September 4, 2023 - September 9, 2023 - Week 11

 September 4, 2023 – Week 11, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

12” Log Clean and Push Presses (one clean)
90x5
110x3
130x2
150x2
170x2
190x2
190x2
190x2
190x2
190x10

Stretching
 
Comments: Maybe it was good that my birthday was a holiday weekend. Half day work Friday and off on Monday. Pretty much that period has required birthday related activities with different people. I enjoy it but I know it is stressful to me. And even if I don’t really like thinking about the passage of time, it is there with a lot of noise and notice. Still doing what I want as far as activities. Noticing that my lower back is feeling the last week of training. I think the power stairs the most. Even if the volume is low, the top end stuff is a lot of effort and work. I could feel it on the yoke and that does let me understand that that is why a yoke session may feel heavy or slow is due to my lower back being fatigued. Helps explain contest performance a bit better. Speaking of that medley; I got messages yesterday and today about it from the one owner of the gym. Short of it is not to do it again. Don’t use the calibrated plates on anything besides the powerlifts (risk of chipping on concrete) and the bar I used for the loading pin ended up bent. I’ve offered to replace the bent piece of equipment but told not to worry about it. I’d already decided to not do the medley again this way going forward anyways but it is frustrating. I do feel like some people would get special treatment with equipment damage. Oh well. Some other things as well that add to the stress. Slept in a bit today but knew I still needed to be up and about to be ready for evening family stuff as well as making sure that I was able to go to sleep at a reasonable time to be able to be rested for work tomorrow (because that is going to suck). Allergies acting up from being around many more people than usual in the past few days. Can tell some stress as auditory stuff is feeling a bit louder than normal. Warming up stuff felt fine. Some knee joint aches doing squats but to be expected considering how much more knee stress with the yoke/wheelbarrow stuff and it wasn’t as achy as it has been. Push ups felt the least achy in my shoulders and it was more so the left vs both like it has been. So I see that as a good sign. With the allergy meds, I was getting a little bit of cotton mouth. Then time to log press. As mentioned, it is 20lbs increases each week (at least how it is written up to next week) with 5x2 with an option to rep out the last set (confirmation to stop at 10 reps). I didn’t have to move the power rack but I wanted to just to give myself more room. The wasps didn’t appreciate it. As confirmed with last session, I was to test things out with full competition gear to see if there were any issues, even if not needed for this kind of weight. My guess would be that with the heat that the layers and fabrics would have me getting quite warm. It was going to be a hot one so it did make sense to train at when my lunch break would be today as it would just get hotter if I waited until later in the day. Had three fans going in the garage and one for the patio. Plan was try and stay cool as I could between sets to prevent overheating. I had made a recent purchase to add to my weights. I have two sets of 45lbs bumper plates and a set of 10lbs. The setup for Nationals is going to be bumper plates on crash pads and I know that plates larger than the log feel different with how the implement behaves. The 10lbs bumper plates are too flimsy on their own if I keep adding weight to get up to 45lbs and I’m not yet at that point. So I bought a pair of 25lbs bumper plates made of crumb rubber. Cheap things that have an oily consistency. Hopefully that wears off with use. Wore the grip shirt and added pieces each set. No tightness in biceps this week but could tell there was in the upper back from the yoke and wheelbarrow stuff. I was definitely combating some nerves and I think I did a good job of that. Tried to keep things a bit more consistent with my bar path with pressing as I did notice it was a bit of a mixed bag last time (granted a ton better than the first week) and it was very apparent on the last set for reps. Liquid chalk to my hands to keep them somewhat dry. Things were feeling pretty good. I left all the gear on during the rests breaks for the first four doubles and then stripped down to rest for about 4 minutes before the potential rep set. There were nerves and I was ready if need be to shut it down. I feel that this went well. Certainly had less reps in the tank compared to 170lbs but feeling like myself again with pressing. It is a good thing I went a decent pace here as the direct sunlight was making the metal on the log really hot to the touch. I’ll keep hand towels handy if it is still the surface of the sun next time to cover the handles at least during down time. Put stuff away outside and saw the wasps were watching me so I’ll leave the power rack where it is until the sun goes down or they calm down. Since no work, I also took my time with setting things up for Wednesday and leaving that setup to save time. Ate lunch and then stretched out.

September 6, 2023 – Week 11, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

13” Trap Bar Deadlifts (Versa Gripps, briefs)
150x5
240x3
330x2
420x1
510x1
562x5

Stretching
 
Comments: I was feeling eager/anxious for training. This was supposed to be a really hot day so being the garage was probably the best thing since I can regulate that a bit better with AC from the house as well as the many fans. Tuesday return to work kind of kicked my butt with all the work that came in and with the number of people that were not in. The warming up stuff was fine. Feels good and really the only thing that feels achy is the left shoulder on the push up part of things. There is some tightness in areas but nothing I haven’t had before. And probably to be expected with really pushing some stuff on these non-pressing sessions. Left side outside of quad (but think that is more just tightness in lower back) and tightness in the right calf. Get blood flow going. I don’t know if I needed to have the fans going but I felt it probably made the most sense considering the training. Which was trap bar deadlifts and wearing all the gear I’d wear at Nationals. As I had mentioned, I had done some testing/measuring after the last session to get things figured out. I wanted to make sure that I was pulling from the right height for the deadlift after measuring the Kabuki bar at the gym as that was listed as 12.75” so that is what I got for this setup with some trial and error. It seemed easier to just use my jack stands so that I didn’t have to prop anything up to add more 45lbs plates. I’ve had issues with pull height not being accurate in training vs competition. Sometimes it is my fault (off by like 1” too high) but other times it is error on the part of the competition (setup unsafe or measured incorrectly). But in cases where I was training 3” too low, I’ve ended up pulling about 100lbs more than what I did in training so it would seem best to do lower if not exact than too high. From testing things out, it would appear that the trap bar heights I had from when I was training for the car deadlift for PA Dutch earlier this year were 1” higher than I had thought they were. Which kind of makes sense with how the weights have been feeling at this height in retrospect. Plan here was similar to last time, work up to a top set of 5 reps. But closer to actual 5rm then last time (which was to aim for 10rm). Suggested was 550lbs for that top set. Unlike last time, I actually followed the suggested jumps and reps of plate jumps up until the top weight. I feel I did more jumps last time as I didn’t feel quite warmed up jumping right in and I was feeling the weight more in my joints and back then in my muscles like usual (but lighter weights). The warming up beforehand seemed to get me feeling more prepared compared to that last time. The briefs were also feeling a lot more comfortable this time around. Last week I had been tucking in my shirt into the briefs. This time keeping shirt over briefs and then tightening belt on top of that. Not really sure if either matters. My goal with this was to do between 550lbs and 580lbs. Depending on how good my last single of 510lbs felt (which was the top weight last week). I wanted to make sure 5 reps was happening and while that 1 rep felt decent at 510lbs, I went with 52lbs (most my 25’s are 26lbs). These felt heavy and slow but again, don’t look so bad on video compared to how they felt. I got a little lightheaded on the fourth rep and had to take a slight breather at lockout. I feel like I had at least 1 rep in the tank here, maybe a double. Feeling like maybe not getting as much out of the briefs as I thought I would. My only comparison was the 14” axle pulls for last year’s Nats and that was with two sessions on it. Maybe the movement feels like it loads better with a front bar vs side handle. But there is still something here and I’ll take it to save the hips some considering how brutal this competition will be for the last four events. Even if it 10-20kgs more help at most, that could be enough to get some points with the weight jumps. Goal had been to do 80% of what I felt I could do and aim is 310kgs/683.5lbs. This would be about 80% of 700lbs or 82% of that 310kgs. I really hope I can build up to that next jump (330kgs/727.5lbs) by Nationals. Lower back was feeling less like it was my joints holding things together. I had been slightly worried after seeing how fatigued things had been on yoke Saturday. Put stuff away and got back to work, saving the stretching when I was off the clock afterwards.

September 9, 2023 – Week 11, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Sandbag Tosses (16’)
EMOM
30x1
30x1
30x1
30x1
30x1
EMOM
38x1
38x1
38x1
38x1
38x1

Stone Carry and Loads
Stone of Steel
140x10’ to 50”
Atlas Stone
200x10’ to 50”
235x10’ to 50”
265x10’ to 50”
EMOM
290x10’ to 50”
290x10’ to 50”
290x10’ to 50”
290x10’ to 50”
290x10’ to 50”

Atlas Stone Loads
330x5 to 50”

Stretching
 
Comments: Work continues to be dumb but whatever. It will keep being this way as it has been for over a decade. Trick I guess is just to keep doing stuff. Body feeling a little bit different compared to the last time I did the trap bar pulls. No shoulder soreness but definitely noticing the strain/fatigue imposed on the lower back and hips from it. Especially with having a session of power stairs and moving medley. Keeping an eye on things and monitoring. I got most of things set up Thursday for Saturday training but still left some things for myself to do Friday evening as well. Primarily because there were items I had ordered for training that arrived Friday afternoon. Allergies were acting up on me Friday and some lower GI issues had me slightly concerned that I’d not be up to the standard for training. But on a scale, this was fine as I only really needed nasal spray to be good. The digestion stuff might end up being an issue. Drive out was fairly uneventful besides the semi trying to crush me or the car accident at the exit to the gym. Training for today was again going to be sandbag toss and stones. The gym was hosting a competition in another city and a good amount of people that train were going to be there either competing or helping out. So I was not expecting anyone coming in to train strongman today because not only where most competing but a good amount of the equipment and weights were out for the competition. But nothing I needed was there so I was good. Warmed up with the movement prep stuff. Knees feeling slightly achy but fine as I went as far as the squats and same with the left shoulder for push ups. First thing was bag toss. I took some breaks with setting up and such to get warm as well as not fatigue stuff. Moving stuff around can sap energy as well as being in the direct sunlight while it is so humid from the thunder storms. Did some swings working on stretching out the back portion of the swing before switching to some catch and release stuff and then some high pull tosses at like 75% power at most. Like last time, goal was 5 tosses with 30lbs and then rest as I felt I needed to and then do 5 more tosses with more weight. So the two 5 minute EMOMs again. From last time, I knew that 30lbs over 16’ was going to be no problem. No issues here with none where I’d say that I made any big cue issues or mistakes. I feel like I’m getting consistently over 19’ on these with this weight. Took about a 6 minutes break before the second set of tosses. Now for this, I was to add 1-3lbs to the weight I did last time (35lbs). I was to pick something that I was “99%” sure I could clear for every toss. This is the same bag I brought to the gym last time so that I can keep adjusting it and use the same style bag as the one at Nationals (I know, weight is weight but I feel the two main bag styles act differently in the air). I had actually adjusted the weight to 38lbs almost right after the last bag toss session. I had meant for 37.5lbs but my scale only goes by .2lbs increments and 37.6lbs was going to irk me haha. Unlike last week, I didn’t graze the band on the first toss. Fourth toss I overthought what I was doing and janked up the pull through and just had the bag go over the 16’ marker. That got me a little annoyed with myself and ended up with my highest toss with that weight for the session on that last toss. The added 3lbs was noticed compared to how things had looked compared to height reached last time. Considering where I was after finding out I was tossing a foot lower than I previously thought, I’ll be ok with being consistent with 40lbs or so over this height. I mean not happy but ok with it.  Likely have two more sessions before Nationals. Time for stones. There was trial and error last time and because I like to be sure on stuff; more trial and error. Last time was kind of my first run with a lot of different adhesives on concrete stones; stones that were dusty and a lot of dried tacky on them. I had two other things to test out for grip. One was another version of the liquid tacky spray and the other was receiver gloves. I didn’t know what to expect with the wet tacky stuff but I had some experience with receiver gloves. From what I recalled, they worked good with tacky towel on the stone of steel but there was issues of slippage and the gloves not holding up to lifting hundreds of pounds. I was very interested to see how the wet tacky went. But this lifting stones business takes time with all these stuff. I forgot how annoying it is to do stones wearing gloves haha. I had specifically bought some isopropyl alcohol spray to use on my hands and arms to dry out my skin from all the sweat and that worked great. So difficult applying tape and putting on the gloves. Also difficult to get my camera to start recording (had to use my nose). Full gear from the start as I wanted to see how putting tacky towel in my soft belt worked. This also meant I got very hot very quickly. Stone of steel empty was easy. Then added the wet tacky and my first thought “this is it?” when I felt it was sticking. Disappointing but not out a lot of money on that purchase (gloves a different story haha). Might have had better luck just using honey. Gloves were not staying sticky at all and trying the sprays was having a bad reaction to the grip part (the spray was balling up). So ditched the gloves (and cleaned up hands as they were so sweaty) before I got to the working sets. So the plan was to do the same thing as last time (275lbs for 5 set of 10’ to 48” done EMOM) but I had asked if I was to have these feel “easy” or be pushing things a little. Part of me was thinking that the wet tacky would work well and I tend to need a week of real stone lifting to feel like myself again. So I was advised that I could go up to 290lbs if I felt like it was good and it wouldn’t detract from Monday’s session since still dealing with residual effects of accumulated fatigue and this training has been set up to dissipate it. Luckily I did feel better this time around (despite all the hassle with gloves) and I was able to keep about the same speed (maybe slightly faster on some reps) with 290lbs vs 265lbs from last time. So that felt good as this is just 10lbs shy of the first weight in the stone medley. I was slightly worried with all the effort with working up to it as well as the lower GI stuff (concerned I’d have stomach cramps). But it all worked out. Then I was to do a set of 5 reps. Initially written as 300lbs to the 275lbs. For this, I was advised I could go up to 330lbs. I was thinking that might be a big ask of myself with no added tacky and not really being in stone repping shape. But as long as I could finish the set powerfully, I was good. As expected, the pick was tougher than I’d like. The residual tacky (I had also sprayed the stone down with spray tack) was quite sticky enough that it took the tack towel out of my belt with it. The extension was really easy that first rep. I paced myself here as I knew the pick was going to be the hardest part of this. Trying to not go into the full squat deep lap if I can help it. Not that I don’t have the mobility to do it but I shouldn’t have to for this and going that deep seemed to be what was irritating my hip last heavy stone training prep. The stone had enough stick to it that I didn’t need to retack at all. I did take a little longer to make sure these reps were solid and to kind of give some time in the event that I did need to retack for pacing purposes. I was starting to feel some fatigue in the extension on the last two reps. But pleased I was able to hit the high end of things and still keep things good. Cleaned up and put stuff away before stretching out and driving home. Realized when I got home that I left my camera tripod at the gym. Gym going to be closed next weekend so getting a new one from Wal-Mart to hold me over for the two weeks until back at the gym.