High frequency 127: 2/27/19

Feeling stronggggggg

That being said, my back was great going into the weekend, but now feels kinda just alright. This is ok, progress wont always be linear. I stoppes doing my exercises 2x a day, and that's just not an option.

MAIN QUEST: HEAL BITCH HEAL

Im going to restart doing bodyweight squats on the reg with bfr bands. My butt and legs are depressingly small and weak. Even stan efferding didnt stop leg training when he was healing his back. He shifted his training to movements he could do pain free. What's a few sets of bw squats per night?

Workout
Abs
Parallel chin 55x7, 30x10, 10x10
Hspu > pu > dec pu
-- not going to failure here
Bicep cable curls
Band traps dropset
Rear delt raises 5lbs

High frequency 126: 2/26/19

Slightly better today, but my back feels off. LAME.

Workout
Abs
-- almost threw up. Not cool
Ohp 135x9
--lost a rep, but this is still the best set at this weight ive ever done
Parallel bw chins x3
-- it's better if i finish one exercise before moving to the next
Tricep pushdowns, bands
Rear delt raises
Quad stretches

Traps and herniated discs

If you want to skip the article...tl : dr
- overhead pressing (dumbbell, barbell, klokov press)
- handstand pushups
- resistance band shrug dropsets
- neck curls

If youve seen the litany of hot complaints ive been dropping for the past few months, you will notice the common theme BUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO MUH TRAPS.

Man i fucking love traps. Most movements i use to build them are complimented by performance enhancing, boulder shouldering, and glute growing add ons. They are stronger than you think and more resiliant than you know. But god damn, do they look cool or what?

Ive accepted the fact that my glutes will have to catch up to the rest of my body in a few months. Although they are still getting worked, their progress pales in comparison to the rest of my body. I have not accepted the fact that my traps will lag while my back recovers. Thankfully, i dont really have to.

Make no mistake, olympic lifts and front squats are mega awesome trap builders. I miss them and want them back. But in the face of injury, the options below are money.

Overhead pressing
- dumbbells, one or two arm, with or without light bands
- barbell
- klokov pressing
- push pressing (NOTE: be careful here. Ive had mixed responses from my back when catching the bar)
- handstand pushups

All pressing overhead is going to engage your traps. Ive found that horizontal standing or kneeling presses are easier on my back than horizontal (the leg drive on bench press hurts).

Handstand pushups are another avenue for the same result.

Resistance band shrug dropsets
This is what i came here to talk about. The problem with barbell shrugs and a fucked up back is the equal tension on all parts of the movement. Even reverting back to 225 or 315 hurt. My usual power shrugs are not options at the moment.

However, replace the barbell with SEVERAL resistance bands. Baby, you got a stew. The tension at the top of the movement is still hundreds of pounds (depending on the amount and type of bands youre holding) but has minimal impact on compressing your discs.

Your set will go something like:

Holding 2 to 3 bands
- as many reps as possible with a hold at the top and a slow eccentric
- when you cant do holds anymore, do as many quick shrugs as you can
- drop one band, repeat the process until you run out of bands

As the band tension gets lighter, extend the range of motion (i.e. try to do essentially a high pull with a hold) to add in some delt work as well.

Neck curls
This has been a pleasant find. My neck has been injured a ton. It sucks and im tired of it happening.

Much like ab work to fix my lower and mid back. Neck work is done as much to protect my neck as it is to build my neck and traps.

In this state, lighter work feels better. As ive stated in previous blogs, im a big fan of 10x10 with 10s rest between sets. Credit to alpha destiny.

Dan john and (A+B+C = D)

A+B+C = D
Or
A = Upper body presses/pulls
B = lower body a la knee extension and hip hinge movements
C = abdominal
D = total fitness and performance

Dan john brings this formula (sic: it's just a visual aid to tell a complicated tale) into vogue to illustrate why and what he focusses his atheletes on.

Increasing:
A = small effect on D
B = noticable effect on D
C = not a direct effect on D, but without it A and B fall apart

Im learning this lesson way too late, and not for the first time. 2015 was my most bulletproof year. Neck, shoulders, hips, whatever. I could lift the world and be fine.  The difference was that every training session focussed on weighted and unweighted ab wheel rollouts.

The injuries i have are annoying, but it's ridiculous how quickly my pain and discomfort have gone away with the addition of corrective exercise.

High frequnecy 124: 2/25/19 today sucked

Everything feels hard. Moving, sleeping, lifting, etc. Definitely a -10% lifting day. Annoying, but also rare. Moving right along.

In other news, had a surprise date 3 with ana on saturday. She is friggin amazing. Ive got a good feeling about this one.

Workout
Chinup 55x7
--terrible
Hspu on 1 blockx5
--terrible
Band curls
Band shrugs
Band leg curls

High frequency 123: ohp feels gooood

Feeling goooooooood
Weight was a little heavy today (despite me getting a pr), but i went hard last night.

Workout
Abs
Ohp 130x10
--fat grip
Wide bw pullup 28reps?
Tri pushdowns
Neck work 10x10
Rear delts

Lessons from dbz: brain vomit

I had an imaginary conversation in my head this morning and wanted to mind vomit.

The theme of dragon ball z (dbz) is breaking barriers. There is always a genetic component to your ceiling (see: humans v saiyans), but your ceiling is almost invariable:
- higher than you think
- higher than most who didnt work as hard

The 3rd most powerful human is still super human.

The takeaway i really wanted to talk about is the mental barriers that preclude all hero related powerups. Every, single, one. The saiyans had always been up to snuff power wise when it comes to ascending to a new transformation. The barrier has always been mental.

That being said, said saiyans still needed to train towards achieving the min requirements for a new level up. After leveling up, they spend their time tweaking and optimizing their new forms. This is in stark contrast to frieza; naturally the strongest fighter ever born, and overzealous for revenge the moment he achieves new power.

So how does this translate? The way i read this could apply very easily to depression. Every time ive been in a hole, the answer was invariably 'i chose to be better.' Try telling a depressed person to decide to be better. I dare you. I double dog dare you (pls dont do this, it sucks to hear and makes me want to punch a hole in your face). Although the trigger for beating depression is always mental, a multitude of different behaviors and actions are the catalyst. Its never, ever, just one thing.

High frequency day 122: date was noice

Her brussel sprouts beat my gouda mac. Im not upset about this. A+ date

Workout
Hspu x 15, pushup x20, decline pu x 6?
Wide pullup 25x6
--really hard
Band traps
Cable curls
Rear delts

High frequency day 121: 2/21/19 date 2 bitches!!

Dinner date tonight with the woman i went out with last saturday. Super pumped for this. It's been great getting to know her and see where this can go. Also...i think ive got to just accept the fact that ill always have a hard on for older women.

This isnt a new thing. From the moment i turned 18, my desired age range was 30-50. It's not that younger women aren't sexy. Far from it. But there's just something awesome about a person who is completely comfortable with who they are.

Ab workouts are going great! Lower back hasnt hurt or felt weird in days. My upper bacl oddly has felt a little weak. I dont know if this is due to muscle breakdown (i am doing a fuckton of upper back work) or it's spinal. Being cautious.

Workout
Klokov press 135x4
--not too bad!!!! I made the right call to not go for a single. I double i will unless im doing something that works well with all out hails (see: floor press, push press)
Parallel bw chin: 67 reps
Tri ext 3x10-15
Band leg curl
Rear delt band holds 2min side
Neck ext 10x10 with 5-10lbs

A word on the neck work. Alpha destiny gets the credit here. It's been difficult for me to work my neck while:
- finding a methodical way to increase weight or volume
- staying safe

Particularly on point 2, headstands are great, but i started getting danger feedback from my back....so shenanigans.

10x10 was a great way to get in some easy risk free volume. 10s rest between sets.

High frequency day 120: 2/20/19 shouldersssss

Chaos

Workout
Mcgill abs circuit
--side planks getting way easier. I dont feel HEAVY when doing them anymore
Ohp 125x10,7,3
Parallel chin 45x7
--not great, but not terrible. I did 100 bw reps yesterday, and i slept like crap, so this isnt the worst
Band tri pushdowns
Band rows
Band curls
Rear delts

High frequency 118 and 119: eric bugenhagen and his freaky delts

Workout 118
Dips 45x16
--could have done more. Triceps felt...weird. not bad, weird
--following this with hspu is not a great idea. They should be their own thing (use extended range of motion or a weight vest for increased difficulty). My reps are just not high quality when my shoulders and tris are fatigued

Workout 119
Bw chin x100 reps in 14 sets
--used rings, chinup grip
--avg reps/set was 7. No failure, 1min rest between sets
--this is a good mix up from weighted  chinup days
--goal is to decrease sets to 10 before i increase volume
Chest support rows 35x19,14,12
--difficult. Wtf this was so light

High frequency 117: date went soooooo good

Back feels great, spirits are high, and stress is low. This is a great mother fucking day to be above ground.

It's insane how good my back feels after 4 days of daily ab exercises. How good is this going to feel in a month? In a year? This is brilliant. As much as I'm not on alpha destinys programming, i can appreciate the emphasis he always puts on ab and lower back support. I want to think about goals in terms of priorities.

Bullet proof > mobility > strength > size

Who am i?

Workout
Abs
Chin 45x10,7,3
-- good! Making progress
-- weight 200, +45lbs
Pulldown x lots per arm
-- be more careful about rotation here
-- try a cable row next time (chest supported)
Rear delts, minimal work to be honest

High frequency day 116: abs still weak

Couple of things:
- i made bone broth and holy fucckkk it's good. Next time ill use the instant pot
- date night tonight! Lets doooooo thisssssssssss
- ab work is going great. Im still weak but i can feel it actively fixing me wtffffff
- sex drive is > 9000
- splitting workouts into push/pull has positives and negatives

Positive: getting more reps on main movements
Negative: assistance (hspu) is greatly affectex

Workout
Ohp 120x12,7,1
--got one more rep than 2 days ago with more weight
--rested 2min between sets
Hspu x12 > pu x 20 > decline pu x 15
--last rep is negative
Tricep pushdown with bands
Rear delt raises 30x20, 5xlots
Hamstring band curls

High frequency day 115: 2/14/19 aaaabbbbbzzzzz

So, in the interest of my new main quest, ive got prescribed ab exercises 2x a day. The complex itself takes about 7min and serves as a great warmup for lifting (and a cooldown at night).

Ill be honest, this shit is hard. Im not sure if it's hard because im injured, ive neglected it, or im just older. C c c c c c combo breakah! The weirdest thing ive felt come with age is feeling heavier, despite being lighter than i have been in years. Im moving through molassis. All the more reason to get well! You know what makes me feel fast? Olympic, fucking, lifts.

In an ideal world, i would love to hit my lifts like:
- day 1: oly, leg assistance
- day 2: push, push assistance
- day 3: chinups, pull assistance

Im still figuring out how im gonna combine high frequency and linesr progression. Today is day 2.

Workout
Abssssss (more on this later)
Parallel chinup 235lbsx8,3,3,3,3
Band curls
Rear delts

Major notes are:
- relegating pulls to pull days and push to push days
- handstand pushups can be a main movement. Not sure why i havent tried this before (hspu, vest hspu, extended rom hspu, best extended rom hspu)
- adding more movement variety during the week. We are NOT doing max singles while i recover. Instead we are working up to said max singles (or close to it)
- rear delts are still every day. My shoulders are looking sexy af

Linear prog
1xamap (not to failure)
If first less than 20 reps, then do more sets until you hit 20 reps
If you take more than 5 sets to hit 20 reps,
1xamap, 1xamap, 1xamap (decrease weight by 10-20% per set)

High Frequency Day 114 and back news

So bad news. I don't have 1 herniated disc, I have 3. This prognosis needed to happen, but my only reaction is rage. Rage at the chiro who charges me weekly to do a useless adjustment and who told me I should never squat heavy again. Fuck her.

I'm motivated as fuck to get better. My main quest is getting well and getting strong. This means a shift, but who fucking cares. I want and need cleans in my life. I need to feel like I move without pain. I need to be jacked and tan.

I'll start including my rehab work in my daily posts as well.

Workout
OHP 115x11
Acc: One arm pulldowns
Acc: Rear delt raises (chest supported, actually felt GREAT)

Rehab work (last night)
Walking lunges
Glute bridges
Banded good mornings and RDL's (little iffy on this)
Planks (likewise, iffy)

High frequency day 114: 2/13/19 gettin strongggger

My back hurts, nothing i can do about that until Sunday's massage. Otherwise, im feeling strong as fuck after a return to bugenhagen esque wisconsin dealeo training.

A remainder of what that is:
Top set 1x1-2
Optional backoff set 1xamap
Bodyweight assistance extended set (these are MONEY for extra free volume)
- hspu > pushup > decline pushup
- lat pulldown dropset
- row dropset
- rack chin
Optional arms
Rear delts
Stretch

Ive been switching off on a push day and pull day. It's felt great so far. Eventually, i would love to work conditioning work back in a la oly lifts.

Workout
Chin 82.5x2
--easy set. I got 80x2 monday followed by a 90x1, so ill slowly ramp up the weight
Chin 25x6
--ascending sets all worked in some solid volume too
Hspu complex

High frequency 113: 2/12/19

Feeling pretty good. Car shopping tonight which SUCKS. 1000000 ants is leaking power steering fluid at an expedited rate, so this has got to happen.

Life is getting complicated, so im simplifying my lifting. Bugenhagen is fun, easy, and requires literally no programming.

On the docket right now:
- work less hours. Be deliberate
- find a new car
- plan new ways to save money
Idea1: booze. We are done. You won't be missed.
Idea2: investigate power leaks in my house. My power bills are nasty
- dating
- going out during the week
Idea1: maker space
Idea2: meetups, free stuff only
- explore ideas on making side income
- get sun while you work

Positive reinforcement only! You can fucking do this!!!

Workout
Ohp 165x1
--GET AGGRESSIVE BFKFNRKCUFBE
ohp 115x13
--love this!
Lat pulldown stretchers, full rom, and partials
Tri band pushdowns
Rear delts
Stretches

High frequency 111 and 112

Got in late last night. Got a lift in before bed, and another post mri this morning.

Fuck pain. I got dis.

111
Bss 155x1 fuuuuck this
Ohp 160x1
Stretched and hurt myself

112
Chin 95x1, lots of volume leading up
Chin 35x6
Hspu complex

Thoughts. I am reverting back to upper body only (except bw work at home). I hate that this is happening, but it's happening.

Daily lifting schedule

It's worth mentioning my daily routine since lifting in the morning has become my regular pre work ritual. The last time i attempted daily lifting, i lifted at night, and usually got home by 8 or 9p. Dead. Tired. Hungry. The phase shift to the morning makes exercise as a part of my day instead of a checkbox.

Night before:
- brew coffee, place in fridge
- pre pack gym clothes and work clothes. DONT FORGET DEODERANT AND A TOWEL (little towlie voice: oh man, i have no idea whats goin on)
- supplementation with magnesium, nac, 5htp
- complete 1 to 2 small cleaning tasks in my house (this fucking helps)
- read
- in bed 930-1030

Morning:
- arise 630a
- slam coffee prepped the night before
- take a tiny bit of mct oil. Down daily supplements
- take a dump
- out the door by 7a latest
- lift 710-745
- coffee shop by 8a, write my daily blog

Higb frequency 110: 2/7/19

Worn out from work but not stressed. Almost asked somone out to a special needs valentines day dance class I.E. I NEED TO CHECK DESCRIPTIONS OF EVENTS BEFORE I SAY IM INTERESTED. She must never know.

Workout (still on the dan john train)
Zercher squat
135x5
185x5
205x5
225x5
245x5
--hard as fuck, but i relearned how to use my hips and butt butt. The remaining sets were mega easy
195x5
215x5
Hspu x 20 , 1neg > pushup x24, 1 neg > decline pushup x 7, 1 neg
Leg curls, why not
Rear delt raise 5lbsxamap per arm

High frequency 109: 2/6/19

Workout
Btnpp
135x5
165x5
185x5
205x5
215x3,1
175x5
195x5
Neck curls
Plate raises

High frequency 107 and 108

Recovery from the weekend is recovery. I hate booze and like saving money. Why, do, i, do, this????

I feel crazy.

107 workout
Fs 245x1
Fs 195x4x3
Hspu complex

108 workout (kinda liking dan john approach atm)
Chinup
Bwx5
25x5
50x5
60x4
35x5
45x5
55x3
Headstands, band trap work, rear delt raise, stretches

Notes
- groin is super tight post squats
- max singles are starting to suck, and my conditioning is in the toilet (expected given recent lifting changes)
- band trap work is essentially band snatch high pulls and shrugs. This...can be done daily? I certainly will until i cant

High frequency 106: 2/1/19

Chinup 105x1
Split squat 185x1
Rear delts
Glutes

Knees felt a little knocked up today until i started lifting. Not sure if this is the floating pain Perryman and Broz talked about. Actual lifts were fine. My back felt a littlw squirrely though.