9/30

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

SDP shirt
495x2, 1st rep off two board, second rep off one board. This was very good form and very fast.

two board press
585x1 - very good, pretty fast
635x1 - solid, slower, but it didnt beat the hell out of my CNS. I am getting used to handling this weight. I'll probably try something heavier in a couple weeks.

3 board press raw
315x3
365x3 - right piriformis cramped up

push ups
15x3

TRX rows
20
+ 45 lbs x 12
+ 90 lbs x 10

face pulls
2 sets

overhead rope tricep extensions
2 sets

not bad

Thanks

10/2

squat
155x5
245x5

briefs
335x3
425x2
515x1
All these felt good.

suit
605x1 - slow because my upper back got loose and the weight got forward. If I tried to squat something heavy with form like that I'd fail for sure. This was light enough to recover.

675x1 - It was a little hard to get to depth.

715x1 - It went down slow and it went up slow, but I got it. It would have got 3 whites. I felt something in my right hamstring. I was not sure if it was just from using my hamstring or if it was a low back issue, so I stopped with the heavy stuff. I figured light SSB squats would be good.


ssb box squats to about parallel
145x3
235x3
325x3
415x3x2

GHRs
20x2

No other issues with hamstring.

10/3

bench warmup
45x15
95x10

floor press
135x5x2
185x5
225x3
255x3
275x3
295x3
315x3x3

1 arm cable rows
140x15
170x12
200x10

face pulls
140x15
150x15

rope overhead tricep extensions
80x15x3

close grip pulldowns with a weird handle
not sure of weight x 15. My right forearm felt bad after this so I stopped

I stretched my right piriformis a couple times. It felt a little bad. Now it feels better and the left side of my low back also feels better. I think it might have been pulling my pelvis out of whack before. I think I should do more of this.

It might be the one side of the SI joint that's screwing with the piriformis so you can attack it and it'll feel better but because the SI is unset it'll return.

The very first time I did these I heard and felt my SI pop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDmmeh4jNJU

Thanks for the suggestion. I might try this if it keeps acting up.

I asked my doc about this. He says:

Sounds like its better than doing nothing.

The roster for WPC worlds came out. I have only one guy to beat in my age/weight class. Unfortunately for me, its this guy:

http://www.monstersquat.com/

http://muscleandbrawn.com/interview-...er-joe-norman/

He's only benched 220 and 253 in his last two meets, so if something like that happens, I have a great chance. I dont know where his bench is at right now.

10/5

DL
225x5
315x3
405x2

suit
495x1 - form was great, super fast
585x1 - good form, fast
635x1 - very good form. Decent speed.
635x1 - I got a little forward with it, but there was never a doubt it was going to get locked out.

I feel like I am getting closer to where I want to be. Hopefully my body holds up.


rack pulls about 2" below the knees
535x3
625x3
695x3
715x1

10/7

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

rage X 54
2 board press
455x2

off chest
505x1 - smoked it, but my right piriformis is limiting my leg drive and stability a little


SDP
1 board press
585x1 - I started pressing this straight up, so it slowed down halfway up, but then once I started moving it up towards my shoulders, it went up pretty good. This shirt is very forgiving. I never could press like that and get away with it in any of my other shirts.


625xf - I had my collar pulled lower, so it was very hard to touch. This made me touch way too low.

625xf - I had nothing left at this point.

TRX rows & face pulls

10/9

squat
155x5
245x5

briefs
335x3
425x2
515x1

suit
605x1

knee wraps (got new Overkill wraps)
675xf - The person calling me made me go about 3" deeper than parallel and I got light headed.
675x1 - slower on the way up than it should have been because I got forward a bit. 3 whites anyway imo.
715xf (using my two ply convict wraps) - Everything was going good until I shot the weight about an inch forward halfway up. It came back down.

backwards sled drags, pulling it with straps with straight arms
a lot of trips across the gym with 6 plates on the orange sled

I like these a lot. I need more quad work and most of the stuff I could be doing aside from squats hurts my knees or makes them uncomfortable. These pumped my quads up a lot and it also worked my core and upper back and its good cardio. Another nice aspect of these is that there is no eccentric part of the movement, so you dont get as sore as you would from stuff that requires eccentric movement.

This is a good video on sled work:

The guy in the video is a Westside guy who I saw lift at APF nationals in June. iirc, his squat opener was 1019 at 253 bw and I think he squatted something over 1100.

10/10

bench warmup
45x15
95x10

floor press
135x5x2
185x5
225x3
275x3
315x3x4

1 arm cable rows

face pulls

overhead rope tricep extensions

wide grip lat pulldowns

10/12

DL
225x5
315x3
405x2

suit
495x1
585x1
615x1


650x1


I think I stayed in pretty good position on both of these. The 650 felt heavy, but I never felt like it wasnt going to get locked out.


My low back/piriformis have been bugging me quite a bit, so I figured this was enough DLing for the day.

I did a bunch of sled dragging with 6 plates on the orange sled. Most were with straight arms (these are harder and mostly a quad movement) and less row-type drags (these nail the lats, and to a lesser extent the glutes and core).

GHRs
foot plate high
20x2

I always enjoy your deadlift videos. It looks like you ar lifting in the middle of a light snowstorm.

I’ve been having a similar piriformis problem as you when deadlifting. Do you use a lacrosse ball to roll your piriformis before or while you work out? I have been thinking of doing it between sets but I’m not sure if that is a good idea.

Thanks. Its chalk dust.

My doc say my issue is coming from my low back, so any stretching and loosening of the muscle itself is just temporary. I need to get it fixed right with stem cells and/or PRP I think. I have two meets coming up soon, and getting that done will require some recovery time, so I cant do that until afterwards. In the mean time, I just need to try not to aggravate the SI joint.

I sometimes roll on a lacrosse ball and sometimes stretch it. That gives a little temporary relief.

I was gonna say that I know it snowed today but you guys don't need to actually lift outside during it!

yeah, that was a little weird for mid October.

10/14

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

54 Rage X
455x1 off 2 boards
505 (~opener) off chest x 1

SDP
585x1 off chest

The right piriformis locked up during/after this. I figured it would be a good place to stop.

chaos pushups
10x3

TRX rows
20x2

face pulls
2 sets

overhead tricep extensions
2 sets
I think I must have used too much weight on these. The right side of my neck is all jacked up now.

10/16

squat
155x5
245x5

briefs
335x3
425x2
515x1
I was focusing on keeping my upper back tight on all these and they all went well.

suit
605x1

knee wraps
675x1 - felt harder than it should have
735xf - I felt like I had no power once I got to the hole. It felt like my belly might have come loose. Nothing was visible in the video. I thought about this for a while and here's what I think happened: I think I arched my low back a little too much when I picked up the weight. When I got near depth, I think I had to do a little buttwink to get there. That took away all my power at the bottom.

In addition to this, I apparently "helicoptered" the bar a little. This is probably due to my rib issue or my neck issue or both. I decided that was enough of the heavy stuff for the night.


ssb box squats
325 + 2 chains x 3
325 + 4 chains x 3
325 + 6 chains x 3
325 + 8 chains x 3
I focused on keeping my core super tight. I think I needed that.

Yes, I had to google butt wink.

lol

10/17

bench
45x15

floor press
135x5
185x5
225x3
275x3
295x3
315x3x5

1 arm cable row
140x15
170x12
200x12

face pulls
150x15x2

standing PNF D2 flexion
3 sets of 15

Hey, you and I bench the same weight...except I did 18.

We have to start warming up somewhere, dont we?

10/19

DL
225x5
315x3
405x2

suit
495x1
565x1
615x1


665x1

Just below the knees it shot forward a little. I need to clean that up if I am going to pull any more than that. The good thing is that this is the most I have pulled in a while, and I got it up ok, and I felt very good afterwards. My neck was tight before DLing. Heavy DLs seem to fix that when I am pulling well.

I figured since I got my goal of 97.5% and I have a lot of little nagging issues, I should stop DLing while I was ahead.


GHRs
20
vs black band x 20
vs 2 black bands x 15, x 20 (basically failure on the last set)

sled drags with 6 plates on the orange sled - straight arms for the first couple/few sets (I got so tired I cant remember how many sets I did), then I finished wit two sets of the row style drags.