6/12/2011:

• Stretching: Whole body
• Mobility work:
  • Hip flexors
  • Broomstick shoulder mobility work
• Conditioning training: Hike, Red Rock Canyon, 2.5 mi

Notes:

• Fun hike...went at 5:30 am, so weather was nice and cool.

Mat and his dog Dhar hiked with me:

6/13/2011:

• Stretching: Whole body
• Mobility work:
  • Hip flexors
  • Broomstick shoulder mobility work
• Weighted pull-ups: -100 X 7, BW X 5, 25 X 5, 45 X 5, 55 X 4
• Pull-ups: BW X 16, BW X 12
• Neutral grip pull-ups: BW X 2 X 10
• OH press: 45 X 2 X 8, 45 X 15
• Shoulder shrugs: 225 X 5, 495 X 23 (PR), 585 X 13, 675 X 8
• Conditioning training: Farmers walk -- 80s X 300 ft.

Notes:

• Dip/chin weight belt was missing, so I had to do my pull-ups with dumbbells held at the ankles. I'd probably have gotten five reps of the last set with a weight belt.
• Working on getting the hang of OH presses. I felt the form was fine.

sick shrugs imo.

Are those pics from Red Rock Canyon? Thats a pretty cool place.

How's the pec doing?

Red Rock reminds me of Zion national park in Utah, only less green stuff. Probably belonged to the same mountain chain or something, so not so weird I guess.

Thanks Cha.

The shrugs and upper back stuff are all coming in pretty well, so I feel great about that. I wish I could say the same for my pec, as I do miss benching. OTOH, it may be good for me to be forced to put that focus on other lifts.

The pec is fine for day-to-day activities. For example, I had to push myself up some rocks during the hike, which was not a problem. Unfortunately, it's just not going to come back for serious bench pressing.

The pics are from Red Rock Canyon. It's a great place to take awesome photos, for sure.

6/14/2011:

• Stretching: Whole body
• Mobility work:
  • Hip flexors
  • Broomstick shoulder mobility work
• Deadlift (sumo): 135 X 5, 225 X 5, 295 X 5, 315 X 5, 335 X 5
• Good mornings: 135 X 10, 185 X 3 X 16
• Assisted GHRs: BW X 10, BW X 5
• Ab wheel: BW X 3 X 10

Notes:

• The Las Vegas break gave my hamstring time to recover (mostly).
• My hamstring got a little tight on the GHRs, so I backed off.

Does "assisted" mean that you push yourself up off the floor a bit? Just curious for if/when I decide to try these things (although it may not be any time soon as I haven't tried to find that gizmo that attaches to the door yet, nor has my furniture grown big, heavy and low to support my weight).

Yes, that's exactly right. It's less and less help each time. I now set myself down nice and slowly without any assistance and just slightly nudge myself up with my hands on some of the reps (some are unassisted) and let the hamstrings do the rest.

When you start doing them, I'd recommend catching yourself on the way down and being pretty forceful about pushing yourself up. Just get used to the motion and gradually work up, first with an unassisted negative phase of the movement, then up to totally unassisted.

6/16/2011:

• Stretching: Whole body
• Mobility work:
  • Hip flexors
  • Broomstick shoulder mobility work
• Bent-over row: 135 X 10, 245 X 3, 275 X 3, 285 X 3
• Pendlay row: 155 X 3 X 10
• Close grip incline press: 95 X 3 X 10
• Barbell front raise: 45 X 10, 65 X 5

6/17/2011

• Stretching: Whole body
• Mobility work:
  • Hip flexors
  • Broomstick shoulder mobility work
• Squats: 45 X 8, 135 X 5, 185 X 5, 245 X 3, 255 X 3, 275 X 8
• Box squats (12" box): 115 X 2 X 10, 135 X 10
• Assisted GHRs: BW X 3 X 10
• Ab wheel: BW X 4 X 10

6/14/11 -- Weight: 215.0 lb

The day I got back from Las Vegas, I weighed in 5.2 lbs above my original target. As I was >5 lbs above target, that meant I was in automatic weight reduction mode.

So, I dropped down in 1800 kcal/day and started examining options to increase cardio without disrupting 5/3/1 training.

6/15/11 -- Weight: 213.4 lb
6/16/11 -- Weight: 210.2 lb
6/17/11 -- Weight: 210.4 lb
6/18/11 -- Weight: 210.4 lb

LOL. It looked like much ado over nothing. I guess I ate too much soy sauce with a couple of trips out for sushi and was just holding water weight.

Glad the 1800 kcal/day lasted only two days.

I may wish to revisit that logic, as I am at a slightly better body composition now than I was when I posted my OP. It's not exactly the before and after ads we've all seen in M&F, but at least the trending is in the right direction:

6/19/2011:

• Stretching: Whole body
• Mobility work:
  • Hip flexors
  • Broomstick shoulder mobility work
• Weighted pull-ups: -100 X 7, BW X 5, 45 X 3, 55 X 2 X 3, 65 X 1
• Pull-ups: BW X 16, BW X 12
• Neutral grip pull-ups: BW X 12, BW X 10
• OH press: 45 X 15, 65 X 12, 85 X 6
• Shoulder shrugs: 225 X 5, 495 X 28 (PR), 585 X 8, 585 X 10

Notes:

• Felt the last set of OH presses in the left pec a bit so I backed off. No damage done.

hard to tell with a shirt on, but you look leaner on the left.

Interesting, thanks. I may need to tighten up a bit more, or it may just be better posture on the left.

FWIW, I'm 0.4 lbs heavier on the right, but my waist is 1.5" smaller. I'm (by design) wearing the same shorts with the belt in the same position in both.

The pics look about the same to me so it's no surprise to hear that your weight is about the same in the two pics.

Having said that, good work on cutting the 1.5" off your waist in the RH photo. I'm sure the womenz lounging around the LV pools notice right away when you are in your trunks applying oil on their bods at their command. That would be a perk of the LV service industry... amirite?

Thanks.

That's funny. It sounds interesting, but I wouldn't know about that.

I live in northern Kentucky (suburban Cincinnati) and have taken my wife to all but one of my trips to Las Vegas. If I were in my trunks applying oil on the bods of the womenz lounging around the LV pools at their command, she'd be the one to notice right away.

LOL!... D'oh! My brain apparently stopped working when you posted those recent pics in Vegas!

I guess you'll just have to start lurking the tanning salons in Cinci.

6/23/2011

• Stretching: Whole body
• Mobility work:
  • Hip flexors
  • Broomstick shoulder mobility work
• Bent-over row: 45 X 5, 135 X 5, 235 X 5, 265 X 3, 295 X 4, 315 X 2, 335 X 2 (PR)
• Pendlay row: 155 X 3 X 12
• Bench press: 45 X 2 X 10
• Barbell front raise: 45 X 2 X 10
• Pulley rope pushdowns: 87.5 X 2 X 10, 65 X 12

Notes:

• BORs felt solid -- full ROM and actually in a bent over position (not a Yates row), of course.
• First bench press since last pec tear.

how'd the benching go?

Fine, considering it was just the bar. Thanks. No pain or anything.

I will gradually work up to reps at 135, mainly to keep things balanced with the upper back work, but it seems the decent benching is a thing of the past. Oh well.

6/23/2011

• Stretching: Whole body
• Mobility work:
  • Hip flexors
  • Broomstick shoulder mobility work
• Squats: 45 X 8, 135 X 5, 225 X 5, 255 X 5, 285 X 3, 315 X 2*
• Box squats (12" box): 135 X 3 X 10
• Assisted GHRs: BW X 3 X 10
• Stiff-leg KTEs: BW X 3 X 5

Notes:

• It felt great to squat with three plates again.
• The first rep of the maximal squat set was good on depth. The second rep was an inch or two high.

6/25/2011:

• Stretching: Whole body
• Mobility work:
  • Hip flexors
  • Broomstick shoulder mobility work
• Weighted pull-ups: -100 X 7, BW X 5, 25 X 5, 45 X 3, 65 X 1
• Pull-ups: BW X 19, BW X 13
• Neutral grip pull-ups: BW X 2 X 10
• OH press: 45 X 15, 65 X 2 X 10
• Shoulder shrugs: 225 X 5, 495 X 29 (PR), 585 X 8, 585 X 6

Notes:

• Pull-ups felt great
• My straps failed after the 495 lb. set. Was able to use them for partial assistance only.

6/27/2011:

• Stretching: Whole body
• Mobility work:
  • Hip flexors
  • Broomstick shoulder mobility work
• Deadlift (sumo): 135 X 5, 225 X 5, 285 X 5, 325 X 3, 355 X 2
• Good mornings: 135 X 10, 185 X 3 X 17
• Assisted GHRs: BW X 3 X 10
• Ab wheel: BW X 4 X 10

Notes:

• Everything felt good -- nice and solid.

6/29/2011

• Stretching: Whole body
• Mobility work:
  • Hip flexors
  • Broomstick shoulder mobility work
• Bent-over row: 45 X 7, 135 X 5, 235 X 5, 275 X 5, 305 X 3, 335 X 2
• T-bar row: 90 X 15, 135 X 15, 180 X 7
• Bench press: 45 X 2 X 15
• Barbell front raise: 45 X 2 X 12
• Pulley rope pushdowns: 87.5 X 3 X 10, 65 X 10

Notes:

• I'm repeating week 3 of this 5/3/1 rotation this week.
  • I'm going to Las Vegas next week for the 2+2 party, to represent PPA at the WSOP, and for some vacation time, so I decided to shift things around to allow deload week to fall during my time in Las Vegas.