Woohoo!! 
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@Moonflower its the deficit that caused the bar hitting my ankles I used smaller diameter plates and I stood on 2-plates to get full quad engagement plus I did 12reps. So the fatigue caused me to just keep hitting my legs. So basically deficit + high reps I donāt recommend, but it hit my quads so nice Iāll probably be doing them again anyway, lol.
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@Cretin78 I donāt really see how even with a deficit the bar path is enough to hit the ankles to the point where theyāre bruised unless the form is off but ok. Maybe anthropometry explains it but I donāt worry about it.
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The bar started at my feet from the deficit.
When the weight gets heavy I use baby oil on my legs because if my legs are dry, the bar will get stuck on my calves.
Like I said, I donāt worry about it at all because itās not a problem for me but you do you.
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I would love to see a vid of you doing a hack deadlift. Because I honestly donāt know how 495 can be done without hitting your legs? Like do your hams even get in the way?
Nope. I move my hips forward just a smidge during the movement to clear the bar, so my hams never get in the way. Sure it touches the upper hamstrings at the top of the rep but definitely not anywhere close to causing bruising by any means or rubbing to the point of any irritation. Iāve never had the bar be that uncomfortable on any part of my legs, ankles or hams.
495x1 with mid form:
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Thanks for posting, it makes sense now at that elevated height. I do them that way too and that does not cause any type of bruising that I have just had.
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But I thought you were saying you scraped up your legs while doing them at a deficit?
The bar path is the same regardless of height, even at a deficit it shouldnāt hit your ankles or hamstrings if your form is decent. The only reason mine is slightly elevated is because I use crash pads. But height doesnāt make a difference in the bar path as it relates to it potentially banging up your legs.
Sure at 225 (light weight) or under the bar wonāt press against my lower legs / ankles.
I really think you would need to try like 300 for close to 10reps standing on plates to understand that, yeah the bar path changes, first you are now squatting the weight and then thereās fatigue. I was repping out 10+ reps TUT going down to the ankles, then squatting back up.
Kinda regret I brought it up. lol. But you canāt use crash mats to duplicate what Iām saying, at all.
I already posted a vid of me doing 495 for a single with zero problems, so not going heavy enough is not an issue. Accumulated fatigue breaks down form a bit, sure, but not to the degree that you should have problems with this to such a significant degree even at 10 reps. If itās that bad on my legs, my form would personally have to be pretty rough tbh. So accumulated fatigue isnāt an issue that affects things to that degree either.
Now for the other half of your argument regarding bar pathāwhether I use crash pads or not doesnāt change the bar path enough for your statement to be true for me. Strictly conventional, at a deficit, or a slight block pull doesnāt alter the bar path to such a significant degree to cause that amount of damage to my legsāany potential deviation in path is slight enough that this is rendered to a nonissue. To illustrate using a comparable hinging movement from the front of the legs, we donāt destroy our knees solely from dropping RDLs to a deficit, do we? Just by adding in a bit of fatigue and a bit of deficit, the bar path changes so much that now weāre destroying our shins and kneecaps? Really? The bar path really changes that significantly just by introducing a deficit on hack deads? I donāt think so.
Like I said, even in the probably-not-very-likely case that this is solely due to differences in anthropometry between us, this does not make this enough of an issue for me to worry or care about this whenever I do them since Iāve found that if you practice the form cue and remember to shift your hips forward a smidge during the movement it makes all of this an afterthought. 
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LOL, thatās why I said you actually need to try it firstā¦ā¦..
but Iāll tell you what happens,Two things-
Standing at a deficit where the bar is literally at your Achilles heel, you must squat down or stiff leg it. In my case I was focusing on quads, so I squatted. This totally changes the bar path, an anology is ATG deep knee bends versus parallel squats, two different patterns here.
The second thing is fatigue-
When fatigue sets in, the traps drop down, the bar then shifts towards the body because the upper back is failing. I used straps to do this.
All this was learned because Iād never done that deficit ROM before. You can assume this or that , but until itās doneā¦..when I was finished I was like āholy shatā the back of my ankles were swollen where the bone is, this was all new to me at that height and weight. 225 wasnāt an issue for 10reps even though it still grazed my bottom legs. 250+ and yeah, different animal.
@Moonflower found this, watch that bar press against his sweat pants at his ankles, now imagine doing that 5+ times.
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@Cretin78 I thought including that video was kind of funny, since it demonstrates zero of your claims. According to your posts here and the magnitude of your ankle discomfort that youāve described, hereās what I should apparently be looking for in this video youāve found to support these statements:
in your own words:
Lol the concept youāre actually showing here by including that vid is less ābruising and swollen, painful anklesā and more āthe bar barely touches his legs and anklesā since thatās what you see in the video. The bar doesnāt even stop completely anywhere near his ankles, it barely touches him and wonāt cause pain for him at all, similar in form to an RDL where thereās potential contact but nothing of injurious consequence since any way the bar touches his ankles or legs is light enough to render it extremely inconsequential to this argument. His form looks great to me and I have no idea why a video of a guy whoās barely touching his ankles and legs with the bar proves all of your claims that result in you being bruised and banged up at the ankles since we see absolutely none of that in that video.
Like I said before, the bar path isnāt different enough for me to have to worry about any of this at all so this statement isnāt really persuasive, since at this time when the two are in conflict I respectfully value my own results over your opinions. You do you though, best of luck to you on that and I wish you a speedy recovery for your ankles next time you do hack deads. 
Not what happens for me.
Anywayā¦
10/31/25 - Legs
Hack Deadlift - 510 x 1
Front Squats - 185 x 8, 185 x 8
Barbell Calf Raises - 275 x 13, 275 x 13
Zercher Good Mornings - 135 x 11, 135 x 11
Behind the Back Barbell Shrugs - 195 x 12, 195 x 12
Original Barbell Hack Squat - 70 x 12, 70 x 12
Unilateral Lying Cable Hamstring Curls (Facing Away) - 20 x 11, 20 x 11
Summary
Great session today, leg training is always so hard in such a great way. Started out with Hack Deads again and set a 15 pound PR, which I was stoked about. My front squats are still pretty light but they burn like all get out so Iāll keep rolling with it. Muscles respond to tension, not an arbitrary number on the bar, and Iām getting plenty out of these front squats and theyāre pretty difficult for me right now, so Iāll keep at it! I also did the Zercher style Good Mornings, I donāt really like holding the bar that much but the hinge part of the movement feels really good, taking a bit of the axial loading away really makes it feel super hingey and I really enjoyed that today. Calvesā¦I want to find some more movements for these. Starting to think about how to switch it up, to be honest. All in all, a great session! Slight progress on just about everything, which is just about as good as it gets!
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Dudeā¦ā¦.im like so ashamed I brought this upā¦ā¦
I was simply just making some conversation and just saying something I experienced and not at all reflecting towards you.
But, let me just say, in that vid, when he ditched the bar, he jumped forward. I continued holding the bar and repped it out.
This really should be a simple concept, but I guess I canāt explain it.
I totally digress!
11/4/25 - Chest/Shoulders + Biceps
Close Grip Bench Press - 285 x 1, 225 x 9, 225 x 9
Lying Cuff Cable Lateral Raises - 20 x 10, 20 x 10
Dumbbell Flies - 25 x 12, 25 x 12
EZ Bar Curls - 80 x 12, 80 x 12
Dumbbell Preacher Curls - 30 x 12, 30 x 12
Lying Dumbbell Curls - 20 x 12, 20 x 12
Summary
Back at it again after a long weekend. Was watching some college football with the fam on Saturday + work, worked 12 hours total and had to sleep in the middle of the day on Sunday (working overnight with short callbacks are always fun) and wasnāt feeling well Monday so was more than ready to hit a lift to start out the week.
This was the first push workout to start hammering the lockout harder on my bench. Decided on close grip bench, which is honestly a variation Iāve never done before since I usually just go for regular grip instead. Honestly, thatās definitely been to my detrimentāI felt my triceps so much more during the movement and it was a 10/10 lift, other than my wrist feeling it a bit during the backdowns. Wasnāt too upset with the single, and I was very pleased that I got 9 reps on both of the backdowns! I think my rep work is slightly stronger compared to my max strength across similar bench variations that have different difficulties, I donāt quite know for sure though. I also decided this week to spring for a slingshot (a knockoff brand, to be fair, but Iāll still put it through its paces!). If it lets me add 10% more weight than my normal max I might try to get a single with 330-340 and some solid rep work in during an upcoming session to get a little bit more acclimated to the heavier weight of 3 plates and to give me a variation that really lets me overload. A lot of times I like getting more out of less weight but sometimes (like my bench right now) itās helpful to be able to overload at times and I think that is something that will help. So Iām looking forward to trying it out soon and seeing if itās useful!
Rest of the workout was good. Decided to hit some lying cuff laterals and flies for a nice pump. Iāll probably be trending a lot more toward OHP and dip variations in the next few workouts, especially with chains here and there to hit even more triceps in all of my compounds. Trying to hit the most carryover to my bench with all of my pushing compounds as I can while Iām ramping up for the final push to three plates.
Biceps, nothing to write home about but it was pretty great overall! A bar-based curl for some solid load lifted, preachers for some short head work, and then trying out lying dumbbell curls again to hit a stretchy variation. Good pump, good sesh, Iām feeling good on my training right now. I think if I stay healthy then this late fall/winter is going to go pretty hard.
11/5/25 - Back + Triceps
Weighted Pull Ups +19 lbs. chains - 60 x 9, 60 x 9
Wide Mag Grip Cable Inverted Rows - 190 x 13, 190 x 13
Seated Cable Row (Straight Bar) - 160 x 12, 60 x 12
Straight Bar Pushdown - 80 x 10, 80 x 10
Dumbbell Extensions - 30 x 10, 30 x 10
Unilateral Cable Overhead Extensions - 25 x 12, 25 x 12
Summary
Solid lift, pretty much everything felt really easy. Bunch of progress on this one!
11/7/25 - Legs
Front Squats - 185 x 9, 185 x 9
Unilateral Standing Cable Calf Raise - 90 x 9, 90 x 9
Romanian Deadlifts - 225 x 11, 225 x 11
Barbell Shrugs - 195 x 12, 195 x 12
Original Barbell Hack Squat - 75 x 12, 75 x 12
Unilateral Lying Cable Hamstring Curl (Facing Away) - 20 x 12, 20 x 12
Summary
I liked this leg day, the front squats were brutal but I had a really great leg pump after this session. I decided to try a cable calf raise, it gets a better stretch in the bottom than the barbell calf raises Iāve been doing and it felt really great once I got used to it. Iām also a bit surprised that the lying hamstring curls have been progressing this well for this long. I figured they would have slowed down a bit by now but theyāre still going up each session. I think Iāll run them for a bit longer and see if I plateau soon. Honestly just continuing to build each session, a little bit at a time!
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Happy Monday, itās bench day!
11/10/25 - Chest/Shoulders + Biceps
Reverse Grip Bench Press - 295 x 1, 225 x 9, 225 x 9
AD Press - 100 x 12, 100 x 12
Weighted Dip +19 lbs. chains - 70 x 11, 70 x 11
EZ Bar Preacher Curls - 70 x 12, 70 x 11
Alternating Dumbbell Curls - 30 x 11, 30 x 11
Summary
Little bit rushed today but a great session regardless. The bench single wasnāt the cleanest rep Iāve ever done but it counts and I got it up, so Iāll take it. Next time Iāll definitely be watching so Iām not arching quite as much but it was still a completed rep so Iām not complaining. Iāll never be upset at progress, after all.
Trying to choose push compounds right now that carry over to bench and my specific weaknesses on that lift. Brutal session in a really good way!
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11/11/25 - Back (aka Row Row your boat)
Weighted BTN Pull Ups - 45 x 10, 45 x 9
Unilateral Cable Inverted Rows - 85 x 12, 85 x 12
Chest Supported Barbell Row - 135 x 13, 135 x 13
Summary
Super pressed for time but had enough to rip out some compounds, which was better than nothing. Rows felt really easy, which was great. I went with two stable variations since I wanted to deadlift the next day and I didnāt want to worry about overlap. Thatās really the only major downside of the asynchronous PPL split, having to pay attention to lower back and axial fatigue from Pull to Leg day, especially if both are done on consecutive days. But with good exercise blending and fatigue management itās honestly not that hard of a problem to solve, especially as it gets easier to listen to your body and realize how much you can do before you start running into recovery issues.
11/12/25 - Legs
Deadlift - 365 x 1
Front Squats - 185 x 10, 185 x 10
Standing Bilateral Cable Calf Raise - 180 x 17, 180 x 17
Original Barbell Hack Squat - 85 x 10, 85 x 10
Unilateral Lying Cable Hamstring Curls (Facing Cable Station) - 60 x 11, 60 x 11
Lying Unilateral Cable Shrugs - 105 x 15, 105 x 15
Summary
Great session, still seeing slow progress on a bunch of things which was great. Tried for four plates on the deadlift single but it wasnāt quite there so I had to settle for 365, which went up pretty nicely so I probably could have squeezed out 10-20 more pounds if I had decided to keep trying more attempts. I did try out more cable calf raises, this time the bilateral version and this was really nice. The stretch is a lot better than the standing barbell curls, which is limited to the floor since I donāt have blocks or wedges or anything (I just add more weight to overload it more, really). Really liked it! Calves were sore and the stretch was awesome. Also decided to switch up the hamstrings and do the lying cable hamstring curl, this time on my back so it mimics more of a seated hamstring curl. Absolutely brutal and I think my hamstrings have definitely improved in the last half of this year as Iāve been spamming a lot more direct hamstring work and RDLs in my leg days.
11/15/25 - Chest/Shoulders + Biceps
Sling Shot Bench - 315 x 1, 245 x 9, 245 x 9
AD Press +38 lbs. chains - 65 x 12, 75 x 11
Weighted Dips - 90 x 11, 90 x 11
Straight Bar Cable Curls - 60 x 12, 60 x 12
Dumbbell Concentration Curls - 30 x 11, 30 x 11
Bayesian Curls - 27.5 x 11, 27.5 x 11
Summary
Today was an interesting dayā¦bench was weak. Generally I start out a bit lighter on new stuff until I get a feel for it, and since Iāve never done the Sling Shot bench before, I can see things being a bit less than they would be. I settled for a 315 rep that went up quite smoothly before failing 345 and 335. Rep work was also only 20 pounds more than my regular flat bench and that still felt a bit heavier than I thought it should. I think Iām still getting used to the Sling Shot, itās very different than anything Iāve experienced before to be fair. I did try it on a couple more reps of dips after my second set and that was awesome, those reps blasted right of the bottom of the rep so now I want to try the Sling Shot on bar dips next time. Shoulders felt really good though, I kind of wish today was mostly just shoulders with how good they were feeling. Biceps were also great too.
Sometimes after my push days Iāll have the nastiest pump ever and I walk away after absolutely crushing a sessionā¦sadly none of that really happened today. Workout was good, but it just happened, thatās all. Brick by brick though.
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11/17/25 - Back + Triceps
Weighted Pull Ups +38 lbs. chains - 45 x 9, 45 x 7
Bent Over Rows - 175 x 11, 170 x 12
Cambered Swiss Bar Chest Supported Rows - 140 x 12, 140 x 12
Straight Bar Pushdowns +19 lbs. chains - 70 x 12, 70 x 12
Decline Dumbbell Extensions - 25 x 13 25 x 13
JM Press - 120 x 13, 120 x 13
Weighted Floor Tricep Extensions - 45 x 19
Summary
Nice lift today, had enough time that I wasnāt feeling rushed and it was just a nice session all around. All the tricep work was fantastic, especially after the pushdowns. Some nice upper back work too and trying out more chains on pull upsāitās a lot easier coming out of the bottom but getting up to the bar is really difficult and I need to clean up my form a bit more for those, I think.
Also did a finisher today, nothing fancy. Just an easier kind of movement to really burn out my triceps and have a little fun with it. Decided on floor tricep extensions, basically a tricep pushup, which I decided on because of the dead stop with a collision aspect of the movement, it feels pretty similar to a floor press for me so I figured why not?
I did these a lot when I was training mostly calisthenics/weighted calisthenics. I upgraded my gym setup in early 2024 and bought my rack and a bunch of other stuff, but before that it was calisthenics/weighted calisthenics back to around 2019/2020 or so. Used to do tricep extensions all the time, especially on rings. (I still have my rings and havenāt actually used them in a bit, I want to bring back more ring work soon. Ring push ups, extensions, pull ups, dips, flies, etc. are all awesome variations. Been sleeping on them for a whileā¦I should put them in rotation again soon here and there.) Anywayā¦long story short I used to spam these a lot, especially on rings, so I figured Iād do a set of weighted floor extensions to end on a fun note (kind of a fun throwback, if you will) and was happy with the result. 19 reps with a plate after isolations isnāt too bad, and the triceps were feeling it! Great session all around.
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11/20/25 - Legs
Front Squats - 185 x 11, 185 x 11
Standing Bilateral Cable Calf Raises - 200 x 16, 200 x 16
Seated Barbell Good Mornings - 135 x 11, 135 x 11
OG Barbell Hack Squat - 85 x 11, 85 x 10
Unilateral Lying Cable Hamstring Curl (Facing toward cable) - 60 x 12, 60 x 11
Behind the Back Barbell Shrugs - 205 x 12, 205 x 12
Summary
Solid leg day, it seems like those front squats get more and more brutal with each rep I add. Working up to sets of 12 and then Iāll probably rotate them out, Iām thinking more back squats or maybe some pin or pause squats since hitting depth is still challenging and I want to strengthen the bottom of the rep if I can. Still thinking about that though, honestly right now I donāt think it really matters quite as much what I do as long as I donāt lose sight of just progressing reps and weight over time. Hard work adds up over time.
Iām also having fun with the cable calf raises, I can go for the deeper stretch since I stand on the bottom foot of my cable tower and use that for the stretch, feels amazing. The weight capacity on my tower is 250 pounds so I have a bit of room left for the bilaterals and then I can always increase reps, or do strictly unilateral. Either way, it feels great and Iām loving it. Barbell calf raises are ok but they really lack that stretch since I have to do them on the floor, even after compensating by upping the weight it still hits different on the cable and I like that. Donāt know why I didnāt think to do cable calf raises until now but itās just in time to maybe give myself a bit more calf size for Christmas? XD
I was going to do this workout the day before but accidentally took a day offā¦was rearranging some stuff in the gym. Namely, switching the locations of my cable tower and my air bike. I currently have my cable tower weighed down via two 100 pound plates hanging on the back upright of my cable tower for stability, but it isnāt the best solution since I donāt have it anchored to the floor or a wall (not an option in my basement rn). So my plan is to get a couple 43" rack crossmembers and attach them from the rear upright on my rack out to the back upright of my cable tower for stability, essentially making my cable tower a part of my rack. That setup would brace and stabilize my cable tower, add enough width that barbell work inside the rack isnāt affected at all and I still have room to load plates on the sides, and I can still have my cable tower face forward instead of perpendicular to the rack, which is much better to fit the space Iām in. So I moved that into place last night and rearranged everything that needed moved, and Iām pretty happy with it. Will probably order the crossmembers in January sometime and roll with that, until then itās at least in that spot so I can decide if I hate the idea or not beforehand. XD But I think itāll be awesome, sometimes just a couple crossmembers and some bolts can make things a whole lot nicer.
Anyway, between workouts and some rearranging and thinking of future plans for the home gym, itās been some good stuff happening this week.
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