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.