January 30, 2021 – Week 24, Day 3

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes
 
Mobility Prep
 
Titan Fitness Farmer’s Walk
Turns at 50’
135x100’ in 14.30 seconds (right)
135x100’ in 14.65 seconds (left)
Turns at 25’
185x50’ in 10.40 seconds (right)
185x50’ in 10.78 seconds (left)
No Turns
235x100’ in 14.06 seconds
285x100’ in 15.03 seconds

Sandbag Loads (62”)
225x1
275x1
313x1
313x1
313x1
313x1
313x1

Sandbag Carries
313x100’ in 15.86 seconds (load style)
313x100’ in 17.11 seconds (bearhug style)

Stretching
 
Comments: Feeling the workouts since the last time I did this session. Weather report is saying a lot of snow coming soon. Like up to 18”. No thank you. Once was enough this winter. So kind of play it by ear I guess as far as how the training week will go. Not really feasible to bring the squat rack inside again as it is a pain getting it through the house. And if it is as much snow as last time, not looking forward to that either. I knew that for this workout, some of the things that felt easy last time may be a tougher this time around. The rest had let me recover from the fatigue as well as taking all those anti-inflammatories I guess helped with the achy joints. I kind of wanted to sleep more but I didn’t want a repeat of last week where it was dark and I was still doing events in the street. I thought I’d need warm-ups on for today but with the sun out and no real win, it was comfy, even at 36 degrees (the high this week haha). Warming up felt ok. Knees were achy today. Progressed with the knee drills as even though achy, felt the same with and without weight. So up first, farmer’s walk. I didn’t get the perfect warm-ups here as a car got really close to where I was when I was about to start the turn (empty handles) so I kind of had to alter things a little. I didn’t think I was doing too bad with these with the turns but this was a bit slower than last session. I felt like I was a little better with the turns on the short runs this time around, despite being slower overall. The first part of the farmer’s had been the same weights as last time. Next part was 10lbs added per hand from previous session. I knew I could handle it, even on a bad day. I had to stop drinking stuff during the workout after the short runs as I kept having indigestion. The hardest thing with the straight shot runs was keeping from puking in my mouth while I was bent over with the hard belt. That was really annoying. I did a little bit on the first set and managed to not puke on the second set. I didn’t feel as worn out cardiovascular wise on these this time but I could tell that I still need to work on my conditioning to be able to keep up the pace the entire run. I put all the weights away before I even thought about doing the sandbag loads. I was still feeling burpy on these. Plan here was doing the same thing as last time. 5x1 with the 313lbs bag EMOM style. For working up, I dropped the 175lbs bag and went straight to the 225lbs bag. I could tell that my hips weren’t going to be as pop fresh on these. Last time, I was just tossing the bag up. But that had been with me only doing 315lbs on deadlifts. Now doing 405lbs on the deadlifts. So I knew this wasn’t going to feel as easy as last time and I was probably going to have to extend. But I also realized that I could pop this weight bag up if I’m powerful enough. Thankfully, it was like maybe one rep in to this that the burps subsided. I feel that I got better as I went. First two were not as strong on the extension and got on the bar and needed a little shove over. Third one I didn’t have a secure a grip to pick it as I like so it was a little tougher to lap but I was able to launch the bag over for that and the subsequent reps. So after that was sandbag carries. Same weights. Idea being to maintain and not go higher as it could take away from other workouts on things that still have a ways to go to be mastering contest weight or more. Despite not being faster on the farmer’s walk stuff with the same weight, and feeling not as powerful off the lap on the sandbag loads, I figured that I could improve my speed on the sandbag carries since this would be the second time doing it and usually I can get more efficient with them. I keep telling myself while I do these to move faster. I definitely noticed I spent a lot less time just hovering over the sandbag before I started as I knew it could be done. My preferred style for moving fast with it I cut the time by over a second. Bearhug style is a bit slower. Last session, I had to redo my pick as I didn’t get it balanced enough to get it up safely. I got it right the first time this time around. However, I felt like I was slowing down and I wasn’t certain I’d be faster than last time. But I did. Not as big of a increase but close to a second here too. My knees (especially my right one) were really achy after those runs. I’ll need to keep an eye on them. May be taking Advil before bed and putting some of that ointment on. Before stretching, I put down salt on the driveway, walkway and patio. The snow may start before I wake up tomorrow so better to get it down now. No clue if it will make my job of shoveling any easier. 

January 28, 2021 – Week 24, Day 2

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes
 
Mobility Prep
 
18” Box Squats
bwx26 (miscounted)

18” Safety Squat Bar Box Squats w/ bands
65x10
Added Bands (+25lbs bottom/+44lbs top)
65x5
115x3
155x3
190x3
225x3
225x3
225x3

Deadlifts
45x10
135x5
185x1
225x1
275x1
315x1
365x1
405x1
405x1
405x1
405x1
405x1

Planks
bw+45x60 Seconds

Side Planks
bw+15x60/60 Seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: Another cold day. And very windy. I was very busy with work so I didn’t really have the time to setup for the workout during my lunch break like I have been doing so that I can get through the workout quicker. So that meant getting my warm-ups on before training so that I could get everything setup for outside. I had not done all of the soft tissue work I had planned that day before and no icing of knees. I figured it was ok to skip that since the previous workout wasn’t really that rough on the knees. Warm-ups felt good. So on to the workout. So plan for the session was light stuff that moved fast. Like last time for the most part. So box squats with bands using the ssb. So ideally working up to 55% for 3x3. So really just adding 20lbs on to what my top weight was for last time to keep it simple-ish. I was surprised with how windy it was that my camera didn’t get knocked over. I guess my house blocking the drafts from getting just right like when I train out in the street. Ground almost frozen so it has been cold a good bit this week. Trying to treat these serious in that I’m wearing support stuff and not just doing them with no belt of any kind. Bodyweight squatting felt fine but I miscounted. I was either 2 over or just at 25. Trying to move this weight fast on the working sets. Like trying to make it move faster than the previous weights and sets. Not as easy I think as 205lbs was last time. I feel I didn’t exactly “box squat” the reps sometimes. More of a squat to box on the first two reps and then a true sit back box squat on the last rep of the set. I was taking about a minute rest between sets with the top weight. So after that was inside for deadlifts. Continuing with the weekly EMOM pulls and progression. It is aggressive jumps. Now something was different this time. My father had purchased a new barbell as he wanted to give my old one to my younger sister. I said ok as long as it fit my plates. It fits the same plates as my other one so that leaves about half my 45’s not fitting. To remedy that, he said he’d get another pair of 45’s of some kind. So bar definitely feels more “dead” in the hands as far as weight. Doesn’t feel like it will bend or flex any. Which is fine and good for training purposes. Knurling is a bit different and the markings are slightly wider spacing. Also it spins. Which actually became a problem. See, my garage is slightly slanted so sometimes the bar with weights rolls down but usually with enough weight it doesn’t. At least that was the case with the old junk bar as it would not spin freely. So after a few sets, I ended up putting the crash pads down so that it would keep my bar from rolling down into the garage door. So plan was to do 405lbs for the EMOM. I was still thinking of doing it with no straps. Just put chalk. 225lbs felt really good for that one single. Like, I wish that rep was every rep I did. When it was time to lift 405lbs for the EMOM, I wasn’t sure how it would go. Breathing was fine, putting on the hard belt didn’t hamper me. This still is a work in progress. It moved well but I really wish it moved better. Like, this is how 500lbs needs to move for me to be doing 700lbs. That was what I was thinking. No pain or anything. Rehydrated while putting stuff away so I could do abdominal stuff. Planks were easy. Nothing crazy. Finished up with cleaning up the stuff I lifted and eating dinner before stretching out. Iced knees before bed too.

January 26, 2021 – Week 24, Day 1

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes
 
Mobility Prep
 
12” Log Viper Presses
Kettlebells
15’sx5
Log
92x1
112x1
132x1
152x1
172x1
192x1
212x1

12” Log Strict Presses
212x2
212x2
212x2
212x2
212x2
 
Inverted Ring Rows
bwx10
bwx10
bwx10
 
Slingshot Dips
bwx10
bw+26x5
bw+50x5
bw+76x5
bw+100x5
bw+126x5
bw+150x5
 
Paused Band External Rotations
mbx10/10

Active Bar Hang (thick bar)
bw for 25 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: So more training. I was honestly expecting by this point to be feeling a bit more beat up then I did after Saturday’s workout considering that they were movements I hadn’t done in 6 weeks and the keg carry generally causing bruising in my midsection and lower arms. Especially after a long break from it. Trying to keep on top of the recovery work. Didn’t get icing in on my knees the night before training. It was either soft tissue work or icing and I chose the soft tissue work to give the lower arms and biceps extra attention with the keg bruises. Day of training didn’t start out great. Lower back felt tight. Not painful or anything, just like it was finally feeling Saturday’s training this many days later. It was also cold with wintry mix. So I was potentially going to have to alter training plans. It wasn’t bad and it mostly stopped by the time I was going to lift. However, with it being cold, I ended up putting down salt on the patio to keep it from freezing or refreezing. Warming up felt good and fine today. First up for the day being log viper pressing. Not working too heavy. Only working up to about the weight I was going to do my strict press work with. And I figured that these wouldn’t feel that good after the keg and sos stuff. I was a little stiff lapping the essentially empty log but got better as I went. Not trying to say I needed weight for mobility but kind of did haha. Not feeling like I was getting that full power hip drive but what I was getting seemed to be explosive enough. My one 2.5lbs plate that I broke months ago has been holding up but it came apart during my sets. I ended up reinforcing it with more tape. Fairly comfortable single. Would’ve liked to have done more but not the plan for the day. So needed to tear down to setup for the next thing. I decided that for this workout, I’d do the exercises as quickly as I felt I could and then drink my BCAAs during the period of time between setting up for the next exercise. So log strict press next. No set percentages. Just indicated to pick weight that I felt I’d hit perfect reps on for 5x2 and feel that I can easily add 5-10lbs to next time. My thinking here was that I did 207lbs for 3x3 last time beltless and without even my lifting shoes and felt pretty good. So I figured 5lbs more with my belt on (assuming that I’d be feeling some fatigue rather than being fresh) would be within my ability. Trying to get into a good groove on these to start. Hoping that kind of rocking and not just straight up pressing will give me more transfer with the motion of the viper pressing. I got a little off balance on the first set with how fast it went up and I wasn’t ready for it to go up and back. I usually take longer rests but I felt like just doing short rests here. Like almost EMOM rest periods. Left shoulder was a little achy on these but ok. So after that, more tearing down stuff to setup the next thing. This was a new one for me this training. Inverted rows with rings. I think it has been like 8 years since I did these with any intent. Maybe less time with other variations. I never liked them with a barbell but these feel nice with the rings. I ended up getting wooden rings as the plastic ones were sold out. And slightly thicker ones since they were slightly cheaper. I had been thinking about setting these up and testing out before today but it slipped my mind and I figured I’d just do it day of. So plan here was to do 3 sets of moderate reps. Leaving 2-3 reps in the tank on each set. I will say that this is my best form I’ve ever had on these. However, I didn’t really have an eye for filming this setup to see everything so only my last set really shows the full movement well. No biceps issues. Since wooden, can’t leave outside so had to tear down again. So after that, slingshot dips. So plan here was working up in 25lbs jumps after a warm-up set to a weight I felt I could do 10-12 reps but only be doing 5 reps. The plan going forward would be to just go up a very small amount each time. It has been a while since I’ve had a decent amount of weight on these (and by that, I mean 3 plates or more). I just felt like doing below that was not enough and not worth the hassle of setup. Sometimes, the setup to do it is more taxing then doing it. Lower back appreciated the traction on the earlier sets. I realized that usually when going heavier, it had been bigger jumps. So figuring plate math out was trick in how the chain would move. Over 100lbs was a pain in the ass to get into position. I put on wrist wraps for the 150lbs set. Could feel that. I’ll need to be mindful of how I setup the hanging weight as I totally forgot about my kettlebells that could’ve made things easier. Last items for the evening were the shoulder health stuff. Band external rotations with pauses and active bar hang. Just did them one after the other. Put stuff away while cooking my dinner and stretched after I ate. Iced knees, left shoulder and both elbows before bed.

January 23, 2021 – Week 23, Day 3

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes
 
Mobility Prep
 
NY Barbell Yoke
270xpick
270x50’ in 6.12 seconds
350x50’ in 6.24 seconds
400x25’ in 4.18 seconds
450x25’ in 4.14 seconds
500x50’ in 6.97 seconds
500x50’ in 7.37 seconds
500x50’ in 6.72 seconds
 
Stone of Steel Loads (62”, tacky towel)
140x1
196x1
250x1
302x1
302x1
302x1
302x1
302x1

Power Keg Carries
284x100’ in 17.29 seconds
284x100’ in 17.82 seconds
 
Stretching
 
Comments: This was to be a coming back kind of workout. Reason being that I’ve not done yoke or stone of steel for 6 weeks now due to various reasons. I should’ve adjusted my expectations accordingly especially when I didn’t feel good at all the day before. I mean, working hard in training the joint aches are to be expected but I felt like I had a cold Friday and ended up taking nasal spray and Dayquil and then Nyquil so that I slept soundly. I did make sure to do soft tissue work and ice my knees. I had debated walking or not but I figured I should do some walking to help with getting lower back not be stiff. I had a good night sleep and big meal for dinner and I felt like I wasn’t ever feeling under the weather the previous day. Since this whole work from home thing started, usually just getting a good night’s sleep and some allergy medications seems to take care of it by the following day. And I honestly can’t tell if I have terrible allergies or if I get really weak colds. I got a little bit of a late start as I was trying to watch the livestream for the Pro/Am in Kentucky. After watching the record breakers portion (my block press record was broken  haha) I gave up trying to follow the action with 3 contests going on at the same time. Not a good day for outdoor training. A few degrees below zero and the wind was howling at the start. I wore my warm-ups to get warm before I started training. This was also because I needed to unpack my new Power Keg that arrived this week. Testing out how it feels, and what it weighs. Also making sure that weights fit (none of them get stuck like some implements so good). I can also add chains to it with the weights I have to get it to 450lbs if necessary. It came on a very small but sturdy pallet that is just the perfect height for the one knee drill I’ve been doing so now I’ll be using that going forward. Warm-ups felt pretty good. I was not feeling like I could take on Clubber Lang this time in warm-ups but to be expected with a week of heavy training wearing me down. Yoke up first. So with the hiatus from yoke, weight and plan modified. Also because of the back issue that happened two weeks ago. So plan here was going back to the 3 runs of 50’ with the same weight after warming up. Empty runs to start things off. I didn’t feel any hamstring or calf pain like sometimes after heavy pulls and then doing yoke. So that is good to notice right off the bat. I didn’t want to worry about another run with the weight so I started with 270lbs. I did a pick first. It was really cold outside so I kept my warm-ups and gloves on until I was ready to go for my set. A few times the wind either knocked my camera off the stand or moved the stand to face away from me. But I got all the runs recorded. I could tell I was slower than what I was doing at my best. Not so much with moving the weight but more in my start. Knees aching a bit here on the pick up so I was slower but I was hoping that I’d make up for it in gaining speed and maintaining. After the first two runs, I switched to half course runs to get used to the weight and work the start. I started to get a little better by getting things moving right for 450lbs. Granted, these were all slower than my best times. But not so much that there be a major cause for concern as all under a second difference. Then on to the working weight. I thought I had a chance at beating my PR time for this weight with this yoke with how the pick felt on that first set. Second set felt heavier to me. Third set I knew was fastest of the three. But not fast enough to beat my PR. From there, I did the biceps and back drills before moving all the weights and stuff into the garage. I closed up the garage so that I could keep things a little warmer and to stop the wind from blowing more leaves inside. Stone of steel was on deck. So the plan here was to do 80% of what I felt my 1rm was for the day and do EMOM for 5 singles. Now I usually interpret this as doing what my 1rm was or is during training. So I felt with how the last session where I did these went, that I could expect 366-370lbs as a single to this height as the pick hasn’t been bad. So that would put what I needed to aim for as 293-296lbs. I tried looking back through trainings to get an idea of what plate-math I needed to get that and what jumps made sense. I elected to do “55lbs” jumps as that seemed to be what I’d need to get where I wanted to. These were not feeling great. I felt rusty. Part of it was that my tacky towel was not feeling very sticky. The other part of it I think was that I was leery going into full extension with my lower back. I could feel the stone of steel slipping on me on the second lift. I had kind of hoped to not need a “fresher” tacky towel for this session but I guess I did. When it was time for the working weight, I did. That one will now be my warm-up one and I’ll use a new one next time for my working set towel. The weight ended up being heavier than I wanted it to be by 6lbs. It was getting colder and darker outside and this wasn’t the last thing of the day so screw it. The first two lifts on the EMOM, I was not going full extension I think out of concern of my lower back. I think I realized that I was doing that subconsciously after the second lift. I hadn’t been doing full extension on loads with the sandbag last week as I was able to get enough power from the hips (they were pretty fresh, same as lower back) that I was able to just launch it over. Can’t really do that on the stones when lower back is fatigued and I have to get it higher to load. After that realization, I got my body to accept doing full extension and the lifts were cleaner. So normally this is the end of the session but with USS Nats prep stuff being added, I still had exercise left. This is where the Power Keg comes into the picture. I got an adjustable keg for home gym use as it is a pain in the ass getting kegs in a dry town in a state with a state run liquor control board. Pay the weight in shipping. So plan was 2 sets of 100’, just like the sandbag carries last week. I was initially going to be stupid. I was planning on doing 340lbs for this so that it would be the same percentage over the contest weight of 325lbs as my 313lbs sandbag is to the contest weight of 300lbs. Mr. Westerling politely told me to not do that and work at most 300lbs. Reasons being that I don’t need to be killing myself now. I haven’t done a keg carry since April, I just go over a lower back strain and going for just 10lbs under my lifetime best keg carry (that I couldn’t carry up high) is all kinds of stupid. Especially when it has become dark, is below freezing and you need to wear reflective gear. I did my best to kind of clean up the tacky towel. I took out weight and it came out to be 284lbs so within parameters. I tend to forget the pain factor with keg carries. That initial shock of the hard object hitting the arms on the pick to the chest and then the unyielding nature of it causing pressure on the midsection and hips. The sandbag squishes, the keg does not. This was definitely a wise decision to go with this weight. I alternated sides when it came to the tilt and pick up on the keg between the sets. Every since that biceps pull end of 2017, it is important to work both sides in case something like that happens. I was done when I finished this workout. I think I just sat for about an hour before I felt like stretching or eating haha. Hopefully I can stay healthy and keep putting in the work.

January 21, 2021 – Week 23, Day 2

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes
 
Mobility Prep
 
Goblet Squats to Box (15”)
bwx25
40x10
40x10
 
Deadlifts
45x10
135x5
185x1
225x1
275x1
315x1
365x1
365x1
365x1
365x1
365x1

Paused Ab Wheel
bwx10

Paused Side Plank Raises
bwx10/10

Stretching
 
Comments: Definitely feeling the wear of the week in both training and work. Sleep has been mostly good. And haven’t really had a moment to breath and worry about any aches. Finally getting to where not really feeling any tenderness in the lower back on the left side. I knew that this workout would be a shorter one with the current setup for these next few weeks with the deadlifting plans. Banded box squats one week, goblet squats the other. Much easier to setup one versus the other haha. Warming up felt fine. I was trying to get liquids in me earlier on so that I could try and go through the workout without taking too much time between exercises so I could then get started on dinner while putting stuff away. I was not expecting my knees to be achy when it came time to lift today. Especially not with how I was feeling. I did miss time the night before for soft tissue work besides my hamstrings, lower and upper back. Goblet squats were reduced intensity in the sense less total reps and the reps divided over 2 sets instead of 1. Knees being achy not a good time. So after that, deadlifts. As previously mentioned, this is weekly of working up to 5 singles EMOM style.  Aggressive jumps in weight being the hopeful plan. 40-50lbs jumps each session. I’m working at the higher end (as I was told it was ok to do 275lbs – 315lbs last time) and things feel good so hopefully I get to the goal on pace. I decided that I wanted to do this session no straps. But I added chalk for my working weight. I’m not sure yet if I will try for straps next time or not but it will definitely be with a hard belt. The 50lbs added was noticeable but still pulling these fast. Put on a good song for the EMOM stuff. Last single the song switched over and it was too loud so I missed the cue of the last timer going off haha. Usually I take a break to put stuff away before moving on to abdominal stuff. But like I said, I wanted to finish things up so I could move on to meal prep and relaxing. The usual paused abdominal work that I’ve been alternating with the weighted planks each week again. The reps were reduced quite a bit. So I tried my best to not rush the movement on the ab wheel in both the extension and retraction. I felt like my flexibility is getting better as well as having strength in the range of motion. I’m able to get my midsection to touch the floor on some reps now and not have my core collapse on me. For the plank raises, I’d been doing holds at the top and then lowered slowly with a fast concentric. I tried moving deliberately for the entire movement this time. After that, rehydrated and got cooking as I put weights away. Stretched after eating and iced my knees before bed. Looking forward to the weekend to sleep in.

January 19, 2021 – Week 23, Day 1

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes
 
Mobility Prep
 
Axle Clean and Push Presses
50x1
70x1
90x1
110x1
130x1
150x1
170x1
190x1
210x1
230x1
250x1

Axle Half Clean and Push Presses
250x1
250x1
250x1
250x1
250x1
 
Rack Chins (yoke, straps)
bwx10
bwx27

12” Log Incline Bench Presses
87x5
117x3
137x3
157x3
177x3
197x3
217x16

Paused Floor Band Trap 3 Raises (2 count, cross style)
µbx12
 
Active Bar Hang (thick bar)
bw for 25 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: Well I guess something better than others haha. I apparently had a really stiff neck last time I did this kind of workout. This time around, some lower back stuff. Obviously not as bad as it was but some sensations. Trying to not use Advil stuff to mask pain. It was needed last week for sure. Left shoulder was a little beat up from roughhousing with my little nephew for 3 days in a row. But other than ok. Ok, besides the irritability I was having with work that day back after a 3 day weekend. I kind of needed that with how intense my Saturday workout was and to get back on track with things as far as recovery stuff and chores. I got some things setup during my lunch break for later. Ended up weighing myself for the first time in what feels like months and I was 291lbs. I figured I should check as people saying I look bigger and I also don’t want to be over 308lbs by mistake and screw things up for USS Nats event order. Have I ever weighed over 300lbs even with my shoes on? No. Warm-ups fine. I was expecting some knee aches since Saturday was a tougher session for the knees compared to the rest of the week but felt good. The shoulder drill has been good. It was a little harder on the shoulders (left really) this time around but that’s ok. Still better than the worst it has felt on these by a long shot (when doing them on the ground). So after that, it was time to do the training. Axle clean and press for today to start things off. So some changes. The normal stuff of working up in singles doing 20lbs jumps stayed the same. As well as starting with the bumpers from the start which started last time. However, the plan here was just to work up to the weight that I wanted to be doing for the half clean and push press stuff later. My goal for that was working weight of 250lbs so that meant working up to that with the full lift first. So good was knees didn’t ache too bad, even at the start. But I did notice that my biceps were sore and that could mean that I’m not going to be able to pull high enough as the weight increases to stick to just a single pop for these. I also need to be smarter on picking the shirts for upper body sessions. Just having a grip shirt under a shirt isn’t good enough to keep from having stuff slide. I had thought the shirt I had on was good but apparently not. I had to resort to double pop on the gut after putting my hard belt on. Now unlike the last time this happened, it didn’t throw me off and I was able to go with it. 250lbs was sloppy technically. The press was super easy. However, I caught it a little low on the clean and rather than standing up to let it settle, I went for the press from that position. I have a bad habit of trying to go for the press right after the recovery of the clean and sometimes it isn’t the best option. Sometimes I get stuck on the appropriate track of approach. Between “you stop, you die” and “smooth is fast”. So from there, on to the half clean and push presses. The plan here being 5x1 done EMOM style. I figured that 10lbs more than what I was doing 5x2 with (with 2 minutes rest or so) would be within the parameters. This felt tough. The shirt situation I was really having to fight the weight to get it to a good spot to transition to the shoulders. The press part of it was easy. Felt like half my rest was putting the wrist wraps back on haha. I’m proud of myself of not rushing things on the clean even with the weight taking a few attempts to get it where it needs to be. I’m getting better at knowing when the bar is at the right spot. This might be the most weight I’ve attempted to do for overhead presses EMOM style. So rack chins again after that. A bit of change up here too. So I guess given more options on how to proceed here. If I felt like pure crap, just do 3x10 and call it a day. If I feel pretty good but not like I’d set any kind of PR, I’d go and do the method of 1 extra rep volume increase progression that I’ve been doing. If however, I felt like a beast, I could do a warm-up set and then do a max rep set. Now, I’ve rarely felt like a possessed beast after all that axle clean and pressing haha. However, I figured that since I don’t have a PR for reps with just bodyweight on this exercise, It would make sense to try and set one to then get a gauge of things going forward. First set I always feel off and it usually is just something to decompress from the pressing and get the shoulders, lats and biceps stretched out. 20 reps would tie what I’ve done with 35lbs added to my waist so I wanted to do at least 21 reps. I kind of follow the set progression of doing them with back tension at the start, then switching to deadhang reps and then using some momentum to keep the set going. Similar to how I’d do my high rep pulldowns with heavy weight in the past. I stopped at 27 as I felt that I’d need too much to keep going. Next back outside for incline log pressing. Same as it has been, 5lbs more for the top set. Although if I feel like crap, just do like five reps and call it there. This one can be tricky to tell. I had to check to see if I had been using wrist wraps or not. I’ve been not. Figure I keep them off until I start to see reps go down a lot. Still feeling good on these. I just remember how the biceps tendonitis in the lead up to Arnold had made benching not be viable options for me in training. Shoulders feel ok and chest muscles feeling the work. After that, shoulder health things. The band trap stuff felt much better this time around and didn’t seem to be stressing the left shoulder so much. Actually seemed to take some tension off of it. Easy bar hang stuff. After that was done, put all the weights away and ate a pot roast. Stretched and iced my knees to call it a night.

January 16, 2021 – Week 22, Day 3

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes
 
Mobility Prep
 
Titan Fitness Farmer’s Walk
Turns at 50’
135x100’ in 13.98 seconds (right)
135x100’ in 13.85 seconds (left)
Turns at 25’
185x50’ in 10.25 seconds (right)
185x50’ in 10.23 seconds (left)
No Turns
225x100’ in 13.89 seconds
275x100’ in 14.46 seconds

Sandbag Loads (62”)
175x1
225x1
275x1
313x1
313x1
313x1
313x1
313x1

Sandbag Carries
313x100’ in 17.37 seconds (load style)
313x100’ in 18.02 seconds (bearhug style)

Stretching
 
Comments: This ended up being a really good workout. I was optimistic after how my back didn’t just explode after the last workout that I could put my full into things again. Or at least most things. I went cold turkey on the anti-inflammatories Friday so that I could see how things really were. Work wasn’t terribly stressful. I ended up having a large dinner and then having to play “fight” my one nephew for what had to have been 30 minutes. My joints weren’t killing me. Some of that might be due to the lighter weights for lower body stuff this week and taking 8 Advil a day for the past 5 days as I only had iced my knees Thursday night. Body felt a little stiff waking up. I was a little nervous actually to train so I stayed in bed a little bit longer than I really needed to. It was still earlier than I had expected to be up and about so it was good. So the day began. So warm-ups felt good. I swept a lot of the street to clear debris. It had rained a bit last night but it was sunny out so most of it was dry. The one drill for warm-up that is for my knees had a planned progression to it over a month. But due to me essentially doing every other weekend for events because reasons (depression and pain) meant I only did one of the workouts before today. Which would be with double the reps and more weight. But it felt great. I was moving like Rocky in Rocky III when he was working with Apollo on his foot work. Not the end result but like midpoint of the training montage haha. So start of real workout. So initially, the plan before I oops my lower back last week was same as last time but 10lbs more on farmer’s walk for things besides the first set and try for two more reps on the sandbag load. Back issue meant change in approach to this week. Initially that change was very, very light workout with no fancy stuff. But then my back was recovering quickly this time and fancy stuff was added. And by fancy I mean new exercises and more event specific stuff being added for USS Nationals. So up first, farmer’s walk. So plan here same as last time. Depending on how I felt, I had weight ranges. My hope here was that since I was grabbing things to my side, that I’d be ok to go heavier than say a pull with the weight out in front of my body. Obviously if I felt something was slightly off, I was shutting it down. So full contest course length to start, alternating turning. I felt that I was slow and that my turns weren’t great. However, turns out that I was almost a second faster than last time (I wasn’t doing good on the light stuff last time) and a slight increase over my best during training with these handles so far. Then moved to half course. I really felt the turns sucked here. But I didn’t feel like my sore biceps were a distraction this time around. I thought I hit the cone on my second set but video says nope. About a half a second faster than last time so improvement here. So then a shift after that. Now the workout sheet indicated a weight range and a distance range. 50’ – 100’ with 200 – 225 for the first set and 200 – 275 for the second set. So my understanding of this was that this was getting to more contest specific with now doing full contest length with weights and eventually working up to doing them with a turn. So possible option was to do first set just 50’ and the last set full length to save energy. Because really, the pick was the only part of this that would be a real risk to me so if I can pick it up, I might as well go the distance. I noticed that a lot of the time when doing longer distance stuff, I’m usually not doing the distance for all the runs. But I figured I should do 100’ for both runs because if I did just 50’, then I’d have to cart those handles 50’ to get back to the start for 100’. I needed to do the work. I really don’t know why I was anxious doing 225lbs for 100’. It was easy. And I also don’t really know why I got the same way with 275lbs. I got on the song I wanted to be playing for it and got set. Pick felt slow but I felt good moving with the weight. I was very surprised that this was over 2.5 seconds better than what I’ve done with this kind of weight (with 18” pick too). Longer distance definitely a bit more exhausting than 50’ runs. But that will come back fairly quick. From there, into the garage. But not for rows. Right into sandbag loads. I was feeling burpy so I put away all the weights before messing with loads. I wasn’t sure how these would go. This was going to be purely by feel today. Plan was work up to what I felt safe lifting and do 5 EMOM singles. I less likely to have form break doing singles with EMOM versus doing a rep set. Taped up my one shin since I have scab from pulls a few weeks ago and didn’t want to risk tearing it open and bleeding on my stuff. So I started with my lightest sandbag. The sandbags felt like nothing today. I was literally tossing them over the bar. So it just made sense to work with the 313lbs bag for today. Depending on how it felt would dictate the last bit of the workout. I was very explosive this time around. Just throwing it over. I don’t think I’ve done a session with this bag for loads where I didn’t have at least one rep where it came down on the bar from my load and it had to be shoved a little to go. So with that, I figured I’d do the same weight for the last bit of training. Sandbag carries. It has been over 6 months since I’ve last done these in any capacity. I have a feeling that not doing these has been coupled with only doing short distance moving events to let me knees get healthy again. So even though I was just ragdolling this sandbag, I was nervous about it. That it was too much weight and I’d fall short. Maybe 275lbs was a better idea. Like, I knew I could carry this for 50’. I finally talked myself into doing the top weight as this was about contest weight and I’ll need to get comfortable with it. Knowing I can do it and that I’ll be working to improve it will tell me it is ok. So the plan here was two sets of 100’. Carry it how I would as if I were going to load it the first set and bearhug it the second set. I think part of it was that I was ok with the load carry style but uncertain if I could get this weight bag up in a bearhug. This was technically a 7lbs PR for a sandbag carry. I took my time getting things set. I know I won’t have that luxury in contest but I’ll worry about that as things get more specific and closer. For now, get the work it and be smart. Got it up easy enough and it was easier than I expected. I wasn’t moving super-fast on this. I could feel my lower back getting pumped. Ok, one down, one more to go. I took my time and I actually got it at the wrong spot at first and it slipped. So I walked away and got set again to get it centered and weight distributed right. I got it up that time no problem. As expected, a little slower than the load style (which is the one I plan on doing for the show). Nothing out of the ordinary as far as soreness and aches. Finished up with stretching and a weight gain shake. Already thinking about the next session.

January 14, 2021 – Week 22, Day 2

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes
 
Mobility Prep
 
18” Box Squats
bwx25

18” Safety Squat Bar Box Squats w/ bands
65x10
Added Bands (+25lbs bottom/+44lbs top)
65x5
115x3
155x3
205x3
205x3
205x3

Deadlifts
45x10
135x5
185x1
225x1
275x1
315x1
315x1
315x1
315x1
315x1

Planks
bw+45x60 Seconds

Side Planks
bw+15x60/60 Seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: Kind of a moment of truth thing for this workout. Was I going to be able to handle this or did I have a longer road ahead. Initially this workout was lighter but after how I mentioned I was feeling and my previous workout, the session got changed to something a bit heavier with a plan for the next several weeks. Still taking muscle relaxer for bed and like 8 Advil a day with anti-inflammatory cream on my back a few times a day. Not even sure I still need any of that but I want to make sure I feel ok with a lower body session before I start to ween off or stop. The stuff could be masking the aches and pains for all I know. Could be what is keeping stuff from being inflamed in my lower back. I really needed a good session to get the stress of work and just life in general to chill for a moment. Workout took a bit of setup for outside. Warm-ups felt good. I hadn’t done any icing of my knees this week. I figured that I’m already taking a lot of stuff that is probably why they aren’t as achy as usual. So plan for the session was light stuff that moved fast. So box squats with bands using the ssb. So ideally working up to 50% for 3x3. Bodyweight to start. Lower back a little stiff but ok. Despite it being deadlifting that caused it this time, squats can feel less comfortable because of the compression. Bar on my back and still good. So as far as weight, I took what I did with 335lbs and extrapolated that I could do about 2 or 3 more reps before form broke down too much so that made my max about 410lbs or so with this setup. I’ve done up to 510lbs without bands to this weight in the past but I don’t need to be worrying about that. Just got to work where I can to get better and put my effort into the stuff that will matter. So this came out to 205lbs which was a plate and a 25 on each side so easy jumps. I put on support gear (only up to soft belt) just to make sure I wasn’t being stupid. I didn’t have a set rest period but I kept these short. Might have been pretty close to EMOM pacing here. I generally like to take short rests when I’m to move fast. Seems to add to the urgency to me. The walkout doesn’t really allow me to just lift like say a pull from the floor or something but once I’m set I can move. These felt good and fast. Like I could keep going. So after that was inside for deadlifts. The plan it seems is to do deadlift every week. 5 singles EMOM style, working back up to 500lbs. Once I hit that for 5 easy singles, plan will change. Advised to hold back and not rush back into full bore. Starting weight was listed as between 275lbs to 315lbs. I aim for the top if I can. No issue or pain with deadlifts. Weight was light enough that adding straps would probably slow me down. Really trying to get the placement right. I’m beginning to think that the quality of the bar might be why it rolls out as it gets heavier in weight. It is old, rusted and not exactly high quality to begin with. It doesn’t roll smoothly. So maybe that is something. It has been a while since I’ve been doing legitimate EMOM work for my deadlift and squat. These felt really easy. I messaged Mr. Westerling to let him know that I got through the squats and deadlifts without pain or cramping or spasms but that I’d contact later in the evening to update as last week it happened a little bit after I was done training. So a bit of down time to get fluids in me as I put away all the weights. Planks the same as they have been. A little tougher for the injury prone side this time but still ok. Finished up with eating and stretching. I did ice my knees more because this session actually required knee bending. At this rate, I may be back to 100% by the weekend.

January 12, 2021 – Week 22, Day 1

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes
 
Mobility Prep
 
12” Log Strict Presses
87x5
107x1
127x1
147x1
167x1
187x1
207x3
207x3
207x3
 
Bench Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows (1 second holds)
15’sx10
40’sx10
70’sx10
70’sx10
 
Slingshot Dips
bwx10
bw+26x10
bw+52x10

Paused Band External Rotations
mbx10/10

Active Bar Hang (thick bar)
bw for 25 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: So last few days been a mixed bag. Depends on which days you start at. If we are talking about Thursday to Saturday, they were some sucky ass days. Lot of back pain, lot of self-doubt and self-loathing. Thinking about quitting strongman and strength training in general. Friday and Saturday I could feel my appetite becoming less and less and Tylenol wasn’t doing anything for me. I stayed in bed for about 14hrs Friday into Saturday and spent all day sitting in my recliner with a heating pack on my back watching stupid crap on Netflix to just pass the time. I know better than that. You can’t just stop if you can move. Letting things get stiff isn’t going to help recovery. But I wasn’t thinking about that. Not a proud moment. Frustrated, dehydrated and annoyed. And to be honest, I’d probably still be like that if my dad didn’t check in on me to see why I hadn’t put up my training and why I was doing one word text responses. I didn’t want to admit to myself I was injured again. I didn’t want to go back into the injury clinic for the same thing. Uncontrolled pain frustrates me. But thankfully some analgesic cream and Advil seemed to be curbing the pain. Got back to walking and doing hamstring dynamic work. Obviously workout plan changed a good bit. Each day the pain seems to lessen (feels best in the morning) so that is encouraging. No issues with my warm-ups. I wasn’t too sure I’d be able to do all of them but I could without issue. No cleaning of the log so it was just pressing out of the rack instead. Plan being to do empty log for 5 reps and then do singles with 10-20lbs jumps up to a weight I felt safe with doing for 3x3. I was trying to move through things quick and figured that I’d be better off if I did this workout as if I were coming in off the street. So no support gear and just my regular shoes. Overhead pressing like that was a little off-putting. Kind of the idea so I didn’t overdo it. I felt pretty good with things eventually went up to 207lbs for the working sets. Last rep of the first set I got a little off balance so the lockout was a little tougher. Felt better each set and I felt I could do several more sets like this. Inside for bench rows. These are getting swapped out but no reason risking injury with something new. So reduced the reps a lot but made them paused reps with holds at contraction. That really increases the difficult factor. It felt tiring even with the lighter stuff to warm up with. Then on to dips with slingshot. I have been doing some bodyweight ones over the past few days for the back. Initially things were too tight for it too much but now the inflammation is done enough that it helps again. Low weight for higher reps so I just went one right after the other. Singing along to Garth Brooks haha. Outside again for more shoulder health stuff. Shoulders seem to tolerate the lower volume of the band external rotations as I can use a much higher band tension now. Bar hang felt good on the lower back. Definitely in a better frame of mind and hopefully I can get back to feeling like myself by next week physically.

January 7, 2021 – Week 21, Day 2

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes

 
Mobility Prep
 
Goblet Squats to Box (15”)
bwx25
40x25
 
Deadlifts
45x10
135x5
225x3
315x2
Added Straps
405x1
495x1
550x1

Deadlifts off Crash Mats (touch n go, straps)
485x5

Paused Ab Wheel
bwx15

Paused Side Plank Raises
bwx15/15

Stretching
 
Comments: Again, I wanted today to be good. Especially with everything going on right now. Have something good, even if just for myself. I had been watching deadlift videos to try and correct the bar rolling issue I’ve been having. I was hopeful that this would fix it. I really wish I could tell how I’m feeling with my body with training. I can usually tell with things but not with deadlifting. Warming up felt good. I did end up starting a little late with training as I had to clean up my house a little. I got distracted with everything that was happening the day before. Squatting was easy but I could tell there was some fatigue there. So then on to deadlifts. So the plan here was to either try for heavy or stop at 495lbs. So what I was trying to do was have the bar a little bit away from my shins rather than right up against them so that the bar wasn’t rolling out away from me when I initiated the pull, which is what I seem to be doing as the weights get above 405lbs. The recommendation is midfoot. I have very long feet so I had it a little closer than that. I put on athletic tape on my shins under the socks as I had a feeling that this would result in bloody shins if I didn’t. Seemed good at the start. 315lbs it didn’t seem as good and I had my doubts that this was a good day. But then I put on my belt and do 405lbs and it felt really easy. Ok, so maybe I am feeling good. But then 495lbs didn’t go up as smooth. I guess it still is rolling out on me. So like an idiot, I figured that I’d do 5lbs more than what I stopped at last time, being 545lbs so that I didn’t feel like I wasted a session. I’m panicking with deadlift as I feel that I’ve wasted a month with bad workouts and time is running out for me to get to 700lbs in June. I feel time is running out for me in general to get where I want to be. And perhaps I’m kidding myself and that I’m just mediocre at this thing I do. So go for 550lbs and I’m immediately out of position with the weight out in front of me. Long grinder of a pull. No hitching but my left trap is cramping and I know that I’ve just really messed up my training. Mr. Westerling indicated the bar was still rolling out and that it was ok as I did a tough pull without injury and I should be fine if I only go for 495lbs next time. I’m not so optimistic. Last time I did pulls that had me straining nearly that much took about 6 weeks to feel normal. Moved on to deadlifts from mats. 20lbs more than last time, still doing sets of 5. I was just so mad at this point. The weight was making the one pad compress more than the other (one pad is less firm) so it felt uneven. Usually the first rep is a little tough and then the rest are fast. That first rep was very tough and the other reps were ok but felt like garbage. That grinder took a ton out of me. I finished up with abdominal work to keep my mind off of how angry I was at myself. But I was stupid here and I didn’t get out of it without a toll. My entire lower back seized up on me after I was done training. I was able to stretch and eat dinner and ice my knees but I was in pain. I didn’t feel anything pop, crack or tear so I’m hoping it will calm down but right now it isn’t. I ended up having to take a muscle relaxer for like the first time in almost a year so that I could go to bed. At this point, I’m really not sure if I want to continue doing this. My body has put me in timeout again and it feels like an annual thing at this point.

January 5, 2021 – Week 21, Day 1

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes
 
Mobility Prep
 
Axle Clean and Push Presses
50x1
70x1
90x1
110x1
130x1
150x1
170x1
190x1
210x1
230x1
250x1
270x1
290x1

Axle Half Clean and Push Presses
240x2
240x2
240x2
240x2
240x2
 
Rack Chins (yoke, straps)
bwx5
bwx18
bwx17
bwx17
 
12” Log Incline Bench Presses
87x5
117x3
132x3
152x3
172x3
192x3
212x16

Paused Floor Band Trap 3 Raises (2 count, cross style)
µbx12
 
Active Bar Hang (thick bar)
bw for 25 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: Well, wasn’t really too sure how the day would go. Left side of my neck near base of my skull and just that trap in general have been stiff since Saturday. No real cause other than body hates me and likes to rebel like that. Biceps had been tight after the sandbag stuff Saturday. So I wasn’t really looking forward to axle. Or really anything involving picking it up from the floor and putting it to my shoulders. Knees felt a little stiff at the start of warm-ups but that went away pretty quick. I was feeling a little annoyed/anxious as the day was going. Just typical work related stress. I got honey mustard sauce on my shirt at lunch somehow so that also was irritating. Warm-ups fine. The shoulder drill felt better this time as I knew what to expect. Axle clean and press for today. 20lbs jumps up to 5lbs more than last time. I started out with weights on the bar. Rather than start with anything less than 50lbs, putting the 10lbs bumper plates so that I was pulling same height for all lifts from the start. Knees a little stiff at the start. Better with the pulls this time as I wasn’t going to needing two bumps until 250lbs. I actually had felt good enough for it to be a just a one but it wasn’t and slid down so a little tougher on the clean than I wanted it to be. Pressing felt similar to last time in that not grinders but not flying up. On 270lbs, I got a little forward and kind of had to sloppily let it down walking it back. 290lbs I got off balance a little catching the axle in the racked position so I was little back on the press. Again, the press just was. Comparable to last time with the pressing which is neither bad nor great. Both biceps intact. No pain in anything. I did go through my older videos where I’ve hit this weight on this particular axle. Pressing seems about the same but the clean seems to be more controlled and less panicky. Just got to keep going. Bit by bit. So after that was the new addition of the half clean and pressing. That half clean portion is difficult. It’s not exactly like when I go from the floor to stomach as that has some momentum going whereas this is like going from a dead stop. I might have rushed the pressing a little as I was a little bit more back and forward. Though considering the bigger lifts beforehand, seems about right. So that was tough stuff and inside for a brief reprieve and doing lots of reps. Rack chins again. I’m always surprised with how rough just my little warm-up set feels but it’s enough to get me feeling good for the higher reps stuff. Again, just chipping away at these still. So after this break in the action, back outside for more pressing. Log press on the incline bench. Trying to adjust from last time. I oopsied my math a little at the start. I forgot this was only to be a 5lbs increase, not 10lbs. So had to correct that. So the plan here was warm up like last time to the top weight and do max reps, leaving something in the tank. The ground was still slick from rain. Concrete slab good traction, the metal on the bench not good haha. I eventually figured it was best to keep my feet on the concrete. I wasn’t sure I’d be feeling like last time but I guess I did as I managed to not only get an extra rep before feeling like I needed to stop but I didn’t hit the rack on any of the reps. So another little break in the action to put this away before doing the remaining shoulder health stuff. Crossing the bands on the band stuff made it a lot harder. Also having to hold for a 2 count as well. I still feel like there is room for improvement on these for me. Need to take what I learned from this time to next time. Left shoulder gets tight after I do these. Perhaps this has been the culprit from before? Active bar hang a little tougher on the grip this time due to rain water. Also my back was feeling tight and pumped from the rack chins. Hopefully I can sleep well tonight. Ate pot roast and stretched before icing my knees.

January 2, 2021 – Week 20, Day 3

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes

 
Mobility Prep
 
Titan Fitness Farmer’s Walk
Turns at 50’
135x100’ in 14.79 seconds (right)
135x100’ in 14.76 seconds (left)
Turns at 25’
185x50’ in 10.74 seconds (right)
185x50’ in 10.81 seconds (left)
No Turns
235x50’ in 7.84 seconds
285x50’ in 8.36 seconds

Sandbag Rows (long ways)
175x5
225x5
275x3

Sandbag Loads (62”)
225x1
275x1
313x5

Stretching
 
Comments: There is always some anxiety going into these workouts. More and more as the weights and tasks get heavier and tougher. The fear is always the same. Failure. Lower back, glutes and hips had been tight after the last workout session. But been sleeping well. Like 12hrs a night the past few days. The only thing I had been at all worried about was the sandbags because of the change (going to be harder). But I woke up to a left lat and trap that just wouldn’t calm down and tight biceps. Not ideal. I did some foam rolling but no change. Going to be one of those days I guess. Plan was see how things felt and stop if stuff made things not good. Did some sweeping of debris in the street to clean up my course as well as see if that loosened up anything. Since I had played hooky the last event day, this was going to be my first and not the second go of the new knee health stuff. Went better than expected. My bad knee is now my good knee on these and my good knee is now my bad knee on these. I do complain about the joint aches but I’m not usually dealing with them in the moment. Or when I’m warming up for moving events. Which is nice. No issues with my knees warming up for the farmer’s walks. I was tempted to do some more warm-ups but figured I’d get enough work with the actual sets. So some changes to the farmer’s walk. The start was still the same with it being two runs of 100’. Same weight as last time. I’m not sure if it was because the street was still slick from rain (I had thought it would dry up in the sun) or if I was just off but my turns weren’t that great and I was slower than I would’ve liked. I ended up wearing copper sleeves on my arms because my biceps were tight and sore and I think maybe that was part of it too. I moved on to the next part of it which rather than being just a bump in weight for straight shot was more turns. 50lbs more per hand and half the course length.  These really make the turn tough as literally not enough runway to get to max speed and have to plot that turn right away. Turns not great here. They will improve in time. I’m confident in that. Just going to be rough for now haha. These turns with starting back at the end meant I had very little that I had to prep between sets.  Once that was done, I moved on to the straight shot runs so I got a little more built in rest for these. These two runs felt very similar to last time. I ended up being just a little faster on my first run compared to last time with 10lbs more weight. I was about a quarter of a second slower on the heaviest set compared to last time. The road was slick and I had built up a good bit of speed by the end that I kind of had to go with the handles to safely stop. Brought everything from in the street into the garage to finish up the day. Rows as per usual. On both week rotations (for now) they are kind of just maintenance with hitting the same weights each time before doing the next thing. This week they are more of a tester for how the sandbag stuff is going to be whereas the other week the lighter stuff seems to be more warm-up and getting biceps happy. I was not sure what these were going to be like today. I felt fine on farmer’s but these are more than just having the back stabilize. Got to move the back muscles and use my arms. I remembered before I did these to put athletic tape around my shin where I had the gash from deadlifting on Thursday. I just knew that I was going to be scraping that up good. Rows felt so so. Not bad but not amazing. Also was feeling a little burpy so being bent over not great haha. The loads was the thing I was worried about. Dropping the EMOM and just doing one set of reps. I haven’t done more than a single with this weight sandbag. I’ve only done reps up to 275lbs. Two easy lifts before I got started. This wasn’t to be rushed, just take my time. But this is kind of that one thing where if you stop, you get beat. I just wanted to make it through with no misses. First rep went up no trouble. Not surprising, I’ve done it 25 times over 2 months. Following that up with another rep and another was going to be the tricky part. 2nd rep I got it up and caught it on the crossbar. I just had to shove the bag over. Ok, obviously getting tougher. Knew that was likely. 3rd rep was the most sucky. It got caught a little lower and only part of it went up. So now I had it sandwiched between the yoke and myself with most of it facing me as it rotated 90 degrees. I was also moving the yoke with it as well. Finally it went over. So damn ugly. I had two more of these. It was at that point I took longer rest than just walking around to the other side to lift. I kind of had to after that effort and to get the sandbag back to being long ways for me to pick it. 4th and 5th were about the same as the 2nd rep, just a little bit tougher. My biceps and hamstrings were hating me after that. Took me just over 3 minutes to finish. Considering with the EMOM style, this is in 2 minutes less time. Put the stuff away and stretched before going out to spend all my Christmas gift cards on Chipotle for dinner. Ate it all in like 15 minutes and then cleaned up and iced my knees.

December 31, 2020 – Week 20, Day 2

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes

 
Mobility Prep
 
18” Box Squats
bwx25

18” Safety Squat Bar Box Squats w/ bands
65x10
Added Bands (+25lbs bottom/+44lbs top)
65x5
115x3
155x3
205x3
245x3
295x3
335x5
 
Wide Grip Deadlifts (straps)
135x5
185x3
225x1
275x1
315x1
365x1
405x1
455x1

Planks
bw+45x60 Seconds

Side Planks
bw+15x60/60 Seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: What a difference in feeling two weeks has me haha. I was a miserable cuss with how my body was two weeks ago after the drastic weather change and the snow. I was worried that some of the residual would continue into this week after that bought of depression flaring up last week. My thoughts were that with first training session of this week being a good one, that this one would hopefully follow suit. Though it does seem the lower body stuff takes a little more to recover sometimes. Moving a lot more weight than I am for upper body. Last workout of the year. Some finality to this dumpster fire of a year. I don’t usually put things as end of one year and start of a new year. Similar to how for me my birthday is just another day. But I do with this one. Say that that this past year has ended and start fresh with a new year. Got out early for work so I had the opportunity to train around lunch time. Warming up stuff felt good. I had forgotten that this workout tends to need a bit of setup. More so to keep the down time while lifting to a minimum. So that was part of my warm-up I think haha as I had to move about 600lbs from the garage to the patio (for lifting and for anchoring). So the workout plan here was the SSB squats to box with bands. I was not sure what to really expect, had to see how I was feeling. So past weeks the idea had been doing doubles with the emphasis on leaving plenty in the tank and trying to stay within WSB speed work for the top set. I had been doing well the first two workouts but the last workout with everything going on I did not. I got sloppy, knees were hurting and I was not doing the exercise in a way that was beneficial to my goals. Yes, it is squatting but the idea is to work on control, bracing and loading the hamstrings, hips and lower back in a way to help with my deadlifting. Outside of the UK and WSM, squatting just not that much of a thing in this sport. So the protocol was changed a bit for these with this new block. It would seem the plan of approach is to work up to a weight and aim for 3-5 reps, leaving reps in the tank ideally. The 5 shouldn’t be a maximum effort to complete. So start with the warming up stuff. Consciously trying to not just crash onto the box. Bigger jumps of the 40-50lbs range made things move a bit quicker. Now in the event that I still felt like I did last week, the other option had been just working up to 200lbs or so and doing 5x2 for speed work. It would depend how I felt as I put weight on the bar. Wouldn’t be so bad honestly. Everything was feeling good. Nothing was aching so on as planned. So the top weight was to be the top weight I was aiming for in the speed doubles but not meant to be. Mr. Westerling had told me after the last session that I should put on my hard belt for the last two sets. So I did. I had it one notch looser on the second to last set just to get a little breaking in period. I told myself I wasn’t going to mess this up. That I wasn’t going to ego lift. I’d insure I took a deep breath at the top of each lift and control the descent to the box. Last one I got pitched a little forward. I could feel immediate soreness in my glutes on these today. I definitely had more reps but not sure if 2 more or 5 more really. I had to think on these a little as I realized that I haven’t done a real squat with weight on my back since end of September 2019. Since then it has been stuff like goblet squats, hatfield squats and zercher squats. They are certainly squats but they do different things. These box squats definitely are lighting up stuff that has been dormant. But it took this long to get back to this point to be able to do these safely again. The other thing I realized is that I will need to be moving bigger weights if I want to be hitting the stuff I want to hit. I went through these pretty quick, just under 15 minutes for squat once I got to the bands being added. So inside for the rest of this workout. Wide grip deadlifts. These were rough last time. I didn’t realize how much knee pain could affect these, even after I’ve warmed up and gotten them to shut up. I didn’t have that today. This is the one that even though the squats went well, I wasn’t sure if I should do these as planned and jump to the second variation. Original plan was working up in singles after a few reps to 455lbs with the 40-50lbs jumps. The other option being same but doing reps and only going up to 315lbs for 5. I think I was curious. One to see how I was feeling after some decent (for right now) squats. This variation of deadlift I’ve rarely been “allowed” to go over 405lbs. There have only been three times since 2016 that I’ve done so. My current PR is 495lbs from the one time I was approved to test it. I think I got more there eventually. I felt that way even on the day but not worth it at the time to push higher after how much stress these put on the everything haha. Another thing was trying out deadlift cue discussed with Mr. Westerling about having the bar over midfoot. Maybe that is the way. I’m not sure just yet as this stance and grip is a bit different from my usual deadlift. I scraped my right shin on one of the lifts (not sure which) and that bleed good bit. I didn’t notice until I took my socks off after training. Warming up was good. These always get a little tricky when I put on a hard belt because the position isn’t great for my wider and thicker belts and the skinny belt doesn’t do too much when it comes to bracing. I felt like the last two singles were a little tougher than I would’ve liked. Granted, 405lbs went up better than any of the singles from two weeks ago did. 455lbs definitely had some struggle and slow down. I mean, I think I could beat my PR of 495lbs right now but it would be ugly. And not in the spirit of things as this workout is supposed to be the “easier” of the two lower body workouts in the rotation as it stands for these blocks of training. So didn’t die, again. I took a break to get plenty of fluids in after all that squatting and pulling. Put away all the weights before doing the planks. Almost relaxing doing these planks after the other stuff. Had a weight gain shake after training and stretched before getting other stuff ready for the evening. To another year.