Almost deadliftless back day...

Okay, so today was a damn good back day.  The plan was to not do deadlifts, however, called an audible in the gym and changed the shrugs into a deadlift with a shrug using the shrug cage.  So that was pretty intense/fun.  Also might explain why my traps are killing me at the moment.  Where's a rogue to disarm these death traps when you need them.  Damn... got a bit nerdy there... anyway, lets pop down some numbers.


Hammer strength one arm rows  70x8, 115x8, 160x6, 205x4, 215x4, 230x3, 250x3

Trap bar deadlift with shrug on each rep   315   3x6


Straight arm pulldowns  22.5x30, 37x32, 47x35



Upper back was pretty trashed after this, so I'll put this baby to bed now.

Very odd bench day...

So today was an interesting bench day, not much was done as far as weight goes, but a lot to help correcting some flaws in my partner's bench since it's not progressing as much as we'd like to see.   Worked with getting him to bench with his back/lats more.  That will take some adjustment but he'll get it.  I'll just hop to numbers and exercises on this one.

Bamboo Bench, 145 6x10, alternating pinky and index finger on the ring.

Banded unracks 3x10 using mini-band

Skull crushers  115 2x8  Had to stop thanks to my partner pulling his ribs a bit.

Long bar double cable pressdowns 47.5  1x12


Then did some touch point work which was fun.



Like I said, an odd day, but a helpful learning day.

Squats, am I enjoying them again?

So after the happy accident of squatting in my boots and realizing it helps me crush my depth and the fact my back has been feeling good, I've been really enjoying doing squats again.  While I still have yet to do much heavy work, there is a certain sense of glee and anticipation of squat day.  I haven't had this in like nearly a decade, so this has been nice.  Yesterday was a pretty solid squat day even though going in, I felt like ass.  I do find it funny, I always warm up with the bar.  I can't even hit anything that begins to resemble a quarter squat with just the bar.  I end up looking like I'm ratcheting myself down while I try to warm up with it. Each one is just a tad lower than the last one.  When I finally put plates on the bar, then it's like oh yeah, hammies can touch the calves now.  So that's nice.  Okay, so like I said, pretty easy day, just a decent amount of squats with just enough time between sets to lower the bar on the rack and my partner to do his doubles.  Anyway... numbers...


Squats 135x5, 155x5, 165x5, 185 10x2, speed feels good on all of them, coming out of the hole super strong, I know it's not heavy, but I know most people who read this know my history of squatting, so it's the little victories, next week I'm going to start going 225 for my doubles. 

Cable sidebend burnouts 100 x75 each side.  I was toast after that.

Day late shoulder post...

Despite being pretty exhausted going into the gym from a lack of sleep and a truck day, yesterday turned out to be pretty decent in the gym.  We did have to call it a little earlier than planned due to cramping(not mine for a change) but missing one set is better than a torn triceps.... so I'll just throw these numbers out...



One armed landmines 25x10, 35x10, 45x10, 55x10, 65x10
Machine lateral rasies 150 3x20
Stretched out rope extensions   80x8, 80 2x15
Grenade grip pressdowns 30 2x15

Bah, back day, missed lift...

So, today sucked.  Should have realized it was going to.  Had a good night's sleep, didn't sleep on either shoulder too long without flipping over, woke up feeling good.  So naturally, I missed a lift I was wanting.  Did block pulls, 5 plates came up like nothing.  So figured I'd go for 5 plates and a quarter which would be 20 pounds heavier than the last time, came off the blocks nice, I just couldn't get my hips into it and had I tried to grind it out it would have been all lower back, so I was like "Nope, don't break yourself" and sat it back down.  At any rate, I'll get it next time, going to be a lot more pull throughs and hip thrust between now and then.  So lets get to some numbers...



Block pull deadlifts  135x10, 225x10, 315x4, 405x1, 495x1, 565x0

Hip adductors   200 3x10

Hip abductors  150 3x10


Was a bit short of a day but even with missing the lift was a good day, learned what I need to do to fix that issue, so I'm going to take that away as a positive.

Good bench day, hell of a chinup day....

So, damn, today was pretty good for bench, shoulder was a little off but got better as I went.  Then did chinups for the accessory, did have 2 accessories plans, however... after we were done with the chinups, holy fuck, could not move.  Used the weighted vest, taking a weight out after each attempt.  You notice I said attempt, that's why the numbers will be like .75 on a few... but man, upper back was thrashed after this.  All of me was thrashed after this... so... numbers....



SS Bench, 135x10, 185x6, 225x5, 315 6x2

Chinups, 40 pound weight vest, so starting weight of 370 total.  40x.75, 36x.75, 32x.75, 28x.75, 24x1, 20x1, 16x2, 12x3, 8x3, 4x4, then no vest x4.


So, once again I've said people as fat as me should not be doing chinups, holy fuck, people as fat as me should not be adding on 40 pounds just to make chinups harder.  But yeah, I'll keep doing it. 

Squat day, wonky knee stability

So, today was not what I'd call a good day.  When I got up this morning my right knee felt a bit awkward, but not really in pain.  So, I went in for squats, and honestly squats weren't bad, felt strong on all of my weak assed squats, however, my knee still felt wonky.  So did my squats, unloaded my vest down to 16 pounds for box jumps, did a couple and realized my knee didn't feel that stable, so didn't want to try pressing things since even though I made those jumps, the landing was a bit weird and was worried it would do something bad I didn't want it to or it would go out on me and I'd take an unintentional bump and break my everything.  So numbers today are going to be pretty damn short....


Squats 135x5, 155x5, 185 2x2, 205 2x2, partner's back went a bit wonky so we stopped on that one to move on to jumps.  And yeah, just a bad day all around aside from feeling strong on my squats.


So blah, bench tomorrow. 

Shoulder win, yet, am I a loser?

So today was a damn good day at the gym really, hit a new PR, did skull crushers without feeling like my elbow was going to rip apart, and we'll get to that in a bit, but now I feel I must ramble.  So, I was bored and didn't want to sit at home tonight while watching powerlifting, wrestling, and dragon ball videos on YouTube while listening to music, so I was like "I'm going to go do something."  I remember used to I'd hang out with friends at least once or twice a week.  Tonight I was thinking I wonder who would like to do something?  Then kinda going through my list "Well, he's probably doing something with his girlfriend, he's married and has kids, she's doing something with her friends"  So I was like, oh well, I'll figure out something.  So in my adventure to find something to do, I ended up putting about 120 miles on my car riding around unable to think of anything or find anyone to hang out with.  This drive allowed me time to think and I had an odd thought, in the past year the two people I've hung out with most is a dude that lives in Colorado and a chick that lives in Chicago.  So I was like "I'll go to a bar!"  Then I was like "Man, going to a bar alone, that will make me feel like a loser."  Oddly enough, I know people who know me through various social media platforms think of me as this witty and charming fellow, but as it turns out, I kinda look like an unapproachable asshole who will murder you if you say hello to him.  Much like Meat Loaf sang, 2 out of 3 ain't bad, but I'm really not that unapproachable.  Murdering you for saying hi probably won't happen, but I can't rule it out.  But yes, I am an asshole, a likable one though.  So yes, likable ass hole.  Yes to being a loser.  At least I've got the gym, and speaking of....lets throw some numbers down.


Double arm landmines 1 plate x10, 2 plates x10, 2 plates/1 quarter x6, 3 plates x6, 4 plates x6, 5 plates x3.  And damn, did the 5 plates x3 not only feel good, but also damn near killed me.

Machine lateral raises  200 3x10

Grenade grip pressdowns 47 x10, 52 x10, 57 x8, 62 x3

Skull crushers 115 3x8   Was the first time in a long time I've been able to do them without my elbows feeling like they were going to rip apart, so that was nice. 

Anyhoo, sorry about the rambling, squats tomorrow, should be a slap and a tickle.

Speed deadlifts and some dumb....

So, holy crap, the past lets call it 40 hours have sucked.  Store inventory last night, so didn't get off until about midnight, had to be back in at 6am this morning, inability to fall asleep easily means not as much sleep as I'd like, plus I kept waking up last night.  So I might have gotten about 3 hours of sleep in that time.  Fortunately, after the work/before the gym I did have a nap, an actual nap, not those fake naps that last 3 hours.  At any rate, even after this shitteous sleep schedule, I did manage to have a damn good day at the gym, speed pulls went really well.  I had the forethought to take a 64oz Gatorade to work so I wasn't really the least bit dehydrated today, think that might have been what caused that back tweak a couple of weeks ago.  So anyway... here we go...


Speed deadlifts 225x8, 315 5x2

Cable side bends 100 3x3

In between all the cable side bends, a total of 21 chinups

Straight arm pull downs 100 3x10, on sets 2 and 3 I held the last rep at about the mid point.  Went a bit over 2 minutes on the last one.  Pretty sure my lats flared three sizes this day!  Truly a Grinchmas miracle! 


I ordered a 50 pound weighted vest that will be here tomorrow, it's adjustable so the purpose of this is three fold.  Purpose the first, added weight for box jumps.  Purpose the second, added weight for chinups.  And finally... purpose the third... for the days I miss being 370+ pounds.  So that's going to be fun.  I'm going to blame Goku for the idea of using a weighted vest, but I'm okay with that.  Okay, I'm gonna wrap this up, scarf down a couple of tacos, then sleep, because yay, 6am again tomorrow. 

Today was a good bench day.

So, yeah, for as much as last week sucked, today was good.  Made sure I was up about 2 hours before I was suppose to be at the gym, had time to work on shoulder mobility and ice it before heading in and what a difference that made.  Also, got crazy with an accessory exercise.  Fat Gripz extreme, kettlebells, bands, and shoulder saver.  I'm working on hitting my stabilizers a lot more to help with the shoulder.  My heavy work was good.  So all in all, I'm pretty happy with today.


Close grip Shoulder Saver Bench with chains  135x10, 185x8, 225x6, 275x3, 315x1, 335x1   I'm thinking the chains were probably adding about 20 pounds when the amount of them came off the ground.


Modified bamboo bench.  That was the one I was talking about earlier.  4 sets of 8-10


Chinups 1x4, 1x4, 1x3, 1x1


My goal for chins is to at least hit 12 twice a week.  Getting a weighted vest this week for box jumps and chins.  So that should be fun. 

Here's the pic of the crazy bar setup for anyone that might have missed it.

Squats, and a sad minor victory.

It's odd how pleasing something as simple as a 225 pound squat can make you feel.  Particularly when it seems like every time you've attempt to go over 200 for over the past year seems to just injure your back.  Today was a really good day, with that sad minor victory.  But my depth on all of them was really good, at least to the point I'm pleased with it.  It's also sad how accidentally leaving my hiking/work boots on for a set a couple of weeks ago lowers my depth by about two inches, but once again, pleased with that as well.  Partner's squats are coming along nicely too.  So lets get to some numbers...


Squats  135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 185x2, 185x2, 205x2, 205x2, 225x2

Box jumps  5 sets of 5 to medium plyo box.  Once again, someone as fat as I should not be hurling themselves into the air.

Hyper extentions/glute ham raise 3 sets of 8 with a long pause on last rep.


So yeah, damn good day, over all I'm really pleased.  I'll shut this down for the evening, early morning tomorrow.

Shoulders, short and sweet.

Gotta be at work at 4am, so this one will be an abbreviated one.  Man, good shoulder day, left shoulder felt really good.  Did heavy landmines, all around a good day.


Double arm landmines 1 plate x10, 2 plates x8, 3 plates x8, 4 plates x6, 5 plates(pr) x1.5  Partner had to help with the first one a tad so not fully counting it.

Grenade grip single pulley pressdowns  40x12, 50x12, 60x10

Lateral machine rasies 200 3x12

Long bar double sided press downs  42.5x15, 47.5 x15, 57.5 x31



And that was it for today, hopefully the shoulder keeps feeling this well. 

Back day non-shit day.

What a difference a day makes.  Well, might have been because of the nice simplicity of the day since it was a heavy day.  But still, vast improvement over yesterday.  So lets pop some numbers down and put this baby to bed.


Power shrugs 135x10, 225x10, 315x8, 405x8, 495x6 585x3

Hip Adductors 200 3x12

Hip Abductors 150 3x12

Chinups 1. 


Gotta say, I attempted a chinup after the shrugs but after the other day my elbows were completely shot but I got pissed that I didn't do at least one while working my hips(they don't lie) and decided to force one. 

Bench-shit day.

So today sucked.  Slept funky on my left shoulder apparently all night so it was pretty dead today, gotta make sure I wedge my pillow under me tonight so I can't turn in my sleep.  Anyway, numbers...


Bench 135x10, 185x8, 225x4, SS 295x1

Grenande Grip Pressdowns 60x15, 70x12, 80x9

Face Pulls 100 4x10

Handle Grips Pressdowns  52 4x15

Squatish Day, more like posterior chain day.

So going out in a few so going to jump to numbers pretty quick, I will say a new PR has been set for total number of chinups done in a day though!


Good mornings 65x15, 85x15, 105x15, 125x15, 145x12, 165x8

Cable Pull Throughs wide stance  100 3x12

Cable side bends 100 3x12

Total chinups  24

Ab machine burnout 100 x18, because holy crap, my entire core was shot after all that.

Shoulders, plus a wee bit of triceps...

So, back isn't too bad, but I'm still babying it a bit, mostly because tomorrow is truck day, so gotta do this early tonight, 3am comes early if you're actually getting up at that time.  Anyway... good day today, didn't do anything overly stressful, so I'll just pop some numbers...


Seated overhead press 75x12, 115x12, 135x10, 165x10, 205x7
Lateral machine raises  200 3x12
Grenade grip pressdowns 42x12, 47x12, 52x9 57x10
Grenade grip cable Tate presses  40x12, 50x10, 60x10, 70x9
Cable front raises with rope 50 for a set of 50.

Speed pulls, pull ups, and a pull... f'n theme day...

So, today sucked hairy ones.  Was feeling good, after my third set of speed pulls, felt my back pull a bit, so set it down and swore blasphemously, cause you know, that's how I roll.   Anyway going to skip a numbers break down and just ramble.  I could feel my back like it was wanting to pull a bit at work yesterday, but it never did so I thought I was good.  Honestly, I'm good, it's not bad, it would just be a lot worse had I kept going today.  Fortunately, I seem to have become, I don't want to call it smarter because it's me, so I'll just say less dumb.  I did manage to do 12 total chinups which is 1 higher than my previous total.  Anyway, needed to make sure I got an entry in, so I guess that's where I'll stop for the day.  I need to come up with a catchy sign off.  I got it.  Stay frosty.

Heavy bench failureish!

So, up at 5 for work at 6 this morning.  Fortunately it was a short shift and I got off at noon, so I hit the gym at 1.  Once again, I'll say the best pre-workout I've ever found is Starbucks' Venti Double Shot, I get too extra pumps of syrup because I'm a moo.  But hey, it's close to 400mg of caffeine, so it works nicely.  Anyway, Went decently heavy for the first time in forever, good news, no shoulder pain with the Slingshot.  Bad news, not entirely sure I would have gotten it.  Haven't got my partner completely trained on spotting me when I'm going over 400, so he might have taken the bar a bit too soon.  It didn't help that when I got my setup first I was too high on the bench and there was no way I could have lowered the bar without re-racking it.  HOWEVER, once he grabbed the bar I started the push again pretty hard, so off my chest to about 3 inches up, good, that 3-4 mark was a ball buster where he put his hands on the bar, but he said he only grabbed and pulled a tiny bit before I threw it back up, so looks like I'll be doing some board benching for a bit to get past that point.  Lets see, that seems like enough so here's numbers.

SS Bench 135x10, 225x10, 315x4, 405x0ish.  See explanation above.

Then we did some as best we can without an actual bamboo bar, bamboo bar benchpress.  Here's a pic.

135 pounds total, sets of 15, 12, 12, 12.

5 total chinups

V-Bar press downs  100 x 34

Was a good day, hopefully the no shoulder pain will continue.  Gotta be at work at 4am so, gonna wrap this up tonight and consider sleep, might not happen, but it will be taken under consideration.