Return of the King

BossArky

Friday April 22nd: Deadlift

Deadlift (conventional, double overhand)
70kg – 1x5
110kg – 1x3
130kg – 3x6 ... alternating mixed grip per set. Weight felt so easy for 130kg. My grip training is paying off
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Front Squat (flat shoes)
30kg – 1x5
50kg – 3x5
---
Abz (plank)
5 minutes of 20 seconds on / 10 seconds off
---

Trained with wifey again which was good. Good change from being in the shed training alone. Spurs you on a bit.

Conventional Deadlifting 130kg 3x6 felt great. I've been training forearms/grip a lot recently with the fat gripz and it seems to be paying off. The weight feels like nothing in my hands and I can concentrate on the back/legs rather than trying to just hang on.

Did the Front Squats in flats because forgot to put on heels. Kept it light to save myself for 2nd last heavy Squats on Monday.

Abz were good too.

BossArky

Saturday April 23rd: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
90kg - 1x1
98kg - 6x3 ... fine

Barbell Row (with FAT GRIPZ)
60kg - 6x5
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Chin Up
bodyweight +15kg - a rep every 15 seconds for 5 minutes = 20 reps total
---
Barbell Curl
30kg - 2x8, then 3 +3 ... as biceps fried from supersetting and couldn't make 8 on last set

DB Curl (with FAT GRIPZ)
10kg DB per arm - 3x12
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Tricep Extension
10kg DB per arm - 3x8
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Pec Stretch
2kg - thrice for about 20-30 secs

Rev Fly
2kg - 3x12
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I'm feeling awesome right now. The past 6 of so weeks has seen me put back on some serious muscle and I'm feeling strong on everything.

My father was in the gym again watching today as I trained. He commented that I'm looking much leaner than previously. I am - probably about 5kg lighter than 6 months ago and Bench strength is up there still. I've put on a bit of weight in the past couple of weeks - haven't weighed myself to find out but can see and feel it. Arms are looking more jacked than ever from all the fat gripz work and curling.

Bench 98kg 6x3 was fine. Superset with 60kg fat grip rows. If you check back through my log about a month or so you will see that I failed to lift 60kg off the ground when I first used fat gripz. Now I'm up to 6x5. Still feels hard but can at least hang onto the bar a bit now. This is transferring to my Deadlift (see last nights entry). Upper back riddled with DOMS from those Deads as I type this the next day.

Weighted chins with 15kg hanging off me were heavy enough. Got 20 (or 21) reps with the 5 mins of a rep every 15 mins. May have done an additional rep at the very end when I was supposed to stop. Followed these up with 6 sets of curls (3 barbell, 3 DB) and the biceps were hanging off me by the end.

On to Tri Extension which felt interesting for the sake of variety.

Finished off with a new staple - pec stretching with rev fly supersets. This makes me feel great after all the Bench work.

I'll try and weight myself and take some photos tomorrow for the sake of comparison. I haven't tracked this stuff for a few weeks as been quite busy.

BossArky

Monday April 25th:

Squat
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
100kg – 1x1
115kg – 1x1
127kg – 3x6

Calf Raise
Bodyweight – 6x12
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Abz (plank)
3 x [3 times: 20 secs on / 10 secs off]
---

Trained in the evening around 7:30pm with wifey which was good (yes – sounding like broken record the past few posts. Parents still in town for the rest of the week so using that to our advantage to train together). Ate a heap of food over the weekend doing touristy stuff with the visiting relatives. Had a 0.5kg steak on Sunday, much birthday cake, then some massive fish and chips a couple of hours before Squatting. The salt in the chips and me super bloated and pumped to the max. Excellent.

Squat was programmed for 125kg at an undecided 3x5 or 3x6… Decided to round up to 127kg and go for 3x6, as have being pfaffing around Squat wise and hit 130kg a few times in past cycles in home gym. Going for 127kg 3x6 in this workout above ^^ allows me to jump to 132/133 for 3x6 in the last one of the cycle next week. Apparently the bar was slightly lower on the right side as I was Squatting.

Included the usual calf raise supersets and then finished with with some Abz.

BossArky

Wednesday April 27th

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x1
88kg – 6x6

One Arm DB Row
10kg per arm – 6x8
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Shoulder Shocker
3 rounds with 2kg DB handle & 10kg plate … lighter as into last 2 weeks of Bench peak
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Bench was fine. Got the worksets at 88kg 6x6 done in slightly over 30 mins along with the superset rows. That Benching is just 2kg under my all time best 6x6, so cannot complain given I’m a lot lighter now.

BossArky

Friday April 29th: Deadlift

Deadlift (conventional)
70kg – 1x5
110kg – 1x3
130kg – 1x1
140kg – 3x6 ... PR for 3x6 conventional. Alternating mixed grip each set
---
Front Squat (flat shoes)
30kg – 1x5
40kg – 3x5 ... light stuff
---
Abz (plank)
3 x [3 times: 20 secs on / 10 secs off]
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Deadlifts were perfect. 140kg 3x6 felt alright. Had a feeling it was up in PR levels. Checked afterwards and saw that in 2011 I did 132.5kg and 135kg off a small block for 3x6... and 132.5kg off a big block for 3x6.... but never 140kg 3x6 off the ground. Nice to get a legitimate Deadlift PR after 5 years! Grip & ab training, plus being leaner, seems to be paying off.

Kept the Front Squats really light, as have final Squat session coming up on Monday and want no impact on recovery.

Abz were 20 second counts (one-onethousand, two-onethousand, etc).

BossArky

Saturday April 30th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
93kg - 6x5 ... got through these in 30 mins flat combined with superset rows below.

One Arm DB Row (with FAT GRIPZ)
10kg per arm - 6x8 ... light stuff
---
Barbell Curl
20kg - 3x8 ... last set was reverse curl as some muscle slight sore in first couple of sets... probably from heavy Deads yesterday
---
Pec Stretch
1kg - thrice for about 20-30 secs

Rev Fly
1kg - 3x12
---

Got through the Bench worksets in 30 mins flat which was good pace given these sets are 2kg under my best ever 6x5.

Kept the assistance minimal to save energy for recovery ahead of last week peak coming up.

BossArky

Monday May 2nd:

Squat
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
100kg – 1x1
120kg – 1x1
133kg – 3x6 ... PR for 3x6

Calf Raise
Bodyweight – 3x12
---
Abz (plank)
3 times: 20 count on / 10 count off
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Was 79.9kg this morning after breakfast on scales in bday suit.

Couldn't sleep last night thinking about how heavy Squats were gonna be. Was originally gonna go for 132kg 3x6 for a 5kg increase on last week.... but I've repped that range many times (or 132.5kg to be percise) in various cycles... so instead opted for a 6kg on last week and went for 133kg 3x6.

Warm ups felt good, even though it was cold outside. Felt very much in the zone. Was calm and collected. No amp up, no music. Just listening to podcasts.

First set: felt heavy but not impossible. Got to 5th rep and was almost gonna rack it but had one of those catchy slogans flash through my mind ("pain is temporary - failure lasts forver"... or similar) and went for the 6th rep. Got it and was pretty chuffed inwardly.

Knew the 2nd and 3rd sets would be easier than the 1st, so it was just a case of pacing myself in the rest periods, letting heart rate come down... and keep on keeping on.

Nice to hit a legitimate Squat PR in the same cycle as the Deadlift PR a few days back! I have previously Squat 135kg 7x5 on the way to 140kg 6 or 7x3.... so that 133kg 3x6 tonight is definitely the heaviest I've gone on 3x6s.

Calf Raise were light supersetting as heart rate was coming down in between Squats.

Did just a few sets of Abs to finish off.

BossArky

Wednesday May 4th

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x1
90kg – 1x1
98kg – 6x4

One Arm DB Row
10kg per arm – 6x8
---
Barbell Curl
20kg - 3x10 ... light stuff
---
Pec Stretch
2kg per arm - thrice for about 20-30 secs

Rev Fly
2kg per arm - 3x12
---

Got through the Bench 98kg 6x4 ok, but was pretty knackered from Squats on Monday. Need to eat/sleep/recover ahead of final 103kg 6x3 on Friday.

Weighed myself on Tuesday morning (day after Squats in previous post above^^) and was 79.4kg first thing in the morning.

BossArky

Saturday May 8th: Dexa scan #4

Pretty happy, if surprised, with the results. In the past 8 weeks I managed to lose 2.051kg of bodyfat whilst putting on 0.499kg of muscle. New bodyfat = 22.1%

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Dexa Scan #4 (compared to Dexa Scan #3 8 weights ago)
- Bodyweight 79.1kg (down 0.8kg on last scan, includes 300g of water ... actual scanned bodyweight = 78.8kg)
- Skeleton: 3.161kg (down ~24g in total: down 43g in trunk, up 24g in legs ... whilst down 4g in arms)
- Bodyfat: 17.407kg @ 22.1% (down 2.051kg from 19.458kg @ 24.2%)
- Lean Mass (muscle & organs): 58.275kg (up 0.499kg from 57.776kg)

Trunk muscle: 24.800kg to 25.638kg for 0.838kg muscle gain
Trunk fat: 9.556kg to 8.001kg for 1.555kg fat loss

Leg muscle: 20.406kg to 20.500kg for 0.094kg muscle gain
Leg fat: 7.869kg to 7.559kg for 0.310kg fat loss

Arm muscle: 7.853kg to 7.654kg for 0.199kg muscle loss
Arm fat: 1.299kg to 1.204kg for 0.095kg fat loss

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From my calculations the total numbers for fat & muscle gain & loss seem to be out by 91g fat & 234g muscle when I do the sums on the sub components totaled.

What does all this mean?

- I put on muscle on both my trunk (abz, back, chest, shoulders) and legs.

- I lost bodyfat everywhere - in particular on my trunk

- Dropping cardio and concentrating purely on weights for the past 8 weeks has given much better results.

- I'm under-eating alot compared to what I thought I was eating. My plan this 8 week cycle was to put on muscle with no real focus on fat loss. Instead I still managed to loose 2kg of fat whilst putting on ~0.5kg muscle. Imagine if I had more calories in me I'd probably have built more muscle.

- Surprised that I lost lean muscle on my arms considering I was Deadlifting heavy & using fat grips (i.e. forearms muscle) and also doing lots of DB curls and a bit of armblaster. I guess nothing beats heavy straight bar BB curls for mass gainz. Back to that next cycle.

BossArky

Sunday May 8th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
93kg - 1x1
103kg - 6x3 ... got through them. Didn't die.

One Arm DB Row (with fat gripz)
14kg per arm - 6x6
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Finished the bench cycle successfully: 103kg - 6x3 is 2kg under my all-time best of 105kg 6x3.

Bar moved slow enough and probably came closest to failure on the last rep in 5th set. 6th set was better.

Happy enough consider the recent successful fat loss, body recomp & overall bodyweight.

BossArky

Monday May 9th: Squat

Squat
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
81kg – 1x3
101kg – 1x1
101kg + 16kg chains – 6x6

Calf Raise
Bodyweight per leg – 6x10 each side
Bodyweight both legs together – 6x12
---
Abz (plank, with 10kg plate on back)
15 secs on / 15 secs off for 5 mins
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Dawn of a new cycle. More motivated than ever following the Dexa results two posts above ^^

Made myself eat a large plate of pasta & tuna after the above to put the Squats to good use.

Squats felt a bit achey on first set but got into them.

Added in single leg calf raises for a change before doing feet together

Abs with plate on back during plank were a lot harder.

Good.

BossArky

Wednesday May 11th

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
76kg – 6x6

Barbell Row (fat gripz)
20kg – 1x5
50kg – 6x8
---
Barbell Curl (fat gripz)
30kg - 3x8
---

First bench day of new cycle. Feeling pretty wrecked but got it done. Had a short sleep beforehand and went into the shed/gym with imprint of pillow on my face.

BossArky

Friday May 13th: Deadlift

Deadlift (conventional)
70kg – 1x5
105kg – 30 EMOM
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Front Squat (flat shoes)
40kg – 3x5 ... light stuff
---
Abz (plank with 5kg plate on back)
5 mins of 15 secs on / 15 secs off
---

Good. First Deadlifts of the new cycle.

Experimented with bodybuilder style crossed arms on the Front Squat & it felt uneven & wobbly. Went back to front squat oly grip on 3rd set which helped stretch out my tight forearms from Wednesdays fat day rows.

Alf Veedersane

BossArky wrote: »

Experimented with bodybuilder style crossed arms on the Front Squat & it felt uneven & wobbly. Went back to front squat oly grip on 3rd set which helped stretch out my tight forearms from Wednesdays fat day rows.

When I started front squatting I always did the cross-arm style and couldn't get the hand of the front rack (probably because mobility).

But about a year ago I went back to crossed arms and found it (a) uneven and wobbly and (b) I actually found my elbows more likely to drop.

BossArky

Saturday May 14th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg - 1x5
60kg - 1x5
81kg - 6x5 ... fine

Barbell Row
60kg 3x5 ... with fat gripz
80kg 3x5 ... no fat gripz ... maybe a PR
---
Chins Ups
20 reps - a rep every 15 seconds for 5 mins
---
Barbell Curl
40kg - 3x5
---
Pec Stretch
2.5kg per arm - once for a min or so

Rev Fly
2.5kg per arm - 3x8
---

Fine.

Rowing 80kg 3x5 may have been a PR. Felt easy after taking the fat gripz off following the first three lighter sets.

BossArky

Monday May 16th: Squat

Squat
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
90kg – 1x3
107kg - 1x2
107kg + 16kg chains – 6x6

Calf Raise
Bodyweight both legs together – 6x12
Bodyweight per leg – 6x10 each side
---
Abz (plank, with 15kg plate on back)
15 secs on / 15 secs off for 5 mins
---

Squats took 70 mins. Getting the work done.

Abz: went heavier with 15kg pate on the back for plank. Wasn't too bad. Will try 20kg next Monday.

BossArky

Wednesday May 18th

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
86kg – 6x4 ... done in 31 mins

Barbell Row
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 3x5 ... fat gripz
80kg – 3x5 ... no fat gripz
---
Barbell Curl
40kg - 3x5

DB Tricep Ext
6kg per arm - 3x10
---

Feeling a bit achey in the elbows/shoulders from all the heavy Squatting/Benching in past weeks. Probably should have deloaded properly after last cycle instead ploughing onwards. May take a deload next week as wifey is in India and I'm home alone with the kiddies.

BossArky

Saturday May 21st: Deadlift

Deadlift (conventional)
70kg – 1x5
115kg – 30 EMOM
---
Front Squat (flat shoes)
30kg - 1x5
50kg – 3x5
---
Abz (plank with 5kg plate on back)
5 mins of 15 secs on / 15 secs off
---

Deadlift 1 day later than usual as was slightly hungover/tired from Thursday night out to train Friday.

Got it all done pretty quickly as wifey was heading off to the airport and needed to sneak it in before all hell breaks loose on the home front.

BossArky

Sunday May 22nd: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
91kg – 6x3

One Arm DB Row
22kg per arm – 6x8
---
Chin Ups
Bodyweight +10kg – a rep every 15 seconds for 15 mins = 20 reps
---
Incline DB Fly
6kg per arm - 3x10

IReverse DB Fly
6kg per arm - 3x10

Barbell Curl
35kg - 3x6
---

Fine.

BossArky

Tuesday May 24th: Squat

Squat
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
100kg - 1x2
115kg - 1x1
115kg + 16kg chains – 4x6

Calf Raise
bodyweight - 4x12
---
Abz (plank, with 20kg plate on back)
15 secs on / 15 secs off for 5 mins
---

Went into this expecting to feel physically tired but surprised myself when I was doing final warm up on 115kg. Was mentally ready to do that 1 rep and then deload to ~100kg 3x5 for the week. Instead the 115kg felt handy enough so I kept on accidentally with 115kg (instead of 113kg) on the bar for 4x6.

Adding 16kg chains made it 131kg at the top and slightly more than 115kg at the bottom. Felt alright. Cut it 2 sets short of the usual 6x6 because I need to avoid totally annihilating myself and should eat/rest up more for muscle growth.

Feeling these Squats with chains more in the quads, similar to a conventional Deadlift. Most be the quads kicking in to keep the bar moving as the weight gets heavier past the sticking point.

4 Squat work sets done in 35 mins.

Calf Raises were just light flexibility/mobility.

Used a 20kg plate on the plank for first time. Hard enough but did it.

BossArky

Wednesday May 25th

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
81kg – 6x6 ... fine

Barbell Row
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 3x5 ... fat gripz
85kg – 3x5 ... no fat gripz
---
Barbell Curl
45kg - 3x5
---
Barbell Curl
40kg - 3x5

DB Tricep Ext
6kg per arm - 3x10
---

Fine.

BossArky

Friday May 27th: Deadlift

Deadlift (conventional)
70kg – 1x5
100kg - 1x3
125kg – 30 EMOM
---
Front Squat (flat shoes)
30kg - 1x5
65kg – 3x5
---
Abz (plank with 5kg plate on back)
5 mins of 15 secs on / 15 secs off
---

Double overhand grip on Deadlifts until lost hold on 16th rep. Switched to alternating mixed from there until rep 30.

Front Squats felt good in flat shoes from 2nd set onwards. Got bar closer to neck.

Lighter abs today.

BossArky

Saturday May 28th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
86kg – 6x5 ... handy

T-Bar Row ... alternating top arm each set
bar +0 kg = 2x10
bar +5 kg = 2x10
bar +10 kg = 2x10
bar +15 kg = 2x10
bar +20 kg = 2x10
bar +25 kg = 2x10
bar +30 kg = 2x10
bar +35 kg = 2x10
---

Bench was easy once I warmed up. Really freezing out today.

First time doing T-Bar Rows in forever. Found a nice spot to wedge the tail end of the bar and kept adding 5kg. Feels good to have a new rowing exercise in the arsenal. A buddy is coming over to train on Tuesday morning and mentioned he'd be doing these on his back day, so I thought I'd give them a go.

BossArky

Tuesday May 31st: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
91kg – 6x4
**add slingshot & wrist wraps**
100kg – 1x3
110kg – 1x3
115kg – 1x3

T-Bar Row
Bar + 30kg – 2x8

Barbell Row
70kg – 2x6
80kg – 2x5
---

Trained with an ex work buddy at 5:30am. It was good to catch up and throw some weights around.

Got through the whole thing in 45 mins flat, of which the 6 bench worksets of 91kg 6x4 were done in 16 mins.

BossArky

Wednesday June 1st: Squat

Squat
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
83kg – 1x3
*add belt & wrist wraps*
103kg – 3x5 … felt heavy as predicted hence this deload

Calf Raise
Bodyweight – 3x10 holding the stretch at the bottom between sets so it was really 1 big massive set instead of 3 sets with breaks in between
---
Abz (plank)
Forearms to palms for a few times, mixed with some side plank
---

Right knee slightly sore the past few days on the inside. Good timing for this deload session. 103kg 3x5 felt slow and heavy. Looking forward to recovering a bit more this next few days and hitting the final 4 weeks of the session hard.

BossArky

Friday June 3rd: Deadlift

Deadlift (conventional)
60kg – 1x5
100kg - 1x3
120kg - 1x2
135kg – 16 EMOM ... alrighty
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Didn't bother with abs or Front Squat assistance as really in need of deload/recovery.

BossArky

Saturday June 4th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
60kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
90kg – 1x1
96kg – 6x3 ... felt heavy for first few sets and gradually got into it until felt fine on last set

Barbell Row (with fat gripz)
40kg - 3x10

T-Bar Row (with fat gripz)
bar +30 kg = 3x10
---
Incline Bench
60kg - 3x10

One Arm T-Bar Row (with fat gripz)
bar +30 kg (or 10kg? cannot remember) = 3x8
---

Tried out some incline assistance by jacking back bench feet up on a couple of 25kg bumpers. Iphone spirit level told me that made it a 6% incline - lol. Took the grip in a bit narrow to as the sets went on to target different muscle. Feeling it in the front delts and triceps as I type this the next day.

BossArky

Wednesday June 6th: Squat

Squat (flat shoes)
20kg – 1x6
40kg – 1x6
60kg – 1x6
80kg – 1x6
90kg – 1x3
100kg – 1x3
110kg – 3x6

RDL
20kg – 1x10
40kg – 8x8

Hack Squat
40kg – 3x6
---
Abz (plank)
5 mins of 15 secs on/off
---

Back Squat in flats for first time in a long while. Felt alright at lighter weights, but a bit odd when getting towards working sets. Did this to take the strain off right knee which was feeling slightly niggly recently.

Hack Squats felt awesome on quads. Definetly will include again for quad assistance.

RDLs for variety.

Legs nicely sore the next day as I type this the next day.

BossArky

Sunday June 12th: Deadlift

Deadlift (conventional)
60kg – 1x5
100kg - 1x3
115g - 3x6
---
Hack Squat
50kg - 3x6 ... from floor
50kg - 1x6 ... standing on slim 10kg plate
50kg - 2x6 ... standing on fatter 20kg plate
---
Abs (Plank)
5 mins of 17 secs on / 13 secs off
---

New lever for my Toro belt arrived in the post. That is the third lever for the belt in 6 years. Took out a steak knife the next day and cut approx 3 inches off the end of it which was digging into me when buckled on Deadlifts. Funny to think I've used that belt for 6 years and only now realized it was probably too long all along.

BossArky

Saturday June 11th: Bench

Bench (all paused)
20kg – 1x5
80kg – 1x3
91kg – 6x5 ... accidently did a set of 6 on the 6th set actually which happens to be an all-time PR for a set of 6

Barbell Row
40kg - 1x5
45kg - 1x5
50kg - 1x5
55kg - 3x5
---
Incline Bench (10 degree incline, grip getting closer each set)
20kg - 1x10
64kg - 3x10
---

Some nice benching tonight. Hit an accidental PR by miscounting - got 6 instead of 5 reps on 6th set. Was actually looking forward to the upcoming 6x6 day in two weeks where I'd be repping that weight for the 6 rep PR. Looks like I just stole my own glory. Weight moved very well and that last PR set felt like nothing.

Had some fun setting up the ER rack on an incline again. Got it up to 10 degrees incline today by stacking it on two columns of 2 blues & 1 red bumper.