As I prepare for today’s workout, a few random thoughts.
One is that for several years, I’ve felt more like joint/back pain was a limiting favor in my workouts more than muscle fatigue or soreness. I was more likely to wake up the day after a squat workout with aching knees than sore quads, and similarly more likely to wake up with a cranky back after deadlifting than any feeling of muscle fatigue.
As I’ve rebuilt my squat and deadlift from the ground up since my surgery, this time my joints and back have not been limiting factors, which encourage me that the present approach is working well and sustainable for the future. Not that you should be chasing muscle soreness as a goal, but last week I woke up the day after my box-squat-with-chains workout feeling “muscle soreness” with that good-soreness feeling of “I did a good hard squat workout and my legs feel it today” and thought to myself that I could hardly remember the last time I had “muscle fatigue” rather than “my knees/back hurt” soreness. Hoping this means I’m on a good path, and continuing to figure out what works for me as a long-term approach.
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Saturday 5/24
HALF HOUR DEADLIFT CHALLENGE
Sumo Deadlift
3x135
3x225
30 x 1 x 315
Really love this workout. Gonna make sure it stays in the regular rotation somehow - may just make this one of the coin-flip options for my Friday sumo deadlift day (heads = half hour deadlift challenge, tails = work up to heavy single)
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Sunday 5/25
CONDITIONING
1.5 Mile Run (15 Minutes)
Two weeks in a row! Soon enough I’ll feel like a “runner” again 
hope it doesn’t crush mah gainz!
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Monday 5/26
SQUAT VARIATION
Box Squat
2 x 135
2 x 165
2 x 195
2 x 225
12 x 2 x 225 (+1 chain per side)
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Tuesday 5/27
CONDITIONING
Weight Vest Walk
2 miles wearing 50 pound vest.
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Wednesday 5/28
HALF HOUR DEADLIFT
Axle Deadlift (no straps)
3 x 115
30 x 1 x 205
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Thursday 5/29
CONDITIONING
Weight Vest Walk
2 miles wearing 50 pound vest.
Deadlift
3x135
3x225
3x315
1x345
1x345
1x345
1x345
1x345
Got back from my walk and had some extra time before my son got home, so just did a few bonus easy deadlifts.
Something weird to log. Since last week, I’ve been having…not quite “pain” but a mild “discomfort” or a “feeling” at the site of my hernia repair that’s not going away. I’m a little nervous. I dutifully took my time off from lifting after the surgery and in theory an uncomplicated repair (with mesh) of a relatively small inguinal hernia should have a very low risk of recurrence (like less than 1 percent). Right now I’m sort of hoping the feeling is just a little discomfort caused by the first time “running” since the surgery. I’ve been lifting again for a few months and everything was going great and feeling fine, so I’m hoping / thinking / praying that it has nothing to do with lifting. Will see how it feels for the next few days and think about what to do. If it gets worse, I guess that might mean a call back to my surgeon to ask if they need to examine and see if the repair site has any issue. There’s no bulge reappearing at the site - and it’s not even really what I’d call “pain” that I’m feeling - just kind of a light, uh, “pressure” in certain positions might be the right word.
Hmm. Interesting one there on the hernia repair. Maybe a difference in how you brace between those two activities. 
So, I was dropping by to tell you that you came up in conversation with my kiddo. We’re brushing up on a few things for his 6th grade math final, and although they’re rudimentary at this point, he loves stats and really gets them.
So I told him a little about you and the relevance of them, to give him a fuller picture of where they fit in to the world of math.
He eats that stuff up. Wizzed through a page of them with enthusiasm. 
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That’s awesome!
One of the things I love to tell people about my job is that I found a way to use my math-mind in a way that helps people. I’m not in the operating room or the emergency department saving lives on a daily basis, but I’m working on studies that (should, in theory, one day!) lead to medical breakthroughs that improve the lives of patients.
Not sure I ever said it here in my log, but I left academia for the call of industry a few years ago. Pros and cons to the move, I won’t get into all those here, but I now work almost exclusively on clinical trials of new artificial heart valves that treat aortic and mitral valve disease. Of course industry has a “financial motivation” for the products to succeed and I’m not ignorant of that, but I also do have the satisfaction of knowing that my work supports the development of new treatment options for people with an otherwise highly morbid condition and that these products may help people live better and longer.
So I’m kind of sympathetic to the stories of people learning math/stats in school asking “why do I need to know this” or “when will I ever use this” - and a good teacher/parent has to be able to come up with real examples to help that land for kids. We use math to send things to space, help jet planes fly, make new medicines and devices that save people’s lives, etc.
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I think you mentioned that at some point.
Very cool! I was interviewed for a study a couple years ago involving devices similar to this, to treat mitral valve regurgitation, I think. I wasn’t a candidate, cuz mine is relatively normal.
Good to know they have the best people working on these things. .
I love being able to pass it on to him. He doesn’t ask the typical “why do I need to know this”, but he does ask “how can I use it?”, then the conversation develops from there. He’s definitely math brained, and gets really into the applications.
I gotta see him off now.
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Friday 5/30
HALF HOUR DEADLIFT CHALLENGE
Sumo Deadlift
3 x 135
3 x 225
30 x 1 x 315
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Saturday 5/31
MAX EFFORT(ish) SQUAT
Box Squat
2x135
2x165
2x195
2x225
2x255
2x255 (+1 chain per side)
2x255 (+2 chains per side)
2x255 (+3 chains per side)
2x255 (+4 chains per side)
2x255 (+4 chains per side)
Before I get to starting my program I’ve discussed above later this summer, I’m just taking the chance to play around a bit with exactly how I set up my chains and seeing what combinations of bar and chain weights work for dynamic effort and max effort work. This wasn’t really a true “max effort” in the Westside sense of “eyeballs bulging out of your head” but I’m going to generally be somewhat more reserved about my “max effort” work than that anyway. But it was cool to see that 255 plus all the chains I have moved fine. I have 4 pairs (8 chains total) of Titan Fitness chains that weigh 27 pounds each, but a few links of each chain are on the floor at the top (so the chains don’t swing around as you unrack and set your feet). I’m going to conservatively guess this is roughly 120-140ish pounds of actual chain weight at the top, while it’s almost fully unloaded at the bottom.
Also - checked in with a few doctor friends of mine for a sanity check. All agreed that my hernia “feeling” is not really anything out of the ordinary - sometimes folks just can feel their mesh a little bit and if I did an activity that I haven’t done since surgery (like running) could just be a bit of “moving some stuff around that hasn’t moved around and had a chance to settle yet” - so they all agreed that I should probably carry on my activity as normal, and that if I do end up realizing that the repair has blown out, it’ll be time to call the surgeon back, but that I don’t have to just stop lifting and live in fear.
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Sunday 6/1
CONDITIONING
Pull-ups
10 x 3
Going to pause the effort to resume running for now until I see if this hernia-repair-site-feeling goes away. But it’s a good reminder that I should never quit pull-ups. Every time I come back to this I remember how good it is for my upper body.
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Other miscellaneous fitness-related note: I took my two boys rock climbing (just indoor bouldering at a climbing gym, not outdoors) yesterday.
I like promoting an active lifestyle for my kids but they’re a little young (they’ll be 7 & 5 this summer) for me to consider doing any organized “sports” or “workouts” so we just like to take them places that give them the chance to move their bodies. We are going to playgrounds, parks, or the pool almost every day we get a chance. Both kids love swimming and hiking, which is awesome.
The climbing gym is a fun new twist that I wanted to try. It will be a good option when the weather isn’t friendly to outdoor activity, and a chance to get back to something I did periodically in my 20’s. I was never a real hardcore or particularly “good” climber but I had a year or two where I went bouldering semi-regularly & made some friends at the climbing gym (being a single guy in my 20’s at the time, I was always looking for fun “things to do” that were a combination of active and social). Even just going in and doing some VB, V0, and V1 problems is fun for me, and I think my kids (especially the younger one) are at a good spot in their lives where a trip to the climbing gym every few weeks will be yet another fun way to move their bodies & explore.
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Monday 6/2
DYNAMIC EFFORT SQUAT
Box Squat
2 x 135
2 x 165
2 x 195
2 x 225
12 x 2 x 225 (+1 chain per side)
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Tuesday 6/3
CONDITIONING
Weight Vest Walk
1 mile wearing 50 pound vest
Pull-ups
3, 3, 3, 3, 3
Wednesday 6/4
MAX EFFORT(ish) SQUAT
Box Squat
2x135
2x165
2x195
2x225
2x255
2x270
2x270
2x270
Theres a nice trampoline/bounce place pretty close by too. I’ve been there about a gazillion times now for school birthdays & stuff.
Meant to follow up on kiddo stuff- he nailed 100%'s on math & science finals, and a spot on high honors roll. 
!
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Are you talking about Sky Zone in Canonsburg?
We had a membership there for the winter from November - April (the price is such that with a family of 4, if you go even twice per month, it’s cheaper than paying per individual trip). Canceled it now because we would rather spend summer days outside, but that was a lifesaver for the winter when we just needed any way to let the kids bounce and move without destroying our house…
That said, next year I’d prefer that we use the rock climbing gym for that purpose, if I can get the kids into it.
Also: congrats to the kiddo on his academic achievements! Who knows what the world and job market will look like in 10 years, but being smart and knowing things is (usually) a net positive for future prospects…
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