July 30, 2020 – Week 9, 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
45x10
135x5
185x3
225x2
275x1
315x1
365x1
405x1
455x1
Added Straps
495x1
545x1
595x1
650x0

Ab Roller
bwx12
bwx12

Side Plank Raises
bwx15/15

Stretching

Comments: This month has been garbage. I’m still depressed and just want to sleep the rest of the year away at this point. I tried doing Epsom salt bath but I don’t know if it does anything other than make me feel sleepy in the tub. This was more to get the soreness out of my body as my muscles feel heavy and sore. Mind feels like it is in a fog and the days just bleed together. I felt I had some motivation back but it is slipping again as it is hard to force myself to do basic things. I’m trying to fight it. I tried yogurt again to see if I could tolerate it. I had been having issues with ramen so I thought maybe that had been the problem. Nope, yogurt was also a problem as I got indigestion almost immediately. Set up for today wasn’t going to take long as I already got things ready the day before. It had been a later day for the first workout this week so I had left stuff out. Knees were achy but felt okay after I did stuff. First exercise was squatting to a box with the dumbbells. Front squat style this time. Not much to say here other than leg soreness wasn’t as much as last week. Just moving stuff and getting things ready for the next thing. That being rack pulls. So after the crap day about a month ago, it was here again. Initially before this month happened, it was to be 17” pull up to just 495lbs to try and get lower effort and ramp back up. That didn’t happen. So the plan here was work up to what I felt comfortable hitting but really focusing on vertical shins. I felt like I was doing that. Maybe not? I’m still a work in progress. I still got shit I’ve not taken the time to deal with properly outside of training. Some of that is me self-sabotaging things. Some of it started I think after Nats 2017 and early 2018 but was really apparent after I qualified for the Arnold. Pushing hard and getting frustrated with my results and then getting injured from constantly pushing. Or just wanting to give up. Not having fun. So part of that was why I didn’t go with a 17” pull. After last session of rack pulls, I had dropped heavy weights and busted up the one saw horse so I had to reinforce it. Doing this made the pull height now 18” while standing on the block. So I stood on a wooden platform to get it back to 16”. My worries were that I was admitting defeat increasing the pull height and that if I missed here at 18” or 17”, I’d feel even worse if I missed it at this height. I’m a piece of work. Anyways, the expectations were lighter here as plan was what I felt comfortable with and keeping vertical shins. Suggestion was up to 495lbs. I didn’t start out feeling great. Lower back felt stiff. But I was feeling good as I went up in weight. As I got up in weight, I of course started to plan things based off how I felt. The sensible thing probably would’ve been to not mess with the jumps and do 585lbs and then 635lbs. But I didn’t. Made it 50lbs jumps from 495lbs on as I was thinking I could do more than 635lbs. Even though I had reflected on the previous session and said that 640lbs (when I missed 660lbs and 650lbs) would’ve been the smarter move if I tried heavier. I didn’t listen today as I really thought I had 650lbs in me today with how that last pull felt. It didn’t come crashing down but I couldn’t get it over my knee caps. I did compare to last time and it was maybe a little higher than I got 660lbs. It was definitely better than what my 2nd attempt of 650lbs that time was. Nothing was injured other than my ego. But I’ve probably screwed stuff up again going heavy and missing. It took a lot for me to not pack up the day right then and there. But I knew that was childish and last time I did that. Have to do it. Have to do something. I’m abandoning things to self-isolate to feel safe but I can’t keep doing that forever. Training is feeling pointless. Lot of things are. The last of the session was abdominal work. First being two sets of ab roller. Took time putting stuff away to get my head right again. Plan here was two moderate rep sets leaving 3-5 reps in the tank. I figured that since I haven’t done these in like a month and that these really make my lower abdominals sore that 12 reps was good, even if that maybe left some extra reps on top of 5 there maybe. I can’t go fast on these since my setup is a 135lbs barbell and plates for the rolling back in. Could feel my hamstrings and hips being tight and my abdominals cramping. Then side plank raises. Just a set each side. Good to have some stability with mobility for the abdominals for bracing. These were pretty easy. I had a roast cooking so that was my workout timer. So had dinner and then after like 2 hours and after cleaning up I made myself stretch. I hope I have the energy to face the day tomorrow as this low energy depressed feelings suck.

July 28, 2020 – Week 9, 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’sx2

Dumbbells

40’sx2

Log

120x2

140x2

160x2

180x2

200x2

220x2

240x2

265x6 (2 cleans)

Bench Chest Supported Barbell Rows

45x10

85x10

135x11 (miscounted)

175x10

225x10

Close Grip Barbell Floor Presses

45x10

135x5

185x5

225x5

275x5

325x5

Trap 3 Raises

10’sx16

10’sx16

Safety Squat Bar JM Floor Presses

65x10

105x10

145x10

185x10

225x10

265x10

Stretching

Comments: Another day of existence. Just ticking the days off. Hoping that get over it. Haven’t cried in two days. My body didn’t feel great. Despite making sure I was getting sleep and food, I felt like crap. Sluggish and unmotivated. Like soreness in my everywhere. I didn’t want to do anything. Warm-up stuff felt ok. I knew I was going to need my knee sleeves and arm sleeve for today. My joints felt achy. First thing was shoulder drills. About how they usually feel. I’ve been wondering if since I haven’t been eating my usual 2lbs of yogurt for about 6 weeks now if that is why I feel like I got cramps. I think it has more to do with the oppressive heat as I’m getting enough potassium in my shakes. Then log. Super anxious about this. Last time I did this was literally the day after things went to shit and I ended up lifting in the rain and blacking out and hitting the street. And axle didn’t feel easy last week. Plan here was same as axle, doubles up to a 5rm set. Not told to keep it 80% for this outing as the hope was that a week of training should have me firing mostly on all cylinders. The warming up felt ok. I didn’t want to top off at 250lbs despite that being the most I’d be doing for reps with this particular log outside of doubles. But I didn’t think I was good for 5 at 270lbs, especially with how I was feeling and how last week felt. So I added 10lbs to the log so that I could try 260lbs. Didn’t feel bad. Cleans were feel good after the first one. 220lbs actually went up nice and crisp and I thought that hey, maybe I undersold myself today. 240lbs felt like I had added 50lbs to the log and brought me back low again. Enough that I was feeling like 260lbs for 5 would be too much for me today. That would be a PR for this log and really a post 2016 backapocalypse  PR. I believe all-time might be 270lbs in training. So I had my doubts here so in expectation of failing, I added 5lbs more so that even if I got just 3 reps, it would be a PR of some sort post 2016 injury. I got set and went. Clean was ok but I felt off balance the entire time. I didn’t watch video until much later but I was definitely having the one side not in synch. Went for a fifth but dipped too far and had it go forward and lost it. Ugh. I didn’t feel done though and I just stood there contemplating recleaning it to get another rep. I decided to give it another go. Figures that that rep goes up better than my first one and since I had the log up there, I did another rep for 6 total as a fuck you to everything. Maybe could do another rep here. My triceps were really, really sore after this set. Bench supported rowing again. A bit of a change up. Previously these had been dumbbells and holds due to limited equipment. I’d been advised that if it worked as far as setup, that I could alternate barbell for not paused and dumbbells for paused. I really had not frame of reference how these would go since it has been so very long since I’ve done barbell type rows. Been mostly neutral grip rows. I probably could’ve done these from the floor but I went with elevated on the crash pads so that I could use 45’s. Didn’t film the first set with just the barbell as I wasn’t certain if I was going to do these or not, depending on the feel. These feel awkward. Like, I have to get into a position to then do the rows. Plan was to do 5 sets of 10 up to a 10rm. 225lbs was about all I felt comfortable with pushing today as these stress the biceps a bit. Right biceps not really a fan of them.  Then it was the floor pressing. Unlike with past floor pressing, this was heavier stuff. Plan being 5 sets of 5 to 5rm. My triceps were just burning. My hope is that they would keep going even if stuff felt heavy on my arms and shoulders. Just really sore with the bar to warm-up. My hope here was that I’d save my wrist wraps for the top set so that it would feel easier and I wouldn’t be freaking out if the work up sets felt hard. A bit more reps to work up then usually do with the 5x5. My hope was that I could do over 320lbs. That seems to be a sticking point where I don’t have the confidence that I can get five reps on it above that weight. I knew that 335lbs was a bridge too far today but I needed to do this. If I can’t press reps with this weight here, what chance do I have of putting that weight over my head on log? Every rep felt slow and heavy. But I kept my form and didn’t resort to an air hump to get the last rep. The end of the workout was in sight. T3 raises followed that. No set reps given for these. Advised to do 2 sets of moderate reps with the 10lbs dumbbells. My thoughts here were that the band pull aparts were for 2 sets of 20 reps and reps are about the same with the exercises. However, the time under tension is greater with these due to the longer ROM and controlled movements. I figured 10 reps wasn’t enough despite that probably being enough. Same with 12 reps. I was going to do 15 reps but I landed on 16 reps. Felt good on the upper back and shoulders. I was expecting some tension because my right biceps was a little stressed from the rows and still not a fan of the way I picked up the 269lbs sandbag Saturday. Last thing was the ssb jm floor presses. A big departure here from what I was doing. This wasn’t some light high rep end like previously. I was advised to do sets of 10 to a 10rm. I’ve pushed jm presses before in the past. But usually not more than 225lbs I think. Best being 255lbs for a triple on a barbell. Never pushed these very heavy. So this was going to be interesting. Reps calculator would say I could do 350lbs for a single. I’ve seen some strong benchers put up heavy weights for these. But I knew I needed to test things out. I wanted to set things up so that I could hit 225lbs for a top set with the possibility of doing 265lbs if that felt way too easy. I was not sure how things would go with my triceps feeling as sore as they did. Still moving things fast and explosive, even with 185lbs. Definite slowdown with 225lbs but still felt good. I was tempted to add wrist wraps for 265lbs as I was going to give it hell. But I figured I should just see how this felt without and gauge from there if I should going forward as I push heavier and heavier weight on this exercise. 265lbs was damn near a max as I couldn’t guarantee that I could get another rep back up to the saw horses. Pleased with that. But I need to get better. I had to cool off and eat dinner before I stretched.

July 25, 2020 – Week 8, Day 3

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)

Mobility Prep

NY Barbell Yoke

180x50’ in 5.48 seconds

270x50’ in 5.93 seconds

360x50’ in 6.38 seconds

450x50’ in 7.25 seconds

510x50’ in 7.50 seconds

510x50’ in 7.07 seconds

510x50’ in 7.23 seconds

Sandbag Rows

110x5

210x5

Sandbag Carry/Prowler Drag Medleys

215x50’ (keg)/210x50’/285x50’ in 35.77 seconds

210x50’/269x50’/465x50’ in 44.08 seconds

Stretching

Comments: I feel lost. I’m a lot of different emotions and I have been for weeks now. Confused and not sure where to go. I did finally have a restful and recuperative sleep. I’ve had maybe two nights this month so far. And I say restful without having to resort to a muscle relaxer. I haven’t been using them as that is not a good thing to be doing period. So good sleep and that meant I pretty much slept until noon. My traps and lats on the left side have been very sore from the axle rdls. Kind of expected. Legs felt sore too. Plan was to do some foam rolling for my upper back and then train. But I waited too long letting breakfast digest that it started raining. It did sound like it would let up in a few hours and I could train so I took the time to get another meal and then do the foam rolling. Turns out the rain stopped a lot sooner than expected. I wasn’t going terribly heavy so I should be ok with feeling sore and having food in me. It was going to be lower temperature but muggy as anything. Walking and warm-up. Had scrubbed my iPod of songs that might trigger something to make me upset. I missed at least one but it didn’t get me like I thought it would. Yoke to start off the day. Speed day. Granted, I always try to move as fast as possible on everything when it comes to training. The only instructions had been work up to 60% of my 50’ max for three sets. Now, I didn’t take that as my all-time no drop PR as this yoke I have at my disposal right now is janky and wobbly and feels harder than the yoke I set it on. So I just kind of took how I felt last time I did yoke and just extrapolated how much more I could’ve done without a drop. So about 90lbs off my all-time best of 940lbs with 850lbs. So this would be working sets with 510lbs. I didn’t want to do 50lbs jumps this time. I figured that 90lbs jumps would go faster and with what I had planned and I’d have a chance to use lighter weight to start and build up to top speed. Trying to work on getting things to be better every time. So since this was speed training and not heavy, I wanted to do this like I have been doing with the farmer’s walk and have it all be uphill gradient. So that meant resetting the course after each run. Give me plenty of rest. I’m still playing around with the best approach to the pick and start. But it seems to change depending on the weight. Almost like a leg press when it is under 400lbs but then when it gets heavier that I don’t lift it right away, I can press into it and rock under to get the hips and go that way. Also trying to use the forward momentum and get really short choppy steps to start and then get into normal strides. Been doing this sport since 2008 and still finding new things to try with the basics. The 90lbs jumps seemed ok until I got to 450lbs as I felt a dramatic slowdown. That was when I felt the press up method didn’t go so well. The hip rock seems to give a little stretch relax. I didn’t feel comfortable with trying to rock under until my second working set. Second set was my fastest. Into the garage after that for sandbag rows. I took a bit of break here as the intensity of the sandbag rows was dropped considerably as the idea was more just a prep for the medley work. So I got some fluids in me and got things setup for the medley and then did the rows. My copper arm sleeve (which is really just a forearm sleeve) was not clean so I put the knee sleeves on my arms. My arms weren’t bothering me but I figured best to have them at the ready, especially with the medley. Rows were easy. Medley work after that. Unlike before, just two sets and the first set was to be lighter with the carry portion. I was advised that it was ok to use my light keg instead of another sandbag. Another reason to wear the copper sleeves to cut down on bruising. The second set was going to be the key thing here. Breathing was a little off (been a few months since I did a keg carry) but I felt like I was moving very fast on everything. The second set was the oops set. See, not being told set weights but the idea here was to do something 70-80% of what a proposed contest event would be like. The event is very heavy sandbags into a sled drag. The drag would be on a flat surface, I don’t have that. So ideally, I had meant for this set to be the same as what I did as my second set last time I did these. The first part of it I was flying. Then I biffed the pickup of the heavier sandbag. Slipped on me and I ended up just bear-hugging it up off the ground which did put some stress on the right biceps that I didn’t want or mean to do. This also had it a bit lower on my body so I was moving slower. This tends to make the drag harder when you impede this part. The drag started ok but it got difficult quick and I felt like my legs were moving in slow motion. I was out of breathe and gasping. Ugh. Afterwards, I realized I had made the drag portion 40lbs heavier than I meant to do. Still a decent time with the drop. But I need to get better. I will probably need to get new sandbags as the tape and leaks are becoming a liability. It took quite some time to cool off before I could stretch.

July 23, 2020 – Week 8, 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

120x10

210x5

300x5

390x5

480x5

Crunches

bwx35

Lying Leg Raises

bwx35

Planks

bw+45x60 seconds

Side Planks

bwx60/60 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Got DOMS which was to be expected from inactivity. Walking and doing chores is not enough of an activity to keep from detraining some. Even just two weeks off mostly. Past two days have been rough after work with life just not letting up. I had a lot of confusion and frustration in me and my bookshelf must’ve looked at me funny as it did not survive the encounter. It had survived the week earlier. This was a shorter workout so even getting a late start was ok. Not ideal but ok. Especially since not planning on this being full bore as I get used to training and hopefully be ready next week. Stiff and sore in spots and warm-ups needed haha. Squats with the goblet style are easy and feel good. Besides the muscle soreness from inactivity and knee aches. Weights and reps staying the same for who knows how long. That’s fine with the current plan. Fine especially with the expectation of soreness. This is to get the legs some work that isn’t terribly taxing but there will be sessions when things are heavier. I moved through these pretty quick with most of my rest just being between the last of the higher rep sets to warm-up and then the working sets. I had to find a song that wouldn’t make me sad and I just kind of gave up and just did my thing. Maybe six minutes total for the squats. Axle rdls followed. Well not right away as I had to take chicken out of the oven (I got frustrated with trying to order food). So had to prep stuff so that the rest of it was not much need for me paying attention. The plan here was only working up to 470lbs with set reps and jumps. So like last time I did these but do a set 90lbs heavier as not ready for top stuff after the past two weeks. I did the empty axle for 15 reps and then decided I’d just do the plate jumps, which would make the working weights 10lbs heavier than planned. Just like last time. Just do plate jumps. I was cooking dinner at the same time I was lifting. These felt heavy but I wasn’t feeling achy in my body and knees like I did the last time. Hamstrings were sore. These had been surprisingly stiff and sore after training Tuesday evening. Pretty much just did a set and then added plates and got ready. The heaviest set I did take a break to check on my cooking. This top set felt pretty darn heavy. Looked better than it felt on video but still slower than I’d have liked to be feeling like I was back to pushing it to 100% next week. 90lbs off my 5rm PR. But it was still solid and what was asked for today. The abdominal stuff was the same as last time. Crunches, lying leg raises, planks and side planks in that order. I drank a lot of fluids and put all the stuff away first to have rest and to not be puking up stuff. And to do more dinner prep stuff. Did this in the garage again. Trying to do all the real workout stuff in the garage so that I treat it like serious stuff and then out of the garage I can relax. Taking two weeks break inadvertently thankfully didn’t make these feel any harder than they did the last time. About the same. So I can rebuild. Cramping in the abdominals for sure here. Only thing was I didn’t add the 15lbs kettlebell to the side planks like I had done. Not called for and with everything, why major in the minors? I’ve been doing my best to try and get quality sleep but it has been mostly restless as well as not skip meals and eat. Life is hard but it gets easier. But you got to do it every day. That’s the hard part.

July 21, 2020 – Week 8, Day 1

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)

Mobility Prep

Lock Big 3

10’sx10/10’sx10/10’sx10

Axle Push Presses

30x2

50x2

70x2

90x2

110x2

130x2

150x2

170x2

190x2

210x2

230x2

250x5

Rack Chins (yoke, straps)

bwx5

bwx5

bwx5

bw+70x12

Slingshot Dips

bw+25x10

bw+70x10

bw+115x10

bw+160x10

Band Pull A-parts

MMB+MBx20

MMB+MBx20

Paused Floor Rolling Dumbbell Extensions

40’sx51 PR+2 reps

Stretching

Comments: July has been unkind this year. I won’t go into it but if you know, you know and if you don’t you won’t. But two weeks off of training (not counting the abortive attempt at training during a thunderstorm) so a bit soft feeling. But the time off has made it so my joints aren’t always achy. Decision as far as training the only thing I’ve made is not pursuing SC Nats this year. A bridge too far considering myself physically and emotionally as well as costs and risks in this crazy COVID-19 world. Only definite is USS Nats assuming that happens next year. Assuming everything isn’t on fire (still on fire or even more fire). Maybe December but holding out to see how I feel in like two months. I’ve been doing nothing but walks and chores. Made myself do some kind of activities last week at least. So the usual warm-up felt good and normal on my joints and muscles but I was definitely getting a bit more winded than usual. I know I will be sore later just from the detraining and inactivity. It could also be because it is 95 outside with a high humidity. Shoulder drills after the usual warm-ups. I was expecting my body to resist these more than they did. But felt about how they usually do. Thankfully no cramps. Axle out of the rack in the street again. It was overcast so I didn’t need to move the rack down the street any. Right in front of the driveway. So doubles going up in 20lbs to a top set of five. Advised to go for about 80% since coming back after two weeks and not to have the expectation of crushing things. Based off how I felt with warm-ups, I felt really really good. Like, no stopping me today. I was moving pretty quick with the workout sets. I was leery about the sky opening up on me. Stuff started to feel heavy though after I got to 170lbs. I had not planned to put on the copper arm sleeve for these but my arm wasn’t liking it when I was getting to the heavier stuff so on it went. I was feeling that I wasn’t really breathing well for reps today. I’ve been doing mostly singles on these anyways. 230lbs felt darn heavy. So I decided that 250lbs (slightly less than 80%) would be where I decided if that was it for the day or to push it. If the first two reps felt explosive and easy, then go up. They did not and I felt that this was a near max effort for me near the end of the set. Ugh. I should be good for double these reps. Moving on. Then it was time for the rack chins. Changed a bit this time. Three sets of just bodyweight to warm-up and then go for something that I could do a tough 12-15 reps with. The bodyweight stuff was easy. The weighted stuff was what was going to be tricky. Always problems with getting the belt and weights to settle since I’m using straps to grip the yoke setup. Even though I’ve done 30lbs at most, I felt that I could do a good bit more. I felt that 45lbs wasn’t going to be enough. I was a bit lost and then I realized I could try doing my set of kettlebells and all the 10’s that had grips on them. 70lbs would be about right. I’ll have to try a different rigging system next time as the weights hung down a bit so that at the bottom they deloaded completely but kicked in right away. I’d like to try and have tension the whole time. Trial and error. Dips with the slingshot after that. The plan here was to do sets of 8-10 reps working up to 25lbs less than last time I did these. Oof, it was such a pain putting 25lbs on this setup since I had to take the clip off and then thread it. The traction still feels good. Definitely an exercise where it is a lot of strain on the entire body above the waist. I stupidly stuck with doing 10 reps the entire time. This was not easy. These were tough. My elbows were just questioning why I make them suffer so much. I got into a good groove on the last set somehow. Isolation stuff for the rest of the workout. Not to go all out on the band pull a-parts this time. Advised to do 2 sets of 20 reps with a fairly easy band tension. Took a gamble and did the band tension I usually do and it felt really comfortable for these sets. Last thing for the session being the reps of dumbbell extensions. I had no idea how these would go after a break. I decided to do them in the garage rather than inside on the carpet. Carpet deadens things a bit as I had the dumbbells graze my ears letting them settle on I think the fifth rep. I did not like that haha. Just kept going and going. I knew my arms would be sucky later but I got over 50 reps. I was a sweaty mess and I took a bit to cool down while I was stretching. Feels good to be doing something.

July 5, 2020 – Week 7, Day 3

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)

Mobility Prep

NY Barbell Yoke

300x50’ in 6.33 seconds

350x50’ in 5.90 seconds

400x50’ in 6.74 seconds

450x50’ in 6.46 seconds

500x50’ in 7.43 seconds

550x50’ in 7.86 seconds

600x50’ in 8.64 seconds

650x50’ in 9.16 seconds

700x50’ in 10.27 seconds

770x50’ in 11.69 seconds

Sandbag Rows

110x10

210x5

269x5

Sandbag Carry/Prowler Drag Medleys

210x50’/269x50’/285x50’ in 37.16 seconds

210x50’/269x50’/425x50’ in 41.61 seconds

210x50’/269x50’/565x50’ in 49.02 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Everything aches. Went camping for the first time in at least a decade I think. One of the hottest days this year. So no real walking Friday or Saturday. Just kind of vegged out when I got back Saturday for the rest of day. Hoping a night of sleeping in my own bed would have me feeling less achy. I thought I had slept the day away but I actually woke up at a reasonable hour for training. Iced my knees when I woke up for breakfast. Plan had been to do foam rolling like an hour before I started training but I kind of spaced out a bit and ended up rushing and doing it right before training. It felt hot outside. I didn’t realize how hot it was until after I finished training for the day though. Have three fans going in the garage now haha. Body felt okay after warm-ups. Yoke to start off the day as has been the case. 50’ runs going up 50lbs each run. So aim was 50lbs more than last time. Now the plan with moving events is changing as well as the deadlift stuff after this next set of 2 weeks (including this one) where it will be lighter, speed sessions and heavier sessions. This workout would be a heavier session. So I was tempted to stray a little. I did casual empty walk with yoke from the garage to the bottom of the street for the start and did empty sprints. I didn’t go 0-100 on the first one. I was trying to break into things a bit. All my copper sleeves were in the wash. As is usually the case, my 300lbs run was slow. The even sets ended up being faster with 350lbs being under 6 seconds and 450lbs being faster than 400lbs too. 500lbs and above the weight added got me going slower each set. I was curious to see how things would go on these. Not my fastest times on these heavier sets. Some were faster than last time and others weren’t. 700lbs didn’t feel as heavy this time. About a half second faster today. This was where I deviated. See, with the yoke workouts going forward, I’m only really supposed to go up 20lbs a session with the heavy workout and with that math (once a month), I wouldn’t be hitting 800lbs within the online qualifier period of 8/31/20. Now am I going to be doing SC Nats? Not sure. Alabama looks like a not good idea with how COVID-19 is happening. But who knows what will happen in 3.5 months? I guess I’d rather have the option there. So pretty much depending on how 700lbs felt would determine if I went a little heavier. So I did. It felt heavy but I feel it moved ok. I feel that yoke one that takes months to get back to form for me, especially when I go off it a bit as it is just so brutal. Into the garage after that for sandbag rows. I was taking my time with the heat. But also with trying to space things out a bit. See, last time, I had rain and a period where I was stuck in the garage. This time, I wanted to get the medley setup so that I could get to that quicker after doing sandbag stuff. I had to tape up the light bag as it had a tear in it first. Right biceps had been achy but no issues on the first one. Second bag is all floppy. Even though I tightened it up, it still is a flopper. I had to row shrug it a bit to get a good spot. I’m realizing that these are warm-ups for the medley but the pick stuff I like to have a secure grip on these. Slips are where the pain comes. I kind of had it in my fingers for most of the reps. I missed the first rep with the heavy bag as I had it not balanced. My hands were really sweaty and I had my hands slip on the last rep and I didn’t really fight it. No sense risking that. So the sandbag medley and drag. Plan here was to do the same thing as last time. I had lowered my planned numbers for the jumps on the drag as it was a disaster of a first set that first time. Took almost a minute to finish. After I got it without being a slog, I was moving better so I figured that I’d keep the weight the same that first set as last time but bump up the other sets by 50lbs to get the feel I want. My hamstrings tendons were feeling sore on that first run. Felt a little slow on the transition to grabbing the heavier bag. The drag was super easy. Time improvement of over 20 seconds. That is more like it haha. I wasn’t quite as winded as I was last time but I felt like I was moving slow afterwards. Second set I felt like I bobbled the heavier bag but I still ended up doing better than last time and this was with 50lbs added to the drag. About 7.5 seconds better. Now I was really feeling it after that run. I took my time resetting. It already takes time to reset but I needed the rest. I could feel myself feeling nauseous and got some water to go with the BCAAs as that just didn’t seem to be enough. I sat in front of the fans for a few moments before I got myself ready to do this last run. Heavy drag with 50lbs more added. This time I did bobble the heavy bag. Each set I felt that went poorly. Now unlike the last time I really mucked this up, I was able to recover and move much quicker. So even with the drop and adding 50lbs to last time, this was still over 2 seconds faster than last time. It took a while to cool down. Turns out it was 96 degrees outside when I was doing all of this. Maybe hotter. I finally got cool enough to stretch and then iced my knees later in the evening.

July 2, 2020 – Week 7, 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

120x10

210x5

300x5

390x5

Crunches

bwx35

Lying Leg Raises

bwx35

Planks

bw+45x60 seconds

Side Planks

bw+15x60/60 seconds

Stretching

Comments: The short workout again. I felt like crap. Good thing the plan was to lighten the workload on the deadlift day for two weeks. I was feeling like I had a cold. Was initially going to do this during my lunch break but with how things went last time and with not feeling so hot, I elected to wait until after work. I took an allergy pill during lunch and that seemed to help. I had taken nasal spray and Dayquil when I woke up. The plan was to go camping the next day. It was getting warm pretty quick. Added some more fans to the garage so that there is a constant airflow and a dull hum the entire time haha. Walk followed by the usual stuff. Knees had been achy but felt ok by the time I got to the lifting. First exercise was squatting to a box. Another day with Liza lifting in the garage. It’s a nice feeling. Squats with the goblet style are easy and feel good. Weights and reps staying the same for who knows how long. But that is fine by me. I like how these feel better than the front squats but it might just be the increased weight and the leverage that make these feel easy and not awkward. Axle rdls followed. The plan here was only working up to 380lbs with set reps and jumps. I did the empty axle for 15 reps and then decided I’d just do the plate jumps, which would make the working weights 10lbs heavier than planned. This felt better to me since that meant I didn’t have to deal with small plates. I was having more issues with keeping the weight from rolling (I had to add more wood to the one saw horse) with the angle of the garage floor from how I set things up. Knees and body were achy. Appreciating that this was a lower effort session. Might be that knowing it was lighter was why I didn’t go all in on this. I also think that if this was to be the day of a heavy triple as originally planned, I would’ve skipped the workout entirely with how I was feeling. The abdominal stuff was the same as last time. Crunches, lying leg raises, planks and side planks in that order. I drank a lot of fluids and put all the stuff away first to have rest and to not be puking up stuff. I had not done the abdominal work last week because reasons. I forget how much missing a week or a workout does on these. These all felt tougher than they usually do. Could be because I was under the weather. I did these in the garage this time so I didn’t have stuff going into the house. Got to relax and stretch before eating dinner and cleaning up to get ready for an early morning and decent drive.

June 30, 2020 – Week 7, Day 1

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)

Mobility Prep

Lock Big 3

10’sx10/10’sx10/10’sx10

Axle Push Presses

40x1

60x1

80x1

100x1

120x1

140x1

160x1

180x1

200x1

220x1

240x1

260x1

280x1

300x1

320x1 PR+5lbs

Rack Chins (yoke, straps)

bwx5

bwx5

bw+35x20 PR+1 rep & 5lbs

Slingshot Dips

bw+5x8

bw+50x8

bw+95x8

bw+140x8

bw+185x8

Band Pull A-parts

MMB+MBx10

MMB+MBx35 PR+2 reps

Paused Floor Rolling Dumbbell Extensions

15’sx10

40’sx49 PR+4 reps

Comments: I wasn’t sure how this would go. I think I was mostly worried about how the overhead work would go as my knees felt like garbage. Like, really achy while walking the day before (in like the middle of my walk) and just walking around the house. Started a bit later with training as I was a little tired and I ate a big lunch. Liza worked out with me so that was nice.. Shoulder drills after the usual warm-ups. I was sweating pretty good already. Outside for the other stuff. Axle out of the rack in the street again. Same as the last time going up in singles to a top single, taking 20lbs jumps. Knees weren’t really bothering me thankfully. Keeping an eye on the right biceps. Put on the copper sleeves on my everything. Speed felt good and the pressure on the shoulders from unracking was not nearly as bad as last time, as I thought it would. Then my bar speed seemed to slow down at lockouts. Lockouts didn’t feel as strong. Taking bits and pieces of support stuff and using everything by 260lbs. I was not feeling confident with getting my goal of 320lbs or above it. 300lbs went up but the lockout was a bit tougher than I’d like for something that I can rep for a few on a good day. So I told myself that I wasn’t going to go any heavier (like I did last time) if I got the next lift as I tend to get excited for the PR stuff. It flew up to lockout and it was easier than 300lbs was. It was very tempting to go for more but I shut it down there. Nothing is really coming up yet. Already paying for going for broke on the deadlift stuff the past few weeks. Trying to be smart about stuff. Maybe it was easier because I got hyped up. Maybe I liked the song. Maybe it was because Liza was watching haha. Then it was time for the rack chins. Two sets of bodyweight to warm-up and then a max rep set with weights. 5lbs more added this time. That can be a pain to setup the weight belt for these. My right biceps felt a pulling setting up for that first set but it was more like a stretch. I haven’t been keeping up with the soft tissue work for the upper body the past few days. Sometimes it seems doing stuff helps and other times it seems not doing stuff is better for it. These were feeling pretty good. I didn’t think I’d get to 20 reps though with how it felt. Last time I was feeling some biceps tenderness trying to go for too many more reps but not today. Dips with the slingshot after that. Trying to move things along as it was already around 7:00PM by this point. 5lbs more than last time. Like night and day from last time though. I felt whooped. Stuff felt like 45lbs heavier haha. My second to last set felt like +180lbs felt last time. I was not sure I’d get like 1 rep with 185lbs added. Triceps were not cooperating today. It felt so damn heavy but I got reps. I think I got six before I had to rest pause the last two reps. Got a big cramp in my neck on the last rep locking it out. It is a hassle to get things setup here with the weights and then getting up to dip but I like the traction I get on my back. The last two exercises were the reppage ones again. Band pull aparts started ok. Felt easy on the warm-up set and then hard on the working set. Usually the opposite. Still managed to eek out two extra reps. Felt good. No pains anywhere on these. Dumbbells for the triceps. I ran into issues as I miscounted twice. I was really only aiming for 1-2 more reps and I was worried I had miscounted two reps. Turns out I was 4 reps more this time. I could’ve done another for an even 50 reps. Ugh, so much time. Like 2 minutes straight of triceps. I could feel them shaking the rest of the evening. Too late to really get any stretching in so it was showering and eating dinner with some icing of my knees and some soft tissue work on my back.