War Among Worlds

[DOMSPOWER]

Todays workout was more of a wellness recovery maintenance session as I needed that.

Band Rows
20
20
16 got shoulders just in the right place for lats to stop feeling tight

Paused wide stance bodyweight squat above parallel and not holding onto anything
30 count
30 actual seconds
It was hard to maintain upright and straightened spine with no counter weight... And come to think of it, sometimes I rushed the eccentric to avoid this weakness to affect the lift with weights.. made my leg feel much better, the ankle was cracking a lot just from this.

40 total reps on alternate leg lowerings like a scissor ab whatever.

[DOMSPOWER]

Over the weekend I found out 3-5 slow band rows with a solid pec flex helps position the shoulders properly and relax the lats, and that flexing the foot muscles and arching harder in my feet relaxes the muscles around my knee, while keeping the spine properly positioned on bodyweight squats gets tough while focusing on all that, so now I'm back to squatting with a barbell and gonna practice every day.

Bike 10min

Floor adductor cable good morning
2x10x2stack plates
3x10x3

Squats and yes with wide stance cos now that's no longer problematic
3xbar controlled
8-10 slow singles with pauses thrown in with the bar.

Going slow really reveals the little weaknesses and makes it hard to get below parallel. Have to pause for a while and sink deeper.


Rack pulls below knees
10xbar
Small slant board to elevate my toes for that foot pressure
10xbar
10x60
7x100
Straps
5x130
4x140 - lats didn't whine at all until this set and only a little bit.

Got a good workout on that bad leg but in the right places, so I'm feeling very fresh in it right now.

Lookalike side raise on the lightest cable..
8x7kg
2x10x14
No rest between sets.

Elbow on the external rotation 3x10x1kg

Floor flys
2x10x2kg
15x2
15x1

1 neutral grip chin, lol.
Some foot stretching.

[DOMSPOWER]

Reflecting on the fluctuations in performance on my outdoor workouts for the two weeks with all the training I've done, I decided that it will be easier to warm up into the slowest possible reps and failure sets with high heart rate if I half the reps, shorten the rest time and do 3-4 rounds to get into it and determine if my body is ready for good number of rounds or a round to failure. It seems like I made the right choice.

Triset:

Hatfield bodyweight squat 4x4
I need quiet a bit of practice to tense up the left foot as hard as the right and really protect the knee.

Inverted Rows 4x3

Dip L sit 4x6count

Vibed to 11th Harmonic during the session.

[DOMSPOWER]

Today I trained in a different gym, spent 40 minutes there and forgot my gym shorts, which led to the Discovery that shorter range of motion is much better. Tried that on bench as well.

Goodmornings
3x10xbar
4x5x40 good stretch on the hammy

Long paused squat below half way down
1xbar
Followed by 10 regular situps
4 supersets

Bench press slow down long pause
5 singles with the bar
Found a groove to come all the way down but might be over tucking and also it hurt after a few seconds pause.. but about 4 inches above the chest tightened me up very well and eventually I came down about an inch.

10 standing external rotations followed by a shoulder press with bit of hold, lowering it slowly and pausing bit by bit until I felt I had come far down enough.
1 set 2kg dumbbells.
1 set 3kg.

Yeah shorter range of motion work is definitely the tits for me.

[DOMSPOWER]

Pec has been a lot better since yesterday, so I was surprised to see it being weird during the trisets.
Then on the last round it improved a lot, and I decided to not do extra rounds as a means of keeping the pec improved for longer.

Hatfield bodyweight squat 4x4

Inverted low row 4x3

Dip L sit 4x6count

[DOMSPOWER]

Today is day 7 of Squatting in a row, and I'm done. Technique is much better and now the ligaments seem to just need to be free to adapt at their own pace.

Bench is already better also. And I did two upper body exercises I haven't done in forever of avoidance- now they feel great and helps a lot.

Squats halfway down long pause 4x1xbar

Rack pulls toes forward and toes elevated
2x10xbar
12x60
8x80
3-4x4x100 followed by 10 decline situps

Btw daily ab work doesn't do all that much for me anymore either.... So I need more reps to get that heart rate up and possibly bit lower frequency because of that.

Neutral grip hanging knee raises 3x3 and this is still very hard on my pecs but got it feeling better actually.

Paused Bench 3-4 inches above chest
4 singles with bar
Then a final single where I found a good grove and slowly came all the way down. All that I felt was a front delt being a bit too nervous about it. So I worked on that immediately.

Cable upright rows which gives an angle where the healthy range of motion and external rotation comes very natural with zero forethought
15x1 stack plate
2x15x2

Pushdowns same place and handle
15x2 stack plates
15x5
15x8 easy as hell just need time to adapt the pec

Rope face pull 4x15x1

As the pec and front delt adapts to super light weights on numerous angles, 3 plates bench will come easy. Specially once the Mendelson setup clicks.

[DOMSPOWER]

Got some blood pumping.

Band curls from high pulley at home 8x15

Followed each set with 10 reps leg raise while standing on one leg

No rest between sets other than for a sip of water.
Good brisk little workout and helped me feel good.

[DOMSPOWER]

Today was kickass.

Bike 5min

External rotation with elbow on knee 3x10x1kg much better now thanks to upright rows

Bent over Rows with much better hip tension
2x15xbar
2x10x40
10x60
10x80
10x90

Paused Bench all the way to chest now
3 singles with the empty bar.

Last single had perfect tightness all the way through!

[DOMSPOWER]

Small outdoor session after days of studying way too much.

Warm up 6, 10 and 15 reps on high elbow bodyweight rows to a bar that's chin height when I stand regularly.

3 supersets
10 inverted low rows normal pace and REMEMBER WHEN I HAD A HARD TIME DOING 6 OF THESE AT NORMAL SPEED COS I WAS SO TIGHT AND UNDER RECOVERED FOR MONTHS AT A TIME

Dip L sit 10count

3 supersets with the chin height bar
5 count hang while keeping feet off the ground
5 bicep curls.

Left top lat is super exhausted now. Might be a weak point that was hidden with all the stiffness I used to have around the shoulder until recently.

New program will have 1 times barbell exercises per week with optional light practice squats on bench day and bench on upper support day. Then bodyweight squats and push ups 1-2 times per week as well.

[DOMSPOWER]

Today was baller after actually not trying to train every day aside from ultra light movements that help maintain good posture and improve recovery, which isn't even packed together as a workout or anything, just done quick when needed.

I think I can see myself doing this every week. And one day kickboxing conditioning. That will count as a calorie burning accessory day.
Little easy sessions in-between.

Squat with a 10 count pause halfway down
3x1xbar
Then a single where I came down to parallel by accident.
And another. Only now I felt a tiny bit of tension right above my knee. But the first single felt great! And so did this just time to stop is all.

Rack Pulls below knees and toes forward
3x15xbar
3x5x70
2x120 eeeaaasy
1x150
1x180

I'm assuming I've done this before, but I honestly think I always capped it at 170 and twice failed 200.... Like I was always weaker at this height than the floor, and I just excused it with having a bad day.... Every ****ing time.

Paused Bench came easily down to the chest
3x2xbar
Shaking on the last set from tightening all the right places and holding the weight, going slow etc.

Cable Upright Rows 4x15x1 stack plate (different gym btw)

Face Pulls 4x15x1stack plate

Straight bar pushdowns same stack
15x6 too easy
15x10
4x15x14

I can finally push triceps to the point they tire a bit now.

[DOMSPOWER]

Tonight i did a 4 round circuit without resting but also wasn't rushing.

Chin height bar rows with elbows out high 15reps

Hanging knee raises 2reps

Incline bodyweight tricep extensions 6reps

Inverted rows to below sternum 10reps

Dip knee raise hold 5count and on the last set it was a 15 count

Then I alternated just the extensions and low rows but with rest between each exercise.

Inverted rows to below sternum 2x12

Incline bodyweight tricep extensions 6 and 12 reps

The last set of each was pretty hard.
I believe both exercises will help a lot with getting back on squats and bench presses.

[DOMSPOWER]

Kickboxing conditioning was rad as ****. Some dude was a bit arrogant about me saying I cut way back on training to recover and rid of pain, but then he took his jacket off as looked soft as hell, and early in the workout he started whining about how hard it was. Meanwhile most of my ab muscles cramped mid a minute round of exchanging two torso punches with someone and I kept going, no whining no need to kneel down and breath very heavily at any point in time.

Being smart about not squatting deep and doing just push up holds and quarter push ups as well as restrain many of my punches and kicks probably made it easier for my lungs, though. I will give them that- a couple guys kept going hard as **** so I can respect that flooring.

Before going in I did cable good mornings followed my lots of inner quad rolling on every set.
10x3 stack plates
3x10x7

LOTS of rolling as I'm apparently super tight and sore in there.... No wonder squats are troublesome then.

And then I did the floor leg spread cable good morning. Using the same weight, hahaha.
2 reps first set and 5 or 6 on the second set. Actually got easier- last time.i did it that way before the other way and 3 plates were very hard cos of the soreness.

On the way home a bus driver yelled at me for my card somehow not working and then when I asked him why, he got madder and called the police to say I was a threatening passenger with no ticket. But he was the one angry and yelling out of nowhere, I just wanted peace after fighting.

[DOMSPOWER]

Started out walking round town and rolling my quads first thing in the gym. Helped a ton with staying upright on a bodyweight squat somehow that I previously thought was a lack of upper back balance and tightness.

Rack pulls below the knees toes forward slight slant board elevating the toes
4x10xbar
2x5x60kg
4x60 felt really fresh here finally so stopped for recovery sake.

Paused Bench
3xbar
5xbar
8xbar - literally shaking on the bench

Rotator cuffs are tired as **** but I'm finally at a point where going slow with light weight helped make it a bit better.

Close grip underhand Pulldowns
3x30lbs
10x30
10x70
10x90
11-12x110

Going all in on recovery and bit of light endurance and flush work seem to help immensely already.

Face Pulls
15x1stack plate
12x1
Helped attain and maintain that optimal torso tightness for the main lifts and pulldowns. Really hard when done with that purpose and under this amount of fatigue actually.

Next week is 80% maybe on rack pulls and some light bent rows and squats. But I think with all these improvements I may soon just do squats one week and deadlift or goodmornings the other. Mike Mentzer was definitely right about some things.

[DOMSPOWER]

This week I've been working my brace a lot on bodyweight squats at home and floored myself one time with sets of 60sec holds around parallel or slightly below and nearly vertical shins.

And yesterday I found out I can just test my rotator cuff angles AND train them in those same positions instead of find fancy exercises... Like elbows up and press hands against wall behind me instead of try with cables and lying on my stomach and rotating 1kg up... Very simple and revealed weaknesses that I worked today.

Rack Pull toes forward
3x5xbar
10xbar
3x5x60
3x1x100
5x1x130

This is where it shows how much I've practiced.... Legs are tired and tight for this time. But doing much better and no pain.

Bench Press
3x3xbar and now I can finally add weight
1x30
1x40
1x50

NICE.

Close underhand grip Pulldowns
10x30lbs
10x70
10x110 harder than last time cos I really hit the right places
11x120 FAILURE.

Then I thought about how some people find bands hard and some find them useful for rotator cuff endurance.

Bench against super light band tension
10x3xbar like I could just go all day!!
1x30
1x40
1x50 and held it up there for a while before racking.

And to think I slept like **** and am pretty much dead from kickboxing three days ago.

[DOMSPOWER]

With the almost whole day of migraine yesterday and all those days feeling **** following kickboxing class, I decided to train the muscles involved without going to that class today.

Sometime after 3pm I did tempo bodyweight squats for practice.

Tempo is much harder than only a static hold, because parts of my quad has trouble coordinating.

But still after a bunch of singles and doubles I could do some triples and a 5.

Then two sets of 10+ reps that took probably 2,5 minutes each.

At least I didn't end up on the floor this time!

Then almost two hours after I finished that, i did 5 triples on hanging leg raises.

And 1,5 hours after that:

Underhang grip inverted rows pulling to sternum or bit below where I'm still sore in muscles and ribs from taking all those blows at kickboxing class seven days ago
3x10 superset dip knee raise doubles
2x10 superset 10 incline push ups

Bodyweight face pulls 2x8

Bodyweight bicep curls 11 all out and a sloppy 12th rep to prove it

Incline push ups 2x15

Then 8pm chicken and fries with parents right after.

[DOMSPOWER]

The last few days I've done a little bit of that wall rotator cuff work every night and it's worked like a charm.

Bit of random band rotations and pulls.

Machine rows instead of rack pulls (certainly not cos I forgot my gym shorts at home and am wearing nice pants cos that didn't happen)
2x15x35
Controlled tempo and very intentional about where it hit me so it was actually pretty hard.

Bench Press
2 sets empty bar moving it different ways after unrack to get the cuffs going and then 3reps before racking the bar
Small bands a bit tighter than last week
2x5xbar
2x30kg
1x40
2x1x50
1x60 am a bit worn in one side after last weeks many sets and a tendency to hold the bar more to that side
5x30 just tuning that and some other stuff some more

Underhand grip Pulldowns
10x30lbs
10x50
10x70
10x90
10x130
10x150
Straps 8x170 and really put up a fight on that last one.

Compare that to 11x120 last week and still using controlled tempo on it.

One proper set light face pulls and then the second set was sloppy and I stopped it. So my rotator cuffs are definitely being forced to improve.

When I pratice my squats later I will add band goodmornings.

[DOMSPOWER]

Last night a delayed start due to eating 1kg carrots in two hours leading up to the workout.

I did bodyweight squats arms out to the side for upper back brace, lots of cues slow tempo etc
5 triples at a more intuitive less slow cadence to warm up
3-4 of them were followed by the isometric wall rotator exercises for front and back

Then one workset of 15+ reps. Plus meaning I kept losing count and continued from the lower number.

That was 15+ reps of 4 count down, 4 count pause and 2 count eccentric.

Yes that's right.

I did OVER THREE MINUTES of Squatting!!!!

And if I got 18 reps, than 3 minutes without counting the time standing with my feet still in place feeling the exhaustion in my legs between reps.

This morning I was sore in my lats from that set, hahaha.

10am:

Inverted rows to bottom sternum or below that
2x10
Underhand grip 2x10

Each set was followed by 10 incline push ups where I focused on spreading my hands apart right from the start of each concentric. This made it much harder on my triceps.

Both exercises got me pretty good everywhere, even felt my arms were proper trained for what I need.

Hanging knee raises just a set of 5 but with fully lengthened arms for once!!!!

The rest of the day will be homework and activities like situps, punching the wall and walking.

[DOMSPOWER]

Lost 3kg in like 10 days from lack of money and although I added tons of rice yesterday, I had to hold back today also. But if you think about it, I've had tons of progress the last few weeks, so the fatique is justified.

Rack pulls
3x10-15xbar
5+x15xbar

Foot pressure has to be better, and that challenges certain muscles which are too tight. So I have to be patient with this improvement.

Bench Press
5x5xbar
3-4x5x40

Practiced spreading the bar on all of the concentric at least.

Underhand grip Pulldowns
15x50lbs
10x90
10x110
8x130
Just to get some use of those muscles.

Next week I will come back stronger.

[DOMSPOWER]

Today I went to the gym instead of bodyweight squats, inverted rows and incline push ups.. only singles with the bar cos it has much higher requirement of combining upper back with the legs. Helped me more this time.

Locks 20 3x15

Goodmornings 3x5xbar

Squat 4count down, 4 pause, 2 up
6 singles with bar

Ended up on pretty good note whereas at first upper body good meant knee bad and vice versa. Bodyweight reps give more leeway to get away with inferior left shoulder position or to be kinda out of overall position in order to keep the knee feeling good.

Bench with more spreading the bar practice
6+x5xbar
Definitely right rotator cuffs that holds me back.... But the practice eventually had it catch up and feel almost normal.

Underhand grip cable rows
10x4 bricks
10x8
10x10
10x13 maybe failure

Bit of back raises, decline situps, good girl bad girl and reverse pec deck all slow and focus on feel not exhaustion.... Abs apparently still very crampy, left glute and upper outer hamstring apparently unwilling to take its part of the work and left mid back can finally be targeted properly.

[DOMSPOWER]

Got me a new job as a chauffeur/bodyguard.
Can choose all my hours, no schedules or anything all up to me. And though some days have little to no work, last night was in the low end and paid me the same as I would have been by working in a warehouse or some physical job like that for the same amount of hours that I was on call for.

I've massaged my pecs and front delts a bit, turns out I have too many knots pulling my shoulders forward (right side needed to come forward to avoid winging and left one needed to loosen which it has). Little bit of massage goes a long way.

So today I had zero plans of pushing it full body. I warmed up with plenty Locks 20, bad girl machine (like 5-6 sets), back raises, reverse flies and some weightless overhead front raises.

Since all that stuff finally got my left shoulder back in place I decided to at least try out the reverse grip on bench. And it's really good for sparing my chest and shoulders plus getting my shoulder blades in the right place.

Reverse grip bench
8xbar tossed it around carelessly, it felt so unexpectedly better
8xbar more control
5x40 felt good but am sore so best to recover

Rack pulls
This time toes out and kinda turning my legs out. Feels a lot like they're turned out but only looks a little like it.
3x10xbar
2x5x60
5x100
3x1x140

Starting to feel very natural and strong here again since I pulled 4 plates two months ago while much stiffer and also without knowing it I was sore many places. Just waiting for that to dial down further plus I wanna feel good while driving.

Some band stretching of pecs and specially front delts. Very good, I will use that for warmups now.

[DOMSPOWER]

Got fired for no good reason already. Today I started my workout with half hour walk in wet terrain and lots of band stretching to really get that shoulder sorted out. Worked like a charm.
Then two light sets reverse pec deck, felt weird.

Reverse grip Pulldowns
2x10x50lbs
10x90
10x130
10x170 PR
6x190 PR

Felt weird and thought I wouldn't get a PR so didn't even out straps on when I exceeded my last performance.
Wonder what I'll get when I'm actually ready.

Then tried straight arm pulldowns with a rope that I rotated my hands against to get a proper neutral grip
6x4 stack plates much harder than I thought it would be
8x2
10x2

Super hard exercise, guess I'm lacking a ton in that part of my lats. Fired them right up and improved my posture.

2 sets semi supinated deadhangs to finish and really exacerbate that weak spot engagement.

[DOMSPOWER]

Turns out I'm ready to squat some weight now.

Bad girl machine 3x15x25lbs

Back raises 3x5

Barbell Squat
1xbar normal tempo
4 count down, 4 pause and 2 up
5-6x1xbar
3xbar
At this point could feel it almost.only around the inner lower thigh which is usually unwanted but lately feels not too bad long as I just know when to stop.

Decided that one atypical exercise works both the foot grounding issue and upper back weakness at the same time:

Squat stance Calf Raises with the barbell
10xbar
10x30
10x40 right foot just kept getting sorer but the left ankle got worked seriously and revealed thin weak spot near the knob
10x60

Then I did a normal tempo squat double with 60kg.
First rep had my knee come out farther than necessary and cracked a ton while doing so.

[DOMSPOWER]

Today I ran along a forest.

Walked the same way back.

Then ran again immediately.

6 runs, 32 minutes total.

And turns out I can have fatigued inner lower thigh and have the gait deteriorate to spare that leg while not even being in pain.

All while listening to the healing tune of 11th Harmonics.

[DOMSPOWER]

Today I did much better.

In a different gym.

Bad girl machine
15x25lbs
2x15x40
10x25 cos that left glute really needed to be forced to fire up

Back raises with padding being more incline
5xbw
8
6

Rack pulls below knees and slightly lower than usual
5xbar
2x15xbar seems there's a pattern of time itself tiring the little muscles near the knee regardless of load
2x5x70kg
1x110
1x140
1x170 easy and felt good

Underhand grip Bent over rows cos that gym didn't have a cable row
15xbar
10x60
10x100
Straps on 10x120

Not having done this type of exercise in months, it's great.

[DOMSPOWER]

Super stoked to have run the same as last time but with no knee pain.
Turns out I don't really have a little weak spot in left abs, I have a ton of weakness in the right side that lets the hip stay back as I walk forward.

Tightening up there gave me that neck and tongue tightness I've dealt with on and off, but it didn't aggravate it. And every walk back had it dissipate.

Also took 3 minutes less, so there's that.

Before the runs I did a set of deadhangs for fun and found an unusually tight posture and afterwards at home I did 2 sets of straight arm band pulldowns.

Instead of tiring out a lot in bottom quad and inner lower hamstring and tendon, I felt it tons in calves, the outer lower hamstring and opposite quad.

Amazing 40 minute workout.

[DOMSPOWER]

Today is a GREAT day.

Tried warming up by pulling the prowler with 20kg on it. This time with the "sled" behind me instead of in front of me, why didn't I think that hits backside more and quads less.

1 set about 30m no weight
3 sets 20kg

Bodyweight squats
1
2
3 reps

Barbell Squat
3xbar found that my stance was slightly wider than vertical shins and corrected it to much gain
5?xbar
10xbar
10x40
12x50

Last time was 2x60 and I actually thought id just get a set of 10 with the bar and leave now that it's my first time doing reps. But it felt great.

Underhand grip Pulldowns
15x55lbs
10x95
Straps
10x145
11 and maybe an inch shy of the 12th rep with 190lbs

Next time is bent rows again.

Decline situps 3x10xbodyweight
Abs are no longer in danger of cramping I think, and actually it was harder for psoas.

Bad girl machine
15x25lbs
15x55
15x70
Plan is **** up the whole stack plus band around the legs for 50 reps again.

[DOMSPOWER]

Two nights ago I started the new Netflix series Sanctuary, tried the sumo wrestling exercise Shiko and it improved my leg muscle awareness a lot quickly

So yesterday I jumped down a rabbit hole and found/created all types of helpful rehab exercises that I did for four hours but with some chess and reading in-between.

Today I did it for over two hours then had a meeting.

And tonight at 8pm I did my running. Same as last time cos my hip flexor started bitching. Probably have been lots of times but now I'm actually feeling it cos I barely had to pay attention to my leg this time.

Shoulder is back as well and muscles beneath it much more relaxed. I'm a King.

[DOMSPOWER]

Today is super high energy from the daily tood exercises and improved feeling in my muscles.

Sled pull warmup 4 sets 25kg

Bodyweight squat some reps

Barbell Squat
2x5xbar
5x40
1x60 which is what I doubled last time
1x80
3x100

Bent over Rows
15xbar
10x60
10x80
Straps
10x100
7x130 getting into PR territory on my second time back on this is exercise

Then energy got way higher and I went into a crazy flow state where I kicked my own ass in ways I would never think to do beforehand.

Reverse pec deck not necessarily perfect or full reps
3x20xmore than I have in a long time

Hanging knee raises
5
4
Almost 3

Each set followed by decline situps
12
10
6 with a griiiiind

[DOMSPOWER]

Running feels amazing but I still only did 6 laps since I've done so much extra training and in spite of this added those 40kg to my squat.

But I began with deadhangs and this time they were better, longer and healthier and two sets instead of last times ones set. (Trump accent).

After running I did three supersets distanced from failure of straight arm band pulldowns and band rows for the good and healthy feels.

Abs are tighter and better overall so my hips were much more stable and I kept feeling great.

[DOMSPOWER]

Last squat session messed me up so that energy was low today.

4 sets sled pulls warmup
3 bodyweight squats

Barbell Squat
10xbar
10x40kg
15x50

3 reps more than last time cos somehow my good leg got engaged in a much better way.

Rack Pulls
15xbar
10x60
10x100 - went in thinking I might not even get this weight before my quad fatigues too much
And I'm not even sure the fatigue is too much this time.

I found out earlier that rotating my straightened arm so that elbow comes out makes a weak spot in my pecs better and both removes weird feelings in the area and gets my shoulders back when I'm tight.