December 19, 2022 – Week 9, Day 1

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses (2 stage 3 second pauses)
38x2/2
58x2/2
80x2/2
EMOM
100x2 R
100x2 L
100x2 R
100x2 L
100x2 R
100x2 L
100x2 R
100x2 L
100x2 R
100x2 L

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Presses (back support)
40’sx5
70’sx3
90’sx8
90’sx8

Band Assisted Pull Ups (pin 20)
sbx12
sbx12

Lying Dumbbell Triceps Extensions
10’sx8
40’sx15
40’sx15
40’sx15

Paused Dumbbell Side Bends (5 seconds, staggered stance)
40x3/3
80x12/12
80x12/12

Stretching
 
Comments: Some mixed feelings/emotions. But stress all around. Body don’t care if it it’s positive or negative, stress is stress. Sum total. The negative side would be that a well known member in the strongman community for the women took her life this week. A somber realization. I’m conflicted with the actions being taken behind the scenes as I feel those being most vocal are hypocritical from what I’ve seen just from past actions. Known issues, not changing. Myself, self-conscious of the bursitis in the elbow. Sometimes thinking there is “pain” when there isn’t. It’s definitely back to puffy level it was when I got back from Nationals and went to get it drained but without the pain. Worries about trying to get it taken care of during holidays. I can wait. As far as the positives, family I’ve not seen fairly recently in person visiting for the holidays. I know that it stresses me but I wish to make the effort to be around people I enjoy. And then there does appear to be people showing interest in the PA Dutch show. Two potentials and one person signed up (who is really good at stones) so there is some renewed trepidation and excitement with that as well as continued introduction of event work and contest specific information. I’ve readjusted my plans as far as when to call of Arnold if not timely enough. Considering my off season has been a little longer to recoup and that there are event similarity and the events are good for me, I’ll hold until New Year’s to completely dismiss it. Good news for me was that my neck has mostly calmed down by this point. This would be the first below freezing training session of this winter. Circus dumbbell with the pauses again but dropping to 5x2 instead of 5x3. I did deviate here. I had been expecting it to be another 10-15lbs jump but then it ended up being 5-10lbs with reduction in volume and indication that switching to alternating pause and regular circus dumbbell. So I went up 17lbs to get to a nice 100lbs for these. Even with it being cold and wearing the warm-ups, these didn’t feel bad. Even with my right wrist feeling a little achy and tender. Right side still lags behind and left side feels almost automatic. I was feeling good and wanted to keep the pace going so I just did these almost EMOM style (I say that as I didn’t actually use my timer but these were like less than 40 seconds rest) rather than the suggested rest. And no support gear here either. Into the garage for more shoulder work with the seated presses with dumbbells. Out of the cold for a bit. This time being plan of 5lbs more for 2x8 and report back RIR. This weight is technically an 8rm from after 2016 reboot. I was debating wrist wraps on these this time decided to stick to what I’ve been doing for consistency. I was initially not sure what to do with the jumps and thinking different things and then I just thought “screw it” and just do the 40’s and 70’s and then the plateloaded for the top set. I’m noticing shoulders and biceps are less achy each week. I don’t think I noticed it at all this week and probably the same last week. Kind of wish I had better solid dumbbell selection and more weight I guess for the dumbbells. Other than getting them into position, these feel quite good. Next bench mark I have is 100’s for 5 reps. So really anything more than 5 reps with anything over 90lbs is a PR (not sure if lifetime but probably). Back outside again for band assisted pull-ups. Same as last week with the plan being 2x8-12 with 2-3RIR worked. I had options such as same band assistance and add in slight holds or something or decrease the band tension assistance to keep it at the same effort. Indication is that next week will be more volume (pullovers dropped). I went with lowering the bands a pin height as that felt like it would be sufficient to increase the difficulty with how I’ve been trying to keep the reps controlled. First set was fine, it was definitely getting close to the fatigue limits on the second one. I do like how these band assisted ones how they’ve been setup as well as focusing on the control have felt good. Lying dumbbell extensions after that. Same as last week with 3x10-15 with 3-4RIR. I managed to get 3x15 this week with the 40’s sticking to the rest periods. There were some elbow aches but not really any shoulder aches. The increased reps could also be from not having to do the pullovers this week that could have been fatiguing my triceps as I’ve mentioned. Then to end things was the paused side bend with staggered stance. Same plan of 2x8-12 with 3-5ct holds (of course going for the top end reps and holds) and knowing how taxing this ended up being on my grip I stuck with 80lbs for both sets rather than trying to go up to my next dumbbell (95lbs) or makeshift a dumbbell weight. These are interesting for the purposes of balance and mobility as well as the extended grip hold work as the sets generally take about 90 seconds. Put stuff away and stretched out while waiting for dishwasher to finish up and then made dinner. Didn’t feel the need to ice knees today.