January 4, 2023 – Week 11, Day 2

Warm Up Circuit

Trap Bar Deadlifts (15”, straps)
140x3
230x3
320x3
410x2
480x2
550x2
610x4
610x4
610x4

Trap Bar Deadlifts (15”, straps, 5/0/0/1 tempo)
550x5
550x5

Hatfield Bulgarian FFE Split Squats (2”)
65x3/3
115x3/3
155x3/3
190x12/12
190x12/12

Paused Chest Supported Barbell Rows (straps, 2 seconds)
97x3
149x3
201x10
201x10

Paused Standing Single Leg Band Hamstring Curls (3 seconds)
sbx15/15
sbx15/15
sbx15/15

Rolling Bar Hangs
bw+65x30 seconds
bw+65x30 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: Colder weather I got to keep care of my skin. Hands always the case but also with certain events like husafell and circus dumbbell. Lot of bruising and skin abrasions from contact. So using skin lotion on hands (haven’t had to use the pumice stone for a few months now on hands) and to my forearms and shoulders to help with healing and hopefully allow for energy to be put elsewhere. I had been thinking about this workout since I realized Saturday that the pick height I had been using was 2” too high for the setup on the car deadlift at the contest. Shouldn’t be a big deal but the lower the pick height, the harder the lift ends up being for me. Not that pick height has really been accurate come game day for any shows I’ve done last year that weren’t standard deadlift (15” becoming 18”, 16” becoming 19”, 14” becoming 13”). I guess that since only two weeks of it, not that big an issue. But does seem to matter. I wanted to do this workout yesterday not because I was ready for it but because I wanted to get it done with and know. Had a bit of an earache going into the workout. Was going to have try a new setup to get things where I needed them. Start of the day’s training was some warming up exercises. Same as last week with doing side plank lying clamshells with bands and those lat pulls. I might have done more reps compared to last time but not sure. So on to the trap bar pulls. So as mentioned, off by 2”. Needed to figure what made the most sense. Obviously, standing on 2” platform easiest but not necessarily the most stable of setups as the thin pieces tend to slide (really 1” or 4” seems to be the best with what I got for wider stance and stability). So what ended up being the setup was using the jack stands on the lowest setting (about 2” elevated) and then standing on 4” platform. Elevated to right height and didn’t have to worry about rolling of weights. So plan here was to warm up in sets of 2-3 reps to working weight, which was 600-610lbs for 3x4. Report back RIR on the last set. My only worry was if the increase was too much with also dropping the height by 2”. The weight was planned based off the past two weeks and the 17” height. But I figured I could do it and it would be tough. So initially aiming for just 600lbs and did smaller jumps compared to last week to hopefully have things not feel so damn tough. I made the call to just do 610lbs. Been trying to keep these as a light touch and go on the working sets but often I find I have to do dead stop that first set as I get used to it. It felt tough, like 2RIR. But then second set I got into a rhythm and it felt like 4RIR or slightly more. Last set it felt a little better besides the last rep feeling slightly off. But got through those but that wasn’t the end of the trap bar work. Eccentric work had been threatened earlier when first mentioned and that promise was kept. Idea was 60lbs or so off the working weight (range was 540-550lbs) for 2x4 and report RIR on the last set. Eccentrics of 3-5ct and not completely deloading at the bottom of the lift. Constant tension like quick up commands (which is very likely the case for the show). I felt these would be really hard compared to the regular style and if I just went without pausing that I’d get gassed and lose my brace. So I added a 1ct pause as lockout to get my air again each time. These actually went quite well. I think I was just remembering how difficult yielding or long eccentrics were on regular deadlifts in the past. But with all the numbers, I felt I miscounted that first set and watched video to see that sure enough I did and did an extra rep. So I decided to miscount again the second set to stay even with 2x5 lol. I feel that these coupled with regular style reps will help me be prepared for anything on the deadlift setup (not getting answers from the promoter). If I can have things feel like they did with 40lbs more on both exercises, I think I’ll be in good shape for the event. At this point, I realized I had forgotten to start my roast for dinner and had to find an alternative that would be quicker. Save the roast for tomorrow. Then on to the front foot elevated Bulgarian split squat hatfields. Indication was 165x2x10-12 after warming up in triples but also stating that do RPE 7-8 as well as report RIR last set. This weight last week was ridiculously easy even with my knees aching on me. I was kind of surprised the suggested weight was the same as last week. I knew this was going to be too light and went for 5lbs over the top weight I had done for the tempo based style. That seemed to be about right. Less knee aches this week. Was getting pretty winded between sides and sets with the increased reps. Surprisingly, the right side was feeling the least fatigue (usually feels strongest but fatigues faster). Chest supported barbell rows after that. 2x10 with 1-2ct holds and RPE 7-8. Indication is that this might move to another day going forward. I was only planning to go for 185lbs (10lbs increase over the previous week) with how things felt last time. But I think I reconsidered that maybe if I did more warming up sets I’d feel better. I also figured that taking a week off of pauses on these particular rows really throws me off and that I should be better this week. I’m glad I went with those gut feeling changes as I was able to use 26lbs more than last week here. Standing single leg curls with bands again. And another week of increasing the band tension and still doing fine. Same 3x10-15 with 3 second holds. Left side oddly enough was feeling more fatigue compared to the right one. Right has usually felt like it was fatiguing first. I guess next thing would be to put light band on top of strong band. Maybe that will still be comfortable on the legs and but enough to still be challenging. Grip to end the session. So this is normally the one arm stuff. And I had every intention of doing that. As I did some ridiculous stuff allegedly last time (my coach reposted it and someone at the strongman gym said it was crazy) I was told to make it harder but with not using weight. So use a rolling handle or something with hope this would bring me back to body weight. No rolling handle at home (the gym has some) so was going to do the barbell on top of the rack like I’ve done in the past to try Hercules hold with both hands. I was ready to aim for 25-30 seconds here. I didn’t last even second either hand. I just had to laugh at how difficult this was and how much this wasn’t going to happen. It was a bit annoying having just spent 10 minutes setting this up (moving weights outside from inside). I’d probably need a lot of weight to reach the suggested time with the standard setup for one arm so I decided I’d do both hands on the rolling barbell instead. I put 20lbs in the back pack and got set and it was way too easy (I’ve done like 40lbs for a tough 30 seconds before) so I said screw it and put 65lbs in the back pack and that hit things just right. I’ve missed these haha. Finished putting stuff away and ate dinner before stretching out and showering. Iced knees before bed. With schedule change, working out again tomorrow.