I understand that completely. Try the coconut oil then. Almond oil is great too. HEB has the virgin oil that will make you smell good enough eat 
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May 24
Pull 1
Football Bar Rows
205 X 18 (93 kg)
205 X 14
205 X 10
Pull Over Machine
150 X 9 (68 kg)
160 X 7 (72.5 kg)
160 X 5
Preacher Curl
135 X 5 - (61kg) Rep PR
135 X 3
135 X 2
May 26
Push 2
Still havenāt been sleeping great. One more session and then Iām taking a week off and doing nothingā¦ At least thatās the plan, Iāll have to see what actually happens.
BP
275 X 5 (124.5 kg)
305 X 3 (138 kg)
340 X 1 (154 kg) - Felt super easy so I upped the weight andā¦
350 X 1 - (158.5 kg) I had āa pauseā definitely NASA approved, maybe not IPF or the Paralympics but it was there. It turned into the slowest grindyest rep ever. Iāll upload a video of it later today - Very close to my All time PR of 355 while being 8 pounds lighter. Right arm keeps trying to give out.
365 was my all time goal, which would have been more than double body-weight when I decided it was my goal. Now Iām looking at 400 or so for that to be the case.
285 X 9 - (129 kg) Rep PR
Close Grip Pin Press
285 X 6 (129 kg)
285 X 5
285 X 4
Behind the Neck Press
95 X 30 (43 kg)
95 X 17
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May 27
Rower 20 minutes.
Video of my Bench Press from yesterday below, I also tacked on the first time I ever benched 300#. Back In 2016 or 2017, I would have weighed somewhere around 165 - 170#
Looks like my right arm has been giving out on me since I began. Which makes no sense, Iām right handed and I can dumbbell Bench and OHP more with it than the left.
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Nah, the first time you hit 300 was definitely grindyerā¦lol
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May 28
Pull 2
Football Bar Rows. When I started these, they were called Chinese rows, Apparently they are called Seal Rows now.
225 X 8 (102 kg)
245 X 6 (111 kg)
265 X 3 (120 kg)
235 X 11 (106.5 kg)
Grip kept slipping, typically my first warning sign that Iām getting wore out. Usually followed by a bad case of the idontwannas and then an injury a week or so later. Looks like I planned out this training block pretty well.
Pull Over Machine
120 X 20 (54 kg) - 60 sec rest
120 X 12 - 60 sec rest
120 X 10
Seated Poundstone Curls
Bar X 99 I film these solely to double check my count and I messed up this time
66+14+20.
(Note to self do not row 2000 meters as quickly as you can on an āoffā day, it definitely causes issues)
Iām going to attempt to take an entire week off from training. We shall see.
Didnāt quite make it doing nothing. Had to get a few push ups/ pull ups/ Rowing in everyday.
I contacted Brian Alsruhe aka @Alpha over my little break. He wonāt write me a program and charge me for it, as he said there would be too much individuality needed and I would end up writing it myself. He said he would be more than happy to write me a program if he could work with me in person, but he wouldnāt feel right charging for a program I would have to heavily modify.
He did give me a few pointers and would most likely go over the program I wrote up based on them, but that would feel too much like stealing to me so Iām going to run with what I have figured up, and probably buy one of his shirts or something to pay him back for what he has helped me with.
It is based off of his 4 horseman Program. Iāve changed it to 3 days and three week cycles and dubbed it 3 horsemen, (I sure am creative) Using OHP, Rows, and BP, instead of OHP, S, DL, and BP. Itās not a strength based program, but it should at the very least maintain my current numbers and maybe push them up a little without giving me an injury. Which always seems to happen as I push the weights up near a contest.
I know I shouldnāt change my program so drastically right before a contest, but I talked my self into it and canāt talk myself out now. Iām going to run it at least for three weeks and see. If everything turns to crap Iāll go back to 5/3/1 and try and undo the damage the last three weeks, but I donāt think it will be necessary.
Itāll be Three days a week, OHP, Row, BP, with a little less assistance the first three weeks than he normally prescribes to give my body a chance to adjust.
Rowing for all my conditioning, simply because it will be easier to set up by myself. Plus an events day thrown in when my brother is around to get ready for the events at Americas.
Should be fun. The events for Americaās should are better for me than the Arnold was, and my gym is in my living room, so I havenāt been stuck with body weight and bands like many of the other guys competing.
June 7
3 Horsemen
Week 1/Wave 1/Day 1
Medium OHP Day
Concept 2 Rower
3 minutes on 1 minute Rest Averaged 2:50+/- a second per 500 meters for all 3 rounds. A little faster than my steady state rowing
OHP Worked up to 220 X 1 (100 kg)
Giant Sets
A - Pull Ups
BW X 8 reps
B - OHP
B1 - 205 X 5 (93) kg
B2 - 195 X 6 (88kg) miscounted was supposed to get a minimum of 7
B3 - 180 X 7+2 (81.5 kg)
C - Ab Wheel Roll Outs X 10
D - Speed Bag - X 60 sec
3 circuits - 90 sec rest between sets
Assistance Super Sets
A. Behind the Neck Press
115 X 17 (52kg)
115 X 10
B. Overhead Extensions
90 X 15 (40.5 kg)
90 X 9
60 seconds between sets
My conditioning is a joke, I was huffing and puffing from the end of the first round up until about half an hour after I was done. But it felt good to be finished with my off week. I wrote this program up last Tuesday and have wanted to get going on it since then. But if I hadnāt taken it I would have ended up doing a 17 week training cycle and ended up exhausted and probably injured going into Americaās at the end of July
I havenāt played around with a speed bag since I was a sophomore in high school, and 120# soaking wet, it took a little trial and error to get a half decent rhythm going.
Looking Forward to Tuesdayās session.
June 9
Week 1 Wave One Day 2
Row (Light)
Concept 2 Rower
2000 meters 10:55 There was some kind of dust storm going on and I had to break out the inhaler after I finished, I hadnāt needed that thing in a few years.
Worked up to 245 X 3 on Football Bar Rows
A. Incline Press
a1. 205 X 10 (93kg)
a2. 205 X 10
a3. 205 X 8
B Football Bar Rows
b1. 225 X 9 (102 kg)
b2. 205 X 10 (93 kg)
b3. 195 X 11 (88 kg)
C. Leg Raises X 10 X 3
D. Battle Ropes 25 each Arm
90 sec rest between circuts
Assistance Giant Set
Rope Pull downs with 2 sec pause at bottom
A100 X 15 X 3 (45 kg)
Preacher Curl
b1. 135 X 1+ Nope (61 kg)
b2. 100 X 5 (45 kg)
b3. 100 X 5
Hammer Curl
30 X 12X 3 (13.5kg) with a small pause at top
60 sec rest
Found a gif of my heart/ respiratory system somewhere around the middle of my second giant set.
June 11
Week 1 Wave One Day 3
BP (Heavy)
Rower (Light) 30 sec on /30 sec off X10 Averaged 100 meters for each 30 second interval just enough to get the heart rate up
BP worked up to 330 X1 (149.5 kg)
A. Football Bar Rows
205 X 10 X 3 (93 kg)
B. BP
b1. 310 X 4 (140.5 kg)
b2. 295 X 5 (133.5 kg)
b3. 275 X 7 (124.5 kg)
C. Ab Roll outs
3 X 10
D. Sledge Hammer Swings
30 seconds X 3 managed 18 each time, though I went a little over the time limit on the third set.
90 seconds rest between giant sets, which after changing plates on the bench doesnāt add up to a whole lot.
Assistance
A. Close Grip Pin Press
225 X 10 X 1 (102 kg)
B. Push ups BW X 15 X 1
I was dead. I floundered on the ground for a good 60 seconds trying to sit up, once I managed it, I called it a day.
Some notes on my first week. As stated before conditioning needs work, a lot of work. I am enjoying the program so far, and before you are tired you work up to decently heavy weight so I donāt feel like it will be possible to lose any strength on this program. I do need to set up things a little better so that the session can flow. And the stupid 5 pound plates are possessed by Houdini himself. 
In other news. I have thrown out my bed and started sleeping on the floor again, and for three nights in a row I have woken up not feeling exhausted and my back pain has disappeared, I didnāt realize how poorly I have been sleeping until I had an actual good night of rest. Sleep is definitely my drug of choice. Calms you down and lets you hallucinate, I hear it helps build muscle too. 
Going to purchase one of those Japanese futons so I can have a tiny bit of padding underneath me.
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June 14
Week 2 Wave 1 Day 1
Stomach was killing me. I slept on and off until about 13:00 felt decent enough to train.
OHP (Light)
2000 meter Row - 10:49.9 - no dust storm to blame my crap time on today.
OHP
Worked up to 205 X 5 had quite a few more in the tank, but wanted to conserve my energy for the Giant sets.
Giant Set - 90 seconds between Giant sets
A. Pull Ups - going to add one a week until I hit 12
BW X 9
BW X 8
BW X 8
B OHP
b1. 195 X 7
b2. 180 X 9
b3. 165 X 9+2
C. Plank (Stomach was not having rollouts)
3 X 60 seconds. My right forearm cramped up the entire time, and I donāt know why.
Iām used to my legs not listening to me and doing whateverthefuck behind me but my forearm going rouge was a new experience.
D .Speed Bag
3 X 30 seconds
Assistance 60 seconds between supersets
A. Behind the Neck Press
a1. 115 X 20
a2. 115 X 10
B Cable Tricep kickback thingys
b1. 25 X 10
b2 25 X 4
Nearly puked and my stomach became much worse, cooked dinner for the family and pulled the countertops off at my momās house as her motherās day gift is finally being installed today, then proceeded to pass out until this morning. Feeling a little better as of now.
June 16
Week 2 Wave 1 Day 2
Conditioning (Light)
30 on 30 off. X 10
Did this and made it through my warmup which I will detail below, then I received a phone call that my brother and dad had blown two tires out on the trailer while hauling some stuff to a job-site. They were fine, but I had to go deliver them some tires and a floor jack. Turns out we didnāt have the correct rims. Session ended and I ran around DFW trying to find some to no avail. Ended up leaving the trailer at a tire store and thankfully it was still there this morning.
Round 2
June 17
Week 2 Wave 1 Day 2
Conditioning (Light) Beat my meters from yesterday
30on/ 30 off X 10
Warmup- this is the warmup I do every time.
Hang from my thickish pull up bar (1 3/4") for 90 seconds every 30 seconds I do a pull up. I use a talking stopwatch to time myself.
21 band pull aparts,
7 up high, similar to if you were to grab a lat bar and try and stretch it by bringing your arms down to your sides, 7 regular, and 7 I saw somewhere. I believe they were called gunslingers. Arms bent at 90 degrees at your waist and you rotate your arms out and back keeping your elbows pinned.
20 knuckle pushups from my knees on a 2x4, (A hold over from my goofing off with boxing days) and it gives me a little more range of motion
10 Behind the neck press with a 3" axle and 10 reverse curls with the same.
Takes 5 minutes tops with the largest part spent hanging from a bar, wondering how close the resident wasps will get to your face.
Football Bar Rows - Worked up to 270 X 2 (122.5 kg)
Giant Set
A.Incline Guillotine Press
205 X 10 (93 kg)
205 X 10
205 X 10
Time to up the weight
B. FB Rows
b1. 255 X 5 (115 kg)
b2. 240 X 6 (108.5 kg)
b3. 225 X 7 (102 kg)
C. Leg Raises
3 sets X 15
D. Sledge Hammer Swings 10# Mace (4.5 kg)
30 seconds+ X 3- went for 20 each time this week
90 sec between Giant Sets
Seated Poundstone Curls
Bar X101
30,20,25,26 one extra for good measure. These were much more difficult than ever before.
Cardiovascular system is starting to adapt, wasnāt breathing quite as hard this go around. Might be from the lower reps on my strength work though. If I feel alright tomorrow Iāll do my Bench session if not I will push it to Friday and screw up my chore schedule. 
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June 18
Week 2 Wave 1 Day 3
Should have waited till tomorrow. Oh well lesson learned and most likely forgotten.
Conditioning (Medium)
3 minutes on/ 1 minute off X 3
I donāt remember my times only that I did beat the little pace boat from last time.
BP worked up to 315 X 4 (142.5 kg)
A. FBR
a1.210 X 10 (95 kg)
a2.210 X 10
a3.210 X 8
B Bench Press
b1. 295 X 5 (133.5 kg)
b2. 275 X 7 (124.5 kg)
b3. 255 X 9 (115.5 kg)
C. Roll outs with Ab wheel
3X10
D. Battle Ropes - 2" Rope 15 feet each side
3 X 30 seconds
90 seconds rest between Giant sets.
I am amazed how angry I get at the talking stopwatch informing me every 10 seconds.
I set to keep me honest but still, I just want to chunk it through a wall sometimes.
After that I was done, kept almost puking and gave the assistance work the middle finger.
My stomach does seem to be back to almost 100%. It was hurting like when I had appendicitis about this time last year, but my appendix was been removed, so I donāt know what was up with it for the last few days.
Hey man. Just wanted to say nice seeing you keep going. That was nice of Brian Alsruhe to not take advantage of you as well.
Maybe the bench problem is a technique issue?
I deal with this frequently. I lift in tin shedā¦ lol
@whang yeah he is a very honest guy. Iām glad to have been able to meet him in person.
Is there anything you see in my video that points to a technical issue? If thee is it has been ingrained for a very long time, and might be beyond fixing at this point.
Iāve watched some videos of Julius Maddox bench recently and it looks like he does something similar thing as he gets fatigued, all be it with more than double of my numbersā¦ for reps.
@ChickenLittle I know theyāre not going to sting me, but in the back of my mind Iām always a little worried oneās going to come right for my eye.
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If you say soā¦lol
We have a small accord, the wasps and me. They donāt sting me and I donāt kill them all. I havenāt been stung since I instituted my little policy 3 or so years, I have no idea whyā¦ Unless the wasps can read my thoughtsā¦
I have an insane amount of spiders and wasps around my house, and zero mosquitoes as a result so Iāll stick to our agreement until one of them breaks the treaty, or I get sent to the asylum. Its really a toss up which will happen first
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A few years ago I hit a nest of yellowjackets with a weedeater that built their home in an abandoned gopher hole on the side of hill. They were not sympathetic at all. Got nailed by 17 of them, hands, arms, back, legs. Since then I give no quarter.
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Dave Tate advises to pull the bar down instead of pushing directly up and bringing it to position. That way, lats are active and you donāt lose tightness when you just push it directly upwards and bring it to position.
Hopefully the more experienced lifters can chime in