I definitely can say that the “pump” never felt that good to me…lol. It feels like some level of success and makes things difficult to do until it goes away.
Yeah, I learned the hard way that rear delt work is essential to health shoulders. I’d almost kill for a lat machine, so I could do face pulls. I love that exercise!
I had a partially torn labrum, a frayed bicep tendon , bursitis and arthritis… the later I of course still have
Good grief! I am glad that you are mended and getting back on it!
A little late on this.
Joshua’s Friday workout. We had some issues arise, non-workout related. So, he just did the deads.
135x10
185x5
225x3x6
Next week we go to 7 sets of 2. That should be fun.
So what exactly is Joshua aiming for in the workouts? Any specific program?
He just wants to get stronger and bigger, in that order. We started with 5x5, but have graduated to a piecemeal cycle.
Week 1 - 5x5
Week 2 - 6x3
Week 3 - 6x3
Week 4 - 7x2
Week 5 - 8x1
Week 6 - 6x3
Week 7 - some sort of deload
Week 8 - Max
He wants to be like Dad. 
LOL…well, I have the “bigger” covered. Not so sure about the stronger…
Cycle 2 - Week 4 - Day 1 - Bench
I had to blast through this one, because I had to head out to small group. With Joshua doing 7 working sets on the primary, that prevented me from using the bar for anything else.
Joshua struggled at the start of this. He wanted to go from the bar, to 95#, to his working weight (135#). I thought he needed another increment in there, to lessen the pounds of each jump, but let him guide it. Daddy was right. 135#, up from 95#, felt like a ton to him. He struggled to get his 2 reps on each of the first 3 sets. Then he tried to drop the weight. I convinced him to aim for singles and only go for doubles if he felt like he could get it. I assured him that I could get the weight off of him if he missed a rep…lol.
Then I encouraged him to get his head into the lift. Joshua has a severe fear of failure…almost to a point of shutdown. That is why he wanted to lower the weight. That is also why I suggested going for singles and doubles ONLY if he thought he could. It took the pressure off of him. The last four sets, each one a double, went off without a hitch.
Then I quoted “Dune”…“Fear is the mind killer.” I explained that the fear of failure is pointless. Either you are able to physically do it or you aren’t. Hyped emotion can push you to maximize potential, but it is still a matter of you physically can or cannot. So, forget the fear and failure. If you cannot today, you will tomorrow (next time). Besides, if you never miss a rep, you aren’t lifting heavy enough.
Anyway, I had to leave after his last set of bench, so he slacked off and only did shrugs afterward…when I told him to do rows. Oh well…
Joshua’s workout
Bench
barx10
95x5
135x2x7
DB Shrugs
65’sx10x3
For my part, I mixed in DB rows and rear delt raises with my bench, so I could get something besides just bench press. I tried to up the weight on bench and did okay until 225#. It tweaked. So, I upped it a little and tried a single. It tweaked more. So, back down to 135#…
Bench
barx20
95x20
135x10
185x5
225x2
255x1
135x10
135x20
DB Rows
65’sx15x3
1 Arm DB Rear Delt Raises
40’sx10x3
Unfortunately, the shoulder is just going to take longer to be ready to be pushed. So, I will keep working the dynamic recovery.
Cycle 2 - Week 4 - Day 2 - Squats
We seem to be losing ground on Joshua’s momentum. I think he is getting mentally overwhelmed. Physically, he is able to do the work. Mentally, he needs to mature a bit…develop better expectations and understanding of how this plays out.
That said, next week, we are going to scale back on the weight and go a bit more free form, with dynamic weights and reps. With no set numbers, hopefully there won’t be anything for him to stress over.
He just did the primary, today. Even then, he bailed on the last set. From my vantage, he would have gotten it easy. But he wanted to skip it and there was no benefit to pushing it.
Squats
barx10
95x5
135x3
165x2
190x2x6
Since I am sitting legs out, right now, I used the time to do multiple shoulder rehab exercises and finished with the shrugs I couldn’t get done yesterday.
BB Shrugs
135x15
225x10
315x10x3 - 10 second static hold on the last rep
Flew solo, yesterday. Long story…
Military press
barx20
95x20
135x10
165x5
185x5x3 (a little tweaky, but felt much better)
Hanging DB Curls
40x10x3
Hammer Curls
40x10x3
1 Arm DB Tricep Ext.
40x10x3
DB Curls
35x10x3
1 Arm DB Rear Delt Raises
40x10x3
Little bit of snow, today. Not sticking, but still pretty.
These and the rest of your numbers are moving back up.
Thanks, Harry. The shoulder is a pain, pun intended. I know that you know that to a degree far beyond what I am experiencing.
When you start a rep and it feels like an ice pick in the joint, the body instinctively tries to stop what is causing the pain. No choice but to baby it, if I ever want it to get better.
Sometimes you just need to back off for a while. I might learn to do that myself someday.
Back at it, kind of… Joshua has tossed the program, but that is okay. All he did today were DB Rows and DB Rear Delt Raises. At least he did something, I guess.
I tried to push the weight a little on Bench. I should have stuck @ 225#, but had to try for more. Stopped a rep shy t 255#, because the tweak started to build. With tight form, it was manageable at 225#.
Bench
barx20
95x20
135x10
185x5
225x5
255x4
225x5x2
DB Rear Delt Raises
45x10x3
DB Rows
65x20x2
Shoulder is touchy right now. Know better in the morning if I really shouldn’t have gone over 225#.
Just summed up my whole life. 
I remember those massive OH presses where your rack would tilt up I always thought one day it would end up through the wall and you would have a “ sun room” !!
LOL…I would say that those days might be gone. Since the rack now sits in a shed, on a concrete floor, it moves around pretty good when I rack it, though. So, I cheated and changed the setup to compensate for the lack of weight…lol.
I do miss my workout room in OK. I was chilly in the shed today…30 degrees.
Joshua is fading. All he did today was DB shoulder shrugs. He says he wants to keep lifting, but I think he is tired of the dark, and getting colder, shed. Might have to point the rocket heater in there for a bit before the workout, just to heat everything up.
My rehabbing, crawling back workout
Military Press
barx20
95x10
135x10
185x5
205x5x2
185x5
BB Shrugs
315x12x3 - 1 sec pause on each rep, 10 second static hold on last rep
DB Rear Delt Raises (just seem to throw some of these in every workout)
45x10x2
Shoulder felt better today. I was glad to get sets of 5 at 205#. I guess it is from not having lifted heavy, but after rep 4 my endurance waned quickly. Not sure I could have gotten more than 6 hard fought reps on those sets.
Oh…MRI results came back. It is the spondy. The anterior shift is causing a narrowing of the channel the nerve passes through. He said he would not recommend surgery, since I am not in pain. Since there is constant numbness, we could try shots, but not unless I really wanted them. The numbness is annoying, but doesn’t seem to hinder things. So, I think we will ride it out.
Today’s quickie workout…noon edition…guns
Supersetted Hanging DB Curls and 1 Arm DB Tricep Ext.
Curls
40x10x3
Tricep Ext.
45x10x3
Supersetted Hammer Curls and 2 Arm DB Tricep Ext.
Curls
40x10x3
Tricep Ext.
65x15x3
Supersetted Standing DB Curls and DB Rear Delt Raises
Curls
35x8x2
Delt Raises
45x10x2
Off to a busy weekend…