Don’t call it a comeback

[NovaFlex]

Damn, meso’s been down a bit.
-Found out that my shoulder injury is a rotator cuff tear. Doctor said it seems to be pretty mild. I had one playing sports in my teens on the same shoulder—which is the same one I broke in 2018, lol.


Some Back stuff today.



BB Row

135 x20

185 3x12



18” Rack Pull

315 x5

435 x3

505 x1

565 x1

635 x1

385 x5



-Rack pulls seemed to be an extremely weak spot for me—just below the knee. This is where I concentrate my RDL’s, as well as paused DL’s. Kinda surprised at this PR. Felt like an RPE 8.5 ish. I’m sure I could pull 675 or so...Maybe 700 from the ground is in the not so distant future?



Face Pulls

85 3x20



BB Shrugs

385 3x15

-Not a fan of shrugs, but I can’t do any snatch grip or high pull stuff right now, so making some modifications


-Cut short due to time. Good session. Off to work a 48 hr shift in the morning...damn snow

 

[TheIncomparableMrHarrow]

Sorry to hear about the shoulder. Hopefully everything gets better with time.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

Sucks about the pressing. I was over a year like that right after hitting 405lbs for the first time on bench. It just suddenly got better in late 2019 and no issues since.

 

[NovaFlex]

Sucks about the pressing. I was over a year like that right after hitting 405lbs for the first time on bench. It just suddenly got better in late 2019 and no issues since.

Yeah man. It’s ok tho, just changing focus back to DL / squat for a bit...Can still do some BB accessories for upper stuff tho...Can’t lie, it depressed me for a few days—I’ve been doing well with pressing the last few months.

-At the tail end of a 35 hr shift. Plowing sucks.

 

[NovaFlex]

Multi Grip Floor Press

135 3x6



-Very minimal pain doing this. Also did OHP with just the bar, with slight pain at the top...gonna just go up gradually and slowly. No rush.



Seal DB Row

65 6x8



Seated Dip

230 6x8



Wide Grip Lat PD

65 x10

110 8x8



DB Fly

35 x12, 7x8



-Flies were ok...A little pain getting them into position, but keeping stable wasn’t too bad



-Ordered a 48” Lat pulldown bar...attempting to sneak in accessories to the gym every few weeks, so the wife doesn’t notice lmao

-Also figured out that Black anything is much cheaper than the chrome alternative...this was half the price for the same damn thing.

 

[NovaFlex]

Couldn’t edit my original post...

quick cut update:

I’m at 242-244 right now. Things are cleaning up, but still soft as hell in the bad spots...kinda wanna go down to 230ish and see what happens. Suggestions? -My stomach still looks like shit but getting tighter, so back shots (no pun) it is

 

[Worf]

Probably have to keep that scale moving down to get the look you want. Skin tightness is a whole different animal. It can take years for that to tighten up

 

[NovaFlex]

Probably have to keep that scale moving down to get the look you want. Skin tightness is a whole different animal. It can take years for that to tighten up

Yeah man, I was kinda thinking that...I had higher expectations at this weight, lol. But it seems I may even have to get to ~210-200 and build back up, simply because of the bf% I still have.

-Skin isn’t horrible. I notice it most on the lower abs tho, just soft. And kinda worried about my chest, but I feel the skin there is already tightening as well he fat comes off.

 

[Btcowboy]

Yeah man, I was kinda thinking that...I had higher expectations at this weight, lol. But it seems I may even have to get to ~210-200 and build back up, simply because of the bf% I still have.

-Skin isn’t horrible. I notice it most on the lower abs tho, just soft. And kinda worried about my chest, but I feel the skin there is already tightening as well he fat comes off.

@Worf is right and I know lol... depending on age it may never tighten up. I am in that boat, look great in a shirt, without not so much... no money for surgery so live with it for now

 

[NovaFlex]

@Worf is right and I know lol... depending on age it may never tighten up. I am in that boat, look great in a shirt, without not so much... no money for surgery so live with it for now

I haven’t been too worried about that, really. In all reality, if my skin is loose, I’ll get it taken care of on vacation, when we go see my wife’s family in Colombia lol. Their plastic surgeons rival our own, but 1/3 the price

-off topic a bit: I can’t explain how good it feels to finally have my nutrition on point tho, and not going up and down every month from bad choices...just a steady slope down. Which is weird to me still, because I feel I eat a lot...just much different than I used to.

 

[NovaFlex]

Squats tonight... Was gonna do Belt squats after, but just didn’t have the gas tonight. Following part of Josh Bryant’s program, and it’s pretty brutal.



SSB Squat

150 x6

240 x6

330 4x3

-SSB is always humbling, weight-wise.



Standing Leg curls

100 6x8



Single Leg extensions

60 8x8



Rev Hyper

120 5x8

 

[NovaFlex]

Progress is progress.

Bench

135 x10

185 2x10



2 board

185 3x10



-The shoulder is slowly coming back. Very minor discomfort until the second set of 185...I’m sure I’ll be back to 100% within a few weeks. Switched to 2 board when the shoulder started acting up.


BB Shrugs

315 x10

385 x10

505 x5

315 x20



Tricep Pressdown

75 x18, 10, 2x8



Supinated Lat PD

75 x20

100 8x8



DB Fly

35 4x10

-zero pain in flies. Probably try to up the weight again next week and see how the shoulder is stabilizing. I’m pretty confident it’ll be ok.

 

[NovaFlex]

DL

225 5x2

315 4x1

405 3x1

435 4x2



-was gonna try for 8x2 at the top set, but everything feels super heavy today. Hamstring is cramped too...probably from direct ham curls the other day, and I haven’t done them in a while.



DB Row

120 3x8

90 2x15





Hammer Curls

50 2x10

45 2x10





DB Curls

35 4x10



-lol if you can believe it, I’ve never done regular DB strict curls over 25 lbs. never cared too much for biceps before...Setting little goals keeps me going tho—so gonna try to get to 50’s and grow these bitches a little bit.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

Lookin leaner, v taper starting to stand out.

 

[NovaFlex]

Lookin leaner, v taper starting to stand out.

Thanks bro. Still going strong. Energy is hit or miss, depending on my carb intake, but that’s to be expected. I’m getting my mindset into more volume, less intensity.

-Can’t wait to blast when this is over lol

 

[NovaFlex]

CG Incline Bench
135 x10

160 4x10
-Planned on 205 for a top set today, but my shoulder had other ideas. Stayed at 160 and didn’t push it.


Viking press
1 plate x22
2 plate 3x15

-Viking Press doesn’t seem to cause pain. Maybe because I’m not needing to stabilize? At least I can get my shoulders moving again. These feel really good


Wide Grip Lat PD
60 3x20
90 x15, 3x12



Tricep PD
60 2x15
65 2x10



DB Fly
45 2x8


-Been trying to just add some volume. Moving into more hypertrophy training all around. I’m not sure how much more direct strength training I’ll be doing in the coming months. I’ve been leaning a lot more toward trying to get at least a little aesthetic.

 

[NovaFlex]

Meso didn’t let me post this last night. Got my Viking press setup pretty decent, after watching Ben Pollack’s setup

 

[NovaFlex]

Flat bench

135 x10

185 x10

225 x8

275 x1
Back down set

210 x10

-Worked up to see what my shoulder could take today. 275 for an almost comfortable single wasn’t too bad. The strength was 100% there, but I was definitely pushing my limits with the joint. It’s building back up tho.



High Inc DB Press

75 x14, 12, 9



BB Row SS/ BB Shrugs

210 x15/15, 2x12/15



Seated Dips SS/ DB Curls

225/40 2x20/10, 16/9

-Trying to add hypertrophy without focusing it around a movement is hard for my brain to process, lol...I can’t separate my days into body parts / push/pull, etc.

 

[NovaFlex]

-Decided to work direct shoulders today, even tho I pressed yesterday—my tri’s aren’t too burn out.



Strict OHP

Bar 3x20

95 x15

135 x12, 10, 9

-Some resistance in the shoulder while working up. Nothing too painful tho...it feels more like there’s a dragging or scraping inside.
Overall, I’ll probably be subbing OHP for Viking press for the foreseeable future.


Seated DB Press

40 2x12

-Although I can attribute some of the weakness to pressing yesterday + trap work, it sucks knowing I was doing 50’s for 30+ reps lol.



Face pulls

40 x20

55 2x18, 15, 16



Lat raises

15 5x12

-25’s were too much for my shoulder. Could barely get it half way up strict.



-Overall, my shoulders lost some strength / endurance...I gotta say, tho, I feel yesterday’s workout today, and I haven’t had DOMs in a long while...hypertrophy training is definitely working—my back is on fire from those light rows.

 

[Worf]

Damn man, you get it checked out?