Monday, April 17, 2023

Weighted dips
90 x 10, 10, 8-dropdown to 45x5
-
Super-set with weighted chin-ups
90 x 8, 8
No weight: 15
Notes: Be careful about leaning too forward, definitely felt the good ol' sternum pressure on the 90s.

Heavy band chest press: 25

120 bodyweight squats

Leg extensions superset with leg curls: 185 x 20

Elbow is doing better today after wrapping it before bed and back is feeling really pissed at me, oddly enough. Made an executive decision to shutdown squats when 225 was hurting. Sitting down too long to eat my huge breakfast has been an unhelpful habit, so make an effort to eat faster and set a timer for 10 min standing breaks in general (eating, office work, etc ).

Saturday, April 15, 2023

Reverse-grip block pressed up to 265x10 yesterday, working up to a total of 6 sets and then finished off with crazy bells and 100 Poundstone curls. I'm really getting proficient with the grip. Once again, the block press is equivalent to about a 2-board press. 

Trying to discern why my elbow hurts upon waking up lately. It could either be some weird movements or positions in my sleep, or from a lack of blood during the stationary period of bed rest. Wrapping it has helped but last night the wrap was very loose and I woke up with it in pain, which went away as the morning progressed. Lot of options to try here, starting with wrapping it tighter tonight. 

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Woke-up and hit 100 bodyweight squats before breakfast.

Before heading to the office:

Belt squats
6 plates x 10
7 plates x 15, 15
-
Super-set with reverse-hyper leg curls
2 plates x 10, 15, 15
Notes: My legs really wanted to stop at 10 on the final set, so naturally I went to 15. Couldn't believe the quad pain after that, exacerbated by having to horse stance while I untied my chains.

This was a great quick leg session that involved no direct spinal loading. I'd like to up my belt squat game and get some blocks to stand on instead of having to stack patio tiles.

Because I ran out of 45s, I counted two 25 plates as 1.

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Woke-up and hit 55 burpees before breakfast. Also weighed 226.5 before eating anything. I'm looking and feeling like a large damn mammal.

Slept with my elbow wrapped and woke-up without the usual small ache, so gonna keep that up. I'm grateful that my elbow condition forced me to change up my pressing choices and that dips are such a significant part of my life again now. I've definitely noticed my lower chest filling in more as a result.

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Log clean once and press away: 120 x 5
Kettlebell high pulls: 50s x 5
11 rounds in 7:07 minutes
Notes: Blew last week's performance away - 1 more round, 10 lbs heavier, and 1 minute faster. Felt like I was flirting with muscle failure on some of the last log presses but I kept finding the power to explode it up.

Weighted dips: 50 lbs x 10, 10
75 lbs x 10, 10, 10
-
Super-set with chin-ups: 50 lbs x 10, 10
No weight x 15, 15, 18

Dips x 33

Elbow was in a little pain on a scale of 2/10 waking-up today but that's subsided since the morning. May start sleeping with an arm wrap for extra support and see if that helps because it seems like falling asleep in certain positions aggravate it.

Monday, April 10, 2023

Deadlifts
545 x 0, 0, 1
* After a couple false starts I finally got tight enough to get the weight up. Bar speed felt a little slow, but a good showing and a win for consistency. 

Pause deadlifts
405 x 3 with 10 shrugs at the top

Romanian deadlifts
315 x 10, 10
* 10 shrugs at top each set.
Wide-grip Swiss bar bench with Fat Gripz
265 x 5, 5, 6
225 x 10, 10, 10
-
Super-set with log bent-over rows
180 x 8, 8
Switched super-set to dumbbell rows 125s x 8, 10, 10, 10

A whole cacophony of dips, crazy bell bench sets, and finished off with 110 Poundstone curls with a 40lb axle.


Saturday, April 8, 2023

Yukon squats
470x5
Drop-down to 410x5, 320x8, 230,x10, 140x10, 50x10

Reverse hyper curls

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Pushed the Prowler last night. 4 plates. I find that still easy to push but it's quite the quad pump after a couple of minutes of pulling and then when I switch to pushing AFTER that it ends up being hard enough. Will measure the distance I typically take it for but it's down the length of our condo complex before hitting some stairs and turning around. Roughly did five laps in total but as I prowl more often I'll be diligent in recording some numbers.

Last week I got the Theraband Flexbar to perform some elbow rehab. Very simple and effective tool.

I've also been looking into the Arm Aid, but it's very pricey for what's essentially forearm foam rolling. I have no doubt that it's effective, but reading about it prompted me to simply use my vibrating Hyperice roller aggressively on my forearm and elbow for the same or better effect. I read to get quite into the elbow and ignore the pain when it comes to massage. After doing so, my elbow feels really good today. The fact that I'm going to get some bigger forearms out of all this is not a bad deal. The gift of injury.

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Log clean once and press away 110 x 5
KB high pulls 50s x 5
10 rounds in 8 minutes

Behind-the-neck axle press
70 x 3 x 15

Dips
25, 10, 12, 8

Wrist roller
25 lb lb for once each direction

Good breathkiller. Went into this workout with my elbow hurting and came out with the pain gone. Definitely going to be making log pressing a regular for now. Pronated straight bar pressing aggravates, although I plan on experimenting with Fat Gripz next bench day before resorting to underhand benching.

Wrist rolling is an old exercise I brought back as elbow rehab. Forearms were screaming.

Friday, March 31, 2023

Woke-up for the early shift at 6:30 (needed no alarm, thankfully) and had time to knockout 50 burpees before leaving.

Yesterday after work I got in sets of 200x3x10 SSB good mornings. I was STUNNED at how light this felt. That's always been a weight that's on the heavier side but the suck factor that usually comes with good mornings simply wasn't there; it felt like my usual 150 was on my back. Also did 3 sets on the reverse hyper and one set of 8 with the ab wheel before an uphill run and ensuing jog afterwards.

Thursday, March 30, 2023

Yukon squat drop-set
450 x 8
410 x 5
320 x 8
230 x 10
140 x 10
50 x 10
* Fantastic. Even better than what I put up with the straight bar despite this thing making my back work harder. Moreover, I never used to be able to hit that 405 for more than 3 reps unless it was a triple or single top-set; to do that after 450x8 is just such a big improvement. Really benefitting from the effects of 20-rep squats even if I haven't been doing them "correctly" (weren't breathing squats).

On that note, I finished reading Super Squats the day before yesterday and it was an awesome read I should have done a long time ago. I used the breathing technique for a lot of reps here, which I've never employed before. 

I owe hamstrings and abs later, probably while I train my client, and if I'm feeling really meatheaded I might do a set of 20 breathing squats with something around 300.

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Took yesterday completely off in a very rare total rest day. Today I did a back regimen called the McGill 3, then a 3-minute shadow kickboxing round before noticing I needed to eat then to make it to work on time.

Weight is still hovering around 220 so I'm adding more organic A2 milk to my diet. Roughly a quart a day at the moment. I'm looking much thicker in the right places, especially traps and shoulders.

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Pressed 190x5 yesterday while my elbow was bugging me, so I switched to the log, working up to sets of 180 for 5 after repping 160x8 several times and super-setting them with weighted 45 lb chinups. Began and started with my wrist curl protocol, which always makes it feel good.

Happy to discover there was no pain under the log, though. Will give bar pressing a break for overhead lifts.

Despite that, elbow feels like it's trending in a positive direction. I'm doing the work to heal and training intelligently around it, so all that's left is time.

Deadlifts
535 x 3

Pause deadlifts
405 x 3

RDLs
315 x 3 x 10

10 barbell shrugs at the end of each and every set.

Later at night:

Front squats
170 x 2 x 10
-
Super-set with SSB squats
170 x 2 x 10

Prowler runs



Saturday, March 25, 2023

Did some reverse-hypers and then practiced Muay Thai for three 3-minute rounds on the bag. Took it easy and emphasized flow and movement vs crushing power. Also did more wrist curls and hand expansions in a bucket of sand.

Been practicing with a VR opponent using my Quest 2 and the game Thrill of the Fight and it's been great fun.

Friday, March 24, 2023

50 barbell wrist curls and 50 reverse wrist curls before and after session

Reverse-grip axle decline bench 180 x 5
KB high pulls 50s x 5
10 rounds, no rest

Dips x 5
Chin-ups x 5
10 rounds, no rest (last set of dips was x10)

Axle crazy bells
120 x 10, 8, 5
70 x 7, 8
-
Super-set with Band pull-aparts
20, 20, 20

Big pump from this. Elbow hurt waking up today and felt great after this workout. Settling into a pattern of heavy, light, heavy, light days, so next upper-body session will be more traditional and heavier, underhand grip or not.

Thursday, March 23, 2023

Woke-up and did 40 burpees, then 50 wrist curls and 50 reverse wrist curls. Elbow was angry at me the past two days after that overhead workout but it feels much better after wrist curls.

After breakfast I headed to a park close to the office and trained my coworker with two 15 lb kettlebells I picked up recently. While she was dying on her rest, I hit 23 neutral-grip chin-ups on the monkey bars. I was surprised at how easy these came while weighing 220 lbs, and could have done more.

Also, yesterday while training the client I meet at my home gym I got in axle Romanian deadlifts with 325x15, followed by 10 shrugs. It had unexpectedly started pouring so when I set the bar down mud splashed all over me, which we both got a laugh from. She works in park services so she's an outdoor person and isn't afraid to train in bad weather or dirt. I found someone as unhinged as me to train.

 A little while later while I was cleaning up, I picked it up while passing by the bar and did 20 shrugs.

I'm pleased with how I'm growing. Just looking like a much stockier, thicker version of myself, but in the right places.

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Yukon squats
420 x 11

Giant set
Yukon squats 320 x 21
Kb pullovers 25 x 20
Axle deadlifts
250 x 20

After reading through some of super Squats I made a point to actually do the deep breathing for the first time on the 20. With the Yukon bar I'm wasting a little bit of energy throughout the set keeping the bar from slipping off my back compared to either the straight or SS bar, but tough shit, the point of this isn't to be comfortable.

Monday, March 20, 2023

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.

Friday, March 17, 2023

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.

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

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.

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

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.

Monday, March 13, 2023

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.


Friday, March 10, 2023

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.

Thursday, March 9, 2023

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.

Tuesday, March 7, 2023

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.

Friday, March 3, 2023

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

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

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.

Friday, February 24, 2023

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.

Thursday, February 23, 2023

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.

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

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. 

Monday, February 20, 2023

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.

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

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

Saturday, February 11, 2023

 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.

Friday, February 10, 2023

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). 

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

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.


Friday, February 3, 2023

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. 

Thursday, February 2, 2023

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

Thursday, January 26, 2023

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

Friday, January 20, 2023

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.