October 13, 2024 - October 19, 2024 - Week 19

 October 14, 2024 – Week 19, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Axle Clean and Push Press (one clean)
50x5
80x3
110x2
140x2
170x1
200x1
230x1
260x1

Axle Push Presses (EMOM)
250x1
255x1
260x1
265x1
270x1

Band Assisted Pull-ups
sbx5 at pin 18
abx5 at pin 20
lbx5 at pin 22

12” Log Incline Bench Presses w/ Bands (+5lbs/+25lbs)
97x8
137x5
167x3
192x2
217x8

Chin Up Holds
bw+35x20 seconds+8 seconds eccentric

Active Shoulder Hangs
bw+60x20 seconds+10 seconds relaxed

Stretching
 
Comments: Off work for holiday so I figured it made sense to train in the early afternoon rather than late, especially with daylight starting to become a premium with it getting closer to the DLS switch next month. It will be darkness when I train at that time. With not having to work today, I took advantage of the rest situation the past two nights getting about 10hrs sleep. Weight still under 275lbs but seems to be just barely this week. I have many months to get down to 265lbs if needed for a competition if necessary. Really windy today and ended up taking some nasal spray before training because allergies seemed to hit me around noon. My lower body is definitely beat at this point. I was surprised how stiff my knees felt walking Sunday and that how tight my hips were. I guess I’ve not really had the opportunity to really go fast and force that speed as of late. Hips and quads are feeling a bit sore even today. So it is probably a good thing I plan on doing the “lighter” option for my Day 2 session this week. But hey, maybe I’ll be feeling refreshed and great by then. Have to play it by ear on the day I think. I was genuinely surprised with how I was feeling doing the warming up for the session. I was figuring I’d be stiff and sore and joints would hurt considering I felt that way the day before. But thankfully not the case. I got things setup for axle. Again, plan here was to work up to a top single and then move on to rack work. My hope was since my body wasn’t aching a lot that my knees wouldn’t be a concern like they were last time I did these and I could be a bit more comfortable with myself. With the axle clean and press, things had been pretty good with how I felt about things last time so a lot of worries about that being off had left. Aim was to do more than last time. I was given leeway depending on how things feel to go 10-20lbs more. Have to see how the last single felt to determine things. Another good thing was that the new skin on my left thumb (from when I smashed it between plates about a week ago) was not having any issues with the axle. I did make a point of filming the singles working up for my own perusal to see how things went. I still got some anxiety about the pick to get that initial pop to the midsection. I was definitely using the catch on the flip from stomach to shoulders as my dip drive for the stuff up to 200lbs. It’s fast but not efficient for heavier stuff. But I do like to keep it there just to know that I can. Like it has me feel powerful. And sometimes I need that little pick me up to get back into the right mindset with training. Especially with over 16yrs of this. I elected to go for 20lbs from the 230lbs lift. It should be there and I think that as I get more confident in that I’m not going to screw up things here that I’ll have things move even better. Comfortable for the most part (would rather I caught it a little higher). Now one thing I did change up from how I was doing things last cycle with axle (besides no jerks) is that I didn’t walk the weight when I was done into the rack. One reason being that the weight was going to be a little less for the rack work to start and because I kind of wanted to bring that weight back down to Earth with a slam. Just lift and not worry about navigating crash pads and rack arms. Even with taking stuff off the bar and setting up for the rack work, I knew it wasn’t going to take nearly as long as it had at the gym the one time. And I’d be in familiar circumstances. Like last time, this was to be 5 singles with the same weight out of the rack done EMOM style but 10lbs more than last time. However, I was given the option to go up a little if it was feeling good. I hadn’t bothered with that the first session because of the knees and the setup being unfamiliar. Knees were feeling ok for the most part. So I figured that I’d see if I could add 5lbs a rep for the EMOM. I like the idea of starting the rack work lighter than the clean and press stuff because sometimes the rack stuff the unracking of weight feels off at the start and takes a bit for me to feel on point. 250lbs to start and it felt ok. Not great but a lot better than how the first rep with 240lbs felt that last time. 5lbs added on and it went up better than 250lbs. 260lbs went up much the same. 265lbs felt a little slower but I think I compensated for that with 270lbs and that went up faster. This was neat little boost. I don’t know if I’ll do the 5lbs increase every time. Will be on the fly if programmed. I know that my overhead lifting needs to keep improving so I can have that strength surplus when things end up crap at a contest. Band assisted pull-ups after that. Working up to a top set of 5 reps and continuing to make this tougher each week. I have two more notches available for the band assistance before no bands so I got another two sessions before going no bands for the top set. As I mentioned last time, I kind of rushed things a bit as I had come from the one gym and then back home with some rain. This time no such issue and I was able to have the bands be adjusted in a way that there was a progression where things did feel a decent bit easier at the start and hopefully not too fatiguing going into the top set. My lower lat and intercostals on the right side were feeling tight and that seemed to have popped up in the middle of the rack work for axle. It has been a while since I’ve had this act up on me but I know it will go away and I’ve been able to tough out sessions with it before. I was a little cautious on these to make sure that everything was feeling ok in that area though. There were thankfully no issues here. It is quite noticeable the increase in difficulty from just a few sessions prior as the band assistance drops further each time. Then incline log pressing with bands. This had been switched last time to being just one top set of 6-8 reps. I had been leery about this last time but the session had gone well so I was back on board. I was a little surprised that the suggested increase was 10lbs more but I went with it. Warming up felt odd. I was making sure the tightness in the lower lat and intercoastal was not going to be a problem bracing here. I ended up smacking my chin on one of the earlier warm ups. As I got to the last working up set, I realized the weights didn’t look right as it was too much and I had to figure out where my math went wrong. I apparently made the mistake on the first weight jump (which may explain the chin smack). I had to adjust the weight here so that the jump from this to the top set of 217lbs was reasonable. Things actually went pretty well here. I was surprised when I had a little hiccup on the fourth rep and had to rebrace and catch my breath that I was able to keep going. I had told myself that if the 6th rep didn’t feel explosive that I’d stop there but it felt good and I was able to get 8 reps again. It is nice when the changes seem to fix the issue and have you feel strong and not spinning in place. Finishing up with holds/hangs. Continuing to be 20 seconds with the extra time and 5lbs added if I succeed. Both of these felt pretty comfortable (relatively). Chin up holds are definitely tougher still than the active shoulder hangs. I can definitely see the chin up holds sticking around and keeping up with more and more weight but I do wonder if there is an endgame with the active shoulder hangs as that is almost double the weight right now. But both seem to be progressing steadily and no worse for wear. Put away stuff and cleaned up fallen branches from the wind before eating a late lunch and then stretching.

October 16, 2024 – Week 19, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Front Squats w/ Chains (+28lbs)
No Chains
45x5
Add Chains
45x5
95x3
135x3
185x2
225x2
265x2
300x2
335x2

Hyper Extensions
bwx20

Hyper Extension Holds (Neck Harness & Plate)
25+95x24 seconds

Planks
bw+81x60 seconds

Side Planks
bw+15x60/60 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: Going into this session with low expectations. I had kind of already told myself due to the low energy I was feeling from two weeks prior which came to a head on the deadlift session last week that I’d probably do the “light version” of this session. This hope was before I did the Day 3 workout last week and I was still feeling a bit rough. But surprisingly I felt decent Day 1 this week (and I was feeling quite beat and stiff on Sunday just walking) so I was somewhat hopeful that I was back on track. However, something in the right lower lat/intercoastal area was really stiff and tender. I’ve had that happen before but it has been a few years. I was able to finish the workout fine and thankfully it was not so uncomfortable that it disrupted sleep. But I was still feeling it in some capacity Tuesday (a little better) and today (a little better than Tuesday). My folks joked that this was from me slanging around weights like I did Monday at my age. Soft tissue work did feel good but not quite 100%. I was a bit worried about this possibly being an issue for Day 3 this week rather than today as I already had delegated this to be a light session and that hopefully just moving around wouldn’t make things linger. Warming up felt fine and happy about that as didn’t want to have any issues here. Then on to the actual training, front squats with chains. Options were to work up to a top double (5-10lbs more than what I did last time) or the back up plan of lighter for 2x5 with 185-225lbs. I had things planned out for either option here. Maybe the backing off on stuff or the rest or maybe giving myself the out here helped. My knees were feeling good and the discomfort I was expecting from the lat/intercoastal never came and I figured maybe I should go heavy today. Perhaps I was bracing better because I knew I had to for the sake of the session. But again, made sure I was taking each set as it came. If I was doing the 2x5, I was going to do 225lbs. The set before that weight I didn’t have a good time as the strap on the right side somehow flipped around as I unracked the weight and hit me in the eye and my soft belt popped off in the hole on the first rep. Despite that, it moved pretty well. With 225lbs I just didn’t feel like doing more than two reps here so I guess going heavy. I did deviate from the suggested here as I felt modifying the jumps made more sense. What was suggested was to do 275lbs, 315lbs and then 335lbs. I felt the top end grouping would be a bit much considering how last time 325lbs felt like a max double. So I was looking at 265lbs, 305lbs and then 330lbs. Having the hard belt felt good here but I got worried as walking back my knees locked and it didn’t feel that great so I was a little hesitant. Also needing to make sure I get my breathing right. With that, I decided to do the next double at 300lbs instead just to give myself the best chance here. And that set felt good (other than getting my breathing right) and I knew that I was on form this week vs last time. I don’t know why but it does seem like every other session I feel very powerful vs feeling heavy. I felt confident enough to go to 335lbs here. I was pretty anxious but that does serve me well on these kind of lifts. I made sure that I took solid breaths for bracing and I crushed it. I’m curious how this will progress from here. Took a little bit to get myself to come back down so I used that time to get dinner mostly prepped before moving on to the rest of the workout. As per usual, warming up for back extension holds with reps. 20 reps again. I can’t say for certain if these felt better or the same as last time. I was figuring this might put a strain on the lat/intercoastal area but seemed to be ok. Took a little break here too to get some more dinner prep done and then back to do the hold. Like the chin up and active shoulder hang, continuing to be 20 seconds (leaving a few seconds in the tank). Neck harness weight has stayed the same for the time being. And I think that is fine as is as it is a good chunk of weight to hold up like that. Still adding to the weight held in hand. This felt tough again to get things off the floor to start so I had to take a few moments to get everything tight before giving it my best effort. This was definitely tough and certainly felt like the closest I’ve come to not meeting the time limit. At least that would be the case if I did 20 seconds. I somehow screwed up my counting tempo. Maybe I was worried that I was trying to call it early. After the fact, it became clear reviewing the video that I did 24 seconds instead of 20 seconds. So I was fine. I guess I’m just doing more than expected today. I guess continuing with that theme I decided to up the weight on planks. I know I said last time that I saw no real reason to go heavier. Well I decided I would because I didn’t like how the solid plate weight in the backpack felt and figured I’d just go up in weight with another chain. That weight should distribute better and it did. Even with sore lower lat/intercoastal I was able to hold this fine and breath braced comfortably. Then side planks. Sticking with 15lbs since I did that last time. I do feel like the right side was pretty good braced breathing wise whereas the left side is still a work in progress but getting better. Put stuff away and ate dinner before stretching. Hopefully I can tough out the rest of this week.

October 19, 2024 – Week 19, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Farmer’s Walk (turf)
100x60’
150x60’
200x60’
250x60’
300x60’ in 11.60 seconds

Sandbag Carry/Load Runs
200x30’/48”/30’
250x30’/48”/30’
300x30’/48”/30’

Sled Drags
35x100’
135x100’
(60 seconds rest)
210x100’
210x100’
210x100’
210x100’
210x100’

Stretching
 
Comments: Work continues to be dumb and I don’t really see that changing anytime soon. I did feel that I got my sleeping a bit more under control with the day off Monday this week and being able to sleep in on the three day weekend. I was still a little anxious about the lat/intercoastal tightness but nothing so far had exacerbated it. But I felt like the things for this session may be the thing though. With sleep and recovery I think on point, I decided to get up at the hour earlier than work time. Especially since once again coming up on the one day I have to go into the office for nonsense, I should probably not have that be a foreign sensation. But despite my best efforts, I was still tired. Probably allergies waking me up earlier too. I ended up sleeping in a little bit but still out the door by 9:00AM. There could be traffic issues going out next time but I guess closer to the gym than at my place. I was surprised that there were only two people there when I got to the gym and one was about to leave. Only some lights on and no music playing. But then people started coming in as I was warming up for the session. A lady with green hair (I think she came to do a workout with a trainer) said she liked my hair. Joints and everything seemed to be just fine going into the session. I am eager to do something with how long this prep is but nothing after this show is looking any good to me and any I’m entertaining are just hypotheticals if nothing good comes along or I have no choice if I want to do more than one show this coming year. The promoter for this show has everyone signed up so far in a group chat and it can be a lot some days. Like today where they sent a poll asking about the deadlift weights. Whatever, time to train. Farmer’s walk this week. This I guess is the “lighter” session but really it isn’t that light. Plan was to work up to contest weight in 50lbs jumps. I had indicated that it made sense to be doing contest length runs on my “lighter” weeks for yoke and farmer’s as I have tended to taper off near the end on runs so need to get used to finishing strong and longer distance. I had also done some more research on the venue and gym equipment and I had initially thought that the farmer’s handles would be similar to the ones I was using but those may be another promoter’s and what may be available for this show is the Titan Fitness handles. I don’t like those. They don’t feel solid and the handles are a little thicker (plus have knurling in the middle and then smooth steel where I grip). So I figured that I better get used to those handles. This session did not do anything for me in liking them any better I’m afraid. First two runs I felt like I was able to go fast and be in control. 200lbs the pick was feeling a little slow but still ok. There was some downtime before 250lbs as I swapped out weights. I was kind of second guessing myself here as this felt substantial and I had to check afterwards that I didn’t screw up the math. I think it is just how these handles feel/sit in my hands. I’ve actually not used more than 285lbs on these kind of handles for a farmer’s walk (holds and deadlifts another story). I’m not sure what happened before this contest run but I guess my nerves and something digesting in my gut didn’t agree with me. I didn’t feel sick but I got a gag reflex going and ended up dry heaving three times. So eyes were watery for a bit and I had to take a little longer rest to make sure that that didn’t happen again. I got set and went for it. The pick a little slow but not so much so that I felt like I was grinding forever like the last two sessions. Also no hamstring peeps. I felt like I was moving well but I just never felt comfortable to where I could move into another gear beyond the one I was in. Maybe the handles. But in either case, I did finish under 12 seconds which was the hope here for contest weight. I’m not sure what the progression from here is going to be but I feel like this “light” session should be more like a heavy session really so that I can hopefully recover better for deadlift that is not yet at contest weight. I need to get myself to feel comfortable with these handles and get into the second gear I know I’m capable of on this event. After that and putting stuff away, I tried to get myself to calm down and not be so high strung. Can’t be retching during the workout. If I puke, the day is done. I thankfully did not have that occur again but I did end up needing to use the restroom. I rarely need to during a training session. Perhaps I was having issues with dinner last night going down quietly. Next was the sandbag event for the show. Pick up sandbag and carry it 30’ to load over 48” yoke and then repick the sandbag and carry another 30’ to finish. I figured I’d hopefully have some improvements from last time as issues with mobility were assuaged. I know that I will take hits on static events at this show and those are events where ties can happen. Not so much with the moving events and a tenth a second could mean points here. I was trying to be nonchalant here so calm myself and then just get a little serious when it was time to go and do the thing. So I gave tips to people training and first aid stuff to another person. I could tell things were going swell here from the very first run as I didn’t seem to have issues fiddling around with the second pick. I had watched a video about faster picks with packing the one side of the sandbag for easier gripping. Also thinking about if it made sense to start behind or get a little more distance from the side. I think not having maxed out the farmer’s pick like last time helped with picks not feeling so darn arduous. I felt I was moving better at least on the second pick and run compared to last time. With the contest weight run, I switched out a fresh shirt and chalked up. I felt quicker off the block but I guess I was holding the bag a little lower than last time so when it came time to shove it over, I didn’t get as much distance. It was close to being in the yoke space so I hesitated for split second before just plowing on ahead. Second pick was a ton better than it was last time. Humped the bag at the end of the run just for my own amusement. Still not timing and doing competitor commands but I’m fairly certain this was almost 2 seconds faster. Another little break putting stuff away before heading out side for sled drags to end the day. Focus on speed now but still the 5 sets of 100’ with a minute rest. 200lbs last time so going up 10lbs this time. Can’t really go full bore on the lighter stuff warming up as can fall on my rear if not careful so just more controlled stuff. These were quite comfortable. I had moved where I started up a little bit since the garage door was closed. Recovery here was really good as I was actually able to have the last run be my fastest this time. I’ll likely need to be using less weight for the pushes with the yoke on turf to be similar in it being speed thing as now it is just tough it out. Stuck around to stretch after drinking a shake. I feel like I can really focus on stretching with specific things rather than making do with what is at home and playing something on the tv for white noise. Drive back was bit obnoxious with traffic issues. Filled up the car since I got to go into to the office next week. Hopefully I can keep recover good going forward.