Upper Push, GHR, Curls

sRPE @6.5

BW - 223

Feet-Up Bench - 

195X1 @7.5

215X1 @9

225X1 (PR) @9.5

235X1(PR) @10

Standing Lever Press - 40sX10, 10, 10 @8/10

GHR - BWX14, 13, 10 @8/9.5

Lying DB Curls - 20sX9, 10 @~9

Incline DB Curls - 20sX10 @8

Had it in my head that I had to beat 225 on Feet-Up Bench for PR, but looking back at my logs today I only had to beat 220.

Standing Lever Press was a dumb seeming idea that ended up working pretty well.  Basically a clean and press on a Hammer Incline Bench.  Actually felt really great on my front delts.

Lying/Flat Bench/Supine DB Curls are a pretty intense stretch.  I don't think I would do these again as my first elbow flexion movement.  Probably safer to save them for after the biceps are warmer.

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.

Maintenance / Rehab Block. Week 5. Day 1.

BW - 225

Feet-Up Bench - 220X3, 3, 3

Pull-Ups - BWX6, 4 (10 total reps)

Pull-Downs (supinated) - X10, 10, 10 (straight-weight, + "5 lbs." from last time)

Hammer Curls - 35sX12, 10

First day back from our annual camping trip.  Was itching to Squat, etc. again, but decided to keep playing it safe.  Thinking I'll still play it by ear a bit until after July 4th since that holiday will throw some more chaos into my schedule.

Feet-up bench still moving pretty well as long as I make sure my hips and shoulders are well centered on the pad.  Bench is probably the first movement I will try to come back on as my adductor heals ups.  I feel like I can just stay in this progression and put my feet on the floor for more power.  So maybe I go for 225 for 3X3 this Friday as my return to full power bench, and then progress back up from there.  It looks like I don't have a 3X3 PR recorded for Bench.  235X3X2 is probably the closest, so that would put me in striking distance on that.  And I would be adding a true Volume Day back in at that point as well, I believe.  May need to think on that a bit more. 

Pull-Ups felt very strong once again.  1 more rep than last time in the same number of sets.

Also got all 3X10 with more weight on the pull-up machine for supinated pull-downs.  These were definitely a couple of all out sets to get there.  Expect to hit a wall next time.  Or not.

Also got 10+ on both sets of Hammer Curls, so will add weight to those next time. 

Maintenance / Rehab Block. Week 4. Day 1.

BW - 225

High-Bar Squats -
300X1, 1
315X1, 1

Bench (Feet-Up) - 215X3, 3

Pull-Ups - BWX5, 4 (9 total reps)

Pull-Downs (Supinated) - X10, 10, 10 (straight-weight; +5 "lbs.")

Hammer Curls - 35sX10, 8

Leg had been feeling so much better, I decided to play with some Squatting.  Low bar regular wasn't feeling great, so I moved my stance in a bit, and it felt better, but really awkward.  Moving to High-Bar seemed to make it feel more natural.  I started working up in sets of 3, taking small jumps.  If it hurt a little, or felt awkward, I would repeat the set.  Got into the mid-to-upper 200s and I was starting to have some discomfort through the quarter of ROM right around parallel, but it felt all good at the very bottom.  I switched to doubles, and then singles to get up to 300.  Did a couple of sets there and they felt a little sharp, but not too bad.  Got a little greedy and went up to 315.  First set was okay, but the second set had a very sharp twinge in the adductor, and now it basically feels like I've lost 10 or so days of recovery process. But hey, my previous best HBS was 250X5 (in 2014), and at least these were fast.

All I really wanted was to keep motor pathways fresh with some higher-intensity / very low-volume squatting in the hopes that would facilitate a more rapid "come back" once I can low bar Squat pain free.  Oh, well.  Luckily I'm going camping for 4 days this weekend and won't even be in the gym.  When I come back, I'll just have to take it super slow.  Last set of 300 and last set of 315 shown. 

Definitely wasn't putting my feet back on the ground for bench after this.  I'd already proactively decided to cycle down to triples at this point on the feet-up bench.  Again, just trying to keep relative intensity high while frequency has been reduced by schedule.  These moved well.

Pull-Ups also felt pretty good.  +1 rep from last time.

Supinated Pull-Down weight is now at a challenging intensity.  Probably the best strategy for next week is to stay at the same weight, and try to go for 12 on each set.

Arms felt worn out by the time I got to Hammer Curls.  Same results as last time.

Maintenance / Rehab Block. Week 2. Day 3.

BW - 225

Bench (feet-up) - 210X5, 5, 5

Chin-Ups - BWX7, 5, 5, 5, 3 (25 total)

Pull-Downs - X10, 9, 6 (straight-weight; same weight as previous)

BB Curls - 50X10, 9

Went to the P.T. to get the run-down of my MRI results.  ALL CLEAR!!!  No sign of damage to any of the structures in or around the hip, and no sign of tendinopathy.  Diagnosis is just a really over-taxed adductor.  The pain had already faded quite a bit over the last week of not squatting and deadlifting.  Enough for the P.T. to really get in and manipulate the joint.  Prescription is some minor daily mobility work to keep it loose.  Advised not resuming squatting and pulling again until "you've forgotten it was injured," start with the empty bar and add weight as long as it's pain free.  He expects I should be back to work-sets in just a couple of weeks once I resume.  I've got two out-of-town trips and houseguests over the next couple of weeks, so I will just wait until that's all out of the way.

In the meantime, 210X3X5 was a lot more challenging than 205.  Probably some fatigue, but I also had to focus quite a bit more on balance.  I'll continue with this movement until I start squatting again.  Hopefully, I'll even get some slight benefit to my bar path motor pattern as a result of the balance component.  Or not.

Chin-ups felt pretty solid.  Didn't get as many reps on the first set as last time, but got more on the later sets.  But now we're to the point in the plan where I've hit 25 reps and 5 sets.  The plan now is: get 25 reps in 5 or fewer sets.  That is to say, try to show improvement without additional sets.  If I plateau  or regress, reduce the weight on pull-downs slightly, and add a set to those.  If there is no improvement, add another.  Then do the same to curls, then pull-downs again, then curls again.  This days programming isn't in a vacuum either, as there is the 2nd day with pull-ups, supinated pull-downs, and hammer curls.  If this days program gets to 5X~10 pull-downs and 3X~10 Curls without progress, then I will start adding volume to the pull-downs and curls on that day as well.  So the "final phase" program would look like:
Day 1:
Chin-Ups - 5XAMRAP
Pull-Downs (pronated) - 5X8-12
BB Curls - 3X8-12

Day 2:
Pull-Ups - 5XAMRAP
Pull-downs (supinated) - 5X8-12
Hammer Curls - 3X8-12

If I get that far and progress is stalling or regressing, then I will have to come up with something else. To be clear, progress = more reps on the first set and /or more average reps per set on chins.  That's a minor distinction because if one is happening with any consistency then the other must follow.

Maintenance / Rehab Block. Week 2. Day 1.

BW - 226

Bench (Feet-on-Bench) - 205X5, 5, 5

Chin-Ups - BWX8, 5, 5, 4, 2

Pull-Downs - X8, 6, 5 (straight-weight; +5 "lbs." from last session)

BB Curls - 50X10, 10

First time doing Bench with my feet-up, so technically a PR.  Didn't get any trouble out of my hip doing them this way, so should be good for the time-being.  Went in prepared to start with 185, but could tell it was going to be more than that.  Used 185 as my last warm-up, then jumped up to 205.  Felt about right.  Not easy, but felt confident not calling for a spotter (safety bars on the bench I used).  No video.

Chin-Ups felt pretty strong out of the gate.  Getting 5 reps on set 3 isn't consistent yet, but is getting more common.

Upped the weight on the pull-downs and definitely exceeded some threshold, dropping from 10 reps per set down to this.  Shooting for 8-12 on all sets so I'll back off 10 "lbs." (who knows what the actual resistance is on these machines), and see if I can get 12 reps per set and work my way back up.  For some reason, getting into position on this machine was lighting my hip up a little bit.  WTF.

Got 2X12 last time on straight-bar curls, so went up to 50 here.