August 18, 2024 - August 24, 2024 - Week 11

 August 19, 2024 – Week 11, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Axle Strict Presses + Push Presses w/ Chains (+28lbs)
36x10+5
66x5+3
96x3+2
126x2+1
156x2+1
186x2+1

Push Presses w/ Chains (+28lbs)
206x2
206x2
206x2
206x2
206x5

Band Assisted Pull-ups
sbx5 at pin 19
abx5 at pin 19
lbx5 at pin 19
lbx5 at pin 15

12” Log Incline Bench Presses w/ Bands (+5lbs/+25lbs)
87x8
117x5
147x3
177x2
197x1
222x5
222x5

Chin Up Holds
bw+15x20 seconds+8 seconds eccentric

Active Shoulder Hangs
bw+40x20 seconds+10 seconds relaxed

Stretching
 
Comments: Feeling a little off mentally at the moment. I think stress related as there are a few things going on. Things I don’t expect to affect me but they do. But most things are working out and not needing me to be anxious for them. But hard to not be reflexive and reactive. Continuing on with stuff but it is more exhaustive than I’d like and that extra effort to keep up is possibly why I’m feeling a little worn mentally. In turn, I worry that I’m not going to be where I want to be on certain things by competition time (even though 5 months out) and I realize it is silly to be stressing about that now. Training has been good and consistent with the progression and progress. Weight same as last week which is fine. Rain off and on Saturday through Monday. Walking Sunday ended up being during periods of rain. I needed to be moving around. Warming up for the session felt ok. Maybe knees were a little achier than I would’ve liked. I’d see how things felt later to see if adding sleeves made sense. Upper body was feeling the sandbag work from Saturday still. Axle to start things off. Continuing from last time with the introduction of push pressing. I was hopeful that things would feel better this time around. It generally does. The start of it being combo of strict pressing into push pressing. Essentially the plan today was to do the same thing as last time but with 10lbs more on every set. I made some slight adjustments to what I did last time to take into consideration something I noticed doing the push pressing. With push press, the chains are bit more “wild” vs when I strict press. This is also probably why doing chains may actually be helpful with making my overhead more efficient. The chains were banging into the rack arms at times and it was a bit claustrophobic. So I added collars to push the chains out a little more as well as walked out the weight from the rack like I usually do for push pressing. Save the staying in the rack for the strict log work. The walking out also kind of teaches me to be patient with weight and kind of getting used to how the recovery on the catch from clean will be. These changes seemed to be mostly helpful in this regard. The working up with strict and push press felt better compared to last time. The top set did feel decently heavy on my shoulders and arms. Gradually adding support here so just my thin soft belt here. Added 20lbs for the push press work. That first set felt really heavy and rough. I think my joints were a little achy and I accidentally went for a rebound rep on the second rep instead of what I’ve been doing of resetting each rep. Second set felt a ton better but I did hesitate with my feet with how I placed them as I felt I hit a rough spot with my right foot. Third set I got a little startled by neighbors doing some construction project so I lost a little tightness there but it was better than the first set still. Fourth set was ok. Fifth set for the repping out. The first three reps felt great but the chains swaying when I brought that third rep back down got it a little too close to my throat so I had to kind of take my time to get last two reps. Lower back was definitely not as stiff as it was last time I did these and I felt the disconnect was less this time. I have to also remind myself that the weight on the bar without chains is not accurate as there is always like 10lbs at least even in the bottom added and it is close to 30lbs at the top added. The chains move a good bit watching video, which I don’t think happens as much on say front squats or bench press (the other lifts I use the chains on). Hopefully I can keep with the progression here and add bit by bit to assistance gear. Then to the exercises that I don’t worry about so much (because not directly corresponding with an event). Band assisted pull-ups after that. Same as last time with 2x5 but do a slightly harder set of 5 reps for the first working set and then an easier set for the second one. Advised to make the first set a little tougher this time but keep the second set the same as last time. So lowered the pin height one more setting for the working up stuff with swapping band tension assistance. I was a little concerned maybe about biceps and forearms as they were feeling the sandbag. Funny how there is a difference in how they feel vs holding a bag for a minute or more vs just grabbing and tossing a bag 5 times. Not as humid today so didn’t feel need to chalk up hands. I was actually feeling good warming up (usually my second to last set feels crappy) so I had a feeling this would be a good one. Shoulders were feeling a little achy with how fast I was pulling the first set but seemed to chill out the second set. Both were good and powerful. Then incline log pressing. Same as last time, add 5lbs and attempt the 2x5. If not feeling speedy enough, drop 10% for the second set. Initially not feeling great but something seemed to click after the first set warming up and felt good. I think it has to do with bracing on the unrack of the weight. Overall, I feel these felt better than last time. As in the first four reps were good and then a slow down on the last rep. This was the same on both working sets. I feel like still in the spirit of things with how they went. But I will likely need to consider reduction in weight on the second set for both this and bench with chains in the near future (assuming they continue this progression to the next block). Last thing for the session being the weighted hangs for the upper body. I had forgotten I was to do these and thought it was just going to be face pulls with band. Nope. Both are for just 20 seconds (and then extra time stuff) and if I hit that, I can increase weight next time. I was successful with that last time for both so added weight. Chin up hold only up 5lbs. Granted, this is the one that was harder and I had only gotten near 40 seconds with bodyweight on my best effort. Adding weight on this one is noticeable with even just small jumps. It was a bit tougher than I’d have liked it to be to get 20 seconds before doing the 8 second eccentric. That always feels nice. Then active shoulder hangs to wrap things up. 10lbs added on this one so 40lbs to the waist. Thankfully it is enough weight on the dip belt that it doesn’t need to be twisted up to keep from hitting the ground at the bottom. This was definitely the most challenging this has been for this particular hold. I also attempted to be as deliberate as I could with the relaxing part. I didn’t want to go fast and I didn’t want to completely relax my lower back as I find doing that can lead to traction on my lower back which it doesn’t like very much in this way (fine on a dipping station, not pullup station). I might have been a little slow with my count on this one. Put stuff away and got to cooking dinner. Ate and stretched out afterwards.

August 21, 2024 – Week 11, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Front Squats w/ Chains (+28lbs)
No Chains
45x5
Add Chains
45x5
95x3
135x3
185x2
225x2
260x2
295x3
295x3
295x3

Hyper Extensions
bwx20

Hyper Extension Holds (Neck Harness & Plate)
25+75x20 seconds

Planks
bw+70x60 seconds

Side Planks
bwx60/60 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: I was feeling a bit better mentally. Once I realize I’m stressed, I tend to relax a little and not be so hard on myself. Take appropriate measures to try and bring that down. Like figuring out the discomfort is from a metaphorical pebble in my shoe. Take it out and hopefully the discomfort will stop. At least until the next one gets in there. I thankfully didn’t have as much work Wednesday. And by that, I mean I didn’t really get any new work but so I spent all day finishing up the work I was doing the day before. With how things have been, I seem to spend the first half of the day finishing up what I did in the second part of the day the previous day because I tend to get all the “new work” assigned to me after my lunch break. It is frustrating. But I know it is going to be going into it each work day and I can only do what I can. These middle of the week sessions (now that not doing the banded deadlifts) are generally shorter in length than the other workouts so I could afford a little bit of deload after work to get myself ready for the training mindset. Warming up was feeling fine mostly. Knees were feeling the push pressing from Monday. So aches. I was seriously considering going lighter on front squats if things were still feeling not so great as I got warmed up. But besides the knees (mostly the right), everything else was ok with warming up and felt needed. My neck and upper back definitely get a little tense after the hangs/holds from the Monday session. As mentioned, front squats with chains for the start of the session. Again, the plan was 3x3 with the back up plan of lighter for 2x5. I’ve not really asked what the 2x5 weight would be to be light really as I kind of hope I don’t have to back off. I’d have to guess it would be like 250ish if that was the last I did the 2x5 at before becoming 3x3 and that was beltless. But if sticking to the 3x3, it was to be 5-10lbs more than last time. My intent was just 5lbs more as that was how the suggested workout was listed for this one. There wasn’t an issue with the knees with actually doing the front squats here but just that initial unrack so I knew that if I got myself more and more warmed up and was a bit more deliberate with getting under the weight to walk it out that I should be ok. But obviously monitor things as I added weight and working up. Even if I was doing the 2x5, I’d likely still do the same warming and working up that I was going to do besides the last set before working set. Shoulder joints were feeling a little achy, like they’d done work recently. The hard belt being added definitely had things feeling better for me with how the weight was feeling on my lower back and with bracing. At that point I decided I’d just go up 10lbs instead of 5lbs from last time. I had noticed how fatigued my legs were feeling last time where I was expecting them to feel stronger with the belt added. Perhaps that being unexpected last time had me a little more ready for that and it never manifested. The working weight sets felt solid and adding 10lbs was definitely the right call for this session. Seemed to be moving better with each set at least as far as the lower legs. I could tell that it was getting a little tough to keep the upper back tight and keep the bar from getting a little forward on me. Little bit of a break putting some stuff away before getting on with the rest of the training session. Warming up for back extension holds with reps. Told to only do 20 reps this time. Which was fine. It still feels like enough reps to get the blood flow and light up the hamstrings. This definitely felt like a enough about halfway into these. This exercise can be deceptive in how much it makes the hamstrings and glutes burn with higher rep sets. Even if just a “warm up”. The warming up being for the holds with the neck harness and weights in hand. The short and heavy cycle. 20 seconds being the max time but leaving some seconds on the clock. I knew from last time that the weight will feel substantial on my neck from the harness. No weight added there but 5lbs added to what I was holding. Adding weight anywhere really makes this tougher. I prefer 10lbs jumps and such because I worry the smaller plates will slide out on me. But I figured a way to do it that it didn’t happen so I was placated enough here. This felt quite tough to get into position and I was worried that I’d not get 20 seconds but then it started to feel fine as I got closer to the time and I probably held it a little longer than 20 seconds just to make sure before setting down. So that went well. Plank time. Surprisingly, I was advised I could add a little more weight to the weighted standard planks that I was doing. Even though these seem to be going well, adding more weight by myself with the backpack is getting cumbersome. And I’m not really noticing much difference from the added weight. Granted, the initial time adding weight did (53 going to 59lbs) but since then it has not felt much different. In fact, this time with 6lbs more might have been easier than last time. This isn’t the most weight I’ve done on a weighted plank (I’ve done 30 seconds holds with like twice this using smith machine). Feeling fine doing it and I generally feel like my breath is controlled on these. Then side planks. Still no weight added to these. Just bodyweight again. I’m curious about adding weight to these but perhaps it is best since these are good bit more temperamental compared to standard planks. For instance, I was able to do braced breathing relaxed on the right side but not really on the left side this time around. Though it isn’t like the braced breathing is the only reasons for doing these. Put stuff away and ate dinner before stretching out.

August 24, 2024 – Week 11, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Farmer’s Walk (turf)
105x50’
155x50’
205x50’
255x50’
305x50’

Sandbag Carries
turns at 15’
250x30’ (load style)
250x30’ (bear hug)
turns at 50’, on turf
300x218’5” (load style)
300x216’2” (bear hug)

Sled Drags
35x100’
135x50’
225x50’
60 seconds rest
265x100’
265x100’
265x100’
265x100’
265x100’

Stretching
 
Comments: Work continues to be a pain and there are little things that happen with life outside of my own that happen. So stressful things but I guess I already know and accept that so I can still function. Even though my friend that was training early was in Ireland competing this weekend and for obvious reasons didn’t need help with setting up and tearing down, I still decided it made sense to get up and go out earlier to train. Traffic isn’t as bad getting out to train and it does afford me more time to take my time with pacing my workouts and being able to help out with other people training. I’ve come to realize that I can’t really help myself when it comes to that. I was debating getting up as early as I did as I was feeling a bit tired and perhaps wanted to sleep in but figured I’d just go to bed earlier. Another competitor/friend indicated they’d be out at the gym as well so it made sense to get out earlier to make sure I could help and be able to get my stuff down. There was also the possibility of road closures for construction which were happening later in the day so made sense to avoid that. I felt ok waking up. Some joint aches but I didn’t feel like I needed to take any allergy meds, which I’ve been doing pretty much every time I head out to train. Weather seemed like it was going to be nice. Caught a little of the livestream in Ireland before heading out. Get an idea of the pace of things there in the event I qualify for next year. Lot of people at the gym for the strongman stuff as I’ve come to expect with the upcoming competition. There were some people coming from a ways away to train on the conan’s wheel for Nationals since neither of them had any access to one. The amount of setup that thing needs and weights needed to get to expected contest weight has me glad I didn’t retry getting my ticket to nationals this year. I’m going to have to see how things shape up with the reorganization for next year to see if it is worth my time. My current membership is good until middle of May next year. Warming up I was feeling so-so. At times, it was feeling like I was having a hot flash so I was a little worried it was something anxiety related (but usually those I feel cold). No clue what that was about but I figured that I’d probably need to be mindful of how things go and not overdo it. Besides that and the knees feeling a little more achy than I’d like, I was ready to go. First thing for the day was farmer’s walk. Same as last time with not quite normal speed and doing with 50’ runs and 50lbs per hand jumps in weight. But more weight than last time. I was debating knee sleeves today but I do want to try and wait until this current block (next week) is done and when I’m allowed to go back to full steam ahead speed here. My knees were feeling stiff but only with getting into position to pick up the weights. There was no issue actually with lifting the weights or walking with them. That all felt fine. I didn’t feel any issues per se doing the runs but again the pick was feeling a bit rougher than I’d like. It is also possible that I’m not getting 100% hyped up for these at this point. It was feeling like I wasn’t really getting the glutes helping with the pick and it was feeling a little more lower back working up than I’d like. I may need to adjust the belt situation going forward depending on how wagon wheel pulls go this coming week. I had been using this belt combo due to breathing restrictions with my increased bodyweight from my previous belt setup and having to move between implements. That isn’t the case for this contest and I’ve gotten back down close to weight I was when I was wearing the other setup of soft and hard belts. The pick with 305lbs (which funnily enough is the most I’ve put on these handles to do an actual run with) felt better than 290lbs did last time. I’d prefer it didn’t feel as slow as it did. But can’t be upset being almost 5 months out from contest at a little under 97% contest weight and it not needing me to be super duper hyped up to do it comfortably. The next thing was sandbag carries. Same as last time. 300lbs for the working sets of 2 max distance carries with different hold styles. Plan being to beat the distances of last time which I should be able to do. I was slightly concerned about the pick up of the sandbags as my left pec tie-in tendon was feeling a little achy. That was also on my mind with the farmer’s but that is not a wide grip so it was minimal. Here that could be an issue. Thankfully it didn’t. With the lanes in use (I was going to do it on turf again anyways to have consistency and event specificity) it didn’t make sense for me to do as many warming up sets compared to last week. So just did 250lbs for a set each style. The last set I felt a sensation where my legs just felt like they had no power. It has happened only a scant few times but it is weird and hard to figure out why it happens. But maybe the warming up was enough to get that out of the system. I knew roughly the distances I did last time and they were closer together in both styles compared to that first week. Switched out my shirt and I wore soft belts and chalk this time (no knee sleeves). First set pick up felt decent and I felt like I was doing well and then about halfway down that first length the “jelly leg” sensation happened and I was worried I was going to lose the bag before I got to first turn. I was able to grit my teeth and will myself out of it and my legs went back to normal and I proceeded as normal. I was able to get a few feet more than last time. Bear hug style the pick felt better with the soft belt on vs no belt. I was kind of surprised how good this felt but I was going a little slower than I’d like. I definitely slowed down on the last turn and wanted to get a little further. I knew I was close to the distance I did with the load style this time around. I got a bit more distance over last time compared to the load style. Both runs from pick to drop were about a minute and a little over. So at least lets me know I can carry for the duration. Took my time with putting things away and helped with taking plates back in from the people doing conan’s wheel. I was not in a rush to do the sled drag work. I figured that these were going to feel tougher than they did last time because of twice having the “jelly leg” feeling on sandbag. I went up 5lbs just because of how comfortable last time had felt and that 5lbs was noticeable. Granted, I could tell just working up with my warming up that there was more fatigue compared to last time. 5 sets of 100’ with minute rest. Or at least attempting to. No shirt to catch some sun and have something dry to wear home. First run was fine. I accidentally took 90 seconds rest because some people got out the Rolling Thunder handle and walked up no chalk or warm up and pulled 195lbs with both hands (which apparently is 15lbs and 25lbs off my PR from over a decade ago) before moving on to my second set. I of course got accused of having “those monkey hands” lol. But I could tell as I did these sets that I was feeling a decrease in speed more so than last time. And then the fifth set feeling a bit tougher. Not as drastically bad as it has been but it was a chore compared to last time. I took my time putting stuff away and cleaned up in the gym. I apparently was the last person there so I also closed up things as well. Drive home was ok and stretched out when I got home.

August 11, 2024 - August 17, 2024 - Week 10

 August 12, 2024 – Week 10, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

12” Log Strict Presses w/ Bands (+14lbs/+22llbs)
No Bands
87x5
Add Bands
90x3
120x2
145x2
170x2
190x2
190x2
190x2
190x2
190x5

Paused Chest Supported Barbell Rows
95x5
135x5
185x3
Added Straps, 2 seconds holds
235x5
235x5

Bench Presses w/ Chains (+22lbs)
No Chains
45x15
Add Chains
45x5
95x5
135x3
185x2
225x2
270x5
270x5

Band Face Pulls
abx20
abx20

Stretching
 
Comments: Training has been going well albeit over 5 months out from when I’m next competing. I know for sure I can hit contest weight for 3 of the events now (another is a max event so I guess that too) but of course I want to be better than good enough by that time. Work has been much more stressful since I got back from the one week vacation but trying my best to adapt to that. The new person for the unit that started last week quit this morning so shows how things are going. I’m feeling a little disillusioned with most amateur strongman stuff. The “bigger” shows seem to be costly and just not looking appealing seeing how they end up running. So I guess that helps with me sticking to the work I’m doing for the contest a ways off. Maybe prospects will be better for next year but not really holding my breath. One federation I can’t in good conscience support due to policy changes made in December that weren’t really published and the other two seem to be just increasing the prices on costs and the weights on my weaker events. The Pro/Am offerings have been sketchy. So I really don’t have anything besides this upcoming show on the horizon. But just thinking out loud. As far as myself, 280lbs even on Sunday check in. Boil water advisory continues but it should hopefully be resolved soon. Allergies were acting up in the late morning but thankfully went away without needing to take anything. It is cooler right now after the storm had passed. I didn’t quite go right into training after work as has been the case with just having to take a bit to just decompress before moving on to the next thing. Warming up was ok. Ankles a little stiff and right biceps a little tense. But really minor things. Starting off the actual training was log strict press. Same as last time with it being with bands and 4x2 with up 5 for a fifth set. Suggested increase was 5lbs. I’ll likely be sticking with that. My hope is that giving a week break between push press sessions will keep the knees happy and build up shoulders. Unlike say the lower body stuff with belt situation, I figured it was probably not smart to jump right into fully belted up sessions here because bracing and breathing. Figure I’ll do no hard belt for this session and next. I don’t feel I “need” the belts here but I want to allow my lower back to recover a little better to handle the heavier lower body stuff. It was probably a good call with not wearing all the belts as I was having issues with getting my breathing and bracing right today. Feeling lightheaded from holding my breath. I finally got that sorted out by the fourth double. Last set felt the best of them. Still, felt a good bit better than the other sets but nothing as dramatic as that one time two sessions back. From there, it was into the garage for chest supported barbell rows with pauses. Same as last time with it being 2x5 and the 2 second holds at contraction. Indication was to just add 5lbs to last time. Again, I feel I could’ve done more but listening to what is indicated here. Unlike last time, the weights were not feeling heavy in the hands without straps working. Weights were moving really easy. I was kind of surprised with that but I guess arms are getting used to the sandbag carry work. Straps on for the working weight. First set felt alright. I was not expecting the second set to feel even better. I guess I’ll just keep creeping up 5lbs here as well. This is one of the few exercises where the pauses and such lower the weight drastically from what I can do with some heaving but allow me to not be overdoing it and pick up with the powerful stuff no problem in short order. Benching was up next. Same as last week but adding 5lbs. With my own self-imposed support gear restriction I had continued for the last four weeks ending, my intent was to wear my wrist wraps for more support and to hopefully have lockout not be suboptimal of a movement. Especially with the bar configuration for the chains. I had a little whoops with the bar and chains added as I apparently missed the j-hook on the rerack on the left side. But light enough to just shove it back up there. Working up (besides that) was good. I do like how with the grip moved in that the progression of weight feels “normal” as opposed to when I was using the wider grip and it just felt heavy at 135lbs or 185lbs depending on the day. I was really hoping that I wasn’t wrong about the wrist wraps. This exercise had the caveat like the incline log stuff in that if I wasn’t feeling speedy that I was to drop the weight 10% for the second set. Well starting off I was worried I’d need to drop the weight after the first rep. But it had been a misgroove in that I had the weight too high up on my chest and once I adjusted bar placement for the following reps, it was smooth sailing. Second set was ok but not as powerful. Slow down with the lockout on the last rep. But still feel like it was within the parameters to keep the weight the same both sets. Unless I get told otherwise. I think I’ll know when I got to drop it down. For now, I’m recovering enough to keep progressing. Last thing being face pulls with bands to finish up. Outside for these. I was advised to increase the band tension from a “light band” to a “medium band”. Can be hard to gauge. 2 sets of 15-20 reps. Can adjust the distance if necessary if I want to stick with the same band. I was debating between and average band and a strong band and decided that the average band fit the bill better as a “medium”. I also tend to pull with more biceps with the strong band at first if I’ve not worked up to it. Average band seemed to be the right call. Put stuff away as I cooked up dinner. Stretched after letting my stomach settle.

August 14, 2024 – Week 10, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

13” Wagon Wheel Deadlifts (straps, touch and go)
135x5
225x3
315x2
405x2
455x2
495x5

Step Ups (18”)
bwx20 L
bwx20 R
bw+15’sx10 L
bw+15’sx10 R

Single Leg Wall Sits
bwx51 seconds L
bwx51 seconds R

Crunches
bw+45x35

Paused Hanging Knee Raises (1 second)
bw+20x24

Stretching
 
Comments: Was definitely feeling stuff from Monday session. Feeling the tendons and ligaments in my shoulders and chest from the benching. Been a while since I felt that. I also noticed that I apparently have some bruising above my right ankle. No clue where that came from. As I’ve been mentioning with the new changes at work, I’ve kind of had to take a few moments to just decompress before moving on with my evening. Warming up felt fine. Despite how the chest and shoulders had been feeling the day before and today from Monday, they actually felt less tight compared to Monday warming up. Knees were feeling decent too. Some changes to this workout. Deadlifting but not from the floor or with bands. No bands meant setup time wasn’t going to be a hassle (which was why I let myself vegetate for a bit). The event for the competition is deadlift bar with wagon wheels at 13”. I don’t bother with deadlift bar really as I know how it feels and the whip and I’ll pull more on it then what I do in training all things considered. And I’ve been using my jackstands for the different height pulls for a while now. But I was advised to either be pulling with my weights on blocks or to get wheels training for this contest with how the feel will be and not have to worry so much about odd placement with lowering weights. I’ve only used the “wagon wheels” in training twice and haven’t really had issues I guess pulling on them in contest compared to what I was doing with the jackstands. But not terribly expensive to get them. Plan was to work up to a top set of 5 reps and treat them as soft/light touch and go reps. Not in that the weight was light. So unlike the past few weeks with pulls with 40-50lbs jumps, this was more like suited work and heavier stuff with plate jumps and then going to 40-50lbs jumps. The suggested top weight was 495lbs, which made sense with the progression on the deadlift. Going into this, I was expecting things to feel pretty solid and smooth for me. I mean, I had done 40lbs less bar weight from the floor for these reps with no belt and against bands (which made them more than this weight at the top). Well, I guess it was the right call to start using support gear for lower body stuff as this was feeling like more back than I wanted it to be. I should say that thankfully once I applied a hard belt to the equation that the bracing and less lower back sensation happened. Noticing that this would’ve been less than a month from Nationals definitely reinforces that not attempting to go for it with another contest and then competing was the right call. Getting ready for the top set, my lower back seized up a little on me so I was a little worried about going forward but it calmed down after a bit and I got set. I ideally would’ve liked this to feel a lot easier. It doesn’t look as slow as it felt on video. I’ve also been using the deadlift ply belt instead of hard belt as of late because I had been too big for my usual belt combos plus the thicker deadlift suit. I’ve been playing around with it as it would seem easier to pack for a flight. But I may try out my older and thicker belts assuming my bodyweight has dropped enough that it is doable. That was it for the heavy stuff. Might have gotten a bruise on my right knee. Outside for step ups. Not as hot out as it had been but still a bit sweaty. Starting things off with bodyweight. Only 20 reps this time around (as weight gets added to the weighted set). No knee sleeves here again. Left side has harder time with these compared to the right (though right has tougher time with the eccentric). Felt fine and not feeling like I was breathing hard like last time afterwards. The next part was a set with weight. Light weight. A set of 10 reps each leg using 15lbs kettlebells (I’ll have to use dumbbells next time). I kind of knew what to expect this time around with the herky jerky. It is possible that slightly more weight made it less likely I was going to do what I do but it does still seem like more left side vs right side. I also think I perhaps overthink it at the start. But this was fine. I was of course sweating a good bit after doing this and heading back inside. Single leg wall sits were next. Continuing the progression here with 5-10 seconds. Not trying more than 5 seconds on these because these just feel tough the whole time and just feel tougher after 30 seconds. I had attempted 50 seconds last time but had called it early at 45 seconds with how challenging it was. Well I guess I was going to have to do 50 today. I got set and started straining. I of course forgot for a moment to hit the timer so ended up being a second behind. Made it. But I was definitely going to count that extra second with how difficult this was. Just everything in the leg tensing to keep balance and hold the position. Also managed to get it for the right side. I definitely feel like over a minute is possible for me on these but my lord will it be uncomfortable. I think these are also getting tougher because I’m doing longer hold but still same rest between haha. Core work after that. Weighted crunches. I stuck to what I did last time with 45lbs. The iron plates with the grips in them just work ergonomically for this movement. I was a little hesitant with how quickly I was moving through things and just how my lower back had felt right before the top set of wagon wheel pulls. But thankfully no twinges on the ab work. Just felt like solid work. Again, using the 5 rep clusters in my head to get the set done. Paused hanging knee raises to wrap things up. I had been able to get this setup a little quicker compared to the past few times due to not using the bumper plates on deadlifting. I was a little leery since last time I did these there was some tension in the lower back. I did not have that issue this time either. Similar to last time in being easy until they weren’t. I was very tempted to call it at just one extra rep but made it a double (had to talk myself out of 25 reps) and leave something in the tank. Put stuff away and cleaned up before eating dinner and then stretching.

August 17, 2024 – Week 10, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Yoke (turf)
300x50’
400x50’
500x50’
600x50’
700x50’

Sandbag Loads (58“)
250x1
250x1
EMOM
300x1
300x1
300x1
300x1
300x1

Sled Pushes (turf, 60 seconds rest)
195x50’/195x50’
195x50’/195x50’
195x50’/195x50’
195x50’/195x50’
195x50’/195x50’

Stretching
 
Comments: Work and such has just been dumb so I just keep doing what I can and not take it personally. Do my job and hopefully help people in need. I was initially planning to sleep in a little and by little, I mean wake up at my work time as the past two weekends got up an hour earlier than that to assist with a friend’s training. I had assumed this would be an easy, light week for them but I guessed wrong so doing four events again (two needing assistance). Luckily that arrived early enough in the evening that I could go to bed early enough to be rested up. The drive out has been smoother leaving early anyways. Cooler out than the past two days but a little muggy. But nowhere near as bad as it was two weeks ago. But still doing the multiple shirts so as to keep dry for stuff. I was a little leery my knees would be achy with how they were feeling in the morning but was pleasantly surprised with how things were feeling warming up. There were a lot of people there today. I was a bit surprised that some people were training when competing next Saturday. But I tend to be surprised with how others train when, even when they have a coach. People saying they don’t feel good or end up with an injury warming up poorly. Not my monkeys, not my circus. With all the people, it felt that if I was going to have to wait around for lanes on the concrete to open up to do stuff that I should just move to the wind tunnel and do it on tuft since that is likely what contest is going to be. If anything, it is a good training stimulus. So yoke on the agenda and plan was to set of 700lbs for 50’. I was a little leery on the pick for this with how lower back can feel and the knees but I figured that since I’d be putting on the support gear like I did with farmer’s walk last week, that it should be good. I was up in the air on knee sleeves and it was pretty much seeing how things felt setting up and warming up for the day. Felt fine enough so no knee sleeves. Like farmer’s walk, this was to be not max speed. Not super slow but not super fast. Taking it for a stroll. I elected to just start at 300lbs rather than 200lbs which isn’t much more than the empty yoke. I already had to carry it across the gym anyways empty. 100lbs jumps here. Switched to a dry shirt from what I wore warming up (using that shirt between exercises if wearing anything). I was trying to be very casual with my excitation here. Just another day at the office. Make sure I’m not rushing things and getting a good solid brace on the pick. Felt comfortable albeit heavy as it is. Next was sandbag loads. Well not quite. I had to help out with event work and then once they were done, I moved on to sandbag. I do an event, they do an event where assistance is needed and so on. So this was a little bit of change. Still 300lbs sandbag load but unlike last time where it was just a set of 5 reps after warming up, I was to do the good ole EMOM stuff. Idea being to make this 300lbs fly over the bar. I mean, already doing 10” over the contest height for the load here. Warming up I felt it didn’t really make much sense to use the 200lbs sandbag so I just started at 250lbs and did two singles with no support gear. The picks feel slow to me. For 300lbs, I added soft belts and chalked up my shirt and arms. None of this was “needed” but wanted to provide some more support and have things similar to how I will be at contest. I will be allowed to use a grip shirt there but I’d rather wait until it is cooler out to bother with that claustrophobic heat trap nonsense. I’ve done this before with higher crossbar and slightly heavier bag when training at home with the lockdown stuff in 2020. Everything after the pick is easy stuff here. But I have to remind myself that the pick has never been super easy with the bags and sliding up the shins. There have been times where it has felt harder and got caught on stuff and times it feels easy. I made sure that I was setting my grip and my feet on these rather than rushing. No sense in doing that until actually putting the whole shebang together (run, load, run). This went about as expected really. Both yoke and sandbag work did. Last thing being the sled work. Another break here not just because helping with event setup but also due to the wind tunnel space being used for a bit. I wasn’t in hurry for this as this pushing on turf is a lot more tiring than the backwards sled drags. It was getting more humid so just ditched the shirt so I’d have something somewhat dry for getting home. Continuing to be 5 sets of 100’ with 60 seconds rest. I was somewhat hopeful this would feel easier with the less volume from other stuff as I found the sled drags felt pretty easy comparatively. But nope, these will always feel terrible, just a little less terrible than usual. With not having to “add 10-20lbs” each session and adjusting as needed, I went with the same weight as last time. I didn’t feel like I was melting like last time. I felt I was going at a decent and consistent pace here. But we’ll never know because I apparently got distracted and didn’t hit record so I guess it didn’t happen then haha. Oh well, this is the thing that I don’t really need a “coaches eye” on anyways as it is just work. Put stuff away and ate my meal before driving home to stretch and eat some more.

August 4, 2024 - August 10, 2024 - Week 9

August 5, 2024 – Week 9, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Axle Strict Presses + Push Presses w/ Chains (+28lbs)
26x10+5
56x5+3
86x3+2
116x2+1
146x2+1
176x2+1

Push Presses w/ Chains (+28lbs)
196x2
196x2
196x2
196x2
196x5

Band Assisted Pull-ups
sbx5 at pin 18
abx5 at pin 18
lbx5 at pin 18
lbx5 at pin 15

12” Log Incline Bench Presses w/ Bands (+5lbs/+25lbs)
87x8
117x5
147x3
177x2
197x1
217x5
217x5

Chin Up Holds
bw+10x20 seconds+8 seconds eccentric

Active Shoulder Hangs
bw+30x20 seconds+10 seconds relaxed

Stretching
 
Comments: Saturday wore me out. I was sweating a lot all day. I was kind of surprised my bodyweight was up about 4lbs from last week all things considered. I was feeling tired Sunday but in kind of a worn out way where not sure if starting to get sick. It is possible (with the added work stress) but hopefully not. It was not an ideal start to the work week having to remember stuff I did Friday afternoon to put into the system Monday. I ended up taking most of the allergy meds (nasal spray and Claritin) to keep me somewhat in the game as far as work. Still ending up with having to do stuff from the day the following day. I need to get out of that cycle or I’m never going to be able to manage the new workflow. Not terribly hot but very humid still. Right knee had been feeling achy after Saturday session into Sunday but was feeling well enough today. I didn’t bother with the fan warming up. Felt ok. Could tell feeling fatigue still from Saturday physically as well as the mental fatigue of the work day and other personal stuff. Right knee was a little achy but was feeling better as I went about my business. This workout has some changes from the last block. New variations to exercises and some exercises having “limits” imposed. I had been given the go ahead to use support gear as necessary in the last block but I kind of wanted to finish things up for the first 8 weeks before I started adding stuff. Axle to start things off. As expected, this is become a little more sport specific. Similar to last training cycle with warming up with combos. So strict pressing into push pressing. With the same chains. I’ve generally done chains as strict pressing. Push pressing has always been a little tricky and not seeing as big a difference between straight weight and weight plus chains. But I figured it was a good thing and less grounding effect than bands. Stability and accommodating resistance and allowing for some moving around. I was considering doing support gear like at least knee sleeves and soft belts but I figured I’d like to see how my body is feeling naked on this movement before I start putting stuff back on for support. See how my body is moving. Add a little bit next time. Strict pressing felt fine but the form for push pressing was definitely a little off. There is that moment briefly where the weight is moving and my body isn’t “tight” like say with a strict press and I noticed the “stress” that would appear on my back. Working up was easy enough. The top sets were to be just push presses. I was advised to do the 5x2 setup with 20lbs more than what I did for the strict press last time. Last set allowed to rep out up to 5 reps if feeling good. It did take me a bit to feel comfortable in spots on this movement. Initially, I was hesitant with the unrack and was worried I’d be hitting the rack arms with the bar or the chains. The chains were cruel form correctors here. I can’t just “float” the weight to lockout with the chains either. A little tougher than I’d have liked things to feel but first session back to push press in over two months and it has been over a decade I think since I’ve tried axle push presses with chain weight. Considering that I’m not feeling like 100% all cylinders (felt like that Saturday) with this humidity and possible allergies/cold and that I’ve not felt like pressing has had any sessions of regression, I know this will improve on schedule. Knees also seemed to be ok here too. The rest of the workout was familiar to what I’d been doing as far as exercises with slight changes. Band assisted pull-ups after that. Still 2x5 but a little different. I was to do a slightly harder set of 5 reps for the first working set and then an easier set for the second one. My usual warming lately has been one pin height and just changing the bands rather than going high to low with the band pins. I figured that going back to a thicker band for the second set didn’t make that much sense (as it would be like I did 3 work sets) so I decided to move the band up a few for the second set to accommodate. I was a little nervous as biceps were feeling sore from the sandbag work Saturday. But no issues here. Just the usual feeling that first warm up feels easy, second one feels tough and then crushing it the working sets. Shoulders were feeling a little achy with how fast I was pulling the first set but seemed to chill out the second set. Then incline log pressing. 2x5 with the bands from last time. But do 5lbs more weight for at least the first set. If it wasn’t feeling as speedy as it should, I was to lower the weight by 10% for the second set. My hope was that I wouldn’t need to resort to that just yet. But I was also feeling the heat/humidity and the extra work the shoulders and triceps had to do with the axle. I was feeling a little slow at the start warming up but I kept telling myself that things were ok and just need to take the pressure and brace and not rush. There was some hesitancy with placing the log on my chest and initiating the reps at times as I know how temperamental the groove on this lift can be. I felt it was speedy enough here to keep the weight the same for both sets here. Rest of the workout was the holds and hangs. These both had similar changes. Essentially I was told to only do 20 seconds for both (not including the lowerings) and with added weight. So for the chin up hold I was to do up to 20 seconds with 10lbs added. Setting up for just 10lbs here was easy (unlike with the active shoulder hang). I didn’t bother with any chalk here (same as the pull-ups) as I knew that I had 20 seconds in the bag with 10lbs added considering how long I was going with bodyweight only. Abdominals were definitely feeling this with the bracing halfway in. I probably held for a little longer than 20 seconds because I notoriously count fast on this exercise before I did the 8 seconds eccentric. Final thing being the active shoulder hang. 30lbs added this time and 20 seconds with 10 seconds going into relaxed hold. Considering I’ve been going over a minute on these, this was even more a no duh that I was doing 20 seconds here. This pretty easy and just more issues with getting the weights on the belt then actually doing the exercise. The slight lower back traction can be somewhat unpleasant but possibly needed after the heavy beltless yoke stuff Saturday. Put stuff away before eating dinner and then stretching.

August 7, 2024 – Week 9, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Front Squats w/ Chains (+28lbs)
No Chains
45x5
Add Chains
45x5
95x3
135x3
185x2
225x2
255x2
285x3
285x3
285x3

Hyper Extensions
bwx20

Hyper Extension Holds (Neck Harness & Plate)
25+70x20 seconds

Planks
bw+64x60 seconds

Side Planks
bwx60/60 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: Not a moments rest with work. Thankfully whatever I was feeling starting Sunday was pretty much gone entirely Wednesday. Had plumbers come to fix the pipe and make adjustments so I have a shut off valve for the outside hose. It is humid right now but not too warm because of the hurricane in the south sending up wind and rain. Nothing serious in my immediate area. As this session isn’t generally a long one, I did take a bit to kind of just mentally deload before getting to training. Warming up was feeling fine. Knees felt about the same as Monday so that is at least a good sign I think with adding back push press. Only doing that every other week with the current plan which should hopefully be good for the knees to recover. Don’t want to end up with how they were feeling leading into the last contest. But everything feeling fine and dandy. Starting things off with front squats with chains. Again, the plan was 3x3 like last time. However, I was advised that if my knees were feeling off to go lighter and do 2x5 reps. Well plan was to do the 3x3 unless knees felt like garbage anyways. My intent today was to wear everything I’d wear going for heavy overhead stuff for the front squats. So knee sleeves and belts. Add each set working up like I usually do. I had done nothing for the push presses first time back and that was to gauge things. It told me what I kind of already knew which was that my lower back was reaching the limits of recovery with the current pace of progression. So I have no issues with adding back the stuff on things like pulls and squats and moving events. It was probably a good thing I decided to go with support gear this session as my lower back was feeling it on these front squats but as I added weight and more support gear, the stress and strain was going away. I had a similar placement of weight and chains so as to keep the chains from getting caught on the rack. The support feels nice but I think I was a little surprised when it was time for the top sets here. I was used to it feel difficult with the unrack and bracing being tough. It wasn’t feeling as terrible on the unrack and bracing was easy but it was moving like if I didn’t have the support gear. Essentially, it would seem that my midsection wasn’t really taking away from my lower body on this and it was feeling tough. I think I was expecting it to move easier. But I guess that means that the core has gotten sturdier. The first set felt like how I’d expect things to feel. The other two sets the weight felt fine unracking and not heavy but then it seemed tougher on the legs. Second rep of the last set I was a little pitched forward and had rushed my breath on the rep so it was slower to lockout. I rebraced and made the last rep much better. But I feel like I could’ve kept doing triples and grinding out lifts if needed. Took some time putting things away to rehydrate as well as get ready for the rest of the session. Warming up for back extension holds with reps. Told to only do 20 reps this time. Which was fine. It still feels like enough reps to get the blood flow and light up the hamstrings. I had indicated last time I wasn’t planning on going heavier until the weight I did was feeling more like 40 seconds I could handle. But I guess Mr. Westerling had other plans. Apparently going more the heavy and short time hold route. 20 seconds being the limit and then adding a little weight each time if I hit 20 seconds. So like the hangs for upper body I’m doing. 25lbs on the neck harness (most I’ve done so far) and 70lbs in plates held in the row position. I was really not sure what to expect here. This is getting close to the most weight total I’ve attempted to do “back extensions” which on this particular bench. It’s a pretty cheap one a that. I got myself set and went for it. It felt substantial with the weight on the harness. But I knew I could do 20 seconds here and still leave the 5 seconds in the tank. So that was nice. Ending the session with the two different plank exercises. Surprisingly, I was advised I could add a little more weight to the weighted standard planks that I was doing. Last time I was thinking 11lbs more but went with 6lbs more instead because it was convenient at that time. But went with 5lbs more to what I did last time. The backpack feels cumbersome to get on for this. Felt fine but my abs were wanting to cramp up slightly near the end. Then side planks. Still no weight added to these. Just bodyweight again. I think this might have been the best these have been for me. I was able to keep breathing like a braced breathing which I can often do with the regular planks but tend to have issue with side planks. So that was kind of neat. Put stuff away and ate dinner before stretching.

August 10, 2024 – Week 9, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Farmer’s Walk (turf)
90x50’
140x50’
190x50’
240x50’
290x50’

Sandbag Carries
turns at 20’
200x40’ (load style)
200x40’ (bear hug)
turns at 10’
250x20’ (load style)
250x20’ (bear hug)
turns at 50’, on turf
300x214’10” (load style)
300x209’8” (bear hug)

Sled Drags
35x100’
135x50’
225x50’
60 seconds rest
260x100’
260x100’
260x100’
260x100’
260x100’

Stretching
 
Comments: Figures after having plumber come to my house to resolve and issue that something happens. I mean not just my house but a whole area. The amount of rain that came from the hurricane caused a watermain to burst Friday evening so water pressure was down that night and a water boil advisory in effect. So that meant I had to do some prep until I could get some bottled water that evening which I wasn’t planning on doing. Despite the storms, there was thankfully gaps in it that allowed me to get in walks during my lunch breaks the past two days. Legs were thankfully not as sore as the last time I did the front squats with chains. I wasn’t planning on going out early to train as no rush but with not having drinkable water at home unless I boiled it (besides what I prepared last night) and being asked if I could possibly come out early again to assist with training, I got up earlier. Not as early as last week as I hit snooze I think once or twice. I had planned to go to bed earlier but because needing to make sure I had drinking water the next day I stayed up a little later. I wasn’t too sure with traffic as I had seen driving home last week there were plans for construction on the way back to repair a bridge that got taken out by a tractor trailer about a year ago. But that appears to have been delayed to the following week due to the rain. But it does look like in two week’s time that going to have a headache driving out because of construction. With the storm that came through, the temperature was a good bit lower and surprisingly not as humid. I had prepared things for training in the event it was as bad as last week with multiple shirts and towels. I didn’t feel I was going to need that this time but I figured I’d still use the extras as needed. Again, there was a good crowd of people. The events my friend needed help with weren’t as setup intensive as last week and they weren’t on a time limit either so I was able to do stuff between sets and exercises. I wasn’t sure if my right knee would be feeling fine warming up as feeling a little achy but it was fine. Warming up felt pretty good for everything. First thing for the day was farmer’s walk. So this changed from what I was doing. No longer regulated to my slow march and it would be one top set here going forward right now. But I was also told not to go top speed yet. Which makes sense in that doing slow march and break into things gradually. The idea being to increase weight but decrease the time under tension for better recovery as increasing weights on other event specific things. So do what I’ve been doing with 50’ runs and 50lbs per hand jumps in weight. I brought all gear I’d use for competition runs but figured I’d see how things were and decide on what to wear. By that, I was thinking between wearing or not wearing knee sleeves as I was absolutely going to wear all the belt combos for the top set. Lower back is felt the most on this exercise with the pick. Due to people doing stuff, I ended up moving out to the wind tunnel for farmer’s on turf like I did with yoke last week. It is very likely event will be on turf setting anyways for the contest (flight is booked) so not adverse to going from hard concrete to this. Wasn’t feeling too bad at all here. Comfortable as far as grip and I was feeling pretty relaxed while moving with the weights. The pick up with 240lbs (I wasn’t doing hard belt) did feel a little more challenging than I’d have liked. Hard belt (the deadlift belt) did help with that on 290lbs but pick still felt slow. I had only used liquid chalk here (and nothing on the working up sets). I’d say as far as my intent with speed, I was maybe going 75%. It is hard to gauge that though. It is either purposely going slow, just going and trying to go fast. Other than the pick up (which I knew there was going to be fatigue from the past few sessions of the this cycle no belt), the weight felt comfortable and moved well with no issues. No knee issues with moving either. No hurry with things with being so far out from contest (especially in the summer) and likely a better tactic with how long my last contest had between events. The next thing was sandbag carries. Same as last time but with the 300lbs for the working sets. 2 max distance carries with different hold styles. I had been nervous about these last time. I wasn’t as much this time considering how I was feeling after the farmer’s walk this time around and with how these went last time. The concrete lanes were still in use so I made the executive decision to do the working sets on turf. I mean it is likely going to be that at the show too. Event isn’t going to be a max distance carry but this is good to build up the muscles for it. I did a little bit more warming up on this compared to last time just to make sure things were feeling good. While I wore everything besides knee sleeves for farmer’s, I was thinking I’d go with nothing for this session of sandbag. One to compare with last time in some capacity and because it would appear I’m to do this again next time. I wasn’t nervous about the walking and such, just the pick because I remember how much of a struggle it was last time (especially the bear hug pick up). I swapped out a dry shirt for the working sets. The pick mentality is different when setting grip and breathing for a max distance vs a medley and moving fast. I hesitated slightly once I had the bag lapped the first set and then stood up to go. Compared to last time, this weight didn’t feel like anything on my mid back. I tend to adapt to that sensation pretty quick for an event (similar to farmer’s and stones). I was feeling pretty good and was hoping I’d get close to 250’ on that first run but just felt energy drop after coming out of the turn and I was starting to stumble so I called it there. So about 40’ shy last time but with more weight on a tougher surface. Funny enough, this would’ve been near 1st place at the March show the gym hosted (a foot and a half off) so kind of funny my good events don’t need much to get up to par despite not doing them. I needed to prep myself for the second set as that pick was going to be the tough part. Just had to tell myself it was going to feel harder than I’d like and just commit. Other than that pick up, this felt comfortable. I was kind of surprised with how well this was feeling. I wasn’t expecting over 200’ considering I did 30’ less on this compared to the load style hold last time. The stumbling at the end wasn’t as bad as the load style but I called it there when I got to that point. I was very close to matching the first run. This was with no support gear of any kind of any chalk. I kind of wish I was going heavier and heavier but I understand it doesn’t make sense to do that when I got other aspects of my game that need to improve for the contest and need to allocate recovery as needed. Just need to make this weight feel easier and like nothing with all the sessions at this point. Maybe I’ll get to go to heavier bags later. As a treat. Again, I took my time after that to get things setup for the sled drag to finish things off. Not necessarily because I needed to for recovery. The outside was being used by people so I waited until they were done to setup for the finishing sled work. So still the 5 sets of 100’ with a minute rest between them. I was not obligated to keep adding 10-20lbs every session like the first 8 weeks of this prep. I could add weight, keep weight the same or lower weight depending on how I felt and need. Since this one generally feels good compared to the prowler pushing, I figured I would either keep the same or go up in weight. For whatever reason, I was feeling pretty fresh today. Stuff was moving better and feeling lighter. Maybe not doing super slow walks with farmer’s beltless kept me from sapping my legs. But I also did max distance sandbag carries for over 400’ total with over my bodyweight. I decided since it was sunny out that I’d do no shirt like I did on the prowler last week. I mean, I did that because I was drenched. This was I guess just to get some sun due to how rainy it had been during the second half of the week. With how I feeling, I probably could’ve added 25lbs more or so and have it feel like it had been the previous times. This is the first time I’ve done these sets of 5 for either sled based work where I didn’t feel like I was hitting a wall on the last set. Speed was consistent in that got a little slower each set but nothing like where it’s 10 seconds or more slower than the first run like usually the case. Like 2 seconds drop each run after the first two. So that was neat. I wasn’t even breathing to bad either. Maybe I’m getting better haha. Put stuff away and ate before driving home and stretching out.

July 28, 2024 - August 3, 2024 - Week 8

July 29, 2024 – Week 8, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

12” Log Strict Presses w/ Bands (+14lbs/+22llbs)
No Bands
87x5
Add Bands
90x3
120x2
145x2
165x2
185x2
185x2
185x2
185x2
185x5

Paused Chest Supported Barbell Rows
95x5
135x5
185x3
Added Straps, 2 seconds holds
230x5
230x5

Bench Presses w/ Chains (+22lbs)
No Chains
45x15
Add Chains
45x5
95x5
135x3
185x2
225x2
265x5
265x5

Band Face Pulls
lbx35
lbx35

Stretching
 
Comments: Just have to accept work is now at another level of dumb/crazy with how things are done/managed and just adjust to the “new normal”. I feel like people can tell themselves whatever they need to in order to tread water in one place. But enough of that. Seemed to feel ok after training Saturday and kind of getting stuff done Sunday. My weight is back under 280lbs. I am a bit surprised how drastic the drop has been. I was 284lbs when I got back from vacation (down 4lbs from two weeks prior) and now just a bit over 278lbs. I didn’t think I’d lost nearly that much and I didn’t feel like any was dropped. I feel no different from being about 10lbs heavier. Temps had crept up again so it was quite warm today. But I didn’t feel like it was so stuffy to require the fans and just kind of dealt with being a little sweaty. Warming up was ok. Just keeping an eye on things. Some soreness in the legs and aches in the knees. But nothing to really mention here beyond that. And to be expected considering the max distance sandbag stuff. Forearms were a little sore in spots and could tell hips were a little tight. Starting off the actual training was log strict press. Same as last time with it being with bands and 4x2 with up 5 for a fifth set. Suggested increase was 5lbs. Finishing out this week without support gear (at least for this upper body session). I could tell on the log that my hips and lower back were tight. But the good news was that I was able to get my glutes to connect with bracing with those areas feeling tight. Shoulders weren’t feeling too bad here either. I recall that I’ve said they feel achy at the start or things aren’t feeling great and then they do for the working sets. The working sets maybe didn’t feel as easy as I wanted them to but I have to remember that this was how things were last time besides the top set when it felt super easy. This time around I felt I was getting better each set as well. Top set felt the best but definitely wasn’t the super easy feeling I got on that last set last time. I had been tempted with how that went last time to go up 10lbs instead of 5lbs. It was probably best to do 5lbs, especially considering I wasn’t sure how things would feel after swapping sandbag carries for the stone loads. It is nice that I’m doing weights that I was having issues with at start of Regionals prep with bands and no support gear now. I’m just very glad that my shoulders are handling the workload and not having me regress in recovery. From there, it was into the garage for chest supported barbell rows with pauses. Same as last time with it being 2x5 and the 2 second holds at contraction. Indication was to just add 5lbs to last time. I probably could’ve done more but figured I’d stick with the small jumps and see how things are after the sandbag carries for max distance stuff. Weights were feeling a little heavy in the hands without straps working up but was moving fine otherwise. Adding the straps took away that heaviness feeling (I was expecting that to be the case from the casual farmers and the max distance bag carries). These felt quite comfortable and definitely good for a good bit more here. I think this might tie the PR for this exercise for me. Benching was up next. Same as last week but adding 5lbs. As I mentioned last time, I had brought my grip in and the setup is feeling a lot more stable/comfortable for me and wrists aren’t barking at me. But I did notice that I have to still be careful with unracking the weight to not get off balance or out of the groove as well as be aware that lockout is going to be a little slower. Warming up was feeling pretty good here. I was getting that feeling of being stacked with the weight. Lower back was feeling tight but it wasn’t as much of a discomfort coming back up off the bench as it was the last time I did this session. So even though still tight, it is more weight being moved in everything from last time and it feeling slightly better. Unlike last time, I didn’t rush things the second set on these so I didn’t misgroove and have to redo a set. So that certainly saved me some effort. I know these would feel easier with wrist wraps but I don’t need them for comfort like when I was using a wider grip. The chain setup for both these and front squats does require me spacing things out a bit, which adds to the “liveness” of the weight. So I also have to be mindful of that. Last thing being face pulls with bands to finish up. Outside for these for ease of teardown. Reps increased to for the upper limit range to 35 reps. Still for the two sets. I was going to aim for 2x35 here. I just know from experience that fatigue catches up to me hard on that second set but perhaps I can recover better. Honestly, that first set felt like it was more fatiguing and longer to finish than I was expecting. I do the “break it up” method in my head where I just kept telling myself I was doing sets of 5 reps with no rests on that second set and that did seem to help with me dealing with the fatigue here. I cooked up dinner and let it sit to cool while I put stuff away. Stretched out afterwards.

July 31, 2024 – Week 8, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Deadlifts w/ Bands (straps)
No Bands
135x5
Add Bands (+7lbs/+42lbs)
135x3
185x3
225x2
275x2
315x1
365x1
405x1
455x5

Step Ups (18”)
bwx25 L
bwx25 R
bw+10’sx10 L
bw+10’sx10 R

Single Leg Wall Sits
bwx45 seconds L
bwx45 seconds R

Crunches
bw+45x35

Paused Hanging Knee Raises (1 second)
bw+20x22

Stretching
 
Comments: Continues to be hot. That’s not really saying anything. But it certainly has been hot this summer as seeing the electric bill for this month was almost double the previous month. I got the next block of training provided and it seems that some things will be adjusted to more event specific, volume reducing on other stuff and intensity on others going up. While hot, I’ve not really been feeling like I need the fans on for training. Warming up felt fine. Some stuff was feeling little tight from Monday training session. Up first was deadlifts. Pulls from the floor with bands. But this time only a single top set of 5 reps. This and the farmer’s walks from this past Saturday (and maybe the front squats) that had me nervous about sticking to my no belts stance for the rest of this training block. Felt like I had to finish things out here considering next deadlift session will not be these floor pulls with bands. Plan being same warming up with it being 40-50lbs jumps with the weight. The plan was to work up to 425-455lbs and I was eyeing 455lbs with how this was going to be the end of these. I was being mindful with my setup here as I didn’t want it to feel like I couldn’t get tight and load the movement out of the start like it felt last week. But I think a part of it being that tight and focused was also making me feel a little lightheaded after the sets from bracing hard and holding my breath. I didn’t want things to feel like last time where stuff felt slow initially. And I think part of that was having too narrow a stance the one time. This time around I was also figuring if I perhaps had stance to wide and not having things in that “power position”. I’m still getting used to getting that sensation of having my knees past my shoulder which has taken me so long to get to click in some fashion. The heavier singles felt better than last time so I was hopeful that the top set would feel more like the second set than the first set from last time. It felt ok. Form didn’t break down and I’d say at least three reps were in the tank here. I was able to keep up with the big jumps in weight from the start of this cycle 8 weeks ago while no support gear so that was a good sign. Start using belts and such for next time. Outside for step ups. I was sweating but not so much that I needed the fans or a towel. Step ups were a little different this time. I was still doing the bodyweight set but that wasn’t going to be all I did. So first set was 25 reps for each leg. I had done that last time. Naked knees. Knees were a little achy but not enough that felt I had to put on knee sleeves. Breathing a little heavy but good and controlled. Powerful reps. The next part was a set with weight. Light weight. 10lbs dumbbells for a set of 10 reps each leg. But I got to be fancy and use kettlebells. These were a little tricky. Because when I do the step ups, I am also having my upper body move/gesticulate while doing the movement. I’m really trying to step up powerfully with my entire being. Which becomes a little awkward when holding light weights. I don’t seem to know what to do with my arms. With stepping up with the left side, I had more issues with keeping the upper body “relaxed” and not tensing so much compared to the right side. Maybe I had enough practice on the left to get it figured out by the time I got to the right side. Back inside for single leg wall sits were next. Goal to add 5-10 seconds to last time for the progression. I had done 40 seconds last time for a 10 seconds increase and that had been tough. This doesn’t feel like one of those exercises where it ever feels “easier”. 30 seconds the first time, the last time and this time all felt like suffering. I set the timer initially for 50 seconds in the event that I was feeling really good. I was not as previously mentioned with how 30 seconds felt like forever to reach. I know I could do 50 second here but it would’ve been at high cost and made progressing from there much harder. So I went with 45 seconds for both sides here. Left side feels awkward setting up while right side feels comfortable. But it feels the same amount of suck/difficulty regardless which side I do here. Improving this with time is going to be tough. I think adding weight to it would probably be easier with shorter time haha. Core work after that. Weighted crunches. I was debating on going up in weight or staying at 35lbs. Rep range 25-35 and I decided fine, I’ll do 45lbs as that would be the top end goal really. Turned out to be a good call. The iron grip plates have convenient places to hold the plate behind the head. Bite size sets of 5 reps seemed to help me get 35 reps here. The ROM is not very big but this is a crunch vs a situp so I feel I’m doing what is being asked here. Last thing being the paused hanging knee raises. This requires a bit of setup and I had been kind of tearing down other stuff and setting this up since I finished the step ups. Even though it is a pain with setup (elevating rack, ankle weights, liquid chalk, etc) I do like the exercise and how it hits the hip flexors. I did use a fan here but to keep my hands and arms dry enough to apply the liquid chalk so that sweat didn’t affect the grip for these. Lower back was definitely feeling tight and the traction these can provide were noticed with how tense things were. Things were feeling pretty easy until suddenly they were. I was feeling like 25 reps no problem but then decided I’d do the ole “1-2 reps more than last time” route here. I didn’t expect it to be as late as it ended up being or that it would take dinner that long to be done. I may have also made too much dinner for what I was expecting. It was late then my AC started making loud noises (I initially thought it was someone doing yard work) and had to turn it off before I started stretching. Hopefully I can get HVAC people out to take a look because I do not do well in a hot house haha.

August 3, 2024 – Week 8, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Yoke (Casual Pace, turf)
175x80’
250x50’
350x50’
450x50’
550x50’
650x50’
650x50’
175x80’

Sandbag Loads (58“)
200x2
250x2
300x5

Sled Pushes (turf)
105x50’
(60 seconds rest)
195x50’/195x50’
195x50’/195x50’
195x50’/195x50’
195x50’/195x50’
195x50’/195x50’

Stretching
 
Comments: Well the second half of this week decided to be a stressful affair. As mentioned end of Wednesday session about the AC needing to be turned that meant my house was hotter than I’d like for a good bit. Last summer it went out when it got really hot and I had the motor replaced. This time it was something else but with the outside unit only. But my motor in the basement shouldn’t be as loud as it is but the company isn’t sure if still under warranty since it was about a year since install. Using the outside hose to clean the unit revealed that there was also a pipe issue with water flooding the basement. So having a plumber next week to look into that. Thankfully it is only for the hose outside which I rarely use, but can’t be having water leaking where the internet and circuit breaker are. Took all day Thursday for the temperature in the house to get back to acceptable levels for me. Friday I was distracted with work and I suddenly started feeling hot and realized that the AC wasn’t working again. I was worried I’d have to have them out for a second time in less than a day like last year. Turns out they didn’t secure the door in the downstairs unit and the rumbling of the motor had knocked it open and the system shut off automatically. Still, I had a very hot house that I had to cool down for the rest of the day. My hope is the unit lasts through this summer and fall and get it replaced beginning of 2025 when the new coolant systems are released for use and when they won’t be busy. So that was not fun with also working through that. I wasn’t planning on getting up early to train after that but I got a message from a friend asking if I could come out earlier to train to assist with their training. It is rare I get asked to help in advance but I like to help people with training and contest prep. I was given enough notice to be able to adjust when I ate dinner and get to bed and get ready. I was not thrilled when I stepped outside as the humidity was off the charts. I could tell immediately that I was not going to be enjoying myself today. Getting up an hour earlier does at least seem to mean that traffic is smooth as this may have been the best time I’ve made out to train there. The humidity was ridiculous. I think that I’ve just been so used to training with stuff being somewhat reasonable that I’ve forgotten that I’d use to bring multiple shirts with me during the summer months. I think I was also not considering that with the “off season block” where I was doing not support gear. But I think I’ll need to start bringing back up shirts going forward as the training specificity ramps up. I wasn’t too sure how I was going to be feeling today besides the oppressive humidity. Tailbone on the right side was feeling “off” and achy. Not sure what that was about. And right knee feeling slightly achy as well. I helped out with setup and resetting and such with my friend for about 90 minutes (I got unexpected baked goods as compensation haha) before I started getting ready to warm up to do my own training. My shirt was already soaked by this point and I had my one sweat towel drenched as well. I ended up taking my shirt off to try and dry it out some outside while I was warming up. With how much sweat I was having, I was slightly worried about cramping (I was drinking plenty of my intraworkout drink). Other than the right knee feeling achy (and the rivers of sweat), I was feeling ok. There were a good bit of people training for upcoming contests so I had to change things up a little. The plan was starting things with yoke. Plan here was 620x2x50’ at casual pace and continuing with no support gear of any kind as well. One yoke was being used for yoke runs and the other lane for the concrete was being used as people were training keg loads to platform. Another person needed two yokes to train the every popular “steeple chase” event and that needed space as well. I felt that since I’d already been at the gym for 90 minutes and that my height compared to the person using the yoke already and such that it made sense to take the one yoke into the wind tunnel area on turf to do my yoke runs. I wasn’t adverse to going from concrete to turf as it appears the competition will be on turf anyways. Coupled with having to move the yoke a good distance and that next time I’m to do 700lbs for just one set of 50’ next time, I just went for 650lbs as the top weight set. 100lbs jumps here. Knees were aching a little bit but thankfully no issues actually walking with the weight, more so the pick and as I was doing more I was getting that sensation to be less and less. Getting better at bracing and being tight. Even though purposely going slow, this felt comfortable. I ended up taking a longer break than I intended between the sets because during my first set someone managed to break the toss tower and had to see what happened and advised that person to let the owners know. The second set actually felt better. I took my time with getting to the next thing. Put my shirt outside again to dry (it had rained a little bit while doing yoke but was sunny again) and put away the weights. Next was sandbag loads. Plan here was 275lbs to 300lbs for a set of 5 reps to 57”. I had done 275lbs last time to that height so it didn’t really make sense to do that weight again on paper. But with the humidity and how I was feeling, it wasn’t that bad an idea maybe haha. But I was set on 300lbs. I was thinking I was going to have to do it on the turf where I was but the one person had finished up with yoke so I could bring the yoke back. The yoke I was using last time was part of the yokes being used for the steeple chase training so I used the yoke I was using for loading. There are slight differences in hole placing and thickness of crossbar. So this meant I was going to be needing to 58” load height. I’m going to need to get comfortable with the 300lbs bag as looking at this next block of training, that’s the weight for the sandbag for everything. But when it comes to loads, this session I was about to do was likely going to be harder than the next few sessions since this was a set of 5 reps whereas it is more EMOM going forward (at least for loads, still going to be doing sandbag carries ugh). 50lbs jumps warming up with doubles. I think I forgot from last time that I was walking with the bags a little bit to setup rather than just wheeling them out on the handtruck. It was too humid to be doing that today. But that might have been to my detriment as 200lbs felt awful in the everywhere. Thankfully 250lbs felt a ton better but I was a little leery about the right hamstring. I knew this was going to be tougher than I’d like but I knew that was going to be the case going into this with having done beltless deadlifts and beltless yoke and not using any support gear for this. Just going to have to take my time and not rush it as the pick is going to be the part that is hard here. No issues with the hamstring on that first rep so that was a huge relief. But man did I fumble things for the rest of that first rep. I got off balance and stumbled backwards to catch myself and then got it to the bar and had to push it over. Not a great start. So I paced things accordingly. I thankfully didn’t have those issues after that. Last rep was the best one I feel. But it was a slow pace as it took me over a minute to do these reps. I was making sure that I didn’t screw up the picks on these with the accumulated fatigue of this beltless training cycle so far as well as just how much the humidity was sapping the will to live out of me. At this point, I just ditched the shirt as the last thing was going to be those darn sled pushes. I was not looking forward to this. Continuing to be 5 sets of 100’ with 60 seconds rest. With the pushes, 50’ with two sleds with the space available is the best option here. Have to use 10-20lbs more than last time. So 10lbs added. Thankfully, I will be given a little more leeway in the weights going forward (lower, increase, or keep the same) depending on how I feel. Now I took another long break here because wanting to make sure I was keeping my fluid intake up and not having that in my guts when I started. But also because I was helping someone else with training as no one else was really there that did strongman and they were doing heavy stuff for a heavy show. This was the same person that managed to bust the toss tower. This was a good bit of effort needed here as initially using one piece of equipment for frame carries but then the handles were a bit too thick and then swapping to another setup which broke after a run and then to another setup which required some help after they almost passed out. So I felt obligated to keep those shenanigans in check. So with the sled work I started off fine but then I pretty much had that drop off I usually have on the last set happen for the second set. However, I was able to keep things consistent for those following sets with my time increasing like 2 seconds per run. I didn’t need much time to really recover enough to start cleaning up and putting stuff away. Drank and ate what I had and was ready to get back home. The drive home was not like the drive out there. One of those “rollin’ coal” vehicles was on the road and almost caused numerous accidents with the smoke (not illegal in PA). I almost got hit by a car attempting to go into my lane not paying attention. And there was torrential downpour that was making visibility damn near impossible for a good stretch. I had to kind of just sit for a bit when I got home before I started doing stuff like eating and stretching out.