Gym plan

How a pair works

A1, no rest, A2, then rest, repeat until the sets are done. The rest belongs to the pair, and the heavy lift always gets paired with pad or cable work that needs no brace. About 55 minutes a session.

Blocks

• Weeks 1 and 2, ramp. Find the weights at 3 reps in reserve. Groove the brace and the tall mid back. Bench tested easy in week 1, kept if the mid back stays quiet two sessions.
• Weeks 3 to 14, build. As written. Three blocks of 4 weeks, deload in week 4 of each. Every lift up every week while the scale drops half a kilo.
• Week 15 on, monster. Weighted dips replace machine press once bodyweight dips are pain free two weeks. Trap bar waves 3x5, 4x4, 5x3. Neck harness enters light. Targets, bench 1.3 x bodyweight, trap bar 1.7 x, dead hang 60 s, 15 gi pull ups, farmer carry half bodyweight per hand for 40 m.

Five minute back routine, every day

Not straight out of bed, discs are swollen in the morning, wait an hour. Rest days, and a second dose on training days.

1. Cat camel, 8 to 10 reps.
2. Foam roller thoracic extension, 60 to 90 seconds.
3. Open book, 5 to 6 each side.
4. 90 90 breathing, 90 seconds.
5. McGill Big 3 full dose, 6-4-2 with 10 second holds, when the back feels stiff.

Resting burn about 1750, daily burn with training about 2700, so 2200 is a 500 deficit. Fat 65 to 70 g, carbs the rest, most of them around BJJ and the gym. Faster costs muscle and rounds. Slower is fine.

Two meals and a shake

• Meal 1, about 1000 kcal, 80 g protein. 300 g chicken breast or 250 g lean beef or 4 eggs plus 250 g skyr. A fist of rice or potatoes. Half the plate vegetables. Oil measured with a spoon.
• Meal 2, same shape.
• Shake, 30 to 40 g whey isolate in water, about 150 kcal. After training or between meals. Closes the protein gap two meals leave.
• Three meal days split the same 2200, never add to it.

Not overeating

• Weigh food for two weeks with Cronometer or MyFitnessPal. After that the eye is trained.
• Weigh the body every morning after the toilet, before food. Only the weekly average counts.
• Weekly average flat for two weeks, cut 200 kcal.
• Protein and vegetables first, starch last. One plate. Wait 20 minutes before seconds.
• No liquid calories. Coffee black or a splash of milk. Alcohol counts and kills recovery.
• Sit down, no screen, stop at 80 percent full.
• Every 6 to 8 weeks, two full weeks at 2700. Then back to 2200.

Effort

• Compound lifts stop at 2 reps in reserve. Trap bar, bench, belt squat, hip thrust. No grinding, no breath hold through a sticking point.
• Machines, cables, pec deck, flys stop at 1 rep in reserve. Exhale on the push.
• Brace by stiffening the belly, chest tall, never a full Valsalva strain.
• Pair rest is real rest, 2 to 3 minutes after the heavy pairs.
• Weeks 1 and 2, everything at 3 reps in reserve.

Progression

Double progression. Start at the bottom of the rep range, add a rep per session. When every set hits the top with reps in reserve, add weight and drop back to the bottom.

Deload in week 4 of every block, or sooner when the same weight feels harder two sessions in a row. Deload is half the sets at 6 out of 10 effort.

Pain

• Soreness is fine. Dull ache after training is fine.
• Pain climbing set after set, stop that lift today, finish the rest.
• Worse 24 to 48 hours later, cut that lift 20 percent next time, rebuild 5 percent a week.
• New band pain around the ribs or belly, any leg or trunk numbness, trap bar and belt squat go light kettlebell and goblet, see the physio that week.

Bench setup with this disc

• Feet flat. Shoulder blades pulled back and down. Small natural curve. No forced arch, no pushing the chest up hard.
• Mid back pain during or the day after, swap to machine press or incline dumbbell press. Retest a month later.

Sleep

• 7 to 9 hours. On the back with a pillow under the knees, or on the side with knees a little drawn up. Pillow height that keeps the neck straight.