Wednesday 10/21
Warmups: a few sets of box squats at 135, 165, 195, 225
Box Squat
8 x 2 x 235
Notable: this workout just felt really solid start to finish. Have lost a bit of weight and got the belt one notch tighter & that seemed to feel like the right spot.
Thursday 10/22
Warmups: Hip Circle front walks, back walks, lateral walks, air squats, and a few sumo deadlifts at 225
Sumo Deadlift
10 x 1 x 315
Pull-ups
1x8
Couple notes. One, I got a Hip Circle which I plan to start using for warmups after seeing some good reviews for it as a warmup/activation tool. Two, I did all of my deadlifts with hook-grip today, and I’m going to make an honest effort on this go-around (since I’ve pressed the reset button and started over at 315 with a new stance at my lower body weight) to give hook-grip a shot. I’ll stick with it for an honest 10 weeks of work, and if I like it then, I’ll stick with it, otherwise I’ll just go back to using straps.
Friday 10/23
Warmups: Hip Circle front walks, back walks, lateral walks, air squats, and a few sumo deadlifts at 225
Workout:
A1. Sumo Deadlift 1x315
A2. 3 Pull-ups
Five rounds of this.
Saturday 10/24
Warmups: Hip Circle front walks, back walks, lateral walks, and a few sumo deadlifts at 225
Sumo Deadlift
10 x 1 x 325
Sunday 10/25
Warmups: hip circle front walks, back walks, lateral walks
Back Squat
5x135
5x165
5x195
2x225
2x255
2x285
2x300 (comeback PR)
Monday 10/26
Warmups: Hip Circle front walks, back walks, lateral walks, air squats, and a few sumo deadlifts at 225
Workout:
A1. Sumo Deadlift 1x315
A2. 3 Pull-ups
Five rounds of this. May adopt this as a daily dose workout for a bit to try and prime myself with lots of ‘easy’ sumo reps at 315.
Tuesday 10/27
Warmups: Hip Circle front walks, back walks, lateral walks, air squats, and a few sumo deadlifts at 225
Workout:
A1. Sumo Deadlift 1x315
A2. 3 Pull-ups
Five rounds.
Wednesday 10/28
Warmups: hip circle front walks, back walks, lateral walks, a few box squats at 135 and 225
Box Squat
8 x 2 x 235
Thursday 10/29
Warmups: hip circle front walks, back walks, lateral walks
Sumo Deadlift
1x225
1x225
1x315
1x315
1x335
1x350
1x350 (comeback PR)
NOTE: the vid might throw you a little because there’s a plate in the foreground and you might think that the weight is stacked on top of the plate. The reason for this…I don’t have a true deadlift “platform” - my lifting platform is six 4x3 horse stall mats lined up two deep and three across next to one another, but nothing holding them together. This has never been an issue until I started pulling sumo, where my stance now has my feet on the two outer mats (pushing outwards) and I had one of the mats slip just a bit the other day. So for today’s workout I tried putting a 100-pound plate on each of the outer mats to prevent any slippage, seems to do fine.
Friday 10/30
Warmups: hip circle front walks, back walks, lateral walks, a few sumo deadlifts at 225
Sumo Deadlift
10 x 1 x 315
Saturday 10/31
Warmups: hip circle front walks, back walks, lateral walks, a few sumo deadlifts at 225
Sumo Deadlift
13 x 1 x 315
1x345
1x345
1x345
1x345
Felt pretty good and both kids were napping so I took a couple extra reps today. Starting to get more comfortable with hook grip and sumo stance, and (fingers crossed) seems to agree with my back a lot more than conventional had been this year. I was really tempted to go even heavier and try 405 today, but I’m staying committed to the process of rebuilding strength patiently…
good to see you progressing mate. This slowly slowly approach seems to be working well for you.
Sunday 11/1
Warmups: hip circle front walks, back walks, lateral walks
Back Squat
5x135
2x225
2x225
2x225
2x225
2x225
2x225
2x225
2x225
2x315 (comeback PR)
Monday 11/2
Warmups: hip circle front walks, back walks, lateral walks, a few sumo deadlifts at 225
Sumo Deadlift
10 x 1 x 315
1x360 (comeback PR)
Tuesday 11/3
Warmups: hip circle front walks, back walks, lateral walks, a few sumo deadlifts at 225
Sumo Deadlift
10 x 1 x 315
Wednesday 11/4
Warmups: a few box squats at 135 and 225
Box Squat
8 x 2 x 245
Rushed today between Zoom meetings, but this felt real good. The box squats just felt rock solid and strong. These seem to be agreeing with me very much in my comeback to real barbell work after taking the summer to lean out and heal up.
Thursday 11/5
Warmups: hip circle front walks, back walks, lateral walks, a few box squats at 135
Box Squat
8 x 2 x 225
Back Squat
2x225
2x225
2x315
Have a blister on my hand which might make hook grip painful so decided to squat today rather than deadlift. All went well.
Friday 11/6
Warmups: hip circle front walks, back walks, lateral walks, a few back squats at 135 and 225
Back Squat
8 x 2 x 255
See yesterday, just with regular back squats and a little more weight vs. box squats.
Saturday 11/7
Warmups: hip circle front walks, back walks, lateral walks, a few sumo deadlifts at 225
Sumo Deadlift
10 x 1 x 315
1x350
Sunday 11/8
Warmups: hip circle front walks, back walks, lateral walks, a few sumo deadlifts at 225
Sumo Deadlift
1x315
1x335
1x350
1x365
1x405 (comeback PR)
Pull-ups
3 x 5
Had been creeping things up slowly, and will generally continue to do so, but the switch to sumo deadlifting has gone well enough that I decided I could make a mini-leap to hit a new comeback PR of four plates, and continue the slow progression from there.
