February 27, 2021 – Week 2, Day 3

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes
 
Mobility Prep
 
Titan Fitness Frame Carries (16” pick)
110x50’
110x50’
110x50’
290x50’
290x50’
430x50’
430x50’
530x50’ in 9.37 seconds
530x50’ in 8.33 seconds
110x115’
 
Titan Fitness Frame Holds (28” pick)
470x3 seconds
570x3 seconds
650x33.06 seconds
 
Stone of Steel Loads (62”, tacky towel)
140x1
185.5x1
230x1
274.5x1
318x1
266x1
266x1
266x1
266x1
266x1
266x1
266x1
266x1
266x1
266x1
 
Stretching
 
Comments: So today was going to be a bit harder of an event session compared to last week. Lot of things to check and get answers on. Week 2 of my own training is usually where it hits the fan in the past. From doing too much. Last bit of last week and start of this week had close calls it felt like. As for knee pain, it is mostly the right knee and trying to figure out how best to manage it as it seems that I have really tight everything on that side. Calf, tib, hamstring, IT band, etc. I did some ROM assessments and compared to my left side. Can get the same but much more resistance and difficulty to match the left when it comes to wall test. I had gotten shin splints walking in different shoes so it’s not the shoes (I managed to salvage the pair I had pitched). Answer seems to be soft tissue work and stretching. I am at least noticing the knee pain less than before. But I’m always paranoid that it’s not so much I’m healing or getting better, but just I’m getting used to it and just ignoring the constant responses. So I had a plan for today, unlike last week. Rain happened a lot earlier than expected which worked out in my favor as that meant I could sleep in and have it drier when I actually trained. Usual warm-ups and such. The modification of the one squat exercise definitely helped with the back stuff. I was fully expecting it to seize up on me like last week. So the plan for today was frame carry and holds and stone of steel. Initially, I was feeling like I could go heavier, start right where I left off on the farmer’s walks. But after thinking and seeing how much time I had and what my knee was feeling like and how my lower back felt crushed last session, I decided to start lighter than my proposed 610lbs and going up 20lbs a week. Because I was starting a lot lighter (530lbs) I figured that it made sense to work overload with frame holds. I had my reasons. So why frame carry? I think main reason was because of proposed competition has that as an event and the other was it wasn’t farmer’s walk or yoke. I don’t have many numbers for frame carry from after 2016 since it hasn’t been an event. I’ve just mainly done it for holds using the old Jenkins’ frame at the strongman gym in Lancaster. I’ve only done the frame carry like once with the Titan Fitness setup in 2019 to warm-up and it freaking sucked. So I also had to have that in mind. Now I didn’t feel like buying more equipment after already buying a good bit for the garage gym setup so I just used the wood planks I had made for training frame deadlifts in 2017 for Nats. They weigh 10lbs each so worked out well from me. Taking to heart my plan of not going full bore every set, I did things at like 50-75% at the start until I got to working weight. I’m not sure why I decided it made more sense to do the same weight for multiple sets working up but that’s what I ended up doing. I felt slow on these but I think this had more to do with the pick. It’s the same height as the farmer’s but with the planks pushing things out, it’s like a foot away from my sides. So like a snatch grip width. I was expecting the pick to be tougher but not this tough. Frame also has a bit of a balance to it too that I need to be cognizant of. The weight I had picked was to be 70% based off the contest weight of 750lbs. I know that it will be 2” higher and much narrower so it will be a good deal more advantageous to me with that setup. This home setup is terrible. With the width of the grips and the angle they pull, hands aren’t really used to that. Doesn’t help that these handles have knurling in spots and are a little thicker than normal. Now I do have other handles I could use that would be easier on my hands and would rotate in more but they aren’t top loaded and it would be a real pain in the ass to load and setup for each run and I couldn’t really use them to do the frame holds with my current setup (the sawhorses haven’t forgiven me from before). The pick was rough on the first run with the top weight (the sets I was going 100%) and was even worse the second set as I was trying to get up and go and I almost lost my balance but I got back on track. I was kind of surprised it was over a second faster with the stumble at the start. I really need to watch this and figure out what is the best way going forward. I may need to readjust numbers here depending on how I feel going into the next session. So after that, into the garage for frame holds. I had purchased another set of crash pads and they are actually quite sturdy and don’t really let weights sink into them too much I’ve noticed. So I had been testing to see if they could hold weight on my frame elevated. It would let me work on the hold portion but save my lower back a great deal. I still have a good bit of clearance even at 28”. This had worked in prepping from the Arnold after the disc bulge. But couldn’t really move around with this setup. My initial plan with this had been to work up over training to 800lbs or so. But start with 650lbs. Plan being to hold for like a 40 seconds and then go up in weight by 20lbs a session. That might not be feasible with how training went though. I did picks with a short hold to get ready for the top weight. I got set and lifted. Christ this felt terrible in my hands. The angle of the pull on the skin in my hands. The knurling not helping matters. With how it felt, I’m surprised I got over 30 seconds to be honest. I had not gone for broke with the knurling as I felt that it would be costly to tear skin and have it recover so I set it done went I felt I had to. Upper back was quite sore from these too. I haven’t picked up anything other than that rack pull I did this heavy since like April so understandable. I just assumed I had this with how I did on arm-over-arm without training that for some time. I think with this, I’m going to have to see how next session feels with those proposed weights to see if I can adapt or not and reassess then. I might have to base things off of what I can do on this setup I have and then when circumstances are better and going to the Lancaster gym makes sense, I can do frame stuff with an easier setup closer to contest conditions. So after that, it was on to stone of steel. Before I started, I did a few slingshot dips to get my back to adjust. The picks for the frame had been a lot harder than I was anticipating and I didn’t want my lower back seizing up on me and being shy about going to full extension on stones. I’m thinking that I may just do these for spinal health rather than as a heavy exercise as I’m not sure if they are really doing anything for me with how much of a pain they are to setup, the pressure on my body with all the weight, etc. Potential contest is an atlas stone for 400lbs over 50” bar. I noticed that my training, I wasn’t feeling like I could do multiple reps despite making the singles look easy. However, I don’t feel like I can really keep that up without wearing receiver gloves, grip shirt and the tacky towel and lowering the bar height I have right now to be viable. Even in that instance with prep, that had been for 360lbs stone of steel. Like farmer’s walk, I’ve seen that I can have good stone performances even with less than ideal prep and conditions. So first part of it is to get back to doing this as I’ve been lacking in doing sessions since it was paired with yoke after my deadlifts and I just wasn’t having it due to depression and pain and anxiety. So start light and drill the hell out of form. Idea being to work up to 90-95% of contest weight on the stone of steel with tacky towel and do EMOM singles and then switch over to real stones and aim for contest conditions with real tacky and lower bar height. So start light. Plan being plate jumps to get to 318lbs and then drop down to 70% of goal weight and do 10 singles EMOM style. I was not on form at the start. Almost had to use my face to put the 318lbs over the bar. I was not happy about that. The lighter stuff for the EMOM felt great. After that, I put stuff away and cleaned up a little. I did some mobility testing again on the ankles (same as I had done Friday evening) and man was this harder after doing event work. My right one it took several stretch attempts to match. Going to have to adjust my stretching routine I think to make sure I’m really getting them worked. I also ended up doing soft tissue work and icing my knees and shins.

February 25, 2021 – Week 2, Day 2

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes
 
Mobility Prep
 
Paused Front Squats
No Pauses
45x10
95x5
Pauses (3 seconds)
135x1
170x1
200x3
200x3
200x3

Wide Grip Deadlifts w/ bands (straps)
No Bands
135x5
Added Bands (+21lbs bottom/+114lbs top)
135x1
205x1
255x1
290x1
290x1
290x1
290x1
290x1
290x1

Cambered Squat Bar Goodmornings
85x8
85x8
85x8

Planks
bw+45x60 Seconds

Side Planks
bw+25x60/60 Seconds

Inverse Planks
bwx60 Seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: Another day. Continuing to see if this works. I seemed to enjoy training for the first time in a while. I guess because I have the plan almost all figured out from start to finish. I know what’s next if I get such and such. It is more a matter now of seeing if the plan works and if my body cooperates. I feel like I can compete to the level I want. I’m at least optimistic. Trying to find things (even little) that will have me look at things in a more positive and proactive light. Think do the thing instead of hope for the thing. Had shin splints about half way into my walk the day before. I figured the shoes are too worn in and pitched them but that might have been premature. Have to keep up recovery stuff as knee issues rarely are knee related in my experience. Lots of stuff tugs at it the threads so to speak. Kind of realizing that I need to dedicate more time and effort into ankle mobility and strengthening. I took time during lunch to setup things for today’s training session. Lighter session but needs more work for setup. Figures. I had not moved the squat rack to the back patio yet, despite it getting up to 60 degrees Wednesday afternoon and staying in the mid to high 40’s. My house casts a shadow in the backyard so still a good bit of snow I’d have to walk through still. So a little cramped quarters to set everything up. Warming, knees felt a bit achy. Both of them. But not really too bad when it came to exercises. As previously mentioned, lower body non-event training day is a modified  Brad Gillingham 16 week deadlift program. Last week was front squats and rack pulls. This week also front squats but less weight and volume. Plan being this is more the light week and the event session is heavier. So for the front squats on this opposing week, doing them at lighter percentages and with pauses in the hole. It has been a bit since I’ve done them with pauses. Like half a decade or more. Feeling more confident about not using the knee brace, or feeling like I have to. I didn’t use it for log press but I still did for these. Didn’t feel like it was tight enough and made it tighter for the last set and of course it pops off on the second rep. These felt comfortable (I mean as comfortable as you can make something cutting off your windpipe for time). This then lead to the thing that took forever to setup, deadlifting against bands. This always takes up a lot of time and it was a little trickier working within the garage with the squat rack in the picture. And also making sure that the down time between squats and pulls was not too much. Don’t want to cool off here. So in the normal deadlift program, it is set percentages for 6 singles, no real set rest and numbers are based off a suited deadlift max but done raw (no belt, no suit). Brad competed in single ply and used hook grip so no straps. I’ve not had much success with beltless pulls. I seem to recover better when the pulls are lighter. Trying to get used to pulling fast and getting my hips into it. So that means the addition of bands and wide grip, wide stance pulls. I’m using a disadvantage stance for me but using lower percentages but basing the numbers off my normal stance deadlift. So weights will wave from about 50% to 60% in bar weight with an additional 3.5% at the bottom and 19.5% at the top. And also doing timed rests with EMOM to keep me on pace and working to pull quickly. Practice my setup each time. So starting out, I wasn’t sure how this would go. I was leery after my back was all tense two days after the rack pull session and then waking up with needing to do traction on Tuesday. I’m not sure if the bar length inside the collars is different or not compared to the other bar I had but I felt a little off. Still not feeling like this was good working up with the singles. Planned weight was 290lbs. No hard belt for these. Got into it a little with the pulls so that was good. Didn’t feel taxing. So right after that (I had a lot of stuff to move) I went into cambered squat bar goodmornings. Doing these super light as I haven’t done goodmornings in so long and much like the stiff-legged deadlifts, my mobility and such weren’t great for them and the increased ROM I’m trying to get for my hamstrings to awaken them again. I had to rerack almost immediately as the new bar is so slick and has no knurling. So I had to put chalk on it. I feel I got more comfortable with the bar as I did my sets. My hamstrings were so tight after these. Trying to build up slowly and safely here with both the gms and slds. So after that was done, took a break to put away the weights and random crap I needed to anchor the bands down as well as move the squat rack out of the way. This gave me time to drink something. I figured for this workout with the planned heavier event work (relatively I guess), that doing planks as opposed to say ab wheel and the like made more sense for this kind of session. I forgot to film the weighted plank. But no loss there. Seen it once, you’ve seen it more than enough. For the side planks, I increased the weight to 25lbs. Could feel that change so I’ll stick here for a little bit until I feel like moving up in weight might not be so bad. The last item was a late addition to the workout. What if I did a plank the other way? So not the first person to have that idea. I had seen another strongman competitor that has had a history of back issues like me doing them to help with lower back endurance and bracing. He does them for lowerings and reps. I checked to see if this could be done for a long hold like the other planks and it could. So really, this was to see how it felt and if it was manageable. Because who knows, my back and hamstrings could seize up. They didn’t and it felt pretty good and comfy. May need to see about adding some weight to it. Had roast for dinner and stretched. Iced the knees and went to bed slightly earlier than I have been. I need to make sure I keep on top of the soft tissue work for the lower legs and knees.

February 23, 2021 – Week 2, Day 1

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes
 
Mobility Prep
 
12” Log Clean and Push Presses
Kettlebells
15’sx10
Log
87x5
110x2
130x2
150x2
165x2
180x2
195x2
210x2
225x2
240x2
255x2

12” Log Cleans and Holds (10 seconds)
275x1
295x1

12” Log Clean and Push Presses
225x1
225x1
225x1
225x1
225x1
 
Inverted Ring Rows
bwx8
bwx8
bwx8
bwx8
 
Slingshot Dips
bw+15x8
bw+60x5
bw+105x3
bw+150x6
bw+150x6
bw+150x6
 
Paused Floor Band Trap 3 Raises (2 count, cross style)
µbx12
µbx12

Paused Band External Rotations
mbx10/10

Active Bar Hang (thick bar)
bw for 30 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: I woke up this morning in pain. I hadn’t been in pain while I was sleeping but getting up I could feel the pain I get when my disc compression stuff is acting up. Not how I was planning or expecting my day to start. Been feeling pretty ok after Saturday’s training. I did end up having to walk on my treadmill Monday due to more freaking snow but luckily only had to shovel my back patio (so I could do log pressing). I was kind of spiraling that I was already going to have to stop. But I went into the garage and do some slingshot dips and got it to calm down significantly. I’m just going to have to be watching things like crazy and not avoiding things that can help ease the pains. If it hadn’t calmed down, I was going to put on the cream and take anti-inflammatories but that would’ve really made a mess of the planned training. Obviously if things didn’t feel ok while lifting, I’d shut it down. Today was going to be more of a test of things I feel then the previous upper body session. Warming up felt ok. I had not moved the squat rack back outside because I figured I didn’t really need it to be out there for the session. Probably a good idea since that snow squall happened Monday. That left things pretty open on the patio so I could do the log pressing a different way. First test being can I really push press. Did the kettlebells ok. After that then, it was using the log. Not doing singles for right now so I needed to do some reps to warm up. That seemed ok. No knee brace as I felt it would get in the way and I needed to see if I could do things without it. I still plan to wear for things if I feel stuff is off. I had a little bit different setup. Using the crash pads and large plates as opposed to using just my off weight 25’s or 10’s. One, this elevated the log a bit, hopefully a little less stress on lower back and two, this had the log rotating a bit with the weights. Most of the big contests I’ve done (at least in the US) have log on bumper plates so low pick but the log moves freely. Not so much when using 25’s and the pads. I prefer the 25’s method as it is safer for the logs in the long run but I feel that this sometimes trips me up in competition on log clean and push press so giving this a shot for this particular prep. So the plan here was do several doubles working up to 255lbs. The number works for a few reasons to start. It shouldn’t be a max effort to do this. It is about 80% of proposed contest weight but I’m having it be about 85% of my current max and 82.5% of my lifetime best. My hope is to get to that goal weight for a single at the end of this, assuming things go to plan and go well. I got a little off balance with 240lbs but had no real issues with 255lbs. I did notice that my comfort with log on my chest wasn’t great. I think part of that was focus on the viper pressing as the log isn’t resting on the chest. I had also been doing the log strict pressing in a way to support log viper pressing recently. So while I feel that just following my plan of just the clean and pressing would get me to doing the goal weight for a single, I want to be trying for more. So I went with some log cleans with holds. Two singles, going up 20lbs each set from where I left off on the log push press. Holds for 10 seconds in the rack position. Forearms were feeling the cleans a bit. Just not used to these (a bit different from the one motions). Goal is to have something in reserve. Holds with the log in the rack on the chest have been ok but I feel that the transference might not be as good for a clean and push press since it isn’t resulting from the clean and being in the same position as I would for the press. It would help if I was doing a log push press out of the rack. Plan is to be pressing these weights in a few weeks with a slow build. After that, I went back to more log clean and push press. Initially as written, it would’ve been me doing about this weight for a set of 6 reps, one clean and press away. And then increase by rep each time until getting to 10 and then increasing the weight. However, I want to get some practice in multiple reps over a period of time. Hence changing it to singles EMOM style. Cleans felt so easy after the heavy cleans with the holds. I felt I was going fast rather than going quickly (as in not getting stable) on some reps so I held for about 4 seconds at lockout on the last one. I might do that going forward at the end. Plan here is go up 5lbs each time so that a bit above 80% for this. So after that, I was able to go into the garage to essentially do the rest of the session. Inverted ring rows. I was initially thinking more sets but lowered due to the fact the back is getting work from the cleans. It’s not like the other week where I’m strict pressing and benching. Seem to be getting better at these. Have to brace my body and not let it slump so like an inverted plank while rowing. I was actually surprised grip was feeling ok. I had not really anticipated my forearms being so worked across the sessions with the grip hold, arm-over-arm and then log cleans. Made me think about going up 1 rep on these and perhaps doing 2 reps on the rack chins. After that it was on to slingshot dips. I was debating between weights. I was going to do lighter but I guess I figured I should do heavier. This is an exercise I can really overload the shoulder girdle and triceps. Pain in the ass setting it up each time. With how that first set felt, I felt I made a mistake going this heavy. Second set made me think that I should only do 2 sets. 3 set felt super easy and made me wonder what was going on with the first two sets. I think the plan here is try to go up reps before going up in weight. Maybe 1-2 each set. Upper back and shoulder health stuff after that. The trap 3 raises on the floor felt great. I’ve gone to like them. I did 2 sets so as to get a little more volume work. Finished up with external rotations and bar hang. This ended up being a later night than I was expecting. Ate a big meal and stretched. Iced knees before going to bed.

February 20, 2021 – Week 1, Day 3

 Still mentally unpacking some things. Thursday during work, got on a train of thought that lead me to think of a sad song which led to another sad song. And for a moment, I thought about taking the rest of the day off from work and not training or eating really. But I got over it. Rationalized other priorities that needed to be done so as not to inconvenience others. If not for myself, for others I guess. I feel tired and feel like it takes longer to be ready for bed. Putting responsibility back onto myself for my strongman training is an added stress but it is what I need right now. Hopefully I won’t need a forward at the beginning of every session but there is things that I feel need mentioned with state of my head. I had forgotten how frustrated and angry I was that day. Tossed my phone against the wall and broke the little kickstand thing it has propping it up to film stuff and ripped the first I was wearing right off like Hulk Hogan. I’ve never done that. I also didn’t think I was strong enough to rip my shirt. I liked that shirt too. So a mixed bag there. Stronger than I think. I ended up buying a tripod for my phone to film and that is also a lot better. Though I may feel alone, I know I’m not and I have support and I need to remember that.

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes
 
Mobility Prep
 
Sandbag Rows/Sprints
175x1/25’/175x1/25’/25’
175x1/25’/225x1/25’/25’

Sandbag Carries/Sprints
175x25’ (no sprint)
225x25’ (no sprint)
175x25’/25’/225x25’/25’ in 15.97 seconds
175x25’/25’/225x25’/25’ in 15.34 seconds
175x25’/25’/225x25’/25’ in 16.78 seconds
175x25’/25’/225x25’/25’ in 14.92 seconds

Standing Arm-Over-Arm Pulls
235x25’ in 6.48 seconds
335x25’ in 8.19 seconds
415x25’ in 9.07 seconds

Seated Arm-Over-Arm Pulls
415x25’ in 9.23 seconds
595x25’ in 9.99 seconds
775x25’ in 11.71 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: I wasn’t feeling too bad but I was also nervous about training. Partly because I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to do today, partly because I wasn’t sure what I could do today. Putting stuff on paper is one thing, implementing it is another. So as mentioned, tentatively planning training around a competition but if things don’t pan out, have stuff be a bit of general work. Ideally, I’d like to keep in yoke work because of how heavy that event has gotten and for the speed needed at that weight. Not enough to be able to move it, have to move it fast. However, I’ve become angry with how yoke has felt and it was literally the thing that I just gave up on before I went into an emotional hiatus. The pick bothers my knee and staying upright and moving seems to put more stress there as well. And when deadlift is bad, this is bad, usually. Worry about one time vampire at a time. It’s not an event for the hypothetical contest so no sense in pushing it for right now. So the plan was essentially do sandbag work, sprints and arm-over-arm in some fashion. Contest has a medley of short distances with two sandbags loaded onto a sled and then either standing or seated arm-over-arm (competitor choice). With the heavy nature of the front squats and rack pulls, I wanted this to be a lighter based session. But I didn’t want it too light. That’s a problem, I have. I want to do it all. Work all the things. Little bit of paralysis by analysis. I also had to spend a bit of time figuring out how and if I could setup stuff. I couldn’t stay warm despite my best efforts so I wore my warm-ups and gloves. Warming up felt fine and normal until it wasn’t. The last bit of my warm-ups is for my hips and lower back to loosen up and get my glutes to fire correctly. The first two parts were easy and fine, as always. The last bit is a squat with forward lean. That was not fine. Lower back lit up like hot water. I switched to doing a more box squat style and then lay on the floor. Crap. Actually shit. Was this experiment already done? Was I this much of an idiot and inept at doing anything I wanted? Lower back had felt fine the past few days but I guess this was major stress from the rack pulls. Calmed down a little bit and I did some slingshot dips to get traction. So, loading my sandbag was not happening. Lower back was quite stiff. So I think that I initially had this plan of doing sandbag loads and then doing the medley as one go. I realize that I need to see how this would even work. It was cold and windy so I had to keep putting my gloves on after doing stuff. I realized I needed to do the parts as separate drills after figuring out that the best setup for arm-over-arm was going to involve weights, and sandbags to anchor as well as my squat rack so timing isn’t great for getting setup and transitioning between them. So starting with the moving part. I wasn’t too sure what I thought would be the best thing here. Initially, I was thinking of doing EMOM runs with the sandbags with a sprint. But the more a thought of it, it didn’t make much sense. No reason for short rests for sprints. I’m not worrying about fatigue during such a short distance, more moving fast. I recall the amateur Arnold where I was training for 60’ runs for the one carry and arm-over-arm event and then it was cut to 30’ and I wasn’t as ready for the things that were more efficient for the shorter distances. Also realized for this particular event, it isn’t done when I put the 2nd sandbag in the sled, I have to run back to the start and then do the arm-over-arm. So that meant 100’ run with 3 changes in direction with 25’. That needs work. So I figured that I needed to check and see if I could even move fast without weight with the knee issue. Knee brace on. I did a little jog of the whole course and seemed ok. So for the first part, I wanted to work unladen sprints but have the sandbag pick involved. Also working another thing with this. I prefer having my grip set when it comes to lifting sandbags. But I don’t always have the luxury when it comes to contests as sometimes you have to start away or with hands off. I could feel myself being self-conscious of this being away from the sandbag as I would psyche myself out by not picking it up right away. 175lbs bag was light. The 225lbs didn’t feel terribly light today. Then did short runs with each sandbag. Still ok. So now on to the working sets. I kind of resigned myself to sticking to my two lightest sandbags for this session. Definitely wanted to go heavier but I need to chillax and do what I can. I was initially planning only 3 runs of this but my last run I lost my balance and stutter stepped trying to get back after the first sandbag. I didn’t want to end thing so on a sour note. Last run ended up being my fastest. I didn’t bother timing the warm-ups. I may need to do that or not take the warm-ups as seriously at the start so I don’t get burnt. So then the next part of the workout was the arm-over-arm pulls. Pretty much my plan here was to do 3 sets standing (light/medium/heavy) and then do 3 sets seated (light/medium/heavy) using the weight I stopped at the standing for my starting weight for seated. Now this is hard to gauge really because of weight, grade of incline, friction. Sometimes even getting too into it calculation wise and considering the weight of the rope and how it lessens over the course. Honestly, that has more to do with the standing version for me. I needed to figure out some kind of metric baseline for things here. I haven’t done this event at home. I’ve done them at the strongman gym and other strongman gym places with vehicles and with sleds. On blacktop, on rubber and on turf. The contest weight would be 750lbs and I have no idea if it will be on blacktop or on turf. I think unlike rubber based off of stuff I’ve seen of the venue. Pulling up the street is a slight uphill. So it seems like a good idea to train both styles in the event that the setup works better with one versus the other come contest day. Standing arm-over-arm felt pretty good. Definitely have remembered lessons from before with this. I wasn’t sure how seated would go. I lower back stiffness could be a problem. I was actually a little surprised that I was slower with the same weight doing it seated vs standing. Something to keep in mind. I could only do a few runs each because it took a bit to reset each time. Only doing the 25’ runs because it is the contest setup and also because the rope bunches up since I don’t have anyone to take the slack. 180lbs jump was nothing on this. I didn’t really think of going heavier than contest weight but it kind of ended up that way. And even that wasn’t too bad. It’s a good event for me. I was briefly tempted to do some stuff for my legs to condition but I thought better of it with how much stuff I needed to cart back into the garage. That was going to be enough. Only after I was done did I notice how sore my fingers felt and the scrapes on my knuckles from the sandbag stuff. Took a bit to deload after the training before I started dinner and then stretched. Iced knees before bed as well as put anti-inflammatories cream on lower back. Hopefully I can keep going. I’ve enjoyed the training this week.

February 18, 2021 – Week 1, Day 2

I missed some things from the last posting. I was in a rush I think to just get some words out of my head and through my fingertips to the keyboard. One of the things that I think is helping with the knee is new insoles for my shoes. They had been really worn out. My arches may have deteriorated. I’ve also not worn my shoes a lot outside of going for walks or training as I haven’t really had a need to working from home. In the last week or so before I gave up, I was getting shin splints from walking. I had been doing anterior tib exercises to help combat that previously but it wasn’t enough. So now wearing the insoles in my shoes (besides my oly shoes and converses) and making it a habit of wearing my shoes during the day while I’m working. It seems to be helping that. I also ended up getting a massager that can let me focus on small areas to help with the soft tissue work around the knee and on my calves and shins. The car buffer still is good but the massager doesn’t remove body hair haha. Some people have mentioned after indicating how I’ve been feeling and for how long I’ve been feeling that I look like I’m happy. Like I’m ok. I mean I am ok. But just because I’m smiling doesn’t mean that not still depressed. You can still laugh when you have a broken leg. Doesn’t mean it isn’t still broken. Physical things are easier. We don’t always share everything. But trying to stay positive, stay optimistic, despite past experience saying otherwise. My father says it just means I’m due for a good roll eventually. I’ve told my one friend I don’t gamble and I guess that isn’t technically true. I just don’t gamble with my money.

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes
 
Mobility Prep
 
Front Squats
45x10
95x5
135x3
185x1
220x5
235x5
250x5
260x5
265x5
 
22” Jack Stand Pulls
135x5
225x5
315x3
405x2
495x1
Added Straps
585x1
655x1
725x1
748x1

3” Platform Stiff-legged Deadlifts (straps)
135x8
135x8
135x8

Ab Wheel
bwx8
bwx8
bwx8

One Arm Barbell Holds
(L)135x69.85 seconds
(R)135x63.46 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: I wasn’t feel the best today. My lower back was stiff on the left side. My hamstrings felt so tight and sore. Like how is that possible? I think that I guess the overhead pressing required me to have a stiff midsection and doing the warm-ups made me use my hamstrings for stuff for the first time in a few weeks essentially. It had snowed and I’d have to do some shoveling as long as my knee and lower back weren’t touchy. The lower back thing had me a little concerned as doing too much in the past has been why I’ve had to stop when doing my own thing. I ended up doing some foam rolling during my morning break and then shoveled snow during my lunch break. I had brought my squat rack setup into the garage the night before because of the expectant snow, with it being another bunch of snow. Had put down ice melt too and that seemed to help. It wasn’t a big problem with shoveling this time. As the day wore on, I think stuff started to not feel so tense and tight. So got ready to train. I stupidly put in a roast before I started even doing the warm-ups. I should’ve known better to give myself time with all the new exercises. Knee still being all funky but it is what it is right now. Only the one movement seemed to bother it during the movement stuff today. I’ll have to see if the feeling improves or worsens next time. So for today, a little more risky. I say this in that it is lower body stuff with areas of concern being stressed. They kind of have to be for me to compete. So essentially the programming is my spin on the Brad Gillingham 16 week deadlift program. Accessory work with rack pulls one week, singles at submax weights the other. Rack pulls going down in height each time (4 pin heights) and then going through it a second time to try and beat those numbers. My plan takes some stuff out and modify some things I think will be beneficial. My pull from the floor weeks will be lighter percentages and using bands and my wide grip and stance. The first thing was front squats as that was what is on the program. Power cleans into front squats. But I’m not doing power cleans. Nothing really set so I kind of took bits from places to figure out something for the front squats. Make them heavier for the rack pull weeks. My plan is lighter with pauses on the opposite weeks. So this was going to be interesting. I’ve been doing box squats for so long at this point. I think April or May might be when I did front squats with my yoke for singles. Using the strap method to hold. I could hold the bar I’m sure but shoulders stiff right now from all the pressing earlier in the week and I’d rather just be worrying about whether my knee with ok with what I was asking of it then having to deal with the upper body mobility issue that will resolve itself. I wore the knee brace so that was a little funky at the start as it puts pressure and my calf feels tight. This ended up being harder than I thought it would. I had to remind myself to put on the hard belt earlier than I wanted to because I need to get used to the breathing. My newer belt is a bit thicker/taller so it was a little jarring going down that far on a squat with it in the way. I seem to be ok as long as I push the knees out. I could tell that I’d have DOMS that would last days after the first working set. I based these numbers off of 315lbs as a 1rm. Which I should be good for and more normally as I did 315x3 to box in one of the previous cycles without pushing things on front squat too much. I’ve done 385lbs once many years full range of motion and above that to box with and without an axle. But been really slacking because of issues and focuses. My hope here is that this will help with my bottom end start on deadlifts. I know I will adapt to this. Jumps weird because the percentages are kind of weird. So after that was the rack pull part of things. So as mentioned, 4 different rack heights, go through twice in 16 weeks. This deadlift plan was going to be my plan regardless of the potential contest I was looking as a possible goal. My rack is crap for this and the saw horses have seen better days. So using the jack stands. I had to test things out during my week of thinking and reflection in solitude. Figure out heights and whether I can fit enough weight on with what I have right now. My hope is that I can build the brute strength with the elevated pulls in a safer position for my lower back and work the speed off the floor with the band pulls and wider stance, plus supplementary lifts. I’ll be thrilled if at the end of this, I can pull 635lbs from the ground. So the heights had to be adjusted for my purposes. The program has them as above knee, at knee, below knee and 2” below that. I got a big knee cap. Very prominent nubs from Osgood-Schlatter’s that never went away. Above knee has never been a problem for me other than balance if attempting to hitch. Also could mean I’d need more weight. So I figured that it made more sense to do my highest pull from at the knee. So I’d have 22”. 20”, 18” and 16” for my heights. Big jumps at the start. I took off the brace at this point so that I didn’t have it get in the way of the bar. Really working on bracing hard enough to stop a knife and taking the slack out gradually. This bar thankfully has very little flex. Trying to make it as if I were in a position of starting the pull off the floor for best carryover. My hope was to not have any pain, and pull more than I’ve done successfully from 21” in a rack without it being a 100% max. I was still a little anxious I think with weights. I started to feel more confident after I pulled 655lbs. I then started to get into things more and have a little swagger. Training was feeling fun. I got to the point where I couldn’t keep all the micro weights on as I felt I was good for a little bit more after the725lbs pull (I had thought it would be my last pull with how 655lbs had felt). So far, so good with this plan. Assuming it works. The roast was done cooking by this point but I still had stuff to do. I’d need to do the other stuff within 15 minutes so it didn’t cool off too much from setting. So my pairing of exercises started. Platform stiff-legged deadlifts. More bracing work and trying to get my hamstrings to wake up. Taking grip out of the equation so I can just focus on the core and hamstrings. Starting these really light since I need to build up strength in the range of motion. Ab wheel right after that was a nice break. Easy reps and I think I needed to do something to be different from the pulls and squats. So the last item of the night was a last minute thing. So I had initially planned for the workout to end with abdominal work as side planks. But then I remember that one oblique and grip exercise. The planks seem to stress the shoulders out supporting my body like that, especially after all the pressing. This seemed to be a way to test grip and midsection for core stability in an event specific way. See the one contest I’m looking at has a deadsled frame carry. I’ve never done that implement and it looks like it has rotating handles. So why not work grip on the hardest small handle grip I could? My new barbell has no center knurling so it is smooth smooth. I wasn’t sure if I’d even get a good grip but I did. Starting with 135lbs as last time I did these, I immediately jumped to 185lbs and never got a minute. I forgot that there was a disparity between my hands with grip. It ended up not being as bad as I thought it was (I can’t count so good for time) as both ended up being over a minute. Ate dinner before putting away everything and then stretching. Last workout of the week is a bit up in the air depending on mood, how my knee feels and weather.

February 16, 2021 – Week 1, Day 1

 So another lapse in training. Partial injury related, but mostly depression related. I did no training Saturday as I was feeling like crap and it got too late to train by the time I felt like training. Sunday came and told myself I would do the training and talk with Mr. Westerling about concerns. My knee was still bothering me at this point. Anti-inflammatories not doing much. Icing not doing much. Still could walk, just would get periods where it felt stiff and ached. So resorted to wrapping my knee in a brace for training. It was difficult to do some of the planned warm-ups and eventually did. But I gave up on yoke. I just had a moment where I realized that I was having to put 100% effort into moving what would be 55% of my best for only 25’. I had noticed I was irritable after the previous workout and I was trying to not take anger out on people. I had to walk away for a moment and then force myself to do this one more time, just so it would be closer to the driveway for me to unload it. I felt so done with it all. This wasn’t fun. I was hurting and it wasn’t even me doing something I was currently enjoying. Literally the first time I touched a yoke I did 700lbs and I was under 231lbs and yet here I am, needing to get psyched for 500lbs weighing 60lbs more. I can only take stuff for so long. I have a lot of anger but anger is exhausting so I usually just let it go. But I’m frustrated that I’ve stagnated in areas and regressed in others when it comes to strength. I seemed to have promise in 2017 coming back from that first injury with 2018 looking bright. Now I’m dreading exercises and seeing prep cycles needing to be even longer for competitions for me to be ready for the statically heavier stuff. 2lbs is how much I’ve added to my log push press since 2015. I got angry at myself for not meeting expectations. Ended up not really eating much for a few days. I had to spend time figuring out if the knee issue was serious enough to get an MRI or not, if I wanted to continue competing or not and where to go from here. I’ve been in a depressive episode since Christmas at this point. But I haven’t really been satisfied with training since the 2019 Arnold. I have this drive that makes me pursue more but it also makes the taste of victory dissipate at lightning speed. So never satisfied. I also tend to forget the stress of the current climate that lingers as well. All this lead to me withdrawing from the planned competitions (USS Nats, Clash of Tridents) for 2021. I spent all of last week reviewing options. Which meant I did no activity besides work. Most things I’ve seen about the knee (possible grade 1 MCL strain) is 3 weeks and should recover. Soft tissue work will help (more muscle/blood flow compared to LCL and ACL). So once again, trying my own thing. Tentatively looking at a competition as a goal for end of June to be a focus and see if I can get my ideas to work and not hurt me. My attempts so far have not been successful as I do too much. I think and hope I’ll do better this time around. Plan is to stick this out at least a month before deciding if I need to reevaluate. If it comes to that, then that might mean no competitions for another year to really build back up from the ground up.

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes
 
Mobility Prep
 
Axle Strict Presses
30x10
80x5
120x3
150x1
170x1
190x12/3/1 (rest pause)

Rack Chins (yoke, straps)
bwx8
bwx8
bwx8
bwx8
bwx8

12” Log Incline Bench Presses
87x5
137x3
167x3
187x3
207x3
227x14

Paused Band Face Pulls (2 count)
µbx10
µbx10
µbx10
 
Overhead Dicks Presses
95x7 (miscounted)
95x8
95x8

Paused Band External Rotations
mbx10/10

Active Bar Hang (thick bar)
bw for 30 seconds
Stretching
 
Comments: So was not really sure what to expect with training today. Could be good, great or garbage. Warm-ups felt ok so that was promising I guess. They are good warm-ups. I think only going to avoid the step downs at this point because those hurt when I tried doing them last session before I gave up. Shoulder drill felt good. Sometimes this sucks after a break but it didn’t this time. So on to the experiment that is training on my own. Upper body sessions have a bit more volume of work since I’m doing just one day whereas lower body and event work kind of low volume but essentially one day over two days really there. So plan was to see if my idea would work on day one. Again, tentatively framing things around a competition in late June that has heavy log clean and press. Alternating weeks between stuff that uses the clean and leg drive and not. Made more sense to do the not week this week with the knee stuff. Even though not using leg drive, still put on knee wrap on the right knee just to be safe. Sometimes my knees have been achy just unracking weights. Wore warm-ups as it was well below freezing today despite it being lighter outside. So no real set warm-ups, just needed to be warm for the planned working weight of 190lbs for the strict press. I had agonized between doing this with log, barbell or axle and eventually settled on axle. It is ok to scuff up the axle versus the barbell, I have less “records” tracked for the axle versus barbell and work fuller ROM with the shoulders and more general strength as opposed to specificity. Give me some break from the neutral grip. While contest goal is log, I may not get there so need to keep options open. So top weight for max reps rest pause style. It has been many years since I’ve done this. Try to keep the first two sets 1-2 reps shy of failure and then rest 20 seconds and go again. I didn’t feel like I was going to get a lot that first set as my reps at the start seemed quite stiff and slow. I ended up with 12. I got a little extra rest on as I didn’t plan well for the wrist wraps and rewrapping them. Last set, I got a single, which was expected at this point and I had to attempt it twice to get it. Exhausting. As to be expected. Definitely noticed that I was feeling unstable in the midsection and upper back from doing all those reps and becoming fatigued. Stepped away from the higher rep stuff for overhead (that had been the case earlier last year due to back injury and then COVID). I was actually worried that this was under what I had done years ago (when first trying this out) but pleasantly surprised that this was better than recent and from back then too. From there, inside for back work. For back stuff, I’m sticking to bodyweight and bands and working on reps and volume. So this was more just to get the reps in. No max rep sets. Just 40 total reps. I’m not entirely sure on the progression plan but probably going up 5 total reps until at 60 reps and then drop back down with some weight added and go from there. But this was a needed break after the shoulder pressing. I could feel my right knee becoming less stiff during the workout. Back outside for incline log bench press. This I wasn’t sure about. 5lbs more than last time I did these and aim for max reps. Yes, before I was doing a lot of overhead but it was singles with minimal fatigue and using leg drive. This time, shoulders pre-fatigued from doing strict pressing for a lot of reps in a short period of time. So no clue if I was going to be able to do the planned weights or if my shoulders were too burnt. My hope is that I will attempt to the training (the opposing week isn’t as fatiguing for the shoulders this way). I could definitely tell working up in weight this was going to be difficult. Trying to keep these without wrist wraps for now. Despite the fatigue, I managed to put up a good number of reps. I had a close miss at number 15. Thankfully, log is easy to dismount when it gets stuck. So a few reps dropped off from the fatigue and increased weight. Continue to go up 5lbs and hopefully I can keep it to double digits for a few more weeks. Or even improve if I adapt to the stress. So the plan after that had been to finish up with shoulder and triceps exercise and then shoulder health stuff but my shoulders and chest and triceps were quite dead. So I figured rather than cool down to recover, I’d do some upper back work with bands to give them a break and work those antagonistic groups. Really light band tension as I haven’t done these in forever and doing holds seems to be super taxing, even with the light weight. Not certain if I will keep to this or try to increase the volume. The tension is enough. So after that, on to an exercise I haven’t done in a few year; overhead dicks press. This exercise seems to be good for the lockouts due to the triceps tension, core balance and time under tension for the shoulders. I was a little worried 95lbs would be too much but it wasn’t. I miscounted that first set but got the right number of reps the other sets. I could feel the muscles around the elbow getting worked really hard by the end. External rotations with the bands after that with pauses. Just a set followed by bar hang with shoulders retracted for 30 seconds. I felt 25 seconds was an odd number so made it an even half a minute. Despite all the stuff, this went fairly quick for a workout. Ate pot roast and then stretched. Iced knees before bed. Hopefully I’ve made the right decisions here.

February 4, 2021 – Week 25, 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
Added Straps
405x1
455x1
455x1
455x1
455x1
455x1

Paused Ab Wheel
bwx10

Paused Side Plank Raises
bwx10/10

Stretching
 
Comments: Knee aches. The right knee isn’t having as much pain but more of dull aches throughout the day. Been a bit lax in the soft tissue stuff outside of lower back as trying to not stay up so damn late each night and get a good night’s sleep. Sleep has been mostly restful. I was royally pissed off from work and really wanted to throw some iron around with authority. Knees didn’t really act up on warm-ups. So into the garage for the training stuff. Reduced intensity on the goblet squats still. I was expecting these to bother my knees more than they did. Made myself taking breaks between the sets rather than just go right after the other. This was going to be a short workout. This week has been. So after that, deadlifts. Still following the big jumps between workouts, deadlift every week, doing 5 singles EMOM style. This was first session using the new bar and the big rubber plates for deadlifting together. Everything after the barbell empty felt 100lbs heavier. I didn’t like it. I didn’t feel like last time when my knees were some shoveling snow where it hurt to bend into position. This was a few days removed too. I did 405lbs last week with no straps so following the plan of doing 455lbs this week. Used straps on 405lbs so that I wasn’t just getting used to it during the EMOM. I’m honestly not even sure if I’m bumping the weight with my shins at the start or if I just don’t feel comfortable with the bar any further away from my shins after what happened the last time. It might just be that it gets pulled out so it can go around my knee caps. I felt slow off the floor. Not the worst ever but not something that was making me feel confident and good. Deadlift messes with my heart and head too damn much. I debate even trying for USS Nats because of this one event because the effort for the pain is just frustrates and makes me angry. I didn’t lose my cool or despair that the weight was feeling heavy and slow and I just kept on moving on from there so as not to dwell on it while I was training. Usually I take a break to put stuff away before moving on to abdominal stuff. But it was moving quick and I could actually eat dinner before 8:00PM and keeping moving would distract me from getting angrier at deadlifts. Abdominal stuff with the pauses is also on reduced workload. Again, noticing that I take a few reps on the ab wheel before I can get full ROM to getting belly on the floor with neutral spine. That is progress. I can only really see the small progressions. But doing a ton of reps on some accessory work doesn’t really take the sting away of being a decade away from your best raw deadlift. Held at the top a little longer than usual with the side plank raises to give those a little razzle dazzle with the lower reps. Put stuff away while cooking and then stretched after eating. Iced knees before bed.

February 2, 2021 – Week 25, Day 1

2 Minute Treadmill Backwards Pushes
 
Mobility Prep
 
Axle Clean and Push Presses
60x1
80x1
100x1
120x1
140x1
160x1
180x1
200x1
220x1
240x1
260x1

Axle Half Clean and Push Presses
260x1
260x1
260x1
260x1
260x1
 
Rack Chins (yoke, straps)
bwx10
bwx30 PR+3 reps

12” Log Incline Bench Presses
87x5
112x3
142x3
162x3
182x3
202x3
222x17 PR+5lbs & 1 rep

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

Stretching
 
Comments: A tad annoyed with how things are. I mean I’m ok. But really not sure what is going on with strongman as a sport or what I should be doing. USS Nats is June but it COVID stuff seems to be an ongoing issue and may not be resolved for some time. I was worried the e-mail I got Monday was saying it was going to be moved. Do I want to set goals based off numbers, or compete, or aim for the pro level still? It’s all very confusing and uncertain. Right knee has been a pain since last training session. Doesn’t seem to bad once warmed up considerably and I guess it feeling better each day is something. Soft tissue work and icing. Also taking 4 Advil before bed so that I sleep ok. Really didn’t help matters that big bunch of snow coming. Depending on the weather, I would either need to move my workout days for this week or alter the training. Came down to if I could make my patio safe for overhead work or not. A lot of snow. I ended up having to shovel three times in less than 24hrs. It stopped briefly during lunch the day before so that was the first time. I wore a knee brace to protect my knee. Second time was right after work. Final time was during morning break today. I went out during my lunch and afternoon break to sweep the patio of moisture to keep the stuff from melting from refreezing as it got colder. I managed to keep things good that it was safe enough for use. Warm-ups fine for the most part. Right hamstring is getting tight again. May be from the increased deadlift frequency. Shoulder drill felt good. Right knee sucked. It took me a bit to get used to it as not all articulations bothered things so I kind of had to play around with it. I didn’t want to put on a brace for overhead training if I could manage it. Cold and windy. Slightly above freezing but the windchill was bad. Axle outside and taking 20lbs jumps. Plan being 10lbs more than last time. I had to redo the very first lift as I was to hesitant with my knee and I was having to double pop it with just 60lbs. I dropped it after shouldering it to do it again with vigor. I was having some issues with the one hand with grip. Not so much in holding on but in responding to what I was thinking or not thinking (like what I’ve drilled in). I wasn’t letting go with my thumb on the right hand on the catch on some reps. Also trying out new thick rubber plates. Seeing if they keep the matts from getting too beat up and spread the weight out. 260lbs went up ok. Not awesome but not terrible. I think I was hesitant for going for an adjustment after the clean to keep the number of knee rebends to a minimum. After that, it was time for the harder stuff. EMOM on the half clean and presses with the weight I just did. This would be interesting. First rep felt a little rough as far as getting it to the shoulder. I seemed a bit better this time with my timing of when to reapply wraps. On the third rep, the small plates on the left side fell off into the snow. Oh shit. So that was a rush to get them back on and wipe my hands clean. Like a second or two off from getting back under the weight from the timer going off. Rushed the wrap job as the right wrist came undone. Last lift I think was my best. Weights fell off again at the end. I had hoped that the thicker plates would keep the bouncing around to a minimum but nope. Actually made it more likely for stuff to come off. I will need to see about securing them next time. These cleans are a good bit tougher than from the floor and my hope is that they make me hit that sweet spot to do them will mean I can do heavier weights on full style. I was so glad to be done with the axle stuff outside as now I could go inside briefly to do rack chins. Same idea of work as last time. I wore thick gloves until my hands felt good again. I figured that I’d see how I felt on the first set to judge how things were. Again, really hard to judge how I’ll do based off that first set. I took my time hanging there at the beginning to stretch my back and then did the reps not fast to get the motion down. Honestly, I felt I could’ve done the option of just 3x10 with how those felt haha. But I figured that I just needed to be serious. Turns out I was right as I did 30 reps. I had thought my reps last time was 28 so I figured 2 more was good to get nice round 30. But it was actually 27. So I wonder if I’ll be given an option to add weight to these. Back outside for incline log bench press. I didn’t get as cold because I could take time between sets inside to get more weights. Same as last time, try 5lbs more and either do a few reps or do all the reps. This was actually the trickier of the exercises to do outside today. See, I got some snow on the patio from the weights falling in the snow and on the pads so that was there. I had to sweep the snow to keep the bench from slipping or my feet from slipping. Meant for a bigger jump that first lift but messed up my math. I was able to correct things and get back on track. These have been feeling good as of late. I felt like I could get another rep from the 16 I’ve been hitting. I just didn’t think it would be so hard with how the 16th rep had gone up. And it was the triceps that were slow to lock it. About the toughest I’d want a rep to be on these for the time being. But it is nice to be doing over 100kgs for this many reps. Shoulder health stuff to finish things up. I was tempted to try adding another micro band to the raises but that tension was way too much haha. So I just did what I was supposed to and just move little bit further back. These are feeling good. Could feel my back want to cramp on the bag hang after all the reps before on stuff. Finished up with pot roast and stretching. Hopefully the right knee continues to get better.