Went to the gym with my GF last night, but didn't want to do anything to throw off Friday night's workout.

External rotator cuff rotations- 3 sets
Neutral grip chinups- 3 sets of 5
Box Jumps- 3x3x36 inches, 3x3x40 inches
Random triceps active recovery stuff

11-5
Lower Body Volume

Box Squats- 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x4, 225x3, 265x2, 295x1, 305x5,4,5,5,5
Calf Raises- 3 sets
Hamstring Curls- 140x6x3
Back Extensions- 45lbsx12x3
Situps- 25lbsx12x3

Decent.

How were the calf raises? Are they making your calves shapely?

Maybe some small improvement. I actually think stronger calves may help my squat and DL a bit. I've definitely suffered some minor strains when doing a max effort rep.

11-6
Volume Upper

Paused Bench- 45x5x2, 135x5, 155x3, 175x2, 185x5x3, 195x2, 200x2
Pendlay Row- 154x5, 174x5, 184x5
Cable Row- 3 sets of 15
Shrugs/Jump Shrugs/Upright Rows
Close Grip Fat Gripz Bench- 145x8x2
Incline DB Curls- 40x6, 30x8, 25x12
OH Triceps Extensions- 3 sets

Gym will be closed for Thanksgiving, so I'll be deloading that week. Looking forward to making progress again after that, instead of spinning my wheels.

How useful are those fat gripz? I've heard the grip4orce or whatevers are a tad better and I'm considering getting one or the other.

The fatgripz are ok. I had got them with the idea of using them for pendlay rows and warmup deadlift sets, but I can really only deadlift about 155 lbs with them despite being able to double overhand 385+. I have really tiny hands though so they may effect me more than most.

There's a kid at my gym who uses them consistently and he said he's had the same pair for 2 years with no real signs of wear.

11-8
Dynamic/Recovery

Hang Power Cleans- 45x3, 95x3, 115x3, 135x3, 155x2, 160x2, 165x2x3
Front Squats- 185x3, 205x3, 225x2, 235x2, 245x1, 255x1, 265x1 (pr)
Box Jumps- 40 inches x3x5
DB Shrugs- 3 sets
Chest Supported Rear Delt Flyes- 3 sets
Slow Behind Head Pulldowns- 3 sets

Fighting a cold but still felt pretty good today. The 265 front squat was a true PR; my wrists found some ROM that they didn't know they had. I still contend that I suck at them and should be able to do 300+. Might try raising the box jumps up soon now that my form is consistent. Could probably make 44 inches or so.

11-11
Max Effort

Squat- 45x5x2, 135x5,185x4, 225x3, 265x2, 305x2, 335x1, 345x1, 325x4
Bench- 45x5x2, 135x3, 165x3,185x2, 205x1, 215x1, 225x1, 230xf, 205x4
DL- 242x3, 286x5, 319x3, 353x6
Paused Pushups- 3 sets of 15
Reverse Curls- 3 sets of 15
Alternating DB Skull Crushers-5 sets to failure ~ 20 seconds rest between sets

345 felt heavy enough so I stopped the squat there. Didn't have the WIM to go for a 5th at 325. Bar speed on 225 bench was really fast, but I had literally a perfect liftoff which I didn't get again on subsequent sets. DL was solid. Might try a max DL next week, hoping for 419 or so.

11-14
Volume Lower

Box Squats- 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x4, 225x3, 275x2, 295x2, 315x5x3
BB Hip Thrusts (feet on box)- 132x5, 198x5, 208x5, 215x5
Calf Raises while pinching 15kg plates- 3 sets of 20
Hamstring Curls- 150x6,6,4
Donkey Calf Raises- 3 sets of 15
Back extensions- +45lbsx15x3

11-15
Volume Upper

BB Floor Press- 45x5x2, 135x5, 165x3, 185x5, 190x5, 195x5, 200x3
Cable Row- "160"x5x3, "110"x15
Chest Supported RD Flyes- 3x15
Shrugs-85s, 90s, 95s all by 8, 65sx15
20 kg plate pinches- 3 sets to failure ~ 30 seconds
Alternating Paused DB Skull Crushers- 3 sets (light)

Changed to BB floor press for my bench accessory exercise. Shoulder was bothering me a bit so took it slightly easy on the pushing and pulling stuff. Gym is closed for 4 days around Thanksgiving, so I'll probably do a dynamic day on Wednesday/Thursday and a max effort attempt on Saturday or Sunday (190kg deadlift please?), then take a deload week and just do some chinups, pushups, and kettlebell swings.

Had a golf lesson today. They took some video and went over a couple things with me. Overall I need to work on my spine angle in the downswing, get rid of my "late cast" which I've probably had my whole life thanks to hockey, and shorten my swing which will help with consistency. Swing speed was pretty solid though.

Planning to play golf competitively?

Maybe a couple years down the line, for now I'd just like to go out and break 80 occasionally.

Hit about 25 balls after work at golftec. The swing monitor and replay stuff they have is pretty sweet and I should get a decent amount out of it. Worked on keeping my hands higher at address, shortening my swing, and keeping my left side from sliding away from the ball. After 25 swings my entire right arm to the shoulder was aching, hopefully just from not warming up correctly and hitting off a mat. Will probably try to hit some more on Saturday.

11-18
Dynamic/Recovery

Hang Powercleans- 88x3, 100x3, 132x3, 152x2, 162x1, 172x1, 176xfx2, 132x2, 152x2, 162x1
Front Squats- 198x3, 220x3, 230x3, 240x2, 250x2
40 inch box jumps- 3x5

Maybe my shoulder affected my powercleans, but I doubt it; I think I just need a break and to get more reps in at 160 to 165. Videoed the front squats, as 250 was near max effort it's not surprising that caving was an issue. Box jumps were EZ, I need to either weight these of raise the box a couple inches.

11-21
Max Effort

Squats- 45x5x3, 154x5, 220x3, 264x2, 294x2, 319x1, 331x2
Deadlifts- 264x3, 331x2, 375x1, 419x1 (pr), 397x1

Took it easy on squats because I knew I wanted to try a max effort DL. 419 was truly a max; videoed it and my back rounded a ton. No pain, but I don't think I'll try pulling that heavy again for awhile, I'll just stick to 5/3/1.

Will bench tomorrow, then take a week off or so.

Just realized with my maxes of 353, 230, and 419 I officially made the 1000lb club.

419 DL

sick pull.

nice pull, but i think some standard rippletoe critique applies. bar path initially is not up but back.

you're basically trying to pull from an impossible position until at 00:27 your upper body pretty obviously shifts forward right before the bar breaks (scaps get over the bar). probably not a huge deal in terms of weight lifted, but i thought it was worth pointing out.

yeah good point. his start position was olytarding.

I've found that with my scaps over the bar and a belt I have a really tough time taking a deep enough breath, and the olytard setup lets me get a little more air in. But yeah I should probably not bother flexing my hams until my scaps are back over the bar and my real pull begins.

i'd just learn to set up faster then. take a few big breaths standing up, set up quickly and pull. there's 15 seconds between you first bending your knees and the bar finally moving.

i've actually had a bunch of guys criticize me at my dumb gym for waiting too long at the bottom. "attack the bar!" type crap. i think it's just a personal feel thing. I have sloppy pulls if I try to go too quick. I might lose some hamstring tension, but I make up for it in better mechanics. Maybe it's something worth practicing though.

Also, some sick jumping butt kicks by that girl in background.

11-22

Bench- 45x5x2, 135x5, 165x3, 185x2, 205x1, 215x1x2, 195x4, 185x5
Kroc Rows- 85x18 each arm
Snatch Grip Shrugs- 2 sets of 20
DB Lateral Raises- 3 sets of 15

Had hoped to do a bunch of bench singles at 225 but I'm feeling pretty burnt out. Gym is closed till Nov 29th so I'll get some much needed rest. From the December 22nd till some time in late January I'll have very limited gym access, so I'm thinking of just doing some variant of Starting Strength for the three weeks I'll have in December. I'd also like to get some more upper body volume in, so I'm thinking:

Day A:
Hang Powercleans 3x5
Incline Bench 5x3
Squat 5x3

Day B:
Bunch of upper body bodybuilding crap. Maybe some box jumps/front squats.

Day C:
Squat 5x3
Push Press 3x5
DL 5/3/1