9/3

BW:178

Ring Pull-ups 1x9
1 leg extended front lever 2 attempts
One arm hang 2x1/arm

DB Bench

50x6
55x5
65x4
75x3
80x3
90x1
70x8
60x8
45x10

Cable Row 5x10

Pause Squat

95x5
115x4
135x3
145x3
155x3
165x2
175x2
185x2
195x1

OHP (barbell)

45x10

One arm kneeling DB Press

20x12/arm

Bench Press (barbell):

95x15

Awful DB bench workout. Bad form in general and was pretty weak despite 6 days rest after a pretty strong workout. I guess this was inevitable, I made progress 5-6 weeks in a row.

Left wrist hurt a little on bench. Went a little wide. BB Bench did not hurt my neck or shoulders at all which is a great sign. Will look to barbell bench for 175x5 or so next bench session.

Relatively short rests between squat sets. Squats were all good and clean. May stop squatting in my adistars, these were all in cross trainers and form held up

9/2

Pull-ups NG 1x10 one arm 2x1/arm


9/1 rest


8/31

Climb 2 hours. Sent some V1 and V2 and got stuck on a new V3 near the top.

Pull-ups 1x9

8/30

Rest

9/6

Decline bench

95x7
115x6
135x5
155x5
175x5 easy

Trap Bar DL

185x6
225x5
265x3
305x2
335x1
315x5 easy

DB Bench

50x6
60x5
70x4
80x2
65x10

DB Bench: Would this have been better than 45x12 55x8-12 65x12?

No one noes.

Either way my form was horrible. Made a positive adjustment with wrist position. Pretty sure I'm just doing 3x10 up to 70 next time. I seem to have better form around 50-75% than at lower or higher intensities

Decline Bench felt great. No shoulder or wrist pain and form seemed good. Will continue this or flat bench and increase volume/intensity

9/5

Rest

9/4

Hike 3 miles, some running after dog ran away, as well as a little free climbing a few boulders we walked by (while dog/sister freaked out). Gonna have to get a crash pad

9/7

Pullups NG 1x8
Chins 1x8

9/8

Chins 2x8

Something went wrong with deadlifts and my lower back is pretty sore. Foam rolling was far from fun. Pretty sure I lost core tension and rounded the lumbar on one rep. That's all it takes.

Will get in some light working and benching this weekend, plus a climb, and go really easy otherwise. I feel ready to squat today but there's just no reason to risk it

Did some bodyweight squats a couple days ago and discovered I can do... any amount. With a slight pause to lock out at the top, and a bounce at the bottom, my legs accumulate almost no lactic acid, and I can basically just rep out until I get bored. Seems kind of pointless tbh. I would add a heavy dumbbell and go for high rep goblet squats if I didn't want my legs to blow up

Kind of funny considering my legs are barely conditioned to climb stairs. Now that I say it, guess I should just be doing some stair climbs for cardio/conditioning, or hiking way more often

9/5: BW Squat 1x200

9/10

DB bench

50x5
60x5
70x5
75x5
80x6 @9.5
90x1 @9
65x11

Squat

105x4
135x3
155x2
175x2
185x1
195x1
175x3

9/9

Rest

Walk 2.5 miles

Did a small refeed over a few days when I didn't get much sleep and was feeling tired. Will weigh again when weight normalizes later in the week.

Squat form looked and felt very good. Should be able to get in a couple sessions a week like this without taking away from the rest of my training

I'm pretty happy with the last couple minutes post-injury and hope I can maintain this progress, essentially. The bench and climbing is slow but squat and deadlift are moving forward as is the PT work. Losing the last 8 pounds will make a big difference for me aesthetically as well as with my climbing and pullups

9/12

DB Bench

50x10
60x10
70x10@9

Resume harder dieting; sleep earlier

I think my bicep tendons are unhealthy. I tried a curl and was embarrassingly weak, way weaker than in the past, despite pullup strength being passable. Deep lockoffs hurt a little too

9/11

rest

Distal or medial? Distal will feel clearly like the nook of your elbow but the medial will feel more like your anterior deltoid is sore because one of the bicep heads tendons actually acts to raise the upper arm also.

Are your pullups stronger in the supinated, pronated or neutral? Try playing with the grip.

And if it is tendon based, you need to start doing very high rep low weight and/or a lot of negatives. There is very little blood flow around tendons so the area has to be well and truly pumped for healing to go faster.

Medial. It's usually not sore and just hurts post exercise.

Stronger neutral and supinated than pronated

The bicep is mostly just weak, limits me in pullups, and hurts immediately after any deep lockoffs for more than a few seconds

9/12

Trap Bar DL

145x5 pointless
195x5
235x5
285x3 (should have done 4, mistake)
325x3
345x2
365x1
235x10

Farmers Walk 95’s 2x1
TRX Body Lever Row 10,8,6

Add 10lb to all my previous Trap Bar workouts. Bar weighs 55, not 45.

Not a very strong day but DL was still passable. I think my deadlift should peak in strength again the next 1-2 weeks. Will attempt 365x2 next week, and another couple heavy doubles/singles the week following

Next time maybe:

195x6
235x5
285x4
325x3
355x2
385x1
355x2-3

Gonna get in another PT workout this week as well as some climbing. Last couple weeks have been a decent deload but I'm back in full swing now

Well, this is an unhappy post, but my neck has gotten *worse* the past month. School started last week and sitting in class, especially lab work, has been painful. It's a serious enough issue that I'm going to do what is best for me and not what I want, and quit the PT/strength training temporarily to switch to physical therapy with my old PT Eric. When I first saw Eric I was experiencing a constant 5-7/10 pain that last years. Ultimately we brought that way down to a 0-2.

I'd like to think I will still be able to dumbbell bench and do pullups, which have been huge for me this year in terms of gaining strength and muscle. I do think I'll probably have to take off temporarily and reintroduce them 1+ month down the line. Squats are another ?, they don't appear to cause any neck strain, and I've made enormous gains in form that I'm really happy with, but it's still heavy lifting and could be effecting my neck. There's no question I have to quit deadlifting for a while. It's unclear if pullups increase my issues, but they definitely create some training strain, even working with 8 reps (50-60%) most of the time

I've had over two weeks off climbing now due to my training partner moving away and me focusing on other physical training, but hopefully climbing will be feasible again shortly. I love benching and squatting and pulling but climbing is way more fun than any of these things, even if it doesn't produce comparable results physically.

I've fought through several injuries in this log which were shorter lived but more debilitating in nature than constant neck tightness/soreness. This will be a minor detour which will hopefully be an investment in my future health and happiness. I'd also like to share that my ass hurts too. Not from gay sex (not that there would be anything wrong with that), but from training, and sitting on it, and possibly diet. Perhaps I can resolve these issues and find my way back to heavy deadlifting. Deadlifting makes me a stronger climber but ultimately If I have to quit it permanently, I can still live with that

9/27

DB Bench

50x6
60x5
70x4
75x7
60x7

Short rests

No more for a while. Right thumb was hurting again. Also I think these are contributing to the neck flareup.

9/24

Squat

50x4
60x3
70x3
80x2
85x2
90x1
95x1 awesome
100x1 bad
80x3x2
60x5
60x6

9/17

DB bench

50x5
60x4
70x3
80x3
70x9.5

Pull-ups rings overhand 1x10

Leg Press 400?x10

Workout tightened neck a little (pull-ups most likely culprit)


9/16

Rest

9/15

Rest

9/14

Rest

Pull-ups NG 1x8

Hurt neck a little

Well I've basically been taking off. The little I've done (DB Bench and pullups) have negatively impacted my neck. Driving to school five days a week plus sitting in class plus lab work once a week is taking a toll too.

I've made a major positive change in quitting smoking marijuana in a water pipe. For some reason it has historically triggered in me a relatively consistent compulsion to eat food. It took a while to work through this but the anxiety of NOT eating food when feeling the urge to do so overcomes the positives of the high, medical or otherwise. Smoking a joint has less of an effect, but even less than this is using my vape pens, which trigger no real anxiety or urge to eat despite delivering 75% THC. What this means is I WILL make my weight goals. Calorie restriction becomes extremely easy when I don't eat late at night and am sleeping by 9-10 most nights. It's only a matter of time at this point.

I restarted physical therapy and am doing a few basic neck exercises daily. I also worked out a program with the PT I can currently maintain 1-2x/week

We're looking at:

Safety bar squat
cable row
cable press
reverse lunge
step ups
horizontal band abduction
palloff press
Plank
side plank

hiking!

Will add RDL and TRX with some time and eventually get back to trap bar deadlifts. No pullups or DB Bench for at least another month. Need to heal these lingering hand injuries and the pullups are definitely hurting my neck and maybe lats.

Despite having to temporarily quit deadlifts, pullups, climbing, and DB bench, I think the next month or two of weight loss and PT work will be hugely beneficial for me mentally and physically, and I'll also be continuing to make progress on the squat during this time frame, prioritizing which should get me back to an OK place in terms of leg strength (maybe 120kgx2 back squat as a goal for the year). I look modestly strong right now @182 and am really looking forward to seeing what I look and feel like at 170-172.

10/8

bouldering 1 hour

sent several new V1

Neck felt fine. Seems the DB bench is much harder on my neck/upper back than climbing. Pullups aren't workable right now. Will keep the climbing light and see if my neck can continue to improve as I work through PT

Afraid to weigh myself. Gonna give myself until November before stepping on the scale. Should be able to make substantial progress in that time frame. Ideally I will weigh 175 by my birthday November 22 and my neck will be feeling better and I'll be much stronger in the climbing gym. Squatting, deadlifting are way secondary to these goals.

10/9

squats up to 80x3 60x6

no more until neck is improved. I don't have a choice. It's interfering with school at this point

10/13

bouldering 1.5 hours

neck flare up is decreased

10/14

bouldering 1 hour

projected V1-V3

10/17

bouldering 40 minutes

sent some new V0 and V1 and worked a V2. Everything is pretty hard at this weight. I can still one arm dead hang and crimp though

weight is 188. Pretty bad. Diet has gone very well the last 3 days. Part of this is having to go back on a medicine that results in weight gain. I got very lean on that medicine before anyway so I'm not gonna let this mini blow-up stop me. Now that I'm not smoking at night the diet is pretty easy, I guess it's just a matter of time. I feel relatively strong despite all

10/21 bouldering

1.5-2 hours short rests

Got on the wall 30+ times and sent 10+ routes between V0 and V1. Almost linked together a new V3. Still getting beat by 2-3 V1 routes I plan to take out this week

Diet has gone very well and I've completely eliminated the late night eating. Gonna cut calories further this week and axe out drinking and see what happens. Barely getting hungry at all right now anyway. I'm a little anxious to get back down to 180 at this point.

Having fun climbing.

But come on man those better be some misgraded V1's.

Haha, it's rock spot dedham. They're all surely V2 and one is getting graded at V3

That being said I am running 8+lb heavy and can pretty much expect to drop 1-2 grades from that + lack of recent practice

Hoping I'll be back at V3+ in another month or so

10/28 bouldering 1.5 hours

Sent several new V0-2 and one possible V3

What a great session. Started with a short warmup and then immediately sent my V1 problem on the first attempt. Cruz involved reaching up from left hand lockoff into the undercling and then standing on the left foot/getting the right up and transitioning to the large boulder at the top. This move felt like a V3 but once the right hand got on the undercling I knew the problem was over. I redid a couple V1 and moved on to a very long yellow V1 with holds seriously rough on the skin. I decided this one would ruin my session between the skin and endurance demands and switched to a blue overhanging V2 being graded at V3 which somehow seemed more doable. I could do the first couple moves in a few attempts, and when I tried the route from move 3 on I managed to send it! This was exhausting from an endurance perspective and I was considering ending the session as a success 30 mins in (felt some minor left shoulder pain on a big move). Finger strength was holding up so I decided to tinker around with some harder moves between V5-7 for half an hour while my pulling muscles and core recovered and managed to link a couple, and then moved on to the flat wall where there were several new problems between V0-3. I managed to send all but the V3, including this V2, the crux of which involved standing up on the right leg with the assistance of the right hand from a very deep squat and making a big reach with the left to the crimp up top. This was quite hard (surely V3+) and I was really happy to send it. Best session since I injured my thumb 3-4 months ago sending that V4 sloper problem. Maybe I can finally pick up where I left off. Next week a session at rock spot Boston working exclusively V0-1 for volume and some cave and overhanging problems (some of many weaknesses)

Back off terrible medicine which resulted in this weight gain, that plus no smoking and maybe I can get back to the shape I was in 4 years ago when I was doing BJJ in FL and hit 160, except with an added 10lb LBM or so. I'm making 175 my goal for the year. My last page of this log looks like a lot of fail and complaining but between the deadlifting and weight gain I actually feel quite strong and am excited to see what this will translate into in the climbing gym at lower weight. I lost my climbing partner to a Ninja Warrior job in CT a couple months ago and am considering getting some coaching in the near future to shore up my massive technical errors.

Now going to eat $150 sushi, holla

11/4

1.5 hours slower pace, flashed two hard V2 and made a few moves on V3-5

Was sick the past week. Pretty sure I lost a couple pounds. Success. Not smoking/keeping eating out and wine reasonable is going well. This wasn't a bad session coming off illness. Think I'll do it again tomorrow and just try to climb some V0-1

Holding off on weighing self again until birthday but should be back under 190 at least. As long as I'm making progress on a weekly basis I'm happy. Now that I'm off that med weight loss is inevitable

10/29 bouldering

Far right wall, sent a new yellow V3 on flat wall and couldn't climb V0-1 in cave

Teach me how to slab

11/7

1.5 hours or so, worked V0-1 for volume. Saw a guy send V5 and then struggle up the V0 I haven't sent yet, literally shaking with exertion on some moves. Made me feel a lot better about not sending it. It's probably a very physical V2. I can climb most at this point, should happen next session

Having extra wine regularly but nothing crazy, diet otherwise pretty good, weight loss continuing. Gonna wait till my birthday to step on scale. I think my high was around 194, probably 4 pounds lighter now, 10 more to go and I'll be back at 180

Cut out the wine, diet is imperfect but in good form for weight loss. Probably down 4 pounds total now. 10+ more to go and I'll be back to 178

Still haven't sent hard V0. Gonna give it another try today. I think the top out is definitely V2 and the length of the route plus overhanging element make it a V2. That being said none of the holds are bad so I see where the grade came from even if its crazy

11/16

Some new routes, sent a bunch of V0 and V1, struggled on a new V2 traverse with a hard crossover. Weight is ****ing killing me. Technique not helping. Climbing way slower than in the past

11/12

Hour and a half, failed at tons of routes. Sent a few new V0 and V1 and made the hard move on the white crimpy V1 on kids wall, only to find the next move even harder. Overhanging V0 continues to elude me. Made it to the top and couldn't get over

Might start logging some diet on here, not sure if it will be annoying/people will care

Post video of this V0. I think any route with any sort of true overhang can’t be V0.

kk. I'll see if it's up when I go back. The routes in dedham are so unbalanced, and there's a lack of V0 to V1 (which are really V1-V3).

I went to rock spot south boston today and realized most of the routes in dedham are 1-2 grades harder than marked, I sent multiple V2, some as a flash, while a V2 in Dedham would be a V3-V4 at this gym

11/18

45 mins bouldering. sent a new V3 traverse on the flat wall. Feels good

11/19

2 hours bouldering. Went to S. Boston and climbed some properly graded routes. Probably 20 routes total between V0-V3, couldn't send the V3 but sent nearly everything else. Great session which reminded me how much I like climbing, and how terrible the setters are at my regular gym. Flashed almost every V1 here without much strain. Pretty clear there's a V2/3 move or element in most of the V1 routes in dedham. Was also nice to have such a wide selection of routes. Busy though.

One thing I'm pretty happy with is the speed of my climbing. I'm really using my strength and making deliberate, static moves to reinforce technique and body positioning awareness. Feels kind of Zen to climb this slow, and also makes me feel safer with all of my injuries. I haven't gotten a bad tear since I restarted, which I attribute to this

Diet log:

11/19

3 Coffee w milk, cream
1/2 Greek yogurt w fruit
Banana
2 crackers w 2 slices Salami
1.5lb lean beef with 2 slices cheese, 3 burger buns
1 serving prunes

now that's a PWO meal. Was starving and went pretty hard.

I think I'm just gonna start crushing the fasting and moderate evening eating and see some rapid results. Should be big psychologically to lose a few more lb and start approaching 180 again. I also don't think I really need as much protein as I took in today and can probably reduce kcal a lot between that and the wine. That being said I'm not gonna stress myself over having a few drinks a week. I have a strong argument in that direction: When I was <170, I drank wine regularly

11/24 bouldering 2-2.5 hours.

Sent overhanging V0/1-2 and new V3 on flat wall. Redid most of the V0 in the gym and a couple V1. Worked V4 on flat wall and completed the deep lockoff/huge reach crux move but was unable to finish the route despite a long time trying. I’ll fix my beta and get it fresh tomorrow or sunday. Happy with this session considering my weight and it being the day after thanksgiving (and a french tasting the day before for my birthday).

Really got my scream on today

Will log diet once a week but not gonna do any weighing until I make noticeable physical progress. 170-75 is still the goal. I'm gonna have some relaxed fitting clothing come Spring break 2018


11/23 2x5 pull-ups
11/22 1x5 pull-ups