May 3, 2023 – Week 8, Day 2

13” Axle Jack Stand Pulls (straps)
130x2
180x2
220x2
270x2
310x2
360x2
400x1
450x1
490x1
540x1
585x3
540x3
540x3

Dimel Deadlifts w/ bands (straps, +51lbs/+102lbs)
45x5
135x5
225x10
225x10

Safety Squat Bar Squats
65x10
115x8
155x6
205x4
245x2
295x8
295x8

Band Assisted Nordic Curls (3 second eccentrics)
lbx10
lbx10

Dragonflies (5 second eccentrics)
bwx10
bwx8

Stretching
 
Comments: It can take a little time for me to realize the things going on are related to stress and not just taking the time to just breathe. Aches feel more present, it’s harder to focus and seems to take slightly longer to do things. I feel like my time telling is slightly off. Stress imposed by problems of my own design. But I will come to grips and develop a plan and continue to keep doing what I’ve been doing for over 11yrs now (working this job and training). The current aches of the day that were distressing me was tightness in the right calf muscle. Right at the top, almost the back of the knee. Almost enough to distract from the left side shoulder and neck thing. The worry (irrational) was that my calves or hamstrings would “pop”. There has only been one time when that happened and there was no warning before it happened. I just tell the concerns to shut up and go about my business. But it can get exhausting. Starting out training for today was right into axle pulls. The heavy week. The Nordic curls were dropped from the start (apparently they were to be 3x3 for ever session the past four weeks) and a modification made for them later in the workout. For the axle work, the plan was work up in doubles to 60-70% and then do singles up to a top triple (2RIR). Then depending on how that felt, take some weight off for 2x3. I think I’m getting used to these not feeling like they are ever easy. That it will be just a slog the whole time and that just keep pulling. I had done plate jumps last time and then 40-50lbs jumps. And I was thinking of doing that again too. But with not doing the Nordic curl eccentrics to start and being a little paranoid, I decided to do 40-50lbs jumps all the way up. And that was probably for the best. Getting better at gauging how things are feeling from these as I go. Plan was to do 580-585lbs here to ensure that I had RIR. Didn’t want to make a 40lbs jump for 600lbs and get stuck. I got like 3 more heavy deadlift sessions besides this one before the competition. Working up I was also having to tell the back concerns to shut up as well as the leg concerns. With how 540lbs felt, I felt I could do 585lbs and be ok. Got excited with that top set and while it felt heavy, it was controlled and I felt I had the double, probably a triple in the tank. Had a bit of pent up energy still and was doing a bit of bounding after that set haha. I know I need to be able to tap into that but also not all the time. But be able to tap into it at any time. I was making sure on these with the reps that I was lowering them with control. I took off 45lbs for the down sets. First set felt a lot easier compared to the second set but both felt good. It’s not going to feel fast on pulls and just have to be ready for that. Things are feeling on track for the goal at the competition. Time for dimel deadlifts. What was written was to do same weight as last time for 2x10 instead of 1x15. But I was given the option to have the weight be a combination of weight and band tension if I felt that was going to be more worthwhile and as long as it was within 5% (plus or minus) of the 315lbs planned. I recalled liking the dimels with a ton of band tension so I figured I’d do that. I was initially worried that the setup would be a pain but I believe that was more from attempting rdls with bands rather than the dimels. The change in that short range of motion is pretty drastic but it works. The bands make it so that it feels like I’m having to push through with the hips and glutes rather than just having it got there when just straight weight. So far, so good this session. More squats. I mean, no squats so far this session, just more squats like last week. No pauses. Plan was low RPE 2x8. Same or lower than last time. I was hoping I could do the weight I did last time 3x6 for 2x8 today. On one hand, this was heavier weight compared to last time but on the other, I’d probably feel more comfortable with regular squat tempo compared to last time. So did same warm up with the plan of doing 295lbs for the sets of 8 reps. Knees were cranky warming up but thankfully my spine wasn’t. It didn’t feel so much like a chore doing the squats. Squats on the working sets felt good but could tell there was fatigue in the legs. Then it was the Nordic curls. Not quite what I was doing. What I had been doing was just controlled eccentrics and using my hands to shove my body back up. These were to be controlled eccentrics but not using my arms to assist. I’d be using band tension to assist that would lower the resistance. I’ve done these before but they weren’t controlled reps. More a do a max set situation and I was using a lower setup as it was my yoke. This was my power rack. I was a little anxious about the lower legs but there were no issues here thankfully. Got in a comfortable 2x10 here with 3 second eccentrics. Dragonflies to end the evening. I was in the process of tearing down the setup I had for the Nordics when I wondered if this would work for an anchoring system rather than using my flat bench. It did and it actually worked better than the bench. It allowed for less pressure on my upper back to support and more ROM and less support in the lower range since it was only half as long with the hard foam. So this was a pleasant discovery. Managed to increase the reps here a good bit. Put stuff away and ate a roast for dinner before stretching and icing knees before bed.