11/30: Week 49 Day 1

Bench: paused
45x10
95x5
135x5
185x1
205x1
225x1

Can't remember the last time I benched without any assistance. Felt slow and weak. No pain at all though!

Deadlift: conventional, beltless, full reset after each rep
135x5
225x5
315x3
365x2
405x3

Playing around with technique. Wasn't great today. No pain though.

Seated cable row: w/ external rotation, weight per handle
40x15x3

High cable row: unilateral
25x15x2

Hangs: a little over a minute

Triceps pushdown: rope attachment, slow
30x12x2

Defranco cuban press: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMwA266_Nx4
8x8
10x8

Dumbbell curl:
15x20

12/1: Post skwat stuff

12/5: Week 49 Day 3

SSB squat:
85x8
175x5
265x2
315x1
335x1
355x1

Had a really bad cold the past few days so endurance wasn't there at all. Strength felt pretty good though. I think my PR with this bar is only 405 and I easily could've gotten that today.

Lat pulldown:
100x12
100x8

Bottoms up KB press: kg
6x25

Quad/Adductor/IT band/Gut tempering

DLs look pretty good. I noticed a couple things. You kind of jerk the weight off the floor sometimes, rather than pulling the tension out off the bar, then squeezing it off the floor. Make sure you load your hamstrings when you set up. It looks like that's happening some of the time, but not all the time. Brace your core hard the whole time the bar is in your hands.

Bench looks ok. Make sure you keep your shoulders pulled back during lockout, and try to get handoffs whenever possible so that you can set them before taking the weight.

Yeah my conventional deadlift is definitely inconsistent. My bench just needs a ton of work. I'm amazed it looked as decent as it did.

12/6: Week 49 Day 4

Log Press: from the floor
75x8
105x5
125x5
145x3
165x2
165x1
165x3 slight push

Tricep/shoulder/upper back work
Tempering

12/9: Week 50 Day 1

Deadlift: sumo
135x5
225x3
315x2
405x1
495x1
545x1
405x6 mixed grip last 3 reps

Positioning wasn't where I wanted it but all reps were fast and easy. No discomfort or pain whatsoever.

Banged my toe on some bitchass chair last week. Not sure if I broke it or not. Swelled up and bruised all around. Finally managed to get a shoe on today and walk somewhat normally. Hips feel like **** from limping around though.

12/15: Week 51 Day 1

SSB squat:
85x5x2
175x5
225x3
265x3
315x1
315x2
265x5
225x5
175x5x2 narrow stance long pause

Banded triple threat: facepull/external rotation/y press with micro minis
10
8

Seated dumbbell press:
20x10
30x10
35x10

Seated cable row: machine
80x15x2
65x15

Triceps pushdown:
30x20x3

Hangs:
15 seconds x5

Wow these felt terrible. Pec/lat/entire underarm region ridiculously tight

Donnie Thompson banded pec stuff: https://www.facebook.com/donnie.thom...1003808812673/

First rib mobilization
Quad/Adductor tempering

Congrats on your new award!

Lol, nice Photoshop.

Thanks for the Golden Cha! Such a beautiful trophy! I'll do my best to make S&F proud this year. Preferably in the form of a 700+ deadlift.

I broke a toe in December and that set me back for a while. A few days after that finally healed I snapped some **** up in my right thumb. Couldn't use the hand at all for close to a month. During that time I didn't do any mobility work and as a I result I found myself tighter/less mobile than any time before. Tried to bench the bar last week and couldn't even row the bar to my chest. Knees weren't tracking right during skwats. Did a bunch of mobility work and now I feel K. Pec still tightens up everytime I use it and my glute/hamstring still gives me trouble sometimes during normal daily activities like walking. I've also tried a little bit of jogging with my dog. Probably not the best idea. Lifting the past two weeks has felt great though!

Weeks 1-7:
Skwatted up to 355x1 narrow stance. Did lots of triples with 275 before I snapped my thumb up. Also tried doing a few painful triples in the weeks after snapping said thumb up.

I've been doing the majority of my upper back/shoulders/triceps/biceps work at home with bands and light dumbbells. Lots of reps. Lots of bloodflow.

Week 7 Day 2:

SSB squat:
85x8
175x5
225x5
265x3
245x3x2 with light bands

Deadlift:
185x5 conventional
185x1 sumo
275x3 conventional
275x1 sumo
365x1 conventional
365x1 sumo
455x1 sumo w/hook grip

Not sure if ready for hook grip yet

Bench:
45x10
95x5
135x5
145x5x2

Getting much better. 135x5 last week was legitimately difficult.

Seated cable row: weight per handle
40x20x2
40x15

Hangs: a few

Quad tempering
Gut tempering



I put 25s on the inside of the bar to avoid getting Canditoed. Really just need to start using a deadlift bar. Ended up setting up too wide with 455. Felt weird but K.

Got more bloodwork done:
Testosterone, Total - 275ng/dL (250-1100)
Testosterone, Free - 38.8pg/mL (46.0-224.0)
Testosterone, Bioavailable - 83.3ng/dL (110.0-575.0)
SHBG and Prolactin were in the middle of the given range.

Once again, cotdamn.

Had a subsequent brain MRI. Pituitary looks fine. Have another appointment soon. Will report back.

Total T doesn't matter. Free & bioavailable do. Hopefully you have a doc who will try to get yours to near the top of the normal range, which is optimal.

Man, those are pretty darn surprising lab results.

Estradiol was not included in the bloodwork?

Yea. Both my free and total are way above those numbers. Forgot free but total was near about 500+

Gym went out of business in early March. Somehow that led to 4 months off. Luckily I employed my proven strategy of keeping calories high and activity low and managed to keep apparently all of my gainz.

Had a surprisingly difficult time finding a gym with a suitable squat rack. Kept finding racks like this which just weren't going to work. Stands would've been fine. Anything but this.



Finally gave in and joined LA Fitness over the weekend. It's definitely not ideal but they have a power rack and supposedly will let me keep my bag with me. I'll take what I can get.


Week ??? Day 1

Squat:
45x10
135x5
225x5
275x3
315x3
335x1
335x2
355x1

Isolateral row: weight per handle
90x20 pronated
90x20 neutral
90x20 pronated

Various other back machines: 100ish reps

Barbell curl:
45x20

Row machine: 1 minute



Went a lot better than expected. Definitely lots to work on but the weight felt very light on my back. Belt was a little too tight which constricted breathing/contributed to a little over extension. Also probably need to relearn how to use a belt.

Morning weight's been between 240-245 for the past few months. Might go up a little now that I'm lifting again but I'll try to keep it reasonable.

4 months off, can still squat 355

yeesh

Welcome back Jessah

Any interest in deciding who the Golden Cha should pass to this year?

Yeah I have a few people in mind. Need to catch up on some logs.

July 24: Week 1 Day 2

Squat:
45x10
135x8
225x8
275x5
315x5
335x5
365x2

Bench:
45x20
95x10
135x10x2
135x15

The benches here are going to be a problem. Way too low, rack height too low, pad too narrow.

Isolateral row:
90x20 pronated
90x20 neutral
115x12 pronated

Lying leg curl:
20x20

This felt really nice. Machines are much newer/smoother here. Hamstring tendon would probably benefit from some more slow eccentrics.

Triceps machine?:: some free motion cable machine with individual handles for seated or standing? overhead triceps extensions. Felt k.



Can’t believe how strong I feel. Weight has definitely never felt this light on my back. My breathing/posture still isn’t great but other than that things feel pretty good. Still need to get a feel for depth. Still need to get a better camera angle.

July 28: Week 2 Day 1

Squat:
45x10
135x5
225x5
275x3
315x3x3

Didn't feel great today. Got a nasty lower back pump almost immediately. Hips were definitely tight and there must have been some low back movement. Still not terrible.

Deadlift:
135x5
225x3 conventional/sumo
315x1 conventional/sumo
365x1 conventional/sumo
415x1 sumo

Felt good to finally pull again, even if it was super light and limited by grip. Ordered some straps so I'll be able to pull for real again soon. All hex plates is truly awful. Not as big of a deal for sumo since I set up with my shins touching, but pretty terrible for conventional where I usually roll the bar towards me. Also can't really do reps. Didn't really like reps anyways.

Machine rows: dunno

Still just playing around trying any machine that might look useful. Or at least fun.

Cable flyes: dunno

Haven't used a freemotion cable cross in years. Felt pretty good. My pecs/pec tendons really need work. Benching 135 the other day practically crippled me for a days.

Other machines: dunno

Honestly can't remember. Must not have been anything worthwhile.

July 31: Week 2 Day 2

Squat:
45x10
135x8
225x5
275x1
315x1
345x1
375x3

Felt comfortable. Need to get depth squared away before I get into PR territory.

Deadlift: sumo, beltless
225x2
315x2
405x2
455x2
505x1

All very easy. My setup with straps is awful and takes like 45 seconds. Hopefully I can improve upon that quickly. I managed to figure out my right hand but failed at getting my left hand tight/secure. Still already like them more than any of my previous straps.

Got figure 8 straps like these (but a cheap knockoff): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tKHjIlvl8g

Machine row:
2 sets pronated/2 sets neutral

Triceps pushdown/overhead triceps extension
2 sets each

Bike: 2 mins

Nothing exciting last week. Pulled 405x3 conventional without any discomfort.

August 10: Week 4 Day 1

Machine stuff: would normally do this last if at all. Wasn't planning on skwatting today. Not sure what happened.

Squat:
45x10
135x8
225x5
275x1
315x1
365x1
385x1
405x1
225x5

Squatted 275x3x2 and 295x3x2 beltless last Sunday. Accidentally took the rest of the week off.

August 21:

Squat:
45x10
135x8
225x5
275x1
315x1
365x4
365x5

Wasn't expecting that. Need to get my cardio up so I can smash some rep PRs.

Strained some lower hamstring/adductor muscle walking down the stairs. Extreme pain in kneecap and very limited knee flexion for a few days until I was able to start working some adhesions out. Was worried I snapped some **** up in my knee but it was instantly healed once the back of my leg was freed up a little.

September 10:

Pullups: 1, just making sure
Lat pull down: 2 sets
Seated cable row: 2 sets
Low machine row: 2 sets
Rear delt flyes: 2 sets
Lying leg curl w/ slow eccentrics: 2 sets
adductor machine: 2 sets of a few reps and 1-2 long holds
abductor machine : same
glute machine: 1 machine, was k

Squat:
45x10x2
135x5
185x5x2 paused
185x23 PR?

Well that was horrible. Was planning on 10. Then wanted 15 but forgot how to breathe and count at 14 and got confused. Thought I got 25 but did not. Would've done 2 more if my counting skills didn't fail me. Would like to improve conditioning and be less fat. Might be a good time to do that while hopefully making some connective tissue gains before going heavy again. It's hard because I'm a lazy fatty at heart and really just want to waddle up, squat or pull 1 rep, and go home. Would probably do that if my body stayed healthy enough.





Back's gotten a lot thicker since last picture. Lot hairier too.

Took another one a week later. Successfully flexed lats. Failed at taking quality picture. Not worth embedding: https://dl2.pushbulletusercontent.co...905_140229.jpg

Smallest point of waist is 41-42 in those. Weights been fluctuating between 240-250

Got hit with some upper respiratory ****ery last week. Having trouble stringing multiple successful training sessions together. Still seem to be progressing though.

September 24:

2 mins on bike
Lat pull down: 2 sets
Seated cable row: 3 sets
Chest supported row machine: 2 sets neutral/pronated
Lying leg curl: 2 sets unilateral
Prone leg curl: 2 sets - same as lying leg curl but slightly different angle. felt good.
adductor machine: few reps, few long holds
abductor machine: same ****
glute machine: 2 sets of 15, this feels very good

Squat:
45x10x2
135x10
185x10
225x19 FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
275x3

Would've sworn that was 20. Probably still a PR I dunno. Pretty disappointed with my counting skills. Considered trying again but it just wasn't going to happen today. Might try again next week, might just move up instead. Breathing was still not 100 percent from being sick but I don't think it hindered me too much. Just not in great shape.

5 mins on elliptical

High rep squats are the worst form of torture I know. They do serve a purpose sometimes though.

Yeah they're brutal. Just trying to challenge myself while keeping the weight low. Conditioning is improving and my leg feels as good as it has in years. Might be putting on a little size too.

October 1:

2 mins on bike
lots of hanging
Chest supported row machine: 2 sets neutral/pronated
Lying leg curl: unilateral 2x10
Prone leg curl: 2x15
Glute machine: 2x15
Adductor machine: bunch of reps, bunch of holds

squat:
45x10x2
135x10
205x5
245x20 PR

Bench:
45x10
135x5

Was kind of hard. And very uncomfortable. Will try floor pressing or something soon.

Cable rows: set of 15 of
kneeling high rows
standing high rows
horizontal rows
bent over low row

4 mins on elliptical

Wanted to do more but couldn't shake the feeling of death. Pretty sure I'm done with 20 reppers. Would like to beat my old 315x12 beltless PR before going heavy again. Not sure if I'm there yet

October 15:

Hangs
Bike
Machine stuff

Squat:
up to 365x1. Felt heavy on my back.

Deadlift:
up to 405 conventional
up to 495 sumo

Conventional looked and felt pretty good. Sumo positioning was terrible.

October 23:

2 mins on bike
lots of hanging
Chest supported row machine: 1 set neutral/pronated
Lying leg curl: unilateral 2x10
Prone leg curl: 2x15
Glute machine: 2x15
Adductor machine: bunch of reps, bunch of holds
Abductor machine: bunch of reps, bunch of holds

Squat:
45x10
135x5
225x5
275x1
315x1
365x1
315x5

Still felt heavier than it should. Better than last week at least.

Deadlift: sumo
225x3 conventional/x1 sumo
315x3 conventional/x1 sumo
405x1 conventional/x1 sumo
405x1
495x2
545x1
405x5

Still not great positioning but much better than last time. Setup with straps is improving but still not where I want it. Going to start working on hook grip again before its PR time.

Leg press: plates per side
2x30

HS decline press: weight per side
45x8x2

Felt k, kinda heavy

HS incline press: weight per side
45x8

Did not feel k, will not try again for a while

Chest supported row machine: 2 sets neutral/pronated, heavier than warmup
Rear delt
Low machine row: 1 set neutral/pronated

Elliptical - 3 mins

Ordered Donnie Thompson's casual bowtie. Been looking forward to this product for a while.
http://www.southcarolinabarbell.com/...asual-SPUD281/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K74vtlPGk0s



Some terrible sound at lockout of my conventional pull. Hope that wasn't me.