Came home to these:

Unfortunately I don't have enough screw collars so I couldn't use them, but I'll pick some up.

Mat pulls (2)
495 x 8 (PR)
Excellent. Knee hurt a little.

SSB squats
290 x 3
Knee hurt, shut this down.

200 x 1:15
Goal here is to rep 200 lbs for progressively longer and longer periods of time. This is counting walking to and from the bar, unracking, etc., as well as rest pauses. Gonna have to get creative and train my legs like a bodybuilder instead of squatting heavy for low reps.

Band leg curls
50

SSB squats
Bar x 30, no lockout

Night workout

Decline push-ups
40, 30, 25, 20

Band curls
20, 20, 20, 20

Rear-delts + tricep push-downs

Session today was an hour in order to make it to work, which is crazy short for me.

Strict press
167 x 5
195 x 5
217 x 4
Stuck on this. Really had to grit it out for the 4th. Until I can really overload with the push-pressing and keg work again (wrists are feeling better, by the way), my tactic will be some more tricep and deltoid isolation, based on past success.

175 x 8, 8, 8, 9

Weighted pull-ups
90 x 8, 8, 8, 9, 10

Will do a few more things tonight. Check out my pull-up set-up.

Deload
Squats
195 x 5
245 x 5
295 x 5

225 x 3 x 10

Band leg curls

Some knee pain. Getting a little better.

Deload

Bench press
150 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5

Band rows
12, 12, 12, 12, 12

Strict press
125 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Deload

Mat pulls (5)
495 x 3

SSB box squats
240 x 3 x 5

Think I figured out the source of my knee pain and it's pretty sad. From hearing how it's good for your back I used to sleep on my side with a pillow between my legs and I traded that for a specialty cushion a couple months back. This thing is much taller and shorter than the length of a pillow so it supported my upper legs quite high and the rest of my gams would drop off, which caused pain (imagine bending your leg sideways, basically). I tossed it and started sleeping with nothing but I notice I still wake up with pain on whichever knee is on top of the other, so I guess I need to go back to a pillow. I tried this last night and noticed a significant difference waking up. The fact that the pain would be sharpest in the morning clued me in.

Since I've almost never had knee pain caused from heavy squatting I'm becoming convinced the way forward is to actually replace sleep with squats.

Ordered a couple of Ball Sacs, the Black Widow version of EliteFTS' grenade balls. They should be easier on my wrists for curls and skullcrushers, something I've been having problems with. Already have a band to use with one of them, gonna order a couple more monster minis to use them bilaterally.

Also just ordered a pair of farmers' handles. Price was too good.

Deload

Strict press
100 x 5
125 x 5
150 x 5

Chin-ups
15
45 x 10, 10, 10, 10

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

Curls
50 x 30

Crestfallen. Arranged to pick up a cornucopia of strongman equipment from a Craigslist seller. We're talking a yoke, farmers' handles, log, axle, Husafell stone, and 3 Atlas stones for $500. Agreed on a time and when I texted that day to confirm and ask for his address I got no response and saw he had edited his ad to remove all of that, with only some plates and barbells left for sale.

I just don't understand. I followed the ancient manuscript correctly. I accounted for the alignment of the planets as directed. I sacrificed the correct animals. By all signs I AM the chosen one as foretold by legend, yet for some reason I lost out on this sale and was IGNORED like some mere commoner! How could this happen????

Obviously this was not in the plan for me after all. It's clear I'm instead meant to spend the money to buy 500 lottery tickets and with newfound fortune get more and better equipment. That is the ONLY explanation. Once that's all procured my enemies will truly be crushed and blown into the wind at my next competition. And THEN I will FINALLY be popular with girls.

Squats
340 x 3
390 x 3
Knee pain again. Pushed through to get that third and it got worse. There wasn't any sudden, injurious pain, just a gradual crescendo of ache that felt dangerous to push any further. This is only on my right knee. Just to be clear, I do a pretty extensive warm-up and build-up to this weight, I just only record the 5/3/1 work-sets.

Drop-set
325 x 10
245 x 10   
155 x 12
50 lb kettlebell x 12

Bench press
275 x 3
315 x 3
362 x 1
Much easier than 360 last time.

Band rows
20, 20, 20, 20
One-hand : 12

Strict press
175 x 9, 10, 10, 10
Final rep was a real grinder. Concerned about it falling behind my head with extreme deltoid fatigue.

Decline push-ups
25

Barbell curls
155 x 10
135 x 15
Kettlebell curls 50 x 20

Forgot to record an upper-body finisher workout at night last session. Just some skullcrushers and curls.

Mat pulls (3)
495 x 8

SSB box squats
330 x 5, 5, 5
Knee hurt on first set, little less so subsequently. This was surprisingly challenging, mostly coming "unstuck" off the box.

Neck crunches
45 x 6
Using a Spud neck harness, way harder than holding a plate on my head.

Goblet squats
50 x 30

Strict press
192 x 5
215 x 3
242 x 0, 1
Literally a 7-second rep. Glad I got it. Really wish I could do some push-pressing. Maybe a log is in order finally. Since it sits so fully on your chest compared to an axle or barbell it might be easier on the wrists.

Weighted chin-ups
90 x 12, 10, 10, 10

Chins
30

Close-grip bench press
250 x 10, 10, 10, 8

Got the heavy stuff done and left for work. Gonna do some isolation work at night, while trying to fit UFC 188 in there somehow.

Squats
340 x 3
390 x 2
Stopped here. Knee hurt even with sleeves and both reps were a grind. Felt like I couldn't blast up through my knee like I wanted.

Dropset
325 x 8
225 x 10
135 x 10
45 x 10

Bench press
245 x 5
277 x 5
317 x 4
Much better than last week's hard-fought 3. All strong reps here. No net gain this cycle but I'll take the comeback. Wrists still hurt like a bitch, though.

Band rows
20, 20, 20, 20, 20

Strict press
175 x 10, 10, 9, 8

Decline push-ups
23

Keg curls
160 x 20, 20

Mat pulls (3)
495 x 4
Ah shit, this was supposed to be a reset. Will try again next week after bringing in rep deadlifts again. Back has been feeling kinda bad from work, need to take more breaks and do yoga. Heavy pulling actually works out all the kinks and makes me feel better.

SSB squats
350 x 1

Goblet squats
50 x 1

Knee was bothering me again, couldn't really do anything without pain. Going to wear my sleeves again and do box and goblet squats on pull day.

Night training was a bust. Managed 2 clean and press reps with 212 and 1 keg rep before I called it quits. Wrists and forearms were throbbing with pain. I'm going to have to give these a rest for a while. I might be able to still do plain ol' axle cleans as long as I do well catching it on my chest; the pain seemed to come in when push pressing. I noticed it was worse with the keg, though that might have been because I started it out already hurting.

Finished up with some curls and rear-delts.

Strict press
167 x 5
192 x 5
217 x 4
Maintaining this, oh well. Haven't been doing clean and press lately because of wrist and forearm pain, but I imagine this will get a boost from the extra overhead work soon. Also, belt was feeling a little loose, which is unprecedented at where it's adjusted to, but my stomach wasn't as full as it usually is.

Weighted chin-ups
90 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 9

Close-grip bench press
250 x 10, 10, 10, 9

Gonna do strongman stuff and curls later.

Squats
320 x 5
365 x 5
417 x 5
In contrast to yesterday I filled up on food and coffee today after work and the difference was dramatic. Came home a little tired and stepped into my training space like I had a hive of angry bees for blood.

SSB squats
317 x 8, 8
Drop set of 317, 240, 150, 50 x 8

Right knee hurt a little bit, didn't care. Will take glucosamine and yell at it later.

Bench press
245 x 5
277 x 5
317 x 3

Band rows
20, 20, 20 ,20, 20, 20

Strict press
175 x 7, 8, 8, 7
85 x 23

Keg curls
160 x 15

Weak day. Trained hungry after work.