May 29, 2023 – Week 12, Day 1

Bottom Up Kettlebell Presses/Dumbbell Pullovers (3 seconds stretch)/Cobra Stretches (5/15)
15’sx8/20x8/bwx3
15’sx8/20x8/bwx3

Sandbag Tosses (Bottle Drill)
30x1
30x1
30x1
30x1
30x1
30x1
30x1
30x1

Viking Presses (strict, facing away, hands 11” down handles)
+10(33)x2
+55(66)x2
+100(99)x2
+145(132)x2
+190(165)x2
+235(198)x2
+280(231)x4
+260(216.5)x4
+240(202)x8

Swiss Bar Chest Supported Rows
95x3
147x3
199x3
250x6
255x6
260x6

Dumbbell Lateral Raises
10’sx10
20’sx20
20’sx20

Incline Band Tate Presses (1 second holds)
lb+(3)mbx7/lb+(2)lbx7/lb+mbx6/lbx5

Stretching
 
Comments: Weekend was a little weird. I guess appreciating that I had a three day weekend and a half day Friday. I had obviously been feeling worn out from Saturday and I did make it so that I did ice my knees before I went to bed. Sunday I woke up like I was going to work despite falling asleep really late. I kind of ran out of things to do once I got chores done. I guess I got caught up on soft tissue work. I was feeling pretty darn sore and felt like it was needed. I also read a good bit and that seemed to make me sleepy and ten it got interesting and I perked up and read some more haha. In either case, whatever the combination of things was, I had a pretty deep sleep and slept like I felt I should’ve done Saturday evening as it was past 11AM when I did rouse myself from the bedsheet cocoon. Still feeling pretty stiff and sore. Have breakfast and then once I felt that had settled enough I’d start training. Kind of funny how just a few days of rest and getting some better training sessions done can bring out of the mental slump. I also was trying something out for my hair. As I’ve mentioned, there are some movements where the long hair has gotten in the way, even with the doo-rag. So I’m using some hair ties and seeing how I tolerate those sensory wise. At this point, I can tolerate it for a few hours but eventually it is too much tension and I got to take it off. Good to know for longer competition days and that the brand I have are easy to put on and take off without discomfort. Mobility stuff to start as I have been. I was feeling a bit stiff but no issues. I think the main thing was that the stiffness was just muscle soreness and that I had no issues with my smashed fingers. Fingers have scrapes and bruises but the swelling is pretty much completely gone. No issues holding anything or doing any of this stuff. Pressing felt strong, just felt tight on the pull overs and the cobra poses. My knees felt a little sore getting down on the floor so figured that I’d ice them afterwards even if not really doing much lower body stuff this night. So far so good. Outside for the bag toss drill. Same as last week but making sure of things. Making sure that I do just 8 total tosses, make sure I get on my toes each time and making sure that I break them up so that I have some rest. I’ve been just generally going from one to the next however long it takes to setup. Last time things felt decent and while not every one of them did I get on my toes, it seemed to help with things for the work session on Saturday. Fingers were good on these so another check in the plus column I guess. Just going to stick to 30lbs here. Plan is to do these every other week going forward I guess. Then it was time for the heavier lifting. Viking press. Strict press week. I was still annoyed with how last week’s top set went with push press. Plan for this time was to just do strict pressing and just drop down in weight for a few sets to get different things done. Work up in doubles to a top set of 4 reps (1-2RIR). Now if I went by how things had felt two weeks prior on these, then no reason 280lbs wasn’t happening. But there were issues at the top weight last week with the teetering. But I set things up for that. I was feeling pretty good but my left side was definitely feeling sore as more and more work was done. Last set before the top set did feel heavier than I would’ve liked. But I got set and went at it and I got it within parameters of RIR. So pleased about that. Options with dropping weight for down sets was 7.5-10% less weight for another set of 4 reps and then taking off another 7.5% for a set of 8 reps. With the 7.5% drops, it would be 20lbs drops so I went with that. I’d have taken bigger drop option if the top set had been too much. Managed to get these done as intended. Into the garage for the rest of the workout. Chest supported rows with the swiss bar. Notes had it be 3x6 at RPE 6-7. So I guess keep it the same or so. Light is what was indicated. It can be a little tricky when it has RPE listed and then light. So I was expecting to do 250lbs for these but it did feel easy enough so I kept adding 5lbs a set. I was kind of surprised about this considering the recently mooshed fingers and just my biceps being really sore from stone work. But I guess not having any issues with the fingers on viking press or these rows is also a good sign. I stuck to triples warming up this time and I didn’t feel like any set was a lot harder than the others like last week. Next was dumbbell raises for shoulders. Same as last week with it being RPE 6-7 for two sets. But rep range was adjusted to 12-20. Again, notes were to keep light and use the least amount of weight to hit these goals. So aim was to do 2x20. Warming up for a set of 10 reps felt good last time so did that again. First set I seemed to go a little slower than usual and then I sped up on the second set. Glad that my shoulders have been enjoying these the last few sessions. Last thing was the band incline tate presses but changed up. So only a 1ct hold on the reps but I was to do just one set of 20-25 reps using multiple bands and either adjusting where I was gripping them or dropping bands as I went to finish out the set. So a drop set that was to be challenging. On thing I figured would be the case was that using enough band tension to be in the need to drop stuff as I went would probably be rough on the left elbow at the start. I initially grabbed 4 mini bands with the light band but I couldn’t really budge that once so went with 3 mini bands and that was doable. I was tempted to stop at 20 reps when that was where I hit with light band with a single mini but I figured I’d drop that and do 5 more reps for the 25 total. Put stuff away before cooking up dinner and stretching. Iced knees before bed.

May 27, 2023 – Week 11, Day 4

Bulgarian Split Squats with Rotation
bwx5/5
9’sx15/15

Sandbag Tosses
30x1
30x1
30x1
35x1
35x1
40x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
50x1
55x1

Frame Carries
Titan Fitness (16”)
Casual Pace
115x50’
115x50’
Makeshift (18”)
Normal
276x50’
376x25’
476x25’
BiggDogg Strongg (20”, 1.5” handles)
568x25’
Drop and Turns Halfway
670x100’ in 22.59 seconds
670x100’ in 21.17 seconds
Normal
568x25’

Atlas Stone to Shoulders
205x1
235x1
265x1
EMOM
290x1
290x1
290x1
290x1
290x1
290x1
290x1
290x1
Laps
310x1
310x1

Atlas Stone Roll-ups
265x8

Stretching
 
Comments: I was feeling a bit better I guess compared to how I felt same time last week physically and better than I was feeling around Wednesday mentally. While the workout planned wasn’t going to be a long one considering it was essentially just warming up and then three events, I still wanted to get out to train a bit earlier if I could. I had been trying to make sleep a priority noticing my stress levels so things like soft tissue work and icing knees had taken a back seat until the weekend. Because I’ll have time then. While I would’ve liked to have had a full day of work on Friday to be able to do work, it did give me time to kind of mentally deload and get some things sorted and taken care of that I wouldn’t have been able to do if I was working all day. Driving out was fine but there was some traffic at the usual spot and then there was notices of spots of the road being closed next weekend. So I guess I’ll need to leave early next Saturday to work in potential traffic/detours. I did end up being there a little later than I was expecting to get there. People I thought would be there had already left but there were still people there. I was just immediately in a mood when I showed up. The one was I couldn’t tell if someone was using the sound system or not. Two different people I guess just decided to use portable stuff. I waited until about an hour into the session before I could confirm that no one was actually using the sound system and had just left it on linked to Bluetooth before leaving earlier (before I got there). But the thing that had me peeved was the stone area. It was all taken apart. I knew they were going to be working on it. But I would’ve thought that would be worthy of a notification when it would be in disarray considering I’m one of the only people training for a competition with a stone event in it. I felt slighted in that a WSM competitor had just been here last weekend to train and used this area and it is taken apart when I need it. I had options so I didn’t let this disruption to my plan/routine take me away from what I needed to do. When it was time I’d worry about it then. On to training. Start of workout was Bulgarian split squats with rotation of back leg. Single set instead of two this week. Reducing volume of the other stuff as peak goes forward. But more reps. I figured I’d lower the weight back down here because of the extra reps in the set and see how things felt. I’ve been doing kettlebell weighed stuff for knees over toes and I think they’ve been the most helpful with things getting ready for the lifting when it comes to stuff requiring knee flexion and extension. Been doing them on Day 2 sessions now too. Sandbag work next. I was not happy with how things were going with these last Saturday and I had been devouring whatever I could to try and get this back on track. Watching short clips and long form videos. What I figured would make the most sense was that lowering the weight on the secondary day similar to how needing to do so with the circus dumbbell (but every other week) and really drilling the form I want there. Frequency will also be dropped for that being a thing on the secondary day as every other week as well. I also felt I needed to take out some variable and work on the part struggling for confidence. So no running out to get the bag and setting up. Just get setup where I will toss from. Save that for the event specific setups like the bag toss series (also not 100% sure on the distance away anyways). The plan for the session was to do 8x1 with 90 seconds rest using between 40-50lbs. I adjusted my camera setup so that I’d see if it cleared 15’ or not as that was what was important. Rather than run it just like that the whole time without interruption, I checked after each weight to see before moving on. 45lbs felt about right for what was more the light week here. I also think this bag flies weird compared to the others with how it is filled. This was showing a positive progression for me and seeing as how things felt, I decided to deviate and do a toss with 50lbs. And it actually went over. I’m trying to be more aggressive on the swing back to load and being violent on through the hips on the extension. So I thought screw it, let me give 55lbs a shot. The arc was a little off but the height was great. It managed to clear the band on the way down which when I tried last time I hit it into the band at the top of the arc. This actually might be the highest or tied for the highest I’ve gotten that weight in training (I did get it over 15’ in contest). So a deviation from the workout that worked out in my favor. Feeling I have bit more confidence in the bag toss again after that. Time for frame work. Initially I was worried that other people would be using up the lanes for stuff for a show in early September but they moved through that quickly before I even had finished up bag toss so I was in the clear. Had a little bit different problem compared to last time due to weather. It had been raining a little off and on last time. This time it was bright and sunny. In both cases, I had to cover the handles with towels so that there wouldn’t be issues. Last time to keep them dry, this time to keep them from being scalding hot. Warming up had felt about how it does. Nothing stood out other than I could tell my legs were feeling a little stiffer. Could be the extra recruitment on the tosses I was attempting as well as just the squats being pushed with reps. Plan for frame was to do two 100’ contest runs with 670lbs. Granted, I’m still doing full 100’ rather than the shorter version because of how they will be taking time at the show. Grip and picks felt fine consider. But I could tell my legs were a little fatigued as I didn’t feel comfortable with picking up speed on the second leg. Probably doesn’t help having it be uneven pavement that I’m training on. Getting a little bit better on the repick timing. First set was actually faster than my first run with 650lbs when I did this the first week of contest style runs. Second run was not faster than my second run with that weight but it was faster than the first run with this weight. First leg and repick felt better but still wasn’t comfortable with picking up pace more on the second leg. But it was better than the first run. Focus had been more to condition and work on the speed. Understanding is next time will be either 100’ or 2x50’ depending on what needs work for the final touches. My hands were sore moving the empty frame back after these sets. Last thing for the session was stone work. As I mentioned, not an ideal situation for this week. Options were to either exclusively use the stone of steel or try to make space as best I can for using stones. The area was in two sections so all the lighter stones were clustered on one side and then heavier stuff on the other side (the bigger stones in the hallway). So the side with the stones I’d need for my working sets was on the other side which had enough space to safely do what I needed. The other side not so much. Plan was to do 8x1 at as close to contest weight as I felt I could do and still complete it EMOM style (or 45 seconds rest). Depending on how I felt, that could be 265lbs to 310lbs. I’d like to do 310lbs but like and being able to are two different things. Starting things off didn’t go well. I needed to make space for warming up. Doing so led to me having my left ring and pinky fingers getting mashed between two +200lbs atlas stones. I don’t think anything is broken but the ring finger did swell and have bruising. Taking it personally with the stone stuff as motivation. I felt fine warming up and 290lbs was up. I set things up in the event this was too easy to move on to the next stone. The initial pop felt good but then I had balance issues with it on the shoulder and had to fight it a bit. It did seem to be a bit of a luck of the draw on which way the stone came up as some reps were stupid easy and others were struggles. I think it was the sixth rep where the stone slid down on me as I was going for the extension and I couldn’t get it turned over and had to go back to the lap and redo it. Those reps where things don’t go like they should really bring up the fatigue factor on these. Even though I got four reps in about 70 seconds last time, I was feeling more exhausted here over this course of 8 minutes or so. I had a wild idea after this to see how 310lbs felt. I think I was nervous about the pick. Kind of for fun. I was too spent to give it a real honest attempt to shoulder. But I will need to be fresh and serious for it as attempt to get it into the position to turn it over felt damn near impossible. Didn’t stop me from picking it up twice to attempt. But I laughed it off. But it did let me know that I was fatigued. Last thing was stone roll-ups. Notes indicated to go lighter if needed. Like 265lbs and have it be like I was tossing it up off my body. I had initially protesting thinking it was too easy even last time but was glad to do so after how I was feeling as this was a decent challenge with the fatigue and really trying to toss it up there. Last one I think almost tore my shirt. Cleaned up and put stuff away before stretching and heading home. See what is sore tomorrow.

May 25, 2023 – Week 11, Day 3

T-Spine Reaches
bwx10/10

Andrew Lock Shoulder Big 3’s (3 second holds)
10’sx10-10-10

Close Grip Axle Floor Presses w/ Chains (+66lbs)
26x2
56x2
86x2
116x2
146x2
176x2
206x2
206x2
206x2
206x2
206x2
206x2
206x2

Banded Shoulder Extensions (3 second holds)
mb’sx15
mb’sx15

Incline Bench Dumbbell Cuban Rotations (2 second holds)
12’sx12
12’sx12

Single Arm Overhead Band Triceps Extensions (followed by 30 seconds stretch)
mmbx15/15
mmbx15/15

Stretching
 
Comments: As mentioned, playing some catch up with work. While feeling drained from that, what some might see as a lifeline ended up being detrimental. Got notified that office closing 4hrs early on Friday for the holiday weekend. So thinking I had a full day to prep when got half of that. I had been working that day as if I had a full day. Oh well. But I was feeling a little better mentally after kind of accepting/addressing I’m feeling how I’m feeling. This workout was reduced in some aspects so it was going to be a short one. I figured that it made more sense to kind of clean up some things and then setup stuff for training so that I could pretty much move right from one thing to the next. Try to supercharge how quickly I could go through this. T-spine rotation to start things off. Well not I guess right away as I was having some neck discomfort that just seemed to pop up middle of the day with no explanation I could think of. And not the usual location of neck discomfort. The t-spine stuff felt fine and controlled. Probably like last week with this being as good as it is going to be. Just a lot of tension in the left shoulder really on that extension. I must have been distracted as I forgot to hit record on the camera for these. Oh well. Lock Big 3 up next. I was a little leery with these after how tough they had felt last time. Maybe being prepared for that much suck helped. Or perhaps I was feeling a bit more recovered compared to being slightly dehydrated at a wedding beforehand. But it did feel better this time around. Not the easiest ever but solid. Sometimes these seem to be needed to just get my shoulders and neck to feel balanced. As I get older, finding that some of these things are helping to keep me going as needed. But these are more just warming up and keeping stuff healthy. From there it was time for axle floor pressing with the chains. Same as last time with it being the same chains and 7x2 with the same rest. Just adding 5-10lbs to it. These had felt really good and easy last time so I went with 10lbs jump. I had gone 5lbs heavy last time and it was still feeling easy. Drew had suggested not doing the reps rapid but break them up with a slight pause at lockout between the two reps. So I implemented that this time around. Felt fine and good. No decrease in quality of movement, reps or bar speed. Only rep that I felt wasn’t perfect was the first rep of the second set as I hesitated on my unrack. I’m pleased with how good these feel. Rest of the workout was the lighter stuff for shoulder health/rehab. No dumbbell pressing this week. Likely dropped due to my comments about pressing on Monday. Give more rest. Would appear that swapping for an extra set of viking press Monday to make up for it a little. I didn’t want to make the same mistake as last week with inadvertently going too hard with the band stuff. The band shoulder extensions I dropped back down to mini bands. But seeing as how I was able to do monster minis (when that first week I couldn’t really get them moving), I felt I needed to pick something in between. So I shortened the band with clinching the band rather than just looping it. Definitely a good bit harder than a looped mini band but not quite as bad as the monster mini looped. But it was also a bit harder than I wanted but oh well. It was not as difficult as I made it last week at least. Cuban rotations up next. Knew to not go for 16’s here after last time. But 10’s would probably be too light. So added a little to that. These I was probably cutting it close with the effort range, similar to the banded shoulder extensions. Left shoulder has a little bit of an impingement I think considering how things respond with laterals and these initially. Second set of these is always a ton harder than the first set so need to be mindful of that. Last thing was some triceps focus with stretch. Not specified but indicated to be 2x15 at RPE 4-5 and some stretch involved. I decided I’d do something that had been a part of PA Dutch prep on the secondary press day with the pairing be reps with 30 seconds rest. So I did that and no rest between sides and sets as the 30 seconds in stretch was pretty relaxing and the movement wasn’t taxing. One thing I did change was grip the band with a neutral grip which I’ve been liking now with band extension work so that the pressure isn’t cutting into my palm with thinner bands and higher tension. Put stuff away and cooked up dinner before stretching.

May 24, 2023 – Week 11, Day 2

Iso Deadlifts Against Pins (straps, to 13.5”)/13” Axle Jack Stand Pulls w/ bands (straps, +26lbs/+79lbs)
135x1 second/136x2
175x1 second/226x2
205x1 second/316x2
245x3 seconds/406x2
245x3 seconds/406x2
245x3 seconds/406x2
245x3 seconds/406x2

Safety Squat Bar Squats
90x3
142x3
194x3
244x3
284x3
320x10

Band Assisted Nordic Curls (3 second eccentrics)
mmbx10
mmbx10

Roman Chair Sit-ups
bwx20
bwx20

Stretching
 
Comments: Still feeling a bit stressed with work stuff. Perhaps admitting in writing or out loud that I’m feeling a certain way is helping me kind of “release” the tension so to speak. Realize that as I get closer to competing, that stress will build. Has been that way since I’ve really took thing seriously (as in pursuing victory). Just got to keep doing what I can. But I did feel tired waking up and I was thinking what was the point if I went to bed early if I’m still feeling tired (I mean like maybe 30 minutes earlier). This catch up has me doing less recovery/soft tissue stuff and hoping the slight increase of sleep covers it. I did not end up getting any icing done after Monday (told myself what I did Sunday after the yard work was fine) and didn’t get soft tissue work done Tuesday evening. But on to training. The plan was the contrast training protocol. Isometric pulls alternated with banded axle pull doubles. 60-90 seconds rest between the exercises and then 3 minutes rest after the two exercises were done. It took time to setup but I had a better idea of what was needed and it was a good bit quicker setting things up during my lunch break compared to last time. Probably helped that I didn’t need to also figure out band tensions and what heights and such. I had been worried it would eat up time and with trying to work through breaks that I may not have a full lunch period to set things up. Thought was to set it up after work the day before but thought better of it to get sleep. Last time it had been a total of 5 runs through the series of exercises. The progression was a bit different. One less set from the previous time and the weight increased slightly on the axle pulls. That was fairly standard. The isometric stuff was where it really changed up a bit. The increase in weight was substantial. It was listed as 35% but I was told I could do like 40%. And adjust the pull height up 1-2” from last time. So essentially adding 60lbs to last time. The iso pulls weren’t actually that bad the last time as far as feel. It was more the axle pulls not feeling as easy as I was expecting them to with the lowered band tension. Things did seem to go better this time around as far as getting comfortable and having the pulls feel like they should. I was initially worried it would be harder and was second guessing the weight for the iso pulls but that thankfully turned out fine. And the band pulls I think I was more ready for how they’d feel but they felt better compared to last time as well. From there moving on to squats. Similar to last week with the safety squat bar in that doing triples with the last two warm up sets and then a top set of 10 reps leaving 3-4RIR. I figured that I probably could do between 315lbs and 325lbs here and leave the appropriate reps in the tank assuming I was feeling good. I didn’t want to overly push this as this is more to maintain and I could be doing some more weeks of this. Things got a little goofy with warming up as initially I was going to do the standard 40-50lbs jumps I had been doing. But last time I started with that and then did odd 25lbs plate jumps. So I adjusted things and I set things to potentially be good for 325lbs. I had done the mobility drill that seems to be doing good for my knees so I’m not feeling so crappy starting out. I have been doing it at the beginning of the workout even if just pulls to start off. While might not feel like need a lot of mobility there, it is helpful and then it doesn’t feel like I need to do a ton to get ready to squat later. My last warm up set I wasn’t feeling supremely confident in a +40lbs jump and I was going to go for just 315lbs but then talked myself into doing 5lbs more for 320lbs. So in between where I wanted to be. Got things feeling ok on that set. Probably was good for 5lbs more and be in the right range still. Oh well. Squats are feeling a lot better compared to where they were at the end of last cycle and start of this cycle as far as comfort. I think I like the higher rep stuff more than pushing the weight on the lower back. I guess as long as I have to fight the weight from folding me over at some point it is beneficial for pulls. Then it was the band assisted Nordic curls. Same plan as last time with 2x8-10 with 2-3ct eccentrics. Last week of these before switching to something a lot less intense for the rest of the training. I do like these kind of movements but eventually have to stop as they are incredibly taxing and sometimes the recovery isn’t the greatest in the lower legs and tendons/ligaments. Last time I did these, it was quite humbling in that the same setup had felt a ton harder compared to the week prior. It is possible I had the band closer last week and a slightly more worn band. So I made sure to replicate that this time and it was tough but I was better. Second set actually felt easier (this sometimes happens on these kind of exercises). Good to end this on a successful 2x10 here. Abs were my choice. I was debating what to do. I didn’t want to do another session of 50 reps a set on abs like last time. But it was tricky to think about what to do that wasn’t taxing too much on the eccentric. I was also thinking of side bends but then usually it’s the time under tension on the grip here and I wasn’t sure what Saturday would bring as far as grip work (as it has popped up a bit now). Then I remembered I had that back extension bench that I bought. So did sit-ups on that. That seemed to work out well enough (if a little shaky). Put stuff away and cooked up dinner before stretching. Again, skipped on icing my knees to try and get sleep so I can keep performing well at work.

May 22, 2023 – Week 11, Day 1

Bottom Up Kettlebell Presses/Dumbbell Pullovers (3 seconds stretch)/Cobra Stretches (5/15)
15’sx8/20x8/bwx3
15’sx8/20x8/bwx3

Sandbag Tosses (Bottle Drill)
30x1
30x1
30x1
30x1
30x1
30x1
30x1
30x1
30x1

Viking Presses (push press, facing away, hands 11” down handles)
+55(66)x2
+100(99)x2
+145(132)x2
+190(165)x2
+235(198)x2
+280(231)x2
+326(265)x3
Rebound
+280(231)x6
+280(231)x6

Swiss Bar Chest Supported Rows
92x6
144x4
194x2
245x6
245x6
245x6

Dumbbell Lateral Raises
10’sx10
26’sx15
26’sx15

Incline Band Tate Presses (2 second holds)
abx20
abx15

Stretching
 
Comments: Again feeling a bit worn from the previous week. I know there is stress stuff but I think I’m getting over that. But also when thinking about the time and such, I’m realizing I have very little time until the competition. And I feel the competition (the contest and the competitors) are going to be a good bit above last year as it stands. The “joy” felt in the middle is being replaced with fatigue and panic. And I need to resolve that for my own sake. I didn’t really do myself any favors to be fresh for this workout as I spent a chunk of Sunday afternoon cleaning the gutters. I didn’t have to do that last year as nothing ended up growing in them but they did this year so had to use the ladder. So shoulders got a bit of a workout before my upper body day. Trying to make some changes to how I operate at work to get back above the water line. Mobility stuff to start as I have been. Routine and no issues. I guess thankful no disc discomfort going into this week (though lower back a little stiff from Saturday). Outside for the bag toss drill. I made changes to this. I had spent probably about an hour watching sandbag toss videos Sunday. Conflicting stuff depending on who you watch. But the changes made were to lower the weight substantially (30lbs) for starters. Maybe this was too much using the 45lbs bag every week on top of regular sandbag work. Even if not going full power on the tosses. It could be something like where “form work” for circus dumbbell or axle was being too much and had to be a lot lighter to be beneficial to allow recovery. Other things were to lower the height of the “bottle” to try and get more of a dip. And then also try to consciously extend my ankles and stay on my toes after the toss to hold for a moment to get that cue ingrained. I accidentally ended up doing an extra set as I lost count halfway and didn’t want to do one short like I did last time and have to come back to do another set. Not worrying about clearing anything or the run out and such at this point on this day. Leave that for the “Event day”. Push press week. This might be the “heaviest” this is going to be though not sure if that was the plan. Plan here was to work up in 1-2 reps and do a top set of 4-6 with 1-2RIR. I think because I realized I only had like 2 of these sessions left for each event (granted this gets hit every week in some fashion) I felt the pressure to go heavier rather than stick with the weight I did last time and try to get more reps with it. Initially working up I felt like I was making the right decision. I was actually feeling pretty good and thinking maybe I do slightly smaller jumps so that I could do even more but I decided not to and stuck with my initial plan of a bit more than last time. Slightly odd weight to get it to be 265lbs weight in hand. I got set and went for it and that first rep was tough. I was annoyed it felt that tough when I should be good for this weight for at least the 4 reps with 1RIR. I got a second rep and went for a third and it didn’t happen and I set it down (which was like the one thing the notes said to not do ugh). I turned around to make sure the bungee cords were still intact (as it was feeling wobbly) and they were. So I attempted again to “salvage” the set and get 4 reps. I managed to get another rep and set down (I already screwed up) and didn’t have it for another rep (felt like it was going to flip over). So not how I wanted this to go. 3 at 0RIR is not close to 4 at 1RIR minimum. Down sets were the rebound stuff again but both sets were to be 2x6 but could do 3+3 as needed (with hold at lockout). Suggested was 12.5-15% off what I did for the to weight. I went in between that even though I had definitely gone too heavy for the top set. I guess to see how this felt. I didn’t really want to take another plate off and add back weight. These actually felt about how they should. First set was a little tougher than the second set. I did not end up having to hold at lockout to complete these reps with the rebound. My hope is that the top weight I did is no less than 90% of the weight in hand of the contest. Into the garage for the rest of the workout. Chest supported rows with the swiss bar. Notes had it be 3x6 at RPE 6-7. So to me sounded like I should stick around what I did. Maybe it wasn’t fast enough last time or maybe caution because my left side upper back had been really sore last time. I ended up pinching one of my fingers between the plates setting up and it started bleeding so I had to get band aids on for a little bit. But I sweated them off before I got to the working sets. I was a little distracted so I ended up doing a pyramid warming up rather than just triples. I elected to just use the top weight I did last time for all the sets. It felt like it was too light the first two sets but then it started to feel challenging enough on the last set. Next was dumbbell raises for shoulders. Same as last week with 2x10-15 with RPE being 6-7. I ended up doing more reps with the lighter dumbbell to warm up. Again, I wasn’t expecting to be doing over 2x10. Same as last time, stuff felt a little off at the beginning but then felt fine. I wasn’t expecting these to feel as good as they did again this week, especially after the Saturday and Sunday stuff. Last thing was band tate stuff. Back to 15-20 rep range. I figured I could still get that with the average band and try to stick to a normal rest between the sets. 20 reps the first set with the holds and eeked out 15 for the second set. Put stuff away and got ready to make dinner but then I realized I was missing an ingredient because the ones I bought earlier in the week had turned out to be rotting so I ended up getting burritos. Ended up being a later evening for me so I felt it made more sense to rest then to stay up to ice my knees.

May 20, 2023 – Week 10, Day 4

Bulgarian Split Squats with Rotation
bwx5/5
17.5’sx10/10

Sandbag Tosses (10’ away)
30x1
30x1
30x1
35x1
35x1
40x1
40x1
45x1
50x1
50x1
50x1
50x1
30x1/35x1/40x1/45x1/50x1 (didn’t clear marker)

Hatfield Split Squats
65x5/5
131x5/5
197x5/5
263.5x3/3
307.5x3/3
351.5x12/12

Pin Safety Squat Bar Zercher Goodmornings w/ bands (+28lbs/+93lbs, 33” height, swiss ball)
80x3
130x3
170x3
220x3
260x3
260x3
260x3
260x3
260x3

GHD Back Extensions (bearhug)
25x5
60x4
100x3
150x12

Standing Band GHD Abs
(2)ab+(2)lb+(2)mbx25
(2)ab+(2)lb+(2)mbx25

Axle Wrist Curls
135x10
201x20
201x20
201x20

Stretching
 
Comments: Friday was ok and kind of needed to take that day a bit easier to recover from being stressed and out with a lot of people. I slept good. Another not really in a rush session. There was the possibility of being invited somewhere but leaving things open to allow in case. I woke up for my work time but decided nope and went back to sleep for another hour before getting up and getting things sorted. Like cleaning up the kitchen and getting stuff ready for training. Make sure I didn’t forget anything like last time this session came up. Weather looked nice but it seemed to not look so good as I was driving out. I do know though that usually the weather moves west to east so likely it would be nice by the time I actually got started with my day. Some people there doing strongman and I’d say just one person actually training for something. So it was kind of like everyone else was just doing a lighter version of what that person was doing and assisting with setup and tear down. However I feel like they were putting in more intensity to training arms afterwards than the strongman stuff. Start of workout was Bulgarian split squats with rotation of back leg. Single set. I’ve been doing kettlebell weighed stuff for knees over toes and those have seemed to help have things feel better when it comes time to actually do stuff like squats and split squats. So not great but not terrible on these today. Most of this workout was just assistance type stuff with only sandbag toss being an actual event (not that the other stuff wasn’t important). Sandbag work the plan was to work up in five singles and do a run of the 5 bag series at the show with 85-90% of contest weight. I wasn’t entirely sure on what the working up part was to be as far as the intensity of the singles. I do singles working up any ways so the specification had me wondering on if this was to be heavy or just what I’ve been doing. I erred on the heavy side since this is the heavy week. And probably was the wrong choice. I was trying to work out hop back and walk back as well as trying to be efficient and be mindful of time. I did at least two tosses at each weight going up 5lbs to test things out to 40lbs. 45lbs was when I went to just the walk back style as I had kind of proven I couldn’t hit contest height with it doing a hop back at this point with my current abilities and form. I think part of me wanted to do the overload again with trying for 55lbs or 60lbs to then come back down for the series. Make it not feel so heavy. I ended up sticking with 50lbs as that was barely clearing the band (which had been retied the day before). First toss I was a bit too far away and got closer but too close that I hit the back of the support on the back swing. Third toss was the best one height wise and would’ve gone over 50’ but it didn’t arc back like at all. Last toss I did better than the first two but not the same height as the third. I rested fully before setting things up for the run. I knew this wasn’t happening if I wasn’t getting 50lbs on its own today. Just get it done and move on. No problems with the hop back tosses for the first three bags. Walk back for the 45lbs bag. That one only got over the band. Took my time with the 50lbs. Didn’t even touch the band. So yeah, not thrilled with that. Feeling like this event I’m the most off the mark. Need to get this sorted fast. Note to watch videos later when not so annoyed. Put all the stuff away outside and into the gym for the rest of training. Hatfield split squats again. I think this is the last week of them. This was one of the 12ish exercises that were mentioned and this was to be like 1-2RIR. The rack I wanted to use was in use by someone doing shoulder pressing so I had to make due with a different one. I decided to use kilo plates to kind of mess with things as I was annoyed with myself on sandbag. If I wanted to be uncertain of the weight at times, I was successful with that. Two guys showed up and asked about how to pay via Venmo for the day pass so that was a little distracting and when I came back I wasn’t sure if I had done the weight loaded or just had it ready to lift. I was taking 30kgs jumps until switching to 20kgs. My knees were uncharacteristically bothering me on these. Maybe taking Dayquil to help sleep had masked things and that being in different shoes on my feet for a few hours coupled with not icing my knees could also be part of it. Being uncertain of the jumps also had me not applying support gear in the fashion I would normally do so. So top weight ended up a little heavy than I had planned and I was a bit nervous my knees would be like nope. But I guess having my hard belt on made me not have sore knees. These were tough but it was more just the back foot slid on the second to last rep on the one side and then at the first few reps on the other. I was kind of surprised how well these had gone considering the working up and just my mindset after sandbag disappointment (which again, I’ve never attempted more than three sandbags and never been successful with more than 2 previously). Next up was the banded zercher goodmornings off of pins with the safety squat bar. No distractions this time around. Plan was the same band tension as last time and increase the weight by 10-15lbs for the 5x3. I had remembered my elbow sleeves this time around. Almost had an issue when I forgot to take off 25lbs from one side warming up. That initial breaking off the pins for the first rep does get tougher but I seem to still be able to get good power and attempt to get ankle extension (which is something I know I need work on). Back extensions after that. Again, just one top set bear hug style. I felt like I could do a good bit wanted to be smart about it. It can be a bit of strain on the things anchored into the machine rather than what is being lifted. Did a 25lbs plate to start and then swapped in the 60lbs slam ball. 100lbs sandbag was next up. I had done that last time for a comfortable 15 reps so doing a few reps wasn’t going to hurt anything. Plan was again “12ish” and while it would seem that 125lbs would make sense considering last time, I decided to be bold and go for 150lbs. Honestly, it was tougher to get a grip on it initially to secure for the movement than the eventual set. It really does seem like the deadlift grip stuff with short ROM are a lot harder for me. Standing band abs again. Same as it was two weeks ago. Didn’t feel the need to change that up. Initially felt tough the first set and few reps (probably because I did these on Wednesday for 2x50) but then it felt comfortable after that and easier the second set. So last thing was grip work. I was again surprised no Hercules hold. Same as two weeks ago with flexion based grip work and the suggested axle wrist curls. I decided to do those again to continue working on my wrist strength building and the unique way these seem to hit the forearms. While I liked using the Jenkins axle, it doesn’t exactly fit in the power racks and not all plates fit it. So I used the 25lbs hollow axle. But I used the calibrated plates to fancy it up. Smoke’em if you got’em. I was rushing a little and this exercise can be weird in that it feels hard on the wrists initially but then feels better as you do more reps and sets. I also wasn’t expecting to be able to do such a big jump in weight and maintain the same reps I did. Put stuff away and got home to stretch.

May 18, 2023 – Week 10, Day 3

T-Spine Reaches
bwx10/10

Andrew Lock Shoulder Big 3’s (3 second holds)
10’sx10-10-10

Close Grip Axle Floor Presses w/ Chains (+66lbs)
No Chains
46x2
Added Chains
46x2
76x2
106x2
136x2
166x2
196x2
196x2
196x2
196x2
196x2
196x2
196x2

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Presses
40’sx3
60’sx3
82’sx12

Banded Shoulder Extensions (3 second holds)
mmb’sx15
mmb’sx15

Incline Bench Dumbbell Cuban Rotations (2 second holds)
10’sx12
16’sx12

Stretching
 
Comments: I guess the positive was that the sciatic issues were a lot less after the training session the day before. And I didn’t have work today. Because I was going to George’s wedding. Local so this meant I could sleep in and kind of get this rest caught up as I was definitely feeling stressed. I didn’t have much in the way of details for the wedding beyond date, location, time and who was getting married. But I guess that is all that really matters. I’ve apparently not worn my good clothes in almost 4yrs exactly per the cleaner’s tag still on them. Ceremony was short and nice (every wedding I’ve been to has been different) and it seemed the rest was a bit haphazard as there wasn’t enough seating or food and so things were delayed to get more. I didn’t eat enough for it to be dinner and I was back later than I was expecting to be but needed to get training done. I had left some things setup after training the day before in the situation that it did end up like this. T-spine rotation to start things off on set and taking off my accessories (glasses and head wrap) since going to come off anyways. Trying to keep a tally of which exercises are like this so I can avoid drops and distractions. This was probably the least the discomfort has been on the left shoulder for these. From there it was the second upper body mobility and correctives with the Lock Big 3. This is the third week of doing these. Maybe this is getting stuff to not feel so crap in the neck and shoulders. Definitely is something I should be doing. The first angle/exercise is the easiest and then the other two are tough. Feels like these were tougher compared to the past two sessions. I was wondering if I messed up with my hold times but nope, just tougher. Maybe I was feeling the stress of the week and being a little dehydrated from being outside for the wedding. But this just warming up and corrective stuff. Stuff that matters but not the stuff that matters. From there it was time for axle floor pressing. Still chains. Change up as mentioned with the bar weight decreased as well as the reps (doubles instead of triples) but the chain weight and number of sets increased. Just adding another pair or chains to the setup. Initial plan had been to use 186-191lbs based off doing 216lbs as top weight at the end of the last. I decided to go a little heavier on the bar weight just for easier plate math. As I like my 30lbs jumps with these. I was surprised how well these were going. Even though the lockout weight was similar to what I was doing, these doubles were relatively flying. Felt good. Probably good that things were moving along pretty well considering it was going to be close to 9pm when I got finished. From there it was seated presses. Dumbbell work continues. Work up in triples to a top set of “12ish”. Drew had indicated that this was more a range but to try and have it be closer to 12. Like, don’t end up doing 9 or it is way too heavy but 11 was fine and so was 13. 15 at most I guess. A few exercises were noted with this for this weekend as well but with different RIR/RPE. I was kind of glad the rep range was increased as I felt I called it too close to the limit with last week. But rebound style was allowed on this week. Elected to do about 20lbs jumps and that seemed to work out pretty well. Rest of the workout was the lighter stuff for shoulder health/rehab. And I made mistakes of pushing things a little too much. Same as last week. The band shoulder extensions I had it in my head that I did these with monster minis last time when in actuality, I had done minis as the monster minis felt too tough to hit the 12-15 rep range with any RIRs. So my own thinking that I did do this much band tension without checking my workout log and the app notes had me pushing these but getting them done. These were tough but I got them done. I felt pretty stupid when I finished and saw I was wrong. Hopefully this didn’t tax things too much for the next few workouts as these are to be more recovery based than pushing things. Especially since the shoulder big 3’s involve this. Cuban rotations up next. I wasn’t expecting things to feel as light as they did as my intent was to stick to the same weight as last week (unlike with the bands). But it felt so easy I felt I had to do more. And that jump was a bit more than I was really ready for and like the band stuff, I was a lot harder than I would’ve liked to have done things. I’ll need to be mindful of this next time. Put stuff away and ate a smaller dinner (since I had eaten a few hours before) before stretching.

May 17, 2023 – Week 10, Day 2

13” Axle Jack Stand Pulls (straps)
110x2
160x2
200x2
250x2
290x2
340x2
380x1
430x1
470x1
520x1
560x1
613x2
560x2
560x2

Dimel Deadlifts w/ bands (straps, +51lbs/+102lbs)
95x4
185x4
275x8
275x8

Safety Squat Bar Squats
65x5
115x5
155x5
207x5
259x5
309x10

Band Assisted Nordic Curls (3 second eccentrics)
mmbx8
mmbx8

Standing Band GHD Abs
(2)abx50
(2)abx50

Stretching
 
Comments: Kind of funny reading what I put for this same workout (as in the Day 2 session) from two weeks ago about how stress isn’t helpful and makes things more present. And boy were they sure ever. I didn’t do myself any favors though. I had been having some disc compression stuff happening since Saturday but it seemed to not really be much but I could tell some stuff on the left side wasn’t feeling so great and nerves were firing having glutes and hips not as “smooth”. I think coupled with how this week at work ended up being stressful (my back up scheduled off for vacation so I had to cover them and my supervisor calling out sick the entire week) made things kind of boil over for me Tuesday evening. Stuff from that day kept me from falling asleep at a reasonable hour (work and disc stuff) and I was already worried about the upcoming session (heavy deadlifts) and taking a day off work the next day (wedding). So less than optimal sleep and trying to not “freak out” about the disc compression symptoms. A little late with developing a slight eye twitch. During lunch I did some dip station traction and that was only slightly helpful. I had done it after Monday session as well. I was seriously thinking about skipping this session. But how I feel is sometimes a lie. Sometimes a good beating will get things back on track.  I did take my time a bit here to mentally prepare and do mobility stuff similar to what I did on Saturday before training. Try to get stuff that won’t stop firing to be slightly less tense. Or make other stuff less tight so I can afford for other stuff to be rigid and tight. Goal for the day with the axle pulls was to work up in doubles to 60% and then do singles up to a top double (1-2RIR). I had put down doing 40-50lbs jumps all the way up with the top weight about 610lbs. Feel like this was a necessary progression to be on track for 675lbs to be a possibility at the show. I’ve done reps with 600lbs from different heights with axle with no gear but not over that. I’ve done 650lbs for a double with the 2-ply briefs which isn’t the same since I feel they gave a good bit of power off the ground. As long as things held up and I wasn’t in pain (or it wasn’t getting worse with weight) I’d push on. I know I can do 635lbs (that was kind of what I started with projected but switched it to 650lbs to be closer to what peaked could be). As I got up to the singles, I tried to keep things pretty the same each time. Trying to not get super hyped up until the top set. Not going full bore the last single up I judged based off of that I could do the double with the weight and then some ideally. I added a few more lbs with collars and the off weight 25’s. Would be really embarrassing if it was just glued to the floor. But I seem to be getting better with breaking off the floor. I was trying to control these on the eccentric a good bit too so this made things a little harder but that was good. Lockout felt a bit tougher on the second rep. Still feel I had at least a triple on this and maybe a fourth rep. Definitely that many if I didn’t control the eccentrics as much as I did. I was to do 2x2 on the down sets with 10% less weight, which would’ve been like 552lbs and I just decided to do 560lbs since that just meant taking off what I had just put on. Close enough. Definitely feeling hard this time around but used to it and knowing I can do a set of 5 each time (well maybe 5 first set and then only a double or triple the second after that). Put stuff away and moved on to the next thing. My rest being the time it took to tear down and setup the next thing. Dimels with bands. I wasn’t sure if these would pop up again as potentially was looking at being dropped depending on how I was recovering from these lower body sessions. Last time wasn’t really with bands but it was an option if I felt like it and I did feel like it. Because I liked how those felt compared to just straight weight. The movement just doesn’t feel like it is doing much for me with the short ROM compared to when bands are added to really ground me. I was kind of hoping that these and focus on the glutes and hips would kind of unjunk my disc symptoms. It has kind of worked on the banded zerchers before and has on these too at one point. Plan this time was same bands and add 30-50lbs to what I did last time with reduced reps. Usually, the first set isn’t the best as I kind of have to get used to the band tension and pressure (one reason I like these when peaking suit work). That second set just seems to feel better and I move better. I’m not just lifting, I’m training on that second set. The flow is continuous and each rep is more explosive than the previous using the overspeed eccentric like a perpetual motion machine. But that stuff away for squats. Just regular squats (but still using the safety squat bar). I think this was more to work up to a top weight but get more reps at the weights right before compared to what I’ve been doing. I’ve been doing higher reps at the start pyramid style to more or less get things warm and not too fatigued for the working weights. I tend to do those working up weights with not locking out my hips and knees to kind of keep constant tension and just doing work to get my legs ready. Maybe because I did the usual mobility stuff at the beginning it felt less like I needed to do that this time around. But the plan was to do my last two warm up sets in sets of 5 reps and then the top set for 10 with 5RIR or so. I decided I’d just do 5 reps working up the whole way and I’d do them like I would on the top set as far as not just doing “pulse” reps. Might actually have me “awake” for the sets that mattered. I was initially thinking 315lbs for the top weight but was thinking it might be too much and that was before I was feeling the disc issues. These could be more stress compared to everything else I did really. So then looked at 295lbs. I then decided to give myself the option after the first few sets to do 50ish jumps so that I’d end up with kind of in between 295lbs and 315lbs. This was acceptable to me. It has been helpful to think of these helping viking press (thinking about how I’m holding the handles on the ssb) and as well as stone (to a lesser extent visually but more so physically). I think this was the right call this session. Band assisted Nordic curls again. 2-3 second eccentrics with aim for 2x8-10 at RPE 7. My plan was to try and add reps to what I did last week. Granted, last week was less heavy work beforehand. But I thought that it wasn’t going to be a problem. It ended up being a struggle to match what I did the week before on these. Maybe the band was slightly more worn compared to the one I used last week. What might have been the culprit besides fatigue was having myself closer to the band anchor point by a few inches. Maybe that made the difference. Last thing was ab work. My choice. Indication was flexion based with minimal eccentric. Really the only thing that I would feel fit that from what I’ve been doing was the standing band stuff. I tried a different setup to have kind of a pad back like when I’ve done these at the gym with the ghd base. Not quite that. Too much band tension would shorten the ROM I could do trying to stay put. So I decided I’d do higher reps. I wasn’t planning on needing to do 50 reps to get to the RPE 6 range but here we are. I actually stretched the bands even more for the second set to make it tougher. Maybe I felt that this would help even out the back stuff. Took setup down and did another round of dip station traction and that seemed to feel decent. It could also be that I got done most of the stressors (work and the session) that stuff finally started to calm down for me. Got dinner ready and then stretched. Iced my knees. Another later evening but I had taken off the whole day for the afternoon wedding so I could sleep in up to 2hrs and still have time to get everything ready.

May 15, 2023 – Week 10, Day 1

Bottom Up Kettlebell Presses/Dumbbell Pullovers (3 seconds stretch)/Cobra Stretches (5/15)
15’sx8/20x8/bwx3
15’sx8/20x8/bwx3

Sandbag Tosses
High Pulls
45x1
45x1
45x1
Bottle Drill
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1

Viking Presses (strict, facing away, hands 11” down handles)
+empty(26)x3
+45(59)x3
+90(92)x3
+135(125)x3
+180(158)x3
+225(191)x3
+270(224)x3
+270(224)x3
+270(224)x3
3 Second Eccentrics
+235(198)x5
+235(198)x5

Swiss Bar Chest Supported Rows
90x3
142x3
194x3
235x6
240x6
245x6

Dumbbell Lateral Raises
10’sx5
22’sx15
22’sx15

Incline Band Tate Presses (2 second holds)
abx17
abx13

Stretching
 
Comments: I wouldn’t have minded to have a day off work today so I could recover a bit more. I had felt worn from Saturday and Sunday was a bit of getting some things done but also being kind of tired and only getting most of the things done and not all of them. Monday I could tell there was some disc compression symptoms from Saturday session. To be expected with going as heavy as I did on stuff. Especially the offset loading of stone to shoulder. But I’ve had this worse and better. Plan was to see how I felt and tolerate it until the end and then do some decompression on the dip station. That way my upper body would be good and warm and I wouldn’t need to worry about the back on pressing. Mobility stuff to start as I have been. No changes made here. Just working on the focus and thinking about the parts and what I’m doing. Outside for the bag toss drill. I had some ideas for this as this was the skill work session. I’m finally getting around to watching The Last Dance on Netflix and while I don’t care for most sports, I consider myself an athlete and can appreciate the effort and skill. So I decided I’d work on the positioning and by that, I mean working out where I can be to reach the bag and how far back I go on a hop back and where the spot at minimum needs to be for success with heavier bags. I spent about 5 minutes doing this after getting measurements. The hop back seems viable really only up to 40lbs as it stands if I don’t do anything besides just hop back. Trying to figure out the best way to go about getting into position that will be efficient time wise and repeatability. I can’t really work the hop back as it takes more effort than not full effort to do it right and get the timing down. So this was more the run out and where I’d land. I also figured that since I wasn’t aiming over a target, it didn’t make sense to move the stall mat closer as it won’t go over the yoke and it will take less time to retrieve now. I’ll need to practice the run out and setup some more and preferably at the gym setup where less chance of slipping on something. I still liked the idea of the high pulls so I treated those like warming up for the bottle drill. Trying to lower the effort I’m putting into these and trying to get my feet to not be so flatfooted here. Trying to not get frustrated that I feel I won’t get close to completing this series at the show as my current abilities stand. Then it was viking press for strict style this week. Plan was work up in sets of 2-3 for 260-270lbs added for 3x3 and report back RIR on the last set. I felt that doing 45lbs jumps and triples would be fine and get me to 270lbs primed enough. I was initially feeling quite strong but then I wasn’t so sure as I got closer to the planned set weights. But I ended up doing them no problem really. This would actually be decent stuff for barbell work really for me. Not trying to destroy myself on the strict presses as the push pressing is where it will be at. But I do like this variation and if it wasn’t requiring so much setup beyond what a standard barbell needs, I wouldn’t mind doing these in the off season as primary pressing. Then eccentrics added. I was to do 2x5 and between 230-240lbs with the 3 seconds. Longer rests allowed. Idea was to have last set feel like 2RIR. But to report back RIR on that last set. I took off the 45lbs plate and added a 10lbs. I was tempted to add 5lbs more but told myself that these were very difficult last time so going up 15lbs was a pretty big jump as is. That first set made me feel like a made a grave error in judgement as it felt tough. Like not having 2RIR that first set. So took the rest to the max allowed and came back and the second set it was a lot better. Another session of not having the setup try and tip over thanks to the bungee cords. Into the garage for the rest of the workout. Chest supported rows with the swiss bar. No holds this time. Workout called for 3x6 at RPE 7. I wasn’t sure what that would be as I’ve only ever done these rows just the past four sessions and with pauses. So no clue what I could do with no pauses. And also with these being no straps. Grip was pretty fatigued I felt though my arms weren’t feeling terrible sore after all the stone work. I figured that the top weight I was using for the hold variation would be a good start for the last warm up assuming things felt good. Roughly 50lbs jumps told me that would work out for me. I think I didn’t want to use 45’s on this as I was worried that I might hit the floor and disrupt the movement. Left side of my upper back got immediately sore after the first set. But I felt this was still a bit light and added 5lbs each set. I’d say that ended up being better by the end of it. Next was dumbbell raises for shoulders. Just regular ole lateral raises. No tempo. Just 2x10-15 with RPE being 6-7. Intent was the least amount of weight to work and maintain. I was curious to see how 20lbs or so would feel so I did that. I wasn’t expecting to be doing over 2x10. And initially, there were slight aches in the shoulders on the first few reps each set and then that went away and they felt wonderful. So that was neat. Last thing was band tate stuff. Same as it has been but the rep range expanded to 12-20 so I felt that I should increase the band tension. Again, intention was 2x12 with the increased band tension but it felt good so I decided to push it and just take a shorter rest for the next set (I’ve been taking longer rests here because of how these fatigue my triceps). I felt that this being with normal rest, I recovered quite well. Too many things going on and I ended up eating dinner and stretching but not icing my knees. I felt that was passable this time as only did a little compared to the push press weeks as far as knee stuff.

May 13, 2023 – Week 9, Day 4

Bulgarian Split Squats with Rotation
bwx5/5
17.5’sx10/10
17.5’sx10/10

Sandbag Tosses (10’ away)
30x1
35x1
40x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1

Frame Carries
Titan Fitness (16”)
Casual Pace
115x50’
115x50’
Makeshift (18”)
Normal
276x50’
376x25’
476x25’
BiggDogg Strongg (20”, 1.5” handles)
568x25’
638x25’
Drop and Turns Halfway
700x100’ in 25.23 seconds
Normal
700x50’ in 10.82 seconds
700x50’ in 11.63 seconds
568x25’

Stone to Shoulders
Atlas Stone
205x1
235x1
265x1
290x4
Stone of Steel
252.5x4
252.5x4

Atlas Stone Roll-ups
290x8

Wide Grip Rolling Bar Hangs
bw+45 for 45 seconds
bw+45 for 25 seconds/bw+35 for 15 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: This session had to deal with some changes I had to work around. The first was that the gym was closed from11:30AM to 2:30PM because of a seminar. Seminar was to be Mark Felix and Nick Best but Mr. Best had to cancel and it was just Mr. Felix. Maybe it would be valuable but I’ve not felt like going to seminars would be helpful. I’m also not very good with social situations. Both are in the area for the wedding I’m invited to next week. So options were to either come to the gym really early to get things knocked out before 11:30AM or show up after 2:30PM. Seeing as how worn this week has having me feel and that it was pretty much going to rain until the seminar started and start up again right after (but eventually stopping for good), it made more sense to rest and go later. But then there was also plans to have dinner with family since my mother would be spending time with grandkids and my older sister on Mother’s Day. So it was going from one thing to the other. I slept in because I knew it would be a later day for me and I didn’t want to eat breakfast at normal time and then be low energy or starving but have to hold off so as not to get an upset stomach and to be able to eat a late dinner. It was raining a little but I didn’t think it would be as bad as it ended up being driving out. The traffic sign said it would take 20 minutes to get to my exit (6 miles) so that had me concerned (it was wrong but still). There were like 8 cars on the side of the road. So that added a bit of time. And then there was construction as I was getting into Lancaster so added more time. So ended up about a 30 minutes later than I had planned. But I guess later was better as far as avoiding rain. It was cool but very humid in the gym as the fans weren’t going. I decided to try out some different things warming up for the start of the session. Namely using a kettlebell weight on my knee for the knees over toe stretching. Maybe that helped things as I went into the Bulgarian split squats. Even though it didn’t feel like it helped last week doing a bodyweight set for half the reps, I did it again. Rather have the jitters be on the bodyweight set than a weighted set. These felt fairly good with the adjustments. I guess I’ll see if this is repeatable for next week. So then it was time for sandbag toss. It was damp and raining a little. Not enough to really hamper anything. I mean, if I was able to do sets in the torrential downpour that one week, I can handle a little drizzle. The lighter week. My hamstrings near the glute inserts were feeling tight. Now last time had been 10x1 and this time 8x1. But same weight. Although not really I guess in that last time was to be 42.5lbs but got the 5lbs increments. Maybe too fixated on those jumps as there is no reason I can’t adjust the weights with the spare sand as needed for the day. But this time was to 45lbs and I had plans afterwards. But note to self that I don’t need to be so rigid to these things. Again goal was shorter rest and no misses. Hard to really tell until I’m done for certain. And I seem to be having issues with setup for filming as the “dumpsters” keep getting moved and then avoiding direct rain on the camera. I set down a towel on the ground for where the bag was to rest to hopefully keep moisture on it down (there was enough fabric to cover if needed). I pretty much had decided to do these all as hop back style to work that as well as see if this was viable really beyond just the very first bag in the competition series. Based off this, it is not. I’d say two of the tosses had the height and I got the distance from target right. Few were below the height but a fair number I was too far away with the trajectory I was doing. That is one disadvantage to the setup in that the hard “smack” denial lets you know that part. What I need to work on is getting into position efficiently without sapping energy. Perhaps next time when I won’t feel crunch time of later in the day session and having to go someplace afterwards. Time for frame work. I got things set up for this and it was mostly just light rain and it had essentially stopped by the time I had worked up to the big frame to take outside. I wasn’t sure how things were going really as every other set felt easy while the even sets felt difficult. Like 376lbs felt like nothing and 476lbs had me questioning my life decisions. Anyway, the plan was to do RPE 8 (675-700) for a set of 100’ with a drop and repick at 50’ and then either use the same weight for 2 sets of 50’ or drop 10% off if needed with goal being more speed intent. Kind of had to decide if I was doing 675lbs or 700lbs. Plan was 700lbs from the start but as I mentioned, stuff was feeling a little rough. I could do about a 100lbs jump from 568lbs to the working sets with 675lbs but not if I was doing 700lbs. I’d need to do an in between to be on the safe side with the amount of weight. 638lbs did not inspire confidence as it was feeling quite heavy and like I was going to black out near the end. Need to not have that be a thing. No set rests on this so I did take my time here. With it being an odd number of runs, I had to spend some time backwards shrugging and dragging the frame into position to make it easier to put away. This was pretty much contest weight and conditions. Weight slightly less and the distance slightly longer with grip slightly thicker. Pick felt slow but grip was holding strong. I think I was a little nervous the repick was going to be a slog but thankfully it wasn’t that bad and I was able to get up and going. Just legs felt heavy. Finished just over 25 seconds. Sub 25 seconds is the goal for the show and I feel I can do that now. So good to be hitting this with still essentially 5 more weeks to go (so two more touches). It was a bit ask of myself to add 50lbs to this from last time but I did it. So I was initially going to go down 10% for the two runs. But I reconsidered. I was not going to set any land speed records today with any weight I felt at this point. And it did say same weight or 10% if needed. And I could do 700lbs for these two runs. I think part of it was that it is likely this event is going to be the last event of a two day show so fatigue may be a factor so work harder and get that grit and graft done and pull back the next few sessions. These weren’t very fast runs. Surprisingly, the first run was not the slowest I’ve done this weight. Pick was a lot harder on the second one and I made up for it with footwork but it was really slow compared to what I’ve done. Had help with taking weights off so I was able to put frame away quickly before it started raining again. Took a bit of break chatting with Andrew about training theory and I think also to give myself some time to cool down. I needed to not be so sweaty for stone work and I had turned on the fans after the people that were there before me had left. Get the air circulating. and it was time to do some stone lifting. Slightly different from last time and the time before. I’d say this was kind of a combination of all the three past stone to shoulder sessions. Work up to a top set and then down sets. The top set was to be something that I felt was RPE 8 for 4 reps. So like 2RIR. Other parameters were getting them done in like 45-60 seconds. I wasn’t too sure here as last time I had done 265x6 and like 4 of those reps would’ve been within the time limit. I’m finding with this exercise that I’m thinking it is harder than it is and it became quite clear to me last time when I was doing all the singles and then the rep set. As those singles were feeling quite tough and I felt that 4 reps was going to be really hard to get. And then I got 6 reps and felt better as I went. So I felt I had to push things here and get myself to believe I can do this weight for the reps I need to do. So singles and plan was the 290lbs stone. Lighter stones weren’t feeling that great. Combination of the frame work and I think just having my legs feeling squats and Nordic curls. Or the smaller diameter was something I wasn’t treating seriously or just messed with my setup as the 20” stones felt better. I got set (takes a bit to get myself ready) and went at it. Pacing was about 10 seconds to complete a rep and then 10 seconds rest. So got 4 reps but a little over 70 seconds total. I’m hitting the goal range with over 96% just like with the frame carry this far out. So it is more getting recovered and faster on transitions. For the down sets, I had the stone of steel. As I was to do 2x4 with 10-15% less and the next stone was 265lbs and slightly outside that range. I think I also wanted to go a little lighter just to get a faster pace and deal with a different stone that was slicker. Used a ton of chalk (order new chalk). First set I was a bit cautious and then on the second set I picked up the pace considerably. I hesitated slightly on the last pick since it had gotten a little away from me. First set just under a minute and the second set just under 40 seconds. If I can get myself feeling that confident and comfortable, I think 5-6 reps is possible. No back extensions. More stone roll-ups. Just a set of 8 reps this time around at RPE 7. I figured I’d use the 290lbs stone since last time it was way too easy with the 265lbs even without any sticky stuff. These were still quite comfortable once I got the stone lapped. I probably could’ve done 310lbs. Perhaps next time (assuming these are there). Last thing for the session was rolling bar hangs. Plan was do two sets to get a total of 75-90 seconds of work and then rest 2-3 minutes between the sets to recover. In the past, I’ve gone lighter to make it through as I tend to be good the first set and then struggle afterwards. I think with how well last time went with a good bit of weight added I thought maybe I had gotten over that. Nope. First set I had 45 seconds with 45lbs added and that felt pretty good. Not a max but within 10 seconds of dropping. Plan was then to get 30 seconds with the same weight. But nope, ended up losing my grip 25 seconds in so I stripped the weight off and put 10lbs less and got back up (took about a minute) to do a drop set with netted me an additional 15 seconds. Guess I need to be mindful of that when it comes to grip work not allowing hook grip. Put stuff away and drove home to have a late dinner with family (more of me eating while they visited and talked with me). It was after 9pm when I got home and stretched out. I was too tired to ice my knees before bed.

May 11, 2023 – Week 9, Day 3

T-Spine Reaches
bwx10/10

Andrew Lock Shoulder Big 3’s (3 second holds)
10’sx10-10-10

Close Grip Axle Floor Presses w/ Chains (+44lbs)
36x3
66x3
96x3
126x3
156x3
186x3
216x3
216x3
216x3
216x3
216x3

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Presses
40’sx3
70’sx3
92’sx10
78’sx10

Banded Shoulder Extensions (3 second holds)
mb’sx15
mb’sx15

Incline Bench Dumbbell Cuban Rotations (2 second holds)
10’sx12
10’sx12

Stretching
 
Comments: A good night’s sleep (with some Dayquil) had me feeling a ton better when I woke up. I wasn’t in a rush with this workout. Trying to get work stuff sorted. This one didn’t require anywhere near as much setup as the day before. Plan was to kind of get everything done pretty quick and then stretch out before eating dinner since I was doing a pot roast and I got that started a little later in the morning than I had planned (had a meeting as soon as I got to work). This workout is the easiest workout of the week and only things that were really changed up here were the recovery/rehab stuff at the end. T-spine rotation to start things off. Just one set again. I started with the left side. Took off my glasses and do-rag as they were just going to come off over the course of the exercise any ways. Left side of my neck was tight and stiff but not related to this. If anything, these seemed to be less stressful as far as irritation compared to last week. But not on the same magnitude of improvement compared from first time to second time with now the third time. No snap and crackles this time either. From there it was the second upper body mobility and correctives with the Lock Big 3. I had been pleasantly surprised with how good these had felt last time while also being well aware of how tough they were. So those lessons were in mind. I guess knowing how it is going to be helps. I think also as I mentioned last time that watching the video from the person recommending it and understanding the progression from one exercise to the next was very helpful in how I was framing it in my head. Enough stuff on the soft carpet and into the garage. It was warm but I wasn’t feeling super warm. Which was good compared to yesterday. From there it was time for axle floor pressing. As it has been with 5x3 with the same chain setup and option to add 5lbs to last time if I wanted to.  Actually had option to add 10lbs but I figured I wouldn’t get greedy here as 5lbs jumps have been fine and this has been good enough to keep progressing on this stuff and recovering enough for some startling improvements on viking press days. No real aches in the elbow or wrists this time around. Left shoulder slightly achy but that has kind of been the case since the last show and not really anything to write home about. More the neck tightness. Balance was feeling a little off on these (like felt like more weight on the left side at times). It could be just spacing of plates was slightly off. My understanding is that next time the accommodating resistance will increase and the bar weight load will decrease and it will be doubles. But I guess have to see if I fit the plan with how things look and how things are going. From there it was seated presses. Same as last week with work up in triples to a top set of 10 reps but just slightly less left in the tank (2RIR). Then drop down 15% for another set of 10 reps. I did spend a little bit of time on my lunch to figure out plate combinations needed with what I had. I hadn’t intended to go with more than 90lbs but here we are. And while technically last week was a PR on these for this rep range, it wasn’t feeling like a max. So 5lbs more shouldn’t break the bank. I took bigger jumps working up. These were still to be controlled and not using my long arms to “rebound” these reps. This didn’t end up feeling as comfortable as last week. Reasons for that could be that I pushed stuff more on Monday this week vs Monday last week as far as the pressing (260 vs 315) and accessories (10’s vs 20’s and shorter rests for triceps). So perhaps that could’ve contributed to the fatigue here. Maybe not an absolute max at the end but damn close to getting stuck in the sticking point. So like 0-1RIR here. But at least no misses. Drop set was not super easy but was comfortable. It would appear plan is just one top set next week. Maybe that gets adjusted since I went a little too close to the sun this week. But the rebound will supposedly be allowed so who knows. Rest of the workout was changed. Still lighter things for upper body health. A little switch-a-roo here as usually it is free weights and then bands but it is bands and then free weights. First up was band shoulder extensions. I’ve done these once before really light I believe either at the very end of a training prep or the very beginning of one after a competition. I’ve sometimes done these to “pop” my shoulders if really tight. Been doing this movement a bit more with the Lock Big 3 lately. It also seems like a solid go to for warming up shoulders. Plan was RPE 6 for 2x10-15 with 2-3ct holds. So of course I went the higher reps and the longer holds. Mini bands seemed to work out nicely here. A little more challenging than I was expecting but I’ve only done these with micro bands before. Then some good ole dumbbell rotations. Incline bench with holds and control. Same RPE but 2x10-12 with 1-2ct holds. Also aim was more reps if needed as these can get quite exhausting quick. I wasn’t expecting needing more than the 10lbs dumbbells here. Finished out here and put stuff away before stretching. Ate pot roast after that and got ready for bed. Got one more day of work this week and plan is to sleep in Saturday since gym is closed until 2:30PM (I guess I could go and try to get the workout done before 11:30AM but likely not happening).

May 10, 2023 – Week 9, Day 2

Iso Deadlifts Against Pins (straps, to 12.5”)/13” Axle Jack Stand Pulls w/ bands (straps, +26lbs/+79lbs)
135x1 second/120x2
135x1 second/210x2
135x1 second/300x2
185x3 seconds/390x2
185x3 seconds/390x2
185x3 seconds/390x2
185x3 seconds/390x2
185x3 seconds/390x2

Safety Squat Bar Squats
65x10
115x8
165x6
215x4
265x2
315x8
315x8

Band Assisted Nordic Curls (3 second eccentrics)
mmbx8
mmbx8

Dragonflies (5 second eccentrics)
bwx10
bwx10

Stretching
 
Comments: Just feel like I’m struggling to keep afloat with work and it is annoying. Try and just focus on what I can do and what I enjoy doing. The “light” week had some changes made. It has been banded axle pulls at contest height waving up in weight with a good bit of band tension. Still axle pulls against bands but not quite just that. So the plan appeared to be a contrast training protocol. First part being an isometric pull with about a third of my max deadlift and then about a minute rest and then pull two reps of axle pulls at contest height with band tension and then rest about 3 minutes before starting over again. I’ve done some contrast training before briefly many years ago (2016 I think) and that was doing box jumps or vertical jumps and then doing a deadlift or hatfield squat. While the work itself wasn’t going to take terrible long to do, the setup was. I’d need to test out band tensions (as I was to use less band tension than last cycle but not too much or too little) and figure out what I needed to anchor the band platform, weights to load up the axle with and what was needed to weigh down the rack outside for the isometric pulls. Also had to figure out setup to get the pulls just right. I’ve done the iso pulls before but to a higher pull height and a lot less weight (65lbs I think). I was to pull into below where the start was for the axle pulls so that also was a bit tricky. Involving wood planks and fat gripz to protect the bar but also to make the height right. I knew this was going to take a while to setup so I did it during my lunch break so that after work I could just get right into warming up for this stuff. So idea was 5 sets of this with 3 second isometric pull and then a double with about 60% of my 1rm on axle pull. Initially I was going to just warm up with the axle pulls against bands and then add in the iso pull. But I figured it made more sense to kind of warm that up to and not have it be such a shock. So I did 1 second pulls into the bar at not full intensity and alternating with the band pulls. The iso pulls felt better I think compared to how they went last time I did them. I believe they were on their own and were longer with shorter rest. Trying to pull harder each time. The axle pulls I guess I was expecting to feel relatively easy since this was 10lbs less than last time and the band tension was a good bit less. Nope, felt tough like that had been. Perhaps the iso pulls were fatiguing. I do feel like I got better as I went which is usually the case with multiple sets of low reps with a speed element. But I started to feel under the weather. It wasn’t particularly hot but I was feeling warm and started getting some post nasal drip irritation. Figuring stress related stuff as far as weakened immune system since I’m rarely around people. Allergies have been more brutal this week (I had to take some at night Monday because my eye was irritated). I waited a bit to see if I needed to take stuff but it became evident I’d need something to help me. As I was doing squats. And man, squats don’t lend to easy breathing. Plan was again to work up to 2x8 at a bit higher RPE. Still aiming for 5RIR or so. Which gets funny with squats. Before this, I was planning on doing 20lbs more since I was feeling like I had a ton left in the tank last week on the last set. Not so much with how I was feeling now. Ended up taking some nasal spray and plan was to take some Dayquil after that (when not doing exercise with so much abdominal pressure). I’m not sure if I’m to be doing these RPE things but RIR can vary depending on how serious I treat things. Like 215lbs can feel damn heavy and miserable but if I get excited I can make myself have +5RIR with 100lbs more. Even when not feeling great. These certainly weren’t as easy as the 295lbs was last week but still decent. Good to be feeling somewhat comfortable with higher reps with 315lbs on a squat. Trying to reframe these after hearing this was to maintain as well as build and that aim with more reps is to get in the mindset for viking press. Sometimes those little tweaks in thinking can lead to big changes. But I guess it is good that I’m feeling somewhat comfortable with squatting and deadlifting in the same session. Then it was the band assisted Nordic curls. Same plan as last time with 2x8-10 with 2-3ct eccentrics. I felt that the band assistance I was using was too much assistance to stay at it for 2x10 and work intent. I felt it was better to lower the band assistance and aim for the lower rep range. I was a little nervous about the hamstrings/calves but things were fine. Managed to get 2x8 with the 3 second eccentrics. Dragonflies to end the evening. Aim was to try and improve to 2x10 on these. Notes indicated doing these for another 2-4 weeks but after the workout update, I guess not. So probably a good thing I did push for 2x10 then as I did manage to get it. I wish I had dedicated to this setup earlier as it is much better. While it took forever to setup, tear down was actually pretty smooth with the built in rest needing to switch between stuff. Cooked up dinner and stretched before icing knees before bed. Hopefully I was feeling better the next day with a Dayquil assisted sleep. Usually that does the trick.

May 8, 2023 – Week 9, Day 1

Bottom Up Kettlebell Presses/Dumbbell Pullovers (3 seconds stretch)/Cobra Stretches (5/15)
15’sx8/20x8/bwx3
15’sx8/20x8/bwx3

Sandbag Tosses (high pull)
45x1
45x1
45x1

Sandbag Tosses (bottle drill)
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1

Viking Presses (push press, facing away, hands 11” down handles)
+45(59)x2
+90(92)x2
+135(125)x2
+180(158)x2
+225(191)x2
+270(224)x2
+305(249.5)x3
+310(253)x3
+315(257)x3
Rebound
+275(227.5)x3
+275(227.5)x7

Paused Swiss Bar Chest Supported Rows (2 second holds)
92x3
144x3
196x8
167x12

Dumbbell Front Raises (concentric) to Side Raises (eccentric, 3 seconds)
10’sx5
20’sx15
20’sx10

Incline Band Tate Presses (2 second holds)
lbx20
lbx20

Stretching
 
Comments: Work was stressful. Seems that that is going to be the norm. Annoying as I know that eventually there will be more problems and other dumb stuff coming down the line and I have to keep a fine balance of putting in the work and not stressing about it but not be so apathetic that my mouth get me in trouble. I had hoped that the weekend would’ve been enough to get me feeling good and I’d say it did me good but man, did the workload just seem insane. I had to spend a few moments after work to kind of decompress enough to focus on training. Knees were feeling an odd kind of ache to the outside. So somewhat cautious with how things proceeded. I’m asking more and new things every time I train. I’m greedy like that. Mobility work the same as it has been. Some stuff still tight from last week stuff but nothing was feeling off or hurt. So that was good. I try to think of the viking press on the kettlebells, the bag toss in reverse on the pull overs and just getting the spine and glutes firing on the cobra stretches. Outside for the bag toss drill. I took some initiative here after some reflection on the nature of this second touch of sandbag. It is skill work and I’m not to really be going full bore on these. And I do feel that the bottle drill has been helpful, I don’t feel it is addressing the part that needs work to get more vertical power. So I want to work the skills that need to be worked. So I decided that rather than just do the bottle drill, I’d do high pull drill for 3 sets and then do 6 sets of the bottle drill. Going off old information of setting up a throw workout from a highland games/thrower/strongman competitor’s information that helped me have that first burst of improvement on bag toss back in 2021. First toss was not quite good as it went straight up and down. Rusty. The other two were perfect. Then on to the bottle drill. Not full power. First one held on too long. I feel like after that they felt better as far as going up and back rather than a lot back and not as high. I’m considering switching to 5lbs heavier on the drill bag just to get used to it as I feel like all the work with the 45lbs bag as mad that comfortable enough for anything. Put the bag toss stuff away and it was time for some viking pressing. Push press week. Plan was to work up to a weight for 3x3 that was about RPE 7.5 (so like 2-3RIR at most). Suggested was 275-290lbs. I was already planning on more. Work up in sets of 1-2 reps. Singles didn’t seem like it would be sufficient just because of how much things move and settle and a second rep gives me a better idea of where I’m at on this setup. But I could tell I was feeling strong today. I was thinking of doing +300lbs at most but I was feeling really strong today. I had not felt like the progress would be this drastic really but happy about it. I didn’t feel quite confident to do 315lbs added right away (which had been my minimum goal for end of the training cycle). Decided I’d add weight each set if still felt comfortable. It did and I got to do the 315lbs added. Starting to get the weight in hand to be more like what I can push press feeling so this is a good sign. Probably means shoulders and everything are recovering better with how the split is setup right now. Glad the setup held up to this kind of weight too haha. Down set work was a little different. I was to do them with a rebound style press. No pausing and resetting at the bottom to let it settle. Try and pump out the reps and get the motion of the arm to work with me. And also not bottom out the press. Idea was take 10-15% off what I did for the working weight. I decided to go lower end just because I went so much heavier than planned and I wanted to see how higher reps potentially would feel. First set was just a quick triple and it felt fine. The other set was to leave 2-3RIR. Started off well enough but my triceps were feeling fatigue and I was getting deeper dips and hitting the bottom of the setup so I decided to call it at a comfortable set of 7 reps knowing I could do more. Weather was nice out so I tried to keep the workout moving along and went into the garage to finish up the training for the day. Chest supported rows up next with the swiss bar and holds. Looks like last week of them. Plan here was to work up to a top set of 6-8 leaving 2RIR and then take off 15% for 10-12 2-3RIR. I was aiming for the lower rep range this time around as I expected there to be a lot of fatigue in the upper back from the zercher work and my forearms from the axle wrist work. As they were both feeling it. But I guess I felt strong here too and ended up getting the higher reps on both things. I like these as an exercise. Next was the dumbbell raises for what I think is also the last week of them. Last time had been really light and high reps with short rest. I had same number of sets and expanded rep range for difficulty. I decided I’d push these if I felt good. I think I went a little too hard that first set (probably should’ve stopped at 13 reps) and with how the long eccentrics are on shoulder stuff, I knew that I’d be fried for the second set. Left shoulder wasn’t able to keep up so called it on the second set at 10 reps. Bands to finish up the day for triceps. Same as last time with the incline tates. I figured that I’d do same as last time but try and do less rest. Which made it tougher for the second set. Definitely was pushing it on the last set. Need to remember on these exercises that it doesn’t always have to be improvement in that sense. Ego doesn’t always need to be flexed. Enough to move forward. Put stuff away and started cooking a late dinner. Stretched and iced knees before bed.

May 6, 2023 – Week 8, Day 4

Bulgarian Split Squats with Rotation
bwx5/5
17.5’sx10/10

Sandbag Tosses (10’ away)
30x1
35x1
40x1
45x1
50x1
55x1 (didn’t clear marker)
35x1/40x1/45x1
35x1/40x1/45x1
35x1/40x1/45x1
40x1/45x1/50x1 (didn’t clear marker)

Hatfield Split Squats
65x5/5
115x5/5
155x3/3
205x3/3
245x3/3
295x3/3
350x10/10
360x10/10

Pin Safety Squat Bar Zercher Goodmornings w/ bands (+28lbs/+93lbs, 33” height, swiss ball)
65x3
115x3
155x3
205x3
245x3
245x3
245x3
245x3
245x3

GHD Back Extensions (bearhug)
bwx5
25x5
55x5
100x15

Standing Band GHD Abs
(2)ab+(2)lb+(2)mbx25
(2)ab+(2)lb+(2)mbx25

Axle Wrist Curls
88x10
138x20
138x20
138x20

Stretching
 
Comments: Not really in a rush for this session. Not because anything difficult or worries. More that nothing I was doing really required anyone to assist and I had some things I needed to do that I had put off. The weather was to be perfect all day so no rush on that front (only thing outside was bag toss). I wanted to get sleep to get the stress out of me a little with the week and I also needed to get stuff in order for the session since I didn’t do that the night before. Also needed to get gas as well. Drive out was fine. A fair number of people training today. Someone else had music on but it was really quiet. I got the toss tower setup before I started things. Start of workout was Bulgarian split squats with rotation of back leg. Single set. I had thought that doing a set of bodyweight to get used to things (as well as the mobility stuff) would make that set felt as comfortable as it did the second set last week. It did not. So not sure what much else to do to have these feel nice to start off the session oh well. Not terribly important. I might just go back to bodyweight for these. Any ways, on to the fun stuff. Sandbag tossing. The heavier week. What was indicated was to do 3 sets of 3 series to get used to transitions and multiple implements being tossed. Goal was to do them in a way that was challenging but not missing. It can be hard to gauge if missing or not on this setup as I’d either need someone standing on the nearby dumpster to confirm or stop the camera after every set and check. Can’t expect someone to be taking time out of their day to stand on sticking trash and it would exponentially increase how long stuff took as the camera is on top of the dumpster in lieu of a person so I can check later. All I can tell is a miss if I hit the band as that would be under 14’. So far haven’t on this setup and most are good upon review after the session. I tend to not deviate from the program on everything. If I do, it isn’t intentional. But bag toss has me feeling a certain way. I think what I was thinking here was that I do warming up singles that go above the weight for the tosses so one I’d get used to the heavier bag and then the work weights would feel light. Done for other stuff and bag toss doesn’t take a lot out of you. This did help me with getting comfortable with sandbag to shoulder during prep for PA Dutch 2022. Did the hop back tosses up to 45lbs. I knew 45lbs was the limit (iffy it would go over 15’) and did the walk back style after that. 50lbs felt heavy (it would’ve cleared 14’6”) but figured I wanted to see what 55lbs felt like as I’ve not touched that kind of weight since 2021 PA’s Strongest. That went right into the band so not clearing crap today. I wasn’t planning any heavier than that anyways. Not discouraged, just want to know since I’m launching lighter bags potentially higher than that 2021 prep. Enough breaking from the plan (kind of). So for the series of three, I was to do ascending weight (or same weight) and my options were to do first toss as the hop back and then the other two as walk back and toss or all of them walk back and toss. My plan was do the first option. My reptile brain forgot that as the first one felt so easy that I automatically went to hop back the second one and realized I wasn’t to do that and got off balance and just settled for the toss over when I was stable. Reviewing back the video, the first two were good, the last bag would’ve been close but no. Second set I decided to just do what my body wanted to do and that ended up being hop back the first two bags and then get stable for the last bag. That ended up being successful (besides my glasses falling off). Last set ended up being the best. Each set I was improving the time by about 3 seconds. I do need to figure out what I’m doing with my headgear on this as the do-rag does not want to stay on and my glasses don’t either. They actually fell off again and the left lens popped out. I was worried I’d need to stop for the day but I was able to get the lens back in. I may need to consider wearing the soft contact lenses for this. With how these went and I was feeling like I was getting better as I went, I figured I’d just see if I could do it with the weights bumped up a notch. I wanted to actually do one hop back and two walk back in a set without it being an oops. First two went over fine. 50lbs went into the band. Oh well. But this is good to know. I need to work some things out as well. I was inconsistent back in 2019 with clearing two bags (30lbs and 40lbs) over 15’ and I had no issues with that (even adding a third bag) so I’m definitely better. I think that this setup also is less stressful in that much more forgiving. If you missed on the old setup (wood board), it let you know violently and it would give the bag back which lead to me instinctively reaching for it and injuring my right shoulder for a time. 50lbs appears to be my limit. 60 seconds is a lot of time so I shouldn’t feel rushed on this besides points and split times. Need to think on what is the least costly energy wise getting the heavier bags into position to toss. Fun stuff for me with puzzle solving. That was it for the sandbag (or so I thought) and then it was inside for the rest of the session. Just because it isn’t blazing hot, sometimes the people in the gym don’t let the fans run and it can get so humid. Some people like it to “lose weight”. No thanks. Hatfield split squats again. Same as last time with the plan here work up in sets of 3-5 reps and do 2x10 at RPE 8. Plan was to do 40-50lbs jumps so that I was doing 335lbs. Or at least have the option to do that and potentially jump up from there if necessary. I say that as these have been improving a good bit each time. Only real concerns being that joints and such feel fine. Last working up set I felt strong and thought screw it, do 350lbs for the working sets. This did feel heavy on the unrack and it took a bit to commit but it went fine. The initiating of putting the leg back has me thinking about power stairs with descending the steps backward as an efficient way to reset myself. These feel about the same each side at this weight now, though slightly easier for the right side. 350lbs was decently challenging but I figured I did 10lbs more on the second set last time and that went well so maybe I could do it here. It would also be half the weight of contest on the frame, the one moving event. This felt about the same as the set with 350lbs. Again, quite pleased with how these are progressing. Next up was the banded zercher goodmornings off of pins with the safety squat bar. Well not quite right away. See in my planning for the session, I didn’t bring my elbow sleeves for my arm protection on these and I found a pair of knee sleeves what would work. This guy there at the gym training powerlifting noticed the brand on the knee sleeves I was borrowing and struck up a conversation with me. You ever get stuck in a conversation you can’t leave? Now imagine it is with someone that doesn’t remember they’ve had a similar conversation with you almost a year prior. I had told him this stuff then but this ended up being a much more in depth conversation. The only thing I didn’t recall was his name which I don’t think he told me last time. I didn’t want to let him know we had spoken before as he clearly didn’t remember talking to me. Almost let it slip when he said his name and expected me to say my name and I had to be like “right… he doesn’t remember…”. I had time to kill today and it allowed for some of the humidity in the gym to clear up. So back to the training. Indication was to drop back down to 245lbs for 5x3 and increase the band tension. Like 5-10% more I guess (20-30lbs). That was going to be tricky because I was using micro bands and those are my lightest bands. So adding another pair would be a bit much. I also didn’t want to get fancy with the anchoring for the bands as this is likely an exercise that will be in training off and on and there are sessions after Regionals leading into Nationals that will need to be done at my house. So I wanted something I could do at home if needed. So that was mini bands. Ended up being a lot less at the start than I was expecting but a lot of kick at lockout. The other thing was I believe that the swiss ball I was hugging was slightly larger diameter than what I had been using. But I couldn’t locate the smaller one. So that added to the difficulty. And probably for the best. These felt like work but good work. Enough of the complicated stuff. Back extensions but change up in how these were done. Not doing the barbell style with the short ROM. Bear hug weight and do them full ROM and continuously. So I wasn’t sure what to expect considering the weights I was using on the barbell stuff. But I recalled being able to do a decent amount on these in the past for reps. Plan was a set of 12-15 reps at RPE 7 sand work up with sets of 3-5 reps. Started with bodyweight and that was really easy. 25lbs added just to see if the load would change things. Not really. Ok, I guess I can go heavier. 55lbs throw bag and expecting that to be the working weight and nope. So I rolled out the 100lbs sandbag (I was trying to see if there was like a 70lbs slam ball or something). Aim was just 12 and thinking it would be hard. Nope, 15 reps and feeling fine (other than the stress in the ankles from the pads). Abs up next and again, not the finisher for this workout. Standing with bands two sets at RPE 7-8 with it being 20-25 reps. Notes was same as last week. Well I felt I could still progress from there so I added some mini bands to the setup and it did make it harder but still doable. Feel like I needed to do these to build up for all the extending with weight I be doing. So last thing was grip work. This wasn’t what I was expecting. I was expecting Hercules hold to show up but it didn’t and that is ok. This was another grip exercise of choice but strongly suggested for one out of the options. My grip is strong and that plan was wrist flexion since there can be that with the Hercules hold handles. For myself, I tend to keep everything relaxed in the hands and arms. I think I was also not feeling doing axle curls as they seem to feel terrible on my wrists. I also felt like things like wrist roller weren’t quite want I wanted to do. But I did research some things for axle and wrist curls from other sports like arm wrestling, grip and rock climbing. And I found a way that intrigued me and seemed like it would work. Essentially not having the wrists bend back and just focusing on the flexion. Lifting the axle out of the rack and propping on my thighs. I ended up using Jenkins’ solid axle and that empty at 40kgs was feeling too easy. So I added 50lbs and that felt like not a good time on my wrist joints initially. Then I got into the right position and felt fine. Felt my forearms working and it felt better each set. I had not planned to do 20 reps sets really but here we are. I think that next time I will just need to warm up a bit smarter. Put stuff away and took my time getting data for loading of the wheelbarrow for Nationals planning purposes. I think it would be beneficial to get some sessions on it but it would be a pain to load up with enough weight to actually be something representative. Stretched before driving home. Iced knees when I got home and had burritos for dinner.