May 13, 2026 – Week 5, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

Deadlifts (straps, wagon wheels, platform)
135x5
225x3
315x2
365x1
405x1
Cluster Sets (step back and strap in each rep)
455x4
455x4
455x4
455x4

Dumbbell High Pulls/Safety Squat Bar Alternating Reverse Lunges
bwx7/7 (rack assisted)
bwx4/4
58’sx4 – 65x4/4
88’sx8 – 85x8/8
88’sx8 – 95x8/8
88’sx8 – 105x8/8

Toes Elevated Safety Squat Bar Zercher Goodmornings
65x6
115x5
165x4
215x12
220x12
225x12

Heel Elevated Goblet Squats (no lockouts)
bw+55x20
bw+55x20
bw+55x20

One Arm Dumbbell Rows (no rest)
115x10/10
115x9/9
115x8/8
115x7/7
115x6/6
115x5/5
115x4/4
115x3/3
115x2/2
115x1/1

Stretching

Comments: Work continues to suck with the stress. I like what I do but factors outside of my control make it very much an exhausting thing. Shoulders feeling sore from Monday. They’ve been surprisingly quiet with the previous sessions so something obviously clicked to make them sore. Triceps are good (we’ve been hammering that) and swelling in my finger continues to go down. As far as knowing there was going to be two pressing based events, log is the least irksome to add in that will tend to compliment dumbbell. I guess viking press would’ve been fine too. Bruises on my arms from log but I imagine those will go away with more frequency. A bit surprised to have some friction burns on my knees from log. I guess usually wearing sleeves so didn’t get them lately. Soft tissue foam rolling starting things. Right calf and right quad needed it a good bit more than left side did. Hamstrings were fine. Upper back there is tension in my neck (more so right side) from log work and unfortunately the foam rolling didn’t make that go away. Neck rehab stuff followed. Chest felt tight and trying to get neck to calm down a tad. I know it will be fine to go for training but still. Lower body stretching was good (did two of one variation as hamstrings/hips tight again). Dead hang was fine. Since going for a competition now and majority of details out, bunch of little changes to stuff but some of the spirit of what was worked on the past few sessions continues. Like how the medicine ball stuff still in Monday session. The main change here was the deadlift. So the event for Worlds is standard but also a little weird. Calling it deadlift escalator. Weight gets added to the bar each rep. I realizing the naming convention is after how a ”deadlift ladder” there are multiple bars you have to go to whereas this is an escalator and you don’t have to move. This is a deadlift from the floor but to make it so weights can be added each rep, it is going to be with wagon wheels and the athletes standing on a platform to bring it to standard pull height. So I figured I’d get used to how that was going to be for my regular deadlifts. Not done floor pulls with a barbell since February and that was with a suit. It has been elevated axle pulls since then. The plan was to work up to 4x4 at RPE 7 and to do the reps as cluster reps. Do a rep and then step back and reset to pull again to get all reps done in the set. Deadlifts I have to realize for the most part are not going to be stuff that feels fast for me. I picked what I’d assume would be an RPE 7 for me. Especially if I’m assuming what opening weight on this would be. It did not feel like that at the start. This felt rough. The stepping back and restrapping each rep was also throwing off the groove and I having a hard time with getting things to feel good that first set. Like the difference between doing clean and press every rep vs clean once and press. But I did learn from the last cycle that deadlift can feel heavy and suck but I can make it through these sessions with making sure I take longer rests. Second set I felt like I started off better here. Those first two reps felt like they should but then everything felt rough those last two reps. I was worried about how these next two sets would go as having them feel like those first two was not a good thought and worry that I was going to burn out here. Third set was feeling the first two sets a bit but then things started to click on the last two sets where I realized that my lockout doesn’t need to be that hard/rough and it started to be smooth at that point. Finally all the pieces finally got working together and the last set was the best set and actually felt like RPE 7. So not sure what to make of that other than deadlift is tricky for me. From there it was again, superset of dumbbell high pulls and alternating reverse lunges. But now different method loading the reverse lunges. Using ssb on these this time. Plan was harder RPE range. I knew I’d need to have my knees happy with me for that to work. I was contemplating wearing knee sleeves but decided I’d only use them for event work and squats. It took a bit to get them cooperating with me. The high pulls I adjusted the spacing of the weights on the dumbbells so I wasn’t having it hit my forearms like last few times. The lunges I kept adding weight as I knew I could do more but it was more of having my knees be ok with that initial movement and then seeing if I wasn’t dead by the end with the reps. The lunges were quite exhausting but I can definitely go higher on these. Which is a good sign. I know I need stronger legs for this prep. Toe elevated stifflegged stuff was next. But I guess changing the loading mechanism here too as not doing dumbbell rdls anymore. Using the ssb again and bear hugging it to do goodmornings. I felt that with my vision obscured that it was best to use something more stable for the toe elevation rather than the hard foam blocks I was using. These felt awkward/odd and more so as weight added. Initially felt like nothing. I’ve done some variation of this like 5yrs ago with tempo on it and support gear. Other times it has been more of an explosive movement against bands. Once I did get up in weight it was “interesting”. The first few reps on the first set it felt like my back was locked up or something and feeling tension in a way I didn’t like but then it felt better and more like a normal movement unhindered. I added a little weight as felt like this wasn’t quite the right RPE. That set ended up feeling really easy and good and I wished I had gone heavier jump. But stuck to just adding 5lbs more and it is a good thing as this set had the same issue as the first one with the added bonus of getting a bit too forward on the 7th rep and taking a little stroll before getting back to finish the set. Bit of pressure on the arms from the bar digging in. Feels similar to how picking up that one natural stone in Ireland felt. Next after that was heel elevated goblet squats. Indication was same weight as last week but 3x20 with no lockouts for the knees. I was tempted to go a little heavier but felt it was best to stick to what was written this time considering how the other stuff had gone so far this session. My right knee was achy but these were pretty good. I could tell I was feeling fatigue in my legs at this point with having to bite size the counting in my head. The last part of the workout was not enjoyable. Replacing the sandbag dwarf tossing was one arm dumbbell rows. Simple enough and always needing to work upper back. But the nightmare for this was doing a reverse ladder. Do 10 reps each side and then 9 reps and so on until 1 rep to finish. Taking as little rest as possible. Not ideal for doing 55 reps a side when one hand still has a swollen/jammed finger. In hindsight, I probably should’ve started with that side. I picked a weight that I knew I could do for sure for decent reps. I’d done rows and log clean and presses Monday, done deadlifts, dumbbell high pulls and ssb bear hug gms so a lot of things already taxed. I felt like I wanted to throw up and stop as I was finishing up the 9 rep set for my right side. Rest was pretty much only however long it took to move the dumbbell back and get my breath and wipe sweat away. So essentially close to 6 minutes of just dumbbell rows. I was feeling pretty wrecked by the end but not in a way that had me thinking I’d be super duper sore afterwards if that makes sense. Core was worked pretty hard as well. But also felt like just doing stuff to make me tired. But I was glad to be done so I could eat dinner and then stretch before bed.

May 11, 2026 – Week 5, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Superman Holds (5 seconds)
PVCx3
PVCx3
PVCx3

Chest Supported Dumbbell I/Y/T’s
12’sx10/10/10
12’sx10/10/10

12” Log Clean and Push Presses (clean every rep)
90x5
120x3
150x2
180x1
210x3
210x3
210x3
210x3
210x3

Seated Barbell Overhead Presses (4 second eccentrics)/Paused Med Ball Overhead Press Tosses
95x1
135x4/10x4
140x4/10x4
145x4/10x4
150x4/10x4

Head Supported Alternating Dumbbell Rows
56’sx5/5
96’sx10/10
96’sx10/10
96’sx10/10

12” Log Floor Presses/One Arm Med Ball Overhead Press Tosses
90x6
140x6
190x3
220x8 – 10x3/3
225x8 – 10x3/3
230x8 – 10x3/3

Feet Elevated Supinated Barbell Inverted Rows
bwx3
bw+36x12
bw+36x12
bw+36x12

Stretching

Comments: Weight back down 4lbs. I figured that was high last week. Feeling a little worn from training Saturday and then setting things up for training my sister Sunday. Middle finger still swollen but I seem to be able to do everything and I know it will be fine eventually. Not looking forward to the switch from telework to commuting that happens every 4 weeks now. We have 5 of the 7 events for World’s now so got most of the picture at this point. Should have all the details as far as events by the end of the week and maybe have weights/rules too. Work really sucked today as far as workload. Felt like 3 days. I was feeling mentally worn out but my body seemed to be ok. Soft tissue work to start things off. Calves needed a ton of it. More so the right one. Hamstrings my right one was more sore than the left. Quads needed a ton here too. Upper back was just ok. So at least something didn’t need a ton of work done. Neck rehab was fine. It was like a combination of some such feeling achy and other stuff tight. I prefer tight over achy as far as the sensation doing stuff. Lower body stretches followed up with a dead hang to decompress. There were a lot of changes to the workouts this week now that we are going full tilt worlds. Session started off the same as last week with the PVC pipe exercise. I didn’t film these again as treating these as warming up. But they do take some effort with the holds required so not omitting them from the workload indicated in my logs. I rested about 30 seconds between sets. Second and third set felt “smoother” if that makes sense. A positive is I didn’t want to just fall asleep. Then it was the IYTs. Same weight and reps as last week but dropped a set. Make sense since more pressing going to be happening. But these are a good one to get stuff feeling happy and get blood flow and reps in that aren’t harsh on joints. It is always surprising that they start out so easy and fatigue at the end of the sets. So far not much deviation from the previous sessions. Well now we go into some event specific stuff. Log clean and press is an event for world’s. For now, light and heavy option but if enough logs are able to be procured, could be a four log ladder. Either way, I need to get comfortable with log. And as far as pressing event split, log on Day 1 makes more sense then moving dumbbell from Day 3. I’ve not really “peaked” log with Ms. Funk and only kind of did with axle. So really out of practice on log. No half measures here so of course a break in light session is 5x3 at RPE 7 cleaning every rep. It has been almost 6 months since I’ve done a log clean and press and it had been while since I’d done it prior to that. I thought I worked up heavier during the like 3 workouts I did with the log in November/October last year but turns out I didn’t go above 225lbs really. I’ve made some adjustments to my leg drive based pressing since then. Just basing things off how I was feeling, I felt like 210lbs should be safe. 180lbs would have been the bare minimum my ego would tolerate here. No knee sleeves like I’ve been doing with axle and dumbbell as of late. First set with log feels like ass on my knees but feels smoother as I go. 180lbs flew up so I was encouraged to do 210lbs and entertaining going little heavier each set if feeling good. That didn’t end up happening as this turned out to be challenging enough as is. I’m thankful the jammed finger didn’t affect things here. Definitely not used to log press. But the clean seems to be at least powerful at this weight. Last rep of the first set my belt felt like it went slack but it didn’t seem like it came undone. It decided to do that immediately on the first rep of the second set. I didn’t let it phase me much there. Third set felt solid. Fourth set on the first press I could tell some stuff was getting “fatigued” as I felt like my knees/glutes were “locking up” on me and my shoulders feeling the fatigue so I had to retake my dip on the drive that first rep. Fifth set it was apparent I was fading here as I misgrooved the first press and had to redo it. Then a little happy feet on the last rep to get stable base. I’m glad that I’ve built up some kind of base that I could still push forward in not ideal circumstances. Log is going to need a lot of work. I can’t get as deep a lap with my normal shoes vs Olympic shoes on log. Ms. Funk had indicated that the deep lap wasn’t really benefiting me in any way on the clean as log was moving a lot. The log was new to this workout and likely going to get real close these next three months. Then the workout went back to somewhat like it had been the past month. But as it seems to be the case, similar but different. Superset of seated pressing with tempo modification and medical ball tosses. The tosses were now essentially overhead press tosses with me doing a slight pause in the dip like a log press and chucking it up skyward with legs and upper body. So that necessitated doing the seated pressing outside so no real break for the superset. Only eccentric emphasis on the seated press. I knew I could do more weight compared to the previous variation but not sure how much. First set I was a little unstable just finding balance point with no ceiling but once I figured it out it was fine and added a little bit each set. The tosses were a bit more chaotic compared to the bent over ones as I had to kind of fetch the ball every so often. Into the garage after that for rowing. Same as last week with it being the head supported kind. Same weight and reps and sets. I hadn’t enjoyed these last time. My biceps were a bit sore from Saturday and now from today with log work. Last time I had taken a wide stance so as to keep the dumbbells together in position and that had felt like a stress position for me. Not sure why but I just kept them outside my legs this week and it felt a whole lot more comfortable to do and less issues here. Almost relaxing. I was worried this would be a whole thing. But back outside for more superset. The accursed dumbbell tempo squeeze pressing was gone finally. Replaced with floor press with the log. I’ve apparently not done a log floor press in almost 16yrs. And even back then, it was a bottoms up style because the rack at the gym didn’t allow for pressing outside the rack. The notes had been for swiss bar or axle with preference for the swiss bar. I used to have one but converted it into a lightweight makeshift log for my sister to train on so Ms. Funk indicated it was fine to do a log instead since pressing log. I got long arms so not losing much ROM I think here. I wasn’t sure what I’d be good for here but kind of surprised myself and I feel that maybe I should’ve gone even heavier than I did. The other part of it was more overhead medicine ball press tosses. This time one armed to mimic/supplement dumbbell. I use my left to press as seems to be my better side but it felt uncoordinated and awkward compared to my right doing these. This was also a bit of needing to fetch my own ball here. I do like this kind of training as it feels like I’m doing my best to be athletic as I get older. Back into the garage for the last part of the session. Inverted rows with supinated grip again. Indication was to do 3x12 with the same setup I did so feet elevated. I wasn’t sure what I could handle at this point in the session after the log clean and pressing fatiguing arms. I didn’t push things like going for 42lbs like I did last week but cut the difference. These got tough by the end. Making sure biceps are happy here. Got to eating dinner after putting stuff away. Stretched before cleaning up for bed.

May 9, 2026 – Week 4, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses (left side only)
49x5
84x4
108x3
130x2
145x1
155x1
165x1
172x2
150x3
150x3
150x3

Axle Wagon Wheel Squats to Pads (27”)
140x5
190x4
230x3
280x2
320x2
370x6
370x6
370x6
370x6

Sandbag Carry and Loads (over 53”)
270x10’ husabag/273x10’ sandstone/275x10’ sandbag/275x1 sandbag
270x10’ husabag/273x10’ sandstone/275x10’ sandbag/275x1 sandbag
270x10’ husabag/273x10’ sandstone/275x10’ sandbag/275x1 sandbag
270x10’ husabag/273x10’ sandstone/275x10’ sandbag/275x1 sandbag

Sled Push and Pulls (turf)
275x20’/20’
425x50’/50’
425x50’/50’
425x50’/50’

Sprints (walk back is rest)
bwx50’
bwx50’
bwx50’
bwx50’
bwx50’
bwx50’
bwx50’
bwx50’

Stretching

Comments: I felt tired going into the weekend. Part of on me with things. Decided to go with World’s and apparently a bit more stuff needs to be figured out with going to Scotland vs Ireland. So some late night stuff figuring things out. Would’ve liked to have known all the events (as well as weights/rules) before making that decision but somethings were already sold out and this far out and with the world as it is, some other precautions needed. I was pretty much In for World’s after I got the rules for Nats. And I’m not thrilled with how it seems to be that things are being handled at the top. But that’s another long thinking it out thing. Got walks in on Thursday and Friday. Sister will be training on Sunday’s so don’t have to worry about Friday after work. I slept in about as late as I’ve done so that past two weeks but I seemed to be slower going with getting out to train compared to those times. My right knee was achy still and I was nervous about stuff I was doing today. Rainy driving out for the most part. I was late to the gym but still seeing friends there although they were gone by the time I got to actually training. Foam rolling I needed a good bit on my upper calves (a ton on my right one) and surprisingly not much elsewhere. Neck rehab stuff was ok, again, some stuff felt just achy chest/shoulders felt achy rather than tight but other stuff did feel tight. Lower body stretching was fine. Dead hang felt nice. Starting things off with circus dumbbell. Sharp turn on these from the many EMOM doubles for the past two weeks. Plan being work up to an RPE 9 double and the take off 15% for 3x2-3. I’ve been deloading the dumbbell from lockout and landing on crash pad as I will be dealing with two different implements rather than the same and getting the tap and go isn’t really what needs to be worked here. I altered the warm up slight now that I’m in for World’s and not just training for a dumbbell event. Usually I do the one light/small dumbbell empty and jump to a bigger dumbbell. I figured it probably made more sense to do weight in the smaller bell since likely going to be something like a dense dumbbell at World’s and then move to the bigger dumbbells. It felt fine. With what I got though, 130lbs or so is about where I’d top out for trying to mimic an Inch style dumbbell and not paying for that kind of dumbbell. I was unfortunately nervous on these with the plan to work up in weight. I had thoughts on what I should be able to hit and want to hit. Besides the lifts with the smaller dumbbell, my warming up felt off. I took smaller jumps just based off of how 145lbs had felt. 165lbs felt terrible and the only reason I didn’t make that my double set was because the collars popped off and the weights exploded out. 172lbs with the secured collars and I was really worried here that I’d just outright miss it. The cleans with the thicker handle feel rough and the weight does feel imposing on the shoulder. But I knew not to rush it. I knew that I’d have to screw up big time after that first rep went up to miss the second rep. I took a bit to reset. Felt like I undershot with how this went but I feel like based off how it felt working up that this was the right call. I’d have liked to do 177lbs (empty dumbbell with the caps on) but this was fine. It is the weight of the Inch dumbbell. So this is still relatively strong position. Down set I went a little heavier as I knew that I probably had another 5lbs in me on this double after the fact. I figured I’d see how things felt and decide if doing doubles or triples. I sped up as I went with my recovery from the reps but that did come to bite me in the ass on the last rep of the last set as my shoulder got a little loose and I had to catch with my other hand to stabilize it overhead. Not going to beat myself up on that. I do think I need to keep in the pauses as a variation on these (heavy/light) with pauses in the rack position to help reinforce things as I feel that is where I’m getting fatigue in my shoulders/upper back to keep things stable for the lower body drive. That was a load off. Axle squats followed. Until I get more details, doing what I’ve been doing following the setup from 2023. I’m not sure why but I felt like this was going to be a light/easy session. Last week I had gone heavier with the 4x4 beyond that was suggested by a good bit with how I was feeling (once I got the boxes sorted out). Today it was 4x6 with 370lbs. I had done 400x4 last week so this should feel easy. It did not. It is possible that the heavier deadlifts and such also contributed to that. I had a harder time with getting the boxes event this week. But I could be favoring one side with my right knee being tighter/achier than usual. I swapped in my flat shoes for deadlifts to see if that felt any different with pressure and such with the squat. I think more stable but not sure if actually helpful. I didn’t feel like my upper back/neck on the left side was tensing up bad like last week. But I could feel my shoulders and upper back taking the strain. I was expecting these to be much smoother but I got them done. At this point, I had a Rice Krispie Treat. I had figured I’d be home late and I’d rather be able to eat when I got home then eat a sandwich when I was done and then wait a few hours to eat something heartier. I was worried about this next thing. The sandbag stuff (which I setup mind you) with the odd bags. The first week wasn’t bad but last week was rough and my right knee was acting up from one of the sets of these last week. I was to do these again but add another extension/load with the last sandbag to the sets. With the way the sandbags pile up, I would do an extension at the bar and drop it and then repick and load over the bar. I was not feeling motivated to do it now that I was set for World’s as this is probably not an event and I know that with what is known I’ll need to be recovering well. First set went well and about as it should. The sandstone/ball implement is fine with picking up but is so far out in front that it makes walking/running really slow for me. As well as taxing. Second run did not go as well in that I rushed the pick on the last sandbag so it wasn’t as firm to my body. I was not seeming to recover from set to set on these as the third and fourth sets required me to shove over the sandstone and the sandbag to finish things out. Increased difficulty on the last one as I jammed my right middle finger on the pick up of the husabag so that was a bit tender with managing the other bags. I wasn’t sure if it was just going to be really sore or if I had fractured it. I think it is fine but going to be swollen for a few days. Sled work followed here. Getting late by this point. Again, something likely not at World’s but hard work and something that needs to be done. 25lbs added to the sled for the working sets and same number of sets. I was feeling like I was moving better on the backwards drag which seemed to be an issue last week still. That first set was rough on the push portion. I managed to be faster on the second set by a good bit and then a little bit slower on the second set. My fastest time this week was about what my fastest was last week but my slowest was slower than my slowest if that makes sense. Finally I was done with the things that required weights and loads of recovery. But not quite done. Sprints to finish out the day. One more set added on to the previous session. Tried to run better this time with having stuff aiming inward. I did stretching and some jogging and I think I was better prepared for these as it didn’t feel like it took a set or two to get in the groove. Feeling pretty good. Downed my shake before leaving for home. Ate dinner and then stretched.

May 6, 2026 – Week 4, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

Trap Bar B Stance Romanian Deadlifts (5 second eccentrics)
145x3/3
235x2/2
305x4/4
305x4/4
305x4/4
305x4/4
305x4/4

Dumbbell High Pulls/Alternating Reverse Lunges
58’sx3 – bw+10x4/4
88’sx6 – bw+40x8/8
88’sx6 – bw+40x8/8
88’sx6 – bw+40x8/8
88’sx6 – bw+40x8/8

Paused Toes Elevated Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts
110’sx9
110’sx9
110’sx9

Heel Elevated Goblet Squats (no lockouts)
bw+55x18
bw+55x18
bw+55x18

Sandbag Over Shoulders (EMOM)
175x1/1
175x1/1
175x1/1
175x1/1
175x1/1
175x1/1
175x1/1

Stretching

Comments: Right knee still seems to be a little achy in one spot on the inside. Annoying. It has been a while since my knees had aches like this. Also a little plantar fasciitis in the right foot and likely related to that (I ordered new shoe inserts so on the way). Not ideal to have that with this session on the menu. Another event for Worlds’ announced. So another tick in that direction with plans. With 7 events, either option was/is going to be a pain with programming for a weekly rotation to be ready. I wasn’t expecting it to be rainy today. But not like in the way where it stays cool. Still pretty warm and now just gross humid conditions. Soft tissue foam rolling starting things. Kind of surprised that only my quads really needed it today. Just the usual for calves and hamstrings. Upper back did need some too. Neck rehab stuff followed. Chest felt tight and needed those movements today. Other stuff felt fine. Lower body stretching was good (did two of one variation as hamstrings/hips tight). Dead hang was fine. Once again, unfortunately starting things off with the same eccentric loaded trap bar deadlifts with a split stance. Though a change in a good way here in that weight increased and reps decreased. Taking off 2 reps a set was going to feel great. Notes were to go up 15lbs but it felt easier to add 20lbs for easier plate math here and I knew I could do it fine enough with drop in reps per set. Right knee was achy at times when my left foot was forward. But seemed to shut up for the most part when dealing with the working weight. I had the little fan on from the start here because of the humidity. Initially, right foot forward felt tougher but I think just my stance wasn’t as stable as left foot forward off the bat. I only felt like my grip balance was off on two sets at most and it wasn’t as egregious as last week. Just treating this as 10 sets of 4 reps to get through it mentally. I needed to change out of my shirt to a fresh one once I was done here. Again, superset of dumbbell high pulls and alternating reverse lunges. Same as last time but do another set. Also indicating that not “breaking” at the upper back and that I don’t have to lower them so much in the rdl position. I figured that best thing to not do that would be to not worry about treating these literally as high pull from the floor and then from hang. Pick them up the least taxing way and then get into whatever position stance and then do power high pulls from the hang with the dumbbells. I was a little worried about how the knees would take lunges today with the aches. Took about as much coaxing as last week to get them ready. The first reps on the high pulls was rough. The dumbbells tend to get in the way (or maybe I’m the one that does?) but I seem to find the groove by the end of it. But ends up being the case each set. Hopefully this is more in line with what I should be doing here. I will say I really felt my upper back on these this time. Lunges as per usual seem to take a bit to get going and then I’m going other than my legs getting fatigued. This mini off season with all these reps and such for legs and back are needed with both big shows stressing these areas a lot this year. Took a slight break to rest a little before moving on to the second half of the workout. Put in a food order and get stuff figured out. Toe elevated dumbbell rdls was next. Advised to bump up the weight substantially as these were rookie numbers. Dropping to just 3x8 and adding a pause at the bottom. I wasn’t sure how these would go as hamstrings and calves were pretty tight but seemed fine. The weights are definitely feeling heavier here and the weight is noticed out in front at lockout. I can get these heavier but I’ll need to be creative. I miscounted the first set and did nine so I just did that for the other sets as this was comfortable enough and I didn’t want to really mess with adding more weight since this was already a 44lbs jump on these in total weight. Next after that was heel elevated goblet squats. Indication was same weight as last week but 3x18 with no lockouts for the knees. My knees had needed a good bit of coaxing to feel ok for these last week and weight was underwhelming and I felt I could do a fair bit more. Well the knees only needed a little bit of help to feel ready to go here so I added 5lbs to the weight(I’m on a kilogram jump kick with pound weights). No balance issues this time around. The added reps were noticed. Can tell the right side fatigues sooner than the left side (knee and hip thing). But all good. Last thing for the evening was once again chucking the sandbag over my shoulder for doubles done EMOM style. 175lbs and these had been kind of fun last week. I had surprised myself a bit with how these had been. This week an extra rep added to it. The first set was a bit like how it was last week for the most part. But then the second set I seemed to actually be quite explosive here. Which is the goal. So once I got a taste of that, that was the goal each rep and set. I didn’t feel like my upper back and neck were tensing up this time around. Fifth set on the left side my left knee seemed to give a little on me so I was a little cautious immediately after that but it was fine and resumed with abandon by the last set again. Put stuff away and ate dinner before finally stretching out for the evening.

May 4, 2026 – Week 4, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Superman Holds (5 seconds)
PVCx3
PVCx3
PVCx3

Chest Supported Dumbbell I/Y/T’s
12’sx10/10/10
12’sx10/10/10
12’sx10/10/10

Seated Barbell Overhead Presses (4-0-4-0 tempo)/Med Ball Bent Over Throws
95x6/10x6
95x6/10x6
95x6/10x6
95x6/10x6
95x6/10x6
95x6/10x6

Head Supported Alternating Dumbbell Rows
56’sx10/10
96’sx10/10
96’sx10/10
96’sx10/10

Dumbbell Squeeze Bench Presses (4-0-4-0 tempo)/Med Ball Side to Side Slams
60’sx10 – 10x6/6
60’sx10 – 10x6/6
60’sx10 – 10x6/6

Feet Elevated Supinated Barbell Inverted Rows
bw+20x10
bw+31x10
bw+42x10

Stretching

Comments: Knees a tad achier than I’d like them to be after training Saturday. Weight went up 4lbs from last week. I guess I was hungry this past week. I’m pretty decided on World’s as my plan for end of August competition. Very little has me interested in Nationals and really only things that have me considering it are dumb things like I can find better music for the training compilation and could still make it there even if the current chaos with fuel availability and pricing can still be possible to make it there. To the best of my understanding, this is the last week of this mini off-season before more contest focus. I only know 3 of the 7 for World’s at this point. So much the same as the past two weeks of having 3-day sessions with slight tweaks to them. Soft tissue work to start things off. Calves needed a decent amount. Hamstrings weren’t as sore as last week. Quads needed a good bit. Upper back was just ok. Neck rehab was fine. It was like a combination of some such feeling achy and other stuff tight. Lower body stretches followed up with a dead hang to decompress. Session started off the same as last week with the PVC pipe exercise. I didn’t film these this week as indication was more of a warm up exercise like when I was doing those tib raises into calf raises two cycles back. There was a tightness here but my lower back didn’t feel as stiff as last time. I did these on the carpet and just rested on the ground between sets rather than getting up and walking around. Which was dangerous as I felt sleepy and it was nice on the floor. Then it was the IYTs. As I suspected, same weight but more reps from last week. Definitely getting my monies worth on these. Very fatiguing and burning by the end. The next thing was again, seated pressing with tempo and the bent over tosses/chucks. The volume continues to go up with it being 6x6 for both. Told to try and add more weight on the pressing once more. I was initially going to do 90lbs but figured I’d finally just bite the bullet and try to do 95lbs, which is what I had hoped I could do that first session of these. I ended up turning on the small fan in the garage for this as I was getting a bit warm after the other two exercises. The slams weren’t going to be an issue other than me worrying I didn’t do enough of them. Ms. Funk indicated that the idea with the contrast and this off season change up is as always, upper back focus, but to also see if recruit fast twitch fibers and use my long limbs in that fashion. I do complain about it but I do enjoy this kind of training and novelty of it. I’m pleased I was able to do this many sets with this weight. Rowing next. Slight change from the past three sessions. Instead of laying on the incline bench, I was resting/supporting my head on it and doing rows that way. It has been a few years since I’ve done this style of rowing with head supported. I don’t think I’ve ever done the alternating style. Notes were to do 90-95lbs on these. I did a warming up set to get used to it. That was apparently not enough to get used to it. The first two sets felt awkward and I could tell I was getting fatigued halfway. I’m not sure what finally clicked that the third set felt the best here. These did let me know that my biceps had gotten worked Saturday with the dumbbell and sandbag stuff. From there it was the other tempo/ballistic pairing of squeeze close grip style dumbbell bench with the side to side medicine ball slam exercise. Little increase in the weight on the pressing for 3x10. Side to side slams remain the same. Advised the way I did them last week was how they are to be done and looked a lot better. This many reps with decent amount of weight on tempo is an odd sensation. You reach a point where it really sucks and then you get past that suck and then another level of suck appears. And then you finally get to the end of it and all the suck is finally gone. My chest really wanted to cramp up on me on the second set of these but didn’t thankfully. I’m glad I got through the tempo stuff and didn’t miscount this week. Last thing being the inverted supinated grip rowing. Indication was to do 3x10 with the same setup I did so feet elevated. I’m assuming what I did was fine last week and I figured I could push these more. Put on my back pack on my lap to add weight. Added 11lbs of chains each set after the first as wasn’t too bad. Put stuff away and ate dinner (again, eating like a double portion) and then stretched out.

May 2, 2026 – Week 3, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses (left side only)
49x5
85x3
108x2
120x1
EMOM
135x2
135x2
135x2
135x2
135x2
135x2
135x2
135x2
135x2
135x2
135x2
135x2

Axle Wagon Wheel Squats to Pads (27”)
125x5
175x4
215x3
265x2
305x1
355x1
385x4
390x4
395x4
400x4

Sandbag Carry and Loads (over 53”)
270x10’ husabag/273x10’ sandstone/275x10’ sandbag
270x10’ husabag/273x10’ sandstone/275x10’ sandbag
270x10’ husabag (missed the load)
270x10’ husabag/273x10’ sandstone/275x10’ sandbag
270x10’ husabag/273x10’ sandstone/275x10’ sandbag

Sled Push and Pulls (turf)
275x20’/20’
400x50’/50’
400x50’/50’
400x50’/50’

Sprints (walk back is rest)
bwx50’
bwx50’
bwx50’
bwx50’
bwx50’
bwx50’
bwx50’

Stretching

Comments: I had hoped more details from either of the comps would be out by now so that I have a better grasp of what I’m getting myself into. I know Ms. Funk wants to start gearing things toward one or the other but still limited stuff right now. I’d say I’m more leaning towards Worlds even with only 2 of the 7 events posted. I’ve been having some concerns with Strongman Corporation in how things run with the Arnold Pro/Am the past two years and just hearing about issues with things in regards to eliciting changes or getting in touch with the heads. I know I have to make a decision soon here. With work, it seems that is kind of a get through this week and then repeat the process the following week. And I guess do that forever. Many reasons I feel better when the telework rotation is present but I do get to do my walks midday. I made sure I got those in both Thursday and Friday at lunch time because I knew my legs and back were stiff/sore from Wednesday training. I also had to have my Friday afternoon clear so my younger sister could do event work at my place after work. Saturday and Sunday just weren’t going to work. Last year when she was prepping for a show, I had been doing my own training at the time which wasn’t nearly as much volume as now. I had seen that last week’s event session had required a bit of time and focus and it didn’t make sense to have her tag along on Saturday as I’d likely be distracted with my own training and the like. Her training went well and I feel she is on track for the goals at the competition next month considering the hectic schedules and time commitment. My only worry though was that I’d be training the next morning after helping and it can take a little out of me with coaching and setting up stuff. My worries tend to be unfounded but still have them. Initially the plan was get up when my work alarm would go off but seeing as how the plans changed, I went for more rest option. I was apparently hungry as I ate about double what I was expecting to with my meal. Ended up getting up about the same time as last weekend but a little slower going with getting out the door. And traffic was a bit of a mess getting out there. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be there really with only one person actually training for a competition that I know of but there were the usual gang. One coming back to training after a break, two working around injuries and one as mentioned training for a competition. It was good to talk and hang out a bit but as is usually the case when I arrive late, I was on my own after about one exercise in. Foam rolling I needed a good bit on my upper calves and my quads. Right hamstring finally calmed down that didn’t need extra. Upper back was fine here. Neck rehab stuff was ok, chest/shoulders felt achy rather than tight. Lower body stretching was good. I’m glad I’m back to doing these without modifications for the hip flexor issue. I did do one stretch twice just due to tightness. Dead hang felt nice. Starting things off with circus dumbbell. Same thing pretty much as last time but more sets. So 135lbs for 12x2 done EMOM style. Meant I needed to do another set working up here. My aim this time around was to have solid lockouts and try to have a setup that let me deload from lockout rather than bring it back down to shoulder first. The “crash pad” setup last week was too bouncy. Setup not perfect this time but loads better. I didn’t have the fans on this week as it didn’t feel as humid but I did work up quite a sweat. Only rep that wasn’t to my liking was first rep I think of the 6th set as I was a little off balance and had to let it settle in the rack more. I still think I’m rushing a bit for the second rep due to the EMOM timing for rest as ideally I should be going off the ground each rep rather than off the pad as it tends to be more upper body from there. Things felt good here albeit a tad sweaty. I hadn’t needed a shirt change last week so I didn’t have one so took it off to dry out while setting things up for squats. Axle squats are here regardless of how I proceed (same with the dumbbell). Continuing with the world’s setup since that is what I got at least details in some regard to work off. Plan for the day was to work up to 4x4 at RPE 8-9. Suggested being 370-380lbs. Assuming I felt good, that was going to be too light for that rep range and effort. It would depend on my recovery from the last session and from this week’s sessions beforehand. This had been one of the exercises I was concerned about due to my right hip acting up a little here and just concerns with soreness in the legs at spots that have had issues previously. I knew from last week that oly shoes are a no go. I didn’t have hip issues at all here and I think that had partly something to do with it. I also lowered my rack height by one as it seemed I had to keep higher bar position to rerack and walk out making it feel harder to just get into position. I elected to use bumper plates for weight as I didn’t expect to max out the axle and not eat up time with getting the kilo plates from the other side of the gym. These perhaps didn’t start out great. My knees felt stiff and a few warm up sets I missed touching the pads on the first rep each set. I also seemed to be hitting the pads unevenly making things really sucky. I couldn’t tell if I was lopsided with my rack position or what with taking a little lower bar position. 355lbs didn’t feel great but I still went with 385lbs for my working weight. I had 180kgs in my head for the weight today if things were good. This was not a great set as kept hitting it lopsided. I had been doing lower reps working up (did sets of 5 all the way up last week) and I figured that I should have course corrected by now. I decided to check to make sure the height of the pads was right. Turns out that the uneven floor had the left one half and inch lower. Once I fixed that, there was no more uneven bounce. The pressure on the body is present for sure still. With that issue resolved, I decided I’d try adding a little weight each set. This still a work in progress as sometimes the reps feel good and other times no thank you. Ended up with 400lbs on the last set and while the 3rd rep got a little away from me, the 4th rep was the easiest of the bunch. I’ve not done a 400lbs or more squat in about 4.5yrs (if talking free standing, it is closer to 4yrs for high box squat). Other than my upper back feeling tense on the left side, no worse for wear. So that was relief. But the next one was the other thing I was worried about. Sandbag carry and loads. Just worried about the right hamstring as it chirped at me on the last set last week at one point. Again, this is not really event specific at this time. Just a mix of different sandbags since that seems to be the implement de jour as it were. Advised to do same thing as last week but add a set and aim to be quicker on the transitions. That was the plan but I guess my body had other ideas. Perhaps the work from Wednesday session and going about 40lbs heavier on the squats had something to do with it. The pick of the husabag wasn’t smooth and then for the first time I didn’t get the load to go over right away. Because when the pick wasn’t smooth, I rushed to get moving rather than have it up higher. Whelp, knew this wasn’t going to be a fast time compared to last week. Sandstone wasn’t an issue, it just taxes the hamstrings and back the most when walking with it. The other implements are easier once picked up to move. This stays the same suck the entire time. With the misstep with the husabag, I wanted to make sure on actual sandbag that I got it picked and lapped well. I thought I did that but this also seemed to be a little low on the carry so loading over was rough. Ok, need to not do that next set. What was that? Do the next set even worse? All started with the husabag. The pick was even rougher this time but I felt I at least had it in a good position to walk and load. Nope. Bumped into the yoke so it scooted back a little and had to shove it and it wasn’t quite over so had to jump back to push it again before it fell. At least that maneuver got me to the sandstone quicker lol. No issues here other than it being taxing. Took time with the sandbag to make sure I didn’t screw up the pick. I wasn’t moving too fast here with it. And again, it didn’t get there high enough and had to wrestle with it to get it over. Ok, no more of that. Is what I’d like to say but husabag had other plans and it got stuck and slid down to the floor at the yoke. Was considering calling it there on this but took a little walk after resetting things to give it another go. I finally got the terribles out of my system and things went as they should for the most part. No issues with getting any of the picks and loads, just stumbled backwards a little on standing up with the sandbag that set. Final set a little slow on initiating the pick on the husabag and walk back with the sandstone but otherwise just as strong a set as the third. Neither were quite as fast as my best set last week but I feel within half a second. Sled work followed here. Same weight and distance as last week but one less set. Notes were to adjust my push method so that I was not straight arming it and leaning into with my body more. Use my leverages. I think I avoided that style as usually I’ve done vehicle pushes and didn’t want to be up against the bumper and closer to the exhaust. Or maybe I’m thinking it would put more strain on the shoulders. Which wasn’t the case. I did a warm up to make sure things were good. The adjustment did make the pushing aspect quicker but didn’t make things any easier for the drag portion and my legs were feeling it at this point. But these did all end up being under a minute even though my fatigue increased each set. So faster results than last time by about 10 seconds here. Then once again, sprints. Same as last week with these being 50’ runs and rest being walking back. Just adding an extra set. It didn’t feel like it took as long for my leg pump to subside this time around but I did do some stretching again and tried to jog to see if that made me not run so awkwardly at the start. I think it did help with not having my hips and knees as unprepared but still running like a goof for the first two sets until I started to find my form. I still run like a nightmare lol. Last one seemed to be my best of the batch. Finally got to put in some food/drink here before heading home. This was again going to be a late night with getting cleaned up, fed, and recovered.

April 29, 2026 – Week 3, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

Trap Bar B Stance Romanian Deadlifts (5 second eccentrics)
145x3/3
235x2/2
285x6/6
285x6/6
285x6/6
285x6/6
285x6/6

Dumbbell High Pulls/Alternating Reverse Lunges
56’sx3 – bw+10x3/3
88’sx6 – bw+40x8/8
88’sx6 – bw+40x8/8
88’sx6 – bw+40x8/8

Toes Elevated Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts
88’sx12
88’sx12
88’sx12
88’sx12

Heel Elevated Goblet Squats (no lockouts)
bw+50x15
bw+50x15
bw+50x15

Sandbag Over Shoulders (EMOM)
175x1/1
175x1/1
175x1/1
175x1/1
175x1/1
175x1/1

Stretching

Comments: Felt tired waking up today. Wanted to call off and take a sick day just so I could sleep some more. Oh well. It has been cold and a little dreary lately. Kind of surprised my upper body doesn’t really seem to get DOMS despite how tough the sessions have been with the tempo work. Not that that is an indicator. Neck tense today and that does seem to come and go. Soft tissue foam rolling starting things. Both calf muscles needed a good bit of work today. What I was expecting on Monday session. I was kind of surprised that the right hamstring was still sore compared to the left. Not as much as Monday but noticeable. Needed more on the right quad compared to Monday but left still needed a good bit too. Not much needed for upper back. Neck rehab stuff followed. Chest felt tight and needed those movements today. Other stuff felt fine. Lower body stretching was good and so was dead hang after that. Then on to the workout. I had been a little slow to actually start the session as I knew this would be an exhausting workout. No breaking in period as it starts off that way. So unfortunately starting things off with the same eccentric loaded trap bar deadlifts with a split stance. Same weight as last week but now 5x6. Which with how these feel, might as well be 10x6 as each side is taxing on these, especially the grip. It’s all getting worked. These were tough but I think I handled these better in regards to needing more rest and having to catch my air. I don’t feel like I had to fight any yawns. My hands were feeling pretty sore here. I have to be careful how I grip the turned over trap bar as too far back and puts a lot of stress on the front of my hands and “feels” heavier with the knurling vs a little more forward having it feel like nothing and comfortable. I didn’t miscount reps this week. I was making sure of that as each set was going to be tough on these. One thing I was focusing on was trying to keep my knees out. My right outer quad got sore immediately after the first set. This was a lot of work but it was done and I could move forward with the session. Before I started the next thing, I had to figure out what made sense for dinner as what I had would take a while but needs attention (can’t set and forget) to prepare or order out. Weather was bad and I didn’t really want someone delivering food so I figured I’d get it myself from someplace really close. So that was the plan for after training but needed to make sure open late enough and it worked out. Once again, I turned on the small oscillating fan to have better air flow for the rest of the workout. I was steaming pretty good from the trap bar stuff. Again, superset of dumbbell high pulls and alternating reverse lunges. Notes were to go heavier on the high pulls and try and keep the dumbbells more in front. Reps were 6-8 for the high pulls and I’d have to use my plateloaded handles for them this session. Lunges were also for 6-8 reps per side and I figured 40lbs would work there. I had the weight out front too far last week so trying to get this more like a goblet squat hold style. I went with 88lbs since again I guess on a kilogram weight kick and it was what I used for the rows yesterday and overhead press. My knees were feeling pretty stiff going into the lunges while high pulls felt easy enough with the warm up set. The increase in weight on the dumbbell high pulls was immediately noticed on the working sets and I knew I’d need to do the lower rep range to have goodish quality of movement. Lunges knees felt fine and I went with the higher rep range on these. Like last week, I didn’t feel like I needed much rest that the first set but I needed a bit more after the second one.  I definitely feel I can go heavier on the lunges but the high pulls may need to stick around this range. Took a slight break to bring in packages at my folks before putting in food order and getting to the lighter and less taxing stuff of the session. Toe elevated dumbbell rdls was next. Again 4x12 on these. Ms. Funk said I needed to go heavier on these as way too easy last week. I kept the same weight from the high pulls here. Issue with the plateloaded dumbbells with these weights is that the ROM was decreased slightly. I’m trying to work on the flexibility and mobility in my calves/hamstrings and putting focus on the glutes with these. Not terribly taxing but I know these are doing something. Not sure if more sets with short rest for volume or if weight should be pushed further on these. I’ll have to figure out what works/makes sense. Next after that was heel elevated goblet squats. No superset this time around. 3x15 with no lockouts for the knees. Advised to not be so hunched over the weight in my upper back. Knees were feeling a bit grouchy just being in the position initially before adding any weight. I had thought they’d be fine after the lunges but guess not. I was also uncertain with the right hip/upper quad area as that got a little tight/fatigued on the second set last week. That did seem to be present but only on the first set really. I had issues with my balance on the seventh rep on the first and second set for some reason. I think finding my balance and center with the weight. Fatigued at this point and I had to do another thing. Sandbag over shoulders. Not as bad as doing full sprints with short rests like Day 3 session but not great when fatigued and at the end of a session. Especially since sandbag to shoulder type stuff didn’t go so hot for me last training prep and contest. Plan was for 175lbs bag for 6 doubles (alternating sides during set) done EMOM style. I was putzing around mentally about it and just decided that I’d just grab it in the middle while the bag is flat and just suplex it. Think reptilian brain and just go crocodile on it. That seemed to make things easy. My neck/upper back were still tense but this seemed to be good and powerful for me at least. Put stuff away and went to pick up food and then ate it before finally stretching out for the evening.