December 10, 2022 – Week 7, Day 4

Hip Airplanes (0-10-0-10 tempo)
bwx5/5
bwx5/5
bwx5/5

Safety Squat Bar Squats (beltless)
65x10
115x8
155x6
205x4
245x2
275x10
275x10
275x10

One Leg Deadlifts
65x3/3
105x3/3
145x3/3
185x6/6
185x6/6
200x6/6

Sandbag Load Over Bar (58.5”)
175x2
175x2
225x1
225x1
EMOM
225x2
225x2
225x2
225x2
225x2

Sandbag Bear Hug Carries (turns at 50’)
225x100’
225x100’

Stretching
 
Comments: I was feeling sore and tired. Had already decided I wanted to prioritize sleep and not worry about having to go out to train anywhere today the day before. This was the first workout on the weekend that could potentially justify the drive but only barely. It will depend what the next week has as plans but that could require trip if there is a need for progressive overload beyond increase in sets, reps or distance. I had intended to do recovery work after the second training session this week but just didn’t have the time without taking away from other things. Temperature at least seemed like it would be consistent today. I had left my car outside overnight so that I could right into training when I felt like it. That might have been a good or bad idea potentially (I’ll get to that later when it matters). Cold enough to warrant warm ups but I knew that by the time I got to the exercises with weights I could go to just shorts and t-shirt. First thing was hip airplanes as have been the case now for several weeks. Same tempo and sets/reps. Switched back to starting on the other side first. Didn’t feel as tight in the hamstrings/hip/groin as last week. There was some tension in the lower legs near the end of the sets but it wasn’t as intense as it had been that first set last week. I made sure to focus on a single point the entire time and that seemed to help with the balance issues a good bit as I didn’t have any stumbles this week (still resolved to the hand support). So that was a pleasant surprise. From there it was on to squats with the ssb. Same minimal gear and plan here was 275x3x10 and report back RIR on the last set. Legs were sore but more the top of the quads and not the knee area. I didn’t feel the need to do much mobility stuff to get ready and legs felt warm doing just some bodyweight motions. Plan was work up and drop off 2 reps each jump. Stuff was feeling good until I got to 205lbs. Then it started to feel heavy. Next jump also felt tougher than I would’ve liked and I kind of knew this was going to not be a walk in the park situation. Felt harder on the core for bracing and my legs were feeling fatigue which meant I didn’t feel comfortable doing kind of the fast clip style of squatting and it came to doing a few reps and then doing slower style of reps with a reset. These were gassing me a good bit too. As has been the case, I felt I was getting better as I went despite feeling more fatigue and being out of breath. While there is a decent amount of RIR, these were going to be grinding lifts and it was quite a drop from how I felt the week before on that last set. That week was easier. But again, this is 15lbs heavier top weight and it was for 30 reps vs 8 reps. Volume wise, it was greater with less sets and less rest. But it was certainly having me feel like underprepared for anything at this point. Not like I could go right into a show next week like sometimes I’ve felt in offseason training (I was feeling that before). But just seeming that I needed time to recoup and that still got things that need work. I should know that endurance comes back quick when pushed and strength as well. I also need to remind myself that this bar seems to be tougher than the one at the strongman gym (I use 10% less it seems). Anyways, onward. Single leg pulls but this time from the floor. No tempo and indication was to doe 3x6 at RPE 7 and reset each rep. Try to wedge it off the floor. I was not sure what to expect on these. The increased ROM could be tricky but doing controlled tempo should hopefully cover that part. So the lack of tempo meant not as taxing on the grip (which has gotten a workout this week). Stuff was feeling decent and the usual jumps from last week seemed to be working. Balance was certainly trickier. Weight feels fine enough but the balance is hard so tried to use that more to gauge the RIR and effort than the weight really. Last minute I switched up the side I started with. Last week, my left side seemed to be handling things better so I had made that that the other side for this session as right knee was feeling a little tender initiating the lift like last week. However, it seemed to be fine once I got underway. Left side was the one the was struggling with balance. Last rep on that side that first set was really bad so I stuck to the same weight for the second set, even though it had felt easy for the right side. Second set was a lot better so I decided to go up in weight for the last set. Balance was tricky again but I feel not as bad as that first set. I kind of wanted to see 200lbs on one leg done with this setup. I know these will get better. Feel these are really working the core and hamstrings hard. The rest of the workout was sandbag. This required somewhat of a break for planning and this had been why I was somewhat thinking about going to the strongman gym. Plan was to start off with sandbag loads over bar. Pick a weight that I could “sling around” for 5x2 EMOM and do it to 56-58” for some extension work. I was initially thinking that my sandbag choices weren’t the best for this as I had 112lbs, 175lbs and then 225lbs before going to a massive 360ish (that I’ve never attempted to lift yet as nothing in competition that heavy I’ve done or trained for so far). But considering how extension work had felt a couple weeks ago, it seemed like it met the definition of something I could sling around. Then overblowing how much a hassle it would be to setup as the yoke I used in the past was in the sun room. It wasn’t even going to be that difficult to move anyways but I was trying to think of using a platform in the garage to just load to and not have to worry about running around anything. I eventually just made myself get the light yoke out and walk around the house to the garage. It was then that I noticed something with my car. The front left tire was completely flat. Baffling since really the only driving I’ve done since coming back from nationals has been to go to the urgent care that one time for the elbow and backing in and out of the driveway for training. I’d have had issues if it was flat in the garage and couldn’t be moved outside to train. But also meant that even if I wanted to go to Lancaster, I really couldn’t. And imagine if it had gone while one the way there, while I was there or back? It would get handled but it would have been a lot of stress added. Take care of it after training. So takes some getting used to sandbags. Set yoke to 58.5” because it’s a little high. Out of practice, no loading events since June. Tactile sensation of rough canvas is also not pleasant at first either. 175lbs for a few doubles to get used to it again. Picking where the bag lands and not setting my grip. I’d do that if this was just planned singles but made no sense to do that for the first rep and then have to do stuff to get the second rep up anyways. Went ok enough I guess. These weren’t the best bags to do this compared to the ones at the gym. But I’m not really training this for this right now (unless it is Arnold odd object stuff) and no need to get used to a specific bag anyways. Certainly noticing fatigue. The last thing was sandbag carries. Indication was same bag as loads or one higher. If I wanted to make things harder, I was to take short rests between sets (2 sets of 100’) and not add load. I didn’t really have that option as next heaviest bag is heavier than any bag I’ve attempted to lift (did a pick with 350lbs at Nationals). My thinking here was to do it 50’ down and back to work the turn and not have the second set be just downhill vs uphill. Work on the bear hug style vs the load carry style since husafell carry is next event specific thing for me assuming no Arnold. I also felt I needed to train this style a bit so that not left with experimenting when the other style doesn’t work at a show (like the floppy bags at Nationals). I was also trying to move fast here. I noticed I had not put on my usual moving and loading event shoes on (I had meant to but I guess wore other shoes to move the yoke around to avoid them getting muddy or wet) but decided to just stick to what I had on at this point as this was just a breaking in week. So starting things off and the first half of the run on that first set is going fine. Then I hit the turn and I just felt all the power just leave my legs. It was like a plug went and just the power in my upper body as there. Lower body fatigue, potentially breathing off and pressure of implement on body at certain point. It was frustrating but I pushed through at this very slow pace back. I had intended to sprint with this and then take a very short rest and do it again to make it tough. Not happening, going to need to take a bit longer to assess the issue and not screw this up. So just shy of 2 minutes rest before I went again. That rest also included an attempt but having the bag fall over and me getting a little frustrated and resetting it. Even on the attempt I went it did similar but I just bruted it up and went. This felt better. I didn’t feel my legs leave me this time but it was only slightly faster because of the bobble at the start. Still slow from what I’ve done in the past but again, that was with setting my grip and not on the uphill/downhill situation of my street. That first set had me feeling like I’m really not in competition shape at this time and that I got a long way to go coupled with how swiss bar pressing felt the day before and the squatting beforehand. It’s worked out every time but still. Put stuff away and then spent a good bit of time taking the flat tire off and putting on the donut so I can take it to get fixed up later this coming week (I don’t really got places to be). Stretched out and iced my knees with a plan to ice them a second time before I hit the hay.