January 28, 2024 - February 3, 2024 - Week 7

 January 29, 2024 – Week 7, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

12” Log Clean and Strict Presses (1 clean)
90x5
120x3
150x2
180x2

12” Log Strict Presses
180x2
180x2
180x2

Chest Supported Barbell Rows
95x6
135x6
185x6
Added Straps
225x6
260x6

Bench Presses
45x5
95x5
135x5
185x5
225x5
225x5

Standing 12” Log Lockouts
180x3 seconds
210x3 seconds
240x3 seconds
270x3 seconds
300x3 seconds
330x3 seconds
360x9 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: I was a bit surprised how fatigued stuff had felt on Saturday training and made sure to sleep in for Sunday and hopefully get feeling rested for the coming week. Weight is continuing upward trend with the tweaks made. I don’t plan to add anything further at this point as it is becoming a chore to make sure that I’m eating and it does seem like I will get to where I would like to be weight wise to see how my body handles things. Over 280lbs again which would make it the heaviest I’ve been in about 2yrs. I’ve been doing some changes with eating timing to see if it helps with some issues. Such as midsection being a little bloated from food so close to training as well as seeing if saving carbs until after training so that not feeling lightheaded on some things. So testing that hypothesis this week. Needed the walking on Sunday and got my wrist to “adjust” so the discomfort is vanishing. This workout was adjusted to hopefully get my shoulder recovery on track as it became clear last week that something was off. Warming up with warm ups on in the garage to start things off. Things felt fine. So the initial changes here was swapping order of the pressing. It has been bench and then strict pressing as far as order of operations. Plan being to give more priority to the event specific stuff and have the benching secondary and lighter for speed work. So like axle last week, working up to the working weight clean and press (one clean) and then the rest of the sets out of the rack. Same weight as axle so goal being 180lbs. I was feeling ready for this. But I guess my shoulders thought otherwise. Just never felt comfortable and I felt like I had no power in my shoulders and was trying to get my chest and triceps to do the work. It felt like I just had joints for shoulders, no muscles and no strength. Right side was having issues with the shoulder wanting to stabilize. There was no pain or discomfort here besides some minor aches. But it was very frustrating when I was doing 15 reps with 30lbs less not that long ago and that wasn’t even for a max. This felt like a top double. Out of the rack didn’t go much better. It actually was worse. The number of sets reduced to three from four. Last set still max reps but I knew that it was just going to be doubles today. I was only able to get the first set for a true double. The other two I missed the second rep and had to rerack the weight and then go for it again to get the rep. I was feeling really disgusted with my performance here and messaged Mr. Westerling to see if he wanted me to continue to workout or stop. He indicated to continue to make sure that nothing else was feeling off. I knew that this workout wouldn’t feel 100% since this was the first one with adjustments and last week hadn’t really been changed. But I wasn’t expecting it to feel worse. It was going to be tough to keep the session going with that mental load. Anyways, inside to do chest supported rows up next. 5 sets of 6 reps to a top set for the day. I was advised to keep these more locked in and strict like bodybuilder style as I was heaving things a bit last time. So adjusted my mindset and reduced the weight accordingly. I get a lot of the heaving on rows and strict really cuts down the weight. Both have their place. The strict stuff is light but it tends to help the heaving style in the long run with enough time to adapt to it. I was keeping track of things here. Of note, my biceps weren’t feeling nearly as sore as they’ve felt the past two row sessions after doing sandbag to shoulder. Upper back was feeling tense, as well as lats. It was feeling tough. I knew that 275lbs wasn’t going to be a safe bet and that 265lbs might be too much as well considering the feeling and mindset. But I didn’t want to do 255lbs again so I added 5lbs to that. I probably was safe with doing 265lbs. Then time for bench. If anything was going to bother the wrist, this was it due to the angle. This was to be “speed” work. 225lbs for 2x5 working up. Since things were feeling as they were with my shoulders, I did just sets of 5 reps to warm up rather than a bunch a reps. Especially since I’d already did a bunch of pressing beforehand. Even if feeling off or not recovered, this would be doable. But it wasn’t feeling like speed work. Chest and triceps were fine but shoulders felt weak. I felt like pressing out and away to stay strong and load the pecs and not have the shoulders that involved. I wasn’t thrilled with how these felt for what was to be speed work. I could tell that I needed to fix stuff some more with my shoulders and recovery between sessions. The last thing was log lockout holds. I wasn’t really thrilled with doing these after the other stuff with how I was feeling mentally. Needing to move a lot of weight around. My thinking is that perhaps doing these every week is part of what is sapping my recovery with how heavy these are compared to what I can press and they require a lot of effort. 30lbs jumps on these so that I’m not here forever. I began to have issues with finding the balance point after 300lbs. So a false start or two when attempting to lockout those attempts. Also got a slight ab cramp from having the belt too tight (I adjusted it). 360lbs was tough (I had thought about calling it at 330lbs as warm-up) but figured I needed to give a true full effort. I felt like I had things solidly but it got too far forward on me and I couldn’t hold it up there and it came down just under 10 seconds. So I got through the session but I wasn’t too pleased with things. Doubting myself and what I can do. Going to need to rest a bit and try to get the thoughts to quiet down as this is the only aspect that is suffering. Can’t let the negative talk creep in and make me think that all my training is bad. Ate oatmeal as I put stuff away and then stretched before eating pot roast.

January 31, 2024 – Week 7, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Front Squats
45x10
95x5
135x3
185x3
225x3
265x3
305x5

Romanian Deadlifts w/ Hip Circle (straps)
135x5
225x3
315x3
405x3
495x2
570x6 (miscounted)

Hyper Extensions
bwx10

Hyper Extension Holds (Neck Harness & Plate)
10+65x38 seconds

Crunches
bw+10x30

Lying Leg Raises
bwx30

Stretching
 
Comments: Shoulders had felt tense after training into Tuesday. Needed the walking to clear my head as well. Get the thought that this workout would suffer from things as well out of my head. But that doesn’t mean it alleviates things for me trying to say that. Still going to stress about it. On the plus side, I wasn’t feeling like my knees were aching or tender like last time this workout came around. No snow shoveling so that helps. Again, saving later afternoon meal until after training to see if that helps with belt placement and tightness as well as feelings with stuff on my chest. Mobility stuff was fine. No warm ups needed for this evening training. Front squats starting things off. Nervous here because worrying that I’d have issues with weight on my chest and that it would feel heavy as well and that upper back was fatigued. A bunch of little bullshit things that don’t matter. Plan was warm up with 40-50lbs jumps and see how things were going. Plan being to do 305-315lbs for the top set of 5 reps. Triples up to that. I was feeling ok. 265lbs was the last set before the top set. Depending on how that felt would determine if I do 305lbs or more. I didn’t feel comfortable with doing a triple at 275lbs and feeling like I could do 315lbs and have it be powerful. 265lbs didn’t go how I’d have liked. Powerful but I was feeling lightheaded and almost missed the rack reracking. This had me realize that I can’t have this belt that tight going forward and loosened it one notch. I was nervous for 305lbs but it went much the same as 295lbs did last time. Just had to get my air at the top of the reps. I’m getting better at that. I probably could’ve done 315lbs today with how that set had felt. Oh well. Keep progressing. I know that that weight is there for those reps. Which is a good place to be for now. I do have to consider if I need to get new belts but I’m not 100% certain I will stick at this weight going forward or if this will just be an offseason thing I do. Time for rdls. So with the weight I’m moving on these, I didn’t feel comfortable with using the flimsy rack for them anymore. I couldn’t really keep trusting those j-hooks with that very thin metal. So that meant I needed to do these outside on the beefier rack. Suggested after the last session was to work up in plate jumps and then go up to 570lbs for the top set if I felt good. Set of 5 at 135lbs (feels like nothing) and triples after that up to 495lbs (double there). I actually like the walkout situation for this rack better than the other one for these. The ground is also “grippier”. I was feeling good here but then 405lbs felt like a ton of weight. Like, a lot more than the previous weights. So I might have an issue with these today. The double was tough but ok. I got set for this top set of 570lbs and I was feeling ok. I was a little worried here that this was too much for me with how the last two working up sets felt but while it felt heavy, I felt like my form was strong and I wasn’t having issues with feeling lightheaded like last time. However, that doesn’t mean this wasn’t problem free. The first issue was that this was heavy and even being strapped into the bar with these kind of straps, fatigue can cause issues such as upper back and forearms and having the bar sit a little lower from not being able to squeeze. The other was that I got distracted by that sensation that I forgot what rep I was on and I didn’t want to call it early. That last rep wasn’t a great rep. The weight was slipping from the straps and I reached my limit was far as holding my brace under this weight and tension. The j-hooks are bit more harsh with the groove so when I got to lockout due to the aforementioned things, the bar was too low for me to get back into the j-hooks and I was starting to get lightheaded holding my breath to keep stable. So I ended up having to release the weight from the top. Thankfully no damage to myself or equipment but I felt a bit embarrassed. Also my back, hamstrings and glutes were really sore and pumped. Lower back pumped up the most. I reviewed the video and saw I ended up going for a sixth rep. That fifth rep had felt solid. I can only hope that going to failure here doesn’t negatively affect the next few workouts from a recovery standpoint. I need to remember for next time to chalk up the hands and my straps when I go for that top set on these at this kind of weight (which ties the most I’ve done for any rdl variation). From there it was time for the hyper bench hold with the neck harness and plate. Warming up for it with hyper extensions again. I took my time with this to let the lower back pump subside as much as I could. I was definitely feeling more sore compared to last week. Lower back was feeling tight as expected after the effort on the warming up. Again, doing 10lbs on the harness and 65lbs weight to chest. I wasn’t expecting much here and I was hesitating with initiating the exercise at the start because of how fatigued my lower back was feeling. But I got it and actually managed to suffer through it to get slightly more than last time. I was shocked by that as my count had it being less. Again, I must’ve missed a number or something. I’ll stick here until I get into the 40’s and likely adjust things with adding weight to the neck harness next. As I had taken time with putting stuff away for the other stuff, I went into the abdominals stuff without much delay. Same as last time but the rep range increased so I could do up to 30 reps for each. I wasn’t sure with the crunches if I should stick to bodyweight or keep 10lbs and aim for 30 reps. I decided to keep the weight and do 30 reps and managed to get that done. The lying leg raises I didn’t get the choice with adding weight. I was focused on not getting an ab cramp immediately like last time (success) and try to minimize the discomfort with the movement when I got too far with the ROM. I feel that there still seems to be no rhyme or reason with that but this felt better compared to the last session in that regard. Put stuff away while dinner was cooking. Ate and then stretched out.

February 3, 2024 – Week 7, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Sandbag Tosses (16’)
30x1
30x1
30x1
EMOM
40x1
40x1
40x1
40x1
40x1
40x1
40x1
40x1
40x1
40x1

Frame Carries
(16” pick)
180x50’
(18” pick)
276x50’
376x50’
476x50’
(20” pick)
568x6’
600x50’/50’ (turf)
568x6’

Stretching
 
Comments: No winter weather to contend with this time around. I did take a moment to pause when I saw rain mentioned but it was only from Thursday evening into Friday morning. Ended up having to walk after work Thursday instead of during lunch break. I needed to make sure I got in the soft tissue work and the two walking sessions before today due to pushing the rdls a little too much with miscounting and then missing the re-rack. I think that was really the only thing that I was stressing about for this session was that I was recovered enough. I intended to wake up at my work time to get out to train earlier than last week but I was finding it difficult to fall asleep so I slept in about 30 minutes until I was feeling rested enough. I also took my time with packing up post workout meals before heading out. Cold but the snow was out so meant it was pretty much short weather for me. Some people there training today but they were pretty much finishing up stuff. I just can’t seem to get the timing right when I want it to be. Warming up was fine. Not really much in the way of aches in the knees or shoulders. What gets tricky is getting the knees to feel good with the bounding nature of the bag toss. And that was what I think I was nervous about was the bag toss with thinking that my lower back would be too stiff from the rdls and I was getting close to my top end for this height. But I had to tell myself I was good as last time I did it in icy conditions with wind and snow as well as having to shovel snow three times before I even got started. As it has been this training prep, do 10 tosses done EMOM style. Did similar warming up to what I did last time with doing the usual things and then three tosses with the lighter bag (and not throwing max height). For whatever reason, I just never got comfortable with my stance with this. Just felt like I wasn’t stable and feeling it in the knee and ankle joints. Which lead to me fidgeting and tweaking things slightly each toss. I feel that if I just stuck to how I did it the first two tosses, that it wouldn’t have been so up and down. I don’t think there was a mobility issue or any issues with stiffness. But it can be hard to gauge these until later and even then, have to review with previous stuff to tell if good or not. Some tosses I got off balance or timed things wrong. Worst toss was the 8th and the best was the 5th. No misses still and I’m being able to hit double the volume with this weight bag compared to the lead up to Nationals. But this was good. I took a bit of time putting stuff back but also getting things ready for the frame carries. This was going to be essentially a repeat of last time as well. Not yet the time of year to be taking the big frame outside so have to do that on turf with rubber and be more controlled. Plan was to do the top run with 600lbs. Unlike yoke, this appears to be increasing each time and having the bumps decrease going forward. I’m pretty much in the same spot for both the yoke and frame really. Lower back and glute on the left side was tight/tense compared to the right. It is the side with the disc bulge so not surprising that I’d notice things there more so when stuff is pumped from training. The notes for training did have me doing like 100lbs jumps which I kind of did but due to the frame I was using, I did deviate. The frame is 568lbs empty and I have to take it out of it’s corner to use. It’s not really something you walk up to cold. And can’t really warm up with it (which is why using the other stuff). It didn’t really make sense to add 25lbs or so to the working up weights considering the lower pick heights and wider grip compared to the actual frame. Especially since I had to move the frame into position for the top run. Even with the lower back and worries about fatigue, it didn’t feel like such a bear getting it out of the corner this time so I was feeling a bit of relief. Same weight as the yoke for the past two weeks. Obviously the pick on this is harder. Can’t quite go full speed here with the turf and having to make sure that I drop it as controlled as I can on the rubber. There was someone doing conditioning work so I had to have the 50’ landing strip a little off center so that also affected things. It was comfortable I guess. I felt that the second leg was a bit smoother as I didn’t need to worry about a small target. Took off the weight before having to lug the frame back where it belongs. Put stuff away before eating and drinking my meals and then driving home to stretch.