Alright! New week! I had a blast out of town, came in pretty heavy on the scale today. I'm hoping it's mostly water retention from all the sodium I consumed. But I'll know more in the next couple days as long as I back way off the salt, drink a lot of fluid and continue crushing. I got out and lifted today. Here is what my volume Monday looked like:

Squat 265 for 5 sets of 5 reps

Dumbbell press 47.5 for 5 sets of 5 reps

Squats were heavy. Inconsistent form at best, but I got through it.

The DB press on the other hand... I don't really know where to go from here. It's not an increase over 2 weeks ago. My shoulders hurt (not as bad as barbell press at least) and my form is bad. Doubt I'm getting full extension on my reps. I think I'm going to just do a big reset where I can comfortably hit a 5RM with good form and then work backwards from there. Just slowly grind it up from a much lower starting point.

I hit 50 putts today.

Pretty cool I was able to get to 50 well before the 60 minute point of my workout. I shoot 5 at a time and usually hit 2 on average. I hit 4 a couple times and hit 5 in a row once. I still have some oddly terrible putts tho. I think that's probably from going too fast or not concentrating enough. I don't get too many of those in actual rounds tho so that's good.

After my workout I had lots of jerky and milk.

Now I'm off to warm up and try to defend my title.

Life is good, WIM

Alright, I got out and lifted today. Although it was pretty brief. I tried to DL yesterday but couldn't get the bar off the ground at the weight I wanted. Instead of back off and bang out a set at higher reps I decided I would try to come out today and try it fresh. Great success! Here is what today looked like:

Deadlift 345x5

Hang Clean 165x2x3

My deadlift form was pretty questionable. I should probably do some lighter work with good form at some point. I barely got the last rep and my hands were pretty chewed up and grip strength failing.

Hey turns out that doing a max pull on DL might make a subsequent hang cleans a little more difficult than they should be. I was short on time so I didn't quite have time to rotate my power rack and do all the stuff I needed to in order to film at a better angle. But I did try widening my grip by an inch or so and boy did that screw me up. It totally changed the mechanics of catching the bar. I caught it at a different place at a different time in the clean with my elbows pointed in a different direction. And I was going to do sets of 175 today, so when I failed it twice before hitting one I decided to back off. But as is turns out I was all screwed up from the DLs and failed HC sets with the different grip so I trudged through 2 more sets at 165 before deciding I just need to go in fresh on Thursday or Friday and knock em out.

I'm gonna now eat some tuna and milk or something.

Life is good, WIM

Got out and lifted again today. Kinda of a blah day.

Here is what I did:

Squat 220 for 2 sets of 3 reps

Bench 152 for 3 sets of 5 reps

Chin ups for 3 sets of 7/7/4

Back extensions for 5 sets of 10

My shoulders don't feel too awesome. Kind of aggravated in the bench sets and the chins weren't too stellar. Big regression here but I'll blame the shoulder pain.

I knocked out the rest of my putts. Actually pretty solid putting session I think I hit roughly 1/3 of my putts from outside the circle which I'm happy with. Hopefully I can accumulate 5 more putters and and get to the point where I'm hitting 5/10 at a whack consistently.

I played a few real rounds the last couple days. My putts has been amazingly good, but I've had some insane spitouts which have been extremely frustrating. It didn't cost me the round yesterday but it did cost me some strokes.

Now I'm off to practice more!

Life is good, WIM

Sweet, volume day today. When I was warming up I tried doing quick 10 yards sprints to get me going. I liked it, I think I'm going to keep doing that before working out.

Here is what today looked like:

Squat 290x5

Dumbbell press 52.5x5

Hang cleans 155x3x3

My squats are so weird. It's just such a large group of muscles being used that when one set of muscles seems to start giving out my body immediately compensates with another and we go right to the top. I think that's why I can keep adding weight week after week.

Here is a video of my press set:



Probably can't count the last rep although I got pretty close. I know my form is pretty janky, a big part is how I have to do these without shoulder pain. But considering I barely got 52.5 up for 1 rep 2 weeks ago I'm ecstatic with the progress. I'm going to give credit to protein and sprint warmups.

And my HCs were lame. I sorta ran outta time so I want to get back into these more and stronger next week.

Interesting note: My BW was 175 today. I don't know if it's a whoosh or if I was dehydrated or what but it's weird. Probably an anomaly. I'll probably be back to around 189 ish tomorrow. But considering I was 185 on Sunday I'll take it! I'm not really even trying to lose weight, I'm trying to get stronger without gaining much weight. But if my BW goes down and my lifts go up, hooray!

I drank a bunch of milk after my lift.

Now I just gotta hit my calorie and protein goals the rest of the week and finish strong!

Life is good, WIM

New week! Hopefully I can sleep this week. I managed to steal 10 hours last night but the 5 nights before that I averaged just 5.7 hours. That kind of recovery is really going to eat into my gains if I'm not careful.

Injury alert. My whole right arm is all flared up and unhappy. My elbow hurts if I extend it all the way. It feels like I cracked my funny bone super hard. My right shoulder hurts and feels like I have a giant knot in my back. But I worked through it so hopefully I'll be ok.

Volume day today:

Squat 270 for 5 sets of 5 reps

Bench Press 172.5 for 5 sets of 5 reps

Both were heavy but doable. Good when volume day has those attributes.

I made 35 putts today.

Unreal how bad these were. I'd say even half of the ones I made were just generally bad putts that were lucky to go in. My putting has been really bad the last few days. I'm going to partly blame my lack of sleep and partly blame my whole right arm being hurt. I'm more of a finesse putter so if I'm imbalanced or stiff it goes bad quickly. I def think that lifting a lot has made it take quite a bit longer to warm up. Which sucks because most of the time when I do get a chance to play a real round we don't have much time (if any) to warm up.

I had lots of chicken and milk after my lifts.

Now I gotta got help train a dealer and figure out how to get the rest of my steps afterward.

Hooray for football!

Life is good, WIM

Recovery day! Got out and got after it. It's finally starting to cool off, PLEASE HOLD! If this weather can settle into the 80s here in a few days and not heat back up, it will be heaven on earth. The weather forecast calls for that exact thing so I'm crossing my fingers.

Here is what my lifting looked like today:

Squat 225 for 2 sets of 5 reps

Dumbbell Press 42.5 for 3 sets of 5 reps

Chin ups for 3 sets of 8 then 6 then 5 reps

Back extensions for 5 sets of 10 reps

Partial Deadlifts 275 for 1 set of 10 reps

Rack pulls 275 for 1 set of 10 reps

A little bit slow plodding today. Taking me a while to get warmed up and loosened up lately. I need to get better at recovery.



There's the first squat set. There's some strange asymmetry happening. Not sure if part of it is due to the camera angle or what.

My OHPs felt good. Actually felt like a good recovery weight. Hopefully I've made a breakthrough here and pushed passed that last plateau and cant get back to increasing. My chins were disappointing. I think my awesome set a while back coincided with that weird day I weighed in 4 pounds lighter than normal and really helped get more reps. But I made a slight improvement over last week and thats all that I really care about. The DL assistance work was surprisingly easy. Hopefully I can get another real set in on Monday.

After my workout I had chicken and milk, as usual.

I made another 35 putts today.

I'm going to get more into a disc golf monologue later, but I shot pretty well yesterday. 1 shy of my personal best and was able to scoop some money and the belt.

Now off to do some field work.

Life is good, WIM

Dang I've been burning the candle at both ends. It sort of came to a head Yesterday when I had to get up early to take care of some stuff and it ended up taking up almost half the day. I told Aidan I was just going to take the day off from everything and try and get some much needed rest. I realized I didn't even finish updating my workout log from Friday.

Here is how I finished my week:

Squat: 295x5

Bench 195x5

Hang Cleans 170x5x3

Def all PRs for the year here. I'd have to go back a ways to figure out the last time I hit all these weights.

Here was my squat set:



Heavy but go it.

Here what my bench set:



Busto mentioned I should probably not have attempted the 5th rep but I wanted it so bad. Pure WIM to get that up on the last rep.

Now I'm off to knock out my volume day.

Life is good, WIM

Dang today was tough. My energy just wasn't quite there. But I got through it.

Here is what it looked like:

Squat 275 for 5 sets of 5 reps

Dumbbell Press 50 for 3 sets of 5 reps

Dumbbell Press 50 for 1 set of 3 reps

Dumbbell Press 40 for 1 set of 10 reps

Squat form was bad, sloppy, loose on the squats. Just so tough. But I'm going to keep pressing for as long as I can.

Press was just tough. I need a way to micro load these. 2.5 pound jumps on DBs is too much. I don't know what to do but I'll figure it out.

I made 50 putts today, pretty handily before finishing my lifts.

Life is good, WIM

Bleh. My right shoulder is quite flared up and aggravated. Not sure if I did something to it yesterday while lifting (Probably OHPs) or if I slept on it wrong or probably both. Hopefully it settles down. Here is what my active recovery day looked like today:

Squat 230 for 2 sets of 5 reps

Bench Press 155 for 3 sets of 5 reps

Fat Guy Chins 3 sets of 10 reps

Glute Hamstring raises 5 sets of 10 reps

Squats were easy. Bench press felt good and zero pain. The fat guy chins are a better motion to combat my shoulder pain, it was only moderate. Many of these were partial reps but I did what I could.

Hopefully my shoulder is feeling better tomorrow.

I made 40 putts today and ate chicken and milk.

Off to get my steps.

Life is good, WIM

Got out and lifted today. Had to be careful with my shoulder but I did what I could. Here is what it looked like:

Hang Cleans 155 for 5 sets of 3 reps

Rack Pulls 315 for 3 sets of 5 reps

Dumbbell Shrugs 50 for 1 set of 10 reps

I was having trouble committing to the catch with the HCs so I didn't do it at 175 like I would have liked to. The rack pulls felt good but my grip was having issues. And the DB shrugs felt good.

I finished my weekly putting requirements and worked on all sorts of other closer putting stances. Spin putt, straddle putt, crooked straddle putt, over obstacle spin putt, uneven footing putt, left knee putt, right knee putt, back against the wall putt and downhill putts. I have more options to practice even more scenarios but I really like working these out up close.

I ate my usual chicken and milk after lifting.

Life is good, WIM

I ended up incurring another fine. I skipped my brief intensity day workout for health reasons. I should have done it but at like 60% but slacked off.

I'm going to treat this entire week as a de-load week for a few reasons. Mentally I'm just super fried. The heavy 5x5s are really getting to me. I went pretty hard for quite a while without a de-load and it seems like I really need it. I also am doing it to preserve my shoulder. I really want to stay healthy and start strong again and go hard Oct-Dec. Me and Busto have been discussing different hypertrophy plans to do that will be a better use of time, energy, calorie and protein intake, etc. Gonna spend this week planning it out.

I got out and lifted today. Here is what I did:

LLBS 225 x 3 x 5

HHBS x 1 x 5

Goblet Squat 50x10

Goblet Squat 70x10

Bench press 135x5

Wide grip bench 135x5

Narrow grip bench 135x5

My shoulder didn't feel great during these but I'm pretty confident I didn't aggravate anything. If I can just sort of carefully push through these lifts this week and rehab my shoulder I have hopes I'll be good to go next week. If not I'll adjust accordingly.

I made 30 putts today.

Now I think I'm going to walk the dog.

Life is good, WIM

Really brief update. My shoulder took a turn for the worse yesterday so I'm shutting it all down besides trying to rehab. If I don't make progress I'll be off to the doctor.

If you want to look like a ****** in the gym while benching pain-free, try using an underhand grip. I've been doing it for months with no shoulder pain or discomfort at all.

This guy is stronger underhand than with a prone grip.

Where did this shoulder issue start? How long have you been dealing with it?

I think the timeline is something like, aggravated it early last week, then slept on it wrong. A few days later it's throbbing after racquetball. Next day is ok, take it easy work back to it just being aggravated. Then another racquetball session and the pain is worse, but doesn't start for a good 7 hours after the session. My mobility is almost none. Can't even reach out or get close to half extension. Determine it's just all frozen up from knots everywhere.

Today I got into a message therapist. She loosened it all up. Majority of pain is gone, most of my mobility is back so it was a big win. I still hurt and am going to take it easy at least until Monday then proceed with caution.

Ok got out and proceeded with caution today. First time lifting since last Tuesday. My shoulder protested some but not so much that I aggravated it or made it flare up or get worse. Here is what I did today:

LBBS 235x8
LBBS 215x10
LBBS 215x8

Bench 135x10
115x12
115x12

I did some static stretching after. This felt ok. Just everything felt super heavy.

Hopefully I can press on and get back up to speed and start a new round of bets and fines.

Life is good, WIM

Got out and tried again. Felt a little bit improved, although I didn't try any upper body stuff today. Here is what I did:

LBBS 225x10
HBBS 225x7
FS 185x4
LBBS 185x12

DL 275x12

Squats were heavy and didn't have any energy behind them. Pretty fatigued. Still having trouble getting enough sleep. Had trouble having enough mobility to try and rack them properly but it was ok.

Super happy with the DL. It was some stress on my shoulder but if anything it felt good, pretty sure it was good rehab if anything.

So hopefully I try and ease my body into this hyper trophy stuff a little more this week and see how I feel next week going forward.

Life is good, WIM

Quick little 45 minute cardio workout today. Here is what I did:

Squat 235 for 1 set of 10 reps

Squat 215 for 2 sets of 10 reps

Bench 145 for 1 set of 10 reps

Bench 125 for 2 sets of 10 reps

Shoulder hurt when I got up yesterday but it's feeling better today. Only pain in bench comes from the unracking part and that's not even that bad.

Haven't practiced putting as much as I'd like to but I've been lights out. The last week or so I've hit so many long tough putts that its helped me win the 5 last rounds.

Now I'm off to do stuff before the Monday night game

Life is good, WIM

Well my shoulder doesn't feel great but I actually got a decent lift in today. Here is what I did:



Squat 245 for 1 set of 8

Squat 225 for1 set of 10

Squat185 for 2 sets of 12

Bench 155 for 1 set of 8

Bench 140 for 1 set of 10

Bench 125 for 2 sets of 12



Solid day getting back after it

A quite un-inspired workout today, but I got through it. Still haven't made my bets with Aidan yet. Hopefully can get those into place by this Monday so I don't have any excuses to keep slacking. Here is what I did today:

LBBS 225x10
HBBS 225x8
FS 185x3
FS 135x12
Bench press 135x12
Narrow grip bench 135x10
Wide grip bench 135x12
Dumbbell bench 35sx12

Life is good, WIM

Ok I made my bets, enough slacking!

Here is what my workout looked like today:

Squat 250x8
Squat 230x10
Squat 190x12(x2)

Bench 160x8
Bench 145x10
Bench 135x12 (x2)
Incline dumbbell bench 45sx10

Dumbbell curls 45sx10
Dumbbell forearm curls 35sx12
Dumbbell shrugs 45sx12

All my muscles were pretty stiff going in and they're even more stiff and tight now. But it was ok, not too much pain during this. The only thing that was really questionable was the incline dumbbell bench so I'll have to be careful with that going forward.

It is one of the windiest days I can remember so putting was super tough. Add in the fact my arm is stiff and I have limited mobility, it was slow trying to knock em in from 35' or so. But,

Today I made 30 putts

Afterwards I had chicken and milk. Pretty tasty.

Now I'm off to practice some disc golf.

Life is good, WIM

Another solid lifting day today. Here is what it looked like:

DL 285x12
RDL 235x12
Speed DL 195x12
Right leg DL 145x12
Left leg DL 145x12

Bench press 145x12
Narrow grip bench press 145x10
Wide grip bench press 145x10
Flat bench dumbbell press 50sx12
Bench press lockouts 185x12

Bent over dumbbell rows 45sx12
Skull crushers 35x12
Side lateral raises 10x12

Really happy with the big DL set. Basically cardio.

The rest of it felt reasonable. My shoulder is stiff and not too mobile but the pain is fairly minimal.

Today I made 45 putts

With the limited mobility in my right arm it's a little tougher to get these rolling from deep. The brief fatigue from lifting doesn't help and it's hard to get into a rhythm stopping and starting. But I putt quite a bit better than yesterday. I had better results trying to release the putter flatter and out more.

Afterwards I had jerky and milk. Yum.

Life is good, WIM

Another solid lift today. Here is what it looked like:


LBBS 230x10 (x2)
HBBS 190x10
FS 140x12

Bench 135x12
Narrow grip bench 135x12
Wide grip bench 135x12
Dumbbell bench press 52.5x12

Rack pulls 225x12
Bent over barbell rows 135x8
Barbell curls 65x12

Everything felt good. I was extremely sore and stiff when I woke up today, but after I got movin I was ok and actually felt pretty. This is already a lot of bench volume but I'm eating protein and sleeping enough so hopefully it translates.

I also putt pretty well today.

I made 60 putts

Two adjustments I made from the last couple days were going slower on each shot and taking a longer backswing. Going slower makes sense, just senselessly chucking them around is not going to help me besides just getting more empty reps in. That few extra seconds to make sure my shot is good is going to greatly increase the worth of my practice. And the longer back swing really helps me get more power on it without sacrificing accuracy.

Afterwards I had chicken and milk.

Life is good, WIM

Sweet, got out and finished my weekly lifting today. Here is what I did:

LBBS 255x8
LBBS 225x12

Bench 165x8
Bench 155x10
Bench 145x12
Narrow grip bench 135x12

Kroc rows 50x12
Dumbbell press 35x8

All of it felt good. A little surprised at my output at the higher weights, but I'm glad I got it all. Should be a fun program going forward.

I actually got out and finished off my putting yesterday, and then some.

I'd love to up my putting requirements, but headed into winter I'm not sure what I'm going to do if it rains for days on end.

Now I just gotta wrap up the week strong.

Life is good, WIM

Malucci supports you.