Knee hurt doing squats today. Got up to the minimum I needed, 385x5, and shut it down after the last rep, which was the worst. No serious injury, just some pain I think from being really relaxed and implementing lazy form.

Push press
225 x 2 (failed third)
225 x 5
245 x 1
Tested the waters on bench pressing first. Shoulder is much better but I stopped at 135 because of slight pain. As for the overhead pressing, balance was a significant issue, either from being out of practice or training in thick wool socks and running shoes due to the cold.

Incline dumbbell press
50s x 22, 17, 17, 16

Chin-ups
20, 20
45 x 12, 12
90 x 8

Dumbbell skullcrushers
50s x 8, 8, 7, 6

Alternating dumbbell curls
50s x 18
Bilateral
50s x 10, 8, 8

Band pull-aparts

Mat pulls (4)
515 x 7
Took two rest pauses to grind out reps 6 and 7. Back hasn't been feeling great lately so this was a win.

SSB squats
150 x 30, 25, 25

Didn't do anything for Thanksgiving this year again except work and training but my coworker brought me a plate of food, which was awesome of her.

Strict press
165 x 5
190 x 5
217.5 x 4

175 x 9, 8, 8, 8

Lying dumbbell rows
115s x 10, 12
125s x 10, 10, 10

Dumbbell press and curls

Deload

SSB squats
175 x 5
220 x 5
265 x 5

220 x 3 x 10

Deload

Incline bench press
185 x 8, 10, 8
135 x 17, 17, 17
Some shoulder pain, but I think I can keep this up and get better. Looks like I'm going to have to be patient and not rush into benching heavy.

Pull-ups
20, 20
45 x 10, 10
90 x 8

Curls
50s x 12

Deload

Mat pulls (7)
500 x 3
During the work-up sets I completely forgot to use chalk and double overhanded 405x5 pretty easily.

SSB squats
150 x 24, 17, 13

Shoulder is feeling better. Hoping I can bench heavy after this week but if not it's cool.

Deload

Strict press
105 x 5
130 x 5
155 x 5

125 x 10, 10, 10, 10

Lying dumbbell rows
100s x 10, 10
115s x 10, 10, 10

Incline dumbbell press
50s x 16

Curls

Been sleeping so much this past week, 9-10 hours a night. Not sure why I've felt so tired at night but I fall dead asleep as soon as I'm in bed and that's nice.

SSB squats
330 x 5
370 x 3
415 x 5

310 x 12

Really satisfied with where I'm at here: the same point with a straight bar before my knee started hurting. On that note, it felt a little tender here but held out fine. I do think I should get another pair of knee sleeves for some preventative aid. My SBDs are just too tight and seem to hurt my innate power at the bottom of the squat by giving rebound. Rehbands may work better since they're a bent shape.

Above was what I finished before work (got called in on my day off by an ill coworker, whom I was happy to help out).

Night workout at 9:30pm:

SSB squats
310 x 10, 10, 8

Neck crunches
2 sets forward with band, 2 sets backward with 45 lb plate hanging from me

Band leg curls

Ran three hill sprints yesterday, followed by a jog.

Today I attempted to floor press off of 9 mats so I could get some heavy pressing in. No way. Trying to break 135 from a dead stop was impossible with my shoulder. Did what I could the rest of the session. If my upper body can't get stronger, I'll at least make it bigger.

Incline bench
185 x 5, 10, 10
135 x 15, 12, 15

Chin-ups
10, 10
45 x 10, 10
90 x 8, 8

Dumbbell skullcrushers
50s x 7

Kettlebell skullcrushers
50 x 13, 10

Keg curls
160 x 15

Band tricep pressdowns
15

Band curls
18

Bilateral dumbbell pause curls
50s x 10, 10

Mat pulls (5)
515 x 8
Excellent after last week. This scheme of going back up a mat after a failure session has been so great. I got one rep over last time at 5 mats, too.

SSB squats
150 x 30, 25, 25

Band leg curls

Ab wheel, reverse crunches

Eating a little bit more calories and being more lenient with carbs, but diet is still "clean" for all intents and purposes. Just holding my weight for now until I can press really heavy again. Gaining a pound or two would be fine as well. For me, the rule is drop either body weight or bar weight to stay strong, never both at once.

Strict press
190 x 5
215 x 2, 0
240 x 0
Shoulder held me back, couldn't fire as hard as I wanted and I had no control on the eccentric so the bar would plop back on my chest and I'd lose some tightness.

175 x 8, 8, 8

Dumbbell rows
125s x 5 x 8-10 reps

Isolation stuff

I'm going to be more serious about healing up my shoulder after the last humbling bench workout. Today I used the SSB so I wouldn't have to strain it on straight bar squats.

Oh yeah, it was also raining and soaked outside. I stared out the window and thought for a second about how I don't want to squat in puddles. Then I laughed at my flirtation with weakness.

SSB squats
310 x 3
350 x 3
395 x 7

310 x 10, 8, 8

Pretty good, not a big decrease from straight bar despite my back definitely working much harder.

Bench press
260 x 3
300 x 2

Shoulder hurt so I shut this down. At least I got somewhat heavy first. Rest of the workout as fun bodybuilding stuff using my dumbells. So glad I got the 50s recently.

I must be the only dork ever to bring a case of protein powder to a wedding. Okay, just the bride's house the night before, anyway.

Mat pulls (4)
515 x 3
Just a weak day. Will go back to 5 next week.

SSB squats
150 x 25, 25

Spent 3 hours shopping after work for wedding attire and gifts, glad that's over with. My dad is awesome and had In N Out waiting for me at home.

Fasted walk for an hour before work, which was negated by two large slices from Pizza My Heart later while hanging out at George's. We watched some terribad movies and I needed the energy. Politely rejected alcohol as per my weight plan, plus I don't drink more than once a week and Halloween was pretty crazy.

I will start to get stricter with my diet. My carb and caloric intake has been lower so now it's time to polish up the rough edges.

I'm invited to a wedding on Sunday. Never been to one but I assume there will be a squat rack. In all seriousness, it should be fun and will be awesome to support my friend. I'm driving over tomorrow but will make sure to get a bench press workout in beforehand.

Strict press
180 x 3
205 x 3
230 x 3

177.5 x 8, 8, 8

Lying dumbbell rows
115s x 10
125s x 10, 10, 10, 10

Dumbbell press
50s x 20, 18, 15
Stopped before my shoulder began to hurt.

Curls and rear delts

Squats
285 x 5
330 x 5
375 x 11

315 x 10, 10, 8

Leg curls

Neck crunches

Ab wheel and reverse crunches

Ah, so begins the wet season. It's still California though so the sun came out after last night's rainfall and it wasn't too bad by the time I got to lifting, just muddy and dirty.

Tightened up my belt with my slimming belly. Goal is 200, though I'm in no rush for it, and exceptions are always made when I get sick and have to eat a lot to make up for inactivity.

By the way, registration for my powerlifting meet came and went. I noticed that they don't offer Paypal as a way to pay so I emailed the organizer asking if I could do that and scan my registration to get in on time, but no response. My fault for not doing it much earlier. I have a stupid habit of signing up for meets in the final week in case I get injured beforehand during training. From now on I'm going to commit well in advance, as this is the second competition I've dropped the ball on now.