May 19, 2024 - May 25, 2024 - Week 25

 May 20, 2024 – Week 23, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

12” Log Clean and Push Presses (one clean)
100x5
130x3
160x2
190x2
220x2
250x2
270x2

Stretching
 
Comments: Start of the end for the training cycle. It has been a long one. And a deload is needed at this point. Even if I wasn’t competing next week. Need to take advantage of the reduced workload and get things sorted out and rest and recover with that extra time. Weight seems to be holding at about 288lbs range with the reduction in calories. Not satisfied with how sandbag work went but it was a needed wake up I think. Just wish that it didn’t give me anxiety about my hamstring. Feel it is going to be a while before that completely leaves my mind. Got some friction burns on the forearms from the different pick style so needing to use skin lotion to help with recovery for the arms and hands. Finally got to sleep in Sunday to catch up on things and have stuff slow down for a bit. Walking felt good and needed. Right knee is tense and feels like mechanical issue but I can get full extension. Another sign about cutting back on things. Events for Nationals got posted today and of course Conan’s wheel is an event. Other events are fine. I still have to qualify so not like I have something to do at this point. But see it as yet another opportunity to crack this nut. I was a little anxious for training as it was to be the last heavy overhead session before contest. And with it being a shorter session (as just warming up and log) I was tempted to do like I was doing when I was doing Nats prep and do it during my lunch break. But I tamped that down and made myself do it after work. A bit warm out so going to chalk up good and have fan going. Warming up felt fine. Nothing really stood out as an issue. Just keeping an eye on the tight hamstrings. Then time for log. And just log. The patio had been covered with stall matts after I did my last axle workout so that I wasn’t dealing with cracking pavement. Plan for log was to work up to a double at 85-90% of what I felt my max was on the day. I tend to have a hard time with “max” on the day and generally I’ll look at it as hopeful max at competition or something. Suggested was 270-280lbs. I wasn’t going to stress out about it like I found myself doing two weeks prior with log and deadlift. Just see how things are. My right knee was not cooperating with me today. It would be fine one moment and then be uncomfortable the next. Trying to keep an eye on things as well as not overdo it with hyping myself up (while not underselling it). Picking a weight that is 85-90% max but also is moving nice and speedy. I know I can do 280lbs for a double but with how I was feeling today, it was not wise to go for it. The goal isn’t a max double, it is to hit something challenging but not going to screw me up for competition. Log went a little out in front of me on the second rep with 270lbs. Not super speedy but still the most I’ve done on log so far this year with a clean in training. Anything I did was going to be better than how the last deload log session went where I missed 275lbs 5 times (and still got 280lbs at the show the week after haha). And it wasn’t a max and I wasn’t at max hype. So have I done enough to give 300lbs on a log a shot at this point? I’m not sure, but I’ve put in the work I can. I decided on a whim after that to weigh the plates on the new scale and it does look like it was just over 273lbs really. But I’ll keep treating the weights as what they say they are unless I have to weight them for something. It’s not like we use calibrated stuff (besides maybe a deadlift event haha) for this sport. Put stuff away before eating oatmeal and then stretching.

May 22, 2024 – Week 23, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Front Squats
45x10
95x8
135x5
185x3
225x2
275x2
325x2
325x2

Stretching
 
Comments: Getting a bit of that restless energy going on which is making it a little difficult to fall asleep as early as I should. I will feel tired earlier but then I get a second wind. Got a bit of the wandering pain going on where it just feels like stress is causing something to just ricochet discomfort through my body with no rhyme or reason. I know these things will pass and not to react and rise to it. It is warmer right now and allergies hit me late in the morning on Tuesday. Thankfully seemed to be ok today as far as allergies. Warming up went without incident. I was a little worried that my twitchy and tense hamstrings were something but everything felt fine while doing warm ups and soft tissue work. Today was just front squats. Similar to the end of last training cycle, doing some decent weight doubles. I believe that last time was to work up in doubles to about 275lbs to 315lbs and I ended up doing 275lbs and then 300lbs as I wanted to get a feel for 300lbs as this is still kind of seen as priming things for the overhead. I was debating putting on the fans but decided this was the only thing I was doing and just be warm and get a good sweat. I was a little nervous with the knees feeling stiff/achy but I know that even with that and even with things not feeling the best (like when I strained/tore the hamstring) that I can still have a good session on front squats. So similar to end of last cycle, work up to doubles with the plan being 325lbs for two doubles. 40lbs under my PR. This was doable. Warming up was the typical 40-50lbs jumps and trying to be somewhat low key with my excitation on them again. Keeping an eye on how my knees were feeling as well as noting how other stuff was feeling. I was feeling a bit better with my breathing on these in that I was able to mostly walk out the weight and go or take just one big breath and get the doubles. I don’t let the joint aches get to me as I know that I feel them when I deload. Despite that, this felt like the most comfortable that 275lbs has felt bar speed wise warming up. Trying to have my excitement level be about 80-90% for these weights as it isn’t that far off my best double but I want to be able to do these a more like they are certain and not motivated by anxiety of missing the lift. Save that for the competition when it matters. First rep on each of these sets were good and fine. I think maybe I was a little too lax with things that the second reps felt a little slower. It was about 90 seconds between those two sets which I’d say is good for seeing the strength endurance recovery and repeatability of the action at about 90% of my best double. No issues here and if anything, I was feeling better as I went as far as concerns with tight muscles and achy joints. Put stuff away before eating some oatmeal and then stretching. Got to keep stress under control as best I can. So very close now.

May 25, 2024 – Week 23, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

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

Sled Pushes/Sled Drags (turf, 60 seconds rest)
135x50’/135x50’
135x50’/135x50’
135x50’/135x50’
135x50’/135x50’
135x50’/135x50’
135x50’/135x50’
135x50’/135x50’
135x50’/135x50’
135x50’/135x50’
135x50’/135x50’

Stretching
 
Comments: Work was annoying this week. Supervisor unexpectedly out and back ups were wastes of oxygen. Frustrating. I guess only good thing is that 2hr early dismissal on Friday and that I’m off work both Monday and Friday next week. Walking and trying to relax with distraction at this point as trying to keep anxiety down as best I can. Not think about every ache and such as being a problem. As far as this last true training for the competition, I could’ve done this workout from home. I’ve actually done this same workout from home at the end of the Nationals prep. But I think I made the choice to go out to the gym as I won’t see anyone next week and I was perhaps a little person deprived this week. And I might not be in the week after depending on my post competition plans. But besides that, “we have workout at home” was not going to be the least stressful thing. So I elected to go out to train as that would likely have me more motivated to be up at a reasonable hour. Sun out and quite warm. Not the warmest this year so far but darn close. As far as the deload workouts go, this was going to be the longest of them and likely the hardest one. Did the usual mobility and warming up stuff and joints were feeling the best I guess this week. First thing was bag toss. 30lbs for 10 tosses over 16’ done EMOM style. Did the warming up that seems to be helpful here minus full tosses as it was just going to be 30lbs. I had to setup the toss tower as it had come undone last week. It’s a quick fix but it gets a little annoying as the wood setup has definitely seen better days. And there were a ton of red mites on it. It was bright and hot out so I did have to wipe away sweat from my eyes every so often. First toss was fine but a bit forward. Second one I scraped the ground so that was a little off. Third arc was too shallow and it almost came back down on my side. My knees were feeling less achy by this point so the next two were ok. Sixth one I didn’t release my hands evenly (right on too long lol) so it kind of went all squirrely there. Got back on track after that and my eight and ninth were probably the best of the day. Last one I tried with the bag out in front more to see if I could perhaps get momentum into better with the lighter bag. More a technique for being away from target as it got height but seemed to get the most distance. This felt beneficial. Left biceps was feeling a little tight on the last few tosses. Rehydrated a bit before moving onto the last half the workout. Mr. Westerling seems to like having me do a lot of light sled work with short rests to end the training cycles. Ten sets of 50’ pushes into 50’ drags. Supposed to be light and be a lung burner. Now apparently I’ve not done this with the prowler on turf in I guess over 6yrs now. Even then, it was just pushes but I broke it up into 50’/50’ due to the other section being in use. I had found that having some kind of friction resistance seemed to feel better on my joints from the end of the last cycle so I figured the turf resistance would be a good one and not require using the tank at the other gym. I could do this in the street at home but there is little resistance once start moving and my joints felt like crap that time. Warming up to this I was just moving around the empty prowlers a bit to make sure that I wasn’t immediately running/sprinting. I picked what I thought was an appropriate weight with 135lbs total as I figured I had done this before. Starting things out was fine but I noticed that I was feeling it a bit early. Like three sets in and I was feeling fatigue and breathing a bit. I mean, I did put on some intentional weight here and it hasn’t been terribly hot until recently. I think it was less about the breathing hard and more that it just felt like my legs were very heavy and I couldn’t “sprint”. After the third set (time was going down each run), the time it took to finish started to increase. Fourth set was about the same as the third but the fifth was about a second slower and the sixth another second slower. I was feeling like I needed to stop as the fatigue in my legs was having me feel like such a coward and I don’t recall this being this tough. That seventh set took 5 seconds longer than the sixth set. But I wasn’t going to quit. Eighth and ninth set I had no speed and those were the slowest sets of a little over 38 seconds (my fastest was 23 seconds). With the end in sight, I got a little bit of a second wind for that last one managing to reduce time by 5 seconds. I just had to lay on the ground for a bit to recover and just wait until things were good. This was probably the hardest thing I did this training cycle. It would appear from my notes that 95lbs is the most I’ve done for this kind of workout on turf before. Oops. Put stuff away and ate before driving home to stretch. Survived another prep. Just need to rest up.