This sounds like football season is for me. My answer was to get up at 4 am. I cooked and ate breakfast, drove to the gym, worked out from 5:15-6:30, took a cold shower, got dressed for work and worked. If I have to do that again I will, it will suck, but lifting is that important to me.
Be a savage. Do what you have to do…find a way. 3 workouts a week for a bit, with a light day 4. Maintain the lifts or pick one to progress…
Lifting weights is the only thing that can get me out of bed that early (besides work). I might have to do that for a while. Maybe experiment with a full body split, 2 hard days and 2 light days each week, or something like that. Last fall, I think I was able to progress pretty well using 5/3/1 4 or 5 days a week… idk. The important thing is that I’ll still be able to workout. It’s not like I have no gym access or no desire or knowledge to do well in the gym. I’ll figure something out as I go along most likely
5 May 2018 - Bench + REHAB?!?! Bodyweight: 216lbs
Bird Dogs 5x10 each side, 5 second holds
Band Walks 2x15 yards
Side Planks 3x40 seconds each side
Barbell Bench 225x10, 4x10 165lbs
Paused DB Incline Bench 3x15 50lbs
Close Grip Bench 3x5 225lbs
Seated DB OHP 1x35 35lbs
Conditioning
Work. Was on my feet for 8 hours carrying trays of glassware, racks of dinner plates, full garbage cans, etc. Back felt much better after all of this somehow…
Notes
For bench, I forgot to do my 5/3/1 sets first. No worries. I decided I want to do my first set of 10 at 225 from now on to keep some of that rep strength, and it went pretty well. Probably could’ve gotten 11 or 12 so I think 225 is the right weight for me.
So, about the rehab. I think I fucked up my back, although I’m not sure. I thought I fucked it up a few weeks back (maybe over a month ago actually) but I didn’t. A weird pain that went away after 2 days and didn’t resurface in any way, shape, or form. I’m not sure what happened this time. Here’s the timeline:
Thursday: 2x2 455lb deadlifts. No pain or discomfort in my lower back whatsoever (Sumo never gives me back trouble)
Friday: Rest day, slightly tender once I reach the edge of my ROM for lumbar flexion (bending forward).
Saturday: Woke up with a knife wedged deep into my lumbar spine. Just kidding, that’s just the sensation I had. I couldn’t roll over in bed to get up, so I had to do a really awkward sit up. Stood up and looked like the hunchback of notre dame. Maybe worse. Hobbled to the bathroom, and decided to sit down to piss because standing wasn’t working too well. Turns out sitting is almost as bad. I finished my business and got back in bed, and this was the closest to crying from pain I’ve been in since I was probably 8 years old. Tears were welling up in my eyes involuntarily. I also wanted to cry because I was scared. No idea what the fuck had happened to me overnight, but I could barely move and I know it has something to do with the deadlifts on Thursday. Part of the reason I’m so worried is because my best friend herniated a disc in January and he can’t squat or deadlift anymore. As of November, my squat max was mid-upper 300s and his was 425. My deadlift was 425 and his was 475. And he herniated his disc squatting 315 while warming up for squats. What. The. Fuck.
My theory is that I strained a ligament or tendon in my lower back while deadlifting and something caused it to become enraged overnight. I don’t have constant pain from it; it only bothers me when I go too far into lumbar flexion. I think I can still pick things up off the ground, but my strength is limited. Lifting does not cause me pain, but I can’t lift as much. It’s odd.
My plan of action is to do what Layne Norton does for his back: several 10-15 minute walks every day, several rounds of side planks every day, partial crunches, and obscene amounts of Bird Dogs. Additionally, I will continue training my bench and legs, but legs will only be on machines that don’t involve my lower back. Leg press, leg extensions, leg curls, glute bridges, etc. I can’t do GHR (although I will try it once to see how it feels). I won’t be squatting or deadlifting for 2-3 weeks but I hope to still be able to build some leg mass with leg press. It doesn’t matter to me how I get that mass, I just want it. I’ll have to bring my maxes down for my 5/3/1 squat + deadlift hypertrophy for when I get back to it, but I’m not too worried.
Moving around all day made my back feel better and better which I think is a good sign. I’m kind of nervous to see how I feel when I wake up. Flashback to my hip flexor which was a nagging injury that took about 6-8 weeks of constant attention to actually eradicate pain from. That was also a ROM-dependent pain. Squatting in Oly shoes didn’t hurt, but squatting in chucks made it hurt. Weird phenomenon.
Anyways, that’s the plan. Play it safe, switch things up a little, and continue to press on. With deadlifts and actual squats out of the picture, I’ll need to dedicate some more time to back exercises. Pull ups and rows (if my lower back can handle it) and that sort of thing. I plan to do my rehab-esque routine every day. I already normally walk about 30 minutes a day around school and with my dog, but I’ll throw in some extra walking. I’ll do my planks when I’m bored and my bird dogs when I watch TV. I basically have two options right now: be a bitch, become a couch potato, and cry that my back hurts is one. Second option is to say fuck that, do my rehab, and get back to squatting and deadlifting as soon as possible.
Last tidbit: When I get back to it, I’ll start very slow. I won’t go higher than 245ish for squats and 275ish for deadlifts for a good amount of time once I get back. I think this injury is kind of a blessing in disguise; it sucks ass that I can’t chase a new deadlift max next week or squat (I unracked 185 today and it hurt lol), but it’s a good wake up call. My core was very weak which is why I think my back strained the way it did. My training was unbalanced for too long and it finally caught up to me… Never again. I added lots of glute stuff once I hurt my hip flexor, and now I have to add lots of core stuff to balance out my back injury. Fuck rehab, I need to get onto some prehab stuff for my active rest days… Word up my dudes, have a fantastic Sunday!
hope it isnt actually fucked man and it heals quick!!
Don’t we all. Rest days are active mobility training and rehab work. And walks. If you want it go get it. I don’t think I would quit doing squats or deads entirely. You need the blood flow to heal. That can be done with the bar. Super light sets of 25. But I am not suggestion you do that. Just keeping it in your mind as an option…
Thanks Duke. Setbacks happen!
Not a bad idea.. I just don’t want to stress my spine any more than I have to at this point. I’ll still do my mobility and stretches and probably RDLs and squats with just the bar at the end of my workouts when I’m super warm. The way I see it, I can always get strong again once I’m healthy. Low back, knee, and shoulder injuries are three kinds of injuries that I, in my unprofessional opinion, feel like should never be rushed to heal. Lots of cartilage, tendons, and ligaments in those places, which all take a fair amount of time to heal on their own.
Good news: I woke up and my back feels better than it did last night when I went to bed. Standing is fine, sitting is fine, so I’m good. Did a couple rounds of Bird Dogs and side planks right after I got out of bed. Will do some more when I’ve got some of my homework done and I’ll also take my doggo for a walk. Not a bad day so far..
Hey Lava check you SI joints.
They might be stiff and need some serious work to loosen up.
Might not be that, but it could be. It was for me about 2 years ago.
Lots of PT sessions later it’s gone, comes back if I don’t do mobility drills 
Was your pain issue below your erectors but above your glutes?
Exactly just over the left glute for me, couldn’t bend down to tie my shoes.
There are tons of videos on the web showing moves for SI joint.
Give some of them a shot or see a PT or massage and tell them to look into the SI joint.
My PT could press hard on it, and it almost fell in place with a little crackling, and almost immediately relief. (Still have to do rehab though)
Thankfully mine is not that intense. The pain has completely subsided, and now I’m just dealing with a little tightness. The tightness has started to seep down to my left glute and left IT band which is weird so I’m just stretching and rolling everything today. I feel 9/10 right now.
6 May 2018
Conditioning
Band walks, 1.5 mile walk, a few side planks. Easy.
7 May 2018 - Squat and Deadlift
Warmup - 2x10 Bird Dogs 5 second holds, 2 length of room band walks, pigeon stretch, side planks
Deadlifts (worked up slowly, 3 different techniques) 15 total @ 275lbs, 8 total @ 315lbs, 2 total @ 365lbs
High Bar Squats 2x5 135lbs, 1x5 225lbs
Conditioning
None today. Walked around school a decent amount but nothing intentional.
Notes
The walk yesterday helped my back a ton. Not that it was in pain to begin with, but it did feel much better afterwards. No pain waking up this morning, only a slight ache with a little tightness which wears off after I begin moving around a little bit.
I decided to keep my workout short and sweet today because I have a shit ton of stuff to do for school. I just finished a final paper for my humanities class and I have a few more to write; also gotta study for my chem exam on Thursday and the chem final next Tuesday.
Thoughts on squats: I don’t think I’m ready to go heavy yet. Squatting felt a little uncomfortable, presumably because something is wrong with my lower back. It made my hips feel tight which is not my fault, because I’ve been stretching as much as normal even though I haven’t squatted in about 7-8 days. 135 felt too light but 225 felt like the perfect weight. I forgot my knee sleeves today and my knees weren’t having it… I’ve spoiled them for the last 7 months lol
Thoughts on deadlifts: surprisingly good. Sumo feels weak but doable, conventional hurts (too much pressure placed immediately on my low back), but some squat stance deadlifts (hybrid deadlifts, semi-sumo deadlifts, etc) were right on the money. I’m allowed to have a little forward lean, but my feet are in a naturally powerful position, a little more spread out than conventional but not nearly as wide as sumo. Hands are about 2 feet apart, maybe a little more, directly next to my calves. Feet are `~18 inches apart, turned outward at a 15-20 degree angle. Upon further review, my form looks similar to Eddy Hall. Not what I was going for, but I’ll take it. I’m 2 inches shorter than him and literally half the weight, but other than that I think our proportions are about the same. I pulled 365 with the hybrid stance really easily, even compared to sumo which was surprising. Last week if I had done a 365 amrap, I probably could’ve gotten 11-14ish reps of 365 using sumo. Today, maybe 7-10. My best bet would’ve been the hybrid stance.
Not thrilled with today but I AM thrilled that I can still pick up 365lbs even while “injured.” I’m looking forward to being normal again and training that hybrid stance a lot. Anyways, I’ll probably hop on the leg press and get some leg volume on Wednesday or Thursday; bench day tomorrow. 205x5, 235x3, 260x1, 225x10, 165 4x10. Then my cycle is over and I get to move up for my 5/3/1 sets and go to 175 for 4x10! Once it gets to 185-205 I’m gonna be a little nervous. I want an Arnold chest though, so… here we go. I think I’ll take the 60s for a ride on DB incline, and then maybe do some work at 185 for close grip. I’ve been alternating between 185 and 225 on close grip for fun. Meh.
sounds fun 
Nice work. I always enjoy hearing the planing and training thoughts.
Good luck on the Chem exams! My boys are done for the year. Summer break for me is 3 weeks and counting May 24th. Then the brutizalition of my body can begin!
I’m looking forward to it!! I’ll probably need 2-3 minutes of rest between sets, but as long as I focus hard I should be able to not miss a single rep this cycle 
Thanks boss. I think the one on Thursday should be pretty manageable, gonna start studying for that one tonight and go hard for the next 48 hours. It’s only over 2 chapters, so not that much material. I need to do better than 61% to bring my exam average up (embarrassing) which will hopefully move me from 81% in the class to something a little safer for the final. Ideally I’d like to be at at least 85% for the final, but I should be alright. Half the final is on material covered first semester, which I did pretty well in. Quick review of that stuff and I should be sittin’ pretty..
I’m really looking forward to seeing how you do when you have more time to dedicate to training and recovery, especially considering how well of a job you’re already doing with it!!
8 May 2018 - Bench Bodyweight 212lbs
Paused Barbell Bench 205x5, 235x3, 265x1
TnG Barbell Bench 225x10 (3 RIR), 4x10 165lbs
DB Incline Bench 3x15 55lbs
Close Grip Bench 135x10, 185x7, 225x4
Face Pulls 3x20 25lbs
Triceps Superset 2xAMRAP: Tricep Extensions 25lbs + DB BTN Press 30lbs
Hammer Curls 1x10 45lbs
Bird Dogs 2x10 5 second holds
Side Planks 1xAMTAP each side
OHP 1x10 95lbs
Static DB Hold 1:01 75lbs
Conditioning
None, I’m exhausted today
Notes
Solid bench day. I like pausing the lower rep sets and then starting my 10s with 225. I think I could have gotten 12-14 reps today so I’m counting it as 3 reps in reserve (RIR). My 4x10 165lbs got tough, did all these with 60 sec of rest between sets. DB Incline was difficult today for some reason that I can’t figure out. I had no spotter so I was conservative with my close grip today, and decided to follow it up with a short triceps superset to fry my tris. Next bench day isn’t for 4 more days so I wanted to do a little more damage than normal.
Did my Bird Dogs and side planks today as well. Boring as hell. I wanted to do an OHP AMRAP at 135 but I unracked it and couldn’t press it for a single rep so I dropped to 95, got it for a tough 10. I should probably move OHP to a day where I do a bunch of back work and just call it “shoulder health day,” lol. DB Holds were just for fun. Got a nice burn in my forearms from that!
Overall kind of a rough workout. I am 1000% accustomed to taking a nap before I go lift and bringing an apple or orange with me to eat while I warm up for my main lift of the day. No nap today, just lots of chemistry. No apple either, just forgot it… Thankfully I didn’t miss any reps for anything (even my 10-7-4 on Close Grip were my targets) but it was still a hard day. I got a pretty decent chest pump after my 4x10, thanks to the 60sec rest intervals.
I haven’t decided what tomorrow will be, it depends how I sleep tonight. I’m pretty damn tired right now (I was yawning throughout my entire workout–not a lack of oxygen or bad breathing techniques, I was and am tired as hell) so hopefully I’ll sleep like a baby. If I lift tomorrow, it’ll be legs. I’ll do some light squats, maybe up to 245-265 depending on how my back is doing. Thursday will be some deadlifts, and again, depending on how my back feels, I may begin my deadlift hypertrophy. Friday is a rest day, and Saturday is the beginning of my second bench cycle. 5s will get up to 235, 3s will get up to 250, and 5/3/1 will be 210-235-265. 175 for 4x10 after 225x10.
I’m sad that I can’t just go hard on squats and deads. What’s holding me back is fear of destroying my ability to ever squat or deadlift again. Overdramatic? Possibly. Safe? YUP. This is a big setback for me, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to squat 455 and deadlift 500 this year. It’s already May and my maxes haven’t increased yet. The better I do with hypertrophy, the better my strength will end up being in September through December. The hitch in the plan is that I don’t want to end up squatting 265 for 5x10 or deadlifting 305 for 5x10 if it’s going to fuck my back worse. It’s a dilemma. I’ll figure it out I guess
You have a long time in the game to lift. Live to lift another day. Build the base of muscle to safely lift the numbers you desire. Build slow and methodical. Build foundational mass and form. Let the body surprise you with smashing plateaus.
Train savagely…
Sounds to me some form of conjugate training is in your future. Something that lets you deal with the ebb and flow of your recovery. Advanced lifting techniques.
That’s all true. I must refrain from getting too caught up in my short term goals and focus on the long term. My goals for 2018 are essentially just arbitrary numbers I pulled out of my ass because it’d be cool to lift that much. Not much else to it, really.
This is something I hadn’t thought of. THANK YOU, THIS IS WHY I NEED YOU IN MY LOG. Lol. It’s possible that I’ve almost maxed out my genetic potential in terms of a good ROI for linear periodization, if that makes any sense. It works reallly well for a while, decently okay for a bit, and then there’s a drop off. I could very well be at the drop off where the return on investment for my time and work is less than the ROI would be if I did a conjugate style program. I’ll be looking into this very soon.
I’m all in for Wendlers stuff and you can progress on that for ever, BUT it gets kind of the same over and over.
That’s why you do different templates, I would say his 2 leader 1 anchor might not be that stupid. Resetting TM after every 3 cycles.
That being said I just have set my eyes on two different programs:
CT’s simple guaranteed strength and size that Jmaier uses
and right now I really got my eyes to @alphas Darkhorse program.
All kinds of different programs into one.
It haves you do one ME lift on a variation lift with volume on that lift as well on another day you do DE with the comp lift. + assistance + conditioning looks brutally hard.
sample day: 1: 10 min hard metcon to prepare your body, 2: ME front squat, 3: volume front squat, 4: DE conv deadlift, 5: if there’s anything left assistance.
OH did I mention he does all his work as giant sets
box jump - front squat - landmine twist 90 sec rest.
It’s a 12 week program… choose the ME lifts wisely. They are supposed to be variations that strengthens your weak links. And for you gives the lower back some relief as well.
What is an “ME” lift?
9 May 2018 - Squat Bodyweight–213lbs
Back Squat 255x3, 290x3, 330x3, 5x10 230lbs
Goblet Squat 3x15 60lbs
GHR 3x12
Conditioning
None…Again. Been going straight to the library all week after my lift.
Notes
My program is kinda going up in flames. I don’t have nearly as much energy as I thought I would… turns out high volume is just as taxing (in a different way) as high intensity. It’s all good. I’m basically just going with a Triumvirate BBB with no other assistance. I should probably be doing core work–no shit–because of my back. Later tonight I’ll do a few rounds of planks.
Squats felt pretty good today. Low bar is more comfortable than high bar, and leg press hurts my back infinitely more than squatting does which is odd. I was planning on making leg press my Plan B if squats didn’t work out because I thought it was supposed to be easier on the back. No worries, goblet squats felt really good. I plan on working up to the 90lb dumbbell for my last cycle or two; today, I was just relieved that I could do a squat to depth with absolutely 0 discomfort. Did some GHR to get a quick hammy pump, it was excellent.
Short on time in the gym today, spent about an hour in there total. I have a chemistry exam tomorrow which I’m 100% ready for (finally!). I’m going to have a busy weekend studying for history and chemistry, but humanities shouldn’t be that bad. I need to plan out how I’m going to budget my time tomorrow after my lift. Tomorrow night will be my last night of relaxation before I study Friday/Saturday/Sunday/Monday nights. I’ll lift tomorrow (deadlift hypertrophy) and bench Saturday morning. I’m taking this weekend off from work so I can devote all my time to studying and eating, AKA the “absolute recovery” kind of weekend. Eating all day Saturday and Sunday with a few walks and rehab exercises is my ideal weekend.
Since my summer schedule is looking busy, I think I’m going to create a template that I can fall back on if need be. I’m thinking 3 days/week with bench 3x, squat and deadlift 2x. Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday with Thursday being my hardest day. I’ll throw something together when I get home, but I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do. I’ll throw it up here in an hour or two, stay tuned…