HLM. Week 10. Day 2.

BW - 224

Belt Squat - 165X5, 5, 5 @ 8

Feet-Up Bench -
205X1 @ 8
180X5 @ 6.5
195X5, 5, 5 @ ~8.5
185X5, 5 @ ~8.5

Chest-Supported T-Bar Row - 125X5, 5, 5 @ 8
super-set with
Seated Leg Curls - X10, 10, 10, 10

"Novelty Week" or "My Continued Adventures with Back Pain" continues!

Back was a little bit better on this day, but still didn't feel like I was ready to load my spine.  Hoping the third session of the week will be

Tried out the belt squat for the first time.  It took me 7 sets to arrive at the 165 work weight I used.  It's a very different squat feeling, and took a long time to dial-in technique so that I felt like the weight was staying over mid-foot, I wasn't falling forwards or backwards (the weight being attached at the hip caused the upper body to feel a bit more out of control), and that I could apply full power to the movement.  I do feel like I got some work in here.

Tried full power bench, but my back wasn't liking it.  Went with feet-up.  It was still painful at times (mainly getting on the bench and in position), but I got through it.  These numbers are low compared to what I did with this movement when I was rehabbing my adductor, but I think low back pain just takes a bigger toll on everything.  Overshot a little bit with 195 on the back-off work and couldn't sustain it for 5X5, so had to drop down to 185.

I really couldn't think of what to do in place of block pulls here.  So I went with Chest-Supported rows again, but for lower reps, and superset it with leg curls to get some hamstring work in.  I tried lying leg curls, but my back HATED that, so I had to switch to the stupid seated machine.

Because I wasn't doing any movements where I'm concerned about long-term proficiency, I didn't grab any video.