My back injury ended up getting much worse due to coming back too soon and too much lower body work without any pre/rehab. Now I’m doing much more Donnie Thompson and Andrew lock lower back stuff. Also took this time to work on my shoulders and they are doing much better, this was a result of massage gun work everyday, bottoms up kb press, loads of inverted rows and kb rows, plus 30 minutes or more of wearing the Thompson bow tie every day.

My back is like 85 percent, still tightness early in the morning and at night, plus some pain warming up extension movements but I’m happy with where I’m at 7 weeks after the reinjury.

Diet wasn’t good but I’m back on track and I’ve added in pick up basketball so I expect this to be fine.

Yesterday

Kb snatch
3x10x45lb both arms - easy but hard on my elbows

Kb ohp
3x10x45lb better on elbows but harder to finish

NG pu
5x5x30lbs first time I did weighted pulls in a long time..

Kb swing
180 reps with 45lber

Today

Basketball for an hour

Sumo deadlift
Wu
5x5x205 doing this for rehab once my back is close to 100 percent I’ll drop these. Also I don’t close my hands on these usually

Zercher squat
135x10, 10
155x 10 haven’t done these in a super longtime but I’m adding them back.

Floor press pinky on rings
Wu
Blue slingshot 190x 5, 5 no pain
No slingshot 190x 4 shoulder tightened up so no 5th rep
Blue slingshot and a yoga block press 190x 6, 6
Good bench session, no pain just tight

Bjj
I’m back, tapped a blue belt with my usual Kimura, triangle and arm triangle, got close another couple anaconda chokes - one day. Also back in wrestling class and hit a double leg throw and 2 ankle picks - I did a lot of film study and some drilling in the off time and I think I actually got better.

Jinxed my self last week I really hurt my shoulder grabbing a random rebound and getting bumped in b-ball. Went to the doc, xrays we’re fine but he said I most likely tore my labrum in 2 spots. He said no more benching or basketball but ohp, pullups and bjj is still fine. I tap quick so that’s not a problem and if I keep my shoulder strong, I’ll be OK. Got a script for mri and pro rehab but he encouraged me to rehab for a couple weeks my self and see what happens.

A week later I’m like 75percent. Doing high rep low weight ohp and pull ups really helped. Along with massage gun, and Andrew lock big 3 shoulder exercises. Also I found this grisly spot between the rear delt, trap, and scap, I used my hand and the massager and it really opened up my shoulder, I have to remember where this spot is (Little easier now that it’s so sore).

Yesterday
Ohp
Wu
5x5x95
3x10x60 I like this

Weighted ng pu
Wu
5x5x30 nice.

Today
Kb swings
140 swings with 70lber most I’ve done since back injury

Bunch of 140lb farmers Walks


Bjj
Hit my first arm bar from guard in one shot! Grabbed a cross arm bar grip with my bad arm and spun my hips in a super fast motion and locked it up tight. This was no gi so it is even harder for me (I’m better with a kimono). The trick was whipping my left leg hard like a flower sweep at the same time I grab the grip.

Wrestling went ok, got another double leg throw, my ankle and knee pick is getting better, also hit a fireman’s carry aka kata guruma in judo.

Yesterday

Kneeing ohp
Wu
3x5x100
65x 10, 11, 10

Sumo dl
Wu
2x5x215 ez

Z squat
Wu
3x5x185
135x10

So it turns out that getting hit in basketball popped my shoulder back in place?? I guess i separated it years ago and just from pull ups and press, I kept it in a mostly pain free in a halfway out state. but there was a lot of grinding/popping/clicking and major scapula winging. Shoulder is much quieter now and zero winging! That precision assault popped it back in place, thank you masked stranger. Simpsons mr burns gif.

My shoulder I think freaked out from being reset, so it just swelled up. Much of the swelling is gone and it is actually working better than before, still some tightness in bicep, I guess the tendons are getting used to being back in place.

Bjj
Got an arm triangle this week and was close on a few more omoplatas. If I get bicep deep on an arm triangle now it is a guaranteed submission, really great improvement. Hit some moves wrestling pretty smoothly drilling and got lots of compliments, sparring was routine here.

Yesterday

Kneeling ohp
Wu
130x2 tough
3x5x105
75x 10,11,10

Sumo dl
Wu
225x5 easy
135x10
That was the first time in like 4 years that I’ve deadlifted 225 without some sort of pain or funkiness, so that’s good.

Z squat
Wu
3x5x195 kinda tough but trying out new form
I used to go too deep on these circa 2017 and now I’m cutting depth to right at parallel or a little high. Think going too deep lead to injuries.

Today

NG pull ups
28 reps of 30 lbs

Floor press
Wu
Blue slingshot
3x5x195 Easy
Red sling shot
2x5x195 Easy

Shoulder feels better but I’m not at 100 percent yet and only am slingshot pressing for now.

8/1

Sumo dl
Wu
235x5 ez

Kneeling press
Wu feels bad
3x5x95 feels super tight
5x10x45 feels OK my Neck is super tight

8/3

NG pu
30lbs 7,6,5,5,5

Inverted row
3x10xbw


8/5

Floor press
Wu right arm feels bad, so I switched to close grip.
Blue sling shot
3x5x185 easy

Red slingshot
195x5
205x1
220x2 ez

My right arm was bothering me with a pinky on rings grip but the shoulder felt fine and I could’ve done this with the blue slingshot. I hadn’t cg presses in forever, so excited to do it more.

Yesterday

Tons of smashwerx neck stuff, iastm on my traps (including on the back of my skull), and Andrew locks big three shoulder warm up

Sumo dl
Wu
185x10, 5

Zercher squat
Wu
185x 10
135x10

Kb swings
10x20x70lber

Just went light on lower body this week

Kneeling press
Wu tight
115x5 good
125x5 good
130x3 kinda tight
5x10x50 loose

Think the low weight high rep stuff helps the neck. my neck is a lot looser, earlier in the week I couldn’t lift my arm without a bunch of tightness on the back of the skull, where the trap connects. After I used the mobility star on it, a big bump formed and swelled up like golf ball size.

Swelling and lump are gone now and my neck feels much better. Smashwerx stuff was good too.

Wednesday

Cg floor press
Wu
Blue ss
3x5x200
Red slingshot
200x4 gassed

Kb swings
45lber 100 with right and 100 left handed swings

Inverted ring rows
BwX 21,15,15,10, 10. Think 21 is close to a pr but who cares, will add some weight now.

One arm kb rows

80lbsX 20, 15,15, 15 for each hand

Today

Sumo dl
Wu
3x5x225 found my good toro belt so this was easy

NG chins

5x5x35lbs

Kneeling ohp
Wu some neck and shoulder tightness
Put on Donnie Thompson Bowtie

125x 4,6,6 first set I lost my breath on the 4th rep and racked it, even though it wasn’t that heavy.

5x10x55 neck feels good.

Bjj
Week was ok, learned some single leg x entries, and got better at omoplata. Did a swinging arm bar warm up and my back was lol tight, could barely do the drill and it was kinda painful at the end. Otherwise my back feels great and deadlift keeps going up. I’m going to cut out zercher squats in case that’s is making me tight, if that doesn’t work I’ll switch and take out bar bell dead’s. I’ve been distracting my back and hips and majorly stretching my hips. It is kinda weird but I’ve always sucked at arm bars from guard.

Bjj
Taking a break, hurt my back doing a non-sparring armbar from guard drill. I didn’t actually feel a moment that I was injured just finished the drill and couldn’t do anything else. It’s weird because I can still lift/sit/etc pain free.

Yesterday

Sumo kb dl

5x10x140
5x70lber with orange band
5x70 and green band
2x10x70lber 1 blue band

Suitcase dl kb
3x5x140

Weighted carries with 2 70lbers

Random one arm dls

Today

NG pu
BwX 18,12,12,10
Pr? Think I hit this at a much lower weight, would be nice to drop more weight and break 20.

One arm kb row

4x15x85

Kneeling ohp
Wu
127.5x 5,3,3 some neck tightness but this is ok

Cg floor press
Wu
Blue slingshot
3x5x205 1st set hard but found my groove

Black sling shot
205x5 kinda hard. This is the strongest slingshot and seems like the most fun to use but it isn’t broken in plus it’s not meant to be used with this light weight. But I want to use it more because it almost turns the lift into pure triceps.

135x16 no sling shot - didn’t lock the weight out.

Yesterday

Sumo kb dl
6x10x140
70 with blue band 10
70 Blue band and orange band 5
70 rogue monster gray x fail this seems near impossible

Kb Swings w 45lber
5 rounds of 20 right hand, 20 left hand, 20 2 hands each set is unbroken

Today

NG chin
45x 3,3
25x 3, 3
10x 5, 6

Ohp (in my work’s gym)
Wu
125x2
135x1 ez
155x f, f didn’t have a belt and might not be used to regular pressing lol
5x10x65 little upper pec discomfort weird

Wrist work, face pulls, iso bear hugs, iso kimura holds

Been doing McGill big 3 plus cat camels twice a day. I can side plank for 60 seconds a side but need to video a form check. Oddly enough i can’t do the McGill curl up or at least I can’t feel it.

Friday

NG pu
BWx 19, 15, 12, 12
19 is a pr but form is sloppy

Saturday

Kb swings

5x60x45lber


Cg bench
Wu
Blue sling shot
3x3x215 so gassed
Red sling shot
215x3
Random 135 max set but triceps were super weak

Ohp
Wu
135x1, 2
95x15 arms dead

Sunday

Got a 55lb kb cheapish off Craigslist. Odd weight usually they are 53.

200 kb swings And 30 cleans with 55er.

140lb farmers walk, need to do these more.

6 one arm overhead presses with the 55er but my right arm is still kind of unstable so i think I need to stop these for a bit.

Monday

NG pu
Wu
45x2
50x2
45x2 damn wrong dumbell
4x2x60 2 different NG grips.
2x3x25 done

Rear naked choke iso 3 sets, bear hug iso 3 sets. Wrist rehab.

Every day back distraction, McGill 3 with cat camels subbed for sit up plus, Andrew lock big shoulder 3, banded neck drills.

Thursday

Kneeling ohp
Wu
127.5x 5, 5, 3f lost breath
5x10x67.5

220 kb swings with 55lber

Today

Cg floor press
Wu
Red sling shot
215x5 tough but found my groove

Black sling shot
2x5x215
2x10x185
Shoulder were tight so didn’t use the blue sling and just jumped to the heavy ones to work triceps

NG pu
30lbs x 8, 7, 7, 6, 3

Kb row
3x20x85lbs

30 reps of NG inverted rows

Mid/upper back massively cramped up after that session while doing some one arm farmers walks.

Yesterday
Played some basketball before the rain

Kb swings
5x50x55lber

Kb dl
4x10x140

Today

30lb butt walks 4 sets of 60 seconds
30lb bear crawls 4 sets of 60 seconds
These are Donnie Thompson moves I’m trying out, seem good for the lower back so far

Kneeling ohp
Wu
115x10 I think this is a pr for kneeling, think I hit this same number standing, maybe more.
5x10x95lbs was smoked from that 115 set so just did some volume.

Friday

NG pu
BWx 20, 13, 12, 10
20 is an all tome pr and my last pr was at a much lighter bw.

Wrist work, weighted carries, bear hugs, RNC holds, game of basketball.

Today
3 games basketball

270 kb swings with 55er

Cg floor press
Wu

Blue sling

3x5x215 hard at the end but good in the grove.

Random black sling shot sets with 185 to break it in.

NG pu

5x7x35lbs

1 hr walks each day, banded back and neck stuff, McGill big three.

Last Tuesday

Sumo kb dl
8x10x140

300 kb swings with 55lber

Wednesday

Ohp
Wu
135x3,2
105x 10, 8, 5 ,5

NG pu
BWx 22, 15, 12, 12, 10 pr

Usual assistance stuff

Saturday

Cg floor press
Wu
Blue sling
225x5
Red sling shot
225x4
Pec tightened up, not a tear but really annoying to hurt it doing cg floor press with a sling shot, it barely uses the chest.

Kb swings 300 swings with 55er

Sunday
Damn I tweaked my hamstring too, probably from the swings.

NG pu

30lb 9, 7, 7, 5, 5, 5

Two pull up prs in a week nice.


Today

NG pu

Bw 23, 20, 20, 17. Pr again nice

One arm kb row

85lbs x 30, 20, 20

Inverted NG ring row
3x20xbw


I think my hamstring is fine but don’t want to play basketball or swing anything yet. Pec feels fine but think I’ll press some more instead.

Friday

Ohp
Wu
155x1,1 felt ok, probably had more but didn’t want to risk it. Checking my old log and some old notes look like 165 is my pr and I think I can easily break that now.
105x 12, 10, 8

Wrist work, bear hug and RNC iso squeezes, bicep curl negatives, hamstring rehab/ banded stomps and tons of iastm scrapping

Yesterday

300 kb swings with 55lber hamstrung feels fine.

Pec rehab work

NG pu

30lbs x 6x5

Today

Cg floor press
Wu
Pec is loose
Red sling shot
3x5x225 no pain but didn’t use blue sling to play it safe.
145x10 no sling shot pec feels OK

Today

Butt walks and butt crawls with 45lb plate, wrist work, iso holds

NG pullups
Wu
2x2x90lbs Pr I think. Want to get 100lbs.
45x5, 5
25x7, 7
10x 9,9

Ohp
Wu
125x 7, 7

My back feels solid, but I now have a peroneal nerve problem in my knee basically I can’t kneel on hard surfaces. I should be good for bjj with a knee pad etc but I’m going to doctor and beg for prednisone

Yesterday

300 kb swings with 55lber

Z squat
Wu
225x3

Groin tightened up, did some scrapping and compression, plus some banded releases. It loosened up but super sore.

Cg bench
Wu
225x1f forgot to but sling shot on, got the first easy but second I got pinned.
240xf
Red sling shot
240x1
255x1 seems on par with where I am at.

Blue slingshot
185x15

Today

Ng pu
Bw 20, 15, 15, 15, 10, 10, 10 so gassed

Random kb swings to test groin, it is fine for swings.

Kb 1 arm ohp
45x10
55x5
45x10
Shoulder rehab is going great, can finally do these, right arm is much slower to press but that makes sense.

Quad and hip smashing with 70lber kettlebell, this feels awful but I think it helps my back a lot. Band work, scrapping, shoulder work.

Traveling this week for work but hotel gym was ok

Tuesday

Dumbbell one arm ohp
Wu
25x10
35x10
45x10
50x8
Shoulder a little tight here

Standard pull ups
BWx 19, 9, 8
19 is a pr nice

Bicep curl rehab, swam in a pool.

Today

Back distraction, crawls, walks, wrist rehab

Inverted NG ring rows
BWx 30, 20, 20, 15

Kb one arm rows
85x 30, 20, 20

200 kb swings with 55lber

Back home, groin feels fine, back is tight from the plane ride but is doing pretty good.

Work has been killing me and it feels like I just logged but I guess it’s been close to a month. Some highlights:

165x1 ohp ties a pr but I could’ve got 2 reps here so kinda a bummer.

one arm kb ohp

3x5x70lb definitely a pr for both arms.

NG pullups
5x5x40lbs

Cg floor press
215x7 with blue sling shot

255x1 with red sling shot

Been doing 250 kb swings with the 55lber 2 days on 1 day off. My back feels great from this but hamstrings are always pretty sore, I do a lot of pre/rehab on them to keep it together.

Going to try a new bjj gym this week if work cooperates. I tried out some positions that gave me pain a few months ago and it feels 100 percent better. I think the kettlebell swings plus the other drills keep my back braced because I’m constantly sore. That’s my theory at least to why I have felt so good so quickly.

I also developed another nerve issue in my other leg, which was pretty scary/annoying. It is the saphenous nerve and while it doesn’t control any muscles it made my shin hurt like hell. That has Mostly healed through nerve flossing and scrapping surrounding areas to loosen stuff up. Peroneal nerve issue in the other leg has greatly improved and I should be good for bjj since it’ll be on mats and I’ll wear a knee sleeve. Also I have been using voltaren gel which is now over the counter! I think this will be a game changer even though the label says it is only for arthritis.

Back is feeling great, nerve issues are mostly resolved but still a little pain in the peroneal. Hamstrings have adapted to the swings and are feeing fine.

Bad news is I tweaked both triceps and rear delts in both arms during jiu jitsu. The new gym does a lot of wrestling, which is great I love wrestling but there was no warm up and lots of sparring, even the drilling was at an unacceptable intensity level for 10 minutes into class. At my old school everyone would get kicked out. Anyways I warmed up before getting to class and it still wasn’t enough to save me from getting both arms yanked on a Russian tie set up and popping my arms. First time I’ve never made it through a class, and I have been fubared plenty of times. I couldn’t really use my arms for a day but no ruptures.

Have to find a new school, so I’ve been navigating that with new restrictions etc... but luckily my arms have gotten a lot better from scrapping, massive compression/flossing and thompson bow tie.

I am back on a low carb diet due to some bloating issues and I feel alright, just gassed all the time but I can fight through that. I almost killed my self eating scalloped potatoes at a steak house, my stomach got so distended it was cartoonish. So low carb with some tiredness is fine.

Still on 2 days of 250 swings with a 55lb kb and one day off.

Today

NG pu
20xbw
6x5xbw

Testing out my arms, no pain but lots of blood flow felt a little funny.

Back is good, still working on my peroneal. My arms are close to 100%, rotator cuff is still a little wonky.

One arm kb flat floor press
Wu
3x15x55lbs
70x5 this was really hard, but my arms felt tight and slow.

Swings going well, arms are just about healed, left shoulder is a little wonky.

Yesterday

NG pu
BWx 20, 15, 15, 15, 10 all good

Cg floor press
Wu
Blue ss
3x10x185 left shoulder felt kinda bad like when I injured it in 2018 and couldn’t bench for awhile. Will focus on press again.

Kb cleans
Wu
3x10x45
2x10x55
Elbows were shaky on this

Today
Kb rows as wu
3x10x70

Single arm kb ohp
Wu
3x10x55

Back distraction and other rehab stuff.

Been back training at a new jiu Jitsu gym for the last few weeks and love it. Less wrestling and everyone is much more controlled. Hit a bunch of triangles this week, which I still find amazing, had a guy dead to rights on the omoplata but he stubbornly refused to tap, instead of dislocating his elbow I moved to the back. Same guy dived into me and basically gave me a twister! Instead of taking the early christmas gift I moved to the back, one we were in the gi and it’s rarely ever legal in the kimono/gi, new gym didn’t want to be that guy, and plus I thought there was a possibility that he doesn’t tap and I break his neck.

My shoulders are fine since I switched to ohp and push ups only for pressing. Back is OK, it’s still not 100 percent and can get sore at night but I can train, backpack, do kb work, so I’m fine.

Still doing around 1000 kb swings a week mixing in the 55 and 70. Doing 100 bw pull ups one day and a heavy 3x3 weighted pull up day a couple days later.

Yesterday

Kb swings

Wrist rehab stuff

Ng pullups
12x10xbw did a last of 7 to make that pr volume for me.

Kneeling ohp

Wu
3x5x132.2

One arm kb ohp

70x8 pr for each arm.

Thanks mods for the new title, it’s already working, reminded me to sign up for classes online.

School is closed for holidays but I’ll back on Monday. Only two goals for the year, get a blue belt and continue working on Portuguese. I could stand to lose some weight but I’ve noticed the extra weight has been helpful in winning sparring rounds and my opponents gas out way earlier than me because they have to move all my weight.

I’ve gotten a ton of little injuries and couple of big ones but the goal is to get back up to taking 6-8 classes a week (this will take months). If I make it to blue then go back to like 2-3 times a week.

My gf is a blue belt from Brazil, so if I can just equal her, I’ll be happy. Obviously covid could prevent this but my gym is about as safe as you can be and I only train with 2 people due to being so much bigger than everyone else.

Impressive stuff in here (especially the pull-ups), regarding getting back to the gym, are there any additional precautions and/or safety requirements?