April 28, 2024 - May 4, 2024 - Week 20

 April 29, 2024 – Week 20, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Axle Clean and Overhead (1 clean)
Strict Presses + Push Presses + Jerks
50x5+5+5
80x3+3+2
Push Press + Jerks
110x1+1
140x1+1
170x1+1
200x1+1

Band Assisted Pull-ups
sbx5 at pin 16
abx5 at pin 16
lbx5 at pin 16
lbx5 at pin 16

12” Log Incline Bench Presses
90x10
120x5
150x3
180x2
210x5
210x5

Stretching
 
Comments: Start of the final preparations for Regionals. Last time I did the medley, it was a lot of setup time outside and this time not so much and indoors. There were some stiffness and aches Saturday evening but not to the point where I had a hard time falling asleep. So I thought maybe I dodged the bullet here and was going to be handling the oops of going 50lbs over. Nope, just decided to catch up with me as I went to bed Sunday night. Knees, hips and lower back. The promoter did a video about the contest and clarified some things. Apparently no running up to the yoke so I’ll do that next time for the medley work. With some mentions about stuff in how I was feeling as far as feedback for this last bit, I had mentioned some things feeling a little beat up so there is some pulling back on stuff to float the peak to contest time. Which for this Monday session, meant it was essentially a deload session. It was kind of good that this is how things lined up because it also was going to be a record high for this time of year. Just shy of 90 degrees, which isn’t fun when it is this humid out. Had the fans going in the garage (even though only going to be there for warming up and switching weights) and the patio area. Warming up seemed to be fine at the start. But noticed there was some knee aches. Not a ton but noticeable. But everything else seemed good and all. Axle starting things off. This was going to be the most reduced of the exercises for the session. Only working up to 200lbs and no rack work. Make things crisp and smooth. I had decided that I wasn’t going to be chalking up for the session considering the weight as well as refrain from a hard belt and wrist wraps. Per the video, apparently axle will be off of crash pads like the log and potentially standing away so I figured I should get practice at that. I decided to do facing away from the rack just because I could. I didn’t have to worry about racking the weights for rack work. The elevated pull can sometimes be a little off putting if I’ve trained from the floor and vice versa. On the good side of this, I didn’t seem to have any issues with the upper body (still some bruising from the blood draw) but man did my knees ache big time. I’m kind of used to them being a little stiff at the start with the light weights and gradually feeling a lot better as I got (especially with log after first set) but seemed to be more prevalent. So the strict pressing was comfortable, the push presses a little uncomfortable and the jerks more so. So it was probably a good idea to deload this and hopefully come back the next time to hit over 90% contest. Noticed rack dropped a bit on the jerk with the “top weight”. Oh well. Just moving to move and keep this balloon in the air as long as I can. No intraworkout meals as not trying to force stuff down and I figured I’d be going through this workout fairly quick compared to usual with the reduction in the overhead pressing to eat right afterwards. Band assisted pull-ups. Same as last time so no changes here. These actually felt pretty darn good. Maybe not doing a bunch over clean and presses/jerks and then heavy overhead work helps. I was thinking about using chalk but decided against it. Usually there seems to be something not quite right warming up and then I’m surprised how well the working sets go. Each set felt good. I was actually feeling quite explosive that some reps I was shaking the power rack inadvertently. The wasps in the power rack have returned but thankfully this didn’t make them come out to see what the ruckus was. And both working sets felt about the same. Not feeling as much fatigue on the second set as I’ve tended to feel. Log incline benching to finish up the session. Still the 2x5 but dropping back down to 210lbs for the sets with the plan to go back up to 5lbs more than last time for the sets. Pressing at the start was feeling pretty easy and smooth. I did make myself slow down the speed between sets so I wasn’t rushing. I was debating using wrist wraps or not here since I was trying to treat this as more deload but figured I’d wear them for this as more a joint comfort thing and be able to put the “speed” into it. I’m going to be doing that for regular bench anyways. Form felt a little off like I was pressing too much out in front. But video was saying these were strong and speedy. I’d say probably similar to when felt like 315lbs was heavy for the front squat “deload” when not going all out and keeping something in check. I was trying to have some intensity but not all of it here. Finished and ate oatmeal before putting stuff away and then stretching out and cooling off.

May 1, 2024 – Week 20, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

13” Wide Grip Jack Pulls w/ Hip Circle (straps)
135x5
225x3
315x3
405x2
495x5

Hyper Extensions
bwx10

Hyper Extension Holds (Neck Harness & Plate)
20+35x48 seconds

Planks
bw+53x60 seconds

Side Planks
bwx60/60 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: Well it begins again with phone tag with scheduling medical stuff due to the blood work and liver enzymes. Not too sure how that is going to play out. I kind of wish the temperature had increased a little more gradually than it did but it has at least been somewhat consistent. But it does seem to vary during the day so there are times where no fan is great and then a fan is necessary due to an abrupt change in direct sunlight I guess. Generally warm weather seems to feel good for the joints and easier to get a sweat going but joints aren’t a fan of the big changes in air pressure that comes with storms that tend to happen. Walking had felt fine. Debating if I was going to be needing fans or not for this session. Ended up forgoing them. Warming up was fine. Still some aches in the right knee. I guess similar to Monday. Keeping an eye on that. I’m not sure if it is just because increased workload the previous week and catching up to me or if this is because this week has been reduced weights and I’m “relaxing” a bit mentally. And by doing so, not mentally masking what my body and joints are feeling. I tend to feel those aches when I deload. Starting things off was the elevated wide pulls. I wasn’t too sure with how this contest peak was going to go as far as deadlifting but I had a general idea with everything else. Essentially next week is going to be my last touch of deadlifting with suit before competing and will be the only pull from the floor in suit and conventional. With that, I wasn’t sure if there would be changes to this opposite week session with the wide pulls. Because I can see continuing to push as well as pulling back. It would appear going the pulling back option here. So still using the same stuff but stopping the top set of 5 reps at 495lbs rather than going for more weight than last time. I will say that the initial set with 135lbs actually didn’t feel terrible on my knees like it sometimes does. Plate jumps and trying to take some rest to pace myself. Some sets felt really good and others not so much. I was a little worried that the top set would feel rough even though it is 70lbs under my best set of 5 reps. Possibly from knowing this wasn’t going to require a max effort to do but perhaps not being able to tap into the top end as easily as I feel I should. Again, may also be related to this isn’t something I haven’t done. I had hoped that 495lbs would feel pretty darn easy and it did not. It was a tougher than I would’ve liked. But I think that I probably didn’t spend as much time hyping up like I would’ve if this was for PR set of 5 reps. There is also not going for peak arousal when it is to be a “deload” like when I did 315lbs for 2 reps on front squats a few weeks back after tying PR double the session before and then doing top single the session after the deload. But I think I also have to note that I did more faster through the set. Usually it was more of a “breathing” set with the wide pulls with controlled lowering and taking a big breath at the top of each rep. And I didn’t need to do that to get through this set. But perhaps part of me is also worried that cutting out the two protein shakes during the day is cause for feeling “flat”. Lef things as they were so that I could try and move through the “bracing” enforcement part of the session so I could eat a bowl of oatmeal right after training and then do dinner a few hours later. Warming up with hyper extensions to get things loose for the rest of the workout was fine enough. Didn’t feel as fatigued considering the reduction in the load on the wide pulls. It appears I’ve reached the point where I’m not to be adding anymore resistance to the neck harness with the holds. At least not for this training cycle. I’ve grown fond/accustomed to this exercise every week. But adding 5lbs to the weight in hand. A bit easier as I could use bumper plates rather than deal with small change plates. I was to push the hold closer to failure going forward. So instead of leaving 10 seconds in the tank, only 5 seconds. This felt a little rough at the start but I was able to push through and get over 45 seconds. It is funny to me that at the start of these I was having a hard time getting close to this and not really leaving much in the tank. And now I can get close a minute with about the same weight. Only a slight break then as finishing up with the planks. The planks have remained unchanged and continue to still be good stimulus. It is hard to not make a full body contraction challenging. No fans going so I was working up a decent sweat on these planks. Side planks are always a little tricky with how they will feel. No issues with right side but left side sometimes feels a little off and harder to balance. That may be just from having to deal with balancing around the elbow bursitis. Ate oatmeal and put stuff away before stretching out.

May 4, 2024 – Week 20, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Sandbag Tosses (17’)
30x1
EMOM
35x1
35x1
35x1
35x1
35x1
35x1
35x1
35x1
35x1
35x1

Sandbag Rows
150x5

Sandbag to Shoulders
150x1 R
150x1 L
200x1 R
200x1 L
250x1/250x1/275x1/300x1/325x0 L
325x1 L

Stretching
 
Comments: Allergies have been bad the past two days. Where I felt I needed to take stuff upon waking. Also WSM is happening and I’m kind of blah about it. Doesn’t mean I’m not checking updates and refreshing a spreadsheet like usual. But just not as exciting being able to watch like say the Arnold and Rogue Invitational. Plan was to wake up at my work time and get out to train to be done with things early. But that didn’t end up happening. Upon waking, I felt really tired and decided screw it and went back to bed and woke up about 2hrs later. I wasn’t going to force things and it definitely seemed like I needed the sleep as I have a hard enough time lately sleeping in that late when I don’t have an alarm. I didn’t have a lot to do really for training and I already had things packed up for training. Taking allergy meds seemed like the smart thing considering the past two days. Weather made it seem like it was going to be rainy in the morning and then not the rest of the day so perhaps it worked out for me. Nope. Apparently by no rain it meant rain all day with periods where it was only a little bit of rain. I had to stop and get gas before driving out and traffic was bad at spots so it definitely was closer to an hour driving out to train. Pretty much everyone was finishing up when I got there. The one person who comes out from Philly to train had been there and I had missed them as they were leaving. I wasn’t expecting them to be there after not being there for several weeks. Felt fine with warming up. I was keeping an eye on things as I was a little leery about the right knee being achy. It does seem to be feeling better from how it was feeling on Monday training. I kind of hoped that the rain would stop by the time I was ready but it didn’t. It didn’t the entire time I was there. So leading things off was bag toss. Bag toss every Saturday until contest time. This week being the “lighter” week. As written, the plan was to try and progress on the 30lbs and trying to do 10 singles EMOM and trying to toss it higher and higher if I can (last 2-3 being max effort). But to aim to do it with 35lbs. I had mentioned that I worried the every week might be too much as I was noticing it taking more effort but that could very well be not just bag toss but just the increased workload and ask I’m putting on my knees. So I did get approval to adjust to 25-30lbs on my light days as necessary. With the longer commute time, I felt it was best to do the warming up I was usually doing with swings and mobility and then clean pull tosses. My quads were quite tight when I tested out camel pose stretch, which would likely mean pulling on the patella. Also did some bounding but just small as my knees are creaky and achy. To think I used to do volleyball and jumped good. As far as the tossing higher, I can really just do that and hope it is going over the target more and more. But that isn’t always the case and I know that doing EMOM there is fatigue over the set and it can be tough to actually make it go higher. It still takes effort to leave the ground for any kind of jumping really. I can’t change the height on the toss tower quickly and as seen last week, the rigging isn’t secure if it isn’t at the spots that have bolts and such already in place. But I figured that I could make it higher by elevating it on 12” boxes. So 17’ for the toss tower. I’m not sure it would be secure going higher as that could be a difficult to move by myself or not be stable stacking multiple boxes. Especially not something to try out on a rainy day. But for today, I had a 17’ tower so technically any tosses would be a height PR even though I know I can toss a good bit over this with the planned weights anyways. My plan was to just do 30lbs as that was the easiest thing as there was already a bag at that weight and I didn’t need to bring my bag. But I figured I’d see how the first toss went and decide if I was feeling good to do 35lbs instead. My first tosses as of late with 30lbs have been pretty garbage. That toss felt really good and did what it should so I said screw it, make it 35lbs. It was a little jarring to see the clearance but I had to remind myself that this is a foot higher so it won’t look like as much compared to 16’. No tosses hit the band at any point. Fifth toss was the “worst” but that was due to my soft belt popping off as I tossed so it went a little squirrelly on me. Seventh and tenth tosses were the best of the bunch. Put stuff away and got ready for the sandbags inside. I was to work up to contest run as close as I could for one set for the shouldering and just how I’d do it at the show. So I didn’t need to do it for both sides beyond just warming up. I had to plan this out a little because moving all the sandbags to setup would take a good bit of time and I didn’t want to warm up and then set things up as I feared I’d cool off too much and then jumping in to do 50lbs more than the last warm up would not be great. So I got the series setup and got to warming up. Which started with rows. The 150lbs bag felt like nothing compared to how the 175lbs bag at home felt. Then I was to do 150lbs and 200lbs to each side for shouldering before the series run. I had to practice with going over the shoulder as that was the method of dismount I felt worked the best for me with running series beyond the one to be repped out. Gets the bag further away so not worried about tripping over it when moving to the next bag or when attempting the next bag. For the series, the contest is 250lbs, 265lbs, 287lbs, 300lbs and 325lbs with that last bag for reps with 60 seconds. They are allowing for “buzzer beater” reps as in that as long as the lift is initiated before time stops, you can complete the lift and have it count. I was advised to not go for a buzzer beater this run through and save it for next time. Didn’t quite have the lighter bags to get this right and it didn’t make sense to bring my 265lbs from home (the effort of putting in the trunk and taking out of the trunk in the rain no less). I had hoped there were two 275lbs bags but doesn’t look like it and I didn’t want to “repeat” a bag as I felt the transition and moving forward was more important. So I elected to do 250lbs for the first two bags. There were only some people in the gym and I didn’t feel comfortable asking them to do anything too complex. I had hoped to set my own timer but with spacing out the bags 5’ and keeping the timer away enough that it wasn’t in the way was too far away to be able to read at the start and figure out how much time was left before a minute started if I was attempting to do it myself. So I asked someone to give start commands and hit the timer only. The first two bags of 250lbs were easy. I knew the 275lbs wasn’t going to be that smooth because it was an underfilled bag and floppy bags are the devil on this event. I remember how this went down at 2022 Nationals. It is also the bag I strained the hamstring on. 25lbs under weight for the bag size. It took a bit of effort to shove up to the shoulder because of the floppiness but I got it. I knew that I needed to prepare myself for 300lbs. I’ve done a 3 bag shouldering series before and done a 4 bag over shoulder series. 300lbs was feeling tougher than I’d have liked with the pick. I rushed it for the shouldering and it was not clean. Count it for training since first time trying this through contest run but I’d not have given it in contest. I needed to go for the 325lbs as that was the plan for the day. I took a look at the time and say I had less than 30 seconds. Knowing this was probably going to be tough I took a breather before going. Felt tougher than the 300lbs bag and when I went for the pop, it didn’t feel like I had it high enough so I erroneously went back to the lap to try and pop it up again but higher. Nope, just killed all the power I had and I dropped it. Looked at time and I had less than 10 seconds and just called it there. Ugh. I feel I could’ve had it if I committed to that first pop and went ahead with the suckfest that was going to be shoving the bag up to the shoulder. But I didn’t want to leave things there. I rested few minutes and with knowing it was going to suck, went for the 325lbs by itself. That pick was a nightmare but I stuck with it fought through to get the rep. I can do it and I have to plan on just completing the series rather than worrying about getting reps on that last bag. The 325lbs is technically underfilled as it used to be 336lbs so 11lbs removed is making it not that firm. It’s not as bad as the 275lbs but it is noticeable especially compared to how firm my 305lbs bag is at home. It will just have to be a play it by ear at the show to see what condition the bags are in. I may also need to see if bearhug style is viable for the 300lbs and 325lbs bags. I had put on the fans in the gym for that series run as I was sweating a good bit from the humidity. I was sweating a good bit afterwards while eating. Man are sandbags a pain to put away after cooling down. You start to wonder how you even lifted them in the first place. Long rainy drive home before eating some more and stretching.