I’m freeing myself of being trapped in traditional weeks. I’ve always run programs where Monday was this day, Tuesday was that day, and so on. Well, now I’m just lifting every other day with a push/pull program. It’s quite enjoyable. I feel fresh, and according to Paul Carter, I’m getting enough frequency/volume to do some good.
Rotating through five workouts over four days of weekly lifting is a good idea. Thanks, Simo 
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I both enjoy and feel constrained by that style of weekly programming. These days I have a particular movement pattern, lift, or muscle group I plan to work that day and call an audible for the day’s accessory lifts. Like you, lifting every other day with a general format has breathed new life into my training.
Thanks, Duke! It reflects my goals and my attitude about appearances. My mom grew up in the farmlands of Midwest America. She said all the farmers would work in the fields without their shirts in the summer. They were all very strong, and she doesn’t remember seeing anyone with a six-pack. Ever. Her opinion is westernized countries’ fixation on appearances is poisoning society, and I agree.
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8/6/19, Tuesday
Wide neutral EZ rows / strict DB OHP
85 x 10 / 33 x 8
105 x 6 / 43 x 5
125 x 3 / 53 x 3
135 x 10 / 63 x 5
135 x 9 / 63 x 5
135 x 9 / 63 x 5
115 x 15 / 45 x 10 (3-sec. negative)
Raised the weight in DB OHP. Now to increase the reps
Chest supported rear delt flye/ EZ curls
23 x 8 / 90 x 6
23 x 8 / 90 x 5
23 x 10 / 90 x 5
Push-ups, handles + feet elevated
40 x 11
40 x 10
40 x 10
bw x 25
I raised the weight on everything other than wide rows. It felt good! Slow, steady progress ftw.
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8/9/19, Friday
Deficit power cleans
115 x 3
130 x 3
145 x 3
I enjoy having a touch of power training. Hopefully the very light weight and low reps will enable me to slowly progress this movement. It makes a great warmup for deadlifts.
Deficit deadlifts
175 x 5
205 x 5 (SG)
235 x 5 (SG)
265 x 3 (SG)
295 x 3 (275 bar, 20 backpack)
315 x 5 (275/40)
315 x 5
315 x 5
Walking lunges/leg (weight in backpack)
30 x 12
30 x 12
30 x 15
Ab wheel rollouts
knees x 6
knees x 6
knees x 6
knees x 6
DB swings
45 x 15
45 x 15
45 x 15
45 x 20
I stuck with the upper-lower, every-other day split again this week. We’ll see what next week brings, but I’m already finding this (new to me) format something I can stay consistent with.
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I respectfully disagree with your mom. 
Two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. I don’t think the small percentage of people concerned with their abs are the problem.
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Maybe you are both right, neither the overly obese nor the ab obsessed are adding real value!!
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It’s nice when people can respectfully disagree while sharing different but equally valid opinions.
I agree that the so-called lifestyle diseases pose a greater threat to people’s physical health than does being concerned about ab visibility. The view I hold is that fixation on appearance above other factors is emotionally unhealthy and detrimental to leading a balanced, full life.
Appearance obsession comes in many forms; when I was a teenager, I became way too worried about getting hyooge and ripped. It took over my time of thought and ultimately cheated me out of the richness of some of life’s experiences. However, a couple injuries prevented me from lifting for some years and helped me regain perspective. These days, my view is that having a healthy, functioning body is of greater value than chasing whatever the latest appearance fad might be.
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That sounds about right - maintaining moderation about body image will yield the greatest personal and societal benefits.
We humans naturally care about physical appearance and attractiveness, but that concern can become an ungealthy obsession. On the flip side, complete lack of concern about appearance can result in severely unhealthy weight gain and a host of preventable diseases.
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Backlog of sessions! On Sat. Aug. 10, I strained my upper back carrying and lifting a piano into the back of a truck. The doctor prescribed me a mild muscle relaxer, and I took a couple days off lifting.
8/12/19, Monday
Walk - 2.6 miles, 42:03
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8/13/19, Tuesday
Light upper body
Incline DB press
45 x 15
55 x 15
55 x 15
55 x 12
EZ bar semi-supinated rows
110 x 15
130 x 15
130 x 15
130 x 15
Incline pec flye/supported rear delt flye
30 x 15 / 23 x 9
35 x 18 / 23 x 12
Single arm DB triceps ext
30 x 12
30 x 12
30 x 12
DB wrist curl / DB reverse wrist curls
25 x 20 / 23 x 15
25 x 20 / 23 x 14
Some curls (can’t remember weight).
A light session to get the blood flowing and joints loosened up while waiting fo my back to fully recover.
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8/14/19, Wednesday
Single leg curls, plate on chain
20 x 13
20 x 15
Single leg glute raises, leg elevated
bw x 12
bw x 12
These suck, in that they burn and irritate! I put my pushing leg on a step; I got the idea while watching some of Cole Sager’s YouTube vids (he’s a CrossFit competitor.) He places his pushing leg on a weight bench and does 3 x 20; something to work towards. @Frank_C if you’re interested, here’s a variation to try.
Squats
65 x 10
95 x 5
115 x 3
135 x 4
150 x 4
165 x 4
180 x 4
195 x 4
210 x 4
155 x 10
Back squats place less strain on my upper back than front squats. My top set was five pounds heavier than last week, my burn-out set had two more reps, and my knees and back felt great.
Deficit RDLs
155 x 8
175 x 8
195 x 8
215 x 8
Step-ups
bw x 80
bw x 80
I was tired, so I broke these into two sets.
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8/15/19, Thursday
Walked the doggos.
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8/17/19, Saturday
Dan John style full body workout because the article’s title resonated. Really, really.
OHP (strict BB - push press - strict DB)
65 x 8
95 x 5
115 x 4
125 x 4
135 x 4
155 x 4 (push press)
165 x 4 (push press)
45 x 10 (DB, 3-second negative)
45 x 10 (DB)
After my last OHP session, I’ve been thinking about the inherent instability of dumbbells and my hesitance to push them into high weight and low reps. My shoulders have been feeling great, so I wanted to test barbell OHPs again. They were fantastic! I really enjoy push presses and heavy pressing and using DBs for lighter burnout reps.
Deficit power cleans
115 x 3
130 x 3
145 x 3
160 x 3
Deficit deadlifts
195 x 5
225 x 4
255 x 3
285 x 3 (275 bar/10 backpack)
315 x 6 (275/40)
315 x 7 (275/40)
315 x 6 (275/40)
Back’s feeling better. Current plan is to work up to 3x10 working sets.
Farmer walks
93/hand x 36 yards
93/hand x 36 yards
93/hand x 36 yards
Single leg calf raise / db curls
25 x 15 / 30 x 15
25 x 12 / 30 x 14
25 x 10 / 30 x 15
I’m unsure if this was a one-off workout to finish a recovery week with my most important lifts or if it signals another attempt at full-body lifting. My current thinking is either the traditional four days, upper-lower split centered around DB presses, squats, OHP, and deficit deads; three full-body days wherein I cram all the same exercises; or one day each of upper, lower, and full body. We’ll see!
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Just been going through the last 16 days or so TnT.
Time to commit to a program for the rest of the year.
Have you looked at @isdatnutty “Nutty’s beginner 4 day program”. It’s really nice.
On another note is your back fine after the piano lifting?
And I agree totally on the when mom was young, there where not many obese people and not many with abs, but a lot of youngsters and middle age people working hard with a normal strong body to show.
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Sounds better than doing 10 second holds!
Hope your back heals up quickly. It looks like you feel alright based on those sessions.
I’m thinking I might do that…
Nuttys program IS great! I strongly considered doing it, but it doesn’t quite fit my equipment parameters. I’m going to re-read I and see if I can tweak it to something that fits me well.
Finally! Thanks for asking
Yep, exactly. That’s how the majority of society was when I was a kid, too. People were more active then - more adults worked jobs that required at least some physical labor, kids spent free time playing sports and riding bikes, an families socialized via physical activities like gardening and hiking.
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That’s a matter of tweaking, using DB, KB, body weight movements as long as you can overload it using double progression on the mayor lifts.
It’s really simple but it’s really boring as well.
And the food wasn’t as processed as it is today. Todays food choices are so high calorie dense and easy to get, and as a human you just want to eat, your brain rewards you with that well being feeling when you eat shit, that you just want to do it again.
But anyways great the back is finally back to normal and you’re back to lifting.
Gonna be fun to see what you come up with… you could always look at that HIIB stuff @Frank_C wants to do as well.
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You just described the last 3 years of my training. You just forgot to add “effective”
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