For my strength building portion in your time crunched plan, I have been doing my box steps wearing a 45 pound weight vest and holding a 50 pound dumbbell in each hand while being careful not to swing them on the way up. I have reached the limit of my grip strength for holding dumbbells for 4 reps, and know that my 5-6 rep max is far higher than my current 145 pounds I am lifting. TftNA shows the box steps being done with a heavy barbell across the back of the shoulders, I presume to create some instability in the movement to work the core. I’m just wondering if there is a machine that I can substitute for the box step, such as a single leg declined leg press machine that will do the trick. This will allow me to safely increase my weight as I am a bit leery about stepping onto a box with one leg and 200 pounds on my shoulders. Thanks for any tips.