Saved cheat day for Halloween. Now I'm bloated and carbed up on butcher shop sandwiches and Americone Dream ice cream. This is the first year in awhile that I didn't do anything but I had just as much fun playing online games with the girlfriend instead.

Now that's a party.

Been raining and my stuff is getting wet. The tarp covering my bars keeps blowing off. Need to figure out better forms of shelter, like storing my bars under the patio in the corner.

Deload

Deadlifts
315 x 5

SSB squats
240 x 5, 5, 5

Deload

Overhead press
95 x 5
120 x 5
145 x 5

Close-grip bench press
160 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Weighted chin-ups
65 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Chin-ups
10

Squats

412 x 3

> Meant to do 415 but accidentally used a 2.5 on one end.

SSB squats
297 x 3 x 10

Deadlifts:
365 x 8
> 245 is too light, need some heavier weight to practice keeping back with.

Forgot to record deadlift day, 475x1. Having a serious problem of not being able to lean back, so I'm practically doing a Romanian deadlift.

Bench press
265 x 5
300 x 3
335 x 2

Dumbbell rows
150 x 8, 8, 8

Overhead press
147 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Weighted chin-ups
65 x 10, 10
Without weight:
20

Behind-the-neck pull-aparts
50

Kurls

Weighed 215.2 today. Have lost 2 and a half pounds in two weeks, which is exactly what I want. Didn't even count my calories or macros,  who knew that was possible.

Overhead press:
180 x 5
202 x 3
227 x 2
> Great progress.

Weighted chin-ups:
65 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Close-grip bench press:
235 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 9

Chin-ups (no floor contact):
20
> I was impressed by this until I remembered how much weight I've lost.

Curls to failure

Skipped my cheat day today, just didn't feel junk food cravings like I usually do.

Fasted walk in the morning. Knees are feeling a little beat up.

Squats:
305 x 3
350 x 3
395 x 3
> Legs felt sore. I was getting a ton of leg drive yesterday with rows, I should configure the set-up.

SSB squats
295 x 3 x 10

Deadlifts:
245 x 25
> Really concentrated on keeping behind the bar and falling back.

Bench press:
245 x 3
280 x 3
315 x 4
• Warm-ups felt heavy and ultimate set felt light. Anytime warming up feels like a ton of bricks I take it as a good sign. Seriously, 280 made me wonder if I'd even get 315 twice.

Bent-over dumbbell rows:
130 x 8, 8
140 x 8, 8, 8
•No floor contact, I want to do more tension-maintaining for my lats.

Overhead press:
145 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Chin-ups:
35

Behind-the-neck band pull-aparts:
50

Kettlebell curls
50 x 5

7 minute cooldown jog

Able to fit in size 34 pants now very comfortably. I like how my picture-taking a decade ago was superior because the prevalence of using point-and-shoot cameras instead of phones allowed for a non-mirror, timer shot. Progress!

Mat pulls (2):
475 x 3, 1
> Filmed my last rep out of suspicion that I'm not getting leg drive like I should. Thankfully nobody reads this to see my goofy faces, haha.

Starting position:


Once I actually start to pull up:


Bar starts to come off the ground:



It appears that I'm not keeping my core and glutes tight enough to power the bar up with leg drive, causing excessive hip ascension before the bar has even moved. Much more importantly, though, I'm not falling back with the weight, instead letting the bar pull me forward. My shoulders start aligned and then move out in front as the bar languishes back.

Just going to accept my losses this cycle and move to the floor next week. Since I've done this for two weeks I still got 8 reps at this height in total.

SSB squats:
310 x 3 x 5
> Last rep paused.

SSB holds:
470 x 15, 20 secs
> This felt really light.

Overhead press:
165 x 3
190 x 3
215 x 3

Weighted chin-ups:
60 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Close-grip bench press:
232 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Chin-ups:
15

Curls for the gurls

Squats:
285 x 5
330 x 5
370 x 6
• I was right to remove the sleeves. Training without them and doing pause squats is changing my course for the better.

SSB squats:
290 x 10, 10, 8

Deadlifts:
245 x 25

Planks:
3 x 25 secs

Ran hills yesterday with a short jog after.

Bench press:
230 x 5
265 x 5
300 x 6
> Last rep was extremely hard-fought.

Overhead press:
142 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Lying dumbbell rows:
150 x 8, 8, 8, 8, 8

Chin-ups:
35

Behind-the-neck band pull-aparts:
50

Kettlebell curls:
Biceps were tired so I'd do one rep every minute or so up to 4 each side.

Weighed 217.8 this morning. 20 lbs lost since July.

Mat pulls (2):
475 x 3, 1
> Disappointing after my strong streak, will try this depth one more time next week before I move to the floor.

First rep felt strong and then my back would suddenly feel weak.

Even coming from a deload, I wonder if doing SSB pause squats beltless, heavy dumbbell rows bent over, and having poor posture is preventing me from recovering. If I twist to the side I still feel a dull soreness on the sides of my back (not obliques but nearer the lumbar) that I've had ever since those 190 lb dumbbell rows two weeks ago.

Or I could just be a weak fuck.

SSB squats:
310 x 5, 5, 5
> Last reps paused.

SSB holds:
470 x 15, 15

Hungry hour-long walk in the afternoon and about 8 minutes of DDP yoga and a little foam rollig tonight. Back is starting to hurt from sitting again, watch out for that.

Overhead press:
157 x 5
180 x 5
202 x 5
> Did my annual trap/neck strain on the middle set, so annoying. Didn't let it affect my work effort, which was easy. Warm-ups felt heavy, heavy sets felt light.

Close-grip bench press:
230 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
> Switched the assistance exercise with bench day in an effort to boost my lagging bench press by pressing horizontally twice a week. Felt WAY heavier without having benched maximally beforehand. First two sets were hard, next two were easy, last started easy but got hard and I had to struggle to lockout the final rep.

Weighted chin-ups:
60 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
> Backpack strap broke off. Tried a gym back, couldn't get both arms through the handles and one broke off again. Found a blue Adidas backpack in the closet and put the broken weight-containing backpack inside. Much more comfy than my old pack. Make sure to minimize picking it up by the arm straps, opt for top handle instead.

Chin-ups (no foot contact):
15

Kettlebell preacher curls:
50 x 4

Making an effort to minimize extra volume while cutting. I think I'm finding that high rep light stuff isn't helping if I'm not eating to grow.

Deload

Squats:170 x 5
215 x 5
255 x 5

SSB squats:
210 x 3 x 8

Trained in 95 degree heat outdoors yesterday and today, not too bad though.

Deload

Bench press:
140 x 5
180 x 5
220 x 5

Close-grip bench press:
157 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Bent-over dumbbell rows:
100 x 10, 10, 10, 8, 8

Chin-ups:
10

Went hiking with George at Russian Ridge after, an old favorite.

Mat pulls ( 3 ):
475 x 7
• Belt was way loose, barely felt like it did anything. Makes me a little excited about this. I'll tighten it for next week and aim for 8 again, though I'll be happy pulling 7 off the floor ultimately.

SSB pause squats (deload):
220 x 3 x 5

Not too sure about the merit of heavy pulls mixed with my deload week but I don't want to interrupt the cycle and it doesn't seem to be harming recovery.

Fasted walk in the morning with whey dissolving in my mouth. Not going to try to push weight loss too hard on deload weeks, so just walks and no hill sprints.