March 24, 2024 - March 30, 2024 - Week 15

 March 25, 2024 – Week 15, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

12” Log Clean and Push Presses
Clean Every Rep
100x5
130x3
Clean Once
160x2
190x2
220x2

12” Log Push Presses
220x2
220x2
220x2
220x5

Chest Supported Barbell Rows
135x5
185x5
225x5
Added Straps
265x5
315x5

Bench Presses
45x15
95x8
135x5
185x2
225x2
270x5
270x5

Stretching
 
Comments: So I was not in a good mood for this weekend after how Friday training had me feeling. Feeling a little depressed with myself and worried about the hamstring. But it did seem that I was ok. But to add insult to injury the rain that was to be all day Saturday stopped around noon so if I hadn’t changed a thing, I could’ve kept training as it was and possibly not had issues. If I can take anything from that session, it is that fatigued state severely impacts throwing for me and that even not at 100% I can still do ok. Spent the weekend trying to recover mentally more so than physically. I kept up meals and surprisingly still adding some weight. Getting close to 290lbs now. Got those shin splint feelings walking Sunday and then coupled with having to go into the office for the once a month meeting Tuesday wasn’t helping matters. The weather was at least nice for Monday. Keeping an eye on things as I warmed up and thankfully no issues. Log to start things off. This was the only thing I was concerned about because of the hamstring loading and ROM. But from what I had been testing out (picking stuff off the floor and stretching hamstrings) I should be ok. First two sets working up were clean and press every rep. This has been the first time in a while where I wasn’t just using the empty log to warm up. First set felt like garbage in how the joints and breathing were feeling. But I know that generally I feel crap at the beginning and then feel pretty darn good the next set. And that was thankfully the case as the next set felt easy as it should and crisp. 30lbs jumps up to a top double and then out of the rack work from there. Clean once stuff was feeling fine. Again, there was just some hesitancy making sure that I was picking the log up and not irritating things. Last time I did these, there was some fatigue noticed in the hamstrings and I didn’t notice that this time. My right calf was feeling tight but I think that has to do with other stuff being tight and what not since all kind of connected. Not painful, just tight. Feeling ok and stuff was moving well for me. It was just a 10lbs jump from last time (and same weight as axle last week) but this was also before I had that slight scare again. Clean may not have been 100% perfect but the pressing it felt crisp and light so very pleased with that. Out of the rack was next with the same weight for the doubles and such. Now last week I had the axle a notch too low and I guess I decided to overcompensate and make the height one too high for log this week. Making sure I write this done in my reference notes so I don’t keep guessing and screw things up when trying to save time. I’m not sure why out of the rack tends to be rougher on my knees for log stuff. So these weren’t feeling the best but looked pretty good. None ended up feeling as good as that first double with the clean and press. I was having to be cautious so as not to hit the rack supports on the dip and throw things off. So this meant being patient and controlled. It’s good that I’ve been working on that whole not panicking thing here with weights on the chest/shoulders. I’ve actually not done a set of 5 reps with over 210lbs on log in a while (and not since working with Mr. Westerling again) so things are fine. I just need to make sure I don’t rush things. I am curious if things will be adjusted as get closer as at this pace, will likely be at under 90% contest weight in training. I had to put away stuff before moving on to the stuff in the garage. I had not set things up like I did last time to make it easier to transition from one to the other but that was fine I guess. But I had to put away all the weights outside before I did the stuff in the garage this time. Chest supported rows to start off. Still sets of 5 working up to top set of 5 reps. Plan was 3 plates as I did a small jump the last time. Unlike say last time, these were all feeling pretty good working up in weight. So that was kind of surprising. I was tempted to go higher but figured that I’d hit 315lbs for the top set and if I felt like it was way too easy, go from there. Essentially, if I felt that I had 30lbs more in me would I go heavier. Usually that first set with straps feels a little tougher than I’d like and I get nervous about the next weight. Not really the case this time. But I didn’t want to let the form break here. No arms feeling a certain way here. Good controlled, reps. I’m actually getting close to what I’ve done with looser form on these. I actually don’t think I’ve gone above 315lbs on these in the first place. So this is improving still and hopefully means big gains in rowing power when allowed to slop it up with stuff like arm over arm or truck pulls. Quicker turnaround then for next thing which was bench. I was tempted to go a little heavier. Not because I felt I needed to but just because 275lbs just seems nicer with the 40-50lbs jumps. But I made myself stick to the plan here as need to be mindful with the pressing stuff. Now that shoulders are recovering enough between sessions, the incline log work is still moving fast like speed work but benching is not really like that. It is still a little tricky with getting the form right on bench with this grip. Still 2x5 with 10lbs more than last time so 270lbs (hence the 275lbs thought). Trying to not go so quick and get some break between the sets as the lighter stuff isn’t the issue. It is the above 135lbs weight as just seems to be 185lbs goes on the bar and it feels heavier by a good bit. It was a good move to stick to 270lbs as this did feel a little more challenging than 260lbs had felt last time. I didn’t quite get into a groove either set and I was fighting some hamstring tightness getting setup. I was feeling this in the arms a bit more than usual too I think on the second set. It was the only thing that felt remotely off and it wasn’t enough to even be concerned about. Ate oatmeal and put stuff away before stretching and ate dinner later.

March 27, 2024 – Week 15, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Front Squats
45x10
95x8
135x5
185x3
225x2
275x2
315x2
365x2

16” Jack Pulls (straps)
135x5
225x3
315x2
405x2
495x2
545x1
601x5

Hyper Extensions
bwx10

Hyper Extension Holds (Neck Harness & Plate)
10+20x52 seconds

Crunches
bw+20x30

Lying Leg Raises
bwx30

Stretching
 
Comments: So Tuesday wasn’t a great day. I awoke at about 2:40AM to vomit in my mouth from indigestion. My rule is generally that the day is done if I puke. But this wasn’t from sick or food poisoning. One meal I’ve been doing recently seems to be giving me indigestion many hours later that didn’t used to so I’ll have to see if a change up to it helps prevent this. This was the day of the month I had to go into the office which meant 1hr less sleep, getting very little actual work done during the day being in meetings and not being able to walk. I had been preparing with allergy meds ahead of time and it was a good call as it seemed everyone was feeling a certain way. I was feeling stuffy and took Nyquil to make sure I slept with no issues to help fight off whatever. That did seem to help some but not 100% and allergy meds to do the rest. Not ideal with the planned workout but doable I guess as not high reps. Mobility work was fine, no issues there. Paranoid still. Starting things off was front squats, working up to a top set of 2 reps again. I couldn’t really trust the weather as it was raining off and on and very likely it would start up raining again in the middle of it. Since this was going to be the heaviest I’ve gone so far, I had to weigh the pros and cons of sturdy rack in inclement weather or crappy rack with no risk or slippage from rain. I went with the option that had me out of the rain. The plan was to just go up 10lbs from last time. But this was so very close to a PR. 365lbs for a double is the most I’ve done on front squats and that stands from 2010. I think I’ve only attempted it twice a few months apart and results were the same where I was doing 40-50lbs jumps and making absolute grinders for those two reps and not even bothering to attempt a triple (the sets prior being all triples). Besides then I’ve done 345lbs I think for a triple using a front squat harness but that had allowed me to not keep good form. I felt I should be good for this and have some in the tank. It has been helpful to not think of this exercise as just legs but as a bracing drill and on the works the core and gets weights feeling comfortable for overhead pressing. As well as taking my time and not rushing. My only concerns I think were that I’d be masking stuff with allergy meds and that I was feeling bloated and a little worn from the day before still. That those could be issues for me with getting through this. Warming up standard here and then doubles at 225lbs. I’ve gotten somewhat used to things with that first lift with a belt as well as trying to keep myself cool for working up weights and save it for the top set. So now time for the top double. With how I was feeling, I was feeling like 80% chance I had this. I will say this felt tougher than 350lbs had felt but still felt there was at least another rep (maybe two) there. But what eventually was going to happen did with walking the weight back in and essentially being blind from the weights blocking line of sight as I missed the j-hook on the left side. It felt like a risk to try and get it on there and the setup felt secure enough for me to bail and get out of the way safely. Got to say those muscle clamps stay on pretty good. My cheap rack j-hooks for what I bought during 2020 lockdown bent on the right side and I needed to use a dumbbell to get it out. Will have to see if I can get a replacement for next time. And hope for no downpours next time as well so I can be in the better rack. I had also used bumper plates in case this happened lol. So with that mess, I had to take some down time to strip down the stuff and got some fluids in me. Next was jack stand pulls. Continuing the trend on lowering the pull height each session by a little bit. So this time it would be from 16”. Now I have a bit more practice with reps at this height so while not exactly on this setup, I’ve done several “indicator” pulls at this height in the past. Plan was work up to a top set of 5 reps and the suggested was same as last time with 585lbs. My hope here was that I was able to stay close to what I’d pulled the past two times but I wasn’t under any illusions that I’d be seeing the same kind of success as I did with the wide pulls with adding weight each time. That had more to do with regaining confidence and strength in the hamstring. I was worried here as this was going to be the most intense thing on the hamstrings so far with the most weight. I wouldn’t have reservations here considering the progress if I didn’t feel that slight shift during sandbag to shoulder Friday. So I was worried here as this was likely where things would act up going off of last time. So there was concern and hesitancy. Thankfully the lighter weights felt easy and like nothing. But as plates added up, I was getting a little paranoid. Like breaking the weight off the ground and after that being fine. I wasn’t confident in sticking to my plan of same weight and was going to do 585lbs but then talked myself up to add some weights back so that it was just over 600lbs. It would be known on that first rep if I screwed up. And thankfully I did not screw up as it went up fine and I probably could’ve done this with 605lbs after all the hype up. But these did get a lot tougher as I went. But still feel like at least a rep in the tank. I had made sure to chalk up my hands and the straps after how things felt with the wide pulls last time with the time under tension. I left the weights on the stands as I wanted to try and get through the rest of the workout to eat dinner as soon as I was done and attempt two more smaller meals before bed. Hyper bench work as per usual but back to getting to use more than just bodyweight for resistance. The usual back extensions to warm up. Felt good and needed. Same weight as the last two weeks here but with time frame increased to 45-50 seconds. I was seriously considering just doing a minute this time but held off. I miscounted (thankfully had timer) as I seem to do by 10 seconds and definitely could’ve held out for a minute or more here. I hesitated slightly before deciding to stop hence going a little over. From there, weighted crunches with 20lbs for 30 reps. These seem to go by better if I don’t just keep counting break up into number sequence chunks. Like surprised done so soon. I may add weight to these next time. The lying leg raises were about the same. I feel like these felt a little better than last time as far as compression in the discs after the heavy pulls. The movement takes longer to do than the crunches due the ROM so the counting break up isn’t as effective for me I think haha. Prepared dinner (testing to see if change stops the stomach issue) and put stuff away before eating then stretching.

March 30, 2024 – Week 15, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Sandbag Tosses (16’)
30x1
30x1
30x1
EMOM
45x1
45x0
45x1
45x0
45x1
45x1
45x1
45x1

Frame Carries
(16” pick)
180x50’
(18” pick)
276x50’
376x50’
476x50’
(20” pick)
568x11’
568x50’
660x50’
568x11’

Sandbag Rows
150x5

Sandbag to Shoulders
150x1 R
150x1 L
200x1 R
200x1 L
250x1 R
250x1 L
300x1 R
300x1 L

Stretching
 
Comments: It doesn’t feel like starting Monday that work is going to get a lot more hectic. I mean it is but doesn’t feel like it. Or I can’t be bothered with that. Tried to get myself to go to sleep a decent time as the plan was to get up an hour earlier than for work (and not hit snooze) so that I could get out and train and be back to go see “legos” with my nephews. I did get out of the house earlier than usual (but perhaps not quite as early) and drive out was fine. Actually the quickest it has been getting out there. I’d need to try and keep the dilly dally to a minimum so that I get through everything and be done with enough time to get several meals down before being out on the town. Kind of odd getting there before other people showed up. I was also expecting there to be a drop off in people considering that several competed the weekend before. But ended up being a decent amount of people eventually. Warming up felt pretty darn good. But I was leery after how last session had gone. Up first was bag toss. I really hoped that I didn’t suck on these this time around. I think my concern was that it seemed that I wasn’t quite recovered from the lower body session last time training a day earlier and I’ve been noticing that lower back is taking a little longer to recover as the weights have climbed and the difficulty rises with increased ROM. Warming up with swings and partial movements and also just trying to do some slight bounds to get the knees prepared as well. What has appeared to be a common thing is me biffing the first toss with not getting enough arc on it and going straight up. Which would be fine if it was a setup I could stand right under (like at Nationals and Regionals) but not when here or at home. Plan was to do 45lbs for five tosses EMOM again. I was bit worried because of how last time went. I knew at least that footing wouldn’t be an issue and the setup here was not going to “explode” like at home. First toss was great and I figured “hey, guess just a bad day last time”. Then I proceeded to miss the next toss with the arc being too shallow. I wasn’t going to restart and just tack one to the end I guess. I did get the third one but it wasn’t a convincing clear as it came down on the band (trust me, I zoomed in and slowed down all the tosses the hit the band to make sure they went over and not under lol). I then did the same thing as the second toss. I think at this point it finally clicked for me what the issue was. My lower back was fatigued and I wasn’t loading the hips/hamstrings higher. I was just going down and up and using my levers rather than doing the stuff that was having me get the extra “umph”. Once I got that down, I had no more misses (and did an extra just to make sure I got five). So I learned something there. But I likely wouldn’t make my tower at home explode again if I had done these at home with how most didn’t get a lot of clearance. Learning all the time. So bag toss done and then time for frame carry stuff. I knew what I was about on these from last time. Also knew what I could expect as well. Since nothing was sectioned off this week, I could do the warming up in the lanes unlike last time. Plan was work up in 50’ runs with pretty much 100lbs jumps up until the end with goal being 660lbs. So 20lbs more and just 20lbs off contest (though that is to be with yoke and running back so). I don’t think I had any doubts about this as I’ve done heavier stuff for longer distance with the big frame. But I’ve been hitting heavier weights with deadlifts in comparison to then. With warming up, I was trying to be controlled with things. Especially with the lower pick heights. Make sure standing up and then going. Feeling ok. Had to put the big door up and down while setting up the big frame. For that last time, I did feel like I wasn’t able to go as fast as I wanted to but it was the first session back to moving normal after 5 weeks away from it (and I noticed that in my calves the next few days). The other issue seemed to be with moving on the uneven pavement at top speeds and going from inside to outside with the sunlight. This could also be with belts getting tighter due to my weight increase (I have a new belt on the way due to how thick new deadlift suit fabric is). So with the empty frame run there was a slight slow down halfway because of the issue I mentioned last time with the first outside run. Need to not have that sloppiness on the last set. I was making good time as far as training. Wanted this to go well and to not have myself feel off. I do feel that I was able to move faster compared to last time but I think I gave up some stability in that pursuit of speed. It will be interesting to see how this is going to be when yoke gets added. Sandbag to shoulder for the last thing. I was more nervous for this compared to the bag toss. Though both bag toss and sandbag to shoulder have caused injuries (shoulder when tried to catch bag vs hamstring strain). It’s never injury with bag toss, but missing and looking like a chump. The ask for this session was 300lbs for single each side. I’ve done over 300lbs to the left side but before this cycle 250lbs was the most to the right side. So the 275lbs 7 weeks ago has technically a PR for that side. I was gun shy after how 265lbs had felt for my right hamstring going for that right side. But even with getting down on myself, I knew getting sleep and taking a step back helps with figuring out the problem. I noticed that I didn’t have that sensation of something “shifting” when I did it for the left side so it is likely with how I’m loading the body for the pick that is exacerbating things. I did end up having a bit of break here because someone at the gym was dealing with some issues related to feeling “not good enough” for Nationals and getting “too old” and I’ve been there and talked with them a bit. Anyways, warming up I was testing out different ways to pick up the sandbags. Some things in my head didn’t feel like how I was expecting them. The sandbag size for Regionals is such that it is not a bag where an upright bearhug style is beneficial because of how far down I’d have to be and it would be more effort on the lower back. It does seem that the style of pulling to the side and having it land on my feet works best but there are issues. I was nervous with 300lbs and let things settle before initiating the pick. I was in the clear when no issues pulling it up. I was very pleased to get over it. The other side I think I had a little more issues with the “settling” before picking and doing the actual movement. Which is where we run into an issue potentially. It does seem to cut down on the unbalanced loading but it is slower, which is why I’ve been doing the quicker movements. But either style isn’t really conducive to repeat efforts as the bag will be flat on the ground. So more practice needed. But I was happy with how the day went and managed to eat meals at the gym and again when I got home before got out to be with nephews and my older sister for lego stuff. The “fest” was a bust but ended up finding a small business in the area for rare legos so it worked out. Then a day early Easter dinner with family before getting home to stretch and hydrate.