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Slicin' and Dicin'

MTS leg ext
3 x 10 x 40
(SS with 10 airsquats)
10 x 60

Leg curls
3 x 10 x 100

Glute machine
10 x 30lbs, 70, 110

Adductor machine
20 x 70
10 x 130, 190

Star Trac leg press
10 x +180, +270, +360
(At this point I tempered myself down cause it felt good and was tempting to go up to that 500lb range, but no need to rush a good recovery I got going)

Barbell squats
10 x bar, 95
(These looked so weird. Like my right femur looked physically higher/further from the ground when at parallel than my left side. So while I'm happy to be able to do these at all, I need a lot more improvement)

Notes
Locked in for 2026
Gonna get an avg weight for the weekend and shoot for 3lb loss avg per month till May (12lbs total, but I want to figure out if I'm starting at 197, 198, or 200. I think it's 198)

Starting 2026 with emphasis on knee PT so I can hit fri/sat/sun focused on heavier weight with bench, back, shoulders, arms etc

Started the day with a normal 15 minute of red light shot straight at the knee.

ROM better, swelling better. The swelling appears to be mostly at the back of the knee and I notice it most squatting to depth as it gets in the way physically more than the pain does.

Never used this torture device before but it burns way harder than the normal one I use.

Somehow I'm pretty sweaty
PXL_20260101_222329042.webp
 
Yeah better to see how your body reacts to X dose of stress, then if it’s okay come back sooner to increase the stress again. But you can get in trouble going too hard too fast; better to hedge bets initially.

“Better to come back a month late than one day too soon.”
 
Bench
20 x bar
10 x 95
5 x 135
3 x 175
1 x 200
2 x 225, 245, 255
3 x 3 x 260

Slingshot
2 x 285, 295
4 x 305 (2 + 2 assisted)

Raw
8 x 225

Incline
5 x 135, 155, 175, 185
2 x 10 x 140

OHP
8 x 95, 115
5 x 135
10 x 95
(I was smoked by now)

Pec deck
20 x 145
10 x 205, 265


Notes
Got to BS'ing with one of the 'big guys' at the gym. Guy is jacked. He's gotta have 30lbs on me and 5% leaner maybe. We were comparing sling shots and talking training and I was shocked that my bench was about 50lbs heavier than this mass monster. Like if we were in a bar fight you'd grab him over me to have in your corner. Genetics are wild. To be fair though I think he's cautious to protect his shoulders, he was running SS for sets of 5 at 225 and getting great stimulus for his goals.

Got a great rando spot today. Told him I wanted 2 at 305, which I hit, then hes like take another, and another... Lol. But he's a built mofo so I trusted his spot and I've been dying to get some heavy reps past failure so that was

I love a bench session that leaves you Shakey in the legs like a leg day lol
 
Dustin07 said:
Bench
20 x bar
10 x 95
5 x 135
3 x 175
1 x 200
2 x 225, 245, 255
3 x 3 x 260

Slingshot
2 x 285, 295
4 x 305 (2 + 2 assisted)

Raw
8 x 225

Incline
5 x 135, 155, 175, 185
2 x 10 x 140

OHP
8 x 95, 115
5 x 135
10 x 95
(I was smoked by now)

Pec deck
20 x 145
10 x 205, 265


Notes
Got to BS'ing with one of the 'big guys' at the gym. Guy is jacked. He's gotta have 30lbs on me and 5% leaner maybe. We were comparing sling shots and talking training and I was shocked that my bench was about 50lbs heavier than this mass monster. Like if we were in a bar fight you'd grab him over me to have in your corner. Genetics are wild. To be fair though I think he's cautious to protect his shoulders, he was running SS for sets of 5 at 225 and getting great stimulus for his goals.

Got a great rando spot today. Told him I wanted 2 at 305, which I hit, then hes like take another, and another... Lol. But he's a built mofo so I trusted his spot and I've been dying to get some heavy reps past failure so that was

I love a bench session that leaves you Shakey in the legs like a leg day lol
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Nice workout…..it always feels good when you know you left it all in the gym. 💪😎
 
You don’t want to work past failure often on bench, but it’s seriously one of the strongest stimuli you can get for developing it (forced reps). Lots of old time powerlifters who trained in groups were big on it. Just not something you want to do more than every 4 weeks or something; it will burn you out fast done weekly.
 
Hyde said:
You don’t want to work past failure often on bench, but it’s seriously one of the strongest stimuli you can get for developing it (forced reps). Lots of old time powerlifters who trained in groups were big on it. Just not something you want to do more than every 4 weeks or something; it will burn you out fast done weekly.
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Is this actually good for gaining strength and muscle?

I saw a bodybuilding coach comment on it a while back in a video and he explained that forced reps have little benefit (he was mainly talking about hypertrophy, but it should still apply similarly to strength) so I never considered doing them?
Is it more of a way to strengthen your nervous system like overload negatives or static holds?
 
Shadowblaze said:
Is this actually good for gaining strength and muscle?

I saw a bodybuilding coach comment on it a while back in a video and he explained that forced reps have little benefit (he was mainly talking about hypertrophy, but it should still apply similarly to strength) so I never considered doing them?
Is it more of a way to strengthen your nervous system like overload negatives or static holds?
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Correct on the latter point; it is a nervous system conditioning overload max effort method that helps teach you to strain. Note that I said powerlifters, which Dustin cares very much about his bench 1RM generally.

It’s probably not ideal for hypertrophy because the damage it causes isn’t proportional to recovery demands, nor is the risk of injury as worth it. But powerlifting is inherently more dangerous than pure bodybuilding, about twice as much I believe statistically. Maybe 1.5x.
 
Today was to be back day but my boy got last minute eligibility to a tourney so I ran down there real quick. So far after match 1 he is 1-0. Pinned the dude in 1 minute.

He's wrestling the 285 weight class at 220lbs instead of cutting the last 5 to go 215

During practice last week the only other 285 guy left on the team (they started with four) blew out his shoulder trying to take boy down so now my boy has nobody left to challenge his varsity spot.... At 285.... While weighing in 65lbs under weight

He's like " well, I'm stoked, my varsity spot is locked up, but I'm also terrified cause all the rest of my meets this year will be against larger, stronger wrestlers"

Dude has balls, idk
 
Hyde said:
You don’t want to work past failure often on bench, but it’s seriously one of the strongest stimuli you can get for developing it (forced reps). Lots of old time powerlifters who trained in groups were big on it. Just not something you want to do more than every 4 weeks or something; it will burn you out fast done weekly.
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Even four weeks is a lot more often than I get it, I bet I'm setup to chase failed reps like that only once or twice a year to be honest. I love my lifting buddies and they have progressed a lot, but at the end of the day they're pretty lazy so I gotta keep them super focused to get the work in that we do

Also, I normally wouldnt be chasing failed reps at 1RM territory. Historically if I did it it would be at like 225. With the right spotter I might say hey, I'm taking 12 reps even if I only have 8-10.

305 is a high fail point for me, since 305 is my best raw. With the slingshot it's probably closer to like 275 ish for me. I seem to consistently avg about 10% more with the SS.

But man finishing with only 135ohp definitely tells me how smoked I was
 
Dustin07 said:
Even four weeks is a lot more often than I get it, I bet I'm setup to chase failed reps like that only once or twice a year to be honest. I love my lifting buddies and they have progressed a lot, but at the end of the day they're pretty lazy so I gotta keep them super focused to get the work in that we do

Also, I normally wouldnt be chasing failed reps at 1RM territory. Historically if I did it it would be at like 225. With the right spotter I might say hey, I'm taking 12 reps even if I only have 8-10.

305 is a high fail point for me, since 305 is my best raw. With the slingshot it's probably closer to like 275 ish for me. I seem to consistently avg about 10% more with the SS.

But man finishing with only 135ohp definitely tells me how smoked I was
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Yeah it’s mainly only a thing for benchpress, db pressing & machine work. And you don’t need to do it often at all; I just didn’t want someone to hear “this is powerful so I should use it” like all the kids do when they hear about Tren. It’s a powerful, riskier more-specific use case that works.
 
Abbreviated back sesh, gotta get the post holiday house pulled back together and get ready to restart the grind tomorrow.

Seated DB curls
15 x 25s
10 x 30s, 35s

H/S high row
20 x +90
10 x +180, +270

H/S low row
10 x +180, +270, +270
15 x +180

Pull-ups
2 x 10

Lat pull downs
10 x 145, 175

Cybex T bar rows
15 x +45
10 x +90

Nautilus high row
10 x +90, +180, +270
15 x +180
(Somehow I don't think I have ever used this machine before. Idk what it's real name is, it doesn't have a name tag lol)


Notes
Curious what everyone thinks of saunas and how often you use them, if at all. Friend of mine has an alternative healing facility so I gave the sauna and soundbed a try with my wife. Seemed pretty interesting.



PXL_20260104_180159818.MP.webp
 
Sauna=dehydration. They can be relaxing, but you should highly prioritize fluid & electrolytes as soon as you are done with them.

I also do not like them as a warmup before training. They will get your body warmed up quickly before a workout, but then none of your muscles are actually pumped, joints are not as flushed, and you haven’t increased any neuromuscular coordination. You’re better off putting in the sweat equity on a dynamic warmup lifting light weights or using athletic movements to get activated.
 
I personally love a dry sauna. Just something about that full on sweat! But I always would use after I'm finished with my workouts.
 
Hyde said:
Sauna=dehydration. They can be relaxing, but you should highly prioritize fluid & electrolytes as soon as you are done with them.

I also do not like them as a warmup before training. They will get your body warmed up quickly before a workout, but then none of your muscles are actually pumped, joints are not as flushed, and you haven’t increased any neuromuscular coordination. You’re better off putting in the sweat equity on a dynamic warmup lifting light weights or using athletic movements to get activated.
Click to expand...

Segansational said:
I personally love a dry sauna. Just something about that full on sweat! But I always would use after I'm finished with my workouts.
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I don't think I've ever legit used one before this past saturday. it was a 20min session at 130f. she said don't be surprised if you dont' sweat a lot (?) a lot of people take a couple sessions before their body begins to open up and start sweating. well, by about 8 minutes I was dripping and at 10 minutes I was sweating enough that I was feeling cold in the sauna at 130f lol. I went in with a coconut water to prioritize hydration during the experience since I didn't know what to expect and didn't want to make myself sick on the first go, lol. this was a rest day.

the main health benefits I keep reading and hearing about them is detoxification and cardio but I don't know a lot about it other than that. My preferred gym down in Tacom has one, I've never used it but the sign says its set to 180f. Maybe I'll explore it today...
 
Warmup
Bike - 21 min

MTS leg ext
3 x 10 per leg

Kneeling leg curls
(New torture device of the week)
3 x 10 per leg

Glute machine
2 x 10 per leg

Adductor machine
3 x 10-20

Barbell squats
5 x bar, 95, 135

Notes
Holy January. I know we crack jokes but this is just obnoxious!

Anyways I'm fasted today so nothing heavy. Everything was knee - focused light weight ROM based

Hardest part was actually taking a knee on the right knee (injured side) for those kneeling leg curls. After 5 min on the bike it felt pretty good.

So current pain spot appears the direct backside of the knee as I pull heel towards glute.

I'm actually sorta proud of this session cause I cautiously pushed through some painful areas and finished feeling ten times better with substantially more rom.

Not sure I'm out of the woods or anything but the end finished a helluva lot better than it started.
PXL_20260106_001208101.MP.webp
 
Hit the 180f sauna at my gym for ten minutes after just to see what it's all about while I try to decide if it's for me or not. I gotta say that hot sauna felt good on a cold day.
 
Dustin07 said:
Warmup
Bike - 21 min

MTS leg ext
3 x 10 per leg

Kneeling leg curls
(New torture device of the week)
3 x 10 per leg

Glute machine
2 x 10 per leg

Adductor machine
3 x 10-20

Barbell squats
5 x bar, 95, 135

Notes
Holy January. I know we crack jokes but this is just obnoxious!

Anyways I'm fasted today so nothing heavy. Everything was knee - focused light weight ROM based

Hardest part was actually taking a knee on the right knee (injured side) for those kneeling leg curls. After 5 min on the bike it felt pretty good.

So current pain spot appears the direct backside of the knee as I pull heel towards glute.

I'm actually sorta proud of this session cause I cautiously pushed through some painful areas and finished feeling ten times better with substantially more rom.

Not sure I'm out of the woods or anything but the end finished a helluva lot better than it started. View attachment 257652
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I’m glad this year I got the treadmill at home and enough in the garage to get by this month 😂
 
akboom87 said:
I’m glad this year I got the treadmill at home and enough in the garage to get by this month
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You're not dude, lol. I could tell by the packed parking lot everyone waited till today to get started. Even the sauna was wall to wall dudes, sorta awkward tbh
 
Knee feels the best it's been so far. Swelling has gone down enough to see definition in it, like there is an actual knee cap lol.

I think it was Sunday night that I woke up with massive snap crackle and pop in the knee around midnight, it actually woke me up and in my fogginess I kept moving the leg around trying to make it stop and instead make it worse. I hobbled into the kitchen for water and a couple melatonin, rubbed my knee and started wondering if I had broken the cap or something. Yesterdays bike ride was a little stiff the first 5 minutes then felt great, in fact, now it's my left knee thats a little bit sore probably from compensating lol.

Last night as I was getting off the couch I would rub my right knee, almost to "prepare it" and warm it up for the big event of standing up. No pain. I'm realizing that I have less and less pain but I'm subconsiously still treating it very gingerly. today at work my hands were full and I just walked right up the stairs to my office without even thinking about it. so subsconciously I'm still standing up slowly but over time I'm becoming less and less aware that there was an injury to protect which I think is a net positive.

Still fasted, plan to go until tomorrow morning. so tonight I'll likely hit the gym briefly for some more time on the bike since that seems to be a net positive for the knee. I'll slam carbs tomorrow morning and feed up for a bench session to kick off the lifting week.
 
Pro tip: keep a shaker of water by your bedside so you can immediately pound some when you wake for the day. Sooner you knock a pint back, sooner you’ll feel more energized & be hydrated for whatever your morning entails. Got this from Brandon Lily and it has served me well.

I also mention a shaker instead of glass because at some point you will knock it over in the night randomly, so having a lid of some kind is key to prevent spills.
 
Hyde said:
I also mention a shaker instead of glass because at some point you will knock it over in the night randomly, so having a lid of some kind is key to prevent spills.
Click to expand...

Sadly I understand this well, I have many times hunted for my phone or glasses on the floor in the morning 😂 😂
 
Dustin07 said:
Knee feels the best it's been so far. Swelling has gone down enough to see definition in it, like there is an actual knee cap lol.

I think it was Sunday night that I woke up with massive snap crackle and pop in the knee around midnight, it actually woke me up and in my fogginess I kept moving the leg around trying to make it stop and instead make it worse. I hobbled into the kitchen for water and a couple melatonin, rubbed my knee and started wondering if I had broken the cap or something. Yesterdays bike ride was a little stiff the first 5 minutes then felt great, in fact, now it's my left knee thats a little bit sore probably from compensating lol.

Last night as I was getting off the couch I would rub my right knee, almost to "prepare it" and warm it up for the big event of standing up. No pain. I'm realizing that I have less and less pain but I'm subconsiously still treating it very gingerly. today at work my hands were full and I just walked right up the stairs to my office without even thinking about it. so subsconciously I'm still standing up slowly but over time I'm becoming less and less aware that there was an injury to protect which I think is a net positive.

Still fasted, plan to go until tomorrow morning. so tonight I'll likely hit the gym briefly for some more time on the bike since that seems to be a net positive for the knee. I'll slam carbs tomorrow morning and feed up for a bench session to kick off the lifting week.
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That’s good news, because knee issues are no fun.
Hyde said:
Pro tip: keep a shaker of water by your bedside so you can immediately pound some when you wake for the day. Sooner you knock a pint back, sooner you’ll feel more energized & be hydrated for whatever your morning entails. Got this from Brandon Lily and it has served me well.

I also mention a shaker instead of glass because at some point you will knock it over in the night randomly, so having a lid of some kind is key to prevent spills.
Click to expand...
That is such a simple and easy thing to do, but is so true and really very important.👍
 
gphagan1 said:
That’s good news, because knee issues are no fun.
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I had to sorta mentally rise above and go straight into PT mode. It would have been easy for me to sorta spiral in despair, waving the white flag after I had enough comments from people on how swollen and bad it looked combined with how painful and immobilized it was. so I had to just sorta believe in my body's ability to heal with my experiences and well, we'll see. but 1% better every day. today is by far the best day yet and I'm a believer that its a combination of quick action, constant mobility work, and I don't doubt the redlight, hydration, and even my current fasting is not hurting recovery. throwing every natural aspect I can at it and forcing through the sometimes painful mobility work.

Plus you know how wives are, there are 3 stages.

1. "walk it off"
2. "walk it off" (while she looks really concerned but pretends she's fine and even goes as far as to help with recovery because she recognizes its more than a scrape)
3. you need to go to the doctor.

my wife was firmly in number 2, and after 2 weeks, moving to 3. lol
 
Hyde said:
Pro tip: keep a shaker of water by your bedside so you can immediately pound some when you wake for the day. Sooner you knock a pint back, sooner you’ll feel more energized & be hydrated for whatever your morning entails. Got this from Brandon Lily and it has served me well.

I also mention a shaker instead of glass because at some point you will knock it over in the night randomly, so having a lid of some kind is key to prevent spills.
Click to expand...
Yes,I do this too, although it’s a stainless steel water bottle. Lets me take my thyroid and telmisartan at 2am also so I don’t need to wait for anything when I wake up in the morning.
 
Fasted at about 45 hrs right now. Just gonna push through till tomorrow and break it so I can lift but this is one of the easiest days I've ever had. At this point I don't really feel like I ever need to eat again

"Cardio"
Bike - 20 min

Just wanted to get more movement on that knee since it seemed to help a ton yesterday.
 
OK starting weight for 2026 was 201 (lots of extra water I'm sure).
Breaking my fast this morning at 60hrs and 193lbs. I'd shocked if I'm as low as 195 Friday once I am certain I'm proper hydrated but we'll see. My goal for January is basically 195. Feb then would be 192. March 189. April would be icing on the cake before May. pretty low goals at only 3lbs / month so shouldn't be too bad.
 
Dustin07 said:
OK starting weight for 2026 was 201 (lots of extra water I'm sure).
Breaking my fast this morning at 60hrs and 193lbs. I'd shocked if I'm as low as 195 Friday once I am certain I'm proper hydrated but we'll see. My goal for January is basically 195. Feb then would be 192. March 189. April would be icing on the cake before May. pretty low goals at only 3lbs / month so shouldn't be too bad.
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I think that is a very obtainable outlook!
 
akboom87 said:
I think that is a very obtainable outlook!
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thanks bro, I think you're right. it's a fine line for me. I'm pretty good at being disciplined when I want to be but I'm almost better at cutting hard than cutting slow because one cheat becomes two, and then I'm like well there's always new years 😂
 
Bench
20 x 95
5 x 135
3 x 175
1 x 205
2 x 225, 245, 255
3 x 3 x 265
10 x 225

Cable OH ext
3 x 20

Pec deck
10 x 160, 220, 250
+20 x 160

Notes
Shocked I added 5lbs from last session I think and these were better reps.

Broke fast with rice, chicken, Gatorade. Took another Gatorade with me to gym.
basically not on any supplementation at the moment except about a 1/2 dose of M Test (seems to be enough for me) and today I did hit two pumps of carnitine the morning and one pump xpg dhea.

Dehydrated post fast weight 193

I will probably get a second session tonight for accessories cause we have wrestling late tonight.
 
Last edited:
Dustin07 said:
Bench
20 x 95
5 x 135
3 x 175
1 x 205
2 x 225, 245, 255
3 x 3 x 265
10 x 225

Cable OH ext
3 x 20

Pec deck
10 x 160, 220, 250
+20 x 160

Notes
Shocked I added 5lbs from last session I think and these were better reps.

Broke fast with rice, chicken, Gatorade. Took another Gatorade with me to gym.
basically not on any supplementation at the moment except about a 1/2 dose of M Test (seems to be enough for me) and today I did hit two pumps of carnitine the morning and one pump xpg dhea.

Dehydrated post fast weight 193

I will probably get a second session tonight for accessories cause we have wrestling late tonight.
Click to expand...
Some nice benching man!
 
Round 2

DB curls
2 x 15 x 30

Ss with DB laterals
2 x 15 x 25

Incline bench
10 x 95, 135
3 x 155, 175, 195
5 x 185
10 x 165
14 x 135

Roc•it shoulder press
10 x 98, 138
9 x 178

Dips
10, 15, 17


Headed out to wrestling...
My boy texted me a selfie of him in his varsity sweats in the middle of my session. That lit a bit of a fire for me.
 
A couple of good workouts there….good job finishing off bench with 225 x 10 after the other heavy sets. Man it’s awesome your boy is doing so good in wrestling.😎👍
 
gphagan1 said:
A couple of good workouts there….good job finishing off bench with 225 x 10 after the other heavy sets. Man it’s awesome your boy is doing so good in wrestling.
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I'm pretty pumped for him. He really was second guessing himself a week in but he fought his way through 4 guys on the team in the 285 class and he's only 220. He's the last man standing now, he had a challenge with the prior varsity guy and he dislocated his shoulder in the challenge. I keep thinking my boy is crazy to go heavy weight when he could just cut 5 lbs and be the biggest 215 but I'm realizing none of the other 285s he comes up against has the years of powerlifting my boy does now.

It sounds crazy but he's been overpowering a lot of them. Especially when legs come into play. If they go three rounds then my boys odds go up a lot with his conditioning but our school was always known for having the best conditioned wrestlers in the state. That's the only reason I won so much cause my skills sucked

All I can figure on bench is that my incline work is starting to pay dividends cause fresh off a 60hr fast I did not expect to perform that well....
 
Segansational said:
Sauna and a hot tub? Living that high life over there I see!
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all for like $40/month LOL!
I tossed my swim shorts and towel in my gym bag again this morning cause I figure I'll hit the gym again tonight, gatorade up and hit that Sauna/hot tub again. I could get used to this. its "PNW Cold" here back in the 30s now and that Sauna hits right. Even if the whole situation does remind me of a Russian Bathhouse out of the movie Rounders.

1767884442319.webp
 
When I was in my 20s my gym in MT had a natural hot springs/pools/cold plunge/sauna/steam….$45 a month!!!!! Dam those were the days, I’ll bet they charge $200 minimum for that pass now
 
SkRaw85 said:
When I was in my 20s my gym in MT had a natural hot springs/pools/cold plunge/sauna/steam….$45 a month!!!!! Dam those were the days, I’ll bet they charge $200 minimum for that pass now
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the skew on gym options is hilarious man. my buddys old gym is now like $120 / month with dirty floors, blown out lights, broken equipment and people walking around barefoot. nothing gets fixed, which is why my wife quite finally and went to orange theory, which costs a little bit more. Then the xfit boxes. I used to charge $160/month which even I as the owner thought was too high, but others out here charge $200-300+.

Then there is this little 'ol LA Fitness down in Tacoma. not that one, no not the one down there either. Yeah, the one of the three, on my way home from work. its perfect. Awesome gym bros, great equipment, racketball, basketball, sled turf/xfit type area, every machine I need almost, sauna, showers, hottub, pool. $40/month for every club access 😂 😂

I used to hate box style chain gyms so much but I really like this one. they also have spin classes, some studio, and a palates room / class thing but I don't dare venture in. I just leave tongue marks on the window while watching.
 
Lat pull downs
2 x 15 x 115
10 x 160, 190, 200

H/S high rows
10 x +90, +280
2 x 10 +270

H/S low row
3 x 10 x +180

DB curls
12 x 35, 40
8 x 45
15 x 40

Ez bar curls
20 x 60



Got caught up at work so short session tonight-

Weight 194 this morning
 
Dustin07 said:
Lat pull downs
2 x 15 x 115
10 x 160, 190, 200

H/S high rows
10 x +90, +280
2 x 10 +270

H/S low row
3 x 10 x +180

DB curls
12 x 35, 40
8 x 45
15 x 40

Ez bar curls
20 x 60



Got caught up at work so short session tonight-

Weight 194 this morning
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What does H/S mean?
 
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