Just because my body is a complete wreck, there's no excuse to not train. Actually, there are probably plenty of excuses, but I just want to lift.

So I have been doing full body workouts 3x a week for the past couple of months. During this time my body has made some improvements as far as injuries are concerned. From this, I have been whittling down my exercises to the compound lifts that don't cause me any discomfort while training or the day after. And that's no easy feat.

The list of exercises was pretty short to begin with, but now there are just three main lifts. The belt squat, dips, and pullups (ironic because pullups used to cause me pain in the past). For the most part, I have been doing 3-5 sets of 10 using tempo to increase difficulty along with adding a little weight each week.

Of course, I am grateful to train, but I could also feel myself getting restless. There's just no challenge. I had to come up with something to keep it at least a little interesting for both my body and spirit. I decided to tie in Wendler's old tried and true 5/3/1.

On all of my training days, I'll continue the same three movements, but on each day there will be one main lift (out of the belt squat, pullups, and dips) that will follow the 5/3/1% progression. The others will follow the Boring But Big 5x10 rep scheme.

My warm-up has been consistent. I foam roll my entire body, then I do some glute bridges and clamshells for my hips and low back. After that, I do 3 sets of 10 45 degree back raises. Then I have a warmup exercise for each main lift. For the belt squat I do 2 sets of 10 rear elevated split squats. For dips I do 2 sets of 10 pushups. For pullups I do 2 sets of 10 band dislocates. Lastly, I finish my session with 3 sets of 30 second planks.

The one thing I have learned going into my fifth decade of training, sometimes you have to take what you are given. I was originally a much better squatter and deadlifter than bencher. Two ruptured discs later, the bench was all I had for a while. I was at least able to fulfill a goal of getting back to the platform for another full meet after a twenty-year hiatus. Once again my path is different, but that doesn't mean it's over. Hopefully, someone can take something away from this. Thanks for reading.

Here's what a week looks like:

SUNDAY
-RESS 2x10
-Belt Squat 65%TMx5, 75%TMx5, 85%TMxamrap
-Pushups 2x10
-Dips 40%TM 5x10
-Band Dislocates 2x10
-Pullups 5x10
-Planks 3x30 seconds

TUESDAY
-Pushups 2x10
-Dips 65%TMx5, 75%TMx5, 85%TMxamrap
-Band Dislocates 2x10
-Pullups 5x10
-RESS 2x10
-Belt Squat 40%TM 5x10
-Planks 3x30 seconds

THURSDAY
-Band Dislocates 2x10
-Pullups 2x5, 1xamrap
-RESS 2x10
-Belt Squat 40%TM 5x10
-Pushups 2x10
-Dips 40%TM 5x10
-Planks 3x30 seconds