Well in that case I take back my thumbs up and smiley face!

+1

Puhhhhh... I felt like 240 times as weak as you and now it is only 24.

8/3 -- ???

5/3/1 Front Squat 3s (TM 311) + Deadlift LP

Front Squats 5x225, 3x250, 275, 2x3x280 @9, 9
Sumo Deadlift (beltless, hook grip) 6x135, 5x225, 3x295
Deadlift 3x355, 3x385, SSPT (50 second rests) 9x1x405+1

A crap night of sleep and thought I might be getting sick today, but everything felt great in the gym. Session was in a hurry so skipped some intermediate levels. I hereby declare my thumb *healed enough* to start working it back into deadlifts without straps. Think I made it through the 355 set before putting on straps and didn't feel like trying mixed grip today. Ran out of time to try a heavy triple before the SSPT, but 405 felt easier than expected.

Got some video (hope I don't get the upload error again) and think I'm seeing a squatmorning habit on front squats and some early hip movement on deadlifts.


Front Squats 3x280:






Sumo Deadlift 3x295:




Deadlifts:






Deadlift SSPT:

I'd be a bit concerned about the thoracic rounding in the hole for those front squats.

Yeah--first time going this heavy and it's a lot more rounding than I'd like. Would like to see how it looks with my usual warmup and not hustling, though. May just repeat this triple instead of next week's single.

8/4 -- 247.8 lbs 24.7% bf

5/3/1 Bench Press 3s (TM 270), Cheat rows LP

Bench Press 5x185, 5x205 @7, 3x230 @7, 255 @8, 265@9, 275 @9, 2x255 @9
Pendlay Rows 8x155 (X1X1), 6x205, 6x255, 6x265
Cheat Rows 6x265, 3x6x315

Zottman Curls 16x40s, 3x10x45s
Incline Bench Press Dumbells (45 deg) 13x50s, 10x50s, 17x50s
Machine Crunches x110
Shoulder Raises, front plate raises, tricep extensions
Upright Rows 2x8x115
Shrugs (smith machine) 3x12x+230

Another bumrush to get in the heavy lifts before the gym closes, then finish up back at apartment gym. Ran out of time to try an OHP AMRAP at 140.

Pretty pleased with the bench press--probably could have hit 285 to 290 today but didn't really have time to rest and max out.

Rows felt a bit stiff so soon after deadlifts, but acceptable.

Rows:






Cheat Rows:

8/5 -- 246.2 lbs 24.4% bf

Yoga

First yoga class for a while after a lately super-rare "good" night's sleep. A little tight. Namaste.

8/6 -- 246.2 lbs 24.5% bf

Squat LP

Split Snatch 4x3x55, 4x3x95, 4x2x106
Lunges
Front Squat 2x3x135 (64X1), 2x3x185 (42X1)
HBB Squat 5x225 (31X1), 5x255 @7, 5x295 @8, 3x320 @8, 355 @9.5, 6x330 @10, 5x330 @10

*** forced mother****ing break **** you ****

SSB Squat (low bar style) 10x155, 10x205, 3x10x225

Well this is a **** day. Was going to get another set or two on HBBS but got emergency call from wife so ran out (she's fine). Didn't run over anyone this time. Had to go back for my phone so did the SSB, which was torture but at least I'm able to do it on just one breath between reps now. Also jammed my wrist bouncing snatches.

The 355 single was supposed to be a 3 rep weight, but felt way harder and more awkward than that so repeated my last top weight instead of going to 335. Hey, at least I got a sixth rep this time.

8/7 -- 247.2 lbs 24.6% bf

Yoga

Luckily no handstands or other arm balances called for today. Felt fine.

8/8 -- ???

5/3/1 OHP Single (TM 185 + jokers + 140 amrap) + NG Chinups Single

Z press 16x45
1-Arm Arnold Press 8x35s
Fat Gripz OHP (clean grip) 8x95, 6x115
Overhead Press 5x145 @8, 3x160 @8, 175 @9, 2x1x180 @10, 10, 3x160 @9
Fat Gripz OHP (clean grip) 8x140 f9
BTN Press/Push Press 4x140/4x140 @9

NG Ring Chinups ladder 1->5, 5x+45, 3x2x90 f3, 4x70, 3x70, 5x45

French Press/Skullcrusher medley 4x8x90
Upright Rows 8x45, 8x95, 8x115, 3x8x125, 8x115
Dips ladder 1->5, 2x8


Ha--not a single wrist tweak!

Managed to get 8x140!

If you'd like to see what fairly short rest will do to a heavy single, just watch the two 180 lbs singles with about 3 minutes between.

OHP:

8/9 -- 248 lbs 24.7% bf

5/3/1 Front Squats (TM 300 + jokers) + Deadlift LP

wu C2 Rower 4:00 @ 21s/m

Snatch 3x45, 3x65, 3x75, 3x85
Front Squats 3x135 (53X1), 3x185 (31X1), 3x215 @7, 3x245, @8, 3x270 @8.5, 2x3x255 @8, 8.5
Sumo DL (Speed) 5x155, 5x205, 3x275
Deadlift 3x315 @6, 3x365 @7, 415, 3x435 @9, SSPT EMOM 10x1x415 @7-10
Kettlebell Swings EMOM 5x20x40

First "real" squat-stance snatches this year. Feels totally alien and I don't have much confidence. Split-stance is just so much easier. Still fun though and I'm a little afraid of cleans on my wrist atm.

Well I did tape the Front Squats and tried to drop down a bit from last week and do a full proper warm up for it. Unfortunately, still seeing T-spine rounding out of the hole. Probably going to reset and supplement, but not sure with what.

Made a DL adjustment today. Last week I mentioned to one of the coaches my hips seemed to be starting slightly before my torso, and he said "Why don't you start your hips up a smidge?" So...tried that and I think it worked. First time since the layoff doing a heavy top set for reps, and it felt OK although I do believe it made the ten singles harder. Good lord, that tenth one...If anyone wants to see the nastiest tenth single, you're going to have to talk me into it! I think I may have cried during it.

Are those compression socks? If they are, do want.

Deadlift looks good. Some natural thoracic rounding but lumbar looks solid.

What kind of crying did it involve? Full on sobbing or just a lone tear? I want to know how much time to invest in convincing you to post it.

Thanks--I think the SSPT has served me pretty well so far. Not compression, just deadlift socks. They're tighter and more supportive than usual but I have compression socks for running and have used for wife and...not close.


Rexx; I am considering posting it, just to show N1 what "rpe 10" looks like.

8/10 -- 245.2 lbs 24.2% bf

Yoga flow

On a pretty frustrating day of having to call pretty much everything off due to wife having a rough time, it's nice to have a yoga studio to get to and stretch and contort about in strange ways among a group.

Physically, feeling good except triceps are still DOMSy from Wednesday's workout. At first I was surprised but then I realized I'm still ~20 lbs off on all my upper body lifts. And...noodle arms.

A few updates of a more personal level;

*Found out yesterday active rehab therapy for the wife begins Tuesday. Not gonna' let that turn into another layoff for me.

*I'm meeting with a new doctor this week who's a GP but the practice specializes in psych drugs and hormones. I'll at least be getting my levels checked and be able to see if there's great variance when I start on anti-depressants/anti-anxieties/ADD meds or whatever. They really specialize in hormones like I'm told to expect to be encountering people transitioning there. Seems like more knowledge would be good.

*After a few weeks, a mood stabilizer has been helping my wife really really really really really, a great deal. In turn, that has been quite a relief for me. She's said things like, "I feel like myself again." and "I didn't realize but I guess I really was sick." Lots of changes but the main one is just not having the obsessive aggressive negativity and paranoia. The only problem is despite this improvement, I'm not really feeling any better. Less harried, perhaps.

That's a huge improvement for your wife and obviously a big improvement for yourself as well but you've been through the wringer for an extended period of time so it's totally understandable you still aren't feeling great. It takes time to mend mentally and you've still got a heavy load. You probably also are in self protection mode not wanting to let your guard down in case things go downhill. Idk just be kind to yourself, hopefully you find some medication that helps. It's good you're back working out, doing yoga etc because you definitely need this if just to have some time for yourself.

8/11 -- ???

5/3/1 Bench Press 5's (TM 288 (131 kg) + backoffs) + Rows

Today's bench in kilos:
Reverse Grip Bench Press 25x20, 10x50, 6x70
Bench Press 5x90 @7, 5x100 @7.5, 6x110 @9.5, 2x5x110 @9, 10
Reverse Grip Bench Press 8x80 @9.5

Pendlay Rows 12x95 (X1X2), 10x165 (X1X1), 10x215, 3x8x255

1-Arm Arnold Press 8x35s, 8x45s, 8x50s, 2x8x55s

3 sets each:
Machine Crunches, Facepulls, Low Lat Pulldows, Zottman Curls, Incline Curls, Shoulder Raises, Bent over Raises, Incline Stretch-Flys

Elliptical 13 minutes


During a bit of insomnia, I came across the following on Nuckols' site:

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/training-frequency/

I'll spoil the ending for you and say more frequency is noticeably better for strength gains for upper body lifts. Meh for lower body lifts. This is taking an "all things being equal" approach of the same amount of actual lifting being done whether it is 9 sets in one day per week or 3 sets done on 3 separate days in a week. 3x per week is better than 1 or 2, and 4x is better than 3x.

*For me* the relevant current frequency is *2 days per week* that I'm gonna' switch to *4 days per week*. What I think I'll do is move some of my pressing "backoff sets" to Leg/DL days, as supersets and probably try to keep things at an RPE 7-8 level. But I'm really thinking of this as the "compound movements" and not just...curls. I'm lumping all "pressing" together as well as all "pulling". I don't count deadlift as pulling on account of never bending my elbows. My upper body days do wind up being longer right now, so this may help even that out.

Today I started this process by not doing incline bench. We all have to make sacrifices!

Bench press top sets ~equate to 205, 225, and 245, I think. I mean, if they're going to have those brightly colored weights right there...The 110 AMRAP stopped at 6 really just because I didn't have a spotter at the time. Also read some Nuckols stuff praising the "reverse-grip" bench press (he says it was stronger for him than the standard) and, since I already typically do my warmups with that grip, figured I'd try it with a bit more weight. There's one elaborate bench in my gym with lots of adjustability, and I can both unrack without a spotter, AND protect my neck from a drop without having to make it a pin press. This is nice because asking for a spotter will probably involve having to explain the lift to a spotter, and why.

Feeling somewhat Row+DL fatigued so just went with Pendlays today with higher volume. I'm not sure if I'm going to move cheat rows to a leg day.

8/12 -- ???

Stationary Bike 27:00 avg hr 136

8/13 -- 246.6 lbs 24.4% bf

5/3/1 Squat 5's (TM 393 + backoffs)

wu OH Squat, Split Squats, Goodmornings, Zottman Curls, Muscle Snatch

Split Snatch (kilos) 2x3x20, 2x3x30, 2x3x40, 4x3x50
Zercher Squats 6x45, 8x95, 8x115
Front Squat (speed) 2x3x155 (31X1)
Dips ladder 1->5, 4x10 @ rpe 8
NG Ring Pause Chinups ladder 1->8, 10, 12 @8
Frenchies 2x2.2, 2 all @9

HBB Squat (beltless) 5x205 (31X1), 5x255 @7, 5x295 @7.5
HBB Squat (belted) 325 @7, 355 @8, 6x335 @10, 2x5x335 @9.5, 10, 5x320 @8.5

Incline Dumbell Bench Press (30 deg.) 8x25s, 8x40s, 8x50s @7, 2x8x55s @7.5
Trap Bar Straight Leg DL (Mike T style with 25 lb bumper) 2x10x165, 3x12x215
Shrugs 2x16x215


OK, switching to 5/3/1 for squats and first day working in upper body lifts on squat day. Felt fine but it's a little weird for me to be going to something other than failure.

Starting out with snatches does not seem to affect my work sets, but it does make my ramp-up sets feel harder. I am supersetting them, pretty much until the work sets. I think this is fine. I just need to get used to "no confidence" leading into work sets.

My 355 single before top set weight felt a lot better this time. I taped it and while I did cut depth a smidgen it wasn't egregious or anything. Think I can tackle 3 reps of this next week.

Trying out the SLDL and I think I like it better than RDLs. Will try some actual weight some time (and standing on a 45 lb bumper) but let me know if anything looks off. I did tape one set shirtless but...my god I've gotten fat! Maybe next time I'll try sucking it in when I do these (like yoga)! And, yes; that IS a 75 lb bar (I weighed it). Meant for these to be sets of 10 but video don't lie.

Bit high, but whatever. One thing I'd work on is your breathing and bracing; the bounce of the bar up and down on your shoulders before your rep is sapping energy and probably robbing you of tightness. Big breath down into your belt and expand, but bend the bar around your back instead of bouncing it.

SLDLs seem a bit sloppy; I've never seen them done with a trap bar either, but that may just be a me thing. Hips maybe a touch higher and set your lumbar before each rep rather than straight bouncing. I'm loathe to pull off a plate at our height, but if you can make it work, more power to you.

The volume of work you do remains incredible, btw.

I picked up the shrug from Clarence Kennedy last year when I was trying to get actual high bar form ingrained. Not even sure I can squat any more without it, lol.

I definitely have not been pulling down on the bar though--that I can change.

There are people who exist who can concentrate on good form with unchallenging weights. A massive strongman at my old gym who wanted to re-learn deadlifting without a super-curved back comes to mind; he did several workouts with 135 and looked really intense doing it! God bless those people, is all I can say. I have to turn things into somewhat challenging by adding slow eccentrics or pauses or doing it overhead or supersetting seemingly conflicting exercises...or else it all just winds up looking like this. Crippling ADD but you learn ways around it.

Didn't have my deadlift socks today and thought for sure I'd rip up my shins doing sets of 10 with a regular bar. Trap bar puts the center of gravity slightly back which may slightly lessen the impact on my low back in this lift--I still felt it pretty good in my hammies and glutes. I don't usually (or...ever) do TNG on deadlifts. Just thought I'd try it and one of Mike T's videos was that style.

Thanks, this workout my watch said 1600 calories for a bit under 2 hours including warmups. I'm not certain I trust that number, I just set it as "Other" since there's no lifting category. Typically circuiting and waiting until heartrate drops to 130 for anything heavy. Usually my number is only around 1200.

Video of split snatch?

Haven't taped it yet--will do next time, probably next squat day.

8/14 -- 246.6 lbs 24.4% bf

Yoga (567 Cal)


Unfortunately a "low sleep" day so decided I'll do OHP day tomorrow and DL the next day--thinking a heavy upper body day is better as the first than second of 2 days in a row if I'm doing upper both days. Plus my glutes and hamstrings were aching for the stretches.

Today we started another round of rehab therapy for the wife. If I had to give the first week of such a name, it would be, "Let's make a list of everything Holliday has FAILED at since we last saw you." Without going into details, it's a little grueling. Again tomorrow.

8/15 -- 243.5 lbs 23.9%bf

Wheelchair walks: 2.5 miles hills @ 240 calories


--------------------------


5/3/1 Overhead Press 5's (TM 191 + reduced backoffs) + Archer Pullups 5's

1-Arm Arnold Z-Press 8x35s @7
Fat Gripz (Wide-grip) OHP 5x95, 5x115 @6
Overhead Press 5x125 @7, 5x145 @7, 172.5 @8, 6x165 @10, 2x5x165 @10, 8x145 f9
Wide-grip pullups ladder 1->5
Archer pullups 2x6 (mixed), 6x5 (I mean 3 sets each side), 2x6 (mixed)

Reverse-grip Bench Press (kilos) 6x60 @6, 6x80 @7, 6x85 @8, 6x90 @8
Low Lat Pulldown (4220) 12x70, 10x80, 3x10x90

BTN Press/Push Press 5x140/5x140 @10

C2 Rower L3: 16:00 @18 s/m ~2:25/500m


**** day but everything in the gym felt good except Archer Pullups which are significantly harder than I remembered possibly having something to do with the additional 20 lbs I'm lifting. Possibly. Right lat is producing some discomfort in a spot right over the scap but it didn't seem to affect any of the lifts other than hurting--I'm thinking just a knot sort of thing.

OHP I'm pretty pleased to get 6 reps of 165 after failing to get 5 before my first 5/3/1 cycle. The 172.5 felt so good I'm hoping to get 4 reps next week. This fancypants gym has microplates...at EVERY station so I figured I'd at least give them a try!

My watch died before the rowing so wasn't able to gauge heartrate--just tried to get into a rhythm and keep it light.

That lower bodyweight reading is, hopefully, not a coincidence. I was so disgusted by my shirtless deadlift video that I've jumped straight into cutting. I also need a tan.