83kg

And you seem to have already ruled out Australia.

Can I box loco? I promise not to practice and I've never boxed or MMA'd.

No action from talls.

Boxing I want snitch, nuclear, thremp, EV.

loco,

That is solid MLY memory of what actually transpired. I suppose you could claim not knowing the word "stake" as an alternative to the truth.

I will actively be ducking (both figuratively and literally) any activities where I get punched in the face.

Lemme know if you wanna actually do a liftoff ever. Seems unlikely.

The thing about boxing matches is that you can always start one all you have to do is see a person and begin. loco please keep this in mind for when you buy me a beer, maybe it's a boxing match and I'm tricking you! Other sports you need to get all dressed up, listen to coach say words, kneel for the anthem, etc.

loco, maybe we can arm wrestle! Over the Top! Monte, please rename thread "cool ideas".

12/1: 191.6

Still sick; affected my work capacity a bit, moreso on bench. Refattened a bit last night because it was d1 eve.

A
Squat (x5 @9, drop 5% to @9): wu, 315x1 (8.5), 265x5, 280x5, 295x5 (9), 280x5

B
Bench, Paused (x5 @9, drop 5% to @9): wu, 255x1 (8.5), 205x5, 215x5, 225x5, 235x4 (9), 215x5

C
Larsen Bench (x2 @9, drop 5% to @9): wu, 205x2, 215x2, 225x2, 230x2 (8.5-9), 220x2x2, 225x2

D
Hammer Row: 4x10
Facepulls: 6x12



Did 290x5 W1D1, with the last few reps as a pretty big grind; this was hard, but not as hard as that, so good progress.

Bit disappointed in bench, but squat and the cough probably took a lot out of me. Overshot weight for paused bench; the fifth 235 rep would have burned me out and I still had Larsen, so I racked it, though ultimately it's just rationalization for pussying out. Probably undershot the top set for Larsen, but it got me a few extra backoff sets so whatever.

I'll box you, dt!

Downtown -300
Snitch +250

Can you please post the odds for our bout for comparison?

12/4: ????

Still sick. It's still awesome.

A
DL (x5 @9, drop 5% to @9): wu, 335x1 (8.5), 285x5, 305x5 (9), 275x5x2

B
Bench, 2 count (x3 @8, continue until @9): wu, 235x1 (8.5), 200x3, 210x3, 220x3x3

C
Squat, Paused (x3 @9, drop 5% to @9): wu, 205x3, 225x3, 245x3, 265x3 (7-8)

Not exactly a banner die; tried a bit wider stance/grip for the DL, but combining that with a workout where I'm wearing my chucks instead of barefoot (I'm in San Francisco) didn't work out that well. Was planning to do 325x5 or so, but 305 felt terrible and my knees were caving, so I dropped down and did a few sets at 275. Pretty sure that means both a) my glutes aren't getting appropriately involved and b) I still suck at deadlifting.

Bench was fine. Did pause squats up to 265, which was probably about a 7, but felt a twinge in my SI on the way up so I just called it. Had that same oh **** oh **** oh **** reaction as last time, but I'm just going to do air deadlifts today in whatever conference room I'm in like a total autist and try to keep moving. Not planning on lifting again until after I get back home (so Thursday), but even if it's a little tender, squatting was never a huge issue, so we'll see how it goes.

Might be time for some DL coaching.

Snitch, I have a friend who's a boxer and lol at boxing an actual boxer when you're not a boxer. I have a normal ego, unlike lil' lo.

Monte, hope it's nothing. Vid of conference room air deadlifts please. Have fun in SF, make sure to not check out any restaurants.

Feels like it's not that severe. Putting on underwear/pants/socks/shoes was typically very difficult/painful the last few iterations, but this morning I was just a bit tight, so that's positive.

If I post a conference room air DL video, will you give me a restaurant recommendation I can ignore?

Why not just DL in socks?

I normally do. I try not to at random gyms on the road. Most frown in it and I'm not interested in getting kicked out; specifically in SF I'm assuming it would be considered a macroaggression and I'd be jailed.

You might want to do some glute activation excercises as part of your warmup. Glute bridge, single leg glute bridge, clamshells, etc. to get the glutes firing before you pull. If your knees are caving, you might want to try some strengthening exercises for abbductors and glute medius. Side-lying abductions, clamshells, lateral banded glute walk, etc.

DT's friend -10000
loco +15000

I also have a friend. He's about 5'7 145lbs. He's the no-gi boxing champion of the world. He would beat your friend.

12/7: 191.4

Somehow still sick. SI felt ok but not great entering the session.

A
Squat (x5 @8 until @9): wu, 315x1 (8.5), 255x5, 265x5, 275x5x4

B
Bench, TNG (x8 @10, drop 5% until @9): wu, 245x1 (7.5-8), 265xf (lol), 185x8, 195x8, 205x8, 215x7*, 200x8

Tried to be more aware of core bracing, especially on my right side in the SI region, and this felt pretty alright. True RPE was probably a bit below 8 for the first few 275 sets, but I figured being a little conservative wouldn't be the worst thing.

Bench was AIDS; whether it was fatigue from squatting, travel, or the illness, I felt myself twisting too much to my right (and feeling it in my SI) trying to get up 265, so just racked. 215x8 is something I've done in the not so recent past, so it seemed like a reasonable target, but my spotter didn't even give me the chance to grind the seventh rep, so meh. 200x8 was pretty much @10 so that was about all I had.

Hopefully I'm not too stiff tomorrow.

12/9: 191.0

Almost un-sick. SI felt better; NSAIDs and moving has helped.

A
DL (block pull): wu, 255x5, 275x5, 295x5, 315x5 (8), 295x5

B
Towel Press (x4 @9, drop 5% until @9): wu, 175x4, 195x4, 215x4, 225x4, 235x4 (9), 225x4x2

C
Chins (x6 @8, continue until @9): 6xbw, 6xbw+15, 3x6xbw+25

SI a bit better, as I said; was supposed to do deficit DLs, but obviously that wasn't happening. Pulled off of a 25 lb plate and it felt comfortable; went up to something that seemed sort of challenging, keeping in mind it's a heavy squat day Monday and I'm trying to rehab.

First time towel pressing ever; went fine. Hit my triceps more than I expected, which seems obvious in retrospect. Chins are weak, but w/e.

Now you are truly a disciple of fakeB

Monte,

Nice work. Squats in vid look great. Although you are still doing that weird false start bounce hitch thing...Weights are getting pretty big so I would think that will start to rob you of some energy but I primarily don't think it's a good idea to add a dynamic bounce to your squat...

Which brings me to offering you some more uninformed unsolicited advice... SI issues are frequently/majority of the time a disc issue...making that bounce a worse idea yet imo.

BPA,

Noted. I'm going to try to concentrate more on getting tighter before each rep without bouncing and see how that works.

Regarding my SI issue, I'm not sure if it makes a difference that this was for sure an acute event -- I definitely felt the muscle pull during a paused squat, although I think my somewhat questionable DL form likely fatigued the area beforehand. Regardless, I'm going to concentrate on what I can do for the next few weeks and hopefully the continued movement stimulates recovery/adaptation. I think my squat form, absent the bounce, is tight-ish enough that continued care/concern around ensuring that area is properly braced and stopping a bit below my RPE target should hopefully be enough to ensure an adequate/non-irritating amount of work. I'm going to keep DL light and pull off plates for the next few weeks and see how it goes; fwiw, the area is more sore/tight after block pulls than it was after squatting, so ultimately if I need to ditch doing anything DL related except for 225 lb block pulls for six or eight weeks or something along those lines, no big deal.

Thanks for the advice.

12/11: 192.0

Finally well. SI much improved.

A
Squat (x4 @9, drop 5% until @9): wu, 315x1 (7.5), 275x4, 290x4, 305x4 (9), 290x4

B
Paused bench (x4 @9, drop 5% until @9): wu, 265x1 (9), 205x4, 215x4, 225x4, 235x4 (9), 225x4

C
3ct Bench (x3 @9, drop 5% until @9): wu, 185x3, 195x3, 205x3, 215x3, 205x3



Felt the SI more benching than squatting, but pain and ROM-wise I'm at around 80-90%. We'll see how it feels tomorrow.

Worked on trying to remove the bounce at the top of each squat rep; let's call it a work in progress. Squat generally felt sloppy today, even with the lighter sets, but 305x4 is still a PR.

Bench continues to suck, although I'm sure all if this volume is fatiguing me a bit. Not much to do but keep on keeping on.

Squats look good, nice PR. You do a great job of grinding through and banging out reps when they get tough.

Have you ever tried "neural flossing" for the SI? I would get neural tightness in my hamstring from SI, I think. And that flossing would relieve it and add a ton of ROM instantly.

TC,

Thanks! I think it's more that I make reps seem harder than they have to be, which I'll chalk up to the increased ROM I have to go through and not my throbbing inner EV.

Re: flossing, I have not, no. I pretty much do a barbell complex style warmup as mentioned by Feigenbaum and Baraki, who I'm assuming stole it from KC. Seems to work well enough to get things moving.

12/13: 192.4

Finally well. Off of NSAIDs for the SI twinge; ROM is mostly back and there's no real pain, just awareness of the area and a mild feeling of fatigue. The first few workouts back after the SI injury gave me a pretty huge lower back pump in and around the injured area, but nothing like that here. Fingers crossed that all is well tomorrow morning, and that all of the S is followed by the appropriate amounts of R and A.

A
DL (x4 @9, drop 5% to @9): wu, 315x1 (7), 285x4, 300x4, 315x4 (8-8.5), 300x4x2

B
CG Bench (x5 @9, drop 5% to @9): wu, 240x1 (7.5-8), 190x5, 200x5, 210x5, 220x5 (9), 210x5
Facepulls: 6x12

C
Squat (x4 @8, continue until @9): wu, 235x4, 255x4, 275x4x4





Not sure what the true RPE for either the top or backoff DL sets, but given I decided to pull off the floor instead of off of plates, I decided discretion was probably indicated. I was discussing with fakeb over text, and we both agreed that adjusting my normal heuristic for squat and bench of {last rep seems like a 9.5 -> call it a 9} should be adjusted to {last rep seems like a 8.5 -> call it a 9} for DL until I heal fully and until I get a bit better off the floor. I'm still not quite tight enough and in the right position for the first rep, but subsequent ones seem better. I'll work on it.

CG bench felt strong, even though they gave me a massive elbow pump. I moved my grip in a bit (essentially I'm extending my thumb across the bar and lining up the middle joint where the knurling and the smooth meet, then replacing my thumb around the bar -- so maybe an inch from the smooth now?) and it felt good.

Squat was fine. True @8 would have probably been 285, but, again, given I'd already DL'd, didn't want to push it. Probably could have squeezed in one more set if I wanted the last one to be a true 9, but four seemed like enough. Solid workout given everything, though.

12/15: 192.2

A
Paused squat (x3 @9, drop 5% until @9): wu, 305x1 (8), 275x3, 290x3, 305x3 (9-9.5), 290x3

B
TNG bench (x8 @10, drop 5% until @9): wu, 250x1 (8), 185x8, 195x8, 205x8, 215x8 (10), 205x7,f
Hammer Row: 4x10
Face pulls: 6x12

C
Push press (x5 @8, continue until @9): wu, 95x5, 115x5, 125x5x3



Pretty good day. SI felt just a little fatigued, but didn't seem to affect anything. Elbows tightened up during squat, but got better while benching thankfully. Got a liftoff for everything above 175, because DT and I share the downside of our #armprivilege.

305 paused is obviously a PR triple; everything before and after felt fine and snappy. 215 was a true @10 on bench; the spotter was great and let me grind, and I guess it burned me out a bit for the backoff. Push press was predictably ass since I both a) have little experience with the lift and probably have technique deficiencies and b) just did 50 working reps of press immediately beforehand, but whatever.