Yukon squats

365x15

Then this happened:

The stands were one notch higher than normal but it felt fine. Mistake was not counting how this bar likes to slide and the tiny bit it moved down my back during the set was enough for me to not rack it. Had to bail. No injuries, tweaks, or equipment damage, and I got my minimum number of reps I wanted.

This is fantastic opportunity to model off my new weight clips. Everything else being brown really makes colors pop.

KB pullovers

25 x 20

Reverse hyper leg extensions super-set with leg curls

275 x 30 reps each

Ab wheel pause reps

5, 3

45-sec RKC plank

Woke-up and made myself train before breakfast. Pre-workout was half an Orgain protein shake and a few sips of coffee.

Knowing I have a tight schedule today, I threw a pound of ground bison with some frozen organic veggies (Normandy blend of broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower) and quinoa to slow cook in a pot during training so I'd have lunch for work.

Log clean once and strict press away: 120 x 5
Kettlebell high pulls: 50s x 5
12 rounds in 6:45

Weighted dips
50 x 12
75 x 10, 10 -> dropdown to bodyweight dips x 10
-
Super-set with chin-ups
50 x 12
Bodyweight x 15, 15

Continuing to improve on that time, and this time with no food in me. My body kept telling me I was dying but I knew it was a lie. And what a difference the lack of glycogen bloat makes. The past few days I've been looking like a balloon in the mirror and actually contemplating whether I'm eating too much. Before breakfast today I was kinda taken aback at how lean I look at 230 without thousands of calories swelling me up. 

Came upstairs, showered, drank a protein shake (whey, a little milk, egg whites) and a few more sips of coffee, drove to the office, ate as much as I could in 5 minutes, and then suffered through a 2-hour Zoom meeting. Continued lunch afterwards.

Got a work party tonight at a Korean restaurant, so lots of food on the horizon, but an early day tomorrow, so no late socializing.

Weighed 228.8 this morning on an empty stomach. Definitely thick in the midsection but it's the leanest I've ever been at this weight.

Ate a substantial but much more moderate meal last night, low in carbs and about 2 hours before bed (grass-fed steak and fire-roasted veggies in avocado oil). A little closer to bedtime than that, drank about half an Orgain grass-fed protein shake with two extra-strength fish oil caps. Guts are in a better state this morning as a result. Still eating big but not eating like an asshole, as Phil Stevens says.

Before breakfast hit 40 burpees with the push-up motion included this time. Did them on a slight incline to reduce the ROM and with push-up handles that rotate. Elbow felt like it was on the brink at some points but it held out with no pain. I think it's time to gently start pushing its boundaries and having a sense of progression at play.

Feeling much better today mentally, too.

Woke-up and while fasted did push-ups as an elbow test. Normal hand placement brought some pain. Turning my hands out was doable. Did 30 reps with some discomfort on the last 5 reps. Next, did 30 high pulls with 50 lb kettlebells followed immediately by 50 curls with a 25 lb axle, and 30 shrugs with the 50lb bells.

Later, loaded up the Yukon bar. Back started acting up by rep 5 with 315 lbs on my back. No injury, just my own intuition. Did instead 120 bodyweight squats super-set with 30 SLDLs using the 50lb kettlebells. Finished with 20 skullcrushers with the empty Swiss bar to match the curls I did earlier.

The giant meal I'm eating around 8-9pm every night is wrecking my guts the next morning and I have to take it easy on breakfast as a result. Tamper that down and repartition some of those calories to earlier meals.

Reverse-grip block press

275 x 5 x 8

-

Super-set with dumbbell rows

125s x 5 x 10

Crazy bells

145 x 3 x 15

-

Super-set with band pull-aparts x 3 x 20

7 deep dips

Getting bigger and stronger every week. Elbow feels like it's ever so slowly improving. No more pain in the morning if I wear my Venom compression sleeve, but there's discomfort if I pick something up from the wrong grip or angle. Stubborn but that's ok, I'm more stubborn.

Was able to successfully squat pain-free on Friday. Hit 320 for 22 reps and stopped it there. 

Had a fantastic weekend in San Francisco visiting a friend and just living life, something I felt has been lacking the past few weeks. Ate a ton of food, including pizza for breakfast and a Chinese feast in Chinatown.

And, of course, always gotta get a Bruce Lee picture of one of the murals when I'm in Chinatown. Awful fact: this is near the Italian section, Little Italy, and the spot we were standing in outside of a club we paused at as we contemplated dinner options was the site of a mass shooting just a couple of hours later. It was surreal seeing it on the news.

On a more fun note, a group of teenagers complimented my buddy's fit and one of them exclaimed "Look at his arms! You a bodybuilder!"

Log clean once and strict press away: 180 x 3 x 7

Super-set with chin-ups: 3 x 20

At the start of this workout my training partner, who happens to be a cat, wandered away through a gap I had overlooked in the gate door. Each set of these was mixed in with about a 5 power walk or, in the case of the last set, a jog around the neighborhood searching for him. He eventually showed up on his own several hours later headbutting the front door.

Later in the evening, after an awesome session with my client who hit multiple bench press PRs, I came back to hit my log circuit.

Log clean once and strict press away: 120 x 5

Kettlebell high pulls: 50s x 5

12 rounds in 7:06 minutes

Notes: I said this last time, but THIS session also blew away the last session. One extra round in the same amount of time after a prior log press session where I was depleted and mixing in cardio. I should also note that the first 8 rounds were in 4 minutes. Just fantastic.

Dips: 20 deep, 10 shallow

18 chin-ups 

Notes: saw a video of Nick Best going deep and felt like improving my form. Will monitor the condition of my sternum and shoulders closely.

Did this when I got home from work:

Belt squats:

7 plates x 15

8 plates x 12

-

Super-set with reverse-hyper leg curls

225 x 2 x 15

The ever-vigilant ssistant coach:

Back was feeling much better today in warm-ups, but by rep 8 of squatting with 320 I shut things down. No further injury, just increasing feelings of discomfort that told me better safe than sorry. It's definitely progress to get some load on my back again.

Mountain climbers have been a great all-day practice to keep things moving in a positive direction. They loosen things up and my knees always appreciate doing them too.

I'm thinking I'll do a belt squats at night after work and maybe bust out the Prowler after.

Did some tricep pressdowns and curls last night.

Today I played Thrill of the Fight in VR. Sparred one round and fought two, ending by knockout. First time I scored any KO from an uppercut and it was my right, no less. Take that, A.I. After that, did some kettlebell lat raises, suitcase carries, kettlebell shrugs, and 1 set on the reverse hyper. Back felt like garbage yesterday but is much better today. Suitcase carries are a new back-health tool from Brian Carroll.

Got a new compression sleeve for my elbow and it has so far eliminated all elbow pain during sleep. I feel flattered that a size XXL is tight. 

Weighted dips

90 x 10, 10, 8-dropdown to 45x5

-

Super-set with weighted chin-ups

90 x 8, 8

No weight: 15

Notes: Be careful about leaning too forward, definitely felt the good ol' sternum pressure on the 90s.

Heavy band chest press: 25

120 bodyweight squats

Leg extensions superset with leg curls: 185 x 20

Elbow is doing better today after wrapping it before bed and back is feeling really pissed at me, oddly enough. Made an executive decision to shutdown squats when 225 was hurting. Sitting down too long to eat my huge breakfast has been an unhelpful habit, so make an effort to eat faster and set a timer for 10 min standing breaks in general (eating, office work, etc ).

Reverse-grip block pressed up to 265x10 yesterday, working up to a total of 6 sets and then finished off with crazy bells and 100 Poundstone curls. I'm really getting proficient with the grip. Once again, the block press is equivalent to about a 2-board press. 

Trying to discern why my elbow hurts upon waking up lately. It could either be some weird movements or positions in my sleep, or from a lack of blood during the stationary period of bed rest. Wrapping it has helped but last night the wrap was very loose and I woke up with it in pain, which went away as the morning progressed. Lot of options to try here, starting with wrapping it tighter tonight. 

Woke-up and hit 100 bodyweight squats before breakfast.

Before heading to the office:

Belt squats

6 plates x 10

7 plates x 15, 15

-

Super-set with reverse-hyper leg curls

2 plates x 10, 15, 15

Notes: My legs really wanted to stop at 10 on the final set, so naturally I went to 15. Couldn't believe the quad pain after that, exacerbated by having to horse stance while I untied my chains.

This was a great quick leg session that involved no direct spinal loading. I'd like to up my belt squat game and get some blocks to stand on instead of having to stack patio tiles.

Because I ran out of 45s, I counted two 25 plates as 1.

Woke-up and hit 55 burpees before breakfast. Also weighed 226.5 before eating anything. I'm looking and feeling like a large damn mammal.

Slept with my elbow wrapped and woke-up without the usual small ache, so gonna keep that up. I'm grateful that my elbow condition forced me to change up my pressing choices and that dips are such a significant part of my life again now. I've definitely noticed my lower chest filling in more as a result.

Log clean once and press away: 120 x 5

Kettlebell high pulls: 50s x 5

11 rounds in 7:07 minutes

Notes: Blew last week's performance away - 1 more round, 10 lbs heavier, and 1 minute faster. Felt like I was flirting with muscle failure on some of the last log presses but I kept finding the power to explode it up.

Weighted dips: 50 lbs x 10, 10

75 lbs x 10, 10, 10

-

Super-set with chin-ups: 50 lbs x 10, 10

No weight x 15, 15, 18

Dips x 33

Elbow was in a little pain on a scale of 2/10 waking-up today but that's subsided since the morning. May start sleeping with an arm wrap for extra support and see if that helps because it seems like falling asleep in certain positions aggravate it.

Deadlifts

545 x 0, 0, 1

* After a couple false starts I finally got tight enough to get the weight up. Bar speed felt a little slow, but a good showing and a win for consistency. 

Pause deadlifts

405 x 3 with 10 shrugs at the top

Romanian deadlifts

315 x 10, 10

* 10 shrugs at top each set.

Wide-grip Swiss bar bench with Fat Gripz

265 x 5, 5, 6

225 x 10, 10, 10

-

Super-set with log bent-over rows

180 x 8, 8

Switched super-set to dumbbell rows 125s x 8, 10, 10, 10

A whole cacophony of dips, crazy bell bench sets, and finished off with 110 Poundstone curls with a 40lb axle.

Yukon squats

470x5

Drop-down to 410x5, 320x8, 230,x10, 140x10, 50x10

Reverse hyper curls

Pushed the Prowler last night. 4 plates. I find that still easy to push but it's quite the quad pump after a couple of minutes of pulling and then when I switch to pushing AFTER that it ends up being hard enough. Will measure the distance I typically take it for but it's down the length of our condo complex before hitting some stairs and turning around. Roughly did five laps in total but as I prowl more often I'll be diligent in recording some numbers.

Last week I got the Theraband Flexbar to perform some elbow rehab. Very simple and effective tool.

I've also been looking into the Arm Aid, but it's very pricey for what's essentially forearm foam rolling. I have no doubt that it's effective, but reading about it prompted me to simply use my vibrating Hyperice roller aggressively on my forearm and elbow for the same or better effect. I read to get quite into the elbow and ignore the pain when it comes to massage. After doing so, my elbow feels really good today. The fact that I'm going to get some bigger forearms out of all this is not a bad deal. The gift of injury.

Log clean once and press away 110 x 5

KB high pulls 50s x 5

10 rounds in 8 minutes

Behind-the-neck axle press

70 x 3 x 15

Dips

25, 10, 12, 8

Wrist roller

25 lb lb for once each direction

Good breathkiller. Went into this workout with my elbow hurting and came out with the pain gone. Definitely going to be making log pressing a regular for now. Pronated straight bar pressing aggravates, although I plan on experimenting with Fat Gripz next bench day before resorting to underhand benching.

Wrist rolling is an old exercise I brought back as elbow rehab. Forearms were screaming.