February 7, 2026 – The ATP Classic

Still doing this thing. This decade has been unusual. 2020 would be the gas leak year of this sitcom called life with 2021 being a return to form and reinvention with 2022 showing the fruits of the labor of the preceding year. 2023 kind of was the recoil for 2022 though and further change and reinvention. 2024 was an experiment and change of focus that ended poorly. 2025 was further change with a focus on going to new places and take the chance. Finding that what I thought was waning was only moving into waxing with a reignition of passion. This year would hopefully be a progression from that, in spite of the current chaos. I know, that is vague and sounds like something that would be put to those inspiration core reels on your social media consumption of choice. But the frame of mind that this me is the current iteration of me and continuing to persist at a thing (whatever its name) seems to silence the anxious cacophony as grappling with mortality. Maintaining being the pipe dream 

Traveling to compete in 2025 to places I’d never been had been with the opportunity to compete had stoked the embers to keep me interested in this venture for a little while longer. See what a change of workload and perspective could do. Natural world’s prep had been haphazard and with having someone willing to take me on as a client with a month to go had been risky, but the results on most things being above what I managed in training, it made sense to keep that coaching on for a longer stint and see what could be created with prep work. The plan once I got back home had been to let them have their way with me on an extended off-season prep which had been something I’ve lacked for probably since 2021 and 2022. I don’t feel like the ones after that had been productive. Another pair of eyes and see what I miss being inside my own skull. The tentative plan then being to qualify for both Natural Strongman Worlds and Strongman Corporation Nationals and assuming that succeeds, go with the one that seems better option when the time comes (as both the end of August). Off season for the most part was great and needed. Not to say there weren’t hiccups (slight tear in left quad muscle earlier on) but there was a pretty drastic change in body composition (I didn’t change my diet much) with my upper back size and ability to repeat efforts and recover.

I’m finding myself being very picky with shows knowing the effort to put into them and knowing that progress on things like my overhead and deadlift are not going to be up there and comparing to even 5yrs ago I may not be there with a long prep. But I abhor the typical and boring and I like knowing stuff with a decent bit of time so that I can get leave approved (my job does by seniority and in December of the previous year to guarantee leave). Initially was looking at Natural World’s qualifier locally but the events bored me to tears and my hope was something later in the year that was better would come along. So a contest in Arizona ended up catching my fancy with the events as some were excellent for me, some I’ve wanted to do and others requiring gamesmanship. Perfect to what I feel was some of the more interesting shows I’ve done. It would make sense for going this far for contest as the venue was very close to where family lives in the state. I’ve only been out there once in November 2024 but it had been for more somber circumstances and I had planned to try and make the effort to be out there since. So this was going to be a family trip situation as well as a competition. Which I know could still be an issue with stress of planning things out.

And stress there was. With coming back to the US from Ireland, there were changes with work as far as requirements and the like. Short of it being that my work schedule now alternates every four weeks and lets just say that every other month sucks with doing the alternating schedule. Off season had been fairly sustained but the actual contest prep and peak were quite aggressive in nature. I definitely needed to build up tolerance with a long offseason to survive. In the future, may need to make tweaks to that to deal with the realities of these changes and with my ability to recover. I ended up getting sick twice with one stint being enough that I had to take sick leave (which I’ve not done since 2017). So not ideal for coming into a competition requiring travel and just the stress I carry in all things. Some things did mitigate the stress. I did some visualization on the 2.5hrs drive to the airport. Very surprised to see there was even a decent amount of snow in northern Virginia from the previous snow storm. I ended up walking a lap of the airport terminal to deal with nervous energy. The flight out made great time arriving 70 minutes ahead of time (usually a lot of wind resistance flying out vs coming back). Getting the rental vehicle was did seem to eat up any time gained but got food and I slept well that night. I definitely needed a little bit of a buffer from arriving and competing to adapt to the climate and time difference. Spent the day with family Thursday but only part of the day Friday as I needed to decompress some after weigh-ins.

Contest started early. Up at 6AM to get ready for 7AM rules meeting. I had already decided that I was going to try and keep myself on EST vs MST so that it didn’t feel that early a start to the day. Competition being held at the ATP Gym. Not often see a 2-story strength training gym with dedicated areas to strongman stuff. I had weighed in a little heavy compared to how I have been but that was with my shoes on. Only a single stall for bathroom for the men’s and everyone was having the same thoughts that that could be an issue later with nearly 80 competitors and that the toilet may not survive. I also didn’t know how long or smooth this show would run as it seemed about double the normal turnout. I had no clue about how things would be with competing and such and I did feel pretty stiff. I had done my “last warm-ups” the day before with familiarization with the stuff that was out and doing my usual mobility stuff at the Airbnb. 11 competitors in the weight class (120kgs) so a decent amount of competition. Rules were done and then it was time to get ready for the day. My brother, mother, father and two nieces were able to spectate (no pressure haha).

First event of the day was a medley consisting of yoke (750lbs/340kgs) and husafell stone shaped sandbag (308.5lbs/140kgs). Run/walk/stumble the yoke down 30’/9.14m and then run back to the start and do the same with the husabag in the 60 seconds time limit. This kind of event is not usually how most contests start as the usual seems to be an overhead (or the overhead) event. I feel like overhead usually done first as least likely that a max effort there is going to affect other events in the show vs say doing a max deadlift or a truck pull. Body is going to feel those on everything. Training was a bit odd for this one. Yoke started a long ways out I think mostly because my coach wanted me to move more efficiently. So a lot of volume in the low to high 500lbs range and then kind of escalating things drastically as switching into contest prep. This has not been quite how I had done so in the past as generally a long build up and every other week. Not so this time and I was inclined to listen seeing how didn’t come close to contest weight with my world’s prep and finished. The husabag came in later. I got one for this show and I swear they shipped me a smaller size one as I couldn’t get it to the fill weight. I spent over an hour and ended up getting an inflamed tendon for my efforts. So while that was a bit underweight, I did manage to do the yoke at contest once (while dealing with sickness) somewhat well so I knew this would be doable even if I wasn’t feeling at my best on the day. Initially the course was to be 50’/15m each way and I had been training for that so contest on the day being a shorter run wasn’t an issue. One of the tricky aspects was the start since not allowed to start under the yoke. I know how my tightness at the start affects my bracing on moving events like this. Doing my best to work on that this prep as well as trying to do a little bit of a staggered stance start here as well. I knew that I needed to be loose and ready and try my best to get in decent warm ups to feel ready. Adapting to the yoke weight was going to be key whereas just some touches with the husabag would be fine. So mostly got that. The husabags were in the competition area so I only got to pick up a lighter one once. I did managed to get my back not feeling stiff so yoke was feeling decent enough. I tried to mimic the husabag with a regular sandbag and my right hamstring was feeling tight so I was nervous about that. I was called up and ready to go. I did a little bit of a shove of the yoke to make sure it was good. Whistle goes and I get under the yoke. I start a little gingerly to see how I felt and it felt good so I picked up the pace. Competitor in the lane beside me goes down and I keep going. Finish the yoke smooth and get back to the husabag. Due to worries about the hamstring, I was a little cautious on the pick but once it was up I felt fine and went for it. I ended up diving as I had seen some people stop short and have to pick it up again. Not about that life. Little hump to get back on my feet. A lot of the nerves were gone. I knew this was a beatable time though. 23.40 seconds which was a good time as about 2 seconds off what ended up being the winning time. Starting day in 4th place. 

Second event was the press event. A bit of gamesmanship with this one. Dubbed the “optional” press. Three different implements (log, axle and circus dumbbell) and you lifted for reps. Once you pick an implement, you cannot change from it. So say one competitor does 3 reps on the log and another does 5 reps on the axle. Axle would win as more reps. Log and axle the same weight (255lbs/115kgs) and the dumbbell being 150lbs/68kgs. 60 seconds limit and shot clock rule in effect (IE if time expires while lift is going, it counts). The implements are also spaced out so that the dumbbell is furthest away from the line and the log closest. This is fairly light overhead event but got to be smart and efficient. At the start of things, I wasn’t sure what would be the way to go with how my overhead strength has been. Going off of what I was familiar with, I was doing a lot of axle (and not enjoying it) barely and log and it has been years since I’ve done dumbbell. But I’d have to see what feels best. At the start of offseason, contest weight for axle was unfortunately challenging to hit and I pretty much had to relearn log. I was very surprised how good dumbbell was feeling and I figured that with being very close to contest weight with 17 weeks to go (and for decent reps) that I had my answer on which one to pursue and had the best chance of successful for me here. Axle stayed out of the rack on one day (keeping a bilateral press) and dumbbell and log on another day alternating sessions initially. Then switching to dumbbell every session. I’ve done that before and sometimes it worked out and other times it didn’t. The last time I did a prep with dumbbell I had felt good in training and then it just sucked at the show. But I managed to get up to 180lbs/81.5kgs at the end of off season prep and then drill lighter weight at the end. The other departure was that not bothering with my non-dominant side here with training. That would always double the training time and energy but it had always been a thing but not this time around. And really so nothing out of the ordinary here. This event can be hit or miss and my last session had not been ideal so that was in my head a bit here. I wasn’t going to bomb this event even on my worse day. Just need to get some touches here and hope that I’m firing on all cylinders here. The dumbbell was very slick since it was painted. I was a bit nervous of that when I saw how much it slid when I shouldered it the day before empty at weigh-ins. The dumbbells to warm up were a bit different specs. My lower back was tight again so I did some windmills with dumbbells (both regular and circus style). I really didn’t want a repeat of the last time I did circus dumbbell in contest. I sunk in to get a rep on the empty implement just to get the feel before heading back to the warm up area. 6 reps was the number to beat when it was my time. I made sure I showed the judge my disgusting bursitis and showed I could fully lockout the weight. The lane I was in was the “stricter” of the judges from observation. Whistle goes and I’m off to the dumbbell. The competitor in the other lane opted for the axle and got a rep before I got the dumbbell to my shoulder for the first attempt. Like I said, strategy here. My pressing didn’t feel so bad but my lower back was feeling tight and the hamstring thing was still in the back of my head. I also had a little platform I had to stay on to press (they added since last year people were putting holes in the floor). The other thing was that I could do touch and go but if I didn’t do that for a rep, I had to start it on the pad again. I got four reps in a decent pace. Then I got into trouble with going for the fifth one. Didn’t stabilize and had to catch it so I didn’t bonk myself in the head. I tried to go right away and just wasn’t going. I needed this rep. Utilizing the shot clock, I waited until there were 2 seconds left to pick it up again and really just let it settle there. Got that one pretty easy. So five reps the hard way. This ended up being another 4th place as there was a three-way tie for 1st with 6 reps. 7 reps if that had worked out with pacing would’ve won it. My brother, mother and nieces left at this point with plans to possibly return later. My dad remained as per usual.

Third event was deadlift. Specifically max deadlift with a bendy bar. Pulling under 545lbs/247kgs and you were using a Kabuki deadlift bar. Pulling 545lbs/247kgs and above and you were using a Cerberus Strength Kratos bar. 20lbs/9kgs jumps, three attempts and suits allowed. Additionally, if you started on the deadlift bar, you stayed on the deadlift bar and didn’t move up to the Kratos bar. They were also using deep dish plates so really trying to maximize the flex here on both setups. I ran into some issues with deadlift this prep. One was not realizing how much my deadlift strength had dipped on me like overhead from the previous year. Another was that the bendy bar setup that I did with what I had just seemed to really be a position that adjusted how I pulled the weight so as not to get pulled off balance. The flex and whip are worse than a deadlift bar, which I tend to not mind and like. This just feels different. And yet another was the suit itself. I have a multi-ply suit that I bought with the expectation that I wasn’t going to be under 265lbs/120kgs and be a bit larger. That hadn’t worked out but I felt like the suit idea with the cinches and fabric that didn’t irritate my skin was a good one. But I dropped about 25lbs from when I last used this suit as well as my single ply suit. The first session in the multi-ply suit wasn’t great. I felt every lift in my lower back and I felt so fatigued that needed to take an unplanned deload to get back on track. Someone on a forum had mentioned that I probably needed a better single ply suit when I had mentioned the new multi-ply in 2024 and I begrudging decided to revert to the single ply after that session. It just seemed to be putting too much stress on my lower back and I couldn’t get it to do what I wanted. I did some sowing on my single ply suit to make the legs tighter and my stitching held up for the most part. Felt a ton better using that (even with the skin irritation) and working on making slight adjustments each session. Lowering my expectations of what I’d hit and just make sure I train smart here and not blow my load in training when I know I can generally do better at contest. And hope that what I’m doing at home is a harder setup then what will be present in competition. I managed a top single in training of 603lbs/273.5kgs (again while not feeling the best) so I had some idea where I was going to be if not feeling my best here. But like I said, never done this one so anything was technically a PR. There were different bars in the warm up area. Obviously with only one Kratos bar, no warming up on that. I was feeling ok enough I guess here. My first three warm up sets were on a deadlift bar and I didn’t realize on my last one that a power bar had been swapped in so that was a bit of a rough go on the start. But it had me commit to starting lighter than planned here. 565lbs/256kgs for an opener. This should be safe and get an idea of what this long bar feels like. The bar is very long and since they wanted it to be on padded flooring, it had to be a diagonal setup. I didn’t have any issues with this lift but it felt heavy, even with my straps cranked down near max. It felt easier than my 507lbs/230kgs warm up had but didn’t feel like my setup at home or a deadlift bar. I knew I wasn’t hitting any all-time PRs in deadlift today. With how the this was kind of auctioneer style, it was difficult to discern who was in the weight class and who wasn’t. My hope was my next jump in weight would increase the flex if it was enough to require putting another plate on the bar. So 605lbs/274.5kgs was my second attempt. The diagonal setup got in the way of my rolling setup so I had to kind of shuffle forward strapped to the bar. I knew I had this one but it was a bit hard fought to lockout and it was definitely felt in the lower back. In way that wasn’t painful but was letting me know that I wasn’t quite there for where it needs to be for much heavier weights. I knew I could get the next jump in weight but I didn’t think I’d recover fast enough with how things were going. So I decided to take a gamble here for longer rest and go for 645lbs/292.5kgs for my third and final attempt. I tried to get myself hyped up for this one with my breathing and I gave it a good tug but it stalled below my knee caps and just wasn’t high enough to get it going through and my back was not equipped to muscle through this one. This was a bit disappointing but does kind of let me know where my deadlift is and that I need to work on some things for success next time. I had thought my podium shot was done here but I got 5th and due to other people ahead of me not doing so well, I managed to move into third place overall.

Moving on to the back end of the competition which should be my stronger events. So sitting in the third was a good spot as unless a catastrophe happened now, I was sure to hold on to a podium spot with a possibility of moving up the leader board. Fourth event being Hercules hold. Often a weight “to be determined” and “who knows” and “just hold it”. This ends up being one of my better events. I’ve not placed out of top 3 on this event when I’ve done it in competition. For this contest, they had a local guy wield and fabricate it so allegedly 250lbs/113lkgs empty each pillar. Often at the local level this event can be a bit underwhelming visually as often just some pipes with weight and usually it is a setup that the leverages make it so not a lot of weight is needed to make it a challenging thing to hold. No hook grip allowed for this show. Every time I’ve done these, I hope that it is heavy and that it is like holding on to dear life type thing but often it disappointingly is not. This is one where it should be spectacle. Even if this ended up not being heavy, this was certainly a larger than life setup here as the apparatus was the one event being done outside of the gym in the parking log (oh memories haha). Weight across the different classes was the same but the anchor point was altered to make the leverages such that it was tougher as they went up in the weight classes. Lately with prep for this kind of event, it is just accessory stuff and maybe one or two sessions using the apparatus the local gym has. This is more to get used to balance and the sensation of the weight being released as that isn’t really able to be trained when doing rolling handle or rolling bar hangs. This was a later in prep start to focus on and I was actually quite surprised how good doing hangs and such felt with nothing direct besides holding on to dumbbells and bars for row variations. One of the big focuses of offseason by my coach had been upper back hypertrophy and it is possible that like when I first started using straps for rack pulls and built up my upper back and saw my grip improve a lot that this was upgrading what I had already. I did only get one session where things worked out that I could use the Hercules hold at the gym I train at and for just one set. I had plans to do another session but just didn’t work out with lack of help and life getting in the way. Not really a way to warm up for this one other than just be prepared. Those that got to do this at this gym on the two weekends they had it probably have an advantage of knowing what this feels like so I got to observe and just hope this works out. My warming up here was to do a 15 seconds hang from some gymnastics rings on the second floor and setup the cable crossover with the d-handles. Also did some doorway stretches to open up the pecs. I tried to stay out of the sun as it was bright and oppressive at this point in the day. I had brought my polarized lens as I had figured this would be the case. I was going a bit earlier here as while I was in 3rd, I had placed 5th on the previous event. I believe the time to beat at this point was 47 seconds. Took the strain and time started. This didn’t feel like a weight that would tear me in half but it wasn’t something where I could just disassociate. I’d actually have to focus or I’d lose control quickly. I think about 30 seconds in I said “I’m going to need a Snickers” (as in not going anywhere for a while) but that joke fell flat. Tough crowd lol. My right hand finally went on me just shy of a minute at 59.60 seconds. This ended up being the longest hold across all weight classes for the day. Second place finisher looked to be more of a strategic finish as he stopped once he beat 47 seconds and looked good for more to potentially beat my time (he was in first overall by a good bit). So first place here.

The fifth and final event for the contest was atlas stones. Option of a trump (355lbs/161kgs) and mercy (280lbs/127kgs) weights over 52”/1.32m bar for reps in 60 seconds. Any reps at heavier stone beat any reps at lighter stone. No extra points for doing any reps at the lighter stone any then going up to the heavy stone. You can go up from the lighter stone to the heavier stone but not reverse. So you go heavy and miss, you are stuck with that choice. Stones are generally my jam. But it does feel like the heavy tacky stones are not in vogue and really seems to just be local shows in random places and then pro shows. Hard to be motivated to do them with all the work and clean up needed if not many places putting in the effort to host. I like them to be heavy so I’m not worrying about a ton of reps. Lifting a big rock is kind of why I like this and why I still like this. I ran into some usual issues with stones this prep. One related to tacky. 2023 was the last time I’ve really trained atlas stones and I had gotten tacky from a company at that time that since then no longer has a US distributor. And it had been the best tacky I’ve used in my career. Only two of the three international distributors would deliver to the US but with shipping and tariffs, the price was essentially double. I thought I’d have enough to make it through the training cycle and just have to worry about contest day. So eventually bit the bullet and shipped some out to my brother so I wouldn’t have to worry about it being potentially confiscated by the TSA. This is the first time I’ve flown to show with stones and tacky as I’ve driven all other times. The other was that people messed with the stones. Now to be fair, they thought they were helping. Cleaning off the stones and applying a tacky coating. Sounds good in theory. However, the cleaning removed the sealant so concrete dust/dirt and the tacky coating sticks to stuff and comes off. This had happened between 2023 and present. This wasn’t done to every stone but to ones I’d need to train on so this made these stones harder to stick to and eat up tacky quicker than before. I was initially questioning my abilities here. This wasn’t done to any of the stones I own there thankfully. Short prep with stones and using weekly frequency (again, I usually was doing every other) here and I put in enough work to be on point. Like the hold, just kind of have to see what I’m doing on that first touch and just hope that I got something left here. The heavy stone seemed like a good stone at weigh-ins as far as stick. There was a lot of tacky on the flooring by the time it got to the heavier classes so that was adding a difficulty factor. I had to keep myself from trying to do any reps on the stones while seeing others warm up on them. As I knew that I’d likely overheat and sweat whatever I’d applied off. So my warming up was doing picks with the deep dish plates up to about 270lbs/122.5kgs. Making sure my left arm was feeling ok (elbow was feeling a little wonky) and hamstrings/back fine. Once it was getting close to time, I applied tape and then got the tacky. But there was a problem. For all my preparation on the tacky, I made an error in judgement and that was not preparing for the heat. When I had ordered the tacky, the extended forecast had it being about 62 degrees. But it was unseasonably warm above 80 degrees by the time stones came around and even though I put my tacky in the refrigerator at the gym, it was more like I had put some maple syrup on then stone tacky. So I was in a bit of pinch here as I was tied for third so I needed to not bomb this to stay on podium and potentially move into second (first would have to bomb to potentially lose that spot). Four reps was the number to beat (they had a close miss otherwise it would’ve been five). I get ready and go for it but the stone slips on me trying to pick it like normal. Don’t panic. I really get under the sucker and squeeze and hope that this butter tacky holds. It does and I get it into my lap and thankfully the stickiness of the stone has it really secure to my body but I’m overly cautious and make sure I got it real tight to extend fully. I can’t afford any missed reps here. One rep done. I take a step back, knowing I can’t really keep into a groove with having to really crush this rock each time. I do this two more times. I feel fresh to keep going but with 6 seconds left and no shot clock rule here, I called it there and hoped this was enough to seal the deal. This ended up tying for second here.

It was a long day but a well run competition. My dad had stuck around but the rest of my family in AZ ended up watching from home on the livestream after the first two events. I still got some things to work on for next time. The eventual winner, Dave, put on a clinic and played a very smart day of strongman, with it never looking like he wasn’t in the driver’s seat. I definitely plan to keep my calendar open for next year’s show. Good to compete against new people. And thankfully, my nerves didn’t hamper me from having a good family visit. My nieces had me doing a Miss Piggy voice for almost all of Monday. In the end, I achieved what I wanted with getting on the podium with a second place finish and an invite to Strongman Corporation Nationals at the end of August in Mesquite, TX. Whether I accept the invite is another matter. Home again and only a brief respite as on to the next one. Plan being the Midwest qualifier for Natural Worlds about mid-April in what looks like the middle of nowhere (it’s the last US qualifier)

February 2, 2026 – Week 23, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

ATG Split Squats (12”)/Band Pull Aparts
bwx8/8 – mbx15
bwx8/8 – mbx15

Dumbbell Push Presses
40’sx5
40’sx5
40’sx5

Paused Heels Elevated Goblet Squats (3 seconds)/Banded Straight Arm Pulldowns
bw+25x6/lbx15
bw+25x6/lbx15

Walking
19 minutes

Stretching

Comments: I was feeling a bit off mentally after training Saturday. Just a lot of accumulated stress. Work, travel and training. Was I going to be recovered fully by contest time. I’ve been fighting this second round of a cold for over a week after getting a bad one in January. My anxiety was pretty high and I needed help from my family to order food at the restaurant as I was overstimulated. Which felt a tad embarrassing but it also let me know that my family understands and accepts me and that I really need to decompress. I spent Sunday getting stuff packed for the trip and getting a walk in and soft tissue work. I was still getting negative thoughts that I really had to push aside. Weight down a bit from previous week but not as low in bodyweight as I’ve been. Monday and Tuesday to be spent getting work affairs in order. Cold still not fully licked. Only one light session this week with indication that if anything bothered me to stop. But idea being to get some movement in for the legs and upper back and do some pressing. Soft tissue work was needed considering I didn’t stretch after training Saturday and went for a walk Sunday. At least for my lower body. I felt it was important to get in the walking as I was likely going to be feeling tense until after I compete. So needed a bit more on the lower legs and quads as is usually the case and not so much hamstrings and upper back. Neck rehab stuff was ok. Stretching for lower body was ok as well as the dead hang. Plan with the short training was to try and move through things quick and stay in the garage. So first thing was a superset of those ATG split squats I was doing a few weeks back as part of the knees over toe progression and then some band pull aparts. Just two sets of each with indication to use higher box height as this was just to get knees moving and feeling good whereas the pull aparts just to get some upper back work in (with focus on rear delts). Quads and knees felt a little tender but not where I’d feel like it was pain or anything. Just usually these are later in the session and I know that I tend to be hypersensitive with muscles and joints the week before and of a competition. I did these with no break between sets or rounds. Next thing was dumbbell push presses. Advised to do these light and explosive. With my dumbbell selection, it felt like it didn’t make sense to use 10’s and I know 70’s are too heavy for “light” here. Especially if I was going right into it and not wearing any kind of support gear. The dumbbells are small enough that I can do these in the garage standing (as long as I’m under the recessed area for the lights). Left elbow was a little achy here but stuff seemed to move fine and got better as I did the sets as far as getting my legs into it and synching things up. I took about the normal rest I do between sets here. Last exercise pairing using weights was heels elevated goblet squats and some banded straight arm pulldowns. So similar pairing to the first. The goblet squats were only with pauses as opposed to tempo and really light suggested weight (20-30lbs). I used the 25lbs plate with handles here. Pulldowns I needed to add some weight to my light power rack so that it didn’t move despite the light band tension. A bit of forward lean on the squats but felt easy and powerful. Nice upper back pump from the pulldowns. Last thing was listed as doing 15-20 minutes of walking on treadmill. Since where that is located is just in a room facing a wall, I figured I’d just rather go for a walk around the block a few times. Rather just have the cold air, dark and quiet rather than the repetitive sound of my feet and the mechanical murmurings of the belt. Knowing that when I’m stressed I have a harder time with sensory input, I think this was a better option. Got dinner cooked up and stretched afterwards. Hopefully I’m all there in body and mind this Saturday.

January 31, 2026 – Week 22, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Paused Safety Squat Bar Squats (2 seconds)
65x6
115x4
155x3
205x2
255x4
255x4
255x4
255x4

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses (left side only, with run up)
49x5
85x3
108x2
130x1
145x1
(60 minute rests)
160x1
160x1
160x1
60 Second Sets
150x5 (2 misses)

Yoke and Sandbag Husafell Carries (50’ run back)
Y – 195x50’
Y – 285x50’
Y – 375x50’

Stretching

Comments: In office is not conducive to recovery with how much it fucks with my schedule I’ve had for the past 5yrs or so. I usual don’t get this sick if I get ill and I sometimes mistake it for bad allergies. I can’t get as comfortable as I can at home and deal with the symptoms. It felt like stuff was going up and down with feeling better as I’d feel pretty good and then feel not so great. I know I was under a lot of stress with it being week before competition and needing to get stuff ready for travel and being off. My stress just magnifies. It probably didn’t help that my one co-worker (who started about the same time I did in 2012) got fired this week (not sure on the details, but not performance based). But I made it through the week, even if very stressed and had not needed to make any training adjustments. But I felt quite tired at the end of the week and apparently having a fever blister developing (after I had that in December). I decided for Saturday I was just going to sleep until I felt rested rather than try and get out there early off an alarm. I felt this was the best way to have it be a doable session as last time I had a session before show, I stopped after getting frustrated with stuff (and had already been a stressful week). I did end up sleeping for like 12hrs and it wasn’t too late in the morning honestly. Drive out wasn’t bad but it is really cold right now. It just feels cold all the time now outside.  A decent amount of people there and had me thinking that I could maybe do some fun stuff like Hercules hold instead of just rolling handle hangs. A bit slow going on getting ready as helping my friend with setup for events she has. This wasn’t to be that taxing a session (other than overhead). I was trying to keep myself low key as I felt that was the best way I was going to get the session down in any capacity as I felt very much 50/50 with sessions this week with the cold. I really want to be feeling good for next week. Didn’t need a ton of soft tissue work. Neck rehab stuff was fine. My left shoulder was feeling pretty tight though. Stretching for lower body followed and then a dead hang as well. On to training. Pauses with the ssb for squats. Out of the monolift. 255 for 4x4 with the pauses. Keep these as the primer. I did a few more reps with warming up with the odd jumps here. Knees didn’t feel as achy as last week and weight didn’t feel as heavy. That may be because I wasn’t as congested this time around. This felt fine enough. I have to be feeling really off for this kind of squat to be the tell that I’m not having a good day. Dumbbell was next and that was what had me anxious for the day. The plan was to do 10lbs over contest weight for 3 singles with the minute rest and then do an AMRAP with contest weight for 60 seconds. Circus dumbbell had felt surprisingly good considering things last week. But this time something just felt a little off. Clean to shoulders felt like more hamstrings, legs didn’t feel solid in the dip and the weight just didn’t feel secure on my shoulder. 160lbs felt tougher than I’d like it to be. It is a good thing that 180lbs is my top lift this training prep as I’d have probably missed these if I didn’t have that strength when not fatigued. I had to fight a bit to get these and I don’t think I’d have really been good for more than these three if I was trying to do them in a single 60 second set. Definitely not touch and go like when I’m feeling on point. I was debating calling it there as far as circus bell. I had a heavy touch but I feel bad if I don’t at least try to do what is planned by my coach. Contest weight is relatively light and it has been only a handful of times this prep with dumbbell where I’ve not done contest weight or more at some point. So this shouldn’t be that taxing. But it could have me feeling doubts if I underperform. Which is what happened. That first clean to the shoulder it just didn’t feel right and I felt like I should drop it but went with it. I was definitely going at a suboptimal pace and just trying to get some reps here. But I guess I just couldn’t keep it together as I missed the sixth rep. I checked my time and I had enough to give it another shot. This was better but still a miss. Ugh, how am I only getting 5 with this? I know I’m tired and sick but it was definitely getting to me. But this was the only really heavy thing here so just put it away and move on. Yoke into husabag. The initial plan was to work up to contest weight here with the initial plan but I had suggested that I do that a week earlier as I tend to feel like ass this last week and that I’d rather not tax my back so much after a heavy deadlift to recover. This seemed like a good call considering how I got sick last week and still managed contest weight here. So the new plan was just to do light runs of 555lbs on yoke with a 225lbs sandbag. 3 runs of the contest setup and try to keep to just 2-2.5 minutes rest. I was on board with that. But warming up on yoke, I just felt off. My joints were achy, I didn’t feel like I could push myself to go fast. And I was noticing that I was getting unreasonably irritated by the sounds the two other people in the gym were making. I’ve learned that when I’m stressed, that I have a harder time with auditory sensory stimulus management. This was not feeling good and I’d likely just be making myself more tired and annoyed. So I called it there before I got really serious. I will say I did a better job then last end of prep with doing stuff. My family had message about me being available for dinner in like an hour as I don’t think they thought I’d have a serious workout today (I’d have been out 2hrs earlier if I was feeling good too). So drove home and was anxious and hoped that I could get a good night’s sleep and spend Sunday getting myself organized.

January 28, 2026 – Week 22, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Suited Long Bar Deadlifts (straps)
No Suit
143x5
233x3
Added Suit (single-ply)
323x2
413x1
503x1
553x1
603x1

Paused Seated Safety Squat Bar Goodmornings (21” box, 1 second)
115x8
115x8
115x8

Supported Single Leg Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts/Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows
70x8/8 – 56’sx8
100x4/4 – 86’sx4
140x8/8 -- 116’sx8
140x8/8 -- 116’sx8
140x8/8 -- 116’sx8

Zercher Jefferson Curls (45 seconds rest)
105x10
105x10
105x10

Stretching

Comments:  Cold still here. Tuesday the shoveling was even tougher than Monday (about even to Sunday) as it was the rest of the end of the driveway that was packed from the plow and it had frozen partially. So that ended up being a lot of clanging and banging to get that cleared. As I needed to have it cleared so that I could drive my car to work the next day. Wouldn’t be an urgent thing if I was not having to be in the office. That had me a little worried that this and the cold (and worrying my bursitis was acting up in the left elbow) was going to affect things with being ready to compete and finish off the week of training. Shoulders feeling the ice shoveling and right knee a little sore from training and working in the snow. Streets were not really clear in the city and probably should’ve let us have a delay or off another day honestly. The loss of an hour both ways with getting up early and leaving early and going to bed early definitely hampers my recovery/energy. The office just sucks the life out of me. Energy levels were cratering by the time I got home and I was contemplating just eating and going to bed and doing the session. Part of me is craving just sleeping this off and until I get to Arizona but I want to listen and follow the plan Ms. Funk has planned out over the past 23 weeks here. The commute home did not help matters but I seemed to be able to rouse my spirits enough to give it the ole college try. Soft tissue work to start things. This felt similar to Monday. Kind of going through the motions. Neck rehab was fine. Keeping an eye on things here. No issues with the stretching for hips, knees and ankles. Dead hang followed after that. I was kind of hoping the warming up stuff would have my left shoulder feeling a little better from the shoveling but I guess can’t be that lucky. Still really cold temperatures so once again wearing warm ups at the start of things until I got warmed up. I did the tib into calf raise exercise for two sets to start things off. These felt fine. Nothing felt off or tight so that was good. On to the heavy thing for the evening. Last pulls on the deadlift setup before the contest. Plan being a top single that was RPE 9-9.5. I was to get into a bit more aggression than I had last few times but not into psycho mode. Which should be a no duh here with being 11 days from the show. I’ve had some preps where there was a heavy day this close and others where this session was 18 days away from show. With how I was feeling, I wasn’t going to try and go insane here with the planned attempt or the hyping up circumstances. Just enough to be the most I’ve done and know that it would go up. No suit adjustments from last time. I feel I’ve got it modified how it will work best at this point. This warming felt reminiscent of sessions where every other set working up alternated between hot and cold with how they moved. First set was good and then second set wasn’t feeling it. Suit added and it seemed like I was getting things going well here. I was still coughing up phlegm at times. I was feeling good so I stuck to 90lbs jumps with 503lbs as my first single with everything on. That seemed to move real good. I was tempted to do more than 50lbs jump as really what I wanted to hit was just north of 600lbs here not fully tapping in and hopefully that be a good spot for maybe something between my first and second attempt. Although, no clue how this will compare to venue setup and if I can get the help I need to really get my suit straps cranked down tight. 50lbs more and suit straps a little tighter. This went up well enough but not so well that I felt like going any higher than my planned 600ish. I did have some fighting in my head with adding a few little micro plates to bump it up a little but stuck firm to my plan of another 50lbs added. Compared to how my start for the top double went two weeks ago, I feel that I had a better start. The weight didn’t feel like it hesitated so much and roughly started about the same. However, the lighter weight I got to lockout a little quicker vs this single. The single felt more like the second rep of the double as far as the lock out so I’d say about equivalent then to the effort there with having it be on the money. I also didn’t have my left shin start bleeding this session. This was the goal but I also would’ve liked to have this be stronger and me not feeling sick but it is what it is. I know that once the fatigue (hopefully) falls away to reveal what has been built that I’ll be where I really am on the day. I’ve not pulled 600lbs of more from the floor in about 1.5yrs. The big if of the day was done with the little ifs to follow. I say that in that I was pretty much giving myself outs at every turn if I felt like it was too much. I can just not do that or do it lighter or skip when really I was going to do everything that was written. It’s like I’m giving myself permission and I won’t get mad and takes some of the pressure off the cooker. Anyways, the lighter stuff was up next and first up being seated ssb gms. Weight bumped up a bit here and reps lowered. Keeping these in the range of motion I did last week certainly adds some emphasis on the lower back. Which is needed. I had thought about doing a work up set but figured just move right along here so not taking longer to do the session as I needed rest and recovery this week. From there, it was the superset of supported single leg dumbbell rdls with chest supported dumbbell rows. Increase in reps on both with same weight. I ended up doing less reps the last work up set here. The rdls I switched up on the side I started with this week and that seemed to be fine. Rows were challenging but did feel better as I did these. I did try to speed up the switch between exercises but at the mercy of switching the plate weights. Last thing then was jefferson curls. 45 seconds rests on these again. Same weight as last time but more reps per set. These felt a little tougher compared to last time. Could be due to my air being compromised with the head cold. But it was easy enough to get these done and put stuff away before eating dinner and then stretching. I really hope that I rebound from this cold soon. It stinks having to be in the office and feeling miserable.

January 26, 2026 – Week 22, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Paused Axle Push Presses (2 seconds lockout)
26x5
56x3
86x2
116x2
146x2
176x5
176x5
176x5

Neutral Grip Incline Dumbbell Bench Presses
56’sx12
87’sx8
87’sx8
87’sx8

Overhead Dicks Presses
95x5
135x5
135x5
135x5

Deadstop Single Arm Dumbbell Rows/Heels Elevated Goblet Squats (4-0-4-0 tempo)
112x5/5 – bw+40x5
152x10/10 – bw+80x10
152x10/10 – bw+80x10
152x10/10 – bw+80x10

Reverse Lunges w/ March Hold (2 seconds)
bwx3/3
bw+46’sx8/8
bw+46’sx8/8

Stretching

Comments: We did get a decent amount of snow Sunday. I was exhausted from Saturday and still taking cold/flu meds to try and keep functioning. There was not going anywhere on Sunday. I’m not sure on the total amount but it was about 9” of snow when I first went out to shovel on Sunday and there was some more that accumulated come Monday. Weight had been back up about 3lbs but with meds and such, it seemed that was probably going to be down once I got over this bug. While work was closed, I still was obligated to work from home. Which is fine by me but with working a full day, only time I had to really try and get myself out of the remaining mess (and the packed snow from the plows in the morning) was going to be during my lunch breaks with how cold it was. With Monday, I did as much as I could for the driveway during the break and made sure to have walkway and path to the street at least and the back patio so I could at least attempt to train if feeling up for it. This is the last week prior to the competition week and with stress high and cold, I’m not feeling terribly motivated to do this week. My mind from past training cycles and years is used to this week being really easy for the most part with sometimes being tough. So it is kind of that and trusting the process here. But I usually end up doing the training planned for me because I feel compelled to do it. Soft tissue work starting things off. Nothing really stood out here. I think just surprised with how tense my biceps were those first two sessions on stones and now nothing. Neck rehab was ok. Wasn’t too sure how things were going to be with no walking and a lot of shoveling. With more to come tomorrow unfortunately. Stretching for hips, knees and ankles and then followed by a dead hang. Outside for axle pressing. This might be the coldness I’ve done a session as it was 19 degrees. I ran out of salt but hopefully I had put enough that I wasn’t having a slipping hazard doing stuff today. Paused axle with a little less than last week for 3x5. My joints were feeling a little more beat up compared to coming into this session last week but felt that the no knee sleeves had been the right decision with axle and dumbbell. Things felt a little tougher compared to last week at least with how the weight was feeling but it was still very powerful movements and feeling strong there. I mean, even if not feeling best, I’ve pretty much been doing the competition each week lately with the last week being with a head cold so I can walk through the competition and do ok. But I want to do great. Primer done and kind of left stuff out there for the moment so I could move on to the next thing. Incline dumbbells in the garage. Same weight as last week and now back up to 8 reps. I wasn’t so concerned with push press as leg drive involved but I wasn’t sure with incline bench after all the snow shoveling as that could be hampered by it and feel off. As when the shoulders ache, pressing tends to not go well. Thankfully this didn’t seem to be so bad. I had commented that last time was slightly better than the previous week which had felt rougher than I was expecting when weight was the same and reps dropped. Either from not taking it as seriously of just cautiousness with sore biceps. I do seem to become a hypochondriac with stuff as I get closer to competition. I felt like my  getting to shoulder was a bit more stable and consistent with not losing any power and reps felt pretty good with only the last one starting to feel some significant fatigue. So far, so good I guess. Back outside for more pressing. Overhead dicks presses. I had been focusing on these being more of a triceps thing but it appears that Ms. Funk wants me to do that and to treat each rep like I’m doing a lockout on an overhead press so head through. This had been 4x4 with 5lbs more than the first week with suggested for this time around being 5-10lbs more for 3x5. I figured I’d go with 10lbs just because that would be 135lbs on the bar. These can be a little tricky with getting enough to prime and warm but not fatigue or be undercooked. Seems more so the case as my left shoulder tends to feel cranky on these with the movement when going to the back and then forwards. As I went, I feel like I got a little more comfortable with the movement. Last rep of last set ended up being a little squirrely on me but otherwise feel things were good. Back into the garage to finish things up. I wasn’t looking forward to the last bits of the session as they were the most exhausting and with the cold, my respiration was hampered so this was going to be a whole bunch of suck. The first one being the superset of deadstop style one arm rows and the heel elevated goblet squats with tempo. Rows I was to do more reps but decrease the weight 10lbs while squats weight the same but more reps. As I was feeling quite warm in the legs, I figured that I should skip the lightest set I do and just get into things sooner as likely I’ll feel same with no weight vs 40lbs on the squats. The rows were fine with that but knees were still a little achy. But fine for the working sets. I apparently was to use straps for the rows this week but didn’t find out until I had already finished the session (I guess to save grip and work on pulling explosively). The rows were fine enough but man was it tough recovering from the extra two reps on the squats. Could feel my quads fatiguing by the end and just having to take a bit to recoup with my breathing. I was in no hurry to do the lunges after this. Only for two sets but more weight. Not a ton more weight and two less reps than last time but there is quite a difference between the solid dumbbells and plateloaded ones as these felt a good bit tougher. Left side these felt slower and tougher to initiate (I know sometimes that leg lags here with knee flexion) but seemed to have a better time of it with the right side. I apparently need to get more drive off the back foot on these. I think I was just more focusing on getting these to move and do the holds vs that aspect so assuming these pop up again (it’s the final countdown), I’ll remember to focus that (as I think these have merit to moving events like yoke). Got stuff put away and ate dinner before stretching. I get to stick to normal schedule another day before having to get up earlier to commute. Not looking forward to that. Hopefully cold is gone by then.

January 24, 2026 – Week 21, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Paused Safety Squat Bar Squats (2 seconds)
65x6
115x4
165x2
215x1
265x3
265x3
265x3
265x3

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses (left side only, with run up)
49x5
85x3
108x2
130x1
(60 minute rests)
150x1
150x1
150x1
150x1
60 Second Sets
140x10

Yoke and Sandbag Husafell Carries (50’ run back)
Y – 195x50’
Y – 285x50’
Y – 375x50’
Y – 465x50’
Y – 555x25’
Y – 645x25’
735xpick (3 seconds)/290x5’
735x50’/290x50’ in 35.27 seconds
750x50’/290x50’ in 33.30 seconds

Rolling D-Handle Hangs
bw for 5 seconds
bw+114 for 43.67 seconds
bw+114 for 34.73 seconds

Atlas Stones
55”
315x2
51” 
330x2
45 second sets
350x4 (1 miss)

Stretching

Comments: For as good as I felt at the beginning of this week, that inverse is how bad I felt at the end. Thursday evening I felt like I was getting a scratchy throat and watery eyes and I had hoped it was just allergies with the high winds blowing in stuff from god knows where. But it was quite obvious Friday that it wasn’t that. Still, the plan was to get in this last really heavy event training session in early so that I can recover with the deload. My work already closed Monday and Tuesday for the once in a decade predicted snow fall (I’d still have to work remotely though) so that was going to give me a little more time to recover with sleep before the revert in work schedule again. But I woke up Saturday at work time and I did not feel great. I couldn’t stop coughing and my joints ached and I felt cold. Only people I’d been around this week was my parents one evening and I guess I caught something there (my mom does substitute teaching in her retirement). I guess stress from work and just whatever is going on right now in this country are taxing me as well as the training. I felt bad enough that I wrote off this session. If even a fraction of the planned snow hit tomorrow, there was not going anywhere or even trying to train at home in any real fashion. I was up for about an hour and called it a day and went back to bed. I must have been wiped as I don’t think I’ve ever fallen back to sleep after drinking coffee (I only drink one cup in the morning and limit caffeine to that). I fell asleep for 4hrs and woke up feeling significantly better. I still didn’t feel great but my whole body didn’t ache and I wasn’t hacking and horking. This was manageable. It was 1PM so not ideal to start training that would likely take hours with impending snow storm. But I figured I’d give it a shot (after eating my planned after workout sandwich). Drive out wasn’t bad but it is really cold right now.  My one friend (doing Arnold prep) was still there even though she had been there when I was planning to go out 4hrs earlier. She had a lot of stupid events to setup solo it would seem. I helped with the last “optional” event before I really started getting into my own training. Throat tickle came back before I started lifting and that had me a little worried but it calmed down thankfully. Didn’t need a ton of soft tissue work (maybe because of the Nyquil and Dayquil). Neck rehab stuff was fine. My left shoulder was feeling pretty tight though. Stretching for lower body was definitely needed as stuff was feeling tight there as well. Dead hang as well. On to training. Pauses with the ssb for squats. I’ve been enjoying the monolift for these I guess. Plan here was work up to 265 for 4x3 with the pauses. I was advised that the flex of the glutes at lockout wasn’t enough and that I need to be thinking of explosively lifting the whole way through on the concentric and trying to think fast twitch. I felt that I’d probably be able to manage that better with lower reps in the sets. At least if I was feeling like I did last week. My knees were feeling achy unfortunately and I knew that with the congestion that I’d feel a bit more pressure on squats and such. These squats thankfully didn’t feel as awful as they did that one session right before I took the mandatory deload. But these felt rougher than last week. I was initially worried that I miscounted the first set (I had to take a bit to collect myself between reps that set). I do feel I got these to be more explosive in movement but it was hard going. These are still to be a primer. I wasn’t sure how the rest of the session would go as last time when I had felt like this, I had called it after dumbbell was feeling bad. Which was the next thing. Plan here was work up to contest weight for four singles and then drop 10lbs and do a minute AMRAP. Same warming up besides the last jump before working sets. I did experiment here with no knee sleeves after seeing how my axle push press had felt. With my knees being achy with squats, I wasn’t sure if this would make that much difference. No knee issues here without sleeves. Felt a little more stable I think. This might be the way to go. Initially, the dumbbell at contest weight wasn’t feeling so hot but I did feel better as I went on these. I did not have someone that I could really trust to do contest down calls for the minute set so I just tried to recall how the reps had felt when I got the down call last time here. I wasn’t expecting to get 10 reps here. Breathing afterwards was hard due to the head cold but this was good and felt solid. Even with how I was feeling, I didn’t think the singles would be out of reach but I didn’t think I’d be able to get a minute set done so this was good. The next thing I wasn’t so keen on doing. Yoke into husabag. The initial plan was to work up to 735lbs on the yoke for two runs with the 290lbs husabag (since can’t make it any heavier) with expectation to do contest weight or so next weekend at end of deload. However, I had suggested that this be the last heavy session for it since this can take a bit out of me and with just knowing that recovery won’t be the best leading up to the show with the work shift and just how I handle things when having to take time and just how things had kind of gone with the short prep with world’s and bailing on the last workout. So the potential options were to do those runs as planned and then do 2 sets of holds with 750lbs for 10-15 seconds after that or to do one run at 735lbs and then the second run at 750lbs if I felt I could do it with no issues. With how 720lbs had felt last week, I felt like I could do contest weight already. Well so much for the big game I talked as I was not feeling that same way this session. 645lbs was feeling close to how 720lbs had felt last week so not a good sign. But I stuck to the plan here. My intent with the pick was a 5 seconds hold but I was a bit too aggressive and had a bit of forward momentum so dropped it at 3 seconds. I was advised I spent too much time fiddling around with the husabag to get up and go last week and my hope was to not do that this time around. I was dealing with the cold and indigestion at this point and I was not moving super fast with the yoke but I was moving steady. I tried to go fast with picking up the husabag and that didn’t go great as it tilted on me and it became a bit of a fight to correct and get it up and moving in not an ideal position. Like 4 seconds slower than last weeks time. I felt like that doing this again I’d be faster and might as well add 15lbs as with how I’m feeling, it will likely feel the same to me. Doing holds after this would just have me here longer and don’t want to potentially get caught in any snow driving home. As I thought, I was able to go faster this set with more weight by not screwing up the pick as bad on the husabag as well. It wasn’t as good as it could be with moving here. But I got 750lbs on yoke done, which is the most I’ve done in training since 2024. Finally able to get a little food (rice Krispie treat) in me to hopefully spike a little more energy to finish out the session. Initial plan here after the yoke and stuff was to do the rolling handle hangs again for two sets of max time. I did express interest in doing one more set on the Hercules hold just to get something heavier and work with balance as the setup at the show looks a bit unwieldy. But with showing up 4hrs late, that wasn’t happening so reverting back to just the hangs. I had been surprised how comfortable 100lbs had felt and so I was tempted to do that again but figured since there was weight out on the power stair/duck walk implements, I’d do that. 114lbs and doing these hangs. I was surprised I got near 45 seconds that first set. The drop off on the second set was expected, regardless of the rest I took. My forearms didn’t get as pumped as last week when it was time to do stones. A little less volume with the plan being two doubles with lighter weight and then the 350lbs stone for a set of 45 seconds. I had new tacky I’ve never tried before and I unfortunately forgot to bring a fresh roll of tape so I was lucky to get as much coverage on my forearms as I did. I was feeling pretty worn by this point and wasn’t expecting much from myself or the new tacky. So color me surprised with how strong the tacky was that it get me issues on the first set where I had to fight to get myself off the stone. So I guess I got a good winter time alternative to my other tacky I like. I felt better on the next set and eventually got ready for the work set. My understanding being this is the last heavy stone session. Tacky was sticking well and I wasn’t going as fast a pace at the start compared to last time but I was quite surprised that I had like 8 seconds left after getting four reps. I wasn’t expecting to have that much time and I think because of that I hesitated a little with it and then I got off balance and fumbled it with having it too low on my person going for a fifth rep. It was as close to a load as it could be with it not being on the platform since it spun off. So I’m not really counting that as a miss there. I felt fine afterwards and had to clean up before downing a shake and then driving home with plans to eat dinner and then stretch and shower. Now I need to make sure I recover and hopefully not get snowed in for days.

January 21, 2026 – Week 21, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Suited Long Bar Deadlifts (straps)
No Suit
143x5
233x3
Added Suit (single-ply)
323x2
413x1
483x1
553x3
558x3
563x3

Paused Seated Safety Squat Bar Goodmornings (21” box, 1 second)
95x12
95x12
95x12

Supported Single Leg Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts/Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows
70x7/7 – 56’sx7
100x7/7 – 86’sx7
140x7/7 -- 116’sx7
140x7/7 -- 116’sx7
140x7/7 -- 116’sx7

Zercher Jefferson Curls (45 seconds rest)
105x8
105x8
105x8

Stretching

Comments:  Considering the training workload from Saturday, I was quite surprised how well I was moving and feeling on Monday. Then I had to work the next day and I think that just let me know that work is taking a lot out of me as I felt like I had been after that haha. Probably didn’t help that it got into single digits in the morning as far as temps Tuesday and Wednesday. But I guess it will warm up slightly and then might get hit by a once in a decade snow at the end of the week. Again, I don’t know why I try and do competitions during the winter and summer. But it be like that sometimes here. I was a little slow going after work today so didn’t quite get ready to training until about 30 minutes later. Been a bit since I’ve just had one of those disassociation for a little bit (as a treat) before getting myself to do what I want and need. Soft tissue work to start things. This was a little odd. The things that needed it a lot were my left calf and my right quad. Hardly anything for the opposing sides there. Hamstrings needed a little and upper back felt like it needed some. Neck rehab was fine. Keeping an eye on things here. No issues with the stretching for hips, knees and ankles. Dead hang followed after that. That felt good. It was pretty darn frigid at this point in the session in the garage. I knew that with suit work I’d be warm enough by the working sets but getting to that point I needed to keep warm. So wore my warm ups initially. I did the tib into calf raise exercise for two sets to start things off. These felt fine. On to the heavy thing for the evening. Another session of getting into the suit and pulling weights. There hasn’t really been a light and heavy session when it comes to the suited pulls here. It has been more of heavy low volume and heavy medium volume. So this was going to be sets and reps vs working up to a top set like last week. Plan here being 3x3 with 550-560lbs. I made some more alterations to the legs of my suit and I do believe I’ve finally got them how I want as far as tightness and function. I was going to do some sowing here anyways to reinforce what I did last time but I figured I needed to bring in more as I shouldn’t need to be wearing 4 pairs of spandex if I get it right. Starting out I wore my warm ups until I got to weight to wear my suit. I was definitely a little out of it as I didn’t grab my straps to start off here.  Working up with the new adjustments to the legs of the suit had them not bunching up on me but also had them tighter to the crouch. So I even though straps might be tight before, they were loose now. I did the same warming up pulls to the top weight like I did two weeks ago. I didn’t want to do a plate jump and then 50lbs jumps so it was 70lbs jumps. I kind of had the plan here to add 5lbs per set. That first set did not have my feeling confident with that plan. It didn’t feel solid but video says it looks about the same for the first rep. Despite it not feeling super easy (a guy can dream), I did add 5lbs to it for the next set with the aim to get the straps a little tighter. I made this one harder than it needed to be as I didn’t have the bar out to really roll in. Again, I think that as the weight increases here that it becomes more apparent with the sleeves not rotating with the extenders bolted on. That felt a little harder than what I had done. Not saying it all lower back like the multi-ply suit had felt but it was feeling a little like that. I also had nicked my left shin again on the first triple so I had blood again. I was also not seeming to have the bar in the right spot for when I lifted as far as my straps settling on the bar. I actually had to let go of the bar rather than have my thumb around it so that it had me in a better position. I don’t want that as it is risky with competition. I trust my straps but still. Adding another 5lbs. It felt like a coin toss that this weight would be good with how the previous two sets had felt. I got the suit a little tighter in the straps (I don’t think I can get them any tighter training solo) and things seemed to go how I had wanted them to go as the reps felt comfortable albeit heavy and slow to lockout. Maybe I had a better position and better initial brace. The subsequent reps felt easier. I was able to grip the bar normally this set as well and not be impeded. Just one more session with the suit before competing then. Still not tapping into the bloodlust rage/hype zone so I think that is a good thing. Suit was biting a little harder today so I was glad to get out of it and deal with the rest of the workout. The less stressful stuff. First up being seated ssb gms. Same as last time as far as form with same weight and sets but more reps. I could definitely notice the increased reps on the deadlifts coupled with the increased reps here. Tricky to get these to be both blood flow movement and getting brace through with the fatigue from the suited pulls. But these are fun/good to do. From there, it was the superset of supported single leg dumbbell rdls with chest supported dumbbell rows. The notes were for the rdls to try and have it more hamstring focus vs quad. I mean, I was definitely feeling these in the hamstrings and such after that fact but as Ms. Funk noted, I do have tight hamstrings. So I made an effort here to try and have my legs more rigid with less knee bend. May not be perfect but closer. Anyways, plan was same weights as last time but an additional rep to each set. I decided to add 5lbs to the rdls because those felt easier than the rows at this point with the balance point and I was already using all my small plates minus the pair of 2.5lbs. So I figured I’d invite them along. I did not notice the added weight here. The rows feel substantial and the jumps in weight feel a lot more than the rdls do. Adjusting the weight from the rdls to the rows in the superset is taking about a minute. I wouldn’t have thought to pair these together but they are really hitting hamstrings and upper back really hard. But could be they are fatigued from suit work as well. Like last week, the rows felt better each set. Before doing the last thing for the session, I started prepping my dinner so that it wasn’t so late to eat. I’d finish up with the last thing and putting stuff away while it cooled off. So that brings us to Jefferson curls. 45 seconds rests on these again. I was advised to slow the rep speed down here. I got too focused on the short time for rest and focused on the “speed”. Worry being that I was bypassing the bottom range of motion which is what we want to hit. More weight and less reps here and it felt pretty good. I think knowing that this position will not have me feeling nerve issues in the left arm has been helpful with progression. Finished up here and put stuff away before eating and stretching.