The shoulder keeps getting stronger! I was able to do airplane push ups with zero pain! The whole Warmup that @FlatsFarmer gave was magic for me today. Bent Over raises were super painful with weights above 10 lb. Oh well. We’ll keep getting stronger. I just feel blessed to still be in the gym lifting and getting after it. I feel like an extremely lucky guy. Still getting more jacked. Nothing will stop me! @T3hPwnisher and The Ultimate Warrior were my two big inspirations for training through the injury. I’ve seen Pwn overcome so much and still dominate programs. Ultimate Warrior talks about how he did Banded curls every day to rehab his bicep after he tore it to return to wrestling in time for a ppv something like a month later! Incredible inspiring stuff! My injury is extremely minor compared to theirs! I’m harnessing the power of Odin!!
I had a few less reps on Banded Pull ups than usual, but I was laser-focused on PERFECT form and really connecting with the lats. I had a bit of pain coming out of the bottom, but by rep 12 or so of the first set, it went away. Incline rows felt incredible, love this exercise. Same story for standing Dumbbell Rows! I was able to properly pack my shoulder just right so I was able to keep it pain free, which is super encouraging for back growth. That made it easy to focus on engaging my lats.
The exercise selection and workout layout in this program has been so perfect so far. Meadows really has nailed it thus far with Odin Force! John Meadows really is a programming wizard and the workouts are so joint friendly, which is perfect for me right now.
That’s great to hear, I’m glad the info was useful. Last thing, maybe prop your elbow up on a pillow or two so you don’t aggravate things in your sleep.
I actually started doing that the other night instinctively because I was having a hard time sleeping. And now that you mention that, I’m definitely going to stick with it!
I seriously enjoyed today’s leg workout. These Pump sessions are always fun even though they usually involve taking every set to and beyond failure! The quad pump was absolutely nuts today, especially after this awesome Dumbbell squat variation. Seriously check these out in the video below! Easily my new favorite squat variation!
Classic Mountain Dog Push session today! Chest, delts and triceps got absolutely scorched! Shoulder is doing much better! No limitations today, just work!
Pin Press was super challenging and was a fun way to mix things up! The short rest periods are brutal, but with the challenge comes some fun! The exercises that John chooses for delts seem to just perfectly nail the muscles and pump the area full of blood like nothing I’ve experienced before, and honestly that’s true of every body part. John is very innovative and creative in his approach.
Glad to feel strong and pumped before I head to celebrate my brother-in-law’s birthday!
After 2 rest days, I was more than ready to get back after it today! The extra sets this week really made this quite a bit more challenging! No this session rack pulls was a great move for my shoulder which is significantly better this week I’ll add. Had 0 discomfort on pull ups and I feel like every metric possible is headed in the right direction with my training!
This workout drained the life out of me. Hot garage, diabolical workout and intense suffering. I made it through to the other side but I’m damn exhausted. Push day tomorrow. I better start putting down some serious food so I’m ready to kill that damn season tomorrow! Feel like I’ve been to hell and back and I’m ready for more tomorrow
Amazing Pump today and super fun session! Rebuilding my incline press as my shoulder returns to normal. I didn’t bother trying to force my way back to 275, which brought me a lot of pain last week. Stayed at 245 with laser precise form and was about 1 rep from failure on each set and was about 90% pain free in my shoulder during the lift as a result! Adding bands to my make-shift hammer press was an incredible move today, felt so good and so challenging! I’m so happy with how this hour and a half session went! Completely roasted my pecs, delts and triceps without incurring ANY pain! Such a great pump in the beach muscles! If only today was a beach day lol
I was loving this workout today. It felt like I was just in a flow state. Loving the training and crushing each set. 80 minutes passed during todays session and it didn’t feel like it at all. I was just in the zone focusing on getting the most out of every set, my mind really never wandered or wavered from my objective. My focus was just absolutely on point.
0 Pain on rack pulls today which is huge for me. I’m really going to become dangerous the more I heal and the more I grow! Also progressed to the green band on Banded chins and bumped to the 35s on Dumbbell concentration Preacher curls! Both of those felt perfect and felt hard. My back and bi’s are going to be sore as hell tomorrow!
Loved this workout to death as I often do with push workouts! Really really enjoyed the drop sets today as the new intensity technique in this training phase. Also it felt great to return to Spider crawls! I was actually able to use the Red pro mini band on these, which feels incredible because since I injured my shoulder I haven’t been able to do Spider crawls with anything stronger than those weak PT bands. Week 1, I couldn’t even do that. So I’m definitely bouncing back in a strong way and even added weight over last week on inclines, which is always sweet.
Also I put together this cool photo comparison of me from the back in year 10 of lifting in 2018 at around 180 pounds Vs me today, year 15 into lifting at 210 pounds. Crazy to see how much thickness and size have been added in a period where most people say all of your natural gains have been tapped out already. The secret is learning more every year, lifting harder and eating better/more.
Nice brutal leg day today to really set myself straight. Squatted in my new Clarence Kennedy shorts which gave me a +5 strength buff. Hit a super sweet volume PR with 295 for 3x10 on squat and it was moving way better than it has since I started doing the Mountain Dog programs! It’s just taken me some time to get used to high reps with heavy weight for multiple sets coming from 5/3/1 where I rarely did more than 5 reps and when I did it was with much lighter weight. The gains from this level of intensity and volume has really been paying off for serious leg gains!
My strategy with the squats are to try to do the first 4-5 nonstop with my initial big breath, then take about 3 big breaths and take it one rep at a time until I hit my rep goal. These sets take upwards of 2 minutes sometimes as I just stand there building up the courage to hit the next rep after my legs shook like crazy on the previous. I have lots of practice with 20 rep Widowmakers, so these are a bit easier to wrap my head around even though the weight is a lot heavier and I’m doing multiple sets with it lol
I have seriously been loving the Mountain Dog style of programming! The exercise selection, Intensity techniques just makes so much sense with my brain and satisfies my Bodybuilding OCD, as I’m always getting variety in my routine and getting an insane pump each session! I will continue with the roadmap @TrainForPain laid out for me with my training. Next will be the lower volume, higher intensity High Evolutionary, followed by the high volume Gamma Bomb! Both of those programs are a traditional Bodybuilding split with dedicated arm days, which I believe fits my sensibilities a bit better than Pull, Push, Legs. I’ve definitely loved Odin Force far more than any other PPL program I’ve done and it has a rotating schedule, which I’ve found very fun.
I’m thinking I’m going to feel the same way. I also look forward to arms getting their own day, because frankly, I think they deserve it. They are, in my opinion, the most important part of a physique after all! Plus it is so much volume and work, it would be nice to have it spread out a bit more and have a little more time for recovery on a body part before I hit it again.
This was one of the toughest Pull days I’ve done. Those first 3 exercises really set the tone and had me started with a devastating Pump in my lats and biceps. From there it was just about enduring and absolutely annihilating my muscles.
Switched from big plates to 25s on Meadows Rows, which was a big difference maker and allowed for a much bigger stretch and added difficulty. Also the brachioradialis curls were a stroke of genius. Super happy to have a couple of rest days coming up!
Really got to get dialed in and crushed this workout today. I just got done training some clients this morning, was feeling a bit tired, had no caffeine and my phone was dead so no music. Just focus and determination powering each set. It’s been so long that I’ve trained without music or someone to talk to between sets, I kind of forgot how boring those rest periods can be! The high incline stuff was actually a really fun way to shake things up, a nice challenge! Ready to come a bit more prepared tomorrow. Charged phone and some caffeine tomorrow and I should be ready to set the world ablaze mentally as I step foot into the gym rather than slowly cultivating it set after set. The pump was epic, The exercises really resonated with me, I take nothing but positivity away from this lift.
Thanks so much man! Lifting is so fun to me, as long as I’m in the gym and I’m lifting, I’m loving life. I get so much joy out of picking a program and crushing it to the maximum extent!
This program keeps getting better and better and harder and harder! This escalating volume has been brutally intense! Especially as I continue to add weight to these exercises as we go. Trying to build armor that could stop a 9mm bullet! My physique has been taking on a bigger and thicker appearance with the same level of leanness! I haven’t checked my weight in a few weeks, so I’ll have an update on that as soon as I find a scale to step on!
Side note: I don’t know if anybody puts in as much effort and detail into their programs as the Mountain Dog! If you’ve never run one of his programs before, you’ll be blown away by the level of detail and instruction, hyperlinks to exercise Tutorials, RPE chart and RPE requirements with every exercise. He really does a great job of explaining WHY you’re doing everything that he has you do. Worth every penny!
