August 8, 2026 – Week 17, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Yoke (drop and turn halfway, turf)
235x40’/40’
375x20’/20’
505x20’/20’ 
595x20’/20’ 
685xpick 
685x40’/40’ in 22.34 seconds
735x40’/40’ in 25.77 seconds
660x40’/40’ in 21.73 seconds

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses (left side only)
70x4
100x3
137x2
160x1
178x1,0
178x0
178x0
137x1/160x0
137x1/160x1
137x1/160x1
137x1/160x0,1
137x1/160x1
137x1/160x1
3 point pauses (2 seconds in dip, catch and lockout)
EMOM
137x0,1
137x1
137x1
137x1
137x1
137x1

Sled Push, Sprint, Sandbag Carry and Pulls (turf)
266x15’/220x15’/296x15’
266x33’/280x33’/576x33’ in 59.30 seconds
266x33’/300x33’/596x33’ in 57.03 seconds

Stretching

Comments: I really wanted another day rest but I knew I had to kind of push through here so that I can deload to recover in time. I could tell there were some compression symptoms that were back that had arisen after the log session that had me take the rest of the week off that I think kind of went away and I hadn’t noticed until now that I felt they were back. Digestion issues popped up after the last training session and I’m not sure what this all about. Hopefully with having me back on telework option next week and through this last bit of prep will have me feeling better and recovering better. I didn’t walk after work as I felt that sleep and soft tissue work was higher priority to feel good for this last heavy event session. That did seem to be the right call. I woke early enough on my own accord to take care of some things before I took the drive up to the one gym. Ty had indicated he would be there but I guess family had other plans. I’m getting used to the drive but I don’t really see myself making the drive up this frequently unless it is for specialty equipment and if temperature is like it has been this summer. Foam rolling was ok. Back of my knees and calves/hamstring inserts felt odd but thankfully chilled out by the time I was done with warming up. The calves themselves didn’t seem to need much but quads did. Neck rehab stuff was ok as well. Lower body stuff was ok and felt decent. Dead hang after that and as good to go as I was going to be. Starting off with yoke. Yoke and dumbbell had been separate at the start of prep and then merged together for 3 weeks with 2 of those sessions being up here to train. And seeing how different these dumbbells are compared to what is usually contested has made simple linear progressive not as feasible. So this session was to get in the last heavy touches for both and I felt that in order to get that being close to contest weight for both without worrying about one or the other’s performance was to break them up again to focus on the parts. My proficiency with yoke has improved so that is less a worry. The initial plan under coaching had been to do 3 runs of contest setup with 685lbs on the yoke and 160lbs on dumbbell for 1-2 reps. But things changing with going to master’s as well as splitting things up. But it sounded like a good idea to get 2-3 runs of yoke with this being the last session since the previous session had been like a month ago and had not felt good with my knees and such and stress at the time. It showed as hamstring felt tight and my one working up set I started to black out on the first half of the run. I thankfully didn’t have that issue with the first working set though. My hope was even if not necessarily getting contest weight, the turf would be what was making things tougher and it would be less taxing at the show. 685lbs didn’t feel that bad. The notes I had was to actually do 685-725lbs here for the 3 sets with aim of going up 20lbs a set. But I guess I felt that I should just go up and maybe only do 2 sets instead of 3 sets. Like I did with farmer’s walk. I put what I thought was 725lbs but turned out to be 735lbs so accidentally a little over contest weight here. It felt heavy but fine, with only issue being coming back and bumping into one of the many objects I had to move out of the way to even do yoke runs today. I did elect to do another run here but dropped it down to 660lbs which would be 90% of contest weight to just get a little bit faster run. I had some issues with the initial leg of the run but it did move better once I got that sorted. I happy for the most part with how these went as I’d not tried this with the new belt, didn’t feel that far off what I was doing for the AZ show 6 months prior despite lighter weights. The turf definitely makes things harder to move. I’m giving myself at least 30 seconds to get through the dumbbells. Which was next. This went through some changes as initially I was looking at just getting more work on the 160lbs dumbbell to drill heavy technique with 6-10 reps done EMOM style. But then I thought better of it just based on how the event will be doing 2 dumbbells and with master’s, I actually have a shot at both lifts rather than just one. But I figured I’d see how things went and kind of be on the fly with it. Working up had me realize it has been over a month since I’ve done a circus dumbbell. I don’t count those javelin presses as such. Form was off once I got to the inch style dumbbells but I corrected quick enough. I decided to go for the 80kgs dumbbell again and got it on the first try this time. I felt good enough that I did try for a double that was close but not there yet. I imagine if I hadn’t taken 5 weeks away that I’d be better here. I did give it two more shots after that to try and get another rep in some capacity but called it there as I was burning myself out and taking away from the obtainable for the show. Something like reining in my worse impulses here would be helpful with coaching/instruction. So what came next was the intent to do doubles with a rep on the 137lbs dumbbell, followed by the 160lbs dumbbell. And start out from under the yoke to work transitions. Initially wanting to do these as an EMOM but with the first attempt not going great (missing the 160lbs twice), I scrapped that and went with just rest as needed and try to get 5 good sets. I need more work on the 160lbs dumbbell as I was having about an even ratio of misses/bad/good reps and want that to not be the case. This is definitely something that needs more work in the future if this comes up as an event for me as some reps the clean feels effortless and others if feels like it saps my arms and back. I then decided I still wanted to do EMOM singles to ingrain things in and went with the 137lbs dumbbell to do iso-holds at 3 points vs 2 points like I had been doing. Reason being that these dumbbells are really unwieldy at lockout compared to other circus dumbbells. I must have misremembered how heavy I had done paused reps like this as I initially missed the first rep attempt on the catch. But I did manage to clean things up and it was going quite sold by the end and feeling automatic. I could tell that I had pushed it here today as my forearms were sore and so was my right elbow (in a musculature way, not joint pain). I swapped in a fresh shirt as I was covered in rust and sweat and ate a rice Krispie treat. This break between things wasn’t going to take nearly as long as last week having make an implement first but I did want to try and recover before finishing out the day. Last thing was the push and pull medley. Like circus bell, it has been over a month since I did this and last time had been the first time doing it with any sandbag weight. Hope I think with prep had been that doing the pick and carries of keg and sandbag would build for this until closer than then worry about. For master’s the weight is a good bit lighter on the push and pull but sandbag is the same weight. Plan was to do 2-3 runs here since no longer doing the 1st medley right before this to kind of warm up things. With heavier sandbag but lighter weights, I had to get creative for the drag by putting a plastic plyo box on it so that the loading pin didn’t puncture the bag. I was definitely feeling everything I did on Thursday and the session by this point. I did half the course or so to warm up as I didn’t want to do a full run as I was having a nagging feeling that the sandbag portion was going to suck. Aim was to do 280-300lbs for the sets here and I was honestly not feeling super confident in this today after how tough the 300lbs sandbag was last week to pick up. So went with 280lbs the first set for the sandbag, which meant. I had meant to add another 10lbs on the sled for the push portion but it feels like busy work rather than an actual implement at this weight. The 280lbs sandbag wasn’t too bad but where I screwed up was the drag. I fumbled big time with getting the handles and the other blunder was I forgot to tighten my shoe laces so my feet were loose in my shoes with pulling this weight on the turf like that. Barely under a minute here. I felt I had to do 300lbs and hopefully not make those unforced errors this run. Better but man was the pick up of the sandbag rough. Similar to last week with how I was on my second run with the sandbag to finish the medley. This may end up being how it goes at the show. I did manage to be a little faster despite that. I’ve made a note of how this has felt on sandbags this prep to address it during offseason. Put stuff away after I downed my shake and made it home well enough. I kind of needed to just chill for a bit when I got home and finally get something to eat and stretched out afterwards. I knew I’d be tired but have issues actually getting myself to settle down for bed. One more week.

August 6, 2026 – Week 17, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

Deadlifts (straps, platform, wagon wheels)
135x5
225x2
275x2
315x2
365x1
405x1
455x1
495x1
551x1
Cluster reps (15 seconds)
482x1+1+1
Pauses (3 seconds with 5 second cluster)
408x1+1
408x1+1

Paused Inverted Ring Rows (2 seconds)
bwx3
bw+20x3
bw+37x8
bwx12

ATG Split Squats (6”)/ Copenhagen Planks
bwx12/12 -- bwx25--25 seconds
bwx12/12 -- bwx25--25 seconds
bwx12/12

Stretching

Comments: I did not have the same level of soreness after the first session this week like last week. Probably from not being detrained compared to last time. Also like last week, this session ened up having some changes from the initial plan during the session as well as right beforehand. I had added stuff last week to it from how last week went and then thought better on it as this session came up and just considering logistics with some exercises and recovery for these last few heavy sessions. Walking had felt good after the previous session. It has been quite humid with rain happening now. I ran the fans in the garage more so for air flow and to hopefully dry out some of the dampness. The big focus today was going to be the last heavy deadlift session. And that is one of those things that takes a bit out of me. So starting the order of operations here with getting ready with foam rolling. Calves didn’t feel like they needed as much but I am trying to put more pressure on them to see if that gets them feeling better and if that lessens time needed to get ready. Hamstrings fine. Quads were tense but manageable. Upper back I needed but perhaps not as much as Day 1 session. But I could tell things were being worked hard as of late. Neck mobility stuff was feeling pretty good today. Glute and mobility stretching for lower body was fine and followed up with dead hang. On to the heavy deadlifts. The plan was always on this one to work up to a top single that was not quite a max. But something that felt like “danger” and would require me to get excited and hyped for it rather than just pull it low key. What I wasn’t sure on was after that bit as this was the most important thing. If not for the competition it would give me a working max to gauge things for off season and planning purposes. My lower back was not feeling the freshest and understandable with having done heavy farmer’s the week before, my heaviest squat of the prep on Sunday as well as doing the heaviest load and carry medley of the prep. So I wasn’t sure how this would go. Aim was to do 545-551lbs here. I figured I had to be good for at least 545lbs with how 537lbs had gone about a month and a half ago and then with me being able to do 8 singles with 525lbs. The problem or issue is that at this point in deadlift training, everything feels slow and heavy off the floor. But I feel that getting 537lbs was a breakthrough in getting my deadlift going that it will just feel like a bunch of suck but it will go up. The many singles kind of reinforced that for me. So 40-50lbs jumps just like when I worked up to 537lbs. With how things were going, I was not feeling super confident in things but I decided I’d put the pressure on here and go for 551lbs or 250kgs. This had been the aim in my mind for the top single I’d need if I wanted to have a chance of not zeroing the deadlift in the open class (260kgs). Now that weight is the 3rd lift in the series so it is less about bombing and being competitive. I got really hyped up mentally for this with the music on. If I missed, it would take so much out of me and be quite devastating but if it went up… well that is seemed worth the risk here. I got set and yanked the bastard and I knew it was going up. Let out a good shout after I put it down. Such relief that I’m on I’m on the half way point between 500lbs and 600lbs for a floor pull once again. Hands were shaking after this one and the thing is that I maybe had that 10kgs more in me today. But aim was not the true max but to have something that was enough that it made me go into the realm of needing that true max strength to do it. Everything after this was just gravy really. Initially, the plan was to do the top single and then do 2 paused doubles. Then I thought about with now doing master’s, I may be able to do more than just the opening lift here. So I adjusted to doing a cluster triple with about the weight of the first rep on the deadlift. Walk up and strap in and do a rep and then rest about 15 seconds and do it again and then one more time. This did feel a bit wonky compared to the set and go pulls I was doing leading up to it and I could tell I had put in a bit effort on my brace on that top single as it was a struggle bus now. I had actually thought of doing two doubles this cluster style but went with just a triple so I didn’t have to another set of the nonsense. Dropped off some more weight to do the paused reps. 3 seconds just breaking off the floor. These felt better. I stayed strapped in and took like 5 seconds rest between reps. I don’t know how quickly the weights will get added each rep and I may be better staying in the groove vs going away and coming back, depending on time and such. Want to prep for both outcomes really. The rest of the workout was light stuff. I had liked the combo of rows into jeffersons and was going to do that with a different row variation but then figuring out setup logistics wise had me reconsider it and just do the row since I was going to be not getting 2 days rest after this for my last heavy event session. It has been a good bit since I’ve done the inverted ring rows. And old standby that feels good. Plan was pauses here (really trying to work to get the clean feeling better on log as well as working on holding stuff to the body well) with plan working up to a top set of 8 reps (2RIR) and then doing a set of 12-15 (3-4RIR) after that. Pauses were to be 1-2 seconds. It has been a bit here and I know that holds and such really bring down the numbers I can do on rows so I had to do some testing working up. I’m glad these felt good on my body. The top set went as it should. The down set I just went with bodyweight as I knew it would be tough getting those reps and leaving that many RIR on it. Nice and tidy finishing here. chest supported dumbbell rows and then some stuff for my knees as separate exercises. Finishing up the session like I did last week with offset superset of ATG split squat progression with elevated front foot and Copenhagen planks. These had been a bit rougher than I was expecting them to be last week and my joints were not happy about it initially. This time around, things seemed to be better. I only persisted as things had actually felt good after the session and the following days. For this time around, doing 3x12 on the ATGs and 2x25 seconds on the holds. No adjusting of the height as I used 6” for the whole thing here. Felt pretty good. Keeping an eye on things that feel achy or off when doing the ATG stuff. The holds were fine and I think I was ready for them this go around. Kind of hoping these don’t sap me too bad for my last heavy gym session. Put away stuff and ate dinner before stretching.

August 4, 2026 – Week 17, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

12” Log Strict Presses w/ bands (+14lbs/+28llbs, head through on last rep only, 5 seconds hold)
87x3
107x3
127x3
147x3
60 seconds rest
167x3
167x3
167x3
167x3
167x3

Scap Retraction into Pull ups
bw+11x6
bw+11x6
bw+11x6

Paused 12” Log Floor Presses w/ Bands (+6lbs/+30lbs, 3 seconds lockout)
140x3
180x2
220x1
255x3
225x3
225x3
225x3

Paused Incline Bench Dumbbell Rear Delt Flyes (3 seconds)/Single Arm Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extensions (0-1-0-1 tempo)
11’sx8 -- 22x15/15
11’sx8 -- 22x15/15
11’sx8

Stretching

Comments: Well the rain issue ended up being a nonissue as seems all the bluster decided to hit Sunday afternoon and evening. So nice out Monday and Today. I didn’t realize that the storm Sunday caused two more branches to fall. I didn’t realize the one in the front yard until I was leaving for work Monday and the one in the back yard not until today when I was warming up. I needed the rest and I was feeling a good bit of soreness in my ribs and midsection. I’m going to have to assume that is just from the heavy medley as this isn’t really anything different from the squats and log pressing I’ve been doing. Cautious with my biceps as they were feeling Sunday session and I know that sometimes if I work stuff hard like that, I can get some cramping doing stuff like mobility work. I did feel a little underwhelmed with how rough things were after the fact but I can’t dwell on that and realize this right now is just getting the boxes checked for the big show and I can ruminate on things after all is said and done to work on the plan for the next season. Foam rolling starting things off. Really trying to focus on more pressure on the calves as mentioned to try and get them not so tense as there may be a nerve component connected to my back issues. I’d say sides were about even today. Hamstrings were fine (surprised they weren’t super tight) and quads needed a good bit as well. Upper back felt nice and needed. Neck stuff went fine. Chest a little tight but nothing like it was last week at times. No issues with glute activation or lower body mobility. Dead hang to finish things up. On to the weights. As kind of explained last time, Day 1 is more overhead event assistance focused and upper body and saving event stuff for the most part on Day 3 sessions with some temperature control and not working about finishing up to go to work early. Log being the focus. So last week had been work up heavy with the lean back and only putting head through on last reps of sets and holding that on the last rep. Same this time but doing with band tension and for triples. Ideally with short rests as well. Plan was like with deadlift having 10-15% of 1rm for the band tension and going for about 72.5% of estimated max single on this strict style press. I had to retest band tension setups as I wanted to make sure it was right and the previous setup was a little less due to bands aging so I went with an older setup with multiple bands that did the trick. I wasn’t used to the bands at the start but eventually did. Short rests didn’t make things so easy and I’m still finding my form on these again. Last set I feel was the best consistent form. From there it was on to the pull up variation I did last week. The one starting at dead hang into scap retract into dead hang and then pull up. As I mentioned, I was a bit surprised I got 3x6 with bw last time. Not that that is amazing but I was surprised it happened on the first session and not needing to get my body used to it. So I decided to add 11lbs to my upper body with draping a chain around my neck, which would hopefully add more resistance to the retraction aspect rather than hang from my waist (though the traction/decompress could be nice). This was the one I was worried that my biceps would be really sore and cramp up on me just getting into position. It has happened before after heavy stones. Thankfully, no issues like that here. I didn’t even have that bad a bruise from kegs on the right lower biceps or any really from log cleans either. Last set was a bit rough with an iffy last rep but I already know I’m reducing stuff for next week with that being the deload week. After that, more time with bands and the log. Banded log floor pressing with the holds at lockout. Dropping the slam ball portion as wanting to hit more triceps on something else and cut back on that movement as finishing up prep. Borrowing from the same plan as the log strict pressing with doing up to a top triple and then dropping down 12.5% for 3x3. The RPE here was higher but the caveat was that had to be moving fast and not grinding like how a good log press should go up. I had setup planned jumps here depending on how I felt as I felt that the range could be large here depending on how I felt on the day. Sometimes the unrack feels terrible and other times like nothing is in my hands. The top end I was hoping to be 250-270lbs. Warming up the first weight felt like a joke but then the second weight felt a little off and right shoulder not feeling great so lowered the next jump and that one felt bad all around. I was really considering do the lowest end here as that could be a max effort but I know that sometimes I undersell. I did add 5lbs to it. And of course that set felt near perfect and leaving 5-10lbs on the table here. Oh well. Down sets felt ok, I could tell I was getting a workout in my pressing. Into the garage for the offset superset (that’s what I’m calling it I guess when uneven set pairing). I did the paused rear delt stuff by itself last week but squeezing in tempo triceps stuff. Three sets vs two sets. Light weights but very tough here. Left elbow was a bit achy but seemed to warm up on the extensions eventually. This was good work here with these light weights. Put stuff away as heated up dinner. Stretched afterwards.

August 2, 2026 – Week 16, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Axle Wagon Wheel Squats to Pads (27”)
35x15
125x2
191x2
257x2
301x1
345.5x1
389x1
422.5x2
2 seconds pauses
312x2
312x2

Log Clean and Push Presses (one clean)
12” Pitbull 
86x5
116x3
146x2
13” Beast Metals
176.5x1
198.5x1
220.5x1
242.5x1
clean every rep
215x2
215x2
215x5 in 60 seconds

Keg/Sandbag/Keg/Sandbag Carry and Loads (52”)
240x26’/255x19’6”/275x13’/300x6’6” in 48.20 seconds
240x26’/255x19’6”/275x13’/300x6’6” in 48.87 seconds

Stretching

Comments: I meant for this to be a Saturday session but the week got away from me. Day 2 session went later than planned and I was kind of playing catch up on sleep and getting other stuff during the week outside of work. Short of it was ended up not walking Thursday (did do some ankle stuff and a ton of soft tissue work) and then walking late on Friday after the heat had died down followed by loading stuff into my car for this weekend (sandbags and such). I was holding too much stuff in my head and I was worried I’d forget something for write ups on sessions and just planning purposes. A friend had sent me a little information based meme about autistic people and handling stress being similar to someone consuming alcohol. A cumulative effect not felt right away and that did seem to put things in a way I was noticing and understanding. I’m still learning things about myself. I figured it was for the best to just let my body take the sleep and rest it needed and if that ended up being where I was getting up after 9:30AM, I’d reconsider training Saturday. Well about 10:00AM I finally got up and I decided to check weather forecast to see if shuffling days made sense. My normal M-W session would have much higher chance of falling on day with thunderstorms when I’d be training so I decided to take another rest day here and get caught up on everything and hopefully be refreshed for training on Sunday. Raining a bit but that’s fine. Weight has been down since I got back from vacation with family last month but seems to finally bounced back from whatever funk I was in as weight is up 4lbs from last week. Slept well enough and it was definitely a difference from how I felt yesterday vs today. I was still nervous about the session though but not paralyzingly so. Rain seemed to clear up before I headed out to train. Drive wasn’t terrible going out (coming back there was a bit of congestion at spots and it was raining). No there really doing strongman stuff I think. Not really expected being Sunday. So good for me in that what I needed wouldn’t be in use. It was unfortunately humid so I was sweating good bit here. I didn’t miss that haha. I’ve not been to the strongman gym in over a month. Foam rolling stuff felt fine. Need more on the right side for the calves and quads. Upper back I needed it today. My chest had no soreness doing stuff to get the neck and such feeling good so I guess that deep sleep Saturday was good for something. No issues with the other mobility stuff other than feeling like I was going to overheat. Dead hang felt fine and then on to event work. Axle squats to boxes. It has apparently been close to a month this I last did these. My knees had been achy at that time and they had felt even worse doing box squats at home the week the power went out. This was an iffy one as I wasn’t sure how weight on my back would feel on whatever disc symptoms that popped up last week. My knee has been feeling better (well at least back to how it was before last month) so that was at least something. With dropping to masters, I actually have a shot at getting a rep on the mercy weight (190kgs). Things had not been consistent and gone well with other things to give the open mercy weight (230kgs) a chance in hell. Assuming no issues, the mercy weight for masters I should be good for based off training when things have felt good. I was worried that they wouldn’t feel good. The original plan had been to do 415x4x1-2. The change was to have it be a top double leaving 1-2RIR with working up in doubles and then singles. My hope was to hit right around the contest weight here for the double. This would be the last heavy session on squats until show time. Initially, I was trying to do the fast drop with a shoulder width stance to try and get bounce off the pads. But it was feeling like not the way to go to be consistent as there was risk with losing tightness and getting out of position. My last single told me that was the case. This honestly felt like my limit for the day with how that felt but I decided to try a wider stance with more hip focus and control. So less quad dominant. Well, that apparently worked and I was able to get the twofer with something left in the tank. I had been sweating like crazy here and had a big fan on me the whole time. I took off a good bit of weight here for two sets where I paused right at the boxes for 2 seconds each rep in the same stance/style. Those went well enough. No back issues and no knee issues. I feel that I just got to get through a yoke session to know if I’m good to go on everything. With how much I was sweating, I took my time putting stuff away rather than moving on to the next thing and leaving stuff for the end. That next thing was log. I know, I already did log out of the rack strict and with floor pressing against bands this week. And I had done heavy log clean and press the week before that had not been kind to me. But one does what one must. My thinking was that I wanted another heavy touch on log with the movement of a clean and push press (I will do another heavy log session before show time out of rack) for few reasons. One to see if I felt better training inside at gym setup vs at home. Another being trying to get a similar setup to world’s with a heavier empty weight log and higher pad pull height. And finally, to see if I could do a deep lap and feel comfortable with my normal lifting shoes. That would hopefully help with my knees and save me some luggage space. I did some stretching with the log on my thighs to get my ankles and calves to not be so damn tight. I was only feeling ok on these today. I forgot how rough that Beast Metal log is after not using it for a while. My hope was that I could do the mercy weight for master’s here and not have it be an absolute max on this log after squats. The clean was very rough on these but I did manage the rep I needed. I contemplated doing a second rep or going up in weight or doing just cleans with more weight but decided it was best to move on to the next thing with less weight for some reps. Which was apparently a good thing. This I wasn’t too sure with the plan but aim was to either do some sets and then a rep set for time or just do the rep set for time. I figured I needed more reps without a worry about time. It is good I did go down in weight as I eventually figured out how I’m supposed to clean this log on these sets and finally got the press clicking on the last set with doing reps in a minute. I paced myself there and with my setup there wasn’t really any recovering to do another rep if I wanted to as the log came off the pads. I know this will need work this off season. I had already gone through both of my shirts being soaked at this point and tried to dry out the least wet one. I took an intermission here since it would take time to setup the loading medley. But also because I had to build one of the implements. My last show I got a discount code for a purchase from a company that did sandbags and got one of those eventually after it was pretty obvious a replacement 250lbs sandbag was not high on the priorities for the gym. I had filled it to 150lbs and put in my car to finish the job at the gym to hopefully be something to kind of cool down and let me get some food and fluids in. This thankfully was not even close to as bad as stuffing the husabag. A little heavy but that’s fine. This was going to be my last time touching the medley before the show. And I had to bump up the weights considerably. I had found out that the kegs at the other gym had been light. The event does change with it being master’s as each implement is a different weight vs same weight for the two sets on the open. I was initially thinking about doing a lighter set and then a heavier set but decided I’d do what was easiest to setup and closest to contest without going over. The height will be 2” lower so maybe that helps with it being a little light. I was darn sweaty and didn’t have a fresh shirt to chalk up so didn’t bother besides liquid chalk for my hands. I figured this was going to be rough and rude awakening with not doing this in a month and with it being way heavier than what I’ve done. The first keg I figured would have some hiccups with going at it cold. The fabric on the new sandbag offends me but I got over it. Just feels dense. That didn’t feel like it went over as easy as it should so I did slow myself a little on the next keg. I got it upright in one motion but it wasn’t quite all on so I had to shove it to be sure. 300lbs sandbag was a tough pick after all that but I got it up high enough to go over. And then I had to set it up to go again. The first two implements I feel I was moving better and even though the pick on the second keg felt a little more labored, I feel that I was good enough efficiency wise to be on a faster pace than the previous set. Well that was until I got to the 300lbs sandbag. I fumbled a bit with it to get the pick and it wasn’t as secure in my lap to pull it up high. I had to keep adjusting it in the lap and eventually just stood up with it at the bar. And thankfully it didn’t move the yoke and I was able to shove it over. About a half second slower than the first set so I know that if I move like I was doing on the other stuff and not peter out here that I can shave at least 3-5 second off here. Downed a shake before putting everything away and driving home in the rain. Filled up the gas tank before hitting rough traffic near home and finally stretched out. I got to survive 4 more harder workouts and then I should be as ready as I can be.

July 29, 2026 – Week 16, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

Deadlifts w/ Bands (straps, platform, wagon wheels +20lbs/+75lbs)
135x3
225x2
275x1
315x1
365x2
365x2
370x2
370x2
375x2
375x2

Titan Fitness Farmer’s Walks (16” pick)
135x50’
185x25’
225x25’
drop and turn halfway
275x50’/50’ in 23.17 seconds
285x50’/50’ in 24.67 seconds

Paused Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows (3 seconds)/Zercher Jefferson Curls
66’sx5
86’sx5
106’sx8/115x10
106’sx8/115x10
86’sx10

ATG Split Squats/Copenhagen Planks
bwx10-10 (9”)/ bwx20--20 seconds
bwx10-10 (8”)/ bwx20--20 seconds
bwx10-10 (7”)/ bwx20--20 seconds
bwx10/10 (6”)

Stretching

Comments: I’m not sure exactly what caused it but I was incredibly sore in my chest and upper back after the last training session. I’m leaning more towards the lean back strict presses as far as my chest but it could very well be the holds on the log floor presses as well. Upper back I’m sure is from doing those pull ups after not doing them a good while and those holds on the rear delt flyes. I think I’m surprised how much DOMS I had as I didn’t think that two weeks of not much besides the one not so good session the week prior had me so detrained to movement. I think it is more so that I just haven’t been hitting those areas that hard with what I’ve been doing as of late. I had time for the chest soreness before I’d need to do that again but I wasn’t sure on the upper back stuff as I was going to need them in a lifting and stabilizing capacity for this next session. I had survived my first session of training on my own and there is always that worry of not having essentially the bumper lanes on this bowling alley setup as I may overdo it. This session actually ended up with quite a few changes before I actually had the barebones settled here and even then, I made changes during the session as I went. Foam rolling starting things off with trying to put more emphasis on the calves to get things not be so tense. Right tends to need it more. I was a surprised I had some soreness in my quads from the previous session as well. Upper back definitely needed this today. The stuff sore from the previous session was tender but appreciated the mobility and stuff I do for my neck. Glute and mobility stretching for lower body was fine. Dead hang was less for spine decompression and more getting a good stretch in the pecs and lats. Then on to weights. Banded pulls for doubles with same band tension I used last time. I wasn’t sure how “into it” I wanted to be. What I mean is that should I get into the neoprene shorts or just wear casual wear kind of focus. I didn’t wear them to do the log pressing since no clean involved but I did wear the knee sleeves then. I eventually decided that I should so as to keep that intent and focus. The plan here was work up to 365-375lbs for 6x2. Just stick to 40-50lbs jumps after the initial 90lbs jump. This was more going by ease of loading and feel. I wasn’t trying to just push things as this was more to get things primed as next week is my proposed last heavy deadlift session and trying to get myself to hit the bare minimums with less touches on stuff so that I feel I’m at least somewhat ready for the different events. I’ve done more reps and volume with this weight this prep. I could tell that I was still feeling a bit of wear and tear on my body from this month so I wasn’t feeling like lower back was 100% here. It was good no issues picking up any weight (so first hurdle cleared there). I was feeling a good bit of pressure on my body with the first set (I went with 365lbs). I didn’t stick to a strict time rest like last time (60 seconds) and I thought I was doing more like a 90-120 rest but ended up being more like 60-75 rest. Second set felt a lot better so I decided I’d add 5lbs every two sets and that seemed to finish things off well enough. My only regret with this is that time it takes setting this up. Next week will be the test session to see where I’m at on this setup without bands. The next thing was the main thing to be tested today; farmer’s. This prep had me doing yoke and farmer’s in the same week and moving it to my Day 2 had made the most sense with the higher frequency of volume and touching of implements. But heavy yoke/farmer’s/deadlift/squat every week and something had to give. With recovery kind of tanking on me, it is possible that I’d not do well on this event at the open weight vs masters weight. It is also hard to gauge as I do not like these particular handles and the uphill portion with how my street is makes it very tricky to figure out how strong I’d finish on the second pick up. But with the master’s, I know that I can do that on a bad day and this would be the last session I touched them most likely as I’m more concerned with the other three events being on point. I’ve not yet hit contest weight on the yoke or squat. I’d be seeing how my back handles things and that was key (though will still need to see about weight on back with yoke/squat). Initially, I was looking at having this on Day 3 but it was getting that session a bit too cluttered if intent was to do last heavy touches of 4 events in one day. So kept this here on this day like it was previously done. The initial workout (which was to be reps with 500lbs on deadlift beforehand) was to do 265lbs for 3 sets of contest run. Which I was thinking of doing here as that should be fine to get work in. But I think I wanted to make sure I did stuff closer percentage wise just to be sure. I also wanted to make it so that I was not cooked for last heavy squat session on Day 3 so I made it being 2-3 sets depending on how I was feeling. So 2-3 sets of 265-285lbs is eventually what I landed on. Gauge things on how my last warm up set felt. My knee wasn’t feeling 100% but it seemed to be handling what I was asking of it today well enough. Another thing was this new belt I got with better Velcro wasn’t as stiff compared to other one I had and I’d only used it on log clean and press last week so I wasn’t sure if this would work out well here so this was also testing that. I may look into getting another belt to replace the one I gave to George’s daughter for her powerlifting meet but this will do I think for this contest. So first set I went with 275lbs and that seemed to be decent enough. Rather than dropping right at the line on the way back like I’d been doing, I walked all the way through, just to make sure I wasn’t slowing down. I was feeling like I was moving well on the downhill but the uphill I was feeling it. The sky wasn’t looking inviting and I was worried about getting caught in rain (I did not) so I decided to go for 285lbs (essentially contest weight) for my last run (dropping to 2 due to possible weather). That added weight was noticed immediately and I felt damn slow on the return trip but I got it done. Funny thing is that this was faster than my fastest run with 280lbs last time. But that was also after a log more deadlifting. This did end up taxing me a bit and I had a blister on my left pinkie finger (I do not like these handles). But this was done and another box checked on the prep. Into the garage for the rest of this session. Now I had initially add a plan here but I ended up changing it on the fly. Plan was initially to do some chest supported dumbbell rows and then some stuff for my knees as separate exercises. But I was feeling that I should do some weighted mobility stuff for the back after those heavy ass farmer’s carry sets with how my back has been acting the past two weeks on me so I added in something and then made these supersets so as to not have it take forever. I was not expecting it to have gotten this late this quickly. This deviated from what was the original plan from last week. First pairing was chest supported rows and zercher Jefferson curls, which was what I was doing before. However, I cut the sets of the jeffersons to 2 and the rows I was going with 3 second holds at contraction and then dropping 20lbs for the third set and doing max reps. I’ve not really pushed the rows and definitely not with pauses lately and I wasn’t exactly giving full rest with supersetting. The rows were tough and jeffersons were quite relaxing. The last pairing was something I came up with to hopefully help with my knee issue. The first part being ATG split squat progression with elevated front foot. My left side can do them from the floor no issue but my right side isn’t stable and strong enough right now with issues going on. But I’d been working my way down the past week with sessions. The other aspect was then pairing with Copenhagen planks for inner thigh static strength and knee stabilizing. I recall those being good. So 4 sets of the ATG split squats and 3 sets of holds. Didn’t start off great as my right knee was feeling incredibly achy, which it hasn’t felt doing these the past week sessions. And I decided to lower the box but I didn’t want to go right to 6” from 9” so those in between setups were not stable. Eventually my knee started to feel better as I did them and as I got lower. The Copenhagen stuff was a lot tougher than I remember it. I was starting to shake like crazy on these. I guess another area that has been missed. Eventually got stuff away and had dinner before stretching. This did unfortunately end up being a late session.

July 27, 2026 – Week 16, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

12” Log Strict Presses (head through on last rep only, 5 seconds hold lockout)
90x3
110x3
130x3
150x3
170x3
190x3
210x3
180x5
180x5

Scap Retraction into Pull ups
bwx6
bwx6
bwx6

Paused 12” Log Floor Presses w/ Bands (+6lbs/+30lbs, 3 seconds lockout)/Med Ball Slams
180x3
225x5 – 10x12
225x5 – 10x12
230x5 – 10x12
230x5 – 10x12

Paused Incline Bench Dumbbell Rear Delt Flyes (3 seconds)
10’sx10
10’sx10
10’sx10

Stretching

Comments: Compared to last week, I was having a bit more energy and pep I feel. Still dealing with knee issue on the right side but I feel like I have a good plan of approach to work around and through it for now until World’s is done and then if still in not the best way, off season work. It is also possible that some of the stress with having coaching and programming and not having it laid out before me is gone with me doing my own thing but obviously that has its own issues to go with benefits. Foam rolling starting things off. Trying to work the calves a bit more here with pressure. Nothing really to say about other stuff other than just the usual. Neck stuff went fine. Glutes I could tell there was some detraining there and needing more time in stretch with the lower body mobility. Dead hang to finish things up. I was kind of hoping that would get any kinks out of my back (as feeling a little bit in the left side). And then it was time for training with the weights. Log again. But not how I was doing it previously. This would be the strict style with lean back. My thinking here was that I could work upper body and not nearly as much stress on my knees compared to clean and push press. It would likely be less weight as well and I was feeling like I need to work on my shoulder strength here. The other part of it is I’ve been not enjoying doing event overhead stuff on the patio with how things have been and I’ve noticed that for a while now. Doing overhead event work on Saturday at the gym has felt better to me and that is less contingent on the weather whims (besides heat). I’ll flesh things out better hopefully as I go. Dealer’s choice right? So plan was to do something I did before when I felt like my log press was feeling strong (and I mean within the last 5yrs, not all time) was doing strict pressing with log in the lean back style and with holds at lockout. May not have necessarily expressed it the best at the show but this had felt strong and this would give me another opportunity to deal with problems in lower body drive. Plan being work up in triples to a top set leaving 1-2RIR on that set. Then take off 12.5-15% off for 2x5. Lean back with no head through until that last rep and hold for 5 seconds. I think last time I did these I only did the hold on the top set and down sets. I did that for all of them this time. I wasn’t too sure how this would go. I just knew my pressing on log/axle is down from when I’ve done stuff and made the assumption I was probably at about 85% of my best. With how things panned out, that seemed to be about right. Mentally, I had a feeling that this wasn’t going to go well just based on vibes from the last time I did these and was having issues. I did fine the first time and then the next time it was rough. 20lbs jumps here and that built up a good bit of volume and confidence. I did get a little unstable on the last set before going for last rep. I also switched back to my regular lifting shoes as worried that the oly shoes were stressing the knees. While helpful with getting ankle mobility for the lap, feeling like hampering other areas with stabilizing my base to press. I’ll have to see if I can shake it on clean and press. Would save me some luggage space with just two pairs as opposed to three. After this was done, moving on to something that was to be done as part of my programmed sessions last week (but not on this session). Pull up variation where I was to start from dead hang (I tend to jump the gun), do a scapular retraction, go back into dead hang and then pull up. That being one rep. The plan would be see how I feel but aim being 3x3-6 on these. These did feel better than I was expecting so I did 6 reps for all three sets. I wasn’t expecting them to be that easy after not doing any pull ups for a bit there. I was kind of hoping these would last me out until the competition. Got to think on whether I want to add reps here or just add weight and aim for same range again. It might end up being something on the day. And just because I’m not doing programming with coaching, doesn’t mean that I didn’t think there was good stuff in it. The next thing was something I was to do last week as well, superset of banded log floor pressing and slam ball. This time the pressing was to hold at lockout for 3 second each rep and try to be forceful with it. 4x5 on the pressing and 4x12 on the slams. I actually ended up using a little more weight than originally planned as I was feeling pretty good here. I added 5lbs after two sets as well. Slam ball stuff was pretty exhausting. I think I forgot these also hit triceps besides lats with the ROM and the slam. Put stuff away as I got ready for upper back/rear delt stuff. The raises have been fine but I figured I’d do some that use less weight and hit the spot hard with the hold position I need for carrying the sandbags and kegs and for the clean on log. Lying on incline bench and holding the contraction for 3 seconds. These get tough quick. I took a bit longer with rests as I was putting stuff away and getting dinner ready as well as figuring out some more stuff. I got done at decent hour here and ate dinner before stretching. Hopefully things continue to go my way and be on the up and up here.

Training Update for July

 Last week had not been great for me. This month has on a whole been not great either. I’ve not handled stress well compared to last year this same time. There are changes besides my age from then with work stuff. The power outage thing at the beginning of the month messed with me quite a bit. The sleeping with no air potentially had me recalling a similar unpleasant time almost exactly 6yrs ago. But I had to take a step back from something last week and figure out what I’m doing. Last week had been the first time where I’d truly felt old and not just in a jokey way. Couldn’t really stop work (already took off two days from the power stuff and then a 6 day for trip) with another trip coming up (assuming I was still going) so training stopped, at least what was programmed. I spent the week catching up on work and sleep and researching to see if there were things I could do to get my knee feeling better. I was saving the weekend to really sit down and figure out what I was going to do going forward. Some of the things I worked on before the weekend was figuring out the knee issue and it potentially is nerve issues with back besides joint issues as nerve glides for sciatica increased my ROM with ankle dorsiflexion. That week had been doing protocols from the Knees Over Toes guy. I’m also having issues with my strength in my right calf that I noticed while on vacation at the beach and I’m not sure if that is something I can fully fix by competition time, I’m doing what I can and will try to figure that out in off season. Speaking of competition, I also reached out to the organizers for World’s to see if I could do Master’s instead of Open’s. With how things were going, I wasn’t progressing well enough I was potentially looking at zeroing 3 of the 7 events at the pace I was at. Dropping training for one or two wasn’t going to realistically give me a shot to move that energy to the one and have it be there 100%. I’ve essentially hit the weights on everything minus a few things for Master’s while I’ve only done part of one event to Open’s standard. I didn’t think I’d be going Master’s route like this but it is the only way I can see this competition being a viable one for me, assuming that training goes well enough that I can compete. I did get approved but the issue is that Master’s compete a day earlier so essentially I’m arriving in Scotland Thursday and compete Friday doing 5 events and then 2 events the next day. It will be rough but plan in place to try and make the best of that. The main one is trying to fall asleep on the first 6hrs of flight time so not being where I’m up for almost 2 days non stop then competing. Another thing is seeing if increasing fish oil intake back to what I was taking before (I had cut in half a few months back) would help with the joint issues and it does seem like it is helping in some regard but not sure if that is just placebo here. The meat of Saturday and Sunday was figuring out training. It was causing me a ton of stress as of late and has not been great in July. I’ve learned a ton working with Ms. Funk but I’ve felt like there are times where things were feeling too much for me to recover. I want to do the work but I was just not holding up. The switch to alternating sessions seemed to get me feeling energized and spry again but then kind of reverted back to heavy everything with contest getting closer and having to kind of take 2 steps back and then a step forward approach with things. So I needed to determine if I could put together something to finish out this prep that wouldn’t cause me to spiral and feel like nothing would work. If I could do that and feel comfortable with that decision, I’d forgo further coaching and do my own thing. The task wasn’t certainly going to be more manageable once it was clear I could go Master’s instead of Open with rotating stuff with overlap and hopefully getting things feeling right for me. If only to find out where I am and stop backsliding and figure out how to progress and go forward from here.