Do you ever pull without a belt?
I like high placement for squats but lower for deadlifts.
I know you’re not one to do a lot of assistance work (or any haha) but maybe you’d benefit from some direct abdominal exercises.
Tuesday 5/19
Deadlift
1x335
1x335
1x335
1x335
1x335
1x335
1x335
1x335
1x335
1x335
1 Like
Hi, I hope you’re doing well.
Since you work at upitt, I was wondering if you’ve gotten any “insider” info on reopening policies (ie gym, student center)
I’m at cmu but I’d imagine the two schools are cooperating somewhat
Thanks 
Wednesday 5/20
Deadlift
1x335
1x335
1x335
1x335
1x335
1x335
1x335
1x335
1x335
1x335
Thursday 5/21
So my back felt awful yesterday. I tried a few light warmup deadlifts and some light squats and nothing was good. I decided to just mow the lawn and punt on barbell training for the day. I think I’m going to take a multi-day break from all barbell training that loads my back appreciably and just do farmer’s walks for awhile (which feel just about fine), then re-evaluate at that time.
Friday 5/22
Farmer’s Walks
12 Runs x 30 Yards x 135 LB Per Hand
edit: in brighter news than yesterday’s frustrating lack of training, the farmer’s walks felt fine this morning, so that should keep me from de-conditioning too much while I try to let this back deal settle down, and I also weighed in at 231.2 pounds (down 27.4 from February 4) which keeps moving in the right direction.
Not much inside info, but I am not expecting most campus facilities to open any time this summer. No real word on what to expect for the fall semester yet.
1 Like
Saturday 5/23
Farmer’s Walks
14 x 25 Yards x 135 LB Per Hand
1 Like
Sunday 5/24
Farmer’s Walks
12 x 25 Yards x 135 LB Per Hand
1 Like
Monday 5/25
Farmer’s Walks
12 x 25 Yards x 135 LB Per Hand
Tuesday 5/26
Axle Press
5x55
5x85
5x115
5x115
5x115
5x115
5x115
Did this mixed with a bunch of back rehab stuff. I read up on herniated discs and “getting back to deadlifting after a herniated disc” and decided that I should throw some of this mobility and prehab-type stuff at it for a few weeks - so I’ll do a rotating mix of bird dogs, press-ups, dead bugs, and stuff like that for a few weeks while doing what lifting I can do without irritating my back further. Really frustrating for me in the short term, but also makes me realize how fortunate I’ve been to go injury-free for this long, and gives me a chance to re-evaluate some things. I may have to start sort of ‘from the ground up’ at a lighter bodyweight (things still going well on that front). Once this is all sorted, I may go with the One Lift a Day approach but actually, uh, doing different lifts instead of my high-frequency deadlifts - maybe going with a seven-day week of axle presses, sandbag cleans, Dinnie stone simulator, farmer’s walks, pullups, squats, and deadlifts?
Two notes on that:
One, I’ve bought a couple of loading pins from IronMind which I’ll use to mimic the Dinnie stone lift.
Two, I’ve bought all the supplies for make a DIY pull-up bar which I’ll attach to my back deck. This is long overdue - should have done this when I first moved into the house - but better late than never!
4 Likes
Wednesday 5/27
Axle Press
5x55
5x85
5x115
5x115
5x115
5x115
5x115
In between sets of dead bugs, bird dogs, press ups, and side planks.
Will do this until all supplies for my pull-up bar arrive and I get time to ‘build’ it (which would take a normal handy person like 7 minutes, so it should take me about 2 hours).
Then I will alternate days of pull-ups and axle presses, doing back rehab work every day, for about 3-6 weeks until my lower back feels like it’s really calmed down and approaching normal.
3 Likes
Thursday 5/28
Axle Press
5x55
5x85
5x115
5x115
5x115
5x115
5x115
In between sets of dead bugs, bird dogs, press ups, and side planks.
Friday 5/29
Wagon-Wheel Deadlift
5x115
5x115
5x115
5x115
5x115
In between sets of dead bugs, bird dogs, press ups, and side planks.
May try to start introducing deadlifts off the wagon wheels with comically light weights and adding 5-10 pounds every workout (might do these every other day alternating with pull-ups) for a month or two. If my back feels better once I reach 5x5 at 225ish, then I can re-evaluate.
Sunday 5/31
Pull-ups
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
Starting slowly to give myself a little time to adapt to doing pull-ups again. Will gently nudge this up (starting from 10 sets of 3 this weekend; will work my way up to 10 sets of 4, then to 10 sets of 5 & go from there). But it’s nice to get a good strength workout with loading the lower back, should give me a chance to feel satisfied while I let my lower back really heal up.
3 Likes
Monday 6/1
Pull-ups
4
4
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2 Likes
Tuesday 6/2
Pull-ups
4
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
3
3
1 Like
I’m led to believe that hanging can be really good for lower back (and shoulder) health, so two birds with one stone.
Wednesday 6/3
Pull-ups
3
4
3
4
3
4
3
4
3
4
Alternated between overhand and underhand here (I know, some people would call underhand “chin ups” - I don’t really care, I just call everything pull-ups). Sets of 3 overhand, then 4 underhand. Just trying to see how a mix feels versus doing the entire workout with the same grip.
1 Like
Definitely a good idea. If longevity is the goal, rotating grips is the best way. Wide grip and overhand can be tougher on the shoulders, neutral can be tougher on elbows, and underhand can be tougher on wrists, but if you rotate them appropriately, tougher will just mean that it’ll strengthen those weak points.