I was about to write up that the Titan SSB is probably worth the cost savings, but then I scrolled down haha. I think you made the right call. I have the old version which by all accounts isn’t a great bar, but it works just fine for me and it’s held up well for close to three years with plenty of use. I hear the 2.0 is much better all around so it sounds like a winner.
@boilerman @garagerocker13 I shouldn’t be too upset since BBBB earlier last year helped me reach 210x5 and 100x5 on DL and bench. But otherwise 5/3/1 has been pretty much 4 forward, to the point where on 5s week it would be impossible to do 8 reps, and 4 back… perpetually.
@mr.v3lv3t I heard that the handles are very wide on the old one, and if men complain about that feature, I can only imagine how awful it would be for me. But the promising reviews for 2.0 were encouraging. I think the SSB I used in the past was the EliteFTS, so shouldn’t be too different.
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100 cal assault bike in 11:46
50 band pull aparts
Yeah they’re a bit spaced out, my GF can’t use the bar safely for that reason. I actually haven’t thought about it in a while, but I have no issues with it now. I’m probably just used to it, but I’ll definitely allow myself to believe I’ve added some decent shoulder mass as the cause of improvement haha.
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I thought of you when I was watching this. I think you get into a little lumbar extension when you squat. Maybe you can pick up a few things from here. Great video regardless
I see what you mean, the never ending cycle of working up to your plateau over and over and not being able to get past it. Maybe switching up training stimulus wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
Yep, I think you need to get comfortable with heavy weights if this is what happens. You’re building muscle but never fully learning to use it. I gotta double down on my recommendation for Coffinworm. Handle weights daily that scare you.
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I second this (apart from the daily thing).
My two favourite methods for this are 8 x 3 @ TM as supplemental (ideally on a separate day) or clusters. Both have you get used to handling heavy loads regularly.
Well, not daily, but every training day. You end up doing 1x5 @ 90% and then 1-3 @ TM, followed by an opposite lift (ie press on squat day, deadlift on bench day) for 5x5 @ 70%.
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I knew you didn’t mean actual days, but yes, I definitely second the value of higher intensities done regularly.
@whang Thanks for digging this up for me, will watch later today.
@garagerocker13 I agree on likely needing to handle higher intensities that scare me. Jim and a few others have consistently drilled into my head the need to keep things submax, which I probably should not have taken so literally 100% of the time. I don’t think I’ve built much muscle since starting lifting, but I think this year I will stop getting hung up on that and just focus on pure strength for a considerable amount of time. To see what happens. I’ll try Coffinworm once I get the SSB, don’t want to switch bars midway.
@dagill2 I’ve read Jim also programming Malcolm X with higher intensities, e.g. 35 reps with SSL, 10 reps with TM, etc.
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Deload session 2
Bench
35x5
60x5
70x5
90x3
Deadlift
125x5
150x5
3x10 BSS, BW only
2x10 push ups
3x6 pull ups
100+ band pull aparts
Pulled mix grip for the first time today. Definitely felt different but will likely be a more interesting experiment at heavy weights.
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I’m really curious to see how you like mixed grip and if it allows you to immediately pull more weight.
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100 cal assault bike 11:29
50 band pull aparts
Really didn’t want to do this… had a splitting headache for over a day now. But I think that’s a PR, surprisingly. Starting 5s wave of JM tomorrow.
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5s accumulation
10 jumps
Squat
35x6
85x5
115x6x5+ (10)
Deficit RDL 135x10,6,6
Belt squat
+50x9
+40x10,8
Standing ab wheel progression 12,8 end with 17 reps from knees
Tabata assault bike (41.2 cal)
Pathetic that everything felt so heavy today. I usually feel weak after a deload week regardless of what I do during that time, but this was especially not good. I even slept super well last night. I guess I was pretty stressed until a couple days ago so hoping next week goes better. At least I felt fresher. Deloading seems to help my conditioning performance though 
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5s accumulation
Pull ups
+10x4,2,3
+0x30 total
Press
35x5
50x6x5+ (14)
Dips
+10x19 total
+0x24 total
More pull ups to 50
55 lateral raises
100 band pull aparts
I want to experiment with weighted pull ups and dips. Obviously not much weight, and I should probably be stricter on the pull ups. But whatever, stuff to try. I tried my belt squat belt for the former, which wasn’t great. Then later I was dumb and realized I have a backpack, so I should try that next time. It’s awesome how much lighter BW dips feel afterwards. I think this was the best press day of the program thus far; while not a PR, it’s the smoothest it’s felt in awhile despite DOMS from yesterday.
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Yeah these movements feel so much better with the backpack!
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Strong stuff!
Elboooooows 
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I was thinking the same thing
I don’t think you need to let your scapula relax at the bottom of the pull. Otherwise I think they are okay. It’d be interesting to compare what happens with your shoulders on an unweighted. Notice how after each successive rep your shoulders come closer to your ears at the top half of the pull.