Log

Banded Hack Squats and Trap Bar Carries, Working Around a Cranky Knee

2026-07-16360 Trap Bar Carry (superset)

Some right knee discomfort going into this session — likely from an awkward exit off the recliner a few weeks back, not a training injury. Not serious enough to skip the session, but present enough to be worth logging honestly.

Warm-up

Sled pulls, leg extensions, calf raises, and lying hamstring curls — general leg warm-up before the two main movements below.

Banded hack squats

Set 1: two bands, empty bar × 18
Set 2: four bands, empty bar × 12
Set 3: four bands, two 25s × 12
Set 4: four bands, two 45s × 8

Trap bar carry / Smith incline press superset

Set 1: 270 lb carry, then 225 lb* Smith incline press × 8
Set 2: 360 lb carry, then 275 lb* Smith incline press × 8
Set 3: 360 lb carry only — no press

*Smith machine weights approximate.

Takeaway

The trap bar numbers here (270, then 360) sit well below the 495-pound carry already logged — worth being direct about why: this was supersetted straight into incline presses rather than an isolated max-effort carry, and run with real knee discomfort in the mix. Lower numbers under those conditions aren't a step backward, they're just a more honest picture of what a given day actually allows. That's the whole point of logging sessions like this one, not just the best ones.