Too much BS in my old logs. Frustrating and un-motivating. This will be a daily activity log and that's it.

1/11

Pullups narrow grip 2, 2,
pushups ng 4, 3,2
pullups ng 3

PT work (2 sets each);

one leg stands
heel taps
side plank
pushup plank
arm reaches front and back

CoC trainer 2x/10 side
reverse wrist curl 10lb r 10, 10 l 10,7
5lb r 40,30 l 30, 10

wrist curl 5lb 20/side

reverse lunge 2x12/side

1/12 Rest

1/13

went bouldering. some dead hangs to failure. I can only hang from my right hand alone for 3 seconds. jesus.

bw:193

PT work (2 sets each);

heel taps
side plank
pushup plank
plank
crunch

pushups 5x5

Weekly Training Agenda 1/14/17

PT work daily 1x

Sat

-50 pull-ups program day 1
-Kick heavy bag
-squat, DL, bench

Sun

-bike

Mon

-Squat, RDL, grip
-pull-ups day 2
-heavy bag

Tues

-bench
-bike

Weds

-Squat, DL
-heavy bag
-pullups day 3

Thurs

-bike

Fri

-Squat, bench
-heavy bag
-pullups day 4

Will add in martial arts and skill training and more biking as I see fit. This is the bare minimum.

1/14

PT work (2 sets each);

one leg balances 60+seconds/side
heel taps 30
crunch 30
pushup plank 30 sec
plank 30 sec
side plank 15-20 sec/side
arm reaches(2x) 10

pushups 5,3,2
pullups medium grip overhand 2,2, 1
CoC 10+5/hand

DB bench 45's 3x5
kick heavy bag 20 mins

bw: 189.5

Squat, DL, more everything tomorrow. Adding in more PT work soon. Almost over sickness.

1/15

PT work (2 sets each)

one leg balances 60+seconds/side
heel taps 30
crunch 30
pushup plank 30 sec
plank 30 sec
side plank 20 sec/side
reverse lunge 15/leg

pushups 3,3,2
pullups close grip overhand 4x2

1/16 AM

PT work (1 set each);

one leg balances 60+seconds/side
heel taps 30
crunch 30
pushup plank 45 sec
plank 30 sec
side plank 20 sec/side
reverse lunge 15/leg
glute bridge 15 reps

I think the combination of back and core stability work along with DB bench and practicing lots of pushups should get me back to the point where I can do 50+ pushups in sets of 10 in my kickboxing warmups. My upper body has never been weaker. Climbing was very difficult.

My throat was sore again yesterday morning. I think this illness is almost gone. I should be able to squat and DL today

1/17

PT workx2:

pushup bottom position plank 15 sec
glute bridges 30 reps
heel taps 30
reverse lunge 15/side
one leg balances 90sec/side
crunch 40 reps
arm reaches 20 reps front, back straight, back V
Squat 25 reps



1/16 PM

CoC 5 closes/hand
heavy bag 3 mins, 30 sec break, 3 minutes

Finally figured out why I can't do pullups. Gotta stabilize the upper back and shoulders with planks and PT work

pushups*^. pushup planks at different depths of the movement + bench seems like the best fix

1/17 pullups cg 2,3,2,2,4



My week fell apart. Modified plan I am resolving to adhere to:

Weds

Bench
heavy bag
core

Thurs

Squat
pullups
SLDL
CoC

Fri heavy bag

Sat squat pullups Coc, sparring

Gonna get in a couple good sparring sessions as well.

1/18

CoC 20 reps/hand. 5 closes/hand

rest. still sick. Unbelievable

1/19 AM

pullups cg (day 2) 2,3,2,2,5
dead hang 60 seconds

PT work:

glute bridges 40
heel taps 40
reverse lunge 20/side
one leg balances 90sec/side
crunch 50 reps
arm reaches 20 reps front, back straight, back V
Squat 30 reps
plank 60 sec
pushup plank 45 sec
pushup bottom position plank 15 sec x2
side plank 30 sec

1/19 PM

Pullups 2,2
CoC 10 reps/hand

Bench Press 50kg 3x5
Squat 60kg 3x5
SLDL 90kg 1x5

1/20 AM

PT work x2:

arm reaches 20 reps front, back straight 15 reps, back V 15 reps
heel taps 40 reps
1-leg isometric heel taps 15 seconds/leg
pushup bottom position plank 15 secx2
plank 40 sec
pushup plank 40 sec
side plank 20 sec
glute bridges 40 reps
reverse lunge 20/side
one leg balances 90sec/side
crunch 45 reps
Goblet Squat 30 reps 5lb

1/20 PM

Bag 10 minutes HIIT

DB press 50x9+3,2
Seated Row 110b 10,8
bench db rows 40x20 ,50x10,45x12
db trap shrugs 60x20, 70 2x12
face pull 25lb 2x12, 10lb 2x20
Overhand face pull 10lb 2x10, 5lb 2x20
Lateral raises on bench 5’s 2x10
americana raises on bench 2x10
straight arm raises on bench 2x10
Americana raises standing 5lb 2x15
cable lateral raise 5lb 2x10
wrist curl 5lb 2x30, 4lb 1x40
reverse wrist curl 5lb 20,20,30

This was great.

I found a major issue in my shoulders/back/upper neck. If I lay facedown on a bench and try to do a shoulder raise with my arm at a 45 degree angle (like an americana), I cannot get my hand to parallel with the floor even with no weight added. Not sure what is so weak or tight but this seems like a major part of my dysfunction.

I spoke to a military friend about my training and some of my physical problems. He explained to me that I was suffering from "severe physical weakness" due to "a life of doing whatever is easy." He also asked why I had never put the effort I put into my deadlift into any of my other training. I started to explain that I had been injured and prior to that had always tried to prioritize one lift to conserve my energies, and realized that I was talking to a man who pulls 600 while running 20+ miles a week, swimming, climbing cliffs, and training hundreds of other movements and techniques and facets of physical training. Theres no excuse anymore for failure to follow through. It's all mental

1/21

AM

pullup 2,2,3,4,2,5
dead hang 45 sec, 35 sec

Squat 30 reps
Arm reaches 20 reps front, 15 back straight, 20 back V
glute bridges 40 reps
heel tap 2x30
one leg balances 2:30/leg
crunch 50 reps
twist crunch 20 reps/side
pushup plank 50 sec
pushup bottom position plank 15 secx2
plank 50 sec
side plank 20 sec

I agree with everything here.

I'm less than half as strong as before at most of my lifts. I have this fear that I'm going to go in and add weight, and it's just not going to go up. I was told this is psychological. The weight went on before, I just had to put in the work. I'm only 29 now. The weight will go back on. There's no reason it won't.

The same friend made a valid point re: PT. I told him that stability strength is my main issue and even driving a car results in me shifting around excessively. My core and neck often get in suboptimal positions without me noticing. He reminded me of deadlifting heavy, and how tight my neck would get the following days. When the neck is tight like that, shifting into a dysfunctional position is physically painful. Strength training at a sufficient intensity can encourage proper posture through this tightness/soreness, as well as through the primary training effect.

1/21 PM

Squat BW+45 20 reps
RDL 80kgx15
Pullup 2,1

one leg heel tap isometric 40 seconds/leg

1/22 AM

Goblet Squat bw+10 30 reps
pushup 7,5,4
one leg balances 2:30/leg
Arm reaches 20 reps front, 20 back straight, 20 back V
crunch 50 reps
twist crunch 20 reps/side
glute bridges 50, 30
heel tap 30 reps

Upper right trap is sore. Consistent with the upper right side of my back and neck being compromised.

Training Agenda for week:

PT Daily
Bike 2-3x
Heavy bag 2-3x


Sun

Squat 3x5
Bench 3x5
Db Press, DB Row, face pull

Mon

Gym PT work

Tues

DL 1x5
Squat 3x5
RDL
Pullups (Day 4) 3,4,3,3,MAX
grip work

Weds

Bench
power shrug
DB bench, db row
Gym PT work

Thurs

Squat
Pullups (Day 5) 3,5,3,3,MAX

Fri

Deadlift
RDL
grip work
Gym PT work

Sat

Bench
Db bench, Db row
Gym PT Work

Sun

Pullups (Day 6) 4,5,4,4,MAX
Squat 3x5
RDL

I want to do strength training daily now, but my capacity for volume is still low. I think increasing the frequency of light assistance PT work at the gym will help. There’s no reason not to do this at least 2-3x/week. The stress of these exercises is very low.

The idea behind the programming is following a Starting Strength type progression without cleans, along with the "50 pullups" program and assistance work, primarily db bench, db rows, shrugs, and a large volume of light PT work.

Modifying this. I was sick very recently I can't risk missing lifts while still ramping up on volume.

I may need more rest between SS days to compensate for the volume of PT work.

1/22 PM

CoC trainer close 8+3 L, 10 R
Reverse wrist curl 5lb, 30/hand

Squat 40kgx5, 50kgx3, 60kgx5, 60kg 2x4
Bench 50kgx3, 55kgx5

Bench 60kgx8*

I accidentally added too much weight on the bench and the squat last session, and also did 3 extra reps in set 1. Yeah. No wonder I missed my lifts.


1/23 rest
1/24 rest

pullups BWx7

1/25 AM

Pullups day 4: 3,4,3,3,6

Squat BWx20, bw+45x20
RDL 30
Pushups 7+2

Bench 40kgx5, 45kgx5, 55kgx5, 50kg 7+2
Squat 40kgx5 45kgx5 50kg 3x5
deadlift 55kgx10 80kgx5 95kgx5

I'm less than an inch from the floor on my SLDL. so close I'm probably gonna go for the floor next session.

Reset weights on bench and squat due to form issues.

1/26

Push-up plank 50 sec left hand hurts
Plank 60 seconds
Side plank 30 sec/side
Push-up plank (bottom) 22,19 sec
Glute bridge 30,30

1/27

bouldering 1.5 hours

Heel taps 40
Crunches 50
one leg balances 3:00/leg
Squat bw 30 reps
Reverse lunge 20,10 /leg
pushup 8, 5
Arm reaches 20 reps front, 20 back straight, 20 back V

1/28 AM

Sore from climbing.

Heel taps 45
Squats 35
RDL 30

Squat 40kgx6, 50kgx6, 55kg 6,5,5
Front squat 50kg 3x3
CoC 5x3/hand


Couldn't break parallel on back squats without my hips rolling under slightly. Switched to front squat for my last 2 sets and made it below parallel without rounding. Very happy with this result. Switching entirely to front squats.

Seems that the pushups have been max effort exercises and are interfering with the benching. I need to program more intelligently.

Week of 1/29:

PT 3-4x
Heavy bag 1-2x

Sat

Front Squat

Sunday

Bench 3x5
pushups 3 sets

Monday

Deadlift 1x5
pullups (day 5)
front squat 4x3
CoC

Tues

rest

Weds

Bench
pushups 3 sets

Thurs

Front Squat
RDL
pullups
CoC

Fri

rest

Sat

Front Squat
pullups
Bench
pushups

Sun

rest


So I'm benching every 4-5 days, doing pushups every 3-4 days, a deadlift variation every 3-4 days, front squatting every 2-3 days, CoC every 3-4 days, doing pullups every 2-3 days, and doing assistance work once a week.

1/29

Bench 40kgx5 45x4 50x5 55x6,5,5

Dec DB Bench 35’sx10 40x5 45x3 55x8
DB Bench Row 40x10 55x10/arm
Face Pull 5lbx25, 0x25,15x25,20x25
Seated Cable Row 120x10
DB Trap Shrugs 70'sx15 grip failed
65'sx15 grip failed
Rear Delt Raises bench BWx20,
5’sx15,10
Americana Raises Bench BWx2x20 bad
Straight Arm Raises Bench BWx2x20 bad
Cable Lateral Raises 5lb 1x10, 10lb 8R 9L

As it relates to work load, those last two posts seem like they are from different people. I would question the benefit for increasing strength and think that you might be inhibiting recovery.

Also, 29 is still young...particularly as it relates to strength training. You will get back to where you were in no time.

I don't know what to do about it.

The issues I have stem from a car accident in early 2012 I never fully recovered from. My neck hurts, mostly the right side, the upper right of my back is dysfunctional, and my shoulders are dysfunctional in certain ways, and my core is very unstable.

My PT strongly encouraged me to do PT exercises at the gym. He said this is important for my recovery. I've compromised by doing light PT work at home (as instructed to do) and making it to the gym a single time a week for assistance exercises. The gym exercises are an extension of the PT work at home, but hits areas I can't do as well without resistance.The exercises I picked are specifically to address the neck, upper back, shoulder issues with lots of retraction work and some stability work. I'm adding in farmers walks and palloff presses next.

I've tried just doing basic strength training to correct these issues and it doesn't work. If I could just add weight on squat, bench, deadlift and get better I would do it. After the accident happened in 2012, I was still DB benching the 100's and front squatting 245. The injury just crept up and took me out of action.

So I basically have to do the PT, and then add weight to my main lifts as much as possible. It's definitely slowing recovery to some small degree.

That being said, I do believe that some of the assistance lifts are capable of producing strength gains that will assist the main lifts. I've had a lot of success in the past adding weight to DB rows and decline DB bench.

I also forgot to schedule the assistance day above. I felt I had energy for it after benching so I went for it.

I intend to follow through on the rest of the schedule and I don't anticipate a problem with volume this week. I'm barely feeling the gym PT work the next day and my chest isn't even sore. I only did a handful of heavy sets the entire workout.

Thanks for the encouragement.

1/30

squat 30
deadlift 30

Deadlift:

40kgx5
60x5
70x3
80x5
90x2
100x5, 2
SLDL 80x8

pullups 3,5,3,3,6,5,3,2
total reps: 30

pushups 3x5

Cutting out the CoC grippers for now. I basically just can't do them because my forearms are always shot from climbing, pullups and deadlifts.

One more session of the 50 pullups program left and I'll find a new program.

Thinking I need to double the assistance volume for the low intensity movements.

PT movements I would benefit from 2x/week:


1x/week:

Shrugs
Dec DB press
DB row
cable row
farmers walk
wrist curl
reverse wrist curls

re: wrist curls, right wrist was popped by an armbar and is susceptible. It's intended as a PT movement. Low weight high reps

2x/week:

face pull
Lateral rear delt raises on bench
Americana raises on bench
straight arm raises on bench
Americana raises standing
cable lateral raise
palloff press

oblique bends?
another face pull type movement? check for variations


Going to check my PT log and see if there are other useful light PT movements I am missing. I'm addressing core stability, upper back and scapular retraction, shoulder mobility.

Open to any suggestions for physical therapy