I have some smaller chains as leaders and the gym has a similar setup. Also, my teammate has some Rogue nylon adjustable chain holders that are pretty nice.

Thanks, same to you!

1/11

squats
warmed up with the straight bar raw, then 425x2 in briefs

Then we switched to the Duffalo bar
465x1
505x1
That didnt feel great on the neck/upper back, so I moved on.

GHRs

front foot elevated split squats

rear foot elevated split squats

These single leg exercises are doing good things for my hips.


1/12
shoulder rehab stuff

There's not a lot of stuff I can do with my upper body right now that doesnt hurt my elbow. Its ****ed up pretty bad.

Tomorrow I will probably try doing DLs using a giant back strap that my teammate has so that I dont have to use my arms to lift it at all.

1/14

I did some DLs using a big shoulder strap thing that allows you to not use your hands. It was set so that the bar would have been a little below the knees like a rack pull.

225x10
315x5
405x5
495x3x2
On the 495s, the outside part of the bar lifted up off the floor first, backwards from the way a DL bar is supposed to do. This made for a clunky feeling as the outside of the plates would come off the floor, then as the rest of the plates came off the floor it kind of jerked. I figured adding weight would be unwise.

I did some other corrective stuff that didnt require me to use my arm.

At this time, I was able to carry my cooler with my bad arm straight next to me. When I left the gym and walked to my car pulling my bag with my left arm and holding the cooler in my right, I opened the back of my car with my foot while holding onto both items, as there was snow on the ground. I thought about how to load the stuff into the car. I figured I would be careful and swing the cooler with my hip. As soon as the right arm got away from my side, I got a terrible sharp pain in my right elbow. ****.

I didnt bother going to the gym Sunday (1/16) because I couldnt do anything with my right arm.

1/17

Doc did a procedure on my right elbow using PRP/thrombin/fibrin into a couple forearm extensor tendons and my right supraspinatus tendon. The thrombin/fibrin part makes the first couple days of recovery very painful. This procedure is cutting edge stuff. Almost no one else does it - just my doc and a couple others. My doc has been doing it on professional athletes with good success.

In addition to the injections, he “beat up” my tendons and bone with a needle. That was fun, or something. Apparently beating up the tendon makes it heal back stronger and beating up the bone gives the tendon more area to attach itself to the bone. The thrombin/fibrin/PRP mixture acts sort of like a healing glue to create a strong bond in tendons.

The tendinosis was getting worse/better/worse for 30 years or so. I'm 99% sure bowling caused it. I used to bowl in 1 or 2 leagues plus tournaments every week from 1973 to 1983, 1986 to about 2007 and 2011 to 2017. From about 1988 to 2007 I had to wear a nylon compression band on my forearm to alleviate elbow pain. Before I started bowling again in 2011, I learned about fixing muscle adhesions, so I did stuff to my forearm that allowed me to bowl mostly elbow pain-free without the strap. But the tendinosis was still there – it was just less bad for a while.

After my last meet in November 2021, I got interested in knee high axle bar DLs with straps because a friend does those in competitions, and they looked like fun. The masters WR is 926. I've pulled as much as 942 for a double with a standard bar, so I figured I had a shot at the world record.

Pulling super heavy axle bar DLs put tremendous stress on my brittle forearm extensor tendons, causing some tearing. It happened gradually and got worse and worse. I am retiring from axle bar DLs. The DL bar never did this.

Doc told me right after the procedure that because of how bad my elbow was and how aggressive he was with the treatment, I would be in a lot of pain for anywhere between two days and two weeks.

My right arm was extremely painful the day after the procedure, like 9/10. I could not use my right hand at all. It’s still painful now, but way less. I was able to start typing and using a mouse the day after the procedure. I still can’t lift anything heavier than a Kleenex or move at all in certain positions, but I can hold things like a bottle of water next to my body and move my hand & arm certain ways if I am careful.

It is getting better every day so far.

Doc says I should not exert much force with the right arm for about four weeks and I will get the full effects of the treatment by about six months from now. I cannot push myself in the gym very hard before that. I'm tentatively planning to start pulling a max of about 135 about four weeks after the procedure.

Here is the good part: I asked doc if he thought I could be holding 750 lbs in my hands at some point after six months. He said the tendons will eventually be so strong that I should be thinking about holding 800 - 900 lbs in the future. So I have that to look forward to assuming the rest of my body cooperates.



1/19

I did about a mile on the treadmill slowly and did some hip hikes.

My arm still hurts. I cant do much with it yet. This issue is much worse than I realized.

I cannot do anything with my upper body right now other than use a mouse, type and hold light things close to my body with the elbow bent. I cant even load plates, spot or work the monolift hooks.

I did go to the gym 2/4 for the first time in a while. I did some DLs with the back strap thing up to 405x3. At 455, I felt like I needed to grab the strap with my hands to get it in a good spot, and I cant do any load bearing stuff with my right hand yet, so I stopped. It was good to move a little weight, but it didnt really feel like I did much.

2/5 wife & I went to a new location our gym has that has a ~180' long turf area and several sleds. I started pulling light weight forward & backwards with the belt around my waist the whole length of the turf and back. I kept adding plates (I should say my wife did the loading because I cant).

The last 4 or 5 sets, I went only about halfway down and back. I wasnt paying close attention to how much weight I was doing until I was finished. The last two sets I had nine 45s & six 2.5s. We found the sled weights posted on the wall. The one I used was 87 lbs, so apparently I was pulling 507 lbs the last couple of sets. It felt a little challenging, mostly because I was pulling it so far. The weight didnt seem all that heavy, so I guess I havent lost too much leg strength yet. My legs do feel like I worked out a little yesterday.

My right arm is flabby now though. I probably need to rest it at least a couple more weeks.

I see my PT for MAT tomorrow.

I have seen my chiro twice so far and he made it feel better both times. Last week, he stopped doing ART on the arm, rolled his Graston table of tools into the room and did Graston on the arm before continuing with more ART. I have some gummed up deep crap inside my forearm. The Graston loosened some of it up so he could go deeper with ART.

About a week and a half ago, I got some Rolfing done (1st time ever) by a provider who is apparently world class. She worked a lot on my neck, back, legs, hips, shoulders and arms. Everything felt much looser afterwards. I wish I could have done some squatting & DLing afterwards to see how the legs & hips felt. While I think it was useful, its really expensive, so I dont think I will be doing that again for a while.

Regenerative injection doc took a look at the arm with ultrasound after Rolfing (the Rolfer works out of his office). He said he can still see tears in the tendons, but its too soon to be concerned about it - its normal at this stage of the healing process.

PT with MAT & chiro with ART, etc, along with more rest, should get me better eventually. Its taking longer than I want though.

2/7

MAT with PT. This went really well. I should have seen her prior to this week. The Rolfing & ART are great too, but MAT is exactly what I needed for this. The arm seems like it has ~50% - 75% or so better range of pain free movement than it did before the MAT. It finally feels like I am making progress. My PT is a magician.

Also she gave me some PT exercises to do which are basically static movements with little to no resistance. Also I can do stuff like wrist curls & reverse wrist curls with 5 lb DBs. I was doing those with ~60 lb DBs ~25 years ago.

I think I am on track to DL ~135 in a couple weeks now. woohoo...

2/11

I got a Marrs bar.

https://www.marrs-bar.com/health-professionals

Its weird but awesome, especially for using with my current limitations. Its sort of like a safety squat bar, but easier on your upper back and it can be used basically hands free. The center of gravity is very low on your back, like lower than a low bar squat with a straight bar.

I used it a little just up to 2 plates raw for a few triples. It felt like I wanted to get my stance very wide, but my hips got cranky when I got wide, so I figured it would make sense to wear briefs next time and go wide.


2/13

Marrs bar squats
65x5
155x5

briefs
245x5
335x5
425x3
475x2
515x1

I love this bar right now.

Arm is slightly better than it was last time I posted, but it still hurts and I cannot do a lot with it yet.

I’ve never used it but heard good things. Prob a great purchase with your arm injuries. I do go hands free with my SSB for Hatfield squats but it has shifted a little a couple times. Doesn’t seem like that would be an issue with this bar. It’s up there for bars I might want to buy one day but I think the kabuki transformer bar is top on my list.

A gym I used to go to had a transformer bar and I never used it, partly because I mostly just benched at this gym and partly because I didnt realize what that bar was at the time. It looks pretty cool.

2/15

Marrs bar squats up to 565 in briefs


2/18

Marrs bar squats up to 605 in briefs


2/22

Marrs bar squats
65x5
155x5
245x5

briefs
335x3
425x2
515x1

knee wraps
605x1
655x1

I had been wearing flat soled shoes prior to this session. I wore my squat shoes this time. Everything moved great. Aside from my calves being tight, everything feels pretty good.


I've been doing minimal PT stuff for my elbow/forearm that is sporadic and random pretty often - nothing worth logging at this point. I have PT on Thursday this week. I'm looking forward to that. The elbow / forearm tendons are very slowly improving, but it all still has a long way to go.

2/25

trap bar DLs up to 245x5 - yay! Arm is starting to improve little by little.

Marrs bar squats in briefs & wraps up to 675x1 - brief (no suit) PR


3/1

Marrs bar squats up to 695x1 - 20 hours post passing kidney stone & brief PR

yeah, you read that correctly. At about midnight the night before this, I passed about a 3/16" diameter kidney stone. That was fun, or something. I need to drink more plain water and use way less (or no) hydration multipliers for a while apparently. I was using those a lot recently. No good.

link to 695 video

3/4 & 3/8 - various Marrs bar squats with no wraps and less weight than 3/1.

3/6 - a bit of forearm rehab stuff

3/11

safety bar squats

up to several singles in briefs only with 550.

This bar is much more difficult to use heavy weight than the Marrs bar.


Also 3/11 - big day personally. My daughter's boyfriend called and asked for my blessing do he could propose. I like this guy a lot better than anyone else my daughter has dated. He's very smart, hard working, a nice guy and he really makes her happy. I asked him one tough question, which he knocked out of the park. Of course I approved.

This guy made the rest of us married guys all look bad, lol. He and my daughter usually eat Saturday breakfast at his parents house with his family. For yesterday (3/12) he arranged for everyone to be there earlier than him & my daughter, and he hired a photographer to hide with me and my ex wife as he and my daughter came in. They walked into a big room where everyone was hanging out as the photographer and my ex and I followed without her knowledge. Then in front of everyone, he popped the question. My daughter was very surprised and very very happy, as am I and her mom and her new fiancé and his family.

Thanks!!


3/13 - arm rehab stuff. I tried gripping a barbell on a bench. Nope. Elbow/forearm pain. I was able to do machine rows with a medium-light weight.

3/14
Physical therapy with MAT - this changed some things in a very good way for my arm. My PT is a magician.

3/15
Marrs bar squats up to 705 x 1 in briefs and wraps (Marrs bar PR)
link to 705 video

3/17
chiro - ART and adjustments
I came to the realization that leg pains and numbness I have been experiencing lately (well, for years actually) are related to my degenerating L4/L5 disc. The MRI I had in 2011 showed that was happening during the time L3/L4 got herniated and caused really bad problems. This nagging perineal nerve issue I have been having that I thought was primarily from jamming the tibia/fibula joint a few years ago is likely L4/L5 related. Also lately I have been getting numb legs from sitting long periods of time with my back rounded. Lately, my heels have stayed numb for days at a time. Its all L4/L5 & possibly also L5/S1. Three doctors and a PT all agreed with that assessment. ****. I need to rehab this with similar things that I did to rehab L3/L4 ~11 years ago. Its not as bad, so I can do heavier stuff at least, but I really need to focus on better posture while sitting, avoid anything that aggravates it and do more core stuff.

3/18
Marrs bar squats up to about 2 plates.
Legs & hips didnt feel great, and teammates had rack pulls set up. My arm has been feeling great, so I figured I'd see how it felt actually pulling some significant weight.

rack pulls (6-7" elevated, 2-3" below knees)
225x3
315x3
405x3
495x3
545x3
All reps were double overhand, no straps. There was no arm pain, yay! Back, hips and legs felt better the day after doing this than they did prior to doing it. DLs can probably cure cancer, lol.

TRX strap fallouts - 3 sets
light rowing stuff
GHRs
some other minor stuff

3/20
I did a bunch of shoulder and arm rehab/warmup stuff, then gripped the barbell hard on a bench. No pain, woot!

bench press
45x10
95x10
135x8
185x5
185 + 6 chains (~90 lbs at the top) x 3 x 2
No arm or shoulder issues, yay!

I did a bunch of mid & upper back and should stuff with a light band.
Light machine rows
saws (core work)
forearm rehab stuff

Wow, congrats!!!

Congrats - that’s awesome!

What was the tough question? I have two daughters and I might need it one day!

I asked my wife’s mother when I proposed (her father is dead). Tbh, I didn’t get…and hadn’t been expecting…any tough questions. Probably for the best

Thanks!!

Thanks!!

"How are you sure that (daughter) is the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with?"

3/22

some warmup and activation stuff

rack pulls, a bit below the knee - pins were between #s 5 & 6.
Worked up to 405x3 for about 8 or 9 sets

core stuff


3/23
McGill big 3 + cat / camels
sled drags
forward and back with belt around waist up to ~590 lbs

sled rows
~590 for about 20 hard pulls


3/24
McGill big 3 & cat/camels

3/25

McGill big 3 & cat/camels

knee high rack pulls, beltless, double overhand
225x10
315x5
405x3x10

TRX strap fallouts


3/26
McGill big 3 & cat/camels

3/27
McGill big 3 & cat/camels

should rehab stuff

bench press
45x12
135x8
185x4
225x3
275x3x3

band face pulls, rows

cable pulldowns

machine rows

tricep pressdown machine

TRX strap fallouts

3/28
big 3+

3/29
big 3+
warmup stuff
knee high rack pulls
225x5
315x5
425x3x9
491x3

TRX fallouts


3/30
big 3+

pushed sled ~150' x 2 with ~280 lbs

pulled sled with belt backwards ~150' x 2 with ~380 lbs

pulled sled with belt forward ~100' x 2 with ~480 lbs

pulled sled with belt forward ~100' x 2 with ~580 lbs - I was breathing heaving for about 20 minutes after this. Time to stop for the night.

3/31
big3+

4/1
big3+
rack pulls a couple inches below the knees
225x5
335x3
445x3x5

tried belt squats - they didnt feel great

various machine stuff for triceps & back

carried 30 lb KB up & down 15 stairs 16 times

Sitting seems to make the back issues worse almost whatever way I sit now. I ordered an adjustable height desk so I can stand while working when I want. That should be very good for my back.

Chiro says decompression is one of the things that can help discs heal. The seemed to be one of the keys to getting past the disc herniation injury I had in 2011. I have not been logging it, but I have used the inversion table about five times in the past week and a half. I think I need to make using that a habit.

I've been busy so I have neglected updating my log. I have been doing similar work:
big 3 almost daily
inversion table almost daily
high rack pulls
shoulder & arm rehab

I have done a little bench pressing as well. Its going ok, but I am weak. 315 raw is not hard, but its harder than it used to be. 365 in a weak slingshot was a little challenging. 455 in a loose shirt was easy, but 495 got glued to my chest.

After talking to my PT, I figured doing reverse hypers would be a good idea. I've been doing those a couple times a week and I think they are helping.

I bout an adjustable standing/seated desk. I stand about half the day now, which is probably helping.

Meanwhile, the arm is healing well.

I increased the weight on rack pulls to 605 a couple of sessions, once beltless and once with a belt.

Last Tuesday, I wanted to try rack pulls in full gear. I asked my teammate who's a doc and he said as long as the arm doesn't hurt, I can add weight. I went up to 805, which was a little challenging, but not my max. And no arm pain. Then I started thinking about a strongman event that's coming up in a couple weeks.

There's a strongman rules DL world championship here in MN April 30. The events are DL from the floor (I am skipping that) and 18" elevated DLs. Both lifts are with a Texas DL bar. Perfect for me. The rack pulls I have been doing are 19" elevated, but with a straight bar. The flex of the DL bar will be more than 1", so the straight bar DLs are probably a bit more difficult. I contacted the meet director Tuesday night and it was just in time. I entered. My doc and my PT gave me the green light, as long as there is no arm pain.

Friday 4/15 I pulled 825 from 19" with the straight bar. It felt harder than it did last year when I was stronger, but I still have more in me. A teammate figured I had 875 in me that day.

I am not going to be able to get my strength up to the point that I can pull >950 this soon, but with my age coefficient, I still have a shot to win the belt (they are awarding belts to best lifter), which would be cool. There's one guy who might pull >1100, but he weighs ~450 and he's only ~28, so my body weight and age will probably beat him if I can pull over ~850. I think there's only one other guy that's capable of pulling >900 and he's bigger and younger than me. This could be a lot of fun.

Strongman rules allow straps, hitching, ramping and the attempts are goofy. The weight on the bar just keeps going up. For example, if I open with at 775, & my next attempt is 825, and if no one else does a weight in between, I would need to pull twice in a row. Dumb rule, but whatever. I will work it out.

Yesterday, 4/17, I did some shoulder and arm rehab stuff and some heavy plate loaded machine rows. I got up to 5 plates on each side for a set of 8 and a set of 10. I'm not used to that. I feel like I overdid it a little. It feels way worse than after doing either of the recent 800+ rack pulls. I think I need to be most careful of overtraining and keeping form perfect and things will work out well.

Very cool news!

Thanks!

I'm weaker than I thought though. See below.

4/19

core stuff & warmup stuff

9.5" block pulls with my Texas DL bar - this is exactly 18" to the bottom of the bar. I screwed together six 2x12s for each side and added a 1/2" rubber mat on top, then I connected the blocks with some leftover composite deck material so that the blocks dont tip or slide around. Its a pretty cool setup for this particular lift, but the contraption is too bulky and heavy to move, so I dont know what I am going to do with it in the future.

236x10
326x5
416x2
double overhand^

506x1
mixed grip - 1st time I have turned my right hand under since the arm procedure and it felt fine.

suit & straps
596x1
686x1
776x1
866xf, f
836xf ****
816x1

I will get 4 attempts in this meet. I'm starting to think my attempts should be ~725, 800, then depending how everything is going, ~825 - 850, ~850 - 900. Assuming I get 800, that might even be enough for me to win the belt.

I guess I didn't mention this in my log before: The prize for best lifter is a championship belt, like a boxing or wrestling belt. Pretty cool.

816 lb block pull from 4/19

https://rumble.com/v11v88t-816-lb-block-pull.html

4/22

I misloaded what was to be my heaviest pull, forgetting to put a 45 on one side. My left hip was kind of jacked up after that. I was concerned for a while, but after seeing my chiro and then my PT Monday 4/25, I feel a lot better. Its not 100%, but there's no serious injury and I don't think it will affect what I do at the strongman meet tomorrow.


4/24

some arm and shoulder stuff

4/25

chiro

PT with MAT - this was really good. She figured out that my right psoas and several other right side muscles were not firing well and those are what were jacking up my left hip.

The psoas stuff this time turned a light bulb on for me. She talked about how she is figuring out that its important not just to turn on a big muscle like the psoas, but its also important to try to isolate it so that you can strengthen it significantly.

Probably since at least mid 2011 when I blew out my L3-4 disc, my right psoas has not really done what its supposed to do. My right quads kind of take over for what the psoas should be doing, and that is probably the main reason I still have right hip issues.

PT had me doing some cable exercise to isolate the psaos and it was really effective. I plan to do a variation of it frequently now.


4/26

I pulled off 9.5" blocks up to 736 x 1. This moved very fast and form was spot-on.

My right leg felt way more powerful and my right hip felt more stable than it has for a while. I did a band variation of the psoas exercise I mentioned above as part of my warmup. That, along with what the PT did the day prior, really worked well.

The meet is tomorrow - 4/30. I am doing strongman rules DL with the bottom of the bar elevated 18", or basically about a 9.5" block pull, with a DL bar. Straps, hitching and ramping are allowed. I will use straps. I probably won't ramp or hitch. I'll open with 725 and plan do do at least 800. I think 800 should get me best lifter.

I'm going to have to make attempt decisions on the fly. Strongman rules do not allow rest if your weight is next up. They just keep adding weight until no one can lift it and then the event is done. So there's a strong possibility I might only have two or one or zero people lifting between some of my attempts. The meet director says there are a couple other guys doing roughly similar weights to me. One guy will be doing something >1000. So depending how things are going, my second attempt might be 800. Everyone gets four attempts. I have no idea what I will do with attempts 3 & 4 yet. I'd like some rest between attempts, but whatever. I will figure it out.