I periodically return to the first post to update my status and goals.
Log Started: January 4, 2016
Last Update: June 14, 2025
Athletic Background:
Age: 38
Height: 5’11"
Weight: 232.8 (6/14/2025)
Pre-2004: HS Football & Wrestling
2004-2007: College Football Player
2008-2012: Running Enthusiast
2013-2015: Kettlebell Enthusiast
2016-2017: CrossFit-Like Person
2018-2020: Strongman-Like Person
Present: General Strength Enthusiast
Training History:
I played football & wrestled in high school (also dabbled in powerlifting for a little bit), then I played football in college & continued lifting consistently for that entire time.
After playing college football, I wanted to stay active, lean out, and just “get into” something new - so I ran long-distance races (5K’s all the way up to full marathons) for 5-6 years after that, and picked up some other fitness hobbies like yoga, mountain biking, and rock climbing during my mid-20’s (oh, to be young again).
To sum up: I was always active and very fit. but did have a stretch from about age 22-28 where I did very little strength training. Not that I regret this, mind you - that was all fun stuff and it’s neat to have those experiences in my history - but that’s context for why I was basically “starting over” as strength athlete around the time this log began.
2014-2015: I started doing some kettlebell workouts & eventually started lifting heavy barbells again.
January 2016: started this log. I followed a “daily dose deadlift” approach for most of the period from 2016-2019. It served me well for awhile - I deadlifted 600 for the first time in August 2017 and an all-time best of 620 in September 2018, which seems pretty good for someone training 20 minutes a day in a basic garage gym without putting much effort into programming or assistance work.
January 2020: my back didn’t feel right and kept getting worse & worse. Every deadlift workout was painful and I was getting these awful muscle “tweaks” that would make me super stiff and sore for days. I also had an unpleasant realization my physique had gotten huskier than ideal for health and longevity; I weighed in at 258.6 pounds on 2/4/2020 and decided it was time to slim down.
February 2020: I decided to take a break from barbell work & focus on improving my pull-up numbers until I slimmed down a bit.
Late 2020: after slimming down & spending a couple of months just doing lots of pull-ups as my main workout pursuit, I resumed deadlifting in fall 2020 with a switch to sumo stance, which worked out pretty well.
Early 2023: my wife got very into kettlebell workouts, so I started doing some kettlebell workouts (again) for solidarity.
Summer 2024: I started doing lots of pull-ups and reminder myself how good that feels for my upper body. So now I kind of want to have a program built around pull-ups, kettlebell pressing, squats and deadlifts.
August 2024: surgery for inguinal hernia, a forced layoff from any strength training for a few weeks. After the mandatory 4 weeks of not lifting anything heavier than 10 pounds, I spent the fall doing kettlebell press and pull-ups. Picked up some barbell training again in December, really started again in January 2025.
Summer 2025 update - current plan looks like the following:
S: 2-Mile Run
M: Squat Variation
T: Light KB Press
W: Deadlift Variation
R: Medium KB Press
F: Sumo Deadlift
S: Heavy KB Press
Fitness targets for 2025 & beyond:
Back Squat 405
Axle Deadlift 475
Sumo Deadlift 495
Deadlift 495
KB Press 106
10 Strict Pull-ups
My (Post-Hernia-Surgery) PR’s:
Back Squat: 2x275 (6/11/2025)
Axle Deadlift: 420
Sumo Deadlift: 465 @ 232.8 (6/14/2025)
Deadlift: 440 @ 236.2 (2/23/2025)
KB Press: 106 @ 233.2 (1/2/2025)
Pull-ups: 7 @ 236.2 (2/23/2025)
My Older (All-Time) PR’s:
Front Squat: 370 (8/15/2019)
Back Squat: 445 (9/27/2019)
Deadlift: 625 (2/8/2019)
5K Run: 18:20 (2012?)
slightly_smiling: