December 16, 2023 - December 23, 2023 - Week 1

December 17, 2023 – Week 1, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Bench Presses
45x25
45x25

Band Rows
lb’sx25
lb’sx25

Band Triceps Pushdowns
lbx25
lbx25

Stretching
 
Comments:  Wasn’t exactly expecting to get right back in the swing of things. I needed the day after the contest to decompress for sure and with the weather as it was by the time I felt I had emptied my thoughts on the page (and took care of household stuff), I ended up not doing anything physical. It would probably be easier to say what wasn’t feeling the competition then what was feeling sore. Hamstrings were twitching, entire back was feeling soreness in the way that said I had done something. Glutes feeling like they were used as well as my calves. Shoulders were feeling tense from I feel mostly the heavy conan’s wheel but also all the upper body stress of the particular set of contested events. Bruising just above the crook of my arms and inside of my knees. I had kind of figured that I was taking off this week as that ended up being the case for Nationals. Honestly, I was worried about committing to the plan of off season and giving myself 6 months until the next competition. Just from seeing how difficult things are and was looking at a maybe show to try and make sure I got qualified for Nationals. But I put that idea to rest as I need to take the time, even if the result at the end of it doesn’t lead to Nationals again. It’s not supposed to be an easy thing. Almost nuts how after a competition if I was feeling like I was “sick”, the feelings go away the day after. So I know that the stress weighs on me. I went for a walk and came back and seeing messages about how I was feeling and I said I felt pretty good all things considered and was fine with doing light work with increasing intensity. So it would look like off season is in full swing already but with event focus on the stuff I know will mostly likely be at Regionals (won’t have I guess 99% confirmation until January). Some familiar things and some new things. This first workout was listed as “optional” but I felt it was important to do some moving around as even taking an off week from Nationals makes even the mobility warming up feel like I’ll get DOMS from it haha. Did the warming up that has been the “wake up” routine since the reup with Mr. Westerling. Feeling fine. First thing was just regular benching. Barbell for 2 sets of 25 reps. Everything today was just light and for 2x25. I usually just stop at 10 reps when I do the bar with stuff anyways. Not usually these high of reps. Not that this is going to be a regular thing. This was to just get blood flow and feel the motion as it will be something that is going to be worked on. I remember one time doing the bar for 100 reps in a set in I want to say high school for gym. Chest was sore for a while after that. Was thinking about that a little with how this was feeling. Trying to treat each rep with control. Get the shoulders feeling good with it. Working on the brace. Second set I feel I had a bit more control with my lats and upper back as well as being able to actively tuck the elbows. So for that alone, this was beneficial. The remaining two exercises were band exercises. Band rows are a part of the warming up I do and have been a staple for me to do as bigger player exercises in training as well as just keeping warm at competitions. So I had already done these with the mini bands and that is easy stuff. So I used light bands as I figured that would still be “light” effort. Due to the higher reps on these, I like to adjust every few reps to a different point of pull to kind of get all the different intricacies of the rowing motion and everything involved with it. Loosen up the back and shoulders. I was a little worried I cut my rep count too early the first set as I got to 25 reps quicker than I was anticipating. A little more deliberate for the second set. Really trying to get that “3D” sensation on the last few reps with a stretch as well as the rowing. Triceps push downs to end things. I was thinking more band tension but went with a light band just because sometimes the triceps fatigue fast at times and can sneak up on me. Well turns out it was way too light to start. Rather than change the band, I gripped higher up on the band and that worked to make things acceptable as far as what I was looking for. At least evening things out between the first and second set for overall effect. Upper body was certainly feeling less sore after that. So that was good. Stretched before making dinner.

December 20, 2023 – Week 1, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Calf Raises
bwx25
bwx25

Box Touches (12”)
bwx25 (sumo stance)
bwx25 (conventional stance)

Squats to Box (18”)
bwx25
bwx25

Band Seated Leg Curls
ab’sx25
ab’sx25

Band Hip Circle Side Monster Walks
mbx25/25

Romanian Deadlifts (straps)
95x25

Hyper Extensions
bwx10

Hyper Extension Holds (Neck Harness & Plate)
10+45x34 seconds

Crunches
bwx25

Lying Leg Raises
bwx25

Stretching
 
Comments: So bit more but not quite a normal training session. This week of work and the next are going to be weird with holidays and such. As in off early Fridays and off on Mondays. Dentist Tuesday was thankfully uneventful but didn’t prevent from having weird things said at me. Like “god must love you best” in reference to my teeth. I swear, I can’t go anywhere and have not weird things said. I understand myself thinking or saying them. I hadn’t intended to be training really this week as I had mentioned but I think it is good to get myself moving. And that is essentially what this workout was going to be. But not expecting to be training meant there were family dinner plans that I had to be aware of. This workout was going to have some things that are more just to keep moving and fluff up the program but has some of the actual planned things going forward in some capacity. But that was like half the workout. Half lots of reps of moving body through space and the other half being somewhat stuff that will be progressing on. Mobility stuff was fine. This was probably a good idea to do this and not full stop on training with not feeling so sore or having movement feel like it is taxing. First thing was calf raises. Bodyweight to just work the range of motion. This first half was going to be like the first workout this week with it being 2x25 for everything before switching over to light version of what I’ll be doing going forward. I don’t consistently do reps of 25 in most cases. And I know that my calves can struggle with balance wise. Using the setup of my dip station and a wooden platform. Trying to get as much out of it as I could. And hopefully not having really sore calves later. Got done with that and then it was box touches. These have been something that have been part of the Westerling toolbox since 2016 with rehabbing my back so they have sentimental place for me as far as a mobility exercise goes. I’ve been good with not having my doo-rag come off on them but can’t trust with my glasses. I’ve mostly done them when at home with couch cushions so some squish to it but now I have a hard box from Nats prep to use. Deadlift stances for these with first set sumo and then second set conventional. I feel the wide is more hips and the conventional hamstrings. Then squats to box. I’ve just been treating these as box squats really. Trying to keep shins vertical and sitting back. These are part of the warming up I do but not for this many reps. This was likely going to be the most taxing of these 2x25 exercises I was going to be doing. I’d almost prefer having some weight on these just so that I have a “valid” reason for feeling like I did something or when I get DOMS in my thighs later. From there on to seated band leg curls. Done these a good bit over the years either as warm up or as some assistance work. I had a general idea of what I could be doing to have these get the reps and be light. I was debating between light and average bands. I went with average bands as I would likely not need to setup too far back. Maybe I could’ve done the lighter tension but just further back. But not too picky here with things as they go as this is just to get my joints and muscles flushed. The last of these kinds of exercises was something I’ve done a variation of before. Lateral monster walks. Which I guess is walking as if joints are stiff in the knees. I was to use a hip circle for resistance but don’t have that (yet). So used a mini band doubled up around my knees. The hip circle will apparently be a part of my lower body sessions for this offseason it would appear. I’ve done what is called “x band walks” which I think is probably similar in the outer thigh stuff and hips as well as “glute activation”. Whether it is actually that or not (I’ve seen debate on it). But if gets you to notice those muscles firing, then I’d say it is worth doing for mind muscle connection. 50 total steps with it being 25 each side. The suggested way being to do one way however much space I had and then the same reps the other. So that ended up being like 5-6 steps each side in the garage. This was quite easy. And that was that for the 2x25 stuff and on to I guess what will be a taste of things to come with this session. Romanian deadlifts were next. This will be one of two primary exercises for the deadlift. Just 95lbs for a set of 25 reps. No support gear other than straps. It’s a lot of reps and I have frame carry later this week and figure not overly tax the arms here as I just competed and my forearms were what was fatiguing on the no tacky stone lifting. This was quite easy. As it should. Next thing was a new one for me. Warming up for it was just some back extensions with bodyweight. The actual exercise being a hyper bench hold with weight. The weight being in the form of weight held in a row position (45lbs plate or light dumbbells) and weight attached to a neck harness (that came very quick surprisingly). I wasn’t sure what to expect with this. Hold for time until I felt like it was good enough. Not kill myself as this was the first session (and it seems like this is going to be a weekly thing). I guess this is being done to work on my bracing more with deadlifts and add more time under tension to the entire back structure without a ton of compression. I went a little over 30 seconds and called it there. Hopefully I did these to specifications. Last thing then being abdominal work. A set of crunches and a set of lying leg lifts. Both with bodyweight this time and for 25 reps. It has been a bit since I’ve done abdominal work that was higher reps as usually been lower reps with tempo involved or plank type stuff. I think I was a little worried that these would be tougher considering not doing these as well as having the abdominal cramp at the competition. These actually went well. Just midsection feels full and sturdy at the moment. Put stuff away and stretched before joining family for dinner.

December 23, 2023 – Week 1, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

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

Frame Carries (16” pick)
140x50’
220x50’
320x50’
400x50’
450x50’/50’

Stretching
 
Comments: I guess I’ve been carrying some stress with me that I wasn’t noticing with feeling irritated about minor inconveniences. Thankfully, this is one of those things where I can recognize this is happening and I’m able to take steps to mitigate it. Almost like a scenario where having a bad dream and something happens that lets me know it is a dream and it ends and I go on about my night or day. Even though this is a holiday with time off from work at times, I have to remember that constant social interactions do tire me out in a way and even if I’m willing to continue, I need to know my limits so that I don’t burn out. I wish that wasn’t the case but it is a reality for me. I think I understand the reason why my father’s mother’s cats would flee when we came to visit haha. Planning out meals around other people’s schedules was tricky enough during holiday times or when visiting but with the added meals I’ve had to put in to try and bump up my weight has been a new puzzle. Been mostly managing. Saturday was going to be the first “normal” session back. As in that this was not high rep things and this was going to be how it would be for the next month at least. I could technically do this workout at home but not quite the same and while still more than 5 months out from the competition, I want to be taking things seriously and not treating this as a “break” from the training. Need to use this time wisely. Build up the press and pulls with concentrated gym work and keeping the “events” fresh. I had every intention of getting up at my normal work time to get out to train early. Mostly because I was to be back in the early afternoon for babysitting duties for a few hours so that sisters could have a “girls’ day”. But I found that I was not able to get up at that time. I did but I was too tired. I ended up staying later than I had planned with doing family games as well as expended a bit of energy chasing children around the house while I acted like a large, deranged primate. So I hit snooze 9-10 times before getting up. So like 90 minutes behind schedule. Should still be fine as this was not a lot of stuff to do training wise. With my time after the gym to myself being limited, I had to pack some food so I could eat immediately afterwards. So had to clean out the little cooler I had as it has been sitting in the garage for many months. Had to evict some spiders from it. Drive out was ok besides the usual spot heading out. Not a lot of cars on the road. Even though it was fairly cold, I had a feeling that I’d be pretty warm so just wore regular clothes. A lot of people in the gym for strongman stuff. I kind of wish I was in there early like I had planned. Warmed up for the day. Knees slightly achy. Shoulders weren’t exactly achy but had been twitching on me the past two days. Starting things off was bag toss. Light bag for 10 tosses done EMOM style. One of the events for Regionals is going to be max bag toss over 15’. This style of training done for Nationals to 16’ had been very good for me and I ended up matching my lifetime PR at contest without going above 45lbs. So felt no reason to change that and just go for 16’ the whole time. Warming up for this being some swings with emphasis on getting stretch as well as some upright rows with the bag and then two high pull tosses. Even though there is a 30lbs bag at the gym, I brought my own. I will need to adjust it bit by bit as I progress here. No support gear here as just trying to get loose. Knees I knew would be a little achy at the start because this is essentially a bounding exercise when I leave the ground. These felt good. First being a little off as expected and mostly good from there. Put stuff away and got some fluids in me before moving on to the next thing. Pretty much everyone had left at this point. The last thing for the session was frame carry. Well, it was listed as farmer’s walk but I figured it was better to do frame carry as the event for the show will be this. Event is going to be yoke into frame. So to train that this far out, the plan is to alternate while the effort isn’t that taxing between yoke and frame carries doing down and back for the top set to build up tolerance. Then have them be both together at some point down the line. There is certainly some increased mobility stuff with farmer’s walk with being to have the shoulders moving independently as well as stride changes and using the body and angle. But I feel the way the handles are in the hand with the wider grip stresses the hands a different way and controlling the balance is trickier. So those reasons being why I went with frame. Plan was to work up with the “empty” handles and do 40-50lbs jumps most of the way. Really plan was to do 450lbs total weight. There are several different farmer’s handles at the gym. The highest pick (18”) had one of the pins break off and needs to be welded so all the others are 16”. The contest frame is a 19” pick. I might stick with 16” pick for this prep because the start is tougher and likely better to get used to fatigue as the contest goes on considering two of the other events will be quite lower back taxing for me. The big frame is 568lbs empty at 20” pick with slightly thicker handles but that is an “outside” implement and I don’t know I can get it moved at the moment or if the gym owners will let me use the large door as usually they put insulation up on it at this time of year until Spring. But not a concern at this time as I got bit before I get into that territory as far as weights. So using the thin handled farmer’s that were light (50lbs empty) and very long (frame for show is like 8’) got me 140lbs for my makeshift frame using the metal attachments. After that, I worked up in the proposed jumps as written for farmer’s walk. Made sure to try and balance out the sides as I know that off loading like say with a solid piece like a yoke that it isn’t that bad but something like this it can become askew. I hadn’t intended to chalk up for the final set but it seemed warranted. I didn’t bother with timing it at this point in the training cycle. I didn’t have anyone there really. I feel like this went well. I felt I had quick starts but not quite the best speed. This is probably partly due to not exactly going super-fast with the only moving event for Puller Express and the weights for the medley at Nationals kind of being a bit heavy for me and not really being able to accelerate. I got in the meals I packed and put stuff away before driving home. Ate some more before being spirited away for babysitting which was a bit over 2hrs at playgrounds (yes, multiple). Ended up stretching late in the evening when I had felt worn out from the day.