Long overdue update:

I've been doing DLs Fridays, benching most Sundays (Not 1/8 due to personal stuff), some form of squatting Tuesdays, and shoulder rehab with pulling, pushing & core stuff Wednesdays.

Highlights:

1/1 - I was able to bench in the two ply F8 band shirt. I got 600 off 3 boards and it felt good. I noticed if I start the bar lower, like over my nipples instead of over my shoulders, and touch a bit lower, that does not bother the shoulder. If I start higher and touch higher, it doesn't matter much what the weight is, it feels bad, even with the bar.

Our gym got a Transformer bar. I kind off like it on some settings and on other settings its almost unusable. I have been using it a lot because I cant rack a straight bar without left shoulder issues.

DLs and squats have been going great lately. The PRP procedure on my sciatic nerve and L3/4 and L4/5 seems to be improving my right leg issue steadily and more significantly. Its been about 5 weeks since I had that done, and doc said it takes ~18 months to get the full effects of it, so I am looking forward to this issue getting better for a while. My hip band floss routine seems to be helping a lot too, as does ART and MAT and some of the other little stuff I am doing.

1/6
DLs up to 680 - heaviest legit pull I have done in a long time.

1/10
Marrs bar squats up to 710

1/11
Shoulder rehab, pushups (a few variations), core stuff (about 4 different things), and pulling stuff.

1/13
DL
225x5x2
315x3
405x1

suit
550x1 - super fast
640x1 - I got the right side out in front a bit. It went up, but it didn't feel great, so rather than attempting 680+, I decided it would be smarter to just clean up the 640.
640x1 - better

I did some low rack pulls. A teammate had a weird setup with reverse bands and chains. I did up to 705 lbs of bar weight plus


Here are some videos:

https://rumble.com/v25jznq-550-lb-dl.html

https://rumble.com/v25jzvi-640-lb-dl.html

https://rumble.com/v25k01w-680-lb-dl.html

https://rumble.com/v25k0c6-710-lb-marrs-bar-squat.html

https://rumble.com/v25k0ia-550-lb-dl.html

https://rumble.com/v25k0pi-640-lb-dl.html

https://rumble.com/v25k0us-640-lb-dl-2nd-set.html

https://rumble.com/v25k152-705-lb-ra...two-bands.html

Just checking in to make sure you are still ridiculously strong. Confirmed. Forever impressed.

Thank you sir!

I need to update this.

1/15
some kind of benching

1/17
some kind of squatting

1/18
typical Wednesday stuff w/wife & doc friend at home - Shoulder rehab, pushup variations, pulling stuff & core work.

1/20
DLs up to 680 I think

1/22
bench press up to 750 off 3 boards and 700 off 2 boards twice in my 3 ply F8. That's the most I have handled since hurting the shoulder last October. Shoulder is coming back!

1/24
squats - I think this was the day I got up to 785 on the Marrs bar in a suit & knee wraps. Big Marrs bar PR!

1/25
typical Wednesday stuff w/wife & doc friend at home - Shoulder rehab, pushup variations, pulling stuff & core work.

1/27
DL up to 700x1 - YES! That is the first 700+ I have done in a long time. It was not perfect, but I got it.

1/29 - 2/5 I was in Cancun
We went to the gym once. I did some stuff similar to what my Wednesdays usually look like at home with shoulder rehab, pushup variations, pulling & stuff, plus I did some light leg stuff.

2/7
straight bar squats up to 705 in suit & knee wraps
425x2x2

2/8
Shoulder rehab, pushup variations, pulling stuff & core work. I've been teaching my doc friend to squat on Wednesdays and he is improving. He did some testing & diagnosis on my right leg. My right lower psoas needs some help.

2/10
DL
225x5x2
315x3
405x1

suit
550x1
640x1
710xf. I got it moving quick off the floor, but my right knee shot a little forward, pushing the bar out. When I felt that happen, I dropped it. If it would have been a meet, I would have tried to pull it back, but there's no reason to do that right now.

band DLs in briefs
315 + purples x 1
315 + blues x 1
315 + blues & purples x 1
315 + oranges x 1
315 + oranges & purples x 1 - This was really ****ing hard to lock out, but I got there.

My guess on the band tension is ~150 for a pair of purples, ~300 for a pair of blues and ~400 for a pair of oranges, so I think I had the bar + band tension in the mid 800s at the top of that last pull.

stairs with 53 lb KB - 6 sets

My right leg is a lot better than it was prior to the early Dec PRP sciatic nerve hydrodisection. The more I learn about what happened that day, & the more I talk to my PT who knows my doc well, the more I am impressed with my doc. Apparently nerve hydrodisection has been around since ~2005. Docs started treating carpel tunnel using just sugar water. Basically no one besides my doc has the balls to do this on the sciatic nerve. He has done it on very few people before me and has had great results. He adds PRP to it and it heals the nerves for the next ~18 months after the procedure. I'm lucky to have found this guy and even luckier to have become friends with him.

I have not done a full meet since WPC worlds in 2020. With how squats and benching have gone lately, I am ready to start training for a full meet. I signed up for the local APF meet in May so that I can do all three lifts at nationals (if my body cooperates).

This local meet is done by the same people who run the big local money meet in late fall every year, and they are doing it the same with cash prizes for 1st - 3rd place. Its already almost full. I don't know everyone who has signed up yet, but I think I have a shot at winning $$$. I kind of hope my buddy who took 2nd at WPO last year does not sign up for this - he's basically a lock to knock me & everyone else down one place.

In my head right now, my top end goals are 804/655/711 or at least 2,110 total. The current American records are 815/633/705/2105 at 242.

I am pretty sure I have a 711 DL in me right now if my form is good. I really don't know where I am in a poly shirt. I feel pretty good about opening with a 705 squat, and I know the leg strength is not far from being able to get 804, but I need to be able to do that without screwing up my left shoulder. Since the leg procedure, my squats feel different than they ever have in my lower body in a very good way, so I'll see if I can get my strength back to the point where 800+ is realistic.

I lifted in the meet with the guy who broke the bench & total record back in 2019. That was the meet I was aiming to win until I tore my hamstring 3 weeks before that meet. I know the guy and like him, but I would love to break his records.

Its not impossible that I would compete in this meet at 275, but right now I think I want to be 242. I'm about 253 right now after putting on ~5 lbs in Cancun. I have plenty of time to drop about 12 - 15 lbs.

The 275 records are 914 , 633 (me), 705, 2237 . I obviously have a much better chance at breaking the total record if I am 242, and since I already have the bench record at 275, I might as well shoot for at least the 242 bench & DL records.

2/12

Left shoulder is doing much better.

bench press
55x10
145x10
250x3
290x2
330x1

2 ply F8 shirt
2 board press
560x1 - almost too light
650x1

added third ply
740x1 - this moved great. I think its a 2 board PR.
830xf - I touched this too low and it barely came off the board. This felt so ****ing heavy, I cannot even describe what it felt like. Its the most weight I have ever attempted on the bench. Despite it feeling so heavy, I think I might be able to press that much with a better bar path.

APF does not allow band shirts, so if I am going to do a full APF meet, I better get good at pressing in a polyester shirt again.

3 ply SDP
3 boards
650xf. Ugh. This was a lot harder than I thought. I haven't used a polyester shirt since I can remember, and its a LOT more taxing on the body to use it vs a band shirt. I touched way too low and it came up maybe a third of the way, but it had no chance.

After that, I figured it would make more sense to try something light in the SDP, rather than trying to get form perfect with a difficult weight.

600x1 - This felt harder than it should have, but I am very rusty at using a polyester shirt.

chaos pushups
band jacknifes

machine rows
2 warmup sets, then 305x17 (basically failure)

light cable pulldowns
face pulls

My CNS was smoked after this. Its the most taxing workout I have had since I could remember. My hands hurt a lot yesterday and they still hurt today. The polyester shirt work after the heavy band shirt work really took a lot out of me.

Believe it or not, but my left shoulder actually feels a bit better than before yesterday's workout.

2/14

squats
up to 715 - I am pretty sure this is the most I have squatted since 2020 WPC worlds when I squatted 744 and tore my hamstring on the ascent. The reason for the long layoff from heavy squats was not the hamstring. It was my separated shoulders.

I dont remember what all I did after this squat, but it was not a ton of stuff because I didn't want to fry my CNS twice in a week.


2/15

typical Wednesday stuff w/wife & doc friend at home - Shoulder rehab, pushup variations, pulling stuff & core work.

I talked to doc about my right psoas. PT determined a while back that the nerves in the lower part of this muscle are nearly dead. I am certain this is either directly or indirectly related to why my hips and everything below them have had problems over the past decade plus. He explained in detail about how PRP into this muscle will bring it back to life. I am on board. We're still figuring out when to do this.


2/17

DL
225x5x2
315x3
405x1

suit
550x1
640x1 - this went well. The right hip did not push as far forward as it has been, so I figured I would take another shot at 710 after missing it the previous week.
710xf - bah. Bad setup and start. It got to the mid shin. At my current level of strength, this is near my max if I do everything perfectly.

18" rack pulls vs bands
According to the Liftinglarge band tension chart, this is the max tension of each band I used:
Blue 150 per band
orange 200
black 50

380 + blue bands x 3 - too easy
380 + oranges x ?? dont remember n umber of reps
380 + oranges & blues x 1 - this was hard, but I had more in the tank
380 + oranges + blues + blacks x 1. This took a while to get locked out because it got very heavy at the top. If the band tension was maxed out, it would be 1180 at the top. I don't know how accurate that is, but I know from doing 900 lb + rack pulls that this was way over 900 total weight.


2/19
bench
55x15
145x10
200x5
240x3
290x2
330x1

blue SDP
3 boards
550x1
620x1 - harder than it should be. I need to keep working in this shirt.

Right SI was rearing its ugly head.

F8 - all 3 plies
2 boards
740x1 - smoked the **** out of this. I was sure I had 800 in me.
800xf - I dont know wtf happened here exactly. Maybe I had the shirt pulled up too far away from my elbows or something. I need to dial it in better.

some pushups & floor presses

machine rows up to 305 x 20

pulldowns

face pulls

Right hip and SI felt like **** after all this. I figured out that my right quads were super jacked up, which was pulling my hip way into anterior tilt. Wife did some IASTM on it and that helped a lot. Then today I had acupuncture. The doc did some kind of voodoo magic and the hips and SI feel much better now.

I uploaded a bunch of videos to Rumble, so I'll post some video links later.

1/17

785 lb Marrs bar squat: https://rumble.com/v2a94k0-785-lb-ma...uat-11723.html


1/27

700 lb DL: https://rumble.com/v2a94f0-700-lb-dl...ent-angle.html

https://rumble.com/v2a946y-700-lb-dl-12723.html


2/12

740 lb 2 board press: https://rumble.com/v2a93pq-740-lb-2-...ess-21223.html


2/14

715 lb squat: https://rumble.com/v2a94qe-715-lb-squat-21423.html


2/17

18" DL 380 + ?800? in band tension: https://rumble.com/v2a956i-18-dl-380...nds-21723.html


2/19:
740 press off 2 boards https://rumble.com/v2a93u6-740-lb-2-...ess-21923.html

800 press miss https://rumble.com/v2a91e8-800-lbs-o...sed-21923.html

2/21 - skipped squats due to having a cold

2/22

typical Wednesday stuff w/wife & doc friend at home - Shoulder rehab, pushup variations, pulling stuff & core work. I also did some belt squats.

Talked more about the right psoas issue. We scheduled PRP for tomorrow, 2/28. My PT (MAT expert) cleared her schedule so she can participate. I am so lucky to be friends with people like this. My doc is one of the very best at this type of treatment. My PT is likely one of the 10 best in the country, and she told me I am her favorite client She switched her other clients' appointments around for tomorrow to do this for me.

My interpretation of what my doc says this procedure will do (He used more complicated words. I asked if this was what he meant by that and he said yes.) is that it will reawaken the nerves and muscles. He's doing a fairly complicated procedure that will include psoas, multifidus, QL and maybe some other PRP injections. I know from talking to this doc and some others that it should help a lot with my right hip, right leg and right SI issues. Recovery should be pretty fast. I am excited to get this done.


2/24
DL
225x5x2
315x3
405x1

suit
550x1
640x1
640x1

18" rack pulls w bands - I got some new straps that helped make these go better than last week
405 + blue bands x 3
405 + orange bands x 1
405 + orange + blue bands x 1 - this was tough
405 + orange + blue + purple bands x 1 - this was incredibly difficult. It was even difficult to get it moving off the pins, which is very unusual for band rack pulls. According to the chart, the band tension was 830, so total weight at the top was something probably ~1100 - 1200.

I was spent after this. I just did some 1 leg offset RDLs.


2/26

Bench press
55x15
145x10
195x5
235x3
285x2
325x1

teammate's size 60 2 ply blue SDP
2 boards
550x1 - harder than I thought it would be

my 3 ply blue 58 SDP
2 boards
625xf. Dogshit. I touched way too low.
615xf. Less bad, but bad. I touched ok, but the weight shot straight up. I should have room for error on this weight, but I am not nearly as strong as I was 2.5 years ago at polyester shirted benching, and apparently 615 is heavy enough that I need nearly perfect form to press it off two boards in this shirt. Not good.

F8 3 ply
one board
705x1 - after the poly shirted work, I was surprised how well this moved.
735x1 - 1 board pr. This was the right weight. It was difficult to lock out.

Bench form needs polishing. Bench muscles need to get stronger.

I must have shrugged my right shoulder up or something, which was causing a bit of pinching in the right side of my neck. I decided to move on.

pushups on a football bar
20, 25, 20

machine rows
235x10
305x20

cable pulldowns
120x10, 12

face pulls
2 sets of 15

DL 640 https://rumble.com/v2b6ke4-640-lb-deadlift.html

DL 640 2nd attempt https://rumble.com/v2b6kjy-640-lb-deadlift.html

18" elevated DL 405 + 700 bands https://rumble.com/v2b6mxg-18-dl-405-700-bands.html

18" elevated DL 405 + 830 bands https://rumble.com/v2b6mzy-18-dl-405-830-bands.html

bench 705x1 off 1 board https://rumble.com/v2b6rdq-705-bench-off-1-board.html

bench 735x1 off 1 board https://rumble.com/v2b6n76-735-bench-off-1-board.html

2/28

I got PRP in my right and left multifidus, right psoas, and right L3/4 nerve sheathing. This was all to "wake up" muscles that had been sleeping for almost 12 years.

Doc used a 9" needle for much of this. It was a much more complex procedure than I realized it was going to be.



The entry point for the needle for most of what he did was in between my L3 & L4 vertebrae on the right side. The margin for error through this area is basically zero for avoiding nerves. Doc uses x-ray to guide the needle through the spine, then he switches to ultrasound to guide it into everything else.

When he did a lot of this, he kept asking for my feedback on where I was feeling it. When he was doing the nerve sheathing of L3-4 nerve, I started feeling it starting in the back of my right hip, around the side to the front of the hip and down towards the groin. This was exactly the areas that I had the worst pain from the L3-4 herniation that happened in 2011. See my log around June 1, 2011 and shortly after that if you want more details of how horrible that injury was.

As I was describing all this to doc, he kept saying "excellent". He told me the next day that the entry point for the PRP to go into that nerve sheathing was about 1 mm, and my feedback gave him info that it was going right where he was trying to put it.

One interesting thing doc saw while doing my multifidus: The right side had a lot of fatty deposits. These are areas in the muscle that had become inactive, or shut off. He said injecting PRP into that basically turns the fat into muscle. The left side had a lot less fatty deposits.

Some of procedure hurt quite a bit. Some was not too bad. Anesthetic helped some, but not a ton. I was shaking during much of the procedure and shortly after it. Right hip was pretty sore the day of and the day after. Squatting to a chair or toilet hurt a lot when I got down to the last few inches.

By the second day after, it wasn't too bad. By the third day (yesterday, 3/3), things were way better than I was expecting. See below for more on that.

One very encouraging thing doc told me was that my discs look great! I think the spacing between my vertebrae showed this to him.



Ultrasound view of needle in the muscles:




Before and during the whole procedure, my excellent PT worked on me and gave doc guidance to where I needed the PRP the most. This was incredibly valuable. My PT knows exactly what parts of which of my muscles need attention more than anyone.


3/1

Doc came over to lift. I did a little shoulder rehab stuff, but less than what I usually do. I usually take about a 60 lb DB and do one arm farmer walks twice back and forth across the basement (~160' total per side), starting with the DB in my left hand. I used a 40 lb DB. I got down one side, and halfway back (~60' total), my right psoas started getting very tight as if to say to me, "HEY, KNOCK THIS **** OFF!" So I switched the DB to my right hand and walked it back the rest of the way.

This tells me a lot. When you do offset carries or holds, the opposite psoas is a major stabilizer. This explains why I was having a lot of trouble with suitcase holds in my left hand and not in my right.

I did some minimal pulling stuff and put 2.5 lb ankle weights on and went up and down about 50 or 75 stairs after this.


3/2 I felt better. I did not do a lot, but one thing I did was avoid sitting for long periods of time. I have an adjustable desk, so I alternated sitting and standing every couple of hours while working.


3/3

I had zero expectations for how heavy I would go or how much work I would do. I payed close attention to how my right hip felt the whole time. It felt good.

I did extra warmup stuff. I could feel my right leg moving differently than it had for a long time, in a very good way. It was apparent that the psoas is now functioning after having been basically asleep for ~12 years.

rack pulls - bar ~18" from floor, or knee high
250x5x2
360x5
470x5
560x3

suit & briefs
670x2
780x1
824x1
https://rumble.com/v2bq2f8-824-lb-rack-pull.html

The two guys I was doing these with were doing the same weight as me, but they were both using reverse bands for assistance. Wussies, lol.

Right hip felt fine before, during & after this.

~140 stairs with the 2.5 lb ankle weights holding a ~30 lb KB in one hand.

hip nerve flossing with giant voodoo band

3/5

bench press
55x15
145x10
195x5
235x3
285x2
325x1
The last two sets felt harder than usual.

Black 58 SDP (opener) shirt
1 board
560xf. No leg drive. The psoas affected bench much more than rack pulls.

machine rows
face pulls


3/7
box squats
20" box
155x5

18" box
155x5

16" box
155x1 - no. I felt tightness in the groin. Its probably the lower psoas attachment. I went back to 18" (16" box + 2" pad).

18" box for everything else
245x4

briefs
340x3
430x2
520x1

suit
610xf. On every rep prior to this, I came up when I felt the pad that was on the box. With my suit on, I could not feel the pad. People watching said I squished the pad all the way down to the box, lol. I felt a bit of groin tightness and did not want to push it, so I had the spotters grab it.

briefs only
430x2x4


RDLs
225x8
315x8
405x5
495x5
545x5


3/8
typical shoulder rehab & core stuff, plus some belt squats and reverse hypers and GHRs

That needle. donotwant.jpg

Luckily, I did not have to watch while he was doing this. I just had to lay still, lol. The difference in being to activate my psoas before and after the procedure is night and day. Its so much better now, and it should continue to improve even more over the next 17 months. If I had it to do over, I'd do this again without giving any thought to it.

I can't say enough good things about my doc. There are maybe two docs in the country who are doing procedures like this, and my doc has only done it a couple of other times so far. Most docs don't want to go near nerves with needles, let alone inject into them. My doc is not afraid to try things that he thinks will work. Getting that needle perfectly placed into that exact 1 mm space in my L3-4, where the PRP mixture could flow down the nerve from top to bottom nerve was a near miracle.

This is at least the third procedure he's done on me that almost no one else does, and all have been amazingly effective. The sciatic nerve PRP was another one, and the forearm/elbow torn tendon injections with PRP (it was complicated for reasons beyond the PRP) was also one. I am so lucky to have found this guy and even luckier to have become friends with him.

I kind of lost track of how far behind I am with updates.

3/10 - DLs and stuff

3/12 - bench presses and stuff. I am finding out how weak I am at benching after losing some weight. I weigh about 243 now. Stretching out a lot of my best shirts when I was heavier makes this worse. Its looking like my opener in May might only be ~500. Top end press in my shirt that I pressed 633 when I weighed in the mid to upper 260s in about 2.5 years ago might be ~100 lbs less than that now.

After benching, I tweaked a facet joint in my neck moving a monolift from the St Paul location of our gym to our NE Mpls power room. I got it adjusted the next day, which helped.

3/14 I squatted with the Marrs bar since using a straight bar with a jacked up neck is a bad idea. Then I did other stuff.


3/15 I got acupuncture, which helped the neck, and also got adjusted again, which also helped. I intended to do typical shoulder rehab stuff, but after just doing 12 reps of very light band PNF D2 flexion (I typically do 15 reps), I felt like doing anything else with my upper body would be a good idea. Doc agreed. I did very light pulling and some light farmer walks.


3/17

DLs & stuff went fine. Neck felt fine. Heaviest pull was 660.


3/19

benching went fine, aside from being weak. I think I pressed 525 off my chest in my 633 shirt from October 2020. 525 was slow and ugly. ****.


3/21
squats seem fine now with regard to the psoas, but the body weight being lighter makes moving big weight very difficult because my briefs are now too small. I ordered a new pair of custom Mendy/Juggernaut briefs. I hope to be able to get those and break them in before the May meet. I should have them in about 3 weeks.

155x5
245x5
315x3

briefs
425x2
515x1

suit
605x1

knee wraps
705xf. Suit was too loose and I am getting very little out of my stretched out briefs. ****.

We tightened the strings up and I got a great, tight knee wrap.
675x1. I might need to open the may meet in this neighborhood, pending how things go with my new briefs. I should not need so much gear to be able to squat this weight well.

I did some other stuff after squats including stairs and I don't remember what else.


3/22
Typical Wednesday shoulder/pulling/core stuff with lot of pushups.


3/24
DL
225x5x2
315x3
405x1

suit (I used the Metal Jack sumo size 52, which was too tight 10 lbs of bodyweight ago)
556x1 - solid
616x1 - solid
666x1 - not terrible, but not good. It would have got 3 white lights, but the right side went forward because my right knee started moving forward at about mid shin. That forced the bar and my left fingers into my leg. I caught my sock and then my suit on the way up. Despite that, I was locked out ok.

knee high rack pulls
660x2 - I did this sumo in the Metal sumo suit. That does not help much at the top, so I switched to my Inzer suit and pulled conventional.
740x1
790x1

GHRs
one set of 30. That felt like enough lolcardio.

That's awesome. I'm just not planning to ask him to stick that needle anywhere in my body any time soon .

lol, hopefully you never need it. If you do, I can get you his info.

3/26

bench press
55x15
145x10
195x5
235x3
290x2
330x1

blue 3 ply SDP 58
2 boards
510x1 - smoked it

touch
560xf. ****. It touched ok. It stopped about halfway up. Weak. Small (243). Shirts stretched out. Dammit. I will not be putting up big bench press numbers in May. I have a good idea of what I can open with. I do not know what to do for 2nnd or 3rd attempts yet. I need to figure it out.

tight black 58 SDP
2 boards
600x1 - way harder than it should have been.

F8, all 3 plies
2 boards
710x1 - harder than it should have been, but not bad.

pushups
band jacknifes
pulling stuff


3/28

marrs bar squats
180x5
290x5
400x1

briefs
510x1

suit
620x1

knee wraps
710x1
750x1

added chains and used briefs only
353 + 4 chains x 2
353 + 6 chains x 2
353 + 8 chains x 2
353 + 10 chains x 2

All squats felt pretty good. I was surprised how well the 750 went.

GHRs
offset KB steps


3/29
typical Wednesday stuff, pushups, pulling, core, etc.

Cool/nerdy stuff: Doc friend has been dealing with a weird growth on his femur for many years. He did some kind of wizardry on it that is beyond my level of comprehension a week and a half ago. Imaging shows that it has drastically changed in a good way. Its affecting his squatting and some other movements now.

We were going to have him work up to something heavy, but its apparent that would have been a bad idea because at about 1 plate +, he'd get a tendon pain in the glute attachment to the femur (he narrowed it down to that). I had him try squatting more with light weight, but that didn't seem to be helping. I had him try light 1 leg RDLs and that was not helpful either. Then we decided he should try barbell RDLs. That was the right choice.

He showed me a cool program on his phone the shows a skeleton, and you can turn on and off which muscles and other soft tissue to see. The glute max attaches mostly to the ITB, but there is a small portion of it that attaches to the femur - that small attachment is the problem right now. The tendon needs time to recover from having been overcompensating for some quad muscle that was greatly affected by the weird growth on the other side of his femur, and its going to need time and maybe treatment to recover.

Apparently the small stabilizer part of the glute max muscle that attaches to the femur is active during heavy-ish squats and 1 leg RDLs, but it turns itself off for two leg barbell RDLs, and the big part of the glute max takes over on those. He was feeling the glute max a lot - we eventually loaded up the weight to the most he's ever RDLed, and he did it better than ever before.

3/31

DL
up to the ugliest 645 ever. My right knee shot a bit forward, then I farted lol. The bar got way the hell out in front of me, but at least I was strong enough to get it back and lock it out. I never felt like it was hard on my low back, otherwise I would have just dropped it.

I did high rack pulls (pin between 5 & 6) up to 850x1 after that, and I probably did some more stuff that I forgot already.


4/2
bench
raw warm up to 330x1

Tight black 2 ply SDP size 58
3 boards
510x1

1 board
550x1 - Not terrible. I might have a chance at touching and pressing something around this number at the May meet.

2 or 3 boards, I forgot
600x1

F8 3 ply
2 or 3 boards, I forgot
650x1
I had intedned to do a triple, but the left shoulder felt weird. I didn't set up well. I smoked this off my chest, but because of the way it came down, I thought it might be a bad idea to do more.

chain push ups up to 6 gym chains x 10. Gym chains weigh ~15-18 lbs each.

rows

face pulls

jacknifes


4/4
squats
155x5
245x5
335x3

briefs
425x2
515x1

suit
605x1

knee wraps
680x1. I guess 672 will probably be ok for an opener in these briefs, but it felt way harder than it should have. I ordered some new Mendy/Juggernaut briefs, but I probably won't be able to use them for the May meet. They might get here in another week and a half or so. I am so much smaller than I was the last time I did a full meet that I am getting almost nothing out of my briefs. Like most of my shirts, they are too stretched out.

710xf. I dont know wtf happened, but everything felt bad on the descent, so I had the spotters grab it before I got down to the hole. I figured I should move on after that. bleh.

briefs only
425x2x5
These went well.

RDLs
315x8
405x5
495x5
545x5 - this was challenging, as I took little rest between sets.


Wednesday 4/5
Typical shoulder stuff, pulling stuff, core stuff, etc. One thing of note, I did chain pushups with my feet on a half bosu ball up to 4 chains x 10, then feet on the floor with 6 chains x 10. My chains at home weigh 22 lbs each.


4/7
DL
225x5x2
315x3
405x1

suit - I have been using my black Metal Jack sumo size 54 the past couple weeks. At the size I am at now, this seems like the best suit for me to pull from the floor.
550x1 - smoked
610x1 - smoked
660x1 - slower, but form very good.
ART from Tues 4/4, along with MAT Thurs 4/6 seemed to have fixed my issue of the right knee coming forward. I hope I can continue to make this hold up. My PT who does MAT is incredible.

rack pulls just below knees (pins between 4 & 5)
565x3
675x3
785x1

GHRs
30x2
lolcardio

jacknifes

Thoughts on upcoming meet as of now for DL:
open 611
2nd 660 - 678
3rd 672 - 711. 705 is the full meet American record at 242, 55-59. I have a very very slim shot at that in May. I might have a better shot in July. If the meet was yesterday and I was not tired from squatting & benching, I might have been able to pull 678 or a bit more.

4/9
bench press
55x10
145x10
205x5
245x3
290x2
330x1

black opener shirt, 58 SDP
2 boards
480x1

touched
520x1
This went pretty well. I might open with 512 or so.

tight black 2 ply SDP 58
1 board
565x1 - smoked it.

2 boards
605x1 - solid. My bench is coming around.

pushups
25
+ 2 chains x 12
+ 4 chains x 10
+ 6 chains x 10
+ 8 chains x 10
Gym chains are 15 - 18 lbs each.

band jacknifes
5 sets of 15 reps

machine rows
up to 305x12

face pulls

4/11
squats
I got up to 680x1 and 710x1 in full gear

4/12
Wednesday stuff

4/14
DL
225x5x2
315x3
405x1

suit (Black Jack Metal sumo)
550x1
610x1 - fast
680x1 - slow, but decent form. This is close to my max right now.

knee high rack pulls
A handful of sets with increasing weights and bands up to ~495 + ~450 - 550 in band tension x 1


4/16
bench
55x10
145x10
195x5
250x3
290x2
330x1

opener shirt
1 board
510x1 - fast

tight black 58 two ply
off chest
570x1 - This actually went well. It touched without much trouble and I pressed it well.

1 board
610x1 - This went pretty well too. I pressed it a bit slow, but not bad at all. I am very happy with it.

F8 3 ply
2 boards
690x1 - smoked it
I intended to do 2 or 3 reps, but the left shoulder was not locked down, so I stopped.

chaos pushups
ugh. I had the LiftingLarge brand equivalent of an EliteFTS Pro Strong Band across the monolift. As I was doing pushups, the ****ing band snapped in half. I fell on my left elbow on the rubber mat flooring. The fall itself didnt hurt much, but when I tested the elbow by doing an elevated pushup, it hurt a lot. **** me. My teammate who's a doc looked at it and said its a bruised bursa. He told me to shut everything down for the day and rest - no pushing or pulling.

I texted my PT. She told me to do a few things, including bending and straitening the arm 10,000 times. I'm at 2,100 as of right now a few days later. I've also done some BPC, compression band work, epsom salt bath, arnica oil, lavender oil, cbd oil and magnesium gel on it. Its maybe 50% or so better now. I am going to ask my doc friend to look at it tonight. I hope I can bench ok by Sunday, or at least by the meet 5/6.


4/18
squat
155x5
245x5
335x3

briefs
425x2
515x1

suit
610x1

knee wraps
680x1
730xf. I might have gotten a bit loose in the core. This is probably near my max with this gear right now. The briefs I am wearing give me almost nothing because they are stretched out from me wearing them at ~270 body weight. I'm ~245 now.

I ordered a new pair of Mendy/Juggernaut briefs about a month ago. They finally came in. I talked to Mendy Monday and he shipped them, so I hope to have them Friday.

Mendy is a pretty good dude. He is very close with my good friend/coach Priest. Priest used to lift with him prior to moving to MN many years ago. Priest moved back to CA in late 2019 and he lifts with Mendy again. I told Mendy that I am good friends with Priest and he said "I love that man" a couple times. I miss lifting with Priest. Mrs Cha & I are probably going to lift with them at Mendy's gym sometime in the next year or so. We almost drove out there last year when we were in Vegas, but we didn't quite plan our schedule well enough. Priest wants me to coach some of his people on DLs.

oof, good luck with the recovery

Ugh...hope the recovery goes faster.

Thanks!

Thanks!

Its getting better every day, but I am still getting sharp pain if I extend with much force using the triceps if the arm is bent at ~60 degrees or a sharper angle. Its fine if the elbow is straight - I can squeeze the triceps and have no pain. Doc friend says probable bursa bruise and possible tendon bruise.

I did basically no pressing last night (4/19) because of the elbow. I can now pull rows and pulldowns fine, so I did some of both with light weight, along with some face pulls, shoulder rehab & ez core stuff.

I am hoping to bench 600 off my chest this Sunday. I might not be able to bench anything off my chest that soon. If I can do that May 6, I have a great shot at actually winning this next meet. I should be top 3 if I can even go 4/9 for ~1850 or better. We will see what happens. Worst case is I take token lifts and qualify for nationals.

4/21

I did this at home because I an pull with a DL bar off blocks here, unlike the gym. I am doing a WDC silver dollar (9" elevated) DL meet next week and I wanted to see where I am at pulling from high blocks with a DL bar.

DL
236x5x2
326x3
416x1

suit
556x1
616x1
686*f. I guess my max is right around 680 right now. ****

9" block pulls with DL bar
596x1
686x1
776x1
866xf. ****. My setup makes it so when I get past about 7 plates, the edge of the weights hangs off the edge of the blocks. I have rubber on the blocks, and with the friction along with the ends of the weights catching on the edges on the blocks, it makes pulling really heavy stuff harder than it will be when I do the silver dollar strongman DL meet next week.

The 50+ years old, 115 KG body weight world record is 859.8. I pulled 825 in this meet last year with minimal training. The meet director has a much better setup this year that *should* make pulling heavier weights a bit easier. So I am thinking of opening with ~750, then I need to decide whether to go to ~865 for the WR or take something in between.

Part of my decision will be based on what other lifters are attempting. These strongman meets just have rising bar weight, not flights like powerlifting, so if no one else lifts a weight between my attempts, I need to go twice in a row. One encouraging thing is that a strong friend of mine is going to do the meet, and he is going to do some attempts in the 750-900 range like me. We might be the only ones though. Probably 3/4 of the people in the meet will be finished before I do my opener, and probably 4 huge young guys will be opening after I am finished.

Maybe I will do 750/825/865/??? and hope for 900+.