You can find dead ponies on every street corner in India, it seems

not sure i get this but i somehow i know it's true.

I had #5 a while ago and it was amazing. #7 is the current batch and it's just as good imo. I went back to costco yesterday and got 2 more bottles!

a boy and his dog is a special relationship

Bailey's the best.

Life is good. I haven't had much time for gym or dates recently because of her but that's okay. It's a much-needed life break imo. Also, she's getting better so I think I'll have more time for both in the near future.

Just today she willingly went into her crate after our morning at the dog park. No barking or crying. That let me actually go to the gym and run some errands that I've been putting off.

gym stuff:

3x hang clean + 3 front squat: Started at 155lbs and moved up to 180 over time. Was hard. Good little start. Good little sweat.

trap bar dls: 225x10x5. Glutes feelin' good. I remember these bothering me a tad the last few times so....maybe some progress?

Then some hand stand holds. I've gotten a little better and can now seem to balance for a few seconds without touching the wall at all. cool stuff. Then I did a bunch of rows/curls and called it a day

I've done 3 workouts in the last 5 days. Feels great to get back into lifting! Prob need to get into some form of regular cardio again. I'm feeling fluffy which means I probably need to change my diet... Probably should drink less beer but that's just stupid.

In other news I am seeing a PT on Thursday. A friend gave me the rec. Apparently this woman (I know, triggered) lifts and actually walks the walk unlike the last woman I saw. Hopefully it goes well and I can get my hip loosened and get back to squattin heavy. I miss it. Some some guys mirin this guy squatting 295 for 5 today and I cried a little inside.

Lifting tho:

idk what I'm doing tbh. Most of my lifting days recently have been some variation of that 3x power clean + 3x fs combo to start and then some combination of back/ab/arm/shoulder/chest stuff to fill the rest of the time. It's okay. At least I'm lifting and getting a lil sweaty + sore afterwards.

I just watched this and thought it might be interesting to you

I've been to my PT twice. She's great and really understands my issue which she knows is very common from years of squatting with a slight imbalance.

She's a big proponent of dry needling which, as a masochistic lax ball lover, interests me greatly. It's been nice so far. Two sessions of it and the first was just the glute medius (sp?) and the second was that and my inner thighs. A little pain, but dat good pain doe.

In addition she has me doing some mobility/stretching exercises and some banded squats/banded shuffles with her.

Aside from that I've been lifting some. Mostly front squats, like 195x5x5. Power cleans around 185-205. And some benching ~135x10x5. I'm weak don't judge me. Okay no, judge me, it's fine.

I feel like I don't even know you anymore

What do you want from me?

I've been sick for a few days but went back to the gym today and got some sickly reps in.

FS 200x5x5 was pretty easy despite the coughing attacks in between sets

hamstring curls 15reppers supersetted with 1min plank holds. I think I did 5 sets of this.

Then some handstand holds against the wall and some stretching mixed in. pretty light but nice to be back in the gym.

I don't really know if I've gone into any detail or not, but my core sucks and I have way too much APT. I really need to shove my belly button back in everything that I do. Tight hips, tight adductors, knots in my glute meds. It's all related to my hammies not firing properly so I do some stretches for them daily. Hopefully it'll help my core realign as well but I'll need more planks for sure.

PT rec'ed that I do romwod daily, too. Probably a really good idea. Anyone ever try it out?


10/21:

FS
205x5x5

Still coughing some, so recovery in between sets sucks. Last set was still easy enough. I guess I'll keep doing regular FSs since they seem fine for my knees and hip and they force my core into a good position.

Bench
175x8
175x5x5 idk man. These were hard and I'm weak. I was doing 1min plank holds in between each set though, so that contributed to the fatigue. The cough doesn't help either.

Some pullups. I suck at everything

How much you weigh?

As a former fatty I keep thinking you might relapse one day. I mean, I hope you never do since I always use as an example of somebody who made changes for life. So definitely have to keep my eye on you. Feel safer about Montecore not relapsing, the Ben n Jerry's concerns me with the BTM.

Currently clocking in at 192. Been as low as 189 recently but I don't feel "light" since I'm weak atm. I used to be 195 and strong. Well, "strong".

Honored you use me as an example though. That always makes me feel good. It's all diet though. Mine is great and I doubt I'll ever even get above 210-220. It would really take drastic changes in lifestyle that I just don't see myself making. I have too much discipline and actually enjoy eating well too much I think.

The BnJ is a little concerning sometimes since I wonder if it'll lead to other things, but as of right now I'm working on a pint of Peanut Butter Cup Core (just okay -- maybe 25/37) and it's taken me about 5 days to get most of the way through it. Prob will kill it tonight in a fit of gluttony but eh, it's been a good run.

5 days for a pint?! Thats insane restraint imo

I've probably posted this here 100 times before but if you're trying to attack APT stretching your hamstrings is probably being counterproductive.

If your hammies are not firing and your quads taking over most of the work you're supposed to be focusing on hamstring strength and stretching+rolling your quads instead.

synbro that's why I started the bolded. PT recced isolating the hammies to get them going again

it can get pretty repetitive but i like it. i do it 3-4 times a week.

Nice! I just did day 5 of the intro series and I'm a fan so far. It's a nice thing to do before heading off to the gym.

Which I'm about to. brb lifting

10/26:

FS 210x5x5 still easy enough.

All FS sets I do are in nike metcons, no belt, no sleeves, with a full grip on the bar. The full grip used to be an issue, but now it's legitimately helping, especially on the last few reps of the session when I'm getting tired and my torso is collapsing a little, the ability to push the weight back with my grip is huge.

5 sets of 1min planks supersetted with some hammie curls

Then some other stuff


10/29

FS 215x5x5 still easy enough.

more 1min planks. 5 sets. This time it was with a 5lb weight on my back, supersetted w/ the hammie curls and some shoulder stretching. The 5lb weight made it a lot harder. I know I'm bad and should feel bad.

Funny aside -- I did my 10/26 workout with a friend and is not in remotely as good as shape as I am. Certainly no abs or anything. I think he's like 170 and backsquatted 135x8x8 when I was doing my FSs. Anyway, we moved on to our planks and he crushed me. I must have all of the ab muscles in all the wrong (right?) places. planks are legit hard for me and nbd for him. Guess that's a crystal clear sign that I need to do more of them, huh?

Doing lots of planks makes you good at planks, so there's that!

Yeah! I did three mins worth today so I'm kinda a big deal right?

I'd say it's definitely a milestone in your last year of updates!

More dog pics?