This was an idea I got from Emevas several years ago, who got the idea from Jon Andersen.

Squat

300 x 20

Upon which I walked off the patio with the bar on my back and onto the dirt, dropped the bar behind me, and then:

Deadlifts

300 x 20

Ab wheel: 10 standing reps

Some disclaimers:

The bar had trouble clearing one side of the squat stands so I reracked, took a few breaths, got it on my back again, shrugged high, and made it.

Left the bar on the ground and took a standing rest-pause after rep 10 of the deadlifts before cranking out another 10.

Had some hesitation about even continuing that latter 10 reps due to concern for how my back was feeling (not painful, but a similar sensation to when pain crops up later), but took the calculated risk and went for it.

All that said, this was brutal. The squats were the easy part, since I've been running heavier weight for 20 lately; it was following them up with the deadlifts that wrecked me afterwards and gave me a headache.

My back is completely fine the next morning. I'm glad I've been able to push it further and further. There have been countless times when I take some new measure for it that works in the short term only for pain to resurface, but so far, the daily foam rolling has been doing wonders. I'm also opting for my ergonomic Herman Miller chair 100% when I do sit at home and absolutely zero couch time. Good move, because yesterday I was gifted the new Soul Reaver remaster for Steam and stayed up later than expected getting lost in the world of Nosgoth and reliving that game.