These are more neurological performance than muscular - you’re not creating tons of fatigue, not burning up glycogen, not a bunch of eccentric stress, etc. It’s probably a win to feel good.
2 Likes
I enjoyed it. I’m definitely behind, but I need to get ready for our upcoming staff vs senior basketball game. I haven’t been shooting or playing, so I’m going to disappoint myself. I’m hoping I can prime my body to jump a little higher come game day. I have about two weeks. I’m hoping my conditioning workouts will transfer to basketball. I’m optimistic that I’ll be good in that aspect. I just keep getting slower every year which means I’m slower to jump and the result is a decrease in height.
This past couple years of training around constant pain has led me away from the training exercises that allowed me to keep a decent vertical year round. I’ve always wondered how long I’d be able to keep dunking and it seems the answer is coming sooner than I’d hoped.
2 Likes
I certainly hope not. Maybe a few weeks of training like this and not feeling awful beat up will get you looking at years left above the rim.
3.28.25 W4 D3
DB OHP
45 x 8 x 3
Weighted Pull-Up
+15 x 6 x 3
Incline
135 x 8 x 3
Chest Supported Hammer Strength Row
270 x 8 x 3
Lateral Cable Raise
30 x 12, 12
25 x 12
20 x 12
Cable Curl
72 x 10F/10T/10B x 2
3 Likes
3.28.25 W4 D4
Depth Jump
3 x 3
Squat Jump
25s x 3 x 3
Hang Power Clean
185 x 3 x 3
Top Half Squat
315 x 3 x 3
Squat
245 x 3 x 3
Goofed a bit. Supposed to be the same as Tuesday but opposite order. I was supposed to do squats before the half squats.
4 Likes
3.30.25 W5 D1
DB Bench
75 x 8 x 3 sets
Pull-Up
BW + 15 x 6, 6
BW x 6
Bench Press
165 x 12, 12, 9+2+1
DB Row
100 x 8 x 3 sets
Cable Curl
110 x 12 x 2
Press Down
120 x 12 x 2
No conditioning. Saving that for leg day since the volume is down.
5 Likes
4.1.25 W4 D2
Did sets of 4 this week.
3 Rounds
- Squat from pins @ 315
- Squat @ 245
- Hang Power Clean @ 185
- Squat Jumps @ 50 total
- Depth Jumps @ BW
Conditioning - 8 Min AMRAP
- Row 300m
- 15 Push-Ups
- 7 Box Jumps
Completed 2 rounds + rowing + push-ups.
6 Likes
I think it’s time. I’ve had this program written out in a spreadsheet that will automatically calculate my loads for two years. I have a weight room at work all to myself after school. I can take up all the equipment I want. I’ve used the circuit style training as an excuse not to do this (time is another factor). But I think it’s time I suck it up. I’ll continue my current program through next week in preparation for the staff vs student basketball game, and then it’s game on to the finish of the T-ransformation Challenge. Although I must admit that I haven’t been working very hard on my nutrition. Here’s yesterday’s food at work: friend chicken sandwich for breakfast (8am), cheeseburger around 11, fried chicken tenders and fries around 12:20. My lunch duty is to stand by the food trucks in front of our school and they always want to give me leftovers. The cheeseburger was mine; the fried chicken items were theirs. Don’t think I’ll be winning the challenge, but I’ll still finish it.
4 Likes
Looking forward to seeing how this goes!
1 Like
Me too! I’m also hoping my body will start to cooperate. I had to go to the chiro during my planning period because it hurt to talk today. My lumbar or SI joint area is tight and cranky.
1 Like
4.4.25
Weird Leg Day
As stated above, my back is acting up and I think it’s mostly due to the squats from pins. I went to the chiro Wednesday and everything seized up again yesterday after my upper body workout. It hurt to walk and felt like I had a pulled muscle. I don’t have a pulled muscle; things were just that far out of place that it put that kind of strain on the muscle. My adjustment this morning had the most “pops” I’ve ever experienced in that area..on both sides. I can tell things are trying to shift back out of alignment so I’m going to do my best to prevent that.
Leg Extension
Inspired by John Meadows. 6 reps, next plate, 6 reps, and so on until you can’t do 6 reps. Then you get to do 20 reps rest/pause style with that weight.
70, 90, 110, 130, 150, 170
170 x 7, 5, 4, 4
Seated Leg Curl
Same as leg extensions
50, 70, 90, 110, 130, 150, 170
170 x 7, 5, 4, 4
Ab Crunch Machine
140 x 15 x 3 sets
Seated Calf Raise
135 x 15, 9, 7 (short rest between these)
Glute Extension Machine
This is the single leg machine that resembles a donkey kick?
150 x 10
170 x 10
190 x 10
Limp away to gather my belongings.
Odd as it was, it fatigued my legs and spared my back.
5 Likes
4.6.25
Technically week 5, upper day 1.
DB Bench
75 x 8, 8, 8, 7
Pull-Ups
BW x 6 x 4 sets
Bench Press
165 x 10
155 x 10
135 x 12, 12
Performance was way down from last week when I did the same stuff for 3 x 12. DB Bench also felt tougher.
Incline DB Row
60 x 12, 12, 12, 10
Cable Press-Down
120 x 15, 15
Cable Curl
110 x 12, 12
4 Likes
What’s up man? Here’s a video from a physical therapist/body builder.
In the beginning he shows a model of a pelvis and uses a lot of jargon, talking about what happens when you over-extend your back and crunch up your SI joint.
Then he shows some warm up moves to gt posture correct and Inhibit Overextension of the back.
Finally, in the 2nd half of the video dude shows how to modify common moves like squats, deads, 1 leg rdls and lunges with limited ROM and elevated heels to stay out of the over extended, back irritating alignment.
If any of that clicks or seems useful, here’s another video with more pre workout inhibition drills, and more specific info about foot pressure and hip action during leg workouts.
2 Likes
I only had time to get about 6 minutes into the first video, but I like it. Thank you for sharing!
In addition to finding balance between wants and needs, I think it’s tough to find balance between prioritizing training or rehab work. Like he said in the opening, I want to continue to train while correcting some things, but I’ve failed to this point. I’m interested to see the rest.
2 Likes
4.7.15
Last day of the lower body Star Complex.
3 Rounds, 4 Reps Each
- Top Half Squat @ 315
- Squat @ 245
- Hang Power Clean @ 185
- Squat Jumps @ 50
- Depth Jumps
Appointments after school the next two days so it’s unlikely I’ll train. Built for Battle will work great at school, but I forgot about weekends. I’m trying to determine if I can pull it off on Sundays at the Y. It’s not very busy so there might be a chance I can get in the squat rack that’s next to the row of benches. I’d need a bar for squats, bar for cleans (might be able to use the same one as squats depending on weights), bar for OHP, and the bench. I want to do cable pull-downs instead of chin-ups. My right shoulder elevates on pull-ups and chin-ups but I’m able to battle it on a pull-down. But I could handle chins once a week for the sake of equipment and space. Sundays also give me plenty of time to train and that would be a good day to run ‘Wednesday’ since it has the extra circuit after the main work.
So all that to say that Thursday will probably be my first 3RM day for B4B.
4 Likes
4.10.25 B4B W1 D1
3 RM Day Results
Hang Power Clean - 225
OHP - 135
Squat - 315
Pull-Down - 240
Bench - 240
3 Likes
4.11.25 B4B W1 D2
Two warm-up rounds, then:
| Exercise | Reps | Load | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hang Power Clean | 5 | 80% | 180 |
| 4 | 85% | 195 | |
| 3 | 90% | 205 | |
| 2 | 95% | 215 | |
| 1 | 100% | 225 | |
| Shoulder Press | 5 | 80% | 110 |
| 4 | 85% | 115 | |
| 3 | 90% | 125 | |
| 2 | 95% | 130 | |
| 1 | 100% | 135 | |
| Squat | 5 | 80% | 255 |
| 4 | 85% | 270 | |
| 3 | 90% | 285 | |
| 2 | 95% | 300 | |
| 1 | 100% | 315 | |
| Underhand Pull-Down | 5 | 80% | 195 |
| 4 | 85% | 205 | |
| 3 | 90% | 220 | |
| 2 | 95% | 230 | |
| 1 | 100% | 240 | |
| Bench Press | 5 | 80% | 195 |
| 4 | 85% | 205 | |
| 3 | 90% | 220 | |
| 2 | 95% | 230 | |
| 1 | 100% | 240 |
3 Likes
4.13.25 B4B W1 D3
I can see why this program has three days on, one off, then two on. I took yesterday off which gave me extra rest between Friday’s somewhat tough session and today’s light session. The result was that today was easy in terms of load, but it still had the conditioning effect.
As you know, the following is completed in a circuit with reps going 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Hang Power Clean
150, 160, 170, 180, 195
OHP
95, 95, 105, 110, 115
Squat
205, 225, 240, 255, 270
Pull-Down
160, 170, 180, 195, 205
Bench
160, 170, 180, 195, 205
And today had the extra circuit. 3 rounds and reps were 10, 8, 6.
DB Incline
65, 70, 75
Seated Cable Row
180, 200, 220
RFESS
40s, 45s, 50s
RDLs
65s, 70s, 75s
Took 55 minutes to complete, about 75 minutes total time.
4 Likes
Testosterone Augmentation Therapy Update
I had my check-in on 4.9.25 to see how 25mg of enclomiphene a day is working. Well, to say it’s working would be in an understatement. 
My baseline level of total T was 595 and my estradiol was 16. As of Wednesday my total T was 1406 and estradiol was 103 (supposed to be <40). I feel fine other than being hot at night. Not hot flashes, just cooking. I’ll be cutting my enclomiphene in half (12.5mg) and I’ll start taking an AI. I’ll go back in 4-6 weeks to check again. I guess you could say this enclomiphene stuff works and is a different option than taking exogenous testosterone. I would also guess that I don’t have the fluctuations in test that someone taking a weekly injection does since I take a tiny pill daily.
3 Likes
4.14.25 B4B W1 D4
Heavy Day
Hang Power Clean
205 x 5
215 x 4
225 x 3
240 x 1 + miss
250 x 1
OHP
125 x 5
130 x 4
135 x 3
145 x 2
150 x miss
Squat
285 x 5
300 x 4
315 x 3
335 x 2
350 x 1
Pull-Down
220 x 5
230 x 4
240 x 3
255 x 3
265 x 1
Bench
220 x 5
230 x 4
240 x 3
255 x 3
265 x 1
Video of the round three lifts.
4 Likes