You deserved it Iron, well done on that RFESS.
Freaking good that things are going your way 
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3/29/2019 - 187.9
45 min mid-day brisk walk
1.5 hours cut grass & yard work
10g carbs up till 630, then had a filling meal after a lot of activity today.
Bbq baked chicken tenderloins over white rice
Slow simmered limas
Superfoods green mix
Sliced avocado and tomato
Above average portion sizes, but I needed it. Was underfed for the day with as much activity as I had. Didnt plan on yard work until after workout tomorrow, but got home from work a little early so knocked it out. Time to chill.
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3/30/2019 - Shoulders/Arms - 188.1
Warmup
Rolling, arm circles, quick 3, band shoulder series
Incline Axle Press
25x2x8, 55x8, 75x8, 95x8, 120x8, 140x8, 160x8, 170x6+2+2+2+2+2+2+115x12
-with-
Various Grip Chins
5x11 !
-alt with-
Single Arm KB Row
44x11, 62x4x11
Band + Weight Lateral
25, 5x15, 10x2x12
Tempo Skullcrusher
45x50, 70x15, 80x10+70x8
-with-
Axle Curl
35x50, 55x15 (3s ecc), 70x10+55x10 (3s ecc)
1M active hang
40 minute walk
Have not slept well last 2 nights, and was dragging g for this one. Still performed very good, more bar weight, less bodyweight than last time around. Those r/p 2s are hard, but just the right amount hard. Did not have a 3rd on at least half of them, but the 2nd rep was still quality and not grindy. Have a weird right ankle thing going on. Its clicky when I push off that foot with some dull pain. May need to back off the ankle stretching/distraction on squat days. Eyeballing a deload in 2 weeks while I’m out of town on business. My body will be very thankful, as it’s performing well right now but I can tell I’m not fresh! Those chins!
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3/31/2019 - Legs - 188.6
Warmup
Rolling, arm circles, quick 3, planks, hip circle squats
Squats
45x2x8, 75x8, 95x8, 115x8, 135x8, 165x8, 185x10, 185x2x8
Paused DB SLDL
10x20, 40x20, 50x20, 60x20
-with-
Single Arm/Leg + Reg RKC Plank (1:30 total hold)
x2
-alt with-
Side Abd Plank + Hold
x2
1 min active hang + transitions
Legs are def getting stronger. Finally. None of these squats are muscle ups, they are constant torso angle extend with the leg squats. I’ve found a comfortable stance too, finally.
New squat plan: 185x3x20 before I add any weight to the bar. Seeing as how I’ve squatted 185x50 within the last year, it shouldnt take too long. BUT, I will not squat beyond form degradation or compromise my heart, so it may be mid-late summer since I’m only squatting once per week.
Also, this cut will finish before my trip to Hawaii July 19th. Goal is to slow cut to 179.9. That’s about a half pound per week. Right now I’m losing about a pound per week. I like how this is playing out.
Edit: I had a MASSIVE meal at longhorn last night including dessert. Hell, I probably had 1K cals for dessert. Easy 2K meal, and still 1 pound less than this time last week.
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The last time I went there was also my first time. They gave us a coupon for free dessert since it was our first time and then they let use it. Apparently the dessert I selected is meant to be shared. I think it had 2200 calories all by itself!
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Longhorn is one of my go-to places to eat in Topeka, I like it better than Texas Roadhouse, as far as chain steakhouses go. If they had an Outback around here, I might go there just for the bloomin’ onion, but that is probably not a diet-friendly appetizer.
I don’t know about 3x20 on squats, 1x20 is painful enough, be careful with the heart thing.
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That’s the one we had! Delicious, and I ate 2/3 of it, easy.
Yeah, I’m going to take my time. I squatted 185x50 about 8 months ago, and that sent me into a whirlwind with my heart. That is something I’ll never do again. 20’s are a cake walk now that that 50 is under the belt.
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4/2/2019 - Chest/Back - 188.9
Warmup
Arm circles, rolling, quick 3, band shoulder series
Low Incline DB Press
10x20, 35x20, 55x18, 65x2x10, 65x9
-with-
Paused Ring Pushups (feet down)
6x11
-with-
Red Band Assisted Chins
2x16, 1x14, 1x13
-alt with-
Bent Band + Weight Laterals
20, 5x20, 10x25, 15x20
Pressdowns
30, 20, 10+15
45 min brisk walk
Insane pump. Will get the 65s across next time. I’m going crazy with the assistance which is obv neg affecting the DB pressing, but I’m cool with that bc im still adding volume every session and at least matching reps. Will prob dial volume back a bit next time and hit the 65s. Weight has been stagnant. I’m def recomping. But I could get tighter on the diet, and will.
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Woke at 188.7 today. I will diet hard over the next several days with a mini refeed Saturday for Sunday squats. I’d like to see 186.XX in the next few days. So I’m skipping any sort of cheat this weekend. Last weekends cheat was way overboard. Head is back on shoulders.
Edit: I have literally zeros pains or aches currently. First time really in years. So I’ll keep doing what I’m doing. Starting to get a bit stagnant with rotating my exercises, so need to get back on that. At least the assistance.
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That’s awesome! (And I’m jealous)
I think changing exercises is overrated for progress, but not to combat boredom.
I’ve been mostly pain free for the last couple months since my knee stopped bothering me, and now my left shoulder just started hurting, so I’m going to say you jinxed me with your ‘zero aches and pains’ talk…
I agree, but my main concern is making sure I stay healthy. When I stick with a movement too long, I’ve noticed I start to develop tendonitis and general overuse issues. I’m doing a lot of rep scheme varying and tempo adjustments to help combat as well.
Sorry!!! I feel your pain. Well, not right now, but you know what I mean. Mend soon.
4/3/2019 - Track - 188.7
Quick 3
2 lap warmup
1x400
4x200
Planned on 4x400 repeats, but middle schoolers infiltrated the track in groves, so had to stick to half the track while they did god knows what.
So, learning moment. As I was hitting these sprints 75-85%, I could tell it was going to take recovering from. That’s not what I want from my conditioning. It felt a little rough on my body too. Just thinking as I write.
I want to do my tearing down in the gym, and the building up everywhere else. I cant tear down in multiple places, that gets me hurt.
So, I’m probably going to stick with brisk walking as my conditioning. Low impact, recovering, conditioning.
Not to mention my heart doesn’t need the practice either.
I is getting smarter as I age.
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So what’s the plan? I love track running but I’m a mess these days. Are you going to adopt a maintenance phase for lifting while working out at the track in the future?
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Thanks for asking. Here’s the plan:
Goal #1: 179.9 lbs by July 19th (most important)
Goal #2: Squat 185x3x20 (no timeline, no hurry)
Goal #3: 20 chins (should be around 13-15 now)
Goal #4: 2 upper and 2 lower workouts per week
Goal #5: 40+ min brisk walk daily.
What I’m doing right now is working. That’s highish reps + giant sets/super sets.
I was about 205-208 when I hit that 185x50 squat set, so I def need to take the weight loss into account. 185x3x20 is going to take some time, and I think it’ll happen later in the year after I’m 179.9 or so and back at maintenance cals or slightly above. So this fall.
I want some big bodyweight sets of chins.
I dont really care about bar weight anymore. I know now I can get more out of technique/tempo than pounds on the bar, BUT I’m still chasing progression loosely through rep maxes and specific set/rep techniques and r/p.
I love varying the techniques more so than the movements. So I’ll settle into certain movements for awhile and hopefully intuitively change or deload before I get hurt.
Right now I’m pretty hot on squats, tbdl, low inc DB press and incline axle. Will stick with them at least until my deload in 2 weeks.
Assistance will continue to change often and be STRICT and high reps. I think this is a big reason I’m staying healthy.
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I’m doing a mix of heavy, medium, and light weights. I’ll do one or two lifts of increasing load and decreasing reps but everything else is 3-4 sets of 10-20 reps. It’s all about that pump! (and muscle failure)
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That’s great man. The higher reps are rehabilitating.
You’ll get better. It’s just going to take awhile. Chronic inflammation takes a long time to calm down, especially when you keep pissing it off like you have.
You’re on the right track.
To be fair, I still have no idea what’s wrong with me. 
I can say without a doubt that my glute medius muscles are stronger than they were five weeks ago. Unfortunately, I feel the same.
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I never thought you had IT band syndrome and I dont think your hip is unrehabable. Your knee is just inflamed. Your shoulder is healing slowly.
It’s amazing what the body can do with time and proper rehab.
Keep the reps high. Dont do movements that create sharp pain. Some dull pain is ok. Use best judgement on pain tolerance.
You likely need to stay away from fast, explosive type movements. They ignite inflammation.
I dont like the sghp for you.
I like DB RDLs to a shallow depth starting out and tempo + pause. Increase ROM over time. That’s a form of rehab right there.
High Handle TBDL maybe off blocks/bumpers. Again, increase ROM over time. More rehab.
Lots of band laterals for shoulder. Rehab!
Rear Lunges and RFESS for knees. High box squats. Lots of BW work here. No weight starting out. Very, very slow progression. More rehab!!
All of this is 10+ reps.
See where I’m going?
You need a lot of rehab reps.
Lots of side plank + abduction.
Roll your glutes. Get to where a lacrosse ball does not hurt on your glute med (this takes awhile!). Just this alone fixed a lot of my hip issues. Start with a foam roller, then graduate to a lacrosse ball.
You got this.
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I think so too but I need to figure out what’s wrong.
This is tricky. Some leg movements cause sharp pain in the knee and hip. It hits the knee first and then the hip hurts a split second later. I don’t feel any sharp pain on RDLs or high pulls but I’ll get a dull ache deeper in my hip after the movement.
I don’t get anything out of RDLs with a shallow ROM. Single leg RDLs are what I’ve been doing in PT, but they cause pain.
Some of these hurt, some don’t, and some only hurt occasionally. I’ve been doing good with RFESS the past few weeks but my knee hurt too bad to do them this week.
I need to buy a dang ball!
I’m conflicted with my shoulder. It’s getting better and I’m able to do more every month, but I still have pain and inflammation. It really hurts after I use it (go figure). I’m also concerned about fraying of the tendon long term. It’s going to move around in that groove even if it doesn’t pop out. If that’s going to be a problem down the road then I’ll still pursue surgery. My appointment is next Tuesday.
Thanks for looking out for me and trying to keep me in check!
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Woke 186.8! New low! Track work is my silver bullet. Always has been. As long as I can recover, I am going to try to get in one day per week.
Lower tonight.
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