July 30, 2022 – Week 8, Day 4

Patrick Stepdowns (3 second eccentrics)
bwx20/20 at 6”
 
Drinky Birds
mb+17.5x10/10
mb+17.5x10/10
 
Front Squats w/ bands (+10lbs bottom/+56lbs top)
45x3
95x3
135x3
185x3
225x3
225x3
225x3
225x3
225x3
 
Keg Carries (high carry)
Turns at 25’
200x100’
Turns at 50’
250x310’
 
Backwards Tire Sled Drags
145x30 seconds
145x30 seconds
145x30 seconds
 
Stretching
 
Comments: Last session requiring any kind of effort really. Tried to make myself treat this as low key as I could. Just another day. Get done and be done. Also trying to get myself to go to sleep earlier so that I’m rested and recover as well as not have it be such a shock waking up early day of show to drive out there. Since it was a really short workout, I was debating sleeping in longer than I did. I was also trying to rationalize driving out to train for this one since I could do everything at home. I think the two reasons I went with were that I wouldn’t have to try and replicate band tension setup to be exact (even if it didn’t need to be) and that I’d be able to test keg on not uphill/downhill terrain. Getting out there a little early usually means more congested traffic heading out there. Which ended up being the case and apparently for no reason. I ended up thinking about how I’m maybe seeing one or two people from the past few training cycles still getting after it. It is possible that times of day aren’t matching up but it has felt like I’m seeing less and less familiar faces and usually left to my own devices. Wondering if it was really worth the effort to be friendly and remember names. Even getting there earlier, I seem to still be on the end of when the larger training group is finishing things up. I did get to see some familiar faces briefly with that. However, being here with less people does seem to make it not so hot in the gym. Staring things off with the little things. As has been the case for a few sessions, starting off with stepdowns (actually every weekend training this cycle) and then the drinky birds (newer addition as had been the lying clam planks). Last week had been a reduction in difficulty with the sets and eccentric count and this was more so. Just one set at 6” which was about half the height I’d been working up to and about half the count for the eccentric. Being such, I had no need to work up to this height. I did decide to try something different by using a hard foam setup instead of something firmer. One being that I didn’t have to protect my Achilles tendon from being rubbed raw and the other was that it added an additional stability component which has been some idea behind getting the lower limbs to kind of wake up and to their part. So this was easy. Since the usual spot I use to do the drinky birds was kind of crowded by people doing atlas stones, I stayed out in the wind tunnel for these. Shot them from a different angle. These seemed to be fine enough. Ran into a hiccup after these. Plan here was front squats against bands again but do 205-225lbs for the 5x3. Same band tension and same kind of rest. The problem was being too focused on the bands that I apparently forgot to pack my lifters. I pretty much always front squat with them and they had been recommended for use during this cycle of training on front squats. I don’t think I’ve ever front squatted in the particular shoes I was wearing. So had to chalk that up to an error on my part and just hope that this didn’t screw things up for me as far as the movement. The weight was light enough. I think I did sit back more with these shoes vs my lifters. Knees ached a bit more than I would’ve liked here but tolerable and within parameters. I still can’t believe I didn’t pack them. This would be the third time in my strongman career I’ve not packed the right shoes (the other two times were for competitions; one in 2013 and the other in 2018). Then it was time for keg carry. Warm up as needed and do one good set of conditioning style. Goal was distance over load on the assumption that load will be less of an issue for show when recovered. Suggested was 250-275lbs here. I was advised that if I felt that keg carry style would strain my biceps/back too much then I should go with a sandbag bear hug carry where I pick it off of a platform. For me, I didn’t think that that option would actually be the best thing as bear hug can feel like even more biceps for me and it can be hard to appropriately engage the lats and arms picking something off an elevated platform vs from the ground. Since the idea was distance over weight, I elected to do the 250lbs keg. I had to fight myself on that as the ego wants heavier but I knew lighter was the right course with the show next week. I needed to know I could go the distance. Just because I tell myself that the uphill/downhill after sleeping 17hrs and half my usual food intake is much harder vs flat surface and not dealing with a depressive episode doesn’t mean I’ve convinced myself. I tried to think about warming up as odds are that there will be minimal stuff so I felt best way to do that was 200lbs keg and do shorter distance for the turns as that is where things get tricky. That seemed fine enough. But I was still nervous with 250lbs. Not because I couldn’t do 100’ with it in my sleep but because I was worried that I couldn’t do 200’ super easy. I felt that I wasn’t going the distance on these during the cycle. I can’t rest on my laurels. I assume everyone is gunning for this that competes with me as much or more than myself, even if it is one of my better events. Training for speed vs distance is different and it can be a bit of mindbender as you feel slow but have to know that this pace is sustainable and will mean you outlast them all. And that is kind of how it is. I didn’t feel light on my feet or fast that first 100’ and same with the second 100’. But the point was that the first and second 100’ felt the same. I knew I had 300’ in me after I got 250’. I again made sure that I made the turn around before dropping. I had more in me. This actual was a PR for me for max distance as I’ve done this keg for 300’6” in the past as a straight shot so turns added is an added bonus. Save it for show. So that was a relief. Last thing was some backwards sled drag work. Idea here was something to get the lungs working with 30 seconds of effort followed by 60 seconds rest for three sets. Suggest distance that I’d cover each run being 100’. The issue with that long a distance was that it would cause inconsistencies in difficulty as odds were high I’d need to turn the object around and some parts are uphill and downhill where I can do sled drags. And then there was dragging around weights when I’d rather not for a conditioning exercise at the end of the third training cycle in a row. I’m not a fast backwards sled mover in most instances. Here for a long time, not a fun time it seems haha. So I wondered if I could get away with having low weight and high friction in the form of a tire drag. Plop a keg on top of it for some added resistance. This seemed to work but I was only able to move it 159’ over the three sets. I never stopped moving, it was just as fast as I could go with the resistance as it was. My legs didn’t feel tired and I was really breathing that hard really with the minute rest. I could’ve probably done it all in one set really. I put stuff away and decided to stretch out at the gym before heading home. There was an accident on the road shortly after getting outside of the city limits leaving that slowed things down but odds are with how it was clearing up that if I had left the gym when I was done rather than stretching first, I’d have still gotten stopped there.

July 28, 2022 – Week 8, Day 3

Mouser Block Presses (one clean)
Weights
25’sx5
40’sx3
Block
124.5x1
149.5x1
174.5x1
199.5x1
224.5x1
224.5x1
224.5x1
224.5x1
224.5x1
 
Axle Push Presses
116x1
166x1
206x1
226x1
246x1
266x1
286x1
 
Half Kneeling One Arm Lat Band Pulldowns/Half Kneeling Band Face Pulls/One Arm Overhead Band Triceps Extensions
abx20/20—mmbx20 – mmbx20/20
abx20/20—mmbx20 – mmbx20/20
 
Stretching
 
Comments: Another session where I had nervous energy and was anxious. I think I was less anxious than I was initially expecting to be. Last two shows, this day has been the heaviest overhead press day number. So I think I was expecting this to be a heavy single for the block press and I know that a lot can go wrong on that movement. Perhaps still leery with how axle was last cycle. But this wasn’t the case for this workout exactly. I had made sure to get soft tissue done on my lower back after the heavy pulls on Tuesday. Another release of tension was that it appears I was approved for recertification of teleworking for another 8 month cycle. That had been a source of stress for me as denial meant abrupt changes right after this contest. I had intended to do this workout during my lunch break as it was lower volume and so I could insure I wasn’t caught in the rain as it was going to be storming off and on. But work was such that I didn’t really get to stop and worked through my lunch. Watching the weather radar map and tried to get things ready as quick as I could to start training. I only set up things for the block as I had a feeling that I’d be subject to a delay due to rain at some point. But hopefully after the block work. So as has been the case, I do some reps with other things before touching the empty block. Did the 25’s with handles and then 40lbs dumbbells. For the dumbbells, I did a thumbless grip to have things mimic the movement a bit more. Making sure I was sitting down into a full squat on these warming up stuff so that I wasn’t shocked when needing to do so on heavy stuff. The plan for today was to do 5x1 with the lightest weight of the block press medley, or thereabouts. 224.5lbs is close enough to 225lbs. Idea was to do 60-90 seconds rest but if I felt like it, I could do the last three singles as cluster reps with 30 seconds rest. As long as everything was moving easy and good. I knew I could do this weight for EMOM if needed so I did want to see how shorter rests would go. That is one thing I didn’t really get to do because I don’t have multiple blocks and resetting breaks up the flow. I was trying to be more aware of how the body moves when lifting the block and getting that pop to catch and not have it be by chance I guess. Smacked myself in the chin with picking up the empty block. Good thing I have a bit of a beard for some padding there haha. No missed cleans, no strain being felt in forearms and biceps and knees feeling good. Got out the liquid chalk for the working weight. Feeling decent. After three singles, it was time to do the cluster reps. And that was where I encountered a hitch. Maybe it was sweat but for whatever reason, when I did the pop and catch, my thumb ended up on the same side as my other fingers. I usually have the thumb under the block. More control and balance. Never been in this position before and I think that led to me being a little uncertain of how secure and stable this was. Nothing was stacked and stable and it was a struggle to lock out this but I was able to hold it. Well that just ate up a chunk of energy and I wasn’t to have anything feel tough today. Worrying that I ruined my prep with that lift. Same thing happened on the last one as far as the thumb issue but this time I just went with it and didn’t overthink it and it went up just as easy as it should. It was a good thing that I did shorter rests for those last two as it started to rain as soon as I finished and it became a downpour shortly after I was able to haul the block into the sunroom. It was going to be a bit until the rain stopped. If it was light rain, no problem but this was hard rain where it was leaving standing water hand having it churn into a white color from the force. So not ideal for overhead pressing. But storms this violent can only last so long so I knew it would pass in about 15 minutes. So I put stuff away from the block and got things ready to move outside for the rest of the workout. Axle again. Plan here was to work something decent to overload and prime for block. I should be able to lift more on axle out of the rack vs block. I was to wear what I’d wear for the block press so that no compression cuffs or knee sleeves. There were a few different metrics given that kind of made it hard for me to really figure out what weight to be using here (even though the notes said don’t worry about it). I was to work up to a top single that was something I could recover from. The different parameters given were RPE 7, 80-85% and ideally heavier than the last block in the medley. RPE 7 will vary from day to day and exercise to exercise as that would be maybe 3RIR. 80-85% of my 1rm that I’ve actually hit in training in the past year (310lbs) would have that be 248lbs – 263.5lbs. The last block in the medley is 275lbs. And the suggested weights were 205lbs, 225lbs, 245lbs and 265lbs. So a bit confusing but a range. I ended up doing more lifts to work up due to the rain delay. My plan was to do 20lbs jumps once I was at the 206lbs range like written as example. See how things go. If feeling froggy, do another jump over 266lbs because Nats opener is 285lbs. It can be hard to gauge with these. I was also not sure because of how tough those banded axle push presses have been. Knees a bit more achy on axle vs block. Not the best camera setup to compare both to see but I imagine I do more knee forward on axle vs block. There seems to be some issues I still have with axle. Rushing setup because worried that if I’m slow or take too long, I’ll have it stapled. It must move quick. Left shoulder felt a lot better than it has the past two weeks. I felt like my last single was borderline RPE 7 (3RIR) as getting 4 would be a recent training PR. I sent video to Drew again because paranoid like with deadlift. He indicated it seemed to be acceptably within the parameters but that I should spend more time getting settled and setup after walking out the weight and that it will probably help me in the long run. I’ll need to keep working on that and correcting bad habits. From there, the rest of the workout was light band stuff. The exercises from last week were now a triset. One arm lat pulldowns into face pulls into one arm overhead extensions. Two sets of each with it being 12-20 reps a set and 5+RIR. Also told to use less band tension than usual and no pauses. So I knew this was going to be sets of 20 for everything. No rest between exercises after I got stuff setup. Had a fast paced song playing as well. Started cooking dinner as I put stuff away. Ate, stretched and then iced knees before bed.

July 26, 2022 – Week 8, Day 2

Drinky Birds
mb+15x10/10
mb+15x10/10
 
Hip Airplanes (5 second holds)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10
 
Suited Deadlifts
No suit
135x3
225x3
315x2
Added Straps
405x2
Added Suit
475x1
545x1
610x2 PR+5lbs
 
Suited 18” Jack Stand Pulls (straps)
495x1
565x1
635x4
 
Chest Supported Barbell Rows (straps)
135x10
185x6
225x8
225x8
225x8
 
Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squats
bwx10/10
10’sx10/10
40’sx10/10
40’sx10/10
 
Band Seated Leg Curls
sb+abx25
sb+abx25
 
Stretching
 
Comments: I was a little anxious for this workout. Last heavy deadlift session. I think it was because it was potentially the heaviest deadlift workout of the cycle and it was the week before the show. Looking through past training cycle ends under Drew, this hasn’t exactly been out of the norm. First contest prep had me pulling in the 80-85% range raw, second contest was 86% range in suit, third was 88% and last show had me doing my heaviest pull the week before as part of the training. Other than the second contest, the deadlift has felt great and it has been PRs (second show I missed a lift in training going too heavy and was still recovering from elbow/wrist/neck injuries but still tied for 1^st). The trend does seem heavier and higher. I didn’t want to put out too much effort before the show. I need it to be there. So that was the source of my nerves but on to training. Drinky birds back again. I’m seeming to find the groove on these as these seem to be feeling better. I think this is also the first time I didn’t need to take a lap to recover between sets as these can be quite fatiguing. Then into the garage for hip airplanes. Since I got them all done last time (eventually) without support, that was the goal here. Never going backwards. I feel like I was able to do it quicker this time (as far as less mistakes). Right leg is having a much better time with balance and everything on these. Left side ends up being a bit tougher. Then on to the heavy stuff, deadlifting with the suit. So plan here was to work up to a top double of the training cycle. Could be a PR, just had to be something that was smooth and I had something in the tank. I felt like that at minimum I should do 585lbs for this double. Most I’ve pulled for reps had been 571lbs for that easy triple and then it has been lighter than that (did 610lbs for 3 toughish singles two weeks ago). This really hasn’t been that long of a training cycle to really push things and let them grow but it is what it is at this point. I want to win and I want to get to Nationals and actually go. This would be the fourth time (2012, 2015, 2017 and 2022 maybe). After having my leg bleed everywhere last week, I had to do the tape method for my shins. Works better than socks. Raw lifting warming up didn’t feel as good as it did last week so expectations were tempered. I had plans based off how things felt to determine the jumps I’d make. I was going no higher than 615lbs today. Since last set of raw pulls wasn’t feeling as powerful as last week, I went with a 70lbs jumps for the first single in the suit. Either I’m really grasping at straws to figure out why there are inconsistencies with suited pulls or it apparently matters what order I put the spandex underwear layers on. The two of the same brand are interchangeable but the other brand has to be the one on top of the other two or the suit sliding is worse it seems. So first pull with suit felt ok but not so much that I’d make a bigger jump then I just did so I did another 70lbs. If that felt like crap, then I’d go for 585lbs for the double. But if not, then I’d have to figure out what I was doing as it is hard to not pushing things. 545lbs felt real easy so now it was deciding if I just do like 595lbs for a double or go up to a PR attempt of 610lbs. I can probably do more than that but haven’t really peaked for repping in a suit like a triple or double like I have for singles. Always with reps in the tank. Any really, going with 600lbs just would lead to me inching up the slide anyways. 545lbs had felt real good which was why I bothered with attempting PR. Worry was that I overreached and screwed everything up. I didn’t (or at least that isn’t immediately apparent). First rep was a little out of position but I didn’t panic at lockout and was able to make the second pull like a speed pull. I felt like I maybe had 3 more reps if I got them like that second rep. So definitely a triple was there at least, even if I got bad movements. So that was nice. I sent video to Drew to make sure it looked within recoverable standards as I got things setup for the next thing; 18” pulls with the suit on. Since I wanted to use the same bar (it doesn’t really flex and has crap knurling), that meant a bit of time to take off weights and put the jack stands on and add weight. This did give me some time to drink something. But I also knew this could make that first lift feel a bit rough with the downtime. Plan for this was work up in singles to a weight that I could do 2-4 reps with 1-2RIR. Something that ideally should be heavier than the double I did last week at 14”. Depending on feel really I was thinking between 635-675lbs. I knew as soon as I did 495lbs that lower end was wiser. I was feeling deadlifts and the pull height is a lot less pop and more lower back, especially since I can’t make the suit as tight as possible for these kind of pulls. I also didn’t want to do touch and go style that sometimes is tempting to do with block/rack pulls. These were fairly challenging. I did four and I still felt I had 1-2RIR but Drew feels I probably should’ve called it at 3 reps. Just going to have to recover hard. More downtime putting all that weight away to get things ready for the next thing, and really the rest of the workout. This gave me more time to get liquids down. This was going to be easier stuff as the pulls was the main thing and the rest is just extra stuff. Chest supported rows followed. Only to do 225lbs for 3x8. I did the same warming up that I did for last week as far as reps. I wasn’t going full bore here as I knew this was to be easy and should be easy. It wasn’t something that required a lot of effort. But I still felt like it should’ve been easier. Left forearm/insert area was feeling a little tight. But this was still easy enough to be mostly an afterthought. From there on to Bulgarian split squats. Wasn’t specified how to load them but it was implied dumbbell. Advised to do two warm up sets to get blood flowing and then aim for 2x10 with 3RIR. It has been a bit since I’ve done these normal style and with more than a little weight really. I tried to do bodyweight with no knee sleeves but knees were too cranky and on they went. Not going to tempt fate this close or make things harder to recover from due to pride. I probably could’ve done more weight and still kept to the effort range but I’d have needed to use the plateloaded dumbbells as going from 40’s to 70’s was definitely going to be too much. But it also wasn’t like I was doing nothing here. Finished up with band curls. 2x20-25 with RPE 7-7.5 or 3-5RIR. It gets a bit difficult to have band tension for both legs and be this kind of rep range. I’ve used the strong and average band before but using more than that becomes and issue with keeping things anchored down. I will possibly have to try something different next time I’m to do these with any greater intensity. But these felt pretty darn easy and I was tempted to do another set just make up for it. But I didn’t. Because I know that reduction of volume is part of the plan as well. Don’t need junk volume this close. Put stuff away before eating way too much leftover grilled salmon (and a pizza) before stretching and icing my knees before rolling into bed.

July 25, 2022 – Week 8, Day 1

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

Paused Axle Strict Presses w/ bands (1 second in rack) (+22lbs bottom/+40lbs top)
28x3
58x3
88x3
118x3
148x3
148x3
148x3
148x3
148x3

Chaos Band Push Ups (feet raised 12”-rack)
bwx5
bw+31x5
bw+53x10
bw+53x10
bw+53x10

Paused Banded Face Pulls (chest height anchor, 2 seconds)
abx15
abx15

Band Internal Rotations
lbx20/20

Paused Banded Triceps Push Downs (2 seconds)
sbx20
sbx20

Stretching

Comments: Coming to the end of this. Always wanting more time. Make it better, be stronger, be faster. Getting to that point where I’m on the razor’s edge of being at my strongest and my most vulnerable. I may not have it for brute strength on overhead or deadlifting but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let the stuff where you got to work be easy for anyone else to wrestle from my banana hands. At this time, there are 7 competitors for the show including myself. Assuming at least 6 actually make it to game day, top 2 qualify for Nationals. If less (3-5) then only the winner. I always want to win but realistically not always going to happen. I know very little about who I’m competing against in less than two weeks. But half of them could probably beat me on deadlift from what I can gather. Press is hard to gauge since it is a block. But I don’t see myself dropping points on the other three events to anyone showing up. This workout was a little bit lower intensity since really this week is the final touches for the rest of the events. More thinking about the deadlift and block press sessions coming up. This workout was more of a get muscles working and primed for the second upper body workout while not overdoing it. It was below 90 today so that was at least something. Band warming up to start. Wall slides as they have been. Left shoulder gets achy but eventually is cool with it. The y raises again but with pauses back in. I think I like them this way with the lighter band tension. From there on to the only real free weight exercise of the session; axle press. I was advised to either do incline press or strict press for these. Whatever I felt I’d recover from better for block later. Hard to choose really. Weight would probably be about the same really with how my incline bench. I decided to go with strict press to see how it felt for my shoulders compared to incline and to make sure I was getting good stacking as far as hips. Plan was similar to how front squats went with bands added to it (10-15%) for 5x3 with the same rest. I was advised to lower the weight if I felt like I was grinding at all here. Proposed weight was 55-60% and I split the difference for 57.5%. Doing these, I realize that I’ll have to do more axle/barbell strict press work to correct things a bit as my form is a little off from doing the lean back style last cycle. It doesn’t work nearly as well as it does for log. I press out front and don’t get under weight as well. So it felt like a two part lift rather than a single motion. But that could also be because these were paused reps on the shoulders. So unlike front squats, there wasn’t a groove or rhythm to it. I was stopping the flow every rep. Idea being that have to let weight settle for a block press. These seemed to move well enough. Thankful that my left shoulder didn’t complain on these nearly as much as it has on incline bench. Chaos band push-ups were next. I always get a little nervous when they list weight and no tempo and lower reps as that means I got to load up the back pack. Plan being 3x10 at RPE 7. No pauses, no eccentrics, no nothing. Just control. Seeing as how I did 40lbs for 3x12 with 3 second eccentrics last time these popped up recently, I knew I’d have to throw something on my back here. The setup from last time worked great. Left shoulder was a little tight but it usually just needs a moment with push up stuff to start to feel better. I didn’t need to use nearly as much weight for these as I was expecting to so that was good. Becomes a chore getting the back pack on with those kinds of weights added. It was then bands for the rest of the workout. No weights. Paused face pulls. Just 2x12-15 with the 2 second holds but advised to anchor at chest height as opposed to forehead level. Little different but I got the groove of it. Kind of neat to be doing paused work for high reps on many face pull variations with the average bands. Next was internal rotations. Just a set of easy reps (12-20) like last time. But make sure to film it this time. Advised to pin a towel with my elbows to insure keeping things locked and tight. I took the bold step of going up to a light band here (used monster mini last time). I was surprised I was able to do 20 reps here. Noticed left side has a harder time than the right. But I think this level of band tension is good one for now if this continues to be a thing. Work on making reps even better next time. Feel easier. Last thing was paused triceps pressdowns with bands. 2x15-20 with the 2 seconds. I figured that to keep the RPE lower compared to last time, just do 2x20 with the strong band. First set felt too easy but the second set was just right. Put stuff away and then went over to see my niece for a little bit before coming back to eat a massive pot roast and stretch.

July 23, 2022 – Week 7, Day 4

Patrick Stepdowns (3 second eccentrics)
No Eccentrics
bwx8/8 at 6”
Added Eccentrics
bwx15/15 at 9”

Drinky Birds
mb+17.5x10/10
mb+17.5x10/10

Front Squats w/ bands (+10lbs bottom/+56lbs top)
45x3
95x3
145x3
195x3
245x3
245x3
245x3
245x3
245x3

Farmer’s Walks (16” pick, drop and turn halfway)
Casual Pace
50x100’
Normal Pace
100x100’
140x100’
190x50’
230x50’
280x100’ in 19.21 seconds
300x100’ in 21.53 seconds

Hercules Holds (hook grip)
230x94 seconds

Glute Ham Raises (4 pins showing)
bwx20
bwx20

Leg Extensions
45x30
45x30
(up with 2, down with 1, 5 seconds eccentrics)
45x15 right
45x15 left

Stretching

Comments: I told myself that I had to get up at a reasonable hour today and get out to the gym to train earlier than I have been. Reason being that I really wanted to make sure I had assistance for the two actual contest event runs of two events but also because holy hell was it going to be hot today. It was going to be the second hottest day of the year so far (I guess hottest but tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter). Besides Monday, it has been over 90 degrees every day this week with each day being warmer than the day before. A main reason that I kind of what to not be training event specificity during these months because it is a whole ordeal. Luckily the show(s) I’m prepping for don’t have atlas stones as that just becomes misery and frustration. I really wish that I had been better against competition this year so that I could be focusing on Nationals outright rather than another show and then Nationals. I seem to feel best when I got a long build up and plenty of time to fine tune. I tend to peak really hard from what I can gather seeing other people doing stuff like the day after a show. Or I’m not as fast at recovering. I didn’t quite get to bed as early as I wanted/needed to so I hit snooze I think 3 times or so. Still earlier time getting up and going compared to two weeks ago (not counting last week as that was an aberration). Debating on whether to wear a light-colored shirt or one that was made by either niece or nephews. One would be cooler I guess while the other offers some motivation (I just wish they didn’t keep picking dark colors lol). Drive out took a little longer due to being out when more people are out. Sun was constant, almost concerned about getting sunburn through the windshield it was that bright and hot. I got there about an hour earlier than I had and the temperature had already creeped up 6 degrees in that 45 minutes of driving. Lot of people there for training group which I’ve been kind of missing as they are leaving once I show up. They had car deadlift and fingal fingers outside. They probably couldn’t do them inside I guess because the Hercules hold was setup for me (oops). I have no idea what contest (if any) they were prepping for. A few shows within reasonable driving distance have car deadlift but only one for fingal fingers and that’s for veterans. And none of those shows are on the board for people doing things (but not always accurate). Some people doing those that I know are prepping for other shows in the next month or so that don’t have those events or events similar to that. But different folks, different strokes. Lot of bodies and it was making the place warmer than it should perhaps (I say this as it felt cooler after most people left despite getting 6 degrees hotter still). I wasn’t too sure about the music situation so I kind of left it be until after the person whose initials were on the Bluetooth adapter had left. Stepdowns to start. Only one set and less eccentric time but more reps. I figured that I could do lower height than I had been doing as just to warm up. No eccentrics lower box height to get things feeling ok. Felt fine. I got startled by someone turning on loud music as I was starting on the other side and started over. It is exhausting always being on alert. Drinky birds after that. They are something and they feel like something but I’m not sure if I’m really getting them right. I think one side is having an easier time than the other. With those out of the way, it was on to front squats. Plan for today was to do 5x3 with between 225lbs – 245lbs and keeping it RPE 6-7 with 90 seconds rest. And have 15% in band tension added to the top of the lift. I’m not sure what my max is right now on front squats but I feel like I’m probably around where my best was (385lbs) so I used that. I had brought an assortment of bands as I would need to find out what would get me to about 58lbs. Turns out mini and micro did the job. I wasn’t sure how fast I’d be actually moving with these. I really wanted to use 245lbs so I did 50lbs jumps and made a mental note that at any time the weight was starting to feel like it wasn’t in the cards for being easy today, adjust the jumps. The only point where the weight jump felt like a bit much was 195lbs and that was one jump away so I just went with it. Glad I did as this weight was perfect. Good when things come together like that. I took time setting things up for farmer’s walk as well as putting things away from front squats. The plan here was to work up to two decent sets of 100’ with the drop and turn at 50’. Goal being 280lbs – 300lbs (contest weight). I had to do some thinking on that. What was the best option here and what would benefit this coming show and hopefully Nats. Nats also has farmer’s walk and it is like a double blast of what this show is going to be with it being 2x80’ with drop at 40’. I had to look back through my training archives for when I last did farmer’s walk like this to see how I found best to warm up for it. I needed to practice the drop and turn efficiency and also not exhaust myself warming up to the top weights in this heat. As well as preserve my hands. This heat and the amount of sweating was having dead skin and calluses be an issue. Which usually isn’t. I’ve also kind of realized that I’ve never really used these particular handles this much really and haven’t gone over 300lbs with them either. I’m using them because they are what I think is closest to show (though I think contest pick height might be higher and the implements shorter). Now I’ve in the past done this with the I-beam handles and warming up was usually full course (100’, drop, turn at 50’), half course (50’, drop, turn at 25’) and then 50’ run. That show prep in 2018 I did contest weight two times (but only one top set each time). Plan was to do that but I realized that if I did, I’d end up with the handles at the end on the far end so I adjusted to have more drop and turn practice. Warming up was feeling pretty good. I did notice that I was radiating a lot of heat off my body when I was bent over in the start position working up. Enough so that I felt I could reheat a pizza on my chest. So I had to take that into consideration when I got setup. As far the top set runs, I had to figure out the best approach here. Now the competitor in me wanted to do 300lbs for both sets. Heavier and heavier. But I knew that wasn’t needed for this show. But also thinking about Nats which will be more grueling a farmer’s walk event. I already knew though that with how I had setup warm ups that a 70lbs jump would be a bit much and not reflect how I’d prep at show. So I decided that I’d do 280lbs and see how it goes. If I got below 20 seconds on it, then I’d consider going up to 300lbs for the second run. Most people had left at this point and I asked a fellow competitor and friend to assist. I knew he was a fast call on the start commands. Hard to get consistency. I can’t be choosy here though and it will matter when it counts I guess. He did “competitor ready, go” instead of “competitor ready, set, go” and I just stood up and said it was to be a three command, not a two command. I don’t mean to be picky about stuff but it matters. This felt fine but I also felt slow. The repick felt heavy too compared to the warming up. But I got it under 20 seconds by a good margin but still within a second. So I was iffy about going up. Yes I did get it within the self set parameters I had but I was worried I’d be too slow and next run with more weight and that I’d wear myself out. I reread my training and it didn’t say it had to be fast, just aim for speed and I said fine, I’ll do 300lbs. This was slower but not a whole lot. I fidgeted with gripping the handles on the repick and it was so much slower compared to 280lbs on that. It felt like forever. But I got it and was only a little over 2 seconds slower compared to the 280lbs run. Probably was a good thing to feel 300lbs on these as I’ve not done that weight I think since 2019. Yes I’ve done frame carry with a lot heavier but that was with straps and a much higher pick height. And only one pick required. From there moved on to the other event for the day; Hercules hold. Well not right away. Plan was just to do one hold to try and maybe hit a PR and just get used to it to fine tune as haven’t done any of it this whole prep. I think reason being that this wasn’t probably going to be that heavy compared to the last show. The weights I’ve seen with this apparatus in the past have been listed at like 335lbs but the average time was something close to 70 seconds with the winner getting just over 2 minutes. Hook grip allowed here and I knew that my grip would probably not be able to hold on for 2 minutes without trying that really. Now it’s not like I feel the competition at this show is going to have that kind of grip but I don’t know. From the people I do know, I don’t think they will. But since I’m one of the last people to sign up in my weight class, I will have to go early and probably will be in the same position all day as this promoter generally doesn’t change position based on scoring due to time efficiency. So even if I’m in the lead, I may have to be first out and have to set the pace on everything. Which will kind of suck but whatever. If I had done better, I wouldn’t be in this position to begin with. So need to see if hook grip is a viable option to save grip really with the farmer’s walk and max distance keg carry on top of this. At this point, there were only two other people there at the gym and neither of them were strongman people. Or powerlifting people. More of one kid doing workouts for high school sports and the other crossfit kind of stuff. I had to think here as I was told if this was too much of a pain, I could do rolling d-handle hangs again. I did do a little of that but more to test out hook grip. See if I could still do it since I haven’t since 2018. Yes and quite painful but the main issue was that since the position isn’t as “closed grip” as regular style, I was hanging lower and would have to actively contract my legs up keep from touching the ground which isn’t what I wanted. I waited a bit and finally worked up the nerve to ask these two people to assist me. I’m always super anxious with things like this. I know how I look and try to walk slower if going the same direction as someone else for fear that I’ll scare them. Sometimes I will just walk in the opposite direction to avoid that being a possibility. Since Hercules hold isn’t exactly easy to coordinate, I knew I couldn’t request for help on multiple sets so I didn’t do any work up sets. It was just going to be one set which may as well be how it goes at the show. I didn’t bother to have them worry about filming or anything as I felt I was already asking too much as it was. And it ended up about how I expected. The one guy almost let go immediately and the other guy didn’t really take into consideration that he was sandwiched between the arm and the crash pads. So good thing my hook grip held as that one side was really getting yanked until they both let go. So that sucked but whatever. I had hoped to get closer to 2 minutes here but this was enough. I feel with better release I’d be closer to that. Considering that I did more time with 30lbs more per hand regular holding style, this is viable. Forearms got fatigued more so than grip and then fingers couldn’t keep closed as the forearms fatigued. Also the sweat lol. Thumbnails a little sore but ok. Putting stuff away I saw a praying mantis. Usually just see flies or spotted lanternflies around here. So that was neat. Just a few things left. Glute ham raises were up next here. Two sets and keep 2-3RIR. I had already decided to do these just bodyweight and aim for 2x20 reps to see if I could. I was able to do that. I feel I had more reps that first set but left it at that. Just getting tendons and muscles ready for last bit of heavy training next week. Last thing was leg extensions but accentuated negatives. Warm up as needed and then do 2 up, 1 down method. Just one set this time. I kind of knew what to expect this time. I did both of the warming up sets with the same weight as the knees would need to get tendons warmed up. Right knee really dislikes the lowering phase but after about 8 reps it was quiet enough to get through these without hesitation. About the same for the left knee but that was less discomfort overall anyways. Put stuff away and went home to stretch in the A/C.

July 21, 2022 – Week 7, Day 3

Mouser Block Presses (one clean)
Weights
25’sx6
40’sx4
Block
124.5x2
155x2
179x2
206.5x2
206.5x2
206.5x2
206.5x2
206.5x2
206.5x2

Narrow Grip Axle Standing Pin Presses (top of rack, 1” block, 5 second hold last rep each set)
136x3
186x3
226x3
256x3
286x3
286x3
286x3

Paused Half Kneeling One Arm Lat Band Pulldowns (3 seconds)
sbx12/12
sbx12/12

Paused Half Kneeling Band Face Pulls (3 seconds, high anchor)
lbx12
lbx12

One Arm Overhead Band Triceps Extensions (2 second hold in stretch)
lbx12/12
lbx12/12

Paused Dumbbell Pullovers (5 seconds)
40x10

Dumbbell Bench Press Iso Holds
46’sx45 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Hot day. Been hot all this week. Going to get hotter by the end of it. Block press back in the rotation again. A lighter week here again (last week was to be heavier but modified obviously) with the plan being next week to be the last heavy session before the show (following the setup that has been the case for the past few shows). Sun wasn’t directly on me thankfully but it was hot. Did the 25’s again for some reps but then also did 40lbs dumbbells as well. These felt good. I made sure that I got into a full squat position before picking them up to press just to get things ready and mobile. Quads were feeling stiff from the hatfield Bulgarian split squats. The plan for today was to work up to 200lbs for 6x2 with 90 seconds rest. I initially was thinking it was clean every rep which would be quite exhausting but read to make sure it was just one clean each time. Worked up in doubles. Clean wasn’t going great the first two working up sets. Almost overshot it with the empty block and I did on the second set and got off balance and it came back down and I stopped it from falling to the ground and recleaned it. My biceps were feeling these after getting a nice break from it last week. Wrists were getting a little scraped up here too. The good news was that it wasn’t feeling like I needed to let the block settle so much before initiating the press. I was a little worried that would be the case since I had the lingering stuff from last week from being stressed. All I really had was occasionally just the regular kind of balance issues that can arise on this. Weight came out a bit heavy at the end but fine. I actually had to talk myself down to doing closer to 225lbs just for my own sanity when I know I can do that and need to do the competition right. My rests did end up being shorter than 90 seconds. The jump to the working weight felt heavier as far as the pick but that could be because I didn’t wear a hard belt or wrist wraps. I think I was also a little self-conscious that I might nick my shin and have it bleed again. 3rd set felt the best of them. Those felt effortless and crisp. I think I’m starting figure out where I need to have the power come from and start when it comes to initiating the clean with this. But don’t know if that is just for this kind of block or if it will work for the odd shaped block at the show. I will have to try my best when I’m there to get my hands on it before we have to go. On the last one, I did a little bit of marching in place with the last rep overhead. Just to show I’m in control and some extra balance. Maybe to also wake things up for the next thing on the agenda. Axle rack work again. Going with my mistake of height from last time and running with it. Kind of surprised doing another rack session but fine by me. So plan here was the lighter weight I did for my sets of 5 reps last week for 3x3 and to hold the last rep of each set for a 5 second hold overhead. I saw that I said no. The weight of 276lbs would be about what the last block in the press medley is. But 286lbs would be about the opener for Nats on the axle clean and press event. So I went 10lbs heavier. I felt I could do it and still be ok as warming up my plan was to do first two sets working up as triples and then doubles and when I accidentally did one of the doubles as a triple, I just did triples all the way up. I want to redeem the axle showing at last contest. I want to be in the frame of mind that I’m winning this show in two weeks and I’m going to Nationals. So part that. Trying to be of two minds as I want to keep pushing higher and higher but I also need to do enough to stimulate and not annihilate as I do have this show in two weeks that I need to win. Definitely noticing my sore quads on these with bracing and putting the weight through my leg bones and hips with the stacking. My shoulders weren’t feeling nearly as complainy as they were last week. At this point in the session, I took a break. For about an hour. My family that lives in Arizona were stopping by for a little bit and I had not been able to see them at the beach vacation as planned. I had a new niece I hadn’t met yet so I felt it was best to see the little ones before they went down for bed in like an hour. It was nice to see them. My older niece picked some vegetables from my parents’ garden and then had me watch her play farm with a bunch of tiger toys. So after an hour of that, I got back to finish up the workout. I had taken the chance since the rest of the workout was bands and stretching/mobility stuff for upper body. Low volume stuff. Lat pulldowns single arm style was next. Indication was to pull to a specific point to try and mimic block press position. I think I got that right. This was followed up with band face pulls. High anchor point again but advised to do them in the same position of the half kneel like the lat band pulls. The balance issue added a little something to it. Last thing for outside was band triceps. Overhead style with the flex of biceps in the stretch. It was suggested I try one arm to make getting into position easier and less compromising. I did try with standing on the band but it didn’t feel right so used the same anchoring as last week. Right arm definitely lagging here compared to the left. Even after the left was the one that got fractured. Into the garage for the last touches. I had the fans going the whole time so it was fairly cool in there. Pullovers for a single set. 5 second holds in the stretch. Suggested was 30-35lbs dumbbell but don’t have that. I didn’t want to use the smaller plateloaded since I had those setup for the last exercise and the longer handle I’d be hitting the ground before reaching a stretch. So used the 40lbs dumbbell. My lats/chest don’t really get worked much on these, it is more the triceps having to stabilize. Trying to stretch but not like relax like I can in the bottom of a squat (hard on shoulders to do that and have to tense up again). Last thing was a set of bench iso holds with the dumbbells. These felt good. Ordered Indian food and put stuff away before eating and then stretching.

July 19, 2022 – Week 7, Day 2

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

Hip Airplanes (5 second holds)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Suited Deadlifts
No suit
135x3
135x3
225x2
315x2
Added Straps
405x2
Straps
495x2
495x2
495x2

Suited 14” Jack Stand Pulls (straps)
565x2
590x2
617x2

Chest Supported Barbell Rows (straps)
135x10
185x6
225x4
270x2
315x7 PR+1 rep
275x10

Hatfield Bulgarian Split Squats (3 second eccentrics)
65x3/3
115x8/8
135x8/8
155x8/8

Single Leg Band Seated Leg Curls
sbx20/20
sbx20/20
sbx20/20

Stretching

Comments: With the plan for this week being related to the beach vacation that didn’t happen, this workout was also kind of in limbo initially so got the training for it a little later than usual but I had nowhere to go so no problem. I was a bit surprised that still be pushing the deadlift this close. And unfortunately, the temperature is rising and low 90’s. So fans on full stop. But body was feeling ok. Starting with the mobility warming up. Side plank banded clam shells back again. No clue if just a copy-paste or a reason they are back (seeing as back to the drinky birds next few workouts). I kind of missed these. No cramping in the glutes or legs at all today so that was good. Then into the garage for hip airplanes. These were tough but because I pushed for unsupported. I was able to eventually get 2x10 with them without needing to hold anything for support. So that was neat and deserving of a little clenched fist self-celebration. I wasn’t expecting to achieve this that quickly. Obviously it can be cleaned up a ton (have no misses, have better control, etc). From there it was on to deadlifting. Which wasn’t unusual. What was was that this was to be another day in the deadlift suit. More so than last week really. Plan was to do “form work” with 485lbs for 3x2. Take my time to rest and get perfect setup each time and really control the reps. Suit work can be tough, especially in the heat. You can’t actively rest when the suit is on. I kind of figured that if things were feeling good, that I’d just do 495lbs and plate jumps. Of course this would mean that things had to feel better than they did last week. I did 405lbs for a double without the suit and it felt pretty darn good so I was in for 5 plate pulls. That first set felt really good. Easy and crisp. Fully in control of every aspect. However, I noticed that I was bleeding profusely from my left shin. I apparently had a nick on there from last week that hadn’t really healed up. So I didn’t need to rest that much here but with the blood gushing (on the bar and needing a wad of paper towels) I had to stop that so I could continue. Managed to get a band-aid on and then wrap my shin with athletic tape. I’m going to have to see if my long socks will cover or if I’m just going to have to tape up my shins for the show. Second set was just as good. I got a little careless for the third set. I guess more of a wanted to see if going off the roll in (the suit restricts me so much with moving my legs in) vs getting everything set. Nope, the other setup is better. I think I was impatient and curious as for something like a deadlift ladder with a suit on question as it has been an event that has shown up a bit in higher levels recently. But happy that this was moving like it should. Noticed at this point that I was wearing through a bit of calluses on my hands. I think because of the heat and sweat really. Just got to be mindful and keep skin on hands healthy and get rid of dead skin. Nothing that is like a tear, just worn. Anyways, on to more pulls. Last week had been a top set of pulls from 14” with no suit. This week with the suit for 3x2, working up a bit each. Plan here being some overload but also working where the suit starts to stop. 16” had been what I think works for raw pulls as far as an overloading but not suited. Needs to be lower, the 12-14” range. I was debating going to 12” but decided to stick to the written plan of 14”. I know 12” can work but maybe 14” can too. I’m not against trying stuff to be the best I can. Plan as put out was hoping that 560,585,610 would be comfortable doubles. I didn’t really want to do too much here as far as working up as I should feel pretty decent from pulls (but it takes time to setup the jack stands after stripping all the weight down). I went a little heavier than as easier plate weight math. I was expecting this to feel a little rough after waiting but manageable. Definitely not getting as much pop as I was with the floor pulls but this was ok. Definitely kept me from going really crazy here and just stick to 25lbs jumps. Second set felt about the same. Last set I went a little heavier. Not entirely sure why. I just had to squeak a few extra pounds on there. It was heavy but it felt the best of the doubles as far as the suit working for me. So that was nice. This wasn’t to annihilate, just to stimulate. Very close now and just getting things to feel primed for competition day pull. Abs were tense from bracing in the suit so much in this heat. Stomach a little queasy from heat too but didn’t want to down too many fluids until I was done with the pulls. From there on to rows. Chest supported rows with the bar. It has been a bit. These can be tricky to gauge as sometimes after a break, weights I normally can just rep out can be off-putting. Plan here was work up to a top set of 6-8 (1-2RIR) and then take off 10-15% for a set of 8-12 (3RIR). Well things started off feeling good so I was thinking I could go for the higher end of things. Maybe hit a PR. Once I got above 225lbs though, I could tell it would be tough. Arms starting to feel that weight. Left biceps/forearm feeling it the most. Just wouldn’t be able to just go nonstop repping, have to break it up. I had already committed at that point to doing 315lbs. It was heavy but I got 7 reps. Tried for 8 but couldn’t quite get it high enough so I didn’t fight it and stopped. These can be tricky with that and I probably could do 8 reps or even 9 reps if I reset my approach and tried again. Took off 40lbs for the down set. I was kind of expecting these to feel light. They didn’t. Got stopped at 10 reps when it became harder and I knew better than to push it beyond that. But that was fine. Some days it is holds and pauses and other days it is just heave it like a beast. Hatfields again but not really. Notes indicated that intent had been to have those last week be the split squat version of it. Less load but still be able to overload I guess. Same parameters as far as difficulty and effort with 3 second eccentrics and a slight pause. It was going to be more a matter of a trust in my knees. See, this isn’t the first time I’ve had these programmed in training under Drew. Last time I was to do these, my left knee kept giving out on me and I went to urgent care and came back and finished the workout minus the hatfield split squats. Need to assess pain (if any) and see how these felt. Did a double each side with my bodyweight and that was fine but the thing was needing to see how the ssb on my back would change things up. I felt confident enough that I’d be able to do 50lbs added for the sets. There was some discomfort but that was more just finding a good handhold position for my wrists. These felt pretty darn good. I did rerack after each side just to give myself a little break and limit time under the bar. Short rest between sides and normal rest between sets. I felt that I was not using enough weight so I went up 20lbs a set as long as things felt good. I feel that next time around, that I can do a bit more on these and would be interested in trying to considering how these felt. Finished up with single leg band curls. 3x15-20 at RPE 7. Strong band. It can be hard to gauge on these as sometimes I set the bench too close and others too far. This was a further away situation as this was kind of tough. But it felt good on my knees after the other stuff. Like pumping it up. I swear the ROM feels and looks like it is more than what it shows on video. Put stuff away and ate pot roast before stretching. Iced knees before bed.

July 18, 2022 – Week 7, Day 1

Wall Slides with Band/Band Y Raises
mbx10/mb’sx10
mbx10/mb’sx10

Push-ups (3-0-3-0 tempo)
bwx10
bwx10

Incline Bench Presses
45x3
75x3
105x3
135x3
165x3
195x3
220x3
245x3
225x3
225x3

Seated Dumbbell Strict Presses
40’x5
58’sx4
70’sx3
83’sx8
83’sx8
83’sx8

Paused Banded Face Pulls (2 seconds)
abx15
abx15
abx15

Band Internal Rotations
mmbx20/20

Paused Banded Triceps Push Downs (2 seconds)
sb+lbx15
sb+lbx15
sb+lbx15

Stretching

Comments: Didn’t feel depressed Sunday or today and work wasn’t that stressful. Considering that I hadn’t planned to be here today or tomorrow, I didn’t have anything scheduled so anything I was working on was catch up. It has been humid the past few days with it raining periodically for a little bit and then usually evaporating any water on the ground before it would then rain again. Training for today was pretty basic and was setup to be done at a commercial gym and substitutions provided if necessary. They wouldn’t be. Started things out with a super set of wall slides kneeling and the y-raises. This actually seemed to feel pretty good for the shoulders, at least the wall slides are. No indication of pauses/holds for the y-raises so I went with higher band tension and that was something haha. Push ups after that. No plyo this week. Not sure if a change for change sake or if reporting that they were a bit rough on the shoulders/biceps last week without pec flyes (or just general wear and tear from this training cycle). This time being two sets of 8-10 reps with tempo. Tempo work can be deceptively challenging. This actually felt pretty good on my muscles and joints. On to incline. Again, not too thrilled with these. I try my damnedest to keep an open mind and be positive approaching these but then I do them and it is just the same terribleness. Left shoulder has not been a fan of these for some time and not getting better. Plan here was not to have any expectations but of course I do as I have numbers and data and I want to keep doing more and more as that must be progress right? So this was to be work up in triples to a top set of 3 (1-2RIR) and then take off a little bit for 2x3. I was aiming for 30lbs jumps with the hope of doing 255lbs for the top set really considering the 3x2 I did with 245lbs. But that didn’t happen. I could tell at 165lbs that this wasn’t feeling that good and while still thinking I could just will more out of myself, I eventually went down to 245lbs for that top set. And even that was too much really for today as I got a good first rep, a tough second rep and then an ugly as sin third rep. I did better on these two weeks ago going for a set of five reps. And these went better last week. These don’t feel great and I don’t feel great during or after doing them (physically and mentally). They are inconsistent and I feel like I can do more weight on standing overhead. But there are frustrations with the left shoulder being achy for any kind of pressing the past few weeks as well as with the neck/upper back issue being present (less so as of late). Kind of hurried through the down sets to try and beat the rain and get into the garage. I did by a little bit but again, rain was kind of like how it has been and it only showered for a little bit. Dumbbell pressing was up next. Back support added this time around. Plan was work up to 3x8 with a weight that felt like 3-4RIR and then report RIR on last set. I don’t have a wide selection of dumbbells so I’m usually having to use the my solid dumbbells mixed in with my plateloaded. It can be a bit time consuming for the plateloaded to insure the weights are secured. I also don’t want to make too big too small of jumps, especially since the plateloaded can be a bit unwieldy compared to the solid dumbbells. So I decided that I should be okay with 8lbs more from last week and keep to parameters with back support. Back support did make things a little trickier with the shouldering in that I couldn’t use as much body language to get adjusted. The efficiency with the shouldering can make or break a set. Pressing felt mostly fine. Left shoulder achy and right side just having some balance and triceps fatigue issues. I was feeling a bit despondent after incline and these at least made me feel like I was doing something. Bands for the rest of the workout. Paused face pulls again for 3x12-15. Since I did a tougher variation last week (and then got sick) after doing these with the same tension, I figured I could try and see if I could match what I’ve done on these before with these kind of holds. I wasn’t expecting to get 3x15 on them but I did. Next was internal rotations. Just a set of easy reps (12-20). I’ve not really done these. It always seems to be external rotation and those are tough and often make my shoulders burn. I was able to make short work of this with a monster mini band. But I forgot to record. Oops. Last thing was triceps. I knew I needed to increase band tension as it was too easy last time (I was taking short rests to keep it artificially tougher). Again, surprised I was able to get 3x15 with this tension. But it was a lot harder. Put stuff away before cooking dinner and then stretching.

July 16, 2022 – Week 6, Day 4

Patrick Stepdowns (5 second eccentrics)
No Eccentrics
bwx5/5 at 4”
bwx5/5 at 7.5”
Added Eccentrics
bwx10/10 at 11”
bwx10/10 at 11”

Drinky Birds
mb+15x10/10
mb+15x10/10

Front Squats
45x10
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x3
275x1
315x5
275x5
275x5

Power Keg Carries (turns at 50’, high carry)
143x50’ (downhill)
194.5x50’ (downhill)
243.5x50’ (uphill)
292x50’ (downhill)
325x50’ (uphill)
276x206’9” (both)

Dimel Deadlifts w/bands (straps, +18lbs bottom/+63lbs top)
45x5
95x5
147x5
187x10
187x10
187x10

Single Leg Squat to Box Eccentrics (5 seconds)
bwx3/3 to 21”
bwx3/3 to 21”
bwx3/3 to 18”
bw+20x10/10 to 18”
bw+30x10/10 to 18”

Rolling Bar Hanging Leg Raise Holds
bwx53 seconds
bwx45 seconds

Stretching

Comments: So I was supposed to be at the beach now. I made a vacation trip around same time last year that coincided with a competition so that I could just relax and now worry about training until I got back. It had mostly worked out. I was dealing with a good bit of lower back discomfort (but swimming in ocean felt nice) and it wasn’t until I got home was able to have a dip stand delivered that I was able to get my back to “pop” where it needed to. So I had planned to do that again this year (not the back discomfort) and that had been based on the assumption that I would be able to just take it easy during the summer months having qualified for Nationals earlier in the year. But that didn’t work out despite being so close both times. I really hadn’t planned on doing any more shows this year really after that but with a local show and just enough time left to give me a shot at Nats and with Nats being in my adoptive home state (born in California but barely there a year), I went for it. Which complicated things for me. Even though I knew it would be stressful and out of my routine, I thought with enough heads up and prep that I’d be good. But not the case. I think if everything else was going swimmingly, that this would’ve worked out for me. It didn’t. Aches and pains and doubts. Neck issue the last few weeks. Increased work stress (I’ve lost a co-worker every 6 weeks this year and my workload increases by 15% or so each time). I want to do all the things but it seems it is too much for me. End up chasing too many rabbits. I knew I was kind of on fumes the week before when I got a bit of a cold and I’ve not been in contact with people. Stress leading to weakened immune system and still trying to push through. Taking cold medicine and antiflammatories to try and keep going, to allow me to rest my fevered brain as my father would say. I felt I had a handle on things Thursday evening. Woke up Friday feeling terrible. Not the worst I’ve ever felt but I had cold again and coupled with this little thing on top of the teetering tower of plates, it all came crashing down. I worried this would ruin training plans and that if this was worse than stress exacerbated cold it could get family sick. I also wouldn’t recover while on vacation. I don’t really relax, it’s stressful for me. And then the weirdest thing was that I was having a hard time keeping focus or following conversations. I got through my morning intake appointments but I had to bail. I ended up taking off at lunch and cancelling my leave for the trip. I felt terrible doing that (taking sick leave and cancelling holiday). I took Dayquil and tried to sleep. Ended up kind of sleeping for like 5hrs. I ate about half my normal food intake for the day and forced myself to stay up for about 5hrs (I did soft tissue work, Epsom salt, antiflammatories) and tried to calm myself down and relax. The day was lost. I was feeling depressed and self-loathing. That resulted in me only getting out of bed in the morning to eat something. I had stayed in bed for 12hrs on top of the 5hrs nap. I hadn’t wanted to get out of bed. I couldn’t fast this feeling away. I had to do stuff. If I didn’t get things back on track, then I was not going to have a good time come Monday (since I took out my vacation). I got up and made breakfast and had to think on what I was going to do today. Training would probably be subpar considering that I had only had about half of what I normally eat the day before (and most of it wasn’t whole food stuffs) and only having breakfast and doing it all myself. It was either do it today and try to avoid the thunderstorms or do nothing today and be alone with my thoughts and train tomorrow and hope to avoid the thunderstorms. I went with the first option. So to sum things up; feeling stressed, depressed and low energy and some joints aching by myself with potential thunderstorm coming and having to improvise some setups. Just my kind of odds. So starting things off with the Patrick stepdowns. 2 sets this time again. Understanding was this was lower volume day to adjust for the fatigue and to work for the vacation I was going to be on. Knees touchy and last week working up without the eccentrics to the working height seemed to be a good idea so did that again. Don’t have the mats here so had to get a little creative with what I used as my platform. I didn’t want to use lower height so ended up going up just a skootch. Seemed to be surprisingly well considering the circumstances. Knees felt less cranky the second set. Again, able to do these with minimal rest between sides and sets. Went inside for “drinky birds”. Glutes on the right side were feeling kind of sore and stiff. I went with a kettlebell this time. Felt like it would be easier to drop if needed. These are awkward and are harder than they look. Almost miss the clamshells. Almost. Front squats after that. No pauses or tempo. Just control. I decided with the possible thunderstorm that it was smarter to keep stuff in the garage as much as I could even if the setup outside with the power rack would be more stable. I’m not sure what I was feeling with these. Unlike with say incline bench press, I get a lot of things like squat when the pauses and tempo work are taken out of the equation. However, front squats have a unique aspect of being at the mercy of breathing and pressure on those pathways. So kind of unknown here. Head cold and stress and low energy could be bad. I managed fine last week with the lower rep stuff and long pauses so I figured I should in theory be fine. Looking over past information, I’ve not done over 305lbs for five reps before (I’ve done 5x5 with 305lbs though) so I guess this would technically be a PR. Since this was enough weight, I decided to do 40-50lbs jumps. Enough to get warm and acclimate and not fatigue. Weight was feeling a tad heavy but I knew from experience that it can be like that on front squats and overhead presses but move fine. Other than just feeling a little lightheaded on the top weight set near the end and the first set with 275lbs after that top set, these moved well. Which was good. They actually look faster than they feel on camera. Speaking of which, the new camera stand arrived the day before (one of the reasons I got up from the “nap”) and it is much sturdier and has more options. So the next thing was keg carries. Not looking forward to that. One, it was about to rain and two, I got three kegs and only the power keg can be adjusted to the weight I needed and three, my street isn’t even so there were going to be uphill and downhill sets. So plan here was warm up as needed with ideally doing two sets over the max distance weight (275lbs) for 50’ runs. I decided to do more warming up than usual to get used to things as it has been a while since I’ve done these at home (over a year) and last time I did my right knee decided to rebel on me and I ended up taking a break for a week from training and trying to figure out how I was going to keep doing this stuff. So get used to moving, see if certain things work better than others, etc. So that meant I was doing mostly 50lbs jumps or so. Not exact with spacers and not calibrated weights. Working the high carry and trying to get better at that. I felt more confident in it this time around to go for the max distance. Rain was minimal and I was able to keep it dry with a towel. Getting the little knee kip to help here. Only did a 33lbs jump for the last run. This felt a bit tough but could be because I just tossed in chains for the added weight and this was uphill. I didn’t bother with any chalk for these and saved that for the max distance walk. It felt light and I was booking it so to speak. I felt like I had 250’ in me no problem. Until I just ran out of steam. It was like someone unplugged my legs when I was about 15’ from getting to 200’. The uphill part of this finally caught up to me. But I wasn’t going to stop short. And I made it a point to turn around as well. Attempted to readjust but posterior chain was done. Maybe I couldn’t done a lower carry but it was risky and I just got what I could. Just about a foot further than last time and in about half the time too. Not sure if this was just from it being uphill efforts mixed in or just not a lot of carbs from low calorie intake the day before. It was just so sudden I felt the drain happen. Oh well. Gripping this powder coated keg is rough on the grip as some skin was torn (no bleeding, just dead skin). Rolled the keg into the garage and it was getting to the end of this. Back into the garage and it was really good timing as thunderstorm came through shortly afterwards. Dimel deadlifts against bands. Lighter tension than what has been used and light weight. Again, deloaded efforts. It took me a bit to figure out how I had stuff setup from when I last did these. Also checked the band tensions to make sure and not assume same as it was last year. Did these with no belt since it was really easy weight. Figured that I needed to work on bracing and my glutes were sore from keg work and from whatever I did earlier in the week too. Kind of twist on and old exercise here for the next part. Single leg squats to box but only the negatives. Lower with one leg and stand up with both. This actually seemed to be a good idea. Usually, the knee discomfort for the right has been on the concentric with these in the past. The left on the eccentric. These were a lot better compared to how things had felt for my knees with the leg extensions. I started higher box to just get the feel and see if knee sleeves were warranted. They were. 5 second eccentrics and using the kettlebells in the rack position. I wasn’t planning on going above 20lbs total but things felt fine enough so I did. Last thing then was abdominal/grip work. Hanging l-sit I guess and I could make the grip aspect challenging as long as my abdominal work wasn’t affected. No thick bar setup so I did rolling bag hang. Hip flexor/abdominal/upper quad fatigue was quicker than my grip. Kind of neat that my grip was holding up just fine on these. Left shoulder was stiff that first set and wasn’t a fan but calmed down during that set and was ready for the second. Put stuff away and had an early dinner rather than delay things and eat late. Stretched and iced knees. Hopefully I can continue to destress and get back to feeling me and being the best I can.

July 14, 2022 – Week 6, Day 3

12” Log Paused Complexes (strict + push, 3 seconds in rack)
87x1+2
107x1+2
127x1+2
147x1+2
167x1+2
187x1+2
207x1+2
227x1+2
242x1+2
218x1+2
218x1+2

Narrow Grip Axle Standing Pin Presses (top of rack, 1” block)
136x3
176x3
216x3
246x3
276x5
286x5
296x5

Chaos Band Push Ups (3 second eccentrics, feet raised 12”-rack)
bwx2
bw+20x2
bw+40x12
bw+40x12
bw+40x12

Paused Seated Band Face Pulls (2 seconds, high anchor)/Overhead Band Triceps Extensions (2 second hold in stretch)
lbx15/abx15
lbx15/abx15
lbx15/abx15

Stretching

Comments: There is a reason this is getting posted later than usual. Short of it is that I tried to do too much, stressed myself and made myself sick and had to cancel the one vacation I made this year. So not thrilled with that or myself right now. Any ways, on to the write up. I felt ok Wednesday and did the usual walk and soft tissue work. Took a break from cooking to have burritos. Got my workout situation figured out for the week to work around family vacation (best laid plans of mice and men). Train Thursday and Friday, it workout at a commercial gym at some point and then back to some semblance of training when I get back. Feeling beat so plan was a bit of mini deload so some changes to stuff to help with recovery. Woke up Thursday and my neck was crap. Left side base of the skull was stiff and restricted movement. Tried soft tissue work but not much relief there and then put Icy Hot on near the afternoon. A little relief. I guess lucky for me that things were altered as far as training. Usually this day starts with block clean and press for this training but break from that. I feel it would’ve been a crappy session with the block considering things. So plan was still pressing but not have the clean be a part of it. So best option was to do log press out of the rack. Complexes of one strict press followed by two push presses. The added difficulty was to pause on the chest for 3 seconds before the press to mimic extended time letting the weight settle like with a block (or how it had felt last week). My left shoulder felt really crappy. Achy and stiff. Not exactly painful but just didn’t feel good. My coordination wasn’t great for push pressing the log either. I’ve not really been feeling strong out of the rack on log for push press ever since I started training from home. Strict press is fine and lower weights for push press at least seem tolerable. But it isn’t an overload sort of exercise like say axle out of the rack can be. Started with the empty log and went up 20lbs. Plan was a top set where the strict press felt like 1-2RIR (or 8-8.5 RPE). The strict press seemed less and issue for me most of the time, it was more the amount of time with the log on the chest and then the push presses. I felt I was pushing it a bit near the end here. I really had wanted to use more weight but I knew I really couldn’t without a potential miss. Did a 15lbs jump for the last set. The strict press actually felt easier than the set before but the push pressing was tough. I almost lost the last rep there. Not exactly a morale booster that. Took off 10% and did two more sets of the complex clusters. Looked better than that heavy set but felt worse. Next was rack work. I was told to either do log or axle and decrease the ROM by 2-3” from what I had been doing. I have been doing axle with a narrow grip and seeing as how that seemed ok and Nationals has axle (and maybe this wouldn’t feel too shitty on the left shoulder) I went with axle here. Now I messed up here. I thought I was only standing on a 4” box when I was doing these but I was using a 7” box so I made the ROM 6” smaller rather than the planned 2-3”. Plan here was 3x5 with it going from RPE 7 to RPE 7.5-8. My hope here was to get near opener weight for the reps (285lbs) and get above that. These were tricky. Really seems to depend on getting bar in the right path. The suggestion was 20lbs jumps once I found working weight. First set with 276lbs I was starting out fine enough. I got a little distracted when I saw my busted tripod start to fall over midset (caught against the house thankfully). That made that last rep when I had to catch my breath really tough. Enough so that I was worried I’d not get 10lbs more for a decent set and then have to drop down weight to get three good sets in. That second set it was like every other rep situation. Easy or tough. So that threw me for a loop as far as what to do as overall felt about the same as the first set. I decided to go up another 10lbs. Got set and that first rep was hard as hell. I had to take a moment to refocus and then I made the next four reps the easiest reps of the day as far as working weight. I just had to kind of shake my head at that. No back work today so it was on to higher reps accessory stuff. Chaos band push-ups. Plan being 3x8-12 at RPE 7 with 3 second eccentrics. Been a moment since these popped up. I don’t think I’ve done them since I got this newer power rack really. I was advised not to be overly concerned with setup as probably only doing these for this week. Since the rack arms didn’t go as low as the other rack, I used the crash pads to elevate my feet. Did a few reps to see how things felt (trying to figure out if I needed wrist wraps or compression cuffs). I knew I was going to need weight added for these. Despite how things were feeling, these went well enough. Last thing was a super set with bands. Similar to end of last upper body based session with it being face pulls and triceps. Just different anchor points. Pauses too but different focuses. Face pulls I was to focus on the scapular retraction and set a high anchor point. Since I’m tall and the top of my rack is not really much higher, I decided I’d do them seated so as to have a more drastic point. The triceps was the overhead extension variety and I was to anchor low and flex the biceps in the stretch position. With my shoulder and just how awkward it kind of is to get into the position, I feel I used lighter band tension here compared to the face pulls. These seemed fine enough. Put stuff away and ordered dinner as trying to figure things out to be ready to leave Saturday morning. Stretched and took anti-inflammatories before bed to hopefully get my neck to calm down and let me sleep well.

July 12, 2022 – Week 6, Day 2

Drinky Birds 
mb+10x10/10
mb+10x10/10

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

Suited Deadlifts
No suit
135x5
225x3
315x2
405x1
Added Suit, Straps
475x1
545x1
605x1
605x1
605x1
545x3 (5 second eccentric last rep)

14” Jack Stand Pulls
225x1
315x1
405x1
Added Straps
495x1
585x3

Wide Grip Pendlay Rows
135x3
185x3
225x3
265x5
265x5
265x5

Hatfield Squats (3 second eccentrics)
65x10
115x5
175x5
225x5
275x10
275x10
275x10

Paused Band Seated Leg Curls (2 seconds)/Dragonflies (5 seconds eccentrics)
ab’sx22/bwx9
ab’sx20/bwx6

Stretching

Comments: As far as things go, I was feeling reasonably fine for how I’ve been feeling the past few weeks. Ready as I was going to be considering the circumstances. This week still a little up in the air since this was the weekend for the planned vacation for the summer so still discussing what is the best to work with the time left and have cake and eat it too situation. So starting things off with the weird hip hinge exercise involving a wall and bands. What I had done as part of Saturday mobility stuff, which had been horribly wrong. I got a clarification video so I can at least say I did these more right this time. I’m not even sure what these would really be called so just for my own naming purposes, going to call them “drinky birds” as it reminds me of those little desk trinkets. Not much in the way of knees but it does seem to make everything in the hips, hamstrings and glutes wake up. Going to take a little bit to get used to them but I could use weight with them this week doing them somewhat correct. I did these inside the house as don’t really have any bare space/wall to do them in the garage. Then into the garage for hip airplanes. I’m getting better at balance on these. I can say this week that this was the first time that I did more reps unsupported vs supported. There are still times where things lock up and I pretty much can’t get anymore reps without help from support in front of me for the one side. Usually, I take a little break between sides and then do a lap before the next set but this time I did just little rests between all of it. From there it was on to deadlifting. This was a heavy suit day. Plan was to work up to 605lbs for 3 singles and then take off 60lbs for a triple. My hope was that being the second session in the suit that things would go better and this kind of weight would rocket up. Partially right. Normal kind of warming up just to get ready to put on the suit and then suit work with just singles. Getting to the bar and getting into position was a lot easier compared to last time. But I feel that the consistency in the pop off the floor wasn’t there and these felt tough. I’ve done this weight for double last year in prep but that didn’t necessarily lead to a new PR at the show with how things went. This weight felt tough today. I was kind of worried after how that first pull went that I might not get all the reps planned. I’d prefer it to feel this way with 30lbs added or more really. Pop wasn’t feeling there and not feeling help with getting above the knees. I don’t have the suit for max tightness and it could be that I’m more used to not having the extra spandex underwear on for the floor suited pulls. Could also be the continuing knee stuff that could be inhibiting leg drive. I could also just be beat from deadlifting twice a week. Second pull I felt I got things to feel better overall. Still not amazing but it felt better than that first set for sure. I had really hoped that I’d be making this weight look and feel like nothing today. Third pull the pop off the floor didn’t feel right but it looks like I got the most as far as the sets with 605lbs were concerned but it was tougher to lockout then the second. Felt about the same as the first. Just one of those put in the work sessions. The day it matters isn’t today. It will need to be on the day I need it to be there. Then 60lbs off for down set triple. Playing by ear on how I was going to treat this. If it felt heavy and sucky, so be it. But if it didn’t I was going to control the eccentric for the last rep. Just because. I was kind of thinking that with the number of weeks left (3 weeks out) that this might actually be the last heavy workout with the suit before the show. This set felt the best of the day as far as suited work and I did a controlled negative for five seconds. I had initially thought I was done with pulls but realized nope. I was to do some more today. Take off the suit and do block pulls from 14”. About the height for Nationals for deadlift as part of the medley but more to get some extra work towards deadlift in a more mechanically favorably position with my leverages that would help my floor pull and hit the point where the suit starts to stop helping. Plan here was work up to a top set of 3-5 with 1-2RIR. I wasn’t sure how these would go. I haven’t done these in a good bit at this height and only went up to 501lbs one time for a rep set. And this bar could be a crappier bar compared to the other one I was using. Did plate jumps and singles to get ready. I was ready if I felt like crap to do 495lbs for my rep set. But really hoping that it would be another work up set and then gauge from there. Plan really being 545-585lbs depending on how I felt. Like, if I knew I could do 585lbs for 3 reps, I’d do that. 495lbs went up well enough that I figured I had 585lbs for reps so I got amped for it and went. I had 1RIR for sure, maybe 2RIR. So that was nice. Felt harder than 545lbs with suit but easier than 605lbs with the suit. Not sure if that helps any haha. From there on to rows. Pendlay rows but with wide grip. I had started my pot roast late so it was fine that this workout was potentially going to be a later session with all the different big lifts. I last did these training for this show last year as kind of an assistance to picking stones. I’ve been trying to keep the heavier rows with straps and these rows without so that I’m not missing something as being able to grip and pull explosively is something that needs to be practiced. As I was setting these up, I stumbled back and stepped on one of the legs of my tripod and snapped it. Had that thing for over a year. Ordered a new one (might show up before the weekend) and used athletic tape to keep it together as best I could. Trying to think lats and not necessarily upper back on these. Not pull with the arms too. Wrists were a little stiff at the start with the wider grip but that went away. Plan here was 3x5 and then report back RIR on the last set. This was one of those where I got warmed up and everything clicked on that last set and made all the other sets seem pointless. Like it was 2-3RIR and then this one was like 5-6RIR. From there was a return of an old staple from my past. It was 2014 when I was introduced to the Hatfield squat. It ended up being a lot of my squatting with pause squats and front squats rounding things out. Stopped doing them in 2016 after the back injury and then they weren’t programmed until I started doing them to work around a back injury and they got incorporated in. But then stopped once I could squat normally again. I’ve done over 600lbs on this exercise but hadn’t gone over 525lbs for a long time. I had to figure out best way to set this up at home and it appeared outside using the rack was best and most stable option. Plan was low RPE (7) and to do 3x10 with 3 second eccentrics and 90 seconds rest. Start light was the notes. I first had to see how these would even feel. Empty bar and my knees were like no thank you. But I persisted and then put on weight and the knees were pretty much fine. This was more a case of the knees needing to get into gear as no squatting this session up until this point. These feel odd but ok. Upper body is getting some workout with these as well even with setting the support low. The amount of reps and the time under tension and fairly low rest periods was more the factor then the weight really. But I feel this was fine for what was needed for the session. Knees felt surprisingly good afterwards. I was sitting back a lot in the descent trying to keep shins upright and then bending knees forward when in the hole. Las thing was a super set. Band leg curls and then the dragonflies. It was a bit of a head scratcher to figure out how best to do this. I needed the bench for the seated leg curls but they needed anchor point too. I had to do the dragonflies outside on the bench due to ceiling being too low and nothing that was good enough to hold for doing them on the floor. So that meant having it all outside and just using the power rack with weights on it to anchor the bands. Leg curls were to be 15-25 reps with 2 second holds and the dragonflies as they have been with being 3-5 second eccentrics (sets of 6-10 reps). With less rest, I figured that I’d get the minimum on the dragonflies on the second set and first one would be where I could push things. Called it on the leg curls even though I was close to 25 reps that first set as I knew it would be pushing it. Kind of surprised how many reps I got on the dragonflies that first set. Second set was good and I got what I expected. Put stuff away and ate pot roast before stretching.

July 11, 2022 – Week 6, Day 1

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

Plyo Push-ups
bwx3
bwx3
bwx3
bwx3

Incline Bench Presses
45x10
95x6
135x3
175x1
215x1
245x2
245x2
245x2
215x5
215x5

Seated Dumbbell Strict Presses (no back support)
40’x5
59’sx3
75’sx8
75’sx8
75’sx8

Paused Banded Face Pulls (2 seconds)
lbx15
lbx15
lbx15

Paused Banded Triceps Push Downs (2 seconds)
sbx15
sbx15
sbx15

Backwards Sled Drags (hip belt)
55x.25 miles in 10 minutes, 45 seconds

Stretching

Comments: So still got some neck/shoulder/upper back thing but maybe it is getting less noticeable? Soft tissue work and using the one pillow and trying to lay on the one side (like I was when the issue was present after the fall about a year ago from that box jump). Went for a walk as I felt I needed to get my knees and lower legs moving after all the farmer’s walk runs. Seemed fine and then my knees just seemed to feel shitty for no reason when I tried to stand up out of my chair (more so the left one). Had this before and it goes away but it is annoying and causes hesitancy. I was initially going to just let it be but realized that even though the next day was an upper body day, it was going to require a good bit of sitting and getting back up and there was to be some lower body stuff as well. So I took Aleve before bed to hopefully have things feeling better in the morning. I guess that happened but still somewhat present. I was a little anxious for this workout. Some things were removed and replacements made from last week. The start of the workout didn’t have the pec flyes as usual and just a superset of the wall slides kneeling and the y-raises. This actually seemed to feel pretty good for the shoulders. The lack of pec flyes might be to not have incline suck so much but it did leave a little still needed for the plyo push ups. Same as it has been with 4x3 at bodyweight and a minute rest. Left shoulder was a tad achy on these but by the third set seemed to be ok with what I was doing. At least it wasn’t anywhere as bad as what has been going on with the neck/shoulder/upper back. On to incline. Not too thrilled with this after last week. Plan was to work up to 3x2 and then 2x5 with 2RIR on all sets. Suggested was 245lbs for the doubles (the weight I tried for 5 and got 3.85) and 215lbs for the fivers with caveat of 5-10lbs buffer. I was fully planning on doing 10lbs less than what was listed just because of how things felt last week and with just general feeling. I did more reps to warm up and then switched to singles to try and really get things moving. Talked myself back into doing the listed weights. I could tell over the sets that I was getting more and more fatigued in the places that keep the bar up higher. But I managed to get the doubles down. Probably closer to 1-2RIR really here but that is just my style when it comes to these I think. I struggle with the grind and no point is safe. Feeling that fatigue I wasn’t sure if I could keep the same kind of output for the sets of five but I managed to do that as well. Those were definitely 2RIR range for sure. So that rough spot was over and on to more pressing in the garage. Dumbbell pressing without back support again. As has been the case most of the time, I tend to adapt to balance related pressing exercises within a session or two of doing them. And that seemed to be the case here. Plan was 75’sx3x8 and report back the RIR. Had to get a bit creative with the plate math to get dumbbells loaded to that weight. The limiting factors here were going to be the efficiency of shouldering the dumbbells and my left shoulder not being an issue. Both were manageable. Hardly noticed the balance issue here. Last set a good song came on and the added hype made things feel even easier. Like I could’ve doubled the reps maybe that last set. From there it was paused band work. I was actually ok with this change up. The seated power cleans are kind of rough. It was banded face pulls to start. Plan here was 3x12-15 with 2 second holds. Been a bit since I’ve done these normally with holds so I wasn’t too sure. Light band seemed to be just perfect. The thing I was really happy about was that these felt great on my upper back and provided some relief. So that had me in a good mood. Then it was triceps with bands. Same as last week. Sticking to the same band since this is the biggest band I have and rather work the higher reps. Felt easier than last week (other than having to watch for mosquitos). This was the end of the workout. Last thing was listed as “cardio” and I was to do some activity (walking, backwards sled drag) to have me feeling good for tomorrow and to be 10-20 minutes depending on how I was feeling. I figured that it was still light out and that I’d do backwards sled drag with the empty sled and go around the block. That would be .25 miles. I’ve done that loop with harness going forward, seeing where I’m going and that usually is like 5 minutes. I figured that backwards would feel better for my knees and probably take me like 10 minutes. So other than feeling a little self-conscious about walking backwards in a neighborhood with a sled attached to my waist, it was actually pretty nice. Put stuff away and had dinner before stretching.