choppy).

Cheated on my diet and engorged my share of an X-large pizza afterwards, no regrets there. Woke-up today and my knee feels fine.

 Diet has been strict all week so I'm having a calorie-up day. I've stopped calling it a cheat day because this is not a diet break or a period of eating for pleasure; I'm actively trying to stuff myself for anabolic purposes. I don't even crave sweets like I do on other days because I'm so adept at making food seem miserable, so I can't even fully enjoy a dessert like I would if I was carb-deprived. 

I also don't do this every single week anymore. Some weeks when I have more social outings and I eat more carbs I won't feel a purpose to, so I'll skip that week.

Drank part of a homemade weightgainer shake in the morning and packed the rest of it with my ground bison with veggies and avocado for work.

Had three entries sitting in my drafts from the weekend so I'll upload them in order. 

Saturday:

SSB Box squats

Work-up to 330 x 3 (no rests)

Unilateral SSB lunges

150 x 10

Dumbbell press

75s x 10, 9, 8

-

Super-set with pull-ups

50 x 5 + drop-down to 5 reps bodyweight

50 x 8 + 5 bw

50 x 8 + 5 bw

Log viper press

155 x 5, 5, 8

-

Super-set with chins

10, 10, 10

Barbell clean once and press

135 x 10

Deadlifts

Up to 585 x 3

Deficit deads

225 x 20

Had a really fun "rest" day on Friday. Woke-up and went on a 30 min fasted jog. Breakfast was ground bison with vegetables and a little bit of coffee with organic half and half. Took a cannabis & chocolate covered espresso bean and did some stretches, then 60 burpees, then a boxing handspeed workout from one of my favorite YouTube boxing coaches. Took a pomegranate edible with some magic mushrooms that were gifted to me and did 3 hill sprints followed by a 30-minute jog, then did laps in the pool. I plan on doing some more laps at night.

I've been buying those ground bison packs from Costco lately instead of beef. In fact, I don't think I've eaten any beef in awhile except for those grass-fed sausages. 

Woke up and immediately busted out 40 burpees and then some shadow kickboxing. Total time was 6 minutes.

Yukon squats

400 x 5, 5, 5

Bench press

280 x 5, 5, 5 

Close-grip bench press

225 x 9, 5 - finished off with 8 close grip push-ups

Super-set with rear delt flyes

35s x 12, 12

Keg curls

165 x 10 

Stomach felt awful all day. Had a donut at a work meeting and paired with a fatty grass-fed beef sausage with protein shake for breakfast my gut was just pissed. Was also in an off mood and had to drag myself into training.

Got to squatting 400 once and re-racked it because my quads hurt and I was iffy about my back. Just as I was about to give up I sat down at my bench and summoned a Jon Andersen portal. If I just walked through it then I could get this workout done, and after that I tore through this.

I haven't been commenting about this and I'm not even doing Deep Water since I'm getting my weight down, but the whole concept of it and the portal training has really stuck with me. I find myself inventing narratives during my workouts and employing imagery training. I even imagine what the dimension on the other side of a portal looks like and how the portal is a pool of untapped energy but it will only last for 3 minutes at a time (my current rest times) before it's gone.

Timing my rests is entirely new for me and I feel like I'm benefitting so much by pressuring myself with time. The loads I'm working with may not be breaking any PRs for me by themselves but I've NEVER squatted or benched like this with 3 minute rests, as sad as that is. Getting the top-set was always king, 2.5-hour workouts and all. I finished this session in 1 hour and it still feels so weird to do that.

SSB Box squats

290 x 5, 5

330 x 3

SSB good mornings

150 x 10, 10

Incline Swiss bar bench press against bands

135 x 10

155 x 10, 10, 7 + 3 reps dropped down to 135

Super-set with wide-grip pull-ups

10

50 x 7 + 3 bodyweight reps

10

50 x 6 + 4 bodyweight reps

Wide-grip Swiss bar incline bench

135 x 7

-

Super-set with wide pull-ups

10

Alternating dumbbell curls with Fat Gripz

35s x 16

To be honest I couldn't keep up with recording everything. Rest times were 2 minutes long and by the end I just intuitively did a bunch of bodybuilding stuff. Blazed through this workout. 

Currently weighing around 206 while on creatine. Took a picture while I was blown up with a pump at the end. 

 Log viper press (clean each rep)
155 x 5, 5, 6
-
Super-set with chins x 10

Barbell clean once and press
135 x 10
-
Super-set with chins x 10

Deficit deadlifts
225 x 20

Back had just started to recover again. I probably could have continued my deadlift progression, gotten all the reps, then would wake-up with an injured back the next day, so instead went for high reps with a deep ROM and light weight. The right move.

Yukon squats 

395 x 5, 5, 5

Bench press

277.5 x 5, 5, 5

-

Super-set with dumbbell rows

115s x 8, 8, 8

Close-grip bench press

225 x 10, 6 then immediately do 10 Close-grip push-ups 

Keg curls, facepulls

Back was feeling better and then started hurting after squats. Have been doing band reverse hypers the last two nights. I need to enforce doing some kind of rehab exercise in the middle of the day too, not just at night. Spread the healing throughout the day.

Spent a lot this month but I'm still eyeing that reverse hyper. Soooon... 

Belt squats

8 plates x 10, 10

9 plates x 8

-

First two sets giant set with SSB lunges and good mornings, last set super-set with good mornings 

10/10, 10/10

10

Incline Swiss bar bench with Fat Gripz

165 x 8, 10, 8

-

Super-set with Meadows rows

115 x 8, 10, 10

* Cut the rests to 2 minutes.

Dips

12, 20

-

Dumbbell preacher curls

35s x 10, 10

Standing ab wheel rollouts

5

Sit-ups

13

Axle clean and press

150 x 5, 5, 8 (clean each rep for 5s, last set clean first 5 and press away the rest)

-

Super-set with wide pull-ups

3 x 10

Iron Woody band pressdowns x 2 sets (uncounted, just went for a pump)

Deadlifts

465 x 5

* Weight gets 10 lbs heavier and feels 10 lbs lighter each week. Am really getting my confidence back in the deadlift. No missed reps is the way to train this lift.

Landmine SLDLs

One side of 465 x 10, 10

Leg raises 

Woke-up at 6:30 today and did 8 minutes of the exercise bike, 40 burpees, and some shadow kickboxing, then took a contrast shower (I never shower before work). It started off freezing and after a minute or two of controlled breathing I was fiddling with the control valve trying to make the shower colder, but it was already as low as it could go. Good way to start the day.

Back has been feeling better overall. Supple Leopard gave me some good tips for posture to counter APT syndrome, and I'll be diving into Bach Mechanic by Stuart McGill again this week.

Yukon squats
390 x 5, 5, 5

Bench press
270 x 5, 5, 5
-
Super-set with bilateral dumbbell rows
115s x 8, 8, 8

Band-resisted incline dumbbell press

50s x 12, 9
-
Super-set with keg curls
10, 8

5 minutes exercise bike

Yukon squats

385 x 5, 5, 5

Bent-over dumbbell rows

100 x 8

Bench press 

267.5 x 5, 5, 5

-

Super-set with bilateral dumbbell rows

115s x 8, 8, 8

Iron Woody band pressdowns 

15, 15

-

Super-set with bilateral dumbbell curls

50s x 10

35s x 10

5 minutes exercise bike

Belt squats

Work up to 8 plates x 10, 10, 10

Incline Swiss bar bench with Fat Gripz

165 x 8, 9, 8

-

Super-set with Meadows rows

115 x 8, 9, 8

Dips

11, 10

-

Super-set with dumbbell preacher curls

35s x 9, 8

Finished in an hour. 

My back is feeling much better. I'm pretty much without pain now. The only niggling factor is that weird disjointed sensation when I bend backwards. I wish I had an exact time when that started but it might have been from pushing my body at the deadlift part of my meet. It's definitely preventing me from maxing out on deadlift singles for awhile.

That's fine, there are so many more ways I can progress and let my body heal in the meantime. And while I won't be surprised if it's something serious down the road, I've also had gnarly sensations before that heal on their own, like that intense nerve pain on my shoulder blades from high bar squatting. That lasted about a year before going away thanks to discovering low bar squats. 

Axle press 

Work up to 150 x 5 (clean first 3 reps), 5 (clean all reps), 5 (clean all reps)

Super-set with wide-grip pull-ups (unincluded work-up sets paired with first 2 sets)

8, 10, 10, 10, 10

* Had the idea to just combine the clean and pressing instead of keeping them as separated lifts. This is a good way to keep this press day fairly light without feeling like I'm doing nothing with low weight and reps. 

Clean and press away

135 x 10

Super-set with wide pull-ups

10

* Saw the deadlift bar I was setting up and just couldn't resist.

Deadlifts

405 x 5

435 x 5

* At first I couldn't break 405 because of how gunshy I was from feeling the pebble sensation in my spine. Took a short walk and came back to it, then hit 435 and my back felt much better. 

Iron Woody leg curls

30 each leg

Another good feeling day.

Foe my back, I'm researching firmer mattresses and due to how I've been feeling the past few days I'm going to either bring in the cheap spring mattress again or flip my memory foam upside down for its firmer side. Neither of those seem to make a big difference, at least immediately, but they didn't feel any worse and my current level of bed softness made my back feel worse last night. 

I'm also looking to get health insurance for the first time in forever to get my back checked out (not the first time I've written that in here, lol) and I'm just about ready to pull the trigger on the reverse hyper scout. I figure if I ever upgrade to the heavy duty model I could definitely use the foldable one in my living room.

I'm also reading the book Supple Leopard, and I pulled out my old copy of Low Back Disorders by Dr Stewart McGill.

But wait, there's more. I ordered McGill's newer books, Back Mechanic (which arrived today), and the one I'm really looking forward to that pertains specifically to powerlifters, Gift of Injury.

Forgot to mention in my program right off, I will be monitoring rest times from now on with an interval app. 3 minutes rest for main work sets. This is a big change for me. 

Yukon squats

380 x 5, 5, 5

Bent-over dumbbell rows

100 x 8

Bench press 

265 x 5, 5, 5

-

Super-set with bilateral dumbbell rows

115s x 8, 8, 107

Iron Woody band pressdowns 

14, 15, 10

-

Super-set with bilateral dumbbell curls

50s x 10

35s x 10, 10

5 minutes exercise bike 

Interestingly enough, these are basically the weights I used 10 years ago, although my squat is stronger now, but with vastly reduced rest times. It feels fresh and exciting to use that as a progression model.

I had a blast this workout, and even got a good pump at the end. Had to rest a little longer than 3 minutes on the last bench press set but when I got into the bar I realized that was probably not necessary; the first set felt the hardest (partially because of my greatly reduced warm-up prep) and I began to ease into 265.

After 11 years of running 5/3/1 variations I'm ready for programming with a new skeleton. I'm also firmly set on resuming my weight cut to remain in the 198 weight class and optimize my athleticism for martial arts. With those circumstances in mind, I will be embracing abbreviated training once again via Andy Baker's Heavy Light Medium template.

The label is unliteral because Andy actually recommends spreading out the heavy effort throughout the week on all three days if you're not a beginner. Here's what I came up with:

Day 1 (heavy)

Squat: 3x5

Bench: 3x5

Super-set with weighted rows: 3 x 8-10

Bench or press accessory movement: 3 x 8-12

Day 2 (light): 

Press: 3x5

Super-set with chins

Clean: 3x5

Deadlift: 1x5

Hamstring movement: 3 x 8-12

Day 3 (medium):

Squat variation 3 x 8-12

Bench variation: 3 x 8-12

Super-set with weighted rows

Bench or press accessory movement: 3 x 8-12

With that said, I'll be using the day's theme as an intensity guide. On day 1, though I'll be starting with something manageable, I'll eventually get to a point where it's a 90+% 3x5, and I can take the rows to failure. The light day will be a progressive but fairly digestible lineup of pressing, leaving a rep or two in the tank, with only the deadlift being truly heavy. Saturday will basically be what I've done for 5/3/1 accessory work. The weight will be challenging but autoregulated by the higher ranges and not taken to failure. I can throw in a bunch of other exercises on this day too if I feel like it. 

Andy recommends a high calorie cheat day, which I already practice, on the heavy day. 

It was getting exhausting treating every lifting day as a test for a maxing out, which was my fault, not Wendler's. I need a change, and perhaps something else will come out of this based on how I'm progressing. 

 Slept on a small spring mattress I dragged into my room last night and spent about 3/4 of the night on my back, the rest on my side. Initial impressions seem positive, but it's too soon to tell for sure. Still have that sharp pain in the middle of my back if I bend backwards, that's probably something that will need time to heal, if not professional treatment. Will continue testing the bed switch.

Couldn't break anything approaching 500 off the mats today due to my back so I took it as a deload and deadlifted 315x20 super-set with 20 reps of the SSB.

Afterwards I went to lie on the floor with my legs up on the exercise ball for a bit and my back feels a lot better.

Going to be testing out how I feel on a spring mattress the next few nights. 

Press

150, 170, 190 x 3

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Last set super-set with wide pull-ups

10

Press with Fat Gripz

125 x 5 x 10

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Super-set with wide pull-ups

Sets of 10, last 2 sets with 50 lbs of 5, 8 (finishing each of those with body weight pull ups to get 10)

Axle high pulls

150 x 10, 10, 10

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Super-set with overhead shrugs

95 x 15, 13, 13, 10, 10

Bent-over dumbbell shrugs

100 x 10

Banded incline dumbbell press

35s x 10, 10, 6 -drop-set to no band x 3

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Super-set with band flyes

10, 10

Divebomb pushups 

I seriously lagged in this workout. Just felt crummy and tired. After the overhead press sets the I felt a fire light in me and I ran through a bunch of bodybuilding stuff, focusing on traps (which I'm hammering during this bulk) and chest. 

I've been keeping up on training but I feel my motivation to log just plummet. Part of it is my back and the fact that nothing seems to be working so far. If I bend backwards I can feel a point in the middle of my spine that feels like there's a pebble digging into it. I should probably get it checked out. My homemade reverse hyper does seem to provide some immediate relief, but I'm really suspecting my memory foam mattress isn't doing my back any favors and that I need better support, based on how I feel when I wake up. However, my back hurt before on my old spring mattress and going on an expensive wild goose chase to get a new mattress when I just replaced it is something I've dragged my feet on.

Luckily I have a small spring mattress in storage and can try that out for a few days. There's always a way to move forward and always a way to train. 

Woke up and did 15 minutes of the exercise bike, 50 burpees, 80 jumping jacks, and shadowboxing.

I'm gaining weight at the moment and the scale read 206.6 this morning. 

Swiss bar bench

187 x 5

215 x 5

245 x 9

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Last set super-set with dumbbell rows

115 x 10

Fat Gripz Swiss bar pause bench

175 x 5 x 10

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Super-set with dumbbell rows

115 x 5 x 10

Incline skullscrushers

35s x 10

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Super-set with keg curls

160 x 10