Nice sandwich Iron.
I am terrible at seeing if anything is wrong formwise unless it’s very very bad… like my own form 
One thing I did see though: if you miss that squat your awesome wheels are gonna take some pounding
And for what it’s worse the squats looked nice and controlled to me, elbows under bar, nice straight back, bar path looks right over midfoot.
Squats looked nice. I can see the tightness and active depth you mentioned last week. The only thing I see is your chin/head sticking out from behind the plates as you get tired (or maybe mentally tired). Keep that head up and push into the barbell!
You mentioned muscles working vs joints. Or muscles vs tendons. If you get bored some time, try some reverse band squats. Just use small bands that only take a little weight off the bottom. I used minibands hanging from the top of the rack, for like -30 pounds at the bottom. Anyway, the bands slowed the barbell and let me stay under it with “muscle engagement” and no bounce at the bottom. Similar to pause or pin squats where you break the eccentric/concentric apart to limit rounding and bouncing at the bottom. But different enough to be exciting.
@mortdk thanks! My squat form has been all over the place the last few years. Trying to settle into what will allow me to progress and not get injured. It’s like finding a 4 leaf clover. And yes, cant hit my wife’s car. Shed literally kill me. She might love that car more than me.
@FlatsFarmer so funny you spoke about my head position. I sent my sports PT guy the vids and he pointed that out and said the squats look good, but focus on keep everything jammed into the bar, and push my upper back into the bar out of the hole. He also told me to put more weight on the bar…haha
Hips feel great today.
W2D3 - 12/12/2018
Warmup with rolling, side plank w/ abduction, super d shoulder protocol
Axle OHP
25x10, 55x5, 75x5, 110x2, 125x1, 110x4x8
-with-
Various Grip Chins
6x6
Mid Incline DB Press
60x3x12
-with-
Meadows Row
60x3x12
Dips
3x15
-with-
KB Curls
Band Leaning Laterals
3x15
I will start employing an over warmup, but it will not be something I chase, whatsoever. It’ll range 10-20% over working weights, no more, and I will skip it when it’s a low energy day. Will stick with 110 on ohp next week. Also, will stick with 60s again on inc. Good energy for this one. Off to a sleep study this evening. Ambien and hooked up to a bunch of wires for 8 hours.
Why the ambien? I feel like that’s not going to result in a normal night of sleep.
I did the home sleep study, and never fell asleep. Anxious from all the wires etc. So now I have to do the in office sleep study, and they prescribed ambien to help me sleep. I’m an anxious person, and a very bad sleeper, so it’s a recipe for disaster. The ambien won’t interfere with anything. In the waiting room now. Hopefully the bed is comfortable!
W2D4 - 12/13/2018
Warmup with active hang, rolling, side plank abduction, hip circle squats
Low Handle TBDL
95x5, 135x5, 165x5, 195x5, 225x2, 265x1, 225x4x8
Front Squat
45x5, 60x5, 85x3x12
-with-
DB SLDL
10x12, 35x3x12
Hip Circle Glute Bridge 1.5
26x3x15
-with-
Hanging Leg Raise
3x10 + 10 knee ups last set
Cool down with lower light stretching, YWTL, active hang
Progress. 4 hrs sleep last night with a double dose ambien for the sleep study, so I wasnt my best self for this one, but got it done. Next 2 days are active rest days. Going to get some walking in with PT stuff.
Damn man how do you keep your energy up during the day getting little sleep like that?
In some ways, I’ve gotten used to sleeping poorly. Just gut through the workout. I have good nights of sleep too, so that helps. Just rather inconsistent. With the youngin, I’m sure your sleep has probably taken a step back. Well, there’s a few more steps in your future probably. It’s pretty much unavoidable 
Rings came in today, more toys
Yea man lol, since the little guy came around ive lost on avg probably 3 hours of sleep a night. It is starting to get a little better though. Hes sleeping almost 12 hours a night now the only thing is work has gotten super busy. Theres always something. I do need to pickup some rings one of these days. They’re super useful
12/15/2018 - Mob & PT
-Lax ball rolling hip flexors and glute med/max
-Copenhagen side plank with adduction 2x10
-Side plank with abduction 2x10
-hip flexor iso hold 2x30s
-psoas drops 2x20
-hollow holds 2x30s
-1 min active hang
-Super D shoulder protocol
-YWTL 2x10
-Super D press warmup w/ ext rot
-laying on inc bench 5lb plates ext rot 3x15
-1 min active hang
-wall arm circles 1x5 each way
The best I’ll ever feel is after this.
W3D1 - 12/16/2018
Warmup with standing walkouts to plank with cobra/pike/hip flexor/thoracic rot, quick roll, super D shoulder protocol and bench warmup
Mid Incline Swiss Bar Bench
40x10, 70x5, 90x5, 130x5, 160x2, 180x1(paused), 160x8, 8, 8, 6
-with-
Chin Variations
BWx10, +26x6x3 - add a rep for half the sets
Standing DB Press
10x12, 30x12, 45x3x12 - challenging, stay here next week
-with-
Strict BB Row
45x12, 75x12, 105x3x12 - move up 5-10lbs
Decline KB Tri Ext
26x20, 44x20, 62x15, 44x20 - stay
-with-
Axle Curl
30x20, 40x3x20 - move up
YWTL
3x10
Cool down with Pec stretch and 2x active hang
This was a solid workout. All exercises were either more weight or more reps. 4x8 should be in the bag on Inc swiss next session. After week 4 I will plan to take a deload week. Shoulder felt great. Awesome.
Reflections over the past 3 weeks training:
This upper/lower split is just what my body needed. RECOVERY. I had been training full body for a long time, which was not allowing for enough recovery. I’ve reset the weights way down, which is allowing me to heal while working on technique.
It’s a bit scary for me to admit this, but I feel close to 100%. Now, hiding back there are still some issues. I’m not sure how flat BB bench would feel on my right shoulder. I also know BB deadlifts from the floor do not agree as fatigue accumulates on my lower back late in a training cycle. I also have to make sure I’m doing the necessary maintenance on my hips.
With the modalities I now own and know, I can train everything. I walk around with no limp and can raise my arms above my head without compensations from my Upper thoracic.
I hear @MarkKO say it all the time, but if I can successfully manage my fatigue, move well (I will continue to work with my sports PT guy at least once monthly) and do the big lifts that my body likes, I’m set.
I will never go back to full body though. I’ve learned that I recover very slow. Upper/Lower 4x per week is perfect, for now. If I miss some days here and there and the week gets extended to 1.5 weeks or 2 weeks, that’s not necessarily a bad thing for me. Not sure I can ever get enough recovery. I have completely ignored the fact over the past 3 years that I have been constantly under recovering from stress, lack of sleep and over trained.
I know better now.
You said “Modalities” and prioritized raising your arms overhead in front of the bench press.
It sounds like you’re not a Meat Head anymore.
W3D2 - 12/17/2018
Warmup with rolling, active hang, side plank with abduction, worlds greatest stretch, hip circle bw squats
Squat
45x2x5, 75x5, 95x5, 115x3, 135x2, 155x1, 185x1, 135x4x8
Axle RDL
25x12, 55x12, 75x2x12, 105x2x12
Single KB OH Lunge
18x3x15
Hollow Holds
3x
Good. 185 flew. PT apt tomorrow. Nothing really challenging today. Going to drop the single leg squats, that was junk volume. More not better!
W3D3 - 12/19/2019
Warmup with quick roll, active hang, super d shoulder protocol
Axle OHP
25x10, 55x5, 75x5, 105x2, 120x1, 130x1, 110x4x8
-with-
Chin Variations
6x6
Mid Incline DB Press
30x12, 60x2x12, 65x12
-with-
Meadows Row
30x12, 65x3x12
Ring Pushup
3x12
-with-
KB Curls
Leaning Band Lateral
2x20, 1x15
Good! Ready for more weight and reps. Will add 5lbs for OHP and rows. Will move to 3x12 with 65s on Inc. Plenty reps in reserve today.
New PT work is:
Self Soft Tissue work to TFL & Glute Med and/or inferior mobilizations as needed
Psoas Eccentrics NO BAND 2x15
Hollow Tuck with arms arms and legs 2x max
Psoas March (accept I want band attached to rig and you pulling in with one leg) 2x max
Accessory squat work: Spanish Squats
I’ll be adding Spanish squats to strengthen my quads, on at least one day, maybe both.
Good stuff. Spanish squats looks interesting. I did some Terminal Knee Extensions (like band resisted step ups) but never something on 2 legs. Gotta try that.
Psoas Eccentrics. Use the internal hip rotation to get your ball lined up in the socket, THEN exercise like that! Avoid the Clunk and train yourself Not to use hip flexors! Why didn’t I think of that? That’s going to be so crucial on all the other hip moves. Get good position first! Huge Break-through!
Thanks for the great info!
This is so important. The guys at MoveU really hammer this home well. This is still one of my favorite pelvic positioning videos of all time. They are both so damn funny too. Face dick stick lol
W3D4 - 12/20/2018
Warmup with rolling, active hang, side plank with abduction, copenhagen plank
Low Handle TBDL
95x5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 255x2, 275x1, 235x4x8
Front Squat
45x5, 65x5, 80x5, 95x3x12
-with-
DB SLDL
20x12, 40x3x12
Spanish Squats
BWx12, 26x3x12
Hollow Holds
3x
Finished with more PT stuff. Really having to resist the urge to load up the bar, as my body feels ready to go. Spanish squats had my quads on fire.
That psoas work looks interesting. I’ll have to try that just to see what it does or if I have “the clunk”.
I’ve seen people doing those Spanish squats by putting the Smith Machine bar on the back of their knees. It looks like it could be rough on the knee tissues.
