I think that Medium Bar, not too high, not too low position is probably best for lots and lots of people.
People got a little obsessed with extreme high or low placement for awhile there. I swear there were dudes with jacked elbows or shoulders who decided just to give up lifting rather than give up their silly low bar non sense.
That said, maybe you would train that way for a Little While if you were gonna do a power lifting meet.
If I ever did a powerlifting meet, I would put 135 on the deadlift bar and call it a day. 
I CAN still pull heavy without pain. However, even when my form is on point, it aggravates the absolute hell out of my lower back.
I would try sumo but that sounds like a lot of work.
I hope you don’t feel shame over those posts. You were (are) young and dealing with a number of exceptional stressors simultaneously. For me, what came through was your steadfast desire to build yourself into someone you can admire, and your openness to the people trying to help you do that, both physically and mentally. You should understand the strength it takes to listen and hear people through the noise of mania and anger. Kanye to this point lacks that. Maybe because of the sycophants, maybe not, who knows. But you have that.
Many of us on these boards have pasts we’re not proud of. The trick is to focus on the changing and growing, allowing yourself to feel pride in who you’re becoming while feeling compassion for the person you were, however fucked up.
Oh yeah definitely agree with this lmao!
@EmilyQ Thanks for your continued support Emily! I know it was a long time ago, and it’s really striking to see how far I’ve come in the past few years. I’m still going through it, but at least I have my shit together and I don’t live at home.
Not to play the devil’s advocate here, but I don’t think I’ve ever sunk as deeply into mental illness as Kanye has (that’s a good thing). I don’t know what I’d be like if I hadn’t wisened up and made the right choices when I did! I know I’d hate to be in the same position at 20 that I was at 16-17, but I didn’t know any better back then. So, we live and learn.
First day of 5/3/1 original in the books
Using a 90% TM because I don’t feel like hitting 12-15 reps every 5’s week
Barbell Squat
45 x 10
135 x 5
225 x 3
265 x 5
310 x 5
350 x 10
385 x 4 (couldn’t resist attempting a set of 5)
Hack Squat
45 (?) x 20
225 x 10
275 x 5 x 10 (2:30 between sets)
Ab Wheel – 5 sets of 20 reps each (2:00 between sets)
Back feels halfway decent, not pushing barbell squats TOO hard was a good idea. I will be abusing the hack squat machine forever.
Highlights:
350 x 10 PR
385 x 4 (one and only joker set)
Bench tomorrow. Just going to eat for recovery instead of focusing on weight loss. I walk a lot nowadays, and I will be training hard enough to negate the “fat gain” associated with binging on peanut-butter and jelly covered gluten free frozen waffles.
F**k me you crushed those squats. Great work.
G-flux baby!
You ever try sunflower seed butter? I’m hooked on it. It doesn’t sound like what you’re eating is upsetting your guts, but if it ever did, sunflower seeds are supposed to be super non-allergenic
Thanks Pwn! Appreciate the positive feedback – my warm-ups felt like shit, but I guess my squats look much better than they feel. Once I got to my top working set, it felt better than 265. I’m still playing around with my foot positioning and descent speed a lot.
I have not tried sunflower seed butter yet, but I should. Seems like it’d be higher in protein and lower in calories than peanut butter, haha. Contrary to my YouTube username I am not going to become an “ultra-fat powerlifter”.
Its about the same calorically, but effectively zero net carbs and higher fat, with better composition of fats. I actually like the flavor more as well. Given the choice, I will eat it over peanut butter. I get the unsweetened stuff with salt
Bench today. It’s always a struggle to find correct positioning on the 2x4 my gym calls a bench, but the work gets done regardless.
Bench
45 x 20
95 x 5
145 x 5
165 x 7 (supposed to be 5, was trying to find the sweet spot)
185 x 10
145 x 2 x 10
145 x 8 + 2
135 x 10
135 x 8 + 2
Overhand Pull-Ups
5 x 10
Various rest-pause sets until I hit 100 total
This approach to pull-ups seems to be working. I got the 5 x 10 pull-ups done in between bench sets, maybe I gave myself 2 minutes in between each as I was super-setting.
Very sore but in a good way, not in an “oh shit I’m injured” way
I think I’m gonna keep the 5 x 10 rep scheme for assistance because I can’t be bothered to do isolation exercises beyond calisthenics and ab work. Not enough time or energy
Press Day
45 x 20
115 x 5 (misloaded)
125 x 3
135 x 11 — chipped my PR, very long difficult and questionable rep but I got it at the end
105 x 2 x 10
105 x 8 + 2
105 x 6 + 4
105 x 6 + 4
I will be hammering 5 x 10 FSL until I can get them all without rest-pausing
100 chin-ups
100 push-ups
It was fun. I put the bar down after my top set and immediately hit 15 head-over-bar pull-ups. People think that bigger guys can’t do calisthenics, it’s my job to prove them wrong
It really sucks that I can’t compete in powerlifting one day, because that was a huge goal of mine. Squat and bench are fine, but I’d be an idiot to deadlift heavy when my body is telling me “no”
Not like I’d be competitive in my weight class or anything, but it would be cool to call myself a “powerlifter” as opposed to a “general strength practitioner”
I am a permanent gym rat 
Anyway, squats Wednesday
Going with a 90% TM was the right choice. I like the heavier top sets as opposed to super-duper high rep work, and hopefully I can build/preserve top-end strength with a Joker Set or two
Ever consider doing a bench only meet? Those bench only guys are legit super jacked. I HAVE seen a rare squat/bench meet vs a push/pull, but the latter is more common.
What the hell am I supposed to do? Had to cut my squat workout short today.
Squat
45 x 10
135 x 5 (felt good)
225 x 3 (also felt good)
285 x 5 (thought I was just sore)
330 x 3 (I have shooting pains in my quads)
Do I just repeat this workout next week? This is gonna fuck up my schedule. Either way, bench tomorrow I guess. Idek if I’m injured
I don’t think they’re dehydration cramps either. Have been drinking water and eating pretty well. Seems like every time I start to make progress I sustain a minor injury or something that gets in the way.
Bench Today
45 x 20
95 x 5
135 x 3
155 x 3
175 x 3
200 x 9 + 1 - PR Bench? Wanted 10 in one set, hit the rack on rep 5 and it fucked up my groove
225 x 2
155 x 2 x 10
155 x 6 + 6
145 x 6 + 6
135 x 8 + 2
135 x 7 + 3
80-90 pull-ups I lost count
100 pushups (40, 30, 20)
not keeping track of BW – will probably redo my squat workout Saturday when I’m not sore. Still don’t know what happened w my quads but they just feel normally sore today, rather than injured. Hopefully it was just dehydration cramps because I worked out at 10 AM yesterday
Hey Pwn, sorry for the super late reply.
My bench is my LEAST competitive lift! I’d rather suffer through one of Rippetoe’s Strengthlifting competitions and pull an easy 3-plate deadlift for a mediocre total, but he’ll never come to my city haha.
For reference, I’ve avoided training on these 2x4 benches for as long as humanly possible. The result? My press is decently strong. My bench? Not so much. I usually either slide off the benches here or hit the rack while I’m benching (this happened today, lovely).
The craziest part is I can knock out 50-60 push-ups and 17 overhand pull-ups in a single unbroken set. I’m weighing in at 195 lb nowadays; the last time I was able to do 15 consecutive CHIN-ups, I was at a daily BW of 165.
Not that I look like I do calisthenics or squat anything past 275, but I have what I’d affectionately call a “sleeper build”. Call it sobriety weight – I guess I put down the spoon and picked up the fork, but it’s whatever
You’d think blasting pushups and strengthening my back with calisthenics would help my bench considerably, but no cigar there.
Hey no sweat on the reply dude: we’re all busy getting it done. When I saw you say competing in powerlifting was a huge goal of yours, I was just looking at avenues for that. Was it powerlifting specifically that was the goal, or just any manner of strength competition? If the latter, definitely a few more avenues available, and no need to bench at all, haha.
You ever consider laying bands down on the bench to keep from slipping? I do that at home.
And sleeper build bullcrap: dude, you’re a f**king hoss. We can get abs in weeks: muscle takes months and years.
Hey Pwn, honestly, I’d love to compete in powerlifting, but I feel like any form of strength competition would add an extra layer of priority to my training! To my knowledge, there’s Strongman, Crossfit, and backyard competitions. I am attacking my bench with a new vengeance nowadays, crappy narrow Retro Fitness benches be damned.
I don’t know what you mean by this, but I’d be interested to find out!
Thanks Pwn, much appreciated especially coming from a guy like you! I think I could benefit from some bicep curls and isolation work, but achieving an overall “strong” look comes first before general aesthetics for me. Still, I should do more bicep curls after my pull-ups.
I also found this beautiful bottle of smelling salts on the floor at my gym a few weeks ago. Nobody claimed it, so finders keepers. I can smell this shit from a distance…very strong!
Don’t forget highland games, weightlifting, the aforementioned strengthlifting, stonelifting, and the USAWA. Some crazy avenues.
For bands on the bench: just as it sounds. Here’s a simple video
Curls are awesome man: just make them Poundstone curls
I’m back on the board!
Squat
45 x 10
135 x 5
225 x 3
285 x 5
330 x 3
370 x 7 (very mediocre performance)
315 x 4 + 6
Wanted at least 8, preferably 9, but I don’t think I was fully recovered from Wednesday. Oh well, my quads feel good, so I’m throwing food at the problem and gearing up for 390 next week. Also, the semi-heavy sets of 5 and triples right before my top set are throwing me for a loop!
I’m pretty sure I’m getting stronger regardless, so I’m not complaining. Eventually my body will adapt to the volume.
Hack Squat
275 x 2 x 10
275 x 3 x 8
275 x 6
225 x 12
Ab Wheel
3 x 20, 1 x 15 (75 reps total)
@T3hPwnisher I bought sunflower butter today too!
