TCam's Log - The Road to Elite

Training Training Logs
1401

Conjugate - Week 3

Day 1 - ME Lower

Sumo w/ Belt/Straps:
3x551
3x584
3x606 - PR! Video here

Boris Sumo Deadlift - Beltless:
3x6x375

High Bar Box Squat w/ Oly Shoes:
2x8x264

Standing Cable Row - Underhand, Lat Focused:
2x15x150

Band Standing Hip Extension:
2x20xStrong Band - This is like a hips-banded RDL with no added weight, while holding onto a rack. Lots of tension, to failure.

Cable Side Bend:
2x15/15x55

Getting to the rep more PRs with 600+ is very cool. I’ve only done that with 2x635 several months ago, otherwise my PRs below that were 585 for both 3 and 4RMs.

Lost my positioning on the top set, but I got hyped for it due to wanting 600+ and 584 feeling kinda shitty.

Squats then felt awful. I started with normal high bar thinking I’d do something like 6-8s and I did 2 singles at 365 before deciding to do very light stuff instead. Oh well, happens when I hit a deadlift PR first.

Day 2 - ME Upper

Paused Wide Grip Bench:
3x335
3x355
3x365 @ RPE 9.5

Paused Larsen Press:
8x225
3x8x255

A1 | HS Shoulder Press:
20x140 - Including partials at the end
15x140 - Same

A2 | HS High Row:
3x10/10x135

B1 | Cable Crossover Triceps Extension:
2x15x50 - Pushdown position
2x15x30 - Tate press position

B2 | Cable Crossover Rear Delt Fly:
3x12x50

I’m likely going to need to figure out a different scheme for pressing over each wave for the sake of my pecs. When they’re both equally sore, I’m comfortable pushing forward. When I have unilateral soreness beyond normal, I take that as a negative sign for recovery. The question is whether the ME days or the DE days should alternate with something like an incline or OHP.

Will need to ponder. But today I was able to get up to a good weight and hit what I’ll consider a benchmark PR for wide grip. I didn’t have a space for it on my spreadsheet, so let’s start there.

Day 3 - DE Lower

Squat w/ Chains (+115) - Flats/Belt:
5x5x255+115

1" Deficit Sumo - Beltless/Sumo:
3x5x405

A1 | Leg Extension:
2 x 20-30 x 130 - Somewhere in there with partials

A2 | Seated Leg Curl:
15x80
15x100

Kneeling Ab Pulldown:
3x15x150

Squats were very easy, like unusually so. Apparently bands really are a lot harder than chains. I just didn’t want to deal with the band setup, but maybe I should have. Either way, I still need to continue to focus on my positioning and keeping the low back from rounding. Not for safety, but mechanically it basically means I let myself lean forward too much. Gotta trust my upright position and sitting straight down.

1402

Conjugate - Week 3

Day 4 - DE Upper

Bench w/ Bands:
5x5x225+105 (Dbl Monster Minis) - 3 sets comp / 2 sets close grip

Push Press:
5x145
5x195
2x5x165

A1 | Lat Pulldown - Angles90 Grips - Rear Delt Focus:
2x15x150
12x150 + 12x100 - Drop set

A2 | Triceps Pushdown:
15x120
15x120 + 5x120 + 5x90 + 5x90 - Mechanical drop set

Barbell Curls - Myoreps:
15 + 7x8 x 50 - 20 sec rests

KB Side Bend:
3x12/12x60

No pec issues during this, but I scratched the incline DB press and push-ups based on how they’ve been feeling.

All the speed bench work felt pretty easy. Solid first wave of conjugate, now to deload, continue tweaking and get stronger.

1403

Conjugate - Week 4 - Deload

Day 1 - ME Lower

Squat w/ Belt:
Up to 2x415 @ 8 - Felt like big trash

Pin Squats:
5x325 - Same

Paused Conventional Deadlift:
6x375 - Same

Some hip things

Basically a blog post incoming:

I’m going to restart this conjugate cycle with new ideas on how I’m rotating exercises and when things are deloaded and such. Over the last 3 weeks I’ve been tweaking the plan and figurin’ things and it doesn’t make much sense to keep moving forward on the original plan. Especially with how I’m feeling currently.

Knees and hips were both unhappy to try and squat today. Struggled to hit depth without significant forward lean as a result. One of those days where it feels top-to-bottom like I’ve never even squatted before. Right lateral hip pain was pretty significant as well, even on conventional pulls.

Reason? Likely my neglect of single leg work and honestly, as strange as it may seem… calf work. My dorsiflexion is a limiting factor in my ability to stay upright, get to depth comfortably, and not misdirect the force and overload the knees, back, and/or hips relative to each other. Usually I would say any mobility you need for squatting can come from squatting, but if there’s an issue with your squat from squatting with an avoidance of a position (dorsiflexion) then something else needs to happen. It’s not stretching. It’s full ROM loaded movement, just isolated. Calf soreness here I come.

Outlining the overall plan in the next post.

1404

Conjugate Plan

Max Effort
A 17-week cycle starting with a 4-week transition block focused on accessories, work capacity, and GPP. The 4-week blocks will range in non-linear ME days like:

  • Block 1: 4-6RMs @ RPE 7-8 (low focus here)
  • Block 2: 3-5RMs @ RPE 8-9
  • Block 3: 2-4RMs @ RPE 8.5-9.5
  • Block 4: 1-3RMs @ RPE 9-10

Non-linear meaning it isn’t just high reps/low RPE to low reps/high RPE each block. They’re jumbled a bit to have the highest RPEs on Weeks 1+3 and the lowest rep max and RPE on Week 2 (other than deload). For instance Block 2 lower body ME weeks look like:

  • Week 1 - Squat variation 5RM @ RPE 9
  • Week 2 - Squat variation 3RM @ RPE 8
  • Week 3 - Deadlift variation 4RM @ RPE 9
  • Week 4 - Squat variation 3RM @ RPE 7 (Deload)

Similar on upper body days.

Dynamic Effort
DE work will be waved linearly in volume over the same 4-week blocks between 8x2 to 5x5 to increase in volume and (likely) static intensity for the first 2 blocks and then switched to decreasing volume and increasing intensity for the final 2 blocks, possibly reaching a circa-max time. Undecided there.

The first block will be a control block on these days. Paused and/or tempo work with no accommodating resistance. Then bands, then chains, and finally bands+chains for squats and only bands for bench (since we’ll be in the commercial gym on DE upper days).

I’m also sticking with the plan to cycle in an OHP day to give the pecs a break on each Week 3 DE day.

Supplements & Accessories
If you’ve been keeping up with my log, you may have seen me write about trying to create a way to deload the supplements/accessories separately from the main lifts. The reason is because I have no drive or energy to complete my hardest week of supplemental work right after the hardest week of main work. It just always has ended up feeling awful or just not happening.

What I’ve decided on is running the main lifts and accessories together as normal with a Week 1-4 cycle deloading on Week 4, but deloading and starting a new set of supplements on Week 3. So basically shift the supplements back one week and deload them on their 1st week with new variations and peak on their 4th week.

What this allows is my Week 3 ME deadlift to not utterly ruin my supplement slots (that’s when they’ll be light and just hitting 1 working set with a new variation) and I’ll be finishing the supplement block with the hardest supplement slots (generally 3 hard sets) the week before on the easiest ME day of the block (Week 2).

Basically I’m not hitting any days where I’m destroying myself with both intensity and volume across the board. As far as I can predict, this will allow for better load management overall.

Focuses
During the transition block, the focus hierarchy will be Accessories/GPP > Supplements > Main Lifts. After that, the focus will be evenly distributed and then finally shift towards main lifts/supplements over accessories for the last 5-6 weeks.

I’m going to be doing a lot of split squats, single arm presses, calf raises, ab work, machine work, and carries for the first block.

Non-negotiables based on what I’ve experienced with myself and avoiding pain: Do split squats, move around more and squat at least a few times daily, do joint CARs daily, loaded calf work for dorsiflexion ROM, do push-ups, and alternate Oly/flats for balancing knee/hip load.

I don’t know if anyone cares or is interested, but I figured I’d write it out in case anyone was thinking about trying to figure out a weird conjugate plan.

1405

Box squats will help with this and just go about 2” higher

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1406

Conjugate - Deloading

Day 2

A1 | Alternating DB Floor Press:
2x10/10x65s

A2 | BTN OHP - Bamboo Bar + Hanging KB (Truly a line no one would understand but lifters lol):
3x15x30

Bouncy KB Farmer’s Walks:
4 x 100 yds x 70s - Short Bands + Angles90 Grips

Cable Skullcrusher:
20x70
15x70
12x70

Couple of shoulder things

I benched up to 8x225 before deciding to go with this workout. It wasn’t at all difficult, but even with the bar my shoulders and pecs weren’t having it. Couldn’t get them warmed up to a point that the juice would be worth the squeeze.

This deload week is just confirming what I already thought about the program. Varying the RPE on the main lifts and deloading things frequently may seem like I’m making an easy program. But from what I can tell, my intra-session and weekly ability to lift is much higher than my monthly ability to recover. So that means dialing back on the daily/weekly levels and seeing if the recovery comes to meet in the middle.

Looking forward to doing some dedicated GPP stuff. Bouncy farmer’s walks were hard as shit on the traps and forearms. I’ll likely be doing mostly those because there aren’t any KBs there over 80, I think.

1407

Conjugate - Deload

Day 3

Close Stance SSB Paused Squat - Oly Shoes:
2x10x250 - Beltless
5x2x340 - Belted

Beltless Paused Sumo:
3x4x405

A1 | Seated Leg Curl:
20x100
12x130

A2 | Bent Knee Calf Raise:
2x10x80 - Bottom position: Stretch 3 sec, light isometric contraction 3 sec, stretch further 3 sec and then the concentric

KB Split Squat:
2x10/10x45 - On plate deficit to allow for full squat depth

Much better workout than the previous few. No hip pain due to using the close stance and Oly shoes. I pushed the SSB handles up throughout the 5x2 to make it much harder and mimic a front squat more. Usually I would let the handles come down during the concentric to make the absolute speed increase, but what’s the point if the upper back form breakdown comes with it?

1408

Conjugate - Deload

Day 4

Floor Press w/ Chains (+40):
3x5x225+40

A1 | Machine Incline Press:
8x200
8x250
6x290 + 8x200 + 10x90 - Drop set

A2 | Chest-Supported Cable Row:
2 hard sets with 150 - Don’t remember specifics

B1 | Triceps Pushdown:
2 hard sets with 150

B2 | Cable Curl:
2 hard sets with 80

Nothing specific to mention here. I may have more accessories listed as I did today because my metric written into the program is just progressions of “1 hard set”, “2 hard sets”, etc. with a rep range. The more important ones like a split squat will be recorded but out of the 1,400 posts on this log, not once have I gone back to look at my triceps pushdown PR.

Time to restart the conjugate plan. Feeling more confident with the overall idea.

1409

Restarting Conjugate - Wave 1/4 - Transition

Week 1 - Day 1 - ME Lower

High Bar Squat w/ Belt/Flats:
6x352
6x375 @ RPE 7

Beltless Front Squat:
2x8x242

A1 | Beltless RDL w/ Straps:
2x8x375

A2 | Lat Pulldown:
12x130
12x150
12x170 - Partials at the end

Bouncy KB Farmer’s Walk:
4 x 100 yds x 70s - Short Bands + Angles90 Grips

Deficit Reverse Lunge - Glute Focus:
10/10x70
15/15x70

Hanging Leg Raise:
2x15

Calf Raise On Belt Squat:
4x5x180 - 5 sec stretch + 5 sec isometric + 5 sec more stretch + 3 sec hold at top
(2 sets each before squats and at end of workout)

First wave starting out with a lower RPE main lift and higher reps. High bar for reps is very difficult for me with trying to keep the bar in place and not let it squish me forward coming out of the hole. So while these were only RPE 7, all of the reps were difficult.

Supplements today were prescribed as 2 moderate sets. I was expecting a much bigger drop in front squat performance from not doing them in a couple of months. But they were solid in both form and strength.

Accessories today were prescribed as 1 hard set. The first week of each accessory slot will be a goal-setting slot mostly and it will lead to up to 3 hard sets plus an intensifier (usually a drop set). If I get to the point where 3 hard sets per accessory feels like too much, I’ll just bump back down to 2 plus an intensifier.

“Hard sets” are ill-defined purposefully. They will be dependent on both the goals set on the first week and how I’m feeling on the day. So whatever hard is for that day will be better than skipping it.

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1410

Conjugate - Wave 1/4 - Transition

Week 1 - Day 2 - ME Upper

Low Incline Paused Bench:
6x264
6x286
6x308 @ RPE 7.5

High Incline Close Grip Bench:
2x8x198 @ RPE 8 and 9

A1 | Single-Arm DB Bench:
2x12/12x95

A2 | Cable Low Row:
10x180
10x220
10x240 + 8x200 + 8x160 - Drop set

B1 | Rear Delt Swing:
2x15x35s - 2nd set hard and to partials

B2 | Triceps Pushdown:
15x130
15x150 - To partials

Slightly overshot the RPE goal today, but I’m not concerned with 0.5 difference. I’m really happy with 308 for an assumed 8-9RM on this variation. Similar PR on flat is 11x315.

I was definitely thinking I was pressing 176 on the high incline, just misjudging the kilo plates and forgetting that 1 red + 1 green is more than 185, not less. So that’s a nice little surprise to be hitting 198 there. Both sets were solid but hard.

1411

Conjugate - Wave 1/4 - Transition

Week 1 - Day 3 - DE Lower

SSB Paused Squat w/ Belt/Oly Shoes:
8x2x330

1" Deficit Sumo - Belt/Straps:
2x8x429

A1 | Hatfield Split Squat - Short Stride:
10/10x110
10/10x152
10/10x196 - Woof

A2 | Seated Leg Curl:
Up to 1 hard set at about 20 reps with partials to 130

B1 | Cable Wood Chopper:
2x15/15x60

B2 | DB Standing March:
2x10/10x75

Good workout here. Continued to push the SSB handles up to work on thoracic strength and making it closer to a high bar or front squat position for the quads. All reps moved well.

Deficit sumo is very hard for me to stay in position at the bottom. I default to high hips for better leverage, but I’m trying to use this variation to get stronger in my normal bottom position. Just gotta fight for it. Glutes got lit up when I got it right.

Week 1 - Day 4 - DE Upper

3 Ct Eccentric + 3 Ct Paused Bench:
6x3x295 - Alternating 3 grip widths

HS Machine Incline Press w/ Bands:
2x8x110+2 Dbl Minis - Controlled eccentric, very hard at lockout

A1 | Incline DB Curl:
13x25s
12x25s

A2 | EZ Bar Curl:
12x70
10x70

B1 | Chest-Supported Rear Delt Row - EZ Bar + Angles90 Grips:
2x20x90

B2 | Cross-Body Band Triceps Extension:
2x15/15xMonster Mini

Lat Pulldown - Semi-Supinated MAG Grip:
2x20x120 - Plus weighted stretching at the end

Push-Ups - 5 Ct Eccentric:
10 Decline + 10 Flat

We’ll see how this day goes in the coming weeks. Goal on both DE days for this wave is to keep the weight the same but progress to a 5x5 with the same variation. If it’s too much at 295, I’ll likely just switch to a normal eccentric and 3 ct pause. After that I’ll re-introduce bands for real speed work again.

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1412

Conjugate - Wave 1/4 - Transition

Week 2 - Day 1 - ME Lower

Squat w/ Belt:
4x375
4x419
4x430 @ RPE 8

Beltless Front Squat:
8x242
8x253
8x253 - Paused

Beltless RDL:
2x10x375

Bouncy KB Farmer’s Walk:
2 x 150 yds x 70s
1 x 100 yds x 70s

A1 | Deficit Reverse Lunge - Glute Focus:
2x15/15x70

A2 | Lat Pulldown:
2x15x170

A3 | Hanging Leg Raise:
2x20

Squats felt solid today. This was a conservative top set for sure, even arguably RPE 7.5. Probably should have done some variation further from the comp lift, but I just set up and started lifting without thinking much about it.

Supplements and accessories were mostly pushed forward as planned or I beat last week, if I didn’t follow through with the additional-set plan.

1413

Conjugate - Wave 1/4 - Transition

Week 2 - Day 2 - ME Upper

Paused Wide Grip Bench w/ Chains (+75):
4x225+75
4x255+75
2x275+75 - Light right pec strain on 3rd rep eccentric, just had spotter take it

A1 | High Incline Close Grip Bench:
3x8x185 - No pain as expected from the angle change, still kept these lighter than planned

A2 | Cable Low Row:
10x220
10x240
10x240 + 8x200 + 8x160 - Drop set

Triceps Pushdown:
3 sets with a single mechanical drop set on the last one

B1 | Rear Delt Swing:
2x20x30s

B2 | Cable Pec Pushdown:
3 sets in the 40-80 range

Well unfortunately I got myself my first pec strain in a long time. This was supposed to just be 4 @ RPE 8 as my top set and I was likely going to my 275 that top set regardless because the pec wasn’t feeling great. Normally these happen on the concentric, so as soon as I felt it on the eccentric, I avoided that to keep damage to a minimum. Oh well, I know how to rehab it and it’ll be fine.

This was a shortened week due to Christmas, so that likely played a part in the lack of recovery. But I’m also thinking the DE day just can’t be as heavy as I made it this past week. With the DE lower days, I can choose a variation that’s hard enough at 60% and still be useful. But bench doesn’t really allow for that change. Clearly my pecs need the extra recovery.

Going to continue with the plan as written and my upper days will just be high incline/OHP variations for a bit.

Week 2 - Day 3 - DE Lower

SSB Paused Squat w/ Belt/Oly Shoes:
6x3x330

1" Deficit Sumo - Belt/Straps:
2x8x436

A1 | Walking Lunge - Short Stride:
2x25/25xBW

A2 | GHR w/ Band:
2x15xBW+Mini

Cardio: Concept2 Bike
Interval - 10 cal medium-high effort / 5 cal low effort up to 105 calories total (with a minute off in the middle)
10 cal cool down
115 cal and 3,837 meters total in 8:29

I’m enjoying these handles-up SSB squats. They take a lot of focus on my positioning and I end up in a really solid bottom position when I maintain that. Hopefully it will translate to a barbell squat over time. Next week is 6x4 at the same weight and then 5x5 the following week. The goal is to continue pausing all of them while maintaining the position.

Merry Christmas and such

1414

Conjugate - Wave 1/4 - Transition

Week 2 - Day 4 - DE Upper

Standing OHP:
2x4x155 - Actually had some pec discomfort with this, so I moved on

A1 | Single Arm DB OHP:
3x12/12x50

A2 | HS Iso-Row:
3x20x180

Machine Chest Press w/ Bands:
3x20x90+Dbl Mini - This was done on a dip machine in a strange position, but it ended up in a semi-decline angle

B1 | EZ Bar Curl:
2x12x70

B2 | Incline DB Curl:
2x8x25s

C1 | Overhead Triceps Extension:
2x15x100

C2 | Triceps Pushdown:
2x10x100

Cable Pec Press:
2x30x40s

Bench:
100xBar

I’ve never had a pec strain that has affected my overhead press at all, but I definitely felt it here. Even just using the bar it was there. It could be just some initial tightness that needs some movement and time.

Everything else felt fine on the pec and then the barbell bench 100 reps at the end had some mild discomfort from being in the exact line of pull of the injury, but that’s the point.

1415

Conjugate - Wave 1/4 - Transition

Week 3 - Day 1 - ME Lower

Sumo Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps:
5x495
5x545 @ 8
5x495 - For practice

Box Squat w/ Belt:
6x315
8x315

SSB Good Morning - Beltless and Arched Back:
8x155
8x205

A1 | Lat Pulldown:
12x150
12x180
12x180 + 8x140 + 8x100 - Drop set

A2 | High Step Ups:
2x10/10xBW
10/10xBW+22

A3 | Calf Raise on Belt Squat:
2x5x90 - 5 sec stretch, 5 sec isometric, 5 sec deeper stretch, and then concentric

Bench:
100xBar - No pain

Week 3 means the deload of the supplement slots with new exercises at just 1 hard set. The box squats are there as a paused squat variation more than a traditional box squat. Trying to make sure I’m not reaching back with my ass and leaning way forward, but that’s what I did on the first set at 315. So I kept the weight there and made it my working set for the next one. Got a little better, but still need to work on it.

I’ve never done an “arched back” good morning, but they’re hard as shit. Normal ones with the SSB usually end up like a deadlift with thoracic flexion, but forcing myself to hold the position is going to be useful, I think.

Top set of deadlifts was meh. I didn’t have the position I wanted despite the weight moving well enough. I was hoping to take 565 at this RPE today, but it wouldn’t be useful to practice it that way.

1416

Conjugate - Wave 1/4 - Transition

Week 3 - Day 2 - “ME” Upper

A1 | Chest-Supported Row w/ Band:
3x8x135+Dbl Mini - This was practically my max effort portion for the day

A2 | Bench Press:
5x20x135 - Various grips and tempos, no pec pain whatsoever

EZ Bar Skullcrusher w/ Chains:
8xBar+75
10xBar+75
8xBar+75

Lat Pulldown:
2x15x140
20x140 - To failure with partials

Cable Crossover Triceps Extension:
2x15

Cable Hammer Curl w/ Rope:
2x12

Hoist Chest Press:
3x15-20 - Various ROMs, no pain here either

Lateral Raise - Myoreps:
20 + 6x5 x 20s then 2 sets of 12 no weight full abduction (this last part was actually hard as hell)

Really happy with the lack of pain in the pec over 100 reps with 135. Generally it takes a bit longer to get to 135 without pain on any amount of reps. Still going to take my time getting back into heavier weights, but good progress so far.

Just a bodybuilding day otherwise. The lateral raises were fun. Took the no-weight idea from a recent Renaissance Periodization YouTube video that Mike did. Never considered doing that, but it was truly very hard to lift my arms overhead after the 50 reps prior.

1417

Conjugate - Wave 1/4 - Transition

Week 3 - Day 3 - DE Lower

SSB Paused Squat w/ Belt/Oly Shoes:
6x4x330

Sumo RDL w/ Belt/Straps:
8x375
8x440
8x485 - Benchmark PR

Goblet Squat w/ Cable TKE:
15xBW+150 on cable
2x10x75+150

Seated Leg Curls - Myoreps w/ 5-10 sec rests:
20x120 + 5x5x120 + 2x10/10 standing leg curl no weight

Seated Calf Raise:
2x(?)x(?) - Used the X-Wife as weight and just went til it was hard, 5 sec stretch position with active tibialis anterior contraction. Also did some belt squat calf raises before squats

Couple ab things til they cramped (Not a measure of when to finish, just didn’t get much done here as a result)

Learned of the passing of my grandfather the morning of this workout and was dealing with that grief through this workout purposefully through the work and music. Not always the best decision, but this being a DE day with weight being preplanned and only a single top set on the supplement, I allowed myself that freedom.

Let it in fully and let it out loudly (alone in the gym other than my fiancée) before the top deadlift set and it basically felt like nothing. I think I could have literally done 20 reps. It’s still my “1 hard set” because the weight prior to this one was telling enough that this will be a good place to start for the subsequent weeks.

Had a little bit of difficulty with squats at first with nearly passing out during warm-ups with 285. I think I stood there too long before the first rep just getting the hip position situated and feeling my bracing. I don’t think I was holding my breath, but I started blacking out on the first eccentric and nearly fell over coming up. Racked it and took a minute. Took until about set 3 of the 6x4 to feel normal.

Week 3 - Day 4 - DE Upper

Bench:
3x20x185 - 3 grips. Hard, but still no pain

Seated DB OHP:
2x15x55s

Meadows Row (Strict) - Angles90 Grips:
10/10x75
10/10x100

A1 | Incline DB Curl:
15x25s
12x25s

A2 | EZ Bar Curl:
2x8x80

KB Turkish Start-Up:
2x8/8x60 - Idk what to call these, they’re the first movement of a Turkish Get-Up and it’s just a shoulder stability challenge of going to/from horizontal adduction/abduction

Happy with the pec progress. No issues so far and it’s time to move on from the 20s. I’ll be traveling by car about 13 hours twice this week for my grandfather’s funeral, so I don’t know what lifting will look like. Probably severely lacking, but I’ll just get whatever I can done and get back to it when I’m home.

1418

Quick Catch-Up

Traveled for the funeral for 13 hours each way with 2 days in between. Got 1 workout in and did some incline press with a Kabuki Cadillac bar for 3x6x225.

After that I got sick and so did everyone else in the family practically. Got the Omicron probably. Didn’t get tested, just stayed home and took a few days and got back in the gym after symptoms subsided. Had a decent workout with very hard Anderson-to-Pin Squats with the SSB. Just got up to 5x295+75 in chains. Did some box squats with 295 and pin pulls against bands after that (like 150 lbs in bands and 315 on the bar). Next workout included bench up to 285 for a very easy 4 (pec seems healed) and some DB OHP with no back support.

I was very sore from the lower workout, especially in the left adductor. Next workout I tried to squat and couldn’t do it without significant pain, which shifted me around form-wise. Somehow, a 135 squat got my low back into a strain and spasm cycle. Didn’t do much after that. Very irritated. And the adductor was completely fine by the next day.

In retrospect, I haven’t kept up with my non-negotiables of mobility, rode in the car for 26 hours recently, did a very hard variation on squats, pulled against heavy bands, and did OHP with no back support. It’s not the 135 that did me in. This is what improper load, stress, and fatigue management looks like.

Been a few days and it’s not keeping me up at night now, so I did this workout:

Reverse Hypers:
2x25xBW

Lat Pulldown:
2x25x100

Belt Squat + Bands:
20x90+2 Dbl Minis
15x135+2 Dbl Minis
2x12x180+2 Dbl Minis

Med Ball Hypers:
2x20xBW+20

Cable High Row - Lat Focused - Myoreps:
20 + 5x8 x 150 - 10 sec rests

Hanging Psoas March:
2x10/10xShort Mini Band

Mostly fine, still getting a few spasms here and there. Hopefully will be 100% within a week or 2.

Another travel plan coming up unfortunately (for training, that is). It wasn’t going to interfere much with the cycle, but this this little injury added to it has derailed it.

Plans: Time to enter a bulking phase to help with recovery and feeling strong again. I’m planning on doing solid bulking/cutting cycles every 10 weeks or so from here on out. Just been an area out of focus for a while and I need to make it a priority. This bulking phase will be 8 weeks and then I’m restarting the conjugate plan with a small restructure.

1419

Last Few Workouts

Not logging everything until I’m back in action fully following my travels next week. The last few workouts included this:

Feet Up Bench w/ Bands:
4x4x220+80 (2 dbl minis)

Beltless Squat:
5x5x242 - Some back discomfort but not much

Beltless Conventional Deadlift:
3x5x242 - No issues

Close Grip 1 Board Press:
5x8x225

Happy with the low back recovery so far. Basics of acute back pain: Don’t be scared of it. Move around a bunch. Load it after a few days.

1420

Last Few Workouts

Low back is mostly better, started squatting again within a few days of the last post. Still some pain with deadlift, but otherwise moving along fine. Some of the main things I’ve done:

Paused Squat w/ Belt:
5x3x365

Sumo Deadlift w/ Belt:
Up to 2x2x495, 2x535

Feet Up Bench:
4x4x308

HS Iso-Row:
Up to 205 each side for 10 reps - Heaviest row I’ve done since the lat injury months ago