StretchMediatedHypertrophy

It's amusing but two years too late - Vapourwave has moved on to the 90s now.

I wrote an update a week ago and lost it. Right shoulder still not amazing, I can usually feel it in the morning. Benching pretty light once a week (8,8,8,8,10 on a pause cg bench a few days ago). An kind of front or lateral raise is pushing my luck. OHP seems to be mostly ok though, and I think it is recovering. New work gym has lots of nice stuff. Good plate-loaded back machines - getting a lot of upper back volume right now. I've used the sled a bit but the TRX they put on it for pulling I haven't really figured out. Attack bike is hard. Glute Ham Device is hard. The hack squat machine has a bit of a kooky strength curve and I think really needs to be used with bands. They have some 'Bulgarian bags' which I will play with soon. What's also nice is the work has been giving out free pots of stew/casserole and rice at lunchtime which are absolutely perfect for the pre-gym meal. Squatted 131kg ATG Narrow(ish) stance squat with their SSB - it wasn't super grindy but I suspect I would fail 141kg. Nonetheless I think this compares pretty favourably to the 155kg back squat I hit a few months ago. The SSB looks pretty much identical to the one I'd been using but has thicker padding which changes the positioning slightly. Erectors are definitely limiting factor rn, need to thicken them up. Need to be patient with the right shoulder, there are lots of other things I can focus on.

RIP to Jamin Pugh - a helluva pro wrestler, by all accounts a great father, and despite some big mistakes a man who went on to become the model of a traditional man, maturing in non-traditional times. Condolences to all of his family and everybody who loved him.

I'm posting this because I haven't seen it on here (but apologies if..), and also because I had this exact thought: https://twitter.com/trillmoregirls/status/1612965420423680002

Not sure it's for everyone, but Suede aka The London Suede (they toured USA/Canada last month with the Manic Street Preachers) delivering an absolute banger was a lovely surprise. Brett Anderson's really matured as a vocalist and a lyricist, and relative minimalism suits them as....they're a great band with an underrated rhythm section. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHJd1Z1G3M4&list=OLAK5uy_l1NAKALxmguFVdcm8UhHrqECJINlSZZVQ&ab_channel=SuedeHQ

Condolences to you and yours.

I actually skipped a workout! On the 23rd, it was fine because I could do full-body the next day and indeed that is what I did. I'm on deload now, probably won't see the inside of a gym until January unless I really, really get the itch. Tbh I pushed my right shoulder way more than I should have and on the 24th I tried some flood db presses and it did not feel good at all. A few days later and it seems to be recovering but benching will be heavily deprioritised for a while. I actually hit a 160kg ssb bench squat i.e. it was probably about 2.5 inches higher than parallel, but it's the most weight I've ever had on my back and 20kg more than I've ever had with that bar. Tbh it felt ok, and I could probably have ground out 5-10kg more. Given a belt would probably add 100kg (I meant 10kg lol) with practice using it again, plus it being a safety bar...this tells me that I could potentially hit a big squat this year. Right now though, I'm not sure how well my shoulder would cope with the barbell.

The thing about Hangman is that he is/was a proper babyface who the smart fans are willing and able to get behind. Natural babyface charisma - that doesn't come around that often. And AEW are essentially blowing that. Punk is a crossover star, and despite usual criticisms is a very good pro-wrestler. But he is essentially a heel character (same with Rock and Austin), despite being able to emotionally connect with some fans very strongly. Nothing wrong with any of that, but I still feel like Hanger was/is the more precious commodity.

Given that they seem to have him on some kind of deal (edit: okay he is a trainer at the PC), they really need to bring in Mr. Mackelroy for this Fallon Henry - Kiana James deal.

In Bulgaria, pizza places have big squirt bottles of mayo, ketchup and sometimes mustard and it just ain't no thing.

I just found out that mayo on pizza is actually a thing in one town in Italy - Pesaro. They really should send the kid to Scotland though, I think he'd feel at home.

I forgot my shorts yesterday when I went to the gym. I had two choices, go back and get them or try to do the workout in my borderline ath-leisure trousers. I chose the former, kind of, but decided to do heavy good mornings as a result. Did 70kg, 80kg, 90kg x 5. I then found a spot in the group room and did 20inch box step-ups in my boxer-shorts lol. A bit naughty, but I figured people would understand if I was spotted. When I put my pants back on, I had a massive quad pump and they were tight af - I would definitely have broken my trousers trying to do anything with significant knee flexion in them. The funny thing was is that the workout absolutely kicked my ass, and I even had to take a nap today. I guess we'll call it a Xmas mini-bulk.

I'm almost curious to know what I could high-handle trap bar thesedays, but I'll wait for the platform before I even think about finding out. Not 601 for sure lol. I technically hit PRs on squat, deadlift (with straps) and bench - actually the bench was on a machine that makes it easier to unrack so bit of an asterisk. Definitely felt like I was working against age this year in a way I haven't really felt previously. But I think I learnt a lot about training, both from self-coaching and working with my partner. My strength goals next year are going to be to add 5kg to bench, squat and deadlift. I'll take more if it's coming, but I'll settle for that happily.

Did a 120kg SSB squat as a heavy single couple of days ago, started to put another 5kg on each side but I decided nah...I was but short on time for assistance/accessory work and it was enough to get the desired effect. I think I get a bit hesitant with depth on the squat rack rather than the power rack, so I was probably not quite as deep as I would like. Adductors were singing the next day, probably thanks to the Good Mornings and Goblet Squats afterwards. Might have to do 'good girls' again lol. Today I tried some floor press for the first time in a while. My shoulder feels it at first but it seems to get used to it better than it does the bench. 80kg x 5, 90kg x 5 and then 100kg x 4, as the 4th rep stuck a bit near the top and tbh I was originally planning on just trying to so a single so it was all gravy really. Couple of other random movements I am enjoying: a) Powell Raises - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxK60HYw760&t=11s&ab_channel=InvictusFitness (I am using a bench fwiw), I like the bonus oblique work you get here - it's not a lot but it's something. b) One-armed Viking Press using a random plate loaded incline chest press machine. The way the lever moves forward is so much nicer on my shoulders than a vertical press, annoyed I didn't discover this sooner! The way things are looking, I will be joining a workplace with a very nice gym so it will be interesting to see to what extent this changes my training. Having access to an assault bike will be *chef's kiss* but also looking forward to regular access to a deadlift platform - assuming it all happens of course, in this market one doesn't feel too comfortable counting one's chickens.

Tbh I was pretty much thinking that Miro desperately needs a Teddy Long. IIRC, I think Foley asked Jim Ross what he had told PJ Polaco (Aldo Montoya/Justin Credible) when they offered him a deal, and that was the answer.

The problem with Miro is that he seems to be the guide they want to build up to feed to somebody, but that also doesn't seem to be what he wants to do. Now as much as I'd rather he had been the guy to beat Hangman, I can't really justify putting the belt on somebody unwilling to put guys over. And I can't really think of anything else for him to do to be quite honest.

I didn't really see her last run as that great. This is probably win-win. But obviously she has the opportunity to prove me wrong, and if she takes it good luck to her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5dUDs3uBBU (I seem to have embedding issues, but maybe it will work later?) What's interesting in this video is we get the reveal that Kross is working with a separated AC, and benching a plate a side is hard for him. Whilst I suspect I'm not in as bad shape as that, I do have something going on on the right side. I hit a 115kg bench on Saturday, which I was able to lock out due to muh strong triceps - but it definitely didn't make my shoulder feel good. I tried some close-grip yesterday and it was a bit better, but then I tried doing some wide (for me, pinkies in the rings) bench and I definitely felt it. Could be my bench technique, could be a few things....but realistically I'm going to be best served by cutting out all heavy benching a while and probably keeping the grip close. I might mess around with floor press. But no Bench PRs will be happening this year. Kind of sad, but gotta stay healthy and noone cares how much I bench really. Squat day today though - not sure what I'm going to do yet buy maybe I am in the mood for something heavy.

I'm struggling to really see how ROH differentiates itself from AEW to the extent that people want to pay money for it. It's not like even the Pure Title matches are *so* much different from AEW style. I mean, yeah maybe you could run that hoss tournament, you could switch the 6-man belts to lucha rules but that's window-dressing really and in the nicest possible sense....if you've got ten dollars burning a hole in your pocket for indy-style wrestling.....you give it to Tony Khan to see Preston Vance go 18 minutes?

Not entirely sure why I can't embed tweets, but nevermind.

I only saw the (quite long) YouTube clip but Seven was the nicest surprise. I thought he would be picked back up when NXT Europe rebooted, but he is 41 and so may be considered a bit long in the tooth. Whilst Cassidy can clearly bring out the best in people, and it's not the first time they've locked up, it was obviously a grand showing. Kudos for actually changing up the Stundog spot. I thought Seven was a good heel in the final days of NXT:UK, and I think he could be a good utility player in the Tonyverse. I like to think Seven is not so much fat as continuously bloated from his vegan diet not really agreeing with him. A weird thing in AEW is they really don't seem to like using move names if they've been used by the guy/gal in WWE, but then they're quite happy using Stundog Millionaire (presumably as long as it's not Mark Andrews doing it?). I always hated that name, but I think somebody should go the whole way and follow up with the standing Shiranui so that they can call it the 'Stundog Millionaire Shortbread'. Random indy guy, thank me later.

I've still been doing my thing. It's been a bit different, because my girlfriend has decided she needs a break from the gym and whilst we are still talking about that (given then she has pretty much admitted she isn't going to do exercise any other way) - but also I've also had a lot of stress in my life, which has often reduced my sleep quality and the knock-on effect is that my ability to recover from training is somewhat compromised. I've also still got an aggrevated/strained/inflamed/idk left lower left trap. I probably need to visit a physio or something. Whilst this is the case basically I can't do standing curls, RDLs, or Barbell Rows unless they're off the floor. Shrugs seem to be out too, and tbh even cable tricep pushdowns can be a problem (overhead is ok, and so are the bands). None of this is a disaster (though RDLs are quite useful), but even with laterals I need to be careful. I think there is also some imbalance between my left front delt and my right front delt. I promised bench rep work this cycle. I've been doing a Boring But Strong template from 531 Forever for Bench only, albeit with a very conservative training max. What this basically means is doing your 531 work (or 5sPRO, a variation, in my case) and then doing 10 sets of 5 at 70% of your training max. Because bar speed remains a heavy focus, this can be more taxing then it might sound - also because you're not taking that long between sets because you don't want to be there all day. Tbh the first week was super hard, last week was much easier, but this week coming (Saturday) might be tricky as the 5sPRO work will peak. Second week I also tweaked slightly, by throwing in some bodyweight reverse-hypers as a superset - extending the rest time a little bit without wasting time. I decided last week to do a heavy single on a squat variation - because I wanted to get through it fairly quickly, I actually put my wraps on for the second time every and did a SSB box squat with 1s pause - at 130kg my upper erectors were definitely the weak point but tbh that's not a bad lift on a fairly tough variation, especially given I really didn't pause between attempts except to unwrap-add weight to bar-rewrap. I definitely need to work on my good mornings that have definitely regressed, but it's not my absolute priority right now if I'm honest. Today was just a quick 'lightish' day mostly for upper body. I was going to do speed work, but my bench wasn't available so I decided to do neutral chins and some light but slow and deep assisted dips. Then the bench became available so I actually did do some speed work, just to grease the groove on the bench. Then I supersetted lateral raises and hanging leg raises, before doing some band work for triceps and biceps as well as leg extensions (bench accessory!) and a quick hang to take it home. I was supposed to do some cardio, but stress of the day + coffee meant by heart was racing and I felt like it would do more harm than good haiya. Friday will probably be speed pulls, and then Saturday will as I say be 3of3 for the BBS cycle. If things go well, life may actually get in the way of my training a bit in the rest of the month so any PR attempts might have to wait - we'll have to see where life takes me.

Tbh I'd be happy for him to wrestle jobbers on Dynamite as well, but ultimately they have to decide if they are going to take Rampage seriously or not.

The Acclaimed should be treated like Super-Cena and run through those super-indy marks for the business like a knife through butter, or like the Smoking Gunns going over the Heavenly Bodies to think of what Gorilla said on commentary once.

Regal made a point of not saying on the Gentleman Villain podcast. I don't think he's going to be keen on breaking a handshake agreement not to be on TV. If Regal was staying for a few more weeks, I really think they should have held off on the turn. Regal influencing MJF, even if it was in a more WCW restoldy type way...I think could have given his work an extra dimension. I maintain that this whole MJF title run is the biggest mistake since....the CM Punk Title Run lol....but if they're going to do it, they should actually have him work jobbers on Rampage. The truth is that the ROH Pure Title matches barely even involve the Pure Rules, and it's a junior title in disguise. In the end, AEW actually just needs to have that junior belt.