5ish sets of high pulls with 215 axle

Clean once and strict press

215 x 1

180 x 7, 5+1 push-press

160 x 8 + 10 overhead shrugs

Kroc rows

125 dumbbell x 25

Kettlebell high pulls

50s x 20

Many failed attempts at getting 215 secure on my chest. Kept getting it pulled high but couldn't quite shelf it until one successful set, and by that time my pressing power was impacted. All good though, got a lot of high pulls done in that case! There may come a point eventually when I want to separate racked strict pressing and sets of cleans to maximize my 1rm press but just wrangling the weight around is going to build brute strength and right now I just like the idea of starting everything from the floor.

Made up for the lack of pressing by going heavy in my assistant work.

Ending with Kroc rows after all that would been nasty enough but the kettlebell set was just plain rude.

Squats

450 x 8

330 x 21

250 x 30

Leg extensions

10 plates x 30

Leg curls

10 plates x 30, 30

Kettlebell swings

50 lbs x 100

Almost back to my pre-COVID number of 450x10. I'm very chill about comparing past accomplishments. If I'm on the cusp of surpassing a PR, I'll take note of it but otherwise I have no anxiety about not being near historical peaks (for example, my strict press is far from my old max of 250). It's a necessary attitude for longevity and I thank my injuries and illnesses for coming to that mindset. There's literally no choice in present form to chase old numbers when you just got out of surgery so you have to channel strength into other avenues: bodyweight exercises, reading, etc. Hell, go set PRs in wrist curls, as long you're excelling in SOMETHING.

Staggered around for a few seconds after the 250 struggling to keep lucid. Felt like I needed to lie down and die for awhile so I immediately went to the Thai bag and did a round of punches and kicks. Have to seize on the opportunity and take advantage of this level of fatigue when possible because I remember the feeling of sweltering suffocation in the middle of hard sparring rounds. I wasn't alone there like I am here to have the luxury of catching my breath; it was either ignore the panic and fight or succumb to the quit and drown in the Deep Water.

Swiss bar bench press

225 x 3 x 10

205 x 2 x 10

-

Super-set with pull-ups

4 x 10

1 x 15

Poundstone curls x 100

Back from a hectic travel period that saw me in Denver for work. Nothing of note report there, was working indoors mostly. Essentially two days of rest from training. One funny highlight was TSA taking my burrito out from my bag and holding it up to the light like it was a counterfeit bill for careful inspection. 

Shoulder medley

Arnold press: 50s x 12, 12

Behind-the-neck press: 80 x 8, 6+3 after rest-pausing

Lateral raises: 15s x 10, 10

Band pull-aparts x 12, 20

48-second chin-up

Carter curls

35s x 9, 8, 8

That chin-up always wrecks my biceps; the 35 dumbbells were the right call instead of the 50s. I always keep my SBD elbow sleeves on to make curls a little harder.

I learned about both the 1-minute chin-up and those curls on T-Nation. I'm naming them after Paul Carter, whose the first known inspiration for them as far as I can tell. The difference comes from retracting back the scapulae, like a powerlifting bench press, and continuing to curl up into the shoulders, an often-neglected function of the biceps. Doing these against bands would be brutal.

https://youtu.be/T_1eOJr04FE

Clean once and strict press

110 x 5

160 x 3

200 x 5

150 x 10, 10, 11

Neutral-grip chin-ups

12

100 lbs x 8 + drop-down to bodyweight x 8

Bodyweight again x 15, 20

Gonna do a second light workout later involving a shoulder medley, curls, and the ab wheel. Just all the odds and ends I didnt manage to fit during the heavy sessions.

 

 

Squats

430 x 8

325 x 20 + 20 pullovers with 25lbs

250 x 26

Leg extensions

10 plates x 8 until the end plates fell off due to no space for clips, continued on with 8 plates x 20

Leg curls

8 plates x 30, 20

Felt like I was going to die. Just barely resisted the urge to collapse and lie down after the set of 250. 

Bench press

225 x 3

275 x 2

315 x 1

335 x 1

350 x 1

245 x 10, 10, 8

Wide pull-ups

20, 20

Haven't benched 350 in a looong time. Had a crazy busy day and ended the session at just before 9pm, so I called it here to get ready for work tomorrow.

Power cleans

135, 185, 205 x 3

Sumo deadlifts

295 x 3

385 x 3

475 x 2 + 10 shrugs

525 x 1 + 10 shrugs

525 x 3

Immediately after deadlifts:

50 goblet squats with 50 lb kettlebell

30 stiff-legged deadlifts with two 50 lb kettlebells, shrugging with each rep

Farmer's walk with said kettlebells around the yard

That's plenty for this evening. Of any day, this is the most I back-off and leave extra fuel in the tank for the sake of my back. As I mentioned in my last entry, it felt horrible for most of this week, showed signs of improving yesterday, and was a little better yet today. It's possible I'll wake up with pain from the session tomorrow so I'll have to see if this was a handable amount of work for me or not, but as of right now I'm very pleased.

Sumo deadlifts are such a hack for pulling heavy with a pissy back. I only started doing them a few months ago. I'm not saying bye to conventional pulling but I'm over forcing them when my body just won't have it.

Smashed the Thai bag yesterday evening. 3 3-minute rounds.. Only reason I called it there was because I got hungry and I'm trying to gain weight.

Really making an effort to polish up my hooks lately and to keep my elbow more level. Everything was beginning to turn into a shovel hook before this correction.

This morning before work I hit 40 burpees.

My back has been KILLING me this week. Yesterday, however, was a good day for reversing some of the damage. Ample hip stretches, a set on the reverse-hyper, and did the McGill 3 before bed. Gotta do the McGill 3 every evening, it helps quite a bit. Going to replace my mattress soon, too. Memory foam just isn't for my body.

 Last night I filmed some shadowboxing to polish up my form, then went on a 30-minute jog. This morning before work was more shadowboxing.

Legs and thighs are still wrecked.

 Did yoga last night and also did 2 laps with the sled. Then I got ready to go for a nighttime swim but on my way I stopped by my reverse hyper and did 2x10 with 225. Ended up not swimming due to how late it was and just relaxed on the seat drinking a sparkling water while I enjoyed the atmosphere before going back in.

Woke-up this morning and did 50 push-ups before work. My legs are just devastated and I'm walking like a mummy, which was a predictable outcome, but my rear delts and traps are very sore today too. I have a back massager at my office that I can use on my upper-back area if I slump.

New job is going well. Health insurance starts in October. I told myself I wouldn't compete in strongman until I get healthcare, soooo now I'm on the lookout for comps, although I'm open to more powerlifting too.

Clean once and strict press

180 x 6

150 x 10, 9, 9

Shoulder medley

Arnold press: 50s x 10, 12

Behind-the-neck press: 70 x 10, 10

Lateral raises: 10s x 15, 15

Band pull-aparts x 20, 15

45-second chin-up

Trying to get up to 1 minute. I currently weigh around 220 so this is a great way to make the biceps do a lot of work in a short span of time.

Had to take a few shots while my shoulders had a pump. 

410 lbs x 10

320 lbs x 20

240 lbs x 25

Leg extensions

8 plates x 30

Leg curls

8 plates x 30, 30, 30

Hit 320x20 again, which was a cool milestone from earlier this year that slipped away after I lost progress from contracting COVID last month and lost a bunch of weight. But more importantly, my back held up and felt great today when I had to terminate my barbell squat session last Wednesday because of pain and do goblet squats and leg extensions instead (no shame in that though, goblet squats rule).

 Woke-up and did 70 total push-ups before work, along with some basic hip and leg stretches. Got better rest last night than the night before.

Did this after a long work day on not enough sleep yesterday evening. Didn't feel I had heavy singles in me so I didn't bother. I'll assassinate a 350 bench soon enough.

1-board press
280 x 6, 7, 7
-
Super-set with T-bar rows
5 plates + 10 lbs x 10, 12, 12

Swiss bar bench
205 x 10, 12, 10
-
Super-set with T-bar rows
5 plates + 10 lbs x 12, 15, 15

The set of 6 was a tough, sleepy grind, while the sets of 7 after I felt awakened were powerful and explosive.

Very last Swiss bar rep was a real fight, which I love ending on.

Despite being dead tired yesterday evening and running on little sleep I felt supercharged after taking an edible by the evening and went on a 10-minute jog, then 2 minutes of shadow kickboxing, and then ended by swimming laps. Also made time to do some yoga before bed.

This morning I woke-up and hit 50 burpees before work. Ran out of milk for the weightgainer but it's just as well. I've been bloated and gassy from it. It absolutely works for its intended purpose but a break is welcome. I packed two mega sandwiches I made with grass-fed steak and avocado, a tupperware packed with rotisserie chicken from Costco seasoned with a sweet heat spice rub, and 2 protein bars. Feeling full at work right now but with less GI issues.

Power bench day tomorrow. Deep Water...soon.

Now that my elbow is recovered enough to do a wider variety of pressing exercises, I'm rereading Deep Water with plans to run it soon. I just want to make sure my back is in a good place now.

The diet was always a question to me. I seem to process carbs quite well - they don't make me sleepy and I can stay lean consuming them. If we go by metabolic typing, my ancestors ate a rice-heavy diet, so that makes sense. But in the spirit of going all-in, I would embrace John's dietary regimen for the program. What's the worst that can happen? Just try it!

Side-note: this free soy-free jerky at the office is hitting the spot. Just wish it was totally sugar-free, but with the amount of carbs I'm already ingesting from my weightgainer in the same sitting it'd be a silly thing to avoid right now. Had a wave of heavy fatigue for a good 30 minutes from waking up at 4 but it passed and I'm full of life again. It was so great to have an early morning to myself before work.

 Woke-up at 4am, lay in bed with my eyes closed until 5, decided I wasn't going back to sleep, and went on a sunrise jog. Came back and saw my Yukon bar loaded and did 13 behind-the-neck presses with 100 lbs, then did 10 burpees with the full push-up and squat. Came in and stretched my hips and legs, then took a shower and made breakfast with coffee.

Well, gave a noble effort but the car lift was a bust. The other guy didn't even hang around to try and lift it; he just came and talked about trying to tow it or something and then bounced. I tried to get a grip on it but the broken the bumper and trunk stuck out and forced me to reach with my arms to grab the solid bottom, almost in a preacher curls position. I got it bouncing on the suspension but there was no way I could deadlift it. It was looking like bicep tear city with that angle. I actually strained my left bicep but it's nothing serious. 

Unrelated, but I woke up with heavy nausea and the weight gainer really helped a lot. I only ate one solid meal the whole day.

Got this sleep drink from my work and going to give it a try tonight.

Axle clean once and press: 110 x 5

Close-grip neutral grip chin-ups: 5

10 rounds in 8:15

More than 3-min improvement since last attempt.

Dips

50 x 12, 12

75 x 10

-

Super-set with Close-grip pull-ups

3 x 12

Behind the neck press

100 x 10

15 tricep pressdowns

Slept very poorly and felt awful today. Nausea and fogginess. This was particularly miserable as a result.

I have more updates to put up including my first day at the new job on Friday and yesterday's leg workout. Currently sipping my protein shake before I go help a friend lift up a car that's totaled in her parking spot and move it a few inches away from her neighbor's spot. 

I'll just briefly go over that. Friday was awesome. Weight gainer really helped me to keep full the whole day and the break room has loads of high quality beef jerky and protein shakes. We also indulged in happy hour at the office where I got treated to sushi.

 Pushed the Prowler last night and then went on a 10-minute jog. This morning I hit 50 burpees and 50 jumping-jacks before downing a weightgainer and heading to work. 

Last day at this job and starting the new one tomorrow. Already received a new order of Animal Meal to drink my breakfast while I get settled in. I deemed it the best weightgainer on Amazon. Its biggest downside is pea protein being part of the blend, but there's beef protein in there too which is cool and uncommon. Other supposedly "clean" gainers STILL have maltodextrin as the first ingredient after all these years and advancements in nutrition.

Bench press

275 x 1

315 x 1

340 x 1

Kroc rows

150 x 20

Bench press

230 x 10, 10, 9, 10, 6+3(rest pause)

-

Super-set with wide pull-ups

12, 12

35 x 10, 10, 12

Push-ups x 15

Pull-ups x 15

340 bench was alllll over the place which made it all the radder that the weight still shot up. Possible I got overhyped from timing a part of a song to the lift, which I don't typically do anymore, and as a result the bar trajectory was anything but straight. Or it could just be that I'm getting used to singles again and haven't benched this amount in a long time. Whatever the case, the raw strength is definitely there and it's a good place to be.

 

Came extremely close to failing the very last rep of benching 230. Wouldn't be as big a pain in the ass failing 385 like I did a few years ago but adrenaline still kicked in and everything. My cat was sitting on my chair a few feet away watching me and I knew I had to set a good example for him so I mustered everything I had to get it up. Don't want him thinking that missing reps like that is OK.

Just a bone-crusher of a session with Kroc rows AND Boring But Big.

Giant sets

SSB front squats: 240 x 10, 10

SSB narrow-stancr back squats: 240 x 10, 10

Kettlebell swings: 50 x 30, 30

SSB good mornings

150 x 10, 10

Leg extensions and leg curls

295 x 30 each

50 ab swivels

10 reverse crunches

Opted to give my back a break from heavy loading and assassinate quads and hamstrings more directly. Glad to be back at this weight for those squat super-sets. 

Went on a 10-min jog and then pushed the Prowler last night after work, lighter than usual since recovery was the main focus of the day. The thing is dead silent if I use my bumper plates, which is awesome. I've also been carrying out my kettlebells to stack on it instead of metal plate so the whole setup has been a lot easier than when I first got it.

Cooled off after with a night swim. 

 There have been several night jogs I haven't been logging. Also did 30 burpees before work this morning. If I had more time I would have done more. In addition to making me hungrier for breakfast it also just plain wakes me up better than coffee ever can (although I'm thoroughly enjoying my homebrewed coffee at the office too right now).

After 4 straight days of training I took Sunday completely off for a fantastic beach day. Was carrying the cooler over to the sand when a guy remarked "Someone's been eating his Wheaties!" Swam in the ocean and ate a ton of picnic food.

Weighed 215.6 in the morning before breakfast. 6 pound gain since last month. I'm putting away food like it's my job but still lean for this bodyweight with visible abs. My meals are big so if I want to keep ascending past the 220s increased meal frequency will be key. The weightgainer has been such a big help for saving time and filling in caloric gaps.

Giant set

Axle clean once and press away: 130 x 4 x 10

Neutral grip chin-ups: 3 x 10, 12

Leg extensions: 295 x 3 x 20, 30

Last set of extensions super-set with leg curls: 295 x 20

Giant set

Behind the neck press: 100 x 3 x 7

Wide chin-ups x 10, 10, 12

Leg curls: 295 x 3 x 20

Dips x 12

Tricep pressdowns x 15

Yukon squats

410 x 10

320 x 18, 4

I was dragging, so this was an excellent performance for my first squats over 400 since a couple of months ago and post-illness. Made an executive decision to shut down the last set because I felt my body relaxing against my will from fatigue (been 3 days of intense training paired with early work days/less sleep) and the beginnings of right knee pain to set in. No injury. 

Great to see me inch closer to a set of 20 again. And AFTER introducing a set of 400? Just a fantastic rebound from last month. 

Carter curls

35s x 5 x 10

* For lack of a proper name, I'm naming these after Paul Carter, who advised adding an additional ROM to the top of a curl that involves shoulder flexion. More here: https://youtu.be/T_1eOJr04FE

Actually joined Arnold's new newsletter, Arnold's Pump Club, and their email actually linked to that video. Quality stuff. 

Concentration curls, preacher curls, and several torturous sets of wrist-rollers 

Woke-up at 6:45 and hit 40 burpees and 40 push-ups. Downed some leftover weightgainer and a small remaining portion of a fruit smoothie and multivitamin right after before heading to work.

Bench press
Worked-up to 330 x 1

225 x 10, 10, 12
-
Super-set with T-bar rows
4 plates x 10
5 plates x 10, 12

Easy. Had strength for more; time before work didn't permit. But this was great. Haven't full ROM benched this heavy all year. Thank you COVID for really improving the state of my golfer's elbow. Felt a little irritation that I still feel in the office now but it's a big improvement. I aim to hit 340 next week and 350 the week after unless my elbow regresses, in which case I'll go back to board pressing.

Immensely enjoying this power day.

EDIT: came back after work at 8pm to get some more work in.

225 x 10, 10, 12
-
Super-set with T-bar rows
4 plates x 10
5 plates x 10, 12

35 push-ups

The original plan was BBB. Since that got interrupted and the workout was split in two I added a 6th 225 bench set, which probably wasn't necessary since 5 sets broken up would still be more volume than I'm used to right now.

Mirza alerted me to a possum while I was training. He was dragging a 1.25 lb weight plate tied to his leash for his training (the cat, not the possum) so he couldn't attack it even though he clearly wanted to.

 Went on a 30-min jog yesterday and did lots of stretching throughout the day. Also used my massage gun because I'm sore all over, especially my traps. It's not just my upper traps that are sore but the lower ones extending down the length of my back, too. Never had that happen with shrugs before.

Today has been great so far. Got good sleep and was preparing my bench set-up before the lack of time before work and level of soreness I was still feeling made me table it for tomorrow. My bench day is the closest thing to a max effort workout of the week at the moment (my deadlifts are heavy for low reps too but well below a max). Decided this last month that I really want to chase that mythical 405lb bench press while I'm gaining weight, and my squat and deadlift have been historically easy to raise so I'm not concerned about their numbers for a meet so this is the one day where I want to be as fresh as possible and not be hindered by recovery needs. 

Ended up taking the Prowler out stacked with 5 plates and then did drop-down laps where I removed a plate for each run. When I got to 2 plates, I pulled it. Also got in two laps of suitcase carries with a 50 lb kettlebell. Went in after that and did 30 burpees and a tough 1-minute plank where my sore arms and legs were the weak link and barely able to hold me up. Now currently eating a bison-quinoa-veggie bowl and weightgainer at the office.

Yesterday:

Deadlifts
Up to 525x3 +10 shrugs
405x12 +10 shrugs

Romanian dumbbell deadlifts
125s x 10

Goblet squats
50 x 30, 20, 20

Intended to do abs but back was feeling pissy so did the McGill Big 3 rehab protocol and side planks were a part of that. 

Gonna lay off the weights today except for the reverse hyper. Also aim to take the Prowler out for a ride.

Took the time to make homemade coffee the night before and it's treating me nice this morning. Had set my alarm 20 minutes earlier but I woke up on my own earlier than that, at 6am sharp, to drop my visiting brother off at the airport before work.

Experiencing a VERY rare instance of genuinely not being able to tell if my back is minorly injured or incredibly sore now. Felt it come on gradually throughout the evening and it was uncomfortable to sleep on.

Axle clean once and press: 110 x 5

Close-grip neutral grip chin-ups: 5

10 rounds in 11:04

Giant sets 

Axle behind-the-neck press

90 x 3 x 10

-

Lateral raises: 10s x 3 x 10

-

Wide-grip neutral grip chin-ups

3 x 10

Did a gnarly curl workout yesterday. Recently listened to a podcast with Paul Carter where he was laughing at people who just write an entire muscle group when logging a workout, like "did shoulders", but dammit, when it comes to curls:

1. They're curls, I go crazy and do a ton of rapid, spontaneously-conjured and unplanned sets.

2. They're curls. Whatever. Lol.

I will log that after the curlpocalypse I used my homemade wrist roller and absolutely wrecked my forearms along with my biceps.

I love direct arm work and it's such a fun, feel-good juxtaposition to the powerlifting bench workout I did earlier. 

Spent this afternoon handling a medical situation again. This time Dad's health got worse and he agreed to go to the hospital. There was some friction between me and my aunt as she insisted on calling 911 while I wanted to drive him. She was under the impression he couldn't walk so she went ahead and called the EMTs while I was talking with him and he walked down to the ambulance by himself so...yes, I could have and should have driven him. Gonna move on from that for now because he's being seen and that's more important.

The hospital was a total clusterfuck: they gave me a wrong room number at first, then I figured out from my aunt's call that she's in an exam room in the ER with him but the ER rep I talked to couldn't find him, and finally we agreed over the phone that I'll go to work and come back in the evening when he has a room number. 

Had 30 minutes before leaving for work, so came home and worked up to 320x15 Yukon bar squats. I was aiming for more but that was pretty close to a max effort today. Didn't bother to change out of my cushioned skate shoes and was dealing with a big adrenaline dump that had me feeling sluggish. I'll seize more pockets of time and fit in more soon.

PM update: came home and did another set of 320x15 squats, then 3 super-sets of leg extensions and leg curls on the reverse hyper using 320 lbs (3 45s and a 25 on each side). Then in the living room did an ab wheel rollout set of 8.

1-board press

275 x 3

295 x 3

315 x 2

325 x 1

335 x 1

Bench press

245 x 8, 8, 5 -> drop-down to 185x7

-

First set super-set with Kroc rows: 125 x 20

Then regular dumbbell rows:

125 x 10, 10, 10

I wanted a heavy power workout and got exactly that. No pump here, just joint-crushing sets. Got to build strength again.

Amazingly, the scale read 209 today which would mean I lost about 15 lb in 2 weeks from COVID. It was definitely unexpected because I've been LOOKING a lot bigger since I was ill. 

Also need to log that I did 50 push-ups yesterday morning and went on a 25 minute jog at night, the first since being sick. Lungs felt fine and cough is a lot better. Had a major health scare with my dad that caused me to leave work and go check on him. He's not in good shape but doesn't want to go to the hospital.

 Since I stuffed in 3 hard days of training before the weekend I took 2 days of rest and living life. Body was sore all over. Went to the beach on Canada Day for July 1st and feasted on homemade grass-fed steak sandwiches and a weightgainer. I was so full from this that I drank a little bit of vodka and then just quit. Totally futile. I had so much food in me it'd be too much work and take too many hours of waiting to digest to even feel buzzed. 

Woke-up today and hit 50 push-ups before a work meeting. Once again, I downed my leftover weightgainer shake in the morning and then was too full to bother with the donuts at the meeting. Just have zero desire for sweets when I'm constantly full, the opposite of when I cut weight and sweet cravings hit me hard.

Looking a lot bigger and fuller than when I was sick. Just like I lost weight quickly during those 2 weeks, I rebounded FAST.

Deadlifts

Up to 500 x 3, 10 shrugs on last rep

405 x 10 (half touch-n-go), 10 shrugs on last set

* After not pulling heavy for several weeks and losing weight from COVID AND feeling rundown just yesterday when all upper-body work felt like a million pounds this was shockingly light. Those reverse hyper leg curls did a great job keeping my hamstrings strong while sub-100%.

SSB front squats super-set with SSB back squats

150 x 10

150 x 10

* I'm squatting frequently during my first real week back and this was enough. Looking forward to going back up in the 200s again soon.

Reverse hyper leg extensions

6 plates x 30

35 lb dumbbell curls superset with band lateral curls for 5 sets

Finances are dead tight as I look for another job and got no sick pay while I was out for 2 weeks but might do something for Canada Day tomorrow by packing food I have at home and going to the beach. There are still ways to live.

Axle clean once and press

130 x 10, 10, 7

-

Super-set with neutral grip chin-ups

10, 10, 10

* Had to push-press the final rep to get 7. 3 minutes rest between each set. 

Dips

10, 10

50 x 10, 11, 10

-

Weighted dips were super-set with wide-grip chin-ups

10, 12, 12

Another early night but I got this knocked earlier than yesterday and in an hour. Looking to bring that time down for this amount of volume, but knowing me I'll keep the time the same and just do more.

 Woke-up for my first early shift in several weeks and had time to hit 50 push-ups and 40 squats before heading to work. Downed a leftover weightgainer shake from last night with some coffee and a multivitamin right after for an instant breakfast.

Hectic and busy day yesterday. Had the plan to train after a job interview and before going to work, but the interview (which went very well) lasted 2 hours. No matter, I made time to lift in the evening after work and before bed.

Yukon squats
320 x 16

Reverse hyper leg curls
6 plates x 30

Ab wheel slow rollouts
5

Reverse crunches, ab swivels

It's humbling to not be able to rep out 20+ anymore on those squats, but I'm crawling back up. 2 better than last week.

Since this was just an hour and a half before bedtime and my sleeping schedule has been 2 or 3 hours later than the work-week during my sick time, I popped an edible right after to ensure falling asleep early. Ended up getting a good night of rest. I crushed this day.

Swiss bar bench press

260 x 5

225 x 8, 6 -> drop-down to 205x4

205 x 7, 11

-

Super-set with dumbbell rows

115 x 8, 10, 10, 10, 10

Skullcrushers

45 x 20, 20

-

Super-set with various curls

The top set, while 5 lbs better than last time, was harder than I figured it'd be. Definitely have strength to reclaim but I must also note my cough is preventing me from breathing deep on my sets. When I consciously made an effort to breathe on the 225, I got 8 easier than I expected while last week I grinded out 6. 

Dips 

10, 10

50 x 10

75 x 10

90 x 10, 9

-

Super-set with chin-ups

10, 10, 10, 10, 12, 12

Bradford press

65 x 8, 8

-

Super-set with kb lateral raises

15s x 10, 10

Axle curls

40 lbs x 50

Dips x 20

Major coughing attack near the end of this, almost had to shut it down to go rest. Always bring cough drops out to the gym.

Afterwards a cough drop, hot water, hot bone broth, and sitting in the bathroom with a hot bath steaming everything brought it down while I sipped my protein shake.

Yukon squats
320 x 14

First squat session with COVID. Happy with this considering I'm ill. Like usual, my hacking cough is suppressed during the actual exercise, which is just fucking cool, but after this set it really attacked me for a good 10 minutes. Had to sit down and nurse some hot water and a cough drop before I could continue with hamstrings.

Chose the Terminator theme because I can only be slowed, but not stopped.

Good mornings
140 x 15

Reverse hyper leg curls
6 plates x 20

Cough has really sucked today. Lame that it was appearing to get better.

 Swiss bar bench
Up to 255 x 5
225 x 6
205 x 8, 8, 10
-
Super-set with dumbbell rows
115 x 8, 8, 8, 8, 10

Lateral raises
15s x 12

Dumbbell curls
35s x 15
50s x 8

Band pressdowns
30

Most substantive workout with COVID yet. Looking lots smaller now. It's a challenge to eat with this cough but weightgainer is a massive help. Definitely made the right call ordering it.

Strength is still there. It was quite an experience to be hacking my lungs out under the bench, taking a moment, and then powering through some heavy bench sets. Felt very invigorating. The plague cannot snuff out this power.

Was coughing a ton during this session and afterwards. It was fairly exhausting. At one point my ab muscle actually cramped up and I had to stand and hold it firm. A steamy shower helped bring it down. I'm running my little humidifier in my room tonight. As of 11:17pm right now, it's an annoying cough but not what I would call a coughing attack.

Funny observation: whenever I would bench press heavy, any sensation to cough went away. Maybe something about the weight constricting my diaphram. The iron cures all.

 Did some barbell training the last 2 days. On Sunday, did 50 total reps with 135 on the Swiss bar bench and 15 chin-ups. Yesterday, went up to 225x5 on the Swiss bar and did 20 chin-ups.

Cough is relentless. Last night was the worst it's been.

 Did another workout of 60 band pressdowns, 40 curls. Tomorrow I'll expand on this quite a bit. I'd like to try push-ups again, and definitely need to hit legs more.

The pinkeye is annoying but not a big deal, but this cough is crazy. Worse than yesterday even, somehow. We're talking violent full-body convulsions. Both my stomach and head ache from the pressure of hacking up hundreds of lungs all day, and it makes it hard to eat solid food and especially sleep.

There is a fable in old mythology that covers a battle strikingly of man vs the other force, similar to mine. Titled "Predator", it details a classic hero figure, in this story named Arnold "Dutch" Schwarzenegger, as he struggles to subdue a formidable unknown assailant. The imposing monster seemingly has the upper-hand in all ways over what is a mere man, but the age-old lesson is ultimately learned: this human has huge fucking pumped biceps, also he wrecks the shit out of the fiend by dumping a giant log on its stupid head as a trap.

Just a powerful message to take away.

Did another COVID workout this evening:

50 Iron Woody heavy band pressdowns

30 axle curls

20 Hindu squats

Got a nice pump in the arms, missed that feeling. Especially from having to go so much slower on the curls than norm.

Cough is at its worst today. Very violent and body-convulsing. I will take that over the previous phase's swinging fevers, delirium that made it hard to think, and crushing malaise, though.

Stomach has been gurgling and upset again. Previously it could have been from anything, maybe from more medicine and less food, but today it's from a far better source:

So much easier to drink food than eat. Unfortunately, while it has great carbohydrate sources and beef protein is one part of the protein blend, in my feverish haze when ordering I totally didn't see that the first protein ingredient is pea protein, which I've heard people say makes them gassy. It's also an inferior protein, but I spiked it with my Ascent whey from Costco.

Also got a new stock of beef bone broth and chicken noodle soup, which have been wins in terms of digestion so far, especially with lemon.

Trying to amp up my aggression. I'm enjoying metal music again when previously I didn't want to listen to anything but quiet travel shows. Also must mention that this was the first morning I woke-up without feeling like death.

Typing this while the sun sets in the balcony and it's a nice mood.

Woke up miserable again today but some symptoms started to alleviate while others got worse. My appetite is a little better and after a bone broth and hummus breakfast I was able to slowly eat some of my bison-quinoa bowl for lunch. Throat still hurts but doesn't feel like medieval torture to swallow things now. Cough is much worse. Fatigue was there in the morning but got much better later in the day. Then I developed pink eye and completely lost my sense of smell in the same evening. It's a full-on war and I'm just tanking everything that's thrown at me. I cannot be stopped.

Managed to get a light log workout in.

 Currently on day 3 with a gnarly case of COVID. It was definitely from that metal show. Easily the sickest I've ever been in my life. Most of this period I've been in a daze without energy or the ability to concentrate. My throat also feels like I'm swallowing glass and has made sleeping so far extremely miserable. As of today, though, DayQuil has done wonders to bring me down from Walking Dead zombie to "just really sick" levels, and I can actually focus on things again. I also promised myself that no matter what, I'm going to do some kind of training tomorrow.

I've started to get a rhythm down on how to eat, too, since nausea has been incredibly high and the metal spikes stabbing my throat made it extremely difficult (again, DayQuil has helped with that at least). Yesterday I was basically eating almond butter like pudding and washing it down with milk, since it hurt so much to swallow anything. Actually a pretty great idea, but the taste was just inducing more nausea when typically I love that stuff. Today I got some organic chicken noodle soup with lemon and it hit the spot. Also got a bottle of organic beef bone broth and this stuff is a hack (the good kind). It's basically protein tea! I'm going to be buying this all the time from now on. Previously I'd only used it in soups but it absolutely needs to be a staple in my mug.

And finally...I ordered a high-quality weightgainer powder from Universal Nutrition/Animal. I'm so nostalgic for that stuff. Used to be miserable force-feeding myself it every morning as a teenager. Instead of being filled with maltodextrin, this blend is made with sweet potatoes, oats, and even powdered olive oil. Animal is also a brand I have nostalgia for. Used to love their melodramatic, emo bodybuilding zine ads.

I will definitely lose some strength and mass from this period, and that's fine. My enthusiasm to get back under the bar and build again will make up for it.