May 29, 2021 – Week 11, Day 4

Mobility Prep
 
Sandbag Clean Pull Tosses (10’8”)
30x1
40x1
50x1
50x2
50x2
50x2
50x2
50x2
50x2

Safety Squat Bar Squats
65x10
115x5
155x5
205x3
245x2
295x1
340x5
340x5
340x5

Wide Grip Pendlay Rows (3” platform)
75x3
105x3
135x3
165x3
195x3
225x8
235x8
245x8

Sandbag Carries
175x25’
175x25’
175x25’
175x25’
225x10’
225x10’
275x15’
275x50’ in 8.79 seconds
275x50’ in 8.18 seconds
275x50’ in 9.23 seconds
275x50’ in 8.76 seconds

Glute Ham Raises
bwx11
bwx10
bwx8

Yoke Pushes (turf)
250x50’
250x50’
250x50’
250x50’
250x50’
250x50’
250x50’
250x50’

Stretching
 
Comments: Friday was a strange day. I think mostly due to everyone that I enjoy working with having taken off Friday so by myself really and my thoughts. Tried Thai food for dinner which might have been a mistake. It was delicious just that I probably shouldn’t eat something unfamiliar the day before I’m going to need to get up to train because who knows how my stomach will react to that. It was going to be light rain off and on all day so driving wasn’t the fastest. More so due to an accident before I could get to the highway highway (the one that goes through the rural parts and not through the city). With it being below 50 degrees and rain, the gym storm doors were shut so hopefully I wasn’t so late to arrive that I’d be locked out. I wasn’t. So not that the rain mattered that much to my plans, I did the sandbag toss setup inside (I’ll get to that later). Movement prep remains about the same. Same momentary discomforts that seem to abate as I go through it. That remains unchanged for now. George was there and haven’t seen him in a while. We talked about strongman stuff for a good bit. He mentioned I had Conan the Barbarian hair which I’ll take over the generic “Jesus hair” people been saying haha. Someone also brought their dog to the gym today and that was a nice distraction. So then on to sandbag tosses. But not really. I’m always looking to improve on things and sandbag toss is one that needs work and each weight and bag seems to be its own thing, similar to stones. The video tips from a Graeme Shepherdson (strongman and highlands games competitor based out of Canada) had been very helpful in me getting my sandbag tosses up from where they were in 2019. As luck would have it, he put up a new series of clips showing drills to work on tosses and I shared them with Drew so now plan is to work those in to get the sandbag toss more complete. I feel that if strongman would really put the effort in from using what can be used from other sports that specialize, that we could see some spectacular performances. So for my lacking area on sandbag tosses, I really have no triple extension. I do mostly what is deemed “alligator arms” with my tosses. So this drill was to work on that triple extension. Plan being to take 70% of the goal height (15’) and do an explosive clean pull to clear the height. No swinging, pretty much cheat style upright row and letting go. So I had no idea how this would go. Ideally, I wanted to be doing the 50lbs bag so that I got familiar with it. 70% of the goal height would be 10’6” but I got paranoid that I’d be going too low and it came out to 10’8”. So since this was a little bit different from how I do tosses, my warm-up was a little different. I did some explosive pulls with an 8kgs kettlebell to make sure the movement didn’t bother or irritate anything. Then I did about 70% power with the 30lbs sandbag to see how the trajectory would be. Then finally I went for the actual movement. 30lbs literally ricocheted off the ceiling and went over. Too light. 40lbs was also close to hitting the ceiling so I figured that the 50lbs would be perfect. I did a single to make sure that it would not rip my shoulders out and it didn’t so now it was time. Idea was to do 6 doubles. I wasn’t given a time frame or anything but I did what I did last week with doing quasi-EMOM with that 30 seconds to get 2 tosses in and then a minute between those. I didn’t carry the bag back to the front like I was last week since this was more a drill then the full event. But I wanted to keep some elements the same. I have power but my trajectory isn’t consistent with these and I’ll need to iron that out. I had each one getting plenty of height but some would go straight up and down and others would be perfect. 4th double the bag came down on the band caused the setup to fall apart. I rushed to get it back in place for the next one and that rush of urgency actually made that set my best I think. If I can get things to be more consistent, I feel that 55lbs and 60lbs would be no problem with this drill. I’m excited to see what will happen if I can get it all to come together. This was certainly easier to put away since shorter setup and I was already inside. Next was squats with the ssb. No pauses this time. I guess me mentioning that I haven’t done real squats with a bar on my back in over half a decade was cause to have them be present now. I think part of it before was controlling the angles and ROM for my lower back and maintaining that core tightness. I’m not against doing squats. They don’t pop up much in strongman at the current level I’m at. Local shows are starting to do them more now but really it is like WSM that has them. It’s not something that will be at Nationals. I’ve never seen a pro qualifier show in the US in my strongman career have a squat event other than the LA Fit Expo the year Martins Licis got his pro card and that was a front squat with an axle. The strength and ROM are there (I was always an ATG person haha) but they don’t feel super stable at the moment because there is about half of my movement that hasn’t been trained in a long time in this way. The unilateral work has definitely helped me reclaim this. So the plan here was 70% for 3x5. At this time, I’m using 485lbs as my assumed 1rm on these. Could be more, could be less. Not doing pauses is also tricky to get used to as well. I had a bit of an allergy episode getting warmed up for squats. I may need to get new nasal spray (and no, I don't think it was the dog as I was petting her before and after and it only happened during my squat warm-ups). These felt tough but the video says these were a joke. After that was again wide grip pendlay rows. Change from last time though was having me stand on a platform so that greater ROM and lower starting point. I was also told to try and minimize movement in the rest of the body. Higher reps to also hopefully keep the weight lighter. This appears to be designed to help with that pick and lap on stones so kind of an “ah ha” moment of clarify with the explicit intent stated. Platform was to be 1-3” so being the extra I am, I did 3”. I did 30lbs jumps for triples here and figured that 225lbs was where I’d be for the day. But it was too easy so I added 10lbs each set. 245lbs finally felt about where I needed to with the fatigue as my reps were slowing down by the end. So next up was sandbag carries. Four sets of 50’ with 250-300lbs sandbag. Seeing as how my last foray with the sandbag I felt like I was moving super slow and was going to drop it at any time I figured I’d go with in between since I did 250lbs on the keg pretty well two weeks ago. Plus the 300lbs sandbag here is actually 306lbs and is really dense because it has 25lbs of lead shot mixed in it. I tried to do a similar warm-up to what I did with the keg last time to get used to moving. My error came with the actual sandbag I was to use. I had decided after talking with George to set my grip rather than start like I had to be hands off the sandbag. I haven’t attempted the 275lbs here at the gym before for a carry and it is a dense, smaller packed bag. I didn’t respect the weight and it showed as I dropped it 15’ into the first run. Kind of embarrassed that I did that. This bag’s got hands. I got my act together for the remainder of the runs but this was a tough bag to grip. I could feel my grip wanting to slip on the last two runs. Had me thinking that maybe I’m past my prime, that is how bad this bag felt to run with. I had red marks on my arms from I’m guessing canvas burn. Like, I’ve had less stuff on my forearms from the stones the week before and some of my tape had ripped. I’m just going to have to remember that the 275lbs and 306lbs at the gym are going to be difficult sandbags for their weight. Glute ham raise raises again. These didn’t start out well. I’m still trying to figure out if these feel better on the even weeks or the odd weeks at this point. I’d think I’d be more worn out by duck walk and stones then rows and front carries but it seems like that isn’t the case. Plan here was again 3 sets of getting to near failure each time. Which is probably for the best with my newborn horse legs I got here. They need to work. Consistency here isn’t great week to week. I may have to differentiate between high pad and low pad position. I initially was high pad and had the footpad at 3.75 holes showing. I struggled to get four reps and had to think on what to do next. I then adjusted the footpad so it was at 4 holes showing and did two more reps before trying to get my knees lower. I’m not certain if this is the same position I had for last week but this at least made these tolerable and I was able to get reps in. Last set I went for nine but couldn’t get back up fully so I did reach failure that set. That is probably ok but I’ve been trying to stop when I get to the point where I do a bad rep or I know the next rep will be bad so as not to ingrain the bad stuff. Hamstrings felt like they did work at least. Last item for the day was the yoke pushes. Same as it has been with another set added to the EMOM. This time, every set was under 15 seconds to complete. Didn’t feel like my ankles or calves were feeling off this week either. I couldn’t hear the timer go off on the second run so that time I didn’t get much rest for the following set. I moved the time to my shirt collar after that mishap so that I could hear it. Didn’t take much time to put stuff away and I stretched out before driving home to just relax the rest of the day.

May 27, 2021 – Week 11, Day 3

Mobility Prep
 
12” Log Incline Bench Presses w/ bands
No Bands
90x3
Added Bands (+17lbs bottom/+36lbs top)
90x3
130x3
170x3
200x3
200x3
200x3
200x3
200x3

Inverted Ring Rows
bwx5
bw+35x12
bw+35x12
bw+35x12
bw+35x20 PR+15lbs & 1 rep (brief hold on last rep)

Incline Dumbbell Triceps Extensions (3 seconds negatives)
10’sx5
26’sx16 (miscounted)
28’sx15
30’sx15

Paused Leaning Dumbbell Lateral Raises /Paused Half Kneeling Single Arm Band Rows
12x12/12 —mmbx12
12x12/12 —mmbx12
12x12/12

Stretching
 
Comments:  Been feeling a little off this week. Not like anything physically wrong. It just has been an odd week. I didn’t start training until later than I usually did. Again. I wonder if that was from just the mood I was feeling or if I wanted subconsciously to wait until it was cooler outside because it was brutally hot earlier and leaving out the incline bench for not even 10 minutes had made it almost scalding hot. Lower back was feeling a little tense. Mobility stuff for the lats, traps and scap. Best these have ever felt I think. So again log incline pressing but trying something new. Adding bands. Now that I think about it, this is the first time in the past 11 weeks that I’m moving weight with accommodating resistance of some kind. Not counting stuff that is just bands or me moving bodyweight against bands. Had a little bit of a hang up here because of my exactness. So the plan here was to do 5x3 with estimated 65% of my max (which we guessed was between 305-315lbs) so I went with about 200lbs. For the band tension, it was to be 30-50lbs at the top and 5-10lbs at the bottom. I took that too literally and was trying to make sure that the bands were fitting within that force curve and I was having no success. I couldn’t get a setup that was light enough at the bottom but within the parameters needed for the top end weight and get something with enough tension at the top that was low enough at the bottom. That was how I was spending my lunch break trying to figure that out and it was blazing hot with the sun right overhead. I was told it was ok for the band tension to be higher than the proposed 10lbs so the setup ended up being 17lbs at the bottom and 36lbs at the top. So more than proposed at the bottom and just within the range for the top of the movement. I like to know the numbers here, especially with bands since it isn’t just weight and you can move fast enough to outrun the band so knowing what it is at the bottom end and top end gives an idea of the work being done. At least for those brief moments. So I’ve never tried or at least successfully tried to do accommodating resistance on an incline press so not sure how this was going to go. I was told this was to be easy, this was speed work. But sometimes those bands don’t make it feel like it is. They are actively pulling down on you. So I did my best to make these move fast. Not trying to overdo it and have to overcompensate with elbow lockout to make the weights rattle. I took shorter rests than I usually do and tried to keep music tempo fast and upbeat so that I was in that frame of mind to be treating this as speed work. In the past when I was in the gym for speed work, I took that WSB approach (at least the earlier stuff) of short rests and moving fast, like trying to get 10 sets done in about 10 minutes kind of thing. So do the set, walk to one end of the gym and then walk back and do the next set. Any ways, I got it done on the log with no problems. But it does feel heavy on the joints with bands. Took a bit to tear down (just a little more than usual) and then on to ring rows after that. So similar to last week and earlier stuff. Same weight as last week but doing 3x12 and then another set. Seems to be the pattern of working up the volume and then doing rep sets to test. So for this time, the options left on this last set were to do 12 and then hold that last rep in the contraction for time or to keep going and do max reps. I’m greedy and I figured that I could do both. At least that was what I thought at the start. First set of these felt garbage. Difficult. Reconsidering going for both and thinking about just doing the hold assuming I was able to get to the numbers I needed. Second set felt better and the third set I felt great and easy. So by then, I was back to thinking I could be greedy and do both. No RIR for this. At least it wasn’t mentioned. 19 was tough but I was so close to 20 and I went for it. I tried to hold that rep but I could for like only a second or two before I slipped down to more of a half rep on the hold and I just stopped as at that point, I could hold that position forever and I don’t think that was the idea with the hold (that it should be at the top like when I do the paused rows).Same but different next with the triceps work after that. Same in that it was extensions with accentuated negatives but different in that it was a different angle. Now the reps were increased again and the sets decreased so had to figure things out about how much I really needed to get the job done. Part of it was that I felt I may have gone harder than I was supposed to on Monday with the band push-ups and I was advised for the newer exercises to make sure that I felt like I could do more the following week so not maxing shit out of the gate. So I think I went a little too light at the start. I was expecting more difficulty after my elbows were feeling achy on the warm-up set. But I felt good and miscounted by doing an extra rep. Did 2lbs increases like I did with the split squats to get the weight up a little each time. That last weight is probably what I should’ve used for all sets. Maybe even a little more. But never sure how new stuff goes.  And as has been the case, super set to end the session. Twists on older things. Laterals but not laterals. Leaning laterals with pauses and controlled eccentrics. I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to use a lot of weight on these with those restrictions haha. I had to make sure that my bulk wasn’t going to lift the rack off the patio with weights on as well. It is probably a good idea that I do some unilateral shoulder work like this. This is similar to how the hamstrings and calf raises were with me doing three sets of one and two sets of the other. The two set one this go around was face pulls with bands. I’ve done these before but they had been standing. These were to be kneeling, like the band rows I had been doing. I went with a lighter band tension because of the pauses. I had no idea how the fatigue between the two would factor in but I knew that laterals and face pulls make my traps and neck muscles burn sandwiched together. I also wanted to pull more face style. During warm ups, I pull with more tension but more to the throat as that seems to feel best for warming up stuff for the benching. This time I wanted to work on the weakness. I might be able to do more tension on these face pulls. Going to be small jumps in weight on those laterals though haha. Finished up by putting everything away and then eating pot roast before stretching.

May 25, 2021 – Week 11, Day 2

Mobility Prep
 
Paused Deadlifts (3 seconds below knees)
155x2
205x2
245x2
295x1
335x1
Added Straps
380x2 
380x2 
380x2 
380x2 
380x2 

Romanian Deadlifts (beltless, 3 second negatives)
155x3
245x3
Added Straps
335x8
335x8
335x8

Paused Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squats
bwx3/3
25’sx3/3
46’sx12/12
48’sx12/12
50’sx12/12

Cossack Squats
bw+25x6/6
bw+25x6/6
bw+25x6/6

Lying Band Hamstring Curls/Standing Safety Squat Bar Calf Raises (0-3-0-3 tempo)
mmb&mbx25/65x15
mmb&mbx25/65x15

Stretching
 
Comments: Had a slight headache during the morning into the early afternoon. Luckily, had an extremely irritating unit meeting for work then that seemed to clear up my headache with my rage boiling over afterwards and needed to vent haha. Maybe being fired up had me moving slowly getting things ready for training today as I don’t think I really started until 6:00PM. So about an hour after work had ended. Stretching needed to get things feeling ok for the movement prep stuff. These ATG split squats are always unpredictable. Like, I was wobbly first set and then no problem second. Knees and shoulders were feeling achy. So this workout was to be kind of deload, kind of not. It wasn’t that warm out but there was no breeze and it was humid so I ended up sweating more than I was expecting today. Deadlifts with no suit again. However, not just straight up and down deadlifts. Told to do doubles with 2-3 ct hold right below my knees. Never done these this way. I’ve done accentuated eccentrics and pauses on rdls on the way down but not pauses on the way up really. Weight was going to be fairly light and I could do without the straps but the cues here were to pull into the shins with the lats and brace at that knee point. So rather than have to worry about grip being a possible factor here with the sweat and strain, I did put on the straps. Deadlifts were actually feeling pretty good today. I had been a little worried the knees wouldn’t like it today with how cranky they seemed during the movement prep stuff. Some tightness in the lower back and glutes but that was more so on my non-injury prone side. I had thought about using my hard belt but I decided against it. Power off the floor felt like it should. Like what feels like has been missing for months. Maybe years. Next up was change. No block pulls. Back to RDLs. Beltless while doing weird things to the tempo. Plan was to do 3x8 at RPE 7. I thought I’d need to do a few sets to get ready so it has been a bit but I guess not. I was already feeling pretty primed from the deadlifts so I took big jumps getting warmed up. I figured I’d be ok with this since slow negatives are easier than pauses and other numbers lead me to believe this was just right. Trying to keep these from getting into lumbar extension. Learning lessons from the zercher gms here and just from training these past 11 weeks. Pulls were done so now legs. Again, bulgarian split squats. Slight reprieve in that it was one less set this time but more reps. I decided that I’d try to do tiny weight increases if things felt ok. Usually, it is the right knee that isn’t a fan of these some reps and sets. Today, the left one was that individual. Maybe the amount of sweat or just the fact the sets were longer with the added reps but this was feeling difficult. I got off balance on the second set with the left side about halfway into it. Right side on the second set, I was feeling some burning sensation on the inner quad but that went away after a few reps and didn’t come back. I know these kinds of exercises are important to building up my lower body while sparing the lower back loading. I feel like I still have a long ways to go to get to the level I need to be with these but even the level that I’m at now from where I started has been a big change. Then Cossack squats. Kept the weight the same. Hips and glutes were tight but not as much as last time. I was tempted to go up in weight this time but I held off on it. I recalled how much going from 15lbs to 25lbs changed things up. Granted, next jump I’d go with both of my 15lbs kettlebells. Trying to work the ankle flexibility here too. Last part of the workout was hamstring and calf superset. Same weight and tension but now doing it for two sets with more reps. The curls wasn’t going to be too bad but I knew that the calf raises were going to be super challenging. And they were. Hamstring curls felt nice and good. Maybe go a little more tension but I wanted to see how things reacted with the increased reps on both the curls and the calves since that does play into how the next set feels. I was just dripping sweat on the calf raises. Each set with the temp took close to 2 minutes to complete. Put stuff away and had meatloaf for dinner. Made sure I cooled off, rehydrated and stretched before icing knees before bed. Another late night.

May 24, 2021 – Week 11, Day 1

Mobility Prep
 
Axle Push Presses
32x2
62x2
92x2
122x2
152x2
182x2
212x2
242x1
272x3
272x3
272x3
256x8

Axle Strict Presses
122x3
162x3
202x5
202x5

Chest Supported Barbell Rows (2 seconds hold)
135x3
Added Straps
185x3
2 seconds holds on first 4 reps, then normal style
225x9 (foot slipping, did extra reps)
225x8
225x8
225x8

Band Push-ups (3 seconds negatives)
No Bands
bwx5
Added Bands
mbx5
mmbx5
lbx15
lb+µbx12
lb+(2)µbx10

Prone Dumbbell Retractions (2ct hold)/Single Arm Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extensions
8’sx10/25x15/15
8’sx10/25x15/15
8’sx10/25x15/15

Stretching
 
Comments: Tiny stressors. It was raining off and on earlier in the day so I wanted until after work to setup stuff for training. Weather had said 20% chance of rain it was that 20% I guess. But with how it has been, wetness seems to evaporate pretty quick. The sky is thirsty. I didn’t think I needed the foam rolling for my upper back but I was wrong. It is kind of funny to me how these little routines seem to get me better setup for trainings then stuff I used to do in the past. This was the first week in a good bit where I had no discomfort in the groin/inner thigh area so pleased with that. Knees hardly barking at me either. On to training. No viking press this week. Axle again. Same guidelines as last week as far as what I could do and wear and working up. Plan for today was 3 trips with 272lbs and then rep set with 2RIR with 256lbs. 280lbs last week had felt a little off but 256lbs had felt great. That initial heaviness is still there with unracking the weights. I will say that I notice that I feel very solid in my stance when I walk out and get set to do the leg drive. Not sure if that is from doing these weekly or if that is from doing more leg work and other things that were perhaps neglected in the past. Some reps working up my knees ached but once I got up to the heavy stuff, that went away. Second set with the top weight felt better to me. Third set seemed to be a rough start but then the last rep just flew up. Last set was reps with what I did last time. I get nervous on push pressing as I have a hard time with telling where the limit is and I can be feeling good but then biff the following rep with a misgroove. So it has been a fine line with keeping reps in the tank and I haven’t been the best with that the last few times that I’ve been given the go ahead. My hope was to match or get one more rep on this weight since this was about what I did my first week. Definitely seemed better as far as not having wasted movement. I’m definitely a hips push presser. Seventh rep was a little slow to lockout and I had to catch myself and resettle for the eighth rep. It went up well enough but it was a bit forward and I felt that I had to go further into a dip and that caused that. I figured I’d be fighting with that if I did anymore reps so I shut it down there. I don’t want missed reps. So axle strict pressing was next. Plan was to do 2x5 with 77.5%. I did some warm-ups and that feeling of dead space seems to be less. Still feel it. My pressing looks really fast on camera. Got a little forward on the last rep of the first set so that lockout was a bit tougher. Second set looked easy. No shoulder issues to report. I do notice that my biceps tend to get tight after strict presses. Rows again but not quite. So change here with having these not be the rows I’ve been doing. Going back to the paused rows. Kind of, sort of. See the protocol was to do the first four reps with the 2ct holds and then the other four reps like I have been doing. So kind of light and kind of not in that I can row a bit more than I can hold at contraction. RPE was to be 7 so I figured that if I make it tough for the holds, it would be still super light for the regular rows. I did the warm-ups with holds on all the reps since I haven’t done the holds for like two months now. Had a bit of trouble on that first set as my shoes were slick from the wet grass so I was slipping trying into the bench with my feet when it was time to do the power style rows. I ended up doing an extra rep as I wasn’t sure how many I did. Things were better for the following sets. Push-ups with bands again. These are very tough after a few reps. They feel easy at the start but then as I get near the end, the last three reps or so are just super difficult. For today, I was told to do certain reps and try to leave reps in the tank and increase the band tension. Ugh, that was going to be tough as it is the fatigue that builds up over the sets (much like the split squats) that makes gauge what I can do difficult. Especially since the plan was to do the band tension I’ve been doing for 15 to start. In hindsight, I probably should’ve done that band for the second set and so on. But I didn’t and I did these at a harder RPE. Cutting it close the first two sets and the last set that was to failure. Oops. Then the super set again. But not quite. Reps lowered for both but the time to hold the dumbbells on the upper back portion was doubled. So I lowered the weight on that (since I had issues with 6lbs on the Y raises with extended holds). But I increased the weights on the triceps a good bit because of the lowered reps. Again, may have gone heavier than I should for the RPE here. I may need to go lighter on the second upper body assistance stuff this week since that will be new. I had been cooking dinner between the sets so that even though it was late, I could eat as soon as I put the stuff away. Big dinner and stretched and then iced knees before bed.

May 22, 2021 – Week 10, Day 4

Mobility Prep
 
Sandbag Tosses (15’)
30x1
40x1
40x2
40x2
40x2
40x2

Paused Safety Squat Bar Squats (3 seconds)
65x3
155x3
205x3
245x3
295x3
295x3
295x3
295x3
295x3

Duck Walks
275x25’
275x25’
275x25’
275x25’
350x50’ in 13.04 seconds
425x50’ in 16.53 seconds
325x100’ in 25.15 seconds (turn at 50’)

Atlas Stone To Platform (55”, tacky)
240x1
290x1
330x2
330x2
330x2
330x8 (missed 1st try at 7th)

Glute Ham Raises
bwx8
bwx7
bwx6

Backward Sled Drags
135x50’ (turf)
235x50’ (concrete)
335x150’ in 40.18 seconds  (concrete/turf, uphill)

Stretching
 
Comments: I had started thinking about how much time I actually had before this contest. This was after my Tuesday session that and thinking about it in on Wednesday. Contest is in 8 weeks. So practically 2 months. Now that should be plenty of time but some things are too tough to be training every week so about half of those will be weeks of training for those particular events. And assuming that the week prior will be a deload and then pretty much off the week of, things like suited deadlift and stones may just have 3 sessions each left. It should be enough. I’ve been feeling good and feeling like myself again. So back to the program. Day before training I didn’t really get the opportunity to do all of the usual soft tissue work I try to do on the days off (I got my back, lower and upper, and hamstrings but not really anything else). My presence was required as my nephews were visiting which resulted in a water gun battle and then watching Dinosaur Train: Adventure Island. That almost knocked me out and I don’t think the fact I missed five seasons worth of material would’ve made it any more enjoyable. I ended up meal prepping my breakfasts for the next week in the morning as it was getting too late. Supposed to get up to over 90 degrees today. But it didn’t just got to 89. Just get it over with already. There was a bit of a breeze at least. I got there and setup for sandbag toss again. I was maybe 30 minutes behind my usual schedule so people cleared out shortly after I arrived. Movement prep remains about the same. Discomfort on the right knee for the stepdowns, discomfort on the left knee for the Cossack squats and lower back pump from the other two haha. The discomfort part does seem to lessen the second go through but the back pump remains. I know what to expect and I know that it resolves itself. So this was the first week where I wasn’t increasing the weight or the height of the tosses. I was told to just warm-up in singles and then do 4x2 with the 40lbs bag. Since the 35lbs bag is now 45lbs and I didn’t feel like making it lighter, I did a toss with the 30lbs and then then 40lbs. I also did the half toss with 30/40/50 and then 2-3 swings with the 32kgs kettlebell. I did these quasi-EMOM style. Essentially I setup my timer to do two intervals. 30 seconds to get two tosses in and then a minute after that between those sets. I initially thought that I had a bad toss with the first one of the second set but it was more that my arc was too narrow compared to what I seem to usually do but if I had been closer and did that, it would’ve been a perfect arc for max height without losing power for distance. In either case, these felt comfortable and I feel like the 40lbs is now how the 30lbs felt back when I first started doing them in 2019. Tore down the stuff to get on with the workout. SSB work next but a changeup. I was advised that this was to be a deload of sorts for the rack squats.  Plan was to do RPE6 or 60% of max squat and do 5x3 free squats with the SSB and pause them for 2-3 seconds each rep. This was a little tricky for me to figure out what would be good to do. See, I haven’t done a real squat outside of some front squats for a few weeks since like 2016. It has been box squats or really no squats. So I figured I’d go off of what my rack squat was and about what I was doing in squats with an SSB from like 2014-2015. I had decided I’d do triples (I was given option of doubles or triples to warm-up) and doing the three seconds pauses each rep. No hard belt. That first set felt a bit harder than I would’ve liked. But seemed to feel better as I went. Still looks pretty fast and easy on video. Those pauses really made the concentric portion difficult. So maybe harder than RPE6. Oh well. To be honest, I was a little worried about full squats as it has been so long and I think one of the few times I did them my lower back started acting up on me the following day. The deep squats did seem to get my hips, ankles and knees ready for whatever else I had for today. So next thing was duck walk. This also was being adjusted from previous sessions. It has been just 50’ runs for the work sets but this was introducing a 100’ (drop and turn at 50’) for more work. Duck walks get tiring and it isn’t trained as much as normal style of moving events so it makes sense to do this to get used to fatigue since it is part of a medley for these next two shows. For warm-ups, I did a little heavier than I had been doing but more volume with the short distances. I also folded over about 2” of the knee sleeves so right under my knee on the inner leg would have more protection. I thought this was a good warm-up but not so sure. I felt slower and it appears I was. Granted, I can’t really compare the heavy set of 425lbs as that was the most so far with this setup and it is expected to slow down with more weight. Also hard to figure if this is an issue or not with the decrease in speed considering how much timing of the movement has to do with the pace. I’m not terribly concerned as still far out and don’t exactly know the weight for the upcoming show either. The light run for distance was what I was curious about. Get a better idea on fatigue and answer for me how to approach the duck walk handle when running to it. Starting with it is one thing but been thinking and visualizing in my head one the approach as in both medleys, I will be doing them as the second leg and will have to run back to get them. Rotating the implement like I might do with a keg or attacking from the side like a sandbag didn’t seem to be efficient with getting started and moving. So it would be one where I’d have to get behind the implement. Doesn’t seem like a crisp transition is really going to be possible so I’ll have to be aware of that. This extra 50’ was exhausting. Time for stones. I was a little uncertain about today. Not because I didn’t feel good but more that I had to make changes to the plan. I’m trying to be better about that but I know that something that changes a plan can frustrate me. What I mean is that there was no one at the gym that knew really at the time that I felt comfortable with asking for assistance with stones for doing stone over bar. If it had been just singles or training today that wasn’t time sensitive, I’d have been fine with doing over bar. But today it was EMOM doubles and then AMRAP in 75 seconds. With that change, I was tempted to go off script (I think my thinking was if plans deviate a little, why not a lot? What does it matter?) but I kept myself to the carefully crafted plan here. So that meant I’d go to platform. That offers some different challenges compared to over bar. For general stuff, not a big deal but does change things enough for the competition plan. 1” higher load height is that bad. With going over a bar, I am aiming up and over and then trying to guide the stone down to make it easier for the person on the other side to get it back to me. I don’t have to deload the stone each rep and I don’t have to worry about controlling the bounce on the rubber. So both of those things made the rhythm and pace a bit different. I managed to keep my body temperature under control and the tacky was perfect today. I did end up getting off balance on the lapping of the first rep of the first double so I was kind of feeling like I was behind on the clock with the timer on my rest haha. With how that felt, I really wasn’t sure that I’d do so well on the AMRAP. A fellow competitor (also signed up for the same show) had been in the gym for a bit and I asked them to keep track of time for the AMRAP. The idea for this was to do more than the contest time limit so that I’d have the opportunity to get at least one more rep. I had asked for specific times to be called so I could judge my pacing and time orientation but that was perhaps too much to ask. I had a good pace going with 6 and then I misjudged how fatigued I was going for the seventh and got the load about an 1” too low. I regrouped with very little hesitation and got the 7th and then I knew I had about one more left in me to get within the time limit (and not need extended rest) so that one I slowed down to insure that I’d get it lapped and then give it hell to extend. Got it with a few seconds to spare. With how I was feeling beforehand, I was thinking like 6 reps but to almost get 9 is great news. Especially since this is 5” above contest height. Had to clean up before finishing off the session. Glute ham raise raises again. I was given a cue to think of pushing with the heels and that seemed to really help. I was told to do 3 sets of bodyweight and got to near failure. I took that as being when it felt like I wasn’t doing it right and that my lower back wanted to take over and I was leading back with my head as opposed with the heels. So that got me a few more reps compared to last week. Happy about that. I know how much these will help me get my hamstrings ready for deadlifting and being not as fatigued on stones. Last item was a long sled drag. I was told to do two work up sets of 50’ and then do the weight I did two weeks ago for 150’. Now this wasn’t quite like I’ve done as there is really only 93’ of turf (I make up the difference with rubber matting) so this meant I’d be starting outside on the concrete that is uneven and then go over some rubber flooring and then the turf. I did 100lbs jumps and took those as more of a casual pace to get ready. The plan was for this to be a long suck but never underestimate how much I can withstand suck. The only real problems with this were that it was really bright outside and I was wearing white so literally couldn’t see me until like the last 50’ of it and the other was that the sled got stuck on the rubber matting and I literally had to just yank it through it. This was actually not too bad. In fact, I was breathing harder after the 100’ duck walk and my AMRAP of stones. Put stuff away and stretched before driving home with the AC blasting. When I got home, I apparently needed to sit in front of a fan in my cool house as the sun was bearing down on me the whole drive home despite the AC. Just have to consider that with it getting hotter.

May 20, 2021 – Week 10, Day 3

Mobility Prep
 
12” Log Incline Bench Presses
87x3
117x3
147x3
177x3
207x3
237x3
267x5 PR+3 reps
240x5
240x5

Paused 12” Log Incline Bench Presses (1 second)
214x5

Inverted Ring Rows
bwx5
bw+35x12
bw+35x12
bw+35x12
bw+35x12

Lying Dumbbell Triceps Extensions (3 seconds negatives)
10’sx5
43’sx10
43’sx10
43’sx10
43’sx10

Dumbbell Lateral Raises/Half Kneeling Single Arm Band Rows
28’sx20/slbx20/20
28’sx20/slbx20/20

Stretching
 
Comments:  Another warm one. Getting close to that 90 degrees. It was not super humid and there was a breeze so it wasn’t bad outside but being in the patio room or garage was a different story. I decided to wait until it was after work to worry about moving stuff outside. Figure that it didn’t make sense to get stuff in direct sunlight and be super-hot to the touch. Mobility stuff for the lats, traps and scap. Felt good, literally no discomfort. So this is good progress here. Again, I was a little anxious about the log pressing. And yes, I said this last time and the time before and probably will forever as long as I keep going up in weight honestly. The plan for today was a smooth set of five and then base the down sets off of that (drop 10-12.5% and then another 10%). I got it in my head to make a big jump from last week. I think part of it was wanting to keep ongoing up and up. But I also was worried that I didn’t have it yet to go up this much. I think it got caught up in that if I did less than a certain amount, I was going to end up doing less weight on the down sets than I had the week before. So I was stuck on aiming for between 262lbs to 270lbs for that set of five. 262lbs was the lowest I was willing to go in my mind. I eventually decided on going for 267lbs. Log is 87lbs empty and I didn’t realize that until COVID-19 stuff started and brought it home and actually weighed it. I had thought it was 90lbs the entire time prior. So 267lbs was going to be the log plus two plates a side which in the past, I had thought was 270lbs. And that appears to be the most I’ve ever attempted on log incline bench press. This was one of those times where I did 20lbs less for a set of 8 and then went up to 267lbs and ended up getting just a double. So getting more than 2 would be a PR on this exercise. So for warm-ups, I did 30lbs jumps. I just kept adding a pair of 10’s and a pair of 5’s each set, not worrying about getting it converted to bigger plates. I’ve found that doing this to warm-up seems to get me focused and take the work weight seriously as the warm-ups feel a little tougher with the weight distribution. I was going to need that edge. I got set and went for it. I knew that I had a shot at it with how that first rep felt. Only a slight hesitation on that last rep. Pleased with this and that this is improving. I’ve been lacking on this for so long and have even put weights overhead with odd objects or strict style with more weight than this exercise. So hopefully that is good news. Don’t want to say the other sets were an afterthought but in my mind they kind of were as I had just got that big set done and there was no way I was going to have any problems with these other weights. Fairly standard on the two down sets. With the paused reps, I misloaded the one side so underweight by 5lbs. I noticed the balance was off and reracked it after one rep and saw what I had done. Then put the right weight on and did the set. Ring rows after that. Never had this much weight on these but I’m also relatively new to them in a sense. Plan was 4x12 with 35lbs and I was advised to try and have the weight more on my stomach than my hips. This was a bit easier to do due to the density of the weight compared to the 10lbs bumper plates. I did do a few extra reps with my bodyweight before going all in. These felt fine. I could tell it was harder than what I was doing with 20lbs but not a lot harder I guess. So that is good. I could really feel myself using the back muscles to pull on these. I’m trying to be cognizant of that with exercises that aren’t just movements. Triceps work after that. Same as last week. I was wondering if I’d have a repeat of things since I had increased the weight on the dumbbells on Monday and I had issues with my right triceps on these last week. So I kept the weight the same. I felt like I had less achy elbow issues this week and I didn’t have it feel like my right arm was giving out on any of the reps. So I was in control the entire time. Maybe the triceps are just accepting that they have to be stronger.  Last bit was the super set of laterals and band rows. I was initially going  to lower the lateral weights after how last week felt but I decided to stick with it after how the rest of the session was going (specifically the triceps). This was just two sets again so first set wasn’t bad. Rows felt better too. Second set was feeling tough but it wasn’t like oh shit tough like last week. However, I didn’t get to really do that second set uninterrupted as the dumbbell in my right hand came apart during the set. So I had to stop and get in back into a solid piece again and then finished the set. No problems with the band rows. Put stuff away as I was cooking up a big dinner. Learned that it is possible to use too much ginger when it is fresh haha.

May 18, 2021 – Week 10, Day 2

Mobility Prep
 
Suited Deadlifts
No suit
135x3
135x3
225x3
315x2
380x1
Added Suit, Straps
445x1
510x1
570x1
570x2
505x2
505x2

12” Jack Stand Pulls (suit, straps)
505x3
505x10

Paused Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squats
bwx3/3
25’sx3/3
48’sx10/10
48’sx10/10
48’sx10/10
48’sx10/10

Cossack Squats
bw+25x6/6
bw+25x6/6
bw+25x6/6

Lying Band Hamstring Curls/Standing Safety Squat Bar Calf Raises (0-3-0-3 tempo)
mmb&mbx20/65x10
mmb&mbx20/65x10
mmb&mbx20/65x10

Stretching
 
Comments: Another warm one out. I knew I’d sweat to death if I kept the door to the garage closed. Again, trying to wait until it gets bit warmer to start using the fans. Movement prep stuff about as expected. Still some slight discomforts. A little bit of stretching seems to help with the on exercise for the movement prep. I didn’t have music on while doing this so heard crispy knees again. Then into the garage for the lifting. Suit work on deadlifts again. I was given instructions on specific sets to work up to the planned sets for the day. I wasn’t feeling that great in how deadlifts were feeling working up with the suit on. Appear to be keeping with doing 25lbs jumps each time. So what has been the case has been working up to a top weight and then two down sets for same reps. Now video says my first two lifts in the suit were fast. They didn’t feel like it. It was feeling like I wasn’t getting power off the floor like I should. The change with the working up had me doing a single with the working weight a la Poundstone warm-up method haha. Maybe a way to get a triple in while getting two shots at the setup? In either case, that single didn’t feel like the double was a sure thing. Not sure if realizing that this matters and that I’d be having some kind of deload after this session that I got ready and did my best to keep the suit under my control and do what I wanted it to. First rep went up better than the previous single and then made the second rep even easier. I feel like I’m good at using a deadlift suit to load it for reps, even with very heavy weights relative to my max. I was pleased with how that went considering how I had felt earlier, that it was 20lbs more than my best double in training with a suit and that I don’t have the straps down to the maximum tightness yet (it takes time to get used to it). I realize with the competition at this time, a lifetime best on deadlift would probably still get me last place but I just glad I’m not hating myself after every deadlift session now. Took off weight for the down sets. I think I got too confident as the first set felt quite tough. Second set was a bit better. I think I was beginning to get fatigued from the suit work and just the constant irritation of it digging into my legs. On to block pull work. A change here. It has been no suit this whole time but this week I was to do them with the suit. I tried to make moving this from the floor to the jack stands as quick as possible but that wasn’t happening so I had to strip the weight down and then load it back up. Only thing for these this time was same weight as I did on the down sets but do a triple and then a max rep set. That first triple didn’t feel so powerful. I figured maybe I was just waning at this time. But similar to that heavy double, I got it in my head that I needed to do this and the weight felt lighter. Plan was to leave 2RIR. Hard to tell here. I try my best on suit work to not hyperextend the lockout. The fabric can bunch up and make it tough to do so. Last rep was dangerously close to an Eddie Hall soft knees lockout. I kept the tightness of the straps the same as what I was doing on the floor. One as it would probably be easier to breathe, and two so that I was feeling the same support and let off like I was doing earlier. I suspect that I may need to make straps tighter as I get closer and peak and that may be sooner rather than later. Pulls were done and it was on to the legs. Bulgarian split squats again. Really any hard single leg work has become a time vampire. But the results are good. I had decided at this point to just order out rather than risk over cooking a roast. So for this time, I was to up the difficulty to make this closer to RPE8 than RPE7. Warm-up I did just my bodyweight to make sure knees and hips were good and then the 15lbs kettlebells and 10lbs dumbbells (I got biggish hands). I didn’t want to make too drastic a jump as the number of sets and reps is what gets fatiguing and something on the first set may be super difficult by the end. Had some balance issues on some reps (1st set on the right side I thought the foot rest broke and turned around haha) but still seemed good. I know a lot of people don’t like these but I see them as helping me improve. And now knowing I don’t have to do them one after the other has made them work for me and I can put in smart and full effort. Then Cossack squats. Kept the weight the same. Hips and glutes were tight by this point and it took a little bit of wiggling around to feel ready to go. Still challenging but not feeling like things were straining like last week. By this point, my 6 chicken sandwiches had arrived. It was tempting to stop and eat them and then come back to do the last bit but I stuck to the plan. Not so much on the first set but definitely by the end. Last part of the workout was hamstring and calf superset. Same as last week with same reps and sets. I did increase the band tension on the hamstring curls and I could really feel them working hard this time. On the calf raises, I felt that I was having better control of the muscles in the front and back of my lower legs. Granted, stuff still fatigued and didn’t want to do stuff after a while but I could feel them doing the stuff for some of it and that is something I can’t say I’ve always been able to do since the back issues compressing my discs and causing the nerve damage in the one leg. After that fun was done, I ate all those sandwiches in under 15 minutes and was still somewhat hungry. That was a PR for me there haha as I usually only do 4 or 5. Put away the weights I left out before stretching and icing my knees before bed.

May 17, 2021 – Week 10, Day 1

Mobility Prep
 
Axle Push Presses
40x2
70x2
100x2
130x2
160x2
190x2
220x2
250x1
280x3
256x3
256x3

Viking Presses
+91(110)x3
+181(177.5)x3
+236(219)x3
+288(258)x5
+288(258)x8

Chest Supported Barbell Rows
135x3
185x3
Added Straps
225x3
275x3
315x6
275x8
275x8
275x8

Band Push-ups (3 seconds negatives)
No Bands
bwx5
Added Bands
mbx5
mmbx5
lbx12
lbx12
lbx14

Prone Dumbbell Retractions (1ct hold)/Single Arm Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extensions
10’sx12/17x20/20
10’sx12/17x20/20
10’sx12/17x20/20

Stretching
 
Comments: Felt off today. I blame the burgers from the place I tried on Sunday for the first time. Trying new things. But I didn’t feel like bad, just off. Like, I was 30 minutes behind where I should be during the day. I wasn’t feeling hungry but I made myself stick to the meals and drink water. Only real concerns I had with today was how long it would take and setup with some of the plans. Plans made based off of information from the last session of this day. Definitely needed the foam rolling on the upper back. Not like as bad as it felt last week where I knew the day before I needed it but it was needed. Hip flexor stretch felt good. Movement prep was ok. Less discomfort than the week before so progress there. That is always good. The knees kind of have days that are good and not as far as discomfort. But the stuff I’m watching is the hip/inner thigh/groin thing that is getting better. Back to axle again. Not as much work here as in the past since the idea is to work up heavy and then put in rep work on the viking press. No pauses or beltless work. And no restriction on rebounding for the reps. Advised to work up in doubles up to 70% and then do singles. Really that just meant one single before the work set. Plan was 280lbs for a triple and then knock it back down to 80% for two trips. Honestly, the set with 280lbs wasn’t a great set. Power was there for sure but I seemed to be all over the place. Lockout was tougher than I’d have liked on the first rep, second rep it went up easy but I wasn’t quite stable from it and had to step forward a bit to get stable. I then felt it was decent on the last rep. So some good I can see from doing the non-rebound reps. The subsequent sets were piss easy. Like, that is how it should feel. Then it was viking press. Thankfully, my worries here were unsubstantiated as tearing down the setup in the rack for axle and then setting up for viking press took less than 7 minutes. Now unlike say strict press or any weird assistance variation of push press, I didn’t think it was wise to just do like a token lift or go right for the planned weight since form was different and getting used to how stuff felt. So I did bigger jumps then what I did last week with testing to get up to where I needed to be for the day. So plan for the day was to do 2 sets at 80%. By 80%, I don’t mean my max, more of the max capacity for the current setup. Now I had thought that what I had last time (315lbs added) was the max but I realized that if I took off the 1lbs collar I was using, I could fit another 45lbs on to get max of 360lbs added. As far as the math, roughly 75% of what I add to the setup gets counted with about 32.5lbs to 42.5lbs being the empty setup weight in hand. So 80% came out to just a little more than my down sets last week. I had been advised to get a bit more under the weight so that my quads helped more and it was less a momentum incline bench. First set the plan was to test things out and hit 5 decent reps and not do them as rebound reps. Just got a little rough lockout on the fifth rep. The second set was to be with rebound reps and goal was 6-8 with 2RIR. These felt great until the last rep where I apparently dipped too far down and hit the yoke and really messed up my timing. I stopped there after I got that rep. I think this is another instance of the non-rebound reps being a good idea since at competition, once I set it down, my turn is done. Tear down of this for rows also didn’t take terribly long. Then the staple, rows. It has been a while since I was told to go for a max. I mean, I’ve been given protocols of doing max reps with reps in reserve with a set weight every so often but this said hit a 6rm. I figured 315lbs had to be it. And I was a little uncertain. Now the projected numbers would have me at best 400lbs for a single and at worst 375lbs based off what I’ve repped out at but I’m really good with getting reps on reps with rows rather than max. So maybe it would be too much of an ask. I don’t think I would’ve thought to try if I hadn’t done a harder row variation with about the weight I’m currently doing on these for sets on Saturday. 275lbs still felt heavy but I moved 315lbs well enough that I felt maybe I had undersold myself. But I was still thinking that doing 275lbs for 3x8 (since that is what the percentages had my down sets at) was going to be that easy. It wasn’t. But it definitely shows my back strength is improving and that is good for all things strongman. After that, I moved things into the garage. Not that it wasn’t pleasant outside, more just that I knew it would get dark while I was out there and having stuff in the garage gave me room to clean up the stuff on the patio. Push-ups with bands again. I was told this time to do sets of 5’s for the warm-ups rather than sinlges. Probably needed as my left shoulder was feeling achy at the start but didn’t have any issues when going with the working set tension. Plan here was same as last time but going for max reps on last set. I figured that it would be close to 12 with how the negatives drain me and how difficult it is to lockout this band tension.  Cutting it very close with that last rep haha. Then the super set again. Realizing that I was to have my palms facing down on the upper back exercise, made things a lot better for that. I had thought to lower the weight but now that I had getter ROM, I had better control. For triceps, I got my one long dumbbell handle (I bought it to do circus dumbbell warm-ups since my bell is 130lbs empty). Upped that by 7lbs and that seemed to be just right. Now I didn’t exactly do these back to back as I took a brief break between the rounds to check on the ground beef I was cooking. This did end up being a longer session and a later night for me and that was more to do with my initial slow start to the entire day then the workload. Ate a big meal and stretched. Made sure to ice my knees this time.

May 15, 2021 – Week 9, Day 4

Mobility Prep
 
Sandbag Tosses (15’)
30x1
40x1
45x1
50x1
50x1
45x2
40x2
40x2

Safety Squat Bar Dead Squats (2” above parallel)
65x10
155x3
225x3
275x3
315x3
365x3
405x2
405x2
405x2
360x12

Wide Grip Pendlay Rows
75x3
95x3
115x3
135x3
185x3
235x3
265x6
275x6
285x6

Keg Carries
175x25’
175x25’
200x25’
200x25’
225x5’
225x5’
250x50’ in 8.09 seconds
250x50’ in 8.33 seconds
250x50’ in 8.16 seconds
250x100’ in 16.01 seconds (turn at 50’)

Glute Ham Raises
bwx6
bwx6
bwx6

Yoke Pushes (turf)
250x50’
250x50’
250x50’
250x50’
250x50’
250x50’
250x50’

Stretching
 
Comments: Things weren’t feeling great Friday. The joints that achy were achy and my shoulders, traps and neck were unreasonably stiff and sore. Soft tissue work helped some but it wasn’t enough to put me at ease so I did take some anti-inflammatories (like half of what I normally would use) and a muscle relaxer to make sure I slept within waking up from tossing and turning in my sleep like I do. And hopefully let rest help with it and give it a chance to settle down. Seemed to be mostly good. Made good time out to train. Sun was oppressive today but thankfully what I needed to do outside was limited to just sandbag toss and it was lower volume stuff. I setup the sandbag toss setup first before I started doing my warm-ups. Made this a lot easier figuring out how to make the band taut without needing to use a ladder. Movement prep remains about the same. Discomfort on the right knee for the stepdowns, discomfort on the left knee for the Cossack squats and lower back pump from the other two haha. The discomfort part does seem to lessen the second go through but the back pump remains. So on to the weekly sandbag toss it would seem. Did half tosses (essentially using only like 50% to get a feel for how it handles and moves and work some dynamic movement) with the 30lbs, 40lbs and 50lbs and then like 2-3 reps of kettlebell swings with the 32kgs. Trying to get my warm-ups down to the most efficient. Always thinking about both for the session at hand and what might end up being the case at a competition. I was feeling anxious here because the goal was 50lbs over 15’ and then do doubles with other bags to that height. Both of those had me nervous. I wanted to be confident that it would happen. 30lbs went over like nothing (though it didn’t feel like it with the sun in my eyes tracking it) and 40lbs and 45lbs went over as well but not with so much clearance that I thought I had a real shot at 50lbs. I got set and gave it my best. And it went over. Didn’t even graze the band. I was thrilled with that. Second toss with it didn’t go as great. Smacked right into the band and I initially thought it went under so I gave another attempt but it was halfhearted and barely went up. However, looking at the video, the sandbag did smack into the band but it kept going up and went over. Not pretty but it would’ve counted in a competition. I know I won’t be that lucky with the setup I believe will be used at the competition as I think that is thick PVC pipe. Then the next thing was doubles. I was nervous about these too but different reason. Not that I wouldn’t get the first toss but that I wouldn’t get the second toss. I seem to be good with singles but my experience with training for USS Nats 2019 was that I didn’t do so hot doing several in a row. At least not at these weights as I seemed ok with launching light kegs in competition despite only having one to train on. The intent here was to train for having another shot if I miss a throw due to trajectory. So with that in mind, my guidelines were to do two tosses within the attempt time limit (30 seconds) and that I’d bring the sandbag back to the front rather than toss from the other side. No rush and plenty of time. No issues here. If anything, these felt better than some of the tosses I had working up to the 50lbs. So this was a great start to the day. Tore down the stuff to get on with the workout. SSB rack squats yet again. Uncertain if this will be the trend but this appeared to mirror two weeks prior. First week was work up to 5rm and then do some down sets, second week was do several work sets and then do an AMRAP with a decent weight taken off. Last week had been 4rm and down sets and now this week was again several work sets with an AMRAP. For whatever reason, this session feels tougher than the previous. Like, the top set of the previous week feels like maybe I went too light whereas this week, it all feels insanely heavy, until the AMRAP. Probably didn’t help that my knees were just not happy with doing these today. Felt damn heavy despite some reps looking fast per the camera. But even the camera was saying some of those reps were slow going. With how I was feeling, wasn’t expecting much for the AMRAP. 10lbs more than last time. But it felt light. I probably should’ve stopped at 11 reps but I wanted to match last time. Form broke down a little there but I got. Still probably had 2 reps there but they wouldn’t have been pretty ones as my lower back was cooked. This time, I didn’t screw up the exercise order and did rows. The exercise for today was wide grip pendlay rows. Advised no hard belt and my choice if I wanted to use straps or not. I elected no straps for the added grip work since not putting as much stress on that now that not doing off season training rotation. So I haven’t done rows without something supporting my back with both arms other than rows with sandbags or stone of steel. So I had no real idea what I’d be working with today. I mean, the parts have gotten stronger since I’ve done these (rarely did them with a wide grip though) but the parts don’t always make a whole if one of the links is still not up to standard. My lower back was tight after the squat AMRAP so I started super-duper light, using bumper plates. Plan was to do 3x6 with something that was RPE 7-8 and work up in triples. I started with just 75lbs and did 20lbs jumps up until 135lbs. By that point, my lower back was recovered enough and I felt like I was getting the form down to go with bigger jumps. Made 50lbs jumps after that and decided to go with 265lbs for my first set and see how it went. These actually felt pretty good and just added 10lbs each set. So next up was keg carries. Two weeks ago I spent a lot of time figuring out how to replicate a fire hydrant carry. Now that it has been “revealed” that it will be either 150lbs or 180lbs, specificity isn’t really that important right now. So for today, the plan was runs with 250lbs keg. Three sets of 50’ and one set of 100’ with a turn and come back at 50’. I was advised to carry in a way that could simulate how I’d carry a fire hydrant but also be safest for biceps. With the diameter of the keg being much larger than the theoretical fire hydrant, carrying it like I did my makeshift fire hydrant wouldn’t be a great option. My thinking is if more specificity, I will use a block with light weight as that might be closer to grip wise. My contest 6 weeks after this one has a keg carry medley (literally the same thing as medley for this show with fire hydrant swapped out) so I went with my go to style of carrying a keg when I got to go fast. I did a little bit of a different warm-up than I’ve done in the past for front carries. Honestly, it has been very minimal in the past as I feel like I’d get burned out from numerous picks and sprints. And to save time. However, I noticed this past ways of doing things may not have been the smartest or best. It could be why my right knee gave me fits many months ago that made me take a break. Going from nothing to everything with (in the words of Derek Poundstone) “I’ll be plenty warm a few steps in” is for only unique circumstances. And with how slow I felt I was during the month or so of off season training when doing a front carry, I figured I needed time to get back into it. However, the previous session with short distance front carries had me thinking maybe I just need to move a bit more. So taking part of that from that session and past few duck walk sessions, I did a combo of short half course runs and even shorter essentially pick and go. This was definitely needed. Like the very first set with the 175lbs keg felt terrible but as I got going, my legs and knees felt better and I was able to move more efficiently. Now I don’t really have a frame of reference when it comes to 50’ runs with a keg for time as most of what I’ve done that has been timed is either parts of medleys or longer distance. So not sure if these are slow or personal bests or in-between. But averaging just over 8 seconds. I felt slow on the longer set but it actually was quite good considering. I do have a log from when I last did this weight for distance like this and I was over a second slower then at the first week of trying so that should mean good things here. Then glute ham raises. These are super difficult but I know that they will help me get my hamstrings up and back to the levels when I was setting deadlift PRs and lifting stones like nothing (more so than I currently do). I’ve been liking the negatives to awaken things but the actual movement was going to be tough. The plan was to do 3 sets of as many as I could with 2RIR each set. I asked what the minimum was as I had my doubts I could even do one rep. I was advised that at least 6 and if not, either add some kind of band to assist or use the assisted manual leg curl machine. Well I didn’t want to use that machine haha. So my goal was to do 3x6 and survive. I at least made the negatives look good. I had maybe two reps that were ideal, others I was having hip hinging. I just don’t have that strength yet and it will need work and I’m willing to do it. I was advised I could do slow negatives after getting six reps but I decided not to as I wanted to make sure I could actually do 6 reps on each set first. So then on to the final thing of the day was the sled/yoke push again. Same weight but this time for 7 sets. So I was ready for this. I guess too ready as I made this look way too easy. Literally every set but one was under 15 seconds to complete. Hell, the last set I guess I got super motivated and made it my fastest one yet. So that is good that my conditioning is improving but I guess the difficult will need to be adjusted too haha. Ended up stretching before driving home to relax before eating pot roast for dinner. Workout seemed to get finished an hour earlier than previously. Ended up icing my knees twice before bed. Nine weeks out now.

May 13, 2021 – Week 9, Day 3

Mobility Prep
 
12” Log Incline Bench Presses
90x3
130x3
165x3
195x3
225x3
255x6
235x6

Paused 12” Log Incline Bench Presses (1 second)
215x6
215x6

Inverted Ring Rows
bwx3
bw+20x12
bw+20x12
bw+20x12
bw+20x19 PR+10lbs & 2 reps

Lying Dumbbell Triceps Extensions (3 seconds negatives)
10’sx5
43’sx10
43’sx9 (miscounted)
43’sx10
43’sx10

Dumbbell Lateral Raises/Half Kneeling Single Arm Band Rows
28’sx20/slbx20/20
28’sx20/slbx20/20

Stretching
 
Comments:  Today was not looking like a good day to train. Allergies and aches. Probably didn’t help my self-esteem last night when I got the car buffer stuck in my hair and had to perform hair surgery haha. My hair has gotten long enough that that can now happen but also long enough that having to take a handful off isn’t noticeable. Glutes and hips on my left side had been really tight and I blame the extra weight I did on the Cossack squats on Tuesday for that. I also need to remind myself to keep on drinking water during the day. I get distracted and I forget to fill up a big jug by my desk. I don’t feel the need to because unlike when I’m at the office rather than teleworking, I’m not sweating to death in my house. But on to training. Mobility stuff for the lats, traps and scap. Felt good, literally no discomfort. I was a little anxious about the log pressing. Yes, I said that last week and I say that this week. Plan was 15lbs more than last time for a set of 6 and then doing stuff with 20lbs drops after that. Log incline just hasn’t been great. Never has been other than sometimes when I’ve been able to just rep out a weight. But add a little bit and then nope. Case in point being that the past two times I’ve tried 250lbs or more, I got just a single. 250lbs was Week 1 and I reracked it. 254lbs was Week 3 and I got 1 and then no more. And since then, adjusted my expectations accordingly. In the past, there has been times where I’ve done a weight 8 reps then add 20lbs and get like maybe 1-3 reps. Incline pressing just seems to have that dead zone in the press. So having achy shoulders wasn’t helping coming into this. Not to mention I was having some neck and upper back things going on too out of nowhere. Last warm-up did not fill me with confidence with how it felt but I managed to get the goal weight with at least a rep in the tank. So pleased with that. I knew that the rest of the pressing should be a breeze after that. 20lbs off that for another set of 6 reps and then that was followed by taking another 20lbs off to do 2x6 with the paused presses. Those felt a little more challenging. A fairly big jump in what I was doing on those. Granted, big jumps all-round on the working weights here. Ring rows after that. Plan was 3x12 with 20lbs and then to do a max rep set leaving 2RIR. Was feeling good on these. I didn’t think I’d be doing that well on the max rep set. I didn’t think that I had done 2 reps less with 10lbs on my waist or that this matched my unweighted rep best. So that continues to improve. I do so many back exercises that you’d think there would be some fatigue but nope, they just seem to keep building upon each other. Next was triceps with the eccentrics again. Same difficulty but lowered reps. So 4x10. I figured that I’d only go up a little since I’d have to swap out the fixed weight dumbbells for plateloadable ones. With how my elbows felt last week, I thought it was wise to do some reps with my 10lbers. I meant to do only 3 but that didn’t feel like a enough to get the joints ready so I did 5. I’m finding that squeezing the holy hell out of the handles seems to make the elbows not so whiney but it does seem to make things a bit more exhausting overall. Second set I miscounted and this time it was less reps than I thought I did. But didn’t figure that out until I had finished the sets. However, not that it would’ve really mattered. On the last rep of the third and fourth set, my right arm just couldn’t keep up controlling the weight all the way down. Similar to that one rep on the accentuated negative push presses. Just couldn’t handle it anymore and just went down. Less pronounced on the third set (control for most of it) but like none on the fourth set. Guess that really confirms it that my right triceps is weaker and lacks the endurance of my left.  I took a little bit of break before I did the last item. More so because I needed to adjust the weights on the dumbbell handles. So like last time but instead of 3x15 it was 2x20. I foolishly figured that I only really had trouble on the last set last time so I should be able to do 2lbs more per hand no problem. It was a problem. This was really exhausting to do. I got through the first set no problem. Laterals were tough but nothing I couldn’t manage. Definitely noticing one side is slightly stronger on the band rows. I think I increased the tension a little on those too with how I set things up. That second set was a killer. I had to take a break for the last three reps on the laterals. I knew I may have pushed that too much as I could feel that my neck and upper back were straining a little here. Rows were tough but easy compared to the laterals on the second set. I was just glad it was done. I was a little concerned that I was feeling some ulnar nerve compression sensations on the left side but those went away a few minutes after training. Ate big meal for dinner and stretched.

May 11, 2021 – Week 9, Day 2

Mobility Prep
 
Deadlifts
155x2
205x2
245x2
295x2
335x2
385x2
Added Straps
425x3
425x3
425x3

12” Jack Stand Pulls
315x1
365x1
405x1
Added Straps
455x2
455x2
455x2
425x5

Paused Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squats
bwx3/3
15’sx3/3
40’sx10/10
40’sx10/10
40’sx10/10
40’sx10/10

Cossack Squats
bw+25x6/6
bw+25x6/6
bw+25x6/6

Lying Band Hamstring Curls/Standing Safety Squat Bar Calf Raises (0-3-0-3 tempo)
mmbx20/65x10
mmbx20/65x10
mmbx20/65x10

Stretching
 
Comments: Another day. I am noticing that my overall mood seems better. Don’t want to say hopeful but I’ve been feeling a bit more outgoing and “silly”. Like myself. It feels like I haven’t been like this in almost a year with everything going on in the world and my life. Just an observation. Hoping that skipping on icing the knees the night before (going to make sure I do so tonight) doesn’t hamper today’s training. I just remember that sometimes after the hard training, knees can be fickle just getting set to standard bar height on deadlifts. Still watching the slight discomfort in the left inner thigh/groin area. Stretching needed to get things feeling ok for the movement prep stuff. The outstretched knee is always the achy one and the right more so than the left. Hearing less crunching but maybe that is because I had music playing so I couldn’t really hear the wear and tear haha. It is always interesting to me how the second go through feels better on these movement prep warm-ups. And then it was time to lift things. Deadlifts again. No suit and for 3x3 with 15lbs more than last time. I added 20lbs to my usual weights so that I didn’t have to think about a strange jump from 365-425lbs. Did doubles and just controlled but not accentuated negatives. Trying to get the start right and not rushing it. Working up, some weights felt like nothing and others felt like something. Trying to get that feeling I get with the block pulls as far as trying to get set and ready. Those seem so much easier to mentally get through. I am noticing that I have better control of my upper back and lats and actually seem to be able to engage them. I think these were better than last time. Hard to say in the moment. But they did feel better as I went. I feel like last set was better than what I did last time. Deadlift, like overhead, will forever be a work in progress. On to block pull work. This week, the workload seemed a little lighter comparatively. It had been 4x3 and this time with was 3x2 with a set of 1x5 with 30lbs less. Honestly, probably needed as these felt tough today. They don’t look that hard on video and the second rep always looks better. I was feeling like my upper back and traps were tight and it felt like if I flexed them that I was feeling tightness in my biceps (mostly in the right one). So perhaps that was throwing me off a little too. So after the pulls, it was time for the leg work. Bulgarian split squats again. Last time it was 3x10, now it was 4x10. Oof. Knees were aching on some of these but eventually they mostly shut-up. Uncertain if it was because of blood flow or what. I had less balance issues this week, even as I felt fatigue. I felt that I was recovering well between the sets but I could definitely feel the work of all those reps. Making sure I recover between sides has made single leg work here a bit more tolerable and the results seem good with what I’ve been seeing. Then Cossack squats. I started pushing the rest periods a little as this workout was going on long. I had already planned to eat dinner as soon as I finished the last thing rather than put away stuff and then eat. Cossack squats were for 3x6 this week. I probably should’ve stuck with 15lbs as these need a gradual change but I decided on a whim to add 10lbs to that. I’m going to be feeling that later. Just the stretch and strain of that added weight was noticed. Not so much on the first set but definitely by the end. Last part of the workout was hamstring and calf superset. A new one. Lying curls (which I’m super weak at) and calf raises with tempo using the safety squat bar. The setup required some time so that I could do them back to back as well as figure out some troubleshooting as far as band tension for the curls. I think I erred on less versus more here as I wasn’t sure on fatigue over the course of the sets and a light band was too much to get a solid rep on. In hindsight, probably could’ve added a micro band to this. Setup was using crash pads to slightly elevate so that I had more tension at the start and range of motion and (also not be lying on the hard concrete slab). Foam roller under the hips to keep slight flexion and holding onto the end of the patio to engage my lats. Last set felt the easiest. The calf raises were a bit unique. Holding the rack for balance and using the empty ssb for weight. These were easier than the single leg variations but got nearly as difficult by the end of the last set. One of the cues had been to flex my tibs while in the stretch to get deeper. I noticed that my left side doesn’t really seem to have that connection/control while my right side does. May have to do with the nerve damage on that side from the disc issues. Ate dinner and then put away stuff before stretching. Eventually iced knees before bed. Ended up being a late one. Need to make sure I rest and spend time wisely tomorrow to recuperate.

May 10, 2021 – Week 9, Day 1

Mobility Prep
 
Viking Presses
Empty(42.5)x3
+45(76)x3
+90(110)x3
+135(144)x3
+180(177.5)x3
+225(211)x3
+270(245)x3
+315(279)x3
+285(256)x3
+285(256)x3

Axle Strict Presses
125x3
195x5
195x5
195x5

Chest Supported Barbell Rows
135x3
180x3
Added Straps
225x3
270x6
270x6
270x6
250x15

Band Push-ups (3 seconds negatives)
No Bands
bwx1
Added Bands
mbx1
mmbx1
lbx1
lbx12
lbx12
lbx12

Prone Dumbbell Retractions (1ct hold)/Single Arm Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extensions
10’sx12/10x20/20
10’sx12/10x20/20
10’sx12/10x20/20

Stretching
 
Comments: Weather has been a bit more tolerable. Yesterday was off and on rain and overcast. Today weather was to be sunny. Thankfully it hasn’t been muggy other than Monday and Tuesday last week. Definitely needed the foam rolling on the upper back. I could tell I would need it the day before haha. Hip flexor stretch felt good. Movement prep was ok. Less discomfort than the week before so progress there. Today was a change-up. No axle push pressing. The main pressing for the day was the viking press. I had ordered an attachment when I realized it would be needed for this prep and not be feasible to do viking pressing on event days. I spent a time on Sunday figuring out a rough setup to see how it worked between the rain. It was going to take some time to setup so as has been the case, this was what I did during the lunch break to make it not take so long after work to start training. Now I didn’t know what I’d get up to on this. Plan here was work up to a solid triple and then do two back down sets for 3 reps each. I didn’t worry about the math until literally just before midnight after the session to figure it out as it was gnawing at me. Feels like a viking press with how it felt. So initially, I was counting the attachment and then plates for figuring things out. I realized after 5 plates that I was running out of room for weight. 45lbs plate jumps all the way up. After I did six plates, I took off the four thickest ones and swapped in my next thinnest to fit seven on there. Felt good and within the parameters. Now the math has that at between 270lbs – 280lbs in hand. My hope is that is about contest weight in hand or more. I can’t really add weight beyond this setup unless I add chains or bands, or hanging loading pin. Or I invest in a bunch of expensive calibrated plates that are 25kgs each. Took 30lbs off and did 2x3 after that. Essentially the rough math has the apparatus as 42.5lbs empty in hand and then anything I add to the setup is 75% of that. The next thing required me to tear all that mess down haha. Most of the workout, I spent my rest periods doing active rest putting stuff away and then going again as I knew this was going to be a late night with all the new exercises. So axle strict pressing was next. Plan was to do 3x5 with 75%. Unlike with the push pressing with negatives and pauses, I felt that I needed to do a set to see how things felt before going for the working weights. Axle strict pressing has been feeling weird lately. I think part of it is that I just haven’t been doing it and most of my strict pressing had been log for the longest time. It feels heavy on the chest but just rockets up that first rep and then it like “what do I do with my arms” between that point and lockout. Only the last set looked as difficult as it felt for me. I was advised that lowering the working max weight on axle wasn’t necessary for the programming at this time, just will be adjusted accordingly. I wasn’t dealing with any real shoulder discomfort like I’ve had in the past few times doing them so there is that. Then rows. These felt good. First time I can think where the first set didn’t feel tough at the start. Felt strong on them. Last set for reps, did feel tough though. After that, I moved things into the garage. The next thing was another push-up variation. Push-ups with bands. And of course, accentuated negatives. It wouldn’t be a push-up without that haha. So idea was to do 3x12 with something that felt like RPE8. Caveat was to explode to lockout. Slowing down the negatives with band tension is really tough and saps power quick so something that feels easy that first rep may not happen by the tenth. Haven’t done these in some time. Like right as this COVID-19 stuff start was last time. Also had my hands on small dumbbells for ergonomic reasons and to increase the ROM just a tad. These felt good. Funky getting into position with the amount of tension I needed. Last thing of the session was the tiny muscles superset. Which on this day always seems to be upper back and triceps. So this pairing was of me laying face down on the floor (put a towel for my face) and raising dumbbells as high as I could, which wasn’t very. Really difficult and hard on those upper back and shoulders. Might have done them wrong too. But it felt like work. The next part was then single arm dumbbell stuff for triceps. Lot of reps and told to be slow and controlled. I used the light dumbbells here too as I could just feel my right arm lagging and just having trouble doing that movement that many times in a row, let alone with weight. Left side is definitely stronger. This did end up being a longer session and a later night for me. Ate a big meal and stretched. Not enough time to ice knees to get in bed to get at least 8hrs of sleep.

May 8, 2021 – Week 8, Day 4

Mobility Prep
 
Sandbag Tosses (15’)
30x1
35x1
40x1
45x1
45x1
45x0
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1

Safety Squat Bar Dead Squats (2” above parallel)
65x10
155x3
245x3
295x3
335x3
385x3
425x4
372x4
372x4

Duck Walks
200x25’
250x25’
300xpick
300x50’ in 10.76 seconds
350x50’ in 11.03 seconds
400x50’ in 15.44 seconds
400x50’ in 13.63 seconds

Atlas Stone Over Bar (54”, tacky)
240x1
290x1
330x1
330x1
330x1
330x1
330x1
330x1
330x1
330x1
310x4
310x4

Glute Ham Raise Negatives (5 seconds)
bwx7 (miscounted)
bwx6
bwx6

Backward Sled Drags (turf, uphill)
335x100’ in 43.83 seconds
335x100’ in 40.18 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: Just can’t seem to get some things figured out. Now I wasn’t feeling so confident in things as I was feeling symptoms of disc pressure (not pain) and I couldn’t understand why until later. I had been a bit stressed the day before with stupid work stuff and stress makes things tense and tense things aren’t good. Stress needed some release. Had no idea what to expect with traffic, plans or the weather for the day going to sleep. At least it seemed like the weather would be ok out in Lancaster if not at home. Turns out no plans I needed to work around outside of my own for the day and no construction driving out. Not sure why construction last week and none this week. So good time out to train. As I’ve been doing, setting up the sandbag toss setup before getting ready to train. I finally got it setup without needing to use the ladder so I was happy with that timesaver. Mobility prep stuff was mostly fine. Again, I’ve just come to accept discomfort in the knees at the start and that it will go away as I do the motions. And that I will also get a bit of a lower back pump on this day too. Now to the work. So the plan on sandbag tosses was to do 8 tosses with 45lbs. The plan here is to get used to more weight, even if it can’t clear 15’. Launching 40lbs higher and higher won’t mean much if I can’t improve on max weight. I feel the two weeks here with that weight were good to get me comfortable with tossing again and consistent. So I needed to see how things would go with 45lbs. I was advised I could lower to 14’ if needed, as long as it was between 14’ and 15’. My thinking here was to aim for 15’ as I know that I’ve been able to clear 14’ with 50lbs in the past with some consistency leading up to the failed attempt at 2019 USS Nats. It was going to depend on how warm-ups went. I did less than I did last week as it felt like I was doing more than needed to feel ready. Did a kind of toss with the 30lbs, 40lbs and 50lbs and a double swing with the 32kgs kettlebell before starting actual target tosses. I was iffy on it until my 40lbs toss went like 2’ above so I figured I had to try 15’ with 45lbs. Now the bags are 30lbs, 40lbs and 50lbs for the Rogue ones and I have the one Cerberus one. I had brought sand so I could increase the weight of that one. My scale at home matches the scale there so that is good. I could tell right away that this was going to be tough as my first toss went over but it clipped the band. Second one smacked the band hard. Third one was a disaster. Now I can’t see what I’m doing spatially until I rewatch the video to see how the toss is going as far as the arc. Video says I had plenty of height but the arc was off and the damn thing landed right on the band. Now I guess I had the band secured too well because instead of giving way, it stayed on and the weight snapped one of the wooden uprights I had. I was distraught that I broke it and was trying to think what to do now. I eventually calmed down and got out my athletic tape and secured the dowel rod as best I could and set the setup back up. I reset the timer and clock to get the remaining tosses. Even though the toss that broke the setup was high enough, it didn’t go over so I didn’t count it as successful and set for 6 more tosses. I also had to set the thing 2” higher as the bag had moved the bands down a bit so not quite at 15’ then without adjusting it. I didn’t want to get the ladder out haha. It wasn’t until after the 3rd to last toss that I realized that I was too far away. I moved a little bit closer and those last two tosses went over no problem. Last one might have been my best one of the day. I’m going to have to be mindful that different bags and different weights may require different setups and positions. Took down the setup fairly quickly and on to the next thing, the ssb squats off pins set just above parallel. I should add that a good bit of the more serious people were there today. So some social distractions while training today after the sandbag tosses. All I can and should really say about it is that I can’t see myself doing these kinds of things if I get to the pro level. No sponsors, just be doing the hard work I’ve been doing for over a decade. Anyways, for the squats, plan was similar to the first week of them in that I was to work up to a top set with 2 reps in the tank, working up in triples and then do some down sets. First week, I wasn’t sure what I was about on these squats as I hadn’t really been pushing squats for (to be honest) years. I had a better idea this time. I had it in my head that I wanted to do 425lbs for this top set of 4 reps. Now working up, that didn’t feel like it was going to happen. Knees were really achy. I think part of it was I forgot to use my support gear earlier on to get ready as with everything set, that weight was great and might have actually been light. Part of it may have been having the music cut-out three times before I got it to stay on (sound system cut sout if it gets too loud). Down sets were just ok, not as much effort needed on them since I’ve done more for sets the week before. So next thing was duck walk. I had ordered replacement spring lock pins for the handles so I didn’t have to makeshift something with whatever I could find to jam in the peg and tape up. So for this time, plan was to warm up and do 4 runs, one each of 300lbs and 350lbs and then two at 400lbs. I had bought knee sleeves to were on my calves to hopefully minimize the contact bruising.  There is still some (and more so on the right leg) but it is a lot less. 300lbs and 350lbs felt like nothing. Which is good as they should be. 350lbs is probably contest weight for the next two shows (yes, I signed up for another one 6 weeks after this upcoming one). The jump to 400lbs on that first run was stark. I wasn’t expecting it to be that difficult. Expectations adjusted and made the second run much better. Then it was stones. Not feeling as much pressure as last time. Part of it being that it was just EMOM singles and that there was no AMRAP. I think only concern I had was my biceps had been feeling tight this week. Not much to say here on stones. Still able to do the style of loading I did last session with this weight. I didn’t need to really bother anyone for assistance since it was singles and I can get enough rest between those bringing it back. Only minor issues. The music was loud so I missed the beep for the first single and I had to keep checking to see on some singles. Rubber matting was a little uneven and I was trying to avoid that but needed have space for other people doing stone to platform. I misjudged how much tacky I was using so I’ll need to order more and a larger jar of it to last through now to competition. Only one of the singles (7th) was not as good as I’d like as I was too close to the bar and had to kind of lean back and then up to clear the bar. Then after a decent rest, 2 sets of 4 with 310lbs. This was easy and comfortable. Trying to go fast. I realize that I may be moving too much with how aggressively I’m loading it over the bar as Ideally I should be able to stay in the same spot but that isn’t that big of a deal right now. Had a slight bobble on the last rep of the last set. I caught it off center and rather than fight it up, I set it back down and regripped it. Had to clean up before finishing off the session. Glute ham raise negatives. I was expecting these to be harder considering how they felt last week. But no, I guess either stones warm them up better or I’m getting stronger. These had uneven rests as I had to assist with other things and while I was away, another gym patron took over that area. I did end up miscounting the first set and did an extra one. Sled dragging to finish up the day. It started raining torrentially at this point so I had closed up the storm doors. Plan was to do 10lbs more than last time I did these (2x100’) and take 1 minute less rest between them. I setup two sleds as it was easier than resetting the course with a set rest period. I went up 15lbs as it was easier just putting 3 100lbs plates on the sleds. These felt comfortable. No weird knee issues this time. These were actually faster than my runs last time. Decompressed by putting stuff away and stretching before driving home to clean up and eat pot roast.

May 6, 2021 – Week 8, Day 3

Mobility Prep
 
12” Log Incline Bench Presses
90x3
120x3
150x3
180x3
210x3
240x6
240x6
240x6

Paused 12” Log Incline Bench Presses (1 second)
200x13

Inverted Ring Rows
bwx3
bw+20x12
bw+20x12
bw+20x12
bw+20x12

Lying Dumbbell Triceps Extensions (3 seconds negatives)
40’sx12
40’sx13 (miscounted)
40’sx12
40’sx12

Dumbbell Lateral Raises/Half Kneeling Single Arm Band Rows
26’sx15/slbx15/15
26’sx15/slbx15/15
26’sx15/slbx15/15

Stretching
 
Comments:  Weather has really been fluctuating. Hot and muggy beginning of the week and then about halfway through Wednesday decided to become somewhat tolerable. I did need to do some debris clean-up on the patio before training due to the wind and rain. Some aches and what not. Mobility stuff for the lats, traps and scap. Felt good, just some slight discomfort in the inner thigh/groin on the left side but I feel it is getting less and less compared to the past two weeks so that is hopefully something. I was a little anxious about the log pressing. Not so much the upper back or the pec tightness but more that it was potentially a tall order. So the plan here was to do 3x6 with what I did for 8 last week. Stuff above 225lbs on log for incline bench has been hit or miss. And I had done a good bit of work on Monday for upper body. This has not really been an exercise that I’ve done a lot in the past (because it was a pain to setup before, I sucked at it, and the one time discomfort from biceps tendonitis made it not viable) so never really been one to do volume with it. Never been successful to doing much above 240lbs on it and rarely for volume work. Usually just warming up and then repping out a single set. So this would be tough but hopefully I would be up to the task and feel some accomplishment for getting it done. First set didn’t feel great. Not like discomfort but that it felt heavy and it wasn’t going to be happening. Like, if this had been the 8 reps session for that set, it would be a close call. But things seemed to be better for the next two sets and I felt confident I’d get them with no sideways grinders. So that was something good. Now for the last bit of the log work, the paused rep stuff was just a single set for max reps with 1-2 reps in the tank. I didn’t realize at the time that this was the same weight that was used near the beginning of this training starting for my max rep set back with no pauses. I was thinking 12 reps on this. Just seems to be the number with how block pulls and ssb rack squats were last week haha. That unracking felt heavier than expected (maybe I took too much time after the last set to rest and cooled off?) but it felt ok after that first rep. I felt I was near the end of it on 13th rep so racked it. Didn’t realize that this matched the reps unpaused from earlier on so progress. I’m feeling confident in my consistency with hitting weights for certain reps for pressing but still feel like I’m a bit away from being ready for anything above local level. I had been thinking that there has never been a nationals event I’ve gone to where the overhead implement hasn’t outweighed me by at least 30lbs. Ring rows after that. Plan was 4x12 with 20lbs added to my waist. Even with my right side of upper back feeling tight from Monday, I felt that this should be doable with how well and easy things felt last week. Then I did the first set with no weight and those reps didn’t feel great. So confidence it would go well dropped haha. But the actual sets seemed ok. Second set my right biceps felt tight but didn’t seem to pop up for the other reps. Maybe I was focusing on that and that kept it from being a problem. So then on to triceps. More eccentrics on triceps. Same as last week but more difficulty. Since last time I went up to 40’s and that was harder than planned, it felt like it was ok to stay there as it would probably be within the difficulty parameters this time around. Elbows were a little achy on these today. Started with just the right one and then it was both. Never as much with the left than the right. Then it was just kind of ok on the last set. Joints are weird. It was a bit easier than last week as I did end up miscounting reps on one set. I was expecting these to be quite tougher with how it went the week before. I took a little bit of break before I did the last item. This was the same as it has been the last two weeks but it was going to be tough. Been bumping up the lateral raises at a good clip since I just seemed to finally get over the hump that was making 10lbs challenging. I think this latest weight is going to be one that I stay at for a bit to get through it without having to take a breather. The other part of it was the band rows. Very aggressive increases on these as I seem to be improving on them. Hopefully no more for now as it is the strongest band tension I have for a single band and it always gets tricky when multiple bands used. Also I had to move all the weights I had on the squat rack to be on just the one pin to anchor it down as having it on both wasn’t enough and I was rowing the rack haha. Very challenging for this superset. I was glad it was done so I could eat and stretch.