June 28, 2022 – Week 4, Day 2

Side Planks with Banded Clamshell (Dynamic, 3 second holds) 
mbx10/10
mbx10/10

Hip Airplanes (5 second holds, hand support)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Suited Deadlifts
No suit
135x2
225x2
315x2
Added Straps
405x2
Added Suit
465x2
525x2
571x3 PR+1lbs
528x2 (strap came undone)
528x3
528x3(strap came undone)

Pendlay Rows
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x6
285x6
295x6

Goblet Split Squats with Band TKEs (5-0-0-5 tempo)
ab+10x2/2
ab+40x2/2
ab+70x8/8
ab+70x8/8
ab+70x8/8

Banded Belt Squat Marches
abx60 seconds
abx60 seconds

Single Leg Wall Sits
bw+25x20/20 seconds
bw+25x20/20 seconds
bw+25x20/20 seconds

Hollow Holds
bw+10x30 seconds

Dragonflies (5 seconds eccentrics)
bwx7
bwx6

Stretching

Comments: Another day of training. Obnoxiously warm out and going to be that way for the summer. Ugh. Some additional fire/motivation with events posted for Nationals. Things lining up for what could be the most generous event setup I could ask for within reason for a big level show. But I still got to qualify for it. Might have made me feel a bit more amped for things (sweating through deodorant even before I started training). Could also be from trying to get caught up after the system issues the day before left me with like 3.5hrs to do a full days work. Some things were the same as they have been the past few weeks for stuff but one big change was adding back in the suit for deadlifts. So that was going to be something. But first the warming up stuff. Side plank banded clam shells again. Not sure if heat, dehydration or something else but my hamstrings cramped up on these the first set. They had felt a little like this last week but this was enough that I had to stop and straighten out the offending leg and then get back into it. Wasn’t a great start for things considering suit puts a lot of stress on the body as it is. From there it was hip airplanes. These had seemed to go well last week in the garage. Again, I managed to get some reps each side on both sets without hand support. But then the second set I just had numerous issues with balancing on my right leg. Even when holding onto the rack upright. It was very frustrating and it took me like three minutes to finally get 10 minimally satisfactory reps done. Then no real issues with the other side. So again, not a great start to this session. On to deadlifts. With PA’s Strongest, suits are allowed and that could save me some effort and fatigue. Suit work had been pretty consistent last year with only time not focusing on it was the off season stuff. This has been 16 weeks of no suit so there was bound to be some issues coming back into it. Traps and neck were still very stiff and sore from farmer’s walk and I was going to be putting myself in a tight suit. Fun. Plan here was to work up to a top triple (RPE 8, 2RIR) and then do 2x3 with a little bit taken off and over emphasize the eccentrics on the down sets. Geared my warm-ups around what I had done the last time I was setup to do something like this (11 months ago) and hopefully I was on point for it. Of course building in the option that incase I feel fantastic I go for some big PR here. Warming up was mostly fine. This barbell I’ve been using in the garage isn’t as nice as the one I keep in the sunroom that had been my all purpose bar so grip isn’t as good on it. Plan was doubles all the way up and to do plate jumps raw to 405lbs and then add the suit. And I thought it would be no big deal with the suit. Wrong. I think just because last few times the suit has only been absent for like a little bit or not at all or it is an elevated height so severe learning curve but damn did this suck. One thing was that the Versa Gripps didn’t help with how short they are so I couldn’t even “lasso” the bar to bring it in. Just so much pressure and I couldn’t get the bar to come closer to me or bring my legs in. The weight was too light that me trying to bully my way in wasn’t working and I had to sit down for a second to regroup and give it another shot. And this was my first warming up set with the suit. It felt awful. And I was seriously considering doing 495lbs as my top set with how bad this felt. But I had a plan of trying 60lbs jumps so 525lbs on the bar. This was a lot easier but still not feeling 100%. I didn’t feel like I had another 60lbs in me for sure. I didn’t feel I had another 50lbs in me for sure. Matching my PR of 570lbs for 3 was kind of the lowest I was willing let myself go. Maybe it will click this set? If it didn’t I’d have a very hard time. If it did, I’d definitely make things look stupid easy. I decided to add 1lbs in fractional plates just to make it a PR. Got set and went. It felt easier than 525lbs did and the first rep was the hardest of the pulls, with the second being easiest and third being in between. I feel I had 3RIR for sure here, maybe 4RIR. I would’ve liked to have hit a solid triple at 585lbs as my stretch goal plan but I need to build and not annihilate. From there it was time to drop off some weight for 2x3 with accentuated eccentrics. At least that was the plan. First set that first rep felt fantastic and I controlled it down. And then as I initiated the second rep, my right straps Velcro came undone and I had to set it down as soon as I got to lockout. This is the third time I’ve had this happen with this very strap on lifts in excess of 500lbs. I was initially going to just restrap and do the third rep but I felt that I needed to try again so that I had controlled negatives on all reps. So rested about a minute and did set of 3 reps. This was tougher than I would’ve liked with the ineffective rest and essentially having prefatigued and gotten the suit out of sorts. I fully rested for the true second set. Strap came undone again on that first rep. I just restrapped and kept going I was so frustrated with it. Still got in quality reps. I’m going to ditch the Versa Gripps for regular deadlifts as this is too many times this has happened and it could be an issue when it matters. I’m not going into this show expecting a PR as jumps are set 40-50lbs so I may not get the chance to go for a reasonable PR. But have to wait and see. 11 months later and not the best setup and feeling and I apparently felt I made this set easier than that set back then based off my training log notes. Pendlay rows followed that. I wasn’t sure how these would go after last week with how those rows had felt. But my arms and shoulders and such weren’t feeling sore and beat from the previous day’s stuff like last week so I was hopeful this would be ok. Plan here was to work up of 3 sets of 6 reps to a top set going from RPE 7.5-8.5. I figured based off of two weeks ago that my top set of 8 reps could be the first work set and then do the same 10lbs jumps each set. Still trying to keep this variation without straps for reasons. These kind of didn’t feel how I thought they would. Difficulty wise. First set felt about how I expected it to. Same with the second set with more weight. I guess I decided to show up for that last set and it felt like the easiest of the sets. No idea how that worked out. Tempo single leg work continues. No escape. Goblet split squats with TKEs. Continuing to be aggressive with increasing the weight used on these. Plan here was 70lbs. I knew I couldn’t just jump right into that so I did 30lbs jumps starting at 10lbs. Knees were cranky like last week and doing th movement was making stuff not want to do it. But I knew from last week that it will happen if I am smart about it. And with that, I was able to increase this by 60lbs from that first week. Obviously, this is getting to be exhausting with that kind of weight added. Just holding that weight up isometrically for the duration is creating fatigue in the upper body as well. Only had a slight balance issue on the very last rep of the very last set where I went down faster than 5 seconds and was out of position lifting back up. My understanding is I have one more week of these. With suit work taking up a good bit of time, it was getting kind of late so I started getting my dinner ready. Banded belt squat marches were up next. The setup I had done last time had been fruitful in reduction of discomfort around the hips. Again, plan was 2 sets of 60 seconds but at RPE 8. So I knew I had to up the band tension compared to last time. I think also reminding myself of the long distance stuff I’ll need to do for this show (as well as Nationals) kept me from feeling so blah and fatigued by the end here. Single leg wall sits next. Same as it was for Saturday with 3x20 seconds each let with 25lbs. Felt about the same really but less knee aches in the right knee. So that was good. Last bit of the session was abdominal/core work. Dragonflies were to finish but I was advised to do a set of hollow holds to warm up for them first. That seemed to be fine, just a little bit of a twinge at the end when getting out of the position. Dragonflies outside for just two sets of max reps. Same guidelines I’ve been following the past two weeks. Try to get more reps over the two sets. Lower back and hips were feeling tight from the previous efforts of the day. Understandable. I was able to get a few more reps added. These really get tiring. Put stuff away and got dinner ready. Stretched and iced knees.

June 27, 2022 – Week 4, Day 1

Band Pec Flyes/Wall Slides with Band/Band Y Raises (3 second holds)
lb’sx20/mbx10/µb’sx10
lb’sx20/mbx10/µb’sx10

Plyo Push-ups
bwx3
bwx3
bwx3
bwx3

Paused Incline Bench Presses (1 second)
45x10
95x6
135x4
165x3
195x2
220x1
240x3
240x3
240x3
210x6

One Arm Half Kneeling Dumbbell Strict Presses w/ Band Rows (mb)
40x5/5
80x10/10
80x8/8

Neutral Grip Seated Dumbbell Power Cleans
40’sx5
70’sx5
57’sx10
57’sx10
57’sx10

Banded Push-ups
sbx12
sbx12
sbx12

Stretching

Comments: Not a great start to the week. I was hoping to get caught up but apparently the day of migration from one internet browser to another was moved up a day and as usual, my stuff wasn’t working. By the time I was able to get access, I only had 3.5hrs left in my day. So much for getting caught up. Ugh. Upper back, traps and neck are sore and tight from the farmer’s walk stuff (and I guess whatever was still tight from before that). Also had stiff QLs from that session as well that seemed to be loosening up but still pretty tight. Well this is the shortest of the workouts I have so with little in the way of knee stress, it shouldn’t be too bad other than the DOMS in the upper back. Triset with bands to start things off. Band pec flyes were fine. Not as smooth and easy feeling as they were last week but still a tone better than they were the first week. I made it a point to change angles of the movement to really get things moving well. Wall slides are feeling fine. Getting those shoulders nice and toasty. Y raises were kind of tough still. Hard to say if easier, harder or the same as last week really. I tried to think like I was stacking my back with an overhead press. I was going to need my shoulders and upper back to not be so tight. Plyometric push-ups were next. Still the same as the past two weeks with it being 4x3 with 60 seconds rest. I’m not too sure the intent here. I felt like I needed to do more powerful a push and I think I got that on the last set compared to the other sets. But it is hard to gauge whether I’m getting higher or if I’m just retracting my arms more to give the illusion of more height. Oh well. Outside for incline bench with pauses. These are such a temperamental lift. 1 second pauses with the plan here being 20lbs more than last week for 3x3 and then take off 30lbs for an AMRAP set 3RIR. Hard to tell what kind of day I’m going to have. Just have to have consistency with these. I’m getting to the point where I’m really starting to struggle on these as far as weight goes. I felt this was doable warming up. I barely got through it. It was that third rep on each set that about did me in. First two reps were fine and then it ended up being an uneven lockout (left first) in order to get through the sticking point and rack it. I’m really not sure how I was able to do this three times like that. I really didn’t want to miss a rep. I’d rather be overhead pressing but this is obviously something that needs work and if it improves, hopefully other stuff with upper body does too. So considering that those were RPE 10 (9.5 at the lowest), I made sure I was conservative on the AMRAP. That I knew I had 3RIR and not any guessing. Because that 3x3 probably wasn’t supposed to be that difficult considering. I just have to keep in mind that my incline numbers at home are going to not be the same as the numbers when I was lifting in the gym on a different bench that had places to brace the lower body. Back into the garage for the rest of the workout. Next thing was again the one arm dumbbell presses while in the half kneeling position but some changes. One was dropping the sets to two and increasing the rep range to 8-12. I was to add a band element to these to work core more. Essentially light band tension on the non lifting side with a rowing motion. Contract while pressing and relax when not. My first go at the setup worked perfectly so after a warm-up set I was ready. These were a lot tougher. Suggestion was I try to use more weight than last week without the band. This was the first week where I couldn’t match the reps on subsequent sets. It was 10lbs heavier and with the band distraction as well. But I finished in the limits. From there it was the neutral grip seated dumbbell power cleans. Still for 3x10-15 with 3-4RIR. No set weight so I figured I’d go up as 40lbs were getting too light. I made sure to do some testing to make sure my shoulders weren’t feeling funky before jumping into this. My hope I guess was that with how easy 40lbs was moving that maybe I could do 70lbs for 3x10 with 3RIR. That way I could avoid the loadable handles and not have to worry about securing weights. But that didn’t work out as 70lbs was way too much for that. So I had to use plateloaded handles. My hands were still kind of sore from Saturday. These loadable handles aren’t the friendliest ones. I got a metal splinter in the one hand that I got out with tweezers after I was finished lifting. The different kind of dumbbell also through me off a little. So then the last thing for the session was banded push-ups for 3x8-12 with 2-3RIR. Still using the strong band as that is about what I got as far as the heaviest tension. Aim was to just improve total reps from last time but hopefully get to 3x12. I figured that putting down a thin mat for the knees would make setup a little more comfortable and quicker. I was right. Managed to get 3x12 here. Put stuff away before eating pot roast and then stretching.

June 25, 2022 – Week 3, Day 4

Patrick Stepdowns (5 second eccentrics, 10.5”)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Side Planks with Banded Clamshell (Dynamic, 3 second holds) 
mbx10/10
mbx10/10

Front Squats (5-1-0-0 tempo)
45x5
95x4
135x3
185x2
225x1
265x3
265x3
265x3
265x3

Paused Deadlifts (beltless, 3 second midshin, 2 second lockout, straps)
165x2
220.5x2
275x2
330.5x2
330.5x2
330.5x2
330.5x2
330.5x2
330.5x2

Farmer’s Walks (16” pick, drops at 50’)
Casual Pace
50x100’
Normal Pace
100x100’
150x50’
200x50’
250x200’
250x200’

Farmer’s Hold (22” pick)
300x49 seconds

Paused Snatch Grip GHD Back Extensions (2 seconds, straps)
85x12
85x12

Single Leg Wall Sits
bw+25x20/20 seconds
bw+25x20/20 seconds
bw+25x20/20 seconds

Banded Hanging Knee Raise Holds
lbx30 seconds
lbx30 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Another stressful week. Initially not as stressful as the previous week but I could feel the weight of it on me. Some depression slipping in with realization of very limited options and none ideal and then just turning that frustration onto myself. And then not great stuff happening in the world either when trying to perhaps find some distraction/escapism from letting my own feelings of inadequacy cannibalize my mental wellbeing. Very frustrating. But I persist. I take the feelings vs the alternative of apathy which I know is a lot worse (and I had been feeling that earlier in the week). Sleep was better but there is still not 100% ideal sleep. I have a feeling that I may be stressed in my sleep with how tight some things get in my neck. Jaw on the left side had been stiff for the past few days. Left shoulder and trap was feeling stiff. I ended up sleeping in an extra hour just because. Only one thing for the workout was going to be brutal really and with it to be 90 today, it was going to be tough regardless. This heat was one of the reasons I had hoped to take more an offseason approach just from how difficult things become and these events for this show aren’t really long time in the heat friendly. Do work and sweat would have been a good time for that without event based focus. But this is where I’m at. Drive out wasn’t bad but there was some traffic. People leaving as I got there but there were a decent amount of people there when I arrived or were arriving as I did. But no one that would be actively be in my weight class or for strongman. Either powerlifters, novice or potentially people that have lost the zeal for it due to the years of it beating down. Perhaps I’m being a bit too reflective. But I felt on edge at the start. Anxiety and paranoia aren’t a good mix. But people started talking to me and I realized I was imagining scenarios that weren’t there and I calmed down a good bit. So as has been the case the past three weeks of weekend training, starting things off with stepdowns and clamshells. I was still in agitated mode when I was starting stepdowns so that may explain why I went with even higher platform then I had the week before. This wasn’t terribly pleasant with the increased workload demanded on the knees as competition stuff gets added in and increasing weights. I had even mentioned that the previous height had felt perfect but I guess not. I think maybe I was still annoyed with how axle press felt and that I’m not doing enough or good enough so I need to make my knees and ankles work harder. Which isn’t a smart or healthy mindset in retrospect. I can do this height but I think that I need to work into it rather than right off the bat. It takes time for my body and joints to get ready for these kind of things despite thinking I’m still the same person from 2008 starting out. Just because I can, doesn’t mean I should and I know that. There is specific day when it matters. So as mentioned last week, some aches and pains with these starting out because obvious reasons with pushing these even more than the week before out of some flawed logic. Next time, I will not go right to the max and work up over sets like I did that first week and should be doing anyways. There does seem to be some variance in difficulty with the clamshell plank stuff with band placement but can’t always get it secured in just the right spot. But it is what it is. I was able to do these with not taking a break between sets, just using the time it took to reposition as rest between sets and sides. Posting up on the left arm was having that shoulder feel tight and sore. From there it was on to front squats. Same tempo and number of sets as last time but due to how I had been feeling the weight went up a good bit. It had been 5lbs last week but I did 10lbs due to easier plate math and said things felt easier than it had the week prior. So that of course meant a bigger jump to get back into the right effort range. So 4x3 with 20lbs more. I wasn’t concerned with that. But sometimes lifts can feel off or on for no apparent reason. Ladder to work up seemed to work well last week so did the same here. Left shoulder and trap didn’t seem to care for the last set of working up weights so that had me a little anxious (I hadn’t noticed it on any of the other sets). Thankfully no issues with the working weight sets. Well this definitely felt like more weight than last week so mission accomplished. Even though this is more knee flexion compared to the usual ssb squat variations, I’m feeling like this doesn’t beat up the knees nearly as much. Or perhaps it is a weight issue rather than a movement or position issue. Not sure. But it is a nice change of pace and that could be all there is too it. Next was deadlifting. Same as last week as far as it being pauses at two points and still beltless. Advised this was the last week of this wave (whatever that means). Can here was that it was now doubles instead of triples and with shorter rest (60-75 seconds). These were feeling pretty good warming up. I did end up taking a bit of break from my last set before doing the working weight which did perhaps leave things a little cold (as cold as you can get in 90 degrees) so that very first lift to start things off felt heavier than it should and then every lift after that was fine. I didn’t want to take too long a beak so I inadvertently did EMOM from the looks of things. From there it was on to the thing that was going to suck; farmer’s walk. By that point, the strongman people were gone for the one thing that I could use some moral support on. As far as moving events go, I like farmer’s walk. The pick up sucks but my grip can hold out well so I can make up for it. And I usually can move into top gear with a forward lean unlike say yoke. But this wasn’t going to be enjoyable. This was going to be less a walk and more death march. So the contest event is 300lbs for 100’ with drop and come back at 50’. Fairly standard event in recent years. I’ve done this even before (one start farmer’s and another having a keg load in the middle) and I’ve won both times in the respective sub class. Drew however decided to make this brutal and as a way to work the max distance keg carry at the same time. I was going to do double the distance. So rather than 2 picks and 100’, it would be 4 picks and 200’. And I was going to do it for two sets as opposed to one top set like past trainings have been for this event. The weight was to be 225lbs to 250lbs. I wanted to do 250lbs for this to kind of match the keg from last week. I’ve gone over 200’ with farmer’s walk with 240lbs per hand but that was a straight shot so no repicking. There are several different farmer’s handles at the gym and I selected the ones that I felt resembled the contest equipment the closest. 16” pick and long handles that have feet. I did down and back empty with casual walk style and then added 25lbs bumper plates to get a feeling for how this will be with the forced spacing of plates added. The other sets were just to accumulate weight and get the pick warmed up really. I wasn’t going to go at full speed as I knew I had to pace myself here. This was going to be challenging. Most of my moving event work has been for shorter distance stuff this past year of training so not exactly in condition. Trying out liquid chalk all the way up the forearms and regular chalk to see if that kept the sweat at bay. I knew this was going to be slog from the first pick. But I knew I’d finish. Took a little over a minute to complete. I was definitely feeling tired as I almost stumbled on the last leg coming back. And I had another set of these to do. I was seriously thinking of either lowering the weight by like 50lbs or just not doing this second set. I did neither of those things. Now rest was to be 90-120 seconds. That wasn’t happening. It took me closer to 5 minutes to get my breathing and thoughts back under control and grip those handles to do it again. Got through it by thinking of it being 4 sets of 50’ with short rest. I had to do some pep talks after each one but I got it done. Took about 2 minutes to finish. Woof, I was just done. My hands hurt and forearms felt crampy and I was breathing really hard. And I wasn’t quite done with farmer’s walk unfortunately. I was to do a farmer’s hold. Plan being 60 seconds at RPE 8. I took my time here setting things up as I knew that I’d not be in condition to do a pick from 16” or so and that for grip I’d need to raise it up a good bit as I was toast from that. Before I did this, I had planned on doing 300lbs as the set. I’d hit a comfortable 60 seconds with 630lbs on the crappy frame last cycle without trying so I felt this was manageable. But then I was worried I’d be able to even do 250lbs with how bad this wrecked me but I decided to try 280lbs. I was checking USS Nats as this event was being done there and I had previously held the record in the under 308lbs class and under 275lbs (my 275lbs was beaten this year so it had held up for 3yrs). No one beat that time in the under 275lbs but the under 308lbs was. But I still would’ve placed 2nd and that had been with fractured fingers when I set it so. But of course I occasionally talk myself up into doing things and rather than stick to doing less weight because holy hell was the farmer’s walk stuff brutal, I went back to trying for 300lbs. I actually felt like I had it at the start but then after 30 seconds I knew this wouldn’t be RPE 8 if I got it. Ended up letting go just shy of 50 seconds as I felt like if I held it much longer that the skin in my palms would tear and I’ve only had that once in 2009 with a show using tape on handles (I still finished with torn calluses). This is risk with it getting so hot as well. So not ideal levels of effort here. But not as pissed about not living up to my expectations as I was and still am at the axle pressing. Luckily the rest of the workout wasn’t as intense. GHD back extensions again. Same weight and same reps as I just couldn’t do more haha. These are so very tough and get really difficult as the sets go on. But I know these a keeper as far as training goes and how much they hit the stuff that needs it as far as posterior chain. Just the fact that the change in the position makes these that much tougher is also humbling. My left shoulder and trap were feeling tight again but understandable with all the other stuff beforehand. Single leg wall sits next. I had done 10lbs earlier this week with the weight on my thighs. I was advised to do 25lbs today and hold it up in the rack position or at chest. Right knee was feeling a bit more achy than usual on these and I think that had to do with just all the farmer’s walks on top of the usual things and added weight on these. Wasn’t too bad other than that. Hanging ab work after that to finish up. Same setup as last time since that worked well. Still good. I was pretty much alone by this point and ended up staying to stretch and put stuff away. I had my shirt outside to dry out in the sun so I wasn’t wearing a soaking sweaty wet shirt home.

June 23, 2022 – Week 3, Day 3

Mouser Block Presses (one clean)
124.5x1
155x1
174x1
196.5x1
217x1
217x1
217x1
217x1
217x1
217x5

Axle Push Presses w/ bands (+22lbs bottom/+40lbs top)
38x2
68x2
98x2
128x2
158x2
188x2
218x2
248x3
218x4
218x4
218x4

One Arm Dumbbell Bench Presses (4 second eccentrics)
60x10/10
60x10/10
60x10/10

Band Assisted Pull-ups
sbx12
sbx10
sbx10

Halbert Dumbbell Raises on Incline Bench (1ct hold)
10’x6
21’sx12
21’sx12
21’sx12

Paused Dumbbell Pullovers (1 second)
40x4
70x8
70x8
70x8

Dumbbell Bench Press Iso Holds
46’sx30 seconds
46’sx30 seconds
46’sx30 seconds

Stretching
  
Comments: Thankfully my body not feeling as stiff and sore as it was the past two training sessions. I was still feeling that the day before too. Work has calmed down a bit but still not a great situation. Just keep doing what I can. Focus on what I like doing and not let it overly stress me out. Lord knows there is enough going on in this country and the world at large that is a cause for strife. So on to training. Some things the same as last week and some changes to other things for intensity’s sake. Block press again. Did the 25’s again for some reps rather than go right into the empty block. It had rained earlier but stuff was evaporating pretty quick. I wasn’t too sure how the arms would feel on these today with how they weren’t too thrilled with other stuff earlier this week. It was not a great start as I missed getting the block high enough to catch it and I would’ve just curled it up so I dropped it. Not good with the empty block. I again had not gotten into the low lap stance like I do with heavier weights because I didn’t think I needed to and because I’m imagining that I’m competing against people that are picking the contest weight up like nothing. Had to refocus and go at my own pace here. My tempo. The plan for today was to work up to 200-215lbs for EMOM style singles. 5 sets and then on the 6th do reps but leave 2-3RIR. It was going to be more of the luck of the draw with adding weights to this to see what it came out to weighing. I knew the first two weight jumps but after that I had to check. I wasn’t sweating nearly as much as last time but I knew that during the EMOMs it would be an issue keeping dry. I figured this would be another test for the liquid chalk. I just needed my hands to stay dry, not necessarily needing more grip. See how well this works with keeping things dry. Well I was a bit surprised the weight jump was a bit heavier than expected for the subsequent jumps but close enough. Got set and applied the liquid chalk liberally. At this point, I think the efficiency of my clean and the pick is what will hold me back as the press is easy. I was wondering why the pick was feeling so fatiguing but I recalled that I’m doing a different style from before (max single style with it angled toward me on my feet) as opposed to how I’m setting this up for supposed contest setup (angled away from me) so a bit more posterior chain on the pick. Clean is about the same as it ever was. The liquid chalk did hold up for a good bit but not as well as I was hoping it would. I had to wipe off sweat after that last single and reapplying wasn’t going to be an option. Didn’t quite catch the clean right so it wasn’t that crisp and I had to kind of muscle up the last inches or so. Pressing just felt okay. I could tell that there was fatigue and balance is key with these. The weight felt light in my hands so that is good. The goal had been 10 reps total so I stopped at 5 as I felt I could do 3 more reps but things could get squirrely with stability, not power. Like last week, I just hauled the loaded box into the sunroom for future Craig to deal with. So up next was more axle work. Axle push presses. Plan here was to work up to 70%x3x4 with bands that added 10-15%. I’ve not been able to get through these before. They’d been programmed but my knees were killing me last year (so much I stopped the session and went to urgent care the next day). I’ve done them against bands strict style but not push press. And even in the past, I usually did these for speed or it was jerks when heavy. Just can’t get away from the axle. Somewhere along the line, I messed up my math and had the planned weight to be 80% with the bands. These were noted to be easy and just to get some extra lockout training in. It’s not easy when you accidentally misload by 30lbs. Even though working up the weight before this (which was the actual working weight) had felt like something, I still went at this as if I could do 3x4. I couldn’t and I didn’t. I did manage a triple and missed a fourth and came back to try again. I was really distraught over this. This was supposed to be easy. Did I make a mistake? Yes, I misloaded by 30lbs because I had put 80% instead of 70%. But there was already some damage done from the missed lift. The first rep with the correct weight each set felt right but they got a lot harder as I went. Usually after the second or third rep they got tough. I was to comment on the RIR on the last set and with how hard the lockouts felt, it could very well have been 1-2RIR. Really wanted to say 2RIR outright but I knew better with just how brutal the stopping was for my triceps. I’m just hoping/rationalizing that this is a point of my press that is lagging and needs work now that it is identified. I feel that I was able to do more with straight weight and not bands on this. Feelings of disappointment that even though I misloaded, why wasn’t I able to do it? The block pressing felt lighter and easier than this axle work. Still pissed off that I was only able to do 275lbs in contest on axle at the last show. And that sucks that that little thing is enough to bum me out about my prospective future. Frustrations and anger at what I feel are my own inadequacies and that rationalization of small consistency is just a way to keep me placated from screaming into the void. But those are my issues. Moved into the garage for the continuation of one arm bench presses with accentuated negatives. Lower reps but allowing for longer eccentric. Listed to go up just 5lbs but I went up 8lbs as I knew this would still be too easy really. Adding an extra second to the eccentrics is doing more for adding fatigue over the sets. I’m fairly certain last week that I lost count and did extra reps on some sets. And probably did that this week too. Oh well. Not too picky with things as long as the work is done. Back outside to do a new one; band assisted pull-ups. These were tricky. To get setup that is. See, I’m really damn tall and I have to bend my legs so that I’m not touching the ground. So that meant getting my knees into the loop of the band and with a lot of band tension assistance. This was not a smooth entrance and took some trial and error. These were odd in that yes they felt easier but the top end where the bands are helping the least is where I struggle the most and involved the most biceps and forearms. So that became the limiting factor for me. But the idea here was full ROM and pausing slightly at dead hang as well. So I got that. Plan was 2x10-15 with 2-3RIR. But I didn’t do that because I assumed it was 3 sets like the lat pulldowns from the past two weeks. So I did an extra set of these. The dismount for these getting out the band is also tricky and very much like kissing a train. Back into the garage for the rest of the session.  The Halbert raises were up again. These had definitely been too heavy for me last week and I figured it would be much the same if I did considering the other workloads of the session. So I lowered the weights by 5lbs. And this seemed to go over better. Still not able to hold for a 1 second hold on these but definitely ok to say it was 1ct. Less aches and such in my elbows compared to last week. I could kind of tell these would go better from the warm-up set. Pullovers were next up. I figured I could probably go up on these a good bit after getting feel for them. I was right. Getting a good stretch and I swear I get a good triceps workout on these from the where they insert in the lats. I can probably stick at this weight for a bit as I don’t think the next jump in solid dumbbells (85lbs) would be wise at the moment and plateloaded unless setup a certain way is hell on the wrists. Last thing was the iso holds with the dumbbells. I used crash pads this time around. So setup and getting out went a bit better. Weight was the same sets and time as last week. I feel like everything was tighter compared to last week. Chest, shoulders and biceps. But still tolerable and fine. I probably took shorter rests compared to last time since I was concerned I would take too much time with resetting. Started cooking dinner as I put stuff away.

June 21, 2022 – Week 3, Day 2

Side Planks with Banded Clamshell (Dynamic, 3 second holds) 
mbx10/10
mbx10/10

Hip Airplanes (5 second holds, hand support)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Yielding Deadlifts (3 seconds off the floor)
135x5
225x3
275x2
315x2
365x1
Added Straps
405x1
445x3
445x3
445x3

Stiff-legged Deadlifts (dead stop, straps)
225x3
275x3
315x3
365x8
365x8

Bent Over Rows (straps)
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x5
330x7
290x12

Goblet Split Squats with Band TKEs (5-0-0-5 tempo)
No Tempo
abx2/2
abx2/2
ab+40x8/8
ab+40x8/8
ab+40x8/8

Single Leg Wall Sits
bw+10x20/20 seconds
bw+10x20/20 seconds
bw+10x20/20 seconds

Dragonflies (5 seconds eccentrics)
bwx6
bwx5
bwx5

Stretching

Comments: Still not the best situation with work but it’s what I got. Running the other scenarios isn’t really coming up with workable solutions with things as they stand. I was really feeling the blahs at work with the amount of work and just everything else going on. Have to try and not let it stress me out so much. I was feeling pretty beat today from the previous session. Mostly the right shoulder and elbow area. Feeling stiff and sore from training. Feeling it in internal and external rotations. Other side also stiff but not nearly as sore. I didn’t want to use topical stuff or take anything so I ended up doing soft tissue work during my lunch break. Joints just feeling more “inflamed” then usual. Or at least more so than last two weeks. So first thing was the warming up stuff. Side plank banded clam shells. These along with the wall sits seem to be the lower body exercise du jour this cycle. I feel like as I get better control of my body, that I’m able to make these more focused on the intent and make the muscles targeted work harder. Just noticing from week 1 to this week the difference in the side plank brace position is startling. Not sure if that is good or anything though haha. From there it was hip airplanes. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do all the reps and sets without some kind of support but I was still going to give it my best. I moved into the garage for these to give me a bit firma terra to work with. I managed to get some reps both sides without assistance but they weren’t great and they were few. I did then try and use less support to get through these. Last week I had my hand on a wall the entire time and this time I adjusted what I needed depending on the situation. With those done, it was on to the weights. Deadlifting. Bringing in something from the one training cycle before last with yielding pulls. I had done them with an axle for PA Dutch and those had been interesting. So these would be from the floor and and I was to pause at the floor (rather than 3” above it). I wasn’t too sure how things would feel as my forearms were kind of stiff and felt like tendons were a little inflamed still. Thankfully no issues with shoulders or arms in deadlifting setup or execution. Deadlifting felt slow that first set but some reps the weight didn’t feel heavy or slow. I just have to accept that deadlifting for me is going to be more often like chunky rather than smooth peanut butter. This wasn’t the end for pulls. There were more. SLDLs time. But not on a platform or doing the whisper touch for constant tension. These were to be done with dead stop and reset of brace and setting lats each rep. So there wasn’t really a rhythm to set here. This would not be ideal training if I was going for a max rep set but I think that was the point. I was breathing a bit after the first set (I guess rebracing that many times is exhausting) but I felt like I was better the second set. Just a feeling. The next exercise I wasn’t looking forward to was bent over rows. Just because my forearms and were feeling not great at the elbow inserts and my right shoulder still feeling stiff from yesterday from the seated dumbbell power cleans. Partly because it probably wasn’t going to feel good and partly because I was probably not going to use as much weight as I have done on these. So half and half mental and physical hurt lol. Plan here was work up to top set of 6-8 (2RIR) and then take off 10-15% for 10-12 (3RIR). See how I felt as I went. I was allowed to have these be a little sloppy but not a lot sloppy. In the end, I feel that I got too sloppy to move more weight for my ego but in my defense, these weren’t the sloppiest rows I’ve done in the past year even. So a little walk back win in my own head. So went in feeling like crap in the areas that get the burnt of the stress and managed to make the weight feel like nothing on the top set walking it out and get in some decent reps. And nobody died. Tempo single leg work. Goblet split squats with TKEs. I was chastised a little indicating I should push these a lot harder. I had felt they were light but didn’t want to overdo it first time trying this movement. Coach indicating that he had been advised to do about 80lbs for rehab purposes for his knee so I got some ground to cover here. Knees were screaming getting into position so I did some bodyweight only reps without the tempo pacing to just get them moving. Perhaps the thing that happens when I add more weight and the joints shut-up would happen. I think it might be that either I release more endorphins because I’m treating it seriously or that my body irradiates when more weight is used. Not sure on the science. Not sure if it even matters. But 40lbs was doable for me. I was tempted to add more weight but I felt that going for 30lbs jumps in the session wasn’t wise (next dumbbell) and I’d seen that there were some issues with using plateloaded dumbbell previously for stuff that can put the wrists in a precarious position. I also wasn’t expecting it to feel better each set and adjusting weights on those dumbbells securely would’ve taken up more time then I was allowed to be resting between legs or sets. So despite having these not feel great for the knees at the start, I was able to up the weight a good bit. I’m hopefully I can continue that trend to that goal weight mentioned for these or beyond in the time I have with this exercise.  So wall sits after that. Weight added this time. I felt that 3x20 with 10lbs would be a place to start. I have 10lbs bumper plates so I can lay them right on my lap, assuming this is where I can add the most weight. Knees were a little achy and these were quite tough from the get go. But I seemed to adapt and these felt more within reason by the end of the sets. Last thing was those darn dragonflies. Same as last week. I knew this time that I needed to do some movement first before going right into it with whatever flairs up in the lower abdominals on the right side. So that was some reverse crunches and other such things just to get things warm. Long breaks between sets here. These are tough to recover from. I managed an extra rep over the three sets compared to last week. My abs didn’t feel like they were going to explode from tension or feel so sore that I was worried I’d get a cramp taking off my shoes later. Put stuff away and ate pot roast before stretching out. Iced the knees before bed too.

June 20, 2022 – Week 3, Day 1

Band Pec Flyes/Wall Slides with Band/Band Y Raises (3 second holds)
lb’sx20/mbx10/µb’sx10
lb’sx20/mbx10/µb’sx10

Plyo Push-ups
bwx3
bwx3
bwx3
bwx3

Paused Incline Bench Presses (1 second)
45x10
95x5
135x3
165x3
195x3
220x5
205x5
205x5

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

Neutral Grip Seated Dumbbell Power Cleans
40’sx15
40’sx15
40’sx15

Banded Push-ups
sbx12
sbx11
sbx10

Stretching

Comments: Thankfully this ended up being a three-day weekend for me. I don’t think I’d been able to handle going back to work today after how last week was without some additional breathing room. I’ve pretty much had an eye twitch since the week after the contest. Able to get some more sleep this weekend but still stressful as I’m still thinking about the job and issues rather than decompressing. I woke up and checked to make sure I didn’t have criminal history. That’s how paranoid I was feeling about things. Spent time kind of putting things to paper and deal with realities of the situation and the big take away was that I’m kind of stuck, which isn’t a great determination but it is something. Disassociate from it I guess until it is time to accept things. Figured it was best to get training done earlier in the day so I can go to bed earlier and maybe try to get some last-minute extra sleep before the screaming starts again. Left side of my neck and left shoulder were feeling tight and stiff. So first part of workout was changed. Last week it had been a superset and this week it was now a triset. Still band pec flyes and wall slides with a band but also adding in y raises with bands too. Idea with these was to get shoulders awake and balanced as well as getting the pecs to be active too. So kept same band tensions I did last week. On the band pec flyes, there felt like less tightness and strain on the left side biceps and shoulder which is where I was feeling it. These felt a lot easier. I made it a point to change angles of the movement to really get things moving well. So it was in the best interests to move the wall slides indoors. Just not a good surface outside. Also decided that I’d have to kneel to get full ROM for extension. These changes made a big difference as I was able to make this actually feel like something. Y raises were kind of tough with the longer holds. Not as fluid like moving through several like before. Shoulders do seem to fatigue from these exercises together quickly. Plyometric push-ups were next. Less concern as they went fine last week. Same setup as last week with it being 4x3 with 60 seconds rest. About the same here. I did these in the garage just as it seemed like a good change of pace and perhaps I could setup things for the next exercise as well. Which was paused incline bench press. Similar to last week but indicating 1ct for the pauses this time around. Work up to weight 20lbs more than last week’s working weights and then take off 15lbs for 2x5 after that. Sun was beaming down right on this setup so bench and bar were getting hot and it was blinding sometimes. I was curious if I’d adapt to the training from last week similar to how I was with front squats. Yes but not as much. I’ve been doing incline a lot more frequently so not as drastic. I ended up doing more reps than I had planned for warming up to get things feeling good. Right forearm/elbow were feeling tense from stuff so the tennis/golfer’s elbow sensations were flaring up so I put the compression cuffs on. I ended up adding 5lbs to the working sets from what was listed. I feel like things went well enough. From there things moved into the garage again. Turned on the fans in the garage at this point (I didn’t need them earlier). One arm dumbbell presses while in the half kneeling position for another round. Plan here was 3x10-12 with 3RIR with the 70lbs dumbbells. These were feeling quite strong today. I was pleased these went as well as they did. From there it was the neutral grip seated dumbbell power cleans. 40lbs for 3x10-15 with 3-4RIR. I felt like they had been easy last week but things can change week to week. I just noticed there was more tennis/golfer’s elbow stuff present in the right arm coming into this week from last week. These felt easy though my right shoulder was feeling a little wonky for a couple reps that first set when trying to really emphasize external rotation. Seemed to not be present other sets. Weight is moving well and I feel like I’m really getting my upper back to pull explosively on these. Took a little bit to cool down the elbow joints and forearms before finishing up the session with banded push-ups for 3x10-12 with 3RIR. Used the strong band again and trying to not overdo things (pushing reps) or screw things up setup wise. Last week I had to restart the first set as I forgot to twist the band and it slid off my back. Also trying to keep time setting up with my arms locked out less. So first set went as planned with getting 12 reps but I knew not to push things to try for top range reps each set like I did for the two dumbbell based exercises. Just try and improve the reps from last time or maintain. 11 reps that seconds set. I rushed on the third set to get setup before my rest time expired and I had the band a lot higher up than usual so it was harder. I had to stop at 6 reps to readjust it lower before getting those last 4 reps. I put stuff away, went and mowed the patch of lawn I had apparently missed yesterday, and then ate lunch before stretching.

June 18, 2022 – Week 2, Day 4

Patrick Stepdowns (5 second eccentrics, 9”)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Side Planks with Banded Clamshell (Dynamic, 3 second holds) 
mbx10/10
mbx10/10

Front Squats (5-1-0-0 tempo)
45x5
95x4
145x3
195x2
245x4
245x4
245x4
245x4

Paused Deadlifts (beltless, 3 second midshin, 2 second lockout, straps)
165x3
231.5x3
275x3
319.5x3
319.5x3
319.5x3
319.5x3
319.5x3

Keg Carries (turns at 50’, low carry staggered grip)
250x100’
250x100’
250x100’
250x100’

Paused Snatch Grip GHD Back Extensions (2 seconds, straps)
55x5
85x12
85x12

Single Leg Wall Sits
bwx30/30 seconds
bwx30/30 seconds
bwx30/30 seconds

Banded Hanging Knee Raise Holds
lbx30 seconds
lbx30 seconds

Pinch Block Holds (2”)
43 for 15 seconds
43 for 15 seconds
43 for 30 seconds
43 for 30 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Starting to get Facebook “friends” to invite me to shows for next year. Hard pass. With how things are as far as competitions and qualifications, no sense going to any shows that aren’t offering more than just top place gets Nats invite. USS Nats are in Texas and the events aren’t great (front hold at a nationals? Come on!) so no reason to try anything in that federation besides pro-qualifiers and only if local in the event get screwed over with not enough entrants. Very few of those this side of the Mississippi though. As for SC, I am able to go directly to a regional show for next year so I’d rather keep things open to do that (top 5 nationals and winner Arnold) or a pro/am (pro card and ASM invite). Hopefully they have a pro/am on the east coast next year. No point going to lower-level qualification shows that have events within 10lbs of National level show. And shows with less than 5 events can take a hike. But enough of that griping. On to current gripes. Incredibly stressful week at work and I knew that I needed to slowdown as I was definitely burnt out from it. Moving slower, constant headaches and just having a hard time falling asleep at a reasonable hour. I woke up for training at my usual time but I knew it wasn’t wise to go about it with less than ideal sleep the past week accumulating. I’d crash hard if I didn’t slow down. So I even though I felt only slightly tired, I went back to bed and that ended up being 3.5hrs later. And I woke up feeling terrible. When you stop putting up a front and all the stuff you were suppressing just hits you at once. When the stress hormones go away and the really beat up you is there. I knew there was a chance this would happen but this was necessary. So I felt super crappy. Allergies were the worst they had been in a long time. Not a ton of things requiring me to really gird down for training but I knew it could be a sucky day. But a lot of it was putting in work. Drive out wasn’t bad. Most of the people left by the time I got there. It was going to be a late one. Start of the workout was about the same as last week. Right knee was achy compared to last week. I feel that had to do with block press work with using leg drive and that deep squat position for the lap and clean as well as having actual weight being moved on the lower body day compared to the previous week post contest. I felt that with the stepdowns that the top height I got to last week was perfect so I planned to just go right into at that height. Some hesitation and aches at the start but not as bad as they have been in the past when doing things like this. Left leg felt a lot better compared to the right leg with the knee but tolerable. I think I’m getting better control/hang of it with the side planks with the band clamshell. From there it was on to front squats. Similar to last week but different. I’m assuming this was based off last week with it being 4x4 with 5lbs more than top set. Adjustment to the tempo with there being a 1 second pause in the hole rather than just a brief one. Other note made was to try and have the knees track forward more. With the added pause, I figured that the best way to warm-up would be doing ladder as opposed to just straight sets of reps. Get more reps in lower weight and really feel the position and get things warmed up. I had already decided to do 50lbs jumps here. I figured that I’d feel more comfortable with the weight resting on the clavicles compared to last week. Not feel so heavy. I was right. I felt a lot stronger and more confident with these. 10lbs more than the weight last week (easier plate math) and it felt easier. I was a bit concerned that these would really suck with how my allergies and my body was feeling. Next was deadlifting. Beltless paused pulls like last week but not quite. The notes indicated that there is an intent here and I was perhaps focusing on the wrong aspect last week. While speed is good, that wasn’t the idea here. I should know that I’m more of a steady puller and that this was to work on bracing and positioning. So the there was a change besides weight (53-55%). Same sets of 5x3 but midshin pause was now up to 3ct and I was to add a 2ct pause/flex at lockout. Squeeze the glutes and quads. That was new. I’ve held lockouts before for pulls (usually for long down calls or to rebrace and get ready for a slow eccentric) but never had them be actively worked exercise. Lockout on deadlifts have always felt like rest. So this was different. I will say that these took a bit longer to get things feeling good warming up for the lower back. But once they did, I was good to go and they felt comfortable. I did have to take a moment to check if I did my 5x3. I didn’t want to do just 4x3 but I also didn’t want to do 6x3. Checked video and confirmed I was one short and got that last set done. Then some event work (not that deadlifts aren’t event work for most shows ugh). Keg carries. Plan here was just to get volume in. I can embrace the suck for this kind of event. There isn’t much skill involved here, just grunt and go. 4x100’. Not specified for turns but contest does so I did them at 50’ as the turns are going to be the thing that makes this terrible. Or more so I say. I was advised to use 225-250lbs for the keg here and select style I’ll probably use. I’ve got a good bit of time for this kind of event and I have a feeling that I won’t need that far to win the event but I have to prepare for really far since I’m certain I’ll be going first for the whole show with how the promoter usually runs things. So no holding back. I went with 250lbs right off the bat. I had determined that I’d be doing not the most efficient carry for this. It is a carry style you do just to get on the board as you can’t go fast but you will be able to move with the keg. Staggered grip and low carry. I wanted to embrace the suck on this with it being a slow walk and taxing the grip and posterior chain, the things that will go first. I will most likely be carrying the keg high but I wanted to get used to this in the event that I’m in this do or die scenario. I’ve done this weight in the more speed friendly way one way for over 300’ and this style with it not so low for just over 370’ in the past. I’ve not tried to push things to that extreme for many years and never tried that with more  than 280lbs so it will be interesting to see how going up 50lbs for contest weight will be. In either case, these were miserable with how slow I was going. I alternated sides for the stagger each set and took only a minute rest between sets. I was feeling pretty toasty by the end of the last set. Next was more lower back related stuff. The back extensions I did last week were supposed to be on the GHD so my bad. So plan here was to figure out what I could do for 2x12-15 at RPE 7-8 with the snatch grip and holds. I did a warm-up set and then did the weight I was supposed to use last week. These are ton tougher. I had to aim for 12 reps here. Last set I had to rest pause the reps a bit to finish. Ugh. These a tough in a good way. Single leg wall sits next. I figured I’d give 30 seconds a shot here. Managed to get that for all sets but it was tough. I am now allowed to go back down in time and add weight. That will be interesting. I do like how these are feeling. Hanging ab work after that. Same as last time with me using the hanging arm rests. I felt that even if lower ab feels twingey at the start, that I should be fine seeing as how my abs survived those dragonflies and they put a lot of stress everywhere. I felt that even with it being 30 seconds holds this time (with one less set) that I could do more than I did last time as far as tension. But I felt that perhaps fumbling with multiple bands to get around my feet at the bottom would be hit or miss I went with a light band. That worked great and made these quite tough. But I got them done. Last thing was grip work. Listed as doing plate pinch holds. Work up to 2x15-30 seconds. I was also allowed to do walks if I wanted to to stave off boredom and get some more core work. Options if doing plate pinch wasn’t great. The gym has a lot of 25’s and 45’s that can be one hand pinched but now 35’s really. I’ve done a pair of 45’s for a pick a long time ago with both hands but that would probably not happen right now and definitely not something I could hold for even 15 seconds. I felt that 25’s would be too easy. So I deviated from the plan. I knew that a grip guy had pinch blocks here and I just had to find them. 2” blocks that could be attached to loading pins. I figured these would work and the added bonus if these are reoccurring was that I could add weights in small progressive overload manner. But first I needed to be humbled. I had assumed since it was a thinner block and that I could pick up something decent. Nope. 100lbs added was glued to the ground. Went to 50lbs added and about the same. I realized that these were so tough because I wasn’t palming the implement like I can with say a plate pinch. This was purely just pinching strength. 25lbs added was easy enough so I added 10lbs to that for the working sets. I was planning on 30 seconds but found this was too difficult and stopped at 15 seconds so that I could recover for another set. I had done this set without chalk and put on liquid chalk for the next set. It felt about the same difficulty wise. I kind of didn’t want to leave it at just 2 sets at such a low time so I was going to do another set with 15 seconds but add regular chalk and leave timer open for 30 seconds (I was going for max time assuming I’d get like 20) and it was comfortable. So I then decided to treat those first two “working sets” as my last warm-ups and did another hold at 30 seconds. So this liquid chalk I have is no better than my hands as is but real chalk is great. I think that this liquid chalk will only be used to make my hands or surfaces dry to apply regular chalk or tape if super sweaty for atlas stones or something. Put stuff away and stretched before heading home.

June 16, 2022 – Week 2, Day 3

Mouser Block Presses (one clean)
124.5x3
155x3
174x3
199.5x3
224.5x3
239x1
239x3

Narrow Grip Axle Standing Pin Presses (eye level height)
26x3
76x3
116x3
166x3
206x5
206x5
206x5

One Arm Dumbbell Bench Presses (3 second eccentrics)
52x12/12
52x12/12
52x12/12

Halbert Dumbbell Raises on Incline Bench (1ct hold)
10’x6
26’sx12
26’sx12
26’sx12

Paused One Arm Band Lat Pulldowns (loose grip, 1 second)
sbx15/15
sbx15/15
sbx15/15

Paused Dumbbell Pullovers (1 second)
10x4
40x8
40x8
40x8

Dumbbell Bench Press Iso Holds
46’sx30 seconds
46’sx30 seconds
46’sx30 seconds

Stretching
  
Comments: Whole lot of stress at work. To the point that I’m seriously going to start looking elsewhere. It is starting to affect my health I think. I have a three-day weekend so I’ll dedicate some time to that and work on a plan as I’m not sure how much more I can take. Borderline ready to just drop off my equipment and live off my savings until I find something else. But let’s table that for now and reflect on something I seem to enjoy doing most of the time; training strongman. At least when I feel like progress is being made. Stupid hot and humid. The first thing planned for the session was block press. Not entirely sure how these will be programmed but already different from what I’ve done in the past. I’ve only had one training cycle with a block press and it was like 6 weeks maybe including the contest. So really only 4 sessions of pressing the block. Only singles and I managed 260ish in training (missed 270lbs or so) and got an easy 280ish at the show (which as the under 300lbs WR but that was a soft record) so I seem to be decent at this. That was 2018 and it is 2022 now so really close to 4yrs since I last touched this thing for overhead press. And certainly the first I’ve tried to lift it overhead at the home gym. So the plan here was work up from RPE 6 to RPE 7.5-8 on triples (ideally 4x3). I was not sure how these would go being out of it so long. I also didn’t think it was wise to lift the empty block without some kind of warming up so I did some bottoms up presses with my 25lbs weights (they have grips on the one newer set). Didn’t exactly invoke confidence. Getting the block from the garage to the patio was a little tricky. The block gained some weight since last used judging by the scale. Dust, rust and spiders (and decals) must add up over time. I had to evict one spider from the one corner or it’d get squished if I tried to use the Allen wrench to open it. I wasn’t sure how my biceps and such would feel as they’ve been cranky since last training prep and unfortunately with doing another show right after the last two, not giving much rest. I had to think here with the block how I wanted to do things. When I was doing this for that one show with this same exact block, I placed it a certain way so that I could really break down the movement. But this event is going to be thinner blocks and for a series so there is a time factor involved. I saw a setup using these blocks from last year that had them tilted on crash pads so I decided to do it that way. That first set I didn’t sit into the lap like I would a heavy weight. I weight felt light but I didn’t feel that stable with the empty block. Oof, not a great start here haha. I will say it felt easier in most respects to that ssb chaos band setup from last week. Well the empty block was the easy part but now I had to add weight. Time consuming. Unlike say a barbell, I can’t just add weight and move some clips. Not like stones or kegs were there is a wide variety of them and can swap out the next weight. I have to take it apart completely, add weight and close it back up. And then weigh it because of the spacers being used to find out how much I’m lifting. If there was one thing that I’d like to have someone do if they were here while I was training, it would be to change the weights on things like this. Bent over, body a furnace and just pouring out sweat. I have a feeling the blocks at the show will be filled with lead shot and thought maybe I put chains in my mine for that but I decided to stick to solid object weight for now. Stuff was feeling pretty good. Proposed plan had been 140/170/190/210 give or take 10lbs depending on my pressing style. I do a deep lap catch clean and push press. The clean was the trickier part. Not a lot of things are like it with a block. I’m not holding it as close to my body because I figure that I won’t be able to with the thinner blocks so that also can make things tricky. Pressing was feeling easy. I had thought that 224.5lbs would be it but it went up really well. Like RPE 6 on the pressing. So I was a little baffled on what to do. I figured I’d go up about 15lbs then for another set that should be just as good and call it there. I hesitated a lot on the that one with the pick up and sitting in the bottom for a while. The catch being a little off maybe also through me. I got the first rep easy and then I just couldn’t get stuff to fire right after that. Which was frustrating as I didn’t want any misses and the weight was feeling so light in my hands. It ended up bouncing into the grass. My ego and stubbornness had me redo it as I knew it wasn’t a strength issue. But I’d burn out and feel really crappy if I messed up again. This was the reverse of that first attempt with the first rep getting off balance and then getting each one easier than the last one. Just had to kind of shrug my shoulders to the camera with that result. Not all the pressing outside for today. I figured I’d leave the block for after the workout as far as putting stuff away and just put it on the hand truck and put it in the sunroom. Just can’t get away from the axle. Rack work but getter ROM. Emphasis on triceps with a narrower grip. I was initially planning on smaller jumps but I was pretty warmed from being outside and the block pressing. Plan was 3x5 at RPE7-7.5 with the bar at eyelevel. I really would’ve liked to do more weight but I knew that putting two plates on the bar with this setup after all the block pressing that this was what I could do and work up from here. These didn’t feel bad. Into the garage for some of the same things I did last. The first being one arm bench presses with accentuated negatives. Same as last week with it being 3x12 and a lot of RIR (3-5). Told small progression. I felt I underdid it last week with coming back to it so I felt I could go a bit heavier. I went with the left side first this time around as that side the lower body had felt locked up. That could’ve been from my back still recovering at that point. Might have been as that issue was nonexistent this time around. These felt just as easy as 12lbs less last week. My upper abs were sore from those dragonflies so sitting up and laying down was noticed haha. The Halbert raises were up again. I was told in the notes to push these as I should be able to do more. These didn’t feel as good as they did last week. Perhaps the block cleaning was to blame or just the increased volume of pulls (I did rows on Tuesday as well) so the elbow/forearm area was feeling it. I did a warm-up set (which was what I used last week for working sets) and then went up a good bit as suggested. Might have been too much. I couldn’t really hold the contraction on these with that weight really. So these might need to be scaled down if this isn’t what is planned. Back outside for single arm lat pull downs with bands. I had left most of my setup from earlier out there as it could serve as a good anchoring system. Advised to up the intensity however I could do get it be 12-15 reps per set. I definitely took it easy last week as I was able to do all those sets back to back with no rest between sides. Went for the strong band and added pauses. Still well within my abilities. Took breaks between sets just to not overly fatigue things. Back into the garage for the rest of the session. Pullovers were next up. I’ve only really done these as a stretch a certain way with no more than 20lbs total so I was cautious with this. I’ve done these before and never really felt them and this was more of a heavier weight must be better approach in my youth. Arnold did them for his chest so I should too. So trying to be controlled and not overzealous with the stretch. Control and not relaxing. I know the idea here is opening up the chest and ribcage as well as the lats with the mobility needed for the block pressing. I went with dumbbell as I felt that was easier to get into and out of position I think and less inclined to bend the elbows maybe. I’m open to playing around with this some more. Last thing was a bit odd. Getting a stretch in the chest while under load. Dumbbell bench press iso holds. Feet up on bench and flexing my upper back to push into the bench hard and stretch the pecs while keeping tension on the dumbbells and stretch the whole time. This was a little tricky to get into place and to effectively dismount. But it felt good doing it and after I did them as far as my chest and shoulders feeling good and not tight and crappy. I may have to troubleshoot this some. It was a long day and this was a long session so I didn’t want to bother with cooking food and ordered Indian food while I put stuff away. Ate dinner and stretched. Iced the right knee only.

June 14, 2022 – Week 2, Day 2

Side Planks with Banded Clamshell (Dynamic, 3 second holds) 
mbx10/10
mbx10/10

Hip Airplanes (5 second holds, hand support)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Deadlifts w/ bands
No Bands
135x5
Added Bands (+20lbs bottom/+84lbs top)
135x2
225x2
315x2
Added Straps
405x1
455x1
480x1
432x3
432x3
432x3

Pendlay Rows
135x3
185x3
225x3
255x8
265x8
275x8

Goblet Split Squats with Band TKEs (5-0-0-5)
ab+10x8/8
ab+10x8/8
ab+10x8/8

Banded Belt Squat Marches
lbx60 seconds
lbx60 seconds

Single Leg Wall Sits
bwx25/25 seconds
bwx25/25 seconds
bwx25/25 seconds

Dragonflies (5 seconds eccentrics)
bwx5
bwx5
bwx5

Stretching

Comments: I really need to find a new place to work. The stress is going to kill me. Some unpleasantness at the end of the work shift had me pretty darn agitated for training. And this was going to be a longer workout just with the number and variety of exercises. So first thing was the warming up stuff. Side plank banded clam shells again. Same as they were on Saturday, just different location. Hot in garage and hard floor so I did these in side on the carpet. Not 100% sure I’m doing all parts of these right. Laying on my left side the movement feels slightly tougher. From there it was hip airplanes. Plan was sets of 10 reps with 5ct hold at end point. My balance for these is terrible and I gave up trying to do them unassisted after five tries. I could maybe do a rep but not be able to hold it for that long. So used the wall for my one arm to support. Still got difficult to do the holds here. I will say that my knees weren’t really bothering me and the few times this movement has come up as a warm-up exercise that my right knee has felt not that great. Hard to say if improving or if just not doing as much stuff yet on the knees after the last training cycle. Many possible factors. With that done, it was on to the weights. First thing was banded deadlifts. Work up to an RPE 7.5 and then do 3x3 with a small drop depending on how I was feeling. I haven’t done banded deadlifts in some time. At least not full deadlifts as I was doing those dimel deadlifts. Setup requires time and I needed to figure out band tension. Was to be 10-15% added at the top. The bands I had figured out with my setup were either too much or not enough so had to do testing. Based off my guesses, I figured monster minis would be exactly what I needed and I was right. I took big jumps with working up. I think I’m used to that from the frame pulls as I was using a lot more weight and usually doing other pulls. But plate jumps were noticed here. My thinking was that I’d be able to use about 500lbs for that top set but 405lbs actually felt a lot tougher than I was expecting. But I didn’t sometimes that first set with the straps and belt aren’t and accurate feeling of how I feel (especially with the Versa Gripps) so my hope was that 455lbs would be the bare minimum for this. That felt about the same but I knew that going for the original 505lbs I wanted to would be pushing it too far and not leaving plenty of reps RIR as I should be. So I split the difference. 480lbs and it would be 500lbs right off the floor at least. Felt about the same but I could feel my neck on the left side tensing up at the base of the skull. Exertion and also stress headache mixed with allergy headaches. A triple threat. Just having to adapt deadlifts feeling slow and heavy for me but still moving. I’m not going to be moving pulls fast enough for me it would seem. Elevated pulls feel so much better for me within reason. So since this was feeling slow and heavy, I went with the 10% drop for the triples. Idea was positioning, not trying to outrun the bands. My rests were under 2 minutes just from me pacing. I felt like I had 5-6RIR that first set and gradually down to 3RIR by the last set. Pendlay rows followed that. I took a little rest putting away some of the band setup (some dumbbells helped with keeping the weights from rolling down the garage floor). I wasn’t sure how these would go. I wasn’t sure if I’d need chalk. Been trying to not do the Pendlay rows with straps if I can as trying to do some rows with straps and some without. I like these without to kind of keep that mind-muscle connection and to hopefully have that grip connection carry over to picking up stones, sandbags, kegs, etc in a powerful manner to the lap when needed. At least that is the intent I have with these. I think another part of it is that these hit the ground every rep and maybe it just feels off trying to go again after that initial shock with straps rather than like with a deadlift or a row with constant tension. I was expecting to do more weight than last time if I felt good. Sometimes garage bar and weight feels heavier than commercial gym. Plan was 3x8 working from RPE 7-8 over the sets. I was fully expecting 225lbs to be my starting weight but it felt light and I decided to go 30lbs more and do 10lbs jumps for these sets. Sure some concerns with the biceps and forearms as they were still recovering a bit from last training cycle. Only the last set felt challenging on the last few reps. From there we moved on to single work. Which is usually split squats. They were but not the Bulgarian ones. Just on the floor ones. But holding weight in front for goblet squat. And a band for a TKE. And tempo. So a lot of moving parts. I’ve never done all these together and tempo work usually kills the weight I can do on exercises by a good bit (especially with concentric tempo). I had to find out how I felt and how I responded. One set might be easy but then accumulated fatigue builds and it becomes a struggle. Maybe this is painful on joints? Still have slight twinge in the lower left abdominals that is slowly recovering and this stance might exacerbate it. I felt I was using not enough weight after that first set but I didn’t want to jump the gun without seeing how things went on a second set. Balance was tricky and keeping track of several things. Trying to stay more upright in the torso, thinking about how the back foot ankle should move and how the front leg should bend. I can go heavier I feel just not sure if the progression should be the band or the weight I’m holding. What part is the more important part? The intent. I guess I’ll know for next time. I will say that of the lighter weight leg exercises I’ve done with tempo or involving split stance; these have felt the best on the knees overall. Banded belt squat marches were up next. Last time I did these, my belt snapped and I ended up having to use this hard belt that was digging into my hips something fierce. So I put on a soft belt around the hips to keep from having it dig in this time around. Plan was 2 sets of 60 seconds at RPE 7-8. I felt that the band I was using for the TKE portion of the split squats would be too much so I went with the light band. It was pretty easy for the first 40 seconds. I’ve done these as warm-ups with this tension (but looser belt) for 30-45 seconds but not longer than that. So that is where the fatigue came in. Second set was a bit tougher but by that I mean it was finally within the RPE 7 range. So wall sits after that. I’m actually digging these. They are hitting the quads and knees and glutes without being tough on my joints. I figured I could try and push my time up to 25 seconds this time. It seems this will be several weeks of it being twice a week from what I’m gathering with the progression being until I get to 30 seconds. Not quite there yet. Those extra seconds add up and are tough. Probably didn’t help that I was really sweaty. Only place with a space to do these is inside the house so on the soft carpet too. I can work the legs and no knee pain so I’m cool with that. At this point, I started getting dinner prepped as this was the last thing and I was allowed to take as much rest as needed to ensure quality or quantity. Abdominal exercise to I guess help with the position of arching back on block press. Enter the dragon fly (or dragon flag as I’ve seen it called). This was going to be a “I tried my best” as this was not going to be picture perfect with my long ass legs. I had to go outside as I didn’t have anything on the floor to secure and anchor and my feet would be hitting the ceiling of the garage on my bench. My first attempt the stitch in the lower abs on the left side acted up. I took a moment to assess and then did it again and no issues. Coach wanted me to do 3 sets of 4-8 with 3-5ct. I figured longer eccentric would make up for how poorly these were going to go and hopefully mean less reps. These things just wreck my abs and I know like ab wheels that I’ll feel them for like a week and then it will be time to do them again. I did surprise myself getting 3x5 with these that almost look like I’m doing something. Ate dinner after I put everything away and stretched.

June 13, 2022 – Week 2, Day 1

Band Pec Flyes/Wall Slides with Band
lb’sx20/mbx10
lb’sx20/mbx10

Plyo Push-ups
bwx3
bwx3
bwx3
bwx3

Incline Bench Presses
45x3
75x3
105x3
135x3
165x3
195x5
195x5
195x5

One Arm Half Kneeling Dumbbell Strict Presses
40x5/5
70x10/10
70x10/10
70x10/10

Neutral Grip Seated Dumbbell Power Cleans
10’sx5
40’sx12
40’sx12
40’sx12

Banded Push-ups
sbx10
sbx10
sbx10

Stretching

Comments: Hot and humid weather again. It had been nice-ish the past few days. Had to go to dentist appointment after work so this workout was a bit later in the evening than usual. But not a lot of stuff going on here as far as workout wise so it didn’t seem like it would drag on too late really. Not feeling terribly beat from first week back. Right triceps was twitching all day which got my eye twitching a little too. So this workout seemed a bit different from the usual stuff. I guess trying new things and doing old things different ways, etc. I had mentioned that the elbow joint had gotten really worked hard this past training cycle (mostly elbow flexion) so that is something being considered I believe with exercise selection. Also I think working on opening up shoulders and chest get things mobile for block pressing. We shall see. I know this block press medley is doable for people. Anyways, on to the training here. So first part was a superset; band pec flyes and wall slides with a band. I’ve done the band pec flyes before a good bit (when I injured the one arm) and wall slides without bands had been a mobility prep in the first training cycle. So low effort for these really and more to warm up. I know that the band pec flyes can be a bit tricky with tension and setup at the start. Tension in my left shoulder and biceps was present. These can very fatiguing very quickly it seems. The wall slides were a bit tricky here. I don’t have high ceilings so I actually touch them before getting to full extension standing so I thought I’d try them outside against the wall of the sunroom. The band tended to get caught on things and roll so pressing forward into things wasn’t really working so I just focused on what I could with these. Not entirely sure I did these right. May need to modify next time. So that started things off and then on to push-ups. Plyometric push-ups. Should be easy enough. But hard to gauge with plyometrics. I feel like I have to warm up a good bit to be making fast movements like that with my body. I don’t mind them but I seem to run into issues like with that box jump incident. But concerns were unfounded as these seem to go just fine. Incline bench press was next. These I was to do with a slight pause and do 3x5 at 75%. Not sure what that would be really as I haven’t done much above 200lbs on these (outside of log) for many years. I also tended to use a narrower grip and really use my leverages to spring board it up through sticking point. So using a wider grip and such is different. I’d have liked to go heavier here but I couldn’t in good conscience do so and stick to the leaving 3-4RIR here and being quick. No injuries, just being smart. Build from here. Just like the front squats. From there things moved into the garage. I had fans going to try and cool things down. Brought back and exercise from two training cycles ago with the one arm dumbbell presses while in the half kneeling position. Plan here was 3x10 with 3-4 RIR and I felt with how things went few times that I should be able to handle 70lbs for this. I also didn’t want to have to deal with loading up plate dumbbells for these if I didn’t have to cut down on time with it being later and first session back with these. This worked out fine. Another exercise from before was seated dumbbell power cleans. The change being to do them with a neutral grip. Upper back work that took out elbow flexion I think was the idea. Hard to tell with exercises like this as tends to be a bit of momentum. But I seem to do quite well with letting in some heave with upper back stuff with getting them strong and powerful (assuming also doing much lighter strict stuff). If I had to compare the regular style vs this style, I like these more and they feel better as far as working upper back. I wasn’t sure I could do the 40lbs for the prescribed reps and sets but I knew I could after the first rep or so. I wonder if just sticking to this weight will be a better idea here rather than going up with plate loaded dumbbells. Last thing was more push-ups. Banded push-ups for 3x10-12 with 3RIR. I was advised I could adjust tempo to make things feel better on joints. I misread what I had done in the past on these on my log sheet (as I have different band setups) and thought the one that I’ve been using recently was the one I did several years ago. That setup hand been stretching a band across the ground like anchoring for a band deadlift rather than wrapping it around myself like I do now. So I thought I did a lot more reps than I actually did and was concerned that my ability was down here. Nope, still close enough. First attempt the band slipped off my back as I didn’t cross it. Fixed that for the other sets. These are quite tough with this much band tension, even getting into position or getting out of the setup when the set is done. Finished that up no issues (lower range for the reps) and put stuff away before eating a lot of chicken sandwiches and stretching.

June 11, 2022 – Week 1, Day 3

Patrick Stepdowns (5 second eccentrics)
bwx10/10 (7”)
bwx10/10 (8”)
bwx10/10 (9”)

Side Planks with Banded Clamshell (Dynamic, 3 second holds) 
mbx10/10
mbx10/10

Front Squats (5 second eccentrics)
45x3
95x3
135x3
165x2
195x2
225x5
230x5
235x5

Paused Deadlifts (beltless, 2 second midshin, straps)
184x3
234x3
294x3
294x3
294x3
294x3
294x3

Paused Snatch Grip Back Extensions (2 seconds, straps)
85x10
85x10
85x10

Seated Leg Curls
80x3
120x3
160x3
200x15
200x15
200x15

Single Leg Wall Sits
bwx20/20 seconds
bwx20/20 seconds
bwx20/20 seconds

Banded Hanging Knee Raise Holds
mbx20 seconds
mbx20 seconds
mbx20 seconds

Rolling D-Handle Hangs
bw+37.5 for 30 seconds
bw+46 for 30 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Allergies were pretty bad waking up. Work had seemed to calm down a little but is bound to be stressful again with just the general way things go when a big change happens. And that taking more than a day to get any kind of response to important questions/concerns. Whatever. Going out to train in Lancaster. I had been a little worried with how the lower back was feeling at the start of the week that sitting down to drive for that long would be a problem from just observation of sitting down while working for long periods of time. But thankfully, each day it calmed down more and more almost nonexistent this morning. It’s a good thing I check my workouts right before I do them as there were changes made to this workout after I confirmed I was going to do the contest in 9 weeks rather than do just offseason. I am kind of curious what those other exercises would’ve been like. A new experience having to fill up my car with gas over $5/gallon. Still less than $50 to fill up still. I only really drive out to Lancaster to train once a week so it doesn’t really affect me but I’d be feeling the squeeze if I was having to commute daily. Some traffic driving out at the start but fairly smooth after that. Some familiar faces at the gym and some newer. Not really any of that newbie group but I was a little later than usual. I ended up talking with Guy a good bit before I started training. He indicated taking a year off from serious competing to get his situation balanced (work, lifting, family). Understandable. The Hercules hold was taken down on the assumption no one else was going to need it. I hadn’t planned on it after this past show but here we are. I’m still a bit miffed by how it feels like the owners overlook me. Anything I damage or break, I replace out of my own pocket and notify. I have to makeshift my own things there but if a “pro” has that same event coming up, then it gets made. The gym also does “shoutout” posts for gym members competing and twice I’ve been overlooked when I’ve had shows that I put up on the board as competing at. I kind of feel like maybe it had to do with me taking stuff home with me with the world went to crazy in March of 2020. I wasn’t even told they were open until I asked friends that were posting stuff from there. But I don’t know. I treat this now as a place I train at and I pay a membership and go from there. Only family and friends as my support system. No sponsors, just stubbornness of hard work. Anyways, enough of airing that out. So start of workout had me doing some stuff that would be constituted more as warming up then lifting. Stuff that would definitely be for an off-season approach. Mobility related stepdowns. I keep getting Peterson and Patrick confused but I get the right one done haha. So for these, I was to do 5 second eccentrics and potentially increase the ROM as I went. These I’ve had a history of having my knees feel terrible at the start and often my hips needing to adjust to that initial movement and then feeling somewhat better as I went. I was prepared for that and it didn’t happen. These felt fine. I wasn’t really expecting them to and had to kind of rush around to figure out increasing height. I settled on 1” and these were fine. The 2” increase was noticeably more difficult but still fine. I’m not sure if I did this next one right. It was to be a side plank with doing lying clam shell with bands. I thought simple enough but I do a side plank with my legs straight and push off my ankles. I can’t really do that with my knees bent. So I kind of posted up on my forearm as best I could here. So hopefully it was right. I think the clam shell motion was probably the most important part. These got pretty exhausting for the hips and glutes. From there it was on to more typical gym lifting. Front squats. Second time doing them with Drew. First time had been that first week after the first show when I had the box jump incident. They had felt good then but I guess ended up not being the way to go with things. So I was interested in seeing how these would go. I was also cognizant that more anterior load might stress lower back in an odd way but that was minimal. Plan here was work up on triples and/or doubles to 3x5 at RPE 7. 5 second eccentrics with a slight pause (no bouncing) was the parameters. Front squats feel good when I can treat my legs like a trampoline or when I can just sit in the bottom for the pause. Controlled eccentrics was going to be tough. Not too rough on the knees. I tried to think how the last time I did these had felt as far as difficult and decided that to be on the safe side, I should do about 225lbs here. So I did a few more sets to work up because I felt that my usual 40-50lbs jumps wouldn’t adequately prepare me. It can be tricky predicting how many RIR with these tempo based reps but I felt that I could get away with small increases so I went up 5lbs per set rather than stick to straight weight sets. That seemed to work out fine. Next was deadlifting. Beltless paused pulls. I wasn’t sure how these would feel on the lower back but I felt these would be fine by the day before with how my back was feeling. And with no issues on the front squats, I should be fine. As I’ve been trying to do when training deadlift at the gym, make things tougher within reason. Usually deadlift bar at shows when regular deadlift so try to eliminate bar flex so that the start (the hardest part for me) is harder. So bringing out the kilo plates and the squat bar. Had to do a bit of math to figure things out here as plan was 5x3 with 50% (using 585lbs). This got close enough to that. First set felt heavy but other sets felt fine. I think I’m finally getting deadlift to click for me again with trying to take advantage of my stifflegged deadlift approach. Besides that initial feeling of heaviness of that first set (felt heavy but moved fine), these felt quite easy. So pleased with that. Next was more lower back related stuff. I had liked how the back extensions had been feeling at the end of last training cycle. They had also been briefly present at the end of the previous training cycle. This seemed to be a combo of those two exercises. The back extensions on the GHD suffer from a short ROM when I’m not holding something close to my chest like a dumbbell, plate, or kettlebell so limited loading. With my long arms, the ROM holding a bar even in a super wide snatch grip is still pretty small and then the benefit is just in the hold rather than the motion. So using a 45 degree bench might be the solution to that. I had to makeshift that. It worked but this weight felt really light. There was fatigue being felt set to set but it was more I think just from the motion itself as blood just seems to go to my head. I guess have to wait and see here if this needs to be adjusted. Next was leg curls in the machine. Seated. This machine had been out of order for a few weeks waiting for the cushions to be reupholstered. So lucky it was in working order today. Been a good bit since I did these. I aimed light but found that it wasn’t doing anything. The plan here was 3x12-15 with 3-5RIR. After the next warming up set, I knew I’d need the whole stack. My hamstrings and tendons were initially surprised with the load but adapted quickly and made short work of this. I knew my hamstrings would be tight, twitchy and crampy after these (in a good way). I will need to either stick to this weight, do these one legged or add tempo as I can’t add more weight here lol. The new thing that my coach wants to torture me with is wall sits. I say this as it appears this is going to be a twice a week thing. Work the legs, less stress on the knees and an isometric. He indicated sets of 20-30 and to keep them without pain with the plan to do single leg. Knowing that intent, I figured that I should be able to do single leg right now. Challenging so I kept these to just 20 seconds since I’ve never done a single leg wall sit before. I knew I had to do them single leg as just being in the regular wall sit position was like active rest which is what I did when switching sides. I feel like I got better as I went on these. Next was some abdominal work. Hanging ab work. Idea being to do a knee raise and hold the position at contraction for the duration. Add weight either by putting weight on my lap or around my ankles or use a band. I had seen Drew do these with a band so I went that route. Also with seeing that I had grip work after this, I used those hanging arm rest thingies that people use for doing hanging ab work. My grip would be fine but I wanted to try and push things there too on direct work rather than indirect work. Assuming that was intent. Like the wall sits, I stuck to 20 seconds as these were new to me. Also, I’m still getting occasionally twinges in the lower abdominals on the right side from that week I was attempting split jerks so I didn’t want to overdo it there as this area seems to take a while to recover from past experiences. I can definitely do more here but it was a little tricky getting things setup and timing it right. Last thing was grip work. Next show has Hercules hold in it so keeping that going. I feel that this show will have a longer hold required just based on the average times last time they did it with a substantial weight being over a minute (winner did over two minutes but outlier, so without him still over a minute). So it was listed to do rolling bar hangs for a total for 45-60 seconds over several sets of 20-30 seconds. It was suggested that if I could figure out a way to have it be the rolling d-handles like a Hercules hold, that it would be more specific and probably more challenging. Little did Drew know that the gym has gymnastic rings and other things hanging from the ceiling so I had my pick of 5 different d-handles. I also decided to test out liquid chalk for the first time. My reasoning was not so much to replace chalk but to see if things worked. I wasn’t planning on doing a show in the summer and it will be hot and I’ll be sweating like crazy. The liquid chalk will dry out my hands and then I can put chalk on top of that. The liquid chalk would keep me from sweating under the chalk. It seemed to work. I’m not sure if the grip combo or what but these hangs felt easy. This was the most I’ve ever done for a weighted hang on that first set so I went up even more. That felt a bit more challenging but I’d still hold probably another 10 seconds or more even. So not sure if I’m getting a stronger grip or this is easier than the rolling bar at the top of the rack or if the liquid chalk/chalk combo is that good. Put stuff away and stretched before leaving. I ended up talking with George a good bit before heading out. Essentially, I have no interest in competing as a Master’s athlete accept maybe for OSG. I want to keep competing at the highest level I can as long as I can.