January 29, 2022 – Week 16, Day 4

Mobility Prep
 
Single Leg Squats to Box (15”)
bwx2/2 (assisted)
bwx2/2 (assisted)
bwx8/8
bwx8/8
bwx8/8

Safety Squat Bar Box Squats (20” box) w/ bands (+60lbs bottom/+86lbs top)
65x3
115x3
155x3
205x3
245x3
295x3
335x3
335x3
335x3
335x3
335x3

Sandbag Shoulderings (Left)
205x1
205x1
225xpick
225x1
250x1
275x1
205x1/225x1/250x1 in 16.53 seconds
205x1/225x1/250x1 in 15.67 seconds
205x1/225x1/250x1 in 15.36 seconds
205x1/225x1/250x1 in 16.90 seconds

Seated Arm-Over-Arm Exer-genie Pulls (2” rope, tire)
8x60’
16x60’ in 40.24 seconds
16x60’ in 34.50 seconds
10x120’ (2 runs of 60’) in 34.53 & 47.10 seconds

Paused Hyperextensions (3 seconds)
108x6
108x6
108x6

Paused Side Plank Lifts (3 seconds)
55x10/10
55x10/10
55x10/10

Stretching
  
Comments: Got a little bit of snow Friday. I guess outside of the range of the bomb cyclone as next state over appears to have been buried in the white stuff. I did go for a walk after work but I don’t think I was able to really relax as much as I like on it as I had to be cautious about where I stepped with the snow having melted and then freezing. I think also seeing the workload for the next workout made me lazy. Didn’t make dinner on time and decided to order 8 chicken tacos from a place that uses naan instead of tortillas. I’ll need to remember to get 10 next time to make sure I’m truly full. Lesson learned haha. I did set the alarm for work wake up but I did sleep in another half hour. Quite cold out. There was some snow on the back patio (just a dusting) and I figured I’d need to clean that up if it hadn’t melted in the sun by the time I got back from the gym. A little slow moving in the morning getting ready but made good time getting out there. I got to the gym and there were some of the more novice level people there. One of them had their music playing. I feel like I tolerate/appreciate all music but this certainly tested me. It made me anxious. Felt like a loading screen for a video game. And some of the songs were really long. Like, I got through all my mobility stuff and the first exercise and the same song was still going and it had been playing since I arrived at the gym and was still playing after I finished the single leg squats. Anyways, mobility stuff was good and on to the single leg squats. Back to doing 3x8 this week. The assisted lifts really do seem to be the ticket for me getting ready. Left leg has the most hesitancy that first rep and seems mostly good the rest of the sets whereas the right leg is fine with things but is the one that aches the most. From there it was on to the ssb box squats with bands. Or it was supposed to be. While I was doing the single leg squats, some more people came in and I knew that one of them was most likely going to use the ssb. I took too long getting out here to train. If I had been here 5 minutes earlier, I’d have been on to box squats. This wasn’t something where I could work in. Drastically different heights for the bar as well as doing different exercises and using drastically different weights. Plus, mine were to be EMOM so… I had to wait over 30 minutes to get to do these after the last exercise. And the music playing was not helping matters haha. Left side lower back was feeling a bit stiff. I hoarded the good mini bands so that I’d have them when it was go time. While I was waiting, another gym patron asked me to film sets for him and he was doing 4 sets with 3 minutes rest between. I did that and still was waiting after that point. Finally, I was able to do them. I think that if it wasn’t just lighter stuff with short rests, I wouldn’t have been so wound up. It appears I’m doing speed cycle waves until contest to use these to prime things and have energy leftover for the event work and focus on the pulls being heavy in the week. Plan here was 330x5x3 EMOM. However, I went with 335lbs instead as it was easier plate math (3 45’s on each side of ssb so I could do 40-50lbs jumps easy). Shouldering sandbags was next. A swap of event order to put some more emphasis on these. The plan was to warm-up and do 4 runs of shouldering medley using the three sandbags I’ve been using so far (205lbs, 225lbs, 250lbs). Goal being to take time with rest and to work on increasing speed each time. So the plan for warming up I was told to work up doing rows and singles. My right arm was feeling a bit sore/stiff in the biceps so I was a little leery about these today. I didn’t do rows as I felt that while it is similar, it isn’t quite how I have been doing the picks really this exercise so I figured that just doing singles would be a better thing to do. 205lbs felt terrible first try so I did another single before moving on. That was slightly better. 225lbs my hand position got off when I popped it to my lap the first attempt and rather than fight with it, I just put it back down. Felt ok that second attempt. 250lbs next. Ok enough. So now I’d probably move on to the medleys. But I didn’t. It said to warm up with singles. I figured that I should see how the 275lbs bag would feel. It is almost spherical as the sand is packed in a small bag. My thinking was that it would give me an idea of what to expect and since it was heavier than the top weight for the planned medleys, it would be like those were down sets after the fact. I treated it like it was a heavy sandbag pick to lap rather than rush things. Then I had it in my lap and I felt like, “oh, this is it?” and popped it up to my shoulders pretty easy. I think that if I hadn’t done 250lbs previous weeks and gotten used to it not going up in an easy single motion this would’ve stumped me. So happy to that the shape wasn’t an issue and it might be easier to shoulder than the 250lbs (but not as easy to pick). So setup things for the medley. Spaced out the bags a bit and got set. Felt comfortable that first set. Second set I got a bit faster. On the last sandbag that set, I let it go over my shoulder at the end as opposed to having it go in front. I’ve been used to the front because I’ve been having to do singles and doubles with short rests so it lets me set things up for the next bag. But I realized that having it go over my shoulder at the end would be the quickest way to dismount and move on to the next bag. Use the momentum to get it out of the way. So I figured that for the next set I’d try that out on all the bags. I was able to bring my time down even further to where I was over a second faster from my first set. I feel that I was going even faster on the last set but I had pulled the 250lbs up to high on the pick to lap and my hand position on the left side changed and took me out of an advantageous purchase. I figured that I’d just go with it as stopping and taking time to regrip would probably eat up more time in contest conditions. This made that 250lbs sandbag a fight to shoulder. Even so, still managed to keep it under 17 seconds. Good to know that I can fight through a shoulder event and think quick in the moment. Would’ve been nice to have things go perfect but that is why we practice and drill things in. Arm-over-arm next. Now last time I had done this with actual weight for course distance. Weight is unknown for the contest at this point and setup other than it being seated in a tire with a rope on turf is also not confirmed. Don’t know how it will be anchored and if it will be with the thick or thin rope. The plan for today with that in mind had been to do 2x50’ with 25lbs more than last time and then take 100lbs off that and do that for 2x50’ with only rest being how long it took to reset the course for conditioning effect. I was trying to think on how to do that and have it not be a super pain in the ass. What I had been doing last time was using a prowler with 200lbs of weights and a 250lbs sandbag on top. I pushed the sandbag off and then dragged the sled backwards and then used the hand truck to wheel the sandbag down and put it back on the prowler. So for that particular thing, I’d do a 50’ arm-over-arm, then 50’ sled drag, run back to get a 175lbs sandbag or keg and then run back again to do the next 50’ arm-over-arm. Seeing as how I already had a good half hour of the day go waiting to use a piece of equipment and the spots were open to setup the Exer-genie, I did that instead. I have no idea how things are going to be for the contest beyond it being a seated pull in a tire and the Exer-genie is good for making me work and easy to reset. With that I realized that if I did the setup I did last time where I connected a sled, it would be difficult to reset for the conditioning run so I went back to just having it be the rope. Did a warm up set with “half” the planned tension. Someone at the gym that means well but seems to not get some things came over and started helping with the rope on that set without asking. He wasn’t around so I couldn’t really ask him then on the sets that it would matter. The rope bunching up kind of adds some resistance and difficulty. He was around for the second set but I didn’t want to have that assistance potentially alter how things felt from set to set. Things went better that set. If I had known it was going to go that well (just over 40 first set and then under 35 this set), I’d have tried heavier resistance for this workout. The “conditioning” set was a gasser. I lowered the tension down a little over 62% less than the working sets. The guy wanted to try it out and I let him since I was eager for the rest before doing this. I don’t think he realized how hard this was but he didn’t quick on it and did a full run with it. I don’t think he understood the concept with how the Exer-genie worked. I was asking him to only take the rope so that it didn’t bunch up in my lap so that I could then get out of the tire quickly to go and reset the lead line and get back in to go again. With not resetting it like I usually do where the lead line is on the rubber and not tangled vs having it be on the turf, the second run of 60’ was going to be super difficult. First run started off fine and then hit a snag. Not sure what it was while I was doing it but just kept pulling. Made last bit really tough. Hopped out of the tire to switch the lead line and I see that it got stuck on a plate post by the bench. Switched things up and turned around to get back. Now I had been explicit with what I wanted with help on this. Come to see that he has gone and put a ton of slack in the rope and has stopped my camera. You know that scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the lord of Swamp Castle is explaining to the guards about not letting the prince leave his room? It was that. Frustrating but couldn’t worry about that as I had probably the toughest arm-over-arm pull of my life to go. It was tough, it was slow and I was fatigued but I got it done in under 50 seconds. I was spent. That feeling when you feel like you’re tasting blood when breathing. Had that. It has been a long, long time since I’ve felt that. Thankfully all the really trying stuff was done. Hyperextensions with pauses. 3x6 with 3 second for PRE7-8. Suggested weight was 95lbs. Doing that, I worried that I’d need to use bigger diameter plates and that would cut the ROM a good bit as I’m using the smallest plates and going collar to collar with my grip placement. But the gym has Mike Jenkin’s old solid axle that is 40kgs/88lbs. So I used that instead to keep things how they were as far as height. These are definitely something haha. Last set the pressure in the lower legs where my heels were in the pads was a lot, even with the knee sleeves down to pad things. These do seem to be a worthwhile exercise. Last thing was side plank lifts with pauses (2-3ct). Advised to do 3x10 with 55lbs this week. Luckily we have a throwing bag that heavy to use. Soft stuff on the hips. I took less rest compared to last time as it was already getting close to 4hrs of being at the gym at this point. Got finished with these and decided it was best to go home to worry about stretching. I needed to get dinner started so I wasn’t waiting until midnight to eat. Cleaned up the back patio of the little snow before stretching out.

January 27, 2022 – Week 16, Day 3

Paused Behind the Neck Strict Presses (3 seconds)/Half Kneeling Single Arm Band Pulldowns
45x10/sbx15/15
45x10/sbx15/15

Paused 12” Log Clean and Push Presses (one clean, 2 seconds in rack)
87x2
112x2
139x2
164x2
191x2
211x2
232x2
232x2
232x2
232x2
232x2
232x2

12” Log Standing Pin Presses (lean back)
177x5
229x5
281x5
281x5
321x10

Chest Supported Barbell Rows (straps)
155x10
205x8
245x6
295x8
295x8
295x8

One Arm Half Kneeling Dumbbell Strict Presses
40x5/5
70x3/3
86x10/10
73x10/10
73x10/10

Band Face Pulls
sbx20
sbx20
sbx20

Stretching
 
Comments Will be happy when this work week is done. Started things off with BTN presses with pauses into one arm band lat pulls again. Did these in the garage. Granted I would be needing stuff for outside, I figured it was easier to have things setup for both places. This is easy stuff anyways at the start. Log after that. Clean and presses this week again. 75%x6x2 and no AMRAP this time. I was advised to do these with 2 second holds in the rack position before pressing each rep. One clean each set. Not quite EMOM but close as far as scheduled rest periods. Log wasn’t feeling as great as it did last week. I think that is understandable in that last week had been only pulls up to 425lbs and rdls with a lot less band tension than this week. Suit work is rough. I can use a lot of weight but body still feels it. Right lat was feeling tight (not painful or anything, just a little stiff and fatigued) so I was a little more careful I guess with the pick to initiate the log. My right knee wasn’t too thrilled with things either. I did try some mobility stuff to get used to the deep lap position but not really. Not yet sure if I want to mess with the knee and elbow sleeves on these for the “lighter” weeks. 15lbs more than last time essentially and felt a lot less wobbling going on. Still noticing some fatigue over the sets with the cleans in the upper body and lower body but it didn’t feel as bad as it was two weeks prior. Had a lot less foot movement compared to last time I did these doubles. Fifth double I messed up my breathing a little and didn’t get the best lower body drive on that second rep. Felt it a bit more in the obliques and such from not using the hips as much. I’m starting to get comfortable again with things. Log continued after that. Rack work. With last time, this had been a very precarious setup to do these log pin presses over my head. A lot time and effort and definitely not up to code. It had been one of the main reasons I decided to get a new power rack that was sturdier so that I could do partials again without worrying about being crushed. Also so I didn’t have to keep moving the rack inside and such with the constant weather issues. So the plan for the session here was to do 2x5 with 10lbs less than the “soft” 6rm I did two weeks ago and then do an AMRAP. Now I think it was figured that I’d improve on these a good bit as the AMRAP indicated that if it felt like I could do 10 reps or more, I should increase the weight to get it into the 5-8 range. So 277lbs for 2x5 and then maybe max. My new rack I can just set the log on top of it. Last time, the plan had been to have it so it was just above my head. I couldn’t get it that way and had to settle for it being just above my forehead. I could do it just above my head on the rack. But it felt too easy and too short a ROM. I’m leaning back on these so it isn’t quite there like standing up. Like these felt really easy working up that I just went with my odd weight 25’s so I was actually doing 281lbs instead for those “working sets”. After the first set, I went in the garage and got the little over 3” high wooden platform and put that in the rack. This got it to the height is was last time. Added a bit more difficulty but not a lot more. With partials, sometimes the first session with them is really tough and then you get used to it and blow the previous session away. Others it easy but wears you out and it is tough to go above that next time. And other times it is just difficult all the time, every time. I took a big gamble and added 40lbs to the weight. I was not expecting getting over 6 reps and end up getting 10 reps with some in the tank. These felt good to me as far as working the positioning, balance and the chest, shoulders and triceps for a big log press. Chest supported barbell rows up next. Back into the garage for these. Plan being 295lbs for 3x8. A technical PR as I’ve done 290x12 and 315x6 and nothing in-between at this point. Right lat was tight and so was the right biceps so I decided to do a few more reps to warm up and I was a bit more cautious with things on the those working sets. Things finally seemed to feel comfortable and I got into a groove by the last set, the one I was to check in with how the RIR felt. Like 3-5RIR. Oh well haha. Some times that sets are all hard, sometimes they get easier. More often then not the one that matters gets a boost. Single arm kneeling dumbbell presses next. So rather than doing max rep sets with set weight, I was to work up to a top set of 8-10 with 1RIR. I have fixed dumbbells but I figured that I’d probably need to use the plateloaded dumbbell to get the right range. I felt that 80lbs would be too light and 95lbs would be too much. So all 10’s on a 6lbs dumbbell handle and that seemed to work out perfectly with getting 10 reps (easier on the right side). Then take 15% off for 2x10. Definitely feeling fatigue over the sets and reps. Not just the shoulders but in the obliques and deep back muscles. But nothing like that very first week of these. Last thing for the session was band face pulls. 3x15-20. Always going the higher reps on these. Strong band still. Continue to work that tension. Keeping eye on the right biceps since it was tight on rows. I realized at this point that I wasn’t noticing the upper back thing that was bugging me since last week. So that went away like I thought it would. Finished up the workout and put stuff away while cooking dinner. Stretched and iced my knees before bed.

January 25, 2022 – Week 16, Day 2

Mobility Prep

Suited 15” Axle Jack Stand Pulls (straps)
No Suit
110x2
200x2
290x2
380x2
Added Suit
470x1
560x1
650x3
570x2
570x2
570x2

Romanian Deadlifts w/bands (straps, +19lbs bottom/+153lbs top)
95x3
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x6
345x6
375x6

Paused Front Foot Elevated Split Squats (4”, 2 seconds)
bwx3/3
65x3/3
85x12/12
88x12/12
90x12/12

Paused Single Leg Hip Thrusts (2 seconds)
52x8/8
52x8/8
52x8/8

Single Leg Calf Raises (5-2-0-0 tempo)
bwx12/12
bwx12/12
bwx12/12

Stretching
  
Comments: I wasn’t really expecting things to go great this session. Sleep had not been the best. Restless. Allergies started acting up mid-morning as well. Upper back thing still present but it just is at this point. Nothing seems to make it worse and it seems to be less each day so whatever. Right knee was what I was considered most about. I’m sure it is just tendonitis and doing my best to manage it. Mobility stuff mostly good. Axle pulls with the suit to start things off. Plan was to work up to a top triple (RPE 8.5) and then take off a decent bit for 3x2. Controlled eccentrics not indicated for that other than just control to keep the bar path. So last time with the suit was not at all what I wanted. It left me with doubts and being frustrated. This week didn’t really specify how I was to warm up so I figured that I knew about what I wanted to try doing here and copied from what I essentially did for a suited deadlift workout from the beginning of the last cycle. Doubles with big jumps until I put on the suit and then singles. Warming up felt ok without the suit. Little heavy in the midback on last one. Then on with the suit. I had an idea that I was going to test out. See, I’ve kind of known since late 2019 that my suit doesn’t really fit me in the legs. Maybe it does. It is old, used for who knows how many years before I bought it off someone for $80 in 2013. I don’t recall what size it is. The issue is the legs of the suit riding up the legs. Now I figured I still got a decent pop from floor pulls even with that and forcing myself to the bar could probably be a problem to even do with loose straps if I kept them down. But It does become and issue with elevated pulls as they get higher off the ground. I noticed this with doing 18” pulls at a record breaker show. My thinking was to try using some kind of spandex under the suit for it to grip on and keep from sliding. That was the plan but never really happened because I got injured training for the next show (I had 3 shows scheduled in 3 months that year) and then by the time I was ready to train again, 2020 happened lol. So I figured after last time that I’d give that idea a shot. At least see if the principle worked before trying to get rehband briefs or try and find someone to alter the suit or spend a lot of money for a custom suit. Leery about that as I don’t expect to always be the same size. So I put on three pairs of spandex boxer briefs on and got into the suit. Hot damn it worked. I could feel the tension getting to the bar. So much power there. I was only going to do like 70lbs jumps so that I had a chance to do 610lbs for the top triple. But I felt confident that I could rep out 650lbs with how things felt. I got set, shouted some and then took a deep breath. Not sure if as easy feeling as when I did 600lbs for a triple raw a month ago but these were solid. 1-2RIR for sure. Let out another shout after that. Annoyed that I made this hard for myself last time. But I feel back on track with things for mid 700’s for this at the show. Took 80lbs off for the down sets. Now after a top set on pulls, usually it is hard to get back for them and have them be feeling easy. For suited work, these felt easy. I even controlled the negatives on these for the extra work. Next thing was rdls with bands. Same but different. I was advised to double the band tension I’ve been using (so 20-30% instead of 10-15%). Now not too bad but that would require some alterations to my setup. I was using a pair of 70’s and 40’s to spread out the dumbbells to anchor them. Not a problem with the previous tension I had. But it could be a problem with the band tension on one side being more than the 40lbs dumbbell that could cause it to be lifted up. So I had to use my 80lbs and 95lbs dumbbell instead. This changed things as the base was a little wider so slightly more tension throughout. I wasn’t sure how this would go with things but it seemed to work fine. I wasn’t expecting to be using this much weight here considering the increase in band tension. I was expecting 275lbs to be a working set for the RPE 6-8 over the three working sets. It was too easy. I did hold my breath a little too much the first set but adjusted for the other sets. It’s a lot of pressure with the bands unracking the weight and holding it at the top. Lot of work and effort put in to the pulls this session. So next up was the FFE split squats. 3x12 this week and told no more floating heel and drop pause time to a 2ct. Knee feeling better on the left side and achy on the right. See how things go. Plan was to have these feel RPE 7. So did bodyweight and that was easy. I had an idea that with no heel float and less of a hold time, I probably could do a good bit more than what I had been doing on this style before. So I tested to see how the empty ssb felt and that seemed fine enough so I added 20lbs. I felt that was too light honestly but with these single leg lifts and the higher reps, hard to gauge and put weight on that won’t be too much. So I went up small each set. Felt about the same. So that was something. Next thing was single leg hip thrusts with pauses. Same as it was two weeks ago. 3x8 with 2ct with 50lbs. I don’t have a 50lbs dumbbell and I didn’t want to deal with the fractional plates or try juggling two dumbbells/kettlebells so I took the longer dumbbell handle and put 40lbs on it. These are deceptive. Don’t feel like much but just the contraction is like a stinging cramp in the hamstrings. Just have to endure for the rewards these bring. Left side still lagging the right but not as much now I think. Single leg calf stuff with tempo after that. 3x12 at RPE 7. My choice on whether single or double leg on these. Single leg requires no load at this point so no fatigue on the spine added with putting on weights with backpack or ssb. First set the right leg was struggling. It always does but I figured it wouldn’t be as rough a start with not doing the floating heel stuff earlier. Then it seemed to wake up the other sets and felt easier. Not easier than any sets with the left leg though. Put stuff away and ate roast before stretching. Iced the knees before bed.

January 24, 2022 – Week 16, Day 1

Band Face Pulls
abx12
abx12
abx12

12” Log Strict Presses w/ bands (head through on last rep only)
No Bands
87x3
Add Bands (+25lbs bottom/+40lbs top)
87x3
112x3
139x3
Add 5 seconds hold last rep
164x3
164x3
164x3
164x3
164x3
164x3
164x3

Paused Pull-ups (2 seconds)
bwx5
bwx5
bwx5
bwx5

Close Grip 2-Board Bench Presses
45x5
85x5
125x5
165x3
205x3
245x3
285x6
285x6
285x6

Seated Dumbbell Power Cleans
40’sx12
40’sx12
40’sx12

Single Arm Tate Extensions
40x20/20
40x20/20
40x20/20

Stretching
  
Comments: Well two things to start. One is that my right knee has been stiff and acting up on me since after training Saturday. Pretty much started aching on the drive home. I had been thinking to myself how well my knee was holding up and feeling considering the workout before that point haha. I mean, to be expected I guess considering that it was a lot of weight I was running with that day. Just annoyed that it is like this at times and has me spending time and attention on it. Can’t ignore but can adjust. Upper back thing present but not hampering anything at this point. Other being that my new power rack arrived Saturday. I spent Sunday evening putting it together. A bit annoying but it had to be done. So now I don’t have a flimsy rack outside for overhead stuff. Can keep one in the garage and leave that one outside. It’s an outside rack lol. So I was going to be testing things out. Starting things off with band face pulls. Still 3x12. No issues with upper back on these. Thankfully. It was going to be a long day if these irritated things. Log strict press next. Same plan as far as style of press (lean back, no head through until last rep and hold). Shortish rest and bands added. Bands felt rough that first set with them added on haha. I made sure to film these from the side to see how much I’m actually leaning back as the last session video wasn’t great to show that. Other suggested thing  was to let it settle before going. No rushing these off the rack. Patience. These mostly felt good. It was just pretty dang cold outside. I got a little off balance on the second rep of the second set but otherwise I felt good. I think I felt better as I went on these. The unrack just felt slightly off compared to the other rack but I’ll get used to it and adapt. Always do. Pull-ups next. Plan was 60 seconds rest with the 2 second holds for 3x5 and then do an AMRAP after that. I was thinking nope. I knew how hard I hit the wall on these when it comes to short rests. It was going to be a struggle to these. First set no problem and second set was decent. Third set was tough. I was worried a little that my right biceps was getting worked too hard. I knew that last set was going to be a struggle to match the reps. Probably should’ve stopped at four reps that last set with the planned 1-2RIR. I’d barely give myself that rep for the hold. I was done haha. From there, it was close grip bench. But not quite. Board pressing. 2-board specifically. I had to make that as the only board I have from training was a 4-board so had to take that apart. I initially thought I haven’t done this particular board height in the past but I was wrong. I’ve done it twice and it has always been very close to what I can regular bench. But I’m doing these close grip benches really narrow since come back to doing them. Also last time I did any kind of board press was 2014 and with any regularity it was 2012. So not sure how these would go. Bungee cord method still works for me solo haha. Plan for these was 3x6 with 3RIR. Didn’t want to overestimate but also didn’t want to underestimate. I felt that 275lbs was going to be too light but that something above 300lbs too much to meet the criteria. So I settled on doing 40lbs jumps. That way I’d end on 285lbs. My plan here was to do this weight and if it felt too light, go up a little each set. It is a little strange with doing benching stuff with a rack with safeties on it. A bit more stuff for the peripherals to take in as well. Could throw me off a little and could also give me a false sense I can push more weight because I won’t be crushed. Keeping that stuff in mind and hence why I decided to stay somewhat reasonable with the weight on these today. First set felt fine, just a little off balance near the end. And overshot the j-hooks to rack. Second set I don’t know what was up but the first two reps felt terribly difficult and then I was able to blast out the rest. Last set felt the most consistent. Looks really fast on camera. Into the garage for the last things for the session were involving the 40lbs dumbbells. Seated power cleans again. This was what I was worrying about with the upper back stuff. It is a violent motion. But I was ok. 3x12 this week. Added reps were noticed right away. Exhausting. Last rep of the last set on the left side I got sloppy with the lockout. The single arm Tate extensions followed. 3x20 this week. Also noted for the increased difficulty with added reps. With the way these are positioned, I felt them not just for lockout but also in the shoulders supporting and rotating. Right side gets fatigued faster in that respect. Started cooking dinner and put everything away. Stretched and then iced my right elbow and knee before bed.

January 22, 2022 – Week 15, Day 4

Mobility Prep
 
Single Leg Squats to Box (15”)
bwx5/5 (assisted)
bwx5/5 (assisted)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Safety Squat Bar Box Squats (20” box) w/ bands (+60lbs bottom/+86lbs top)
65x3
115x3
165x3
215x3
265x3
315x3
315x3
315x3
315x3
315x3

Frame Carries
Titan Fitness (16”)
Casual Pace 
115x50’
115x50’
Makeshift (18”)
Normal
276x50’
376x25’
Added Straps
476x25’
BiggDogg Strongg (20”, 1.5” handles)
570x25’
660x25’
750x50’ in 10.48 seconds
750x50’ in 10.39 seconds
650x50’ in 8.13 seconds
650x50’ in 8.04 seconds

Sandbag Shoulderings (Left)
205x1
205x1
205x1
205x1
205x1
205x1
205x1
205x1
205x1
205x1

Glute Ham Raises (5 showing)
bwx15
bwx15
bwx15

Backwards “Sled” Drags (Exer-Genie)
12x60’
12x60’

Quad Fallbacks
bwx12
bwx12

Stretching
  
Comments: So the last workout was a good one as far as how things went and confidence for my pressing going into the show but I seemed to have tweaked something in my upper back on the right side on that very last set of band face pulls. Could also have been just an accumulation from log cleans, heavy rows and then them. I’ve had these pop up before and usually just goes away on it’s own with a little bit of time. The discomfort was keeping my up at night so I got up about 2hrs before my alarm went off to take some aleve liquid gels to try and get some restful sleep. Just kind of one of those constant discomfort things that some positions it’s not even present and others it is. I did some foam rolling and other soft tissue stuff Friday in the afternoon and that seemed to calm things down some. Enough I didn’t feel I needed any anti-inflammatories to sleep soundly. But I wasn’t too thrilled with it with the planned workout. No clue if it would be a problem or not and hard to tell without doing something. Continues to get colder. 8 degrees when I woke up today. Got up to a blister 24 by the end of the day haha. I don’t mind it unless it is windy. Mobility stuff was good. Easy as it should be. Single leg box squats as per usual. 2x10 for this week. I was feeling a certain way and wanted to try going a little lower. I had been advised that I was already at a good box height considering my height and limb length but I felt compelled. The assisted lifts to warm-up seems to be the key here. Warming up the left knee had a lot of discomfort and the right none whereas doing the actual movement it was reversed. Just seems to be residual stuff in the right knee from a year ago that comes and goes. But I seem to be able to adjust and manage things with it. Giving something a name seems to help. From there it was on to the ssb box squats with bands. Lightest so far this week. Probably due to missing a rep last week but this has also been the lighter week. Less on the squats and more on the event work as is usually the case with the competition peaking. With the upper back thing, I was fine with lighter stuff as I had no idea if the ssb would bother it. It didn’t so plus there. Worked up in 50lbs jumps for 5x3 with the idea being EMOM or 60 seconds. Work on speed. I feel these were quite speedy. Worked up a good sweat. I do think I may have rushed the unrack on some of the middle sets with not being as much forward under the bar. But I could get away with it due to the weight not being that heavy all things considered. But I did notice that and tried to correct for the last set at least. From there it was on to frame carry. This plan continues to be aggressive and I’m all for it assuming I can keep up with it haha. The plan for today was 750lbs for 2 sets of 50’. Contest weight but 10’ further. It wouldn’t be the most I’ve ever picked up for frame (805lbs) from this height and walked with but it would be the most I’ve attempted on this particular frame. There is some sentimentality with this frame. This was Jenkins frame so feeling good and moving big weights with it kind of keeps a part of him alive to me. He went too soon. He wasn’t going to do strongman forever. He’d talked about doing it for 2 more years and then have a family. And here I am still doing this over 8yrs after his passing. I still got something to prove. Warming up felt fine. Upper back thing not a problem here which was very good as this could very much have sucked. I had no idea what to really expect here with this. This was a 50lbs increase from last session two weeks ago. I’d want sub 10 seconds obviously but that would be a big ask. It wasn’t exactly motivating music that came on (+600 songs on random) and I considered changing it but I thought screw it. I can lift and move to whatever. I don’t need it for this. So from the last time, the lessons I had learned was that staggered stance isn’t for me with this kind of weight and that gripping the front of the handles is the better option if can’t get the center balance. It is kind of funny to me that that is what I’m doing for a heavy frame. I look back on all the heavy farmer’s and frame carries I’ve done and those were pretty much done with gripping the back and wearing in some cases wrestling shoes to get myself lower to the floor. I don’t have to do that now. First set I felt I was a little slow and didn’t speed through the end. Second set I felt that I did things better. Very happy with having the times under 10.5 seconds. I think my goal of being sub 10 seconds at the show might be too easy to reach now haha. I feel at this point I’ve reached that minimum weight mark for feeling proud about an event. Down sets after that with 100lbs less. Goal to work on speed. I did setup initially for staggered for the first set but it didn’t feel like it was clicking and reverted back to regular. I was kind of shocked how fast these ended up being. Both runs were faster than my first week run with essentially the empty frame. Last session was a good one, this was a great one for frame. 7 weeks out and already blitzing contest weight no problem. I have no idea what to expect for the next almost two months here. Next was sandbag shouldering. I think the plan had been for me to switch to doing these every other week but with technique changes and still feeling things out with increased weight, this was put in for another week. 10 singles with the 205lbs bag but only to the left side as that appears to be the better side with the way that seems the best for me to get it up and shouldered. I was told to only do these if my biceps were feeling fine (seeing as how they’ve been tense and cleans with log have been added into the mix lately). No issues today. These were quite easy. I was told to rest as needed to keep them snappy but these felt like no effort so I kept it to EMOM so that I’d stay somewhat focused and not let my mind drift off on me. I stayed focused, mostly. After that was a return to an exercise that has been missing for months; glute ham raises. I was told to do 3 sets of max reps with 2RIR and work on keeping it to knee flexion. I was a little leery about doing these with how the issue with the lower leg discomfort on the left side had started at the beginning of this training cycle. I did however remember that these could be made easier depending on where I was positioned. I figured that that was the wiser option here to make sure I didn’t over do it. I set the holes showing to 5 as opposed to 4 from before if I recall correctly. Definitely makes these easier but puts a lot of stress on the glutes and hamstrings. My hamstrings actually cramped up just getting into position initially and I had to get out and rub them a bit before proceeding haha. Ended up doing 3x15 on these. Backwards “sled” drags with the exer-genie after that. Two sets again. First set felt tough (usually the case) but turns out wasn’t that bad comparatively. Second set was super easy. Almost sub 30 seconds. A repeat of last time I did these essentially. Quad fallbacks after that to finish things up. These coming back again. Maybe every other week? 2x12 again. Trying to see if stretching a little in the position helps make the sets similar to each other. I finished the session a bit earlier than I was expecting so I stretched at the gym before heading home.

January 20, 2022 – Week 15, Day 3

Paused Behind the Neck Strict Presses (3 seconds)/Half Kneeling Single Arm Band Pulldowns
45x10/sbx15/15
45x10/sbx15/15

12” Log Clean and Push Presses (clean every rep)
87x2
112x2
139x2
164x2
191x2
216x2
241x2
260x3
228x3
228x3
228x3

Paused 12” Log Incline Bench Presses (1 second)
87x3
117x3
147x3
177x3
207x3
237x5
213x5
213x5

Chest Supported Barbell Rows (straps)
135x10
185x8
235x5
285x10
285x10
285x10

One Arm Half Kneeling Dumbbell Strict Presses
40x5/5
70x15/15 PR+3 reps
70x13/13
70x12/12 

Band Face Pulls
sbx20
sbx20
sbx20

Stretching
 
Comments Two things before starting. One is that I was expecting 1-3” of snow but it missed us and we got just a little rain. Still meant I had to clean up the back patio to keep from it being a slipping hazard. The other is that some places are back in stock of the old protein I was using but at ridiculous prices. Like more than $100 for a bag I was getting for $75. And apparently I wasn’t getting what I had been expecting with that brand. Serving is one scoop of 165g but turns out the scoop isn’t that big and it is like 1.5 scoops to equal a true serving. So I might not go back to it if I’ve been getting maybe 75% of what I thought I was on that. I’m probably getting more protein and calories with the other stuff now. Any ways, I was a little anxious for this workout. It took a bit for me to calm myself to not be high strung. I had not expected log clean and press to be so bad last week. And I don’t think I was expecting it to show up this week. I have a new power rack coming so I figured rather than deal with moving the current one from the garage to the patio, I’d just do the exercises that needed it in the garage and just worry about log outside in the cold. BTN presses with pauses into one arm band lat pulls again. Felt good. Log after that. So last week it had been clean once and press for whatever reps with the working stuff being an EMOM followed by AMRAP. I had made assumptions with the wording of training that cleans on log would be every other week due to stress on the biceps. And maybe that was the case before and with how things went last week that may have been changed to get things back on track. For this session, I was to do clean every rep. Work up in doubles to a top triple (1-2RIR) and then take off 12.5% for 3x3. The calming myself to be ok if something like 230lbs ended up with where I was at the moment. Like last week my knees were not happy those first few reps with the lapping of the log. But after that initial discomfort, things felt fine. I think part of my worry besides how unstable log felt last time was just how fatigued my lower back had felt last workout. That I’d underperform again and have things be not where I want them to be with contest in less than 2 months. But things weren’t bad. They were quite good. Ok, maybe the belt pinching my belly wasn’t fun (note to self, either no belt or tight belt, no loose belt). I was fully ready for 241lbs to be my top set but it felt really easy. Now I didn’t feel like I’d have reps in reserve if I took another 25lbs jump. I wasn’t that confident in myself. In hindsight, I probably should’ve tried. This was a very comfortable set of three with 260lbs. The things that I think made the difference was the change in the assistance lifts and focus and the cue to let the weight settle and chest up. I was rushing things last week. Lean back press is taking advantage of the increasing pressing and upper back power developed this training cycle (and previous cycles). Down sets were a little tiring. To be expected since I haven’t done clean every rep log since 2015. Log just hasn’t been that light really where there was a thought that I’d get more than a single most of the time with these big shows. Since that year when I’ve competed, it’s either been max log or something 315lbs – 330lbs for part of a medley or for reps. I’m not against it but that just hasn’t been the thing that was focused on for the longest time. So understandable that it would be an area that wasn’t as well trained. But I feel like while not the fastest on these, I move with purpose. I've had to modify how I do my clean from in the past which was more biceps. My belt that I have now the log tends to get caught on it if I keep it too close to my body on the lowering so sometimes I kind of have to have a guided drop. Also not holding on to the log the whole way down after the wrist injury I had at 2017 SC Nats with the cutouts for the log not being very deep. I was really happy with how this part of the workout went. I’m just 25lbs away from contest weight. Looking back at numbers I've hit on clean every rep, my bests would be 267x2 and 258x4. From there into the garage again for the rest of the workout. Log incline bench again. It indicated to do with a slight pause (enough to keep from the “bounce press” style). Inclined of 45-60 degrees. No changes there for me as I already have it at 45 degrees or so angle. I figured I’d go with 1 second pauses since I had numbers for that (and 2 seconds). Goal was work up in triples to top set of 5 (2RIR) and then 10% off that for 2x5. I was feeling pretty good on these with 30lbs jumps. I was uncertain when I got to 237lbs if I was going to go up from there or not. That was why I had a slight hesitation after locking out the third rep. I figured this was good enough with how things were feeling. Much like log push press, probably some pounds there but still good stuff. Down sets were quite comfortable here as well. From there, moved on to chest supported barbell rows. So the plan for this was 5lbs less than top set last week for 3x10. I did change my warming up a little as I’ve been just doing sets of 5 but the lighter weights feel like nothing at that low of reps and wasn’t really getting me prepped for the higher reps I would be doing most of the time. This seemed to be a good change for this particular session. I was a little worried my right biceps wouldn’t care for these today after all the log cleans. But it was fine. No problems. Half kneeling presses again. Same weight and plan. I didn’t need as many reps to get warmed for these this time. These had been really tough balance wise last week but this week it was like no big deal. Got a lot more reps this time around. I’m a little miffed I adapted to this exercise so quickly at this weight. I was kind of hoping for more struggle and difficult to continue to make my sides pick up the slack. But maybe that have already started to do that. Last thing was band face pulls. I feel like this was the best I’ve been able to impose my will on this particular band tension. Though I think my upper back was just done with the day at the end here with all the clean and rows and such as right side of upper back was really tense after finished workout. Put stuff away and ate pot roast before stretching. Iced knees and right elbow before bed.

January 18, 2022 – Week 15, Day 2

Mobility Prep

Yielding 12” Axle Jack Stand Pulls (straps, 3 seconds 3” off the ground)
155x3
205x3
245x3
295x3
335x3
385x3
425x3
425x3
425x3
425x3
425x3

Romanian Deadlifts w/bands (straps, +3lbs bottom/+73lbs top)
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x3
365x6
365x6
365x6
365x6

Paused Front Foot Elevated Split Squats (4”, floating heel, 3 seconds)
bwx3/3
75x10/10
75x10/10
75x10/10

Paused Single Leg Hip Thrusts (3 seconds)
40x10/10
40x10/10
40x10/10

Weighted Planks/Single Leg Calf Raises (5-2-0-0 tempo)
bw+108 30 second – bwx12/12
bw+108 30 second – bwx12/12
bw+108 30 second – bwx12/12

Stretching
  
Comments: Not feeling many aches so that is a good thing. But indigestion all day from the night before. It’s good I live and train alone for the most part haha. Mobility stuff mostly good. I could tell right away that my lower back was tight, stiff and sore. But not like an injury response. Just still feeling training from the previous sessions. The lean back style on the pressing is definitely more lower back and core focused. So not exactly the feeling I want for a lower body session though. It was going to be relatively light considering things but I’d rather feel fresh and powerful with how things felt for me last week. So first bit of the session was axle pulls. A bit of a change up though compared to the usual axle work. Last week was suit and this week none. Which is probably a good idea for frequency with how hard suit work is. So for these I was to do them from 12” height. Not that strange. The twist was in that these had pauses. Usually with pauses, it is on the concentric portion of the lift. Pause and then push onward. These were to be done on the eccentric portion of the lift. Lower, pause and then lower. For easier nomenclature purposes, I’ll refer to pauses on the eccentric as “yielding” vs “paused”. I could probably say that “paused” are really “overcoming” but that is just getting too in my head and I’ve already set precedent for paused. Haven’t done any on the negatives so ok to start for these. Plan being 425x5x3. No idea really what to expect here. I’ve read that these could actually have more carryover to the normal lift compared to the other way. However, most of what had been done for pause work has been more to control and adjust bar speed so that I can efficiently do the movements. It was kind of weird sensation doing these where I stopped and then go. As usually the pause is tough and then the motion afterwards is tough from that stop. But gravity is helping when the brake is lifted. But it does make the next lift tough. Worked up in triples doing 50-40lbs jumps to get the motion ingrained. These were interesting. I tried my best to make sure I was giving these a good 3 seconds pause each rep. Especially the last two sets. Curious to see how things progress from here. Next thing was rdls with bands again. Same setup as last time but doing 5lbs less than top set for 4x6. Report back RIR on that last set. Setting things up wasn’t that bad compared to last week. I knew what I needed to get things setup. 40-50lbs jumps and triples to warm up like with the axle stuff. Feeling pretty good. I think that was part of what through me off the first working set. I went right from soft belt to the hard belt for the top set when usually I adjust the notches to ease into things. The grounding effect of these bands at that weight is something. Weight looks like it moved easy but it didn’t feel easy that first set. I was annoyed that it felt harder than it should and that seemed to be enough to get things moving really snappy the rest of the sets. No ego when I say I felt I could do another 10 reps on that last set. This might end up being another of those exercises where I can rep a lot but adding weight gets tricky. So next up was the FFE split squats. 3x10 this week again. Last week my knees had been really against me doing things. I did more reps than usual to warm up. This week my knees felt mostly good. Some days good, some days shit it seems. So I figured that while they are good, I should try for more weight. Last week I had really been debating adding any weight with how they were feeling. These felt pretty good this week. Only thing of note really was that my right calf muscle was really tight. That is the one where I don’t have as good ROM when it comes to dorsiflexion. I also know not to be too aggressive with things as the one time I was I overstretched and it felt weird for a few weeks. I was getting that sensation on the first set but things seemed to calm down for the other sets. These were relatively comfortable. Next thing was single leg hip thrusts with pauses. Same weight as last time with the goal being 2-3 seconds on the holds and aiming for 3x8-12. So a bit more leeway this time around. There is a discrepancy between the sides but it didn’t feel so pronounced this week. Just one of those exercises I’ll need to get used to and just notice the movements and efforts required. Seem to be good things. Last bit of the workout was pairing of abdominals and calves again. Weighted planks for 30 seconds again with kind of my choice with the calf raises. Either do them one leg or two legs. I was initially going to do two legs again with how two weeks prior I struggled with the single leg variation. But I was also thinking about load on the spine as lower back was already kind of stiff so see if I could do the single legs this week for 3x12. My hope was that after so many weeks of the floating heel on the FFE stuff that they’d adapted to the stress. I was right. That is not to say that these were easy at all for my right leg. That is still a struggle bus. The left leg is fine with these. Put stuff away and ate dinner before stretching and icing.

January 17, 2022 – Week 15, Day 1

Band Face Pulls
abx12
abx12
abx12

12” Log Strict Presses (head through on last rep only)
87x3
112x3
139x3
164x3
191x3
216x3
Add 5 seconds hold and slow eccentric last rep
231x5
208x5
208x5

Paused Pull-ups (2 seconds)
bwx4
bwx4
bwx4
bwx4
bwx4

Close Grip Bench Presses w/ bands (+33lbs bottom/+57lbs top)
45x3
85x3
125x3
165x3
205x3
245x3
245x3
245x3
245x3
245x3
245x3

Chaos Band Push-ups (feet elevated 9”)
bwx4
bw+50x12
bw+50x12

Seated Dumbbell Power Cleans
40’sx10
40’sx10
40’sx10

Single Arm Tate Extensions
40x15/15
40x15/15
40x15/15

Stretching
  
Comments: Off work for holiday. I made sure to get stuff done on Sunday and early. Due to the coming snow. And snow it did. So had to do some shoveling come Monday morning. It was really cold Sunday so I was kind of surprised that the snow was able to form. It warmed up Monday so that it kind of melted a bit so it was really heavy snow to move. Even though I wasn’t going anywhere, I needed to clear stuff so that I could lift on the patio. So clearing snow from there and the driveway (might as well do all of the walking places) and put down anti-ice stuff so that it didn’t refreeze. Schedule was a little off but I wanted to make sure I finished lifting while it was light out. Wasn’t too bad moving the rack outside. I did purchase a new one so that I can keep one outside that might be more stable. But not sure when that will arrive. The flimsy rack has lasted almost two years now. I wasn’t sure how the snow shoveling would affect training. I was already feeling sore in my obliques and QLs from training Saturday. Starting things off with band face pulls. Still 3x12. Log strict press next. But I was advised to do these a little different. It appears that for log I am to be doing more of an Olympic style lean back press. Get more pectorals and back involved. Built up things a good bit with all the incline work so trying to take advantage of that. Hence the lean back lockouts last week. Essentially, the plan for today’s workout with log was to work up in triples to a top set of 5 (1-2RIR) and then take 10% for 2x5. But I was to keep the log in front and not put my head through until the last rep. Idea being more time in that position and keep more stress on the shoulders. Something that has been done by weight classed strongman across the pond Shane Jerman and Tom Hibbert. If I think about it, this is also kind of how Jenkins used to train his log press though I think I saw him do this more with his push presses. I wasn’t sure how these would go. I was fully prepared to just go for 216lbs as my top set if things felt like that. But I felt pretty good and went for a bit more. For the actual working sets, I was to hold the log at lockout with head through and contracting for a 5ct. Looking at past videos for log strict press, this is 6lbs under my best 5rm (which I did as a triple followed by a double after 15 seconds rest) and 1lbs over my true 5rm. So this felt good. The down sets felt even better. So this was a good start to things. Pull-ups next. Same as last week with 5x4 and 2ct. I didn’t bother raising the rack up as again, kind of negligible with the bumper plates even. Still able to touch the ground with my legs bent. Less hassle setting things up. The change from last week was the reduction of the rest time. It was 75 second last week, now 60 seconds. I did a hang followed by some shrugging and retractions. With the lean back style pressing, I think this was needed to get things feeling ready. I didn’t feel any abdominal soreness on these and the first two sets felt really easy. But the shorter rest periods definitely caught up to me by the end as those last two sets felt pretty tough. From there, it was close grip bench with bands. For today, the plan was 245x6x3 with 60 seconds rest. Easy enough. Took 40lbs jumps in weight. I ran into an issue on the first set. I had set my timer on the bench post in the front so that I didn’t have to check my side pocket for time. This was a mistake as the darn thing rattled itself into the hollow of the post. Tried to recover it in the minute but it didn’t matter as whatever happened made it revert to default settings and no matter what I did, it kept going back. Luckily I have another timer. It had a good run and I liked it so ordered a new one during the workout haha. So it took about 3 minutes to get back on track. I was tempted to do another set so that I did 6x3 with minute rests but I figured that was stupid since it was still the work. These can be odd as sometimes the weight feels stupid easy and others it feels like it will cut right down through my hands into my forearms. Chaos band push-ups again. 2x12-15 with 2-3RIR. Since I had done 2x15 with 40lbs added to the backpack, I figured I’d go for 2x12 or so (depending on how things felt) with 50lbs. I figured that it was probably a good idea to do some reps with bodyweight just to get the aches out of the way. That first set these felt tough. I’m not sure if I maybe had a slightly wider grip or if I had the backpack up higher compared to previous weeks. The second set things felt slightly easier. Enough so that I noticed. Maybe something was slightly different or maybe I was more prepared for what was to come. I took a brief break at this point to eat a chicken breast with cheese. Trying to keep my meals up even though been up for less hours. I usually wait until I’m done to eat due to the stomach stuff but I figured the last two exercises wouldn’t stress things much. Last things for the session were involving the 40lbs dumbbells. Seated power cleans up first. Went right into the 40’s this week. Trying to keep elbows high and be aggressive. Last time I was kind of doing a shrug and then a heave. This week was trying to do them as one movement rather than two. The single arm Tate extensions followed same protocol. No need for 10lbs here. Since I don’t really have dumbbells to bridge the gap and keep the difficulty, I decided to try and make rests between sets shorter this time. Put everything away before stretching out.

January 15, 2022 – Week 14, Day 4

Mobility Prep
 
Single Leg Squats to Box (16”)
bwx4/4 (assisted)
bwx4/4 (assisted)
bwx8/8
bwx8/8
bwx8/8

Safety Squat Bar Box Squats (20” box) w/ bands (+60lbs bottom/+86lbs top)
65x3
115x3
165x3
215x3
265x3
315x3
365x3
405x3
445x3
405x3
405x3

Seated Arm-Over-Arm Pulls (2” rope, tire, turf)/Backwards Sled Drags (turf)
275x50’/275x50’
525x50’ in 34.60 seconds/275x50’
525x50’ in 34.13 seconds/275x50’
525x50’ in 33.47 seconds/275x50’

Sandbag Shoulderings
205x1/1
225x1/1
250x1/1
250x1/1
250x1/1
250x1/1
250x1/1

Paused Hyperextensions (5 seconds)
65x8
75x8
70x8

Paused Side Plank Lifts (3 seconds)
bwx3/3
50x10/10
50x10/10
50x10/10

Stretching
  
Comments: Well, made it through the week. Trying to bury me with other peoples work but I can only do so much and I did my stuff. They need to figure out an actual solution to things in the age of pandemic. I was definitely feeling better than I had on Wednesday. But annoyed with what I feel are flaws in my strength game. Before this week, I was over the moon with confidence. Assumptions. But with how suited pulls went and then not feeling log push pressing, some clouds on my sunny day plan. I know I shouldn’t dwell on them. I think the focus ends up being there because they are the actual event I’m training for even if something like rows goes amazing. I got time but that becomes less and less of a comfort as things get closer. 8 weeks out at this point. 3-4 more good sessions on some events whereas others do get a weekly treatment. I at least have supreme confidence in two out of five events haha. I did end up going for a walk after work Friday and it was needed. Fresh air, clear my head and get some movement besides the occasional pacing while on the clock. I was not feeling up to training today. Not like physically. I was just thinking too much. Knees been achy all week despite being on top of recovery stuff. Having some slight discomfort in the bottom of my right foot too that popped up after Thursday's workout. And still got some residual stuff with whatever decided to get stiff in my right side of my neck. Also dwelling on deadlift and log. Recognizing my patterns. I did at least set my alarm for work rather than rely on my body to wake me up at a reasonable hour. Still slept in for another 45 minutes I think before I got ready to go. Coldest it has been this winter. Not that I mind that. Only when it is windy is it a problem for me. Made good time out to train. Mobility stuff was good. I didn’t feel like last weekend where I was feeling winded do it. Single leg box squats as per usual. Back to doing 3x8 this week. The assisted lifts to warm-up have been good. I didn’t feel like my knees hated me as much this time which was surprising considering they felt like crap this whole week whereas the previous few sessions they’ve been tolerable and then were cranky as hell on these. From there it was on to the ssb box squats with bands. Plan for today was work up in triples to 445lbs and do AMRAP and then do two matching sets at 405lbs after that. There appear to be advantages to using the two different racks. While the one has the slightly uneven floor (doesn’t become a problem on the box squats with the stance), it has narrower tubing which means I don’t bang the rack when loaded with 45’s walking the weight out. With the weight, I couldn’t really think of a way to have things not be close to the top weight for the last set of triples without taking too big of jumps. 50lbs jumps (and using 25’s the whole time to make things feel harder so that I’d feel surprised tope weight was comfortable) and then 40lbs after hitting 365lbs. Goal for the AMRAP was 1RIR. I got side spotters for this. I had no clue what to expect but I figured 4 reps would be my top end on here. Things felt good and I thought at the third rep I had 2RIR so I went for the fourth. But I hesitated too much and got out of position and got stuck a few inches off the box. Damn it. I thought I had it with room to spare. I have been good with squats and knowing my limits. Haven’t missed a squat rep in what seems like forever. Trying to calm myself. I know that I get a certain way when I “go off plan” or miss a lift. Worries that I just ruined the session, the training cycle up to this point, effecting recovery, etc;. I have to be aware of this and shrug it off and move on. Document it, let Drew know and keep heading forward. The only direction. I am wondering if this weight range is becoming a point where my upper spine and core are what are holding me back vs what my lower body can output. But these are assistance lifts. Now I did have concerns of the immediate kind if the missed rep was going to negatively affect the down sets. There have been times where I didn’t leave the right amount of RIR on top set for the matched downs sets and made those super miserable. I think since I missed the fourth rep pretty early (bands won’t let you grind really) that it was minimal as these sets were fine. I could do them all day with enough rest between sets I think. So up next was event specific stuff with arm-over-arm next. My choice on whether I wanted to use the exergenie or setup like how I think contest will be. I was advised to warm up and then do three sets of either 85-90% contest weight (if it was known) or RPE 7-8.5. So with how the gym was laid out today at the moment, it didn’t make sense to setup arm-over-arm with the exergenie with how I did it last time with the sled. That required too much space and took up both lanes for the tire placement. The lanes were in constant use by the time I got done with squats. I knew it was going to take a lot of time for setup regardless so I decided I might as well see how things felt with actual weight. The exergenie is just as much of a pain in the ass to setup as it is for the other normal way but the reset is easier with the exergenie. The arm-over-arm for contest is 50’ and I’m assuming setup like I have it (though anchoring system and weight placement are TBD probably). Slightly uphill on the turf. I have no idea if they are going to use the thick rope but I’m going to keep using it. So for ease of resetting things, I put straps on the back half of the prowler and put 100lbs plates on each post. I’ve seen others do this but they had two people do it so a lot less effort. I felt that it wasn’t enough to really take away from training but it wasn’t light enough to exclude it from being something I did. Warm-up set I wasn’t sure how it felt at the start and I stopped briefly to think if I wanted to do this weight or not after a tug or two. Not going to move easy so I figured that I’d do this set and go straight to the heavy stuff. 250lbs sandbag plopped on top. This would either be perfect or a total disaster. Reason I say that is the last time I did this was about 7 months ago and I only worked up to 400lbs. This wasn’t a max effort but it was a decent effort. These were pretty tough. But it feels like these take longer than they actually do. I thought I made this too heavy and was getting close to a minute when in reality I was just a few seconds over 30. The other mindfreak was that I actually got faster each set despite feeling tired and like I was going slower. Hell, I even mistimed a pull on the third set at the beginning and still improved time from the first set to last set by a minute. It was going to take a good bit of time to put stuff away from that. That was fine by me. I didn’t really want to get into the sandbag shouldering right away. Things had felt good last week trying out the new style but I wasn’t sure on the application to a heavier bag. Last time with 250lbs, it was 6 singles total done EMOM style. This time it was 5 doubles at my own pace. My choice if I wanted them to be a rep to each side or reps to just one side. Now before this, I assumed that my right shoulder was my strong side. After, not so sure I have one. I had three thoughts in my head going into these. One was that my right-side neck thing was still there but a lot less but I wasn’t thinking that essentially tossing an object that weighs as much as my father onto my shoulders repeated was going to help that. Sometimes it is crazy to think of what I’m essentially doing at times and realizing that I think it isn’t good enough. The second was that I have be prepared for it to get tough. I’m not one motioning this kind of weight. I just have to have the confidence that I’ll get this dumb thing up there. Treat it like a continental if I miss the mark and just shove it up there. The final was that I need to stop thinking this is that heavy. Seen a few people shouldering sandbags that are WSM level that are 100lbs heavier or more than what I’m trying to do. I think the last straw was seeing JF Caron make quick work of a 360lbs bag. If I want to compete at that level, I got to keep pushing. With that said, I think these felt better to me than last time I tried this weight. The sweet spot where it is easy is very hit or miss for me. But I’m prepared to have to muster in effort when needed to get the stupid thing perched on my shoulder. Sometimes the left side was easy and the right was hard and others they were reversed. Sometimes both were easy and both were hard. First three sets I did the new style and the last two the other style. I may go with the newer style as it does seem to be faster when it works right. But not completely abandoning the other style as sometimes that one seems to work really well. Be a shame to ditch it when it could be the tool needed for a specific task in the future. I have no idea how the two heavier bags in the series will feel when it comes to this. After these were done, the rest of the workout was more gym stuff with core emphasis. So first up was hyperextensions. But not how I’ve ever done them. Use weight on a barbell and hold the extensions for 3-5ct. The gym doesn’t have a 45 degree bench for back/hypers. There is a flat one but it is too short for me. It was hitting pressure points in my calves. So the other option was the ghr. I was advised to either use a snatch grip on the bar or use smaller diameter plates. Well with my long ass arms, I ended up needing to do both. And by small diameter plates, I mean using 5lbs. Otherwise the ROM would’ve been like nothing. These were tough. Not only is there the glute, lower back and hamstring component, the entire upper back is involved too with the weight. I like it. Plan was 3x8 at RPE 7. I went up 10lbs from the first set and realized that I wouldn’t be able to do more or this weight again sticking to that so I went down 5lbs for the last set. Last thing was side plank lifts with pauses (2-3ct). I’ve done these in the past but usually only bodyweight for high reps (25). But I’m stronger and have better core control since then so I figured I should be able to 3x10 at RPE 7 with weight. For comfort, I elected to use the throwing sandbag to place on the hip. These went about as I expected. It was a bit strange not having quad fallbacks as the last exercise of the session. Packed things up and drove home. Stretched when I got back.

January 13, 2022 – Week 14, Day 3

Paused Behind the Neck Strict Presses (3 seconds)/Half Kneeling Single Arm Band Pulldowns
45x10/sbx15/15
45x10/sbx15/15

12” Log Clean and Push Presses (one clean)
97x2
117x2
137x2
157x2
177x2
197x2
217x2
217x2
217x2
217x2
217x2
217x2
217x4

12” Log Standing Pin Presses (lean back)
87x6
177x3
207x3
237x6
267x6
287x6

Chest Supported Barbell Rows (straps)
155x5
205x5
245x5
290x12 PR+15lbs
260x12
260x12

One Arm Half Kneeling Dumbbell Strict Presses
10x5/5
40x5/5
70x12/12
70x12/12
70x11/11

Band Face Pulls
sbx20
sbx20
sbx20

Stretching
 
Comments Just felt worn out the day before. Had like no appetite and I blame that on the new flavor of protein powder I had got as an emergency hold over. Apparently, this brand has three types of chocolate and I only tolerate two of the three. Tasted fine enough but sat in my stomach. Akin to that one time back in 2018 when had to eat a breakfast sandwich at Hardee’s in Kentucky. Only ate two but those suckers just sat in my stomach all day. Didn’t go for a walk as I had a stuff to kind of sort out mentally and I felt deloading made more sense then going for a walk at night. Walking does seem to do me good most of the time as far as getting fresh air, clearing my head a little. I also had stuff to put away from Tuesday’s workout session still out. Just too busy during the day. Due to stupid things with work, essentially having to also be responsible for a bunch of other coworker’s stuff. What gets done gets done and what doesn’t won’t. Took some Dayquil as I had a bad headache. Also having tightness in my neck and jaw on the right side. Might be from the suit work. Or just how my body wants to be for the next two weeks or so. Had a little pep in the step with getting a different flavor of protein that tastes like melted ice cream and so far no issues. Also signed up for another competition beginning of June which is apparently one of the Regional shows. Some great events for me there. Quite a few changes for this workout and it would be some testing. BTN presses with pauses into one arm band lat pulls again. Easy stuff. Log after that. Clean and presses this week. 70%x6x2 and then AMRAP done EMOM style. One clean each set. I usually will wear grip shirt under my shirt (especially when it gets brutally hot outside) but I know that the promoter for this contest hates them so just going to try and keep shirts with large decals. I was not sure how these would go. Well however they went, they weren’t how I was expecting them. Been over a year since I’ve cleaned a log other than putting the empty log on and off the rack in training. Knees were really stiff. I figured 20lbs jumps would give me enough opportunities to get used to the lap and to apply equipment. Nothing new (like elbow cuffs, knee or elbow sleeves). Need to see how things feel. The positives are that the cleans feel easy and fine once warmed up. And the weight doesn’t feel like it is crushing me in the rack position at this point. But that was about it. Balance seemed like crap. Dancing around to be stable. Lower body drive seemed off. It was strange. Kind of frustrating to be honest here and annoyed I was struggling this much. AMRAP set I was advised to stop when I felt it was slowing down (2-3RIR). I might be hard on myself but this felt like garbage. Second rep I kind of did a rebound press which was not what I was supposed to do. Fourth felt like I got no leg drive and was strict pressing it so I stopped there. It is something but I got 70lbs more to go on this. Ugh. I have to realize though that this a different way to train log. It has only been about a year since I’ve done this kind of training and differentiating between rebound and no rebound reps on certain exercises. This will be the first time since 2015 that I’m training for log that isn’t a max or above my lifetime best 1rm in training so it will be a different experience. Log continued after that. No incline press this week. Trying to get things more event specific, at least for this week. I was told to setup the log just above my head standing and to do 3x6 of increasing weight with a lean back. Problem here is that I’m so damn tall and my rack isn’t. I said I’d do my best but might have to go seated for these and even that would be a struggle. But I really wanted to make this work. It was fairly time consuming as I built this tower of Babel out of stuff I had around. I think I got to where I needed just barely. Close enough. I took a fairly big jump after testing the empty log from there. This is definitely going to be one of those lifts where one day you move a lot and others 5lbs more won’t even come off the pins. Hopefully I make this go smoother next time knowing how much stuff I need to use to elevate things this much and knowing what I can hit here. I wanted to move contest weight or slightly more on these as the top set, even though this wasn’t to be a max effort. These could definitely be helpful for me with how I’m doing these with the log in front and lean back style. Lot of stress on the core and shoulders with triceps. Sometimes things that take a long time to setup take very little to tear down. Not exactly with this situation. I needed things back on ground level for rows. Chest supported barbell rows up next. This week 5lbs more than the two working sets and aim for AMRAP and then take off 30lbs for two sets of matching reps. These just seemed to feel better this time around. They’ve felt hard the past few workouts. Not this time. Felt powerful. Maybe it was the Megadeath playing haha. I was kind of surprised I got 12 reps on these. Down sets weren’t that bad. Change in the last bit of the session. Pressing and face pulls still but not a superset and a change in the pressing. So this one was one arm variation of pressing with dumbbell. Half kneeling so a lot of core stability needed. Wasn’t sure how these would go or which side would be the “lagging” one at the start. I felt these in the shoulders obviously but the strain in the obliques and the little deep tissue muscles of the sides up and down the spine and rib cage was what I needed. I tend to get little twinges in this area on overhead sets when I’ve reached my limit or fatigued. Definitely room to progress on these too. Band face pulls for three sets of 15-20 reps. Since not paired with another exercise, I figured I could try and push these with the strong band again and see if I can control things better. I think I did. Put stuff away and ate roast before stretching and icing my knees and right elbow before bed.

January 11, 2022 – Week 14, Day 2

Mobility Prep

Suited 15” Axle Jack Stand Pulls (straps)
No Suit
110x1
160x1
200x1
250x1
290x1
Added Suit
340x1
380x1
430x1
470x1
520x1
560x1
610x1
560x3
560x3
560x3

Romanian Deadlifts w/bands (straps, +3lbs bottom/+73lbs top)
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x8
340x8
370x8

Paused Front Foot Elevated Split Squats (4”, floating heel, 3 seconds)
bwx5/5
70x10/10
70x10/10
70x10/10

Paused Single Leg Hip Thrusts (2 seconds)
bwx3/3
40x8/8
40x8/8
40x8/8

Weighted Planks/Calf Raises (5-2-0-0 tempo)
bw+108 30 second – 53x11
bw+108 30 second – 64x13
bw+108 30 second – 75x13

Stretching
  
Comments: Really busy at work. So much so that it will go over into the next day. Not sure if it being dry out is causing allergies to act up or what. I think that I’m used to working optimally that little decreases I try to avoid. In the past, I’d just work through them but that was the work culture. I don’t have to do that. I don’t have to kill myself for the work. It will be there tomorrow and forever. Get some relief. Anyways, I was mostly looking forward today’s training. Some new stuff and some old stuff. Knees were acting up more than I would’ve liked though. Mobility stuff mostly good. So first bit of the session was to do axle pulls with the suit. Plan being work up in small jumps to a top single (RPE 7) and then take a little off of that and do 3x3 with controlled eccentrics to work the suit. With how axle pulls have been going past few sessions, I was expecting big things. I mean, I did 600lbs for a triple with plenty left. But I guess not all sessions can be like that and not all the time am I able to tap into that I guess. Anyways, I had started light and did 50-40lbs jumps with singles. Added the suit at 340lbs. Things felt good at that point but seemed to feel really damn heavy pretty quick. I know the suit doesn’t make stuff lighter but I wasn’t thinking that this stuff would feel heavier than it did two weeks ago without the suit. I had been thinking 650lbs easy and have to tell myself not to go for 700lbs with how 600lbs felt two weeks ago. But it was a struggle to do what I ended up doing it felt. I actually misloaded 560lbs when I first went for it (off 45lbs on one side) and had to stop and get that right. With how that felt, I’d probably have stopped there for what felt like RPE 7. But I don’t think my ego was going to let me do less than what I did raw for a single on the suited stuff. Felt like a struggle. Video I didn’t end up really watching until the next day. It doesn’t look that bad. It felt like it was terrible. Took 50lbs off for the down sets. Those were tough too. All of the worst parts of suit today with the digging into the inner thighs, riding up and just being damn uncomfortable and feeling like I go nothing out of it today. Now it could just be I got to approach raw and suit differently. Maybe the suit is throwing off my technique when raw on the block pulls. Could also be that the suit is not really fitting me well anymore on the legs and is riding up too much, losing a good bit of pop there. I’m not sure if that is the case but I will try to do something different next time and see if that fixes things. I don’t think it is as big a problem for the floor pulls since I still get a good pop there. I’m not sure if I want to invest in a customized deadlift suit to fit my odd proportions. This has been a hand-me-down. Like my one belt. Feeling just beat to hell after the suit work and unmotivated with how that went not according to my thoughts. Next thing was rdls. New one kind of. This was with bands. Plan being 10-15% added like other exercises that have bands as of late. I’ve done these in the past but not like how I ended up doing. Usually, I’ve stood on the bands and had the stretched out like a bow and arrow situation. Start from the bottom. But that won’t work as I go up in weight. I did those in the past with like maybe 275lbs for light stuff and when I’ve used heavier weights, it ended up snapping the bands from the weights coming down too hard. So this was to be like I’ve been doing with starting them from the top out of the rack. I figured it would be an easy setup. It was not. Bands I got are too loose to have any tension at the bottom of the motion just looped around a dumbbell. Also the plates would hit the dumbbell. So I added a platform and spaced the plates out. Still an issue so I had to add another dumbbell to stretch the base out more. This eventually worked but the band tension at the bottom is almost nonexistent. That took up a good bit of patience and effort. And time. But it was ready and I know what to do for next time. These were supposed to be pretty easy from the proposed effort scale. I wasn’t sure how I’d be doing higher reps against bands but I think I undershot things initially. I had thought that doing 50-40lbs jumps on the working sets would be too much to keep in the range. I feel like the last set was the one that got into the acceptable range at the end. They are different feeling. But not bad. So next up was the FFE split squats. 3x10 this week so I assumed that meant I could increase the weight on these a little. And a little was all I felt comfortable doing with them this week. Knees were achy and just the annoyance of not doing what I wanted on suited pulls and having a time vampire with setting up the band rdls. It took a bit to feel comfortable on these this week. I generally only do a few reps to warm-up but I felt I needed more this week. Didn’t feel great that first set but seemed to feel better the other sets at least. Next thing was single leg hip thrusts with pauses. I’ve done similar stuff before. The holds are the hard part on the strength curve with this exercise and I could tell my left side was fatiguing faster than the right side. Hopefully I did these correctly. Last thing was abs and calves.  Weighted planks for 30 seconds. Backpack had been a hassle with that much weight and it was more effort to get it on and off then it was to do the holds last time. So I big-brained things and decided to just put the axle through the jack stands and just do planks that way. Balance is a little tricky but it does the trick without being a pain in the nethers. For calves, I was told I could do one or two legs with the 5-2-0-0 tempo. With how tight my calves felt on the FFEs and seeing how much my right leg suffered last week, I elected to do both legs so that I knew I’d get the reps in. I used the backpack for these as I didn’t expect things to be that much considering that 65lbs on a past tempo variation was sufficiently challenging for me. Well it took a bit more weight to get there as the first few sets were too easy. I may need to use the SSB going forward so not a hassle with the backpack situation again. It was really late and my burritos in I stored in the oven were room temp. I just left out stuff in the garage for tomorrow Craig to eventually get to. Ate my burritos and stretched. Iced knees before bed.

January 10, 2022 – Week 14, Day 1

Band Face Pulls
abx12
abx12
abx12

12” Log Strict Presses
100x3
130x3
160x3
190x3
220x3
220x3
220x3
220x3
220x3
220x3

Paused Pull-ups (2 seconds)
bwx4
bwx4
bwx4
bwx4
bwx4

Close Grip Bench Presses w/ bands
No Bands
45x3
Add Bands (+33lbs bottom/+57lbs top)
45x3
95x3
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x3
275x3
275x3
245x9

Chaos Band Push-ups (feet elevated 9”)
bw+40x15
bw+40x15

Seated Dumbbell Power Cleans
10’sx3
40’sx10
40’sx10
40’sx10

Single Arm Tate Extensions
10x8/8
40x15/15
40x15/15
40x15/15

Stretching
  
Comments: Just another day. Right shoulder was a little sore from getting a shot but it wasn’t that bad. I knew that it wasn’t going to keep me from doing anything planned for today. Cold seems to be here to stay. Starting things off with band face pulls. Still 3x12. Ok. Log strict press next. Plan being work up in triples to 220lbs and then do 6x3 EOMOM style. Using the lower rack height so that hopefully don’t have things feel so awkward and hitting the safeties. I never really felt “powerful” on these today but I also didn’t feel like I couldn’t do the sets and could keep on going with the set rest periods. Still playing around with what is best I guess to initiate the press on the first rep. I couldn’t tell if I used my wrist wraps last week or not and didn’t for the first two to three sets. I checked the raw video from last week and I did wear them so I put them on. Not sure if they really made any difference. Not as noticeable to say barbell or axle with the wrist pressure. But I’ll be wearing them at contest so better get used to it. So maybe it was partly sore shoulder and maybe it was just being really cold that these felt lackluster. Like, I wouldn’t been able to put up a big rep set this week if it was required of me. Oh well. Some days it is just put in the reps and work. Pull-ups next. Last week had been testing and I had gotten 4x5 essentially with 1-2ct holds. This week it was to be 5x4 and 2ct. So more sets but same reps. And to do them with less rest (not that I took a ton of rest last week between sets). Aim being 60-75 seconds rest here. So I set timer for every 90 seconds and that came out to about 75 seconds rest between the sets. Setup was a bit quicker this week as I knew what I was doing. Last time I had been trying to get higher so I could use the rings but that didn’t work. Just used the rubber bumper plates rather than try and get the wood planks as well. Negligible difference. I did some hanging and shoulder/scrap elevations/retractions in the hang position to get things feeling somewhat ready for the pull-ups. I think that helped. My abs seem to strain on these and I think that is more from moving my body rather than moving an object and having to keep everything tight. Not bad, just noticing. From there, it was close grip bench with bands. Again, had easier time with setting things up knowing what to expect. Today the plan was to work up to 275lbs for 3x3 and then take off 30lbs for AMRAP with 2RIR. I figured I’d do triples doing quarter-plate jumps. 275lbs felt damn heavy unracking that first rep but I didn’t let that get to me. Reps moved well enough besides that initial feeling of weight. Second set was a bit tougher feeling. Those last few inches of lockout are hard. Third set was pretty good. Had 10 pop in my head for the AMRAP but I figured that was probably too much with how these were feeling and 8 was more reasonable top end. Guess I decided to split the difference here haha. First few reps were rapid fire and then had to regain control to get the other reps. Chaos band push-ups again. 2x12-15 with 2-3RIR. Decided I’d aim for 15 reps both sets and do 40lbs again. These are kind of odd in that they feel tough but I can keep going but it is hard to know when I’m getting close to the limit with the lockouts and triceps. I did end up taking a bit longer rest between the sets then I had planned. I had tried to rest with the backpack on but I could feel that wasn’t working and took it off and then rested. So that stuff was about the usual. The rest of the workout had a change. It has been the same for several weeks as far as exercise selection and these were two new one for me. So the first new one was seated dumbbell power cleans. 3x10 at RPE 7. I’ve seen these before and I think I’ve tried in the past but didn’t care for them. 10lbs felt way too light. The question was whether I could do 40lbs or if I needed to use my dumbbell handles to make weights. I took the risk of the solid dumbbells. I think I did these right. These are exhausting and I’m certainly not fast. One of the things I noticed while doing them was that the point where I rotate to get the elbows under the dumbbell at the top reminded me of the sensation I feel when I go to pop and axle from my midsection to the shoulders. So these might be a good one to keep in the future as far as offseason work towards that if I have that event in a show coming up. After those, it was triceps. I’ve done Tate presses before. Regular, incline and overhead. But this was to be one arm across body. Again, using the 10lbs to feel things out. Really didn’t want to use the dumbbell handles as those are really long compared to these solid dumbbells. Plan was 3x15 3RIR. I think that worked out for me. A little awkward and again, hopefully did these right. Put stuff away and ate a big dinner before stretching. Iced knees and elbows before bed.

January 8, 2022 – Week 13, Day 4

Mobility Prep
 
Single Leg Squats to Box (16”)
bwx5/5 (assisted)
bwx5/5 (assisted)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Safety Squat Bar Box Squats (20” box) w/ bands (+60lbs bottom/+86lbs top)
75x3
125x3
175x3
225x3
275x3
325x3
375x3
375x3
375x3
375x3
375x3
375x3

Frame Carries
Titan Fitness (16”)
Casual Pace 
115x50’
115x50’
Makeshift (18”)
Normal
276x50’
376x25’
Added Straps
476x50’
BiggDogg Strongg (20”, 1.5” handles)
568x25’
628x25’
700x50’ in 9.57 seconds
700x50’ in 10.57 seconds
700x50’ in 9.76 seconds
700x50’ in 9.87 seconds

BiggDogg Strongg Frame Holds (20”, 1.5” handles)
600 for 57.30 seconds

Sandbag Shoulderings
205x1 R
205x1 L
205x1 R
205x1 L
205x1 L
205x1 R
205x1 L
205x1 R
205x1 L
205x1 R
205x1 L
205x1 R
205x1 L
205x1 R

Lying Leg Curls
45x10
70x5
95x5
115x3
135x3
160x15
160x15
160x15

Backwards “Sled” Drags (Exer-Genie)
12x60’
12x60’

Quad Fallbacks
bwx12
bwx12

Stretching
  
Comments: We got more snow than they were expecting. Was to be like maybe 2” at most and some places it was 6”. It was only about 2” where I live but that meant that the neighborhood wasn’t a priority so plows didn’t come by until the afternoon. I didn’t have anywhere to go but of course this was when the freight shipped piece of equipment came. They’d have missed all this snow if they came the day before. I usually don’t go for walks after work when weather is like this due to risks but with how my lower back was feeling, I felt it was best that I go for a walk to help loosen things up. Got up at a somewhat reasonable hour to get ready to go out and train. Roads mostly good. Only issues was a tractor trailer that had not cleaned snow off the top and just not much being done in Lancaster proper. Still made really good time. A lot of people in the gym but most people I didn’t recognize. Didn’t seem like many were there for strongman and it appeared that most that were were done. Got set for mobility stuff. Wasn’t bad but I was feeling quite fatigued doing this stuff. Not a great sign as I was already worried that I was not recovered enough from earlier in the week for the things expected today. Starting things off with single leg squats to box. This week being 2x10 instead of 3x8. I did my own thing this week to warm-up. No band TKEs and no higher boxes. Used a standing rack out in the “wind tunnel” to support myself and work on getting to the box. Left leg feels more discomfort on these warming up. But I don’t want to be doing like 3 times the work for the one leg when it only really takes one set for the right leg to be good to go. So I did two sets. I was feeling fatigue between sides and sets. But I think the warming up plan works for me. But not pleased with feeling “gassed” at the start. Maybe what happened next was to my advantage. So SSB box squats with bands to high box was up next. Work up to 375lbs for 6x3. So an extra set from last time I did the “lighter” session. But not so fast. In the gym, there are three setups that have places to do squats and have band pegs. One is the monolift and I wasn’t going to bother messing with that (wider base, might not go high enough and could change the band setup drastically). The other two were in use. One by a single individual and the other by a trio doing dumb stuff. It looked dumb but that might have just been me annoyed that I had to wait so long and that I was anxious about how the workout would go with feeling fatigued doing my warm-ups. Finally got to go and do my squats. Feeling pretty good. Hardly any knee discomfort working up. These felt pretty darn good as far as how the weight felt on my back as well as bar speed. So this was a pleasant surprise. These hadn’t felt as strong last week when working up to a top set and then back down sets. I guess that’s why you play the game. Frame carry was up next. This plan has been aggressive. It excites but also gets me concerned. I know that if I can pick up the weight, I’m going with it and finishing. I’ve enjoyed this and happy that weight is piling on so fast here. But I was worried that my lower back was too fatigued to put in the showing asked of me today. A lot of that was alleviated with how well squats went though. The suggestion on these was to try to do a staggered stance since this isn’t so much a grip event but a speed event with the straps on the frame. I’ve never tried a staggered stance. Casual pace stuff I just did the normal thing. The plan for today was 700lbs for 4 sets of 50’. 50lbs under contest weight and 10’ further than contest distance. Add straps after 400lbs on the warm-ups. So for the lighter weights, the staggered stance did seem to be an option. Even with the big frame. But not so much with the top weight. Just off balance immediately trying to pick it up. So went back to what I’ve done. First set ended up being my fastest. Now it is hard to tell if I’m getting slower times when I feel like I’m moving faster because the pick is so draining on me each time that I’m slower on that but then make up for it with my moving. I’m at least fairly consistent when things go well. First set was the best time wise. Second set I guess I gripped the handles too far back and ended up banging the front into the floor and dragging before I got things level enough to move so that had me a second slower and my first time so far being over 10 seconds on these heavy runs. I feel 10 seconds or under at contest is doable. Third set I gripped a bit too far forward. Though clearance was better, I was a little unsure with the balance feeling more weight in the back than the front. I’m not used to that. I think if I practice that more, I might feel more comfortable with picking up my pace. Generally the pick is the problem so I’m very used to picking up the handles from the back to change the leverage point and I’m tall enough that I don’t hit the floor doing that. At least most of the time. Seemed about right on the last run. I got myself a little more hyped up with it being the last run and trying to improve on my time. I didn’t haha. But this was a good session of frame work. So the next thing I guess was because there wasn’t any real work done without the straps. Frame hold for time with 600lbs. I was told to go for RPE7-8 for the hold time. Not too sure what that would be but it said not to go to hand tearing territory. I wasn’t certain how this would go. My PR is just over a minute with that weight on this frame. And that was to failure. I haven’t really done anything with a grip and hold focus other than that one run with the farmer’s where I ran out of space and then did a hold for like 30 seconds. My thinking here was no countdown or having someone keep time. Just count in my head. I figured that 40-45 seconds would be where I was hopefully. It can be difficult to gauge as sometimes I get the pick and it feels stupid heavy and like it will drop in 10 seconds but then it doesn’t and hold it forever. That is kind of what happened here. I put it down because I counted to a minute but I definitely feel like I had about 10 second more in me. I was just shy of minute with my counting. So would’ve beaten my PR without even trying and not doing any grip focused work. I think my support grip endurance is better than ever but not so sure on the support grip strength. A lot of facets to grip and assuming because one is good at one thing, they are good at all. Not the case for me. I can just hold on to things for too long. I think that the increase in upper back work is the case here. I found that early on in my strongman career that doing a lot of upper back work (even with straps) helped build that support needed for the support grip to shine. In most cases with holds for time, it is my traps, neck and upper back that give out on me before my hands and forearms do when it gets to be a long hold as opposed to a heavy one. Like they fatigue and compress nerves and I have to let go. But that’s enough contemplating on that haha. Next was sandbag shouldering. Listed plan was to do 200lbs for 10 lifts alternating sides and to do so with 45 seconds rest. 200lbs bag is gone so 205lbs it is. I just set this to EMOM as I figured that was close enough. But turns out that was too much rest and I’ll get to that. It was suggested by Drew that I try a different way to shoulder the sandbags. The style I’ve been copying has been Martins Licis from when he was training for the Arnold with the tombstone to shoulder event. That style does seem to break things down a bit as far as knowing from position which side I’m lifting to. However, it was quite apparent last week that there were issues with 250lbs bag. I had thought the longer bag would make it feel more comfortable but it didn’t. My shouldering to the left side felt like I could get it into the hip better but I struggled with the shoulder whereas the right side the position wasn’t optimal on the hip but I could muscle it up better. The process involves me breaking things down. Is this a movement where the control and breaking down of the movement is beneficial or is it a “keep moving so you don’t die” type situation where power is king? So with this being the light session, I decided to play around with it. Try treating it like I would to normally pick and lap a sandbag and go from there. It needs work but it is certainly faster. Before starting the EMOM, I did two single each side. First attempt I accidentally threw it over my shoulder. I wasn’t ready haha. The efficiency meant that my rest became closer to 55 seconds between reps as opposed to 45 seconds. Even the one near the end where I hesitated. However, this is a light bag and I have no idea if this will be workable on contest weights. Will have to wait and see. Leg curls after that. Regular style for 3x15 with 3RIR. So first thing was that I had no discomfort in the lower leg on these whatsoever. Second I wasn’t expecting these to feel so strong. It always makes me laugh when I see how easy the “normal” variation of a lift feels after using light weight on the tempo version. Seen it with overhead, squats and deadlifts. Not sure why this should’ve surprised me. There was considerable fatigue on these as that first set I felt I could do a lot more but by the end, it was tough to get reps and stay in the 3RIR. Backwards “sled” drags with the exer-genie after that. Two sets again. First set felt tough (usually the case) but turns out wasn’t that bad comparatively. Second set was super easy. Almost sub 30 seconds. Quad fallbacks after that to finish things up. Just 2x12 as has been the case. Thing is that some days these are really easy and others really tough. Though usually that only applies to the first set as the second set is always easier and better. Maybe I should just skip right to the second set? This was a day where that first set felt tough. Knees tight and legs stiff. My ROM wasn’t what it usually was here. Everything was fine on the second set though. Put stuff away so that I could drive home with it still being light out and then stretch at home.