We do them with teammates holding your feet. A band seems like a decent way to do them too.

6/20

I figured out that the main problem on the back of my right leg was because of the baker's cyst that I have. The last time this acted up, I got it to go away by wrapping my knees tight and squatting deep every set. The last time, the thing that caused this was kneeling down to cut the rubber mats for my DL platform. This time, I think kneeling down for the iron maidens did it.

squat
blue compression band tight around right knee
155x5
245x5

knee wraps
335x3

briefs & knee wraps
425x2
515x1

suit & knee wraps
605x1
675x1
715xf

briefs only
475x2
515x1

It feels like the symptoms of the cyst might be gone, or are at least a lot better.

6/21

speed bench
45x15
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x3x2
295x3x3
315x3x2

TRX rows
3 sets

face pulls

Btw, I was thinking of mentioning this only after you dominating your last meet but I should anyway. I achieved a 2000+ rating in chess! I eagerly await you joining me there with your PL total. I think it's only a matter of time.

However, my new "wish list" goal is really 2200 - I have no idea if that is feasible for you. Maybe it is since you're geared and possibly can keep moving into other gear for squats and bench slowly but surely. Anyway, it's total random and arbitrary but it'd be sort of cool that we could combine for 4000+ in PL+chess together.

Btw, I'm sure your chess rating would either be higher than my PL total or very quickly would be higher if you competed . Although, I guess I'd have to start doing geared work, and if I put the effort into that my total surely would be a lot higher after a while since the only way to really lift geared is to put a lot more effort into lifting than I currently do.

Congrats on 2000!

Unless I miraculously am able to train a lot harder than I have been without injury, I dont think 2200 is possible. If I had learned to do this 15 years ago, I think I would have gotten 2200+. I have my work cut out for me to get to 2000.

Your form isnt bad and if you put in some more effort, you'd have enough strength to be able to lift in gear. I think it would probably take a while to get anywhere near what my chess number was when I played about 15-20 years ago. I think it was between 1600 - 1800 - I think it would take you many years and a lot of effort to get close to that. Now, I dont know if my current chess # could beat your current raw total, lol.

6/22

DL
225x5
315x3
405x2

suit
515x1
600x2x2

DL vs bands in briefs
315 + black bands x 3
315 + green & black bands x 3
315 + big red bands x 3
315 + green & big red bands (~480 total band tension at top) x 3 - that was hard. I was spent after this.

6/24

bench press
45x15
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1

size 54 Rage X
2 board press
455x1
505x1
545x1

raw 3 board press
315x3
365x3
405x3

floor press
225x3
275x3
295x3

TRX rows
18, 16, 16

face pulls
2 sets

So my daughter, the future pharmacist and current intern, talked me into letting her give me a shingles vaccine at the pharmacy she works at. Its 97% effective, shingles is bad, hardly any side effects..... She was wrong on that last part. Both my wife and I got the vaccine on Monday. Tuesday my wife slept about 16 hours and missed work because of flu like symptoms. The bad part of my flu like symptoms lasted until Thursday and they still arent all gone.

Yesterday for most of the morning and afternoon I was feeling a bit tired, so I didnt know if I would be lifting or not. Around 5:00, I figured I would try DLing and see how it went. I didnt know if I was going to do one set or a full workout. I'm glad I did it.

6/29

DL
225x5
315x3
405x2
495x1

suit
585x1

615x2 - this felt good and went up fast, but due to the heat (~100 degrees) and the effects of the vaccine, I was tired. My teammate suggested I finish with a bit heavier single. That sounded good to me.

635x1 - I smoked it. That's the most I have DLed in a while. No back issues, no cyst issues, no problems at all other than being tired. I felt like I could have pulled 675, but considering the circumstances, I decided to stop on a high note. There's plenty of time to pull heavier later in the training cycle.

During warmups, I nicked my right shin with the knurling. I've been doing that a lot recently, but until last night, I did not realize I was nicking it on the ascent because I was shoving my knee out too far. I decided to turn my feet more straight ahead, which is what I did when I was pulling heavier a couple years ago. Not only did this keep my shin off the knurling, I felt like I had more speed off the floor and a stronger lockout. This is part of why everything felt so good last night. I need to keep setting my feet straight ahead when I pull.

7/1

bench press
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1

size 54 Rage X
2 board press
455x2
505x1
555xf - I wasnt tight enough when I took the weight.
555xf - Not sure what went wrong here. I was tight, but it only went up halfway.

3 board press
315x3
365x3
405x3
425x1

TRX rows & face pulls

7/3

squat
155x5
245x5 - teammate said my right leg looked unstable. The back of it around the calf and hamstring was tight and sore, probably due to that cyst, so I decided to wrap warmup sets again after this set.

briefs and knee wraps
335x5
425x2
515x1

suit
605x1
695x1

I was spent after this, so I shut down the heavy stuff. I was pretty happy I got 695 with no light-headedness issues. Lack of sleep, vaccine hangover and oppressive heat & humidity in the gym all contributed. The knee wraps seemed to fix the right leg issue. I decided to do a couple more sets with no wraps.

briefs only
475x2
515x2

7/5

DL
225x5x2
315x3
405x2

briefs
495x1

suit
585x1
635x2x2 - I felt good and these moved pretty good. Form was good.

knee high rack pulls
635x3
675x3
725x3
765x3
815x1
It felt good to moved something heavy. Its been a while since I've done something like this.

7/9

speed bench (missed heavy bench with team 7/8 due to being out of town)
45x15
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x3
295x3
315x3
325x1
335x1
345x1

TRX rows
17, 17

face pulls
140x20
150x20

7/10

squat
155x5
245x5

briefs
335x3
425x2
515x1

suit & knee wraps
605x1
695xf - I got a little forward on the way up.
695x1

briefs
475x2

Very tired, so I stopped.

7/12

floor press
45x15
135x10
185x5
225x3 - wide grip
245x3 - wide grip
265x3 - wide grip
275x3x3 - close grip
285x3 - regular grip
295x3 - regular grip
305x3 - regular grip

blast strap pushups
15
+ 2 chains x 10
+ 4 chains x 5

blast strap rows
18, 17

band face pulls

7/13

DL
225x5
315x3
405x2

suit
495x1
585x1
655x1

I was feeling a little sick and tired, so I stopped after this. I was actually happy to get the 655. Its been a while since I pulled that much.

I'm sicker today, so I am skipping heavy benching.

I have some kind of virus. It started with a mild sore throat and then led to mild stuffiness in the sinuses and lots of coughing. It kept me from lifting at all between Sunday and Thursday. I tried lifting yesterday and got very tired very fast.

7/20

DL
225x5
315x3
405x2

suit
495x1
585x1 - Form was fine, but this felt harder than it should have, so I shut down DLs for the day.

I did some light face pulls and 1 arm cable rows at the end.

7/22

bench
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1

size 54 Rage X
2 board press
455x1
495x1
545x1
585x1
Very happy with this. Two days after this I am still not fully recovered from that virus that I've had for a week and a half. I am not sure, but I think 585 is a 2 board PR in this shirt.

I felt beat down after this, so I just did some 1 arm cable rows and face pulls.

7/24

squat
155x5
245x5

briefs
335x3
425x2
515x1

suit & knee wraps
605x1
695x1 - this moved really well.


briefs only
475x2

cambered bar box squats
245x3
295x3
335x3
385x3

7/26

speed bench
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x3x3
295x3
315x2
I ran out of gas. The virus I have turned into bronchitis. I'm mostly over it, but not all the way.

face pulls & 1 arm cable rows

Bronchitis is so annoying. I was sick for 3 weeks in March, 3 weeks last month, and I've been sick for a week just now - but I do not think this is turning into bronchitis *knock on wood*. Should be better in a couple of days hopefully.

gl

yeah, its annoying. You dont feel super sick. You just feel generally tired and cough up things that resemble small farm animals.

Lol. Yeah, .

7/27


DL
225x5
315x3
405x2
495x1
585x1
635x1

405 + 4 chains x 3
no energy.

7/29

bench press
45x15
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1

size 54 rage x
2 board press
455x1
495x1
545x1
585xf - I dont think I got enough air. I felt a little loose as I got the handoff.

3 board press raw
315x3
365x3
405x3
435x1

single arm cable rows and face pulls

7/31

squat
145x5
135x5

briefs
335x3
425x2
515x1

suit & knee wraps
605x1
700x1 - I moved my feet a little wider on this one. I had some front to back balance issues on the way down, but it came up straight.

RDLs
335x5
425x5x3