June 28, 2020 – Week 6, Day 3

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)

Mobility Prep

Rogue Farmer’s Walk (16” pick)

115x50’ in 6.09 seconds

165x50’ in 7.01 seconds

205x50’ in 7.63 seconds

255x50’ in 9.50 seconds

295x165’10”

Stone of Steel Loads (62”, tacky towel)

138x5

187x3

230x1

283x5

Uphill Car Pushes

Car+1 person +720 in trunkx135’6” in 60.00 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Oof. Missing lifts on the rack pulls doesn’t feel good. I imagine I’d still feel beat if I was successful with the lifts but missing them has that added sense of not doing well that gets compounded. I’m not sure if I went for a walk or not Friday. I was exhausted come Saturday and I felt achy all over. I didn’t even go for a walk that day. The day was kind of a crapshoot. So that would mean Sunday would be the day for training hopefully. So achy. I ended up doing foam rolling before I set to do any of the warm-ups. I didn’t wash the copper sleeves this week so I was not having any joint warmth. It was hot and humid. So humid it started to sprinkle rain a bit right as I was finishing up my warm-ups. Lots of creaks and pops doing my warm-ups but no pain. Farmer’s walk to start this session off. Plan being doing 50’ runs up to the top weight that I’d do for a max distance run. Plate quarter plate jumps for today. So this would mean that I’d get to test my speed from last session on the working up sets before the max distance run. I did some empty sprints to get warm. I could tell I was slow off the start but I seemed to be able to pick up speed for the last third. I’m not sure if it was knee aches or what but I did feel slow on the starts. First two runs I knew started slow but I got some good strides towards the end. About .20 to .30 seconds slower. Next set about .01 of a second faster than last time. So essentially the same haha. The heaviest of the 50’ was next up and that was slow. I knew it was slow but didn’t realize how slow it was. This was almost a second slower than last time. The pick was a bit harder and I think that my grip didn’t feel that secure with the humidity. I like not putting on chalk until the top set to give me that secure feeling. That I don’t need to be amped for the previous weight. I had to move back the farmer’s handles a bit for the last set for max distance. My neighbor had parked a car in the street that made the course less than 100’ so I had to go move the start two houses down to get enough of a course. Less than 200’. I’m making no illusions I can reach that distance at this time with the weight increasing. Especially with this heat. I had thoroughly soaked the shirt to the point it was a weighing me down. The street is a little steeper down that way too I think but not certain. I got set and chalked up my hands like crazy. Made sure to put a line of chalk around the wrists to keep the sweat from getting into my hands. The weight actually went up pretty darn good. Might have moved up quicker (in my head) than 255lbs. But I was moving so, so slow. I had at least given myself markers at 50’ so I knew what I was doing. I was feeling stuff slipping before I got to 100’. But I kept going and got past 150’. Got to keep going. I went until I lost the grip in the one hand. About 12’ shy of my best. But I have to take in to consideration that those distances had been at another place with different training. The course is way steeper here. Not so much that it changes things significantly enough like say a ramp. Liza had asked me why I did these uphill and I told her that I want this to be more of a time under tension and strength build. The downhill is good for working on moving faster feet with the weight pulling forward. This was something I had read about Nick Best doing for yoke and farmer’s walk. It seems to be true. Farmer’s take a while to setup regardless of start with these handles as I need to make them secure so plates don’t fall off and reset is easy enough to have it be the same each time. Yoke is a pain so just alternate for now. Come to find out after I caught my breath that my camera didn't record the run. Damn it. Into the garage and out of the heat. Kind of. At least out of the direct sunlight. Stone of steel again. Plan being work up to about 10lbs more and do five reps. Right biceps tight as always. Super sweaty and I had to change into another shirt as it was ridiculous the amount of sweat. Tacky towel for all sets so just kept the camera rolling. First reps felt the best for obvious reasons. I was getting slippage on subsequent reps with the tacky not being as strong after the first lift and not accounting for the fast that my shorts were soaked with sweat too and I was getting sweat covered implement back. The more sweat, the harder to lift and the more “pain” in the right biceps. No pain at all when the tacky was sticking right. Liza came out to watch me while I was doing these. I may have got distracted loading the stone of steel once haha. I had no illusions that this was going to be a straight set of five with the sweat. No rush, not risking things. Urgency will come when it is required for competition. First rep easy, I kind of just focused and wasn’t responding initially as I was trying to keep a groove and see how many I could get before a retack was needed. Turns out two haha. It was nice having her there. Lot of motivation to not screw up and get injured haha. Fourth rep was a struggle as despite retacking, I was still sweaty and slipping. Even in my lap and I’m really surprised I was able to get it. Number five went up as easy as the first one. Car pushing to end the day in the heat. I took my time unloading all the weight from the farmer’s walk into the garage. Liza suggested I try pushing her truck. I gave it an attempt that could be measured with a ruler haha. So that meant loading all the plates I just put in the garage into my car. 20lbs heavier than last time. Little slow start but I was able to start picking up speed. Short of 150’ but I’ll take it as I didn’t get slower in my gait and was able to work the whole time. Took a bit for me to cool down. Cleaned up before stretching due to tacky. Had a big, late dinner before doing recovery work.

June 25, 2020 – Week 6, Day 2

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)

Mobility Prep

Dumbbell Front Squats to Box (15”)

bwx25

kettlebells

15’sx20

dumbbells

40’sx12

40’sx12

40’sx12

16” Rack Pulls

45x15

135x5

225x3

315x2

405x1

Added Straps

495x1

585x1

660x0

650x0

Comments: I was hoping I’d have a good session today. But hope is not a strategy as I’ve heard a few times haha. I guess I thought despite having stiff lower back and hips that I’d be good to go as I had hit PR log press feeling like this. I wanted to do this workout during my lunch so that I could eat a big lunch to refuel and then be able to relax the rest of the day. Didn’t go as planned. I did get a large, tasty lunch set for delivery. Warm-ups I felt ok. I could tell on the squats that my hips and lower back were still a bit beat. I really prefer the goblet squats to the front squats. Not sure if it is because of the weight being double or the positioning of said weight. Nothing feeling too bad. I’ve done these weights before time and time again. The real meat and potatoes (what was going to be my lunch) was the rack pulls. Plan was a “safe single”. That didn’t happen. I had asked ahead of time what would be that based off last session of rack pulls and told 660lbs. So that was the low end and 675lbs was the high end. Really depended on how I felt. Hard to say until you get up in weight. I figured that to have the best success and to get done in time to get back on the clock was bigger jumps of 90lbs. That is about how things start and then above three plates the quarter-plate jumps. I figured that I’d be too worn trying that to hit anything above 585lbs. I felt good until I got to 495lbs and then stuff felt darn heavy. I still was telling myself that I could do 660lbs even with how 585lbs went. I got ampd for it and it got to below my knees and no more. I went to my knees and cursed. I was so angry and pissed off. This drop also crushed the left side saw horse down so it was 2” lower. The next thing was also stupid because I really didn’t feel like doing the abdominal stuff to finish up. I’ve missed a weight like this before in the past and took 10lbs off and got it so I figured I could take the rest, fix the sawhorse and go again with 650lbs. Too much effort today, it moved but wasn’t as high as 660lbs got. I was defeated today. Tired, unmotivated to do abdominal work. I wanted to eat lunch. I think I strained too much and I was so hungry and thirsty that my stomach was literally cramped up the rest of the day. I ended up going to bed early, taking a salt muscle bath soak, Tylenol and muscle relaxer so I could rest and recover. I really need to adjust how I approach this kind of stuff. The smart thing would’ve been to stop at 585lbs considering how I felt. A slightly less smart thing would’ve been to just do 640lbs. I pushed too hard to early with getting 635lbs double. Going for a 70lbs PR the week before will do that too. I’ve been lifting so long but I still seem to not be lifting smart. All I can really do is try to work the recovery stuff and hope I haven’t messed up things for too many workouts.

June 23, 2020 – Week 6, Day 1

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)

Mobility Prep

Lock Big 3

10’sx10/10’sx10/10’sx10

12” Log Cleans & Push Presses (1 clean)

Kettlebells

15’sx5

Dumbbells

40’sx3

Log

125x1

145x1

165x1

185x1

205x1

225x1

245x1

265x1

285x1

305x1 (weighed out at 309lbs) PR+5lbs

Bench Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows (2 second Holds)

No Holds

Kettlebells

15’sx10

Dumbbells

40’sx10

Added Holds

70’sx19 PR+1 rep

Close Grip Barbell Floor Presses

45x10

95x5

135x5

185x3

225x3

275x3

305x8

Trap 3 Raises

10’sx10

10’sx33 PR+4 reps

Safety Squat Bar JM Floor Presses

75x10

105x8

135x8

165x34 PR+1 rep & 5lbs

Stretching

Comments: I was anxious. About log pressing. That was literally the only thing. I had maybe expended a bit more energy then I had planned on Sunday by putting together a new sandbag. I got all sweaty and got a blood blister on my thumb. I used that as an excuse for a muscle salt bath. No idea if it does anything but it felt nice to soak. Lower back and hips are tight. Did some foam rolling for my everything on Monday. I knew I had to be mobile to let things feel better. I had gone to bed early and still was thinking about log press. Ugh. This was not like the anxiety I had the beginning of the month. My body didn’t feel great though and it was going to be above 90 degrees today for training. Warm-up stuff felt ok. I knew I was going to need my knee sleeves and arm sleeve for today. First thing was shoulder drills. These feel better as I do them. Then log. Trying to get this not to be sucky today. I decided I can’t control my sweating so I can try and control the sweat. I put on my grip shirt but under a regular shirt. I find that this still works well and that no shirt on top makes it stick to the log too much. I need it to move haha. This also lets me apply chalk to my shirt with not as much issue with the sweat. And man was I sweaty. I figure that if I get the lift in the street in the blazing heat, I can get the lift anywhere besides maybe on the deck of a ship during a hurricane. Modified the warm-up a little bit as Mr. Westerling wanted me to aim for 305lbs (5lbs more) right off the bat as far as the planned jumps of 20lbs. I also weighed out the log before I started training. With my collars, 110.2lbs. My dad had made a dolly that makes moving the log around a bit easier. Don’t have to worry about carrying it 100’ or so to train in the street. Took a little bit to get used to the grip shirt and not be wrenching my arms and straining my right biceps. So many things thinking about them about the lift. Sometimes I focus too much on one thing to the detriment of another. Don’t herniate a disc, don’t tear a biceps, don’t let it slip down, don’t rush the press, don’t forget to breath, etc. Sometimes the breathing I can mess up. I was feeling ok but my rep with 265lbs was terrible. I think that I probably should’ve chalked up my hands. I try to put stuff on in phases so that I get used to things and not be relying solely on that stuff from the get go. With how the next weight went up, I figured that I had a good shot at 305lbs. Clean felt good. Balance was a little off but I hadn’t wasted energy on the clean this time and I was able to get a press. I was worried that I’d not get the lockout with how long it took to get ready to press and how it was going but I got it. No dramatics this time as I wanted to make this look fine for video submission assuming I do the online qualifier for SC Nats. I think my training now will help me be ready for outside in mid-October in Alabama haha. 4lbs heavy when weighed out again. This has been four weeks in a row of hitting over 300lbs on overhead. This may be an inch by inch for me. Dumbbell rows on the bench while supported after the log stuff. Same as last time. No holds on the work up sets, holds on the working set. Aiming for more reps with the 70lbs weights. I was able to move the dumbbells regular style without the hesitancy I sometimes have with the negatives so that was good. Right biceps wasn’t really bothering me like last time. It did start to feel like something has I got into the high teens though and number 20 was just not going to happen. Just really felt fatigue by the end of these. Back working hard on these very controlled reps.  Then it was the floor pressing. I was moving through these at a very fast clip. Plan was to do the work up stuff with minimal rest and then take a breather before doing the top set. I could tell with how 275lbs felt this time that I wasn’t going to be crushing the weight. It felt heavy and last time I accidentally did an extra as it was feeling so light. Still a solid set of reps. No funky business. I’m sure I would’ve if I went for another rep. Hopefully I can do better with more weight next time haha. T3 raises followed that. These have been feeling great lately. Sometimes there is a feeling in the right biceps on these but as I’ve been doing more of them and finding clever ways to lessen stress on the biceps these seem to be just right. Matching the band pull aparts with the number of reps. I felt I did a better job this time of not taking a breather in the middle of the set and just kept going and going. Triceps to end the night. Plan was 5lbs more for the max rep set. I forgot that I was to only do 8 reps a set to work up so I did 10 on the first set. All felt very easy. My wrists were a little sore from the floor presses with a close grip (more so the left one). Not sure where this repping comes from as I managed to get an extra rep over last time with the increased weight. I’m kind of curious on what kind of weight I could hit on these for lower reps but the high high reps seem to be working fine. Stretching and recovery work to end the evening.

June 20, 2020 – Week 5, Day 3

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)

Mobility Prep

NY Barbell Yoke

300x50’ in 6.26 seconds

350x50’ in 6.08 seconds

400x50’ in 6.64 seconds

450x50’ in 6.75 seconds

500x50’ in 7.67 seconds

550x50’ in 7.80 seconds

600x50’ in 8.96 seconds

650x50’ in 8.84 seconds

700x50’ in 10.77 seconds

Sandbag Rows

110x10

210x5

269x5

Sandbag Carry/Prowler Drag Medleys

210x50’/269x50’/285x50’ in 57.46 seconds

210x50’/269x50’/375x50’ in 47.95 seconds

210x50’/269x50’/515x50’ in 51.17 seconds

Stretching

Comments: I slept a lot. Maybe not enough. But still a lot. Hard to say if sleeping in late means I stay up late so that I can sleep. Right shoulder has been twitching since Thursday session. Right biceps feels sore but I’m thinking it is tendonitis. Knees were achy. Sleeping in might not have been the best thing for today with the weather being as it was. Scattered thunder showers. Lot of rain the day before and I had to keep an eye on the weather to see when it would stop to do stuff outside. Obviously for a walk, I need a much smaller window. With training, it is about 2 hrs minimum. My father came over with about 300lbs of sand for filling the heavier sandbags. I was debating doing that after training. Nice little warm-up unloading those into the garage. My knees were stiff and thankfully they felt less stiff after the brief walk around the block and warm-ups. Yoke to start off the day. Same progression as last time. 50’ runs going up 50lbs a set aiming for 50lbs more than last time (well at least 20lbs but I’m doing 50lbs for as long as I can push it). So top set for the day was a planned 700lbs. For whatever reason, I’m not quite ready when it comes to the first set and I think I figured out some of it. Hard to go from 0 to 100 I guess. I did some casual pace stuff with my empty yoke and did three empty sprints to get the hamstrings and knees ready. My pick doesn’t always feel like it clicks on the janky yoke. On the second set, I just felt like the pick was slow and garbage and actually set it down and walked away to try again. I’m realizing that I’m too far forward and setting right under isn’t allowing for the yoke to move with me to keep it from being off balance. I have to move my feet a little further back. Once I got that, the pick felt effortless and I was up and going. Everything up to 550lbs was faster than last time. That is not to say the fastest ever this training. 500lbs was faster two sessions prior but again, talking less than half a second really. Most improvements are about tenths of a second really at these lighter weights. I didn’t feel like stuff was much slower when it came to everything after 550lbs. 600lbs is almost a second slower than it was about a month ago. The yoke does seem to get a “twisting motion” in the feet at about 600lbs that could be making things tougher. But I have to remember I was also using 90lbs less on the deadlifts earlier in the week. Strength is tough to build. And each time through, the top weight has felt like a top weight to me for yoke. That the next jump could be the danger one. Yoke has been a bit frustrating for some time now but it is progressing. Storm conditions were picking up on the last set. Wind knocked my phone over and I had to readjust. 700lbs felt darn heavy and noticeably slow. I have done a lot heavier before. Hundreds of pounds more. But I have to remember that it hasn’t been a straight line. Back injuries have kind of been a reset button. It has been almost exactly 10 months since I last had this kind of weight on my back for yoke and I was about half a second faster this time. Hell, I was going slower with 130lbs less 2.5 months ago. I’m on the right track. It was not looking pretty out so it was a rush to get all the metal back inside my garage before it rained. I did it just in time so that was a bit exhausting. I kind of hunkered in the garage and tried to check weather on the web to see how long it was expected. It looked like it would be 90 minutes or so and I didn’t want to wait another day to finish up. So I kind of took my time with the sandbag rows. These were to warm-up for the last bit anyways. I forgot to film the first set and was debating doing it again as there was a possibility that I would have to wait over an hour to finish up the workout. I had on the copper sleeve for my arm and both knees today. No real issues with the sandbag rows for the right biceps at the start. Maybe a rep on the light bag where I got lax with holding it right. The 210lbs bag is so floppy even after getting it tight. I had to go and add a lot of gorilla tape to both of the bigger bags to keep spillage to a minimum. I think that because the heavier bag is more compact that I don’t have issues with getting a grip for the first rep. I was still deliberate between sets but I could see that the rain was clearing up. I would have to take a gamble that it wasn’t coming back by the time I finished up things. So this is where the rest of the workout deviates from last time I did yoke and sandbags. The last bit was combining sandbag carries and prowler drags into a medley. The one contest I was interested in mid-December is probably not an option but this was one of the events. This is still good training and something lacking as front carries can be a problem with the disc issues. So the plan here was to do three sets. I set it up like the contest would be so that I’d have to run back for the second sandbag and I’d be right at the sled for the last leg. Would require me to sprint and also to work on the short step transitions. Downhill with the sandbags and uphill with the sled. Plan was same sandbag weight for all sets and add weight to the sled to increase difficult. First set easy and last set hard. I figured I had this figured out from the sled drags and that I’ve gotten better at them. Nope. My knees ached big time just bending over the sandbag to start. 210lbs is nothing. Come back to the 269lbs and I mess up. I struggle and miss it and eventually settle for awkward side pick up and lap and a low carry. This was exhausting and costly. The light sled felt tough as hell after that. I was gasping and out of breath after that. Almost a minute to finish. Ugh. And that was to be the easiest run. So instead of going for the more aggressive planned jumps on the sled, I just went up 90lbs and hoped that I did better on the second sandbag so that I could figure out if that was making the sled harder. Much better this time and ended up being almost 10 seconds faster. I felt confident that time to go for a bigger jump on the last set as I figured that I’d be good if I got everything leading up to the sled like last time. Managed to improve on the transitions and make it so that I got the heavier sandbag up in one pop and run. The sled weight was about 50lbs less than what the slow crawl would be. I checked the breakdown of things to see where improvement was made. Biggest was the heavy sandbag as I knocked over 7 seconds off that from the first to last set by not screwing it up haha. But I was moving two seconds faster on the carry with it from start to finish as well. I think I’ll be better prepared next time. Right biceps was not a fan of the sandbag stuff. Body was worn and achy after all of this running. Stretched and got dinner ready.

June 18, 2020 – Week 5, Day 2

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)

Mobility Prep

Goblet Squats to Box (15”)

bwx25

kettlebell

15x20

dumbbell

40x12

40x12

40x12

Axle Romanian Deadlifts w/ straps

30x15

120x3

210x3

300x3

390x3

480x3

570x5 PR+70lbs

Crunches

bwx35

Lying Leg Raises

bwx35

Planks

bw+45x60 seconds

Side Planks

bw+15x60/60 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Crazy how much different two weeks later feels. I had been a mess emotionally two weeks prior. I was a bit tired and I figured that I wanted to not push training out to Friday and get training done today and early so I could eat dinner earlier and get to bed early. That was still the plan, even when I was informed a few hours into the day that the Governor was recognizing Juneteenth as a state holiday and my office would be closed. About damn time. Put less pressure on getting to bed super early. My rational then for training during my lunch break was this was the shortest workout really and I’d probably have more energy midday then I would after work in the late afternoon. My legs were and hips were tight despite soft tissue work. Same with my lower back. I may have been lax on the soft tissue work the past two days or so. I’ve been making sure to ice thing though. Only had breakfast (not due to loss of appetite) and it was bit more substantial than normal. No second meal as I didn’t want to be puking up food when I got to the heavy stuff. Walk followed by the usual stuff. First exercise was squatting to a box. The weights are light and are remaining the same for the next four weeks at least. It is a good stimulus to work the legs and is not taking away from the deadlifting. I ended up doing the goblet squats two weeks in a row to get on to the correct workout track and not having things so confusing with the paper work. I was happy and singing and did the first two light high rep sets with literally no rest between them. I knew I needed to slow down so as not to get too much fatigue and lactic acid in my legs as I wanted to be warm and somewhat fresh for the heavy stuff. These felt stupid easy today. It is really a big difference in how these reps feel compared to when I first was doing these kind of squats after the break and just not doing real squats. It is easier hitting that depth, the hips and legs seem to be working together fine and my lower back doesn’t feel as pumped or tight. Got a delivery in the middle of the squats which contained a new gallon rewashable container so I transferred my intraworkout BCCAs to that for the rest of it. Gave me a little added forced rest opening stuff and putting things away. Then it was the heavy stuff. The only heavy stuff today. The RDLs with the axle and the pads again. The set of plans indicated that today was to be working up in triples up to a top set of 3-5 reps. Seeing that change, I guess I got a bit big of myself. I had thought just going for 530lbs as thinking there would be more weeks of fives. That slow cook. I think seeing that it said 3-5 gave me the idea of going heavier. Really heavy. It can be to my determent.  My back was sore and stiff but I knew that was probably more from the aggressive soft tissue work earlier in the day. I’d just have to see how things go. I mean, 500lbs felt so easy last time. I decided to do a lot of reps with the empty axle and then do plate jumps for the triples on up and gauge how things felt as I went. I wasn’t nearly as sweaty today. My knees were a little achy at the start and I wasn’t sure if this was going to happen. But I got feeling better as I went but still wasn’t sure where I’d go. Like with rack pulls, I knew I needed to not be super hyped up going for the work up stuff, especially with how aggressive the jumps are here. My hope was to feel good enough to do 570lbs, IE six plates a side. It would really come down to how 480lbs would feel. That would determine if I went for 530lbs, 550lbs or 570lbs. That had been my top set four weeks ago and it felt tough. Despite trying to not get hyped, I think that I got a little bit with my breathing but I tried to keep that controlled a bit. I felt like I could do 10-12 reps with this weight so I had to try going for the limit. Made sure I was set and rested and had a song on that was able to put me in a mood. Be aggressive. I’ve never really done over 500lbs for RDLs in the past. I don’t think I’ve done more than 550lbs for more than a triple as far as reps. This would be a big ask. This was needed at some point to progress. It felt heavy but not as heavy as it could’ve felt. The reps felt slow but I was going. After that first rep, I knew I had a triple in me. The other reps would be bonus reps. There was grunting and shouting. I’d probably have a little bit of a sore throat. Five I think I slowed down subconsciously to keep from making it be sloppy and loose in the core as I knew that is where the danger lies. This was the grinding rep and I could feel the lights dim in my sight as I got above the knees. I didn’t pass out and I had the ability to rerack the bar. Success. But I was tired and was going to sleep well tonight. I was also so damn hungry. But I had to do some more stuff first. The abdominal stuff was the same as last time. Crunches, lying leg raises, planks and side planks. I took a bit more rest so that I could get some fluids in me and not cramp up and to make sure I wasn’t spewing stuff while working the core hard. First two felt fine. The plank I wanted to get the plate closer to my glutes to make it tougher. I think it slid to the left a little too much so it felt like I was off balance and had to keep it from sliding. Side planks felt too easy now, especially with doing the plank raises the alternating week (stability and movement) so I put my 15lbs kettlebell on my hip just for funsies. This was a good session and I ate a lot the rest of the day. Things are good. I feel that I’ll be more than ready for USS Nats in less than a year. Assuming that the world is still there after this year.

June 16, 2020 – Week 5, Day 1

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)

Mobility Prep

Lock Big 3

10’sx10/10’sx10/10’sx10

Axle Push Presses

35x1

55x1

75x1

95x1

115x1

135x1

155x1

175x1

195x1

215x1

235x1

255x1

275x1

295x1

315x1 PR+5lbs

325x0

Rack Chins (yoke, straps)

bwx5

bwx5

bw+30x19 PR+2 reps

Slingshot Dips

bwx8

bw+45x8

bw+90x8

bw+135x8

bw+180x8

Band Pull A-parts

MMB+MBx10

MMB+MBx33 PR+3 reps

Paused Floor Rolling Dumbbell Extensions

15’sx10

40’sx45 PR+3 reps

Stretching

Comments: Rested but not rested. Sunday I put together the squat rack as well as cleaned out the gutters. Both tasks were annoying but didn’t take as long as I was expecting them to take. I had taken nasal spray before doing the gutters as I knew that would aggravate allergies. Also needed to make sure I was icing my knees as so steps off the ladder on the soft ground didn’t feel that nice haha. I also fixed up the garage so that I could fit all the stuff in there and be able to move my car in and out. I may end up just training here from now on. Lower back a bit stiff but nothing too bad. Nothing that needs attention. I had done foam rolling the day before. Stomach issues has made lunch not great the past two days. Pitched my yogurts as I figured they were the culprit but not having yogurt didn’t change that. Bodies are weird and stupid. Shoulder drills after the warm-up. It was at this point I put the roast in the oven. The time has started haha. 10lbs dumbbells make this less awkward to do but still difficult. I was feeling the right triceps want to cramp up on me again but they didn’t. Outside for the other stuff. Axle again but not exactly. See, plan is to try and limit biceps stress and since log clean and press is something coming up (and I haven’t missed a log clean in training) axle is being done out of the rack to let my right biceps hopefully recover better. So this would be me testing out the squat rack. It is light weight enough that I can move it no problem. It is not as sturdy as I would’ve liked and I ended up putting weights on the back pegs to make sure it didn’t tip over. I think it will hold up to my overhead work on the catcher arms but not for things like squats or deadlifts. Squats I think would be ok if done off the j-hooks. You get what you pay for and this was the best I could get with what was available and it still took a month to get it. Anyways, on to the training again. Singles again. I advised to do 20lbs jumps and aim for 5lbs more than what I did for the clean and push press last time. So 315lbs was the goal. I was thinking this would be no problem. One thing I didn’t take into consideration is that it has been about 3 months since I’ve done stuff out of a rack for overhead. Not having that stretch reflex makes things feel really damn heavy and it messes with your head a little. I knew I’d just have to press through as it is just a sensation and will hopefully not be there next time or so. So 5lbs added to the empty axle. I don’t feel like I’m pressing very fast. Each rep seems about the same speed. I’m trying to be calm and focused as I don’t want to go crazy and just waste energy and be spent from a missed lift. I was also trying to control the weight down so as not to destroy the next squat rack and to keep from stressing my biceps by having it come down weird or out of control. With how heavy this was feeling on my shoulders, I’m surprised I got anything over 255lbs. Caveat was put in for training that if not feeling good, shut it down 40-20lbs under what I was aiming for and save it for next time. It can honestly be hard to tell if I’m going to be good or not. 315lbs turns out to be a 5lbs PR for axle push press out of the rack. I’ve done 320lbs for a jerk out of the rack and 325lbs for a push press on barbell. I watched video and it looked like I had it for a double so I figured I’d give 325lbs a go to match my all-time best for most weight put overhead from the shoulders. I think I hesitated too much getting it out of the rack. Went forward on me. Tried again and dipped too low trying to get more leg drive and it went out in front even more. Would’ve been better to not miss the weight but I’m treating it more as partial attempts. Rack chins were next. Same as last time. It probably would’ve been this weight setup for this time even if I didn’t go for the 15lbs kettlebells for the weight. Right biceps a little tender. I had not worn my copper arm sleeve today since I wasn’t doing cleans and I didn’t think the rack chins would be that stressful with how things have been going. I could’ve used my new squat rack for these but I think I’ll stick to the yoke as it is sturdy when I have weight on it and I know what to setup. Well kind of, as for some reason I couldn’t figure out how I had the kettlebells last time without them being on the floor and not my lap. I think that I did the belt without the chain last time but that put a lot of pressure on my midsection. I think I found another way. So close to getting 20 reps on these. Maybe I can accomplish that next time with more weight? Dips with the slingshot again. This time doing sets of eight with top set to be something I could do ten with. I wasn’t sure what to think after last time being so difficult. I said screw it, I want to do my top set with 180lbs added like I want to do. No worrying about little plates today. Actually felt good at the start. Get that nice back traction in even without weight added. I almost miscounted the reps on the first two sets with how easy it felt. I was a little concerned when I got to 90lbs and I could feel some burning sensation I the upper back, more so on the left side. I took a bit to consider things and figured I’d just have to be careful. Added wrist wraps for the next set to gauge how things felt. Not bad. Then adding the coveted 4^th plate to the belt. This felt substantial. I looked through my logs and I’ve done this weight before without a slingshot many years ago for a few reps. This was when I was rehabbing my torn hamstring and was stuck doing upper body a lot. Most weight ever was +190lbs for a double. This felt heavy but comfortable. I got into a groove after the first three reps. A lot of pressure with this weight. But it went well and I feel this was within the parameters of the difficulty planned. The last two exercises were the reppage ones again. Band pull aparts started out rough. I didn’t respect the band tension that first warm-up set haha. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t have that weird oblique/lat twinge thing again as well. I thought I did better than I actually did as I thought I had only done 26 reps last time but I had done 30 reps. Still a good improvement on the reps. Triceps next. So many reps. I just keep going like a piston on these. I feel I can get 50 reps or more soon on these. Kind of want to do heavier weight rather than all these reps haha. Finished with time to spare for the roast. Ate dinner before doing the stretching and icing.

June 13, 2020 – Week 4, Day 3

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)

Mobility Prep

Rogue Farmer’s Walk (16” pick)

115x50’ in 5.89 seconds

165x50’ in 6.78 seconds

205x50’ in 7.64 seconds

255x50’ in 8.65 seconds

285x175’7” in 37.64 seconds

Stone of Steel Loads (62”, tacky towel)

138x5

182x3

225.5x1

275x7

Uphill Car Pushes

Car+1 person +700 in trunkx157’6” in 60.00 seconds

Stretching

Comments: The day didn’t start off great haha. Plan was to sleep in and try and be rested. I did get some good sleep but I was still feeling tired. My eyelids felt heavy and I kind of wanted to not train today and go and take a nap. Also the tight right biceps. But I had plans. I was going to sleep and get a lot of sleep this weekend but that also meant that the hours I was awake that I needed to do stuff. One day for training and the other for doing chores. Chores as in clean the saplings out of the gutters and put together my squat rack. My car battery died from me not driving it very much but it was almost five years old. So had to wait until AAA arrived to make sure and get a new battery before I’d actually start training. That wasn’t until after 3:00PM so a bit later than I planned to be starting my training. I was debating taking allergy medication as I couldn’t tell if I was tired of feeling the ragweed. It was actually nice weather out today. Warm but not so much that I was drenched. Warm-ups felt ok. Lower back a bit stiff from the heavy rack pulls. Honestly, to be expected with going up so much in a short time and considering the circumstances. In any case, farmer’s walk to start this session off. Plan being doing 50’ runs up to the top weight that I’d do for a max distance run. Rather than make it the weight to begin with as handles plus whatever to get to 10lbs more than last time, I started with the plate-quarter-plate start. My thoughts being that the next time, I could go for 3 plates a side and it would make more sense to do these jumps and get used to the extra set of a heavier weight before the top weight. Also give me an idea of where I am when it comes to something not so light for the short runs.  I did some empty sprints beforehand to make sure I was feeling good. Knees didn’t bother me. My times improved starting back at the lighter start weights so that is encouraging. My lower back was feeling really stiff after the set with 205lbs and I was wondering how anything heavier would go honestly. Time between sets with the farmer’s is a long process I realized. Taking off the collars, resetting the course is taking about 15 minutes I think. Need to make sure weights stay on. The next set felt heavy to start with the pick but I felt I could move pretty good. I don’t have much data with these handles with short and heavy runs really as most of the time, I was just doing long runs before switching over to the top loaded handles at the strongman gyms. For the top set, max distance again. The neighbors’ trailer was moved a bit so I could do the run from just a little further back from where I was doing stuff today to have a 200’ course. Again, just having that in case I got there. Rather have it than not really. I was feeling my lower back that I was concerned I wouldn’t pick it up safely and then that I’d peter out shortly after getting 50’. Thankfully neither of those happened. My legs did get tired though and I slowed down a lot after 100’ or so. I feel just under 25’ shy of the end here. Kind of both hands this time. This was not a PR as I’ve done a little further with 295lbs per hand. My thinking is that when I was doing these before, my deadlift numbers were much lower and I was doing the heavier stuff on the opposite weeks. So next up was stone of steel stuff. As it was later in the afternoon then I would’ve liked, I was thinking about how to move things along. My thought was to just keep the yoke at my yoke height so I would be loading over 62”, same as the sandbag from last week. With the changes for the upcoming next block of training, I figured that I might as well since it would make me work on my extension. I was also advised to use tacky towel on all sets going forward to ease the stress on my biceps. It has been a long time since I used one and it was noticeable immediately. The pain was a lot less. But I remember how much of a pain it is to film so I just kept my phone camera recording the whole time so I didn’t gunk it up. Empty implement felt smooth. Had a little hiccup on the second rep with the next weight and had to push it over. I was keeping my eye on the right biceps as I did these. Taking my time as I can’t really rush things back over with the setup I have. No rush. So then on to the working set. Moment of truth. I wasn’t sure how these would go since I’ve never tried going above 60” on the stone of steel. Still getting clearance. Plan was 7-10 but since I had increased the load height by 5”, I was going to just do 7 today as to minimize the stress to my biceps, getting things moving and that it would be enough to progress. I got 5 lifts before I had slippage. Number 6 it was slipping and I put it down and retacked. Slippage when things feel secure is how I pulled the right biceps a few years ago. Not risking that crap haha. Got the last two reps pretty easy after that. Definitely feeling these in my lower back and hamstrings and forcing myself to use my ankles to extend too. Last time was pushing. My options had been a car for 60 seconds or do three sets of prowler. I figured that the prowler stuff was going to take longer than car push. I also was noticing from past training stuff with max distance that I was stopping under 40 seconds so I figured I needed to push into this territory to even things out. So I put all the weights I had out from the farmer’s walk plus some extra to get 700lbs in the trunk. Come to find my father was out getting groceries. So I ended up asking my mother to assist me. She did things perfectly with the start, times and stop. I started a bit down the street as I didn’t want to worry about getting too close to the trailer but that wasn’t a problem as the weight was a enough to make the tires depress in the rear and make the start tough to get moving. Almost stopped right at my driveway for an easy unload. Stretched and cleaned up. It is looking likely that I won’t be competing in 2020 but I’m set for 2021 with USS Nats.

June 11, 2020 – Week 4, Day 2

5 Minute Walk (.40 miles)

Mobility Prep

Goblet Squats to Box (15”)

bwx25

kettlebell

15x20

dumbbell

40x12

40x12

40x12

16” Rack Pulls

45x15

135x5

225x3

315x2

365x2

405x2

Added Straps

455x2

495x2

545x2

585x2

635x2 PR+10lbs

Ab Roller

bwx18

Side Plank Raises

bwx12/12

Stretching

Comments: Definitely feeling this week in my bones. I could feel just fatigue in my forearms the day before. Trying to keep what hurts healthy. I have not been feeling this week haha. Not to say there hasn’t been good things for me. I did feel a little worn going into this training day. I had to alter things slightly. See, neighbor two houses down was hosting a taco truck for 2hrs. I thought nothing of it seeing it on the neighborhood bulletin on my walks. Nobody really does anything here besides the neighborhood wide garage sales. Wrong. Had to be like 50 people lined up and there were people parking on both sides of the street. I’ve been away from large groups of people for several months now and it reminded me how much I dislike them haha. Didn’t want to walk through that so I took a different route for my warm-up and it ended up being a bit longer. But that is ok. This is the second deadlift and squat day that I’ve not worn the compression socks. I think one that they were making my legs tight on the warm-up walk and two, I’m not pulling where my shins are covered to keep from really rubbing my legs anyways. First exercise was squatting to a box. As has been the case. Really light for higher reps. Seem to be doing my some good and keeping me fresh for pulls. It was too hot to keep the garage closed but with people outside (a lot of youngsters) I had to be ready to skip the song on my iPod if it was maybe not ok. Only had one oops with that haha (that darn Eminem). Next up being rack pulls again. Doubles this time with the same plan. But I probably went too heavy. Safe, moderate, comfortable. I have a hard time with these terms it seems. Especially when I get comparison. Little bit more on the sheet was reflected by 50lbs more. I figured I could do that. Had to do that. Same setup with using the saw horses and the Mouser block. I do intend to get the rack setup this weekend. Probably Sunday. I wasn’t feeling nearly as sweaty and glistening as I was two weeks ago wearing the red booty shorts haha. But still, I told myself not to go above 405lbs without straps. 405lbs would be enough and I had farmer’s walk with max distance again so save it for the time when grip is going to matter. It is probably a good idea that I didn’t hold off with the straps as the first set with straps felt alien. Not sure what that was about. I was trying to not hype myself up on these as I knew that if I wanted to hit my goal for the session, I’d need to hype that lift up and if I needed to hype up to get these lifts leading up to it, then I wasn’t going to be getting it. Starting to realize that I really can’t go much above 800lbs on this bar with the garage weights but I’m not at that level yet and I got a lot of time before that time comes. If it ever does. My last set before going big was the same weight I dd the triple with last time. I had indicated that it was a two rep PR and it was. It was for me coming back from injury as of 2016. However, it was not a lifetime PR. The next weight would be. 585lbs didn’t feel as hot as last time but I was hyping myself up for that one. Anything over 585lbs without a suit on any of the lifts would be the most I’ve done in training raw at this point from after the 2016 injury. But I remember lifting 625lbs for a double on this lift almost 8yrs ago to the date. I didn’t want to just have background music playing. I wanted something that made me feel something. I find that it gives me just a little more extra when I have something with the music. I had success with a love song last week on axle rdls so lets give that another shot with something like that. Got set and ready. I could feel like I was about to puke. I hadn’t felt like that all this workout. I would be so mad if I missed this lift. First one was hard but it went up fast. I knew the double was going to be troublesome. I didn’t want to use the rebound and bounce. Needed these to be dead stop reps to count. To mean it. Much slower. Legs got shaky. But no hitching on this. My grip went in the right hand but holding on with finger tips. I know I can do more than this from the floor with a suit with how this felt. I got a year to try and replicate this from the floor to feel like I’m in the 700lbs range raw. But this was a near maximum effort for a double. Hopefully I’m not burning things too fast here. Progress has been very good the last four weeks on my pulls. Makeshift ab roller using the barbell and 45lbs plates. Same as last time but advised to do 1-3 more reps. My one leg wasn’t cramping up this time. I feel like these are difficult but I can keep doing them. But I’m going to save the reps for next time and just try and be smart with some of the things I do. Sore abdominals make other stuff difficult haha. Side plank raises followed that. Easier I think this time. The disparity between the rigidity and stability was almost equal compared to last time where one side was difficult and the other was super easy. At leftovers and then stretched before cleaning up. I think I can do big things if I stay healthy.

July 9, 2020 – Week 4, Day 1

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)

Mobility Prep

Lock Big 3

10’sx10/10’sx10/10’sx10

12” Log Cleans & Push Presses (1 clean)

Kettlebells

15’sx1

Kettlebells + Dumbbells

15’s+10’sx1

Dumbbells

40’sx1

Log

110x1

130x1

150x1

170x1

190x1

210x1

230x1

250x1

270x1

290x0

300x1 (weighed out at 304lbs)

Bench Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows (2 second Holds)

No Holds

Kettlebells

15’sx10

Dumbbells

40’sx10

Added Holds

70’sx18 PR+2 reps

Close Grip Barbell Floor Presses

45x10

95x5

135x5

185x3

225x3

275x4 (miscounted)

300x10 PR+5lbs

Trap 3 Raises

10’sx10

10’sx29 PR+3 reps

Safety Squat Bar JM Floor Presses

70x10

90x10

130x10

160x33 PR+3 reps & 5lbs

Stretching

Comments: I was not as rested as I would’ve liked coming into this workout. I mean, I was as rested as I could possibly be but I wanted more. I had been getting good sleep lately but with how much effort the sandbag stuff took out of me on Sunday, I wanted to be as fresh as I could be for log press again. I had tried taking a muscle salt bath for the first time the day before. Not sure what my thoughts are on that. Did some foam rolling for my back. I have had very few symptoms from the disc stuff so very happy about that. Today was also the first day in about a week where I didn’t have an anxiety episode so that has me the most thrilled. But today was going to be sucky. I say this as it was 90 degrees outside. I don’t do so well in the heat. Warm-up stuff felt ok. First thing was shoulder drills. With my brother and sister-in-law moving, I was able to get my 10lbs dumbbells from the one room that had been filled with boxes. So I could use them instead of the plates. I figured I could do all the exercises with the dumbbell since it was ergonomically easier to hold. Though but it worked. Getting those shoulders to be better. Then log. Ugh. So damn hot out. I made a decision to move the log further down the street so that I was in the shade of the tree and that I had branches to keep sun out of my eyes. Warm-ups were a bit different in that it was singles with 20lbs jumps this time. Did a mixture of kettlebells and dumbbells before getting to the log. I wasn’t sure how things would go here with log. I hate cleaning this log. Plan was to try and match the axle stuff but I wasn’t so sure about that seeing as how it took several attempts with 310lbs to clean it. Biceps don’t really care for the log cleans. I feel like I have to be very deliberate to make sure I don’t mess up the clean with this log and strain my biceps. 270lbs felt rough and I got light headed afterwards and took a knee before the feeling past. Video says the press was easy. I actually was trying to move along and not watch video while training. I felt that I had a good clean with 290lbs but I guess I didn’t let things settle as I lost my balance on the press. Might have been that I kind of “grazed the boys” at the start. My heels weren’t done and my feet moved when I went for the leg drive. I tried to reset and go again but it wasn’t happening. Ugh. I hated that. But I was so tired. I didn’t want to attempt the weight again as I felt it was technique but I also didn’t want to stop there and have 20lbs less than my double from two weeks ago be my single for the day. I ultimately decided I’d rather miss slightly heavier weight and give the minimum for the online qualifier a shot. I didn’t mash my testicles this time on the pick up so that was a positive but my clean was uneven and had slid down. This would usually me a miss but I went for it and I got it. Leg lifts and stomps and then put it down and gave several middle fingers. More due to the fact I missed the weight before and got this weight. The next bit took a lot of time as I tried to weigh my log lift. My log is not a “name brand” one so I can’t just say it weighs what it weighs for online qualifier event for strongman corp. And since it isn’t “from the floor” it won’t count for OSG (but I had no intention of doing that one). The weight should’ve been 300lbs. It wasn’t. Also the numbers on the scale don’t show up on video well either. Depending on how the log was on it, made the weight jumps. It was as low as 287.5lbs and as high as 313lbs. I knew the log weighed 108lbs from previous weighing so I just finally weighed all the plates. I don’t recommend doing that as it will get you paranoid about what stuff actually weighs. Total weight came out to 304lbs. So a PR for clean and push press on log in training. I’m probably going to just treat it as 300lbs in training though as I can’t really count for the variances in weights. I’d drive myself crazy doing that. I can at least say that I got 300lbs in me on both log and axle but what I need is consistency at it. I got a year to be comfortable with this weight and hopefully that is doable with no or minor injuries. This also showed me how much of a pain weighing out stuff for these online qualifiers is by myself. So unless the events are “OMG amazeballs” I think I’ll just stick to competing to qualify. Maybe try to qualify for the Arnold in mid-December if feeling froggy. So I got a bit more rest then I expected with all that and it was time for the rep stuff. Dumbbell rows on the bench while supported. The holds on the working set approach again. Just regular reps to warm-up. Same weights but aiming for more reps on the working set with the 2 second holds. Unlike last time, I kept count of the reps. I think this was more because I was feeling really fatigued and my forearms were sore and my right biceps was sore from the log cleans (especially that last one). Right biceps didn’t really care for these and it took a bit to get things feeling ok and pulling in a manner that wasn’t irritating things. The holds I think also made me control the negatives a little more unintentionally. Still a lot of time under tension. I’m surprised the chalk didn’t become paste and I didn’t put them down. Next was the close grip floor presses. Trying to learn from last time. I think I did better with setting up the saw horses so that I didn’t get weird unracks. Same as last time as far as work up sets with the plan being max reps with 300lbs. So just a little bit more than last time. I was feeling pretty good today. I got distracted on the set before the max rep set singing along to the music and did an extra rep since I wasn’t sure if I did three or not. Good sign that I felt that strong that I didn’t notice. I figured that I’d have a good one today on these. Got a solid ten, no arm hump so that was good. T3 raises followed that. Since I can use my 10lbs dumbbells, these would feel a little more comfortable in my hands I think. These are definitely good things for me to be doing in combination with the shoulder drills and the band pull aparts. I miscounted as I thought I had done 30 reps but just one shy of that. Videoed these from behind to see how the back muscles were working. Last item of the session was ssb jms on the floor. I plan to get the power rack setup this coming weekend on my rest day but these seem to be fine doing them on the floor. Plan here being 5lbs more than last time and doing max reps. I did mess up on my second set as I had meant to be doing 30lbs jumps. This felt heavy in my hands with the top weight but I just kept pumping out the reps and got more than I was expecting. I had to take a cold shower to cool off so I could spend the evening with my family before they leave. Good food for dinner and memories and then home for stretching and icing.

June 7, 2020 – Week 3, Day 3

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)

Mobility Prep

NY Barbell Yoke

300x50’ in 6.42 seconds

350x50’ in 6.36 seconds

400x50’ in 6.72 seconds

450x50’ in 6.88 seconds

500x50’ in 7.74 seconds

550x50’ in 7.31 seconds

600x50’ in 8.53 seconds

650x50’ in 8.78 seconds

Sandbag Rows

110x5

210x5

269x5

Sandbag Loads (62”)

269x7 (2 misses)

Sandbag Bearhug Carries

269x183’10” in 54.86 seconds

Prowler Drags

345x100’ in 33.88 seconds

435x100’ in 35.63 seconds

525x100’ in 35.76 seconds

Stretching

Comments: So this was day later than planned but life happens, have to keep moving forward. I woke up at a somewhat reasonable hour but still trained later in the day. My brother and sister-in-law are moving and they had been using my house for storage so there was a large moving truck that had been loaded up the day before. So a good section of the street I usually use was occupied. My right biceps wasn’t bothering me like it has been the past few weeks so happy about that. Not sure what that is about. Maybe finally getting the appropriate rest between stuff? Knees a little stiff. Still have anxiety stuff going on but it seems to be less than before and that is a win right there. So got all ready and warmed up. Stuff was moved around in the garage to make moving stuff out easier. Also so I could fit my car in the garage. Anyways, on to the training. Yoke again. Using the janky yoke as has been the case. I honestly don’t feel like moving my heavier yoke from the backyard that is setup for throws. Last session with this felt pretty good, despite all the sweating. Not as muggy today but still a good amount of sweating going on. Plan here being 50’ runs, taking 50lbs jumps. Same as last time. Aim for at least 20lbs more but no more than 650lbs. 650lbs. So even if say I stopped at 500lbs last week, I could still aim for 650lbs if feeling good this week. I wasn’t sure how things would go as like I said, knees were a little more achy. I did some casual walks with the empty yoke and some empty sprints to prep. For whatever reason, the pick just felt off today. I wore my arm sleeve because the yoke was irritating my right biceps last time with pulling in the yoke. Not a problem this time. Speed was a little slower than last time on almost every run. I think the biggest variance was like just under .5 seconds so negligible. My run with 550lbs was very good and 650lbs was slightly slower than 600lbs but felt better. I’m just glad that these numbers are better than they were that first time I did these above 500lbs being over 10 seconds. The next part of the workout was sandbags again. Plan being warm-up with rows, do some loads and then a carry but some changes. I felt like my “medium” sandbag was too light. Yes, I was leery about my biceps last time but it felt like I was lifting a trash bag full of kitty litter. I was advised I could go heavier. So my thought was to do the same weights but if feeling good, then do the heaviest bag I have made right now (269lbs) and use that as the “medium” bag for the workout. It actually felt better than the 210lbs bag on the rows. I got some unexpected rest as the front of the bag opened and spilled sand as I finished the set. I figured I could do the rest of the workout with it. That might have been a bit much. I had a little anxiety episode shortly after I did the rows but got things under control. I didn’t want to lower my yoke height and the goal was 7-10 reps this time. I had told myself that I’d do no more than 7 if I went up in weight as it is a big jump. Loading be a bit harder than just rowing haha. Just gritty and not easy to compress the bag for the load. I’m a bit out of practice on this. I got three without a miss. Number four I had to attempt the extension a second time. Number five is where I had a miss and I just couldn’t get a good hold on it to crush and transfer to the extension. I kind of just looked at it and was like what now? Took about 45 seconds to regroup and get back into it. Not quitting, just need to rechew this bite before I can swallow it. Got it and on to number six. Got that too. Now the unbeknownst to me, somebody had tried calling me at this point. I don’t get many phone calls but apparently that call stopped my camera so I don’t have the rest of it where I missed my first go at a seventh rep and then got it after shoving it over. Like the lighter bag, it has leaks in it too.  Anyways, the next thing was bear hug carry. This time for max distance. With how light the other sandbag had felt, I felt that double the distance of 200’ was possible. I figured I could do pretty good with the 269lbs bag. Maybe that would’ve been the case if I had not spent so much effort on the sandbag loads. I felt ok at the start but my glutes and hamstrings just locked up on me. They were cramping and I couldn’t go forward anymore. Ugh, under 200’. I’m really out of practice on these as I’ve done 100’ more for two sets with about 20lbs less when I was doing these. But that was a couple years ago and focuses have changed. But I wasn’t expecting that much of a drop off. Still put in the work. Last thing being drags. Still got that option to be one long ass set with a vehicle or do three sets of 100’ with the sled. I really wanted to do the vehicle option to cut down on time and effort but the moving truck is taking up space so sled drags again. Course was a bit tougher with obstacles of tar spots. I learned as I went. What is crazy to me is that my times were pretty darn close in grouping considering 20lbs more each set from last time and I was going up 90lbs a set. I was trying to dodge the tar spots to keep from getting stuck. I was a bit more motivated with the last set I think since it was the last one and I had neighbors watching me as I was doing it. Kind of filthy after this workout. I just hope that I can be ready to train after a day rest to get back on schedule with things.

June 5, 2020 – Week 3, Day 2

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)

Mobility Prep

Dumbbell Front Squats to Box (15”)

bwx25

kettlebells

15’sx20

dumbbells

40’sx12

40’sx12

40’sx12

Axle Romanian Deadlifts w/ straps

50x10

140x5

230x5

320x3

410x3

500x5 PR+20lbs

Crunches

bwx35

Lying Leg Raises

bwx35

Planks

bw+45x60 seconds

Side Planks

bwx60/60 seconds

Stretching

Comments: This week has been an emotional rollercoaster. Stress came to a boil and it caused unnecessary stress to my family, loved ones and myself. I’m still not 100% sure why I was the way I was. I’m just glad I have people that love me. Depression and anxiety are a bitch. They have the worst timing to visit. I guess there is a reason they refer to it not being there as remission. I think it will still take me a little bit to get the anxiety attacks under control. Pretty much ended up having to take off a little early from work and take a nap and talk with the people I care about. Obviously not great for a training schedule but that stuff isn’t terribly important in the grand scheme of things. But I will take control of my life and hold the reins tight. So in order to do that, I would need to workout during my lunch break at work. I literally will never have this chance and freedom to do this with the teleworking. And this is the shortest of the workouts I have. Like it’s a sign haha. My appetite had been down yesterday and I made a choice to not have my second meal as I was going to be lifting early. I went for a walk and it was spritzing a little but still warm and humid. Returned to do my warm-ups. About half way through those, I got a surprise lunch delivery. A ribeye steak with broccoli, honey wheat bread and loaded fries. I told you I’m loved haha. Had to put that inside as I needed to work up an appetite. First exercise was squatting to a box. As previously mentioned, I had the weeks switched so it was the front squats with the kettlebells and dumbbells again. Same as last time but doing sets of 12 instead of 10 for the three working sets. I was definitely feeling my indigestion acting up and I was sweating like crazy in my garage. Had to keep a quick pace honestly as I had to get back to work after the hour of lunch. Got a good pump going in the legs. Not nearly as sore as last time and that’s to be expected. Usually get used to it within 2 weeks. Knees were a bit achy, especially the right one but still good. Anyways, next was the deadlift stuff. RDLs with the axle and the pads again. Plan here was again working up to a top set of five reps. I figured I’d add 20lbs to last time and see if that worked. Sweating like crazy. Did less reps with the starting weight as last time that was 30lbs and I figured 15 reps was good there. Just did 10 reps with the 50lbs as I was in a little bit of a hurry. I was actually feeling pretty good on these as far as form wise. I did feel like my grip was more to one side than the other and I kept having to fiddle with that. I was fighting the urge to puke from the indigestion. For the top set, I wanted to find a good song. The one that came on I didn’t want to have in my head at the moment with the stress I had recently got through. I got to a recent addition to my iPod by Sara Bareilles and I got pretty emotional. I will get hyped up for a big lift and that is intentional. This was not. I had happy tears in my eyes. It was an odd sensation and I knew that I was definitely still getting through some things but in a positive direction. I walked out the weight and felt like something but then I started lifting and it was nothing. I had only done 20lbs more because of how tough these felt last time and how lightheaded I got on the first rep that first time going heavy. I probably could’ve added 50lbs to this. But I didn’t have time and I already had hyped this to be the main lift. Just means I know I got more for next time. Keep this a slow cook as best I can. This was the last of the hard stuff as the rest of it was bodyweight abdominal stuff. Well kind of I guess. More reps on the crunches and leg raises and that felt easy this time actually. Strange that this felt easier than previous times where I’ve been staying at 10 reps less for weeks on end. The plank was with weight this time. I thought I was recording this but I guess not haha. Side planks felt comfortable. Finished up this session sweaty as all get out but with a few minutes to spare before time to get back to work. The lunch tasted so good after all that. I then did my stretching after work. Schedule is a bit off but I think that is for the best.

June 2, 2020 – Week 3, Day 1

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)

Mobility Prep

Lock Big 3

10’sx10/7.5’sx10/7.5’sx10

Axle Cleans & Push Presses (1 clean)

30x1

50x1

70x1

90x1

110x1

130x1

150x1

170x1

190x1

210x1

230x1

250x1

270x1

290x1

310x0,0,1

Rack Chins (yoke, straps)

bwx5

bwx5

bw+30x17 PR+5lbs & 1 rep

Slingshot Dips

bw+15x10

bw+60x10

bw+105x10

bw+150x10

Band Pull A-parts

MMB+MBx10

MMB+MBx30

Paused Floor Rolling Dumbbell Extensions

15’sx10

40’sx42

Stretching

Comments: The weekend was wonderful but perhaps I stretched myself too thin? Lack of sleep? Reality settling back in? I just felt tired all day today and felt my knee and shoulders aching. Indigestion since Monday too. Having muscle twitches in my right arm. Didn’t want to push training a day as that would risk missing obligations and possibly get trapped with rain. I pretty much wanted to lay down and take a nap. But the show must go on. I did foam rolling during my lunch break. Hoping that the warm-ups would wake me. I think that did something for me to get the blood flowing. First thing was shoulder drills. Same weight for the first drill (not going any heavier than 10lbs) and added 2.5lbs to the other two drills. Might get to that 10lbs range soon where it doesn’t feel like my triceps will tear off. Axle again. Same as last time but just singles. I had expectations of getting 310lbs on these. Easier said than done. I’ve been away from the heavier weights on axle for years. Most I’ve put overhead since coming back from the 2016 injury has been 292lbs out of the rack push press and a 302lbs clean and jerk.  But 290lbs felt so comfortable on the press last time and I got 290lbs for a double with log last week. I had all the copper sleeves on today. Lesson I’m learning is that if I stay outside in the shade, that is better than being in the garage as I get super sweaty if I hide out in there. I was hoping the decal on the front of my shirt would be enough for catching the bar. Watching the right biceps like a hawk. Especially sore after doing stone of steel and then axle a few days later. The only point I felt like there was a chance I would miss was on the clean with 290lbs as I caught it a little low and the one side was slower. But the press was easy. I thought 310lbs was in the bag and was thinking of trying 325-330lbs. Nope. Biffed the clean. Took about 2 minutes to reset the setup and then tried again. Closer but still not quite there. Ugh. I was going to give this stupid thing one more shot. About 3 minutes to recover and give it another go. Caught it this time. Felt heavy in the rack and the press was a bit harder than I cared for but it went up. I did a pair of Marunde leg lifts with it before dropping it down. I then gave the weight the finger as I walked away. Ugh. Did not intend to use up that much effort, time or energy on that today. I had roasts in the oven so I had kind of an imposed timer. There are positives. I can recover from the misses. I think I proved that on the log last week. This is 8lbs more than what I hit for a jerk leading up to the Arnold in training. This is 10lbs under the USS Nats weight for next year so I got a year to add proficiency and add 10lbs to this. Rack chins were next. I was kind of rushing things at this point because time and roasts. Same as last time with plan being more reps with the weighted set. Body weight is easy so those sets were pretty quick. I had the idea of using my sand kettlebells instead of a 25lbs plate after the difficult of setup last time. This would be 5lbs more but it was close enough. Much easier to setup for sure but still a level of awkwardness. With how sore my forearms and biceps were from the axle work, I was surprised I was able to regroup with the short rests and get an extra rep on these. I did adjust the setup by using the crash pads to elevate the bench. Dips with the slingshot next. This is where I took the short rests too far. I had assumed that adding 15lbs to the weights from last time would be no problem. I was stupid and did each set right after the other. I knew that I was perhaps going too hard when my second to last planned set felt like last week’s top set. My right biceps was tight setting up on these. Good news is that the 15lbs kettlebells means I can do 10lbs and 15lbs jumps pretty easy. But that last set was a slog. I had fully expected this to go better since I’ve done this weight in the gym for 16 reps so even with that in mind, this should’ve been smoother. It was not but I wasn’t going to not get 10 reps here so it was pretty much rest pause. I will say I enjoyed the traction on these. The last two exercises were the reppage ones again. Band pull aparts I felt were too light still. I probably should’ve kept the same tension from last time. I had tried to do the light band as I used to be able to bang out sets of 12 with it in the past. Nope, not happening. So I went with just adding a mini band to the monster mini band. That was a good jump in tension. I wanted it to be closer to the difficult of the t-3 raises. That weird thing where I feel something shift in my oblique/lat area happened at around rep 25 so that was a little unsettling. But still doing well with this. Shoulders were just smoked. Dumbbells I did on the floor inside my house again. I couldn’t really think of a way to add weight without switching out the dumbbell handles. I thought that I’d be tired but these felt easier than last time. My right biceps were tight in the bottom position at the start. Probably had more but this was exhausting. Ate a ton of meat before stretching and then bed.

May 30, 2020 – Week 2, Day 3

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)

Mobility Prep

Rogue Farmer’s Walk (16” pick)

135x50’ in 6.53 seconds

185x50’ in 7.70 seconds

225x50’ in 8.18 seconds

275x197’ in 40.27 seconds

Stone of Steel Loads (57”)

138x5

182x3

225.5x1

275x5

Prowler Pushes

305x100’ in 20.32 seconds

395x100’ in 25.66 seconds

485x100’ in 30.22 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Kind of a rollercoaster of emotions this week going into the weekend. Thankfully ending on a high. This workout wasn’t too be too much compared to last week’s event training. Right knee a little sore. Warming up felt good. It was a decent breeze so not nearly as brutal in the sun. Farmer’s walk to start this session off. Plan being doing 50’ runs up to the top weight that I’d do for a max distance run. I deviated a little in that I just added 20lbs to the empty handles rather than doing a set too close to the top weight before going. Farmer’s walk is much easier to reset so I have options. I know I was little slower off the block on these compared to last time I did these. My legs were feeling a little heavy and lower back was feeling the rack pulls earlier in the week. Just thankful that my hands weren’t nearly as sweaty. Probably being out in the fresh air kept sweat from sticking to my skin. Last time, I did these downhill as my plan was work the foot speed and then since the working weight was going to be two trips so that I prepped a bit. This time just one max distance set so I figured it was best to just do them all with the slight uphill instead to get used to that. The top weight was to be max distance. Kind of. A weight I could comfortably do 150-200’ with and stopping at 200’. My best with 270lbs was 196’7” so I figured that I’d be close to that with 275lbs. I really wanted to get 200’. I wasn’t entirely sure if I would when I did my last warm-up set with how that felt in my grip. I had to move my setup a bit further back as 200’ was going to be clipping a vehicle. I was nervous but I went. Slow pick up and I felt ok to start but I was feeling like my legs were heavy. I was getting close and I thought I had it but my gait was slowing down and I could feel my grip slipping. So damn close but my left hand went. Walking with the weight is definitely harder than just holding it as I’ve held this kind of weight for about double this time. So next up was stone of steel stuff. A bit heavier than my sandbag stuff. I was very cautious with these. Plan was work up to around 275lbs for a set of five reps. Or whatever I felt comfortable with. Doing whatever I need to warm-up. I raised the height a little compared to what I was doing and to what I did last time. Still got stuff in the right biceps but it felt like it was the lower part as opposed to the middle or top part. This might be tendonitis. I’m not lacking in strength. The discomfort was enough to make me hesitate. I had to think if I wanted to just do singles or if I needed to do reps to prep for the top weight. No grip support right now. Feel like I might as well work this while the weight is lightish. Even with the hesitation from discomfort, I think most of it was just me not wanting to have this darn thing slip out of my grip while trying to lap it and waste energy and stress things even more. I ended up having to towel off after missing my first attempt at the fourth rep. Load part was easy. I felt secure when I went for the load and like I said last time, like I could fold this thing if I tried hard enough to crush it. Obviously, I have to keep monitoring my right biceps and do my best to keep recovery stuff on point. Last time was pushing. My options had been a car for 60 seconds or do three sets of prowler. Again, I elected to go with the sled stuff over the vehicle. Idea was to work up to a little bit more than what I did for my sets last time. So 335lbs. But honestly, that is only difficult if I’m doing timed sets and I wasn’t here. The degree of difficulty in switching from uphill to downhill is marked so I figured that like the drags, I’d reset it each time. So really, my first set was near where I was on paper supposed to end. Like the drags, I did 90lbs jumps. Had to talk myself down from going bigger jumps. These felt slower than the drags but these were actually faster. Like,  a lot faster, in that my last set was still faster than my lightest set of drags from last week. Had a bunch of neighbors watching on that last set so I couldn’t allow to break stride or get halted by rough patches haha. Finished up with stretching and cooling off before getting on with the rest of the weekend.