May 31, 2022 – Week 12, Day 2

Mobility Prep

Paused Safety Squat Bar Squats (2 seconds)
65x3
115x3
155x3
196x3
196x3
196x3
196x3
196x3

Band Goodmornings
sbx15
sbx15
sbx15

FFE Bulgarian Split Squats (barefoot, 2”)
bwx15/15
bwx15/15
bwx15/15

Side Planks w/ Band Rows/Seated Band Hamstring Curls
mmbx30/30 seconds:ab’sx30
mmbx30/30 seconds:ab’sx30

Stretching
  
Comments: Contest week workouts continue. Keep moving and feel good being the goal. Get in and out and recover. Less aches and stiffness I think. Another hot as balls day. Everything overdue at work and just have to laugh it off and do what I can. Got the fans going in the garage to try and keep things tolerable. Mobility stuff was an extra set. Kind of needed really. Some tightness in the lower right abdominals from split jerks last week. The combo of one leg RDLs and dead bugs is a good one for getting the core ready. I think this is the first time with training with Drew that the lower body workout had squat instead of deadlift. SSB squats with pauses (2 seconds) and using 40-50% for 5x3 with 90 seconds rest. I went with the lower weight because this bar is tougher than the one at the gym by about 10% or so and I figured that weight wasn’t that much of an issue with the show Saturday. More to get the knees moving after so many weeks of box squats. No real pain sensations in either knee but the left one was aching in the way it does some times (the feeling like it wants to shift to the left) and the right one just when ever it feels like aching. I will say I didn’t feel this overwhelming sense of tightness hindering mobility in my right like I’ve been more observant of. Can feel things cracking and popping. I held the pauses a little longer on the last set as I felt that I let the left knee thing have me not control the descent as well on that first rep. Put some of the stuff away to kind of give me a chance to put some fluids down before moving on to the next thing. Band GMs make a return. Strong band is my heaviest band tension and I didn’t think it wise to try and combine them for some light work. But these reps were really easy (granted it was 3x15 with +5RIR). No abdominal cramps like what happened the last time I did these. Bulgarian split squats again. This time 3x10-15 and I was advised bodyweight only again and if I wanted, I could elevate the front foot to get a better stretch. I felt that that was a good idea as the hip flexors can get tight and I want things feeling strong but loose. Adding that little elevation did add some difficult to these. I wasn’t able to just do one side and the other right away like I was able to do last week. I had to take a breather between sides with it getting longer after each subsequent set. No quad burning sensation in the right leg this time around. Some knee aches. Last thing was a superset of side planks with band rows and band leg curls. Been a bit since I did the side plank with a row component. Usually that was for reps but this time just for time. Leg curls were same as last week so I kept that the same and tried to see if I could make them feel easier. Matched reps with the plank rows just for my own sake. Only two rounds of this. Put stuff away and decided to stretch out first before eating pot roast as it was a larger one and I was a little late with getting it started.

May 30, 2022 – Week 12, Day 1

Band YTW’s
µb’sx10
µb’sx10

Axle Push Presses
(brief holds in rack, dip and lockout)
36x2
66x2
96x2
126x2
156x2
(no holds)
186x2
186x2
186x2
186x2
186x2

Axle Strict Presses (head through on last rep only)
46x3
76x3
106x3
136x3
166x5
166x5
166x5

Ring Push-ups (feet elevated on bench)/Underhand Band Pullaparts
bwx12/mbx20
bwx12/mbx20
bwx12/mbx20

Stretching
  
Comments: Off work for holiday. Spent Sunday doing chores (mowing for my walking) and getting things ready for the competition. Not too far but enough that it needs a drive the night of rather than waking up super early and driving out there. Probably going to be doing this all week up to the show as I “remember” things I need. Even with a contest on Saturday, that doesn’t mean I’m not still expected to do workouts. Form work and light stuff mostly. Keep stuff primed. As off work today, it made sense to do workout earlier in the day. Not as early as some days during lunch break as my sleep is a little off still. It got hot again. Looks to be low 90’s up until Thursday then rain will come and it will be high 70’s day of show. Band warm-up as usual. These felt surprisingly good. Still some symmetry issues but maybe they are less? Axle for most of the rest of the workout. The plan here was 5x2 at 55-65% of 1rm. Well that was the change made to clarify if I was doing push press. It had been 5x2 at 60% if doing jerk. With these past few weeks, the split jerk isn’t for me and the push jerk would need a lot of work but seems to be good for a supplementary or drill exercise to help me get my lower body drive to “wake up” for push press (and maybe for circus dumbbell too). So push press was the plan. I had taken time to adjust my “working” maxes on some of the overhead lifts (axle, log and circus dumbbell) to be from what has been actually done in training the past year rather than stuff I’ve hit between 2017-2020. The rack position for push press does feel slightly off compared to how comfortable it feels for the jerks. A lot less tension on the elbows, wrists and biceps. Pauses at three spots of the press with warming up doubles (rack, dip and lockout). These seemed to feel better as I went. No gear of any kind for anything today beyond copper knee sleeve. From there, on to strict axle press was next. This had been planned as 5x3 with light weight and bands if I was doing jerks but since not, it was suggested I go up 5% and do 3x5 instead. I kept the rack height the same as I do for the push press/jerks so it was a little lower for the strict pressing start. Trying to get a bit more of brace and incline movement going. Seemed to feel better as I went on these as well. Tried to take longer rests. But not too long with the heat. Put most of the weights away from outside before going into the garage. I had already set things up for the last thing for the workout. Again, superset of ring push ups and underhand band pull-aparts. I believe I was to do these with my feet on the ground but the rep range (8-12) with 3-5RIR seemed like doing that would be way too easy. I did lower the band tension for the underhand pull-aparts as it did indicate I could use the same RPE or lower. Left forearm muscles at the top on the left side feels tender when in the position. Wore compression cuffs as I figured it was best to do so to keep irritation down. Ring push ups felt fine and was getting to the point where if I kept this pace, I’d not be in the 3-5RIR range beyond another set or two with the fatigue building. Put things away, ate a meal and stretched.

May 28, 2022 – Week 11, Day 4

ATG Split Squats (12” box, lb ankle distraction)
bwx15/15
bwx15/15

Safety Squat Bar Squats to 19” Box
75x3
125x3
175x3
225x3
275x3
275x3
275x3
275x3
275x3

Pendlay Rows
135x3
185x3
225x6
225x6
225x6

Suitcase Carries/Paused GHD Back Extensions (3 seconds)/Planks
165x50’/50’ – bwx10 – bwx30 seconds
165x50’/50’ – bwx10 – bwx30 seconds
165x50’/50’ – bwx10 – bwx30 seconds

Backwards Sled Drags (turf, hip belt)
215x5 minutes

Stretching

Comments:  So yesterday was not ideal. But sometimes the best thing to refocus is to dissociate with a big meal and deep sleep. I woke up at my usual time for work and to get ready for the day for event work on Saturdays (advised to train today rather than tomorrow to allow for more rest this coming week). I took one look in the mirror at myself and noticed the darker than usual circles under my eyes and promptly went back to bed. I awoke about 4 hours later. So after noon and going to be behind. I’ve been apparently holding up a lot of stress and fatigue by willpower alone and missing lifts the day before kind of lowered that defense and I felt the weight of it all. I felt tired and I zonked out. I had no dreams in my initial 8hrs or so of sleep but I had nonsensical stuff during that 4hrs period. Nothing that I could figure was trying to figure out or process anything that I felt I needed to. So maybe kind of reset to clear the cache of just a bunch of random tasks that were left running and eating up my facilities functioning power. I was seriously trying to figure out if I could just do this workout at home but I couldn’t in good conscience do that so out to train I did about 4-5hrs later than usual. It was an easy planned workout and would be relatively short and odds were high no one else would be there. Spent the drive listening to music that would keep my spirits up. I know the drill and already feeling more focused and framing things in a different light. Whether that is a learned defense mechanism of self delusion to keep going or if it is how things really are is hard to say. Not going to think on it that much. Trying to keep moving forward possessed as I am. I will need to look over training information to see if what I’m thinking is actually the case. Ride out mostly good until 10 miles or so out with stopped traffic. So longer than usual commute. Would be quite annoying if I ended up spending more time driving then lifting. As I suspected, no one was there. The one big fan was brought out so the air flow was much improved from the previous weeks with hot weather. Upper body was feeling kind of sore and stiff from the axle work the day before. Specifically upper back, lats and arms. Started things off with the ATG split squats with the band on the talus. These seemed to feel pretty good. Minimal knee aching and I felt like my ankles didn’t feel as stiff. These feel like a good warm-up but maybe not the best for prepping for certain things. While the single leg stuff like the lateral stepdowns are much harder on the body, I feel they “wake up” my hips and knees more for things like squats. These are for sure easier on the knees though. From there on to squats. Same setup as last time but a lot less weight. 5x3 to foam box with short rests (I made sure to not make these 45 seconds like last week haha). These didn’t feel great on my left knee at the start. Having that sensation I get where it feels weak, like it wants to go. Been a long while since I felt that. So I was a bit hesitant with my squats. I was focusing on that so much that I kind of forgot about my breathing and was trying to focus on the knee, bracing and slow descent that I got a little lightheaded after that first working set. I was also wondering if the breathing issue was something from the last heavy frame session as well. But that seemed to be not the case as every set was easier than the previous one. Pendlay rows followed that. 3x6 at RPE 7. I elected to not use straps or a hard belt to keep weight lower. I wasn’t sure how things would feel with my forearms and biceps from axle work the day before (more so the left arm). Felt easy enough with 135lbs but adding 50lbs to that felt more challenging than I would’ve liked so I stuck with 225lbs. Felt too easy that first set but then tougher the second and then back to easy the last set. An odd triset was up next. Goal being core/trunk work from different angles as well as some last minute gait work. So the plan here was to do suitcase carries for 50’ each side and then some more common work like the back extensions and planks (bodyweight only). Difficulty level being RPE 6-7 for the carries. I haven’t actually tried to do these other than sometimes carrying a single weight or dumbbell from one place to another when setting up or putting things away. A lot options but I went with a stubby farmer’s handle that used to belong to Jenkins. Asking for some strength here in my 14th year of this. I wasn’t too sure if I should try and move fast or stay slow. I just got faster as I went with these with it not being entirely intentional. The back extensions and planks were just really easy and more like active rest. Last thing was my choice of sled work or something similar to get blood flow going and knees, ankles, hips and glutes feeling good. 5-10 minutes depending on the intensity (RPE 5-6). Shorter time if doing actual sled work and longer time if doing backwards treadmill stuff. I was thinking the latter but was looking at setup as I had kind of wanted to add a little band resistance but not enough space so I went with the tired and true backwards drag on the turf. I accidentally added 10lbs to what I had planned to use. Not a big deal, I was just moving slower but that’s fine. Longer lead so my radius for the turns was a bit more. It felt like a long time but it was more out of boredom then fatigue as my quads felt like it was nothing when I finished. Glutes and hips were feeling it though (probably from all the side shuffling). I put stuff away and decided to stay at the gym to stretch out rather than drive home. If I went, I’d have been at the gym less time than it would take for the round trip back. Drive home was mostly fine other than holiday visitors tailgating regardless of what lane or speed I was going.

May 27, 2022 – Week 11, Day 3

Axle Clean and Split Jerks (one clean)
46x3
46x3
96x3
146x3
186x2
218x1
250x1
280x1
310x0
310x0
310x0

Axle Push Presses (Beltless)
238x3
238x3
238x3

Half Kneeling Band Face Pulls (low anchor point)/Band Triceps Extensions (facing away, rack)
mmb+µbx25/sbx25
mmb+µbx25/sbx25

Stretching
  
Comments: So this was a disaster. It could’ve been a lot worse as well. This week’s training had been shifted a day due to unforeseen events earlier this month. As has been the case the past few training cycles, this week prior to show ends up being the “heaviest” workout for the overhead with the lowest volume. It does make me anxious with how close it is. The plan also being that to ensure enough rest since this day was moved back a day that I’d then be doing the next workout the following day to allow for enough rest leading up to the show. I had wanted to do this in the early afternoon or late morning but work stuff was being stupid and it didn’t work out and it started raining as soon as my lunch break ended (but cleared up right away).  So on to the workout. Plan was to work up with whatever I was going to use for contest and aim being work up to 1st or 2nd attempt for the show. Not that that made too much sense with the plan being to just do the opening weight and every jump after it (275lbs and 20lbs jumps). No idea with warm-ups with 107 people listed as attending so any advantage from just doing my top weight as my opener would be too risky a ploy. I already know that I’m not going to be near the top on this with the pressers showing up and how this has been going. But I guess I should be ok with going from missing 230lbs on the clean to missing 310lbs on the clean. With how last time the intentional belt clean had been the best of the lifts, I needed to be intentional with it warming up and for the top weights here. Suggested top weight was 310lbs with the idea being more weight than 2 weeks prior but leaving 10-15lbs in the tank for the show. That was the expectation. I felt I had that from how the past two weeks of axle training had gone. Trying out the split jerk for these. Things were good. Only had some hesitancy on the belt clean with 250lbs being steady and then going. I didn’t wear my usual stuff as far as two shirt as I don’t need it for the belt clean style as that completely bypasses the lower ab and sternum situation. 280lbs went up well enough, just a little lopsided with the lockout. I didn’t think that 310lbs would give me trouble but it did. First go and my headgear betrayed me. The do-rag came undone and flopped down right in my face as I got the axle to my belt. I was blinded and I had to blow my breath out to get it fall off my face. I should’ve put it down to regroup like I did two weeks ago when I missed my belt completely with 300lbs. But I thought I could do it. I couldn’t. I didn’t manage to the axle high enough to get under and catch it. Damn it. Damn it. So I felt like I had completely ruined the entire peaking and training cycle for axle in that moment. But this also meant that the belt clean wasn’t a sure thing. I had only tried it with 250lbs last week and I kind of needed to see what would be the case with higher weight. I reset things and like a moron tried again. I got it higher this time but couldn’t get the one arm under it and missed the clean again. Idiot. I should’ve stopped at the first miss. This time doesn’t matter. The show matters. But I kept going because I don’t like or deal well with failure and I still felt like the press was there if I got the clean. I needed to see if I could get the clean with this style or not. So once again, I give it a go and this time I do get under the axle and stand up with it. It felt fine on the shoulders but I couldn’t do it. I gave it two tries and just not good enough. So this really sucked. This is like circus dumbbell for two cycles back in that I mess things up. I’ve not been good this cycle with axle, constantly changing things up and not committing to one thing out of desperation to hit past numbers. I’ve hit this weight before (even after two misses at the clean and with less prep time). I think that the fact it took me 5 weeks to even figure out the belt clean situation also didn’t help. I need to think on what style is going to work for the show. Belt clean is more technical and the misses are disastrous whereas the continental style is slower and draining and can also have misses. It took quite a bit for me to keep from just shutting down the workout at this point. The next thing was axle out of the rack. This was to be 3x3 with 15% less than the top weight in whatever style I didn’t do for the heavy stuff. So if I did jerks on the heavy stuff, I was to push press here and vice versa. Now this had been on the expectation that I’d get 310lbs easy. I didn’t. I completely failed and the only way I could’ve failed more was if I got an injury. So I based the numbers off 280lbs since that was the most weight I got successfully. I elected to go beltless since this was way lighter than what I was probably expected to do. As has been the case, these out of the rack lifts feel like garbage after the clean and pressing if I don’t start over light. I unracked the weight and got set and then put it back down as it felt so damn heavy on my wrists and shoulders. Went back to give it an honest go and still about the same but I know that I can move this weight. They looked like they moved well enough but I had not real feelings of ease or that these were feeling good. I wasn’t going full bore serious here and was going through the motions to get done as just messed up with how the last heavy axle went. Granted I’m in a better spot than 5 weeks ago where I was worried that my clean was so bad I’d miss the opener weight. So now I might miss the 3rd jump. I feel like I put in so much effort on these overheads and deadlifts and rarely do things work out for me when I need them to. Deadlift has been more consistent with competition the past three cycles. Last thing was the low anchor point face pulls and triceps extensions. Two sets of 15-25 reps. No pauses or holds or anything like that. Just doing reps and such. I increased the band tension for the face pull portion since it had been so light comparatively last time. Just going in reps to get blood flow. Put stuff away and kind of stewed before I felt like making dinner a few hours later and then stretching.

May 25, 2022 – Week 11, Day 2

Mobility Prep

Titan Fitness Frame Deadlifts (16” pick, straps)
115x5
205x3
295x3
385x2
475x2
565x1/617x1/669x1/721x1
620x1/1/1/1 (cluster reps, 15 seconds)

Bulgarian Split Squats (barefoot)
bwx20/20
bwx20/20
bwx20/20

Copenhagen Planks (foam roller crush)
bwx25/25 seconds
bwx25/25 seconds

Seated Band Hamstring Curls
ab’sx30
ab’sx30
ab’sx30

Stretching
  
Comments: With the drowning in workload at work, I’m starting to become adapted to that and be aquatic. It gets done when it gets done. I was a little anxious and nervous for this workout session. I think I’m still not used to this style of “deload” where there is still intensity and sometimes my heaviest lifts are the week before the competition. It has seemed to work for the two local shows in the past year (the ones with the longer cycles). So I trust this process but there is still that risk as that fine line has me at my strongest and my most fragile. Tired but stronger than ever, able to output more than usual assuming timing is perfect. This workout and the next one have two contest events with attempts at the heaviest weights so far and things could go wrong. My hip flexors and lower abdominals were feeling the effort from the split jerks with the movement and the holds in that position. Mobility stuff seemed to help with that. With how the weather was, I kept the garage door opened and no fans. Frame deadlifts to start things off. This was the only heavy thing for this workout. High intensity, low volume. The plan was up to me really what I felt was going to be easiest or make the most sense. I know I’m not the best deadlifter and it can depend on things and rules on whether I end up competitive or not. With how the contest setup is with starting at 650lbs and then going up 50lbs each rep I could conceivable hit 3-5 reps. So with that in mind my options were to either work up to a heavy 3-5 rep set (RPE 8.5-9) or to do a set with increasing weight each set with the last rep being same difficulty as planned 3-5 rep set. I figured that it would probably make sense to do the adding weight each rep rather than a rep set as it would be more like contest conditions and I tend to try and get stretch reflex on rep sets with the frame. So the proposed thing with adding weight each rep was a four rep set, starting at 600lbs and going up 40lbs with a top weight being 720lbs with the hope that this is something I feel I can do a double with. I made some changes to that. I didn’t have enough 10’s to really do those kind of jumps so I started lighter and planned for 52lbs jumps to get to about the same top weight. Rather than loading myself and strapping back in, I had my father help me with that. Warming up was ok, just wasn’t sure if sciatica would be acting up or not as it was a little tender with lean back on the overhead stuff yesterday (but improving). This did give me an idea of pacing and if I had strict judging (my dad had me hold until the frame leveled out). I don’t know what kind of pacing will be there day of but I got these in under a minute with strapping in my own time (had a little issue with that). 721lbs was an 11lbs PR for this height on a frame pull. I did 710lbs on the I-beams back in 2017 preparing for SC Nats that year. I felt like I had a double or triple there. I felt I could do another jump (I did have 32lbs set aside just in case but this wasn’t so easy I needed another jump). So that felt good. My hope here is that my setup makes this weight harder than it would be on the really long frames at that show. Like the hope is that I can do 10% or more on the contest frame compared to what I have in the garage. Wasn’t quite done though. Practicing the strapping in to get timing better and in the event that I find I got to take a breath and stand up before going for another lift. So that was a brainchild of cluster reps where I got to restrap after each rep. Get commands and pull a single and then stand up and weight 15 seconds and do it again. Essentially to match the reps of what I did total on the heavier set. These felt tougher. I was feeling a lot of pressure in my sinuses. Maybe I relaxed a bit after pulling 100lbs more relatively comfortably. Or that wore me out haha. That was enough of frame pulls for today. I know there are guys coming into this show that can get up to 900lbs or more here but I think I can hang if the setup is a workable thing for me to use my smarts and my leverages. Will find out at curtain call. From there it was the accessory work of the evening. Same as last week in that it just indicated to try and maintain upright torso and sets of 12-20 with 3-5RIR. But not weight this time. Bodyweight only. A little slow to start but I warmed up pretty quick. I felt that this was easy enough that I didn’t have to take a rest between sides like I do when it is more challenging. So one leg and then the other. Rest between sets here. Got a good sweat going and breathing fairly heavy by the end. I mean, I did kind of cut the time in half taking out the rest between sides. Had to make these interesting somehow with the no weight thing. Right leg was feeling the burning sensation by the second set but didn’t notice it after that. These also stressed what was stiff and sore from split jerks. Copenhagen planks with the foam roller in a naughty boy vice position lol. I realized that I could use the rolling stand I do for split squats as the point of contact for the supporting leg rather than using the exercise bench. This could allow me to keep things aligned better. Also adds some stability element with the rolling pad. Today was 2 sets of 25 seconds (I could’ve done 20 too) and these were really tough. Not for the top leg. I’m used to that. The isometric crushing is what gets me on these for the lower leg. I wore the knee sleeves this time just to add some additional support to my knees as I do have a few more sessions left. They’ve been feeling relatively good lately so want to facilitate that and not add additional stress just because they are feeling good. I need them at their best when it matters. Last thing band leg curls with 3x20-30 for RPE 6-7. Used same setup as last time but I did move the bench back a little more. These felt easier overall compared to last week. Put stuff away and stretched before eating pot roast. I did eventually end up icing my knees just to make sure they were feeling good.

May 24, 2022 – Week 11, Day 1

Band YTW’s
µb’sx10
µb’sx10

Axle Split Jerks
(brief holds in rack, dip and catch)
36x2
66x2
96x2
126x2
166x2
186x2
(no holds)
216x1
216x1
216x1
216x1
216x1
216x1
216x1
216x1

Axle Strict Presses
120x1
150x1
180x1
210x1
240x1
240x1
240x1
220x6

Axle Standing Pin Presses (top of rack, 2” block)
210x1
240x1
270x3
285x3
300x3

Banded Push-ups/Underhand Band Pullaparts
sbx8/mb+µbx20
sbx8/mb+µbx20
sbx8/mb+µbx20

Stretching
  
Comments: Things are cooled off again thankfully. Weatherwise that is. Low 90’s on the weekend and got back to more normal spring temperature after that. Didn’t feel like I needed to ice my knees Monday. Workload is backing up and I feel like everyone is in that boat and just going to have to stomach not being up to the quality I expect. I can at least make my training feel worthwhile. I was just relieved that it was fairly cool outside today. Also some distraction with WSM going on but I’m not terribly interested at this point. Some things for training are still keeping finger on the pulse as far as staying primed and other stuff getting less and less. Band warm-up as usual. There is a symmetry issue but maybe it looked less this week as I was aware but still present. Axle for most of the rest of the workout. This workout is not to a killer but keep that high going for one last heavy axle workout on Day 3. So jerks again. 8x1 at 65%. Kind of using made up numbers here as I went with 200lbs last week and based off what I actually ended up hitting, that was probably closer to 65%. But I took that as the 60% so that this would be the next jump. I feel the max end of things isn’t where it is at yet due to not doing these for more than 3 weeks after not doing them for over 3 years. As with last week, advised to work up with pauses in dip and at the catch. I decided I’d try doing split jerks this time and see if that did anything for me. I think also to scratch that itch of thinking I haven’t tried everything yet to see if I can get the most out of axle for the show. I want to place well enough to qualify for Nats so bad this year with how things have been going and how close it would be this year. Assuming I understand things right, I can do a Regional show next year as a walk-on due to placing at PA Dutch without doing a “local” show. Back to training. I did 30lbs jumps and doubles with pauses up one jump under the planned weight for the singles. I also felt like I didn’t need support gear for this but I did put on wrist wraps loosely for the singles as that still seemed to be suggested even when I was programmed to do beltless axle work previously. This is definitely an exercise I seem to do better after several sets to get the body moving right. Last one I did a Marunde leg lift and slight hold. It’s strongman, got to practice the showboating a little. From there, on to strict axle press was next. Plan here was warm-up to 10lbs less than my top set last week for 3 singles and then take off 20lbs and do an AMRAP set leaving 2RIR if I could. Idea being decent weight but should move fast. Not to have grinding on the AMRAP. I figured that since singles, that singles to prep after singles on jerks would be the way to go. I had felt last week that weights up to above the weight I was doing jerks with felt easy. Lower back still feeling some sciatica stuff so not completely gone from two weeks ago so trying to be careful about that and not overly stress things this close to show. First rep with 240lbs felt good. Second not so much. I rushed things and didn’t get it to be in the right spot and muscled it up. Refocused on the third and that went up the best of the singles with that weight. Down set the weight was feeling light and I got four reps really quick and then got off balance. I should’ve called it at five but I didn’t think that I’d have the next rep be so slow and ugly. It was grinding until I got past the sticking point and then it went up smooth. Oh well. I didn’t fail a lift and that would’ve been worse. Lockout work planned with the pin pressing again. Work up to 3x3 RPE 7.5 to 8.5 across those three sets. I was advised to lower the platform height I was standing on by 2” or so so that more load could be used. I was thinking I needed to do like I did with the strict pressing like I did with these last week with sets and reps to work up but I felt that this was probably something I would do better on after a testing week and kind of inoculating myself to the effort. The decreased ROM was noticeable with how much easier these felt that I knew I could probably get to the 300’s on these and still be good. Also keeping an eye on the lower back with the lean back and the hard bracing required. The funny thing with these kind of deadstop exercises is that just a bit more weight can make them a lot more challenging despite the weight before being something that feels easy. That second set was certainly harder than I would’ve liked but I felt I could still be ok with more. I really wanted to be doing 300lbs for that top set. These felt ok but then I got the bar out in front of me too much on my first go with attempting the third rep that I dropped it and reset to go and get it. Last thing for the evening was a superset of push ups and band pull-aparts. So in my automatic mode, I read these last week as being the ring push ups with bands and just more tension to have lower reps. Oops. Guess not. These were to be band push-ups on the ground for these. So probably could’ve done more tension even. Still got some bruises from the straps for the rings from keeping closer grip with the higher band tension. Plan here was 3x8 with 3RIR and then the same 15-20 reps at RPE 7 for the underhand pull-aparts. Strong band is the most I can really setup for band push-ups and it is a lot of tension. But I can do more than 8 reps despite the pressure on my wrists (I use the dumbbells for grips and wrist wraps so I can keep pushing these) so I’d have to hope that the short rests between the supersets would bring fatigue up enough that it got it to be like 3RIR during the sets. I went heavier tension on the pull-aparts since I could do that and hope that these would also fatigue things for the push ups to get them to be challenging enough. I forgot how much kick the strong band has when it comes to push-ups. But it was manageable. They were at the right level of effort by the end of the third set. Put stuff away and ate six chicken sandwiches for dinner and stretched. Again, not feeling like I needed to ice tonight.

May 22, 2022 – Week 10, Day 4

ATG Split Squats (12” box, lb ankle distraction)
bwx15/15
bwx15/15

Safety Squat Bar Squats to 19” Box
95x3
145x3
195x3
245x3
295x3
345x3
345x3
345x3
345x3
345x3

Sandbag Over Bar
(58”)
250x1
275x1
300x1
(54”)
250x12 (75 seconds)

Yoke (5’ run ups, with band tow, drops at 15’)/Belt Squat Marches
200x30’/200x30
300x30’/300x30
400x45’/400x40
400x45’/400x40

Paused GHD Back Extensions (5 seconds)
bwx3
bw+35x11 (miscounted)
bw+35x10

Tibialis Anterior Raises/Standing Calf Raises
bwx15/bwx15
bwx15/bwx15

Stretching

Comments: I don’t like to be out of my routine. It gives me comfort. But things happen that require adjustments and changes. As long as I have enough time to prepare for said change and adjustment, I can cope with the change. I just try to get as much time in advance so I can adjust. It’s my issue, no one else’s and I understand that. This change had to happen due to the needs of others in celebration of life with the passing of my grandmother. She was the last of my four grandparents. Everything was off and the heat wasn’t helping matters so I just did what I could and pretty much just spent the time after everything was done to kind of mentally recover and cool off. So no walking that day for recovery work as hottest day of the year so far. Sunday was the same in that it was also the hottest day of the year so far. So for training purposes, it doesn’t seem to have mattered which day I did training on, it was going to be terrible. I can get used to the heat with a bit of a break in period. But not like this with it being low 90’s after being roughly 15-20 degrees cooler most of the month. I hadn’t used the fan for most of the workouts this month. My younger sister was also going to be training with me for this workout. Last workout for her to do events for the show and kind of do a test run of things as a show. I don’t find that ideal for myself with things but with the limited event work that could really be done, this was kind of the best option here for her to have a feel for things and to hopefully put any lingering confidence issues at bay. But that also meant I’d be busy as handler and doing my workout. I wasn’t too sure if anyone would be there on Sunday. Uneventful drive other than just talking and kind of going over the day before. We got to the gym and it was hot as balls outside in the parking lot. We were both thinking just go back home and try and lie we did the workout. But it wouldn’t work because I’m the one doing her training and for me, it would be suspect that I don’t record a workout for like the first time in over a decade (though I did forget my camera one time last year but it was a light workout). There were people here. A good bit of people so that meant I could do the things I needed and could get help for the things that needed more than one person for my sister to get the competition style treatment. So there was some distraction on my part which I don’t feel really affected me too much. Only one item on the docket for me was going to be truly challenging so this kind of worked out. But damn it was hot and muggy. Even with the ceiling fans going. I had told my sister to bring change of shirts to have a dry shirt for different events and bring something with salt and sugar to have with water as she hasn’t had a workout in this hot of a setup since returning to training strongman and probably hasn’t before. I should’ve heeded my advice as far as bringing a change of shirt as I thought I could handle it but I guess not. First thing was mobility based stuff to get the ankles and knees feeling ok. Same setup as last week but one less set. Advised to stick to 12-15 rep range which wasn’t a problem. I did these barefoot and I hopefully got the band on the right part of the foot/ankle area for these. I was a bit better I think with being able to switch legs. From there it was on to ssb squats to soft box. No bands this week. What had been the plan here was 5x3 with same weight as last week without the bands and to keep rests to 75 seconds. Knees were feeling a bit achy and  I was trying to move things along with the events with my sister and keep my own stuff going. Which lead to me forgetting how time passes and taking only 45 seconds rests from pacing faster than I usually do lol. But I didn’t know I was going double time until I got home to check as I was focusing on getting stuff done and not so much the wonkiness in my perception of the passage of time. This then lead to the main event of the session for me. Kind of the last heavy go at things. A final checkpoint of no return. Already did these for yoke and Hercules hold last weekend. Frame deadlift and axle will have their final pitstops this week. Sandbag was today. The plan here was warm up with three increasingly heavier singles and then rest and drop down to either 250lbs or something lighter for an AMRAP of 75 seconds. Indication was 2” above contest because why not. I did ask for clarification on that as I’ve been training these 4” above contest the whole time already. So my thoughts here was with the ok given was for the singles go 2” higher than what I was doing and then do 2” higher than contest for the AMRAP with 250lbs. Even though I had sweated through this shirt like twice already, I wasn’t too worried about that as not really experiencing any slippage on this event with my shirt. I was somewhat hesitant though as my upper forearms have been tight the past few weeks. To be expected I guess with all the axle work and focusing on grip aspects. Taking a bit of beating. I think noticing it on Monday last week doing light band stuff like pull-aparts was what got me a bit nervous and some of that was present I think on the axle cleans (the hesitancy that is) and maybe why I started with the cleans from hang that day. But I needed to push and not hesitate. Sometimes going slow makes things worse rather than moving fast as I should. For the singles, I didn’t want to use the sandbag I would be doing for the AMRAP. I figured I’d benefit from using the larger, floppier style bags to get used to things. Forearm issue seemed to go away after the first one or two lifts. Hard to say which but leaning more towards the first. That 275lbs sandbag I swear feels heavier than the 300lbs bag. It’s that darn lead shot in it as every time it seems tougher to pick it and I feel more hamstrings. It’s not always the weight of things. I was a bit nervous for the rep set. Heat was oppressive and I wasn’t feeling 100%. I could last the whole time but I may need to slow down to not have a missed rep as that would suck. Got set and was off. Too much power at the start. Part of why I make sure I bring the bar height down a little if light weights at the end of the cycle. While extension work is good, I can misjudge where the target is and lose control of said implement. Atlas stones roll and don’t really got a front or back or side so can be more careless in that regard. Not so much with things like sandbag or kegs and especially not when you have to chase them down yourself rather than having them returned to you. Yes tossing the equivalent of the endangered giant panda like nothing over a post is fun but I got to do this for reps and do it with efficiency. A powerful engine is no good if it can’t handle it’s own power. So first rep went over too high and hard so it didn’t land nice and flat but to the side and out a bit. But I’m ok with that and did a pick from the side and load. I did it but I didn’t do it mindfully with the intent to course correct so I had it plop over in the same position so that would require another side load to minimize time lost but this also means I’m not doing this optimally. So by this time, I had gotten the skull meat to focus and didn’t launch the bag over this time so that it landed with a satisfying plop in perfect position. So even with that, I was still getting 6 reps in under 30 seconds time (actually getting around to the 7th before 30 seconds). But then the fatigue started to hit and I slowed down considerably to where I went from 3 in under 15 seconds to 2 in under 15 seconds after that first 30 seconds. The good news is my goal was double digits with this weight in under a minute but I was hoping I could get another rep or two before that point. Still I think it was good I was able to maintain the 2 in 15 seconds for 45 seconds after the 3 in 15 seconds for 30 seconds on the hottest day of the year so far. The rest then was accessory work. Kind of. See the next thing was to be for yoke and it was kind of left up to me. My options here had been to either do 3x50’ with 5’ run ups of 500lbs (and use a band on my belt for hip cue if I wanted to) or to do run ups and hop under yoke and do 2x40 steps on belt squat marches instead. I had to think on this a bit. I felt that 500lbs by itself was going to not really do much for me as far as load and running at this point and the practice of getting under the weight and running up would. Still having some sciatica stuff so idea here was speed and recovery. If I wanted more leg work, the belt squat marches could do that for the hips and glutes and maybe provide some traction that could feel good on the discs in my back. I didn’t really want to load my back that much with last heavy deadlift session coming up. I was curious about the band towing as I’ve kind of viewed it as gimmicky and hard to really have it be consistent without having the same person assist each time. So what did I want to focus on? Speed, recovery, timing, hips, traction and some reps for the legs. So I made up my own thing. Borrowing from last training cycle when I was practicing starts on frame after the surprise rule change (and subsequent alteration/rescission), I would do the run ups and a short run and then drop. But treat as a set rather than a single. And try it with the band towing. So 5’ run up and then walk with the yoke 15’ and drop. Walk back 5’ and go again and so on for however many. Band tow the entire time and giving a cue for the person assisting so they are ready each time I’m preparing to move forward. The band on the belt is definitely something as far as getting me to lean forward and focus on hips. Immediately after that, I would then go over the belt squat machine and do the same weight for the steps there. This worked out well I think as my right knee was getting only a little achy after this. Back extensions on the GHD after that. Same as last time with the holds and chin tucked. Plan was more weight and 2x10 this time. I think I had the bench setup in not the right spot for the first set as it felt a lot harder with just bodyweight (more like a sorsen hold). I adjusted it and went with a somewhat decent increase in weight and it ended up being too easy I fear as I miscounted the first set. But these do feel good. Last thing was a superset for the front and back of the lower legs. Like last week. 2x15 for each with bodyweight. Not terribly difficult but challenging enough in that these are exercises I’m not great at. As previously mentioned, I usually have something in front of me for balance (and probably to take some of my bodyweight off) for calf stuff so it doesn’t feel like a lot, the balancing required is difficult and perhaps beneficial in getting things in the lower leg to wake up. At this point, I was kind of done with the workout with the heat and wanting to get out of there. I wouldn’t have a day to sleep-in and recover like usual here. Did these back to back and got out to drive home. My sister hit all the goals and felt good enough to try above that stuff on some. Maybe it will be there for contest day for the more for her. Stretched and tried to cool off and rehydrate. Had burritos for dinner and iced knees before bed.

May 19, 2022 – Week 10, Day 3

Axle Clean and Push Jerks (one clean)
From Hang
50x2
75x2
100x2
125x1
150x1
175x1
200x1
225x1
250x1
250x1
Regular
250x1
250x1
250x1

Axle Push Jerks/Presses
183x2
213x2
243x1
273x1
303x1
305x1 (became a push press)
308x1 (became a push press)
273x0 (couldn’t get under weight with jerk)
273x3 (1 jerk and 2 push presses)
255x3

Bench Chest Supported Axle Rows (6 second hold 1st rep)
50x8
100x8
140x4
190x8
190x8
190x8

Half Kneeling Band Face Pulls (low anchor point)/Band Triceps Extensions (facing away, rack)
mbx25/lbx25
mmbx25/sbx25
mmbx25/sbx25

Stretching
  
Comments: Getting close to crunch time. No more strength to be built, just refined. The excess is coming off. Either the parts are coming off for a safe reentry or helping me get further into the cosmos. The little tweaks and such to get the most juice for my squeeze. The somewhat lighter session as far as the axle clean and pressing (but heavier out of rack). I still want to push things but the day to do so for when it matters is coming up. Arms and elbows have taken a beating thing training cycle and that was a little unexpected but perhaps that was when I didn’t think I needed so many supplemental classes on axle cleans. I don’t really know much about the people I’m competing against. They don’t really post much. A good many that will beat me on the press and pull, a few I should be able to beat on everything, and some that might beat me on my better events but I’ll beat them on my not as good ones. 18 total as of today. Anyway, on to the workout. So axle again with the focus being singles. No pauses or anything unless I felt like I needed them for feeling out positions. The goal was 240-260lbs for 5x1 with it being easy and not feeling like any weird reps. As a technique focused thing, I tried out stuff rather than keep it bottled in and maybe seeing if it worked contest day. One was attire. I had been wearing a double shirt (grip shirt under a shirt with decal) as that seemed to work a lot better than just a grip shirt. I listened to a snippet from a 105kgs world champion about this as some shows allow belt cleans and others don’t and he indicated that two shirt method could keep the top shirt from sliding. So I wondered what would happen if I put a tight shirt under my grip shirt and have that be the combo? This actually seemed to work a good bit better for me. Another thing trying out again was the clean from hang. I’m paranoid about the biceps on these with the wear and tear from frequency on the underhand grip. My coach uses this style and I’ve tried it but had issues with getting the form right to actually make it work for me beyond 240lbs. So tried that out. The other thing was testing out jerks. I’ve only done them two weeks at about 200lbs but the power I was feeling was too much to ignore. I tend to feel slow and shallow on the drive with push press and use a lot of hips and not so much legs. I feel that I’d need more time to refine this but I wanted to see if this would work for me. At 250lbs, I got stuck with the clean from hang on the second rep. I hit my belt and ended up just kind of upright rowing it DOH onto the belt and then went from there. So really slowed the momentum down. The third lift same thing and I figured I’d stop rather than attempt the same thing I did for the second rep as I know I can’t do this with 300lb if it happens at the show and have the energy to finish the lift. So I went back to my old style and that was better. The jerks were feeling crisper each set. I was really being patient with the lower body drive which I think is benefiting me as not to rush things. On the fourth rep, I kind of landed right on the belt and it didn’t feel heavy. It felt like a diving board. Belt cleans are allowed at this show so I figured I’d give that a shot. This felt like how I used to be able to clean the axle. Powerful, no ugly struggle. I then did it again for the fifth one but this time didn’t hesitate and went right for it. Boom, easiest one of the day. Will have to see if I can keep that going with heavier weights. Always have options to complete the task at hand. Onto the heavier stuff out of the rack. I was advised to start lighter. I wanted to see how far I could go with the jerks. I forgot to record the lighter double sets but remembered to start with the singles. The jerks worked well enough up to 273lbs. The goal for the day was 3 top singles that I felt I could do doubles with and then take weight off for two down sets of decreasing weight. I got set for 303lbs but I think the weight or just not feeling it I hesitated and it went out in front and I caught it  but had to press it out rather than just stand up with it. The power is there. I added a little more weight and although my intent was to do a jerk, my body just decided to push press with a jerk leg drive. It felt pretty easy. I went up 3lbs more to get it to 140kgs. Same thing as what happened with 305lbs in that I went for the jerk but it became a push press. It felt easier than the 305lbs. Like I could’ve done a triple with it. 10% off then for the first triple. That was a disaster. I’m not quite conditioned for this many jerks it seems at this weight. I just couldn’t get under the weight with a jerk initially with two tries. I reracked it, took like 20-30 seconds to recollect my thoughts and went again. Got one ugly jerk and then ended up doing two push presses with long pauses in the rack position. Not my best work. Another drop set and I was able to get my legs to cooperate and get under the bar for a jerk. So results would say push press is my stronger suit at this time but that jerks working up may be best way to wake up the lower body drive so as not to have things be slow like I usually end up doing on my first push press rep on heavy sets. I may also need to play around with rack position. The jerk rack seems counterintuitive for the push press but since I seem to go forward, having the center of gravity closer to midline and then popping hips under it might actually help me. It also doesn’t feel as heavy on my arms as a trick. Something to explore maybe. More axle but not for pressing. This was another idea to try and help with the clean. Bench supported rows with the axle. Pull in hard into the bench that first rep for 5-6ct and then do 7 more reps normally (explosive). I wasn’t too sure how these would go really. I was advised I could do them with straps but I felt that it wasn’t my upper back really that was going to be lagging. It was going to be the hands and arms. I did these thumbless (the grip I use for axle clean once cleared the belt). So working to crush with the hands. I wasn’t too sure how difficult these would be and was prepared for being humbled by like 120lbs. Turns out I could use more weight. That first rep with pull-in is tough and then just my forearms and biceps being sore after that. I ended up forgetting to film these much to my chagrin. Last thing was the low anchor point face pulls and triceps extensions. Two sets of 15-25 reps. No pauses or holds or anything like that. I thought that higher reps I’d fatigue quick so I did go lighter than usually but turns out that wasn’t needed so I just made that a warm-up set. Probably could’ve made the face pull part harder to match the difficulty of the triceps. Put stuff away and ate dinner. Didn’t feel like knees were bothering me much at all so no icing.

May 17, 2022 – Week 10, Day 2

Mobility Prep

Titan Fitness Frame Deadlifts (14” pick, straps)
140x3
140x3
230x3
320x3
410x3
500x3
500x3
500x3
500x3
500x3
500x3

2” Deficit Stiff-legged Deadlifts (straps)
155x5
205x5
245x3
295x3
335x3
385x12

Bulgarian Split Squats (barefoot)
bwx5/5
bw+10’sx20/20
bw+10’sx20/20
bw+10’sx20/20

Copenhagen Planks (foam roller crush)
bwx20/20 seconds
bwx20/20 seconds
bwx20/20 seconds

Seated Band Hamstring Curls
ab’sx30
ab’sx30
ab’sx30

Stretching
  
Comments: Just drowning at work. Just doing what I can. Today was going to be lower stress day and lower volume. Notes suggested that I could move this day or skip it. I think this may be for next week notes since that is the week I have to move days around to accommodate things for the funeral. Or it could be a word of caution with the sciatica issues that started up Friday. Anyways, mobility stuff felt fine as it has been. Continuing to work these to feel better. Wasn’t unbearable hot today and with it being not as stressful a session as far as I could tell, I decided to keep the fans off to work up a good sweat. Maybe I felt I needed to sweat out all the subpar food from Sunday and Monday night. My head was definitely feeling clearer today after getting an infusion of the protein powder I like. But not sure if it will last me until my big order arrives. Play it by ear. Frame deadlifts to start things off. Not the heavy week I was expecting but I think probably for the best. That is next week it seems as we get to the end of this training prep. Some things the same and some things different. So this was to be lighter and lesser RPE from last week. Still EMOM stuff with each set doing the quick draw strapping in. But I was to try and take load off my lower back and do it more hips and quads. So that meant standing on a platform and gripping the handles in the center rather in the back. I had meant to only do doubles after the essentially empty frame but I forgot and got too into it and only realized I was still doing triples after 320lbs so I decided to do a triple with 410lbs as well. 500lbs for 6x3 wasn’t bad. Certainly not as quick compared to how I normally pull the frame but it was good to work that way this time and not overdue the lower back that is still dealing with some inflammation. Had to have a little more control with the weight so that I didn’t get things trapped between the frame and the platform. From there it was on to stiffies. I was kind of surprised they weren’t an exercise for Saturday last week but then it made sense seeing them show up for this day. Plan was work up to a top set of 12-15 reps (1-2RIR) using the same setup I had been using. Well, couldn’t quite do that since I don’t have kilo plates or a squat bar so just my cheapo bar and the odds and ends plates I got. Now I was originally planning to start at 135lbs and work up 50-40lbs jumps to 365lbs for the top set. But I guess I just felt like I should do more if I could and added 20lbs to my weights. This wasn’t feeling as “easy” I guess as it had at the strongman gym. Not sure why. I knew I had to keep my brace strong and not let things go squirrelly with my sciatica stuff waiting in the wings. But I also didn’t want to be making these easy. I don’t know if I actually was uneven or what but I kept having the one side touch first with these. I knew 15 reps would be a tall order with how things were going but I knew I could get 12 and that is where I stopped. From there it was the accessory work of the evening. Still Bulgarian split squats but no tempo or chakra aligning breathing. Just indicated to try and maintain upright torso and sets of 12-20 with 3-5RIR. I liked the barefoot so I stuck to that. Advised to use bodyweight or a light weight. I tested things out and bodyweight was going to be way too easy so I grabbed the 10lbs kettlebells. Really easy stuff here. Good sweat going. I started to get burning in my upper quads by the last set with all the reps. Copenhagen planks followed that but with a twist. I was to do the plank but hold a foam roller between my legs. So the lower leg would be required to also do an isometric while holding an isometric. Knees must have been feeling good as I forgot to pull down the knee sleeves for extra support. Thankfully these were shorter holds as that new twist added made these a good bit more challenging. Last thing was good ole band leg curls. Sets of 20-30 for RPE 6-7. I figured with no pauses or weirdo rep things that the same bands as last time would be fine. That worked out pretty well as the fatigue from that many reps over the sets may have started at the lower end but got closer to the higher end of the RPE. Put stuff away, cooked up dinner and stretched before icing knees and then bed.

May 16, 2022 – Week 10, Day 1

Band YTW’s
µb’sx10
µb’sx10

Axle Jerks
(brief holds in rack, dip and catch)
46x2
76x2
106x2
136x2
166x2
(no holds)
196x2 (didn’t quite hold 2nd rep)
196x1
200x2
200x2
200x2
200x2
200x2

Axle Strict Presses (head through on last rep only)
136x3
166x3
196x2
226x2
250x2
226x3
226x3

Axle Standing Pin Presses (forehead height)
136x3
166x3
196x3
226x3
256x3
258x3
260x3

Pull-ups (1 second pause in deadhang)
bwx2
bw+11x5
bw+11x5
bw+11x5
bw+11x5

Banded Ring Push-ups (feet elevated on bench)/Underhand Band Pullaparts
abx10/mbx20
abx10/mbx20
abx10/mbx20

Stretching
  
Comments: Sunday was a bit of a lazy day. Rather than going for just a walk, I ended up mowing for the first time this year. Felt nice to do. Sciatica stuff lessening a good bit but still noticeable and present. I felt like I was going through a fog in the morning today. I blame then new protein powder and trying out different restaurants the day before. Took until after lunch for that to pass. Work kicked my butt mentally today. On to training Band warming up was fine. Felt decent. I didn’t need the fans today as well. Weather was a bit hit or miss with storms that came in yesterday and this morning. I am noticing that on parts of the band warm-up that my arms/shoulders aren’t really even despite feeling symmetrical in my head. Not sure if that should be something of concern or just noted. A bit of change here with the next thing being axle jerks. Same as last week when I decided to do them at 60%x5x2. Advised to work up with pauses in dip and at the catch (assuming split). Did 30lbs jumps and this felt a lot better than going right into it after axle pressing like last week. Not doing split jerk as that didn’t feel so good and not as powerful. Can’t hesitate with this kind of movement. Maybe something to explore in offseason. My plan here had been to do the same weight as last time but I went up slightly. Reason being is that I got sloppy with the second rep of the first set with 196lbs and I got annoyed with that and reracked the weight and then did another and thought about doing it again and thought better of it. Just use the annoyance to motivate. That actually seemed to be the right call as going up to an even 200lbs these felt really powerful. Not sure though how this will be with more weight as really this is only at most 67% of heaviest weight done this training cycle. Axle press was next. This was to be for a top 2-3 rep set (1-2RIR) and then take off 10% for 2x3. Shoulders were feeling decent after the axle jerks. At least up until I got above the weight I was using on that. So I didn’t really need to do much warming up. Balance felt a little off. After how 226lbs felt for a double, I knew that it wasn’t the day to go for a big PR here and settled for the minimum I was willing to do. That ended up being tough too and getting out of position on both reps so called it there. Didn’t want to risk injury to lower back with my ego today. Down sets felt fine enough (didn’t record the first set). These have been kind of odd how the lean back style works on them. Not done with pressing after that. Lockout work planned with the pin pressing. Work up to 3x3 RPE 8 with axle set at or slightly higher than where I was pausing the reps for the pause presses. So using top of the power rack and standing on blocks. Bar path and bracing felt better with these. I felt that I could probably sneak in little increases on these sets with the fractional plates and maintain the same difficult. Only rep that was challenging (besides first heavy rep positioning) was the second rep of the last set where it got out in front of me. This was then followed by the easiest rep. So that worked out well. After that was pull-ups. Same as last week with pauses in the deadhang. Plan here was 4x5 with 10lbs added and 90 seconds rest. My biceps and forearms were not happy with these today, especially the left one. Still feeling things from Thursday workout (and Saturday). Now my belt I had been using for these to add weight had busted last training cycle and I didn’t have the foresight to get a new one at this time. I also completely forgot about how I’ve been using my backpack. Told you I wasn’t thinking as clearly. So I decided to use the chains I had to drape around my neck instead. So that meant slightly heavier. These actually felt better as I went, in that my biceps and forearms seemed to feel better with more movement. The chain was easy enough to put on and take off that I was able to stick to the rest times (and may not be able to be so quick with the backpack maybe). Last thing for the evening was a superset of the previous two last exercises from the past few weeks: banded ring push ups and band pull-aparts. Advised to give these 90 seconds rest between sets. For the ring push-ups, I was told to make them fast and focus on close grip for more triceps. No pauses or holds so If figured with that and the lower expected reps, that I could probably go up in tension a good bit. I was right. The other half was the pull aparts which were the underhand version for higher reps with slight holds at lockout. My left forearm didn’t care for these at the start as that appears to still be tense from other stuff (namely axle cleans I think main culprit) from the previous week. But like the pull-ups, these felt better as I went. Ate a bunch of greasy chicken sandwiches for dinner before putting things away and stretching. Iced both knees before bed.

May 14, 2022 – Week 9, Day 4

ATG Split Squats (12” box, lb ankle distraction)
bwx15/15
bwx15/15
bwx15/15

Safety Squat Bar Squats to 19” Box w/ bands (+60lbs bottom/+86lbs top)
65x3
115x3
155x3
205x3
245x3
295x3
345x3
345x3
345x3
345x3
345x3

Yoke (5’ run ups)
Casual Pace
200x50’
200x50’
Normal
290x50’
380x25’
470x25’
560x25’ in 5.39 seconds
650x25’ in 6.11 seconds
720x50’ in 12.58 seconds
720x50’ in 11.32 seconds
670x50’ in 8.32 seconds (no run up)

Hercules Holds
170 for 10 seconds
260 for 5 seconds
350 for 15 seconds
290 for 39.41 seconds
190 for 85.35 seconds

Paused GHD Back Extensions (5 seconds)
bwx3
bw+20x12
bw+20x12

Band Assisted Teardrop Squats (sb assist)
bwx25
bwx25
bwx25

Axle Wrist Curls (5-0-0-3 tempo)/Tibialis Anterior Raises/Standing Calf Raises
85x10/bwx15/bwx15
85x10/bwx15/bwx15

Stretching

Comments: I am hard on myself with my pursuit of strongman. But not so hard that I put myself into the pits of despair. For how I truly feel as far as my grade to what I want in comparison to what I allow I am being soft. A balance as too much would be complete discouragement. I feel that at this point, I've reached the absolute bare minimum to feel like I can compete at Nationals but I don't know if I can sustain that seeing how worn I'm feeling from doing two shows one cycle after the other. Training today was going to be a little complicated. My younger sister was going to be training at the gym with me so that would require some effort to make sure that I’m getting my stuff done but she gets the attention and focus needed. She moved recently so it wasn’t going to be nearly as bad as far as picking up and driving out. But work kind of beat me down more than I was expecting so things I had planned to do earlier didn’t happen and meant I’d need to do them in the morning. Also dealing with a little bit of sciatica. Happens when I work lower back hard sometimes. Reminders of the disc issues in my back and that my physiology (per chiropractor) is prone to issues with slight deviations due to narrow openings for the nerve bundles in spine. So just having inflamed muscles can sometimes be enough to add pressure. So that was something I wasn’t too thrilled about having come up Friday into Saturday. Had to meal prep breakfast for next week (and today) and get dinner prepped as well as it was going to be a long day. Probably only person training with gravy on their shorts. I did try to do some dip station lower back compression to see if that helped any as that has been my go-to for this. My belt I used to use broke last training cycle so I had to makeshift something. Not as effective but it was something. Plan was to try and do some more when I got the gym. Driving out was fine. Caught up with her (we talk but mostly just sharing memes back and forth). Good bit of people in the gym but didn’t really seem like it was the large group of people usually there that past few times. Some things did clear out a little bit after we got there. I did some more dip station decompression and it helped a little bit more. I was still nervous it would flare up on stuff today but have to see and not assume. We are both doing the same show (which hadn’t been the case the last time we were out there together) so I had to plan things to keep to my routine but also keep her stuff in a good way and not cool down too much (I do a lot more exercises then she does). Initially didn’t have to worry about cooling down as the gym fans weren’t on and while not hot outside, it was beastly humid inside and I was soaking through my shirt early on. Should’ve brought more sweat towels. ATG split squats to a high box with band distraction again. I felt I could use thicker band this time around and didn’t need to do any mobility stuff to be ready to go. Same as last time as far as reps and sets (3x8-15 and add holds and pauses). These felt fine though it does appear that I’m not quite anchoring the band right. Or at least not on the right part of my body. Too high and not on the talus. I will have to correct that next time by angling the anchor point down so that it doesn’t try to ride up and wear low cut shoes or be barefoot (socks). Did these all back to back like last time with only rest being between sides just switching position and band. Squats with the ssb to box again after that. Again, not right away. I had to wait. Which annoyed me because I how things went. Someone had “claimed” one of the squat racks and they were talking a long time with someone that was leaving before actually starting. And then they had to use one of those massage therapy guns on their legs before even getting under the bar to squat. And they weren’t even using the power rack part of it, just the outside so he could’ve been anywhere else really. But also there was issues with the bands. I’ve been using mini bands (2 pairs) a side and people break them or they get used for stuff. So since I need 4 bands, this happens where I don’t have them. So this was one of those days. I had switched to the mini bands as the light bands from before had issues with people using them to get traction on benching and there is a huge discrepancy between them as far as which ones are good or not. So no issues with getting the light bands but I have a feeling that these were more tension then I had planned on. I had done a rough check and they seemed to match what I was doing. But this tension felt heavy and was trying to crumple me forward. I was also sweating like crazy and this weight felt heavy on my knees. 15lbs more than last week for what is probably the end of the 3 week wave. About half way into these the fans got turned on and what a relief that was. Yoke was next but not right away. Had my sister do all her yoke runs first before I went on to do my. So this is likely the last heavy one of the training cycle here. Plan was short runs up to contest weight for 2 full runs and then drop down 50lbs and try to beat my time from two week’s prior. One of the things for the yoke that I had not been training up until this point was the run up. So this show is having competitors stand 5’ back. Time starts and you have to run up to the yoke and go. So that doesn’t sound like much but it is a speed factor and trying to figure out things as far as is taking more time to settle and brace going to pay out better than rushing it? Unlike with the previous show where things like “strap in own time” and “run up to implement” were mentioned 3 weeks prior to show (and some were dropped at the show), this is a known thing from at least a month or so back. I didn’t focus on it up until now as I was trying to get back some yoke confidence. That very first week, 500lbs felt terrible on my knees and the work had been beltless work so I really wanted to work on the start and brace. Last session I felt I had gotten the start where I could take my time was down perfect. But I needed to see how this would feel. It certainly adds a level of difficulty. Rushing I can’t get as tight or brace things or balance the position 100%. It does remind me a bit of drop and go back yoke but with that I feel that the initial run before the drop and the repick isn’t as “cold” as this. 5’ isn’t that far and I’m pretty much able to reach the yoke in a single step. Warming up with the shorter runs felt ok but I could feel I wasn’t as fast. Last 25’ run I got the yoke way too high on my back so it felt like it was on my neck. First set with contest weight it felt heavy and I didn’t feel like I could pick up my speed. I didn’t think this little change would result in that much of a drop in speed. I took a little longer to setup on the pick for the second set and was over a second faster. The last set I didn’t do the run up as I wanted to have an accurate check with last time. I think doing run ups and then going to no run-up had my timing a little off with the pick. I was about a second slower compared to last time with this weight. I don’t feel like I get a faster time on a lighter weight after a heavy weight with yoke compared to some other things. Hercules hold was the next thing. Weight posted and for the show and that really doesn’t answer much. Only 150lbs per hand but uncertain on what that will actually feel on this setup. So continuing to test the low times (under 30 seconds), mid times (30-60 seconds) and the long times (+60 seconds). Last time with these went really well despite not feeling like I was going to. Trying to warm up in an efficient way and not take forever. Plan here was 350lbs per hand for 15 seconds to do some PAP before the longer sets. Seeing as how my first try with 320lbs was just about 12 seconds, this could be a big ask. Took 90lbs jumps and gave it my best shot. This was tough. I do feel that I’m getting better at this event. Hook grip made it too easy at that one show so this is really making me have to control things as far as the shoulder girdle and forearms and back muscles. Get a few more moments into it. The heavier set was challenging and I feel that it kind of made things a bit tougher than for the other sets. Just shy of 40 seconds on the 290lbs set and only barely beating my time with 200lbs with 190lbs. But it was still good work and I was happy with the heavy hold. Accessory stuff for the rest of the workout. Back extensions on the GHD. Hold for 3-5ct (you know I did 5 seconds) at max contraction and keep the chin tucked. Work on bracing and flexing the glutes. These felt good enough. Actually felt good and my back wasn’t bothered by them. But being inverted for so long makes things a little dizzy haha. The band assisted tear drop squats after that. Same as last time with 3 sets of 20-25 reps at RPE 6-7. I do like how these feel on the ankles. My arms and upper back seem to get more of a workout holding the band for this many reps. Last thing was a triset; wrist curls and stuff for the front and back of the lower legs. Axle wrist curls again with the tempo stuff and bodyweight for the leg stuff (with control and pauses). I went up too much with the wrist curls as it was to be RPE 8 and really I probably should’ve used the same weight as last time as that had been too much for 3x10 at RPE 7. It was a bit deceptive though in that first set was fine and then the second set it felt easier at the start but then 5 reps in it started to crush me and I had to rest pause the last two reps. The leg exercises I feel are needed just from how things went. Tib stuff I was able to do better I think since less balance issues. Good control I think relatively but I do fatigue fast seeing how the second set went. The calf raises were kind of embarrassing. I tend to do these at home with the dip station handles for balance. Without balance these make it look like a newborn giraffe trying to walk. So perhaps I need these more with the balance aspect. Put stuff away so as not staying another hour to stretch out to get my sister home and me back home to finish up.

May 12, 2022 – Week 9, Day 3

Axle Clean and Push Presses (one clean)
60x2
90x2
120x2
150x2
180x2
210x1
240x1
270x1
300x0 (messed up pick)
300x1
300x1
300x1

Axle Push Presses
255x3
255x3
255x3

Axle Incline Bench Presses w/ bands (+22lbs bottom/+42lbs top)
30x4
60x4
90x4
120x4
150x4
180x4
215x4
193x4
172x4

Bench Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows (3 second eccentrics)
58’sx5
78’sx3
98’sx10
98’sx10
98’sx10

Half Kneeling Band Face Pulls (low anchor point)
mmb+µbx15
mmb+µbx15
mmb+µbx15

Band Triceps Extensions (facing away, rack)
sbx20
sbx20

Stretching
  
Comments: With work, feels like I don’t have time to really breath and catch up. People being out for extended time results in even further increase in workload. The one terrible worker is quitting and even though last day is Friday, doubtful they will be in as they weren’t today. But that means one less body to take up the slack. Unit already lost two workers 3 months ago to the shuffle. Not optimistic of replacements coming or being trained timely (as it took over 2yrs because of “reasons” to train the new people with half of them getting moved because they couldn’t cut it when required to do a full caseload). People that weren’t planning to retire early are reconsidering it. Just keep on I guess. As for me, upper back and neck stiff and sore. Lower back a little but not as bad as it could be compared to last week. Legs not really feeling DOMS. I would’ve liked to train in the early afternoon (since I had the 2nd of the 3 mandatory trainings in the afternoon) but it didn’t work out. So axle again with the focus being singles. Work up in a suggested 25-30lbs jumps to 3 singles at between 285lbs to 305lbs. Not max singles, something that I could hit and have something in the tank as I will have one more heavy session like this before the show in 3 weeks. I really wanted to do 300x3x1 but had to see how I was feeling. How things went. It was quite warm so I had fans going in the patio and the garage. Borrowing from when I did that single with log last cycle up to 300lbs, I did doubles up to the first indicated single (plan had 210,240,265x1 and then 290x3x1). I was feeling ok but felt I wasn’t quite as “strong” feeling in the pop compared to perhaps last time or the time before. It can be hard to perceive as last week was the paused sets with less weight. Stuck with the 30lbs jumps. Just adding 5 and 10 each side, not really securing things until the working weight. Maybe it would make things feel easier at the heavier weight. I could feel that my pressing wasn’t on point with 240lbs and I corrected that with 270lbs as that went up easier. I wanted 300lbs for these singles. One to get back to doing 300lbs on both log and axle in training and the other to hit a kind of PR in that it would be the most sets I’ve done 300lbs or more for successfully on a contested overhead exercise. I’ve done heavier in the past on this setup and on other setups. I’ve done reps with over 300lbs before as well. Finding progress in some capacity. So things with 300lbs didn’t start off great. I’m slow and hesitant with that first pull with my biceps and they had been stiff from training Saturday and Monday. That laxity resulted in me not pulling the bar right and hitting my belt buckle on the way up. I tried to regroup while holding it double overhand thumbless but couldn’t managed to pull it up and out to rest on the belt. Kind of frustrated with that but I told myself it wasn’t the end. This is a technical lift. Misses are warm-ups. I’ve missed 230lbs and 260lbs a month ago and now I’m missing 300lbs. Progress haha. But I missed those and then got it after a regroup and stepping away. So about 90 seconds and I was back at it. That last bit to the flip definitely feels more like muscling it up at this point. It is a good thing that I’ve been working on upper back and bracing or I feel that this style would have me knocking the wind out of me and folding me in half. Similar to two week’s prior, I misgrooved the first attempt at the press. I’m getting good at not freaking out and feeling comfortable with holding the weight and letting it settle at least so I knew I could do it and didn’t despair. Got better lower body drive and launched it up there. It was going to be tough to successfully clean 300lbs two more times I felt. But I was meticulous with prep and making sure I was fully rested. Second set felt better. No misgroove on the press. Third set was harder on the press as my triceps were starting to feel beat. I did a Marunde leg lift at the end just because. The happiness of being able to successfully do 300lbs for 3 singles was short lived and fleeting, as usual. Thinking I need to be a lot better and that I was faster and stronger 6-8yrs ago. Comparing to myself and to others. This is what makes me keep going and seeking improvement but also drives me crazy. I don’t have low self-esteem, I just have a high tolerance haha. So from there it was surprisingly more axle. I guess I didn’t get enough. Axle out of the rack followed with 3x3 at 85% of whatever I ended up hitting for the singles. So being 300lbs made for a not weird number indivisible by 5. Still, right knee was feeling pretty sore and going from the clean and press to right out of the rack feels a bit rough. But this wasn’t going from same weight to same weight. It was 45lbs less weight. Still not that great. No set rests as plan was to “own it”. 255lbs for 3x3 isn’t that bad. But shoulders and triceps were feeling it a bit from the heavy stuff. 20lbs jumps is pretty aggressive. So first rep wasn’t that good but the other reps were better. I could tell by the end that my triceps were ready to stop with this nonsense. That wasn’t to say that I was done with them. Oh no. It was then on to another axle incline bench variation. No pauses, no eccentrics, no boards, no chaos weight this time. But with bands. I rechecked my band setup just to make sure I wasn’t assuming it would be the same for axle vs log. Somehow these ended up being more tension than the log press setup by a few lbs. So plan here was work up to a top set of 3-4 (RPE 8-8.5) and then do two down sets of removing 10% each time (so 90% and 80%). Goal trying to make the weight move faster each time those down sets. I wasn’t sure how I’d like bands on this as this exercise tends to be funky for me if I don’t keep it in the right groove and become annoying. But that is without bands. Apparently, bands make this like a free-form Smith machine with the bands keeping the bar in the right path. So even if I get fatigued and start pushing out instead of straight up, the bands resist and kind of guide it back so I can actually push through the sticking point. So I was very surprised how well these went and I think might be my favorite of the variations that have been done so far with axle on incline. But I will do whatever is needed or best. Only one exercise in the garage this time around. Still chest supported dumbbell rows for 3x10 with the 3 second eccentrics. Advised this would be the last week of the tempo related but uncertain if this will remain or be swapped for more axle. I wasn’t planning on going as heavy as I did but it just kind of worked out. I figured that only doing the one set to warm up hadn’t been the best to actually prep so I did two sets and that seemed to work out well enough to make this feel similar to how last week felt with less weight. Outside with bands to finish up things. The axle helper face pulls, sticking to the same band tension. I forgot to film the first set. Last thing was bands for triceps. Figures after I got the EZ curl bar there would be a changeup haha. So this was to be 2x15-20 with 3RIR and short rests. With these band things, the effort level is hard to gauge and not have it be something where the band tension hampers the quality of movement. So I took my heaviest single band and had at it and it was too easy for the parameters but my hope was that if I took a really short rest (40 seconds) that the lack of recovery would make it be in the right range. I was right for that last set. Put stuff away and ate dinner before stretching. Made sure to ice my right knee twice before bed.

May 10, 2022 – Week 9, Day 2

Mobility Prep

Deadlifts
155x3
155x3
245x2
335x2
385x1
425x1
Added Straps
475x1
515x2
525x2
531x2

Titan Fitness Frame Deadlifts (16” pick, straps)
320x2
410x2
500x3
520x3
540x3
560x3
580x3

Offset Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squats (3-1-3-X tempo, barefoot)
10x12/12
10x12/12
10x12/12

Copenhagen Planks
bwx30/30 seconds
bwx30/30 seconds
bwx30/30 seconds

Seated Band Hamstring Curls (band each leg, 5 second hold every 5 reps)
ab’sx25
ab’sx25
ab’sx25

Stretching
  
Comments: Wasn’t thinking too much about this session. Other things going on. If anything as far as sessions, thinking about the next one involving the axle clean and press as that is the one stressing me still. Probably because it is the only one where I can miss the lift before I even get to the halfway point. And it takes practice and confrontation of it on a weekly basis. But need a release and got to stay focused. While setting up in the garage, I heard a buzzing and initially thought it was one of the many people either mowing or having lawn service done but then noticed it was a honey bee hovering around rather violently into one of the tube lights in the garage. I opened the door again but to no avail. I decided to try something from observing a video with bees reacting to lights going out. Turned it off and bee dropped and flew out the garage door. Not sure if got caught and was focusing on the brightest thing or if the light had a buzzing I could not hear but was inadvertently talking shit about their queen. Anyways, mobility stuff felt fine. Really trying to feel my feet and toes working to keep balance on some of this stuff. Having that connection and feeling that they can move and grip is helpful in getting mobility to improve in the ankle and knee areas. Noticing less knee aches compared to past two weeks so that is a plus. It wasn’t unbearably hot so I decided to hold off on using the fans until after I did my heavier stuff. Deadlifts after that. Deadlift isn’t to be peaked right now and more to maintain. It has felt a little frustrating that past two sessions with how heavy it has felt and how much I felt like my lower back was being used to do the lifts. Like leg drive wasn’t really happening. And part of that might be the knee and ankle stuff. This is the first training cycle where the contest doesn’t have a suited pull so that could be part of it as well. The plan here was to work up to 3x2 with between 500-520lbs and take whatever rest I needed here to make sure these felt good (2RIR). Intent here was 515lbs as that was the suggested for all three sets. See how I feel working up. I had the idea to keep my hips higher then I had been since I wasn’t feeling like the leg drive overexaggerating was helping me. My stiff legged deadlifting has been feeling great the past two weeks so maybe I should take advantage of that. I had a conversation with my younger sister training last weekend that that she was more quad dominant so some tips I had to help me with pulls weren’t helping and would actually hinder what she could do. I warmed up trying to take short rests to get up to the top weight. Kind of using haphazard loading to make things feel heavier mayhap so that I was surprised with the relative ease of the working sets. But as always, I got plans on top of plans. A cascade of options assuming that this endeavor is successful. Mental “If Then” directives. So what I was thinking was that if 515lbs felt easy enough and without set rest periods, I could maybe increase the weight a little each set and then act like the last set is the one that matters. I tend to focus on those last sets when the program indicates “report” RIR which the assumption that this is the indicator for what I will do next time. So play a little trick on myself and think that that is what I’m to do for these even though it isn’t. Results inconclusive (similar to jerks) but promising. Last set is the most weight I’ve done for reps on deadlift since 2018 with no suit. Haven’t gone above 525lbs since I started training in the garage back in early 2020. I feel that the work that has been done has made me better at bracing and being able to muscle out the weight with this style. From there it was on to frame deadlifts for the “lighter” week session. So this was a bit different as this was combination of EMOM and add sets. I apparently made the last light week too light and leave too many RIR being able to grind out lifts on this movement. EOMOM too easy for me so I got less rest. Since the event is increasing weight, that was thrown in as well. I think this is the first time that I’ve had EMOM with increasing weight each set. Very used to singles and occasionally doubles so triples have been interesting. Now contest is 50lbs jumps and this was 20lbs jumps and triples. In my head and heart, I’m kind of hoping that my setup is like 100lbs tougher feeling. I’ve been of the thinking that training for things like ladders with adding loose plates to the bar and having people load the weights wasn’t required. It looks neat but I feel same training effect could be had from doing reps with a reset each time with a set weight. It can work with the frame since plates can’t really fall off or affect the integrity with upright posts. Knee wasn’t bothering me too much. Each set doing the quick draw strapping in. Mistimed that on the first working set. Better after that. I got off balance on the third rep with second set so that wasn’t fun. These got draining fast as weights I’d be lifting up pretty darn easy were taking some effort to get moving. By the end, the fatigue was making that 580lbs set feel close to how sets with 635lbs was feeling last week. With the heavier stuff done, I turned on the fans as I was going to be sweating a good bit and wouldn’t be using straps for the other stuff. From there it was the accessory work of the evening. Those darn Bulgarian split squats with tempo and the like. Same as it has been the past two weeks. These are tedious but I know they are good for me. These were feeling quite tough by the end but I managed to get through these with very little extra rest for the last two sets compared to last time (averaging 2 minutes or less rest). Knees were achy but with the amount of reps and blood flow, it almost feels like the knees are healing at points with stuff click and clacking back into place or something. Not going to fight it. Copenhagen planks followed that. 3 sets of 30 seconds each side. Easy enough really. Not as burpy this evening. Finished up with seated band leg curls. Same plan as last week. I didn’t want to add more band tension but I felt that last time would probably be too easy this time so I moved my bench back about a foot to increase the band tension. Might have been a bit much to keep it RPE 7 honestly. But I wasn’t going to stop midstream. Put stuff away and made dinner. Stretched and iced both knees.

May 9, 2022 – Week 9, Day 1

Band YTW’s
µb’sx10
µb’sx10

Axle Strict Presses (head through on last rep only)
46x3
76x3
106x3
136x2
166x2
196x2
226x3
226x3
226x3

Axle Jerks
196x2 (squat)
196x2 (squat)
196x2 (squat)
196x2 (split)
196x2 (split)

Pull-ups (1 second pause in deadhang)
bwx5
bwx5
bwx5
bwx5
bwx5

Banded Paused Ring Push-ups (feet elevated on bench, 1 second)
mmbx12
mmbx12
mmbx12

Defranco Band Pull-aparts (40 seconds on/40 seconds off)
mbx29
mbx28
mbx26

Stretching
  
Comments: Well work wasn’t too stressful despite me taking a half day Friday to just get away for a bit. Still some catching up to do to truly get back on pace there. Some stress removed in that my grandmother passed so not so much a waiting game and more of relief that she is at peace now. But a different kind of stress comes with her passing. Unlike with my grandfathers and my other grandmother, I did get to say something final. Nothing poignant, just a few words and a hug goodbye. She was 95. At this point awaiting information from the machinations of others as to what is next. Well on to training I guess. Some volume and reps dropped as is likely to continue as get closer and closer. Keeping an eye on the knees. Band warming up was fine. Felt decent. I didn’t need the fans today as it was slightly cooler but also I guess not as hyped on stuff compared to past few workouts. Axle press was next. Another 10lbs jump and reducing to 3x3. Same amount of jumps as last time, just 10lbs more. Triples to start and doubles after that. I didn’t have any balance issues like last week. Biceps were tight from Saturday. As has been the case, last set feeling the best. I felt like 2RIR the first two sets and then more like 3-4RIR on the last set. Actually close to PR territory for this weight and reps if I went for max rather than set reps or keeping RIR. So the next part here was kind of up to me. So what was written was to do the pressing with pauses at forehead but I was advised that if I felt that form work could be more beneficial, I could do 60%x5x2 of my push press or jerk. Do rebound pressing to get more quad drive for push press or reset each rep for jerks. Jerks if I felt that I could get those to work in 4 weeks time. I don’t know but I figured worth a shot. I was really out of practice. I haven’t tried a jerk I think since early 2019 before the Arnold. My legs felt achy and heavy. My first go I couldn’t get the unrack right and then once I did, I couldn’t coordinate my leg drive with my upper body so I sent it down to regroup. Considering that I could strict press this weight fine enough. It took me three sets to get myself to fire how I wanted to. I have to take a bigger dip compared to a push press and have more quad emphasis compared to hips. First three sets I did push jerks with the last two sets being my version of split jerks. Split jerk is not great as I don’t move my front foot and only have the back foot go back like a bike kickstand. It is faster but not as powerful as the push jerk. I think there is hesitancy in my right leg going forward with knee stuff. Push jerk feels strong once I got warmed up and firing but it does seem to not have the balance I can get from using the hips and planting my feet with push press. There is also some mobility in the upper thoracic as I could feel the scar tissue in my right oblique. So not sure if this is viable or not. Have to see what Drew says after reviewing it. After that was pull-ups. No hold at the top but still a pause in the dead hang. Back to 90 seconds rest and now doing 5x5. The movement wasn’t that tough but I knew my biceps would be really sore just from how they were acting on the strict pressing. And I was right. It was nice not having to do those holds at the top this time around. These feel a lot less exhausting doing that. From there it was on to ring push-ups. Same as last time but reps of 10-12. Advised to use the same band or one more higher tension. Seeing as how last week I did the light band and it didn’t pan out as doable for me with the 90 seconds rests (too ambitious) and was so much so that I fatigued and had to rest pause the last set with a lighter tension, I went with less tension and aimed to get 3x12 done with RIR. Which turned out to be tough with the monster mini band. The band kept wanting to slide off my right arm that first set. I have to stay tight which is odd for me with the ring work as usually I kind of let things move to open up the shoulders and chest. That seems to be disastrous with the bands with making things a ton harder. I was feeling the effects of these reps by the third set but managed to finish that without taking a break. But it was tough. It was around this time that I got the message of my grandmother passing. I took the time to kind of take a moment to collect myself and put things away before finishing up the workout. Defranco band pull-aparts. Last thing for the session. Same as last week with it being 40:40. Advised last week of it. Managed to grit it out and get over 25 reps every set. Finished putting stuff away before eating a large pot roast and then stretching. Iced both knees before bed.