October 3, 2026 – Week 5, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Paloff Back Breaker Presses/Step Ups w/ Band TKEs (12”, ab)/Dead Bugs
mb’sx10 – bwx10/10 – bwx5/5
mb’sx10 – bwx10/10 – bwx5/5

Push Presses (beltless, 3 second dip eccentrics)
45x5
67x5
89x3
111x3
133x2
152.5x2
172x3
172x3
172x3
172x3
172x3
172x3
172x3
172x3

Front Squats (beltless, 3-1-0-0 tempo)
45x3
78x3
122x3
155x3
199.5x8
199.5x8
199.5x8

Reverse Band Hack Squats (LB’s)
+90x7
+140x5
+180x5
+230x12
+255x12
+280x12

Sandbag Carries (turns at 50’)
225x100’
225x100’
225x100’

Paused Snatch Grip Back Extensions (5 seconds)/Paused Quad Fallbacks (2 seconds)/Paused Tibia Dorsi Calf Machine (3 seconds)
65x8/bwx12/+60x25
65x8/bwx12/+60x25
65x8

Stretching

Comments: Again, dragging ass by the end of the week. But again, not quite the same as last week or the week before. I have stuff I need to do Monday to be caught up from Friday but I feel like in a better place than I was at the end of last week with coming in Monday. Also back on the telework schedule so sleep/recovery will be better. After two weeks not at the strongman gym, I was going back for training. It can be hard to have motivation to spend 45 minutes or so in the car to train stuff when in off season type prep but there were some things I couldn’t really do at home without getting another gym membership so out to train I did. I had not ended up walking Thursday or Friday and attempted to prioritize sleep and soft tissue work. I still almost slept for 11hrs Friday night and I knew I’d be out to train later than planned. But it wasn’t weather dependent like last weekend thankfully. I had thought it would take me longer to get ready but I guess I had actually cleaned enough dishware to be able to eat dinner without delay. I did have to get gas and I only did half a tank as the price is up a good bit since last month. I was a bit surprised there were so many people at the gym but I was definitely at the tail end for most of it and I knew that if I got involved, I’d delay training even further talking people’s ears off.  Started things off with the usual foam rolling and the only things that seemed to need it were my right calf, right quad and upper back. Like barely anything for elsewhere. I’ll take it. Neck rehab stuff was fine and no issues with glute activation and lower body mobility. But I did feel “warm” warming up and I’m sure that’s just because there is no central air and it is just a bunch of fans that has me getting that way when training here. I was a little leery with the right knee being achy last session and had kind of hoped taking it easy and resting had been the right decision here. Starting the lifting with the triset of the back breaker paloff presses, step ups with band TKEs and dead bugs. I made slight adjustment here with what was available and did 12” box for the step ups. These felt fine and good.  Push pressing again, last of the slow eccentric sessions. No belt, only wrist wraps with a 5% increase and going with 8x3. I elected to use the kilogram plates here. Weight is feeling noticeable at the start but felt better with more sets. Some feeling better than others. Rack position feels good and comfortable so that is a plus. More just getting stuff to fire correctly and in synch. And that not losing position on the dip and then drive. Got a decent sweat going from these. Next three weeks will be with pauses in the bottom of dip instead. From there, onto front squats. Since I was already using kilogram plates for overhead, it felt like I might as well keep that with front squats with same setup. I forgot to pack my straps in my haste this morning (I was only thinking I’d need them for deadlift stuff) but there was a pair of them at the gym that I made due with. Otherwise, I’d be just doing them with a rack position anyways. The change for these this week was to decrease the time of the eccentric but emphasize the pause more. Also going up to 3x8 instead of 2x8. Initially, I was looking at 20lbs increase from last week but I figured that was probably going to be too aggressive, especially with increase in sets. So when a little under that. The working weight felt “heavy” on my shoulders/chest so that first set I took a bit to get settled before squatting. Sticking to beltless until I finish up Week 8 of this prep. Pauses were noted. Second set felt a ton easier but then became tough again on the third set which had me glad I stuck to this weight and didn’t go heavier. The next thing took a bit of time but that was fine. I’ve done hack squats but the machines tend to feel terrible on my knees and one fix has been having reverse bands to have the movement feel better or smoother for me. But the gym has rearranged things since the last time I did hack squats (like 2021?) and not in a way that would allow for the reverse band setup. I was going to try and move the hack squat machine around so I could set it up with reverse bands (if possible) and if that wasn’t going to work, just go sans bands and see how that goes. Well the machine was moveable by myself so I got it setup for the reverse band plan. Plan being to work up in 5’s to 3x12 with range being from 5RIR to 2-3RIR over those three sets. My hope was to be closer to that true effort range than what I did with the rdls on Wednesday. The machine is not good as is since the padding has caused neck issues for me in the past and I have to modify it with towels, bands and foam roller to be ergonomic for me. So one of those things where takes effort to get ready so better get monies worth on it. I forgot I was just doing sets of 5 reps at the start. Knees had issues with the first rep with finding the depth each time but once I realized that was how it was going to be, I was fine with going up in weight. I’m not doing as much as when I last did these but to be fair, last time I had two weeks or sessions before doing this workout (substituted with the sandbag squats). Also not wearing any support gear besides the knee sleeves so 20lbs under that isn’t terrible. If anything, I should be surprised I’m doing more on the beltless squats and pulls from the sessions 5yrs ago and being with 10lbs on the incline pressing with the higher incline setting. The stability aspect of machines does allow for me to push things harder and since it has been a long time since using one, it may take a moment to get used to it. But I hit the weight I needed so that next session is easier platemath. Then on to an actual event. Sandbag carries. Haven’t done one since World’s and 112lbs heaviest implement I’ve lifted since. Sandbags are part of two events in the qualifiers so best to keep those fresh. Plan was to do 3x100’ with moderate weight bag and rest 90-120 seconds between. Move fast if I can but just getting used to it again. No support gear of any kind and no chalk. 225lbs I wasn’t sure how that would go on the pick up but this was fine. I was definitely not ready for moving/running with the weight and my fired lower body let me know that. I was feeling better with this after the third set. Last thing was another triset. It was originally a superset like last week with the quad fallbacks and back extension holds. But I figured I should try and keep some stuff in the mix for the anterior tibialis to keep my ankles working and hopefully help with getting my right calf to be in working order again. The gym has one of those machine for adding weight to tib raises and I wanted to see how that was. A bit awkward but workable. Just not a good one to really “stretch” on. But back to the original initial superset pairing. Back extensions with snatch grip. Doing these to build for log clean and other stuff (deadlifts and sandbags). 3x8 with 5 seconds holds. Light weight here as doesn’t need a lot. Been a bit since I’ve used the GHD for back extensions. The quad fallbacks I added pauses in the stretch as been quite tight last week and took until the last set to actually get to the floor. Off set super set with 3 sets of the back extensions and 2 sets of the other exercises. Downed a protein shake before driving home and stretching.

September 30, 2026 – Week 5, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

Seated Band Hamstring Curls (3-3-0-0 tempo)
lb’sx20
lb’sx20

Wide Grip 1” Platform Romanian Deadlifts (beltless, straps, 5 seconds eccentrics)
95x5
135x5
185x5
225x10
245x10
275x9 (miscounted)
300x10

Dumbbell Walking Lunges
22’sx12/12
22’sx12/12
22’sx12/12

Paused Copenhagen Plank Lifts (2 seconds)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Standing Band Hip Adductions/Hanging L-Sits
(2)µbx15/15 – bwx30 seconds
(2)µbx15/15 – bwx30 seconds
(2)µbx15/15 – bwx30 seconds

Safety Squat Bar Single Leg Seated Calf Raises (0-3-0-3 tempo)
65x15/15
65x15/15

Stretching

Comments: Getting caught up on Monday did nothing for me being fine after that as just got bombarded with work and having to hope that I retain information from the past two days for putting in records tomorrow. I did make sure I got in a walk Tuesday but likely not walking tomorrow as family thing after work. Just need to get through this week and then back to better sleep cycle and options. Starting things off with foam roller stuff and kind of like last week with needing more on everywhere compared to Monday. I guess upper back and hamstrings were about the same level of need. Calves have thankfully not been at the levels they were leading up to Worlds. Quads seem to need the most lately. Neck rehabbing exercises felt good. Lower body stuff with glute activation and mobility felt fine. Could tell hamstrings were a tad tight. Dead hang was ok. On to training. Tempo band leg curls like the past two weeks. Only 2 sets going forward here. My right hamstring had felt sore on these at the start last week and thankfully not the case this time. Some of the more intense hamstring stuff is being reduced as switching to different exercises. These still start out easy and get very taxing by the end of it. But I know these are good for me. Rdls followed. A few changes to what I did the past two weeks. No longer snatch grip but wide grip. So hands in like 2-3 spaces. Meaning I can do these out of the rack rather than saw horses. Going to stick to beltless for this week and the next 3 weeks I think (before switching off-season to comp prep). I’m aiming for full ROM on these rdls rather than just to below knees or mid shin like in the past. So standing on a 1” platform so even if slightly high, I’m going to floor as that is where I struggle to break the weight. Another change being no pauses or tempo on the concentric. These are 5 seconds eccentrics here. I figured I could do a bit more than the other style just from past experience. So the goal was to do 4x10 with first set being 5RIR and the last one being 2-3RIR. I didn’t succeed here as my first working set was too easy and my last working set was too hard. Sets of five reps warming up. I went up a good bit on the third set as the first two sets just felt too easy. I had contemplated doing 25lbs jumps but went with 20lbs and I guess felt that I should course correct. 275lbs didn’t feel too bad but I could tell it had felt like effort. I think I’d have stuck to 20lbs jumps if I had been aware that I miscounted on the 275lbs set, which gave me a false sense of things for the last set. But I guess I wanted to put 300lbs on to something at this point in training with things feeling as they did. I pretty much lost my brace on the last rep of these so I will need to adjust plans for next week as plan was 10% more for 3x8 with top weight but that was with more in the tank. But no failed lifts and things are progressing. Lighter fare following. Walking lunges next. Continuing to deviate from the original plan as had these as just bodyweight through duration but feel like having weight added is important, even if it is a little bit. Only doing these one more week after this anyways before changing things up. My right knee was unfortunately not wanting to cooperate today so I did have to do little bit of moving around to warm up and have things feeling ok to go. Trying to do these without knee sleeves. Just a little increase in weight on these light dumbbells but legs and lungs are feeling it. I was sweating a bit after the last set and spaced out a little before moving on with the training session. Copenhagen plank lift holds after that. Same as it has been the past two weeks with 3x10 with 1-2ct holds. I did change things here with using the single leg bench instead of the adjustable bench. Definitely increased the difficulty with the increased ROM for the lower leg on these. I had not inclination to do a longer hold. I was kind of surprised how tough these were. But this work with the legs is important. And then on to standing band hip adductions combined with hanging l-sits. No Nordic curl stuff. Those are quite intense and a five weeks of those is enough with changes to other exercises. Don’t want to strain something like has happened in the past pushing the intense stuff too long and hard. These continue to be same reps and sets. I’ve been keeping the band tension the same, mostly because other stuff is a bit intense and these feel like I’m doing movement. Less of an issue with the hanging l-sits compared to the past two weeks. That had been the usual end to the session but now adding in calf raises. Single leg seated variety with tempo emphasis on the stretch and contraction peaks. Using the ssb as easier to load and control. Plan was 2 sets of 15-20 reps using 3-5 seconds on the holds. I figured empty ssb and go from there with 3 seconds as I recalled these took a while in the past and that I wanted to make sure I was doing work and not shortchanging things. My right calf has not felt strong for a good bit now and this seemed to be the best way to work directly. These is a discrepancy in strength here as left side didn’t really have an issue whereas the right this was challenging. Now I have that truth, I can hopefully improve and fix things. One positive is that the sets take so long but aren’t taxing on other stuff I can get rehydrated and just go one leg to the other as recovering between legs and such. Put away the equipment and ate dinner before stretching. Just two more work days.

September 28, 2026 – Week 5, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Band Pec Flyes/Paused Band Pull-Aparts (3 seconds)
lb’sx20/µbx20
lb’sx20/µbx20

12” Log High Incline Bench Presses (3 seconds eccentrics)
90x10
110x8
125x6
140x4
155x2
170x8
170x8
153x8
153x12

Paused Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows (3 seconds)
56’sx5
76’sx5
101’x9
86’x13

Feet Elevated Bench Dips
bwx5
bw+42x5
bw+75x12
bw+75x12
bw+75x17

Chaos Chain Bradford Presses
PVC+44lbsx60 seconds
PVC+44lbsx60 seconds
PVC+44lbsx60 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Last week of in office before back to four weeks of telework. Been managing so far and not feeling like taking any hits to training. But hope I will feel more rested with better sleep schedule. Things worked out with work with having supervisor back and I was able to get what I did Friday documented Monday and almost a fresh slate for Tuesday. I’ve thankfully been dodging the bug going around for now with making sure I get rest and just avoid people in general. Weight down about 3lbs from last week's high point so I guess about normal. Digestion not 100% how it was but feeling better than last week for the most part. It still takes a bit to deload from the work day before getting to train. Foam rolling starting things off. Calves needed a bit more compared to last session. Hamstrings were fine. Quads needed a good bit with the right needing about twice as much work as the left. Which has been consistent. My DOMS in the quads were not even close to how they were last week. Upper back needed a good bit of work before felt good to move on. Neck rehab/mobility stuff followed that and felt pretty good. Stuff is moving well and feeling good. No issues with glute activation or lower body mobility other than a slight ache in my left knee but that didn’t lead to anything. Dead hang to finish things up. Band superset to starting things off with pec flyes and paused pull-aparts. I feel like I got the flyes figured out as far as position to get stretch and good contraction without feeling off or iffy on the joints. Actually engaged my back muscles with the pull aparts rather than just pulling the band. So I feel that was good to be feeling muscles doing the work. The eccentric focused high incline log was next. This is the last session of the tempo emphasis for these. Plan was to do 10lbs less than last week for 2x8 to start things off. I wasn’t so rigid with the pyramiding up. I didn’t feel as “strong” as last week but then again, I hadn’t felt as strong as the week before and did better than expected. I guess not quite right in saying feeling as strong but more that I was fatiguing faster so strength endurance didn’t feel as high. This is possibly from pushing a bit on that top set last week. But I got through those first two sets. Next was to drop down 10% off that for another set of 8 reps and then to do a max rep set (1-2RIR) with same weight. The drop in weight did feel lighter but not so much so that 8 reps felt like it went by easy mind you. I didn’t want to have it on this last set struggling to get 10 reps when I did 180lbs for 10 the week before. There was fatigue but I did manage a dozen reps before needing to rack it. This was tougher than I had hoped it would be. However, this does appear to mirror my experience the last time I did these sessions and that had me with having to rest pause sets at times. So better go this time around. I was worried about how I’d handle next session but I had forgotten switching up style of incline so not as daunting. Into the garage for the rest of the session. Chest supported dumbbell rows with the 3 second holds again. Like everything else this session (besides the superset), this would be the last session of the particular exercise/modality of this off season prep. For this session, I was to work up to a top set of 8-12 reps and then take 15% for a matching set. I didn’t want to have things feel like a rough start so I did do two warming up sets. After how the last one felt, I did add 5lbs to my planned weight. I did push this a little as I went for a 10th but could tell I wasn’t going to being leaving any reps in the tank and rushing the hold so stopped there. I changed my plan with matching the reps as my down set was going to be the same weight as last week for 3x10 so I just did max reps on that instead. Will be the last session of these for a while before switching to something else for longer term. Next item was bench dips. Again, last session of these. First session had been interesting one and then I was a little worried about how my elbows were responding to these. But no issues with elbows but shoulders were tight last week. For this last session, plan was to do  2x12 with the casual pace I was going with 64-75lbs and then a max rep set. I decided to go with 75lbs and that seemed like the right choice. The position is odd on these. Feels like a lot of weight but isn’t so bad doing the reps. But the lockout feels precarious and like I might not be able to go fully to max and not get stuck. Right trap was also getting tight from pressure. But was able to push things on that last set.  I’m up in the air on these still as far as if they should be an option in the future or not. I have other triceps stuff planned as get more into event specifics. Last item of the session being the chaos chain Bradford presses for timed sets. Same weight and time of 3 sets of 60 seconds. Last time for them for now and hope was to actually do the 1 minute or work and then 2 minutes of rest to the letter after dancing close to it the past two sessions. This one is a keeper. Shoulders are burning by the end of it. I think I got over 150 reps total so a few more than last week. Put stuff away and got dinner done before stretching out.

September 26, 2026 – Week 4, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Paloff Back Breaker Presses/Step Ups w/ Band TKEs (8”, ab)/Dead Bugs
mb’sx10 – bwx10/10 – bwx5/5
mb’sx10 – bwx10/10 – bwx5/5

Push Presses (beltless, 3 second dip eccentrics)
45x5
75x4
95x3
115x2
135x2
159x4
159x4
159x4
159x4
159x4
159x4

Front Squats (beltless, 5-1-0-0 tempo)
45x3
85x3
125x3
155x3
185x8
185x8

Paused Heel Elevated Sandbag Squats (2 seconds, no lockouts)
112x20
112x20

Quad Fallbacks/Neck Harness Back Extension Holds
bwx6/bw+25x45 seconds
bwx6/bw+25x45 seconds
bwx6/bw+25x45 seconds

Power Pin Swings (EMOM)
88.5x10
88.5x10
88.5x10
88.5x10
88.5x10
88.5x10
88.5x10
88.5x10
88.5x10
88.5x10

Backwards Treadmill Pushes (10% Incline)
5 minutes

Stretching

Comments: Again, dragging ass by the end of the week. But this felt different than last week. Not having supervisor for a second week was not fun. I got a lot of work to document come Monday from Friday. Allergies had felt like taking a back seat after that one day initially it seem but then decided to come back hard after work Thursday and Friday with just feeling tired. I ended up not walking Thursday to just focus on soft tissue work and then walking on Friday so that I could get to bed earlier than I had been to hopefully combat that. Also digestion was feeling off in a different way with feeling a bit constipated and I was kind of hoping whatever got me Saturday last week would hit again so as to clear out the system. I ended up taking Dayquil before bed Friday night to hopefully help my body combat the allergies and stress. Didn’t exactly oversleep but it was later start. Training at home due to powerlifting meet. But was kind of regretting that decision as I didn’t get up early enough to apparently avoid the rain so I had to wait until closer to 5PM to actually start training rather than 12-1 as intended. But I guess that allowed me to get some food in and hopefully have the allergy meds do their thing. Really gambling with the rain clearing up enough to do the one thing that I need overhead clearance on and the weather predictions were looking less and less likely but I trusted my gut. Foam rolling my calves and quads needed attention. Calves haven’t need it as much lately. Right quad tends to need double the time of the left to feel good. The inflamed sensation is thankfully gone at this point. Hamstrings tight but not really that bad and upper back needed very little this time around. It had been massively sore after deadlifts last week and only a little bit this time around. Neck rehab stuff was fine and no issues with glute activation and lower body mobility. I did do some additional stretching for the hamstrings just to make sure. Dead hang to decompress a tad before getting into training. With the rain, I was trying to not really go that fast as the rain was moving through slower than expected and I was hoping I could get it where there was a break in the action to do the one thing that needed to be outside. So in the garage for the triset of the back breaker paloff presses, step ups with band TKEs and dead bugs. Some knee aches as expected but not as much I guess compared to last time. Stuff felt fine and I was moving well enough here. It had thankfully stopped raining and I was onto push presses outside. As indicated last week, basing these two three week waves off percentages of 264.5lbs/120kgs as my estimated 1rm here. No belt, only wrist wraps and using this first three week wave of eccentric controlled lowering on the dip drive. I used towels to mop up the rain water on the stall mats so wasn’t worrying about slipping. 5% increase and going with 6x4 for the scheme this week. I felt less issues with getting the lowering and timing right but noticed weight felt like more effort this week compared to last. Granted this was a 13.5lbs/6kgs increase. I do hope this works out for me as getting my overhead up to par will be big for this coming season. From there, onto front squats. I took rest moving the weights inside to the garage as I wasn’t expecting the lull in the rain to be long. It did end up being a long enough pause I could’ve done the front squats outside like last week. Again, the aim being RPE 5-6 for 2x8 with long eccentric but more a guideline than anything. I ended up adding 20lbs to last week’s weights so that was definitely a risk. My knees initially felt more achy compared to last week at the start but I felt better as I went. Like the snatch grip rdls, this is the last week of this particular tempo and style. I’m not sure if I’m keeping beltless after this but I’ll figure it out. A bit of a break here as well as the next thing was those sandbag squats again. No lockouts and 2 second pauses in the hole. Raised heels. The guideline was 90-120 seconds rest but I knew I wasn’t going to stick to it. This was going to be the last week of these and I knew with needing my allergy meds today that my wind wasn’t as good as it would normally be. Same as last week with 112lbs for 2x15-20. Wanted to get more reps. Was initially going to stop at 16 reps with how they were feeling but then decided to do 18 and then said fuck it, do 20 reps. Which I knew was going to make that second set even tougher on me as I like to do matching rep sets. I told myself that doing 15 reps was fine as more than last week total. Then 16 reps, then 18 reps and then gutting out to get 20 reps. My quads were effectively dead at this point. So took time to get them to calm down (and allow me to hydrate more) before moving on in the session. I can take my time; I’m at home and not going anywhere. Pairing of the quad fall backs and back extension holds with 25lbs on the neck harness. No changes to the reps/sets of the fall backs but slight increase in the time of holds. At least that was the plan. My mobility on the fall backs was not great at the start. I felt very stiff but eventually stuff loosened up that I was getting like I was the week before on the last set. The holds I messed up the first set. It was to be 40 seconds but the timer never started and I noticed late and then started it. I guessed I was at about 45 seconds and stopped and then set it for that time for the rest of the sets. The added time was noticed in the glutes the most followed by lower back and hamstrings. On to the conditioning. Power pin swings with same weight as last week for the EMOM sets. But with 10x10 this time around. The added reps per set were noticed as these did end up being a bit tougher by the end of it. I didn’t have any tightness issues in my arms this time around as I seemed to get the form right from the start. Would be nice to do one more week but pivoting after this session. But like the bradford PVC stuff, this is a keeper for offseason and post competition stuff. Longest break of the session before finishing up. Mainly because it was getting late and I wanted to start getting dinner ready. That way, putting stuff away and doing the last bit of conditioning would be just the right amount of cooldown for my food to be ready to eat once I finished training. Again, backwards treadmill pushing to essentially do the infinity pool version of backwards sled drag for the knees. 5 minutes of this and done for this session. Ate dinner and stretched.

September 23, 2026 – Week 4, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

Seated Band Hamstring Curls (3-3-0-0 tempo)
lb’sx20
lb’sx20
lb’sx20

Snatch Grip Romanian Deadlifts (beltless, straps, 3-1-3-0 tempo)
95x3
135x3
185x3
225x8
230x8
235x8
240x8

Dumbbell Walking Lunges
16’sx12/12
16’sx12/12
16’sx12/12

Paused Copenhagen Plank Lifts (2 seconds)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Nordic Curl Negatives (5 seconds)
bwx6
bwx6
bwx6

Standing Band Hip Adductions/Hanging L-Sits
(2)µbx15/15 – bwx30 seconds
(2)µbx15/15 – bwx30 seconds
(2)µbx15/15 – bwx30 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Right knee a little achy still after training. That quad is also very sore so I made it a priority to get in a walk in yesterday even though it was rainy all day. I kind of knew that I’d eventually have it where I felt like I needed allergy meds as been getting away with it since April it seems. The harsh and fast rains tend to not be an issue for my allergies but the slow moving all day affairs tend to be and issue. I didn’t have enough time in the morning to assess if I needed to do more than nasal spray so I was at the mercy of allergies. I’d rather not take them due to the blood pressure issue, especially on a training day. I felt wiped enough that I was willing to play it by ear when I got home and see if I wanted to workout or take a nap and try again tomorrow. Nothing coming up so don’t have to be so rigid with my training schedule since I have all the workouts and can adjust as needed. I’m not waiting on next week’s having a time crunch. I decided I’d do my warming up and see if that woke me up and go from there. Foam roller stuff and I needed more on everywhere compared to Monday. Upper back was about the same level of need. Really worked the quads to see if that helped with the tenderness there. Neck rehabbing exercises felt good. Felt like they were doing something today. They had felt like that Monday too. Lower body stuff with glute activation and mobility felt fine. Dead hang was ok. Then on to training. Hopefully this will go by a little smoother now that I know what I’m doing as far as exercises and setup. So starting off with the tempo band leg curls. Like the other starting exercises, not changing stuff here and just hitting the same stuff to hopefully have it help with priming and getting blood flow and conditioned. Again, doesn’t matter how easy these start out, they always are almost agony by the end of it. But I know these are good for me and I need to have my hamstrings up to par for this coming season after finding them lagging. Then more tempo modified stuff with snatch grip rdls. Still tempo style and beltless like last week. Aim being 10-20lbs more than last week for 4x8. I wasn’t too sure how that would go with soreness in legs and with how allergies had me today. I warmed up as if I was doing 20lbs more for 225lbs. My warm ups didn’t inspire confidence as my knees felt achy and I wasn’t feeling like I had the tempo and movement right at the start. But as I’ve mentioned, I apparently turn it on for the working weight. 225lbs felt so easy I contemplated adding weight. I was fighting myself during my rest period here to see if the second set took it out of me and I wasn’t recovering and if still easy go up. But I decided I knew what I was about and added 5lbs with intent to add weight each set. So a little off the plan but still in the same spirit. If feeling good, feel good. 235lbs did feel a bit tougher so 240lbs could be pushing it. Wrong, a little longer rest and it was no problem. So not sure what to make of that. But this was a good result. Plan is switching up the tempo and grip a little for next time. Not sure if I will keep it beltless there too. Only definitely no belt last week and this week for deadlifts and front squats. The no really weights stuff followed. Intent was to hopefully have things feel easier compared to last week as lower body stuff gets hit hard twice at this time. Walking lunges next. I had already deviate on these a little with adding weight as these were initially to be bodyweight only last week. But that had been when I last did this session because my knees were really achy and sore and needing knee sleeves and mental prep to even do them. Not the case right now so seeing if I can keep movement and bump the weights up a little each time with this light weight. Want to make sure knees stay pleasant for me. I wasn’t sure how this would be with my right quad still being decently sore. Getting a bit winded with them but I feel like I was moving through the sets a little quicker this time. Copenhagen plank lift holds after that. I wore thicker knee sleeves for my foot to support on the bench (more so for the other stuff after this). These did feel better this week and recovery between sides and sets was better though still quite tough on the last set each side. I was tempted to try increasing hold time on the last rep of the last set if I was feeling like I was at the start but I wasn’t so I didn’t. I also remembered the single leg roll bench I have may work in place of the bench for next time. Nordic curl negatives followed. Right hamstring was feeling the leg curls at the start. The thicker knee sleeves on my ankles made the bracing better for my feet and I was able to do 3x6 with 5 seconds on the lowering this time. So that is a good progression there. Last thing then was the superset to end it last week. Standing band hip adductions combined with hanging l-sits. Same reps and sets as last time. The band stuff wasn’t going to be an issue (it wasn’t for the most part) but the l-sit hangs were. I did extend the holds on the bands to make a little more challenging and I was noticing by the end that there was some fatigue from the Copenhagen stuff in the mix. My upper quads cramped up almost immediately on the hangs but I toughed it out. The grip is fine, it is just keeping my legs off the ground in this position. Will be tough to progress from here I think. Put stuff away and got to eating dinner before stretching. Hopefully this does me a bit of good and not feeling off with allergies tomorrow.

September 21, 2026 – Week 4, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Band Pec Flyes/Paused Band Pull-Aparts (3 seconds)
lb’sx20/µbx20
lb’sx20/µbx20

12” Log High Incline Bench Presses (3 seconds eccentrics)
87x10
105x8
120x6
135x5
150x4
165x3
180x10
160x10
160x10
160x10

Paused Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows (3 seconds)
56’sx5
86’x10
86’x10
86’x10

Feet Elevated Bench Dips
bwx5
bw+20x5
bw+53x15
bw+53x15
bw+53x16 (miscounted)

Chaos Chain Bradford Presses
PVC+44lbsx60 seconds
PVC+44lbsx60 seconds
PVC+44lbsx60 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Another week down. I do wish I was telework full-time so I can get better sleep. Unless weather issues, I should be able to get in more walks on my days off lifting this week. Weight was up a lot. 7lbs from last week. Baffling in that day to day calories are less than they were with swapping smaller treat in place of a protein shake during commute cycle. I tested twice to make sure reading accurate. Maybe the off season is going really well with just one week of the barbell lifts haha. I didn’t notice it so I guess that is ok (or not). If it goes up a lot next week check in, maybe I try and figure it out. Right quad on the outside quite sore and that was kind of most noticed thing. Takes a bit to deload from the work day with coming home so I was still a little slow with getting things moving along to train here. But I at least knew what to do and setup this time around. Foam rolling starting things off. Calves and hamstrings only needed a little. Maybe ankle/knee stuff is helping in the calf area. Quads needed a good bit but not as much as I was expecting with how sore the right one was. But more like an inflamed sore than a DOMS sore if that make sense. Upper back needed a good bit of work too. Neck rehab/mobility stuff followed that and felt pretty good. Chest was feeling tight but not too bad. No issues with glute activation or lower body mobility but could tell my hamstrings were a tad tight but no so much needing a second round. Dead hang to finish things up and did notice some shoulder tension here still but not too bad. Starting point of the session was bands superset. Keeping the pec flyes with paused pull-aparts as that seems more the ticket and moving the paloff press to Day 3 session where it fits better. These felt better and less awkward with band tension feeling movement. Could also be that doing stuff since that are more exhausting/taxing of these muscle groups. Moved the bands up a little on the rack for the flyes so it wasn’t feeling like lower pecs only. The eccentric focused high incline log was next. The sky wasn’t looking inviting so it was possible this could get rain involved. This would be the only thing outside anyways. Not as many exercises compared to the other sessions for now so aim was a bit more volume on the log this week. More sets working up and reps. Plan was to do a bit more than last week for a top set leaving 1-2RIR on that set and then take off about 20lbs to do three matching rep sets. Last time I did this workout (lower incline angle) I had done 190lbs for 10 reps and then struggled to match 170lbs for 3 sets of 10 reps (I think I had to rest pause two of them). That had been with a stricter rest period. I knew that I might have issues with picking things right here and let myself rest enough to put in solid effort on the down sets. Top weight the aim was 180lbs. About 15lbs jumps. I wasn’t feeling confident with how my shoulders were feeling and the weight was moving but I guess I sandbag a bit and when it is a test set, I can pick things up a bit. I probably could’ve called it at 9 reps to be sure I had 1-2RIR but I went for 10 because reasons and that was definitely pushing it. The down sets were tough but doable. Last set was the one that almost got away from me on the last rep. That was not a pretty one but I didn’t want to get it stuck on my chest and have to bail. Despite that, good to see I could handle the reps with this more shoulder focused press angle for the incline log. Really hitting shoulders and triceps hard. Lockout control is better compared to before I feel from past efforts in the last year. Good to see recovering week to week so far and with having push pressing just two days earlier. It started raining shortly after I moved inside to do the rest of workout. Chest supported dumbbell rows with same plan as last week. Control with 3 second holds for 3x10. Did same warm up as didn’t want to take up time and exhaust myself for the working weight. First set I could tell felt a little off with feeling more in my arms but felt a lot better on the second and third sets. Chalk to kind of deal with humidity and keep rain off my hands from getting stuff back inside. Next item was bench dips. These had felt good in the moment but then I was worried about them after the fact. Sometimes it takes 2-3 business days for me to feel the full effect of what I’ve done to myself from exercises. Elbows had been a bit achy in a weird way. Notes for this was to warm up and try and slow the tempo down a bit so controlled and not just pumping out the reps. I elected to do the weight I did for the first set last time for the 3x12-15 but obviously aiming for 15 reps as long as I felt I had 2RIR. After the log incline, I felt like right arm feeling more sore than the left with things. Shoulders felt tight. I did try to also keep my body long and not have my feet/legs roll up the support and cut the lever arm shorter to become easier. Felt fine enough. I lost count on the last set and did an extra rep. One more week of these and then switching to more elbow extension focused triceps stuff. With how things going, I was a little tempted to add something else to the session for upper back but elected to not rock the boat and just wait until I switch things over after this next week. Upper back got worked plenty last week. Last item of the session those chaos chain Bradford presses for timed sets. Same weight and time of 3 sets of 60 seconds. As mentioned, the plan had been to do these with 120 seconds rest but my laziness in using the dual timer and head counting had me closer to 155 seconds or so. So this time I did the dual counter but had the rest for 135 seconds to act as kind of a breaking in with aim to do the true 1:2:3 plan of these for the final session. Less rest does make more challenging and I was getting about 49 reps in a minute for each set (not back and forth as 1 rep mind you). Got it done and time to eat dinner and then stretch. With things planned out for the most part for the next 16 weeks, I feel a lot less stress with my training as I know what the next week is and building on from there and so on with the whole plan laid before me.

September 19, 2026 – Week 3, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Paloff Back Breaker Presses/Step Ups w/ Band TKEs (8”, ab)/Dead Bugs
mb’sx10 – bwx10/10 – bwx5/5
mb’sx10 – bwx10/10 – bwx5/5

Push Presses (beltless, 3 second dip eccentrics)
45x5
65x4
85x3
105x2
125x2
145.5x5
145.5x5
145.5x5
145.5x5
145.5x5

Front Squats (beltless, 5-1-0-0 tempo)
45x3
75x3
105x3
135x3
165x8
165x8

Paused Heel Elevated Sandbag Squats (2 seconds, no lockouts)
112x15
112x15

Quad Fallbacks/Neck Harness Back Extension Holds
bwx6/bw+25x30 seconds
bwx6/bw+25x30 seconds
bwx6/bw+25x30 seconds

Power Pin Swings (EMOM)
88.5x8
88.5x8
88.5x8
88.5x8
88.5x8
88.5x8
88.5x8
88.5x8
88.5x8
88.5x8

Backwards Treadmill Pushes (10% Incline)
5 minutes

Stretching

Comments: I was dragging ass by the end of the week. The getting up a little earlier and the added walking did cut into my recovery stuff as already there is a deficit with the commuting vs telework sleep schedule. I was exquisitely sore from Day 2 session from the tempo snatch grips as well as the other stuff that has not really been done or focused on. I was at least able to do soft tissue work but I know that my body would’ve appreciated doing some longer walks to loosen things up. But plan was to tough it out and just sleep in on the weekend. And no “guilt” in doing that as I wasn’t intending to train at the strongman gym this weekend. Reason being that next weekend will be closed for powerlifting meet. This is a new switch from the previous two weeks and plan is after these next two weeks to switch further so I’d rather keep things consistent these two weeks. What also solidified that plan was there was construction happening near the highway where I have to get on to go out to train (there had been some last weekend but this weekend it sounded worse) and I didn’t want to deal with that nonsense for something that could be done at home on my own terms. Digestion was feeling a bit off so that further delayed starting training where I figured it was best to just have breakfast and then after training have an earlier dinner. Foam rolling to start things out as has been the case for some time now. Calves needed a bit more than they’ve had to have the past week and really nothing much else really felt that bad besides upper back (which was expected). Neck rehab stuff was fine and no issues with glute activation and lower body mobility. Dead hang to decompress a tad before getting into training. The Day 1 and Day 2 sessions, I’ve been going more of a prefatigue and getting muscles targeted circumstance whereas today was more of a priming things and getting mobile intent. I had made slight adjustments to this just based on feedback from this week. A triset of the back breaker paloff presses from Day 1 (new home for them) and then some more typical of this session of step ups with band TKEs and some dead bugs. I wanted to get stuff feeling less tense in the lower back but ready for movement and get my knees ready for a lot of bending today but moving in a good way. The paloff variation because this was also going to be a pressing session. These seemed to go well enough. Then time to actually put some weights in my hands so to speak. Push presses up first. It has been since World’s that I’ve done push pressing and it has been probably a decade since I’ve done push press with a barbell. While intent is to work on lower body drive overhead, the return to just barbell was to focus on the mechanics of the press from essentially the start square. It has been log or axle and feel like there is something that is amiss with overhead with disconnect with lower body and upper body. Competition is log but we are like 18 weeks away from that and I’ve kind of gotten sick with my feelings towards axle and log in the past 3yrs. Barbell should make things easier to have close to body and work on getting cooperation with leg drive and press. So plan is to do two waves of three weeks with the focus on the dip drive. The first three weeks being eccentric focus and the next three being isometric focus before switching to log to start specificity to competition. Percentages are light and I’m using 264.5lbs/120kgs as my estimated 1rm here. No belt, only wrist wraps. I’ve never really done these with the controlled lowering of eccentric on the dip phase as always has been with lowering the weight from lockout to shoulders. I’ve done overloads with axle last year but that was only for like 2 weeks and not really working there. But my understanding of this is that the dip is the only eccentric loading of the overhead for the first rep and that the eccentric for the lockout to shoulders is more for strict pressing and maybe loading for a second rep if going into rebound style. Working on shoulder/rack position mobility here. Timing the lowering to actually getting into the position is tough so I imagine this will be helpful for me in the long run. I was feeling like I was getting there more consistently by the end of the sets. Plan for next week is more weight and more sets but lower reps. From there, onto front squats. Already warmed up with the push presses to some degree. Front squats are to be my main squat assistance for this prep and offseason approach. Unlike other stuff this week, I was going to wear my knee sleeves. Give some support as focus is to try and do more knees over toes emphasis rather than sitting back and having my knees rigid. Beltless and using the strap grip to give my wrists a bit of break from the push pressing and be a bit more log focused. Aim being RPE 5-6 for 2x8 with long eccentric. The last time I did these was like 3yrs ago and I recalled these had been quite sucky for me. Ended up only doing like 135lbs and that was with a belt. To be fair, had been after some paused hatfiled split squats. I feel like these went better as I was fully prepared for 135lbs to be my working weight. I wasn’t sure how the weather was going to hold up so I put away what I had outside and moved into the garage to finish up the day. More squats. Initially the plan was hack squats but with the gym closed next weekend, I had elected to do a different squat variation and wait until no issues for the next few months before adding in machine exercises (I had also got rid of some machine exercises for that reason in the sessions). This was more knees over toes but with more focus on the anterior load. I was looking at goblet but figured I’d rather do my light sandbag instead. I was definitely not ready for the weight on my chest like that as I had to take a few moments just holding it up there before I felt comfortable to actually do anything. Aim was 2x15-20 with leaving reps in the tank. No lockout to keep focus on the quads. 15 reps ended up being the right call here. From there a superset of some things I’ve been working on. I did the Nordic curl eccentrics with quad fallbacks the past two weeks as a pairing but with moving days, this left it open for another but similar exercise. I’m keeping in the quad fall backs to keep up mobility in hips/knees and ankles as I don’t want to have tight upper quads impeding things. So for those, lower reps today with no target besides getting my head to the floor. I forgot that these tend to have my do-rag come off due to the movement. The thing these were paired with was back extension holds with neck harness. My plan is to just get used to these again after not doing them for about 2yrs more so to get ready to do paused back extensions in the next block of training. 25lbs on the neck harness is enough here for sure and felt solid. But I did forget that it does mess with my glasses so need to remember that for next time. With these done, it was time to do conditioning. The power pin swings were originally going to be on Day 2 but timing and just how beat that session already had me made moving to this day the best option. It has been like 3yrs since I had these as something and I was doing a lot more weight on them but not as many sets. Plan here being to use 15-20% of my 1rm raw deadlift for EMOM sets. I wasn’t sure how rough these would be but thankfully they weren’t bad. My left biceps felt tight on the first few sets until I got my body to cooperate with the movement. Plan is to do 10x10 same weight next time. Inside for the last bit of conditioning. Backwards treadmill pushing to essentially do the infinity pool version of backwards sled drag for the knees. 5 minutes of this wasn’t bad compared to when I’ve done 10 minutes of it. I figured 5 minutes was fine after doing 10 minutes of swings. Put stuff away and stretched before using my birthday gift cards to get some big burritos for the first time in 3yrs for dinner.