Did yoga last night and also did 2 laps with the sled. Then I got ready to go for a nighttime swim but on my way I stopped by my reverse hyper and did 2x10 with 225. Ended up not swimming due to how late it was and just relaxed on the seat drinking a sparkling water while I enjoyed the atmosphere before going back in.

Woke-up this morning and did 50 push-ups before work. My legs are just devastated and I'm walking like a mummy, which was a predictable outcome, but my rear delts and traps are very sore today too. I have a back massager at my office that I can use on my upper-back area if I slump.

New job is going well. Health insurance starts in October. I told myself I wouldn't compete in strongman until I get healthcare, soooo now I'm on the lookout for comps, although I'm open to more powerlifting too.

Clean once and strict press

180 x 6

150 x 10, 9, 9

Shoulder medley

Arnold press: 50s x 10, 12

Behind-the-neck press: 70 x 10, 10

Lateral raises: 10s x 15, 15

Band pull-aparts x 20, 15

45-second chin-up

Trying to get up to 1 minute. I currently weigh around 220 so this is a great way to make the biceps do a lot of work in a short span of time.

Had to take a few shots while my shoulders had a pump. 

410 lbs x 10

320 lbs x 20

240 lbs x 25

Leg extensions

8 plates x 30

Leg curls

8 plates x 30, 30, 30

Hit 320x20 again, which was a cool milestone from earlier this year that slipped away after I lost progress from contracting COVID last month and lost a bunch of weight. But more importantly, my back held up and felt great today when I had to terminate my barbell squat session last Wednesday because of pain and do goblet squats and leg extensions instead (no shame in that though, goblet squats rule).

 Woke-up and did 70 total push-ups before work, along with some basic hip and leg stretches. Got better rest last night than the night before.

Did this after a long work day on not enough sleep yesterday evening. Didn't feel I had heavy singles in me so I didn't bother. I'll assassinate a 350 bench soon enough.

1-board press
280 x 6, 7, 7
-
Super-set with T-bar rows
5 plates + 10 lbs x 10, 12, 12

Swiss bar bench
205 x 10, 12, 10
-
Super-set with T-bar rows
5 plates + 10 lbs x 12, 15, 15

The set of 6 was a tough, sleepy grind, while the sets of 7 after I felt awakened were powerful and explosive.

Very last Swiss bar rep was a real fight, which I love ending on.

Despite being dead tired yesterday evening and running on little sleep I felt supercharged after taking an edible by the evening and went on a 10-minute jog, then 2 minutes of shadow kickboxing, and then ended by swimming laps. Also made time to do some yoga before bed.

This morning I woke-up and hit 50 burpees before work. Ran out of milk for the weightgainer but it's just as well. I've been bloated and gassy from it. It absolutely works for its intended purpose but a break is welcome. I packed two mega sandwiches I made with grass-fed steak and avocado, a tupperware packed with rotisserie chicken from Costco seasoned with a sweet heat spice rub, and 2 protein bars. Feeling full at work right now but with less GI issues.

Power bench day tomorrow. Deep Water...soon.

Now that my elbow is recovered enough to do a wider variety of pressing exercises, I'm rereading Deep Water with plans to run it soon. I just want to make sure my back is in a good place now.

The diet was always a question to me. I seem to process carbs quite well - they don't make me sleepy and I can stay lean consuming them. If we go by metabolic typing, my ancestors ate a rice-heavy diet, so that makes sense. But in the spirit of going all-in, I would embrace John's dietary regimen for the program. What's the worst that can happen? Just try it!

Side-note: this free soy-free jerky at the office is hitting the spot. Just wish it was totally sugar-free, but with the amount of carbs I'm already ingesting from my weightgainer in the same sitting it'd be a silly thing to avoid right now. Had a wave of heavy fatigue for a good 30 minutes from waking up at 4 but it passed and I'm full of life again. It was so great to have an early morning to myself before work.

 Woke-up at 4am, lay in bed with my eyes closed until 5, decided I wasn't going back to sleep, and went on a sunrise jog. Came back and saw my Yukon bar loaded and did 13 behind-the-neck presses with 100 lbs, then did 10 burpees with the full push-up and squat. Came in and stretched my hips and legs, then took a shower and made breakfast with coffee.

Well, gave a noble effort but the car lift was a bust. The other guy didn't even hang around to try and lift it; he just came and talked about trying to tow it or something and then bounced. I tried to get a grip on it but the broken the bumper and trunk stuck out and forced me to reach with my arms to grab the solid bottom, almost in a preacher curls position. I got it bouncing on the suspension but there was no way I could deadlift it. It was looking like bicep tear city with that angle. I actually strained my left bicep but it's nothing serious. 

Unrelated, but I woke up with heavy nausea and the weight gainer really helped a lot. I only ate one solid meal the whole day.

Got this sleep drink from my work and going to give it a try tonight.

Axle clean once and press: 110 x 5

Close-grip neutral grip chin-ups: 5

10 rounds in 8:15

More than 3-min improvement since last attempt.

Dips

50 x 12, 12

75 x 10

-

Super-set with Close-grip pull-ups

3 x 12

Behind the neck press

100 x 10

15 tricep pressdowns

Slept very poorly and felt awful today. Nausea and fogginess. This was particularly miserable as a result.

I have more updates to put up including my first day at the new job on Friday and yesterday's leg workout. Currently sipping my protein shake before I go help a friend lift up a car that's totaled in her parking spot and move it a few inches away from her neighbor's spot. 

I'll just briefly go over that. Friday was awesome. Weight gainer really helped me to keep full the whole day and the break room has loads of high quality beef jerky and protein shakes. We also indulged in happy hour at the office where I got treated to sushi.

 Pushed the Prowler last night and then went on a 10-minute jog. This morning I hit 50 burpees and 50 jumping-jacks before downing a weightgainer and heading to work. 

Last day at this job and starting the new one tomorrow. Already received a new order of Animal Meal to drink my breakfast while I get settled in. I deemed it the best weightgainer on Amazon. Its biggest downside is pea protein being part of the blend, but there's beef protein in there too which is cool and uncommon. Other supposedly "clean" gainers STILL have maltodextrin as the first ingredient after all these years and advancements in nutrition.

Bench press

275 x 1

315 x 1

340 x 1

Kroc rows

150 x 20

Bench press

230 x 10, 10, 9, 10, 6+3(rest pause)

-

Super-set with wide pull-ups

12, 12

35 x 10, 10, 12

Push-ups x 15

Pull-ups x 15

340 bench was alllll over the place which made it all the radder that the weight still shot up. Possible I got overhyped from timing a part of a song to the lift, which I don't typically do anymore, and as a result the bar trajectory was anything but straight. Or it could just be that I'm getting used to singles again and haven't benched this amount in a long time. Whatever the case, the raw strength is definitely there and it's a good place to be.

 

Came extremely close to failing the very last rep of benching 230. Wouldn't be as big a pain in the ass failing 385 like I did a few years ago but adrenaline still kicked in and everything. My cat was sitting on my chair a few feet away watching me and I knew I had to set a good example for him so I mustered everything I had to get it up. Don't want him thinking that missing reps like that is OK.

Just a bone-crusher of a session with Kroc rows AND Boring But Big.

Giant sets

SSB front squats: 240 x 10, 10

SSB narrow-stancr back squats: 240 x 10, 10

Kettlebell swings: 50 x 30, 30

SSB good mornings

150 x 10, 10

Leg extensions and leg curls

295 x 30 each

50 ab swivels

10 reverse crunches

Opted to give my back a break from heavy loading and assassinate quads and hamstrings more directly. Glad to be back at this weight for those squat super-sets. 

Went on a 10-min jog and then pushed the Prowler last night after work, lighter than usual since recovery was the main focus of the day. The thing is dead silent if I use my bumper plates, which is awesome. I've also been carrying out my kettlebells to stack on it instead of metal plate so the whole setup has been a lot easier than when I first got it.

Cooled off after with a night swim. 

 There have been several night jogs I haven't been logging. Also did 30 burpees before work this morning. If I had more time I would have done more. In addition to making me hungrier for breakfast it also just plain wakes me up better than coffee ever can (although I'm thoroughly enjoying my homebrewed coffee at the office too right now).

After 4 straight days of training I took Sunday completely off for a fantastic beach day. Was carrying the cooler over to the sand when a guy remarked "Someone's been eating his Wheaties!" Swam in the ocean and ate a ton of picnic food.

Weighed 215.6 in the morning before breakfast. 6 pound gain since last month. I'm putting away food like it's my job but still lean for this bodyweight with visible abs. My meals are big so if I want to keep ascending past the 220s increased meal frequency will be key. The weightgainer has been such a big help for saving time and filling in caloric gaps.

Giant set

Axle clean once and press away: 130 x 4 x 10

Neutral grip chin-ups: 3 x 10, 12

Leg extensions: 295 x 3 x 20, 30

Last set of extensions super-set with leg curls: 295 x 20

Giant set

Behind the neck press: 100 x 3 x 7

Wide chin-ups x 10, 10, 12

Leg curls: 295 x 3 x 20

Dips x 12

Tricep pressdowns x 15

Yukon squats

410 x 10

320 x 18, 4

I was dragging, so this was an excellent performance for my first squats over 400 since a couple of months ago and post-illness. Made an executive decision to shut down the last set because I felt my body relaxing against my will from fatigue (been 3 days of intense training paired with early work days/less sleep) and the beginnings of right knee pain to set in. No injury. 

Great to see me inch closer to a set of 20 again. And AFTER introducing a set of 400? Just a fantastic rebound from last month. 

Carter curls

35s x 5 x 10

* For lack of a proper name, I'm naming these after Paul Carter, who advised adding an additional ROM to the top of a curl that involves shoulder flexion. More here: https://youtu.be/T_1eOJr04FE

Actually joined Arnold's new newsletter, Arnold's Pump Club, and their email actually linked to that video. Quality stuff. 

Concentration curls, preacher curls, and several torturous sets of wrist-rollers 

Woke-up at 6:45 and hit 40 burpees and 40 push-ups. Downed some leftover weightgainer and a small remaining portion of a fruit smoothie and multivitamin right after before heading to work.

Bench press
Worked-up to 330 x 1

225 x 10, 10, 12
-
Super-set with T-bar rows
4 plates x 10
5 plates x 10, 12

Easy. Had strength for more; time before work didn't permit. But this was great. Haven't full ROM benched this heavy all year. Thank you COVID for really improving the state of my golfer's elbow. Felt a little irritation that I still feel in the office now but it's a big improvement. I aim to hit 340 next week and 350 the week after unless my elbow regresses, in which case I'll go back to board pressing.

Immensely enjoying this power day.

EDIT: came back after work at 8pm to get some more work in.

225 x 10, 10, 12
-
Super-set with T-bar rows
4 plates x 10
5 plates x 10, 12

35 push-ups

The original plan was BBB. Since that got interrupted and the workout was split in two I added a 6th 225 bench set, which probably wasn't necessary since 5 sets broken up would still be more volume than I'm used to right now.

Mirza alerted me to a possum while I was training. He was dragging a 1.25 lb weight plate tied to his leash for his training (the cat, not the possum) so he couldn't attack it even though he clearly wanted to.

 Went on a 30-min jog yesterday and did lots of stretching throughout the day. Also used my massage gun because I'm sore all over, especially my traps. It's not just my upper traps that are sore but the lower ones extending down the length of my back, too. Never had that happen with shrugs before.

Today has been great so far. Got good sleep and was preparing my bench set-up before the lack of time before work and level of soreness I was still feeling made me table it for tomorrow. My bench day is the closest thing to a max effort workout of the week at the moment (my deadlifts are heavy for low reps too but well below a max). Decided this last month that I really want to chase that mythical 405lb bench press while I'm gaining weight, and my squat and deadlift have been historically easy to raise so I'm not concerned about their numbers for a meet so this is the one day where I want to be as fresh as possible and not be hindered by recovery needs. 

Ended up taking the Prowler out stacked with 5 plates and then did drop-down laps where I removed a plate for each run. When I got to 2 plates, I pulled it. Also got in two laps of suitcase carries with a 50 lb kettlebell. Went in after that and did 30 burpees and a tough 1-minute plank where my sore arms and legs were the weak link and barely able to hold me up. Now currently eating a bison-quinoa-veggie bowl and weightgainer at the office.

Yesterday:

Deadlifts
Up to 525x3 +10 shrugs
405x12 +10 shrugs

Romanian dumbbell deadlifts
125s x 10

Goblet squats
50 x 30, 20, 20

Intended to do abs but back was feeling pissy so did the McGill Big 3 rehab protocol and side planks were a part of that. 

Gonna lay off the weights today except for the reverse hyper. Also aim to take the Prowler out for a ride.

Took the time to make homemade coffee the night before and it's treating me nice this morning. Had set my alarm 20 minutes earlier but I woke up on my own earlier than that, at 6am sharp, to drop my visiting brother off at the airport before work.

Experiencing a VERY rare instance of genuinely not being able to tell if my back is minorly injured or incredibly sore now. Felt it come on gradually throughout the evening and it was uncomfortable to sleep on.

Axle clean once and press: 110 x 5

Close-grip neutral grip chin-ups: 5

10 rounds in 11:04

Giant sets 

Axle behind-the-neck press

90 x 3 x 10

-

Lateral raises: 10s x 3 x 10

-

Wide-grip neutral grip chin-ups

3 x 10

Did a gnarly curl workout yesterday. Recently listened to a podcast with Paul Carter where he was laughing at people who just write an entire muscle group when logging a workout, like "did shoulders", but dammit, when it comes to curls:

1. They're curls, I go crazy and do a ton of rapid, spontaneously-conjured and unplanned sets.

2. They're curls. Whatever. Lol.

I will log that after the curlpocalypse I used my homemade wrist roller and absolutely wrecked my forearms along with my biceps.

I love direct arm work and it's such a fun, feel-good juxtaposition to the powerlifting bench workout I did earlier. 

Spent this afternoon handling a medical situation again. This time Dad's health got worse and he agreed to go to the hospital. There was some friction between me and my aunt as she insisted on calling 911 while I wanted to drive him. She was under the impression he couldn't walk so she went ahead and called the EMTs while I was talking with him and he walked down to the ambulance by himself so...yes, I could have and should have driven him. Gonna move on from that for now because he's being seen and that's more important.

The hospital was a total clusterfuck: they gave me a wrong room number at first, then I figured out from my aunt's call that she's in an exam room in the ER with him but the ER rep I talked to couldn't find him, and finally we agreed over the phone that I'll go to work and come back in the evening when he has a room number. 

Had 30 minutes before leaving for work, so came home and worked up to 320x15 Yukon bar squats. I was aiming for more but that was pretty close to a max effort today. Didn't bother to change out of my cushioned skate shoes and was dealing with a big adrenaline dump that had me feeling sluggish. I'll seize more pockets of time and fit in more soon.

PM update: came home and did another set of 320x15 squats, then 3 super-sets of leg extensions and leg curls on the reverse hyper using 320 lbs (3 45s and a 25 on each side). Then in the living room did an ab wheel rollout set of 8.

1-board press

275 x 3

295 x 3

315 x 2

325 x 1

335 x 1

Bench press

245 x 8, 8, 5 -> drop-down to 185x7

-

First set super-set with Kroc rows: 125 x 20

Then regular dumbbell rows:

125 x 10, 10, 10

I wanted a heavy power workout and got exactly that. No pump here, just joint-crushing sets. Got to build strength again.

Amazingly, the scale read 209 today which would mean I lost about 15 lb in 2 weeks from COVID. It was definitely unexpected because I've been LOOKING a lot bigger since I was ill. 

Also need to log that I did 50 push-ups yesterday morning and went on a 25 minute jog at night, the first since being sick. Lungs felt fine and cough is a lot better. Had a major health scare with my dad that caused me to leave work and go check on him. He's not in good shape but doesn't want to go to the hospital.

 Since I stuffed in 3 hard days of training before the weekend I took 2 days of rest and living life. Body was sore all over. Went to the beach on Canada Day for July 1st and feasted on homemade grass-fed steak sandwiches and a weightgainer. I was so full from this that I drank a little bit of vodka and then just quit. Totally futile. I had so much food in me it'd be too much work and take too many hours of waiting to digest to even feel buzzed. 

Woke-up today and hit 50 push-ups before a work meeting. Once again, I downed my leftover weightgainer shake in the morning and then was too full to bother with the donuts at the meeting. Just have zero desire for sweets when I'm constantly full, the opposite of when I cut weight and sweet cravings hit me hard.

Looking a lot bigger and fuller than when I was sick. Just like I lost weight quickly during those 2 weeks, I rebounded FAST.