December 22, 2025 – Week 17, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Axle Push Presses (2 second holds at lockout)
36x5
66x3
96x2
126x2
156x2
186x2
216x4
216x4
216x4
216x4

Neutral Grip Incline Dumbbell Bench Presses
40’sx12
70’sx12
70’sx12
70’sx12

Dumbbell Push Presses (5 second eccentrics first 4 reps)
70’sx4+4
70’sx4+4
70’sx4+4
70’sx4+4
70’sx4+4

Yielding Barbell Z Presses (3 seconds forehead)/Heels Elevated Goblet Squats (4-0-4-0 tempo)
bw+15x8
125x4/bw+50x12
125x4/bw+50x12
125x4/bw+50x12
125x4/bw+50x12

Supinated Bent Over Dumbbell Drag Rows/Supported No Touch Single Leg Reverse Lunges (4 second eccentrics)
46’sx10
96’sx10 – bwx10/10
96’sx10 – bwx10/10
96’sx10 – bwx10/10

Stretching

Comments: A lot of work on Saturday with all the things I had to do for that training session. So much so that Sunday felt like it was Saturday and I had to remind myself that I did not in fact have another day to rest. I felt voracious when it was time to eat Sunday and even today I was feeling hungry even with my normal work day meals. Maybe I was thinking that since I weighed in under 255lbs Sunday morning. That is the lightest I’ve been in quite some time. Honestly, this was about the weight I was when I realized I was losing weight enough that I figured it was affecting my strength/leverages initially back in 2023. I had gone from like 275lbs to 255lbs in 6 months. This week was looking to be more intense than the previous week for most things. It was a cold day but not so much that I needed to wear my warm ups here to function. Things did not start out well as just getting down on the floor to do foam rolling both my biceps cramped up on me. Which has me a little concerned for this upcoming week of training. This has happened before when not training something a good bit as far as stones and usually I alternate weeks to adapt to the wear and tear (like the skin on my stomach). So obviously stuff is beat from stones and other things and have to be cautious with things so that I don’t accidentally do something foolish here. So besides that uncomfortable start, I proceeded with soft tissue work. A good bit was needed on my lower legs and quads. Not the most be a decent bit needed. I did get a chance to walk Sunday. And soon I’ll be back to walking more often with going back to home for the next four weeks for work. Upper body needing it too but a bit different from the usual “need”. I wasn’t feeling like my shoulders were sore like last week. Neck rehab stuff followed. This was ok and went on to stretches for hips, knees, ankles and hamstrings. Did a dead hang as well before going on to train. Axle out of the rack again. Thankfully, this was similar to last week with the plan here being 205-215lbs for 4x4 with the 2 second holds overhead. So same weight as last week if I wanted. I did same warm ups and jumps here. Thankfully my biceps didn’t cramp on me with holding the bar in the racked position like one time in 2023. I did try to adjust things slightly with my bar path and cues to hopefully have stability feel better as it has been a bit wobbly lately. I’m not sure if there was a difference really. Like last week, I just told myself the number of reps for the sets and not be thinking about how many sets to go or done. And not rush the sets. So like last time, these went smoothly for the most part (had a slight pause in the dip at start of third set to regain balance). Into the garage for incline dumbbell stuff. Notes were 70-75lbs (same as last week) but for 3x12. So still decent amount of reps but reducing volume overall. Which is fine and expected. Again, I went with the 70’s again just for ease. I didn’t feel like these felt off at the start like last week with my sore left shoulder. But I was concerned about picking up the dumbbells and shouldering because of having both my biceps cramp up earlier. Thankfully this didn’t occur here. Honestly, every exercise besides axle was going to put some stress there at some point so it was just seeing what did what. Notes had been to press up but not out towards my feet. I tend to go more chest and triceps and avoid the shoulders on incline so I had to course correct there and aim for it to be going more over my face. Definitely noticed a difference there with that cue. From there, back outside for dumbbell push pressing with the 5 seconds eccentrics. I was a bit surprised with the change on these. Still first half being the 5 second eccentrics with the sets. I think what I was surprised with was that the sets remained the same at 5 but that reps increased on the sets. So instead of 3+3 sets, these were 4+4 sets. So two more reps each set and one of those reps being an eccentric accentuated one. Which we’ve seen how much an extra rep or two can sap strength on these. These ended up being a mixture of easy and difficult. Some sets started out not great and I’d have some stability issues and others I went through them with minimal issues. This was going to be the more challenging of the pressing things this session and I could see why the previous two things weren’t really pushed up from last week. Right biceps felt a little strain with the dismount on the final set but nothing serious. But did remind me that I had fatigued and recovering muscles. Moving right along to the supersets. First pairing for the garage stuff was again yielding z presses and heel elevated tempo goblet squats. I initially thought it was a typo to repeat last week but then I realized that it was the same weights and reps but an extra set. I wasn’t too worried about the pressing. I didn’t even do a warm up set as I felt this was manageable and the extra reps on the dumbbell push press would have me warmed up enough. It was more the goblet squats and my biceps being cool with holding the weight for the sets. And thankfully they were. Pressing actually felt comfortable enough that I considered adding a little weight after the first two sets but thought better of it. Last pairing for the evening being the weird rows and the supported single leg thingies with eccentrics added from last week. With the rows, I may have misread a cue with hips back and thinking that meant to be more parallel to the floor but that appears to not be the intent as I was told to have chest up more so that leads to a more vertical position. I was nervous with these because of the biceps so I did do a warm up set to make sure the movement felt safe to do today. And thankfully it was. My knees were feeling a bit achy so it took a bit of effort to get them feeling like doing these single leg things at the end. Left side seems to have more issues with this vs the right side. But finished up and at a large dinner to recoup. Full day of work tomorrow and then a half day after that. Stretched before cleaning up and bed.

December 20, 2025 – Week 16, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

19” Cambered Squat Bar Box Squats
85x10
135x8
185x6
235x4
285x2
335x6
340x6
345x6

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses (left side only)
49x5
72x4
94x3
108x2
125x2
140x2
155x2
170x0
170x3
170x3
30 Second Sets (with run up)
120x7
120x6 (1 miss)

Yoke and Sandbag Carries (50’ run back)
Y - 240x50’
Y - 330x50’
Y - 420x50’
Y - 510x25’
Y - 510x25’
600xpick (3 seconds)/225xpick (3 seconds)
600x50’/225x50’ in 28.46 seconds
600x50’/225x50’ in 28.63 seconds
600x50’/225x50’ in 28.30 seconds

Atlas Stones
55”
285x1
285x1
330x0
330x1 (1 miss)
51”
330x5
330x5
330x5 (1 miss)

ATG Split Squats (8”)/V-Ups
bwx12/12 – bwx15
bwx12/12 – bwx15
bwx12/12 – bwx15

Stretching

Comments: This whole week I’ve not felt like I got enough sleep. I mean, I felt rested enough but I seemed to be zonked out enough that I wasn’t waking up early and seeing I had time left and going back to sleep. I was pretty much sleeping right through and then waking up angry the alarm was going off. Like swearing as soon as I got up. Feeling like I don’t have enough hours in the day. My parents saw me Monday and Friday for dinner and commented how I looked a lot less tired Friday compared to Monday at least. Family starting to trickle in for holidays. I initially woke up Saturday at 9:30AM but said no thank you as I knew that this was going to be a very taxing session and I was feeling sore still in the left shoulder and I needed a bit more rest. So about 90 minutes more sleep before I got up. I had to prep a few things to travel today and take care of some upkeep as well before heading out. Lot of bad driving just getting to the part of highway where it was mostly smooth sailing. Had me wishing I could just train at home today. But besides that, I made good time. I did show up after 1PM so I missed a decent bit of the strongman crew. I got a little distracted after warming up talking to some people. Acting like I didn’t have things to do. But I think it was just I was nervous to do what was asked today. As I’ve been noticing that rarely is the next week easier than the first. I’m constantly surprised I’m surviving the workload. It was a bit cold but I knew I’d warm up pretty quick. Soft tissue work started things off. Calves needed a decent amount but not a ton again on the tops. Quads weren’t so bad compared to Day 2 session. Upper back didn’t really need it despite still feeling much like it did Thursday. Neck rehab stuff was ok. Feeling a little better with the aches and tightness compared to the past week. So that is something I guess. I then did stretches hips, hamstrings, knees and ankles and then a dead hang. On to weights. Cambered squat bar box squats. Plan was same weight as last week but 3x6. I think I had the box an inch high last time. Still felt better at the gym vs at home though. It really is shocking how stiff my knees feel initially and then start to feel better with more weight and support gear added to my midsection. More reps on squats meant more strain on body. I didn’t think these would feel more taxing than last week with one less set but more reps but my rest did seem to be longer. My right knee never felt 100% with sitting on the box but it handled what I was asking well enough I guess. I did 5lbs added per set again just for my own amusement as it probably makes little difference if it was the same weight all three sets here. I want to keep working squats as they went by the way side for a good bit and I think they are good for building strength. Just they can be a pain if someone else isn’t dictating what to do as I can sometimes get in my own head if stuff feels heavy or my knees/back act up on me. From there, it was on to circus dumbbell. The first thing I was nervous about today. Last two weeks it has been 150-155lbs recommended for sets of 5 reps. This was to be working up to 170lbs for 2x3. So thankful it was just two sets but worrying about getting three good reps here. This is just 10lbs under that top single I hit about a month back to end the off season prep. Granted it went up easy after the effort to clean it but I was really digging deep in my CNS as I was twitching and shaking for a good bit after that one. So heavy dumbbell, one day short of a week from the previous time. I’m not yet comfortable with the run up and toppling the dumbbell to start at least with contest weight so I did the topple part to start the sets working up to 170lbs. I was kind of going by feel with the reps. Initially I was thinking just singles after I worked up to the heavy bell but I guess I kept it to doubles just so I felt the movement and fatigue from rep to rep. I didn’t exactly instill confidence in myself as 94lbs felt off initially and my last work up set with 155lbs the second rep almost went squirrelly on me. For 170lbs, I had already decided I was going to treat these lifts as singles and not attempt touch and go. Do a rep and take about 10 seconds and do another rep and be done. My first attempt at 170lbs didn’t go great. I didn’t panic as I knew it was a form issue but I had to walk it off and not treat that as my working set or I knew I’d get frustrated and rush reps. I came back to it and got my first rep solidly. Took about 10 seconds and went for the second. That one was not quite as smooth. I wouldn’t give myself that in competition but I wasn’t going to get pissed off. I took about 5 seconds longer to regroup then for the third rep and that one went up like it should. I think I have to get used to how the clean feels on me and the weight in my hand vs how I want it on my upper back and when I know it is secured. Second set was much better and I was able to execute how I wanted it with keeping to about 10 seconds between the reps. I was happy with that result. This wasn’t the end of dumbbell though. I was to do two more sets but with 120lbs. Essentially, AMRAPs with 30 seconds. This should feel light after those sets. For these, I did set things more like competition in that I had the dumbbell standing up right and I was coming from the edge of the platform once the timer went. First set was great and I executed how I wanted. Not fatigued, just out of time with getting 7 reps in the 30 seconds. Second set not so much. I rushed it and got off balance on the attempt at the seventh rep and it went up off and I couldn’t stabilize it. Not the end I wanted here but the main thing was I had two great sets. Took my time with getting ready for the next thing since someone was in the lanes at the time. It was definitely later than I’d like and I still had a time vampire of an event still to go. This next one wasn’t it though. Again doing yoke and sandbag medley. Plan being work up to three top sets. Yoke increased to 600lbs, which is the first time since world’s that I’ve done 600lbs or more. Sandbag weight staying the same this week. I’m fine with that considering the stuff I did before and still had to do. Thankfully, my lower back wasn’t as tense as it was last week. With it being later in the day than I wanted, I didn’t do as many warm up sets. 600lbs for my pick to acclimate didn’t feel great. Probably because I was doing the starts where I wasn’t under the yoke like contest. Trying to drill that in. The yoke wasn’t going to be the tough one here. I was dealing with some indigestion during these so that wasn’t fun. I felt like I was slow on the run back from the yoke besides the yoke feeling a little slow at the start. I didn’t feel like I was slowing up at the end of the run on yoke like last week. Sandbag is sandbag and felt fine. I did try to bump it up slightly on the second and final run. My runs were surprisingly close to what I did last time minus the last run that was over a second faster than the previous runs. The indigestion seemed to stop after these. I had only been slightly nervous with this as more seeing how 600lbs affected the speed. The next thing was really a stressor as it would take time. At that would be atlas stones. They are one of my favorite events in strongman but they really suck when you’ve not done them in years and especially with tacky clean up. Stones haven’t really been in shows lately so not many people have really been putting in work on stones in that way. Once or twice someone will do something but it is like months apart. The area is a bit cluttered now and some of the lighter stones it is hard to tell what the weights are since the numbers are so tackied over. Only the big and heavy stones are obvious (or the really light ones no one uses tacky on). So the plan here was to do 3x5 with a decently heavy stone. RPE 8. Now I’ve not done stones in over 2yrs so quite the layoff. I’ve done sandbags up to 325lbs and I picked up that one stone in Ireland during that time but that’s it. I had to figure out what setup was going to make sense training by myself and figure out what stones I had access to work up. Contest is 280lbs or 355lbs over 52”. I’ll be damned if I’m doing 280lbs stone for reps. It is a warm up weight. I had meant to use the 235lbs stone but I couldn’t figure out which one it was and I thought it might be a stone in the walk way and wanted to weigh it but after getting locked out of the gym and having to walk all the way around the industrial complex to get back in with is freezing and me without a shirt on, I wasn’t going to humor that nonsense again. So just went right at 285lbs to 55” platform (over bar seemed risky). Honestly, with so much dried tacky on it, there was 50/50 chance this was the 235lbs but I knew it wasn’t when I picked it up. I wasn’t too happy with how that rep went so I did another and that felt better. I was using the Spider Tack I had with me as that seemed to warm up quickest. I then rolled out the 330lbs. I had options but the 310lbs was in the walk way and the 315lbs was on the other platform which was occupied with all the gym’s logs. Not touching that while tackied up. I definitely bit off more than I could chew today here. The pick was fine and felt like it should but my extension was garbage today. I guess not really trained that in a good while. It slid down on me going for the load and I missed it. Not nice and easy Happy. I applied tacky to my midsection (going to smart later) and I did get a rep here but I got the same issue on the second. Damn it. I didn’t want to drop down to 285lbs for my 3x5 so I moved to the next platform at 51”, so roughly contest. I try to train higher than contest just because of fatigue factor. But perhaps I can do that for now since usually I don’t do the entire contest in training several times lol. I applied my STAB Tack and that is so much better compared to the Spider Tack but it is imported now and tariffs really make it pricey to get more. Somehow, I made it through this. I got 3 reps and the had to take some rest to recoup and get the last two reps. The issue was more on my extension ability and not feeling confident that the stone will stick to me on the pick to lap as it was feeling quite gritty/dirty on the one side. I had not misses on the pick. I think I was also worried with doing all these biceps stressing exercises back to back. I had a close miss on the last set and I contemplated stopping there but took about 45 seconds to recover and get it. Every set I felt like I was telling myself I can stop or go lighter next time and I think that false bargaining let me keep going. Hell, I was considering not doing stones after the yoke stuff due to the indigestion. Video shows I’m looking quite lean and I can see where muscles has been added this off season. Then came time to clean up and that took a lot of time and effort to be somewhat decent. I do not miss this part of stone training. And the first session is always the worst one. Showering later was also going to suck. I changed out of my stone stuff and put on my tacky soft shirt to finish up with the last thing. The split squats progressions and v-ups. Advised to lower the block height some more. 3x12 for the split squats and 3x15 for the v-ups. My right knee was feeling a little stiff from stones so I did a little mobility and stretching to make sure everything was good. Everything was fine here besides the right knee being a tad achy. But understandable. I just took a little more rest between exercises and sets here as I was really drained at this point. Late night driving home (still some bad drivers but not as many as the early afternoon) and got dinner ready and stretched before cleaning off.

December 18, 2025 – Week 16, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Long Bar Deadlifts (straps)
143x5
235x3
323x2
375x1
428x1
478x4
478x4
478x4
478x4

Sandbag Box Squats (18”)
175x30 seconds
175x30 seconds
175x30 seconds

Single Leg Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts/Chest Supported I Flys and T Flys
65x6/6 -- 18’sx6+6
115x8/8 -- 31’sx8+8
115x8/8 -- 31’sx8+8
115x8/8 -- 31’sx8+8

Jefferson Curls
65x1
85x8
95x8
105x8

Stretching

Comments: Getting closer to getting back on my regular training schedule. Today’s session would hopefully be the last one on an odd day for me and assuming I can suck it up with another one day of rest before doing Day 3 session, I’ll be back to my M-W-S schedule. This day has at least become a little less long in length but by no means less taxing. Work was thankfully not so bad but it was starting to warm up in the afternoon. Granted, going from below freezing to above freezing isn’t a lot but it was noticeable. Started off with foam rolling, which was ok. Calves were a little tight (right at the tops). Quads were really tight on both sides this time around as well. Upper back was needing the foam rolling but not so much as it has the past week. Neck rehab followed and that was needed. It wasn’t as relaxing as it I wanted it to be with my neck still feeling the effects of the tweak Friday. My left shoulder is sore from the past two training sessions as well. Went into the stretching for hips, ankles, hamstrings and knees after that followed by a dead hang to decompress. Like last week, I did the tib raises/calf raises in the garage as treating these as the first exercise of the lifting session. These felt fine, could feel a little fatigue in them. Bendy long bar pulls again. The “lighter” session. I am feeling like it is crunch time with the competition coming up now. I do wonder with how suit integration will be with Ms. Funk in training prep. I think I’m partly concerned in that I know my deadlift had taken a dive at some point a year ago and I’ve realized that I can use the old markers for what now will be with time available and work put in with my age. I’ve seen that I’ve had to put in a bit more work in the uncomfortable zone to maintain. So there is that plus my weight is down 25lbs or so from last wearing the suits. Not worth it to get new ones nor would there likely be time for one to be made and arrive to really train on it (if a customized one). But likely a next week issue. As this was the light session. Last week with the 513lbs for 5x2 had taken a good bit out of me. I was fresh off recovering from the cold (still have mucus remnants) and my lower back was quite sore until like yesterday from that. Which I’ve not really had this entire time with training the deadlift with Ms. Funk. So I knew that had been pushed a good bit. So this session the notes were 465-475lbs for 4x4. So about what I had done two weeks ago minus the holds at lockout. I decided to go for the heavier end on this considering that I knew I should be good for it. I of course treated it like the 3lbs didn’t count like I’ve been doing here. This would be close to what I did the first heavy week of these for my down sets for triples. I definitely didn’t tap into what I did last week here. First set felt rough but I know that that isn’t always a good indicator for the session. Like that first session where I had 453lbs for sets of 6 reps and the first set felt like RPE 10 almost and then made the second set feel really easy. Now it didn’t become that great of a contrast this time around but I didn’t feel like any sets were as rough as the first set. The second set though did feel easier but I think part of that was that the one side the extenders weren’t secure enough and slid a few inches making the flex more apparent. I did adjust them after that and thankfully that didn’t make things feel like the first set as I was worried that had been the case why the second set felt good. These pulls are really stressing my bracing and I feel I’m getting better at that. Got these done and took a little break to teardown and rehydrate before moving on to the rest of the session. The next thing was the timed sandbag box squats. Same weight but longer time (30 vs 20) and one set dropped. My hope was that my air was back compared to last time. I could still work through it but I’d rather not feel that winded. Only the knee sleeves like last time. I did have an added level of difficulty as apparently I had a hangnail on my left thumb and the dryness caused it to crack and bleed a good bit. So I had to manage blood time while doing these. If I didn’t have that going on, I may have done an accumulation set so that the first set didn’t feel so rough on the knees as that had been the case last time. But soldiered one here. The added time was noticed as far as recovery between sets. But this wasn’t bad. Another break to get stuff setup for the next thing and get some more fluids in me. Next being the new superset of the single leg dumbbell rdls and the dumbbell raises. The reps were lowered on the rdls but weight was suggested as what I did for my top set last time or a little heavier. Since only my last set had been done the right way (offset loading), I stuck to the lighter option here. The raises were the same weight but more reps so I knew that was going to be challenging as well. I used slightly more weight and more reps with my warm ups to hopefully get used to the discomfort. Nope. The rdls were rough right from the start. I think on these I get a little paranoid that not going low enough but video says even the ones that felt “high” are going to the spot I want these at. Balance is really tricky on these. I had thought the one side was my lagging side but it seems to depend on weight and such. Like the one side it felt tougher for the lower body part but the other side it was the core/upper body. Video also makes the dumbbell not look so large. I did take about 25 seconds rest between sides on these as this variation is quite a bit more taxing. The raises did not start out well. The first set I felt like I had misloaded something or was not recovered or something because it felt damn heavy. The weight did feel better on the following sets besides it being really tough on the t fly variation. I took a little more rest compared to last time with like 15 seconds rest between the variations. The last thing then for this session was those Jefferson curls again. Told to add weight as long as feeling good on my lower back. 3x8 for the sets. I had used just barbell to get used to the movement and make sure that I was feeling good here. My plan was to just do 65lbs but I did one rep and it was way too light for what I was planning so I added 20lbs more. But I guess I can handle more as that also felt light so I added 10lbs per set. I had though jumping to 95lbs after 65lbs was too big a jump (or even from the 45lbs) but I guess not. It is a little more taxing on the arms with this weight added. I can see these helping with picking up stones and sandbags. I was starting to regret drinking anything after the superset on these this time around. But finished these up and put stuff away and ate dinner, followed by stretching.

December 16, 2025 – Week 16, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Axle Push Presses (2 second holds at lockout)
36x5
66x3
96x2
126x2
156x2
186x2
216x3
216x3
216x3
216x3
216x3

Neutral Grip Incline Dumbbell Bench Presses
40’sx10
70’sx10
70’sx10
70’sx10
70’sx10

Dumbbell Push Presses (5 second eccentrics first 3 reps)
70’sx3+3
70’sx3+3
70’sx3+3
70’sx3+3
70’sx3+3

Yielding Barbell Z Presses (3 seconds forehead)/Heels Elevated Goblet Squats (4-0-4-0 tempo)
95x2/bw+10x8
125x4/bw+50x12
125x4/bw+50x12
125x4/bw+50x12

Supinated Bent Over Dumbbell Drag Rows/Supported No Touch Single Leg Reverse Lunges (4 second eccentrics)
96’sx8 – bwx8/8
96’sx8 – bwx8/8
96’sx8 – bwx8/8

Stretching

Comments: Being sick and having to move days around last week did lead to a benefit for this week. If I had been on my normal schedule, I’d not been able to train as normal for Monday as snow came out of nowhere late in the afternoon. It was sudden and stopped quickly but I’d not felt comfortable training overhead outside during it or with the platform sullied. Body is feeling beat and I am craving sleep but just not getting as much as I want with training and this stupid work schedule. Just do what I can and not stress about it. Another cold day. Home and soft tissue work needed. A good bit was needed on my lower legs and quads. Upper back too. Upper body was a little stiff and achy. I’m glad I’ve not had a return of the swollen wrist from last week. Left shoulder is sore from dumbbell (both the work and from having it land on the same spot a lot). Neck rehab stuff followed. This was ok. I have to remind myself it hasn’t been a week since I was feeling ill and tweaked my neck. It will get better. I’m still not 100% but at this point it is just stuffy from mucus rather than feeling like I can’t control secretions and coughing like last week. From there stretches for hips, knees, ankles and hamstrings. Did a dead hang as well before going on to train. Below freezing outside again. I’m used to it for the most part. Once I’m warmed up, I’m good. But got to keep my hands from feeling numb. Axle out of the rack again. I hadn’t been too sure how things would go but I kind of hoped that not pushing so much with contest prep and more focus on getting reps with the dumbbell. It would seem that this was more lighter side of things but still decent work and addressing issues I still have. So plan here was 205-215lbs for 5x3. So I could go a bit lighter than last week if warranted or about the same weight. I didn’t bother with fractional plates so plan was 216lbs doing 30lbs jumps. The other thing was that I was to do holds overhead for 2 seconds each rep. This would break up the reps and have me be stable. I’ve been feeling power but not stability recent with axle overhead. Like last week, I just told myself 3 reps each set and not to be thinking about how many to go or how many I’d done as far as sets. These went smoothly for the most part. No issues with the platform. I had plenty of ice melt out there. Into the garage for incline dumbbell stuff. Notes were 70-75lbs (same as last week) but for 4x10. I went with the 70’s again just for ease. I didn’t feel great at the start on these because of how sore my left shoulder and such were feeling but thankfully I felt better as I went on these. This and last week have had me feeling better about this but again, could just be that I prefer the solid dumbbells to the plateloaded handles. From there, back outside for dumbbell push pressing with the 5 seconds eccentrics. Same deal as last week with first three 5 second eccentrics and the other three normal reps. Same weight but adding a set to it. These had felt uncharacteristically difficult last time. I hadn’t felt stable the most part and the regular reps felt tougher than the controlled reps. Well not the case this time. Felt back on track here. No real stability issues, smooth reps and not feeling fatigue that hampered me on the later sets on the regular reps. That was it for outside fun in the cold and rest of the session in the garage for supersets. First pairing for the garage stuff was again yielding z presses and heel elevated tempo goblet squats. Advised to do 115-125lbs for 3x4 on the z presses and same weight as last week on the goblets but sets of 12 reps. It is only 2 reps but with tempo, it feels like a lot more work being added. With how my shoulders were feeling a tad cooked, I wasn’t too sure how the z pressing would go. I took a gamble and went on the heavier end. I probably could’ve done more weight here and still been fine. But I’m sure I’ll have these next week with more reps or something. The goblet squats were draining but they always tend to be. Upper body gets fatigued with holding the weight in position for the duration. I do feel like the reps were enough that I was feeling some fatigue in the legs by the end. Knees had been a tad achy at the start but seemed fine as I did more. Last pairing for the evening being the weird rows and the supported single leg thingies. Slight change to the later with indication to emphasize the negatives. Nothing set but I ventured to do 3-5 seconds depending on what seemed to fit and worked with the movement and range of motion. Both exercises had reps reduced back to 8. Bodyweight only for the lunge things but suggested increase on the rows was 90-100lbs. I didn’t want to deal with fractional plates so did 96lbs. I do not like these because they feel uncomfortable and awkward when I do them with trying to keep contact with my legs/thighs and these big unwieldy dumbbells. I think I’d enjoy them more if I had solid dumbbells to use. Knees were a tad achy on the lunge stuff so I did have to pump up the knees a little with small movements before committing to the movements. These were fine and I got them done. Put stuff away and got dinner before stretching and trying to get to bed so I can try to get some decent sleep.

December 14, 2025 – Week 15, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

19” Cambered Squat Bar Box Squats
85x10
135x8
185x6
235x4
285x2
335x4
340x4
345x4
350x4

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses (left side only)
49x5
72x4
94x3
108x2
122x2
137x2
152x5 (3 misses)
152x5
152x5
152x5 (1 miss)

Yoke and Sandbag Carries (50’ run back)
Y - 200x50’
Y - 200x50’
Y - 290x50’
Y - 290x50’
Y - 380x50’
Y - 470x25’
Y - 470x25’
560xpick (3 seconds)/225xpick (3 seconds)
560x50’/225x50’ in 28.30 seconds
560x50’/225x50’ in 28.80 seconds
560x50’/225x50’ in 27.10 seconds

ATG Split Squats (9”)/V-Ups
bwx10/10 – bwx12
bwx10/10 – bwx12
bwx10/10 – bwx12
bwx10/10 – bwx12

Incline Treadmill Walking (10 degree)
10 minutes at 3mph

Stretching

Comments: I was not sure if I was going to do this last workout of this week. Just now getting over the illness and I was starting to feel Friday’s session now. Just very sore lower back. Was it worth trying to fit this last workout in to be a completionist or should I just not do it and try to start fresh with next week back in the saddle? I don’t know if dedication or mental illness is why still did this one. December gets tricky with winter weather and I had not expected it to snow Saturday evening as early as it did. It would be a matter of how safe the roads were Sunday to figure things out. Weight was back down again near 256lbs. Honestly, that weight or more than last week wouldn’t have surprised me with how I was feeling. Either lighter from body fighting stuff or heavier from sleeping and not walking as much and still eating same meals. The roads were safe Sunday as sun was out. But it was damn cold and windy and the sun doesn’t hit the back porch. So it was covered in ice. Considering how cold and windy it was and that I was already anxious about circus dumbbell every week, it didn’t seem wise to do my session at home, even if the ice salt would break up the ice. I have some place weather controlled to train. It has been a bit since I’ve trained on a Sunday at the gym. So not the usual crowd. Cold when I got there but it got warm as I was there and did stuff and people showed up. Lower back is stiff and sore and I can tell there are some disc compression symptoms at play. Soft tissue work started things off. Calves needed a decent amount but not a ton. When it is like this, the left side needs more attention. Quads weren’t so bad. Upper back needed it today too. Neck rehab stuff was ok. Still trying to get the left side of my neck to fully calm down. It is better but still tender. Just so stupid. I then did stretches hips, hamstrings, knees and ankles and then a dead hang. Then it was time for training. Same as last week, it was cambered squat bar box squats. I think doing the sets last week at home on my box setup vs at the gym setup was a really big difference. Showed how much firmer the box at the gym is even with the hard foam as well as being stable compared to what I had. What I’m saying is it seemed to feel like less power lost coming off the box. My knees were also not so achy warming up. Plan here was to do 335-345lbs for 4x4. So either same weight or little bit more than last week. I was going with same weight just because I knew I wasn’t quite 100% and squats can be a bit more taxing on my breathing and I could just do 50lbs jumps working up and not worry about adding little plates at the start. But I decided that if I was feeling good enough to do this, I was going to add 5lbs per set just so that I wasn’t just doing the same weight. 5lbs shouldn’t add up too much since I think I did close to 345lbs for a set of 5 reps or something the first week of these. I didn’t necessarily feel the strongest on these but I didn’t feel like my knees were aching as much or that my upper back was feeling painful pressure. So I’ll take it. I also feel like doing these squats before pressing has been helping with conditioning there and preparing for stuff like when a show doesn’t have press first (like the one that is coming up). From there, it was on to circus dumbbell. The plan was to do 4x5 this week with about the same weight as last week. I wasn’t too sure what to expect here as my dumbbell at home is a bit different with the grip and a bit more solid feeling. But maybe that session with that one helped this one feel better as I was feeling like I could get into the position better and efficiently this time around. I did start implementing some of the contest specific stuff here warming up. I’m not quite where I feel comfortable to do it on my working sets yet. The dumbbell is going to be standing upright at the start and I will likely need to run about 15’ or so to get to it on the whistle based on video of this year’s show and the setup. No run ups, just the dumbbell tipping to start. Figure out what makes sense. Wait until I got my air back to do the other stuff. We got about 2 months. Anyways, I was nervous with the working weight and I wasn’t expecting or planning for these to be touch and go reps. But they felt right so I went with it. And it was going well that first set until I messed up the last rep. I kind of gassed and sapped my lower back so the cleans weren’t feeling so good. After the first close miss, I thought I had it going for it a second time as it felt locked in but apparently too far to the midline and it went right back down. I tried again and just couldn’t get it to feel comfortable in the rack and had to walk away to collect myself before coming back and getting it. So part good and part bad. Three misses not great but the bang and clang of the reps that did go was a good sign. I know that I may need to get things a little more firm on the reps for lockout come contest time but I think right now I’m trying to get the weight to move and feel comfortable and confident with it. I know when I got it up there solidly as it feels like I can hold it up there forever. Second set and third set I was able to get the reps touch and go with no misses and in under 30 seconds. That is how I want things to be here. Last set was on pace but I got a little too cocky with the last rep and it didn’t quite get there and I had to redo it. Unlike the first set, I got it with a short breather and still managed to have all the reps be inside of 60 seconds. I had been nervous about these with just the illness part of things as well as my neck being sore. So the big head ache nervous ball done and should be smooth sailing. Well, not exactly. So the next thing being yoke and sandbag medley. Work up to three top sets with more weight than last time. I had mentioned that last week would be just getting an idea of what I could do as it was very light on the sandbag part and I was going uphill and downhill with a wobblier yoke. This would be a bit heavier on the yoke and lot heavier on the sandbag. I was not feeling my usual self on the yoke. Felt slow and my lower back was stiff. I changed the warm up a little with doing just half run with the last weight before working weight. With working weight, I added in a contest prep thing with the yoke. It would appear that we can start with hands on the yoke but not be setup under it. I notice a big difference in my yoke when I can get tight before the start and vs when I have to in my own time. The staggered setup actually seems to make the getting under it and then getting a brace feel natural vs squared stance. I did like 3-4 attempts at this before each run before I actually committed. Get practice while I can that is low effort but high yield. I feel like with yoke I did get better as I went. I wasn’t sure how sandbag would go as this bag has straps on the side because it is a piece of crap from a cheap brand but it didn’t seem to affect me with how I was picking the bag up. Trying to pick it up like I would in a manner that feels like the husafel bag when walking with it. So out in front and a little low. Save it for when I am using the implement to try and position a bit better. The second set was going well I think and then I noticed my shoelace on the right shoe had broken at some point so I was trying to not trip on that getting back to the sandbag and then running with the sandbag. Got a new shoelace and did my last set which was over a second faster than my first set. While my lower back had been feeling tight and stiff, I wasn’t feeling very taxed from these runs surprisingly. I wasn’t expecting that with how I was feeling warming up. The last thing I did in the gym was the same superset as last week of split squat progression and the v-ups. Reps were the same for v-ups but increased for the split squats. I lowered the height by 1” on those just because it was the easiest setup closest to what I did last week. Right knee a bit achy but tolerable. Rest for these was brief between exercises. I think I spent some time on the floor more to see if my lower back would loosen up a little more after each set of v-ups. I left after I did these and cleaned up. I wanted to get home to start cooking dinner and I could do the tread mill walking at home too while that was happening. Stretched a bit later. I’m surprised I managed to get this week of training done with what happened but I did.

December 12, 2025 – Week 15, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Long Bar Deadlifts (straps)
143x5
235x3
323x2
373x1
413x1
463x1
513x2
513x2
513x2
513x2
513x2

Sandbag Box Squats (18”)
175x20 seconds
175x20 seconds
175x20 seconds
175x20 seconds

Single Leg Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts/Chest Supported I Flys and T Flys
40x5/5 -- 16’sx3+3
85x10/10 -- 31’sx6+6
100x10/10 -- 31’sx6+6
115x10/10 (offset) -- 31’sx6+6

Jefferson Curls
45x12
45x12
45x12

Stretching

Comments: This ended up being a real butthole of a week. I was already not feeling great at the start with what seemed to be the cold I thought was licked coming back hard with the stress related to work and the wrist injury. With work (what else is new) they discovered a third party vendor had not been sending out mail for the past month so now we have to rectify that. The illness I had got worse on Tuesday and I knew that if it got worse, I was going to have to call off work. My wrist also was getting similar to how it was earlier last week before the shot so that was having me feeling like I was going to have an anxiety episode on top of being sick. Short story is that my cold got worse and I ended up taking sick leave (and not for a doctor’s appointment or mental health reason) since 2017 for two days. I was out of it and slept 14hrs both days I was off. I felt I needed to go to work Friday if I felt well enough mainly so that I didn’t get locked out of my account (password was expiring lol) and try to not have most of a week to get myself caught up next week. I also didn’t feel that it was where I’d get antibiotics for what I had so didn’t want to go be around more sick people for a doctor’s note (I need one if out more than 2 days in a row). Been on Dayquil and Nyquil and antiflammatories and allergy meds and I went through boxes of tissues like a bonfire. So really hard to tell how I was feeling with stuff being masked. And to top if off I strained my neck on the left side checking for traffic backing out my car out of the driveway going to work today. So just lovely feeling all around. I wasn’t feeling too bad considering things at work and felt like maybe I could handle no meds besides what I took in the morning. Nope, ended up needing some in the afternoon to finish out the day. I still felt like shit but it was a huge improvement from how bad I felt Wednesday and Thursday that I figured I’d warm up to train and see how that goes. This would need to happen if I wanted to have a shot of trying to get this week’s training sessions done to be good to go for next week. Foam rolling was ok. Calves were a little tight but alright and then my quads were tight but not as much as they could. This could be from the meds and lack of doing anything besides sleeping and working this week. Upper back was needing the foam rolling as well. Neck rehab followed and that was needed. It wasn’t as relaxing as it I wanted it to be with my neck tweaked at the moment. Went into the stretching for hips, ankles, hamstrings and knees after that followed by a dead hang to decompress. I was still a bit apprehensive with the session as with fluids and meds I wasn’t sure if I was actually ok to train intensely as I felt like my one hamstring did want to cramp. Wouldn’t want a neck tweak issue elsewhere you know? But I go on. I did the tib raises/calf raises, treating these as the first exercise of the lifting session. I did these in the garage on the concrete vs in the house on carpet like I’ve been doing. I think to make it feel more like part of the workout then the prep stuff. Or just to see if that changed things with how my ankle/feet reacted. Bendy long bar pulls again. The heavy session. No pauses at lockout this time and a bit different. This was going to be the toughest things of the session which I kind of expected a shift like this to start with contest prep starting up in earnest. The proposed plan was to do 505-515lbs for 5 sets of 1-2 reps. I asked about what I should be using to dictate going singles vs doubles with this weight as it could be a big difference in intent with the sets. Like if I was to make these feel like speed work, singles of course with this weight. Clarification was to do doubles if I knew I’d not miss. No misses. Alrighty then. I did the same warming up I’ve been doing here. I’ve done deadlifts when things suck and I just had to embrace that suck and figure out what kind of suck it would be today. I already knew I’d be taking a longer rests between the sets to accommodate for my lessened respiratory capacity and to mentally recover assuming I was doing these as doubles. I’ve been noticing that sometimes the first pull is really good and other times it sucks. And I need to keep pulling with this setup. Based on when I get this to about 460ish, there is 2” of flex in the bar. There may be more if I use larger plates besides the bumper plate but this seems to be at least some consistency. I got myself pretty amped up for these sets compared to the past few weeks. The first two sets the first reps felt slow and I wasn’t sure how I got the second reps with how they felt at the start but they then would go up smooth to lockout and feel easy there. I felt at times I was going to crap myself. I’m not sure I was successful with preventing that but it has been a rough 72hrs. Fourth set I didn’t quite have my brace keyed up with my initiating of the lift and I could tell after that set my left side lower back where my 2016 injury is was feeling a little tender. But I knew I’d survive the workout and got the last set done. I could relax and little now and recover before getting on to the rest of the workout. There wasn’t pressure to get things done supper quick as tomorrow Saturday and I wasn’t going to do anything anyways. I was a bit surprised with the change to the session after pulls. It has been ssb front box squats for the past 14 weeks. Now going back to something that was in the first training block for Worlds for a little bit with sandbag box squats. A bit different style and such. I also feel like my body moves a bit more like how I want it to as well. They had been part of a superset to a 6” higher box and I was holding the bag like I would if doing a bear hug with my 225lbs weight. This was to be 175lbs bag and try to crush it into myself and slightly hunched over. And it was for time sets instead of reps. So like the marching with it being 20 second sets. This was light enough and with my breathing compromised, it didn’t make sense to wear any support on my midsection. So just knee sleeves. Ideally, I’d have done some kind of warming up rather than just go right into squatting with the sandbag. But I think I just wanted to see how things were and move it along. I mean, I didn’t really do anything to prep for the marches. My knees were pretty stiff that first set but it felt easier and smoother as I went on these sets. I kind of just kept going with similar rest to what I was doing last week with the marches here so that I got these done and I think that I didn’t let myself have the fatigue catch up on me as I wasn’t really going to get my air back. These went well enough. A slight break in the action here putting stuff away and then getting the superset setup. Which already had a pretty big departure last week with dropping one of the exercises. This was a more dramatic change. The snatch grip rdls were replaced with single leg dumbbell rdls. No pauses. Focus on core bracing and such. I had asked how I was to load with the dumbbell and I knew it was to be offset loading (not dumbbell on same side as stationary leg) and I did my warm up as such. But I think jumping to the weight with a different dumbbell threw me off and I went to same side by mistake. I had not expected things to feel as strong/good as they did with the one leg rdls. I ended up adding weight as I went here and eventually realized I was doing these not how I was supposed to and switched to the right style on the last set (which made that quite challenging). My balance is not great as per usual. I should be able to correct for next time. The other half of the pairing was still the dumbbell raises for upper back but the reps range was cut in half to 6 reps. So I needed to pump up the numbers here to find what worked. This was the more challenging aspect of the super set at least until I figured out I was doing an easier variation of the rdls at the start. The last thing then for this session was those Jefferson curls again. Advised to do 3x12 with same weight as last time. I did them like I did last time zercher style off my sawhorses. I was able to move these a little quicker and smoother compared to last week. I was feeling a bit beat this session for obvious reasons with stiff/sore left side of neck, left side of lower back, left hamstring and right glute. But like I said, it is the weekend so I got at least a day to recover from this nonsense and figure out how I want to proceed. Ate dinner and stretched before eventually taking Nyquil to sleep.

December 8, 2025 – Week 15, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Axle Push Presses
40x8
70x5
100x3
130x2
160x2
190x2
220x4
220x4
220x4
220x4
220x4
220x4

Neutral Grip Incline Dumbbell Bench Presses
40’sx10
70’sx8
70’sx8
70’sx8
70’sx8
70’sx8

Dumbbell Push Presses (5 second eccentrics first 3 reps)
70’sx3+3
70’sx3+3
70’sx3+3
70’sx3+3

Yielding Barbell Z Presses (3 seconds forehead)/Heels Elevated Goblet Squats (4-0-4-0 tempo)
65x3/bw+10x10
105x6/bw+50x10
110x6/bw+50x10
115x6/bw+50x10

Supinated Bent Over Dumbbell Drag Rows/Supported No Touch Single Leg Reverse Lunges
80’sx15 -- bwx15/15
80’sx15 -- bwx15/15
80’sx15 -- bwx15/15

Stretching

Comments: Last week had not been ideal and seemed to end on a high note for me with at least getting the training sessions done at home without incident and getting some relief in the wrist/forearm. But not meant to last I guess. The shot was just a quick fix and I noticed on even Sunday that some of the symptoms were coming back. On top of that, the cold I thought I had at bay came back with a vengeance and got worse on Monday. I did at least get some walking in on Sunday. Weight just under 260lbs this time. Monday at work really sucked and I felt like I was in a fog mentally and I was going to have to spend the next day catching up on the work I did. Some of it had been from Friday. Thankfully the workload for this session wasn’t crazy and reduced some in intensity on the pressing so should be manageable. But it was really damn cold. The work stress was a bit compounded by having some things at home adjusted. Soft tissue foam rolling was fine. Some needed for lower legs and good bit for my quads (especially the right side) and so did upper back which has seemed to be par the course as of late. Can be a bit tricky with figuring out what is stiff/sore as I’ve been taking Dayquil and allergy meds. Neck rehab stuff followed. Didn’t feel quite as good as my upper body was feeling quite stiff and resistant. But this was needed to get some things to relax. From there stretches for hips, knees, ankles and hamstrings. Did a dead hang as well before going on to train. Below freezing outside. Axle out of the rack again. More reps and lighter weight session. Plan being 6x4 with 220lbs. I wasn’t going to try and fudge in any little bit on that. I wanted to get myself through an overhead session without a missed rep or incident today. Just the usual with warming up here with 30lbs jumps. For the most part, I felt powerful but not necessarily stable. The stability hasn’t been feeling there lately but power seems to be there. The stability issue was most present on the second set and thankfully I didn’t have it that bad the rest of the session. I just told myself each set I was doing just 4 reps regardless which set I was on and maybe that helped with getting these done. Into the garage for incline dumbbell stuff. Yet another merciful reduction in weight on these this time around. Notes were 70-75lbs for 5x8, and aim to keep shoulders pinned down. I only went with the lighter range on these because that meant I was just using my solid dumbbells here rather than having to spend time getting the plateloaded ones setup and I could go from one thing to the next. I figured this was a reduction in intensity as winding down the accessory stuff for the contest prep. Solid dumbbells feel better on these anyways but I got limited options. I was able to keep things moving pretty smooth and quickly here with sets and rests. Two things down on the workout and it was bck outside for dumbbell push pressing with the 5 seconds eccentrics. Same weight as last week but adjustment to what I was doing. So now 4x6 but only doing the accentuated negatives on the first 3 reps and then normal style reps for the other 3. This did not make things easier as there was still that fatigue and then having to change up gears. My timing seems off with doing them without the long eccentric so this was a little tricky for me and I felt that the normal reps were harder with balance and such. I think my upper back has been getting worked real hard lately with the dumbbell raises which might explain that wobbles. Or maybe not. But I was glad to be done with these and get back inside the garage at least for the rest of the session. At this time, I was noticing that the right wrist was feeling stressed by the session so I was keeping an eye on it. It was making me anxious but it was a load worse last week and I was able to do everything without modification. This was more caution on my part and trying to figure out plan of managing going forward as this wasn’t going to be a quick fix. The first pairing for the garage stuff was again z presses and heel elevated tempo goblet squats. Some changes from last week. The z presses had been really rough last week. The change was now 3x6 but doing them with pauses on the way down at forehead for 3 seconds. I refer to them as yielding vs pausing to differentiate when I pause on the movement. I’ve done these for deadlifts a fair amount and I don’t know if I’ve done them for overhead before. So I wasn’t too sure what I could handle here so initially I was looking at 95lbs but my warm up set had this feeling too light so I went with 105lbs and that was also feeling like too easy so I added 5lbs each set with it feeling right at the end. The goblet squats were same weight as last week but 10 reps instead. These felt fine and it was more the upper body needing to recover and adjust here. I didn’t take as long of rests between the exercises compared to the past few sessions as my shoulders felt like they were recovering enough between rounds this week. I did take slightly longer before the last set. Last pairing for the evening being the weird rows and the supported single leg thingies. Same weight and sets as last time but both now being 15 reps. Notes were go for the pump. The rows with how the wrist is position had me a little leery as well as how holding onto my dip stand for the single leg stuff also may stress things. I did some fine tuning here to make sure I was moving well and put in the work here to finish up the session. Put stuff away and got to eating dinner and taking out the trash. Stretched and took cold medicine before bed. Really need to get over this.

December 6, 2025 – Week 14, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

19” Cambered Squat Bar Box Squats
85x10
135x8
185x6
235x4
285x2
335x5
335x5
335x5
335x5

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses (left side only)
56x5
76x4
96x3
112x2
130x2
142x2
152x5
152x5
152x5 (2 misses)

Yoke and Sandbag Carries (50’ run back)
Y - 165x50’
Y - 165x50’
Y - 255x50’
Y - 255x50’
Y - 345x50’
Y - 435x50’
525xpick (3 seconds)/175xpick (3 seconds)
525x50’/175x50’ in 25.04 seconds
525x50’/175x50’ in 23.16 seconds
525x50’/175x50’ in 23.63 seconds

ATG Split Squats (10”)/V-Ups
bwx8/8 – bwx12
bwx8/8 – bwx12
bwx8/8 – bwx12
bwx8/8 – bwx12

Incline Treadmill Walking (10 degree)
10 minutes at 3mph

Stretching

Comments: As I mentioned, this week has not been ideal. The sickies were back in the office and I again was feeling low energy leaving work and was feeling like I was fighting a brain fog all day. Probably didn’t help that I got someone else’s work to do since they are behind and not doing the job right. I’m actually not sure if they will be staying with the unit. So that added to what I had planned. My wrist/forearm wasn’t feeling better today and was a little more swollen than it was after the two nights of ibuprofen. Not unreasonable to think that the stress from training added to that. But I made the decision in the afternoon to be on the safe side and make sure it wasn’t more than an inflamed tendon from overuse so went to the injury clinic after work. It was really cold so even motivation to walk after work was at 0% interest. No issues with my bones and it was what I thought and what I was doing with ibuprofen and rest would eventually resolve it. But they offered a cortisone shot that would take the inflammation down drastically in about a day so I went with that as it was more the swelling making things difficult with fine motor skills with that hand. I didn’t notice an immediate difference and there was some discomfort later after the numbing agent wore off at the injection (it was a long ass needle). I was also feeling like I might have a cold again so sleep was priority. Woke feeling mostly refreshed. 90% of the swelling is gone and feels a ton better. Also seems the rest put the cold at bay. Now to figure out if I was training today or not. It was about freezing today and the Lancaster gym was closed for a powerlifting meet today and tomorrow. So options were at home or at the local gym if I wanted to not be freezing for most of the session. The thing I was most worried about was circus dumbbell and making sure I was recovered for that and if adjusting stuff for next week to allow another day rest made sense. But I figured the lower body stuff wasn’t as intense that one less day of rest would impact things too bad and catch back up this coming week. But still anxious about the circus dumbbell. Soft tissue work started things off. Calves needed a decent amount but not a ton. The left needed it more today. Quads still needed it a fair amount (a lot on the right) compared to everything else. Upper back needed it today too. Neck rehab stuff was ok. I needed these today. This was followed by stretching of the hips, hamstrings, knees and ankles and then a dead hang. On to the weights in the garage. I started out wearing my warm ups setting up stuff but eventually disrobed as I was working up quite a sweat. I become like a space heater. Cambered squat bar box squats for the first thing. It was going to be ssb box squats but that because Ms. Funk didn’t know I had a csb at home. So the plan here was 335lbs for 4x5 this week. So an increase in weight but decrease in reps and sets. Considering how the past two weeks went, this shouldn’t be an issue other than just getting used to the reps I think. Comparatively, these felt tougher than the ssb front box squats did earlier this week but closer in effort this time around. My knees were stiff as shit doing the empty bar here. Box not ideal setup with needing to elevate it 1” from my easier setup to match the gym training. The slightly narrower rack actually helped with hand placement on these. I did 50lbs jumps here. I knew I’d get these done and these wouldn’t be a max effort even if I wasn’t feeling my best just from experience of the previous heavier sessions before last week. Got that done and put stuff away as well as partially setting up for event work later. I was trying to stave off doing the circus dumbbell as that was what had me the most nervous. I didn’t enjoy the misses I had last week and that didn’t help with the issue I had with axle near the end of the set this past Monday. The circumstances weren’t going to be ideal not at the gym with being outside with near freezing. This isn’t unusual for me since doing the home gym stuff because of COVID stuff but it has been about 2yrs since I have. So what is different with this compared to the strongman gym besides being outside with snow around was that I had to work up to my circus dumbbell. I have a selection of dumbbells at the gym but I have one beefy dumbbell that is 130lbs empty. It has a thicker handle and is larger plate diameter than what I’ve been using and what I will likely be doing at the competition. Warming up would be using a Fat Gripz Extreme on my plateloadable dumbbell handles with 25’s and such to get up to the dumbbell and then add weights. And I wasn’t too keen on doing multiple reps with that setup to warm up but I did to make sure I got used to it. My lower back and core were still feeling Wednesday session to be sure. I was also not sure if my upper back was also recovered enough. The plan here was 150-155lbs for 3x5 reps. So an inverse of the session from three weeks prior. I knew that this would be a tough one and it was going to be quite difficult with the circumstances. I’m not used to my dumbbell and the added grip needed was going to tax my arms more so I wasn’t really expecting to do touch and go reps initially. This was a big reason I wanted to get the swelling down in my non-lifting arm to assist here. Trying to take lessons from last time with trying to get more hips into the clean to assist to the shoulder. I was a little lax in that on the first rep of the first set and I think that had me slow the pace a bit here as I really didn’t want to have any misses. The dumbbell feels thick and solid and sits a little different with it being about an 1” thicker. Even with this pacing, this was about a minute to get the five reps. I took a quite long rest here. Talking powerlifting meet attempt rest. I wanted to make sure I recovered (mentally and physically) and warmed up a bit before going again. But I was feeling a bit more confident going into the second set. Pacing went better this time around and I was about 7 seconds faster completing the reps compared to the first set. Another long rest but I cut it about 2 minutes shorter than the previous (long rests all feel the same to me) and I was hopeful of getting through this with no misses on the reps. Perhaps I was a little too cocky with how I approached the last set. The first rep went up so good that I went for a touch and go rep on the second. Which was a mistake. I got it but the thicker handle had me not have as secure a grip on the clean so it was more in my fingers vs in my palm and I had it dance around on me at lockout. I’m actually surprised I managed to secure that one. So I didn’t do that again and went back to doing dead stop recleans and taking breathes between reps. I took a little longer to catch my breath after that but was still on pace to match the previous set even with that. But that little maneuver caught up to me and I was too fatigued in the upper body to stabilize going for that last rep. I tried it again after taking about five breathes and it did not get as close as it was the first attempt. Just one rep left. So I took off my wrist wraps and went into my patio/sunroom to get take some deep breathes and try to get the fatigue out of my arms to give it one more shot. I needed about a minute and came out there and hit that rep like it should’ve gone the first two times. I did a little dance overhead with it for dominance and flipped it off after dropping it (as is custom at this time). Not an ideal end to this but I survived. This cold and dryness has not been helpful for my knuckles as the scrapes/gashes from the filling up the sandbag and using the other circus bell with bolts on it has those reopening constantly with the pressure from overhead and even deadlifts. I left the circus dumbbell stuff mostly untouched so I could move on to the event work I needed to do out in the street. And I wanted to get that down before the sun set. From there it was on to yoke and sandbag. Combining them this time. Not sure if that is going forward or just for this session due to not being able to do the usual thing. I was happy that this wasn’t timed yoke runs as I wasn’t sure I could get my dad to come over to do that if I had to. But with it being a medley, I could set it up to get my times later from viewing the video. The plan here was to have this be light as the sandbag part was like 55% of contest weight whereas yoke being 70%. I would get my times but I wasn’t going to beat myself up on these as far as getting great times. This was first time having the events together and not ideal. My street has a decent slant to it so one set is going to be uphill and one set is going to be downhill so usually faster on the downhill vs uphill. Also, the yoke is a wobbly one. I didn’t bother with the sandbag with warming up and did just the yoke until I got to the working weight. My knees had felt a little achy so I did a pick and hold with both working weights on the implements to make sure I was feeling good. My starts were feeling decent with the working weight but I could tell I wasn’t quite up to par that first set on the yoke. I also felt I was slowing down to get to the mark to stop, drop and run back. I will say that my running mechanics felt smooth and natural as I went back to the bag. Can’t say that has been the case in the past. I’ve sometimes (often) felt stiff and tight in the knees but not here. I grabbed the sandbag low to have it feel more like how the sandbag husafell would feel. I feel that I improved on each set. My last set wasn’t as fast as my second set but it was close and since going uphill vs downhill, it was probably my best if flat surface and whatnot. I do feel that I was perhaps a bit optimistic with expectations of time for contest but may have to adjust that with how things have felt. I mostly put the yoke and sandbag stuff away before moving on to the last things that was lifting related. Same superset as last week of split squat progression and the v-ups. Changes in reps and sets. Advised to go to lower box height on the split squats and for 8 reps and to do 12 reps on the v-ups. Four sets this time around. These weren’t too bad. I was able to get secure setup here at 10”. As has been the case, right side has more issues vs left. The v-ups with the increased reps were tougher. I feel I was bit more consistent with reps this time around but not perfect. I pretty much did these back to back with the only rest being a breath between sides on the split squats and laying on the cold concrete for a few moments until my abs weren’t feeling like crap. Finally put everything away that I was using before doing the “recovery” time. Listed as doing 10 minutes of walking preferably on incline. It was cold out and I figured that a more intense thing would be having myself walk on the treadmill at max incline instead. That way I could control things a little better. I couldn’t get my pulse to register (it is old). I was surprised how much my glutes were working on these. But finally done and able to decompress and stretch out. I probably should’ve ordered deliver sooner than I did as it came like an hour later than I had wanted it to. Oh well.

December 4, 2025 – Week 14, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Long Bar Deadlifts (straps)
143x5
235x3
323x2
Add Holds at Lockout (1 second)
373x1
413x1
463x4
463x4
463x4
463x4

Safety Squat Bar Front Box Squats (21”)
65x6
115x5
155x4
205x3
245x2
280x4
280x4
280x4
280x4

Paused Snatch Grip Romanian Deadlifts (straps, 2 seconds)/Chest Supported I Flys and T Flys
265x3/10’sx5+5
355x6/21’sx12+12
355x6/21’sx12+12
355x6/21’sx12+12
355x6

Jefferson Curls
45x10
45x10
45x10

Sandbag Marches
225x20 seconds
225x20 seconds
225x20 seconds
225x20 seconds
225x20 seconds
225x20 seconds
225x20 seconds
225x20 seconds

Stretching

Comments: The transition from the offsite to onsite is not an easy one apparently. It was not made better with the weather this week. In office Monday and then at home Tuesday back to previous schedule due to snow keeping people home and then an abundance of caution leading to 2hr delay to start time on Wednesday. Which meant I could get my normal sleep hours Monday and Tuesday night. You’d think I’d be rested but apparently not. There is some in office stress as I’m surrounded by sick people that refuse to use leave. One a cubicle behind me and the other two cubicles in front. And I guess driving home with it already being pitch black at 5:00PM doesn’t help with feeling energetic. I did not walk on Tuesday as didn’t want to risk injury slipping on ice/snow after work (plows coming through not until later) so just shoveled snow from the patio and driveway once they had done the last sweep. My right forearm/wrist still swollen and annoying. I got home from work Wednesday and I just felt off mentally. I was still I guess stewing on how axle press had felt and I know that I have a harder time keeping negative thoughts at bay when I’m tired and stressed out. My shoulders and upper back were feeling beat, front of my left shin felt like it was cramping near the end of the day and my knees were both feeling achy so I made the executive decision to just not workout. It literally felt like I had not recovered at all from Monday was like I was doing a back to back session. So plan now was eat dinner earlier and get to bed. I also took antinflammatories for the wrist/forearm not so much for pain but to see if the swelling would go down. I did feel better Thursday. Maybe because both of those people that were hacking and coughing finally took a day off but I seemed to have some energy and pep in my step after work coming home so got ready for training finally. Foam rolling was ok. Calves were a little tight but alright and then my quads were really tight. Not unexpected as I’ve not done any walking this week and there were the goblet squats again. Upper back was needing the foam rolling as well. Neck rehab followed and that was needed. As mentioned, my upper body (especially shoulders) were feeling Monday session. Went into the stretching for hips, ankles, hamstrings and knees after that followed by a dead hang to decompress. Then I did the tib raises/calf raises, treating these as the first exercise of the lifting session. I was glad these didn’t feel off considering how things felt the day before. Moving the training day wasn’t really ideal but this week wasn’t going to be ideal with the strongman gym closed this weekend for a powerlifting meet. Then time for garage work. Bendy long bar pulls again. It was what I was expecting it to be with 10lbs less than last time but doing 4x4. It had been 4-5x6 two weeks prior and then it was 6x2 last week. With the wrist/forearm thing, I was being cautious with stuff like Monday and seeing what was tolerable. With these, it was honestly just getting the straps tight on the right side as fine motor skills seem to be the most impacted. Otherwise, I was good. As far as how these went, I feel they about in between with how the best sets felt two weeks ago and how the sets felt last week. I’d love to have them feel like the easy sets two weeks ago were but take what I can get considering the circumstances. As such, I kind of split the difference with the pauses at lockout. Too short initially and too long last week. Just right this time I feel. I was able to keep rests fairly consistent like last week which was good considering the increased reps per set. There were some reps (generally the first reps) during these sets where it felt perfect and some that felt a little out of position. But held firm. From there, I got a little bit of a drink and put stuff away for what comes next. Our dear friend ssb front box squats. Weight back up and reps decreased. Suggested being 275-280lbs for 4x4. I went with 280lbs. I was a little leery with my knees feeling as achy as they were but figured that I’d be ok as they have felt worse and I’ve done more reps and sets when like that. It is also funny to me that I seem to “heat up” more on squats vs deadlifts as I didn’t really feel like I broke a sweat on the deadlifts but was feeling like it on squats.  I was able to keep the rests similar to the deadlifts here as well so that was a positive. Again, would’ve preferred that knees not aching but take what I can. Another break to get fluids in me as I put stuff away for what came next. Which was a surprising change. It has been a triset of posterior chain, upper back and then hamstrings for the longest time and that ended today. No and offset superset. I say that as I was to be doing 4 sets of the one and only 3 sets of the other. Which was fine by me. So the two things that survived the cull were the paused snatch grip rdls and the upper back dumbbell raises. Same weights as last week but rep changes. The rdls were now 6 reps instead of the suggested 6-8 from last week and the raises 12 reps a piece. Notes were to have the pause on the rdls be more distinct (ie actually 2 seconds) so I figured that since I keep counting fast on this exercise that I’ll count longer to get it right. So did 3 seconds which appears to have done the trick. That added time does feel noticeable. I wasn’t too worried about these as the reps were lower and I should be good here. The biggest hurdle was more seeing that my wrist/forearm would tolerate these and I knew they would from the deadlifts earlier. The raises was a little more of a question mark for me. The leverages/torque with these at extension can put some odd strains on joints. This was also more reps than last week with this weight so that was going to be something. Thankfully, no issues with these other than just being tough and exhausting. I took 15 seconds rest the first two sets between the two variations and then 20 seconds on the last set (that was a tough one). I was able to take shorter rests compared to the past few times since wasn’t further fatiguing my posterior chain with band leg curls. Normally I move on to the last thing for the session but not so fast this time around.  I did put stuff away but not fully as I still needed the bar at least. The plan here was to do a new exercise for me called Jefferson curls after an old time strongman who did these. It has been used more recently as a rounded back/spinal flexion exercise to lengthen and strengthen the lumbars. It does seem to be against the grain of the modalities of back pain stuff that is anti-flexion and pro extension and stabilization. But some activities/sports have demand for the movement, like this one. Anyways, this was added and plan was to do 3x10 with just the bar or a little weight. The style is often done with standing on a box and holding a barbell and trying to go past the feet. I have seen a variation with holding the weight in the crook of the arms like a zercher style and I figured I’d rather do that considering the forearm/wrist issue at the moment and I’d rather not be standing on something in the garage with the clearance issues nor having to go back my long ass feet. I was very slow and methodical on the first set but it seemed fine and I sped up the movement for the following two sets. Definitely feeling the stretch and tension at the bottom of the movement. Not sure if progression here is weight or reps really at this time. Oddly enough, this might have actually helped me get a bit more ready for the last thing which was those sandbag marches. My understanding is this is the last week of them. Same weight but another set of 20 seconds added. Of all the exercises, this was the one I was the most nervous about with the wrist/forearm. I wasn’t sure if I could secure a grip or hold the bag on the pick (I didn’t think there would be an issue with the holding on my person and marching). Thankfully, no such issue. I tried to keep the rests shorter than I had the previous two times of these which I think I met. I could tell that my legs were getting a little exhausted from these with how they were moving a little slow and felt heavy. But I felt good and just kept on moving. With these finally done, I was able to get my dinner finished and get some fluids in me. Stretched and took some more ibuprofen before bed to see if that helped with the swelling.

December 1, 2025 – Week 14, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Axle Push Presses
36x10
66x5
96x5
126x3
156x3
186x2
216x2
246x2
246x2
246x2
246x2
246x1 (3 misses)
246x2

Neutral Grip Incline Dumbbell Bench Presses
56’sx10
85’sx6
85’sx6
85’sx6
85’sx6
85’sx6
85’sx6

Dumbbell Push Presses (5 second eccentrics)
70’sx5
70’sx5
70’sx5
70’sx5
70’sx5

Barbell Z Presses/Heels Elevated Goblet Squats (4-0-4-0 tempo)
95x3/bwx8
135x8/bw+50x8
135x8/bw+50x8
135x8 (1 missed rep)/bw+50x8

Supinated Bent Over Dumbbell Drag Rows/Supported No Touch Single Leg Reverse Lunges
80’sx12 -- bwx12/12
80’sx12 -- bwx12/12
80’sx12 -- bwx12/12

Stretching

Comments: The filling up of the sandbag on Saturday I may have overdid it as far as my focus on that task as a few of my knuckles were scraped raw and got a slight bruise one knuckle and some fingers still sore. That was expected. But something in my right wrist and forearm area started to feel sore and swollen Sunday and into today. Can be painful at times but I seem to be able to do anything I want. Also a bruise on my left inner thigh which I think is from an errant dismount with the circus dumbbell on Saturday. Weight up a little from last week. Probably due to irregular food and sleep schedule. I was not looking forward to getting up early to start off this month. But made it through the day. Due to inclement weather, the office was going to be closed tomorrow so that meant that I had to work from home. Which was fine by me as that meant I could sleep an extra hour and be comfortable and not have to worry so much with getting the workout this evening done super fast. Commute home wasn’t bad but man is it dark out driving. It took a bit to get ready as I had to review the new training sessions and figure out what I was doing since not able to do this in the office. Soft tissue foam rolling was fine. Not much in the lower legs as seems to be the case at the beginning of the week. Hamstrings fine, a little sore near the glute tie-in I imagine from box squats. Quads needed it a decent amount (especially the right side) and so did upper back. Neck rehab stuff followed and that was good. Felt needed to get my shoulders and chest not feeling so tight. From there stretches for hips, knees, ankles and hamstrings. Did a dead hang as well before going on to train. Close to freezing outside. Axle out of the rack again. The heavier session. I had expected it would be something like this with how the last week and week prior had been with it alternating and going back up with the option to add a little more to the previous time doing the same reps and potentially sets. The suggested was 240-245lbs for 5x2. Last time I had done 242lbs for this and that was 4 weeks ago when I took off for DLS shift and did training in the daylight. I’ve been just doing 6lbs instead of 5lbs with my axle weighing 26lbs as close enough and not worry about the fractional plates all the time. I was not sure how this would go. I was feeling like I was ok at times but other times I was worried. My lower back was feeling a little sore and at times warming up my shoulders would feel sore. Axle has really become something that irks me with how easy it is for me to mistime and miss a lift. I’m proud of myself for not letting that completely derail the session and quit by coming back and getting it but it is getting damn tiring with the frequency it pops up on pressing. I was glad my sore wrist/forearm thing wasn’t hampering my abilities today. Things seemed to be going well here. I wasn’t taking my usual shorter rests here but I wasn’t taking a double rest at this point. I did stretching things out by having myself rewrap my wrist wraps and I did have to retie my shoelace after one set. I could tell that I was fatiguing but didn’t feel as bad as it was two weeks prior when I just hit that wall midway. I felt like the lessons from the previous week were helping. Four sets down and just one left. And I’m not sure what happened here. I unrack the weight and walk back thinking I will launch it up but I don’t feel stable in the dip and have to redo it. It goes up but lockout is a little tough and lose balance a little and have to get myself settled before trying for the last rep. Gets stuck at my sticking point and I rack it. I rest of like 10 seconds and try again so that it is “one set” and it is even a worse attempt at the second rep than the first. Getting frustrated. I step away and take about 30 seconds before going at it again. It goes up higher but still sticking point and me trying to strain through it to lockout I have my left foot slip and it is a no go. I let the intrusive thought win and just chuck the weight on to the j-hooks and it partially catches as the weights on the right side fall off onto the platform. Ok, a bit of an overreaction and now I got to pick stuff up. But it gave me enough time to cool down and rest. I was going to try this last double again and get it as a double rather than just a single to get the reps. Everything felt against me getting this last double as I felt unstable the entire time but I just went deeper in my dip the first rep and it launched up there. But still feeling unstable and I just went for the second and it didn’t get past the sticking point and actually started to come back down. But somehow, I managed to just brace and muscle it out. Not ideal but I got my fifth double. I’m not sure about my body handling these upper body sessions as lower body seems to be responding better. But I’m far enough out that it isn’t something to impact the competition. But I do think I need to figure out if changes are needed so that I’m having a good time with my hard time. I was still feeling a bit raw about the axle stuff and how it ended so I went right into the dumbbell pressing in the garage and worry about putting stuff away until later. A merciful reduction in weight on these this time around. Notes were 80-85lbs for 6x6, have these feel confident. I only did one warm up set with the loaded handles so that I could keep things moving along. Shoulders a little achy and again, thankfully no issues with the wrist/forearm on these. I feel these felt consistent form wise and I had less shoulder instability with the right side. I didn’t have to take double rests to get through the sets and was able to stick to somewhat normal rest periods so that was good. Back outside for dumbbell push pressing with the 5 seconds eccentrics. Same weight as last week but now 5x5 instead of 5x4. I knew that the extra rep each set was going to be a ton harder. It is just one more rep per set but these 5 second eccentrics just roast my shoulders. I wasn’t feeling quite as explosive on these compare to the past two sessions. I took slightly longer rests (not quite double time) to hopefully keep things moving but also get more rest to deal with the added reps. I got through them but man were my shoulders feeling dead. From there it was on to the supersets. Both being the same exercises as last time but adjusting in the reps. So for the first pairing of z presses and heel elevated tempo goblet squats, both were for 8 reps. When I had first done the z presses this training prep, I had done 135lbs for a set but with the change in exercises after that, my shoulders are feeling a lot more fatigue at this point and had to pull back. The suggested was 135-145lbs on these. Just based on how my warm up felt, I knew 135lbs would be a challenge this session. And it was. No stoppage the first set, a slight breather to get the last two the second set and then a difficult time on the third set as I rushed going for the last rep and missed it so I had to take longer to recoup and get it. All the last reps of these sets were grinders to finish. I do try to avoid grinding lifts as while I can do them and can grind out a lot, it tends to make it harder to recover and leaves me feeling, well, ground down. The goblet squats I wasn’t sure how my knees were going to feel as a little achy. I actually didn’t walk on Sunday as I was trying to get my affairs in order and felt that was more important and would help my knees feel better with the cold. Adding weight actually felt better than unladen. Suggested was 45lbs but I felt I could do more weight with the rep reduction here so did 50lbs. That seemed to be fine. Could see the light at the end of the tunnel of this workout. Last pairing for the evening being the weird rows and the new supported single leg thingies. Same weight and sets as last time but both now being 12 reps. I did adjust the weight displacement on the handles to try and have more clearance for my thighs with the drag style. I was advised to try and have my hips back more so as to increase the ROM. The single leg stuff I was instructed to try and stand closer to the support so that I was more upright and less leaning forward. In hindsight, I should probably start with my left side on these going forward as that appears to be the less strong side on these with the odd knee ache I get (not patella stuff like the right). This got finished up and put stuff away before finally getting to eat a late dinner and then stretching.