Mobility Prep
Paused Safety Squat Bar Squats (3 seconds, beltless)
65x2
115x2
165x2
205x2
245x2
285x2
331x2
331x2
331x2
331x2
331x2
331x2
Paused Safety Squat Bar Squats (3 seconds, beltless)
65x2
115x2
165x2
205x2
245x2
285x2
331x2
331x2
331x2
331x2
331x2
331x2
Spud Harness Deadlifts
135x3
225x3
315x3
405x3
455x5
495x5
545x5
135x3
225x3
315x3
405x3
455x5
495x5
545x5
Safety Squat Bar Step Ups (14”)
65x3/3
105x3/3
145x12/12
150x12/12
155x12/12
65x3/3
105x3/3
145x12/12
150x12/12
155x12/12
Band Assisted Nordic Curls/Hollow Holds
lbx8/bwx30 seconds
lbx8/bwx30 seconds
lbx10/bwx30 seconds
lbx8/bwx30 seconds
lbx8/bwx30 seconds
lbx10/bwx30 seconds
Quad Fallbacks (17” target)
bwx8
bwx8
bwx8
bwx8
bwx8
bwx8
Sled Drag Work
255x5 minutes
255x5 minutes
Stretching
Comments: Well seems no worse for wear on the arm from yesterday’s training. So that is good. I wasn’t expecting today to be so damn humid though. Luckily, I’ve kept the squat rack inside the garage for right now as it started raining substantially shortly after I got off work. Like high winds and sideways rain. That kind of output can’t last too long though so I was hopeful that it would eventually end. Mobility stuff to start off the evening. Again, mostly legs and some core work. Right knee continues to feel a little achy and off but still have strength and stability. Started things off with paused ssb squats. Again, beltless for three count pauses. Doubles this week so worked up in that. 6x2 vs 5x3. First set my left knee was aching and felt like it might do that thing it does. Not exactly a great start when only using the empty bar to start. It didn’t and seemed to be ok as I went up in weight but it was in the back of my mind. The additional weight was definitely noticed on these. It is a low percentage of what I think I can do for a max single on regular style ssb squats but a good bit of what I could do with a pause this long and with a belt, let alone beltless. But I think this is probably important to do until I can get back to doing normal deadlifts. Speaking of which, it was time for a new substitute for deadlifts. Last week had been gm’s from deadlift position. This week was using a strap harness for deadlifts. This had been suggested to me back in 2019 when I broke my finger but just wasn’t enough time for it to really matter and get it then (as it was only needed for a single workout). This was the newer style of the spud strap. The older model was just this big strap that hung off the traps/cervical spine and not exactly adjustable. This one is and connects around the mid back. I saw this being used by Evan Singleton when he was coming back from a biceps tear. I had looked at other options but they were pricier and setup for just one side and specific to that one side. Not exactly practical in the event that my other arm ever has and injury or say both of them do. I had that same issue with my wrist and having to get another wrist brace for that side (billing is $85, will have to see if insurance covers it). So this was going to be very new and take some trial and error I think. Plan was not suit and work up in triples with controlled negatives up to 3x5, adding weight each set and leaving several reps in the tank each set. I initially wasn’t thinking I’d be going as heavy as I did. I figured that one of the things was not having a grip on it would lower the upper back involvement, despite that being the anchor point. I wasn’t expecting it to be this odd a setup to get into it (no instructions came with this). I realize that it would be near impossible to do these with a suit by myself Either have to have it set and squat down to get it on or stand up and then tighten the straps to desired length. Seeing how this felt with the setup, I deviated from my plan to do 40-50lbs jumps and did plate jumps up to 405lbs. I wanted to get a triple in with a belt before deciding what to do next. Was really surprised how these went after I started doing the sets of five reps. I was thinking I’d be doing maybe 20lbs jumps but I got into a good groove. First rep was the toughest. I learned that holding up higher on the strap as opposed to down near the bar was better for balance. Have to pull with control to keep balanced. Also have to get used to the pressure from above with the strap digging into the body. Not as much lower back and upper back involvement as a regular deadlift but hits the legs, hips and glutes hard. Might have gone a little heavier than I should for the appropriate number of reps in the tank on that last set. Similar but different. This could be a good variation to have even if I’m not injured as a supplementary lift. Next was step ups with the ssb again. I wasn’t paying attention I guess when I did these at the start. I blame the humidity (shirt was so drenched in sweat that it could be wrung out). So my intent was to do 125lbs as my “big jump” for last time and see how things were. Seeing as how I went from 75lbs to 105lbs over two sessions. I’m not sure how I thought the plate math was working out but I guess I thought that the ssb was 45lbs for some reason tonight. First set felt quite challenging. I think part of what has helped me on these besides knowing intent is treating each rep like a single and forcefully exhaling as I step up. Thinking about stepping through the box, stomping it as if my powerful leg drive will crush it as if it were made of cardboard. I seem to attach that kind of visualization to a lift and it seems to improve (similar to how block pulls have). This was a tough set and it was only after I was done and thinking about what I was going to do next that I realized I had misloaded by 20lbs. So I had gone up 40lbs from last week. Dang. So I felt a bit better about how that set went haha. I decided to go up 5lbs a set here since so close at this kind of exercise it seems that not much difference between say 65lbs and 75lbs when I did it that first session. Left leg is definitely a little bit behind the right in terms of strength. But this was good. I think this is the heaviest I’ve gone on single leg work in quite some time. At least not with this good of control and form haha. Superset of hamstrings and core again. Same exercises as last time. I don’t mind the hollow holds. They are a good challenge for the lower abs (I can’t yet load the upper body portion) and I have ankle weights if necessary. The band Nordic curls are so tough. Plan this time was the same as last week until the last set. Last set for the Nordics was to do max reps leaving 1-2RIR. Trickiest thing was getting the anchoring right so that it didn’t freaking kill my ankles and Achilles tendon area and still keep pressure so I could contract that area. Added knee braces to my ankles and used a knee brace wrapped in a towel and secured with a theraband. First two sets were tough. Not to say the last one wasn’t but it felt a little better as I think I got the bracing right this time. Managed to get two extra reps which honestly, wasn’t expecting as I tend to gas quick on these. After this was those darn quad fallbacks. Still 3x8 with bodyweight. Continuing to progress on ROM on these. I moved the target back I think 3” from what I had on Saturday. Oof, that first set of these continues to make me question my life choices. So very tough to do and the set usually is a little rest paused to get through. This is how I die, I think as I fold myself into an inverted stapler, in a yoga pose. Then the second and third set are like no big deal. So very strange to me. Last thing for the evening was again sled dragging for longer than anyone should. Thankfully it had stopped raining and with how humid it was, a lot of that was already evaporated. Again, plan was 5 minutes of backwards and forwards dragging with harness around my waist. I stupidly added 20lbs to what I did last week. It was also a little slick to grip with the shoes. I gave myself less rest by sticking to one direction for about 2 minutes as opposed to trying to alternate every 30 seconds or so. This was quite tough. But I should have no excuse to not keep pulling on the truck/boat pull in October for the full 90 seconds if it won’t budge haha. Put stuff away and ate pot roast. Didn’t ice knees as I felt that the blood flow from the sled drags would be a good thing.
Comments: Well seems no worse for wear on the arm from yesterday’s training. So that is good. I wasn’t expecting today to be so damn humid though. Luckily, I’ve kept the squat rack inside the garage for right now as it started raining substantially shortly after I got off work. Like high winds and sideways rain. That kind of output can’t last too long though so I was hopeful that it would eventually end. Mobility stuff to start off the evening. Again, mostly legs and some core work. Right knee continues to feel a little achy and off but still have strength and stability. Started things off with paused ssb squats. Again, beltless for three count pauses. Doubles this week so worked up in that. 6x2 vs 5x3. First set my left knee was aching and felt like it might do that thing it does. Not exactly a great start when only using the empty bar to start. It didn’t and seemed to be ok as I went up in weight but it was in the back of my mind. The additional weight was definitely noticed on these. It is a low percentage of what I think I can do for a max single on regular style ssb squats but a good bit of what I could do with a pause this long and with a belt, let alone beltless. But I think this is probably important to do until I can get back to doing normal deadlifts. Speaking of which, it was time for a new substitute for deadlifts. Last week had been gm’s from deadlift position. This week was using a strap harness for deadlifts. This had been suggested to me back in 2019 when I broke my finger but just wasn’t enough time for it to really matter and get it then (as it was only needed for a single workout). This was the newer style of the spud strap. The older model was just this big strap that hung off the traps/cervical spine and not exactly adjustable. This one is and connects around the mid back. I saw this being used by Evan Singleton when he was coming back from a biceps tear. I had looked at other options but they were pricier and setup for just one side and specific to that one side. Not exactly practical in the event that my other arm ever has and injury or say both of them do. I had that same issue with my wrist and having to get another wrist brace for that side (billing is $85, will have to see if insurance covers it). So this was going to be very new and take some trial and error I think. Plan was not suit and work up in triples with controlled negatives up to 3x5, adding weight each set and leaving several reps in the tank each set. I initially wasn’t thinking I’d be going as heavy as I did. I figured that one of the things was not having a grip on it would lower the upper back involvement, despite that being the anchor point. I wasn’t expecting it to be this odd a setup to get into it (no instructions came with this). I realize that it would be near impossible to do these with a suit by myself Either have to have it set and squat down to get it on or stand up and then tighten the straps to desired length. Seeing how this felt with the setup, I deviated from my plan to do 40-50lbs jumps and did plate jumps up to 405lbs. I wanted to get a triple in with a belt before deciding what to do next. Was really surprised how these went after I started doing the sets of five reps. I was thinking I’d be doing maybe 20lbs jumps but I got into a good groove. First rep was the toughest. I learned that holding up higher on the strap as opposed to down near the bar was better for balance. Have to pull with control to keep balanced. Also have to get used to the pressure from above with the strap digging into the body. Not as much lower back and upper back involvement as a regular deadlift but hits the legs, hips and glutes hard. Might have gone a little heavier than I should for the appropriate number of reps in the tank on that last set. Similar but different. This could be a good variation to have even if I’m not injured as a supplementary lift. Next was step ups with the ssb again. I wasn’t paying attention I guess when I did these at the start. I blame the humidity (shirt was so drenched in sweat that it could be wrung out). So my intent was to do 125lbs as my “big jump” for last time and see how things were. Seeing as how I went from 75lbs to 105lbs over two sessions. I’m not sure how I thought the plate math was working out but I guess I thought that the ssb was 45lbs for some reason tonight. First set felt quite challenging. I think part of what has helped me on these besides knowing intent is treating each rep like a single and forcefully exhaling as I step up. Thinking about stepping through the box, stomping it as if my powerful leg drive will crush it as if it were made of cardboard. I seem to attach that kind of visualization to a lift and it seems to improve (similar to how block pulls have). This was a tough set and it was only after I was done and thinking about what I was going to do next that I realized I had misloaded by 20lbs. So I had gone up 40lbs from last week. Dang. So I felt a bit better about how that set went haha. I decided to go up 5lbs a set here since so close at this kind of exercise it seems that not much difference between say 65lbs and 75lbs when I did it that first session. Left leg is definitely a little bit behind the right in terms of strength. But this was good. I think this is the heaviest I’ve gone on single leg work in quite some time. At least not with this good of control and form haha. Superset of hamstrings and core again. Same exercises as last time. I don’t mind the hollow holds. They are a good challenge for the lower abs (I can’t yet load the upper body portion) and I have ankle weights if necessary. The band Nordic curls are so tough. Plan this time was the same as last week until the last set. Last set for the Nordics was to do max reps leaving 1-2RIR. Trickiest thing was getting the anchoring right so that it didn’t freaking kill my ankles and Achilles tendon area and still keep pressure so I could contract that area. Added knee braces to my ankles and used a knee brace wrapped in a towel and secured with a theraband. First two sets were tough. Not to say the last one wasn’t but it felt a little better as I think I got the bracing right this time. Managed to get two extra reps which honestly, wasn’t expecting as I tend to gas quick on these. After this was those darn quad fallbacks. Still 3x8 with bodyweight. Continuing to progress on ROM on these. I moved the target back I think 3” from what I had on Saturday. Oof, that first set of these continues to make me question my life choices. So very tough to do and the set usually is a little rest paused to get through. This is how I die, I think as I fold myself into an inverted stapler, in a yoga pose. Then the second and third set are like no big deal. So very strange to me. Last thing for the evening was again sled dragging for longer than anyone should. Thankfully it had stopped raining and with how humid it was, a lot of that was already evaporated. Again, plan was 5 minutes of backwards and forwards dragging with harness around my waist. I stupidly added 20lbs to what I did last week. It was also a little slick to grip with the shoes. I gave myself less rest by sticking to one direction for about 2 minutes as opposed to trying to alternate every 30 seconds or so. This was quite tough. But I should have no excuse to not keep pulling on the truck/boat pull in October for the full 90 seconds if it won’t budge haha. Put stuff away and ate pot roast. Didn’t ice knees as I felt that the blood flow from the sled drags would be a good thing.
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