Press

180 x 9

Super-set with chin-ups

15

* Some pain on the elbow, which has been feeling better the past 2 days (ever since the reverse-grip benching). Continuing to progress.

Shoulder giant sets:

Axle clean once and press away

130 x 10, 10

-

Dips x 20, 10

-

Lateral raises

15s x 12

10s x 10

-

Band pull-aparts

20, 20

BTN press

70 x 13, 10

-

Dips x 12, 10

-

Lateral raises

10s x 12, 112

-

Band pull-aparts

20

Log press

140 x 10

120 x 10

-

Dips x 12, 10

-

Lateral raises

10s x 12, 10

-

Band pull-aparts

20, 20

Poundstone curls

30 lb axle x 100 

This whole medley is so humbling. Between last week and this session, I definitely had to lower some weights to avoid resting too long. Happy to be doing dips again. I should go heavier on the behind-the-neck press next time. It's something I've never pushed but 70 definitely feels too light to start with.

Seem to be finding my stride with the curls. High repetition work has always been the bane of my existence; I just suck at it, which is all the more reason to do it more. And here I was really able to force extra bouts of 10 reps in with a few rest pauses here and there. Keeping my elbow sleeves on everytime I do these so it gets ever so slightly tougher at the top of the rep than normal instead of that being the "free" part of the ROM.

Decline reverse-grip 2-board press

255 x 10, 10, 8

Last set paired with 225x4

-

Super-set with chin-ups

15, 13, 12

* Hah! Found a way to bench heavy with zero elbow pain. I'll say it again about the supinated grip: if it's good enough for the Barbarian Brothers it's good enough for me. The decline was very subtle, just a towel stuck under the bench. I noticed while doing dips that they don't hurt but overhead pressing does, so this angle is gonna have to be my friend for now.

Decline reverse-grip crazy bells

145 x 10

165 x 10, 12

-

Super-set with Band pull-aparts

3 x 20

* Bringing this old favorite from T-Nation back to have some fun. Besides really working the chest, I also got an ab workout from the fight.

SSB squats

315 x 15

-

Super-set with kb pullovers

25 x 20

* Was going for 20 ala Super Squats but had to fight for my back not to fold over on rep 15. Debating whether to bring this down to 290 or keep the weight the same but bring in the Yukon bar. It seems a shame for my back to be a limiting factor when my legs are more than game for this weight and hungry for more. The Yukon is definitely much easier on my elbow than a straight barbell but I'm not totally sure there's zero risk of straining it accidentally by pressing the bar up while I'm hitting 20+ reps. With the SSB you can still press against the weight in your hands but it's the stretch behind my back that I believe compromised my elbow in the first place (again, though, that's the straight bar).

Used the Cerberus soft belt to allow for better breathing, but my lever belt would be better if using the SSB for better back support.

And yeah, I just bought the Super Squats book after basically forever. I've been benefiting from random 20 reps squats too much lately to not dive in.

I'm happy walking away from this session. I should be able to heal like this and still get stronger.

Woke-up and did 40 goblet squats with a 50 lb kb. 

After breakfast and before work, did a quick squat set before going to work with 150 lbs using the SSB. 10 front squats super-set with 10 back squats, ending with 20 pull-ups.

For yesterday's deload session, I did shoulder giant-sets taken from Mythical Strength's Little Book of Bad Ideas.

Axle press
150 x 10
Dips x 20
Lat raises 10 x 15
20 band pull-aparts

90 sec rest

BTN press 65 x 15
Dips x 12
Lat raises 10 x 10
20 band pull-aparts

90 sec rest

Log press
140 x 10
Dips x 8
Lat raises 10 x 10
20 band pull-aparts

Wanted to do dumbbell pressing for the second exercise but they made my elbow hurt.

Rather than run it again for 6 sets I called it a night there. It was almost 10pm, my elbow tendon was hurting, and my shoulders were blown up just from that (I realized mid-workout how sore they were from the reverse-grip benching done on Monday). I'm definitely going to be hitting this again with more intensity and sets for a non-deload session.

About the elbow, it's gotten problematic enough that I'm going to have to take it more serious than just try to avoid aggravating it and expecting it to get better in a few days. I definitely have golfer's elbow, and have a cursory rehab protocol in mind of wrist curls, reverse wrist curls, hand expansions in a bucket of sand, wrist rolling, and backwards hand stretches.

Completely forgot to log two cardio sessions. A few nights ago, did 1 backwards jog up Heart Attack Hill for knee health and to make the actual sprints harder, then 3 max-effort sprints. I'll have to time myself some time, but it's a good steep hill that I estimate runs for about 20 seconds with a hard sprint. Went on a cool-down run afterwards.

Yesterday, did a bunch of shadow kickboxing and a run afterwards.

Been eating like a monster. Will have to weigh myself soon. So much of my day is cooking and cleaning now. Just recently got my dishwasher in commission and it's been a lifesaver.

Woke-up and hit 50 burpees before breakfast.

Elbow at times feels like it's mostly healed and then pain level will flare-up and feel bad again. Hurts most consistently upon waking-up and then starts to feel better, but will get triggered in minor moments throughout the day. I consider this an improvement over bring in constant pain. 

It doesn't hurt that bad lifting heavy. The positioning of my hand and arm makes more of a difference. Bench pressing heavy feels better than doing any kind of push-up, and ABCs are out of the question at the moment. 

Looks like I forgot to hit upload on the deload workout 

Deload

Reverse-grip axle bench

110 x 30, 20, 15

Kb cleans

50s x 20, 20

SSB squats

150 x 20

-

Super-set with SSB good mornings

150 x 20

Bar curls

Done in about 20 minutes.

Deload

Swiss bar bench: 95 lbs x 8 reps

Kettlebell cleans: two 50s x 8 reps

Done for 12 rounds in 15 minutes

Changing the bar up to accommodate my elbow. Supinated gripping feels especially gentle on it. I might have some reverse-grip benching in my near future. If it's good enough for the Barbarian Brothers, it's good enough for me.

Finished with 50 reps of tricep band pressdowns 

Had a work scheduling mishap and rushed to the office after waking up upon hearing nobody was there manning the phones. Only had to stay for about an hour and a half before I came back home and did 50 burpees.

My deload week came at just the right time. Right elbow still continues to be in pain. I could ignore it and keep lifting heavy with it still but it's at the point where I feel that will come back to bite me.

Yukon squats

435 x 8

320 x 20

* Made an effort to bury the reps and go deep, and the carryover effect of doing that with 435 seemed to carryover to 320. Still happy about this performance, it's on the top-set with this particular bar. Back fatigue was a limiting factor compared with the straight bar, as expected.

Press

155 x 5

175 x 3

195 x 7

-

Last set super-set with neutral grip pull-ups 

12

Axle clean once and press away

160 x 9, 10, 10

-

Super-set with neutral grip pull-ups

15, 15, 15

Making progress on the press every week. In the evening I went to the gym of SJSU to train my co-worker. Crazy crowded and most of the good equipment was taken. Along with helping her I did some curls, all the way up a 110 barbell, and then dumbbell pressed the 90s for two sets of eight and then the '80s for a set of 8, still feeling pretty tired from the earlier workout. Finished off with hitting cable chest flyes.

Deadlifts

525 x 3

405 x 17

* Deadlifting heavy more infrequently has been a good thing so far. Felt very fresh pulling over 500 again and was not gun-shy about ripping the weight up at all. Back has been feeling better in general lately too. Definitely going to keep up with the 20-rep squat and deadlift pairing.

Bench press

320 x 3

250 x 11, 8, 9

-

Super-set with dumbbell rows

115sbx 10, 10, 12, 15
* Good showing. Wasn't sure if I'd be able to handle benching today due to my elbow, but it was manageable despite hurting on warm-ups. Being under the 320 was funny, I forgot I was even existing in my body and just powered the weight up in a state of selflessness. As much as I don't like to rely on psych-up rituals, I do find them fun as long as I don't NEED them to perform, and this one Dragonball Super remix with a slow piano intro before Goku starts screaming has been a recent favorite track for my top-set. In the show, the slow part of the song is always at a point when Goku is seriously battered and messed-up before he finds a reserve of power and goes back into the new form, Ultra Instinct. Which is a cool idea in itself because it comes from mastering the art of acting without thinking ala martial arts or powerlifting, rather than some race-based transformation like Super Saiyan. I also loved that it only materializes after taking heavy damage and being backed into a wall, not anger or anything. It was a welcome change and translates great to lifting, when you need to call upon deeper pools of power to get this next set despite feeling like you're tired or even done.

Uh, yeah, anyways, finished off with...

Close-grip block press drop-set

225, 185 x 8

135 x 12

Yukon squats

410 x 11

* Lost count, either got 11 or 12 so I went with the lower number. Definitely feeling the added challenge of this bar and the instability on my back but hit this stronger than I expected.

Yukon squats

320 x 21

-

Super-set with deadlifts

320 x 10+7+4

* This was hard. The squats I can handle by now, but I feel like my quads and back are dying when I rep out the deadlifts right after. Hell yeah. Not real close yet to getting 20 without rest-pauses on the deads but I'm up for the challenge.

Press

185 x 8

-

Super-set with pull-ups

12

* Press is getting stronger, haven't been able to rep that many in years.

Axle clean once and press away

160 x 8, 9, 10

-

Super-set with pull-ups

12, 14, 15

Went inside to get away from the rain finally and started with 7 reps of ABCs before having to answer a work call, then continued with 6 more to get 15 total. Right elbow is still in pain, but it's not getting worse, either. Keeping the sleeves on for now, still.

Band-resisted push-ups and kettlebell high pulls 

 

The brunch cruise over the weekend went much better than last year, when at the time I got called into work and had to cancel the day right after getting off the boat. Ate a lot the first day in SF, but by Sunday my stomach was acting up. The dining that day was off, too. Breakfast was a truly awful bagel with whitefish, which just amounted to very fishy spread and nothing else, and the Chinese dinner in Chinatown was the most underwhelming restaurant in that area I've experienced (not terrible but very bland). Despite the nausea I got enough protein in thanks to Orgain protein shake cartons and a new bag of Chomps grass-fed beefsticks.

Woke-up and hit 50 burpees and 50 kettlebell swings before breakfast. Whenever I feel like not training before breakfast because I'm nauseous from how much food I've eaten the night before, I remind myself that forcing through it will make me hungrier and breakfast much more pleasant.

Speaking of last night, ended up doing a living room workout several hours after bench pressing of kettlebell high pulls, which I found work my biceps as well as the traps marvelously, super-set with band-resisted decline push-ups. The push-ups hit my chest hard enough that one pec actually locked up for a second after finishing a set. Tremendously sore today. 

Going to head into the office later to do some management and then prepare for a brunch cruise around the San Francisco Bay early tomorrow for a belated birthday celebration. I definitely did not intend to drag out my birthday this long, but it happened to be when tickets were next available. Gonna eat a lot of good food at the buffet so gotta show up hungry.

Bench press

235 x 3

265 x 3

305 x 4

* Came into this apprehensive and ready to switch to Swiss bar training, but I was able to handle it. Some shoulder discomfort but much better than last Saturday. Healing is going well.

Block press

325 x 1

345 x 1

Bench press

245 x 10, 10, 9

-

Super-set with dumbbell rows

115s x 3 x 10

Close-grip block press drop-set

225, 185 x 7

135 x 12

* Total triceps exhaustion. I really want to do floor crushers again but heavy extensions are out of the question while my elbows heal, so this was a terrific movement.

Training my client soon and then planning to hit some chest and biceps hypertrophy afterwards, or maybe I'll see if ABCs don't bother the shoulders and elbows.

Yukon squats

320 x 20

-

Super-set with deadlifts

320 x 12+5+3 (rest-pauses)

Got this idea from Emevas awhile back and it's stuck with me. Previously attempted it with 225, but now 320 (3 plates on the Yukon bar) is a perfect challenge for where I'm at. Getting reminded of how this bar is quite a bit harder than a straight bar, but it's a necessary switch to save my shoulders and elbows. If I had to give this a personal name for use in my log, I'd call this workout the dirty double. 

Woke-up, took a work call, and then hit 50 burpees and 50 kettlebell swings before breakfast.

Squatted 445x10 and 315x23 the other day, a highlight of the week.

When trying to bench press, I realize that not only are both my elbows now feeling crummy, my shoulders hurt pretty bad under the bar with only 135. I realized then that it's the high rep low bar squats that are killing my elbows and shoulders, not the ABCs. Going to train lights but intense at the beginning of this week and will swap out the straight bar with the Yukon bar for squats.

That's why I realized the straight bar was causing me too much hurt, switch to the Swiss bar and benched 205x17, 12, 8.

Press

175 x 8

-

Super-set with neutral grip chin-ups

12

Axle press (clean once)

150 x 9, 9, 8

-

Super-set with ng chin-ups

3 x 12

Chest and bicep work

Deadlifts

405, 455, 505 x 3

Followed by 5 shrugs with 505

No more missed deadlift reps. Sticking with triples at a weight I can work up from after hearing Phil Stevens mentioned that his deadlift gets the strongest when he works with triples. 

After feeling sluggish all day and coming back from a back injury, this was another win. 

Rdls

315 x 20, 15, 12

 Woke-up to 40 fasted burpees and then after breakfast, 3 rounds on the heavy bag. Filmed the footage and I've tightened a lot of things up. I'm picking shots, upping my activity in bursts but still keeping busy in other moments, feinting, moving my head, and rolling my shoulders more. Slipped a few times on the mud but that can't be helped.

Bench press

225 x 5

255 x 5

285 x 7

Medium board press

275 x 1

295 x 1

315 x 1

335 x 1

345 x 1

355 x 1

Close-grip bench

245 x 9, 8, 7

-

Super-set with dumbbell rows

115s x 12, 10, 10

Happy to get 7 with 285, a 1-rep improvement from last month, but I had the advantage this time of elbow sleeves since my right elbow is still bothering me.

Once I hit that, I had a strong urge to try out the bench block. No regrets. Went much higher than I expected to and it was REALLY fun to board press again (still calling it board pressing for now in the interest of familiarity even though there are no boards). 

Squats

420 x 10

315 x 21

Back was hurting bad yesterday and still on the mend today. Had a minimum of 5 as my goal because of that but with my belt 420 felt good, lighter than my workup sets even. Still left a couple more reps in the tank to be safe. This is a win.

All those axle cleans are to blame for my back right now. The main thing I need to stop doing is controlling the bar drop. That's caused back pain in my distant past and I did a lot of that on Monday. Just drop the damn thing, and get bumper plates too.

Yesterday I hit some good mornings, working up to 190 against bands for 5 sets altogether. Finished with the ab wheel.

Tonight, got in 20 ABCs in 6:10. Inside of my right elbow has been hurting which is definitely from the ABCs so I used elbow sleeves tonight. Even with that advantage, I'm happy with the progress I'm making on these. Left hamstring also started getting tight on me doing these after the good mornings yesterday, but I don't think it's pain that will remain for more than a few hours. We will see if I eat my words on that. I've never had a lasting hamstring injury before so maybe it's time I earn my stripes.

Right after that I did alternating sets of push-ups and upright rows. 

Squats

405 x 13 (PR)

315 x 20, 15, 13

Couldn't remember if I got 13 or 14 so I'll go with the lower number. Still an awesome session. I have to really kick my own ass to get out of my warm room and go out in the cold night to squat, so once I'm done squeezing into knee wraps, multiple layers, and my lifting shoes that fight me to get on my feet everytime, I'm pissed off enough that I take it out on the bar.

Weighing 220 in the morning before breakfast.

Bench press

270 x 8

225 x 14

-

Super-set with barbell rows

225 x 8, 275 x 10

Swiss bar (4-second eccentric)

205 x 9, 8, 8

-

Super-set with barbell rows

275 x 10, 10, 10

Bar curls

60

Press

150 x 5

170 x 3

190 x 6
* 2-rep improvement from the last month.

Axle clean every rep and press

160 x 8, 8, 8

-

Super-set with neutral grip chin-ups

10, 10, 17

Squats

365 x 5

415 x 3

465 x 3

315 x 21

Good mornings against mini bands

150 x 10, 10, 10

-

Unilateral dumbbell lunges

50s x 10

Bench press

250 x 5

280 x 3

315 x 3

250 x 11

Close-grip bench

225 x 10, 10, 10

-

Last 2 bench sets and Close-grip bench super-set with dumbbell rows

115 x 8

125 x 10, 10, 10, 10

A reminder to proverbially eat my vegetables and do the deload weeks again, something I've confirmed to myself plenty of times before. Came back after the light week and felt physically and mentally refreshed. Had in my mind to just get a single with 315 since it's been a while that I've hit that and that I need to get accustomed to heavy weight again but after a heavy 280, 315 felt great in my hands.

Got some new equipment on the way. Getting into the sled game way too late but better late than never. The Blokz will be an interesting return to board pressing.

 Deload

Axle clean every rep and press
140 x 3 x 8
-
Super-set with NG chin-ups
3 x 10

Dips
20

IW tricep pressdowns
15

Barbell curls
45 x 30

Reverse-hypers
135 x 10, 12

Nothing major but tendonitis still persists near right elbow. That and my back are the only things that aren't feeling great right now. Not a bad state to be in. Hip is feeling better lately.

Doing the McGill 3 helps my back feel better. Combined with the hypers and lower-body yoga (for lack of a better word, it's really just practicing slow-motion high kicks and high leg rotations to loosen that area up), I have a good plan of attack.

Did two deload workouts for bench and squat. Used the Swiss bar and the Yukon bar, respectively.

Weighed-in this morning at 216.6 in the morning pre-breakfast. The weight gain is coming along better than I expected. 

With eggs being out-of-stock at the stores I most frequently shop at, now is the perfect time to change up breakfast. I don't even like eggs, I just eat them ritualistically so I don't have to think about breakfast and can knock a meal out. Anyway, today was bison burger patties on the George Foreman.

Some very good Muay Thai living room practice yesterday and a 30 minute jog.

Deload

Deadlift
Up to 515x1

RDLs
315 x 3 x 10

Also loaded up the farmer's handles with about 160 each to take for a spin tonight. 

My last bench and dead session have felt like I'm lifting through mud, so it's time to impose a deload week. I've experimented in doing away with those, but after every deload I have, I come back feeling and performing stronger.

 Power came back on at about 3:30p yesterday. That evening, did 23 ABCs in 9 minutes. Definitely feeling those floorcrushers, my triceps are absolutely destroyed.

Woke-up and while fasted did 50 push-ups and 30 kb high-pulls with both 50s. What a killer pump in just 2 minutes.

Power went out at about 2:15am. I'd already woken up to use the restroom and then the lights and electronics flickering and shutting-off got me awake just as I was starting to doze back off. I have all my battery packs pre-charged and I invested in a very good camping lantern a few months ago. Probably the most amount of rainy days I've ever seen in my life, including my time in Portland.

Power is fine at work so if it comes down to it I can store food here or at a friend's house so nothing goes bad. Current power company estimations are it will take 2 days to restore, although those are usually wrong and much longer than it turns out to be.

Squats

315 x 5

365 x 5

415 x 11

315 x 20, 20

SSB squats

15 + 20 Hise shrugs

SSB good mornings

150 x 13, 15

Doing 315x20 for my work-sets is just awesome. Will go for 3 sets next time.

 Bench pressed 295x4 while feeling sore and run-down, then 225x11, then decided to shift attention away from my sore shoulders and destroy my triceps. Brought back an ooooold favorite: floorcrushers. Was still able to bang out reps with 135x7. Then paired these with another ancient staple I used to do, Tate press, with the 50s until failure.

Picked up a Kindle copy of Dan John's Never Let Go and it's fantastic so far. First heard about this book about 12 years ago on Iron Radio when he was a guest but already had too many books to read at the time and then just never got to it.

 Axle clean and press every rep
160 x 10, 10+5 press-away reps
130 x 10+10 overhead shrugs
-
Super-set with NG chin-ups
12, 12, 12

20 dips

Shoulders are still sore from the 23 ABCs and a set of 30 dips I did yesterday. Have a strongman contest I'm eyeing in March and one of the events is a last-man-standing axle clean and press with 225. Lighter than the 250 I usually expect for my weight class, but I'm not going to underestimate it. Also not going to make the mistake of cutting down for a weight class like with my powerlifting meet. This year, I'm gonna grow.

Went to a 24 Hour Fitness yesterday to train my client due to the storm, first time I've been in one for a few years. Pretty crowded. The whole atmosphere was more annoying than I remember, probably because when I used to go to commercial gyms it would be late at night to avoid people.

Woke up and did 23 ABCs while fasted in 8 minutes. Noticed some difference in energy doing this with no food but it's something I can definitely get used to.

Due to the rain, I'll be meeting my client at 24 Hour Fitness this afternoon. It'll be kind of fun to be in a commercial gym again and have access to machines.

Mat pulled 6 reps off 4 mats yesterday in this record storm. Felt strong on all reps but by rep 6 my hand finally slipped from the pouring rain. A rest pause yielded no reps. I'm so bad at rest pausing the deadlift lately which tells me I need to try to do it more.

Gutted out 405x16 after that.

On Friday I hit 20 ABCs in 6.5 minutes, then 20 devil presses that I didn't time. 

Took it relatively easy over the new year's weekend. Felt sick and developed a cough but got in a ton of sleep with this being my first full weekend off in two months. Had a quaint little 2-person party Saturday night but then had to pass out at midnight. For drinks I made one of my OJ and frozen fruit smoothies to use as a vodka mixer and I was downing immunity juice shots from Costco so I was getting a ton of vitamin C.

Bench press
205 x 5
245 x 5
285 x 6

Kroc rows
125 x 35

Pause bench with 4-sec eccentric
205 x 3 x 8
-
Super-set with dumbbell rows
125s x 3 x 10

After training my client I came back in the PM to do eccentric bench pressing with an 8-second descent using 135 lbs on the Swiss bar for sets of 8 and 3 sets of 95 lb skullcrushers super-set with keg curls.

Yukon squats

340 x 15, 8

Incline axle bench

180 x 7, 3

160 x 8, 8, 8

-

Super-set with chin-ups

8, 10, 12, 10

Finished this in about 45 minutes, a decent portion being the transitional set-up from squatting to benching while in a zombie-like state of fugue. I wanted 340x20 but it'll be something to work toward now. 

Bench press

Up to 265 x 10

Kroc rows

125 x 31

Pause bench with 4 sec eccentric

205 x 8, 7, 6 -> Rest-pause for a few seconds, then 3 reps of close-grip bench (no pause)

-

Super-set with dumbbell rows

125s x 10, 10, 10

20 push-ups

That slow-negative bench was pretty hard, going to keep that one for a bit.

Pouring rain today, but the tarps have been helping. Need to weight the ones on the balcony down to keep the patio where I'm lifting completely dry, as there was still plenty of drippage from the gaps caused by the wind, but it was much better than it would have been with no protection. Rainiest season in the area since 2005, I read.

Nighttime: came back after work and did about 30 minutes of ABCs, devil presses, upright kettlebell rows (more like high-pulls really), sit-ups, and planks. This was very spontaneous and I had no plan going in, but I'll definitely keep track of the reps next time. Body was a new level of tired and achy after this, I'm hooked.

Woke up before alarm at 6:08 and started the morning off with 100 burpees, a PR. A few brief rest pauses here and there.

After work:

Mat pulls (4)

515 x 8

405 x 15, 10

Ended the session at this point to train my client, then came back in the evening to do some split-squats with 110 lbs and use the reverse-hyper.

Great training day.

I'm really enjoying training my current client by the way. I realized I like this kind of gig if the trainee is enthusiastic about lifting. What turned me off from trying this out a decade ago was having to be a motivator to someone who's not that into it. That's why I would never be a good salesman. I really could not care less if you want something or not, I ain't gonna try to convince you.

Press

160 x 10

135 x 10, 10, 9

-

Super-set with pull-ups x 10, 12, 15, 12

Barbell skullcrushers

115 x 10, 12

Keg curls

20, 15

Lateral raises 

Squats

385 x 12

315 x 18

Just got over being sick, still coughing a little. Wish I had gutted out more on the 385 actually. When my back starts fatiguing I think I underestimate how much more I can still fight. Flex the abs and bang out more. Pretty cool that my legs were good for more though.

Had to go to work so will return in the evening and take 315 for some more.

Returning at night after a too-long Costco run, no warm-up, and having just popped an edible before deciding no you know what, I want to lift tonight no matter WHAT.

No warm-up, knee sleeves, and in running shoes.

Squats

315 x 12, 14, 12

Reverse hyper

135 x 12, 12