August 25, 2018 – Week 5, Day 3

5 Minutes Sled Drag (55lbs for .25 miles)

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25

Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20

Band Rows
MMBx20

Push-ups
BWx15

Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds

Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds

Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Prowler Pushes
240x100’
240x100’
240x100’
240x100’
240x100’

Stretching

Comments: Guess I’m still in need of rest. No walking besides Monday evening this week. Ended up sleeping for 12hrs last night, even with getting bed and sleeping in half hour every day this week. The original deload plan, I would’ve gone out to Lancaster to train as that had some light event work but with just prowler stuff for today, just going to do it at home this session. Only thing acting up still is the right abs but it seems to be getting better each day I think. Hard to tell if it’s getting better or if I’m just getting used to the sensation. I feel that way with a lot of the aches and pains I accumulate. Food intake had been down a little this week as my order on weight gainer and fish oil was delayed by a week so I had to space things out a bit to make sure I had additional meals for most of the week with real food. So training at home it was. Sled drag to warm-up. Not as long as a break from the last time with the short cycle. No lower back pump this time but my left quad got a cramp about half way into it. Second time in as many weeks it’s done that doing light stuff. Easy calf work after that. No real aches in my knees on goblet box squats. Setup was a bit different this time using the workout bench and wood boards and planks to get it the right height. Lots of clicking in the knees on rdls. I could hear my knees “crinkling” each rep on the squats and rdls. Band rows felt good once I got into it. Car in the garage so I had to attach them to the yoke a different way to get a good amount of tension. Went inside for pushups. Carpet made it a little less stable maybe. Only thing I really felt in my abs was a slight itch and usually that is what I get with an injury that is muscle related as it heals. Plank was easy. Then the biceps stretches. Used the yoke and it really seems to get the spot. Hips swings I did using the platform I have for loads. Felt like my hips and back were tight but not able to quite get them to release the tension today. Prowler pushing the only thing after that. 5 sets of 100’ with a minute rest. This was originally going to have some event medley work with farmer’s walk and keg load first but not with how I felt the end of last week. Just have to treat carrying the plates as my last sports specific training haha. The street is angled slightly uphill so uphill odd sets and downhill even sets. Was supposed to be light. Light is relative on these to which direction, how many sets, distance and rest. So I went up 25lbs from last time since it was half the sets. Maybe a bit much for the uphill portions but just right for the downhill. Lot of friction on the treads today as some spots of tar on the road were melting from it. Inside after putting everything away to sweat off the rest and just stretch. Got a week to fully recover.

August 23, 2018 – Week 5, Day 2

5 Minutes Expresso Interactive Upright Exercise Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25

Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20

Band Rows
MMBx20

Push-ups
BWx15

Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds

Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds

Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10

16” Box Squats
45x10
135x5
185x3
225x1
275x3
275x3
275x3

Stretching

Comments: Didn’t walk on Wednesday. Just too much going on. Balancing sleep, work and other things. Good thing this is a very easy week of training. Still watching my abs on the right side. Upper back has just been sore the last few days. Maybe just finally catching up with all the heavy stuff from the last few weeks and recovering. To the gym to warm-up on the bike. Heart rate up to 145bpm. New best on distance in the 5 minutes. Doubt I’ll be able to match it when I return to heavier sessions. Calf work after that. Felt good. Not tight or feeling springy but easy enough that I was surprised when I was finished I didn’t have more to do. First time my knees have ached on the goblet box squats since I started holding the weight higher. Bench might have been lower too but that shouldn’t matter. Knees were aching on the RDLs but no gut issues so that’s a plus. Rows with the band were ok. Push-up felt surprisingly good for the shoulders. Little tightness in the abs on these though. Plank was easy as per usual. Not too bad on the abs. Then biceps stretches. Felt ok. Into the hallway for the hip swings. Not bad. Got some tightness out of my hips and back. Not as much tenderness on the abs this time. Only weight for today was box squats. Just 50% for three triples. Unfortunately, both racks were in use. I kept myself busy rolling and relaxing on a Swiss ball to see if that helped with tension in my back and abs. Tied a jumpstretch band to kettlebell and moved that around while seated and cracked my back on the hanging ab bench. Also stood on a BOSU ball. Never tried that. Wanted to see if having to balance made my body activate stabilizing muscles that could help with the core strain. After about 30 minutes, the one rack opened up for use and I got to work. Knees were a little achy but not bad. Didn’t take much to warm back up so that was good. Definitely felt like my usual deload squat sessions where it feels heavy. Last set felt and looked the best I think. Like real speed work. Wore my rehband belt to keep midsection warm and hopefully keep the abs good. I think I felt it more on incline bench then on these so that is good. Home to stretch, recover and eat.

August 21, 2018 – Week 5, Day 1

5 Minutes Expresso Interactive Upright Exercise Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25

Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20

Band Rows
MMBx20

Push-ups
BWx15

Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds

Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds

Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Incline Bench Presses
45x9
95x3
145x3
185x3
185x3
185x3

Stretching

Comments: Not the best start to a deload. Or end to a training cycle. Feeling beat up. Ab thing is annoying me. I can work through it no problem, but I don’t want to make it worse if it can get worse. Might be a slight strain. Not sure what caused it but maybe doing lunges with overhead stretching to the max might have done it coupled with the heavy static ab work. But just guessing. Right hip and lower back are tight from compensating I think. I was feeling down Sunday and didn’t leave the house. Just slept, ate 4lbs of beef and watched a lot of Monster Bug Wars on Youtube. Trying to get as much sleep as I can when I can. Sleeping in an extra 30 minutes each morning before work. I was tempted to not go for a walk on Monday too but I made myself. Can’t get too soft. Deload had been adjusted considerably with how beat I felt at the end of Week 4. It was only going to be a semi-deload with how short it was but my body doesn’t like to fit into a neat little box. Which can be frustrating with plans. Some really toned down for this week. To the gym to warm-up on the bike. Heart rate up to 138bpm I think at the highest. Furthest I’ve gotten in 5 minutes too. Calf work after that. They were tight for sure. Not feeling too bad today. Knees weren’t really bothering me on the goblet box squats either. I was keeping an eye on my abs. RDLs I felt a little ache in my abs on some reps. Felt fine on my hamstrings. Rows with the band were ok. Started slow with the pushups but got better as I went. Not as nice feeling as Saturday on the shoulders. Some tightness in the abs on these. Plank was easy as per usual. Not too bad on the abs. Then biceps stretches. Felt ok. Into the hallway for the hip swings. Not bad today. Little tight in the abs on the these. After that was incline bench. Only weighted exercise for the session. Plan was 60% for three triples after warming up. Adjusting my 1rm by subtracting 20lbs to base it off a “clean” rep. Need to stop with the air humping and get the upper body to do more work on the top sets. Not bad but not great with how these felt. I usually feel like crap at this point in the training cycle anyways. Abs got tight on these. Home to stretch, recover and eat pot roast before going to bed.

August 18, 2018 – Week 4, Day 3

5 Minutes Misc Stationary Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25

Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20

Band Rows
MMBx20

Push-ups
BWx15

Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds

Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds

Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Mouser Block Presses
123.5x1
143x1
172x1
191.5x1
223x1
242x1
270x0
270x0
270x0

Deadlifts
135x5
277x2
338x2
400x2
Added Straps
461x2
523x0

18” I-Beam Farmer’s Walk (turns at 25’)
117x50’ in 10.42 seconds
202x50’ in 13.67 seconds
252x50’ in 14.98 seconds

Mouser Block Carry (off floor, turns at 50’)
270x100’
324.5x100’
374x225’

22” I-Beam Farmer’s Hold
297xpick
352x30.14 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Right side abs still bothering me. Might be an oblique strain. Upper back just feels wrecked from this week of heavy rows and log supports. Wanted to get to bed at a reasonable hour to get out to train and with it thunderstorming off and on, I just cooked dinner rather than go for a walk after work Friday. Out to Lancaster to train. Bike again to warm-up. Comfort wise this is good now but my legs felt heavy. Calf stuff was good; felt nice and springy. Goblet box squats were ok, no aches at all. Moved nice and easy but some tightness in my abs on the right side. Holding up high may be the way to go on these. RDLs were good. Hamstrings felt good, no aches in my joints. Band rows were easy. Push ups felt great today. The plank was easy but tense in my right side. Biceps stretch felt good. No issues with hip swings. I was regretting not bringing more than one towel for sweat today. Block press again. Top single this session. I wanted to mimic contest conditions by doing alternating 20lbs and 30lbs jumps. Empty block was easy. Next jumps I was sloppy but it was light enough for me to shove up to lockout. I made sure it was better after that. My lower back wasn’t feeling so great after the first three lifts when I went for 191.5lbs. Not pain, it just felt like a little “hitch” trying to stand up straight like I do on some sets and I just stayed low and lapped it. With how the sets went, I felt like 270lbs was going to happen. The clean felt good on the first one and I got excited that it was going to happen. But I went for the drive after a little hesitation and it dipped forward so I had to adjust again. More time up there, the less likely this will happen. I gave it two shots and it just wasn’t there. This was like with 260.5lbs two weeks ago so I figured I’d try again. Good clean again but I hesitated again on the leg drive. Came back down and hit me in the throat so I just dropped it. I really wanted to hit this weight. Hey I got 260.5lbs on the third try so why not do it again? Last attempt was the least close of my attempts so that was it for today. At least I hit over 90% so not a total waste and I can clean 270lbs easy enough. Still bummed and pissed about it. After that was deadlifts. Plan was to do the same thing as the wide grip stuff with same percentages. That didn’t happen. This sucked. Every lift felt 100lbs more than what was on the bar. I just felt like I had no hamstrings. Needed my straps for after 400lbs and that double with 461lbs felt like near my limits. I thought maybe I was just babying things with my oblique and was feeling down because of block press misses (and other things) so I loaded up the weight for the planned top double. I might have broken it off the floor but it was not happening today. Hit that wall hard. It usually feels like there is some build up to it but past two training cycles it’s come on hard after 3 weeks of hard training. Even with modifying my intensity. It is discouraging to miss a weight I’ve repped in training but I can trust the process and know that I need to make the most of my recovery for this contest. It was really tough mentally to keep going with the workout after that. Farmer’s walk next. Short runs with turns, same weights as the past two weeks. I was not the fastest off the start those first two sets. I feel I was better on the turns but I was slow on my pick and with picking up speed on the first half. I was just over a second slower on both of the two warm-up runs. I made a point to try for a larger turn radius and starting it earlier. The other thing was having my right wrist rotate against the handles upon exiting the turn to keep it going straight. Things seemed to come together for the last run at least as that over half a second faster this time. Then it was block carry time. I wasn’t looking forward to this. This was going to be ugly. Two warm-up carries and then time for contest weight for max distance. 270lbs was still in the block from the presses so that worked out great for the first one. Adding 50lbs wasn’t going to mean it was 320lbs so I added 5lbs to make sure that the final weight was going to be 370lbs or more. That weight felt hard to pick up, like how 350ish felt last week. I was not optimistic about the next weight. I wasn’t even sure I could get the stupid thing into my lap with how beat I was feeling. But I got it up and was moving. I was like deliriously tired as I wasn’t sure how far I was going, like 100’ plus or minus from what I was doing off. It appears I was around the 200’ mark and I felt my legs could keep going but my grip was maxing out. 225’ on the dot. I had been hoping that I would’ve been able to beat last session’s distance but not with how I was feeling today. This had been the last thing of the day last time but not this week. Farmer’s holds again. Trying to beat last week’s time. I did a pick before going for 352lbs so that it wasn’t such a shock. Also wanted make sure I could even pick it up at this point. My upper back was done done and that mean my grip had to work overtime. When my upper back is strong and healthy, it seems to take stress off my grip. My hands hurt immediately picking up the handles and it felt like a struggle just existing. Big difference from last week where I held it for the time I did with maybe 10 seconds left going to the max. This time I had to go to the max and I felt short by about a second of matching last week’s time. I was done at this point. Hands and body hurt. Felt like the weight of the empty implements were double putting them back. Stretched before driving home to clean up. Hopefully I recovery fully for this contest.

August 16, 2018 – Week 4, Day 2

5 Minutes Expresso Interactive Upright Exercise Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25

Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20

Band Rows
MMBx20

Push-ups
BWx15

Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds

Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds

Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10

16” Front Box Squats
45x10
95x5
145x3
195x2
225x1
254x3
254x3
254x3
254x3
254x3

12” Log Chest Supports
180x1
230x1
270x1
320x1
360x1
400x1 with 29.95 seconds hold

Walking Lunges
BWx10/10
BW+45x10/10

Smith Machine Weighted Plank
BW+155x30 seconds
BW+155x30 seconds

Side Plank
BWx60/60 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Was planning to go for a walk but traffic was bad and it I got home and had to get over to my parents. Even with the early night, still ended up being a late one. Addicted to my snooze button at this point. Keeping an eye on my abdominals, especially the right side. Hopefully it is nothing and just overworked from block carries and doing lunges that stretch the abs and hip flexors out. To the gym after work. On the bike for warm-up. Felt ok, got up to 147bpm. Easy calf work after that. Felt springy but not super springy like some days. Usually that is only on Day 3 workouts. Still feeling good on the goblet squats with the high hold position. Certainly the less good these have felt so far with this style but that is way better than best case from before. Knees were feeling tight on RDLs but not necessarily achy. Rows with the band were good. Tight shoulder on the push-ups. Not as good as the last two sessions but okay I guess. Plank was easy, trying to get tight everywhere. Then the biceps stretches. Benches in use so I used the power rack. Into the hallway for the hip swings. Felt pretty good. Legs and abs day as this seems to be. Front box squats again. 5x3 with 5% more weight again. Wasn’t sure how this would go really. Had it to myself so I could rack it where I wanted this week. I was expecting more knee aches but felt ok. Definitely feeling it at the working weight. Knees and hips were achy that first triple. Seemed to be better as I went. Usually is with the “speed” sets. Just rehband belt again. Keeping an eye on my abdominals with them acting funny since last week. Last set I think looked the best. Only supposed to be 65% but it feels heavy. Unloaded the weights and got the log in for support work. I wasn’t looking forward to this. Last week felt terrible on these with the top weight. Started at 180lbs as I felt I was good from front squats to start at that weight. I made a conscious effort to feel where the log was and how my arms positioning felt with the log. There appears to be a sweet spot that will make this more tolerable and not have me feeling passie-outie like last time. Midsection tightened up on me right before the set with 400lbs. I get nervous and stomach gas but that coupled with whatever made this annoying. It passed and I got under the log and finally got it up to go. I hit the sweet spot and I knew I was going to hold it longer than last week. Just shy of 30 seconds. This weight is bending me in half while I try to keep my elbows up and keep my upper back from collapsing. That was tough. Walking lunges after that. I did some knee movements to try and get my joints to not be in for such a shock. I was leery about these. These were where I felt the twinge in the abs last week. To add to that, I needed to ask someone to film for me as I wanted to get a side shot. I can’t really get that with a stationary camera. My shyness can be painful at times haha. I finally got the nerve to ask someone to film the no weight set. Only really felt anything in the abs on the first rep and then I corrected myself. Knees definitely track forward; not sure how to prevent that as I was trying my best to prevent that. Didn’t have someone for the weighted set so I just shot it at an angle. Same thing with the little twinge on the first rep but nothing after that. It is annoying. With the abdominal thing, I was a little concerned about the planks again. I got setup with the weighted one I was still concerned. Just felt like it was tense but no pain. Side plank my left side still fatigues faster than the right. No issues with the left other than feeling tense. I couldn’t remember if I put the dishwasher on before I left for work so I just went for burritos for dinner again to make sure I got food and to sleep at a reasonable time. Car buffer everywhere to help with recovery.

August 14, 2018 – Week 4, Day 1

5 Minutes Expresso Interactive Upright Exercise Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25

Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20

Band Rows
MMBx20

Push-ups
BWx15

Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds

Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds

Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10

12” Log Push Presses
90x2
120x2
150x2
180x2
210x2
240x2
240x2
240x2
240x2
240x2
240x2
240x5

Chest Supported Rows
100x10
190x10
280x10
310x10
340x10
370x10
400x10 PR+2 reps

Barbell Bench Presses
45x10
115x5
175x3
213x3
252x3
290x3
320x5
1 Second Pauses
281x6

V-Bar Triceps Pushdowns
150x15
160x15

Wide Grip Bar Hang
Regular Grip
bw+22x47.48 seconds
Hook Grip
bw+11x68.19 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Short training cycle. Last super heavy training week. Feeling good for this one. Maybe I should be worried as usually I don’t feel good haha. Really been working on the sleep thing since I had to take that day off to get back on track. But I still desire more sleep. Left shoulder is achy still but seems to be feeling better most of the time. Bruises from dropping the block on my thighs over two weeks ago are gone. Just watching my abs at this point. Woke up to a stye on my eyelid. Never had one before. I blame this darn humidity and how much I’ve been sweating. Fancy bike was open again. Highest my heartrate hit was 143bpm. On to the warm-ups. Calf raises felt good. Tight but springy. Looks like the 20lbs kettlebell is MIA so dumbbell again. Held it up high and again, no knee issues. See how it goes next workout but this may be the way to go now. RDLs are felt pretty good, barely any knee aches. Band rows were easy. Didn’t feel anything in the biceps and I can’t always say that some days. Some aches in the shoulder on the push-ups. Still stronger than they usually feel, just not as good as Sunday. Plank was easy as it has been. Biceps stretches felt good. Shoulders were tight but not as tight as I was expecting them to be with the block pressing stuff. No issues on the hip swings. Felt good. On to the workout. Log from the rack. Doubles with 75% this time. I did singles to warm-up last time but I figured I should do doubles with 30lbs jumps this time. Knees ached so the first two warm-ups there was some hesitation just initiating the shouldering of the log from the rack. Just rehband belt. First rep of the first working set I felt off balance. Not a good start. Was hoping the log would be moving faster on some reps but I did have one day less rest with having to do Day 3 on Sunday. I’m holding my breath on some reps and I need to figure out the best thing as for a single that is fine but if I have to do multiple reps, I’m going to have to breathe at one point, otherwise I will get exertion headaches. I will say I didn’t feel as beat up and sore by the end like last time I did these. Last set was for five due to the qualifier event. Breathing was good. Only issue was the fourth rep. My wrists were struggling to stay locked and tight with how I’m holding the log to get it in the sweet spot. It was still easy but I had to readjust. Chest supported rows were next. 8-10 reps with 30lbs jumps over five sets. I wanted to do my top set with 400lbs but that meant doing my previous 10rm right before that. 30lbs jumps are not bad on pulldowns but with the rows it gets fatiguing quick now that I’m getting up there in weight on these. I wasn’t going to do 280lbs cold so I did two warm-up sets. Abs were a little sore. I couldn’t do these sets with any slack. Definitely tired as I needed to refocus each set. 370lbs was pretty darn tough but I wanted 400lbs. Chalked up my hands for that set and went to work. It was hard but I got it. On to the bench press. Same thing; set percentage triples and top set for whatever feels good short of failure. I felt a little stiff in the left shoulder. Right side felt lower on the rack pins but not sure why I thought that. Might just be my abs being sore that it felt tougher to get back up off the bench. Light wrap job with 290lbs and it felt super easy compared to the 252lbs set before. My left glute cramped up on the set though. Found the biggest person in the gym for a spot with 320lbs set. Got first three reps easy and slowed down on the fourth. He grabbed the bar as I was locking out the fifth one, which is where I was stopping anyways but it’s annoying when you specifically tell people not to do that. Paused rep set again after that. Felt heavy today. I felt I should stop at five but I know that I can usually keep going on these so I did six. I probably had more but this was a good place to stop. Triceps with the v-bar attachment after that. Trying to not be as sloppy as I was last week with the rope style. 150lbs for the first set but that was too easy. Added 10lbs for the next set and that was a bit better weight was. Anymore might have been pushing it with the fatigue already built. Grip again. I had gotten the go ahead to up the weight on the regular style even though I had not yet hit a minute with 5kgs of chain. I was really not sure how this was going to go with the grip stuff on Sunday and with my grip being a bit fatigued the last two weeks. Felt surprisingly good at the start but after 30 seconds it became a struggle and I dropped out short of 50 seconds. Then it was time for the pain tolerance set with the hook grip. Still hurts. Thought I was going to come up short of a minute but I managed to beat the previous time with 5kgs of chain added as last time was just my bodyweight. Still some daylight in the sky when I left. Home to stretch, eat and recover and then hopefully get to bed at a reasonable hour.

August 12, 2018 – Week 3, Day 3

5 Minutes Misc Stationary Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25

Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20

Band Rows
MMBx20

Push-ups
BWx15

Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds

Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds

Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Mouser Block Presses
123.5x1
152.5x1
182x1
EMOM
211x1
211x1
211x1
211x1
211x1
211x1
211x1

Wide Grip Deadlifts
135x2
185x2
232.5x2
282.5x2
335x2
387.5x2
Added Straps
437.5x2

18” I-Beam Farmer’s Walk/Keg Load
117x100’ (turn at 50’)/150x3 to 60”
202x50’ (turn at 25’)/200x2 to 60”
252x50’ (turn at 25’)/250x1 to 60”

18” I-Beam Farmer’s Walk/Keg Load/18” I-Beam Farmer’s Walk
302x50’/325x1 to 60”/302x50’ in 35.73 seconds

22” I-Beam Farmer’s Hold
352x31.13 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Left shoulder has been super achy the past two days but it feels good today. Right lower side of my abs feels a little crampy at times. Not sure what that is about. It comes and goes. Maybe hip flexor too? Possibly delayed response to the block carries as this got them sore last time tood. Powerlifting meet was on Saturday at the gym so I had to train Sunday. With how the week went, it was good this happened as I had to take a day to just catch up on sleep. Got some sleep Friday night and Saturday night. Mowed the lawn on Saturday. I got up around when I should be getting up to train today as I needed to be home early for family dinner. Out to Lancaster to train. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I’ve only been out to train on Saturdays and I knew the place closed earlier Sunday. But there were people there so as long as that was the case, I was good. On to the bike for warm-ups. The bike felt good on my legs. Calf stuff was good and easy. Goblet box squats were also good. Held the kettlebell up higher like the dumbbell and I had no knee issues. Will have to see how this goes for next week. RDLs felt great today. Band rows were easy. Push ups felt great too. Barely any shoulder ache. The plank was easy, lost count of my time. Biceps stretch felt good too. No issues with hip swings other than my right hamstring feeling really tight right behind the knee. Did some soft tissue work on my quads, hamstrings and lower back before starting the workout. First thing was block press as has been the case this training cycle. First time though it was not just work to a top single. EMOM workout has returned. Get about 80% and do seven singles. Be kind of tricky to see how it would go with numerous short rest singles with the sweat and the chalk. 30lbs jumps worked out just right, though about 2lbs more than expected for the working weight. Some reps were good to great and others were bad. Second and sixth single stick out as bad ones to me. Second I got off balance and had to let it settle and sixth I rushed it and I pretty much strict pressed with a split stance. Best lift felt like the last one. It is had controlling that thing back down to earth. Got one more session with it left. After that was wide grip deadlifts. Same thing as last time but doubles with smaller jumps. I was keeping an eye on my right side abdominals on these. I felt good with these. I was almost tempted to go with no straps for the top set but I didn’t want a repeat of last week being overconfident and having to pull them out for a single lift. Not sure if just the strapping to the bar but it felt tough this time. I don’t think I’d have pulled more than a single without the straps in good form. First rep felt a little slow but second felt strong. Probably another 3-4 reps there if pushed. Hopefully deadlifts regular style next week feel good too. Farmer’s and kegs after that. With the online qualifier events, this got changed a bit. This was going to be similar to the workout from the first week but now the work-up stuff was modified. Instead of the medleys, it was farmer’s walk with a turn and then keg loads. Three loads first set, two loads the second and one for the third. Farmer’s felt good the lightest set. Turn felt good. Keg was stupid light. I just threw it over the bar. I had thought about standing it back up each rep but I just rolled it back in and just loaded it as is. The next two sets had the distance halved for the farmer’s walk. This was really though for the turn as I had to make a sharper turn to avoid my keg setup. I felt good moving with the weight but that really tight turn made it much harder than it should’ve been. 252lbs was a struggle as it came across my legs from the overcorrection. Keg was easy both times. Then it was back to the medley at the show. Kind of. Farmer’s walk into keg load back into farmer’s walk medleys. Bumped up a bit from last time with 302lbs on the handles and 325lbs for the keg. My legs didn’t feel so heavy today (they did walking into the gym) so I figured as long as my grip and lower back were good, this was happening. I felt in control on the way down. Drop at the line and I see a 2.5lbs chip jump off. There weren’t enough collars to secure the weights like usual. Can’t worry about that now, on to the keg. 75lbs jump in keg weight was going to be interesting. Not something I can just toss over like 250lbs. Got it up nice and high and threw it over. Had to catch the cookie and get it back on the handle before going. I took a bit more time to go as I wanted to make sure I wasn’t stepping on the bottom like last time. Can’t afford that mistake with 300lbs or so. Up it went and I felt like I was moving faster this time around. My stride felt longer, more confident. I did slow at the end I think. This should be tougher than contest conditions for this one with the longer course, heavier start and higher load. Not quite done for today. Last thing was grip hold with farmer’s walk. Advised to raise them up so as not to put too much strain on the back. Added another 50lbs and bumped it up to 22” pick height. Now it didn’t look like it too any effort to lift these but It felt like for an instant time froze trying to pick these up. Goal was to hold it until I felt I was about 3-5 seconds from dropping them. These thin handles hurt. Felt like it was cutting into my hand and I was going to drop them immediately. Only felt heavy in my hands. Felt like nothing on my upper back. I think I called it a little early but I had done 30 seconds. Of the right one fell over when I put them down due to how top heavy they were. Hung out a bit and stretched before driving home. One more heavy week to go. Can’t believe the time is so close again.

August 10, 2018 – Week 3, Day 2

5 Minutes Expresso Interactive Upright Exercise Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25

Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20

Band Rows
MMBx20

Push-ups
BWx15

Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds

Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds

Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10

16” Box Squats
45x10
135x5
185x3
225x2
265x1
302.5x3
302.5x3
302.5x3
302.5x3
302.5x3

12” Log Chest Supports
90x1
140x1
190x1
240x1
290x1
340x1
390x1 with 17.61 seconds hold

Walking Lunges
BWx10/10
BW+45x10/10

Smith Machine Weighted Plank
BW+155x30 seconds
BW+155x30 seconds

Side Plank
BWx60/60 seconds

Stretching

Comments: I needed to take a break. I was dragging the past two days. Got about 12hrs sleep total the past two days and the exhaustion just hit me around 4:00PM on Thursday. Heavy traffic put the final nail in the coffin and I just went home, ate dinner and got to bed around 9:00PM so that I could get about 10hrs sleep. Can’t be having work suffer. This is like the only week this was going to work since the gym was closed Saturday for a powerlifting meet and I got a key to go in on Sunday. On the bike for warm-up. Best I’ve had as far as distance in the time limit and heart rate got up to 149bpm. Calf work after that. They were definitely tight. Harder than Tuesday but easier than Saturday. The 20lbs kettlebell was missing so I used a dumbbell for the goblet box squats. These are large plastic ones so it had me holding it up higher on my body than the kettlebell. Actually seemed to feel better on my knees with it that way. Who knows. Knees were stiff on the RDLs. Felt somewhat better by the end but stiff. Rows with the band were good. Tight shoulder on the push-ups. Even with that, it was the best they’ve felt in a few weeks as far as being able to push it and not start off slow. Plank was easy. Then the biceps stretches. Shoulders and biceps were tight. Chest not so much. Hip swings in both styles to loosen up my hamstrings. Then weight time. Box squats again. Weight is up a bit from what I had planned on doing at the start but I had to recalculate it with how it felt two weeks ago. Took a bigger jump in weight after warming up with the bar to get my work up sets in. I really wasn’t sure how the weight would feel after the last single but it went well. My dad stopped in midway and I had a conversation with him mid-set so I’d say it was easy enough. Right lower side of my abs was feeling crampy. Then log supports from racked position. Back to empty log as I figured it might make sense to do some lighter lifts since this would be the first thing with it on my chest this session. Last time I did front squats so it was kind of warmed up at that point. I felt pretty good working up with 50lbs jumps. Knees were achy but I expected that as of late. 10lbs more with 390lbs and it felt like the world. Just felt lightheaded. I felt I could keep holding it but that I would pass out on my feet. My midsection felt warm and was vibrating holding it up there. Well short of the time I’d like to be doing but can’t always exceed my limits. I got another shot at this next week. Walking lunges after that. Knees ached but they got better as I did them. Same as last time with unweighted set and weighted set. Trying to take a big step but then sitting back into it on the back leg. Went a little slower the first set. I was curious how the set with a plate overhead would go. Felt a stich in my lower right abs so that had me concerned. That injury hypochondriac side of my flaring up. Definitely made me rush the second half. Didn’t help that I hit the low ceiling on the way down with the plate. With the abdominal thing, I was a little concerned about the planks. I got setup with the weighted ones and no issues so that was good and fears subsided. It felt the lightest it has felt when I lifted it but my endurance was feeling shot on these. Still got them. Side plank my left side still fatigues faster than the right. Got done without too much sweat and home to stretch, eat and recover. Event day on Sunday.

August 7, 2018 – Week 3, Day 1

5 Minutes Precor Upright Exercise Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25

Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20

Band Rows
MMBx20

Push-ups
BWx15

Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds

Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds

Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10

12” Log Clean and Strict Presses (one clean)
90x2
115x2
140x2
170x2
200x2
230x2
260x2
220x5

12” Log Standing Lockouts
90x1
110x1
130x1
150x1
170x1
190x1
210x1
230x1
250x1
270x1
290x1
315x1 PR+5lbs
330x1 PR+20lbs

12” Log Overhead Supports
90x1
120x1
150x1
180x1
210x1
240x1
270x1
300x1
330x1
360x1
390x1
420x1
440x1 PR+10lbs with 14.68 seconds hold

Pulldowns
70x15
130x10
160x10
190x10
220x10
250x10

Incline Bench Presses
45x10
95x5
145x3
175x3
208x3
240x3
265x5
1 Second Pauses
232.5x5

Rope Triceps Pushdowns
140x15
140x15

Wide Grip Axle Hang
bwx15.80 seconds
bwx8.50 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Joints have been aching more. Not sure if that’s just because I’m back to heavy stuff again or if not taking fish oil for about two weeks is the culprit. Joints were achy even with it last training cycle. Made sure I got some “cardio” in with mowing my lawn on Sunday and going for a walk on Monday. It has been warm still but always seems to have it rain in the evening. This was going to be a long workout. Both fancy pants bikes in use so I got on another bike. Heart rate up to 138bpm I think at the highest. Calf work after that. They were tight for sure. Not feeling as difficult as they did on Saturday. Knees weren’t really bothering me on the goblet box squats too bad. Still trying to sit back and keep knee forward movement down on these. Knees were stiff on the RDLs but felt better as I did them. Rows with the band were ok. Right biceps was a little sore. Left shoulder is still tight and achy. Started slow with the pushups but got better as I went, much like the RDLs. Plank was easy as per usual. Then the much needed biceps stretches. Arms, shoulders and chest were tight. Into the hallway for the hip swings. Not bad today. It was then logapalooza. First up was log clean and strict presses. Same as last time but working doubles. Didn’t exactly do 30lbs jumps like last time as I wanted to warm-up light and then get to where 30lbs jumps would be good. Trying my darnedest to keep from bending my knees on these with the pressing. Too much of it on the top set last time. Plan for the double was to hopefully beat my current best of 250lbs and with how 245lbs had felt last time (even with the knee bends) I thought that 260lbs could happen. It depended on how the set before felt and looked. If bad, then maybe try for 255lbs. Forearms were a tad sore from event training so I was hoping that wouldn’t hold me back. But it felt good and got ready for it. First one up easy and slight struggle with the second rep. I wanted to make sure that one was as strict as I could make it. I felt there was another rep there so very happy with that. Should help with log and block pressing. Adjustment was made to the workout to include a down set of five reps as part of the online qualifier. 85% of the double was about 220lbs so that was what I did. First rep was super easy but it felt weird with more reps. I guess I hold my breath more on the strict style to brace my lower body and core. I think I’m finally getting the up and back motion down. It kind of clicked with the block press on Saturday. It still feels weird as it doesn’t feel like I have a solid way to grind out the weight but perhaps it will come with more practice. I then chained myself to the rack for rest of the log work. Lockouts from the top again. Same thing, single starting with the empty log and doing 20lbs jumps. Goal being 5-10lbs more than last time. I was really trying to not have the log going forward on these. I felt unstable on some reps working up and I’m not sure if that is from hitting the pull-up bar or from not using wrist wraps as points. I got to 290lbs and it felt tougher than last time. I went up 25lbs for the next jump to hopefully get a small 5lbs PR on this. I thought I could brace forward and then push back. That seemed to work and I felt good for more. So I went up 15lbs for a grinder of a lift. 20lbs over last time. Stripped the log down to empty again to work back up on the quarter overhead squat singles. Since I knew what I was capable of this go around, I went with 30lbs jumps on the way up. Knees were super achy and it took longer for them to feel good this session. Plan was like the lockouts to do 5-10lbs more on the top one with a hold and lower. I got the thought it my head that if 420lbs didn’t feel as tough as 410lbs did last week, I’d go up in weight. I was thinking 440lbs as that would be the most I’ve ever held over my head with the log. Just under 200kgs. It was definitely harder to balance than 410lbs was but I was able to get steady under it and controlled it back down to the pins. About 4 seconds shy of last time as far as time but still very good. Even trying to move fast with the rack work, it was already getting late. Pulldowns next. 5 sets with 30lbs jumps, aiming for 8-10 reps. I wanted to do the stack for the set of 10 for a two rep improvement so I planned accordingly. Left shoulder was a little tight and I was keeping an eye on the right biceps. Shoulder seemed to shutup on the warm-up set and right biceps only spoke up on the a few reps of the second to last set. I felt good for more reps with 250lbs. After that was incline bench. Wasn’t as fatigued in the upper body going into these this time. I was better prepared for what would happen. I forgot my microweights to adjust the weights to the right amounts so I just went with the closest I could get with regular weights and collars. Triples up to the working weight with was to be a rep or two shy of failure. Stopped at five which I think was right at it. Pauses felt heavier than expected. Looking at my logs, this was actually the heaviest I’ve done them since coming back from injury so maybe that had something to do with it. Or having all the rack work first made my wrists and elbows sore. Another five reps here. Remembered the triceps this time. Pump sets. I bumped the weight up 40lbs from last time with how easy 100lbs was. Still good for more reps on both sets. I was trying to take shorter rests but still recover. Last thing was bar hangs on the axle. This was the only thing that I didn’t improve on tonight. Left hand gave out first. I think the extra grip work from Saturday impacted this. Especially the farmer’s walk turn. There’s a lot of grip this training cycle and it can be hard to gauge recovery. Second set was even worse. These hangs with the rolling axle are so hard. It was really really late so I just went and got burritos and went home to stretch, recover and eat. Maybe sleep too.

August 4, 2018 – Week 2, Day 3

5 Minutes Misc Stationary Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25

Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20

Band Rows
MMBx20

Push-ups
BWx15

Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds

Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds

Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Mouser Block Presses
123.5x1
143x1
162.5x1
182x1
201.5x1
221x1
240.5x1
260.5x0
260.5x0
260.5x1 PR+18.5lbs

Deadlifts
135x3
215x3
307.5x3
400x3
492.5x2
Added Straps
492.5x1

18” I-Beam Farmer’s Walk (turns at 25’)
117x50’ in 9.32 seconds
202x50’ in 12.57 seconds
252x50’ in 15.66 seconds

Mouser Block Carry (off floor, turns at 50’)
250.5x100’
300.5x100’
351x260’8”

Stretching

Comments: Left leg still sore from previous workout. Wasn’t able to get in a walk at all this week due to the constant thunderstorms. Soft tissue work to help with recovery due to lack of my usual evening walks. Not as much sleep as I wanted the day before. Had a headache and taste buds feel dull. Late to bed and I ended up sleeping in an hour later than I was supposed to. Out to Lancaster to train. Construction about 10 miles out slowed things down a bit but got there about the same time as last week. Owner’s weren’t there and I was worried I had driven all this way for nothing since I don’t have key to use the gym when people aren’t there. Luckily some training crew were there. One was in Michigan competing and good number were near Philly training for an upcoming contest the end of the month. Seems a fair number of people are training earlier than usual now. Bike again to warm-up. This isn’t so bad now that I’ve found a way to adjust it to feel somewhat comfortable to sit on. Calf stuff was ok. Felt tougher today for some reason. Like I felt I should be done but I still had 8-10 more reps to go. Goblet box squats were ok, no aches at all. Moved nice and easy. RDLs were just ok. Knees a bit achy. Band rows were easy. Push ups were a bit tougher than I would like but not much shoulder ache today. The plank was easy. Biceps stretch felt good on my tight shoulders and chest. No issues with hip swings. Weight time. Block press again. Top single this session. I felt awful really. Just couldn’t stop sweating. Just dripping sweat like a roast even bending over to pick up the empty block. For today, I felt like I’d just do 20lbs jumps today so that I got more practice and then possibly have some left for next time in two weeks. Around 200lbs mark I felt like I was coordinated in the lift. This seemed to clear up with 20lbs more added though. Not sure at what point I nicked my left shin lifting the block to lap but I noticed I was bleeding into my sock. Oh well. My next lift was just under what I hit last week. Felt little tougher but still good. A fly was buzzing around me and kept landing on the block, maybe that’s why haha. I knew I’d have to be on point to get the next jump. Little tougher to clean it than I would’ve liked but this was a PR attempt. I thought I had it good but my legs didn’t cooperate and kind of went for a split style rather than the power stance that had been working. I refocused and got into a better position. But I had spent too much time with it on my chest and I didn’t have the strength to lockout the weight. I knew it was a technique issue so rather than shut it down, I prepared for another attempt. Still sweating, smelling like dead hermit crabs kind of bad smelling sweat. I thought I was ready. I wasn’t. Missed the flip for the clean and the block came back down and landed on my quads hard. Repositioned the block and tried again but just couldn’t get it and I tried to muscle it up more this time but that ended in failure and dropped in disgust. Maybe I had worn out my posterior chain too much with the previous attempt. I had hoped the decal on my shirt would be enough to combat the sweat factor. My shirt was drenched and chalk on it would do nothing. I should have this lift. So I thought about the situation and took steps to figure out what needed to happen. Turned the block over so the decal was facing away from me and chalked up the block. It was on me now. This time I got it up to the shoulders and then went for the press. Almost lost my balance behind but I caught myself. I held it up there just to make sure it knew I had won. Don’t want to be called for soft lockouts come show time. Completely missed the tire on the drop but I didn’t care. Definitely elevated my mood. After that was deadlifts. Regular deads this week. Same reps, percentages and protocol. Basing this training cycle off 615lbs raw pull. Things felt good. But I made a mistake. I figured that my grip was good from all the grip work as of late and I overestimated it. My top set of deadlifts was to be 492.5lbs for a triple. I didn’t get out the straps. This was stupid as I knew after the first rep this was going to be near impossible. First rep went up good. Second rep I had to pretty much drop that one and barely lockout the weight. Couldn’t break the third off the floor and I stood up for a few seconds and gave it another shot. Got it up but not above my knees. So I had to admit defeat and get my straps out of my bag and come back to pull the last rep of the set. Felt like the toughest lift of the set. Maybe the straps and no straps had thrown me off? Lesson learned. Straps the last set next time. Farmer’s walk next. This was added to prep for the online qualifier for the Strongman Games. Short runs with turns to get used to that again. Ugh. 50’ runs with turn at 25’. I forgot how horrible turns are. Even more so with a short course as it’s hard to build speed and then prep for the turn. Empty handles no problem. Adding weight however definitely made for sloppy turns. Could just be the length of the implements too but got to deal with it. Most ugly was the last one. Still able to course correct at the end. Last thing was block carries. Only done them once before and it turned out I was pretty good at it. This time, just 100’ with the weights I went max distance last time with and then about 350lbs for max distance. I had sweated through everything at this point. Only brought one after workout shirt. Sweated through my shorts and t-shirt. My towel full size towel to wipe off sweat was drenched at this point too. But I was still able to wipe chalk onto my forearms and hands. This took a bit longer to setup than expected because I had deformed the loading pins in the block when I dropped in sideways. So some plates won’t fit now. And ones that don’t were on the pins so it took a bit of effort to get them off. But there are enough weights that fit in the gym to max out the block so no worries. First two sets felt easy. Like yeah, this is pretty easy. The next set not so much. That added 50lbs felt like I added over 100lbs to it. Almost didn’t get it into my lap. I was expecting around 350’ with how this went with the other weights last time. I ended up about 90’ shy of that. Legs not grip gave out on me. I felt my legs feeling heavy at about 175’ in to it. Getting that last 50’ length down was a struggle. I’ve made it a point to not finish at the end of a run and to try to keep moving and make the turn around. Got a little over 10’ after that to end it. Might be the weight, might be the fatigue and it might be that my legs aren’t getting as much conditioning done this training cycle (lots of medleys for Beast of the Bluegrass). I was glad this one was done. Last week I felt I finished the workout, this time I feel I survived it. Continued sweating even when I was stretching.

August 2, 2018 – Week 2, Day 2

5 Minutes Expresso Interactive Upright Exercise Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25

Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20

Band Rows
MMBx20

Push-ups
BWx15

Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds

Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds

Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10

16” Front Box Squats
45x10
95x5
135x3
185x2
235x3
235x3
235x3
235x3
235x3

12” Log Chest Supports
180x1
230x1
280x1
330x1
380x1 with 31.71 seconds hold PR+1.09 seconds

Walking Lunges
BWx10/10
BW+25x10/10

Smith Machine Weighted Plank
BW+155x30 seconds
BW+155x30 seconds

Side Plank
BWx60/60 seconds

Stretching

Comments: The rain won’t stop. Ok it does but then it rains again. Flash flood warnings just about every day. Haven’t been able to go for a walk this week on my rest days. It’s been humid and muggy and alternating between blazing hot and torrential downpour. On the bike for warm-up. Better speed than last time but heart rate got up to 150bpm. Easy calf work after that. They were definitely tight. Knees weren’t really bothering me on the goblet box squats too bad. Little aches but still good. Knees were stiff on the RDLs. Felt similar to how they were the end of last cycle but hamstrings still tight. Rows with the band were good. Tight shoulder on the push-ups. Chest really sore from last workout. Plank was easy. Then the biceps stretches. Definitely needed those with how tight my shoulders and chest were. Into the hallway for the hip swings. Felt pretty good. Then weight time. First was front box squats. Heavier percentage compared to box squat with goal being 5x3 with 60%. Someone else needed the squat rack so I let him work in. As no one is really my height, we had to adjust the rack every set and it was pretty much “I go, you go” style. While I increased box squat and snatch grip pulls, I didn’t increase the 1rm weight for front box squats as it has felt about right. Felt good despite knee aches. My shirt was ripping from how forcefully I was racking the weight. Drenched in sweat by the end. I feel the last two sets were my best ones. The other guy had more sets to do so I waited until he was done to do log chest supports. I figured since I had just done front squats, I could start heavier and do less singles to the top weight. Plate on each side and go up 50lbs. The big goal is to do 420lbs for a minute. Feel that is ways off as I tend to peter out around 30 second regardless of weight on this. I’d like to at least be working with that weight by the end of the training cycle so plan is 10lbs more per week. Knees ached. I had my doubts I would hold the weight past 10 seconds with how it felt at the start. But it stayed up and I calmed down. These are tough on the body. Managed to improve my time I did on these last year for Nats at this weight and that was with me going to failure. So that’s good. Walking lunges after that. This time two sets; one like last time (but do 20 reps total) and the second with weight. I felt much stiffer this time in my legs. Knees were aching big time. They had felt so carefree last week haha. Got the reps right this time. Next was with weight. Not like on the back or held at the sides but straight overhead. Standing tall. I was wondering if I could keep that balance and stability for the entire set. No issues with my shoulder so that was a relief. This was challenging with body coordination. It’s good to have something like this in the mix to make sure I’m able to adapt to new movements. Top of my quads were tight after these, especially my left side. Then it was plank time. Smith machine to start. Doing these after supports and walking lunges with weight overhead is hard. Left calf cramped on me the first set and I did some foam rolling on it before the next set. No issues there other than a cramp. Side plank was better this week. Still tough but not feeling like I was going to collapse half way in. Right side is definitely easier. Filled up gas in car and got recovery burritos as I didn’t feel like eating any later than I had to tonight.

July 31, 2018 – Week 2, Day 1

5 Minutes Expresso Interactive Upright Exercise Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25

Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20

Band Rows
MMBx20

Push-ups
BWx15

Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds

Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds

Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10

12” Log Push Presses
95x1
125x1
150x1
175x1
200x1
225x3
225x3
225x3
225x3
225x3
225x3
225x3

Chest Supported Rows
200x15
230x15
260x15
290x15
320x15

Barbell Bench Presses
45x10
136x3
195x3
252x3
310x6
1 Second Pauses
271x8

V-Bar Triceps Pushdowns
130x20
130x20

Wide Grip Bar Hang
Regular Grip
bw+11x55.49 seconds
Hook Grip
bwx66.16 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Last week was good. Hopefully this will continue onward. Events for Official Strongman Games online qualifier were posted today so some modifications added to the training cycle to try my hand at that. The high from Saturday has already worn off and I need to keep improving. Rain has returned so no walking yesterday. On the fancy bikes again. I was about 10 second slower finishing the course from last week but this is still good in that it wasn’t until recently I was even finishing it in under 5 minutes. Highest my heartrate hit was 145bpm. On to the warm-ups. Calf raises felt good. Tight but springy. Knees were not nearly as bad as I was expecting on the goblet squats. Again, really focusing on the breaking at the hips first and then bending knees. Kind of surprised they weren’t aching that much. All the barbells upstairs were in use so downstairs to do RDLs. Really no knee aches and feeling how tight my hamstrings are. Band rows were easy. Some aches in the shoulder on the push-ups. Plank was easy. Biceps stretches felt good. Shoulders were really tight. No issues on the hip swings. On to the workout. Log again. It will always be log. I close my eyes and it is log. This workout wasn’t going to have as much log as last week though. Warm up and do triples with 70% of my 1rm out of the rack. The platform was in use so I went with the older tiered rack. I actually like this one more for rack work in that I don’t have to walk back the weight to be able to dip and drive. Probably could’ve done more reps to warm-up but singles seemed fine. Just rehband belt for these. I’m pretty terrible when it comes to press away on log with positioning and breathing. I tried to put in what I’ve learned. Keep the log high. I made an effort to control the log back down to my shoulders and try to have it get back in the same spot each time for the press. Felt slow but the reps felt good. Definitely feeling fatigue by the end. I just set my own pace with rest and it was probably about 90 seconds or so. Shoulders tight, neck tight, elbow and triceps sore. Chest supported rows were next. Knees ached sitting down after log haha. Same as pulldowns last week. 12-15 reps, 30lbs jumps and five sets. I compared what I did with pulldowns to what the same numbers should be with the rows to get my goal of 320lbs for the top set. Didn’t feel like doing any warm-ups with the high reps and starting at 200lbs. I was worried I was missing a rep on some of these sets. 320lbs was a struggle but I got the reps. Benching again. I think I was a bit more prepared for the fatigue this time compared to incline last week. Just did the bar to warm-up and then into the sets. Made sure I had a spot on the heaviest set, even though I was to hold back a rep or two. Left shoulder had been a little achy and I was lowering right after unracking it so wasn’t sure how this would go. Wouldn’t have been surprised to struggle to get three. But I got twice that with some left. Paused rep set again. Was not expecting this to feel so easy after that set. Reps in the tank on this. I remembered I had triceps pushdowns this time. V-bar attachment. Set it at 120lbs but it felt way too easy just doing a single rep so I went up to 130lbs. Didn’t want to overdo it as this was to just get a pump going. Easy stuff, good for more here before it would get sloppy. Grip hang to end the day. Welcome change from that brutal axle from last week. I was shy of a minute with the chains again, about 2 seconds less than last time. But I had taken a break and been working grip hard. Chain off for a second set with hook grip. I’ve never really tried to do this. I can see why it is effective but man that hurt my thumbs. I could’ve held longer, it was more my abs and hip flexors got fatigued trying to keep my feet off the ground. Home to eat and recover.