Did yoga yesterday.
Sun 12/23-
Squat-
135/185/225/255lbx3
I don’t know how I managed to squat in these shitty racks a long time ago. Not used to walking the weight out so far + clipped the rack during the descent on the 225lb and so struggled a bit. Not worth going up to the heavy set today.
On the plus side, knee felt a little better. I think I can keep doing this and it’ll heal up in a month or so.
RDL- 95lb, 5x10
Push-up-5x16
BB row-95lb, 5x10
Hanging leg raise- 3x6, decline sit-up-2x10
Mon 12/24-
OHP-
75/95/115lbx3, 135lbx1
105lbx8
Ya… I think cleaning the bar gets me in a better mental position to be pressing the 135lb, cause this felt freaking heavy. Lifting early in the morning could also be a factor.
RFESS-5x12
Chin-up-5x5
DB OHP- 25lb, 5x18
Kneeling ab-wheel roll-out-5x10
This sucked. My conditioning is so bad.
Weds 12/26-
Squat (SS pull-upx3)
135/165/195/225/255/275lbx3
245lbx5
Knee feels better. Itchy during the ramp sets but nothing that I would define as pain.
Paused the last rep of 245lb but not long enough; barely a second at most. Wasn’t sure that I could get it honestly, so I went at it half-assed. Will repeat this next time and do a proper count in my head. Would like to pause to 3 seconds.
RDL- 95lb, 5x12
Push-up, 5x12
BB row- 95lb, 5x12
Hanging leg raise- 4x6, hanging knee raise-1x6
Wasn’t that hard overall but the leg raises sucked- my shoulders keep dying.
Try another core exercise, dragon flags or ab wheel.
push ups and BB row could be the culprit of the tired shoulder.
I do ab-wheels on my other day. I basically alternate between hanging leg raise and ab-wheels for core work.
It’s specifically my left shoulder that dies, and I believe that occurs because of muscle imbalances that leave that side weaker than the other.
Thurs 12/27-
OHP-
65/75/85/95/105lbx3, 115lbx5, 105lbx6
“Paused” the last set of 105lb.
RFESS-1x12, 10lb+1x10, 3x12
Chin-up-5x6
BTN press-55lb, 5x11
Kneeling ab-wheel roll-out-5x10
Trying to find out a way to make sure my hips are balanced correctly during the RFESS. Tried the second set with 10lb DBs to see if it helped with the balance issue- it didn’t.
The ab-wheel felt pretty easy for set one-four, I think that’s because I reset the BTN press reps.
Fri 12/28-
Deadlift-
225/275/315lbx3, 365/405/445lbx1, 405lb, 2x1
Ha… 445lb probably the smoothest and most difficult rep I’ve done past 405lb. Didn’t feel any sticking point or stalled anywhere but it was a battle. Even my chest felt sore after I finished that rep, which feels like a first.
Wanted to do 8-10x1 with 405lb after this but that wasn’t going to happen. Each set of 405lb felt more and more difficult, so I stopped and moved onto squat as plan B.
Squat-
135/165/195/225lbx3 (SS pull-upx3)
245lb, 5x1 (3 second pause, racked between each set and took a 10 second break, so rest-pause style?)
245lb felt easier and form felt like it improved with each rep, so I think I did it right.
Best part is that I felt zero knee sensation during this while getting a fairly solid squat session in. Very pleased, I think I’ll keep doing this format for now- deadlift to a fairly heavy max and then do squats for a tiny bit of volume until my knee is 100%.
Reverse hyperextension-5x12
Push-up-5x13
BB row- 95lb, 5x13
Hanging leg raise to parallel-5x6
Got through this pretty well. Trying out reverse hypers instead of RDL because I get the feeling that RDL is just reinforcing possibly bad hinge form whereas reverse hypers are new. Felt this mostly in the hamstrings, so I’ll probably need to focus on contracting the glutes more. We’ll see how this goes.
Had a hard time even trying to straighten out my upper back during the BB row. My guess is the deadlift.
Sat 12/29
OHP-
75/85/95/105lbx3, 115lbx6, 105lbx7
“Paused” the last set of 105lb.
RFESS-5x12
NG Chin-up-5x5
BTN press-55lb, 5x13
Lying leg raise-5x10
Forgot my ab-wheel and I really didn’t want to do hand walk-outs.
Trap bar carry - 50lb, 10 total laps
I wanted to do a loaded carry as a finisher focusing on posture for a while but couldn’t because the assistance stuff kept kicking my ass. Now that the assistance stuff is no longer tiring me out, I can start adding these in. The goal is to go light and focus on posture. No idea how much a trap bar weighs so I’m typing out the weight added to the bar.
Yoga yesterday
Mon 12/31-
Deadlift-
225/275/315/345lbx3
Squat-
135/165/195/225lbx3, 245lbx5
three second pause on the last rep of 245lb. Solid, though I grunted rather loudly. No knee pain, but knee felt weird yesterday. Likely from the RFESS, so maybe I shouldn’t do those either?
Reverse hyperextension-5x13
Push-up-5x13
BB row- 95lb, 5x15
Hanging leg raise to parallel-5x7
Trap bar carry- 90/140/180/230/270lb, half a lap each.
Wanted to test max. Grip became a major issue on 270lb and I had to stop halfway because my grip pretty much gave up, so that’s likely max.
Nice DL.
3 second paused SQ with 10 sec rest sounds a bit brutal.
Take care my friend, but it seems like it’s doing well.
Did RFESS today and my knee felt ok, so I think it’s healing up well.
Tues 1/1-
OHP-
65/75/85/95/105/115/125/135lbx3, 105lbx8
RFESS-5x14
Chin-up-5x7
BTN press-55lb, 5x15
Kneeling ab-wheel roll-out-5x10
This got exhausting because of the RFESS. It blows my HR up for some reason.
Yoga yesterday
Thurs 1/3-
Deadlift-
225/275/315/345/375lbx1, 405lb, 2x2, 1x1
Easy first rep, second rep grindy and left hip didn’t feel good for both sets.
Squat (SS pull-up 3/4/3/4/3)
135/165/195/225lbx3, 255lbx6
Legs started fatiguing on the 255lb.
No knee pain. Yay.
Reverse hyperextension-5x12
Push-up-5x14
BB row- 95lb, 5x12
Hanging leg raise to parallel- 5x8
45lb plate carry - 6 laps
It amazes me how bad I am at carrying things. Really goes to show that the act of lifting weight onto itself doesn’t do shit for real-life uses.
Fri 1/4-
OHP-
65/75/85/95/105/115/125/135lbx3, 115lbx6
Right knee got itchy doing this again. Must be something about balancing with the OHP.
RFESS-5x14
Chin-up-4x7, 1x6
BTN press- 55lb, 5x17
Kneeling ab-wheel roll-out-5x10
Much better as far as HR is concerned and the RFESS feels more stable.
I think going up to 7 on the chin-up is a bad idea right now- I can do the reps but I can’t maintain the desired form. Will have to drop down; maybe I should start throwing some weights on.
Trap bar carry- 50lb, 10 total laps.
Sat 1/5-
Waiter’s walk- 15lb KB, uh, a bunch of laps. Wasn’t sure how I wanted to count the laps so I lost track at one point. ~12-13 laps per hand in the end.
Used a KB held upside down to add a balance element.
Suitcase walk- 25kb KB, 10 laps each hand.
The laps here are different since I’m doing this at the apartment gym. Not too concerned about distance as long I feel it in the expected areas. Going pretty light on the suitcase walks so that I can maintain posture
Mile jog-
.12x8 at 6.0 speed.
Knee feels better with jogging. The assistance circuit is doing its job- this felt effortless as far as conditioning is concerned. But ankles are de-conditioned again.
Mon 1/7-
Deadlift-
225/255lbx3, 275/315/345/375/405lbx1
No good today. Grip wasn’t there.
Squat (SS pull-up x4)
135/165/195/225lbx3, 255lbx1 (3 second pause)
No good with this too. Probably wasn’t that bad but it felt like it took a while for me to get back up.
Reverse hyperextension-5x14
Push-up-5x15
BB row, 95lb- 5x13
Hanging leg raise to parallel- 5x9
Tues 1/8-
OHP-
65/75/85/95/115/125/135lbx3, 115lbx8
Power clean-
65/75/85/95/115/125/135/145/155/165lbx1
The 135lb OHP felt a bit rough. In spite of technically getting enough sleep, I think I’m going to bed way too late. Need to go to bed earlier.
Back to power cleaning the bar. I don’t think I’ll be doing a full clean yet, but my knee feels perfectly fine now so I don’t need to avoid the front squat.
RFESS- 10lb, 5x10
Chin-up-5x5
BTN press-65lb, 5x10
Kneeling ab-wheel roll-out-5x10
Christ this got hard. The RFESS is much better now though; I don’t have an issue with balancing, which I had when I last attempted to use 10lb DBs.
And I am so pleased that chin-ups are now the easiest part of this circuit. My pulling strength is finally getting out of stupid weak level.
Yoga yesterday
Thurs 1/10-
Squat (SS pull-upx2)
135/165/195/225/255lbx3, 285lbx1, 255lbx7
285lb felt good; no knee instability or pain so that’s great. 255lb felt harder than it should have imo, but given that last session didn’t go well at all I’m ok with this.
Reverse hyperextension-5x14
Push-up-5x15
BB row, 95lb- 5x14
Hanging leg raise to parallel- 4x10
Hanging leg raise-1x5
Did the hanging leg raise at the fourth set and found it very difficult.
45lb plate carry- 10 total laps
Did the last 2 laps with a bear hug and it felt much easier.
I need to focus on maintaining neutral head during everything I do. I tend to crane my head up too much.
Fri 1/11-
Power clean-
65/75/85lbx1, 95/105/115/125/135/145/155/165/175lbx2
Pulling way too high. I should start doing cleans again. Did a couple with the bar and it felt perfectly fine.
OHP-
65/75/85lbx3, 95/105/115/125/135lbx1
Push-jerk-
145/155/165/175lbx1
The push-jerks felt very unstable at the top- something to do with my left hip’s mess. Managed to hold the bar but I’m worried that I’m going to either run into someone or drop it on someone by accident; really need to make sure that no one is around me when I do this.
DB bench-
40/50/60/70/80lbx3, 60lbx10
Not difficult. Pleased that horizontal pushing strength hasn’t dropped in spite of doing nothing but push-ups for the last couple of weeks.
RFESS-10lb, 5x10
Chin-up-5x5
BTN press-65lb, 5x10
Kneeling ab-wheel roll-out-5x10
MUCH easier than last time.
Suitcase walk- 30lb KB, 5 laps each hand
Sat 1/12-
Suitcase walk- 30lb KB, 10 laps each hand
Press walk- 10lb DB, 10 laps
Mile jog-
.12x8 at 6.4 speed.
Yoga yesterday. I am really enjoying yoga now, even though it is hell on my shoulders and upper back.
Mon 1/14-
Squat (SS pull-upx3)
135/165/195/225/255/285lbx3, 255lbx7
Good reps on 285lb; felt strong. 255lb suffered a bit because of the 285lb.
Knee feels perfect. Completely recovered. Yay.
Bodyweight leg extension- 1x10
Reverse hyperextension-4x15
Push-up-5x15
BB row, 95lb-5x14
Hanging leg raise to parallel-5x10
I like finding new and interesting bodyweight movements because I believe that moving your body through a wide range of motion is important to your health. So I tried a movement that Paul Carter described in one of his articles. Felt ok but my tightness and imbalance in the hip makes this feel very off and difficult to do in a format like this. I need to practice this at home though, cause I think it’s an awesome stretch.
Need to focus on adjusting my hips so that they’re even on the reverse hyperextension- I see that my right leg goes higher if I don’t.
The BB row is pissing me off- not at all difficult but I am not getting the form I desire. Going to change the movement to something that targets the back better.
Medicine ball carry-30lb, 10 total laps
Wanted to do trap bar carries but someone took the trap bar while I rested after the circuit.
Couldn’t find anything heavier even though I know there’s a 50lb medicine ball at the gym. Too easy.
Yoga yesterday.
Weds 1/16-
OHP-
65/85/95/115/125/135lbx3,115lbx6
Power clean-
65/85/95/115/125/135/145/155/165lbx2, 175lbx1
Did the last set of OHP with a short pause at top and bottom.
RFESS- 10lb, 1x12, 4x10
Chin-up- 1x6, 1x5
NG DB OHP-35lb, 1x12, 4x10
Kneeling ab-wheel roll-out-5x10
Christ this got hard x2. Normally I don’t feel muscle fatigue from this besides body-parts that aren’t used to the movements, but everything just felt dead today. Did not eat much so far today. Had lunch with the senior manager at work so it ended up being some random tiny bowl of stuff at the work cafe. Clearly not enough food.
Or, at least I hope that’s what it was. Cause otherwise I’d be disappointed if just adding some more reps breaks me this hard.