Mat pulls (5)
550 x 8 (2 rest pauses)
Honestly was hoping for more than 6 non-rested reps just for the sake of surpassing my old numbers but this isn't bad either (and I was heavier then). Same deal as last week, the weight felt light and then my back just tired out and felt pumped. Took my shirt off due to the heat and belt was loose. Also worth noting that I've been remarkably consistent in my performance since reinventing how I think about leg drive, haven't had a missed rep in awhile.

Belt squats
5 plates, 8, 9 x 10 reps

Banded leg extensions
Put these in as a break from heavy lunges. Left hip is a little achy lately.

Very busy work day, including an in-person meeting with a contractor from a water company - luckily it was 5 min away from home. I literally finished up this workout and then was meeting the guy 15 minutes later, my eyes may have been a bit bloodshot. 

 Did 3 easy rounds on the heavy bag yesterday.

Today was a fasted workout again comprised of biking, 36 burpees, shadowkickboxing, some jumping-jacks, and finishing off on the bike. Total time was 25 minutes. Taking an extra day off from the weights to allow my back to recover before pull day after log pressing and then helping with the move.

Came back after work last night and did some log pressing. The pain in my arm is getting better. Dropping the weight and using a hard hip thrust to roll the log up is making a difference over time. My arms still feel beat up the day after log pressing but that feels like normal wear and tear, whereas this infliction actually felt deleterious and a sign to check my form. I'm now a stronger log presser for it; truly, the gift of injury.

Going to help a friend move today. Just did a fasted morning workout for 20 minutes. 5 minutes on the bike, 35 burpees, shadow kickboxing, and finishing off with 6 hard minutes on the bike at a higher resistance level.

Repeated the mat pressing, pretty much the same deal as last Saturday. Worked up to 315x3, 315x4, and 315x4. Afterwards, I benched 275x5 and immediately dropped down to 225x5. Those bench sets were really all I could do honestly, I'm stunned at how much of a triceps killer the partial presses have been. I could experiment with doing ROM progression this way and then gauge how my bench press is affected by that. All sets were super-setted with T-bar rows.

Did three rounds on the bag yesterday, went pretty easy on it too besides some flashes of explosiveness here and there.

SSB squats
Up to 400 x 7, 8, 8
*Was planning on doing 410 when I saw I only did 400x3x5 last time, not sets of 8 like I thought. And shit this was tough. The last rep of the last set was the closest my back has come to just outright collapsing but still getting it up (I failed once or twice in a power rack with safety bars in the Portland gym years back). I basically had to good morning it partially up. No injury or anything, guess all those mat pulls have done me good. I say that and then I'll probably injure my back warming up with 225 or something soon, that's usually how it goes.

I should explain that because I don't deload on a strict schedule anymore I'm breaking up my 3-week mesocycles with some squat variations. I think maxing out close to 550 every three weeks is just a bad idea, especially on a calorie deficit. I was grappling with this because the golden rule is to not mess with a successful formula but then I remembered I've already been doing this anyway, either with the SSB bar or sets of 8 with a straight bar.

Finished off with a bunch of band leg curls.

 Today was a planned rest day, but it ended up being needed due to how crazy busy I was between working from home, chores, and having to go to the DMV. I think I'm going to hit the bag when I get home from the office though, as well as stretches.

Since I'm making this post out of free time in the office more than anything here's a random post-workout meal shot from the other day. Leftover lengua taco and two homemade salmon bagels. I think I ate more once I arrived at work and only left it at this because of time.

 Worked up to log pressing 205 x 3 and then 2 yesterday. Felt bad pain in my arm, which made me stop, then try again and ignore it, and by the end of the session? It actually felt BETTER. Weird stuff that was messing with my head. Next time I'm aiming to do 6 strong reps, no hesitation in mind. Watching a Kalle tutorial on log pressing from last year that I hadn't seen before helped me, too. Pull the weight back with the scapula, like in a bench press almost, and think about pressing overhead and back too. My log's a big one so it wants to stray out in front of me.

With these cues, the weight felt like air. I'm really antsy to give it another go already but I'm keeping disciplined for my arm.

Another crucial cue is to hump the weight up, don't just pull it with the arms. Pretending I have a belly helps. Had to get rid of my lever belt for doing this so I'm going to order a Cerberus back-support belt from Kalle's site for log pressing and stones.

Mat pulled 550x9 off 6 mats yesterday. The weight felt really light and then my back just suddenly gave out on rep 7. Unwrapped and then suddenly realized I must have more in me so I immediately got back down and lifted for a fairly easy single, got on my knees to rest, and then got another single that wasn't too hard. So the rest pauses are back. Looking back 2 years ago I was doing 7 reps rest pauses included so I am definitely stronger now.

Did fasted cardio in the morning yesterday. Working from home but thankfully didn't get interrupted in the 20 minutes I did it in. Started with the exercise bike, then shadow kickboxing, then 30 burpees, and then the bike again.

Good thing, because breakfast before a hike with George was McDonald's. We spontaneously stopped at a cheese farm on the way to the spot and I got some high quality salted chocolate that I indulged in, along with pasture eggs and local brie cheese. Hike was mostly flat, unfortunately, so it wasn't much of a workout, but it was a gorgeous trek.

Had basically a rest-day yesterday, something I rarely do. Did stretches and some light shadow kickboxing.

Today I spontaneously got the idea to do partials for the bench press. Haven't messed with bench press ROM in over a decade when I used to board press, pin press, and floor press during the wannabe Westside phase. Kept the kegs from squat day and removed all but 2 mats on each. Took some experimenting to get things feeling right (esp not letting the plates bounce), worked-up to a set of 295x5 and then 2 sets of 315x4. Not pushing failure, just stopping before it felt like I might have to really fight for reps. I'll up the ante in follow-up sessions. Didn't really feel easier than benching honestly, feels like the triceps are doing way more work and that I'm pressing from more of a dead-stop each rep. I used to feel that way about floor pressing, which these felt like, while board and pin pressing were unmistakably easier than full benching.

I just realized writing that distinction out that with board and especially pin presses I felt much more comfortable letting the weight unload and then slamming it back up, while floor pressing and now keg pressing I'm keeping my triceps engaged and not letting myself lose control of the bar. In this case, it's because the plates had a tendency to roll on the mats. 

After the last set of 315 I immediately went down to 225 and did 8 pause reps. Log pressed 175x8 after, felt pain in my left arm but it's whatever at this point, as long as it's not getting worse. Every press was super-set with T-bar rows, up to 5 plates x 10.

Finished with chest flyes and then a bastardized set of Poundstone curls. Used elbow sleeves for added difficulty and straps that the bar hung down from so they were hammer curls (for the sake of my painful arm bone). Got up to 30, though maybe for the sake of numbers I'll be more liberal with form and really strive to work up to 100.

Got some low-key celebrations with friends going later for Persian New Year, expecting to eat big and show them how we do it.

 Squatted 540 the other day, which is a PR. It wasn't easy but it was pretty smooth. Set-up my kegs as safety apparatuses.

Been doing jogs and shadowboxing sessions everyday, went out last night in the rain and boxed after a jog.

Also posting this tricep exercise here, I like that it's so simple.

https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-master-the-bodyweight-skull-crusher?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+t-nation-articles+%28T+Nation+Articles%29

Came back a couple of hours later after lunch and doing some work-from-home.

Axle press
160 x 3 x 8
-
Super-set with wide-grip pull-ups x 45lbs x 8-9

Band-resisted dumbbell press
50s x 12
This set-up has been a real bitch for such light weight. Getting the bells in position is shockingly hard. Figured out today to stand up with them and keep them on my lap as I sit down.

Iron Woody band chest press

Curls

Axle pressed up to 220x1 but couldn't get up 230 via two attempts. Proud of that 220 effort though, just lazily walked up with no belt, skate shoes on, and glasses. Went up slow as snails but had in my mind not to quit.

I keep getting hungry really quickly during my workouts. I don't mind the discomfort, just conscious of catabolism while losing weight. My breakfasts are much smaller than last year but I don't think the time between eating and training reflects that. Stopped it here to go eat lunch.

Also read on Emevas' log about reducing high fat meals before bed due to stomach problems, I'm going through the same thing. Been having salami with my protein shake before bed just for satiety, sometimes with other high fat foods like olives, and my stomach kills me when I wake up.

Did some light log pressing and bicep curls Friday night along with training a friend in the bench press.

Yesterday came home from work and hit the heavy bag for three rounds before going on a 20-minute jog.

Today:

Mat pulls (8)
550 x 9

Belt squats
6 plates x 10
8 plates x 10
9 plates x 10

SSB lunges
150 x 16
200 x 14
-
Super-set with banded leg curls

Ab wheel rollouts, reverse crunches

Bench press
Up to 350 x 1
370 x 0
275 x 7, 6 (last set drop-down to 225x5)
225 x 10
* Well shit, 350 felt pretty easy so that sucked to get pinned under 370. Fighting with the weight made my problem arm hurt too (nothing serious). This is my exact performance at my powerlifting meet where I hit 350 (although that came up much slower) and failed 370, but I was 20 lbs heavier then so there's that.
-
Super-set with dumbbell rows
100, 125, 125 x 10

Banded chest flyes

 Arm started hurting again from log pressing yesterday. Only made it up to 195x4 (no leg drive, strict pressing) despite cleaning only the first rep. To be clear, though, I got the log up, just couldn't press past 4 reps. I'm astonished that my performance on the log matches or is even a bit worse than my axle press. It does feel like I need to keep repositioning the thing on me constantly, and that kills momentum compared to the up and down automation of a straight bar. 

Came back at night in the rain to axle press 160x3x8 along with some band-resisted dumbbell pressing for my chest. 

Today was crazy. Never gotten so many calls from my boss before, and I was pretty much coordinating and filling things out the whole afternoon while trying to make a max squat session work. It did, but between working on my phone between sets, talking to my boss, and then eating because shit was taking long and I wanted enough fuel, merely building up to the money set took over 2 hours. But hey, the real work was done in a compact-enough amount of time to be challenging.

Squats
Up to 510x2
Drop-set down to 405x6

Got interrupted with a work call, took care of that and then restarted the strip sets.

405x6
315x10
225x10
135x10
45x10

I could have gotten 510x3 but my right shoe felt unstable from the wet patio paver due to rain. Going to workout a safety catch mechanism for next session, probably using the kegs if I can't find anything to buy. 

Gonna return at night (probably in the rain) to do good mornings and abs. Sucks to have more lifting waiting for me after spending so long in the trenches today but I get to have everything I want done thanks to a home gym, I should be grateful for that. 

After pulling teeth to get the last two Sundays off for these birthday excursions I'm probably going to have to settle for having picked my battles and just not do friend stuff this weekend because of work. They're planning an early hike on Sunday about 2 hours from me and I work in-person until 12. I don't have a day off and while I'm not fatigued I want at least one break during the week to do fun crap.

Crazy fun weekend ski and birthday trip to Reno and a ski lodge, extending into Monday. I'll start with Friday night. I combined two days into one to free up the weekend and did SSB squats at night after log and axle pressing during the day (which I already recorded back then).

SSB squats were 400x3x5, which was pretty easy, followed by banded-resisted good mornings. Finished this up in an hour by about 9:00pm and then went straight to my car in a t-shirt and sweats despite the rain (I was hot) and picked up a Thai food order for the birthday celebrations, which was delicious.

For the trip I had ordered another entire case of Orgain protein shakes, which I once again nearly finished for the second weekend in a row. Ate really good food at restaurants too, but in-between that I had jerky strips, RX protein bars, and various flavored pistachios and peanuts (buffalo wing flavor was my favorite).

Skiing kicked ass. It was my first time but since I've done board sports for much of my life balancing was really easy. I fell three times and was leery about my legs getting twisted and my knees feeling some strain, but it was no worse than a BJJ practice match. I was careful about falling properly. Kept getting told I'd be really sore in the morning - I wasn't, at all. Since it wasn't all downhill skiing my conditioning was liable to be to be tested and I was prepared to tough it out, but it was a walk in the park. This is good, since my cardio sessions have fallen in frequency.

Really sucked having to work remotely on two days of the trip from the hotel though but I made it work.

Adding my entry for this day in a segmented approach so just thought I'd mention for my assistance work I benched 260 for two sets of eight and one last set of seven.

Moved on to do a set of log pressing. Loaded up 185, cleaned it once, and cranked out four shaky reps before I had let go. then I realized it's controlling the drop-down in an attempt to not make noise that's been hurting my left radius bone. Did a quick setup of two tires with a patio paver on each, set the log up with 175, and then did 5 smoother reps before dropping the log. No pain. Do this from now on.

Pressing the log while not feeling great was a whole other level of fight. I'd always wondered how a bigger log was supposed to be harder because the range of motion is shorter but it really does feel oppressive and crushing. not sure if I mentioned this before but I got the biggest size I could find within my price range, 12".

My strength may not be where I want it to be but I was happy with the session and how I'm learning new things in my current state of struggling for gains. Just the other night I read something from Kalle that dropping down a weight class isn't always worth it and I'm finding that right now, I'm not too sure if the strength loss makes up for the lighter competitors and poundages I'll be dealing with. Up for the challenge though and I'm too close to 198 already (yeah yeah, sunk-cost fallacy...).

Mat pulled 550x9 off 9 mats. Trying out a reset to push for higher reps instead of starting from 5.

Bench pressed 315x4, felt really weak and shaky. Combination of work stress (done while working too) and aforementioned work taking up enough time that I was hungry after breakfast. I need to start training much sooner after I eat to account for inevitable delays. No more than 30 minutes after the last bite.

Went on a birthday trip over the weekend to wine country that lasted until Monday. I brought with me an entire case of Orgain protein shakes, two cans of tuna, a bag of pistachios, two RX bars, and a Quest bar. Didn't make use of the tuna or RX bars but I damn near finished the entire case of Orgain. Ate out at a lot of good restaurants. Carbs were extremely high and I'm in one of those phases now where my body just feels like eating entirely "clean" for the moment. On the last day I did some swimming and also went on a short hike.

Feeling a little sick now, and also nauseous in the morning.

Yesterday I went out to log press and just ate shit. My left radius bone has been hurting from this movement and it finally reached a point where I had to call it quits. Managed to get a rep of 210 despite the pain, then dropped the log mid-roll on the second because all of a sudden my back hurt. Came back at night and just did an axle press session of 205x3 (exactly what I expected I could get after wrestling with the log and feeling sick), then 3x8 of 155 super-set with pull-ups and chin-ups.

Back to the log, when I came in I sat-down with lunch and watched some log press tutorials from Kalle and one other channel. I was pretty arrogant to think I had it all down just because I did it once before in competition. I was probably able to get away with uneducated form doing it once, but repeated training with this thing calls for more attention.