February 26, 2022 – Week 20, Day 4

Mobility Prep

Safety Squat Bar Box Squats (20” box) w/ bands (+60lbs bottom/+86lbs top)
85x3
135x3
175x3
225x3
265x3
315x3
355x3
355x3
355x3
355x3
355x3

Frame Carries
Titan Fitness (16”)
Casual Pace 
115x50’
115x50’
Makeshift (18”)
Normal
276x50’
Added Straps
416x50’
BiggDogg Strongg (20”, 1.5” handles)
10’ run up
568x25’
568x25’
568x25’
5’ run up
675x45’ in 10.32 seconds
675x45’ in 12.12 seconds

Seated Arm-Over-Arm Pulls (2” rope, tire, turf)
305x25’
480x25’
630x50’ in 36.56 seconds
500x50’ in 26.73 seconds

Sandbag Shoulderings (Left)
205x1
225x1
250x1
205x1/225x1/250x1 in 16.84 seconds
225x1/250x1/275x1 in 19.64 seconds
250x1/275x1/306x0,0 in 14.57 seconds
250x1/275x1/306x1 in 18.80 seconds

Backwards Sled Drags (turf, hip belt)
205x5 minutes

Stretching
  
Comments: So a bit of stress as previously mentioned. Trying to minimize that. Lower back feeling exhausted but understandable. Right knee doesn’t seem to be recovering as well as it has been. Going to have to play around with other stuff I think as what I’m doing isn’t enough. I was kind of worried that it would be discomfort to keep it bent driving out to train. I’ve tolerated it driving home after training but it would suck if it was like that driving out. This was kind of a contest test run session with how things were  planned. A lot of the accessory stuff dropped and some of the mobility stuff altered as well. A good bit of people were there with the same idea as me to do their last test runs of contest events. To be expected I guess. So a benefit and determent. Benefit in that everything was going to be out but determent in that I’d probably have to wait and have to adjust things plus put it all away if I told them to leave it out for me. So after mobility stuff, right into ssb box squats with bands. Kind of glad I didn’t have the one legged stuff to start as I felt that might stress my knees a lot. Following the same wave programming of 5x3 with 15lbs increases each week. So topping out at 355lbs for these. Both knees were achy but only the right one was really giving me fits once I got to the working weight. 45 seconds rest or so. I didn’t feel as exhausted but I did feel slower. Always get a good sweat going on these. From there it was on to frame carry. This was listed as not required if I felt I didn’t need it but that overall, it would be beneficial for me not just this contest but my moving events in general. But with the changes made (or I guess I should say were planned but not told to anyone until Thursday), this became a must do. So before the added things to this, it was to be 90% or so contest weight (650-700) for 2x50’. But now it was strap in own time and run up to the frame to do so. So I felt it was best to do 45’ runs for my working sets. I didn’t change things up with my warm-ups but I did once I got to the big frame. No sense in changing up for other frames as they weren’t the same. Handles different and I can’t just, hop in like from the back for most open-ended frames. Have to hop in from the side. I had four different versions of grip/straps and I figured I’d give them all a shot. Now practicing the hope in and strapping in is one thing but picking it up and moving with it is another and it can be harder to tell what feels repeatable and best without putting that tension in. But that is the hardest part of the lift for me and would be exhausting and taxing. Already feeling stuff from heavy pulls on Tuesday. The four grips were Versa Gripps (borrowed), my long IronMind straps made for thick bars, Cerberus figure 8 straps and Harbinger lifting grips (borrowed). I felt comfortable with picking up and moving with the first three but I just couldn’t get the Harbinger to hit the handles right and ditched them without even attempting a pick. That left me with three potentials. I knew that my trusty straps would hold anything if tight (I’ve stood up with 1040lbs on a thick bar setup) and that not likely to break my figure 8’s. Never used Versa Gripps so I don’t exactly have the trust in them for this kind of weight but they seemed efficient. I think my only hesitation is that the grip of the handles is not like a barbell or typical dumbbell or other gym equipment that would usually be used with those. So for my actual working sets, I went with testing my straps and Versa Gripps. The figure 8’s I had to do things a little different and I felt that I didn’t have things as stable compared to the other two. First run with the Versa Gripps at 675lbs went quite well. Just a little bit of hesitancy getting them set. I’ve already accepted that this is a different event then what I had trained for if this ends up what we are doing. Maybe the promoter will see the hazard or impracticality of it with this frame and drop that. But I’d rather be prepared. The run with my straps wasn’t as good. Not getting them set and tight like I’ve been doing it becomes quite apparent with more weight vs empty frame. Really tilted back and I was slower by almost two seconds (though my timer could’ve been distracted by other stuff going on in the gym by the look of things). But even if that is the case, this felt worse so going to stake it on Versa Gripps for the show in the event it is this mad dash instead of what I’ve been doing this whole freaking time. I was already stressed and I now that as I get closer to contest and peak for it, I become more agitated. I feel tired but even then I still seem to be handling things well. I know that some people think that cycling and peaking aren’t things for a “drug free”: athlete but it very much is for me. Feeling brittle but at my strongest. It is odd. So after that was arm-over-arm. Confirmed it was with the thick rope for contest and plan here was to do a hard set and then a speed set. There was a different tire out there this time from what I’ve been using. Might be the one we are using, might not. Not clue. I figured I should use this one for this session just to get practice in the event the actual setup is like this. I’ve been using a lighter, lower tire that has a wider diameter and stuffing it with foam pads to keep it from sinking. No one else is patient enough to set that up so they had this thicker but smaller diameter tire. I noticed that I couldn’t really get my normal leg drive with this one. I was going kind of slow with this as a lot of people here and trying to share the space. Someone moved my marker for 25’ as I was going on my warm-ups as they thought someone left it out there and it was going to get run over. I couldn’t tell if they were joking or not that I was going to “kick their ass” but I acted like it was a joke. Just trying to focus on the work at hand. So I figured that for the heavy set, I should do 90% of contest weight with the thick rope. It would be about 100lbs more than the most I’ve done with the thick rope in training with actual weight. I did not like this tire as with how I was having to pull, I was having to go up and then back. Also limited ROM for my lower body drive. Not sure what point my feet slipped from where they were but they did and my feet went all the way inside the tire rather than the lip. This did get rid of the upward motion and better anchor point. But because of that, it changed the way I could use my lower body on this. I still adapted and got a decent time I think. I know I can go faster on this if I go with feet all the way in and know what to expect. If this ends up being the tire setup. The second set was to be a speed set. Hard to get speed with the thick rope and turf uphill. Dropped it down to 500lbs. This was still around where I was doing sets with weight previously on the thick rope. I knew what to do this time and I did move things pretty well. Grip and setup do affect this as I was moving faster with the thinner rope and better tire with more weight. Got creative and gambled on both of these sets with the last pull as I went beyond the point where I could get back up efficiently to get it done and it worked both times. This stuff is exhausting but I know what to expect and know that I’m in a good spot. So after that was done and put away, it was time for sandbags. Medley work. Last chance essentially. But I got more good news (this is sarcasm). Gym owners had indicated that if doing sandbag to shoulder that we had to drop them on mats because too many bags were getting damaged I guess. So that meant having to control the bags back down and I couldn’t do my over the back dismount to cut down on time like I’ve been doing. I also feel that having that in front is kind of a tripping hazard considering the motion but I will abide by the rules. But I’ll complain about it the entire time. So for this, the plan was to either work up to contest series doing medley runs or work in singles to contest medley run and then drop down and do speed runs. The other option was to also do a few singles with the heaviest bag afterwards or so EMOM style. I was feeling beat and frustrated with the changes and I knew that if I had to do the controlled drops from the front, that I wasn’t going to be beating PRs for time on lighter medley runs that I should just work up to contest medley doing increasing weight medleys. Singles up to the first medley weight that I did. I decided since everybody likes having people running up to stuff to do it rather then letting people setup, that I should do a 5’ or so run up for this as well. Right knee was definitely feeling all this training today. I also knew that I was going to be feeling fatigue as my fingers and forearms were toasted from arm-over-arm being before this with the thick rope. First run was fine enough. A bit slower than my best with this but not ridiculously so I guess. Next up was bumping everything up a sandbag so it was 225lbs/250lbs/275lbs. 250lbs went up a little harder than I would’ve liked and that made me a little cautious with 275lbs on the pick to insure a good lap and position. That went up quite easy. So then on to the contest setup. This did not go well. 250lbs went up like it should. Then 275lbs I don’t know what happened. It was like I forgot what I was doing and couldn’t get it up to where it needed to be for that first attempt. I refocused and got it up there with some effort and quickly set it down to move onto the 306lbs bag. This really sucked. I couldn’t get it high enough to pivot and it was just there in my arms. I gave it two attempts while I had it up there and dropped it with the plan to try again. I still had time. As I went for another go, I heard some say something about bleeding and needing disinfectant. I stopped as there are times where I’ve been bleeding and don’t feel or notice it. I also needed a little breather to regroup as the pick freaking tanked me. I did a quick check to make sure I wasn’t bleeding anywhere and gave it another attempt. Nope. I knew I was past the time limit and continuing to fight it was just going to fatigue me and irritate me. I messed up and it cost me. Best to get it here than at the show. I was going to regroup and give it another shot. Maybe I hadn’t been going like I meant it. Trying to do contest weight casual. Tired and not getting the competition juices flowing. Maybe knowing this was actual tough awoken that as I could feel myself breathing differently. I got set and went. And I made it feel like almost nothing. Tossed that last bag down in disgust. With that, I had crossed off the last item on my training cycle minimum goals I had set for myself to be “ok” with how I was doing. For log, it had been at least a single over contest weight and 5 reps with over 250lbs clean and press each. For deadlift, 700lbs in training. Arm-over-arm had just been 650lbs or so really. Frame had been contest weight under 10 seconds and finish 800lbs. Sandbag had been contest medley and under 20 seconds. I set high standards and always feel like I’m not doing enough or ready for a show. This is the first time I think I’ve ever actually hit all the bare minimums. I’d of course like to be stronger and stronger on everything and always more time to keep fine tuning. Last thing then was backwards sled drag. Light weight for 5 minutes. Get blood flowing in VMOs. This was fine. Up and down the wind tunnel on turf with 205lbs. Figured that I should put stuff away drive home to stretch out. I wanted to see if wearing knee sleeve on my right knee while driving would help post workout (it did not). I’m getting tired of “changes” popping up with shows but I know that is part of this and is going to be part of it at every level of the sport. Just got to keep cool and do what I do.

February 24, 2022 – Week 20, 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
213x2
235x2
255x2
255x2
255x2
255x2
255x2
255x2

12” Log Standing Pin Presses (lean back, 7.5” block)
87x3
139x3
177x3
217x3
260x4
285x4
315x4

Paused Head Supported 12” Log Rows (3 seconds)
87x3
139x3
191x3
242x8
212x8
212x8

Paused Band Y Raises (2 seconds)
mbx12
mbx12
mbx12

Stretching
 
Comments: Whole lot of stress to go around. Global scale of things makes what I’m stressing about at home seem insignificant. But I react generally negatively to changes in things. Trying to not focus on that stuff and realize I’m stressing and take the breaks I need. Russia invading Ukraine, again. Work continues to be a drain and I just have to shrug that stuff off and do what I can at the pace I can. I’m better off then just about everyone. The current thing stressing me out is with the upcoming show. Promoter indicated that for the frame event (with straps allowed) was strap in own time. Which doesn’t make sense. It has been a stupid rule for Nationals due to number of people and time to apply straps. This ain’t it. But that then begged the question about the start. Would we be starting with our hands off the frame then? Eventually got an answer and apparently we will be starting away from the frame and have to run up to it and go. This might make sense on most frames that are low and opened. This one is not. Changes things quite a bit. My straps are good if I can secure things but not good for getting them tight quick due to length. So I’m going to have to mess around with stuff and see what works best. I’ll get over it. Weather continues to be random. It was in the 60’s the day before and then back into the 30’s today. Snow in the morning but that evaporated by the afternoon. Started things off with BTN presses with pauses into one arm band lat pulls again. Did these in the garage and keeping with doing the two different setups for ease. Log after that. Clean and presses this week again. 82.5%x6x2 with 2 second holds in rack position and single cleans. I was a little hesitant with how the right knee has been feeling off and on since Saturday. No set rests listed for this one so I decided to treat it like other lifts with like 90 seconds or so rest. My clean was sloppy on the last double up to working weight. I underestimated my lower back fatigue. I know that I feel stuff more and stuff gets tight when I’m stressed (especially back). It wasn’t feeling like that though. This was just from heavy pulls. Much like noticing the percentages and total weights from log and frame a few sessions back, this would be the most times I’ve done over 600lbs in a deadlift workout. 8 lifts total on Tuesday over 600lbs when the most prior to that this training cycle was 3. And I think 4 is the most since this year of training with Drew. And as far as I can tell, that number is probably a PR. So understandably I think that things are sore. So refocused on the clean for the working weight. As is usually the case with the paused reps in the rack position, first rep is quite a bit easier than the second. Can only really see the movement on the shoulders when I go for the dip on video later. Doesn’t feel like I’m doing it in the moment. After the first half of the doubles, I noticed I was feeling fatigued holding the rack position for the second rep and that rep was getting a good bit tougher. Fifth double was even tougher. Refocused and the sixth one was still not as good as the first three but it seemed better than the fourth (way better than fifth). Saving knee sleeves and elbow sleeves for when I need them on log right now as they don’t have much of a learning curve as I was thinking they would. Build and then use the extra tools. Log continued after that. Rack work. So for this I was advised to stand on a platform to reduce my mechanical advantage on these. Enough so that I would need to lower what I did last time by about 80lbs. I’m getting more comfortable with the lean back style. So what I had been doing was using the top of my rack and standing on a 3” platform. My hope was that 7.5” would be enough of an increase in the ROM to bring the numbers down. And hopefully not so much that I couldn’t hit those planned numbers. So kind of did 40-50lbs jumps. Had to balance things a bit as if I was too far back, I’d be hitting my head on the rack. So the plan was to do around 255lbs to start and finish around 295lbs. 3x4. Top set to be 1RIR. I had planned to do like 257-260lbs to start and aim for 297-300lbs to finish. Well 260lbs felt damn easy. And that was with my belt loose and no wrist wraps on. So I went up 25lbs. A bit of a slow down but not that much. So I figured screw it, go up 30lbs and that should get me where I need to be. This was just right as got it right at that point of 1RIR. These leaned back pressings now coupled with incline log could really be the ticket for me to press big weights on log. Log rows with my head supported after that. Holds for 2-3 for 3x8. Work up to a top set of 8 and then take off 12.5% for 2x8. I wanted to push things. I took 50ish jumps on these. Low reps on these feel easy. It’s over 6 reps when they start to be terrible. I was struggling on these. I was worn out after that top set but managed to keep it together mostly for the first down set. Then I was all over the place on the second down set. I need to remember to add some cushioning for the bench for my head as I put enough pressure that I got a little cut there. Last thing was the band y raises. 3x12 with 2 seconds. Mini band again. Just easy as you do. Which is great that I’m using this much more compared to when I first tried these like a year ago. I got some responses back from lifting partners about a specific kind of strap to test on Saturday so that calmed be a bit. Put stuff away and ate pot roast before stretching and icing my right knee.

February 22, 2022 – Week 20, Day 2

Mobility Prep

Suited 15” Axle Jack Stand Pulls (straps)
No Suit
140x3
140x3
230x2
320x2
Added Suit 
410x2
500x1
570x1
630x1
700x1
Cluster Sets (15 seconds between singles)
610x1+1
610x1+1
610x1+1

Dimel Deadlifts w/bands (straps, +39lbs bottom/+122lbs top)
97x3
149x3
194x3
234x10
234x10
234x15

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

Paused Single Leg Hip Thrusts (2 seconds)
40x3/3
70x12/12
70x12/12

Single Leg Calf Raises (5-2-0-0 tempo)
bwx15/15
bwx15/15

Stretching
  
Comments: Warmer weather still. Unseasonably for February. Like we already in March or April at this point. Raining off and on so luckily all training was in the garage for today. Right knee still a bit sore so a little anxious about that. But it was feeling better compared to the past 2-3 days. I’d know if I could go on with things after doing mobility stuff. My knee has been like this off and on for over a year now (and had been why I took a brief break and thought about quitting this activity at the beginning of last year). Mobility stuff was good. Definitely needed. Just doing exercises requiring balance on one leg and motion seemed to wake up stuff in the lower leg. Sometimes the point of the pain isn’t the origin. Not saying it is all that but I know that tightness or stuff in the lower leg can put additional stress on the knees. Above and below is sometimes the accomplice. Axle pulls with the suit to start things off. Last heavy pull session for the training cycle. As written, the plan was to work up to 5lbs more than my last workout (failed double) for a smooth top single that moved well and then do 600lbs for 3 sets of cluster doubles (doing a single, rest 15 seconds and then do another). This was the main meat of the session as accessory stuff tends to be reduced in volume and load but reps increase for the rest of the workout as competition is just around the corner. Unlike the last several deadlift workouts as far as warming up, I wasn’t left to my own devices. Suggested working up was provided. I had every intention of following this to the letter (especially after misreading the stuff on log the day before oof). The point where I knew I was deviating from that was the very first set with the suit on. That double was the easiest double I’ve ever done. It felt like nothing. I got such good pop from the suit. I didn’t feel like just adding 80lbs to the bar for the first single so I went with 90lbs so a plate each side. Already 10lbs more than what was posted. Next jump was to be 65lbs (and to be that all the way up to top single) but again, I just added 70lbs as that was easier and less dealing with small plates. I knew very well that this could bite me in the ass. I saw what happened two weeks prior with going big on deadlift as it isn’t always there. And I still had how my training prep for Clash of the Tridents had ended with a missed 650lbs pull when I should’ve just done 635lbs. But I felt strong and that a little bump would be in the workout parameters. I also wanted to hit 700lbs in training. Depending on the starting weight at the contest, I might not have the option to do 700lbs and it could be something where I might end up lower than that as a final attempt potentially. I had wanted 700lbs at Clash of the Tridents with how I was feeling after the first training cycle and with how I was looking strong in training. But it wasn’t to be then. Last single was ok. I felt like 700lbs was there. Tried to just go for 690lbs but the pressure of my own ego egging me on. Only 10lbs away from it. Why waste this lift on sub 700lbs? Know for certain you are stronger than you were. I gave in to that. Noticing that as we get closer to peak that I’m doing that with things. Sandbag shouldering with doing “sneaky” warm-ups with 25-31lbs more than prescribed. Going a little above suggested weights on the log for the heavier weeks and paused incline. And deadlift. There is risk as I will look very foolish if I miss a lift and ruin the momentum of 20 weeks of buildup. For when it matters. But there is a little high from exceeding the suggested. Like beating the time to your destination with the GPS route tracker. I got set and went. Little struggle to get started but it went up pretty darn well. Hard to say if it went up better than 680lbs did last time or not. It was close. I think knowing it was just a single this time made it feel like not as hard since I felt that it was heavy last time and that I was to do another with it. Down sets were a bit different this time. Now this was to be 600lbs but since I did 15lbs more than planned, I went with 610lbs for these clusters. Do a rep and then rest 15 seconds before doing another for two reps total each set. That resting between singles is rough with a suit. Hard to get that tightness back. I think it is a good idea for training in the event something does go wrong or I get too exhausted repping things out and have to take a breather to regroup on suited pulls. This has been the heaviest deadlift training of any cycle so far. Low to 700’s is there for sure and depending on how I feel and how much I can get someone to crank the straps it could be higher end of the low 7’s. Next was dimel deadlifts with 20% band tension at 40% of my floor max estimated. Fairly big jump as these continue to move fast and easy for me. Plan here was to do 2x10 and then AMRAP on the last set with 3RIR. The end point of that being when I didn’t feel snappy or reached 15 reps. Whichever came first. So it was kind of a forgone conclusion that it would be a set of 15 reps. Knee was a little sore with getting these setup that first working set with how hard and fast I move with these. Slow first rep to feel things out and then bam. These do get a little exhausting doing that many reps as fast as possible. But still feel good for a ton more. As I mentioned, the rest of the accessory work was backed off. FFE split squats again. 15lbs less weight and for 2x12. I went right into these rather than the mobility things I’ve done. Knees were holding up fine thankfully. On the working sets, I might have done an extra rep on a set or two as I may have lost count of the reps. This was pretty easy stuff. Always hard to gauge with these as that set with the bar empty to warm up felt harder than with weight. Next thing was single leg hip thrusts with pauses. 2 sets with the 70lbs. It said 10-12 with 2RIR. So that was also one where I figured I’d be doing 12 since I did this weight for 3x10 last week with 3ct as opposed to 2ct. So that should be doable. Felt about how they should. Trying to take rests between legs but not so much like I do with the FFE split squats. Single leg calf stuff with tempo after that. 2x15 this week. I figured that it was best to switch back to bw for that many reps as those extra reps are a lot more time under tension. This was good decision. This might also have had an extra rep or two done like the FFE split squats. Not that these were easy, just there is a lot of counting sequences and I didn’t want to do less reps if I was off. Finished up cooking dinner and put stuff away. Ate and then stretched before icing my knees.

February 21, 2022 – Week 20, Day 1

Band Face Pulls
abx12
abx12
abx12

12” Log Strict Presses w/ bands (head through on last rep only)
No Bands
90x3
Add Bands (+25lbs bottom/+40lbs top)
90x3
120x3
150x3
175x3
Add 5 seconds hold last rep
200x3
200x3
200x3
200x3
200x3

Pull-ups
bwx3
bw+25x8
bwx10

Paused Close Grip 2-Board Bench Presses (1 second)
45x10
95x8
135x6
185x4
225x2
275x1
315x1
353x3
308x3
308x3
308x3

Paused Incline Bench Dumbbell Rear Delt Flyes (3 seconds)
6’sx4
13’sx8
13’sx8
13’sx8

Paused Single Arm Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extensions (2 seconds)
40x14/14
40x14/14

Stretching
  
Comments: Warmer day today with weather. Another 60-degree day. Off work for federal holiday so I kind of had a bonus day. Got stuff done yesterday like I usually do for Sunday and then able to sleep in. I try to sleep in Sundays but I’m not usually able to as late as I’d like as usually my body wakes me up after so long after heavy event sessions that pound my joints. Especially knees. My right knee was quite sore after Saturday’s session and I iced it Saturday and Sunday as well as soft tissue work. Did some soft tissue work today as well before training. Figured I’d lift when I felt ready rather than waiting until when I’d normally do it on a workday. Starting things off with band face pulls. Still 3x12. Easy. From there it was log strict press. Now I messed up on these today. See what was listed was to do 200x5x3 with the lean back and holds (3-5ct) on the last reps. This was to be without bands but I was on autopilot and I assumed this was bands again. The weight jump was fairly large (172lbs last time vs 200lbs this time) so that probably should’ve tipped me off that this wasn’t to be with bands (besides it saying no bands). But I’m an idiot and read it as 5x3 with bands as that is what it has been the past two sessions of lighter log press. Considering the weight increase and that I put on bands, these actually didn’t feel that bad. But yeah, I felt pretty stupid checking the workout after I finished them to see this was to be without bands. Now I just have to hope that I didn’t screw up the peak for this by doing that. Have to tell myself that it is ok. Just pay attention. Pull-ups next. Reduced volume quite a bit here. Listed as doing two max rep sets with 90-120 seconds rest between them. One set with 25lbs added and then the second with just bodyweight. I did set of three to warm up after doing some hanging and scap retractions stuff. Plan with these was leave 1-2RIR. I had done 6 reps with 25lbs a few weeks ago so that was the goal to hit that and either beat that or make 6 feel easier depending on how things were feeling. Two rep improvement. Felt lighter without the back pack on for the second set and managed a set of 10 here. This is probably the most reps I’ve done at this bodyweight. But this hasn’t really been pushed as I’ve mentioned before that most of training since 2016 has been pulldowns. I was about 15-20lbs lighter when I was doing sets of 12 reps (16 reps most in 2012). And a lot of the pull-ups stuff from after 2012 to 2016 were neutral grip pull-ups. So a bit hard to compare there. I don’t have a way to really safely do neutral grip pull-ups (besides rings but those didn’t work out well doing “real pull-ups”. Board pressing next. Pauses back to 1 second. This week work up to 3rm with 1RIR and then drop 12.5% off for 3x3. If feeling good, I was thinking 350-355lbs. I wanted to be more confident in myself on things. Get back to doing reps with 350lbs or so on a bench exercise again. I figured that I’d do warming up with 2 step pyramid to 225lbs and then switch to singles from there to prime and not fatigue at that point. I kind of split the difference on the top set and went with 353lbs as that was 160kgs and then I could do 140kgs for the down sets. That first rep of the triple felt easy but then I got too loose on the second rep at the bottom and relaxed and that made things harder. I knew a third rep would be tough but I didn’t want to stop at 2 reps. But I also didn’t want to miss a rep. I’ve kept that to 2 missed reps total this training cycle so far at 20 weeks. I managed to get that rep locked out. Obviously down sets were going to feel a little tough after that. Some reps the first two sets felt rough and others not so much. Got it together on the last set and they all felt fine. Took a brief break to down a protein shake (wanted a meal but something I could digest quick). Now usually I go into the garage at this point but as I mentioned, earlier in the day so the sun was still out and I figured I’d just do everything outside. Paused work with the rear delt flyes with thumbs down. 3x8 for this week. So couldn’t use the 10’s as they’d be too easy. Have to use the plateloaded handles. They are longer so rather than jump right into the working weight, I did a few with no weight to prep. I had thought I could do 16lbs on these but I lacked the strength at the top end to hold the contraction so I had to lower weight to 13lbs. These need work at this weight. I feel like 10lbs is no problem but adding weight is tough here as the last part of the movement is the hardest. Overhead dumbbells again to finish out the session. 2 sets of 12-15 reps with 1-2ct holds in the stretch position with 3RIR. I didn’t like using the plateloaded dumbbells on these last week and my right arm felt fatigued right off the bat. I figured I’d try the 40’s again and see if I could improve with it being just two sets this week. Arms didn’t feel as fatigued this time. So close to 15 reps but I knew better than to overdo it. Pushing it as it was with getting 14 reps. Arms weren’t nearly as twitchy after I finished compared to last two sessions. Put stuff away and got roast set in the oven before stretching.

February 19, 2022 – Week 19, Day 4

Mobility Prep
 
Single Leg Squats to Box (14”)
bwx5/5 (assisted)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Safety Squat Bar Box Squats (20” box) w/ bands (+60lbs bottom/+86lbs top)
70x3
120x3
160x3
210x3
250x3
300x3
340x3
340x3
340x3
340x3
340x3

Frame Carries
Titan Fitness (16”)
Casual Pace 
115x50’
115x50’
Makeshift (18”)
Normal
276x50’
Added Straps
416x50’
BiggDogg Strongg (20”, 1.5” handles)
568x25’
660x25’
750x50’ in 9.24 seconds
750x50’ in 9.14 seconds
750x50’ in 9.75 seconds

Sandbag Lap and High Pulls
175x1
205x1
225x1
250x5
250x5
250x5

Glute Ham Raises (4 showing)
bwx17
bwx16
bwx12

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

Quad Fallbacks w/ bands
lbx10
lbx10

Stretching
  
Comments: Well, I feel like I’ve rebounded from whatever it was earlier in the week. Not sure if it was just accumulated stress of training, work and increased social interactions that had me weakened immune system enough for stuff to be noticed or what. Still had to deal with mitigating stressors for Friday so that I could relax on a 3-day weekend. Temperature fluctuations have been super annoying. It had been mid 60’s Thursday and then it was back to low 30’s Friday and below 30 Saturday. Super windy today so I think that had some drivers being overly cautious. There were a lot of people there today. More than two weeks before and last week I feel. I was slightly concerned that I’d end up doing too much social interaction again that might take something out of me later but I can’t always be away from people if I’m interacting with the world. I like being alone most of the time but I do like being around people I enjoy for a little bit. I also knew that my workout would go long with people doing event work and training and I can’t help it but to try and help people make events and lifts click. I do worry that I’m oversharing or giving unsolicited advice on things and then I feel even more awkward when I address that to a person saying I’m sorry if I am and that I don’t mean to and I just really like the sport and seeing people improve and then I feel I make it even more awkward for myself. Sigh. Anyways, mobility stuff was good. Easy as it should be. I went a little heavier on the b-stance rdls this week more because I could and just it was easier to grab that weight dumbbell right off the rack. Single leg box squats again. 2x10 for this week. Sticking to 14” box I think on these. The assisted lifts actually felt good right off the bat and rather than having to do like singles to feel comfortable, I just did alternating reps each leg to get 5 reps each side. And then on to the real thing. Continuing to follow that pattern of hesitancy to get the first rep done with the left leg and then not so bad and the right leg aching a good bit. From observation of things these past few weeks with training, I’m thinking that it isn’t just tendonitis in the right knee. I’m thinking that there might be scar tissue as well with just how it feels. Not that that would change anything I think. The drive home from the gym my left knee hurts a good bit about 30 minutes into the drive after heavy sessions since I have to keep it bent. It relaxes when I get home and can extend my leg more. Just have to keep on doing maintenance. From there it was on to the ssb box squats with bands. Or I would if racks weren’t being used. Now I was tempted to use the monolift as that did have band pegs and the ssb was not in use but the bands I needed were so I had to wait. I was at least able to occupy myself unlike the last time so it didn’t feel as long a wait but it was probably close to 20-30 minutes. Second  week of the second wave of 5x3 speed squats. 15lbs more than last week. For this, I did 5lbs heavier on the empty bar as it would come out to the weight I needed. 45 seconds rest again so essentially doing EMOM minus 5 seconds to get that about right (might have been closer to 42 seconds but oh well). Wasn’t feeling heavy but my knees were feeling quite achy. Could be just because but could be from waiting a long while to go on them. These do build up a good sweat. From there it was on to frame carry. I was kind of surprised with the planned work for this. Plan was contest weight for 3x50’ and I could do another run if I felt that it would fine tune things more (it wasn’t haha). With the last session being 50lbs over contest, I was expecting things to be tapering down a good bit for the show in 3 weeks. But I think this was basing things more on past two training cycles for moving events which probably isn’t ideal. Reason being that issues had arisen (1st cycle left leg knee scare so less medley work and 2nd cycle arm injury and right leg knee scare reducing time with yoke) that required adjustment. So I wasn’t too sure what to expect on these. I borrowed the idea of bigger jumps on the lighter frames from last session. Since the plan was an odd number of runs, I did the 25’ runs the same direction so that I was at the far end for that first working set run. Pick was feeling a little slow but I felt like I was moving well enough on the warm ups with the actual implement. Kind of visualizing Mateusz Kieliszkowski feeling of “disgust” with the frame at the set down on those two short runs. Think of the world record holder. I wasn’t feeling like I was going very fast with the contest weight that first set but when I was given my time, I was in disbelief. A month ago, my fastest time with this weight was 10.39 seconds. Timer said 9.24 seconds. That was faster than two of my runs with 700lbs two weeks prior. Guy (who was doing commands and time) said I’d be faster the second run. I was like, ok. Son of a bitch he was right! 9.14 seconds! Literally .04 seconds off my fastest time with 700lbs from two weeks ago which was already an improvement of almost half a second of my fastest time from a month prior to that. Third set I slowed down a good bit but still faster than my slowest run with 700lbs from two weeks prior (and faster than all but one run with 700lbs from a month prior to that). Pick was where I was slower, as to be expected as that is where I struggle and what fatigues me. I won’t have to do this three times at contest and it will be 10’ shorter distance. This event is feeling really good. Kind of a twist on an accessory lift was added with sandbag. Listed as sandbag roll-ups but intent was different. Trying to be explosive so that getting the sandbag up high and catch to transition on shoulder. Plan being 3x5 using 225lbs or 250lbs depending on how things felt and speed. The options discussed were to lap and extend with a  brief release and catch and guide back down to the lap and the other was to do and extension over an imaginary height and drop it and then repick. My thinking here was to kind of take parts from both. I seem to be really good with doing the roll-ups when I don’t have to repick the weight but I feel like I have to be reserved to keep things from coming loose on the extension if I’m doing reps there. It can be an overload or time under tension thing but I feel that the full exercise is more akin to an Olympic style lift that is high force and power and fatigue builds up quickly despite it looking effortless. I tend to extend up and forward from drilling in over bar stuff so much or to platform and I figured anything that was getting close to that might take away from the actual emphasis I was going for with this helping get power into the extension for a shouldering where the weight is going up and back. So what I expressed before doing this was that I’d pick and lap every rep and essentially do a high pull type exercise and completely let go of the bag and let it fall to the ground. Try to have it come off my chest a few inches if I can (which can be tough to do with a sandbag approaching bodyweight) and then with the drop, remove the eccentric to hopefully minimize building fatigue. Stuff was feeling good. I did singles to warm-up. I was debating between 225lbs and 250lbs but I felt 225lbs was too light. Though I felt after four reps each set that fatigue was setting in and that fifth rep was getting tougher to get any real height on it. But I think this was a good drill and since I’m doing it with the lightest bag of the series, this is good things. After that glute ham raises. Well not quite. Another lull in the action. Someone appeared to be using the glute ham bench for abdominal work and was doing what appeared to be circuit work with that and leg exercises. Long breaks. I was trying to see a pattern and then once I saw him break said pattern (after another 20-30 minutes wait) I approached and asked if he was still using it. I hadn’t asked to work in as I had noticed the settings were different from what I’d need for what I needed to do. Also the anxiety. He was still using it but he said he was just kind of “floating around” for his workout so it was ok if I did my sets. No plan workout is mindboggling to me but to each their own. I had no time to dwell on that unsettlingness as I got accessory work to do. I was told to do 3 sets of max reps with 1-2RIR and work on keeping it to knee flexion. Last time I got a bit more reps than I was expecting really (besides the last set) and had felt more lower back on these than I would’ve liked really. I feel like I had better control and was able to keep focus more on the glutes and hamstrings. Improved the reps on the first two sets by two each and added three to that less set. I was walking funny after the first set with the pump and such in the backside of my legs so that is good. Trying to get those feelings there for deadlifting. Backwards “sled” drags with the exer-genie after that. Two sets again. Same setting I’ve been keeping these at. Felt really tough today for both sets but easier the second set. As has been the case. Maybe from the amount of reps on the ghrs but I think more likely culprit is just that it wasn’t used recently (as I had been doing these every other week and often doing arm-over-arm the other week with it). Last thing was quad fallbacks. Again 2x10 with band tension. I figured that with the light bands here all really worn down and close to what two minis are, I’d use a light band rather than have two smaller bands that would move on me. I had to do a bit of stretching in the position as my right knee was really feeling tight and stiff. To be expected doing all this stuff. As has been the case with these, things seem to feel better and I relax more by the second set. As my dinner was a very large pot roast in the crockpot at home and it wasn’t supposed to be sunset until a good bit later, I decided to stretch out at the gym before heading home.

February 17, 2022 – Week 19, 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 once)
87x2
112x2
139x2
164x2
191x2
216x2
241x1
266x1
291x1
(clean every rep)
255x2
255x2
255x5 (75 seconds time limit) PR+5lbs

Paused 12” Log Incline Bench Presses (1 second)
97x6
122x5
149x4
174x3
201x2
226x1
251x6 PR+36lbs
251x6

Paused Head Supported 12” Log Rows (3 seconds)
97x3
149x3
201x6
201x6
201x6
201x6

Paused Band Y Raises (2 seconds)
mbx12
mbx12
mbx12

Stretching

Comments: I should preface this workout a little. When what I was assigned to do for log on this day when I first got it, I was excited and anticipating good things. Then I started to feel under the weather. Coupled with stress from stupid things (like blood work), I started becoming terrified of this workout session. Terrified that I’d fall short of my expectations and be terrible. I’ve put in almost 20 weeks of effort toward this contest at this point and trying to show what I can truly do. The day before this workout, I wasn’t feeling that great as far as whatever (cold most likely) and I decided that I’d not go for a walk after work and just eat a big but simple meal and go to bed as early as I could feel comfortable doing after eating 3lbs of beef. So got at least 10hrs of sleep and that seemed to do the trick to kick most of it. But I was incredibly nervous for training log but I calmed down around lunch time. Then I heard patter of rain. What?! So I had been aware that it was going to be unreasonably warm for February (mid 60’s) and this fluctuating weather wreaks havoc on my body as far as breathing and joints. Forecast had said nothing about showers until late in the evening. So it was windy and raining. I was really contemplating doing this workout tomorrow but this would throw everything off. I did my last heavy log clean and press workout in the rain so I figured I could still do it. Granted that had been with less rain and in daylight. I would’ve done this workout at lunch if I had known it would rain many hours earlier than it was supposed to and this hard. Started things off in the garage. BTN presses with pauses into one arm band lat pulls again. Felt good and fine. I was kind of hoping that I’d get some breaks in the rain for the log stuff but nope. I at least got stuff setup so that I could try and make things quick. I had to squeegee down my patio of excess water before setting up a few times. I eventually just put a towel down on the floor in front of the log to hopefully suck up the water to keep from having a puddle under my feet. Towel draped over the log as well. Heaviest log workout so far. So a bit different in how this was approached. Doubles to warm up but only one clean. Doubles up to 70% and then switch to singles. The plan here was a top single (RPE 8-8.5) and then take off 12.5% for 2x2 (clean every rep) and them do a timed AMRAP (60-75 seconds). The top single and the AMRAP were the things I needed most and the things that I was worried about the most with the conditions (getting over cold/stress and training in a downpour). Goal listed for the workout was 285x1 and then 250 for the down sets. My plan here was 25-26lbs jumps (my odd weight 25’s) and then after putting all four on, do 20lbs jumps or so. I decided to change that as I realized that I could stick with 25lbs jumps after that point and reach my goal with hopefully less time in the rain (one less working up set). So my goal was to actually do 291lbs for the top single with some in the tank. This might be the last workout pushing this kind of weight for the show and I definitely wanted to know that contest weight was going up, even in the worst conditions. My paranoia of contest weight potentially being as heavy as 293lbs if the 25’s are overweight like mine haha but that wasn’t the true reason to do this weight. Not just to get above contest on this but then to have 255lbs be the downset weights. So doing reps with 30lbs under contest (or just under 90%) comfortably would be a good work too. Anyways, Clean was comfortable for 291lbs but I didn’t feel like it was settled right for the leg drive and kind of did a false start dip and then a second. The log did drift a little forward off my shoulders on that dip but I was strong enough to force it up there. 6lbs under my best clean and push press on this log (307lbs most weight anyway from floor to overhead on this log) and 18lbs off my all-time best on any log. Considering no log clean and pressing for almost a year before starting 5 weeks peaking cycle for log that is fantastic. But as always, I could be better. So took off about 40lbs for the down sets. Two doubles were ok. The main thing was the AMRAP. 60-75 seconds and leaving 1-2 reps in the tank. I usually like to have times called when doing this specifically for exercises so that I can gauge my fatigue and how many reps I get at certain intervals (30 seconds in, 45 seconds in and 55 seconds in for a minute). I figured that with best to take the longer period to pace myself. It is probably a good thing I did as after the first rep, my left wrist wrap came undone and I had to reconfigure it. No stopping the clock, contest conditions. This could happen at the show so stay calm and get back into it. These felt pretty good. I hit 5 reps comfortably despite the malfunction. Actually beats my 5rm clean and press every rep from like 2010 haha. So I was elated things went as well as they did considering the worries and issues. So good bit of time was spent getting all the stuff out of the wet. I needed the log for more things for this workout. Log incline bench with pauses again. Plan for this week was 2x6 with a weight I should have 3RIR on. This weight was suggested as 250lbs. Now I felt I could do that weight and for those sets and reps but that it might not be a true 3RIR. But I didn’t want it to be a 1RIR situation. Pauses and increased weight take a bit out of the sails with log incline bench. I choose to have faith in myself on this today. Pyramid sets to warm-up and started with a weight that would have me doing 25lbs jumps to get. So 251lbs because easier plate math. Weight hasn’t really been pushed on the paused incline log stuff but reps have. So doing this was technically a 36lbs PR getting six reps. I got it with some in the tank. Can’t say for sure it was 3RIR but it was more than 1RIR. Same with the second set. Shoulders weren’t feeling achy like last time so that was a plus. I know that these paused presses correlate better to my competition style vs the bounce style. Log rows with my head supported after that with holds again. Listed to do 200x4x6. Went 1lbs heavier again as easier plate math. Swapped out the lifters on for these again. These felt comfortable for me. Even if not specific to log, these I think could be helpful with training some other events/aspects of lifts in the future. Last thing for the session was y raises with bands. 3x12. I figured I’d test and see if I could do a mini band and kept to 2ct holds and feeling like I have 3RIR. I did and I was so that was pretty neat to see that the little difficult movements are getting better and stronger. Put stuff away and ate dinner before stretching. I didn’t feel like I needed to ice the knees tonight and got to bed at a decentish hour.

February 15, 2022 – Week 19, Day 2

Mobility Prep

Yielding 12” Axle Jack Stand Pulls (straps, 3 seconds 3” off the ground)
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x3
365x3
405x3
465x3
465x3
465x3
465x3

Dimel Deadlifts w/bands (straps, +39lbs bottom/+122lbs top)
45x3
97x3
149x3
193x15
193x15
193x15

Paused Front Foot Elevated Split Squats (4”, 3 seconds)
bwx3/3
65x3/3
100x10/10
100x10/10
100x10/10

Paused Single Leg Hip Thrusts (3 seconds)
40x3/3
70x10/10
70x10/10
70x10/10

Single Leg Calf Raises (5-2-0-0 tempo)
bw+20x10/10
bw+20x10/10
bw+20x10/10

Stretching
  
Comments: I was not feeling the best today. I kind of expected that going into the workout anyways after I found out I had to do blood work in the morning for my physical. Blood drawing stresses me out. I made errors with the night before. I didn’t get to bed as earlier as I wanted to get 8hrs of sleep as I had to wake up 2hrs early. My food choices that I made the night before had been for expediency and to try and clear out my sinus (garlic and curry). I was expecting those to go through my system sooner than they did. It wasn’t a pleasant start to the day. Gastrointestinal stuff throughout the day too. I eventually took allergy meds at the end of the day. Thankfully this wasn’t a heavy day. I’m hopeful things will calm down when back to a normal routine and meals. If I’m getting “colds” these are the weakest and mildest colds ever. But I don’t want to have my performance in work or training go down so I’m pushing the stuff (outside of training strongman haha) that will help me get over it. My left shoulder and chest felt stiff and sore (not injured sore) after yesterday which was weird. Wasn’t feeling that way on the left side though the left triceps was. But I had felt that almost immediately after the session the night before. My arms and lats weren’t as twitchy or sore like they were after last week’s upper body session on Monday so that is something. Didn’t need to wear warm-ups to get warmed up this evening. Mobility stuff mostly good. Didn’t feel like I had as much of a pump in the lower back as I did the last two sessions. Starting things off with the yielding axle pulls. Same setup. 3ct holds at 3” off the floor for 4x3 with 20lbs more than last time. I did same as last time with the 40-50lbs jumps to get work in leading up to the working weight. I was bit more prepared for it to feel heavy this time around, I think. Right side upper back and lat felt tight. I realized that I may not be in the right position to replicate a pull and was maybe bending over more with a stiff leg stance as opposed to the stress and knee angle I’d actually be in (reversing the motion). I feel that I corrected that when it came time for the working sets.  These were tough but not impossible. Kept to the 90-120 seconds rests I these. Dimel deadlifts with 20% band tension at 33% of my floor max estimated for 3 sets again. I was advised I could do up to 15 reps on the sets as long as they remained snappy. These hadn’t really felt like anything last week. This was a little bit more weight now and I was allowed to do more reps. I feel like I had a better setup with the bands this time as far as anchoring. Only needed dumbbells with altering the placement. I actually felt like these were doing something this week. Maybe I was annoyed last time after missing that heavy double and the weight was so light. Still light but I at least felt like I was having my glutes and hips working in some capacity. Feeling twitching and little pulses of activity. FFE split squats again for 3x10 after that. I was advised that I wasn’t to push these anymore at this point in the training cycle. Keep them at 3-4RIR and on cruise control. I think I understand what that means but I’ve never used cruise control. I like staying in control haha. But I took it as not going heavier and either lower or maintain. I elected with maintain as it has been more of a comfort thing with the knees and doing pauses over several sets with each leg is time consuming and hard to gauge how many I got left. Knees continue to seem in a decent mood, even though I didn’t ice them the night before. Maybe the new supplements are “smoothing” my joints haha. I didn’t need to do any of the static stretching or mobility work I usually do to feel comfortable doing the movement. I stuck to the same weight I did last week. Only issues was occasionally balance. As has been the case, the left leg has been dorsiflexion by a mile compared to the right leg. Next thing was single leg hip thrusts with pauses. 3x10 with 3 seconds. Listed weight was 65lbs for these. But I didn’t want to. What I mean is that this would take up more time to setup and put away (plateloaded handle) and little more cumbersome. I had 70lbs dumbbells out from anchoring the bands for dimels so I used that. I had used the solid dumbbells for last week as it was easier than dealing with the rolling dumbbell handle for these. Using 5lbs more on these could bite me in the ass so to speak. The increased hold time was also a big ask seeing as how two weeks prior I had done 55lbs for 2x13. But I think with that I hadn’t really started to give rest between the sides. I would for this with this kind of weight jump. Left leg gets that little hamstring stinging on that first set for a few reps but just have to accept it and then it is gone for the rest of it. Single leg calf stuff with tempo after that. 3x10 at RPE 7. I figured that with how things went last week (not noticing much change from no weight to 20lbs) that I could do 20lbs added to the backpack for all three sets. Continues to be a lot tougher for the right leg to do these but I got through it. Put stuff away and ate pot roast before stretching. The extra 20 minutes or so to ice my knees wasn’t worth it with how worn I was feeling so I took some Nyquil and went to bed as earlier as I could and getting all my meals in.

February 14, 2022 – Week 19, Day 1

Band Face Pulls
abx12
abx12
abx12

12” Log Strict Presses (head through on last rep only)
87x3
112x3
139x3
164x3
191x3
211x3
231x3
Add 5 seconds hold and slow eccentric last rep
253x3
221x5
221x5

Pull-ups
bwx3
bw+25x5
bw+25x5
bw+25x5

Paused Close Grip 2-Board Bench Presses (2 seconds)
45x5
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x4
315x4
315x4

Paused Incline Bench Dumbbell Rear Delt Flyes (3 seconds)
10’sx10
10’sx10
10’sx10

Paused Single Arm Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extensions (2 seconds)
36x13/13
36x13/13
36x13/13

Stretching
  
Comments: Was feeling a little off today. Feeling worn but not like training exhausted. Perhaps I peopled too much Saturday (talking at the gym) and Sunday (had brunch with friends) as I was feeling like I had a some cold related symptoms (eyes a little heavy from sinus pressure, dry throat). Took some Dayquil in the afternoon to perk up a little as I had to get things done and earlier than usual as I had to do an 8hr fast and get up early for blood work in the morning before work. Just routine physical stuff. But I don’t like changes in routine and I dislike blood being drawn. It was cold but I felt like I wasn’t tolerating it as well as I normally do. I’ve trained outside in colder. Fingers and hands were having a hard time staying warm so wore thicker gloves than usual between stuff until my body’s engine was fully revving. Starting things off with band face pulls. Still 3x12 as it has been. I forgot to push record and missed the first set. Log strict press next. Lean back style with the no head through until last rep and then 5ct holds on the working sets. As has been the case for past several sessions. Plan being 3RM (advised I could get close to 1RIR or less) and then 2x5 with like 12.5-15% less weight. My planning for this was the 25lbs jumps up to 191lbs and then do 20lbs or so to get around 250ish. I was thinking here to keep progressing like I have been with 5kgs increases and roughly divisible by 5 kilo numbers (105, 110, 115). Right knee was a little sore from event work so I was noticing it a little bit when unracking the log and putting the stress onto my knees and hips for balance with the lean back. Not painful, just noticing the soreness. Looking at my past trainings, prior to 2016 my best triple was 247lbs (250lbs but before I knew log was 3lbs light) and technically 257lbs (did a double and then rested 15 seconds and did a single). Post 2016, I’ve done 252lbs for a double. So there was some temptation to try and do like last time and match the number of 257lbs but I figured with how 231lbs felt that it was best to stick to my plan here. Probably a good thing I did. While the first two reps went up pretty well, I got a little too relaxed getting my air for the third and it started to drift out in front of me and I had to reel it back in to lockout. I’d been so mad if that rep missed with how the other two had felt. So progress continues with these. Just under 89% of contest weight for reps strict. Another reason for aiming for this weight of 253lbs meant my down sets would be 221lbs or about 100kgs. Numbers. So these felt good as well. Second was a little tougher but I still felt like I could do 5x5 on these with 2 minutes rest which is something. Pull-ups next. Plan for this week being bw+25lbs for 3x5. Hands still cold at this point so I figured it was best to not chalk them up and get chalk inside my winter gloves. Warm up set felt really easy so hopeful things would go smoothly here. Shorter rests than last week so that was going to be making things tougher for the following sets. First set no problem and fatigue built from there. Essentially getting a few reps in succession and then doing 2-3 dead hang reps to finish the set. Last set was tough getting that last rep. Board pressing next. 315x3x4 and assess how many RIR I had after that last set. Indicated pauses of 1-2ct. I always try for the longer holds so I went with that. That extra second makes a big difference on these. Warming up felt good. First set was ok. Second set I almost misgrooved that first rep. For the last set, I realized that I needed to really make a concentrated effort to stay tight the entire time during the pause to keep things stable and moving well. Bad habit of relaxing when I can like I had been doing on pause squats resting on my calves. With knowing how these go, I’d say it was 1-2RIR here. At this point, I had ordered food from three different places for dinner so that I could start eating immediately after I was done training.  Into the garage for light dumbbell stuff. Paused rear delt flyes with thumbs down again. I decided to stick to the same weight as last time and try to really feel the muscles working and moving in the way I wanted them too. Also because I was using one of the plateloaded dumbbells for the next exercise. I think I’m getting better control. Food started to arrive by this point. Overhead extensions with pauses. Weight was lowered on these to 35lbs (I did 36lbs since it was easier plate math for the handle). 2 second pauses for 3x12-15 with 3RIR. Probably a good thing weight was lowered on these for this week (granted it was my choice for weight last time). My right arm was feeling prefatigued at the very beginning so this was tough. Left side felt fresh but got fatigued by the end. Just never got as tough as it felt for the right side. Supersetted these with mouthfuls of chicken sandwiches. Arms sore and twitchy afterwards but not as bad as last week when first introduced. May be something that I need to be doing if getting this kind of response from training it. Put stuff away and ate dinner before stretching. No icing tonight as had to get to bed early.

February 12, 2022 – Week 18, Day 4

Mobility Prep
 
Lateral Stepdowns
bwx2/2 24”
bwx1/1 24”
bwx1/1 28”
bwx6/6 32”
bwx6/6 32”
bwx6/6 32”

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

Sandbag Shoulderings (Left)
205x1
225x1
250x1
275x1
306x1
275x1
275x1
275x1
250x2
250x2
250x4

Seated Arm-Over-Arm Pulls (tire, turf)
275x25’
450x25’
600x50’ in 27.87 seconds
650x50’ in 29.33 seconds
700x50’ in 32.90 seconds

Paused Hyperextensions (3 seconds)
108x8
108x8

Paused Side Plank Lifts (4 seconds)
40x8/8
40x8/8
40x8/8

Stretching
  
Comments: A bit slow moving again this morning. Partly because I had things I needed to do before I went to train (pack up stuff, gas in car) and I was going to have to drive a bit more cautiously when it came to stops and turns having a 239lbs metal object that isn’t easy to secure down in the trunk. It has gotten up into the 50’s and occasionally 60’s the past two days when it has been below freezing in the beginning of the week. Such variances seem to make my body ache. The thing I was focusing on was that my right lower leg in the front and right side has been tight and been doing soft tissue work on it a good bit. Even with the husafell in the car and having to get gas, I made good time out to train. Wasn’t too bad taking the husafell out of the trunk and carting it into the gym either. Lot of people in the gym. Mostly novice people and some powerlifters. Also some veteran strongman competitors. I mention this as I did end up chatting quite a bit (info dump) so this did add considerably to the workout time. Some it was just shooting the shit but a lot of it was actually strongman related event tips and strategies (like how to shoulder a sandbag, chalking straps on frame to keep from slipping and breaking in a deadlift suit). But not during anything that had timed rests haha. I feel I have a good eye and know somethings but I can’t program worth a damn so I’m not going to cut it as a coach. More of that helpful person that has gone through the same thing and wants to make it so they get it done too and maybe not struggle as much. Music was playing the entire time so didn’t have to use my iPod. Some of the bands I use for the mobility stuff were gone but that was ok. They weren’t ones I needed for training exercises. Anyways, mobility stuff was good and easy. Change from the past several weeks was the single leg work. It has been squats to box for a good while now. I was advised to switch to lateral stepdowns this week. I essentially maxed out the height on these last time at 32”. Next height is 36” but 32” is enough as I’m in a full squat at this point. I’ve gotten so used to getting deep on these one leg exercises that my warming up for these laterals didn’t go as planned. It felt more comfortable to just go down into a full squat or bend my depth check side so that I could just get into the full squat to start things off with the warming up. Knee sleeves on these made a world of difference that first time back to them. These felt pretty good. Next was the ssb box squats with bands. I finished up with the lateral stepdowns just in time for a rack and the ssb to become available. Start of the second 3-week wave on these. Plan here was 325x5x3 with 45 seconds rest. Tried to figure what I’d need to set to keep from getting too much rest setting timer and ended up just being set as 55 seconds EMOM. Added 10lbs to the bar and went up 50lbs a set to warm up. Knees were surprisingly more achy on these than I was expecting with how my knees had felt doing the lateral stepdowns. Maybe the one-legged squats to box are harder on the knees without the knee sleeves and serve as a better warm-up. Could just be my knees being temperamental too. The shortened rest was definitely noted. I feel that I didn’t rush things as much with unracking the bar. Felt a little slow perhaps but hard to tell if actually the case. I didn’t feel like I was fatiguing in the upper back and core though. Shouldering sandbags was next. Now as this was written, I was to warm up with rows and singles and then do 275lbs for 3 singles, 250lbs for 2 doubles and then a set of 250lbs for 2-4 reps depending on how I felt and making sure they were all crisp reps. Since last time I did these I did a “sneaky” single above what I was to do (275lbs when I was to be doing 205/225/250 series), I figured I’d do that this week as well. The only deviation from the programming that is intentional. I’m still getting used to sandbag shouldering and it isn’t always about weight on these. The 306lbs sandbag is an unknown for this for me. Also feeling that competition pressure with someone that I’ll be competing against at the gym. They did the 306lbs bag after missing it for a PR. They seem to be improving a good bit since we last competed in the same show. Working up weights were feeling easy. 275lbs wasn’t. What was different from two weeks prior was that for that lift, I was really focused as it was an unknown for me and I set my grip and took my time. That won’t cut it in competition for this timed event and I figured it was best to treat it like that where I have it standing up and have to knock it to the side and go on the fly. Pick was easy but the shouldering was not. It got stuck and I had to really muscle it up there. Feeling all the vertebrae pop. So with that, I wasn’t sure about going up to 306lbs with how that felt. Especially compared to last time. But I went for it. 250lbs for a single warming up that last time also wasn’t the best and that ended up being a great rest of things (other than biffing the last lift of the last medley). Didn’t set the grip, treated 306lbs like I was starting in the medley event. Already saw someone do it. Maybe this will make the other weights feel easier. This was almost like the 275lbs was two weeks ago. I was kind of shocked how easy it was and just spun around it with it and tossed it off. I was tempted to do two more singles and just do that as my three for the day but I went back down to the 275lbs bag as it was harder to do and I figured that the difficulty vs the weight was more important with this implement. I feel it got easier each time. 250lbs I was going to try and have two bags setup so I could do medley transitions but the other 250lbs is leaking sand out a good bit and will be replaced and it didn’t seem worth the hassle to potentially have it burst more while on turf. So for the doubles, I just did the second rep where it lied. 250lbs felt ridiculously easy. For the last set, I reset the bag so it was standing up each time so that it was like I was doing a four bag medley. Again, this was stupid easy. Like, how was this weight ever tough for me. So up next was arm-over-arm. Again, 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. Been giving numbers and trying to obtain numbers from others that have trained at the gym for my friend to see about providing to the promoter for this. I’m fine with it being impossibly heavy. The setup I’ve been using I hope is one that would look as cool as it is going to look if it uses a prowler sled that will be easy to reset and not taxing on the helpers as it is going to be over 70 people and this is the only event that really will require a reset every single time. So I figured it was best to do actual weight this session vs exer-genie. That is good for building strength and getting used to things but it isn’t perfect for getting things like timing and pace down with an implement or object that behaves in it’s own way. The fine tuning with the genuine thing. Also a bit of contest competition. I had thought I was training above board. I’ve only done this event twice in contest (first show and got 2nd having never done strongman stuff but the day before at weigh-ins and another show where I had strained my lower back on the first event and still beat someone that eventually turned pro two years later). But that wasn’t such a certainty. When I had asked, numbers mentioned had been 650lbs in weight not including the sled (75lbs) so 725lbs or so and doing it ins 35-45 seconds. Last I did this was 525lbs and just getting under 35 seconds. That had been with the 2” thick rope and without someone handling the rope but still. Now the contest is probably going to use the thicker rope for the open classes but I wanted to see how I stacked up here. Did two half runs with weight before setting things up. Plan was to do 3 runs of 50’ at 80-90% contest intensity. Don’t have that so was going to see how 600lbs felt. This wasn’t too bad. The key thing for me is timing the very three last pulls. First set I did it perfectly so that my pulls resulted in me getting it right amount of effort without having to reset. That felt too easy for 90% and I figured I’d go up another 50lbs. Even with a mistime (missed the rope) on one of the pulls, this went well too. Saw where I was with the last three tugs so did a short tug for the penultimate and then a long pull to get that last one to cross. Another 50lbs. A bit more effort but still not something where I felt like it was going to be impossible to do. On this one I did mess up the last three pulls. I was too short on the penultimate pull and my final pull was shy like 3” so I had do another to get it. That’s what will be the difference maker. I didn’t know what my times were until I got back home but I wasn’t expecting these to be faster than my fastest time from a month ago with the thick rope and 525lbs. But at least I know I’m not slouching on this event. It was a good bit later than I was expecting it to be by the time I finally got around to doing the last bit of accessory work. Hyperextensions with pauses. 2x8 with 3 second for RPE7-8. I decided to do the same weight as last time for these. I was having issues getting things ready that first set as the pressure in my tendons of my ankles was too much and also smashed the boys on the knee cushion. I eventually got back in and rolled my knee sleeves doubled down and that seemed to be enough. These do feel good. I definitely think I can go up a bit more on these if they pop up again. Last thing was side plank lifts with pauses (3-4ct). Advised to do 3x8 with RPE7-8. I decided I would use 40lbs and aim for 4 seconds holds and do these back to back (rest being however long it took me to turn my body around to the other side). Definitely noticing that the left side has a harder time one these with fatigue. Cleaned up and drove home to get a roast going and stretched. Iced knees after dinner.

February 10, 2022 – Week 18, 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)
92x2
117x2
144x2
169x2
196x2
221x2
247x2
247x2
247x2
247x2
247x4

12” Log Standing Pin Presses (lean back)
177x3
229x3
267x3
319x3
371x5
325x5
325x5

Paused Head Supported 12” Log Rows (3 seconds)
87x3
139x3
191x8
191x8
191x8

Seated Neutral Grip Dumbbell Overhead Presses
40’sx5
70’sx12
70’sx12

Paused Band Y Raises (2 seconds)
(2)µbx12
(2)µbx12

Stretching
 
Comments Confidence had taken a little hit Tuesday with that deadlift. Not even that it was bad. Even with the missed double, it is the most I’ve hit on axle from 18” or lower (hand and thigh lift doesn’t count). There just feels to be a lot of pressure. Always competition pressure. But I know there are people training for this show that are doing 100lbs more than me on this event easy and I’ve been working my ass off. It may never be a good event for me and I keep plugging away but the fact it has such a big emphasis in this sport in the last 5yrs makes it very tough. I really want to get to SC Nats this year if it actually ends up being in PA. Level of competition at the two shows I have signed up for is unreal. 15 for PA Dutch and 20 for Regional show. It feels like it gets harder every year to qualify. It honestly isn’t a guarantee even though I’m feeling very good and strong. The pressure is real. WSM 2020 Mateusz Kieliszkowski sat out that competition due to feeling like he wasn’t going to be ready based off his own expectations for himself and seeing other people training for it. He regretted not doing it after seeing how they ended up actually doing and felt he could’ve done well at 80% his best (his words). Showing up matters. Even if my best ends up not qualifying for what I want to, I’m not disappointed with what I’ve done this past year. I was having aches and pains off and on today with muscles and joints. It could very well just be from pushing things and from the fairly drastic change in weather by 20 degrees (and also dropping a good bit during the day). I did a bunch of soft tissue work the day before because feeling similar. Started things off with BTN presses with pauses into one arm band lat pulls again. Did these in the garage. Compared to last week, more things were going to be outside but rather just keep two setups. Felt fine. But that wasn’t unexpected. Log after that. Clean and presses this week again. 80%x4x2 and then a set of 2-4 depending on how I felt. 2 second holds in rack position and single cleans. Even though log has been pretty good for me the past three weeks with clean and press, I was nervous. Nervous that the missed deadlift would drain me for this session. Also that I’d screw up the rep set at the end like with what happened my first week with log. Thankfully none of that came to pass. I also got my belt in the right spots so that I wasn’t pinching anything and getting bruises. I really do need to have these in to calm me down and not rush things on log. I was told to stop on the rep set (2-4) if I felt like my form was off or that I was slowing down. So as not to ingrain bad form. Pretty stark difference between first week with 217lbs and this week with 247lbs. I’m kind of regretting I don’t have more weeks to work with log and build before contest as these past few weeks of log work have been enjoyable. I can’t always say that is the case with any event training. Log continued after that. Rack work. So with how they were that first week (janky setup that would collapse any second) and then the new setup having a big change in the weight moved, this was going to be hard. So after doing my 6rm plus 34lbs for a set of 10, I was instructed to find out what I should be doing. So that meant doing sets of 2-3 reps up to a tough 5rm (1-2RIR) and with partials, oh boy is that exhausting and tough. Weights are such that being slightly off it may not even budge. Get it right and it looks effortless. So with how things went and thinking about calculations, I figured that I should be able to do over 360lbs on this for 5rm with RIRs. I meant to switch from triples to doubles after the first two sets but forgot so stuck to 3’s. That last triple did feel heavy but I felt I just needed to pace things right. I was either going to look stupid struggling to budge this or it would go. Lot of pressure moving this kind of weight. Not mental, like body under pressure. No use holding my breath for the entire set, going to do each rep like a single. This was exhausting. Feel this weight in my bones and connective tissues. In the deep muscles. Took off weight for the down sets. Still feeling that heavy set but these moved well. I feel second set moved easier but they looked about the same. Maybe I had adapted to the pressure at that point. Change up on the rows. No barbell or bench. Log rows with my head supported. Holds for 2-3 for 3x8. Advised to aim for RPE 7-8. The hold is going to be the big fatigue factor. I don’t think I’ve done any kind of head supported rows since like 2013. Plan with these was upper back work with specificity. Get used to pulling into myself and holding for the lap and the clean. I figured for this first week of them (assuming they will show much again) that I should do these with minimal gear on to feel the movement. See what ticks. I wore my lifters since that seemed like it was important to keep that aspect the same. I felt ok with these and ended up using a bit more than I was expecting (177lbs was my first thought) on these. Pauses and holds on rows drop my weights down a good bit. These were exhausting as well. Dumbbell pressing was after that. Plan here was neutral grip and do 2x10-12 with 3-4RIR. I wasn’t sure how things would feel at this point and I didn’t really want to mess around with plateloaded dumbbells today. My hope here was that I’d have enough fatigue at least by the second set of these that I’d have 4RIR. But nope. These actually felt quite easy. Not a terrible problem to have. Kind of laugh thinking about how back in college these were a top set for me. Even as recently as 2016-2017 that would’ve been the case too. Last thing for the session was y raises with bands. Same as last week as far as reps and holds but only two sets for this week. I did do like 4 sets last time because my first set was way too easy. These felt pretty good. I may be able to upgrade to a mini band next time if these pop up. I think I like these more than band face pulls on this workout. Put stuff away and also loaded the big husafell into my car for Saturday. It was either now while I was warmed or cold sometime Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. My poor car. Stretched and iced my knees and right elbow.

February 8, 2022 – Week 18, Day 2

Mobility Prep

Suited 15” Axle Jack Stand Pulls (straps)
No Suit
140x2
230x2
320x2
410x2
Added Suit
500x1
590x1
680x1
580x3
580x3

Dimel Deadlifts w/bands (straps, +39lbs bottom/+122lbs top)
45x3
97x3
137x3
177x10
177x10
177x10

Paused Front Foot Elevated Split Squats (4”, 3 seconds)
bwx3/3
65x3/3
100x10/10
100x10/10
100x10/10

Paused Single Leg Hip Thrusts (2 seconds)
40x3/3
70x8/8
80x8/8
95x8/8

Single Leg Calf Raises (5-2-0-0 tempo)
bw+10x10/10
bw+15x10/10
bw+20x10/10

Stretching
  
Comments: Prior to the workout, I was thinking about how I had read someone indicate that they couldn’t do a medley event as it would be setup at a contest due to their parking lot being an ice sheet for a month now. Not someone else’s but their own building. I was thinking that I may not be as talented but I’d want it more. I’d put down take out ice melt and a hair dryer to it if I had to. But also thinking about how there are things that would give me pause. Like if my car wouldn’t start I’d be fighting myself to get up the nerve to call AAA. I get that anxious with talking to people. So each their own I guess. Triceps sore from yesterday and some lat soreness carrying over from that too. Mobility stuff mostly good. Didn’t feel like I needed my warm-ups on today. Similar to yesterday, kind of trying to get some things setup. However, not everything at once as with lower body stuff, it is harder to not feel sick with liquids in my stomach so those rests between exercises putting stuff away give me that time. Axle pulls with the suit to start things off. Plan was to work up to a top double (RPE 8.5) and then take off a decent bit for 2x3. Suit work is really starting to be hit or miss with how I’m feeling. Last session was perfect. Had me feeling like 700lbs was already a done thing. The spandex briefs helped with keeping the legs down. That didn’t seem to matter today. Now it still felt a ton better than it did two sessions earlier (first suit session). Warming up felt fine and powerful. I was still feeling confident that I’d pull my top weight for a tough double. Listed stuff was suggested that I do between 660-680lbs for the double and 580-600lbs for the down sets. I was aiming for the top end numbers. Took the plate jumps again as that seemed to work out for me last week. Got a single and it was heavy and rather than control and stay tight, I put it down and attempted to restart for a second rep. It was going up but it stalled right below the top of my knees. Like if it was an inch higher up, I’d been able to hitch and ramp. That still wouldn’t have been good. Pissed off. Missed a lift, overestimated what I could do and I know how much effort a heavy pull/missed lift takes. I’ve only had one other missed lift this training cycle and that was a heavy squat rep. I thought I had this in me. I felt compelled to give it another go but told myself no. It wouldn’t be a good idea. Damage already done. Don’t dig a deeper hole. Really annoyed with it. Had to focus on other things. It could’ve been worse (injury, not even get a rep, not even budge a second rep, etc) but it could’ve been better. Deadlift when it isn’t on point is supremely frustrating. Hell, I’m trying to make it so I only get outpulled by 150lbs instead of +200lbs. Frame could be the culprit as compared to last time, I only did 2 runs that Saturday over 700lbs whereas this past Saturday I did 5 runs over that weight. Trying to move forward and not fixate on it. Worries that a missed deadlift will effect the rest of this week’s workouts and the rest of the training cycle. Next thing was lighter stuff. Dimel deadlifts with 20% band tension at 30% of my floor max estimated. Keeping that around 585lbs since haven’t tested it raw in over a year at this point. 3x10 with the goal being fast and snappy with focusing on the axle pull ROM. I had to adjust the setup a bit to get the tension to around 20%. These were really easy. I had on soft belt for these but as I did them, it started coming off. On first set, one strap came off second and then it fell off the third set. I kind of didn’t care. This was light and I was still annoyed with my inability to deadlift. Try to focus on the assistance stuff. I was advised I could go up on these. FFE split squats again for 3x10. Knees seemed to be in a decent mood today so I figured I’d take advantage of that. Last time I went up 5lbs a set to 95lbs for the last set. This time, I went with 100lbs all three sets. These felt better as I did them. Mobility is so much better with the left leg compared to the right leg in the ankle. Next thing was single leg hip thrusts with pauses. 3x8 with 2 seconds. I was advised to work up from RPE 7 to RPE 8-8.5. I was hoping to push things here after getting 55lbs for 13 with 3 second holds for 2 sets. Little stinging with the lightest weight at the start for the warming up and the first work set. On the work sets, I took a brief break between legs since I was going to be pushing things a bit more. I was surprised that the difficulty didn’t really seem to vary that much with the ever-increasing weight. Doing 40lbs more than two weeks ago is something haha. But getting better at this stuff is nice but deadlift and competition related goals matter more. Single leg calf stuff with tempo after that. 3x10 at RPE 7. Reps were lowered on these I think to help give me the nudge to try adding weight to the one-legged stuff. It worked as these seemed to be fine and noticed very little difference in difficulty adding the back pack with weight on each set. Put stuff away and ate dinner before stretching and icing my knees and elbows before bed. Hopefully my mood improves.

February 7, 2022 – Week 18, Day 1

Band Face Pulls
abx12
abx12
abx12

12” Log Strict Presses w/ bands (head through on last rep only)
No Bands
92x3
Add Bands (+25lbs bottom/+40lbs top)
92x3
112x3
132x3
152x3
Add 5 seconds hold last rep
172x3
172x3
172x3
172x3
172x3
172x3

Pull-ups
bwx3
bw+20x6
bw+20x6
bw+20x6

Paused Close Grip 2-Board Bench Presses (1 second)
45x10
95x8
135x5
185x3
225x3
275x3
330x5
297x5
297x5

Paused Incline Bench Dumbbell Rear Delt Flyes (3 seconds)
10’sx10
10’sx10
10’sx10

Paused Single Arm Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extensions (2 seconds)
40x12/12
40x12/12
40x12/12

Stretching
  
Comments: Trying to get things setup a little before I started training today to try and get through the workout in a decent time. I just had the time I guess. Not necessarily sore but I felt aches in my joints, even the ones that didn’t do anything on Saturday. Starting things off with band face pulls. Still 3x12. Feeling a little silly today so I was singing and dancing around during and between sets. I just go with it when I’m feeling that way. Why restrict my joy when it decides to show up for a visit? From there it was log strict press next with shortish rest and bands added. Now I guess there was some rain water still in the log (that had pooled to the bottom) so I had to empty that out. Plan for this was 6x3 with 8lbs more than last time I did these (so one less set). Did smaller jumps to get things to line up. Maybe made the bands feel less rough at the start. Left shoulder still kind of feeling off and achy. It did seem to feel better as I went on these to the working weight. Little bit of rain happening despite the weather app saying rain was 39 miles away. These were feeling a little tough. I was getting tension headaches from holding my breath when I should know better than that. After the third set I finally got myself to actually listen and breathe and that set felt the best. But I guess that didn’t stick as I held my breath again on the fifth set and it felt not great (3rd and 5th were like this) and got it together for the last set and made that one feel like the 4th set. Pull-ups next. Plan was 3x6 with 20lbs added. Note RIR on that last set. With the little bit of rain, I did break out the chalk for grip in case. Things seemed good last time but since I was doing more weight over the three sets compared to last week, I felt it was best to do a few reps with bodyweight to get ready. Ugh, these felt tougher this week. Right biceps was making itself known a bit more this week. The first set was ok. Not great but not bad. I figured that for the next set, I’d put on the compression cuffs to see if that did anything. It might have and it might have not but it gave me a little comfort boost perhaps. I seem to be good for 3-4 reps before the backpack weight starts oscillating too much and I have to do a dead hang to get the last few reps. Seems to work a few different aspects doing both kinds of reps in the set I think. Last set actually felt the best of these. Board pressing next. Pauses reduced to 1 second and advised to work up to 5rm with 1RIR and then drop 10% off for 2x5. I wasn’t sure how these would go. My thinking based off stuff from previous two weeks was to kind of see how I felt working up and aim for 315-330lbs. I deviated from what I was doing a little with the working up sets. A few more reps on the lighter weights and then back to triples. If I went by how I was feeling on the first set of triples, I’d have done 315lbs. But 275lbs things seemed to click and I felt confident in pushing myself here. I looked over numbers since 2016 injury as far as what I’ve done and the most I’ve done on a bench variation since then for 5 has been 325lbs. So pushing over that would kind of be an important step. I haven’t gone over 325lbs at home on any benching I’m fairly certain. But also worries that I’d fail and screw up the whole session by doing so. Just told myself I had it in me based off last week. I did 305x3x5 with 2 second pauses with about 2 minutes rest, I should be able to do 25lbs mor with half the time on the pauses for a single set. I was surprised how smooth and easy these went considering the weight. I think I relaxed a little too much in my resolve on that last rep as that was a little tougher than it should’ve been considering how it felt. I was pleased with that. I’ve been doing a super close grip benching style since last year. Hands nipple grip apart on my narrow bird chest so a long ROM and hopefully seeing improvements into my pressing overhead strength. Into the garage for light dumbbell stuff. Change up from the seated dumbbell power cleans. Paused work with the rear delt flyes with thumbs down. Been a bit since I’ve done these. These always sucked. Using really light weight and struggling. Though I think part of that may have been due to having it part of a superset with side laterals making things tougher. Plan was 3 seconds hold and lower with control. 3x10. I went with the 10lbs and found that I could handle them well enough this session. Last thing was triceps with dumbbells. One arm stuff still but not the Tates. This was overhead extensions with pauses. Advised to do 1-2 second pauses for 3x12-15 with 3RIR. I went with my 40lbs dumbbell for this on the chance that I’d be up to it. These were tough but I got 3x12 done. This is definitely progress when doing seated version of these with 27lbs was extremely tough for sets of 15 reps. Triceps were quivering after these. Put stuff away and stretched before eating pot roast. Workout was pretty quick today so I still had time for the roast to cook. Iced my elbows and the right knee before bed.

February 5, 2022 – Week 17, Day 4

Mobility Prep
 
Single Leg Squats to Box (14”)
bwx1/1 (assisted)
bwx1/1 (assisted)
bwx1/1 (assisted)
bwx1/1 (assisted)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Safety Squat Bar Box Squats (20” box) w/ bands (+60lbs bottom/+86lbs top)
80x3
130x3
170x3
220x3
260x3
310x3
350x3
350x3
350x3
350x3
350x3

Frame Carries
Titan Fitness (16”)
Casual Pace 
115x50’
115x50’
Makeshift (18”)
Normal
276x50’
Added Straps
416x50’
BiggDogg Strongg (20”, 1.5” handles)
568x50’
658x25’
728x25’
800x50’ in 11.08 seconds
700x50’ in 9.10 seconds
700x50’ in 9.33 seconds
700x50’ in 10.95 seconds

Glute Ham Raises (4 showing)
bwx15
bwx14
bwx9

Sandbag Shoulder Carries (casual, turns at 50’)
150x100’ (left)
150x100’ (right)
150x100’ (left)
150x100’ (right)

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

Quad Fallbacks w/ bands
mbx10
(2)mbx10

Stretching
  
Comments: Weather wasn’t great Friday so there were some concerns about stuff from that day making driving out hazardous for Saturday. It had been ice and sleet the afternoon before with it staying below freezing. It sounded like it was going to be good by early afternoon but to me it looked like it was going to be below freezing all day. But it was sunny out and roads were crystal clear when I woke up at my usual time. But that didn’t mean that people on the road weren’t idiots. It was really windy and I saw a lot of cars pull over from either car issues or something else. I made fantastic time out to the gym. The owners were there and I had a question about things for my show after this one (setting up the Hercules hold) and they had questions for me about equipment for the upcoming contest at the gym. I’m apparently not meeting my quota of talking to/at people about strongman as I definitely was talking a mile a minute and oversharing about strongman stuff. There were a good bit of people that did strongman and I know at the gym at the time so there were periods of time where I wasn’t as focused on my rest periods for things that it didn’t really matter on. Anyways, mobility stuff was good. Easy as it should be. Single leg box squats as per usual. 2x10 for this week. The 15” box was in use by a few people for different things. Exercise related but more in the sense that they lacked height to do things so I figured that I might as well go for 14” box. Did a good bit of singles on the assisted lifts to get comfortable. Extra inch was tough. Not pain/discomfort wise, just getting deeper and deeper into a squat. Following the same pattern as it has been. Left leg having issues with the assisted lifts and right no problems, first negative with each side super slow feeling my way down, left leg not aching that much and right leg aching a ton, feeling better ache wise second set for right leg. From there it was on to the ssb box squats with bands. No wait this week. Timed things right to get one of the racks open. Third week of the 5x3 speed squats. 15lbs more than last week. So I started with 15lbs added to the bar and did the same jumps as last week to make it easy. This was probably a good thing since I had to use the beefier rack that tends to hit the bigger plates on the unrack walking out so putting smaller plates first gave me a little buffer. No stiff lower back this time. EMOM style and working up a real good sweat here. Definitely felt tougher than last week but still solid stuff. Could feel the fatigue as I went. From there it was on to frame carry. This workout heading indicated that this was the big emphasis of the session and it was to be a “confidence booster” for the show. The aggressive push continues. Plan here was 800lbs for a set of 50’ and then take off 100lbs and do 3x50’ with that. My issue with frame carry/farmer’s walk is always the pick-up. It drains me and unlike yoke, I can’t adjust the pick height (though I’ve done a show that the yoke couldn’t go high enough and had to do a deeper pick). So doing 50lbs over contest for 10’ further would certainly be a feather in my cap. Assuming I did it. It would be big confidence boost doing this but a severe blow to it if I failed. It would be solely on whether I stood up with it or not. I haven’t done this kind of weight on frame since December of 2010. I did 802lbs for 60’ (no straps) from a 22” pick in a very heavy marathon workout. I wore wrestling shoes to make myself lower to the ground. Then later in that month I did 805lbs for like 6’ from 20” pick. At that time, I was training for a show with a very high pick frame carry around that weight but I ended up rupturing my left hamstring the next month. Since then, frame/farmer’s stuff hasn’t been in that realm of heavy with moving stuff. 350lbs being the heaviest. Only stuff since that time had been frame picks and holds more for grip work or prepping for 2017 SC Nats. Most I did was 800lbs from 19”. So this would be territory that I’ve not been at in some capacity at least 4yrs to lift it and 11yrs to move with it. I had to figure on best way to warm-up here and not have the frame end up in the middle of the course or have stuff end up on the far end. So for that, I figured that less warm-ups with the lighter frames made sense here. Super light still done and usual jump after that. But I had done 100lbs jumps after that and shorter runs but I figured I’d do like 140lbs jump so that I was only doing 2 runs with the makeshift frame. That meant I’d do the empty big frame for a 50’ run and then do 90lbs and 70lbs jumps for 25’. This thing was feeling heavy. I was trying to use just the right amount of effort to get the job done. But it takes effort to move over 700lbs. I didn’t want to do something like a 100lbs jump from 700-800lbs. 728lbs felt heavier than I would’ve liked to be doing 800lbs. So I started preparing myself and getting into that tunnel vision zone. No dark thoughts or anything. Just supreme focus on what must be done. Invoking that flight or fight response. It took effort to talk and breath at the same time as I went up to ask for help with videoing and timing. Some people would talk to me and I’d know they were talking but I couldn’t comprehend what they had just said as I was so tuned out of all distractions. I knew that after this effort was done, there was going to be a big dip and need to recover a bit before doing other heavy stuff this workout. I got set and got my timing right and picked it up. Felt heavy but it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. Once settled about halfway through I started to pick up my pace. Only thing I heard was someone telling me to pick up the pace. I was shocked that my time was about a half second slower than my time two weeks ago with 750lbs. So this was done and there was relief but I still had a lot of work still to do. I took my time putting weights away to get things ready for the 3x50’ with 700lbs. I didn’t expect things to feel as light compared to last time with going from 750lbs to 650lbs. First set that weight felt heavy and slow and I was bummed but I knew that was to be expected after 800lbs. But then I checked my time with what I did last time I did 700lbs and audibly swore as I was apparently almost a half second faster than my fastest time with this weight a month ago. It was even faster than my best time with 660lbs. The hell? Second set was also similar in that it felt heavy and slow but also still faster than my fastest time from a month back. Now I think the issue after that was I spent too long shooting the shit with Brian and cooled off a bit too much and didn’t have the focus. It felt fine on the pick and I felt like this would be even faster but I think I screwed up my breathing or just finally getting that adrenal crash as about halfway through I felt light headed and felt like I was going to drop it and had to slow down unlike I could regain control and go. That was my slowest time by a good bit. Almost the same speed as my 800lbs set. So not the best end to the frame session but very happy with the sets before that haha. After that glute ham raises. I was told to do 3 sets of max reps with 2RIR and work on keeping it to knee flexion. Last time I had made these easier than I’ve done them in the past with having the foot pad back a pin slot (5 showing). I felt that if I did that this week, I’d be doing like 20 reps a set or something and I figured that I should at least try to do them from the pin slot (4 showing) that I was doing previously from. There is certainly a bit more core/back stress with this setting but I seemed to not be too bad on these. I was actually hitting higher reps here than I was expecting honestly. Last set was when fatigue caught up to me and the reps went down big time. Next was a new exercise for me; walking with sandbag on my shoulders. Now I should mention at this point I was annoyed. See, the sound system at the gym lets people attach I-pods or phones to it. Most people wear headsets. Twice one of the powerlifters went and turned off the sound system as they didn’t like the music. Now in the past, people have asked if they could put their own music on or just skipped to another song. I’m fine with that. As long as something is playing. Feels disrespectful to just go up and turn off the music. Someone is obviously listening to it. The first time it happened I thought the sound system had just shorted as it sometimes does when volume it to loud but I didn’t think that was the case as it was a softer song. Second time I saw the culprit do it. I left it off until I was done my sets of ghrs but I wasn’t going to train in silence. Especially if it had to hear them talking the whole time I was training still. Anyways, the plan here for the sandbag carry was to do 2 sets of 100’. One set was 100’ on the one shoulder and then 100’ on the other shoulder. Gym just got new 100lbs and 150lbs sandbags that were like packed sphere sot that worked for me. I was told I should stand as upright as I can and feel it in the opposite obliques. I did this and I did not feel that. I was feeling more in the same side bracing as well as in the shoulders and lats. A different powerlifter went up and changed the song while I was in the middle of my set. While that is progress, it is an unspoken rule that you don’t change a song while someone is in the middle of a set. I was walking with these to keep time under tension long. This was kind of easy so I just do each set back to back with a little rest between the sides just to collect my thoughts. Backwards “sled” drags with the exer-genie after that. Two sets again. Same setting I’ve been keeping these at. Felt tough today for both sets but easier the second set. My calves were feeling these today. Last thing was quad fallbacks. But I was advised to add band tension to make them tougher. I wasn’t too sure how that would feel and had to think on setting up an anchoring station. The best spot unfortunately was near the powerlifters. Now I was in the annoyed state and also with that comes some anxiety and thinking people are looking and talking about me. They are probably not and I try to block that out. So first set I used just a mini band and realized that this was not enough tension. So added another mini band for the second set and that felt about right. Wasn’t going to do a third set as these without weight or bands are enough work to begin with. I decided to go home to stretch because of a few reasons. I didn’t know if I was going to tank even more from digging into the reserves for the heavy frame, people were driving like idiots coming to the gym and I’d rather not add darkness to that equation, and I didn’t want to be around the people that were irritating me for an activity that was to help me relax and decompress. Made good time home and stretched before icing my knees and getting things ready for the evening.