Last Saturday, I went down to the EliteFTS S4 Compound to do my lower body workout with my coach, Matt Smith. It's always good for me to get down there when I can so Matt can see how everything looks in person with cues, technique etc.

When I walked in, I saw I'd be training with Bryan Doberdruk. Bryan went through circa max with Joe and I before the Arnold and we always have awesome training sessions when we train together. It's nice to have someone endure the torture with you. When I went up to him, his face kind of resembled one that just saw a ghost.  Then I noticed Matt had a shit eating grin on his face and he said, "You're going to be squatting to that today" as he pointed to a box that looked like it was two inches off the ground. Ok I may have exaggerated a little bit, but it was a really fucking low box. My lower back started to get a pump from just looking at it. Basically, with the height of this box and when you're actually squatting to it, you are at the same position as you would be for a deadlift. There was so much blood in my lower back that I don't think I could have even popped a chubby if I wanted to. It was that real. Here's everything that caused the near fatal low back pump.

A. Close Stance, Low Box Squats
Bar Weight x 10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x3
315x3
345x3
365x3
385x3
405x3

B. Raw Sumo Deadlifts
225x5x3
275x5x2
315x5x2
365x5x2
405x5x1

C. GHR
3x10

D. Hamstring Curl
1x15
2x12

E. Abs
4x15

Bryan and I ended the day with doing some yoke carries with Joe and Zach. Bryan kept trying to sneak away and not take part in it but of course I wouldn't let that happen. Once you talk enough shit to someone, they'll succumb to your wishes. Right Bryan? 😉 By the way, yoke carries are really, really humbling and I have a whole new appreciation for strongman competitors. I think I ended up doing 660lbs for a distance that I'm not sure of. It took me three separate attempts to get it all the way haha so I basically walked in 10-15ft incriments. It was a total shit show but Zach was doing a great job coaching us and telling us what the hell to do. Doing things outside your comfort zone will never hurt, unless you slip a disc. That'll hurt.