yeah, thanks

I'm thinking Wed I should do a bunch of singles with 275, or maybe throw on my old rehab shirt and do some work in that.

I hope the best for your recovery so you can take a stab at my 556 lbs bench.

Thanks cookie!

I probably had that in me at some point in my tight single ply shirt if the stars would have aligned. Hopefully I can get back there again. I still might be able to surpass that in my tight two ply shirt if I can ever get healthy enough and break the shirt in enough to touch something that I'm strong enough to press.

6/6

squat (red voodoo band wrapped above left knee every rep)
155x5
245x5
These made my knee achy.

briefs
335x3 - knee felt instantly better with the briefs on
425x2
515x1

suit, sides all the way loose. also light knee wraps
605x1 - not terrible, but worse than the next one

I tightened the suit strings slightly, basically took the slack out
675x1 - I might have hit parallel but it might have been an inch high. I got a little light headed on the way up, but it wasnt too hard.

The room was pretty chaotic last night. Everything took longer than it should have, then our coach showed up late and squatted in gear for the first time in about a year - a relatively easy 855. Our short 198er who said he weighed 194 yesterday doubled 795. Our tall 198er absolutely smoked 700 faster than I've ever seen him move that much weight before. A raw guy who probably maxes out in the mid 500s put on my old briefs and struggled mightily with a couple attempts of 565 and 515 - I thought the gear was supposed to lift the weight for you lol. Our shw guy who suffered a ruptured spleen about a year ago squatted 805 in his brand new suit. Good times. I just helped out instead of doing secondary and assistance stuff. I think I might do RDLs and GHRs after benching tonight.

6/7

bench press
45x15
95x10
135x8
185x4
225x1
275x1 - This went fast and it looked good, but as usual, my left external rotators are not firing.

135 + 90 lbs of chains x 3
135 + 135 lbs of chains x 3
The chains were hanging above the floor at the top. This made my body start to fire all kinds of small muscles to stabilize the weight. That was good.

I'm going to see Tool in concert Friday, so I wont be DLing then. I figured since I didn't do all that much on squat day and my legs felt good, I might as well DL.

DL
235x5x2
325x3
415x2

suit
505x1 - very fast, good form
595x1 - ok speed. ok form. My shoulders might have come out a bit.
I think what I did well was I did not rush the pulls once I gripped the bar. I made sure I got my hips back and kept them back through the start of the pull and all the way up. It was good.

Pretty sure going to a Tool concert in person adds a plate or so onto your DL anyway so you should be fine.

6/11

a couple Buchberger exrcises

bench press
45x15
95x10
135x8
185x3
225x3
275x2
305x1
305 was not great, but it went fairly fast and it was significantly better than 315 was last week, so I will take it.

size 54 rage X
405 off 3 boards x 3
455 off 2 boards x 2 - 1st was fast and good. 2nd was a bit slower but still good.
495xf - I wasnt ready for that yet. It got halfway up or less.

push ups
15x3

band pull aparts

band rows - heavy blue band
20x2

band face pulls - medium green band
20x2

Good to see your recovery is moving forward.

Thanks Rich!

6/14

squat
155x5
245x5
335x3

briefs
425x2
515x1

suit - loose laces
605x1

laces snug + knee wraps
695x1

Most reps were either right about parallel or a little high. All reps were done with a tight voodoo band just above my left knee. 695 was ugly and very high. I think the knee wraps were a bit too tight for this weight and I didnt lock in my back tight enough when I racked it. I started to good morning it and probably did a half-squat/morning. Surprisingly, I was able to stand back up, so I guess that means my back is pretty strong, lol.

No secondary or assistance work. I'm babying the knee still. It still feels bad when I get near parallel and it feels way worse if I dont use the voodoo band. Everything before I put briefs on feels worse than when I have briefs on. It doesn't seem to matter how much weight I'm doing. It feels looser and better when I'm all done than it does after the first couple raw warmup sets.

I think I might do heavy RDLs after speed bench today.

6/14

speed bench
45x15
95x10
135x8
185x3
225x3
275x2
315x1 - this was way better than 305 was Sunday. It was fast and I was able to externally rotate my left arm with some strength for a change. It flew off my chest.
335x1 - Left arm wobbled. It was still a bit better than 305 was Sunday. PROGRESS!!

pushups
15x2

band face pulls
20x2

1 arm seated cable rows
70x15
80x12
90x10
Its been too long since I've done these. I need to keep doing them.

**** RDLs for today. The basement part of the gym where we do most of our work was so humid, it sucked the life out of me.

Good to see you are feeling better.

thanks!

Good workout and good progress!

Thanks!

6/16

DL
225x5x2
315x3
405x2

suit
515x1 - fast, good form
585x1 - fairly fast. decent form, maybe a little forward
635x1 - ugly, but I locked it out. It swung out in front of me, came back, swung out front again and I got it back somehow. That's the heaviest I've pulled since the neck issue. I have lost some strength from the layoff. The left upper trap felt a bit tight after this, so I stopped DLs for the night.

GHR
20
raised foot plate
20
raised foot plate
15

6/18

bench press
95x10
135x8
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1

All fine^

size 54 rage X shirt
two board press

455x1 - Got an uneven handoff, but still smoked it

505xf. Handoff was not great, but better than the previous one. I got it up to about 3" from lockout and it stalled - too slow out of the hole. I think lack of sleep the night before probably had more to do with missing this than the handoff. I think I can get this much next week.

Because of the lack of sleep from the previous night, I had very little energy left. I figured I should do some pulling to balance out the pushing.

blue band rows
20x3

green band face pulls
20x3

6/21

squat
155x5
245x5
335x3

briefs
425x2
515x1 - I hit parallel - yay!

suit, sides loose
605x1 - fugly. My back got loose.
615x1 - fugly. My legs are getting weaker and my form is not sharp at all.

briefs only
425x3 - bleh. My left knee might need to get x-rayed or MRI'ed.

GHRs
20

raised foot plate to top
10

6/21

speed bench
something very light x 12
95x10
135x8
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1

Everything was good to this point. The left lat/external rotators were working better than since because the neck disc bulge.

345xf. Might right glute cramped up again. That was happening during heavy stuff before the neck issue. I did some hip mobility and rolled it with a ball and that loosened it up, but when I did ~180 x 3 with a football bar, it tightened up again, so I stopped benching.

Pushups
15x3

chaos pushups
10x3

1 arm cable rows
dont remember weights - 15 & 10 reps

cable face pulls
2 sets of 15

6/23

DL
225x5x2
315x3
405x2
495x1
I did all these with a left hand under, right hand over mixed grip, the opposite of how I do my heavy stuff. I got to thinking that the fact that my left upper trap is bigger than the right do to never changing my mixed grip might not be good for my neck. My chiro agrees. He says to stretch it. I asked if doing all my warmups with my hands reversed would be a good idea and he thinks it will. It felt different, but not bad. I'll keep doing it.

suit
585x1 - fast, good form
635x1 - way better form than last week and faster, but my weak hamstrings shook and the transition just below the knees to just above the knees pulled me a little forward so the bar slowed down a bit through there.

band DLs in briefs
405 + back bands x 3
405 + black + small blue bands x 3 - this was hard

GHR
20

+ small black band
15

+ green band
12

+ green & small black
15
This was pretty intense. I needed that.

6/25

bench press
45x15
95x10
135x8 or 10...
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1
Everything felt great, but I was a little loose on the 315, so that went slower than it should have.

two board press
size 54 rage X
455x1 - smoked
505x1 - slower, but I locked it out this time

size 52 rage x
545x1 - smoked it

My SHW teammate bought a new Inzer Super Duper Phenom shirt. He could not even put it on. You are supposed to break these shirts in slowly, having a smaller teammate start with triples off 4 boards, so I volunteered. The bottom parts of the arms were very loose, but the tops of the arms were snug and the chest was tight across the top. This thing has a massive collar. I figured since the shirt was mostly loose, I should start very light.
405x3 - lol, way too light.
495x3 - It moved so fast that the owner of the shirt started laughing out loud very hard. Another teammate scolded him for doing that while I was pressing ~500 lbs, but it didnt bother me.

My right glute tightened up, so I stopped pressing for the day.

1 arm cable rows
3 sets working up to the whole stack x 10

face pulls
70x15x2
I moved the weight fairly slow, focusing on good from and getting a pump.

Put some weight on the bar

yeah, the neck is definitely coming around. I will keep increasing the weight.

I'm thinking I will probably do a push-pull at the North Dakota APF championship. I could probably touch and press something in the 450-475 range right now, and maybe pull ~650, neither of which is great, but its not embarrassing. My left knee probably needs an MRI, so squatting decently at that meet looks bleak. I'll try squatting decently again tomorrow.

6/27

squat
155x5
245x5

briefs
335x3
425x2
515x1x2 - 1st one sucked, so I redid it better

suit, sides loose, red 3 meter knee wraps
615x1 - solid, hit depth! - 1st time I hit depth in months!
665x1 - not bad. I maybe got my upper back a bit loose, but not too bad, and I hit depth! I did these without the voodoo bands once I started with the knee wraps and since these wraps are so long, they got the area above my knees good. My knee is still not well, but it didnt hurt after these. Thanks again Weasel for sending me these knee wraps!

This makes me think I have a good chance to squat 7/29 at the ND APF championships and probably at least set a meet PR (705+). 804 seems out of the question though. Still, hitting depth twice with reasonable weights is a huge deal. I was worried I might need surgery to clean this left knee up. Maybe not.

RDLs
245x5
335x5
425x5
I loaded 515 and never got a chance to do them because I got distracted helping teammates do stuff.