March 31, 2019 – Week 3, Day 3

5 Minutes Misc Stationary Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

Sumo Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Regular Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Bird Dogs (1 second holds)

BWx10/10

Superset: Band Rows/ Modified Angle Push-ups
MMBx20/BWx15
MMBx20/BWx15

Biceps Stretches

20 Seconds

20 Seconds

Sandbag Tosses Over 14’ (20’ away)

30x1

30x1

30x1

30x1

30x1

30x1

30x1

30x1

30x1

30x1

Log Clean and Push Presses
(Miscellaneous Log 12”)

85x1
105x1
125x1
145x1
165x1
(Beast Metals Log 13”)

186.5x1
206.5x1
226.5x1
246.5x1
266.5x1
286.5x1

306.5x0

Yoke (with drops, turf)

210x85’

300x120’ (drop at 60’) in 16.71 seconds

400x120’ (drop at 60’) in 18.41 seconds

500x60’ in 8.57 seconds

550x60’ in 10.11 seconds

600x120’ (drop at 60’) in 22.26 seconds

210x85’

Sandbag Rows

150x10

Sandbag Carry/Sled Drag Medleys (turf)

200x100’/140x92’ in 39.69 Seconds

200x100’/230x92’ in 44.73 Seconds

200x100’/320x92’ in 53.11 Seconds

Comments: Another day of event training out at Lancaster. Saturday was a wasted day. I fell asleep around midnight Friday and woke up to the sound of my doorbell at 2:40PM the next day. I guess I needed the sleep. No DOMS from training Friday so maybe the sleep helped there. I know I should be happy with the deadlift progress all things considered but I’m not. But I got to keep positive. Keep moving forward. Saturday was perfect weather. It was damp Sunday morning as the roads were still wet. Still made great time out there. Knees are still achy but the bike feels good. I was actually more concerned with my left side of my lower back. I guess deadlifting and this other heavy stuff is pushing it still. Thankfully it is minimal but I guess that means I can’t be lax on the recovery stuff (TENS unit, heat pad, icing, stretching, buffer). I ended up stretching and doing TENS unit the past two days. Calf work was super easy. Nice and springy. Box touches felt good. Again, used a box this time. Bird dogs felt pretty good. Band rows and modified push-ups were supersetted as per usual. Both felt easy (rows are always easier though). The yoke I was using was adjusted so I had to use a different setup for the push-ups. Biceps stretch felt good. Then it was fun stuff. I guess kind of as I didn’t feel terribly motivated today. Sandbag toss again. Same as last week, goal being ten tosses. I wanted no misses this time. I spent some more time figuring out the best setup for these as far as running out and getting back to a spot to throw. I got all three sandbags out and setup the course inside to get an idea and figure out how far back I could get without losing too much time. I feel like I’m able to move back more efficiently this time after playing it out in my head. Getting closer and really only losing under a second at most. I only had the one sandbag outside since it was damp and had it resting on a towel and my second “sandbag” was a kettlebell. Trying to get it so that I get to the next sandbag before the first one lands. Made every toss but the second to last one I missed grabbing the handle my first go (side grab) and I panicked and got it thrown askew. Made up for it on the last one with it being the fastest and best looking toss of the day. It will be interesting with the heavier weights. Will have to see if I can use the same distance for all three or if I need to get closer. Log again. It never leaves me alone. Singles on clean and push press this time, taking 20lbs jumps up to a conservative single. This was set as 95% again. It was just not my day. First set I forgot it was push press and had to stop myself from strict pressing it. Another set I hit myself in the chin on the clean. Switching over to the big log, I forgot to add 10lbs to it and had to set it back down and go again. I startled myself with how quick it went up and let it go from lockout. 246.5lbs was just crappy and 266.5lbs got out in front of me. Figured 286.5lbs (minimum I was accepting today) goes up well enough. Like deadlifts, I should’ve stopped there. Had someone check the video and they thought I had more there and I wasn’t at 95% yet. So another 20lbs on it. Clean was ok but I think I rushed it on the press. Went way out in front and I didn’t have the strength to get it back in line. I think I have it on a good day. Similar to deadlift, I missed the weight I ideally wanted to get to know where I stand and hit the bare minimum. I was tired, even with the half century of sleep. Missing a lift sucks and I know how much it gnaws at me. Hopefully no more misses the rest of this training cycle. I got my starting points for log and deadlift to deal with. Yoke after that. No one here so no worrying about running into anyone else. Lower back was feeling tight and legs sluggish. Continuing the aggressive build up with top set being 50lbs more. First two sets the same as last week. As motivated as I felt last week, this was not that. About half a second slower on the first set and almost a second slower on the second. After that was to 60’ runs; 500lbs and 550lbs. About a tenth of second slower on the 500lbs run. Just over 10 seconds on the run with 550lbs. I had hopes of getting under 23 seconds as a goal post for training with the 600lbs run. That didn’t seem like it was happening today. I’m not sure what happened but I had a faster second leg and managed to get under my goal time. This and sandbag toss were about the only things that went well today. Last item was medley work. Yoke got done quicker this week and I planned to not drag things out with the medley work. Also not do an extra set. Warmed up with sandbag rows which are easy and got things setup for the medley. As last week, sandbag was 200lbs for all sets again. Added 15lbs to the sled on all sets. My times were terrible this week. Besides the weight change, I did put a crash pad at the end of the sandbag run to simulate loading it on a set area and making sure it doesn’t fall out (the sled has a very low edge). My times were more comparable to the corresponding sets last week with two added plates. I didn’t feel tired but I guess I was moving slow. At least the sandbag part is easy for now. Stretched out a good deal (and did some decompression stuff) before hitting the road with the TENS unit. Home to do some more recovery work and eat a big meal.

March 29, 2019 – Week 3, Day 2

5 Minutes Precor Upright Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

Sumo Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Regular Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Bird Dogs (1 second holds)

BWx10/10

13” Thick Bar Jack Stand Pulls (straps)

122x1

172x1

222x1

272x1

322x1

372x1

422x1

472x1

Added Suit

522x1

572x1

622x0

Precor Leg Extensions (1 Second Holds)
60x10
90x10
120x10
150x27

Precor Seated Leg Curls
125x10
165x10
205x30 PR+4 reps

Precor Angled Single Leg Presses
136x10/10
226x5/5
276x5/5

326x5/5
376x36/36 PR+10lbs & 8/8 reps

Inflight Fitness Multi-Hip/Glute Machine
110x10/10
150x32/32 PR+5/5 reps

Precor Inner Thigh Machine
125x10
165x10

205x24 PR+4 reps

Precor Outer Thigh Machine
125x10
165x10

205x28 PR+3 reps

Seated Calf Raises
+45x15
+90x10
+135x10
+180x5/10 partial reps

Hanging Knee Raises
BWx30

BWx30

Back Extensions

BWx10

BW+45x8

BW+90x8

Planks

BWx30 Seconds

BWx30 Seconds

Side Planks

BWx20/20 Seconds

BWx20/20 Seconds

Stretching

Comments: Not feeling too bad. Workouts off a day this week and will be next week too. With this longer gym workout on Friday, less worry about a long night and then having to get very little sleep. This was going to be a much longer workout than last week’s session with the big change at the start. Upright bike again. Felt good. Heartrate only up to 129bpm and that was with the resistance up two settings from last week. I found that if I put in my time goal, it will give me my average and peak so I don’t have to keep my eyes on it like a hawk to make sure I don’t miss it. Calf raises felt good. Strong but tight, especially in the right one. Box touches were ok. No issues there. Bird dogs were ok too. Still feels like it is stiff in my lower back but it’s getting better. Then lifting. No squats today. Deadlifts are back. But not standard stuff. USS Nats is having super thick bar pulls from 13”. I’ve done very little axle deadlift stuff since my first back nuking in 2016 and nothing with my thick bar. Bar is 32lbs empty, made out of pipe. Contest is using a 2.4” axle, my pipe bar from many years ago is 2.375” so close enough. Besides, the company that makes the bar has been out of stock for months. I figured this could hold up to what I was going to be doing as I’ve had in excess of 700lbs on this for other things in the past. I was a little leery on deadlifts still. My form was garbage in NY. Idea was singles, taking 50lbs jumps up to a top single but not having it be a max. Add gear as needed until I was in my full super suit setup. Most I’ve done since the injury was 315lbs at the Arnold in warm-ups on the axle raw. This thick bar really puts you out of position. I can handle an axle but the extra thickness really makes it apparent and makes the transition around the knees (might as well be Cape Horn with how it feels) a new sticking point in the lift. This does not spark joy. I can get my thumbs on to the bar with the straps but it puts a lot of pressure that’s not needed so I just go thumbless. Felt ok to start. I don’t really have any collars that are small enough for this bar. Keeping an eye on my leftside lower back. I figure that regardless of how careful I am, it will be inflamed tomorrow just from having it have to do work and I’ll just have to do what I can to get it to calm down for the next session. Thankfully, the other events haven’t been so direct on the lower back like the deadlifts so far. I may need to think of a better strategy to warm-up as I don’t feel I need the suit until 500lbs but that also makes things feel a little different. 472lbs was the top weight without the suit. I felt I had another 30lbs there but it felt slow and felt like a lot of hamstring. I had hoped I was in a better off position on these but I need to take into consideration that last time my back did this, I wasn’t at this point until about a year after the injury so being back 3.5 months later is great. But I have high expectations of myself. Suit on with loose straps for the next jump. Then all the way for the next one. I think it would’ve just been best to stop there but I thought the pop from the suit would get me through it. 622lbs came off the floor but stopped at my knee caps and I knew it would be terrible to even attempt to hitch so there I stopped. Really, the weight I lifted was the bare minimum I was willing to settle for having a realistic chance at competition weight in 10 weeks. My hope that I was within striking distance now and have time to build up to reps but now it looks like I got to work on getting that for even a single over these next few months. Going to try to not let it get me down. It will get interesting with getting more weight on the bar though. Deadlifting takes a long time so it was now onto the machine work again. Reps on reps. Leg extensions with pauses/holds at the top were next. This was for max reps again. It has been several sessions with it just being a set weight and more of a warm-up. I figured the reps would be down from what I’d expect but still be good. A few shy of 30 reps but good. Leg curls after. Felt really good here on the warm-ups. Like the pec flyes, same weight as last time so trying to beat those reps. This was an easier task compared to the pec flyes as I got 30 reps here. Plan going forward is to keep adding weight. Downstairs for one legged leg presses. These were going to suck. Like more so than last time. Reason being is that last week was more of a wake up. They hadn’t been used to the max rep sets as it had been set weights and reps for a while. So I knew I was in danger today, even with a slight bump up in weight. Ended up with close to 40 reps on both legs. Just madness I tell you. Though I feel this is going to be helpful on going my conditioning back into doing longer distance yoke stuff without stressing my back so much. I want to do more weight so I don’t have to keep track of all these reps haha. Back upstairs for more machines. Rotary style hip glute machine. Just one work up set and then it was time to rep out the stack again. Got the numbers right this time for both sides. I wish this could go heavier but it is what it is and it still feels good to work the opposite motion of the hanging knee raises. Inner/outer thigh work after that. I’ve already maxed the stack on both so it was max reps again. Surprisingly, I added a few to both. Plan is to make the movement tougher going forward. Seated calf raises downstairs after that. Going up a plate per set. Like last week, first two sets are nothing, third set was something. The elusive fourth plate was very hard. Only was to do five reps but that was a challenge in itself. Partials were easy after that. Hanging knee raises were pretty good and felt good on my lower back. The extra reps made these a bit tougher so I took my rest between the two sets. Back extensions felt ok after that. Felt my quads. Forgot they get sore from the pad pressure when I’ve done max rep leg extensions. Again, took my time on these. Planks to finish off the session. These were tough after all this work. It was late so it was recovery burritos rather than bother with cooking, followed by loads of stretching and recovery work.

March 27, 2019 – Week 3, Day 1

5 Minutes Precor AMT

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

Sumo Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Regular Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Bird Dogs (1 second holds)

BWx10/10

Superset: Band Rows/ Modified Angle Push-ups
MMBx20/BWx15
MMBx20/BWx15

Biceps Stretches

20 Seconds

20 Seconds

Wide Grip Pulldowns
70x15
100x10
130x5
160x5

190x5

220x23 PR+20lbs & 1 rep

Cybex Eagle NX Rows
100x5
150x5

200x5
240x22

Precor Pec Flyes
85x10
125x8

165x8

205x26 PR+1 rep

One Arm Dumbbell Rows (supported)

50x5/5

70x5/5

90x5/5

110x15/15 PR+10lbs

Push-ups (1 second pauses)

BWx10

BW+25x20 PR+3 reps

BW+45x9

Planks

BWx30 Seconds

BWx30 Seconds

Side Planks

BWx20/20 Seconds

BWx20/20 Seconds

Stretching

Comments: Moved the week back a day to accommodate other plans. Had chiro on Monday and I was feeling pretty good before that. Wanted to get that decompression in since I’ll be back to deadlifting this week. Biceps were tight from sandbag stuff again. To be expected. Weather has been up and down. AMT to start off the session. 152bpm highest reading. Felt good. Calf work was easy, right calf was just really tight. Box touches felt good. Bird dogs were ok. This might just be one where it feels best on the weekend training like some things feel with my knees. Band rows and modified push-ups were supersetted and for two sets. Rows easy, push-ups were a little fatiguing but strong. Biceps stretch felt good. On to the workout. First up was pulldowns with the wide grip. Same as last week with the work up sets and then rep until I die. Pulldowns had a few more reps before the low rep stuff and the jumps were bigger. Added 20lbs to the top set. I was not expecting over 20 reps with how I was feeling, especially with my right biceps feeling tight. But I felt good. Then it was upstairs for the machines. Machine rows were next. I knew these were going to take a hit after the effort on the pulldowns and how my right biceps was feeling. First two work up sets were easy. I’m just glad nothing felt like it was “tweaked” on the top set. 10lbs more than last time but dropped half dozen reps off it. Still a lot of reps and with pulldowns right beforehand, it would surprising if these weren’t tough. Pec flyes after that. Upper body was feeling stiff. Weight the same as last week so I had to try and beat my numbers. Work up sets felt good but I knew it was going to be difficult to match last week with how I was feeling. Felt hard after ten reps. It was a max effort to get that last rep haha. Back downstairs for one arm dumbbell rows. I was advised to stagger my stance this week to take pressure off the bracing arm. I think I got it right. More workup sets with smaller jumps. My main concern was the right biceps acting up and the altered stance bothering my lower back. It was an unknown. I managed to match the reps with 10lbs more. I think it’s because the handle on the dumbbell is grippier. But it will be this style for anything over 100lbs anyways at the gym. Push-ups followed that. First set no weight felt ok but not as easy as last week. This time, it was a max rep set with 25lbs on my upper back and then another with 45lbs. Obviously not going to get the best numbers with the heavier weight but it’s part of the plan. Triceps were just dead after getting 20 reps on that first set. Knowing how fatigued I was, I knew that ten would be a good goal for the next set. Fatigue set in fast (didn’t feel like it was going to crush me) and ended up one rep shy. Without the prefatigue, these should improve. Planks to finish off the session. Got done this workout pretty quick despite the heavier sets so home to stretch, make dinner and relax.

March 23, 2019 – Week 2, Day 3

5 Minutes Misc Stationary Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

Sumo Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Regular Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Bird Dogs (1 second holds)

BWx10/10

Superset: Band Rows/ Modified Angle Push-ups
MMBx20/BWx15
MMBx20/BWx15

Biceps Stretches

20 Seconds

20 Seconds

Sandbag Tosses Over 14’ (20’ away)

30x1

30x1

30x1

30x1

30x1

30x0

30x1

30x1

30x1

30x1

30x1

Log Clean and Push Presses
(Miscellaneous Log 12”)

85x1
105x1
125x1
145x1
165x1
(Beast Metals Log 13”)

186.5x1
206.5x1
226.5x1
246.5x1
266.5x1

Yoke (with drops, turf)

210x85’

300xpick

300x120’ (drop at 60’) in 16.16 seconds

400x120’ (drop at 60’) in 17.57 seconds

500x60’ in 8.48 seconds

210x55’

550x120’ (drop at 60’) in 21.58 seconds

Sandbag Rows

150x10

Sandbag Carry/Sled Drag Medleys (turf)

200x100’/125x92’ in 36.11 Seconds

200x100’/170x92’ in 37.70 Seconds (misload)

200x100’/215x92’ in 40.75 Seconds

200x100’/305x92’ in 45.77 Seconds

Comments: Another day of event training out at Lancaster. Had family plans in the late afternoon so I didn’t had the luxury of sleeping in like the slug I wanted to be. I was tired Friday and I didn’t want to go for a walk after work but I made myself do it as I knew if I didn’t do something I was going to be even sorer and stiffer than I already was the next day. Glutes, hips, hamstrings and inner thighs were tight from all the reps on Thursday night. I only slept-in an extra 30 minutes or so from my get up for work time so I was at least on top of things. I need to make it a practice of getting out there earlier as the commute is generally faster and it gives me more time in case other people are using areas or equipment I need. I noticed as I got there that there was a height target setup so I had something to aim for with the sandbag tosses. It was sunny out but really windy so I kept my warm-ups on even inside to warm-up. Knees are still achy but the bike feels good. This bike feels much better than the one at the Y but I’m not sure if it’s because my joints feel better earlier or what. Hard to be sure as I tend to notice joint issues are generally less on the weekend versus middle of the week. Calf work was super easy. Nice and springy. Box touches felt good. Actually used a box this time. Bird dogs honestly felt the best they’ve felt since starting this training cycle. Band rows and modified push-ups were supersetted as per usual. Both felt easy (rows are always easier though). Biceps stretch felt really good. Definitely needed it after the high reps this week. Then it was fun stuff. Sandbag toss again. Same as last week, goal being ten tosses, trying to get it higher each time. Didn’t get to it right away as someone had their truck in the alleyway to pick up a power rack. The top of the throw setup is 14’ with the tops of the posts being probably 16’. Going off the word of the gym owners (out of town for a contest). Even windier today so I setup the tripod camera again. 20’ away is a game changer. Tricky to figure out the best distance to get the bag over and without trying the heavier bags, hard to say if I can use the same distance for all of them. The run up meant I needed to do a few more warm-ups compared to last week. Did some sandbag swings and some sprints. I made sure I had another sandbag out so that I could work on that transition. My first two throws I think are about the farthest away from the uprights I can be to clear it with the usual arc of my toss. The “scoot back” is awkward and eats up time. Got to figure out something to make that more efficient. I realized that I was admiring my handiwork on the toss and not focusing on the next bag. Did that for the third throw but made it clear that I was not in a good spot for the release so I made it a conscious effort to shuffle back more after that. I rushed it on the sixth toss and it flew right into the wood backboard. I’m like it didn’t break it. Timing was off. I wasn’t stopping until I got ten good tosses. I feel like my last one was my best one. Was also my fastest from start to drop in under 6.5 seconds. No tensing in my upper back like last week. Inside after that for more fun. Log is back after a hiatus last week since I did it at the contest Sunday. Singles on clean and strict press, taking 20lbs jumps up to a conservative single. I always have to ask for clarification when it comes to that as I always seem to push too much when not given a set weight or limiting factor. But depending on the day, something that is usually light can be heavy and vice versa. I believe the clarification was no more than 95% of what I feel I could hit on the day so I put down my max I’ve done and 95% of that so that I had numbers to work with. Log was feeling pretty good today. The combination of gym work one day and event specific another day might be the missing key to my log press woes. Making it a conscious effort to use the lower body to initiate the pick-up from the floor to the lap. I anticipate that the clean is going to be awkward once I switch from the light log to the big heavier log. I was surprised how it seemed to just float to lockout in the groove that first rep with it. Somewhere between the set with 206.5lbs and 226.5lbs I got distracted so I cooled off a bit. I felt like the next jump was going to be it for the day and truthfully, it was going to be 7.5lbs over what I had wanted to hit minimum today anyways. But it went up pretty good. Watched the video to make sure it wasn’t a struggle at any spot and said let’s throw another 20lbs on there. It slowed down a little with this weight but it was definitely not a max. I believe this is the most I’ve strict pressed from a clean on log on any log and just getting started in this training cycle. I’m also happy that the pick-ups aren’t fatiguing my lower back and legs as much now that I’ve gotten more practice after that unplanned break from normal training. Yoke after that. I was moving at a good pace until this point. These last two events became time vampires. Knees still feel sucky but I didn’t feel like I needed to do picks at every weight like last week. Walked it out to set it up for the warm-ups again but this time I also did a pick with 300lbs and set it down before doing an empty run. Testing things out from like when I did this with the farmer’s walk. Might be a good one to do too. First two sets the same as last week. I was feel good and motivated on these despite my lower body being really sore. Might actually have been a blessing as it let me feel what was actually being stressed and I think it allowed me to adjust my stride to be more efficient. Ended up being about 1.5 seconds faster on those two runs and I didn’t have the massive middle back soreness like last week. 500lbs and over felt different though. Perhaps the fatigue was showing as I didn’t feel as fast. 500lbs was just for 60’ run. Sub 8.5 seconds so nothing to sneeze at. Had to strip it down and move it back to the start for the last set. I want it to have the transition on the concrete rather than the turf. Transitions still not where I want them but better than last week. I didn’t feel like I was able to accelerate with 550lbs. Still got it under 22 seconds. Last item was medley work. Warmed up with sandbag rows which are easy and got things setup for the medley. As last week, sandbag was 200lbs for all sets. Plan was to try and move faster and increase the weight a little bit on the sled for all the sets from last week. I went with 15lbs increase in weight because that meant I just needed to deal with 45lbs plates the whole time. I was moving pretty good I think and I didn’t revert to the forward lean on the drag. It just feels like I’m barely moving leaning back but I know this is the more efficient method when it gets heavy. First set was better by over a second. Second set was not ideal. I fumbled a little with the sandbag, then I kept it too low and then I fumbled the handles for the sled drag and my knees bothered me the entire sled drag portion. Then find out that I had not put the extra 45lbs on it so it was too light. So extra set it was. Probably a good thing to get the terribles out in training. Got the correct weight on for the next set and that went much better. Almost 2.5 seconds faster than last week. I saw a bump on my left forearm so I was a little worried I had a hematoma but it was gone by the start of the next and final set. I thought I was going too slow on the drag but again, over 2 seconds faster here as well. It had gotten last fast with those two moving events so I had to skip the stretching and recovery stuff to get home and ready in time. I’m feeling good about this training cycle.

March 21, 2019 – Week 2, Day 2

5 Minutes Precor Upright Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

Sumo Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Regular Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Bird Dogs (1 second holds)

BWx10/10

18” Box Squats

broomstickx10

45x10

95x10

135x10

Precor Leg Extensions (1 Second Holds)
60x11
90x10
120x10
150x10

Precor Seated Leg Curls
125x10
165x10
205x26

Precor Angled Single Leg Presses
146x10/10
216x5/5
266x5/5

316x5/5
366x28/28

Inflight Fitness Multi-Hip/Glute Machine
70x10/10
110x10/10
150x27/27

Precor Inner Thigh Machine
125x10
165x10

205x20

Precor Outer Thigh Machine
125x10
165x10

205x25

Seated Calf Raises
+45x15
+90x10
+135x10
+165x10/10 partial reps

Hanging Knee Raises
BWx25

BWx25

Back Extensions

BWx10

BW+45x8

BW+90x6

Planks

BWx30 Seconds

BWx30 Seconds

Side Planks

BWx20/20 Seconds

BWx20/20 Seconds

Stretching

Comments: Feeling stiff in the upper body and obliques from the max rep stuff haha. Rainy weather today. Lower back was acting up a little on the drive to the gym after work. Going to happen as I get back to normal training I guess. This was going to be a much longer workout with all the exercises and sets. Trying out the upright bike for this day to see how my knees Heartrate got up to 137bpm and that was due to me pushing it the last 20-30 seconds, otherwise it would’ve been 130 at most. Not sure yet on the knee thing yet. Calf raises felt good. Strong but tight. But not feeling the usual ankles aches I sometimes get when I get back to the harder stuff. Box touches were ok. No issues there. Bird dogs were ok too. Still feels like it is stiff in my lower back but it’s getting better. Machineaggeddon after the light box squats. Box squats were feeling pretty good. I took a broom stick from the corner for the bodyweight set. Feels better and it teaches me to have the upper back tight rather than just “guessing” where my back and hands should be. I got the idea from thinking about using the PVC pipe for overhead that one day to work my split jerk. I messed up on these by not fully reading the workout. I assumed it was sets of ten like it has been but nope. Only supposed to be fives after the first two sets. I didn’t notice this was the case until I did the set with 95lbs. I just went for ten with 135lbs to be a completionist. Didn’t feel too bad today. Leg extensions with pauses/holds at the top were next. Easy stuff, no real knee aches. Not doing max reps on these today. Calm before the storm. I did an extra rep as I was a little distracted by a change in the gym (I’ll get to that later). Leg curls after. Felt really good here. Hamstrings felt strong and in control. I felt maybe my numbers were down but last time I did these high reps was with 30lbs less. Downstairs for one legged leg presses. These were going to suck. Light warm-up and then 50lbs jumps with low reps for the top set. I really had no idea what kind of reps I would be hitting but I knew this was going to take a bit out of me and I’d need to rest before attacking the other side. I was not expecting 20, let alone close to 30 reps here. After a while, I was thinking “stop lifting it so much, you got to beat this next time! And you got to do all those moving events Saturday!” I was stumbling around like a drunk cat both times I got out of the machine. Haven’t had that sensation for a few months haha. Back upstairs for more machines. Now for the cause of my distraction. They replaced two of the machines upstairs that were Cybex. That included the glute machine and it is way different looking from the old one. A lot of women use this one so there was a lot of foot traffic and confusion. No knee pad, you stay bent over with no support and the “foot pad” is a rounded bar. I gave it a shot but I don’t fit in it and my foot slipped off the bar one time and I was like that’s a bunch of nope. Now they also got a rotary hip machine. I’ve used that a while back when I had to rehab my hamstring tendon. I figured it was worth a shot. Stack only goes to 150lbs and no way to add more weight like the other one. It could work but I’m already doing really high reps. I lost count on the strong side and thought I had done only 24 reps but I needed to do three more to even out. Inner/outer thigh work after that. As I mentioned, inner thigh is way tougher now. It was a struggle to get those 20 reps on that. Outer thigh is stupid easy at lighter weights but I definitely felt resistance when I was doing the full stack. Felt strong but got those fibers fatigued quick I guess. Seated calf raises downstairs after that. Repeating the same workout I did right before the Arnold. First two sets felt like nothing. Third set felt tough haha. Took my time then for the last set. And to think I thought that four plates was easy coming on these. Hanging knee raises were pretty good and felt good on my lower back. Easy enough that it wasn’t a struggle. Back extensions also felt good. Another repeat of weights and sets like the calf stuff. Planks to finish off the session. Late and I had to debate between cooking tacos or just mircrowaving food. Decided tacos tomorrow so I can get sleep tonight.