July 22, 2017 – Week 8, Day 3

5 Minutes Concept 2 Rower

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx15

One Leg Leaning Calf Raises
BWx15/15

Regular Box Touches (12” Box)
BWx15

Band Rows w/Biceps Stretch
MBx25/10 seconds

Sumo Box Touches (12” Box)
BWx15

Band Rows w/Biceps Stretch
MBx25/10 seconds

Hip Airplanes (supported)
BWx7/7

Farmer’s Walk
With Turns (at 50’)
112x100’ in 13.04 seconds
Straight Runs
202x50’ in 7.20 seconds
272xpick
335x47’

Stone of Steel Over Bar (50”)
138x5
201x1
225x1
249x1
300x4

Loading Medley (Keg/Keg/Stone of Steel, 48” bar height)
175x40’/150x40’/176x40 in 30.59 Seconds
250x40’/225x40’/249x40’ in 33.22 Seconds

Stretching

Comments: Full of anxiety for this workout. Dreading it really. Out to train at Lancaster for this last heavy workout. I almost threw up breakfast from nerves. I was already sweating before I left my house. Maybe with the plan being essentially 3/5ths of the contest at contest specifications was getting to me. Been pushing things so close to the edge, always the concern of injury. Not a concern I had when I was younger but with how things have been in the past, it is a very real concern. One false move and everything is gone again. Still got upper back issue going on. Slightly better but still annoying. SI joint stuff acting up again after the last workout. Wasn’t until I was stretching after the session that it started to act up again. Really annoying. Over 90 the day before so I skipped my usual walk so that I wouldn’t be drained going into this workout. Warmed up on the concept rower. No aches doing this. Already sweating through my shirt. Calf work after that. Felt alright. Then into box touches, band rows and biceps stretch. No issues here. Not as much issues with the upper back touching the box. Hip airplanes were pretty good. No balancing issues this time. Best they have felt in a while. On to event work. Usual farmer’s walk warm-up to get ready for the big show. Slightly slower on the first warm-up this time but slightly faster on the second one. I was feeling my grip being taxed even on that second run. Not a good sign. I didn’t feel comfortable jumping up 133lbs a hand with nothing in between so I did a pick with a decent weight. It went up easy and felt good in my hands so I felt I was ready. Plan being to do 335lbs for 60’ with time and commands. I say plan as that didn’t happen. The pick was slow and I felt my grip going immediately. I ended up slowing down to try and keep my legs from knocking the handles out of my hands. And then I dropped them. Couldn’t believe it. I regrouped and repicked them but I staggered a few inches and down they went again. I had plenty of time left but I didn’t want to risk injury with how much effort it takes to lift them. Unbelievably pissed about it. Kept checking to make sure I didn’t add more weight than I thought I did. I knew I’d be pretty beat by this point in training but still. It took a lot of effort to keep myself there to keep going forward with the workout. Then on to stone of steel. Bar lowered to the contest height and the usual sets. Didn’t need to extend for these really and good thing as I was sweating profusely and I was having issues getting full extension. Had to keep wiping down my arms and face with a towel and stand in front of the large fan to put on my gloves and then go into the set to minimize sweat. Ain’t got time for a pulled biceps. I felt like I had things down pretty good going into the final set with the towel and fan combo. But I was still worried about the sweaty forearms so I used a tacky towel. Contest conditions for the stone of steel with it being 300lbs to 50”. I had issues getting it into my lap and then I missed the first load. Really gets into your head. I kept going. Gloves were getting pulled down. It is bound to happen at some point with them not being part of my body and only able to be secured at one point. May need to play around with gloves and tacky towel in the future to figure out when it would be best to use one versus the other. But the issue this time was definitely with the stone of steel slipping on my forearms and rolling out on the pick. I managed to get a good pace eventually but then I had a fifth spin out of my forearms again with maybe 7 seconds left and stopped there. Again, missed with this as I was definitely hitting 5-6 rep pace without someone rolling the stone of steel back. To add to it, it appears my camera missed the first and last set so I don’t have a visual reference to review. Again, took everything I had to not leave the gym at this point. Eventually, I got the medley setup. Same as last week with the sets and weights. This time, going for the parallel grip on the kegs with the carry portion. With how the other parts of this workout had gone, I wasn’t certain I would get an accurate picture of which style was best. Speed with the kegs was definitely better when moving with the lighter set. My only concerns with the heavier set was if I could get the picks to be just as explosive as the light set and if I could hold the stone of steel. I got it easy last week but that was last week and I can’t control the sweat today. The kegs went well, almost like the lighter set. On the stone of steel, the thing slid on me on the pick and I had to pause and adjust it to get it up off my hips. Even with that bobble, I was almost a second faster. Could mean the difference. So something finally went right this session. Stretched out and foam rolled my hamstrings and upper back in front of the fan and then home to decompress.