Took a trip to Vegas. A friend we used to lift with moved there recently. We lifted at the gym he goes to. Its a good gym with good equipment and good people.

6/21
DLs up to 672 in orange suit
5" block pulls

6/24
DLs up to 595 in orange suit
band DLs
up to 375 + green + back + purple bands. They were really stretched out. According to the band tension chart, it was about 470 lbs in band tension at the top. We had them hooked around some big DBs and had plates on top, but the DB on the left side came up onto the platform at lockout - that was interesting.

I skipped doing anything Sunday because we got home very late Saturday night.

I skipped doing any lifting last night because I caught a cold.

I was doing some DLs and block pulls for a couple weeks. Nothing, too exciting.

Then on 7/13, I tweaked my L3/L4 when I carelessly tried to move my treadmill. I felt the familiar pain in the right groin. It was nowhere near as bad as in 2011 when I blew out the disc, but it was probably worse than at any point since I rehabbed it.

I have been adjusted by my teammate who is an excellent chiropractor a few times, and have seen my regular chiropractor once since it happened for ART and adjustments. That is helping. I've also been using my TENS unit on my low back around L3-4 and that seems to be helping.

I have also been pulling a sled at the gym three times a week. The first time I did it, I felt significantly better. Each time I do it, it seems to help a bit more. A few details:

I hook up a chain and a belt to a small sled. I put the belt over my butt and go backwards about half the time, making sure the belt does not go as high as my spine. I go fairly quickly and try to push off through my heels. That is a killer quad exercise.

The other half of the time, I put the belt on the front of my hips, making sure to keep the belt below the hip crease, and I pull the sled forward. I try to push off with my heels, not using my calves much. This really nails the glutes and hamstrings. I think its doing good things for the hip flexors as well.

The good news is both docs and my MD friend say this should be healed within about 3 - 4 weeks. I still need to be cautious, but its not too serious.

My teammate doc told me I could pull DLs tonight. I did knee high rack pulls up to 375x3. I felt no issues during the set or any of the lighter sets, but after the last set, I felt just a tiny bit of burning feeling in the area that is fired up. I think its the bottom psaos insertion point. After that, I did a bunch of sled pulls up to about 550 lbs or so. Everything is still improving.

Nice things about sled pulls:

- They kind of double as cardio and strength training.
- I'm losing weight and feeling better. I had gone on kind of an eating binge with some sugary booze drinks thrown in from several days at my brother in law's cabin, which got my weight up to 261 on 7/11. No good. I was 248.6 this morning. I think some of that is reduced sodium, some is avoiding carb snacks and some is because of the sled pulls. I am now tentatively planning to lift at 242 at WPC worlds.
- Since all the movement is concentric (nothing eccentric), I don't get sore the next day or two, even if I do a lot of work.

I think this back situation is probably going to limit my training to a point where even attempting the 760 DL (would be the biggest multiply pull by anyone in the world over 55) I had hoped for seems like a very long shot, but maybe I can get it back up to 688 and break my own WPC 242 WR of 683 at worlds. Maybe next year I'll have a shot at 760 if the stars align.

7/31

lots of warmup / activation stuff

sled drags, forward and backward up to ~625 or 650 lbs. I did a backdown set with ~350 or 400 for a bunch of trips back and forth at the end.

Good stuff. Hopefully this keeps my lower body strong enough to start pulling big weights again once my back is ready.

The back issue is much improved.

8/2

knee sumo high rack pulls up to about 595

sled drags up to about 6xx


8/3

pushups, pulling stuff, etc


8/5

sumo rack pulls just below the knees up to 595. I attempted 685 and I was off balance a bit. Since I have been having back trouble, rather than muscling through it and trying to correct it, I dropped it.

sled drags forward & backwards up to ~6xx


8/7

bench press

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

Since this was going pretty well, I wanted to do some work in a shirt, but I forgot to put one in my car. My teammate who is bigger than me borrowed me his 3 ply black size 60 SDP. That's a size bigger than what I wear, but with the 3 plies in the tight black material, it was plenty of shirt in the chest. The arms were stretched out too much though.

3 boards
515xf. The shirt was not set right and the handoff was bad - one side about 2" higher than the other - so I was loose all over and missed it at the top.

I had someone help set the shirt better and tried again.

515x1 - this was fine, but I felt rusty and weak. I figured this was already a lot of work considering I have hardly pushed anything the past several weeks, so I moved on.


pushups
25, 20

sled drag rows
a bunch of trips back and forth up to ~630 or so.

face pulls

blast strap fallouts

I'm starting to feel like I can ease into benching heavy and I can gradually start lowering the starting point of my DLs. I need more back work because I have been mostly neglecting it, aside from some light pulldowns & stuff like that. It was good to do some heavy rows again.

8/9

DLs off 1.5" mats
264x5
264 + 6 chains x 3
375 + 6 chains x 2

black Metal sumo suit
485 + 6 chains x 1 - I got a tiny bit forward on this.
595 + 6 chains x 1 - Form was pretty solid.

My back has been feeling pretty much healed, but a bit weak. I definitely had a lot more in me, but there was no reason to push it, so I moved on.

Sled drags, forward & backward
~365x4
~470x2
~575x2
~635x2
~695x2, 2
~635x2
~575x2
~470x2
~365x4


8/10

some blast strap push ups, blast strap fallouts, cable pull downs, blast strap rows, face pulls and 1 arm farmers walks using a PVC pipe with 40 lbs of plates hanging off bands.

Long overdue update:

I've been continuing to pull sleds multiple times a week, but I'm starting to add other stuff in.

I found that my back responds well to light farmers walks using PVC pipe to hold bands that suspend four 10 lb plates. I intend to continue doing more of that.

I've been benching more. My teammate ordered a Forrell F8 band shirt and its too small for him, so he told me to use it. ok, why not? These things are fun. My first time in it was 7/14. I did 495, 545, 585 & 635 off two boards, then I missed 675. I was not set up well any of those sets, but the weight moved great until I hit 675.

7/21 I used the F-8 again. I did 545 & 585 off my chest and missed 635. I rolled my left shoulder up a bit. I got somewhat better at setting up in that shirt. I think this shirt is about one size too big for me. I'd like to get an F-8 that fits, learn to lift well in it, get a bit more strength back, and see what I can do with one of these in a meet. I can't find any meets in federations that allow these shirts near me for the near future though. I have no bench press competitions planned, so I will see how things go. I think if I ever get my bench strength back where it was two years ago & get one a size smaller, I could probably press between 700 & 800 in one of these shirts.

I've been DLing from the floor some too and its going ok. I worked up to 635x1 last Friday, then I pulled something like 782 off knee high pins, conventional.

I did some TBDLs off 1.5" mats 8/30. I worked up to 765x1. It was a little difficult getting it started off the floor, but it went up well once it got moving. I'm happy with where I am at on this lift. There is going to be a TBDL strongman meet near me soon that I am highly likely to compete in. The bottoms of the handles on the bar will be 16" from the floor. I just measured my trap bar. Its 13" to the bottoms of the handles with regular plates on, so I ought to be pulling from 3" mats going forward. Cool. My PR last year off 1.5" mats was 845 with a crappy bar with bad knurling. I ought to be able to get back to ~825 - 850 off 3" mats with a good bar. I think I could have done ~800 last night after not having done these for a long time, but there's no reason to push it at this point.

After TBDLs last night, I did some Marrs bar squats in briefs:
335x5
425x3
515x1
605x1

Marrs bar good mornings
335x5
385x5
425x5
beltless raw.

I just noticed I had the wrong month for the last post. Oops. That was supposed to say Aug, not Jul.

9/2

DL up to 585, then I missed 635. My lower back felt it when the weight got to about mid shins, so I just dropped it and moved on. I had a massage a day prior and I think that messed up my DL a bit.

sled pulls

9/4 - I took the day off from lifting because my daughter got married to a great guy


9/6
trap bar DLs off 3" mats
255x5x3
455x3
545x1

suit
655x1
745x1
805x1 - This felt a lot harder than it looks in the video. I am happy with form.

https://rumble.com/v1j1lhv-trap-bar-...t-805-lbs.html

The reason I am doing TBDLs off 3" mats is because I intend to compete in a strongman meet in October in which the only event is TBDLs with the bottom of the handles 16" off the floor. This is equal to having the trap bar set up with regular plates off 3" mats.

I did some RDLs afterwards.

9/8

some should rehab and core work


9/9
DL
225x5x2
315x3
405x1

suit
545x1 - suit straps were too tight. This felt like ****.
585x1 - loosened straps and it was good
635x1 - no major issues. I did catch my left pinkie fingernail on my suit, which caused a little bit of shifting of the bar, but it wasn't much. It did hurt a little, but there was no significant damage.

rack pulls from top of knees
575x1 double overhand
685x1 - I used straps for this and all the rest
795x1
839x1

some GHRs



9/11
bench press
45x15
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1

I got a new used shirt. Its a size 58 SDP (the only size that really works for me). Its triple ply in the chest and double ply sleeves in the stiff black material. It had some collar damage, so Ginny did some work on it to fix that. This thing is a beast of a shirt.

545 off 4 boards x 1 - lol, this was awful. I would probably need to press something well over 700 to even get near my chest and I am not strong enough right now to even hold that, let alone try to move it.

I switched into my triple ply blue shirt. The blue material is a LOT more stretchy than the black. I can handle this shirt pretty well right now.
585 off two boards x 1

I decided to take one more geared press. I put on my friend's F8.
635 off two boards x 1
This took less out of me than doing the 585 in my blue SDP and way less than doing the 545 in that black triple ply. Weird.

I am wanting more and more to get into some F8 shirt that fits me better (my friend's is too loose) and do a sanctioned meet, but there are not any federations with meets near me that allow this type of shirt. Hopefully that changes in the near future.

pushups
15, 15, 20

chest supported machine rows
195x12
250x10
295x15 - This was pretty good. My back strength is coming back.

face pulls

I've been busy. I did a couple of fun things this past weekend.

10-15
Hex Bar Deadlift World Championships

700 https://rumble.com/v1oeqrk-tbdl-700....f=6zof&mrefc=2
776 https://rumble.com/v1oer4m-776-lb-tb...f=6zof&mrefc=2
850 https://rumble.com/v1oerag-850-lb-td...f=6zof&mrefc=5
900 miss. I moved it probably less than an inch.

It was fun. I dont yet know the results based on coefficient. I had the 4th biggest lift at this meet. The three guys who pulled more are all younger and much bigger than me. They pulled 1061, 1050 and 1030.

There were two other guys over 50 that both pulled 776.

Fun meet and it didn't take a lot out of me.


I've been doing a lot of benching with the F8. I bought it from my friend and I bought a custom fit insert for it, making it a 3 ply when I use that.

I've been doing 3 board presses in it. Two Sundays ago, I worked up to 735x1 (pr +10) in just the two ply. A week ago Sunday I worked up to 745x1 (pr +10) in the two ply. Yesterday, I used the insert for the first time.

10/16

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

insert
3 boards
495x1 - stupid easy

two ply shirt
3 boards
605x1

insert + 2 ply shirt
3 boards
715x1 - smoked it, but using this 3 ply setup is a lot harder than just the 3 ply shirt.
805x1 - woooo! 60 lb pr!
https://rumble.com/v1oetvi-805-lb-3-...f=6zof&mrefc=8


face pulls
pulldowns

machine rows
190x10
250x10
290x18

that 850 went up very nicely. great stuff.

maybe not allowed but do you think there was an amount between 850 and 900 you could have managed?

850 light weight, baby!!

Had at least 851 in you!

Thanks!

Good question. Yes, I probably would have taken 875, and I think I had that much in me, if not for the stupid strongman format.

In powerlifting meets, each flight, the weight goes up until each lifter has attempted one lift, then the weight goes back down and everyone takes their second attempt, and so on. You typically get about 10 - 20 minutes between attempts, so there is plenty of time to rest and recover from the previous attempt (except for the rare times you might be taking a 4th attempt for a world record - I have attempted & failed those with very minimal rest a couple times).

In strongman meets, the weight on the bar just keeps rising. If there is no one attempting a weight between two of your attempts, you take two attempts in a row with minimal rest. I liked everything else about this meet, but I hate this rule. After I pulled 850, I needed some rest. I asked the guy running the meet who was up next. There was one guy at 881 and another at 900. He said I could go after the first 900 guy if I took 900, so that's why I chose that number.


yeah budday, light weight!

lol, at least 851

10/18
DLs & stuff

10/19
pulling & pushing & core stuff

10/21
DLs & stuff

10/23
Bench
Up to 605 in 2 ply band shirt off chest - smoked it
661 off chest in 3 ply - PR, smoked it, but it was hard to touch this weight
715 off 1 board - smoked it
814 off 3 boards - wooooo PR
https://rumble.com/v1qobfd-814-lb-3-board-press.html

Pulling stuff

10/25
DLs up to 672. On the 672, everything was fine unit almost lockout. I felt like I was going to **** myself. Luckily it was only gas, but trying to hold that in threw me off and the weight went up down up. Good thing that was not a meet attempt. This is probably close to my max right now.

10/26
pulling & pushing & core stuff

10/28
DLs up to 606 (opener) - form was very good. It moved fast.

10/30
bench
55x15
165x8
231x4
275x2
319x1

new insert -
506x1 off 2 boards

2 ply shirt
616x1 - a bit tough to touch. I smoked the first 85% of the lift. It slowed down near the top (sub-optimal bar path), but I didn't really struggle to lock it out. Seems like a good opener number.

added new insert(* see below), so 3 plies
660xf. Bar path ****ed up on descent. Shirt pulled elbows in too hard, and the elbows didnt stay under the bar. My left infraspinatus and teres minor felt bad. Wife put the massage gun on there and it felt fine, so I tested 660 off a 3 board.

660 off 3 board - smoked

I figured more weight might help lowering it to my chest.

683xf. This was all kinds of bad. elbows tucked way too much and bar did not stay over them at all. I cant do a 683 lb tricep press lol. Both infras and teres minors flared up. Right one still feels wonky, but I dont think anything is torn. I see chiro for ART tomorrow and PT for MAT the next day. I should be fine, but it was time to wrap everything up after that mess.

So I was using a different insert the past two weeks. It was definitely tighter in the chest, but I think the material was not as thick as what I used today. I tore out some stitches in the smaller insert last week, so I sent it back to F8, and they made a new one with a wider chest plate, but it feels like the material is thicker. The shirt pulled the elbows in hard, not allowing me to flare, and the bar stayed high while the elbows tucked. I cant do a tricep press with 683 lol. You have to keep your elbows under the bar.

So since my bench was going so well, I decided to enter a meet & do bench only a week from Saturday. Now I am not so sure. I know getting an opener in the two ply will be fine, but I really need to adjust the 3 ply and I dont know how much it will give me if I adjust it.

Sunday night, the pain in the left shoulder was so bad it kept me awake half the night.

Saw chiro yesterday. He did all kinds of work on me for over an hour. It helped a lot, but I still have issues. The left teres major and subscapularis are badly strained at the attachment points.

I should be able to DL this weekend, but right now, benching 600+ a week from Saturday seems like a long shot.

They posted results for the WDC hex bar DL world championships. They do a bunch of meets all over the world and put the results together after all the meets are finished.

I got:

- 1st for 50+ years old 115 KG weight class (woohoo!)
- 9th best overall by weight lifted (all ages & weight classes)
- 7th in pound for pound (all ages & weight classes based on points, but I have no idea how they calculate points for this)

I like these meets. This type of lift is something I can do very heavy without taxing my body all that much.

Damn. 9th out of how many?

40. Everyone who lifted more than in this me is a lot younger than me.

I did DL only in WPC worlds last Saturday, 11/5.

600 - two whites. I didn't know I got a red until I saw the video, so I don't even know what the red was for, but it looks ridiculous to me - the lift was standard and good. https://rumble.com/v1tecm6-600-lb-dl...rlds-2022.html

661 - three whites. https://rumble.com/v1tecqc-661-lb-dl...rlds-2022.html

I have never pulled 688 in a meet. I knew I didn't have over 700 in me, and I figured I was close with 688, so that is what I took.

688 - 3 reds. ****. I have never done this before. I got the weight almost to the top and my left hamstrings were weak. The bar went down about an inch, then I locked it out. All the judges saw it. Dammit. I know one thing I need to work on. https://rumble.com/v1tecus-688-dl-mi...pc-worlds.html

The left shoulder did very well with DLing.

I pulled out of the bench only meet this weekend though. I need to let this heal for a bit before benching heavy.

11/6

I watched the WPO and helped handle a couple of people. That was a lot of fun.

Dave Hoff totaled 3020 (2nd best total all time to his 3101) with something like 1234/975/815.

The lady who I helped is a teammate who just did a national bodybuilding show about three months prior. She went something like 507/303/402.

Travis, the guy who I helped, is an incredible lifter. He took 2nd place, way ahead of the 3rd place guy, with 1052/771/716 at 216 bw. He keeps dropping his DLs. I'm pretty sure he has the strength to pull over 800. If he can figure that out and put it all together, he is a legit threat to break Shawn Frankl's all time 220 WR of 2715.

Travis then did a local money meet here in MN just six days later, going 1058/739/716 & winning the meet. I helped handle him in this meet as well.

11/15

I did some belt squats and SSB squats raw without a belt up to 350*2 for a few sets

11/17
shoulder rehab

11/18
DL
225x5x2
315x3
405x1

suit
545x1
605x1

bands
about five sets of 2, then 1 set of almost max effort


11/20
bench press
3 boards
55x12
145x10
195x5
235x3
285x2
325x1

F8 insert
415x1

shoulder felt a bit like I was pushing it as far as I should.

some pushups - partial ROM

machine rows
up to whole stack x 16

face pulls


11/22
Marrs bar squats
155x5
245x5
335x3

briefs
425x2
515x1
605x1

knee wrps
655x1

no wraps
425x2x5

step ups


11/23
shoulder rehab

11/25
DL
225x5x2
315x3
405x2

suit
545x1
605x1

bands
a few sets of 2, then 1 partial rep with too much band tension

step ups

sled pulls up to ~670, both forward and backwards

11/29

Marrs bar squats up to 705 x 1 in briefs & knee wraps
RDLs up to ~565x3

11/30
shoulder rehab, light pulling & pushing stuff


12/2
DL up to 605x1
rack pulls up to 825x1

12/4
3 board bench up to 425x1 in F8 insert
pulling & shoulder rehab stuff

12/6
Marrs bar squats up to 710 x 1 in briefs & knee wraps
sled pulls up to ~710

12/7
I had a procedure done on my right leg and the right side of L3-4 and L4-5. Doc put PRP injections into my back with the intent of freeing up the sciatic nerve. He also did a thing on the sciatic nerve through my hamstring. He slid a long-ass needle along the sciatic nerve, shooting the PRP solution right along two side of the nerve. This was to unstick stuff that was stuck to the nerve. There was a bunch of crap stuck on it down by the knee and up close to the glute attachment.

A day later now, my lower back has been pretty stiff, but that is going away. My hamstring feels like it has bad DOMS or a bad bruise, but that is getting less bad. The lower leg nerve pain I had is mostly better, but I have felt it a little. Doc says PRP works on nerves for up to 18 months after treatment. Hopefully the lower leg nerve pain doesn't bother me anymore, but it sound like it could take a while for it to gradually go away.

Doc said I could lift right away, but to take it easy and go slow and light. I just did some very light shoulder rehab and pulling stuff last night.

12/9

sled pulls up to about 400 lbs

It was a little weird. At the beginning, despite doing warmup stuff, my knees were sore during the first couple of light sets. Then as I added weight, the knee soreness was gone. I guess my quads were not warmed up enough during the first couple of sets, then they got warmed up and my knees were fine.

I did a few high rack pulls up to ~350. I stopped after that because I did not want to overwork my hamstrings on the right leg.


12/11 - did not lift

I went to a company party at a bar/restaurant that had tall chairs with hard wood seats. My leg didn't like that. The area near the knee where the sciatic nerve runs was a little fired up, so I stood for the last hour or so I was there. It feels fine today, so apparently I did no damage.

12/13

I did some sled pulls and a few other things.


12/14
shoulder rehab stuff


12/15
chiropractor says I can lift heavy stuff as long as pain isnt bad.


12/16
DL
225x5x2
315x3
405x1

suit
545x1
610x1

I stopped after this because I hadn't planned to do that much, but everything felt great. I was wearing my gear and sometimes that can mask little pains, so I got out of it to see how everything felt. I felt better than prior to DLing. Heavy DLs fix anything when you do them right, lol.

single leg hamstring curls - these did not feel good, so I only did one set.

reverse hypers
90x15
140x15
These were fine.

up & down 14 stairs holding 44 lb KB in one hand - 5 times up & down with each hand - these felt good

cable pull throughs - 3 sets, felt good

stir the pots - 3 sets


12/18
bench press
two boards
55x15
145x10
195x5
235x3
285x2
325x1

put on F8 insert
375x1
420x1 - left shoulder felt like that was enough.

I did some partial ROM pushups. Those felt good.

plate loaded row machine
up to 4 plates each hand x 10
I didn't like the way this machine felt, so I switched to a different plate loaded row machine.

4 plates x 10
5 plates x 10

chest supported row machine
305 x 16

face pulls

stir the pot - 3 sets

12/20

ssb squats
150x5
240x5
330x3

briefs
420x2
510x1

wraps
600x1

no wraps
330 + 2 chains x 3
420 + 4 chains x 3
470 + 4 chains x 2

suitcase holds

up & down 14 stairs 12 times holding 49 lb KB in one hand - 6 times with each hand