06/30/2021 DEEP WATER BEGINNER W3D2 Cont’d Clean Pulls
225 x 10 x 10
Right side of my neck/trap/shoulder was a little buggy through these.
Decided to foam roll the crap out of it with a little dollar store knobby foam roller.
07/01/2021
Woke up unable to move my head from side to side at all. It hurt quite a bit just supporting my big melon. The decision to foam roll this area, was not a good one.
07/02/2021
Some mobility back in my neck, still stiff and woke up a couple of times in some uncomfortable positions, but felt good enough to hit the weights.
DEEP WATER BEGINNER W3D3 Push Press
160 x 10 x 10
Lat DB Raises
35 x 12
35 x 12
35 x 12
BB Curls
95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 10
Situps
20
20
20
Planks
60s
60s
60s
Back Ext
20
20
I also did a pile of band pullaparts/facepulls. All this work made my neck feel a lot looser than going into it. Added a little benching on the end, more out of curiosity than anything. I’ve never tried reverse grip benching before. It didn’t feel as awkward as I thought it was going to. My shoulders have been a little cranky recently (not 100% sure of the culprit yet), but then I saw some reverse benching clips (one from Reed on here), which made me want to try it out.
Reverse Grip Bench
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 2
315 x 1
345 x 1
This felt pretty solid considering that my lifetime bench PR is a touch and go 385lbs. This may find itself into a 5/3/1 rotation when I revert back to 5/3/1.
07/03/2021 Bonus Workout Atlas Stones (high/med/low referring to height of stack of pallets)
145 x 1 high
175 x 1 high
215 x 1 middle
250 x 1 low
145 x 1 high
175 x 1 high
145 x 1 high
175 x 1 high
145 x 1 high
175 x 1 high
215 x 1 high
245 x 1 middle +1
145 x 3 high
175 x 3 high
215 x 3 high
250 x 3 high
I used Atlas Tacky (from Cerberus) for the first time today. What a difference it made for lifting the stones. The stones were very dusty which covered up the tacky relatively quickly, requiring me to reapply. The tacky was a mess. WD40 got most of it off (along with pulling a lot of forearm hair out while scrubbing), then I tried a heavy-duty hand cleaner (the kind that has pumice/grit in it), followed by nail polish remover before showering. I’m still a little sticky, with some dirty spots remaining on my arms. I’m going to try to rub some olive oil on it as I was told that could help. I immediately went on the Cerberus website to purchase their “tacky remover” to find out that it is sold out. I actually had a lot of fun lifting the stones today, which has given me a bit of an itch to break out some of my other strongman implements that have been collecting dust for a while now. Tomorrow is either going to be deadlift day (gulp), or I’ll hit farmer’s walks and light log work for some fun in the sun.
5 Rounds of: Farmer’s Walk - speed was as fast as possible, borderline running with this weight.
115lbs x 50m (turn at 25m)
Log Clean and Press clean each rep, empty log
85lbs x 10
My shoulder was quite buggy again today, figured this light work might be restorative. The lungs were being tested here, otherwise, it was a nice light session to dust off some of my strongman implements.
An email from Cerberus with a 15% off promo code just sucked me in for the purchase of a pair of neoprene shorts and neoprene underbelt. I’m also hoping that a strongman competition pops up in my area at some point later this summer, I have the itch to compete in one.
That whole movement just looks 10 shades of wrong to me, but it seems a lot of people stronger and smarter than I swear by it. Cool to see you putting up this kind of poundage.
07/06/2021 DEEP WATER BEGINNER W4D1 Deadlifts
135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 5
355 x 10 x 10
These were awful. I don’t know what else to say. I finish these sets of 10, and there are so many voices in my head telling me that that must be the end of the workout. Those last few sets are pulled with sheer willpower because every frickin bone in my body is telling me that is enough for one of many reasons tossing around in my head. Pushing my conditioning a little harder would really go a long way here.
Ended up going down to the lake with young lad and wife for a nice evening after this, so I do owe the remaining work.
07/07/2021 DEEP WATER BEGINNER W4D2 Reverse DB Lunges (from D1’s workout)
60lbs x 10
60lbs x 10
60lbs x 10
BB Rows
135 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 10
205 x 10
205 x 10
205 x 10
Pullups
4 x failure
Clean Pulls
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10
Hyperextended my knee on one of these as I was getting sloppy with my reps. Caught the bar on my thigh with a straight knee which didn’t feel great. Seems to be OK this morning.
My lower back has a little tweak right now, I believe from my deadlifts, so I opted out of the planks/situps for this one.
07/12/2021
A brief hiatus from training for a few excuses, but I’m back at it. DEEP WATER BEGINNER W4D3 Push Press
160 x 10 x 10
I really cut the rest periods short on these as I was pressed for time. The last couple of sets I really needed to nail the technique because there was not a lot left in my shoulders to press the weight up.
After dinner I finished off the rest of the work: Lat DB Raises
35 x 12
35 x 12
35 x 12
Yikes, my workouts have been a bit sporadic, but my logging has been even worse.
I just came back from a 7 day vacation at my in-law’s “cottage”. I used quotations because it is much closer to a summer home than a cottage. It was a great getaway with the family!
A few workouts from before my vacation that I hadn’t had a chance to log:
07/14/2021 DEEP WATER BEGINNER W4D4 Bench Press
245 x 10
245 x 10
245 x 10
CG Press
205 x 10
205 x 10
205 x 10
Incline Press
185 x 10
185 x 10
185 x 10
SUPERSET x 3 Dips to Failure Pushups to Failure
07/16/2021
I got up early to get this workout in before leaving for our vacation. I was not prepared for the ass kicking that was received.
DEEP WATER BEGINNER W5D1 DB RDL
50 x 10
50 x 10
50 x 10
Squat (2min rest)
305 x 10
305 x 10
305 x 10
305 x 10 - Rest periods just went from adequate to insufficient
305 x 10
305 x 10 - Ok, panic is starting to set in. Breathing was not settled by the time I’m getting back under the bar.
305 x 10 - Uh oh, feelings of passing out or puking - not sure which one is more imminent at this point.
305 x 10 - Not sure how I got this one in, laid down on the floor for two minutes after this set.
Tried to get back up and body said “nope”. Eyes couldn’t focus, breakfast was being burped up into my mouth.
I laid back down for an additional 5 minutes, got up, tried to pop the bar off the rack and my knees buckled. I called it quits here and then hit the road for a 4hr road trip to the cottage.
07/23/2021 DEEP WATER BEGINNER W5D2 Pullups
Failure x 4
Shrugs - barbell behind-the-back
185 x 15
185 x 15
185 x 15
Clean Pulls
225 x 10
225 x 10
225 x 10
Ab Wheel
15
15
15
Nice workout to get back in the swing of things. Re-read most of 5/3/1 Forever while on vacation, and thinking I’ll likely run through a few cycles of 5/3/1 after finishing up Deep Water Beginner.
Week 5 squats are no joke dude! You gave it a solid effort. I was thinking that widowmaker circuits might be the logical follow-on from Deep Water. Go from 10 sets of hard work to one all out set.
07/25/2021
My lower back is feeling a little iffy after my last workout. DEEP WATER BEGINNER W5D3 Strict Press clean first rep; 2min rest
140 x 10 x 10
Presses were quite strong today, last two sets were tough. Shoulders/triceps were starting to fatigue with those short rest periods.
BB Curls
95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 10
Lower back is still unhappy, but tolerable.
8pm ball game - Ouch. My back is not good. Swinging and sprinting seem to have aggravated it, big time. Difficulty standing up straight, it feels very similar to a bulging disc which I used to have issues with. I’ll be putting a lot of focus on getting this rehabbed this week (suggestions welcome). I did some banded spinal traction this morning, which provided some temporary relief (photo below). I had an ice bath last night after my ball game, and I’ve been taking some acetaminophen, ibuprofen/naproxen.
I have a golf tournament with some friends beginning on Friday, so I would really like to be as close to 100% as possible by then!
I don’t really have much advice other than the usual rest, anti inflams and maybe see an osteo or physio. I would wait a couple of days for it so calm down before getting someone to work on it. Hope it heals quick mate.
That was the longest training hiatus I’ve had in awhile, but I’m hoping to get back on track. I’m going to start fresh on a new program. This is a powerlifting/strongman program as I have had an itch to play with my strongman implements a little more frequently/consistently.
12-Week Powerlifting/Strongman Hybrid Program - Matt Mills (Elitefts) W1D1 Seated Axle Press (not back supported - sitting on flat bench)
25 x 10
75 x 10
115 x 10
165 x 10
165 x 10
165 x 10
The last set was quite challenging. Keeping the rest periods short.
Chinups - hanging, neutral grip
10
10
10
8
Seated Lat DB Raise
30 x 12
30 x 12
30 x 12
GIANT SET DB Curls
25 x 10
25 x 10
25 x 10
Triceps Rope Pushdowns
50 x 12
50 x 12
50 x 12
Banded Facepulls - blue mini, seated
15
15
15
The main lift was actually supposed to be a Log C&P, but my DIY log seems to really beat up my wrists because the hand holes for gripping the handles aren’t quite big enough which puts some additional strain on my wrists. I’m contemplating purchasing an actual steel log. Right now I’m thinking 10" rather than 12", mostly due to cost. There seems to be a significant jump in price going from 10-12".
My back is still a little off, but not too bad. Just easing back into it and staying on top of my rehab/prehab work to keep it healthy.
