War Among Worlds

[DOMSPOWER]

Turns out that widening the grip on pulldowns and really keeping the elbows out in the bottom helps counter act the over tucking on bench press.. who'd a thought. I also invented a new back exercise for the bottom eccentric part of the bench.

Deadhangs 3x10count

Pulldowns
10x70lbs
Wide grip
3x10x70lbs pretty hard actually but no tightness or pain issue at all, so you know this is where I'm lacking and need to work extra hard

Machine dips 3x10x90lbs

Bench Press
2x5xbar way too easy after pulldowns and dips hardened me in the right places
5x50
2x70
3x85

Gotta be careful at 70+, I'm only just beginning to be able to let loose... Touching low is by far the strongest strongest way but very hard until my shoulders adapt.

Low Row on the pec deck machine to make the motion kinda circular like on the bench press
?x15lbs
3x15x45lbs ****ing rough I'll tell you that

Leg Curls
10x35kg
7x35
Yeah all the driving made parts of my hams tired I guess

This is the beginning of a new era for me, in more ways than I can ever put into words online.

[DOMSPOWER]

At 8am i sat in the locker room thinking about how awesome it is to have to train in the morning now that I feel **** even though it's a couple hours after 6, because physical activity is a form of gratitude which changes all bad thoughts and energies.

Sled pulls one step at a time one way and fast the other way 3 sets of 40kg which is a 15kg record for me

No need to do more legs after this improvement, it really took care of everything that my usual exercises tend to take care of for me

Dumbbell Floor Tricep Extensions
15x7
2x8x12,5 bad for my neck apparently

Cable Crunches for the ****ing win
20x30lbs
50x70
50x100
50x130
70x130
35x150
50x150

Multiple records I reckon.

[DOMSPOWER]

It turns out that wide grip work with elbows out is definitely the way to go

Wide grip Inverted Rows 3x5

Incline bodyweight tricep extensions
25
15 cos that's how much wide grip rows fatigued my shoulder in a good way

Bodyweight bicep curls
7
7,5

Wide grip Incline Push ups 3x15 god damn

I was tightening in all kinds of muscles where I need it, and even my side delts were sore at the end.

[DOMSPOWER]

Today was heavy, but somehow I wasn't focused enough on any of the top singles.

High Box Squats
3x5xbar
5x50
3x80
1x
110
110 for first reps instead of a double
130 unfocused and not far back enough
130 almost perfect upper back tightness

Deadlift
5x50
5x90
1x
120
150
180

Easy as last time if not easier. At least it was much smoother around the sticking point.

2 light sets of cable crunches and I could tell there's nothing more I can do and gain from after this improved quality work.

[DOMSPOWER]

It's been 5 days since I did 3 sets wide grip Inverted rows and incline push ups, and I'm still feeling it.. but it makes me a lot better.

Yesterday I just alternated a few sets of cable rows and wall push ups, didn't really feel like a workout but I felt it hard in some spots given the wide grip.

Today after 5 hours of sleep lol

Wide grip MAG Pulldowns
2x8x50lbs
8x90
2x10x110
7 or 8x110

Bench Press
3x10xbar
2x5x40
3x50
4 or 5x2x60

I'm doing much better but I gotta hold back cos of burning soreness in weak spots.. the objective is perfect practice not perfect soreness.

Tricep Pushdowns ascending sets of 20reps until I got 16 and then repeated that weight for 15 where upper back began to round. I will get back to proper arm training with some good patience and dedicated rep work over time, though.

[DOMSPOWER]

3 days ago:
Hill sprints same 3 trips as normal and might add some but it's still hard on my lowest ham point. Walk up the stairs the hard way as always.

2 days ago:
Warehouse work 8 hours of lifting stuff

Yesterday:
Standing dumbbell press 5x15x5kg
Bent over side raise 2x15x2kg
- should tell you how much I'm using my support muscles in general because they're pretty fatigued.

Today:

4 hours of sleep cos of a date.

Sled walk from dead stop one way and run back
1xno weight
1x25kg
3 or 4x50kg PR

Cable Crunches
50x6 plates
2x50x8 plates

I think that sprints and sled pulls are clearly giving me a lot of progress, but sprints take a toll on that low hamstring point and sled pulls done right helps me still get some good work in while the muscle recovers for the following workout which is with barbells. The synergy is real and the need to keep the workouts short for recovery is of utmost priority.

Hitting a private party and club tonight with a lady who said she wanna help me get laid, and I think she might really just want me to pick her.

[DOMSPOWER]

Turns out being up for 30+ hours straight kinda helped me realize that the reason my lats and upper back often doesn't really wanna do their thing is that my lats are way overtrained for who knows how many weeks, months or even years. There is definitely a thing such as too much training the back side of your body, it doesn't only go for the lower back heavy exercises!!

High Box Squats
5x5xbar
3x3x60
5x2x80

Got my upper back opened up and the bar felt like paper.

Deadlift
3x70
3x2x100

Engaged my lower ham just right and said that's enough.

Lying Leg Curls 2x10x25
- not ready

Wide grip Pulldowns 3x12x30lbs
- made me feel better

I'm going back to doing active recovery work every day that I don't have hard work and sometimes also to finish off a short workout.

[DOMSPOWER]

Working overtime and sleeping too little to the point where tonight's 10-11 hours of sleep still had me ****ing tired has led to postponing workouts too much.

Therefor, I mixed some stuff together for today's half hour session.

Sled pull one step at a time one way and run back the other way
1xweightless
3x50kg

Superset machine dips 50lbs
3x15
1x50 as things mobilised and got ready to push a bit but still not gonna go hard just yet

Bench
5xbar
2x3x50
8x50

Wide grip Inverted Rows to below sternum 4x5

[DOMSPOWER]

I normally wouldn't log such small session, at least not after having strung it together with another one or two, but getting back to getting some work done feels so good I just can't help to share it.

Alternated exercises, less than half a minute rest between each exercise:

Incline bodyweight tricep extensions 3x15

Bodyweight bicep curls 3x15

Got my lat/serratus going in a way, now my posture is better. Something about curls does that I think. So maybe I need to flex my biceps more on arm and pressing exercise.

[DOMSPOWER]

I've made massive improvements in my shoulder mobility, which made light weights really easy and heavy weights more difficult.

Squat to box above parallel
3x5xbar
2x5x50
2x3x80
2x100
1x
115 uneven
115
130 uneven

Then 130 again but the bar wasn't centered properly, so I did a rep that turned out uneven, racked it and took it out again, did a much better rep and then I knew I'm not gonna be doing any more sets than this, so if I wanna keep going then I'm gonna keep going RIGHT NOW. So I did a final rep with knee cave but not extreme and felt fine on my knee.

All in all I'm actually very happy, because I'm learning that at this point I can kinda ignore my feelings and push through some stiffness and also because my rib cage needs to adapt more to heavy weights, so I gave it four times the usual at my top weight, hahaha.

Deadlift 4x5x70 for wellness and yeah not completely even cos I need to just recover and adapt to the torso improvements.

It's a nice day outside. The sun shines brighter. Three plates next time.

[DOMSPOWER]

Turns out the rib stiffness was so bad I couldn't even feel the soreness and stiffness in the outline of my pecs. I legitimately thought it was just the serratus going under my pecs until now that it's all a lot better. Some weightless flies in bed became the new magic pill for me, ha.

Warmup:
Pec deck 3x10x14lbs

Reverse pec deck 3x10x14lbs

It's all about proper rotation, and my right arm tends to rotate too much to where my lat goes from proper engaged to under engaged and the bicep takes too much strain in the attachment point in the shoulder.

Workout:

Bench
3x5xbar much better
2x5x40 damn
3x50
2x60
1x70 this is the best control and feeling at this weight in a looooong time
5x10x30 good wellness

Close grip MAG Cable Rows
2x15x8 plates
12x8p

Pulldowns 3x15x50lbs comfortable

Side Raises 3x10x2kg
- that should tell you something about the rotation issue on one side cos my lat began pumping at the top hold

EZ bar Nose breakers 3x12x20kg
- right elbow took it hard but triceps both arms not so much. Again, probably has to do with over rotating the arm.

You wouldn't believe I feel worked to beyond what these baby weights would suggest. That's how well I've targeted the right places today.

[DOMSPOWER]

Today I'm feeling great! As if I had a therapy workout not an upper body workout yesterday!

Deadhangs 3x10-15 count

Unilateral kickback machine 3x10x30lbs bit harder than just warm up and really helped me

Sled pull steps from dead one way and run the other
Weightless
25kg
50kg 3 sets

The engagement from kickbacks in my psoas have somehow helped me use all parts of each leg more evenly, so the usual soreness on my left lower quad was better.

Cable Crunches
50x3 plates
3x50x8 plates

Much much better balance in my legs and hips on the last set.

All thanks to kickbacks of all things!

[DOMSPOWER]

From Sunday to Wednesday I surpassed 40 hours of work where we filled fugues with cement.. and 2 of those days were 12 and 14,5 hours respectively.

Workout at the park:

Warmup triset 3 sets of 5 reps each:
Wide grip incline Push ups
Reverse grip inverted rows
Dips on the bar and feet on the ground

Working up in resistance:
Wide grip deadhang
Dip hold with full weight using dip bars
3 supersets of 10 count

Dips
2x1 negative eccentrics
2x5
2x3
3x2

Pull ups 2x3 as lats seem to take quite the beating doing manual labor

It seems dips are by far the best to balance out my rib muscles and get both shoulders in proper place.

It also seems that how just dips are great for finding the right spot for my elbow with having it a bit too far in, and how shoulder presses feel very natural to have the elbow out with as well, I think pushing reps on regular bench is inferior.

Plenty of dips, wide grip bench, wide grip incline and wide grip overhead presses will go a much longer way, I think.

[DOMSPOWER]

While waiting for the train I did 5 total sets of upper arms in the park.

Then in the gym:

Box Squat
3x5xbar followed by a 10 count single of birddog
3x50 daaaaamn
2x70 hm
6x2x80

I got some better tension a lot of places and a mix of hitting weak spots better and having worked so much manual labor made it surprisingly hard on several of the sets and I was pretty tired after..

Deadlift about 5 doubles same weight just working the setup portion with how I have my upper arms in my shoulder socket and get really tight around the joint.

MAG Pulldowns
15x50lbs
3x10x90 very effective

I think soon I will be able to push my chest and upper back properly, which in turn will make it easier to consistently push my legs without overuse from slight variation in loading of various muscles from little tweaks on the torso due to some spots being tight and weak.

I write too much, but I believe the data is important, and I think it might help me personally to put the words down in front of me.

[DOMSPOWER]

Today I went to test if wide grip presses are the holy grail for me, and I think it's not safe yet.

Warmup 4x15 supersets
Wide grip pulldowns 55lbs
Dip machine 30lbs and all the way up now, really engaged and loosened my right ribs but turns out left ribs needed it more as well so I did the exact same thing following rows later

Incline bench
3x6xbar no rest wide grip, less wide, pinky grip
2-3x10xbar wide
2x5x30 wide
10x30 pinky felt healthier

5kg dumbbell shoulder press but left shoulder said no more presses today

Machine Rows 4x15x40kg

[DOMSPOWER]

Last night I came home from a hotel a four hour drive away, stopped into the gym to charge my phone cos turns out I have two old unpaid electricity bills so they turned it off the day before while I was away, and did some training while juicing up the battery.

Sled pulls
1x no weight
10x25kg

Just keeping it light and making sure I can keep up in the long run.

Reverse pec deck 10x10x14lbs really finding and maintaining that perfect rib tightness and shoulder positioning.

Then this morning the alarm woke me up 6:30 so I could deliver the rented car before having to buy another 24 hours, and then went to the gym and did this:

Lazybike 20min

Machine Row with slightly closer grip and a circular angle that really hits the weak rib spot that younger me would've avoided in order to go heavier
5x10x50lbs

Bench with really good tightness and ability to keep the elbow out but also being pretty fatigueing
6x6xbar

Side Raises with really having the shoulder up in a good position which at first made it feel like a trap exercise 4x10x4kg

I will see if I can stay at a girls house for three days while doing bigger and more deliveries but all of them need me north of where I live so might as well go see her instead of stay at home.

[DOMSPOWER]

Last night I did a serratus workout with deadhangs, dip machine (mostly straight arms shoulder elevation and depression) and band rotations. Also some ultra light kickback machine.

So today I performed a lot better, just need to adapt to the positioning so I can regain strength rapidly.

Box Squat above parallel
3x5xbar
3x3x50
3x80
1x110
1x130

Felt slight pain in my lower back and it seemed to cause leg strength loss and bit of knee cave. This confirms that my rib issue has been the cause of most of my leg problems.

Deadlift
3x5x70
3x100
1x
130
Straps
160
185

Started really well and ended a bit slow and with some discomfort in the same spot... Deadlift was stronger in previous weeks but feel much better now, so next time I'll have at least 200kg in me for sure.

Then I used the same box and an empty barbell to do some isometrics, only just touching the box at ALL TIMES was the goal which i failed miserably.

3x43-47 seconds

The goal was to hit at least 60 seconds but I just couldn't do it.... Got pretty good at not supporting any weight on the box, though.

The hold definitely brings out my weaknesses and improved them!

[DOMSPOWER]

Doing serratus work every day is definitely gonna solve all my problems!

Bench
3x10xbar
2x5x40
3x60
1x70
1x80 nowhere near a max obviously
30 count hold a half inch above the chest with 40kg
Daaaaaamn

Dip Machine 3x12x70lbs

Overhead Press with pinky grip
5xbar and I found it best to not go below chin height plus add isometrics
10 count lockout hold, 3-4 count eccentric, 10 count hold at bottom
1xbar
1x30
1x40

It beats the hell out of my ribs in both sides and mostly down where I felt unstable on squats.

Pulldowns with 10 count bottom hold, 10 count eccentric and 10 count top hold
Wide grip 3x1x75lbs
Underhand grip
1x
75
85
110
150 where the eccentric may have only been 7 count cos I forgot to do the counting

You should see how much my posture has improved from all this isometric pushing and pulling.

4 trisets:
20 bodyweight incline tricep extensions
12 hammer curls with 12kg
10 side raises with 4kg

2 plates in two weeks

[DOMSPOWER]

My serratus is nicely beat, and today came a psychological lesson on top of it.

Sled pulls regular, meaning no walking from dead stop for a while moving forward
1x25kg
1x50
2x75 PR
Not paying attention, I thought I was using 20kg plates and just added 10kg to my record to play it safe. Upon realising I had added 25kg to it, I began to feel fatigue above my knee, thus realising I still have psychological pain when nothing is wrong.

The cure for this Psychological bs was simple. Shift thought to the task at hand instead of thinking of the bad knee and shorten the rest periods to avoid shifting focus as well as force out the primitive task oriented part of my psyche.

This led to another 10 sets with 75kg!!!!!!!

The plan was 3 sets small record then less weight for 5-10 sets depending on weight and energy.

Instead I did 12 sets with a big 3 set record!!!!


I don't recommend people with injuries and pain do this. I only did it after several years of dealing with it and months of seemingly magical progress in how I feel and move.

Now I'm finally getting ready to push it and actually see my top strength getting better.

Slow steps still.

Today is an anomaly based on my personal problem solving.

Take the lesson of nocebo and placebo with you, do it only the way YOU need to.

[DOMSPOWER]

Benched a day early in case I have hangovers and much work tomorrow and perhaps a lot of work the day after also.

Bench Press
3x10-15 count pause just above chest xbar
2x40 with 5 count pause with just a t shirt touch
3x60 1 count pause t shirt pause
1x70 same
1x80
1x90

Slight disconnect of serratus in the bottom, then reconnect and boom easy lift.. next time I will force it to stay connected, so that I can murder 100kg.

Wide grip Overhead Press 10 count lockout hold, 5 count eccentric and 10 count chin height hold
Bar
30
40
50 PR for free lol
Then a hold with 30kg above my head until I was shaking violently

This exercise helps a lot with toughening up the spot that disconnected.

Machine rows to low point
15x30lbs
3x12x110lbs with a 5, 10 and 15 count hold on the last rep

25 bent over side raises and 15 side raises for 3 supersets with 2kg

3 supersets to failure:
Lying dead stop dumbbell tricep extensions 12kg
Underhand dumbbell Curls 9kg

I'm beginning to feel like a monster. Growling beast.

[DOMSPOWER]

After having squatted to a box for so long, doing without is a whole other game for sure. No leeway to to a bit soft in the back and much more tension in the inner thighs. I think now that I have learned to sit back via box squats, it is time to go hard without a box and reap the records I've sown.

Squats to around and below parallel trying to basically just work with what I've got
Bar 5+ sets
40kg 3 sets
60kg 3 sets
2-3 reps per set

Isometric hold empty bar 60 seconds on the dot
- came up the back rounded and knees came in cos I gave it all I've got and am so fatigued at this point and maybe also since the 12 sets of sled pulls, I ****ing fell on my ass and had the bar land on both my big toes

You best believe I had a laugh about it!

Deadlift
3x70
3 or 4x2x90

No support work since all my support muscles got tapped from the changes in training believe it or not. This was a lot harder than it looks on paper with what I've got going on.

[DOMSPOWER]

Ate **** yesterday, got out without eating this morning to rent a car and train right after. New records.

About 10 sets of wide grip pulldown scapula depressions and 20 minutes lazybike to get my body in motion and ready.

T shirt Bench Press with bit longer pause and ad libitum pause on last reps
3x5xbar
5x40
3x60
Normal pause
1x
75
90
2x100 almost still a t shirt hold
45 count isometric hold barely touching the t shirt with 40kg for a PR

Overhead Press with 10count pause at lockout, above head and on beard
1x
Bar
30
40
50
60kg with 5/15/5 count

Records in multiple ways here.

Wide grip Pulldowns
15x50lbs lots of rib cracks
2x10x90
Normal grip 3x10x90

Home to shower and out to **** yet another man's daughter.

[DOMSPOWER]

Today I added another 10kg, destroyed both knee extensors and stopped early enough to warrant proper recovery like a boss.

Sled pulls
1x
25kg
50
75
6x1x85 PR

3 sets reverse flys feeling out different angles and shoulder positions at random just to feel good

[DOMSPOWER]

My lats are absolutely shot but that led to the discovery that pulling with elbows high and the weight in line with my rear delts is very hard and sometimes even painful. A bunch of band pull aparts like this and I could finally use full ROM with just little discomfort in the collar bone.

Bench to t shirt
3x5xbar
2x5x40
2x2x60
1x80 with a sloppy 10 count hold
1x85kg with a proper 10 count hold and following the tick tock of the rooms clock at the end

Wide neutral grip cable rows 5x15x5 plates

It's definitely a matter of moving my shoulders freely and spending time in that peak position more than it is about the weight. I see that now.

[DOMSPOWER]

My legs weren't at full strength but adaptations will soon turn that around. My upper back mobility is a lot better now, though, and so deadlifts went much better. With my hands being under my shoulders I can more easily find that connection I found on band pull aparts and it really got me into the right position. In fact, on the third set my ribs cracked, moved and a muscle under them stiffened, leading me to feel better and walk more fluidly. Reverse flys then solidified that improvement.

Paused Squat
3x5xbar
2x5x40
3x60
No more pauses
2x80
1x100 - by no means a max but legs aren't used to no box
3x80
Then only a 46 second hold with empty bar at around parallel.

Deadlift
3x70
3x2x90

Reverse fly machine 4x10x30lbs

[DOMSPOWER]

I thought it would be suiting to do overhead press today, but nope. Muscles are doing better but of course just still a bit tight, however it turns out they can't even handle being loaded.

Reverse pec deck
3x10x15lbs
3x10x30lbs

DB Flys on the floor 3x10x1
Nice way to imitate upper back tightness on bench while dealing with the weakness and occasional pain around the clavicle

Now I felt ready to ****ing kill it but nope. Empty bar presses were iffy, 40kg came up easy under control but felt terrible under my arm pit/ribs

1 set 50lbs pulldowns were no no

EZ Curl's
15xbar I think 10kg
12x20kg
8x30kg

Had to stop due to that same serratus spot.... But I can drive my car, move around and do stuff fine. Just a little tight and bit burning like as if it's barely anything.

Leads me to think my injuries are because of too low pain threshold.

[DOMSPOWER]

With some extra time of no training and being mindful of my ribs, I found myself training with a friend today and doing much better.

I was just in the gym taking a **** then my friend from 100km away walked by and saw me, and I ended up joining him for his back workout.

Pulldowns
8x110lbs - remember this is usually a working weight but my nerves aren't inhibiting me as much anymore
10x130
7x150

Last two sets superset by a machine dip 10x95lbs

Machine Row superset reverse pec deck
8x110 + 8x40 all in lbs
10?x110 + 5x40 much harder so no third set

Farmers walk over and back with kettlebells
20kg
28
32 at least I think I didn't just jump to 32kg
Then a dropset of 32, 28 and 20
All sets walking at near normal walking speed and the forearms got super tired

Then some arm ****around stuff half of which being too easy cos my ribs were getting over worked a bit with the lat stuff.

Some side raises for a bunch of moderate and mostly easy sets.

Then some rotator cuff work that released my serratus in the right side and made it much easier to pull my shoulder and ribs back without the hip coming back as well. This will really help me recover and rebuild those super sore rib tissues.

Tomorrow is chest day with him if my work permits.

[DOMSPOWER]

Since the crossover felt really good the other day with there being no impact on the ground and the pulling back motion of the leg is much lighter than even my own bodyweight, u decided to start my day with that machine to get some therapeutic effects.

It was amazing.

Cross trainer 30 minutes of going slow as a nail yet consistently less slow

Bench 4-5x5xbar still have some residue fatigue in that same spot

Paused Squats
5xwomans bar
6x35

That same spot did however allow my arm to externally rotate much easier and with zero aches in spite of feeling a bit tired after the crosstrainer and sometimes actually hurting while I lean over to get under the bar on nearly every set during squat workouts.

Deadlift 3x3x70

The standing tall with weights does a body good. Much the same for my hamstrings and glutes as the crosstrainer honestly.

Straight arm Cable Pulldowns without the swingy motion at the top which people exploit to not get the most out of the exercise because they're lazy
10x4 plates kinda hard to have my shoulders in the right place with the stiff serratus up at the top, lots of noise
3x10x3 plates daaaaamn

Still a lot of joint noise but i got a LOT of work done to mobilise the joint in the top of my ribs in just the way I've been trying to gain from pulldowns for countless months now.

ALL HAIL CROSS TRAINER AND STRAIGHT ARM CABLE PULLDOWNS.

[DOMSPOWER]

Trained with a mate, changed the trajectory of his Squat training forever.

15min crosstrainer

Paused Squat
Maybe 5 sets with bar and pause pauses
Few sets 50kg 2-3 semi long pause reps
70kg for maybe 2 sets of 1 and 2 reps
90kg maybe 2-3 singles
Then had him do 10 count holds but 90 was impossible and 70 near limit
We both did it with the empty bar to finish off. I hit all 60 seconds and threw the bar over my head. He pussed out at 18 seconds.

Easy. Much better since ridding stiffness around the chest plate. Still recovering.

Unilateral Lying Leg Curls 3x10x15kg
Very weak behind the knee.

2-3 sets light ish pulldowns not really pushing it but enforcing proper tightness for squats with long pauses thrown in here and there.

In 4-5 days he's home from a short vacation and we agreed to meet for a Deadlift session.

[DOMSPOWER]

Yesterday turned everything around forever.

Crosstrainer 20min

Bench
3x5xbar
3x5x40 on the last set i began to "get it"

And then, remembering how holds above head and on beard was so hard and more risky, and how on top of the bench movement some part of the lat/serratus and maybe even pec is stiff and sore, I decided to go straight arm holds.

The last 3 exercises are with elbows locked and holding it for a 30 count. Phone was ****ed so couldn't use the stop watch..

Overhead Press
Bar
40
50

Damn this is intense and tired me in all the right places enforcing all the lacking elements.

Pulldowns 2 sets with 235lbs

Machine Row
80
110
135kg

Yep, that's more weight on press than bench after the right muscles mobilised, and that's the full stack on both machines.

My lats are still beat, and I believe many records are around the corner now.