May 5, 2024 - May 11, 2024 - Week 21

 May 6, 2024 – Week 21, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

12” Log Clean and Push Presses
Clean Every Rep
100x5
140x3
Clean Once
170x2
200x2

12” Log Push Presses
230x2
260x2
280x2

Chest Supported Barbell Rows
135x5
185x5
225x5
Added Straps
275x5
275x5

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

Stretching
 
Comments: Definitely noticing that I’m feeling more pressure on myself mentally with the competition getting closer. Thoughts of trying to drop down to 265lbs (20lbs in 4 weeks is not safe) as I can do those weights comfortable, worries I’m not ready or that I didn’t improve enough. It can be difficult to quiet those negative thoughts as get closer to show time as anxiety increases. But I know I can keep things under control and in check. Been doing that for a decade and a half now. Just need a little rest and step back to assess and make a plan to move forward. Thankfully the allergens in the air took a break and I didn’t need to do any meds since Saturday. Trying to relax myself with distracting on possible future competitions and logistics. It may be for naught if things work out for me but I can’t do anything about what is coming besides doing my best and getting the work done. Not much thought needed there. As far as weight, technically same as last week but that is weighing myself after morning activities. But not eating as much means stuff isn’t going through as quickly so when I checked myself a little later, I was just above 285lbs. Since the dropping of the two addition shakes in the diet, I’ve noticed perhaps slightly less energy overall but no shin splints popping up while walking or feeling blood sugar being off. I was nervous for training. Not because I thought I’d not be able to do it but that I wouldn’t be able to do it right and hit what I wanted to. Warming up was fine for training. I added in some additional foam rolling for my quads at the start to see if that perhaps helped with the knee issues at all in the right knee. I figured this was a good idea after seeing how tight my quads were beginning of Saturday’s training. No real issues. Log pressing to start things off. With axle being reduced last time, there was something similar with log but not quite. Similar in the sense that I was only working up to 200lbs for a clean and press like axle. But I’d then be moving to rack work which I didn’t do for axle last week. It was thankfully not super humid like it was last week when I did axle but it was decently humid due to thunderstorm earlier in the day. I’m not sure if the foam rolling helped or not but it seemed like knee was feeling less bad. It does seem like leaning back on my heels with the press doesn’t feel as good as midfoot or forefoot. Weight was feeling a little heavy on the pick. I kind of expected that with how my lower back was feeling from the shouldering. Walked into the rack for the heavier stuff and where I was stressing out. As I’ve mentioned, for whatever reason, out of the rack for log does not feel comfortable to me. The only time I’ve ever had it feel good was that one tiered squat rack at the YMCA. Just can’t get it right anywhere else it feels harder on the knees and pressing. Which is good on the one hand in that essentially a tougher variation for me to do and save the back and arms. The plan was to work up to a top double ideally. Depending on feel. Suggested was to work up to 280lbs but 270lbs was fine too. In the event I wasn’t feeling that great, I could do reps at the weight but make sure to save a rep in the tank. 280lbs would be fine. 270lbs would be fine. But I didn’t want that. I wanted to do 290lbs. Because a double at that weight would be a lifetime PR out of the rack and would mean I had to have a 300lbs log press. But I was anxious about going for that because this out of the rack situation has not been great for me. 260lbs is actually the most I’ve done out of the rack since I’ve been lifting from home so that is over 4yrs now. But I get fixated on numbers. But I told myself I’d only go for that if 260lbs felt really easy. Spoiler, it did not. So I knew that there was a risk of not getting a solid double with 290lbs and I made myself go for 280lbs. Of course my reptilian brain said this if fine, just make it easy enough that you can get 4 reps. Another stupid numbers fixation. I got set and went for it. First rep was really good. But catching the log and getting ready for the second rep buffeted me a little and it did go out in front so it was a much tougher lift. I couldn’t guarantee a successful third lift and if I did, there wouldn’t be any RIR. So called it there. I have to remind myself this is improvement from where I was at the start of training as I was missing 5lbs less than this for singles at end of last show prep. And double with my best lift in competition of last year. Have to keep focused on that growth and know we can improve now that we worked from the bottom back up. Enough with that, into the garage for the barbell work, which I already had stuff setup in the garage so that I could move things along. I probably should’ve put on the fans but I kind of wanted to work up a sweat to get used to what summer is going to be like. It was a pleasant warm and I wasn’t going to be going heavy for these next two exercises. So upper body sessions are a little deloaded and there is a winding down of intensity as peak for contest. Rows up first. Still sets of five reps but more like the band assisted pull-ups in that two sets of 5 reps with a working weight that should be fast and easy. Considering I was doing 40-50lbs jumps with rows, it felt like a 50lbs decrease would probably do it so 275lbs for the weight. I was maybe a little unsure how the biceps would feel from bag work. But this actually went pretty well. Arms were feeling a little tight and upper back was cramping slightly but these were easy and very powerful rows. Then benching. This was lowered down like the incline log benching to 225lbs for 2x5 reps. Same warming up. Even though light, I wanted to keep these moving fast so used wrist wraps. Warming up felt about the usual. This was a day that 185lbs decided to feel heavy. First set I kind of forgot where I was “pausing” to reset but figured it out and got on with it. I wasn’t satisfied with that first set and managed to get the kinks out for the second set. Bench with this particular grip hasn’t felt that consistent but I’ve been working on it to hopefully get my chest and shoulders on board with the upper body stuff to help with the overhead without overly taxing things. I don’t seem to have the shoulder discomforts and impinging I was feeling several months ago when first starting out with benching again so I guess that is a plus. Ate oatmeal and put stuff away before stretching.

May 8, 2024 – Week 21, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

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

Suited Deadlifts (straps)
No Suit
135x5
225x3
Added Suit (multi-ply)
315x2
405x2
495x2
565x1
615x2

Hyper Extensions
bwx10

Hyper Extension Holds (Neck Harness & Plate)
20+35x47 seconds

Crunches
bw+25x30

Lying Leg Raises
bwx30

Stretching
 
Comments: Trying to combat the doubts that build as I get closer to competition with logic. Really seems to be the only way. I made myself look at my thoughts at the beginning of the training cycle for this competition and see what I had listed as goals and thoughts. Need to remind myself that there is progress, just not as much as I’d be satisfied with. If I get the goals I was aiming for at the beginning, I’ll still be hitting goals. Similar to Monday training, I was agonizing over what was to be a top set for an exercise that I had numbers given but I had thoughts and numbers attached to be what I think I needed to know I was where I needed to be. This seems to pop up as I get closer to competing. And I should know that it isn’t what is done in training, game day is what matters. But I like to have things be as sure a thing as I can. With warming up, I did some more foam rolling at the start. I had added stuff for the quads but figured I should do the calves as well. So calves, hamstrings and quadriceps. And then the regularly scheduled stuff. No issues with anything. Knees (specifically the right one) are feeling less achy. I knew I was going to be fairly warm by the end of this training but kept the fans off at the start. Front squats to start things off. For the remainder of this training cycle, I’m going to be using weights under the top single I hit this cycle so this should be all comfortable stuff and not needing to worry about bailing on weights or missing a lift. Idea was to have something that put some stress on the body but wasn’t overly taxing for my last suited deadlift session. So work up in triples after warming up to 315lbs. The typical 40-50lbs jumps and trying to be somewhat low key with my excitation on it. Keeping an eye on how my knees were feeling. My right hamstring was feeling a little tense so I was a little leery about that. I mean, I had done heavy front squats with a strained/torn hamstring so I knew that I could do this weight even if that happened but it had me a little worried for deadlifts afterwards. I think I hit that happy medium with the hype needed for the lift but not having it feel too bad. Only the last rep with 315lbs felt slow. Left hip was feeling a little achy after that top set but went away. Took a bit of break putting weights away and tearing down to get ready for the suited pull work. I needed some time to get my thoughts in order. And get the fans setup. I wasn’t too sure how this cycle would end with things but I knew that his session had to be a pull from the floor and the last one with the suit before the show to insure that I was recovered enough. It has been sets of 5 reps but this time just a double. I wasn’t sure how pulling from the floor would be but I figured that I’d have an easier time getting my feet to the bar but harder time with getting to the bar. And hopefully feel like I was getting a little more pop off the floor because of that. As I’ve mentioned, I can’t make the straps any tighter by myself and they are loose enough I can slide them on and off with no effort at all. The listed plan was warming up as has been the case and then 615lbs for a double. Which would technically be a 5lbs PR double for suited pulls in training. That was the thing that was stressing me out with the numbers game. It was listed as 615lbs for the double and that I was to do a double that was “safe”. And by safe, a max double I knew I could get. Running the numbers, I figured that up to 635lbs was doable and since that would be double with my best single in training that I’d be for sure able to pull a PR pull (hopefully 705lbs). Basing off of how I’ve pulled 40lbs more on a deadlift bar single at competitions compared to my best training single. But I’d have to see how things go obviously. This was very much like the log press out of the rack where I want that certainty that I will do the thing. I was a little nervous because the previously injured hamstring was feeling a little tight but thankfully there were no issues and I could push through as if nothing was amiss. Compared to the 11” pulls on the jack stands, pulling from the floor felt a lot better on my lower back. So floor or 13”, 11” not a fan I guess haha. I wanted to try something out with support gear as I’ve been doing nothing besides the “deadlift belt” outside the suit. I wanted to see if adding the new rehband belt with support was helpful in any way. I also had to get used to something I’ve not done before and that is wearing a shirt over the suit. I’ve done no suit and shirt under the suit. So this was a little different and add a little to the prep time between pulls. And that seems to be really all it is, a little more time needed with prepping before pulling. The rehband belt was certainly adding something but I wasn’t sure if it was good or not at the start. Getting down to the bar was rough but I was able to move the feet a bit better because I could roll the bar away and towards myself. With 495lbs, it was feeling similar to how it was last time with feeling like not that much with lockout. Similar but not quite the same. The last single before the double was up and I was hoping to have this feel fast and easy so that I knew what I was good for. But it did not feel great at all. Felt good off the floor for a little bit then it got heavy and felt way out in front of me and had to put in some effort to lock it out. I started to panic. If I had gone off how that had felt, that was the weight for the double. But I know that this would be a tough weight for me to do for a triple without a suit and that a suit doesn’t make the weight feel lighter, just moves it and generally faster. I had not worn the rehband belt that time and I was wondering if perhaps that little bit was making a difference in my core. The deadlift belt doesn’t have that same rigidity that my ratchet belt has. And perhaps the rehband under the suit was artificially filling out sections of the suit I couldn’t make tighter without assistance. It was worth a gamble. Go for the planned 615lbs double even though it didn’t feel at all like a sure thing right now. Go through the ritual of prep and getting chalk and sweat managed. Got myself hyped up and went for it. Not as fast as 565lbs but it felt better. Second rep I was able to get into a better groove and it went up quite well. I had more in me but not sure if there was 20lbs more for this double all things considered. It does seem that my legs are straightening out quicker than my hips and back are. I would’ve liked to get some more floor sessions with the suit but we kind of had to do things this way with a new suit and coming back from hamstring injury. Again, bruising around the legs where the suit bites in (also hips this time) but less fatigue in the hamstrings and glutes. Maybe because just a double this time. Rest of this was going to be working on building up the bracing muscles. Hyper bench holds, warming up with the usual back extensions. Felt good and needed. I was still coming down from the deadlift set. Could tell this might be a struggle today. I mean, this is the harder session really for the lower back compared to the wide pull weeks. At that was deloaded a bit last time. Same weight as last time with the harness and weight in hand for the hold. I wasn’t too sure what the time was I did last time but I knew it was over 42 seconds. This was much more challenging feeling this time. I started to get leg twitches near the end. Apparently a second short of what I had done last time. Which isn’t that bad really as same weight but heavier stuff beforehand and usually this is the harder week for these anyways. These certainly feel like a staple for me going forward with lower body stuff for the deadlift. From there, weighted crunches. I was kind of just going through things and not really putting away weights so that I could get done and eat something. Then worry about putting stuff away after that. It was at this time that I noticed how achy my knees were from the deadlifts. There is a ton of pressure from the suit work. I’m still breaking these up in chunks mentally as I do the reps with abdominal work. I played around with bigger chunks this time. I think I’ll need to get more comfortable with this weight before trying to add more weight. Abs were feeling tense and wanted to cramp as I got ready for the lying leg raises so had to lay flat for a few moments to stretch the abs and ribcage out before proceeding. No issues while doing them. Some reps felt lower back tension but that was on me being complacent and not focusing on the motion. Had to let the oatmeal sit a little longer so put stuff away before having some. And then stretched out.

May 11, 2024 – Week 21, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Sandbag Tosses (15’)
30x1
32.5x1
35x1
37.5x1
40x1
42.5x1
45x1
47.5x1
50x1
52.5x0
52.5x1 PR+2.5lbs
55x1 PR+5lbs

Yoke/Frame Carries
(50’ run back, 18” pick)
300x50’/280x50’
390x50’/380x50’
500x50’/480x50’
600x50’/580x50’
700x50’/680x50’ in 27.78 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: I think realizing that I tend to get more stressed the closer to competition because I get fixated on numbers that I “need” to hit and why I don’t seem to be having that stress at the start of prep has been beneficial in getting some of those emotions in check. I figure it out if given enough time. With rainy weather, I wasn’t able to get in a walk on Friday but was for Thursday. Right side intercostals and other associated muscles on that side were feeling a little tight after Wednesday session. I think not only because weight being pushed but also the stress accumulated with fatigue. So that was weighing on me a little considering I still had some weighty sessions left before I could truly wrap this up. I figured for training it made sense to get up at work time to get out there between the rain. It was going to rain early and then late. I’m not sure why but I started to get some anxiety as I left my house. This was not exactly a session that was planned that should cause me this level of anxiety but it seemed to go away as abruptly as the onset. The drive out was a bit annoying getting to the highway and then getting into the city. I guess construction on a major route and requiring detour increased the local traffic. So drive time increased by about 10 minutes. Good bit of people at the gym today doing their thing. But I think only really half of them actually are training for something specific. Warming up felt decent. The increased foam rolling at the beginning may be helping. Up first was bag toss. The heavy week with max toss over 15’ with 2.5lbs jumps. This hadn’t really felt good last time I did it with my knees being achy as hell and not getting the full power into my tosses. I was having weights I was frequently clearing higher not making the grade. But last week things had gone well with the lighter bag and for higher height. And that had been because I started doing stuff a little differently. I brought back doing warming up with swings and various things as well as the foam rolling for the quads and modified camel pose stretch. Another thing was that I decided to use the bag at the gym for the stuff under 45lbs and then use my bag for that weight so that hopefully the changing of weights issue didn’t lead to a big cooldown as I got closer to tougher weight tosses. I should mention that while I was out there for a majority of the time there was someone from the gym sitting down near the tires in the walkway. I had asked them when I saw them there if they were ok and they said they were so I left them be but it did make me a little uneasy. I’m really not good with reading cues and such and I have to accept the words said as truth and I wasn’t going to press the matter. They did seem to be fine in the gym later when I was doing other stuff though. Things were feeling pretty good on the tosses today. 30lbs got launched into orbit. I toned it down a little after that to save for the heavier stuff. There were some tosses where I did hit the back of the toss tower on the backswing with the bag but even with that, I didn’t end up missing. I also didn’t feel like I got off balance on the swing out front like I sometimes end up doing. I was a little anxious with 47.5lbs since I had two misses with that last time and barely cleared. Clean toss this time around. 50lbs also did a clean toss even though that was one of the tosses where I hit the back. Anything above this weight would be a training PR. First go at 52.5lbs was close. Had the height but the arc was off. I had to review the video to see what had happened because it looked close. Hit the band coming down but didn’t go over. I was advised for this last “max” session on bag toss that I was to stop after 3 misses at a weight if I went after it. I took a break like I was doing between adjusting weights and came back to get it just over. I was not expecting 55lbs to go truly. There was already a bag loaded to 55lbs and I was mainly doing it I think just to get a feel for it as the only issue I had with my Nats prep was that weights over this from doing lighter and higher was I got off balance going for heavier there. I went at it and it was just as close as last time with 50lbs. I couldn’t tell if I got it or not but I believed I did in my heart but held in my excitement like a lifter waiting to see 3 white lights. Reviewed video and saw that it had gone over as it took the band down with it. So a 5lbs training PR. So I should be at my strongest for a max bag toss in forever I think. Since the band had come undone I figured I’d call it there rather than go for 57.5lbs. Don’t want to get too greedy and that was a close as it was going to be without it being a miss anyways. End on the high note. I again took my time with putting away stuff from sandbag toss as I knew what was to come. The medley. The last time doing it this prep. And hopefully I would get it right this time. The running up to the yoke part is no longer a thing so starting under the yoke. I also had accidentally done 50lbs over contest weight on the yoke. I was to do contest weight and conditions here for this last go at it. But one of the issues with coming early to train was that people are there. While nice in some aspects, not so nice when you have to do something for a tough show that is happening sooner than anyone else’s competition. The offer to work in was given but I knew that wasn’t going to work as it was too cluttered. I needed a full 50’ for both implements and going up quite heavy and there were people doing yoke into farmer’s walk, farmer’s walk and sandbag carry and loads. And also as mentioned, about half of the people were just doing general training (the rest have competitions end of June vs mine June 1st). And it can get a little frustrating with newer athletes that are being a bit reckless with training (you shouldn’t be failing to lift a sandbag that is for “conditioning”). I did the math and realized I was going to be there for way too long if I waited until I could get enough space to train and that if working in I’d cool down way too much between runs. So I girded myself to doing the medley outside again and setting that up by myself. I was a little leery as my right hamstring was feeling tight. It had started to feel that once I got up to 50lbs on the bag toss. Hoping it is just fatigue from combination of the last bit of trainings. Started off fine enough I guess. Unlike last time I did this, my knees had felt fine but were aching on the bag toss. Now, they were feeling achy here while no issues on bag toss. I wanted to make sure I didn’t misload the yoke. Well I did for the second set by mistake and corrected it going forward. I started to get anxious as I was feeling a little more winded after runs than I was anticipating, especially considering that I had misloaded the yoke last time. But I think that is because I was doing this outside on the uneven concrete vs inside with the level floor. But I was stressing out a bit after my second to last set as that felt more fatiguing then I would’ve liked and the frame felt a lot heavier. It felt daunting that I had another 100lbs to go. I feel that I was getting better with the transitions like getting out from under the yoke to get back to the frame. But with how that last set had felt, I was feeling similar to how I felt with the last work up set on the deadlifts. How was I going to finish this feeling like that? It wasn’t the yoke I was worried about, it was the fatigue and then getting to the frame that was going to be heavy. Worry about the right hamstring and losing my grip due to calluses tearing (I do hand care stuff but the humidity and the thin handles can be a problem). I got myself mentally prepared for the suck and got assistance for commands and time. And off I went. Yoke felt like it should and I was feeling pretty good with how I was moving on the uneven pavement. I think I slowed down a little to stay stable and make clean dismount to run back. While running back I took some forceful breaths to prepare myself for the frame. So a little slow here to insure a solid brace and pick. I think the excitation helped with making the pick feel less arduous then the previous set (the chalking up ritual probably helps too). I know I wasn’t going my fastest here due to the uneven pavement and trying to make sure I didn’t eat it and lose my grip and balance as if I went down, that was going to be it. But I finished no issues. Checked the time and found I was a good bit under 30 seconds, which had been my goal for this training cycle. Relief went over me. Only got two more events that have final touches on to worry about really then. Calmed down a little and ate food (time had gone by fast, 4hrs since I last ate) before putting stuff away. George was there today and he helped with putting stuff away with me and had a good talk about stuff. Had traffic issues getting home as well and I was feeling beat up. Ate more food and stretched out.