Today's workout

Press: 140 lbs x 5 x 2 (set 1, set 2), x 7
DL: 335 lbs x 5

Pretty straightforward session. Forgot to hit record on the DLs but everything felt good with those.

Today's workout

Squat: 345 lbs x 5 x 2 (set 2), x 10
Bench: 165 lbs x 5 x 2 (set 1, set 2), x 10
Shoulder work

Today's session was crappy. I was distracted the whole time. Got called into the house after my last warmup and forgot to set up my phone to video my first set of squats. Didn't realize until I was unloading the bar that the third plate on my left side was a 35 lb plate, so I wanted 355 but did an uneven 345 today. Probably going to start doing 10 lb increases in squat as today felt about what I should be doing (10 lb increase since Monday). Bench was bench.

Forgot to post this on Friday. After lifting I made a batch of Mongolian Beef with Broccoli for dinner, was pretty tasty:

Today's workout

Squat: 355 lbs x 5
Press: 145 lbs x 5

My left knee started hurting around rep 3 in squats. Decided to call it here. Still feels solid (not worrying about it buckling) but I didn't want to push anything. Pain is at the bottom of the kneecap, doesn't look bruised, but it probably is. I stopped press after the first set as I was just defeated by the squat issue. Going to DL and bench per my plan on Wednesday and retry this workout on Friday. If there are still issues I will probably reset and re-evaluate my training. Kind of hoping I am still just a bit beat up from helping out at a powerlifting meet on Saturday (only 10 lifters, but maybe a factor).

Today's workout

Bench: 175 lbs x 5 x 2 (set 1, set 2), x 10
DL: 345 lbs x 5
Rows
Shoulder work

Knee still hurts when bent more than 90 degrees. Didn't bother me during today's session though as I didn't bend it that much. Bench felt good, DLs were ok.

Will see how the knee does during warmups on Friday. If it still hurts I will probably DL twice next week (Monday and Friday) and not squat.

Is there a reason you paused at the bottom of your first rep for so long in the bench press vid? I’m curious because the first rep of bench of my working sets is different than the other reps, contrary to seemingly everyone else here.

Today's workout

Press: 145 lbs x 5 x 2 (set 1, set 2), x 7
Shoulder Retractions
Shoulder and upper body work

Knee still felt a bit sore today so I didn't even try to squat, will revisit squats on Monday. Press felt OK. Wasn't paying attention to breath on the first set, making the 5th rep a bit tough. Need to pay attention to pausing for breath after 3 reps when it gets heavyish. May start going with 2.5 lbs increases, but will make that decision on Wednesday.

I have "competed" in powerlifting in the past and am trying to get back into doing that. When benching in competition you have to pause at the bottom and wait for a press command. In every competition I have participated in it has been a very brief pause (just to make sure you come to a stop and not bouncing it off of your chest). I have seen and heard where the judge has either purposely or not paying attention used a long pause. I figure if I practice the pause it will help to make sure I can press the weight I want during competition with any length of pause. I do that on the first rep and randomly throw a pause in on other reps when I feel like it/remember to do so.

I also try to use the same thinking on overhead press - not using the rebound effect on first rep and on breaths. I figure the start is usually the hardest part of the lift and I want to train that to make sure I can get the weight moving.

Another food post. Tried my hand at making Jamaican Curry Beef Pies tonight. They came out really good.





For those that would like to try to make them, I used this recipe.

Damn, those look awesome skeletor. How was the spice level with the bonnets?

We don’t have bonnets up here so I used habanero instead. Those were a good level of spice.

Today's workout

Squat: 315 lbs x 1; 335 lbs x 1; 335 lbs x 5 x 3 (set 1, set 2, set 3)
Bench: 185 lbs x 5 x 2 (set 1, set 2), x 10
BB Rows
Shoulder work

Wasn't sure how my knee was going to feel so I videoed my last normal warmup for this workout (315) and added another single at 335. Things felt good so I went up to the planned 355. Didn't want to push it too much so just did 3 sets of 5, not sure if I had much left though. Bench felt pretty good today, which means I am probably screwing something up.

Today's workout

Squat: 365 lbs x 5; 385 lbs x 5; 405 lbs x 3
Bench: 195 lbs x 5 x 2 (set 1, set 2), x 7
Rows
Shoulder work

Worked late on Wednesday and had family stuff after that so no lifting that day. Ended up being in Anchorage late on Thursday at the Dr with my wife, so no lifting then. Decided I would lift today instead of yesterday so I wouldn't rush my session. Decided to just skip Wednesday's scheduled workout and just squat/bench.

Was supposed to be 365 lbs x 5 x 3 today but I didn't really want to do straight 5's. Figured I would see how 405 felt and I think it went well. I may have had 1 or 2 more reps but didn't want to push it yet. I may do these going forward (adding 5 lbs to each set so 370, 390, 410 next workout kind of like a bastardized 5/3/1). Might make things interesting. May switch bench to 5 lb increases next workout, not sure yet.

Was surgery the ultimate verdict or still sorting that out?

Yes, surgery (fusion) is the verdict from 3 doctors. Insurance is sending us down to Plano, TX to get it done - it is cheaper for them to fly us down, put us up in a hotel, pay us each per diem, and pay for all the surgery costs than for them to pay 80% of just the surgery up here. Heading down on 14 March and surgery on 16 March.

Good luck, I hope everything goes well! Must be a pretty crazy cost difference on having the surgery done up there for them to come out ahead on that.

Thank you for the well wishes FloppyJ.

This week's new dinner recipe: piroshki. Basically a meat filled fried dough.

This week has been crappy. My middle daughter had to be at the airport at 0330 on Tuesday morning. That is about an hour from the house, so I didn't lift Monday night so I could get some sleep before driving her in. Since I work about 5 minutes from the airport I just went there after dropping her off. Tried to take a nap when I got home but that didn't work, so I scrapped make up lifting on Tuesday. Was looking forward to lifting last night, but ended up with a stomach bug on the way home. Not wanting to crap myself I decided not to lift. I think I will lift tonight, Saturday, and Monday. We travel Wednesday and come back the following Tuesday. Figure I will take that as an off week - hotel has a fitness area with some dumbbells so I may just bro it out while I am there.

Today's workout

Squat: 370 lbs x 5; 390 lbs x 3, x 4; 410 lbs x 3
Press: 150 lbs x 5 x 2 (set 1, set 2), x 6
Shoulder work

Felt tired all day. Not sure if it was due to belly issues last night, poor sleep patterns this week, or being a potato since Saturday. Third rep at 390 felt off. Wasn't worried about pain, but felt like my form was off. Didn't want to practice poor form so I stopped there. Didn't want to call it a night so I did another set at 390. Those felt good and moved up as planned. Press was ok. Wondering if I have too much body movement in them, thoughts?

If I was going to plano, I would hit up

Inn-n-out. - cheap quality burger
Hutchins in Frisco TX - BBQ better than Plano options (get fatty brisket, ribs, turkey). It's available AYCE for the hungry.

Whiskey Cake - higher end but still $15-$25 per person

skel,

Those 390s look very good.

What I kept noticing was your bar path. It varied far more on 410 than 390.

In 390, your bar path is pretty damn close to perfect, even on the set you felt was off. There is the SLIGHTEST dip forward at the deepest point of the hole, but it's insignificant and is likely just a consequence of your anthropomorphic requirements at that point of depth.

410, the bar path changes. First and third rep (second the form mirrored 390), it is almost like you sort of fall forward, then bring the bar path back instead of letting it fall forward. The reverse of the 390 reps.

Imo, too insignificant to really worry over. But your squat looks pretty spectacular to me. So it's no wonder you are feeling these slight imperfections.

I am the worst OHPer in all of H&F so will leave that alone.

Thanks for the recommendations. I've been to In-n-Out before and enjoy those. Will need to try and hit the BBQ joint as it is only 20 minutes away from the hotel.

Thanks for the feedback! I'm wondering if it was just my InnerEV coming out on that rep.

No workout today. During bench warmups my elbow felt off. It would feel wrong/weak after unracking it, just before getting it in starting position (maybe the last 5 degrees of movement or so). Tried using a foam roller and lacrosse ball to see if I could find out where the pain was. Pain is in the elbow (bicep area and outer joint area- where ulna meets humerus), but I also found a bunch in my back shoulder area. Unracked my working set, had the same issue so I shut it down.

Guessing something is pinching in my shoulder causing the issue. Not sure if it was squatting on Thursday or something else, but I will probably just do stretching and basic isolation/shoulder strengthing/rehab type work from now until I get back from Texas. Then I will re-evaluate to try and figure out if this needs to be seen by a DR or just a one-off type issue.

Update: Sarah had surgery on Friday. They planned on her spending 2 nights in the hospital. They released her yesterday (only 1 night) as she was doing so well. The pain she was having her pre-surgery is all gone, she has feeling back in her arm (didn't have feeling from bicep down to fingertips, now it is just a little bit off on her fingertips), ROM is back, and her strength is back in her arm. Not sure if it is 100% back, but it is a lot better than pre-surgery. She is still in pain, but it is surgery related pain, which is expected. She can eat softer foods to make sure it doesn't bother her throat. Went and got us both Hutchins BBQ today so she can have some real food. She really liked the pulled pork and mashed potatoes. She didn't seem to like the mac and cheese, but did enjoy the jalapeno. Thank you for the recommendation Loco! We are staying here until Tuesday morning, as long as everything is still good we fly out that morning.

Glad to hear surgery went well; I hope her recovery is quick and smooth!