September 29, 2025 – Week 5, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Axle Push Presses (4 second eccentrics)
26x5
56x3
86x3
116x2
146x2
176x2
206x4
206x4
206x4
206x4
206x4

Breathing Pause 12” Log Incline Bench Presses (2 second eccentrics)
90x3
120x3
150x3
180x5
180x5
180x5
180x5

Alternating + Together Dumbbell Floor Presses
70’sx8(1/1/1)
70’sx8(1/1/1)
70’sx8(1/1/1)

Half Kneeling Neutral Grip Dumbbell Presses/Assisted Spanish Squats
55x10/10 – bwx45 seconds
55x10/10 – bwx45 seconds
55x10/10 – bwx45 seconds

Deadstop Pendlay Rows/Band Single Leg Seated Leg Extensions
135x5 
205x10 -- mb+10x20/20
205x10 -- mb+10x20/20
205x10 -- mb+10x20/20

Stretching

Comments: Weight down a few lbs as I kind of expected from not eating as much as I usually do on Saturday but still a bit surprising that about 3lbs difference. This is more for just keeping track and notes so that I don’t have a situation where I don’t realize I’ve dropped like 20lbs over 9 months and wonder why my leverages are all out of whack on events. I’m still not sure what it was that happened or is still happening with the left thigh/hip but it does seem to now be just the thigh in a set area. It is tolerable and not keeping me from doing anything. It could just be something was irritated or I could have had a slight muscle tear. I do have one of those in the other thigh but on the outside area. All I can really do is just monitor things. I did make sure I got some soft tissue done on Sunday to help with recovery as that did seem to help some leading up to Saturday session. Perhaps some but not that much this time around. I was promised/warned of changes with the routine for this coming week. Foam rolling was not really as needed as I was expecting but did need a bit for calves. Neck rehab stuff followed that up and then did some stuff for ankles and knees before doing lower body stretching followed by a dead hang. I did the ankle/knee stuff today because one of the changes to this session was starting off with axle push press instead of strict press. I had not expected to be doing push press twice in one week nor so soon after doing the heaviest I’ve done since world’s (which isn’t really saying much). No pauses like on Saturday but still adding something to screw around with it. And that would be keeping the eccentric accentuation going from the strict presses. We could think of this as just being strict press negatives. I’ve done these fairly recent in training memory (December) so I had some expectation of how these would feel and go. Plan was to do 5x4 at RPE 8ish with 4 second eccentrics. It did take a bit for my knees to accept that I was doing this crap in 48hrs time frame. The eccentrics really sap the energy from me in the upper body to keep the form tight. Trying to focus on what Ms. Funk says with keeping things tight and not losing that tightness as that is when stuff goes out of the groove. Just with how the eccentrics strain is (and this is going up over 100lbs from the strict) I wasn’t sure that my goal of axle and two plates was going to happen. But it did seem to work here. Double rest here as I knew how much those eccentrics take out of me. Third set was the best set here and it felt downright perfect. So good that I was thinking that I was not using enough weight but I thought better of it and it is a good thing as the fatigue was hitting hard and those remaining two sets were the toughest of them. I could feel that I was hopping backwards on those sets with the push drive which if I recall is a timing issue with the drive in lower body and upper body. Fatiguing the shoulders with the slow eccentrics makes that more obvious. I was able to get these done without incident. Where does the time go as I swear it was already looking like 6:30PM at this point when I didn’t think I was that slow going get off my duff from work. From there moving on to the paused log work. This had also been changed up from what I’ve been doing the past four weeks. Still a pause circumstance but intent much different. What I had been doing was pauses for 3 seconds and gradually getting better control of the eccentric and lockouts. These were to be 2 second eccentrics and the doing a “breathing pause”. So push out the air in my lungs and then take a deep breath to rebrace and press up to complete the rep. So closer to a 4 second pause then but one where I’m relaxing and then contracting. So similar to like cleaning and pressing catch for an overhead or having to rebrace if needing to get air for an overhead lift. Like the axle push press, I was told to aim for RPE 8 here. Plan being 4x5. I did 30lbs jumps here and I was kind of hoping I could do 200lbs or more but I felt like maybe I stick to just 15lbs increase on these with switching over. It was good call as while things didn’t feel bad at the start, those last two reps got tough quick on these. I was worried I miscounted an extra rep on the last set but nope, just tough fifth rep there. Moving right along into the garage for more pressing. Alternating floor presses with dumbbells again. Well, kind of. So one change was these weren’t for time like the past four weeks. Just 3x8. But not really in that a rep constituted one press each side and then pressing together. So right, left, both and that is one rep. I was initially uncertain if I could handle the 70’s here for that but after I looked at a video of what I did in 30 seconds and that was more reps than these sets were going to be, I went with that. These were a bit tricky with bracing and switching gears. I’m not sure if the plan here will be to increase the reps or push weight but I’m ready for either. Moving on to the supersets. So as the same as last week with half kneeling presses to start. Bumping reps back up to 10 and told to do 50-55lbs here. For the most part fine but I could tell that if I lost any tightness that a rep would get a little tougher. Had to also stop myself from trying to just bang out the reps like I’ve done. Need to work on the lockouts to be solid. Keep the triceps engaged. Not have core get soft. The other half being the Spanish squats. Consigned to the rope assisted ones with regressions to be able to do it. It had been nice to finally get these to click (albeit the last set) so I was hopeful I could get them to be from the onset this time around. I tested with no knee sleeves and that wasn’t going to happen. Knee sleeves needed. Sets of 45 seconds and I did start a little slow and gingerly but I was doing these much better this time and was feeling like they got better as I went. Something must be wrong with me as I wanted to do them longer as the quads were getting burn here and my mobility and aches were also improving. It just takes a bit to get this setup to work for me. Last thing had a change to it as well. The first half still being the Pendlay rows. Same weight as last time but increasing reps to 10. I did inquire if I should be wearing a belt and was told no so keeping these as they’ve been. No straps added as I like these this way for picking up odd objects. Little bit of knee aches to get into position but better as I went and feeling tension in the hamstrings. I wasn’t sure if I did an extra rep on the last set (I didn’t). The other part was not the walking lunges. Just went I was getting used to those. Changing things up to let my hips rest. So told to do banded single leg extensions. Sets of 20 reps. I had to get a little imaginative here with anchoring. I was having issues with doing just bands and getting things to work so I ended up using my 10lbs ankle weights to keep the bands in place on my legs. These seemed to be fine. I may need to do more band tension (either thicker band or move the table out further). Cooked up dinner and put stuff away. Stretched after eating.

September 27, 2025 – Week 4, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Heel Elevated Safety Squat Bar Squats
65x10
115x5
155x4
205x3
245x2
275x5
275x5
275x5
275x5
275x5

Axle Push Presses (0-1-0-1 tempo)
35x5
65x5
95x3
125x3
155x2
185x2
215x3
215x3
215x3
215x3

Bulgarian Split Squats/Incline Dumbbell Squeeze Bench Presses
bwx5/5 – 40’sx3
20’sx40 seconds/40 seconds -- 70’sx12
20’sx40 seconds/40 seconds -- 70’sx12
20’sx40 seconds/40 seconds -- 70’sx12

Curtsy Lunges/Single Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extensions
bwx6/6 – 20x6/6
bw+30x10/10 -- 40x8/8
bw+40x10/10 -- 40x8/8
bw+50x10/10 -- 40x8/8

Stretching

Comments: Work was very busy but that had been obvious with this being the week where I had a lot of things scheduled from the week I was told to get my shit together after returning from Ireland. I survived it but it was a lot of effort and I could tell that I was feeling worn down. My weekends at this point feel like when I’m able to recover and I’m not so inclined to wake up early or really do much beyond train on Saturday and then do upkeep for the next week and chores from the previous week on Sunday. I imagine it will be more of a premium with the switch over in schedule after this coming week. I’m still working on figuring out meals for in office. Outside of work crap, I was also cautious with my left hip/inner thigh situation as so far so good with training this week but I was unsure how this session would go as this had been the one that really exacerbated things in the first place. If I needed the sleep last week, I desperately needed it this week as I had a fair number of stress dreams and it was closer to 11:00AM at this point. I was not motivated to leave my house as again, no one was actually training for anything right now, I could do everything at home, and my one friend wasn’t going to be there as in another state for a wedding. I didn’t want to have to deal with traffic honestly and if I got an issue with my leg, I didn’t want to be having to deal with about an hour in the car before home. This was probably not the best day to be obstinate (as looked like some rain) but if this was going to be one, it works. I’ll likely have to do next Saturday at home option because of the powerlifting meet at the strongman gym. So need to see what I have to change or what I can do here. I did entertain going to the local powerlifting gym but decided against it as I’d likely have to make adjustments to things like my squats and the split squats as I know they don’t have an ssb (got a transformer bar that I’ve never used) or something to anchor or elevate my heels. Save myself the $10 and gas. Foam rolling was needed on the lower legs with a lot needed for the right calf. No so much on other things. I did do soft tissue work last night. Moved on to the neck rehab stuff and that was good. Did some stuff for my ankles and knees before doing stuff with stretches for the hips, ankles and knees and dead hang for decompression. Not quite the same stuff I had done on Wednesday. From there on to training and starting off with the ssb squats with heels elevated and atg style. I don’t have the ramps here like at the gym that are the solid metal things for car deadlift so I had to improvise with using the hard foam I have and then wearing my lifters. I didn’t feel too comfortable/confident in that setup not going squirrely on me so I put a wood platform with dumbbells weighing it down behind those so it was stable. So that seemed to work. Plan for these was to do 255-275lbs for 5x5. I figured that I’d go for 275lbs here, which could be risky as I tend to find my ssb to be a little more challenging compared to the one at the strongman gym. Notes indicated that I tend to have my upper back collapsed on these. I’m not sure if going to try and override/correct as I kind of felt like that I was tucking it to brace it. One issue with my setup is that I don’t have the best rack inside my garage. I got it for ease of moving around for when COVID stuff closed everything and it was cheap. My outside rack is much better but not as easy to move around and I didn’t want to be moving stuff outside just for squats when it was looking like rain may happen (weather app saying nothing at one point and then 30 minutes later saying it was). With the elevated heels, this had me picking the weight up much lower than I’d like so that made unracking a little unwieldy. Always a little bit of getting used to things with increased weight on squats (been going up like 70lbs since the first week) so breathing takes a set or so and then I’m good. Other than the odd setup, these felt mostly comfortable. I did get a little pitched forward after the fourth rep of the third set and had to catch myself before going for the fifth rep. From there, moved on to axle out of the rack for overhead outside. Of course, it was now raining. And it ended up raining for just as long as I was doing these as it stopped when I was done and putting stuff away out there. But I’ve done overhead in the rain before and it is only really when it is clean and presses that I don’t mess around with that if I can help it. Same setup of triples with pauses at two spots in the movement. I was given the go ahead to increase the weight on these but notes were two less sets and to not get sloppy. The rain/wetness was going to be an added factor here and trying to not get anxious and rush things on these. I do think I’ve gotten better with my rack position that I feel solid and it doesn’t feel crushingly heavy each time. Trying to get it so that there isn’t such a lag between my leg drive and my arms taking over as well. First set I got a little off balance on the second rep at lockout. Second set I think was better in that I calmed down to really think on positioning. I think of all the reps, the first one of the third set was the best at what I wanted to achieve with the first of the fourth set a close second. I definitely have to keep working on the subsequent reps and keeping the position in the dip stable and tight. There is a lot of cues to be focusing on (not nearly as many as Spanish squats haha). This is the one event that I need to really get my abilities and confidence back up if I want to be competitive at any show. The rest of the workout after that being the supersets. Some changes to these from last week. The first one of Bulgarian split squats and the incline squeeze bench still present but slight adjustments. The bss are still time based with same weight as last time with it now being 40 seconds vs 30 seconds. This was the exercise I was truly the most concerned about as I think me going up from bodyweight to 20lbs per hand on these and trying to move like I did from no weight to added weight was partly to blame for the tendon/nerves to get all angry at me last weekend. I managed to get through everything else without issue this week. So I did do some bodyweight only just to make this wasn’t going to be terrible. I did these with control and that seemed to be good when doing them with weight as well. The other half of these was changed with it being rep based vs time based on the pressing. So I had to figure out what I could do for 12 reps here across three sets. I had hit about 19 reps in 30 seconds with the 55lbs last week and 1rm calculators were putting me at about 65lbs for 12 reps. If at a gym, I could be that precise but not at home when I have only one pair of plateloadable handles and my choices for set are 10’s, 40’s and 70’s. I needed the handles for the bss stuff (could do 10’s, 15’s or 25’s here without handles) so I had to hope that I could handle doing my 70’s here for the sets. And thankfully, that did end up being the case here. The last superset for the session also had a change. I was not to do the lateral lunges as those were not conducive to not irritating my inner thigh and hip. Also quite rough on my knees, even with warming up. The new exercise to replace it being curtsy lunges. Never done them and had to look up videos on them. It looks to be like a reverse lunge but with the back leg going across the body. So besides the novelty of it being more emphasis on the one side with angle it was also going to be something of proprioception for me with putting foot behind with it being a fairly new movement for me.  I did these with bodyweight to start out as my knees were quite creaky and I was wondering how I was going to do these but the movement got better. Plan was 3x10. These actually felt comfortable for the most part. I had no idea what I could do weight wise here and I realized I could go heavier after that first set so I did add 10lbs per set. I will have to remember to start with the other side first (assuming still doing these) as that is the side that has a harder time with theses. I did get a little off balance on the last rep of the second set for my lagging side and just had to laugh it off and do it again. The triceps extensions pushing the weight on these aiming for 40lbs with it being 3x6-8. It is tougher for the right side on these but I do like the sensation of the contraction of these, feeling it fully in the belly of the triceps muscle. It was quite late in the afternoon and dare I say early evening that I decided it made more sense to just aim for a slightly earlier dinner than eat something and eat a really late dinner. Stretched out after putting stuff away before getting cleaned up and making dinner. Glad that leg/hip thing wasn’t an issue.

September 24, 2025 – Week 4, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Long Bar Deadlifts (straps)
155x5
215x4
265x3
315x2
365x1
EMOM
415x2
415x2
415x2
415x2
415x2
415x2
415x2
415x2
415x2
415x2

Safety Squat Bar Front Box Squats (24”)
65x6
115x5
155x4
205x3
245x2
295x4
295x4
295x4
295x4
295x4
295x4

Snatch Grip Romanian Deadlifts (straps)/Pull Ups/Concentric Lying Band Leg Curls
135x5
225x3/bwx3
315x9/bw+10x10/2(lb)x15
315x9/bw+10x10/2(lb)x15
315x9/bw+10x9/2(lb)x15

Sandbag Over Shoulders
225x30 seconds
225x30 seconds
225x30 seconds

Stretching

Comments: It has been a busy week with work but there seems to be a light at the end of the week. Walking Tuesday I saw a small garter snake which was neat as I rarely see anything besides squirrels, birds and dogs when out walking. I’ve usually seen dead little snakes from lawn service stuff during the fall so it was good this one was healthy. I’m glad that I didn’t seem to have any issues from Monday training session as far as the hip/thigh thing. My left side shoulder was feeling a little tight/compressed but no muscle soreness. Right knee a little achy and I wonder if that was from the traction and extra effort put in on trying to get Spanish squats to work for me. Soft tissue stuff needed. A lot for my right calf and quads. Neck rehab stuff fine as well. I was advised to implement some ankle stuff in the form of calf and tib raises so I did that with some glute activation work as well before doing the stretching for lower body. I was a little slow going with getting to training. I don’t know why. Maybe because I think this workout doesn’t take that long on paper but I know better that it does. Starting things off with the long ass bar deadlifts. Same as last time with the weight and increasing the EMOM to 10x2. I was told to film from the side fully this time so that Ms. Funk could review my form better when I had mentioned my knees had gotten a little raw when I had to do 12x3 session two weeks earlier. I had to rotate the bar 90 degrees so that I could get it to fit and get a good side view and not worry about the weights rolling away. Warming up was fine here. I had issues with my belts today. First attempt of the first set the Velcro on the belt came undone and I dropped it. I reset things and went again and I got through the set before it popped off again locking out the second rep. I don’t know if I was bracing harder or something but I couldn’t keep having this happen on these with the short rest and I rushed to get a different belt (ratchet belt) which I generally use for my heavier pulls. It does not appear though it was purely the other belt as I had this belt come loose a few sets in and need to fix it as well (in this case, I hadn’t gotten it secure when I first put it on to stay in the EMOM rest period). I don’t feel like I’ve been consistent with getting these pulls to feel “perfect” on the first rep. I don’t really see too much difference set to set on the second reps really but there does seem to be a sweet spot where if I get the brace, flex and pull timed right that it feels weightless. Now I say this but this session was probably the best I’ve had with that being hit with getting it on the fourth and tenth set here. I think I got one set last week, none the week before as far as weights over 400lbs. The first week I think I had 2-3 that were but those were lighter weights. Everything held up in my lower body and no issues from the belt stuff or anything else. Getting that last set to be feeling like my best kind of gave me a boost/second wind but I knew I needed to take time setting up and tearing down. One for getting fluids in and the other to kind of think of staging for stuff later in the workout. From there on to the ssb front box squats. Same weight as last week but doing 6x4 instead. I did well last week it seems with control and form. I was a little anxious about loading the hips with the left side issue and the right knee being a little achy. I did the same warming up I did last week with 40-50lbs jumps on plate-quarter-plate all the way up and dropping a rep each set until working weight. A positive was that these didn’t feel as heavy compared to last week. Felt comfortable almost. I could definitely feel the left side thigh stuff as I did more sets and the fatigue was building from the controlled decent to the hard foam box but still good. So these went well as well. A little longer a break here to setup things for the triset. Again, slight change here. The snatch grip Romanian deadlifts started things off. Plan was 305-315lbs for 3x8. I figured that I’d probably have adapted to the movement after the first session so wouldn’t feel so alien and not feel like I was uncoordinated in the bottom range of the movement. So I went with 315lbs. I was also told that I should try to get my glutes to fire on these better so I did try and thick of that (easier said then done). 315lbs I miscounted the first set and since it was easy enough, I figured I’d stick to 9 reps for all the sets. Second set felt a good bit tougher than the first set and the third set felt like the first set. So that was a little weird. Pull ups were next. Same as it has been with 3 sets of max reps but adding 10lbs to bodyweight. I knew this was have me take a hit as adding weight does add a factor that makes the moving around part not as easy and trying to pull violently without control leads to that extra weight working against you. I also had the unfortunateness to be dealing with rain so did my best to keep the pull up bar dry between sets and dry my hands with liquid chalk. Reps took a hit here with getting 10 twice and 9 on the last set. I made a little mistake with the last thing. Indication was leg curls with bands in the same position as the band tantrums. I took that to mean using the same setup with the bands and this resulted in a more concentric only leg curl for just the top end. I used the same bands and did 3x15 here (reps and not seconds). Got quite hard contractions in the hamstrings on these. I’m not sure if Ms. Funk will have me keep these oopsies or if I will be doing more proper style next time. It gets a little tricky with moving things around. It was definitely getting later in the evening than I was hoping at this point and I still had one more thing to go. Arguably the most sport specific exercise I’m doing right now if intent is the Natural Strongman qualifier in January. Sandbag over shoulder. I’ve been doing 175lbs these past three weeks so told to move up to the next weight bag I got and go back to 3x30 seconds. Which meant 225lbs. It is a bit firmer compared to the 175lbs but it also has a not great top knot section to grab on one side vs the other. It makes me yearn for the Velcro bags that feel somewhat even each side. The 50lbs increase was definitely noticeable here. I figured that I should be able to do 4 reps on these in the time limit or just about going over finishing up. Even though I didn’t drink anything besides a few sips of water before this, I still was a victim to my biology as I threw up in my mouth picking up the bag the first rep on the first and second set. Just a little bit but it isn’t fun and it is quite distracting. These require a bit more effort with getting grip and wrist placement right and then if the umph isn’t there, a bit more muscling it over. But thankfully the work was done and I could go and eat dinner and then stretch out and try to fall asleep at a reasonable hour.

September 22, 2025 – Week 4, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Axle Strict Presses (5-0-5-0 tempo)
30x3
60x3
93x6
93x6
93x6
93x6
93x6

Paused 12” Log Incline Bench Presses (3 seconds)
90x3
130x3
165x10
165x10
165x10

Alternating Dumbbell Floor Presses
70’sx30 seconds
70’sx30 seconds
70’sx30 seconds

Half Kneeling Neutral Grip Dumbbell Presses/Assisted Spanish Squats
55x8/8 – bwx40 seconds
55x8/8 – bwx40 seconds
55x8/8 – bwx40 seconds

Deadstop Pendlay Rows/Walking Lunges
135x4 
205x8 -- bwx25/25
205x8 -- bwx25/25
205x8 -- bwx25/25

Stretching

Comments: The weekend hadn’t been great with whatever I irritated in my left hip/inner thigh and that partly meant that I didn’t really do anything besides chores on Sunday. No walking and seeing if rest, antiflammatories and soft tissue work helped as having a little pity party about it certainly wasn’t. It had not really improved much and with things being how something tightens up and then the discomfort just wanders around like the ball in pong. I also had to take allergy meds as started having reaction to something in the air that had my right air become inflamed. Weight stayed about the same from last week. I was nervous about this week’s training as I was worried that I’d have to make adjustments to work around discomfort. Monday session is about the least amount of lower body stuff of the three sessions in the week. Work this week is going to be rough since this ended up being the week where I scheduled all those appointments from when I was made to clean up my dashboard. Most didn’t answer so that helped a bit but can’t expect every day to be like that. It was time to train. Foam rolling I didn’t need as much on my lower legs as I did go hard on them with the massager yesterday. The left was more tight than right for a change. Quads needed it the most. Neck rehab felt fine and dandy. I wasn’t too sure if I should do the lower body stretching for hips, ankles and knees but I did and those didn’t bother or irritate things so that I guess is a good sign. But I’ll have to see how loading movements are as there were moments of discomfort over the weekend with getting into and out of seated position. From there it was axle strict press. The tempo bumped back up to 5-0-5-0 for the 5x6. I guess I made it look too easy last week. I was advised that I could increase the weight up to 115lbs if it was too easy. It was definitely not going to be too easy as taking 2 seconds off each way made 90lbs feel easier than 76lbs for same reps. I knew it would be iffy to add weight to what I did last week with the time under tension increased but I felt like it being suggested with that weight range that I could try and sneak on a few pounds here. I could definitely tell that my triceps (especially the right) were feeling Saturday. This was challenging and I got that tendon soreness sensation in the left shoulder on these with this increased effort. It was definitely a tough one here but I got through it without having to go to 3 times the rest (but not quite 2 times). From there moving on to the paused log work. Same pauses and same suggested weight but now 3x10. The lockout was better but I was advised to control the eccentric and not plop like I’ve been doing. I think I’ve been doing that because with the pauses and number of reps that I was doing that so it wasn’t as taxing on me. Well not allowed to be sneaky here and make this be work the whole time. First set was fine and I felt like the second set was as well but then it got really challenging by the end with last rep being quite a struggle to lockout. Just fatigue where felt like triceps were just done. I took longer rest before going for the last set. The increased reps and the better control definitely taking it out of me. Third set went slightly better than the second set as far as the end of the set but perhaps not as solid with holding the lockouts for a count I guess as I had been the previous two sets. It hadn’t felt like I was shortchanging here but video suggests otherwise. Moving right along into the garage for more pressing. Alternating floor presses with dumbbells again. Initially it had me repeating last week but then clarification to do just 30 seconds sets with a heavy weight. I didn’t really want to deal with plateloaded handles for these again and since I was getting like 19 reps on the incline dumbbell squeeze stuff, I figured I could handle the 70lbs dumbbells here. Just a bit harder to get into position from the floor so I did wear wrist wraps tight to add support on getting from lap to shoulders. As has been the case, first set of these tends to be strongest and then other sets becomes tough to keep up the pace. It was possible that I could fatigue on these and not be able to lockout weights by the end but that thankfully didn’t happen. That concluded the regular pressing now the superset stuff with upper body and lower body. So as the same as last week with half kneeling presses to start. Reps cut to 8 and told to do 50-55lbs here. Aim being to also have the lockouts be solid/robotic like other things have been. I didn’t have balance issues this time around here on any of the reps and it felt fine throughout. This wasn’t that different. There were changes with the other half which was the Spanish squats. These had not been great and did some troubleshooting during the session with Ms. Funk as trying to get these to be something I could do. The changes required me to move the setup from using my weighted down dip stand to the power rack outside as using more band tension for the knee traction and thus needing more space and more weight to anchor down. The other part was adding in a rope assist as I’m not very strong here and apparently bodyweight is too much for me with maintaining the right posture. I was advised to wear my lifting shoes with heels as well to see if that did anything (not really). It is possible I have some ankle mobility issues that are affecting my knees as they feel fine when doing most things. They didn’t click until the last set of the session and I kind of wished I had more sets (I’m sick) so I could get that feeling ingrained more. But I guess a positive besides finally getting them to work for me was no issues in the hip/inner thigh. I wasn’t so sure that would be the case with the last thing. This again was Pendlay rows followed by walking lunges. Rows going up in weight with reps dropped and lunges increasing in volume. I started cooking dinner at this point. I was not thrilled about testing out tender parts on 150 reps of lunges. With it getting darker quicker, it didn’t make sense to try and setup outside in the street for the lunges for safety and practicality reasons. So I did them in the garage which would be a few reps and turn around and keep going. Rows felt fine and strong here. I was thankful that there was no discomfort in the legs/hips on that first rep of 150 with the lunges. First set of them I just did reps as they came but the other two sets I did 5 each way before turning and that made things a little easier to track as down and back would be 10 strides. I had not been terribly sweaty until these had to be done. Survived the session and put stuff away while my supper cooked. Ate and then stretched.

September 20, 2025 – Week 3, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Heel Elevated Safety Squat Bar Squats
65x10
115x5
155x4
205x3
245x6
245x6
245x6
245x6
245x6
245x6

Axle Push Presses (0-1-0-1 tempo)
45x5
75x3
105x3
135x2
165x2
200x3
200x3
200x3
200x3
200x3
200x3

Bulgarian Split Squats/Incline Dumbbell Squeeze Bench Presses
20’sx30 seconds/30 seconds -- 55’sx30 seconds
20’sx30 seconds/30 seconds -- 55’sx30 seconds
20’sx30 seconds/30 seconds -- 55’sx30 seconds

Lateral Lunges/Single Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extensions
bw+26.5x12/12 -- 35x12/12
bw+26.5x12/12 -- 35x12/12
bw+26.5x12/12 -- 35x12/12

Stretching

Comments: Life outside of training and family continues to be dumb. Stress about the upcoming work shift with onsite stuff feels like it is a behind the scenes stressor even tough it is still over two weeks before it happens. More dumb news was finding out that the one parking lot next to the building will no longer be leased as of 10/1/2025 and that side entrance is allowed for building entry anymore. Which means parking across a street that has no crosswalks or anything to slow traffic and having to go to a different entrance that is further away from where my work area is. So just little bullshit that is adding to the work commute that is very temperamental depending on traffic coming across the river bridge into the city. Return to office yet bringing in more people (half the building being rented out to another agency) and making it tougher for space and increasing workload is not helping. Especially when those above tell you to ask for help if needed and when you do, get told no to the slightest courtesy requested. It really does feel like they are trying to get everyone to quit so the job can be automated or something. Besides that, I had scheduled for shots Thursday afternoon since I will be in public more often. CDC bullshit making it so I can only get some of them so not great there either. Neither shot (Tdap and flu) really made anything sore which was good but I had given myself a two day buffer just in case. I apparently needed to sleep as I finally slept until 10:30AM which I’ve not done in quite some time. There wasn’t a need to go out to train early as I didn’t expect a lot of people to be there and no one is training for anything coming up soon. I didn’t need anyone to help with offseason stuff. The issues with going out there later is that traffic gets bad around the city trying to get out. I’ll likely be going out to train again next weekend but after that I will likely need to train at home or day pass to the other gym since I don’t want to train change training day with having to be getting up early for the work shift next month. Felt already at the gym and started off with foam rolling. Tops of calves tight both sides (more so the right) and wasn’t too bad rest of the legs. Upper back was definitely tense from shots and from the snatch grip rdls. Moved on to the neck rehab stuff and that was good. Did some stuff for my ankles and knees before doing stuff with stretches for the hips, ankles and knees and dead hang for decompression. These had felt like they went smoother/felt better on Wednesday compared to today. Then on to the squats. Still ssb squats with heels elevated and atg style. Indication for this session was 225-245lbs for 6x6 for these lighter squats. I was apparently “collapsing” on these last week and advised to not be doing that. Hopefully I got that right this time. I went with the higher end on these as I figured with the reps dropped I should be ok. I was a little uncertain after 205lbs felt a bit heavier on my back than I wanted but I was fine with 245lbs. For whatever reason, sometimes that jump with having the ssb on my back it feels like a lot going 155lbs to 205lbs and then I’m good. I didn’t really feel like I was fatigued as much here over the sets and I did pause the last rep of the last rep slightly just for good measure. I also was trying to treat these like individual reps with slight holds at lockout like I did with the incline log and deadlifts this week as I think I tend to just pump and go on things like squats and the like when I see reps. From there, moved on to axle out of the rack for overhead. Same setup of triples with pauses at two spots in the movement. Indication was to do same weight with more intent in those spots (emphasis on lockout going fast) for 6x3 so one more set than last time. I was feeling decent and anxiety wasn’t too high and for whatever reason, the weights weren’t feeling heavy on the unracks at the start like it has been the previous weeks. Maybe something clicked last week as unracks felt consistent. I was feeling good so I added 5lbs just so I was doing 200lbs. I felt like these went better than last time. Only on the last rep of the third set did I feel like I had not hit things how they should and it was tougher than I’d like it to be. I did some walking in place with the weight overhead on the last rep of the last set for good measure and just for a little fun for myself. The rest of the workout after that being the supersets. These had been a bear last week with the increased volume on the one and increased weight on the other. So some mercy here with the first one in that the volume was reduced but the weights were increased. The Bulgarians have been bodyweight only so far and this week 20lbs dumbbells in each hand. The incline stuff 5lbs increase to the dumbbells there. I wasn’t too concerned with how that would go seeing as how that isn’t that much compared to the changes of the splits squats going bodyweight to 15% of bodyweight added. The stance and the speed of movement had to be adjusted for comfort and to maintain balance and finishing the time limits. I did need to take a bit of a breather here just so that I could refocus since holding weight the entire time and making sure fatigue has subsided so I wouldn’t lose my balance. Not much to say on the incline stuff. I did try to take shorter rest between series compared to last week and I think I was successful with that. Those bss still sneak up on me with the fatigue and exhaustion. I did want to make sure I got to the last bit a little quicker than I had managed last week as well. I put away weights that were left on machines as I got things ready. Lateral lunges and triceps extensions with dumbbell. The lunges I was told to do the same weight as last week but add 2 reps per set. I knew that was not going to be fun but I was more concerned about the triceps extension as it was indicated to do 35lbs for 3x12 again. That had not felt possible last week with the tweak to tuck elbows in so I was a bit surprised it was indicated again. But I was going to give it my best effort. Warming up for these I did the Cossack squat positions and some triceps stretches with weight just so it wasn’t so abrupt. Knees were feeling this week and the rest of the session going into the lunges but seemed to be ok. Or so I thought. Left inside of my thigh and hip area got tense at some point after I did the first set. Not in a way that it impacted me doing the rest of the sets. Kind of a what’s done is done circumstance. I’ve had this kind of irritation before back in February and March of 2023. It took a bit for it to go (had to do with some heavy taxing on lower back plus wider stance with a 22” diameter stone) but it did finally let up. I’m wondering if it is because of just a little too much with the lunges, bss and then lateral lunges. I really hope that it calms down for me with a good night’s rest. The triceps were very tough but I did manage to get through them. I was moving around quite gingerly after this was done putting stuff away and cleaning up before leaving. Kind of assessing my hip/leg as I did. Drove home and stretched out. Hopefully the irritation in that spot is better by Monday.

September 17, 2025 – Week 3, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Long Bar Deadlifts (straps)
155x5
215x4
265x3
315x2
365x1
EMOM
415x2
415x2
415x2
415x2
415x2
415x2
415x2
415x2

Safety Squat Bar Front Box Squats (24”)
65x6
115x5
155x4
205x3
245x2
295x3
295x3
295x3
295x3
295x3
295x3

Snatch Grip Romanian Deadlifts (straps)/Pull Ups/Prone Band Hamstring Tantrums
135x5
225x3/bwx3
295x10/bwx15/(2)lbx15 seconds (15)
295x10/bwx13/(2)lbx15 seconds (13)
295x10/bwx10/(2)lbx15 seconds (11)

Sandbag Over Shoulders
175x45 seconds
175x45 seconds
175x45 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Finally slept until my alarm went off this morning. First time since I got back from Ireland. The sound was not pleasant lol. Again, part of not staying in bed has been because anxious and because of the month on and month off bullshit with the job in office stuff starting in a few weeks. Monday had felt fine with stuff but then Tuesday and today feeling aches in my shoulders and knees. Still watching the ankle stuff. I didn’t have as bad of DOMS as I was expecting with my quads but really tight calves on the foam rolling. Near the top and a lot more so the right one. Neck rehab stuff was good and needed. I did not do as much movement prep/mobility stuff as I have been. I figure save that for the days when I have to travel a great bit to train. Did stuff more for glute activation and bracing and then stretches. I knew with this session even if not feeling quite warm, I should have the fans going. I managed Saturday and Monday to only need one shirt to get through the sessions. I knew that this wouldn’t be such a session mainly because I’d need a less “soft” shirt for the last thing for the session. Volume was dropped a good bit from last week but weights up a little. Starting things off with the long ass bar deadlifts. Again, tweaking things slightly each time with the setup. Last week’s setup had been about right but there was still a little gap in the plates and where the bar connectors were that was having some shift issues. A little more weight to take up space seemed to work. Up 10lbs but dropping to a merciful 8x2 for the EMOM here. I was advised that pulling is good but to hold the lockout for a touch, as if I were waiting for a down command. I tend to rush when I see speed as the emphasis and try to go fast. Also knowing that I get done quicker, I get more rest before the next set. It was a lot of reps last week and I had gotten skin irritation around my knees from the bar friction. Less sets and switching to doubles I knew this would be bit more manageable to recover from. I probably couldn’t keep up doing that another week. This workout was going to be heavier and more compared to last week’s session. My understanding is this may be switching to more a strength prep shortly. From there on to the ssb front box squats. 10lbs more and dropping down in volume like the deadlifts a decent bit to 6x3. It would appear I may have overcorrected on these. I had thought that knees tracking forward was the most important part of things here with the slowing down so as not plopping on the box. But it does appear that sitting back while doing all those was the main thing perhaps. Knees didn’t feel as great this week compared to last week but still loads better than they felt that first week of these. Weight was such that I could do 40-50lbs jumps on plate-quarter-plate all the way up. These definitely felt tougher with the sit back rather than squat to box since breaks the movement and essentially more ROM with the depth compared to staying quite rigid. I did my best to make sure I was controlled and not plopping down. I’m not sure if these will stay as they are. But I’m finding myself quite comfortable with the ssb on the chest/clavicle and I’ve not felt the same choking myself out sensation like I was having with regular front squats with straps. So the sideshow versions of deadlifts and squats were done and the more “interesting” parts of the session began. The previous two weeks this triset has been the same. But it was changing now. Not sure if just trying something different and the previous one served its purpose or some other reason. The first exercise was being changed from the paused barbell hip thrusts to snatch grip Romanian deadlifts. The other two things remained as they were. I’ve not really done an rdl in a good while and I had to go a bit of a ways back on snatch grip. I’ve tended to do only tempo stuff with snatch grip and beltless so very light generally. I had asked about specifications here as to make sure I was doing things right as far as my grip and depth of movement as I find there is variance on what constitutes a snatch grip and a complete rdl. Notes were to go as deep as I felt comfortable without compromising the hip hinge and to grip it as wide as needed where the bar was sitting in the hip crease at lockout. So that meant collar to collar and bringing out the sawhorses as I couldn’t do snatch grip in my power racks. They look rough but they’ve handled over 800lbs on them. 3x10 with no tempo stuff and 7-8 RPE. Weight felt heavy on my upper back but not too bad elsewhere. I did feel some fatigue with the ROM on the movement and just not really doing them so while looking strong, I could feel myself petering out at the end of each set. But I feel like form was solid. I could probably go heavier now that I’ve done them. These felt less taxing than the hip thrusts. Overall as I knew these would effect the pull-ups. Goal was to beat the reps from last time and I knew that this would be a tall order with having just done snatch grip rdls. I didn’t feel like I could get another rep that first set and hoped I’d be able to add reps on later sets. Nope. It was a struggle to get the same reps as last time on the second set and it was ugly for the last rep. I just knew that these were taxing me and I ended up one rep shy on the last set. I’m at least getting double digits on pull ups consistently across multiple sets again. The last bit was the band tantrums again. Decreased to 15 seconds and told to go even faster. These felt a little weird after the first set in that I felt like I was out of synch with how I was doing the kicking. First set felt good. And of course, I had another misfire with the timer and didn’t hit it for the last set. But I managed to keep it about 15 seconds (closer to 20 seconds) to finish out this nonsense. Good news was I wasn’t feeling the supreme exhaustion I had last week after the triset. I want to say it is because I didn’t do the hip thrusts and the volume was drastically reduced on the other stuff. I still took my time to make sure I was good to go with the sandbag over shoulders again. Changed my shirt to the comp shirt from worlds. Plan was 175lbs for 3 sets of 45 seconds this time. I knew that with that time limit I’d be hitting an odd number. I decided what I’d do would be do one side for the first two sets and then alternate for the last set. I felt decent enough here and managed to get 7 reps both sides. It definitely feels smoother going to the left side. I was close and went a little over on the last set to get 8 reps total. Those last two reps were definitely not as explosive as I’d have liked. Breathing a bit heavy after that but not for very long. Put stuff away and ate a later dinner before stretching.

September 15, 2025 – Week 3, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Axle Strict Presses (3-0-3-0 tempo)
30x3
60x3
90x5 (miscounted)
90x6
90x7 (extra for 1st set)
90x6
90x6

Paused 12” Log Incline Bench Presses (3 seconds)
90x4
130x4
165x8
165x8
165x8
165x8

Alternating Dumbbell Floor Presses
50’sx40 seconds
50’sx40 seconds
50’sx40 seconds

Half Kneeling Neutral Grip Dumbbell Presses/Spanish Squats
45x12/12 – bwx30 seconds
45x12/12 – bwx30 seconds
45x12/12 – bwx30 seconds

Deadstop Pendlay Rows/Walking Lunges
135x6 – bwx5/5
185x12 -- bwx20/20
185x12 -- bwx20/20
185x12 -- bwx20/20

Stretching

Comments: I had been a little hungry when it came time for dinner Saturday which may explain why I was up like 4lbs from last week in bodyweight. It only really matters if I’m doing a weight class type show and it this point nothing is present. Sleep has mostly returned to normal at this point but I still tend to wake up before my alarm and I’ve been getting up rather than staying in bed until it goes off because I’m nervous about signing in to work late and because I have it at max volume now so it would wake the dead if it ever does go off. Still keeping an eye on my right heel/ankle as still noticing that sensation but nothing I’m doing appears to replicate the discomfort I felt stretching my calf on Monday last week. So I guess just note it and move on. Work continues to be unnecessarily stressful and dumb with new things being done. Like trying out having everything be closed for 3hrs every Thursday starting next month for two months in the morning. So we can I guess spend that time relearning. Whatever. Still checking about competition stuff as while I’m in off season, I really would like to be at least considering something interesting/fun for competition. I’ll need to make a decision by middle of November so hopefully some potentials come out of the woodwork between now and then. I didn’t have as much DOMS as I did last week which was good considering it felt like it took all week for it to mostly go away and it looks like today’s session was going to be having some stuff in there that would require more effort on the lower body. Foam rolling felt good and neck rehab felt fine. Lower body stretching for hips, ankles and knees. From there it was axle strict press. Still tempo but mercifully lowered to 3-0-3-0 for 5x6. The time dropping meant I could conceivably go up in weight and suggested was 80-90lbs. I was initially thinking 86lbs but decided I’d do 90lbs just because. I was definitely feeling fresher with these as 8 reps was quite terrible on my shoulders. I was able to go back to just double rest time like I did the first week of these. I did miscount the first set and did an extra rep on the third set to make up for it. I had been a little worried my left triceps wasn’t going to be on board today as there was some soreness from Saturday session. There was fatigue from this but it didn’t come to the level I was feeling with the longer sets with the burning warmth sensation or the tendon inflammation sensation. From there moving on to the paused log work. Same pauses and same suggested weight but essentially doing what I did on the axle strict presses last week with 4x8. Notes indicated that I should be more “robotic” with my lockout and not just quick and moving on to the next rep. This note was also for the deadlift stuff and some other things and I made a note to hold the lockouts for a beat before doing the next rep. It might be a bit more challenging coupled with the extra reps on the set. First two sets were quite smooth and easy through to the end but fatigue was making the lockouts a bit tougher by the end of the second half of these sets. But still good. Moving right along into the garage. More pressing. Alternating floor presses with dumbbells again. I was told these looked better last week and 10 more seconds were being added to each set. As a treat. Same weight. The extra 10 seconds on these felt a lot longer than that. To where I was worried that I didn’t hit my timer or I did and accidentally knocked it off or something. Unlike last week, I did not think I was going too light on these as I was feeling like I was struggling on the second set and was most definitely struggling on the third set. With this day and my Saturday sessions, can’t say I’m not getting in my pressing volume. The rest of the workout was the odd pairing of upper body with lower body but changes to the lower body stuff. It has been the past two weeks wall sit related stuff. Not this time. Just like last week, I wasn’t looking forward to these with DOMS in my legs but also because the changes were more like what I had just done on Saturday. The first one being the half kneeling presses to start. Same weight but more reps this week. I got a little off balanced early in the first set on the right side being pressed so got a little cramp in my butt keeping myself from losing balance. The other part of it was Spanish squats. I’ve not had a good time with these, either with discomfort in the knees or just feeling like I’m not doing them right or as intended. I feel like there is a lot of cues and I feel a bit overloaded with trying to fix them all at the same time as these definitely don’t look like how I see them done. Not enough ROM or leaning too far forward. Sets of 30 seconds so not bad. I will say that this was the least my knees have been bothered by these so that was nice. I’ll have to see what tips/cues I get on these to figure out if/how to improve here. At this point I started getting dinner ready as I was kind of up in the air about what to actually make. The last superset for the evening was Pendlay rows followed by walking lunges. I had received my new shoes for lifting/events in the mail in the afternoon so I’d get a chance to see how things felt moving. I was not thrilled about doing 120 reps of lunges after doing four 30 seconds sets each leg of Bulgarians on Saturday. Same weight on the pendlay rows but more reps. Lunges in the street and it was getting darker by the minute. I did a warming up set to make sure I was limber in the knees and feeling good and to not just jump into heavy weight on the rows. That little work up set felt good and I got to work. The lunges had me sweating a good bit after the effort so I did apply liquid chalk for the last two sets of rows so that my grip wasn’t an issue. This was effort but it was good. Put stuff away before eating dinner and then stretching.

September 13, 2025 – Week 2, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Heel Elevated Safety Squat Bar Squats
65x10
115x7
165x4
215x8
215x8
215x8
215x8
215x8

Axle Push Presses (0-1-0-1 tempo)
45x5
75x3
105x3
135x2
165x2
195x3
195x3
195x3
195x3
195x3

Bulgarian Split Squats/Incline Dumbbell Squeeze Bench Presses
bwx30 seconds/30 seconds -- 50’sx30 seconds
bwx30 seconds/30 seconds -- 50’sx30 seconds
bwx30 seconds/30 seconds -- 50’sx30 seconds
bwx30 seconds/30 seconds -- 50’sx30 seconds

Lateral Lunges/Single Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extensions
bw+26.5x10/10 -- 25x12/12
bw+26.5x10/10 – 27.5x12/12
bw+26.5x10/10 -- 30x12/12

Stretching

Comments: As there wasn’t really anyone that would need assistance with training (they were at Nationals), I didn’t set my alarm and just figured I’d wake up when I felt like it and then get set. As not rush as this session for training isn’t that complicated. Which ended up being about an hour later than I’d need to get up for work (at least for this month). Drive out was fine for the most part. Congestion around the city and then anxiousness with slow traffic around the exit where I had the accident in May. It was kind of crisp weather out and I was kind of surprised it wasn’t heating up with the direct sunlight. There were a few people there and some newer faces. I wasn’t really expecting many people since the gym owners were hosting a competition off site today so some equipment was gone. But nothing that I needed. I was somewhat tempted to just do this workout at home when traffic had been a little slow but I figured it was best to keep this up since I will unfortunately need to be driving a lot more next month with the work plan shift. Foam rolling wasn’t too bad. Calves and ankles needed it the most today compared to everything else. Top of my quads (mostly right) had been the most sore this week and finally had recovered by today. I switched the order of some things by doing some of my knee and ankle stuff first and then moving on to the neck rehab stuff. Then doing stuff with stretches for the hips, ankles and knees and dead hang for decompression. Lower back has still been feeling fatigue from coming back to training after being in Ireland but maybe recover is improving a little with intense training. So first thing for training was squats. Same as last week in that ssb squats with heels elevated and atg style. The rack I used last time was in use and I didn’t feel comfortable trying to figure out the monolift so I used a different rack. Notes were indicating these to still be light with weight range 215-225lbs with 5x8 as the sets and reps. I figured that doing 50lbs jumps and enough reps would be fine and that since this is a good bit more volume on these kinds of squats that I should stick to the same weight for the sets just to make sure I was ok and handling things well. Sometimes take a bit for the knees (mainly right one) too feel good. The extra reps were noticed on these and while feeling good, it seemed like the best thing to not increase the weight as I could feel my right leg start to fatigue on the last set. This was a good start to the day and then moving on to axle overhead. I had misread my workout sheet last time and had done only 3x5 instead of 4x5. Some changes made for this time around. Ms. Funk indicated that my overhead may be a timing issue with my body firing at the right time so plan here was to slow down the movement at points to reinforce positioning. So 5x3 with suggested weight 175-195lbs with a 1 second pause at the bottom of the dip and one second pause at lockout for each rep. Even if I didn’t feel the most confident last weekend, I felt that 195lbs should be in my ability to do for this. 30lbs jumps working up with the hollow axle. I used 15lbs bumper plates I think so I could just keep adding weight and not worry about swapping out plates and because it then looked like a lot of weight. Just another novelty thing while off season training. I kept at least a double on each set working up so that I got the feel of the movement and that I didn’t just lower the weight to my shoulder all chaotic like. It is still an odd sensation having the weight feel really heavy out of the rack on the first set. It felt lighter as I did more sets thankfully and I kind of feel like my rack position and tightness/bracing in my upper body got better as I went. At least for the initial rep of each set. I’ve had to do longer pauses in these positions before. I felt like these went well and were explosive. I certainly felt less anxious compared to last week. Though I do still seem to thinking to myself this isn’t that much weight so still at some level talking myself down. Make progress where I can and realize that I need to keep working on things. Unlike last week, I wasn’t drenched in sweat and I didn’t end up needing to swap out a shirt for this session. This was the end of the what I’d call typical gym work and it was on to what appears to be to me odd/unrelated supersets. Though perhaps this is more of a way to get me doing stuff to improve stuff (it’s good for me) akin to giving bitter medicine to a pet or child wrapped in a treat. First one of these gruesome twosome being the Bulgarian split squats with those incline dumbbell squeeze presses. Same weights as last time but doing another set. These had been deceptively tough. The benching had been tough the whole time but the bss stuff snuck up on me and is what had me having DOMS in my upper quads all this week. I did look for other dumbbells that weren’t as thin so that there was more surface area to smoosh them together this time around. I was luckily able to find an older pair. I could tell my right leg was fatiguing a bit more on these compared to the left leg. Balance seemed better on my left side this week. Pressing was exhausting and adding another set wasn’t fun. But perhaps I am adapting to the increased demands. I didn’t realize the length of rest/recovery I was needing on these this session as well until later. I took a bit of time after that was done to just kind of relax. It was more that I was thirsty and drank a bit too much of my intraworkout drink and didn’t want to get an upset stomach doing later lunges haha. This was the last thing for the session and then I’d be done and it wasn’t too late in the day. Pairing of lateral lunges and triceps extensions with dumbbell. It looks like the ROM I did last week on the lunges was fine but that I should be doing more elbow tucked in for the triceps. Sets of 10 on the lunges with suggested 25lbs and sets of 12 reps on the triceps. I didn’t do any warming up for the previous superset as legs and upper body were already pretty toasty and I had another set on top of the previous week. The only thing I needed to really get prepped here was the lunge to the side so I did some Cossack stretches to get things feeling ok before going into this. I also used a little more weight. I didn’t want to bother with a plate so I used a kettlebell instead. The movement didn’t feel as crisp as last week but it was a pretty big jump up in weight. Left side is not a smooth as the right side with these.  I did take a bit of time after this to just cool off and keep my gorge from rising as I had one last superset. Triceps were a bit surprising. The plan here had been 35lbs for 3x12. But I could tell with my right arm that after getting this setup that I was not as strong with my elbow tucked in vs splayed out and that I wasn’t going to get my reps with this weight. I was kind of shocked at how much of difference this made in feeling I had strength/power there. So I dropped things down to 25lbs. My left side didn’t seem to have as much an issue so I figured I’d try to increase the weight each set to see what I could do. Added 2.5lbs per set. 30lbs was manageable on the last set but it was tough for the last reps for both sides. Drank my shake and cleaned up before heading out. Driving back for whatever reason was slow going with a lot of traffic at each major exit for what looked like no discernible reason. Stretched when I got back home finally.

September 10, 2025 – Week 2, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Long Bar Deadlifts (straps)
145x5
195x4
235x3
285x2
325x1
365x1
EMOM
405x3
405x3
405x3
405x3
405x3
405x3
405x3
405x3
405x3
405x3
405x3
405x3

Safety Squat Bar Front Box Squats (24”)
65x6
115x5
155x4
205x3
245x2
285x4
285x4
285x4
285x4
285x4
285x4
285x4
285x4

Paused Barbell Hip Thrusts (2 seconds)/Pull Ups/Prone Band Hamstring Tantrums
217x3/bwx3
275x12/bwx15/(2)lbx20 seconds
275x12/bwx13/(2)lbx20 seconds
275x12/bwx11/(2)lbx20 seconds

Sandbag Over Shoulders
175x40 seconds
175x40 seconds
175x40 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Oddly enough, despite feeling sore from training, something seem to be recovering quicker then they were when I wasn’t really pushing training after the competition. Namely my skin. All the scabs are gone at this point when last week I still had a fair amount that would crack and bleed if I did too much. Work had me not get assigned stuff at least for yesterday and today due to needing to get overdo stuff in compliance as well as realizing that giving me work while I was out of the country didn’t help matters when I got back. Thankfully my right ankle seemed to be ok and not feeling like it did late in the evening on Monday. There was some tension in my back and hips that popped up as I was starting to get warmed up for training so that wasn’t ideal. Foam rolling needed but mostly for the tops of my quads due to how sore they still are. Neck rehab stuff was good. Mobility stuff felt decent. I was a little worried that something would flair up something like ankle or back but it did not. I made sure to put on the fans in the garage today as while not super hot out right now, I did build up quite a sweat last week with this session when I didn’t really need to change my shirt once on Monday that week (same this week). This workout was going to be heavier and more compared to last week’s session. Long bar deadlift setup for now. Indication was to be trying to pull fast off the floor with the flexing bar. 405lbs for 12x3 with EMOM was going to be tough. I did adjust the pulling setup as I noticed that the bar extender sleeves don’t fit fully on the bar sleeves so there was a gap and it looked like enough space for me to put my 25lbs bumper plates and still have the sleeves on as far as they will go. And I was right. My hope was this would make the bar flex feel more like deadlift bar and not so much that several inches of slack need to be taken out. That was an issue with the setup last week and I’ve been a bit leery about trying to just rip up the bar when that much flex considering hamstring injuries doing that on this kind of bar setup. I feel like this was a better approximation. But I’m kind of doing this for funsies. I felt strong initially but I could tell this was going to be a slog as I was already wondering what set I was on when I hadn’t gotten to the halfway point. Quite sweaty and I was not feeling fast in the second half. Lower back was feeling a lot of fatigue and I was breathing a little heavy at the end there compared to past deadlift EMOM style stuff since working with Ms. Funk. That was done finally and I could move on to the ssb front box squats. This was changed from the 6x6 to 8x4 and the weight suggested a big increase. I had not been too sure what style of squat was expected I think as I assumed box squat with sit back and I wasn’t quite controlling the eccentric to the box with moving fast and because my knees were not cooperating. Notes had that I should be focusing on having my knees track forward and not sit back so much to keep more upright posture like with my heel elevated ssb squats on Saturday. It is possible that there is some ankle/hip mobility issues here but we’ll see if the form tips are satisfactory with me getting things right. I used the same box and setup but with focus of bending at the knees and hips rather than the sit back. Knees felt a lot better this time around. I was tempted to just do 295lbs since it would be just 40-50lbs jumps on plate-quarter-plate but I thought better of it considering the deadlifting took a bit out of me and who knows how going up 20lbs on squats and doing that many sets with form changes would feel. There were some balance issues with walking out the weight at times (hard to see with the pad) but these felt comfortable and I probably could’ve done 295lbs for these sets today. I was realizing at this point this was going to be a long night (I got a late start to training) and tried to take appropriate rest to recover and get fluids in me but also be mindful of getting stuff ready for the next thing. The next thing being that unusual triset. It had surprised me a bit with how I felt pretty drained after doing it last week and not too sure why. This was the same thing but more. Hip thrusts being 3x12 with the 2 second pauses with the top weight I hit last week. I figured I’d do just one warm up set like I did with the pull-ups last week to try and expedite things here. Also trying to figure out a way to get the discomfort to feel less on my pelvis such as wearing my rehband belt. I was only successful in that endeavor on the last set with placement and was just a little off on the first and second set. These didn’t feel so bad (besides the pressure) while doing them but I guess these take a bit out of me. Pull-ups the second exercise. Still 3 sets of max reps with the note to improve on the total volume from last time. I had done 36 reps last time so goal was more than that. I wasn’t too keen on that with my biceps feeling a little sore on the acclimation set of three reps. But I guess that was just a liar for me as I did manage to get 15 reps on the first set. So off to a good start. Second set I struggled to match what I did last time. As long as I got at least 9 reps on the third set, I’d improve on the volume of last time. This I ended up getting 11 reps here so 3 reps added over last time. The last bit was the band tantrums. Increased time to 20 seconds and told to go even faster. Will do my best here. Second set I must have missed the timer but I was able to get 20 seconds guessing I had done the time. I did not feel well after finishing up those trisets. I had felt like I needed a bit of time to recover before doing the last thing last week but I had felt it was partly with having what felt like I was fighting a slight cold or allergies with that. This felt a lot more severe. Not that I was having cold symptoms but I was feeling woozy and not up for doing anything else. This took longer than even when I had to take a long break doing that zercher and sandbag medley multiple times. The closest I can recall this was when I was doing a bunch of truck pull simulation practice like 15yrs ago and I just felt gassed out and didn’t feel like doing anything for like an hour. Just took my time putting stuff away and getting air out of my stomach and eventually not feeling like I would retch if I bent over. This took a lot longer than I was expecting and I was considering just skipping this last thing so I could get on with my evening. But I toughed it out and did it. Sandbag over shoulder with the 175lbs bag. Three sets but now 40 seconds. I was advised to try and be more violent/explosive here. My lack of power could be related to just my leverages with being so tall but I’ve noticed before that I tend to have low explosive endurance with things like this. Which is good that this is being done even if still at best 4 months out from a show that would have something like this. Last week I had been wondering if I had an allergic reaction to something (like the detergent we had to use in Ireland) as I felt like I had an abrasion on my neck. I forgot that doing this with the canvas does scratch up my neck and shoulders haha. I decided I’d alternate sides every rep here. I was happy I got an extra two reps with 10 additional seconds added. I was able to stick to my planned rest for the second set but realized I needed a bit more time to recover for the last one (and it showed). This session kick my ass but it felt satisfying to be done. Ate dinner and stretched before getting some sleep.

September 8, 2025 – Week 2, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Axle Strict Presses (5-0-5-0 tempo)
26x4
50x4
76x8
76x8
76x8
76x8

Paused 12” Log Incline Bench Presses (3 seconds)
90x3
130x3
165x6
165x6
165x6
165x6
165x6

Alternating Dumbbell Floor Presses
50’sx30 seconds
50’sx30 seconds
50’sx30 seconds

Half Kneeling Neutral Grip Dumbbell Presses/Wall Sits
45x10/10 – bw+25x60 seconds
45x10/10 – bw+25x60 seconds
45x10/10 – bw+25x60 seconds

Deadstop Pendlay Rows/Wall Sit Marches
135x5
185x10/bwx60 seconds
185x10/bwx60 seconds
185x10/bwx60 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Kind of wished I had 3 day weekends every week at this point haha. Bodyweight is about the same. It had gone down about 2lbs from before I went and now back up 1lbs or so. My legs (namely quads and glutes) were quite stiff and sore and I was not moving very well Sunday but I knew I needed to get out and about or I was going to be really stiff come Monday. I was still stiff Monday and foam rolling was needed for my quads. Lots of DOMS from Saturday session. Work was a pain and I kind of felt like just checking out for the day as soon as I got there. Hopefully I can regroup and put in a better effort tomorrow. Neck rehab stuff followed and hoping that some tension from Saturday alleviated. Especially considering how this day felt last week. Not much in the way of mobility stuff as this was pretty much going to be upper body session. This was more just to get my hips and such to loosen up a little more so that wasn’t so tense for this session. Axle is here to stay I guess. This had been 6x6 with just plain evil 5-0-5-0 tempo. Really can’t do any weight with that kind of tempo with each rep taking 10 seconds to complete. Some mercy here but not really. Reps decreased with going to 4x8 but that just meant the sets took longer. I’m glad the weight wasn’t increased as I knew this was going to be rough. Still doing no support gear here with it being light and feeling out bar position and body position. Wearing stuff make restrict my breathing or blood flow with how long these take and how slow I’m moving the weight. I knew from last week that double my rest was a good strategy but I wasn’t sure if I would potentially need more as 2 more reps in a set meant 20 seconds more added to the sets. First wasn’t so bad and I went with the double rest. Yep, going to need more rest to survive. So rest after that was about triple the rest and that seemed to be good but still feeling like barely managing at the end. I didn’t intended to add another minute to that rest (was going 3minutes then 4 minutes and now 5 minutes) due to a distraction needing resolved in my house but that was needed I guess as this was really scorching my delts. Just a feeling of all the tendons being inflamed if I could describe it. And having me wonder how I’ll do any other pressing. But I managed to do so last week and more than I was expecting so let’s do it again. Paused log incline bench followed that. 5x6 this week with still being 3 second pauses on the chest. Suggested weight was 160-165lbs. I figured I’d at least try to do the 165lbs here considering how these went last week. Hopefully not having it where this is a bad week. It did not. These feel so much nicer after having to do those long and slow presses on the axle. These felt comfortable. Moving right along into the garage. More pressing. Alternating floor presses with dumbbells again. I was advised they looked too easy last week and advised to add 5-10lbs to each dumbbell. I decided to go with 50lbs as likely that would bring me down a bit as far as looking easy and if I was going to put together plate dumbbells, might as well go higher end of things due to the hassle with making them secure. I was better with getting these to be 30 second sets with having the timer setup like how I did with the sandbag to shoulder putting in 2 minutes of rest. First set I was wondering if these were too light again but I was struggling to lockout the weights by the end of the last set here. Triceps were just about dead. I wasn’t looking forward to the last part of the workout with the supersets. Moreso the wall sits and such because my quads were still feeling DOMS from Saturday. First pairing of exercises being the half kneeling presses with dumbbells with wall sits. Notes were to bring my stance in on the kneeling stuff so that I had a less stable base and more core engagement here. I tried my best to essentially have my feet/legs be a straight line. 5lbs more and dropped off two reps here. These were surprisingly fine. The wall sits were still a minute but adding 25lbs on my lap. These felt a little better compared to last week. I don’t know if just having something touching my lap had me feeling like I was doing something rather than just sitting. It also offered me a little distraction as I’m pretty sure I did air drums on a set. The second and last superset for the evening was Pendlay rows and wall sit marches. This was going to be a bit more brutal I feel than last time. I figured I’d be fine on the rows after doing them last week and be ready to go up in weight a good bit from last time and I was right. The wall sit marches was where things were going to get unpleasant. No weight added but the time was increased to a minute. These had been deceptively tough last week. Rows had a good hamstring stretch on them with the position and I was pleased how comfortable things were with the rows in that position. Wall sit marches I got a little creative with altering tempo. First set I was going fast for the most part but couldn’t sustain that pace and slowed down. Second set I was slow then fast and then slow/normal. Third set I had some dance music playing and just went with that beat (and some spastic gesturing/dancing). I put stuff away and beat feet over to my folks for dinner (they moved up the day) and then stretched when I got back home. My right ankle when I was stretching my calf felt odd and I’m hoping it is just a random niggle or something and that it will be good in a day or two with rest and keeping an eye on it.

September 6, 2025 – Week 1, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Heel Elevated Safety Squat Bar Squats
65x6
115x6
155x6
195x6
200x6
205x6
210x6
215x6

Axle Push Presses
25x10
55x8
85x6
115x4
145x2
175x2
205x5
205x5
205x5

Bulgarian Split Squats/Incline Dumbbell Squeeze Bench Presses
bwx5/5 – 50’sx3
bwx30 seconds/30 seconds -- 50’sx30 seconds
bwx30 seconds/30 seconds -- 50’sx30 seconds
bwx30 seconds/30 seconds -- 50’sx30 seconds

Lateral Lunges/Single Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extensions
bwx3/3
bw+10x12/12 -- 25x12/12
bw+10x12/12 -- 25x12/12
bw+10x12/12 -- 25x12/12

Stretching

Comments: Thankfully, the worn down feeling did seem to resolve itself with getting sleep and taking some Dayquil Wednesday. It seems it is taking a bit longer still to adjust to EST as I tend to feel tired earlier than normal for bed and then sleeping in is still not quite there. But it would seem that I was finally able to sleep and be awoken by my alarm rather than be up and alert well before that. Also have my alarm on the max volume which will make it that hitting snooze is not likely a thing I will be able to do after having that loudness wake me up. Which was good that I could get out to train early (or at least be out at the gym early). This feel good week was setup so that I could do stuff at home and not need to travel but I wanted to just because I did want to catch up with people since it has been two weeks and really this is the only social interaction I have besides seeing my parents about once a week and talking with my friend/coworker. And while this workout could be done at home, I felt like it was best to have options of the gym for some things being first time in a while or ever to troubleshoot. I did also want to be there to help out for someone’s last training session before competing next weekend (Nationals). Drive out was fine. Not bad weather wise. Foam rolling done (left calf a good bit tighter than right) and neck rehab stuff. Some mobility and stuff does still feel a little off since coming back (namely Cossack stretch) and boy did I need to do a dead hang to decompress. As for the “help” I’m not sure how helpful I was as I accidentally misloaded something by 100lbs and was having issues with figuring out mental math. I want to say it is just still not being 100% with travel and not that I’ve turned 40 but I did misload weights on my birthday and this wasn’t the end of goofs or almost goofs for this session. So first thing for training was squats. Like I said, I fully expected offseason to be wall to wall squats and such. This was ssb squats with bar on the back but indication here was to keep these light and to do them atg with heels elevated. This was partly why I wanted to be at the gym as while I have some stuff to elevate my heels at home if needed, there were metal ramps used for loading vehicles on the car deadlift so I had something very firm and stable here to use. Plan here being 5x6. I was not sure what to expect and so I did sets of 6 reps warming up so that knees felt good and I knew what to expect. I started lighter than I thought just to make sure as I’ve not done real squats in a good while and I wasn’t sure if my legs would be fatigued from being detrained to this ROM but felt good and decided it was too light and just did what I’ve been doing this week and adding weight as I go. Felt comfortable. I can definitely do a good bit more here. I paused the last rep in the hole for a beat before finishing up. From there went on to axle push press. I was a bit surprised to see pressing again as it was once a week in the end of last prep. But this is something that needs work and there is stuff that is in my head. I figured that the squats were probably akin to prefatigue here. Plan was to work up to a top set of 5 reps that felt like RPE 7-7.5 and then do sets with that weight. I misread this as I thought it said do 3 sets not 3 more sets after hitting that weight. I didn’t realize this until I was about to go to sleep after this session. This was not the last unforced error I made. The gym has a lot of axles but I figured I’d use the one closest to what I have at home (some have knurling and some are solid) as I wanted to keep things somewhat consistent and not worry about plates fitting or not with quality control. 30lbs jumps and dropping off reps as I went. No markings did have things feeling a little off. I was not thrilled with how heavy 175lbs felt on my shoulders. I have remember that taking weight out of the rack tends to feel heavy at first. But it had me wondering if the next jump should really be my working sets. I was also very sweaty on my neck and chest as there was a wet spot on the center of the bar from when I racked the weights. First set was fine if not a little tough. It looks fast but I need to press fast for it to go up. Second set I went with more a rebound style catch of one press going into the next rather than pausing slightly before doing the next rep. Last set I felt my best as far as my mobility with getting my body to move around the weight in the hips. Did rebound reps and then resettled the last one before doing that like a single lift. I could tell there was fatigue from Monday session in my upper body (especially triceps). That was the end of the more straightforward stuff of the session and then it was on to supersets that I wouldn’t think of doing haha. Both being unilateral leg stuff coupled with press related stuff. So first one was Bulgarian split squats. I’ve done these regardless of the weight, these are always something taxing. It was a good thing I did check my workout plan here because I initially missed the Bulgarian part and was going to just do split squats. Bodyweight only and just doing 30 seconds of effort. This might have been something where I reconsidered going to the gym because I like my setup at home with the rolling foam support that makes these tolerable for the back leg to be supported. But luckily there is a leg curl machine with a rolling pad at just the right height. These didn’t need much rest between sides but it was a good idea to catch my breath because of the increased need to stabilize and balance with fatigue building. The pressing portion was new for me. Incline dumbbell bench isn’t new but keeping the dumbbells smooshed together and focusing on that the whole time is. This was another in the go to the gym column as I only have a few solid dumbbells at home (otherwise need to make them from plates) and likely need to figure out what I can do and feels comfortable here. Even the weight I picked I wasn’t sure if I could sustain for the entire 30 seconds here. But I did. These weren’t so bad. But it was definitely the tougher thing of the two in this pairing. Or so I thought. The split squats snuck up on me with having me feel a little bit queasy and needing to catch my breath before giving an honest effort on the pressing after the first set. As with my experience with the end of prep for world’s and now, I’m realizing that I need to be in this range of suck with conditioning to keep up with myself from year’s past. I’m not able to assume the gas is there on the day from what worked before with maintaining. I did take a bit of time after this to just cool off and keep my gorge from rising as I had one last superset. Lateral lunges paired with single arm dumbbell triceps extensions. The lunges I was not sure on. The lateral movement has had issues in the past for me with knee discomfort. Indication was good ROM. It can be hard to say if that meant for what a lateral lunge would be or if I was to go into full Cossack squat depth. I figured I’d go with what felt comfortable here and not alternate sides with focus on one side at a time. Only used 10lbs as bodyweight felt iffy. Lunging to the left felt a good bit tougher than lunging to the right. Kind of expected. Things did seem to feel better as I did these in that ROM felt better and crisper and there was less fatigue. Triceps nothing to write home about other than I assumed it was the same reps (was to be 3x10 and not 3x12) and my camera position was terrible as can’t even see me lifting the weight at all. Just me taking up the whole frame. I did go lighter here as I knew my triceps were fatigued. Cleaned up and put stuff away after downing a shake before driving home to stretch and relax.

September 3, 2025 – Week 1, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Long Bar Deadlifts (straps)
143x5
183x4
233x3
273x2
323x1
EMOM
373x3
373x3
378x3
378x3
383x3
383x3
388x3
388x3
393x3
393x3

Safety Squat Bar Front Box Squats (24”) 
65x6
115x4
155x2
205x2
245x6
245x6
250x6
255x6
260x6
265x6

Paused Barbell Hip Thrusts (2 seconds)/Pull Ups/Prone Band Hamstring Tantrums
135x8
217x3/bwx3
240x10/bwx13/(2)lbx15 seconds
260x10/bwx13/(2)lbx15 seconds
275x10/bwx10/(2)lbx15 seconds

Sandbag Over Shoulders
175x30 seconds
175x30 seconds
175x30 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Whelp, I’m 40 now. Day did not start off great as I overslept for work for the first time in over 5yrs. I thought I was finally adjusted to EST but guess not. Taking longer than I was hoping/expecting honestly as I seem to not be able to sleep right and then feel tired early in the evening. The issue was I kept waking up and seeing it wasn’t time to get up and I guess the volume on my radio was way too low so I woke up 11 minutes later than I needed to. Oh well. I was feeling a little heavy behind the eyes and the changes at work while I was gone were quite staggering. I already regret coming back to home from Ireland haha. But I had training after to work to do. Definitely feeling Monday session still but luckily most of this session is lower body stuff. Calves still needing a good bit of foam rolling to loosen up. Knees still a little achy from what they were put through overseas so still a little cranky. Neck rehab stuff was good. Did some mobility stuff before getting into the session. So first thing was deadlifts. Now the initial plan here was to do 10x3 done EMOM style at about RPE 7 but focus on speed. Notes had been for deadlift bar pulls but I don’t have one right now. I’ve been leery to get one when it is really just usable for deadlifts rather than being versatile. I tend to pull more on that kind of bar when in contest and do well enough with stiff bar at home. But I didn’t want to really focus on what I could do on a barbell at the moment so I decided I’d add my bar extenders to finally use them for a floor pull to make something that has some flex and give with it being a makeshift long bar pull. It has been a bit since I’ve pulled on a deadlift bar (15 months) so not sure if this is more/same/less flex. But it did feel interesting. Lower back still not quite ready as I was feeling stiff and fatigued here. I was worried about using the “right” weight here as sometimes I start off and it feels rough but then smoother and easier as I go. Since not used this bar setup I elected to add 5lbs every two reps. I had managed to not need to get a fresh shirt on day one but I realized that wasn’t going to be the case today. Hopefully I got the intent right here. I realized later that I had done 10lbs more than I had thought I did for the EMOM triples. Took a little bit to tear down which was kind of the plan so that I could get some fluids in me before doing the next thing. Which was front squats to a box using the safety squat bar. I’ve heard arguments that not really a front squat because of the bar camber and a bunch of other talk. But whatever, this is what I’m being told to do and I just need to do work this offseason. I knew I was going to get me some squats programmed. Notes were to try and get RPE 8 and above parallel box. I used the setup I was doing for the sandbag squats and then seeing how I was tolerating this. I recall that when I did these a long while ago that I didn’t like the feeling with vision obscured but didn’t seem to be an issue here. It was more my knees and the joint angle. I started on the lighter end of things for the proposed 6x6. Even though things felt like moving fast, it felt very much like that if I didn’t move fast, I’d hit a wall in the motion and be stapled. I’ve usually had where a first set of working weight squats don’t feel so great and then feel better as I do more sets and weight so I did the second set and it felt a good deal better so plan was to do like the deadlifts and add 5lbs every 2 sets. But then I reconsidered and decided I’d do 5lbs each set going forward. I do think I can push these more as I get comfortable with them. Took some time putting this setup away to once again rehydrate. It was less that this setup was difficult and more than I had to setup three different stations for the potential last thing of the evening. That and these exercise put stress on my stomach so can be hard to keep stuff down if I rush things. This triset was a bit unusual. I’ve been doing supersets with odd pairings so I guess not that strange. The first part being barbell hip thrusts with pauses. Plan being 3x10 with 2 second pauses. I used to push these hard like 15yrs ago and got to about 700lbs for a single. I’ve not gone that heavy and I’ve not really tried as sometimes the bar digs into my hips and pinches nerves there that didn’t happen in the past. This was going to require some working up sets as I not sure where I’m at but I’m not completely out of shape on these as I’ve done some single leg variations with pauses. I ended up using my jack stands as I could get myself under the setup at the bottom with standard plate height. Used pad and towels to make as comfortable as I could. Like just about everything else, I added weight each set as I went here. Hamstrings started to feel it on the last set. The second exercise in this selection was regular pull-ups with bodyweight. 3 sets of max reps. I did a set just to acclimate before doing the actual sets. I’m kind of surprised I got 13 reps on the first two sets as I was expecting a drop off. The drop off did occur on the third and final set. The last part was those band tantrums for hamstrings. These aren’t so bad after having to do them for 30 second sets. 15 seconds was like nothing really. Almost a break. But I treat them seriously. Last thing being indicated as somewhat optional (mandatory). Sandbag over shoulder with light weight. I did ask for clarification on how light we talking so it did end up being something that would actually require effort. I think the “if up for it” was due to having scabs on my left forearm from lifting a big stone in Ireland. I did take my time with getting things ready as I was feeling like I had a slight cold or allergies (I did take nasal spray before the training session) and wanting to make sure I didn’t retch bending over. I didn’t have the fans on before (besides one for my hands to do liquid chalk) so I turned on all the fans in the garage so that airflow was better. Plan here was 3 sets of 30 seconds effort. I set my timing interval to give 2 minutes rest. It did not seem to matter which way or side I grabbed it, the scabbed section was getting hit. I did 2 reps over each shoulder and started on a fifth rep when the timer went. Blood seeping on the left arm so I spent my rest time taping up my arm so didn’t get blood on the sandbag. I probably should’ve done that from the start. I thought I could avoid it haha. Little more efficient timewise with things but still not enough time to go for another reps after getting 4 total. I think I was worried about doing odd number overall for each side. This is a floppy bag and I was actually happy that it didn’t feel that fatiguing on my lower back. Put stuff away and ate dinner before stretching out. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow and I don’t miss my alarm.

September 1, 2025 – Week 1, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Axle Strict Presses (5-0-5-0 tempo)
30x6
50x4
76x6
76x6
76x6
76x6
76x6
76x6

Paused 12” Log Incline Bench Presses (3 seconds)
90x6
120x3
150x6
155x6
160x6
165x6

Alternating Dumbbell Floor Presses
40’sx42 seconds (didn’t hear timer)
40’sx30 seconds
40’sx30 seconds

Half Kneeling Neutral Grip Dumbbell Presses/Wall Sits
40x12/12 – bwx60 seconds
40x12/12 – bwx60 seconds
40x12/12 – bwx60 seconds

Deadstop Pendlay Rows/Wall Sit Marches
95x10
135x10/bwx45 seconds
155x10/bwx45 seconds
170x10/bwx45 seconds

Stretching

Comments: It was rough getting used to the time shift going ahead 5hrs but it seemed to be that one bad day got me right on track. But coming back hasn’t been bad per se but it is taking longer to get used to my normal time. It was definitely wise to have it be a three day weekend time type thing so I didn’t come right back to work either. Feeling tired around dinner time and then really tired when I’d normally go to be and then waking up like 2hrs early and going back to bed to try to sleep to the right time. But today I feel about normal so ready to workout. Still got scabs from the stone healing up though and most bruises from competing gone. Joint aches seem to be stabilizing. Despite eating on weird schedule while in Ireland, bodyweight is about the same. Parents wanted me over early for dinner which was fine as still feels like late to me so I needed to train once I felt like breakfast was down. Foam rolling to start things off and my calves really needed it. Neck rehab stuff followed (I had not done this all last week) and hopefully that helps with the aches in the neck/shoulder from sleeping on weird beds. Not much in the way of mobility stuff as this was pretty much going to be upper body session. Our good friend the axle press is here to stay I guess. Strict press and advised to not go for max efforts on anything this “feel good” week. It’s not like I could go heavy on things with what was being asked. The strict press was to be 6x6 with 5 seconds on the concentric and eccentric portion of the press. I’ve done tempo work before but I don’t think it has been usually this tempo on things. I know I’ve done it on light Bulgarian split squats that had me hating my life. There is a certain heat I feel in the joints when I do this kind of stuff with upper body pressing involved. I knew this would be tough even with really light weight as it isn’t the first few reps but the back end of the set and then the subsequent sets. I took double my usual rest between sets because of the time under tension (taking over a minute) and I feel like I found a more efficient bar path as went due to the fatigue building. I was not sure how the rest of the session would be going with pressing due to the fatigue. Next up was log incline bench. Been a bit since I did these but always a good one for me. Plan being 4x6 with 3 seconds pauses. Idea to be explosive off the chest after the pause. I made some assumptions based off past numbers and percentage I’m at as far as current press strength and then and then taking a bit more off of that to make sure that it was moving well and taking into consideration the fatigue from tempo work. It would appear that I was not as depleted in that regard as I felt my first work set was too light. So I added 5lbs each set here. The added weight was noticed by the end of it but I think I was probably good to use more weight across sets. That was it for outside stuff (can put away the sunglasses) as into the garage for the next pressing thing. A lot of pressing today. Floor pressing with dumbbells with alternating sides. But keeping both arms in motion. Not worrying about reps, just doing it for time. 3x30 seconds. I wasn’t sure if my 40’s were the right call and that first set felt like a long time and that was because I did go over by a bit because I didn’t hear my alarm go off as music too loud and was matching the intervals. I was contemplating going up in weight and treating that as a warm up but decided to stick to them and it was a good thing because by the third set was definitely slowing down. And yet, that was not the end of the pressing for the day. More pressing but this time with a superset. The first part being half kneeling presses with dumbbells (been a good while here). I just kind of hoped that I was warmed up enough with all the other pressing that I could right into these and hopefully not have to drop the weight down. The other part was wall sits. Bodyweight only and a minute of it. I’ve kind of done stuff recent-ish on these but I was definitely feeling these in the glutes. Legs looked a little scrawny to me. I know that I’m likely to be doing a lot of squats and such with off-season. These went by fine and then one last superset to finish off the session. Pendlay rows (I’ve liked these) paired with wall sit marches. I was a little worried about the marches as it didn’t feel like when doing the regular wall sits that I could do them comfortably or easily. But if I just kind of start marching high and lower myself down to the position, it works out there. The marches are much tougher than just the sits. I underestimated what I could do on the strict rows so I ended up adding weight as I went. Feeling my hamstrings in that position with the brace and tension. I felt like no support gear should be used this session. Stretched out before heading over for family dinner. I’m not sure if I’ll be sans equipment for the other sessions.