March 23, 2025 - March 30, 2025 - Week 4

 March 24, 2025 – Week 4, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Axle Push Presses
46x5
76x3
106x2
136x2
166x2
196x5
222x3
248x4

Dips
bwx5
bw+35x3
bw+70x8
bw+70x13

Paused Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows (3 seconds)
40’x5
56’sx5
70’sx5
90’sx12
76’sx12
76’sx12

Axle Seated Overhead Lockouts (6” ROM)
206x2
256x2
306x4
306x4
306x10

Prone Dumbbell Retractions/Single Arm Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extensions w/ bands
15’sx15/22+mbx20--20
15’sx15/22+mbx20--20

Stretching
 
Comments: I guess I decided to completely skip 264lbs and get under that weight from the 265lbs range to 263lbs range. So I guess safe to say I’m solidly in the margin for 120kgs weight class now. It has been since 2023 Nationals that I’ve been this light in bodyweight. I’ve not been actively trying to not be as big since June last year so kind of gives you an idea how even going back to regular diet and some modifications can take a while to return to baseline. My shoulders were feeling quite achy coming into this session after Saturday. This had been a first true running through of the fingal fingers and farmer’s walk stuff as the previous time had been “deload” weights. So that did have me a little nervous about training. Honestly, the axle push pressing is the thing I get the most nervous about each week at this point as I worry that that will be the barometer for recovery. Still dealing with stiffness in the neck and more so the left side. It is manageable but kind of wish it went away. Warming up and mobility was fine. I was actually feeling not so bad with that stuff and maybe I wasn’t going to feel so off. Today for the overhead was the 5/3/1 day of the cycle. So heaviest day of the rotation. I was feeling even more nervous than I was last week here. Ugh. I was trying to not have things be rebound reps on the top set so maybe that was also having me stressed. Once I got to working weight, my biceps decided to get sore. I was kind of figuring this would happen since it was a big jump in weight with the fingal fingers and just not used to doing them. Good thing this contest doesn’t have a clean and pressing event or any other loading event so I can safely work up. Weights were feeling a little heavy in my hands but I didn’t let that phase me. I was getting the reps but perhaps a little bit holding my breath too much. Top set was normally a weight that wouldn’t stress me out but ever since my overhead took a hit, nothing seems to be a sure thing. My last week doing the previous prep I had to redo 240lbs as I missed that on the first attempt. This had been a tricky weight to do during that time too. Just told myself any reps is fine here. I seemed to be fine for the first two reps but then I pushed the third rep out in front too much and couldn’t get it. I had to step forward to catch it and regroup. I was really worried I was going to miss it again and only get 2 reps here. I got the third rep and decided to rack it since I missed it initially. But I didn’t feel good about that. I rested for 10 seconds and unracked the weight again and got one more rep. There was certainly not much left in the tank here after the missed rep so lockout was a bit tough. Overhead continues to need work it would seem. I was able to get 3 or more reps over the goal numbers on the top sets for these first three weeks so I can increase of the next round a good bit (10lbs vs 5lbs). I will potentially need to see how things are going the rest of this week if I need to modify to include deloads in this training prep (I was kind of hoping get through this contest prep and then implement them regularly). I didn’t feel like I was having bad nerves this week after the axle stuff and was able to move on to the rest of the workout without feeling like I had to come back down. Dip time. I was leery about how these would go with how my shoulders were feeling. Back up to “deload” these would be doing higher reps with the slingshot or dropping a lot of weight from it. These have been going well progression wise at this time with the 2 sets plan and adding 5lbs each time. I was able to match last week with more weight so guess keep moving on up. Get the lockout and pressing stuff strong. Moving on to the chest supported dumbbell rows. Still tempo work and warming up with sets of 5 reps. But a change here. Plan was to work up to a top set of 8-12 reps with 1-2RIR and then drop by 15% for 2 matching rep sets. Last time I did this particular progression, I went the heavier route for lower reps. Seeing as how biceps kind of really sore, I figured I’d aim to get the higher rep range end of things. I decided to chalk up here for these “working sets” considering I was going to try and go up in a weight a good bit and because my hands were feeling a bit sore from the farmer’s holds Saturday. These holds with rows are quite exhausting and slowing down the concentric is equally so. These were not fun but necessary. Back outside for rack work. Seated lockouts with the axle. I got a lot of reps last time so I had to bump up the weights. I was nervous here as again, this can be something where not getting in the right spot will make this a ton harder to do. I had noticed that last time with my sets prior to the rep out set. So much so I was shocked I got so many reps on that set. My shoulders were feeling things at this point so I had a feeling these could be tough. But the sets of 4 reps felt better than last week had with less weight. So I wasn’t too concerned I would have a bad time here. Certainly some fatigue here at this point with all the overhead and lockout stuff but I was still able to comfortably get past the goal weight here so I live to fight another day of adding weight to these and the dips. If only this progress was as apparent as my actual contest tested overhead stuff. Last thing the superset of prone dumbbell retractions and single arm overhead dumbbell triceps extensions (with bands). The reps and sets had changed on these last time. 10lbs dumbbells on the retractions was just not cutting it with no pauses and such, My kettlebells didn’t feel great doing these either with having to palm the bastards to really work. Then I remembered I could just grip 5lbs plates together. That worked. A little more weight on the dumbbell for the band triceps combo. Definitely feeling fatigue (more so the right arm). Achy shoulders didn’t really come into it. I feel it is important I keep these in with the lockouts for the walking up of the finger. Put stuff away and ate dinner as I needed to get that done earlier than usual since I had to go into the office for the monthly collab day tomorrow. Stretched out as well.

March 26, 2025 – Week 4, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Skater Jumps
bwx5/5
bwx5/5
bwx5/5

2.5” Thick Bar 18” Jack Pulls (straps)
160x5
250x3
340x2
430x1
520x1
594x3
520x2
520x2
520x2

Trap Bar B Stance Romanian Deadlifts (3 second eccentrics)
125x3/3
195x3/3
245x10/10
265x10/10

Single Leg Stepdowns (foot to rear)
12”
bwx3/3
15”
bwx3/3
18”
bwx10/10
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Landmine Bar Twists
50x8/8
50x8/8
50x8/8

Stretching

Comments: I forgot to mention that another co-worker had passed away on Monday, bringing the total to 3 in the past 6 months. Which is up from the 1 in the past decade from before. Kind of cold too that their information was removed from call sheets and such before COB the same day. Just realize how bad things kind of are with work. But the in office day wasn’t as bad as it could be. I wasn’t feeling like crap. But I did try my best to get some sleep for this session today. Heavy stuff and then having to make sure I adjust schedule for my sister’s competition on Saturday. Warming up is pretty consistent at this point with getting ready for lower body sessions. I noticed I had a bruise on my right knee that potentially happened from Saturday session. Not effecting anything. Skater jumps to start off the session. Feel like I’m not having as much of an issue with knee discomfort from one side to the other. From there, it was on to the big dumb deadlift. Plan was big jumps in weight and aiming for a top set of 3 reps leaving 1-2RIR. I had hopes of what that might be from last session. I realized I may have gone too heavy that heavy session. I’m also realizing that basing progression based off a past suited cycle was probably not wise either. I was not feeling great in the lower back working up today but I’m stubborn. This is what I had setup for the plan so I was going to try and do that. Too late really to rewrite stuff in the moment you know? Plate jumps and low volume. My last single before the working set I wasn’t confident I could do the weight I had planned here for the reps or keep it in the RPE range. I will say that the feeling of my lower back vertebrae feeling like they were gnawed on had abated as I did more weight and added support gear. The concession I ended up making here for my ego was lower the weight a little so that I was doing 90% of contest weight. This didn’t go great but it could’ve been a great deal worse. I could’ve not gotten it to budge or missed reps here. First rep was rough but the second rep felt smooth that I thought I had the third no problem. This was building up a good bit of pressure so I wasn’t really able to keep rigid and go right to the next rep either. I’m not sure if that is because of how out in front the weight is that it puts that pressure. The third rep was very close to not happening as I got that stanky leg jerk thing going and I’ve had it throw me off and miss a weight. But that didn’t happen this time. But RPE 10 is not what I was aiming for here. I also blacked out a little had to catch myself after I got done. Drop down in weight was easy enough as it was the last single I pulled before this triple. Doubles this time. Felt tough but move well. On the last double, I swapped in my more flexible belt and the figure 8 straps to see how that felt. Not much difference but not feeling the bar slipping any with the straps but the trade off being I can’t get out of them if needed quickly with how thick the bar is. If that makes sense. Realizing that the jack stands likely feel harder/deader than the setup I used the first two sessions. A bit annoyed with myself but not sure when I will have a breather to step back and figure out what needs to be adjusted so the prep doesn’t go off the rails. But considering a deload. Fingals and farmer’s work I did last week really kicked my ass in places I wasn’t expecting. From there, moved on to b-stance trap bar rdls. Continuing to escalate these. Still 3 second eccentrics and no support gear. Getting to the end of this exercise in the prep. 8-12 reps (as was to be the case I guess last time) for the sets. I’ve been finding that I like to add weight for the second set because I can. I felt it made sense to do bigger jumps here to get to the weight I wanted to use. I’m not sure why I thought that I had done more for my 10 rep sets last time I did these but I was apparently matching the PR on the first set and going 20lbs past it the second. The bigger jumps warming up did feel rough but that could also be just still feeling the thick bar jack pulls. Grip was tough here but not so much as I had some chalk residue from the thick bar stuff. One more week of these and pushing them a little more. From there moving on step downs. I was hopeful here that I could get back to 18” for the height. I was encouraged by how last week went here despite how achy the knees had felt. I did some reps with the lower box heights and got up the courage for the 18”. Moment of truth. Could I do it and if so, without a lot of pain. Answer being yes. These were certainly tougher with the greater ROM and the knee angle. Balance also tough for the last bit here. I happy I got back to this. I’ll have to see about adding weight at this height now I think. Landmine bar twists to end the night. I had done 50lbs added because my intent was to get a little over contest bag weight (and I was considering doing tosses on the heavy weeks with 50lbs). This did feel a bit tougher than what I did last week. But that could be from just this week being the heaviest considering recovery wise from the Saturday session and what was done with overhead and deadlift efforts. I’m not sure if I will keep these in as I may need to change course to work on what I feel is lagging elsewhere in my program considering that bag throw has been feeling good and progressing while deadlift isn’t as much. Put stuff away and stretched out before eating.

March 27, 2025 – Week 4, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

12” Log Strict Presses (head through on last rep only)
90x3
120x3
150x3
180x3
215x2
215x2
Add 5 seconds hold last rep
205x5
185x5
185x5

Band Assisted Pull-up (stacked, pin 20)
sbx12
sbx12

12” Log Landmine Presses
logx3/3
log+25x3/3
log+50x10/10
log+60x10/10

Paused Leaning Dumbbell Lateral Raises (1 second)/Paused Half Kneeling Band Face Pulls (1 second)/Band Triceps Pressdowns
12x15--15/lbx15/lbx30
12x15--15/lbx15/lbx30

Stretching
 
Comments: This was a great session of training. I was somewhat tempted to push out the day to train because I wouldn’t be training Saturday due to going to West Virginia to help my younger sister compete. But it didn’t seem like a good idea to train Friday evening when likely I had to get up really really really early Saturday morning. So sticking to the normal day. Shoulders still feeling stressed from fingal fingers. I’m kind of flabbergasted how much that wrecked my shoulders recovery wise. I was just kind of hoping that I was good by this point. Warming up for the workout felt fine. The heavier week for log press. No bands, still trying to lean back with strict style and hold at lockout on the last rep. Head through only on the last rep. Plan was to work up in triples for 5rm but leaving 1-2RIR. I had felt maybe I was a little too eager last time and probably should’ve been a little lighter. My plan was 30lbs jumps here so 210lbs but I don’t know why I was thinking more. Initially, empty log felt kind of crap. But then it was feeling pretty good after that. So then I was wondering if I should go something like switching to 20lbs jumps after 180lbs so that I’d do 220lbs. 180lbs didn’t feel so easy that that was a good idea. So 210lbs. But then I talked myself to do 212lbs. And then 215lbs. And that ended up being just garbage. Unracking that weight just felt off but I still went for it. I couldn’t stay in the lean back position and had to stand up fully before going for another rep. It was too much stress on my body holding breath and I took about 30 seconds to recompose myself and tried it again foolishly to only get another double before bailing. I was really thinking of packing in the workout and thinking about what I need to do to not have this happen again. But told myself to finish out the session and do what I can. I probably need to deload stuff after how the heavy deadlifts had felt. I took off 10lbs and that seemed to be good but then I got lightheaded and had to rerack after the fourth rep and take a breather before doing the last rep. 20lbs off for 2x5 and those seemed to be okay. I’m just annoyed with how crap log strict press was feeling. From there it was the band assisted pull-ups. No more tempo work. That was really tough stuff even with a bunch of band help. That stuff tends to put a lot of strain on my forearms (especially the left side). Still using band assistance and dropping to just 2 sets here. Plan being 8-12 with 2-3RIR. I figured it was probably best for higher reps at this time. These were feeling quite good mostly. My left shoulder for some reason was feeling “crunchy”. Not pain but wasn’t feeling like how I’d like a shoulder or joint to be feeling. This could be stuff from the deep tissue massage still combined with the fingal fingers stuff. I don’t know. But hopefully that isn’t something that is now the new thing I have going on. But other than that, felt good on my body elsewhere and seemed like my back was strong. Second time then with the single arm log landmine press thing. Plan was to add weight and drop 2 reps. I felt like I could do more weight here now compared to last time. The setup I have is not ideal I think for going really heavy on this as the anchor point could pop up if not careful. The increased weight did mean I had to recruit more bracing in my body to be stable to press. Forearms didn’t feel the same after doing these like last time. Getting the weight started from the bottom (which isn’t where it is at the start on shoulders) is a lot harder than when in the position. It isn’t so bad pressing. I don’t think I can really devote the energy to this with the recovery issues as I feel like other things offer more bang for the buck so to speak. But not sure. Last bit of the workout was adjusted. Dropped the dumbbell for the triceps stuff and put band stuff in with the leaning laterals and face pulls as a triset. I could tell my shoulders were fatigued with how the tendons were feeling on the leaning lateral raises. This weight shouldn’t have felt this difficult. Face pulls and triceps band stuff felt like they should. I felt hungry and ate a decent dinner after putting stuff away and stretching. Feeling a bit stressed this week and needing to find time to decompress.

March 30, 2025 – Week 4, Day 4

Dynamic Warm Up

Box Jumps
18”x1
24”x3
25”x3
26”x3
27”x3

Sandbag Throws (rotational style)
45x26’8”
45x27’2”
45x28’0”
45x28’2”
45x26’6”
50x27’2”
50xscratch
50x29’0”
50x28’2”
50x27’7”
50x28’5”

Safety Squat Bar Zercher Goodmornings w/ bands (+24lbs/+58lbs, 33” height)
65x3
115x3
155x3
205x3
245x3
245x3
245x3
245x3
245x3

Seated Leg Curls (2-0-2-0 tempo)/Paused Monster Mondo Leg Presses (2 seconds)
100x5/300x5
150x5/450x5
200x10/600x10
200x10/600x10
200x10/600x10

Rolling D-Handle Hangs (2” handles)
bw for 5 seconds
bw+26.5 for 51.50 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Friday was odd. I was thinking about training and noticing I was getting irritated with seeing people progress again. I was finding it hard to put aside time to address some things. Having to put them off temporarily. Not ideal. I had to get to sleep early Friday as I had to get up at 5:20AM Saturday for the drive out to the competition. Not ideal, but not for me. My left shoulder blade felt funky (not pain) and it was weighing on me so I was trying to distract. The competition was at a gym with a lot of stuff so I was doing things there to make sure it was ok. It was a good day for my sister and seemed to validate the training she had done for her as there was a lot of stress and emotions. I took some ibuprofen for the ride home but still didn’t fall asleep until after midnight. I needed to get sleep if I had any hope of training on Sunday going well. I woke up like an hour before my usual work time and managed to make myself sleep another 2.5hrs after that. Usually I indicate weight beginning of the week but since this is already Sunday, I checked before I went to the gym. I apparently ate a good bit this week as I got back up to 269.4lbs. So like 6lbs gained lol. I’m sure that isn’t going to stay there as I should be back to regular schedule of eating. Training is going to be a little off due to gym competitions this coming month. So Sunday training going to be the norm for a few weeks I guess. Drive out wasn’t bad and there wasn’t many people there. There were moments I was all alone. To be expected. My body was feeling better than it did the day before thankfully but I was nervous and doubtful that I was doing things right. I worry that I’m spinning my wheels again. Warmed up for the session and got some things setup beforehand (namely the throwing space). Box jumps to start off. I wasn’t sure about these staying after thinking on what needs work. I honestly wasn’t expecting these to be good with how my bounding warming up was feeling but stuff was feeling pretty good by the end. 4x3 but not a max effort obviously. I had done same height last time and that was needed with how things were feeling. I felt pretty good and only did a single jump at lower height before going for what I did last time. If this felt as good as it did, then I was likely going to add 1” each set. This felt like the most consistent I’ve felt on these and the least amount of hesitancy between reps on the jumps. Knees did seem to feel a little achy as I went. Not sure what I’ll do next time with how these felt. So outside for throws. It is a bit annoying that people are changing the weights in the bags. I can’t locate my 5lbs sandbags to adjust them either. I don’t really need them right now but I will in the future. Really I was just looking so that I could do a decent light weight toss to warm up. My 30lbs bag was lowered to almost 20lbs so that wasn’t really much help. I did some Cariaoca as well as some rotations with the bags. I did chuck the 20ish bag twice with one going over 45’. So plan for the heavier session was to do 5 tosses at 45lbs and then try to do 5 more tosses at 50lbs. Try to take a little break between those clusters. I applied some liquid chalk to my hands as it was a bit humid out and I wanted to keep my hands dry. Last time I did my heavy day here my “35” (40lbs) were coming up short by a good bit and I started off rough with 45lbs. But I guess I’m getting more consistent with these as right off the bat I was in pretty good territory. By my third throw, I had beaten my best at this weight and followed that up on my fourth throw. Started to wane a little but all tosses were 26’6” or better. Then the 50lbs bag. This is a Rogue Fitness bag vs the Cerberus Strength ones I’ve been doing most of the training so far with. This may be closer to what is used at show but not sure. I was shocked that I got over 27’ on the first toss. Keep in mind my first toss with 45lbs two weeks prior had been under 16’. I did then scratch my next attempt. So maybe it was a fluke. Need to be consistent. I then got 29’ on my next throw. I audibly said “holy shit” after I saw it get very close to 30’. I made sure to weigh these afterwards (the 45lbs actually coming out to 46lbs) to make sure I wasn’t throwing a light bag. I guess the Rogue ones fly further with their design. Not including the scratch, I averaged further with the 50lbs bag. I think it is a good idea for me to toss both styles of bag I think. Build up to more volume with the 50lbs. I stopped at 5 there as I could tell I was getting tired with this kind of weight. Put stuff away and moved on to more gym based stuff. The ssb thing I do against bands making an appearance. Last time it had been really light on purpose and plan here was to actually have it be some working weight. Which meant adding 40lbs. I was having some issues with my upper back/neck feeling tense last time but also feeling a bit lightheaded. I thankfully didn’t have that issue this time around. It also didn’t feel awkward not holding onto a swiss ball so that was good as well. I was actually feeling pretty good and light on my feet that I was actually getting some air time working up. Not on the working weights. I felt like this was good work. It did take until around the fourth set before I felt like I was getting everything right at this weight. Or so I thought. Apparently I was to be doing 5x2 and not 5x3. Oops. Put that nonsense away and got onto the machine superset I did last time on this session; seated tempo leg curls and paused leg presses. I’m glad I was able to do these last time with minimal issue. I need to find ways to work my legs without aggravating tendons and such. I’m not sure if I will continue to pair these after this session (not because it isn’t working) but just I was looking to push some things more. I wanted to use more weight on the leg press portion as I feel I need to get that up. The leg curl is limited in what I can put on it but leg press can really add a lot of weight. It is 300lbs empty as well. So I wanted to try and add 150lbs to what I did last time. But drop 5 reps from the sets and try and get that done. This could be a tall order. My right knee was feeling a little achy after the ssb stuff but not so much that I couldn’t do these. This actually wasn’t too bad. The leg press actually was feeling better and less achy as I did sets. Leg curl felt like a lot of tension at the start but was comfortable as I did the reps. I was tempted to do more reps for both on the last set but figured it was better to just get the work done and see about improving next time. 50lbs/150lbs is a big jump from one session. Last thing then being grip. 2” thick rolling handles coming into play again. Last time was heavy but leaving seconds in the tank and totaling about 45-60 seconds between 2 sets. This time it was just work up to one set of over 45 seconds leaving less in the tank. I didn’t do myself any favors for this one as I was messing around with grip stuff at the gym on Saturday. How could I not when they had all the Captains of Crush Grippers and an Inch Dumbbell replica? I was able to pick up the Inch dumbbell with each hand once and close a 200lbs rated gripper. Fun but not conducive to doing a grip hold the following day. I could tell my forearms were a little sore but I should still be good with what I expected to hit. I actually went a little heavier as I was initially going to use the weight vest but thought better of it as it could potentially stress the traps/neck area like last time. So did dip belt with kettlebell. I was able to go beyond the goal of 45 seconds and if I went to failure I’d probably be close to a minute. I put stuff away and cleaned up and drank my shake before driving home. I had stuff to do from this week still and not a lot of weekend left. Stretched when I got home. Not sure what changes I need to make but I have some ideas.