The adjustments to the back workout are good.

Interesting thing is I didn’t realize, until I logged this in my spreadsheet, is that I really upped the weights this session over last. And I still cranked it. Hey, progress is good.

Fewer face pulls, gets the shoulders nice and warmed up.

The rows work well. I am happy to be doing BB rows again.

Shrugs. Hrm. I’ve never been good at evaluating if the really heavy stuff works well, or the lighter/higher stuff works better. I’ll stick with this for a bit, but I am thinking about other approaches. Either way, the one change NOW I’ve made is to take the first light set to 20, then the second an AMRAP (which just happened to hit 20 today).

The cable rows were… not sure. I am starting to use a bar with a neutral grip and about shoulder-width spacing. I’m not sure I’m sold on it (vs. a v-bar with a neutral, narrow grip). Not sure it works things as much as I would like, but I’ll stick with it for now.

And curl grips. Man, they remain a bit hard on the shoulders and wrists, but if I really focus well on moving just the upper arm with the lats (vs. trying to use “all the body and muscles” to just move weight through space), yeah… these kill me. That’s been one of the things in training over the past couple years I’ve been so happy about: improving the quality of my back work. Ignoring the hands — they’re just what attaches you to the bar. Moving from the elbow, or at least thinking about it that way. Less weight, better contractions, ensuring scapular movement. Good stuff.

• Face Pulls
  • 65 x 25
  • 65 x 25
• Barbell Rows
  • 135 x 8
  • 155 x 7
  • 175 x 6
  • 195 x 5
  • 205 x 4
  • 215 x 3
  • 175 x 12 (AMRAP)
  • 175 x 6 (50%)
• BB Shrugs
  • 305 x 8
  • 305 x 8
  • 225 x 20
  • 225 x 20 (AMRAP)
• Cable Row (low, wide neutral grip)
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 14 (AMRAP)
• Curl-Grip Pulldowns
  • 120 x 12
  • 120 x 12
  • 120 x 11
  • 120 x 6
  • 105 x 4 (drop)
  • 90 x 4 (drop)