Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses
Plate Loaded Dumbbell with Fat Gripz Extreme
10x3 L
10x3 R
40x2 L
40x2 R
70x2 L
70x2 R
95x1 L
95x1 R
115x1 L
115x1 R
Circus Bell
130x1 L
140x1 L
150x1 L
160x1 L
160x1 L
160x1 L
160x1 L
160x1 L
160x1 L
160x1 L
130x1 R
140x1 R
150x1 R
160x1 R
160x1 R
160x1 R
160x1 R
160x1 R
160x1 R
160x1 R
Plate Loaded Dumbbell with Fat Gripz Extreme
10x3 L
10x3 R
40x2 L
40x2 R
70x2 L
70x2 R
95x1 L
95x1 R
115x1 L
115x1 R
Circus Bell
130x1 L
140x1 L
150x1 L
160x1 L
160x1 L
160x1 L
160x1 L
160x1 L
160x1 L
160x1 L
130x1 R
140x1 R
150x1 R
160x1 R
160x1 R
160x1 R
160x1 R
160x1 R
160x1 R
160x1 R
Circus Dumbbell Clean and Holds (holds on last rep only)
165x2 L (5 seconds)
165x2 R (5 seconds)
185x2 L (15 seconds)
185x2 R (15 seconds)
165x2 L (5 seconds)
165x2 R (5 seconds)
185x2 L (15 seconds)
185x2 R (15 seconds)
Yoke Strict Presses (forehead height)
90x3
110x3
130x3
150x3
170x3
190x5
210x5
230x5
90x3
110x3
130x3
150x3
170x3
190x5
210x5
230x5
Chaos Band Push-ups (5 seconds negatives, feet elevated 8”)/ Paused Inverted Ring Rows (2 second holds)
bwx15/bw+10x10
bwx13/bw+15x10
bwx12/bw+20x10
bwx15/bw+10x10
bwx13/bw+15x10
bwx12/bw+20x10
Paused Dumbbell Lateral Raises (2 second holds)/Paused Incline Bench Dumbbell Rear Delt Flyes (2 second holds)
10’sx12/6’sx12
10’sx12/6’sx12
10’sx12/6’sx12
10’sx12/6’sx12
Band Pull-Aparts
µbx20 (overhand)
µbx20 (underhand)
µbx20 (overhand)
µbx20 (underhand)
Stretching
Comments: It has been a stressful week. Continuing from last week. Allergies bad and just a lot of work related stress. Extra efforts to keep knees and elbow tendons happy. Worked through lunch and breaks past few days (still taking time to actually eat) to get work done. Backfired a little on Wednesday as it started raining really hard after work so I couldn’t go for a walk (treadmill irritates my knees compared to actually walking). Had wanted to get that walk in to help with the soreness/stiffness from the lower body session Tuesday. Had to make due with soft tissue work and rest. I wanted this session to be better than the past two dumbbell sessions. It had to be. But I also need to realize that I fall into patterns and (I like patterns, I see patterns, so odds are high I’d fall into them right?) and I need to have some cues to remind myself it’s ok to break from them and sometimes it is required to for mental wellbeing and to actually find a workable solution. So I wrote down some phrases to use as reminders when I get to into my own head. Part of it being related to the deadlift miss on Tuesday but also just things that I need to take inventory on. I kind of already do that with lyrics from songs at times but the ease of recall in the moment may not be the quickest as there hundreds of songs in my head haha. The first is “strongman is stupid” which is something my friend Mike Jenkins used to say (or a variation of it like “stones are stupid”) and I’ve kind of held on to that. It can help center things, realizing the absurdity of what I’m doing. Things I didn’t think I’d be able to do. Kind of bring a levity to stuff. As for the deadlift, the one I got for that situation is “training is simply not the same as competing”. I know this. It took me until like early 2016 to get this idea even started and that was like 8yrs into this journey. I now keep separate PRs for training vs competition. The workout today started with circus dumbbell. Due to the knee stuff (which I’ve been feeling better about mentally and working on now that I know kind of what is going on), things were a bit opened up in case I couldn’t do what was planned. This brings up another, “I’m not a robot”. Lyric from a song by the same name. Expands a bit from there in that I don’t have to follow a rigid plan. I can adjust things. I don’t have to the max. I don’t have to do 5lbs increases. I can do smaller or bigger. Not going to run at maximum efficiency at all times. I like to stick to the plan as I assume that the first option is the best option. I was hoping I could do that with how the knee was responding and that I got my new knee sleeves a day early. I wanted to make up for the previous sessions. Which is another; “it’s an inanimate fucking object”. A line from a dark comedy called In Bruges. Essentially that it’s a concept. There is no “revenge” on a bad workout or missed opportunity. It’s just weight, an output. It doesn’t care not because it is callous but it lacks the capacity and we are assigning traits to it. Do or don’t, the only thing that is expending effort on the transaction is yourself. Anyways, the plan for today was to warm-up and hopefully be able to do 7 singles each side with between 140-160lbs (advised no more than this) and try to keep the rests to 2 minutes. That can be a little tough if changing weight as need to use a wrench to adjust weights but not a problem if sticking to the same weight. My hope here was that I’d feel ok and go up to 160lbs for these. I mean, I did an EMOM for more singles my first week so that would be no problem if I’m back to normal. But I knew to make sure it was good reps if I got to that point. Things didn’t feel great warming up. Similar to last week but not as bad I think. Joints in the shoulder and elbow ached. I started lighter and did some more reps to get ready since I didn’t do the motor recruitment session this week for dumbbell to give knees a rest after last week. It is in retrospect after I got things going my way with the heavier weights that I realized what was up. Previously, I’ve used the dumbbell handle for my warm ups and then gone to the circus dumbbell. I only did my solid dumbbells on the lighter days sometimes. Last week had been my first time really using them to warm up. Their size and density threw me off and then going from them to the rolling handle also was a mess. So what I need to do going forward is try to either stick to the rolling handle the whole way up to the circus bell or pause and control the dumbbells as I work up to get used to them and not freak out that they feel different or heavy. Following the same thing as last time working up to 115lbs or so with both arms and then going one than the other. Left side still doesn’t feel as powerful as it did. My “elbow” doesn’t feel as locked and loaded. Form has changed with the support gear and accommodating my wrist issues as well. I know the clean has been a bit tougher with the elbow sleeve trying to keep the arm straight. I apparently was still fighting it on the overhead portion and it didn’t click until 150lbs that I realized what I was doing. Once I got that figured out, the clean was the hardest part really as lockout felt like nothing. Almost like it was too easy and I wasn’t locked out enough. Thankfully no issues with the left shoulder feeling like it was going to dislocate like last week. Again, I think that was partly from fighting the sleeve and then realizing not to and not being prepared for it. I felt like my 6th single the lockout felt soft so I held it on the 7th and did a little showboating. Note to self that holding dumbbell overhead is tougher on the wrist injury still. On to the other side. I was a little more leery about this as more stress to the right knee. Seemed to be ok. I had a better understanding of where I needed to place the dumbbell to get stable for leg drive. Actually feeling quite good today so I ended up going for 160lbs here. Where was this last week? It was definitely tougher for this side but it was still good. Only had a hiccup on the 5th single as when I went for the initial drive my right knee twinged and I stopped short and the dumbbell went up and out. I didn’t drop it and settled and then got the rep. Held the 7th rep to even things out lol. After this was the clean and holds. But a bit different. What it has been was a single clean and then a hold for the set time. This time around, I was to do two cleans and then hold the weight. Plan written as 162lbs for 5 seconds and then 182lbs for 15 seconds. I decided to go up 3lbs on these. Since I used the same weight for the pressing for both sides, I just kept the weight the same and just did one side and then the other as opposed to doing all the sets with the left and then the right. It was definitely tougher on the right side. Left actually felt super light that first set and while heavy on the second, it felt like something I could possibly press. Not so much the right side but that position is awkward and doesn’t really indicate what I can possibly put overhead I’ve come to find. This is the first time since I’ve come back to circus dumbbell from the elbow fracture where I’ve felt like the contest weight isn’t so far out of reach. So after the dumbbell, it was time for axle push presses. Probably what it was originally like last two weeks but with the knee issue, that was likely changed to this which was axle pin presses. Standing and at forehead height. Problem with that is I’m too damn tall. Not able to do these standing in the rack as I’m almost as tall as my rack and it isn’t really stable increasing the height artificially that much. So I had to improvise. Another saying of “outwit, outlive, outlast, outsmart”. Initially had been just outlast as that seems to be my modus operandi with competing as I think only a few people are still even competing from when I started. But adding to it other things adds to just figuring things out and succeeding despite taking a more scenic route. So if that means putting my empty yoke on tables to get the job done, so be it. This worked out perfectly for me and added a little bit of stability to it as well. The rest of the workout was supersets and not needing much if any weight. I was thankful for that considering how late it already was and how dark outside it had gotten again. To be expected I guess as it gets closer to fall and with circus dumbbell workouts in general. It was easier to just do this in the garage rather than take stuff down outside. First pairing was push-ups and inverted ring rows. Push-ups were my choice again, do whatever to keep them in the 10-15 rep range with 2-3RIR and I stuck with the chaos bands again with the eccentrics and elevation. My hope was that I’d feel more conditioned to it this time and get more reps. The inverted ring rows were to be holds for seconds for sets of 10 reps with 2RIR. I was advised to add weight as needed. Again, hoping my conditioning for these has come back a little. Push ups started out good. 15 reps felt about what 10 reps felt last time. I did miscount on the second set and thought I did 2 reps less and had to go back and review the video. The switch between them was a little smoother I think. I probably could’ve done 20lbs for all three sets of the rows but wasn’t too sure how things would feel just yet. But I know for next time that my back and arms should be ready for it. Next up was dumbbells for the shoulders. Laterals and rear delts. Holds for these and just two sets for 12 reps compared to last time. I wanted to try and do the rear delt holds for 2 seconds this time around. I was successful with that but it was challenging. First set of the laterals was super easy but fatigue made the second set quite tough (just not as tough as the rear delt ones). Last item for the workout was band pull aparts. No triceps this time. Just two sets of 20 reps, overhand one set and underhand the other. Shoulders tight but didn’t feel like aching crap so that was good. Neck was tense from everything today though. I left stuff out for tomorrow as it was really really late and I needed to eat dinner, stretch and do some clean up of myself and my house for tomorrow.
Comments: It has been a stressful week. Continuing from last week. Allergies bad and just a lot of work related stress. Extra efforts to keep knees and elbow tendons happy. Worked through lunch and breaks past few days (still taking time to actually eat) to get work done. Backfired a little on Wednesday as it started raining really hard after work so I couldn’t go for a walk (treadmill irritates my knees compared to actually walking). Had wanted to get that walk in to help with the soreness/stiffness from the lower body session Tuesday. Had to make due with soft tissue work and rest. I wanted this session to be better than the past two dumbbell sessions. It had to be. But I also need to realize that I fall into patterns and (I like patterns, I see patterns, so odds are high I’d fall into them right?) and I need to have some cues to remind myself it’s ok to break from them and sometimes it is required to for mental wellbeing and to actually find a workable solution. So I wrote down some phrases to use as reminders when I get to into my own head. Part of it being related to the deadlift miss on Tuesday but also just things that I need to take inventory on. I kind of already do that with lyrics from songs at times but the ease of recall in the moment may not be the quickest as there hundreds of songs in my head haha. The first is “strongman is stupid” which is something my friend Mike Jenkins used to say (or a variation of it like “stones are stupid”) and I’ve kind of held on to that. It can help center things, realizing the absurdity of what I’m doing. Things I didn’t think I’d be able to do. Kind of bring a levity to stuff. As for the deadlift, the one I got for that situation is “training is simply not the same as competing”. I know this. It took me until like early 2016 to get this idea even started and that was like 8yrs into this journey. I now keep separate PRs for training vs competition. The workout today started with circus dumbbell. Due to the knee stuff (which I’ve been feeling better about mentally and working on now that I know kind of what is going on), things were a bit opened up in case I couldn’t do what was planned. This brings up another, “I’m not a robot”. Lyric from a song by the same name. Expands a bit from there in that I don’t have to follow a rigid plan. I can adjust things. I don’t have to the max. I don’t have to do 5lbs increases. I can do smaller or bigger. Not going to run at maximum efficiency at all times. I like to stick to the plan as I assume that the first option is the best option. I was hoping I could do that with how the knee was responding and that I got my new knee sleeves a day early. I wanted to make up for the previous sessions. Which is another; “it’s an inanimate fucking object”. A line from a dark comedy called In Bruges. Essentially that it’s a concept. There is no “revenge” on a bad workout or missed opportunity. It’s just weight, an output. It doesn’t care not because it is callous but it lacks the capacity and we are assigning traits to it. Do or don’t, the only thing that is expending effort on the transaction is yourself. Anyways, the plan for today was to warm-up and hopefully be able to do 7 singles each side with between 140-160lbs (advised no more than this) and try to keep the rests to 2 minutes. That can be a little tough if changing weight as need to use a wrench to adjust weights but not a problem if sticking to the same weight. My hope here was that I’d feel ok and go up to 160lbs for these. I mean, I did an EMOM for more singles my first week so that would be no problem if I’m back to normal. But I knew to make sure it was good reps if I got to that point. Things didn’t feel great warming up. Similar to last week but not as bad I think. Joints in the shoulder and elbow ached. I started lighter and did some more reps to get ready since I didn’t do the motor recruitment session this week for dumbbell to give knees a rest after last week. It is in retrospect after I got things going my way with the heavier weights that I realized what was up. Previously, I’ve used the dumbbell handle for my warm ups and then gone to the circus dumbbell. I only did my solid dumbbells on the lighter days sometimes. Last week had been my first time really using them to warm up. Their size and density threw me off and then going from them to the rolling handle also was a mess. So what I need to do going forward is try to either stick to the rolling handle the whole way up to the circus bell or pause and control the dumbbells as I work up to get used to them and not freak out that they feel different or heavy. Following the same thing as last time working up to 115lbs or so with both arms and then going one than the other. Left side still doesn’t feel as powerful as it did. My “elbow” doesn’t feel as locked and loaded. Form has changed with the support gear and accommodating my wrist issues as well. I know the clean has been a bit tougher with the elbow sleeve trying to keep the arm straight. I apparently was still fighting it on the overhead portion and it didn’t click until 150lbs that I realized what I was doing. Once I got that figured out, the clean was the hardest part really as lockout felt like nothing. Almost like it was too easy and I wasn’t locked out enough. Thankfully no issues with the left shoulder feeling like it was going to dislocate like last week. Again, I think that was partly from fighting the sleeve and then realizing not to and not being prepared for it. I felt like my 6th single the lockout felt soft so I held it on the 7th and did a little showboating. Note to self that holding dumbbell overhead is tougher on the wrist injury still. On to the other side. I was a little more leery about this as more stress to the right knee. Seemed to be ok. I had a better understanding of where I needed to place the dumbbell to get stable for leg drive. Actually feeling quite good today so I ended up going for 160lbs here. Where was this last week? It was definitely tougher for this side but it was still good. Only had a hiccup on the 5th single as when I went for the initial drive my right knee twinged and I stopped short and the dumbbell went up and out. I didn’t drop it and settled and then got the rep. Held the 7th rep to even things out lol. After this was the clean and holds. But a bit different. What it has been was a single clean and then a hold for the set time. This time around, I was to do two cleans and then hold the weight. Plan written as 162lbs for 5 seconds and then 182lbs for 15 seconds. I decided to go up 3lbs on these. Since I used the same weight for the pressing for both sides, I just kept the weight the same and just did one side and then the other as opposed to doing all the sets with the left and then the right. It was definitely tougher on the right side. Left actually felt super light that first set and while heavy on the second, it felt like something I could possibly press. Not so much the right side but that position is awkward and doesn’t really indicate what I can possibly put overhead I’ve come to find. This is the first time since I’ve come back to circus dumbbell from the elbow fracture where I’ve felt like the contest weight isn’t so far out of reach. So after the dumbbell, it was time for axle push presses. Probably what it was originally like last two weeks but with the knee issue, that was likely changed to this which was axle pin presses. Standing and at forehead height. Problem with that is I’m too damn tall. Not able to do these standing in the rack as I’m almost as tall as my rack and it isn’t really stable increasing the height artificially that much. So I had to improvise. Another saying of “outwit, outlive, outlast, outsmart”. Initially had been just outlast as that seems to be my modus operandi with competing as I think only a few people are still even competing from when I started. But adding to it other things adds to just figuring things out and succeeding despite taking a more scenic route. So if that means putting my empty yoke on tables to get the job done, so be it. This worked out perfectly for me and added a little bit of stability to it as well. The rest of the workout was supersets and not needing much if any weight. I was thankful for that considering how late it already was and how dark outside it had gotten again. To be expected I guess as it gets closer to fall and with circus dumbbell workouts in general. It was easier to just do this in the garage rather than take stuff down outside. First pairing was push-ups and inverted ring rows. Push-ups were my choice again, do whatever to keep them in the 10-15 rep range with 2-3RIR and I stuck with the chaos bands again with the eccentrics and elevation. My hope was that I’d feel more conditioned to it this time and get more reps. The inverted ring rows were to be holds for seconds for sets of 10 reps with 2RIR. I was advised to add weight as needed. Again, hoping my conditioning for these has come back a little. Push ups started out good. 15 reps felt about what 10 reps felt last time. I did miscount on the second set and thought I did 2 reps less and had to go back and review the video. The switch between them was a little smoother I think. I probably could’ve done 20lbs for all three sets of the rows but wasn’t too sure how things would feel just yet. But I know for next time that my back and arms should be ready for it. Next up was dumbbells for the shoulders. Laterals and rear delts. Holds for these and just two sets for 12 reps compared to last time. I wanted to try and do the rear delt holds for 2 seconds this time around. I was successful with that but it was challenging. First set of the laterals was super easy but fatigue made the second set quite tough (just not as tough as the rear delt ones). Last item for the workout was band pull aparts. No triceps this time. Just two sets of 20 reps, overhand one set and underhand the other. Shoulders tight but didn’t feel like aching crap so that was good. Neck was tense from everything today though. I left stuff out for tomorrow as it was really really late and I needed to eat dinner, stretch and do some clean up of myself and my house for tomorrow.
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