Good workout on Tuesday. I like the hex bar deads but as you said, they are not going to get it done for a hamstring dominate move. RDL's, SLDL or good old conventional deads as you mentioned are the way to go. Knurling you can always use some sand paper to knock the edge off of the knurl to make it more comfortable.
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Thread: There is no spoon
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09-11-2019, 02:16 PM #31
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09-12-2019, 10:41 AM #32
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09-16-2019, 10:47 AM #33
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Monday Sep 16 - Strength Push Day
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Warmup [BIKE-5m@15]
Overhead Press 3x5x145w95 SETS: 5 5 2/1
SSB Squats 3x5x155w135/Bar
Roman Situps 3x15DPx20 SETS: 8 8 8 8
Fat Bench 3x5x155w135/Bar
OVHD 3x75-40s
Really sick last week, I think I slept 24 out of 36 hours between Tue and Wed night. Took some glutamine and vitamin C, did a lot of resting and now I'm feeling better. Didn't push it too hard this morning since there were new exercise variants and it was my first day back but overall it went well.
1. RM Conversion chart suggested I should have been able to handle those OHP but it turned out to be a bit too heavy, going to drop that 5lbs next time and see how it goes.
2. Safety Bar Squats are pretty cool, definitely the right accessory for me since it really wants to push you forward. Had to play around with the setup a bit and figured out that I initially had it too high/forward on my shoulders but once I got that sorted out it went well. 135 was easy so I bumped it up to 225 but after I walked it out I was like hell no. Tried 185 but after two reps I could tell it was too heavy right now. 155 was pretty reasonable so I rolled with that, I think it'll go up fast as I adapt.
3. Spent some time while I was sick watching some Alan Thrall videos, a few were useful, especially these two:
I'm not sure why but this time the advice actually made sense compared to some other stuff I've watched. I had a much tighter setup this morning, I was tucking my elbows better, my bar path, arch and leg drive were improved. For the first time I actually felt like I was engaging my lats properly, they even got a bit sore. I think some of my shoulder irritation may have been related to poor form. Regardless I think I'm going to be benching better once I get all of this new knowledge down pat. My leg drive could still use a bit more work even though it was improved so I'm going to read more about that.
4. I'm not sure if the fat bar was really that big a deal, going to do it for a few more weeks to try it out before deciding if I'll keep that variant or not.
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09-16-2019, 12:00 PM #34
Those are both good videos that I too have spent time watching. I think a lot of people lose tightness when they unrack the bar. With you having a home gym with adjustable j hooks you should be able to get the bar to perfect height where you can really stay tight on the unrack.
I have no experience with an SSB but from what I have garnered on the web, driving your elbows in your lats and trying to stay really tight in your upper back is really important with the SSB bar.
Hope to give them a try myself some day to see if that is actually the case. LoL.
Good to hear you are feeling better.
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09-16-2019, 12:50 PM #35
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Yeah, frankly I love the monos for bench but for squat I'm not sure I if I like them or not. Amusingly enough I was using them this morning for SSB Squats, but didn't like how close I was after lift off and ended up walking it back anyways which pretty much defeats the whole purpose.
I have no experience with an SSB but from what I have garnered on the web, driving your elbows in your lats and trying to stay really tight in your upper back is really important with the SSB bar.
Hope to give them a try myself some day to see if that is actually the case. LoL.
Good to hear you are feeling better.
Decent description of leg drive:
That actually makes sense and is not exactly what I was thinking of before so I'm sure I've been doing it incorrectly for quite a while. Sometimes you just have to learn new cues and that sliding across the bench one is pretty good, I'm going to try that in two days when I do my next bench session.
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09-17-2019, 09:05 AM #36
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Tuesday Sep 17 - Power Pull Day
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Posture Work [CHINx6-40s+NODx20]
Pullups [HANGx3-30s] {HOLDx3-25s} 3x3x42.5wbw
V Pulldowns (3s) 3x12DPx140w100 SETS: 9 9 9
Bent Rows 3x3x239w185
Deadlifts [BANKx225x2-30s] 3x3x451w315M4
Tried out my new Moxy deadlift socks today, results mixed. They seem like decent quality socks but they kind of felt like they got in the way on the descent. I'll have to experiment a bit more to see if I like them or not.
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09-18-2019, 10:38 AM #37
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Wednesday Sep 18 - Power Push Day
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Warmup [BIKE-5m@16]
Overhead Press 3x3x15.25w95 SETS: 3 3 2/1
Squats 3x3x294w225/135P5T5
Bench 3x3x202.5w135
Dips 3x8x34.5wbw
WSST EZ+11x3-60s
1. 2nd rep of last set of OHP didn't hit the right groove, I ground it out but that left me too worn to get the last rep without rest.
2. Squats are moving up steadily but I think I had the monolifts one hole too high, I had bit of trouble re-racking today.
3. First set of bench was at 205, which I finished but it was too heavy, apparently I moved up too fast, 202.5 was fine though. Overall my setup felt much tighter and I feel like my form has improved considerably though I still have to think about it rather than it being natural. Grip has shifted to pinkies on the inner rings for the Ohio bar, seems like a decent width though not the same as what I used to use. I'll probably have to work back up to my old numbers, but I think I'll have better technique and less shoulder problems when I get there.
4. Continuing to eat at what should be a 50 calorie surplus (2300/day) based on my numbers from my last cut but losing weight at something like a quarter pound per week or so. (not in a straight line, but trending that way) It's easy to maintain so at the moment I'm rolling with it. I wouldn't mind sneaking in a short cut before Thanksgiving though so I'm looking at the calendar trying to figure out when to start that. (haven't totally made up my mind on that yet)
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09-19-2019, 08:42 AM #38
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Thursday Sep 19 - Deload Pull Day
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Posture Work [EXTD 15x5-60s]
DB Pullovers 3x12DPx80w40 SETS: 12 12 9/3
Face Pulls (3s) 5x15DPx30 SETS: 11 11 11 11 11
Kroc Rows 1x30DPx85w60x5 SETS: 23
Rear Delt Raise 3x8x146w95
Hip Thrusts (3s) 3x8x310
HIPF 3E-40s
I have to be careful with the Ironmasters or I can clock myself in the head while doing pullovers, not a problem unless my form deteriorates though.
Reasonably happy with the tweaks to my routine but I need to find a way to do more posterior delt work, they're just not as developed as my anterior ones. I might also look at someplace to squeeze in some GHRs now that I have the right equipment.
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09-20-2019, 11:08 AM #39
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Friday Sep 20 - Deload Push Day
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Warmup [BIKE-5m@16]
Incline Laterals(3s) 3x15DPx12 SETS: 10 10 10
Reverse Lunges 3x3Ex167.75w95
Incline DB Press 3x12DPx45 SETS: 11 11 11
Wrist Roller [DORSx3-60s] 3x3Ex83w50
OVHD 3x80-40s
Reverse Curls EZ+20-3x10
My wife was working out with me this morning and wasn't quite done when I finished. I wasn't feeling worn out so I threw in some reverse curls to be sociable while I was waiting.
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09-23-2019, 09:26 AM #40
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Monday Sep 23 - Mass Pull Day
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Posture Work [CHINx6-40s+NODx20]
Neutral Pullups 3x8xbw SETS: 8 6/6 4/4/4 3
Cable Rows (3s) 3x12DPx200w110 SETS: 9 5/4 5/4
Trap Bar Shrugs 3x8x185w135 SETS: 6 6 6 6
CS::Power Cleans/GHR 4x5x160w135 / 4x5xbw (partials)
XLEG 3x50-60s
Added GHRs as part of compound set with Power Cleans today. The combo works well, but apparently my hamstrings are much weaker than I expected. I did partial reps and will have to keep working on increasing the range of motion until I can do full ones.
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09-24-2019, 09:19 AM #41
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Tuesday Sep 24 - Mass Push Day
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Warmup [BIKE-5m@16]
Arnold Press 3x12DPx45w25 SETS: 10 9 8
CS::Front/Overhead Squats 3x5x124w135P5T5/45 :: 3x5x67.5w45
DB Bench 3x15DPx50 SETS: 10 10 10
Platform Calf Raises 3x20x95
WSST EZ+12x3-60s
1. Grabbed the wrong DBs this morning for Arnold Presses and decided to just roll with it. Sets of 15 for that were taking too long to progress so I dropped to 12, we'll see how that goes.
2. Compound set continued to go well for squats, that's a permanent change.
3. Walked out the barbell then moved over to the side of the platform to do my calf raises. I like the extra dorsiflexion, we'll see if I can get enough work in that way.
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09-25-2019, 11:01 AM #42
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Wednesday Sep 25 - Strength Pull Day
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Posture Work [EXTD 15x5-60s]
Chinups 3x5x21.75wbw
T-Bar Rows 3x5x191w135
CS::TRX Reverse Flyes/Bent Laterals 5xRP :: 5x12DPx10 SETS: 10 10 10 10 10
Deadlifts 3x5x419w315M6
XLEG 3x50-60s
1. Added bent laterals as a compound set with the TRX Rev Flyes, that worked pretty well. Five sets was ok today but I'm going to keep an eye on that as I work on it to see if I should drop to three in order to keep things moving up faster.
2. Switching back to conventional deadlifts was the right choice, it hit more of what I wanted to work on than the trap bar ones. No Moxy socks today, scraped up my left shin a bit but it was tolerable and felt better without the socks in the way. I may try them again next strength pull day for comparison.
3. Forgot to mention, I've started a new cut as of Monday, it will last till mid November. Rough target is 1lb/wk.
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09-26-2019, 10:59 AM #43
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Thursday Sep 26 - Strength Push Day
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Warmup [BIKE-5m@16]
Bradford Press 3x5x95wbar
SSB Squats 3x5x160w135
Roman Situps 3x15DPx20 SETS: 10 10 10 10
Fat Bench 3x5x160w135/Bar
OVHD 3x80-40s
1. Decided to switch out OHP for Bradford press, it's a better replacement for the Smith BTN presses I was doing at the gym. I liked the result and it felt like it was hitting the right places. I'm already anterior delt dominant so I wanted to avoid increasing that imbalance.
2. SSB Squats are coming along nicely, should be able to ride the 5lb increases for quite a while as I adapt to the different stress. Doesn't aggravate my squat hump and does a good job of hitting areas I'm weak at.
3. Roman situps are moving along as I start to push harder. Didn't want to go full out to start and end up with cramps.
4. Bench setup and form is massively improved now that I'm using the method I learned from Alan's videos. Not totally sold on whether using the fat bar is the correct choice right now, probably try that another cycle or two before I make up my mind.
5. Overhead static hold stability continues to increase though I'm nowhere near where I should be.
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09-27-2019, 09:41 AM #44
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09-30-2019, 11:18 AM #45
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Monday Sep 30 - Power Push Day
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Warmup [BIKE-5m@16]
Overhead Press 3x3x158.25w95
Squats 3x3x294.5w225/135P5T5
Bench 3x3x203w135
Dips 3x8x35wbw
WSST EZ+12x3-60s
My shoulder is continuing to get better though it's still holding me back on bench. My new bench form has improved enormously, I even got some decent leg drive going on today, for like the first time ever.
Squats went decently though I did hit the monos during my warmup, have to really watch my form on the way up when using them. Last set was a little grindy, I'm going to ahead and go up anyways for ease of loading, we'll see if I need to pause there or not.
A minor milestone on dips, finally moved up to the 35lb plate! That's a far cry from the -160lbs I started with on the assisted dip machine.
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09-30-2019, 12:26 PM #46
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09-30-2019, 12:43 PM #47
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09-30-2019, 08:58 PM #48
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10-01-2019, 08:51 AM #49
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
I feel like I've got a reasonable handle on total / session volume, exercise selection balance, setting up a reasonable split, individual exercise progression schemes and programmatic variation. I'm not sure I've quite nailed appropriate volume per exercise to make the best progress or overall programmatic progression. My current approach is sort of a mix of 5/3/1 wave periodization, Westside exercise variety and some basic powerbuilding. What I'm doing seems to work, but I suspect there are probably ways it could work better.
I've learned a lot from Alan Thrall's videos too, although I'm still probably a little too tame for him...
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10-01-2019, 08:54 AM #50
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Tuesday Oct 1 - Deload Pull Day
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Posture Work [EXTD 15x5-60s]
DB Pullovers 3x12DPx80w40 SETS: 12 12 5/7
Face Pulls (3s) 5x15DPx30 SETS: 12 12 12 12 12
Kroc Rows 1x30DPx85w60x5 SETS: 24
Rear Delt Raise 3x8x146.5w95
Hip Thrusts (3s) 3x8x315
HIPF 3E-40s
I was feeling confident this morning and bumped up the hip thrusts early and nailed it, made loading easier too since I'm up to three plates now.
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10-02-2019, 11:01 AM #51
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10-03-2019, 05:56 AM #52
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10-03-2019, 08:50 AM #53
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Thanks! To put that in context, I plan my deloads to have less total tonnage per day than a normal session rather than reducing sets or intensity of individual exercises. I also tend to do exercises that don't fit in my normal routine but I still want some progress on. More isolation and assistance work, more dumbbells and cables, and so on. 315x8 was a heavy weight for me, it's not like I normally do five plates or something, heh. That said, I do them with a three second pause at the top to keep the weight lower and I have been working them for several years now, ever since my wife complained my ass was disappearing as I lost weight. Interestingly enough they've been a fantastic assistance exercise for deadlifts, lockout is almost never an issue.
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10-03-2019, 08:56 AM #54
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Thursday Oct 3 - Mass Pull Day
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Posture Work [CHINx6-40s+NODx20]
Neutral Pullups 3x8xbw SETS: 8 6/6 6/6/4
Cable Rows (3s) 3x12DPx200w110 SETS: 9 6/3 4/5
Trap Bar Shrugs 3x8x185w135 SETS: 8 8 4/4
CS::Power Cleans/GHR 4x5x161w135 :: 4x5xbw (green)
XLEG 3x50-60s
1. I was weak enough on GHRs last time I decided to use a green band to help me out today. That worked out pretty well and I got a lot more depth, definitely feeling my hamstrings today. They're still not quite full depth but they're close enough I'm not going to call them partials. I'll keep working the green band until I get those down then probably do a double progression by increasing reps and eventually dropping to a weaker band.
2. Power cleans are progressing nicely, it's kind of fun to see those 55lb bumpers on there.
3. Cutting cycle is going well so far, scale weight has been dropping pretty consistently.
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10-06-2019, 01:39 PM #55
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Saturday Oct 5 - Mass Push Day
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Warmup [BIKE-5m@16]
Arnold Press 3x12DPx45w25 SETS: 10 10 10
CS::Front/Overhead Squats 3x5x125w135P5T5/45 :: 3x5x68w45
DB Bench 3x15DPx50 SETS: 11 11 11
Platform Calf Raises 3x20x100
WSST EZ+13x3-60s
No workout Friday, had to get some extra sleep so I could go to a party that night.
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10-07-2019, 08:51 AM #56
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Monday Oct 7 - Strength Pull Day
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Posture Work [EXTD 15x5-60s]
Chinups 3x5x22wbw
T-Bar Rows 3x5x192w135
CS::TRX Reverse Flyes/Bent Laterals 5xRP :: 5x12DPx10 SETS: 11 11 11 11 11
Deadlifts 3x5x420w315M6
XLEG 3x50-60s
Wore sweat pants today, no Moxy socks, ended up tearing up my left shin a bit so that wasn't sufficient. Going to try both next time, maybe the sweats will prevent the socks from interfering with the bar path. Overall a good workout.
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10-08-2019, 10:57 AM #57
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Tuesday Oct 8 - Strength Push Day
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Warmup [BIKE-5m@16]
Bradford Press 3x5x95.5wbar
SSB Squats 3x5x165w135
Roman Situps 3x15DPx20 SETS: 12 12 12
Fat Bench 3x5x165w135/Bar
OVHD 3x95-40s
1. Finally getting up to a proper workload on roman situps, sets today were reasonably challenging though I haven't hit my limit quite yet.
2. Fat bench is going reasonably well, I've decided to keep it for now.
3. Felt pretty good near the end and decided to go for it on overhead holds so I went up to 25lb bumpers for easy loading. This was a 15lb jump but it went ok, though I was much shakier than usual. I'm going to stay there till things stabilize again.
4. Ended up finishing my workout about twenty minutes early, the situps just don't take that much time. I'm going to add in something small to make that a compound set, maybe reverse curls or something like that.
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10-09-2019, 10:19 AM #58
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Wednesday Oct 9 Power Pull Day
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Posture Work [CHINx6-40s+NODx20]
Pullups [HANGx3-30s] {HOLDx3-25s} 3x3x43wbw
V Pulldowns (3s) 3x12DPx140w100 SETS: 10 10 7/3
Bent Rows 3x3x240w185
Deadlifts [BANKx225x2-30s] 3x3x453w315M6
1. Everything felt heavy today, likely due to the fact that this is the third week of cutting.
2. The Moxy socks + sweat pants combo worked well to prevent shin scraping without hindering bar path. On the downside it will likely lead to higher sweat pants wear unless I change my form a bit. On the last set I experimented with leaning just a fraction farther forward and using a tad less control on the way down. That seemed to avoid most of the shin scraping at the cost of a small amount of tension. I'm going to roll with that and see how it plays out.
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10-10-2019, 09:32 AM #59
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: Oregon, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 5,534
- Rep Power: 27213
Thursday Oct 10 - Power Push Day
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Warmup [BIKE-5m@16]
Overhead Press 3x3x158.5w95 SETS: 3 3 2/1
Squats 3x3x295w225/135P5T5
Bench 3x3x203w135 SETS: 1/2 2/1 2/1
Dips 3x8x35.5wbw
WSST EZ+13x3-60s
1. OHP felt damn heavy, struggled on the last set.
2. Squats went much better than expected, actually felt ready to go up again. A nice milestone at two plates and a 35, hoping to finally hit three plates next year.
3. Last time I thought I was ready to go up on bench but today it just laughed at me. Did the first rep at 203.5 but failed on the second rep. The good news is the safeties work as advertised, had to drop back to 203 and even then I failed again after the second rep on the second set. Was more cautious on the last set and did ok with it broken up. Going to stay at this weight for next time and see what happens.
4. On the plus side the scale went down again today, making slow but steady progress on my cut.
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10-10-2019, 10:00 AM #60
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