Some good and some ... kinda good.
Everything is going well in that I am progressing well in the gym as strength climbs, workouts are intense and injuries seem to be a non-issue at this point other than some tenderness in my lower back.
I pay very close attention, as you might obviously imagine, to my lower back so even when something minor starts to ache or flair up, I treat it as a big deal. I treat it this way because if I am not careful and if I don't take precautions, a little back issue can very quickly turn into something quite shitty.
I have decided that directly training lower back is not a good idea when hitting back twice a week - especially the one the day before leg day. From now on, I will not even do any heavy rowing on the back day just prior to my leg day and opt to do that heavy rowing in my 2nd back workout that is 2 days AFTER training legs. I learned this the hard way when I did heavy smith rows last Monday and then when it was time to train legs on Tuesday, I was very tight and a bit sore so I hit it hard but I was very careful with my back, as well. I ended up having to start with a superset of leg curls and leg extensions for 6 sets and THEN go into higher rep squatting in what I call "piston-like sets". What this means is simply that there is no rest between reps even when you get winded. You go non-stop with the reps until you either fail or you know damned well that the next rep will get eaten.
I managed to get through the leg session without any injury issues and legs were pretty well destroyed. My stretching has been consistent but I think I need more stretching for my hips so I may add another stretch day each week. It isn't really pain that I am dealing with as much as some tenderness on my right side which is, as I am very much aware, the early stages of possible back problems again. Obviously, I will be very careful as I proceed in the coming weeks and I might even have to take a leg session off to let it rest if it continues to be tender.
The weights I am moving in the gym are getting much lighter now. It is a good feeling that I have missed for quite some time. I am not pushing as heavy as I can go but I am challenging myself and pushing higher poundages as soon as I feel that I can.
About the only thing I am not happy with right now is I am leaning down VERY slowly and I do wish it was faster but ... I am not willing to compromise the gains at this point to get leaner. It is coming - just slower than I would like. I keep reminding myself that it has only been 4 weeks.
I get blood work done in another 2 weeks so that will be interesting to see how it has changed as that will be at the 6 week mark of my off season.