April 1, 2026 – Week 7, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

13” Wagon Wheel Axle Deadlifts (straps)
136x5
226x3
316x1
EMOM
406x2
406x2
406x2
406x2
406x2
406x2
406x2
406x2

Pendlay Rows
135x6
185x6
225x3
275x6
225x6
225x6

Deadstop 1 ½ Safety Squat Bar Good Mornings (lower to deadlift pull height)
65x3
115x3
170x5
170x5
170x5

Wall Sits
bwx6 seconds
bwx60 seconds
bwx60 seconds
bwx60 seconds

Paused Lying Band Leg Curls /Paused Band Seated Leg Extensions
(2)mmbx5/sbx5
(2)mmbx15/sbx15
(2)mmbx15/sbx15

Stretching

Comments: No walking Tuesday as playing some catch up on sleep and also cashing in a gift card for dinner. Also my hip thing was acting up Tuesday so I didn’t want to bother it. I was very shocked with how well it was feeling right before going to bed Tuesday and then waking up Wednesday. Kind of a knock on wood that it stays like this or gets better from here. Work was damn busy as well. Hoping that my energy levels didn’t tank. Especially since it was 80 degrees again. I preemptively put on the small oscillating fan in the garage for some air flow. Soft tissue foam rolling surprisingly not much was needed elsewhere but really needed it for my right quad. A little more for the calves compared to Monday though. Neck rehab stuff followed. Chest needed this. My right arm (biceps) was feeling tense for some reason. Lower body stretching and dead hang after that. Didn’t have the weird “disconnect” issue like I had last time. Then on to the workout. Axle deadlift with the wagon wheels. Essentially the same workout as last week minus working up to a heavy double/single. Just doing the 405lbs for doubles but EMOM rest this time and two extra ones. Make these speedy. I knew that could be a tall order to make them feel speed but they should move fast. I tend to feel like stuff moves fast and feels light if it is after doing something darn heavy. Like last week. I took plate jumps just because I worry that I’ll have limited warming up at the show. Not received any e-mail updates or nothing the entire time. So yeah, 90lbs jumps are rough but I’ve done them before with warming up and for similar things. These felt heavy and straining but I know they weren’t. It wasn’t until the last three or so that the weight actually started to feel light. I’m glad this wasn’t a heavy session so I can recover and not feel like grinding things down to a nub so close to show time. Similar to day one, there were modifications to this day with the hip. Ms. Funk took out sandbag to shoulder stuff due to how that felt and it would likely get in my head to do it this week. I’m going to be doing sandbag stuff on Saturday anyways. So the change was bent over dead stop rows or Pendlay rows. I was somewhat tempted to still use a sandbag instead but thought better of it as Ms. Funk put barbell rows for a reason. Plan being strict and on these with 3x6-8 and RPE 7. I made a point to wear what I’ll wear for my midsection doing sandbag stuff. I overestimated what I could do here as my first “working” set was sloppy. I should’ve taken how 225lbs had felt warming up to have that be my working weight. I dropped the weight down to 225lbs for much better quality reps. Just moving on along here. There was a change with the ssb gms. Still doing dead stop style starting from the top but adding in 1.5 reps. So down and then up halfway, back down and the up all the way. So even the “5” rep set was going to feel like a lot. I misloaded these at the start as I was planning to use the same weight as last week. I didn’t notice until I was at the working sets so I added 5lbs to be in the suggested weight range. These were tougher than last week but felt better on my body if that made sense. This workout initially had these followed up with the sandbag zercher lunges with tempo pauses as I guess I hadn’t made it clear that these were potentially the cause of the hip flexor issue and that these were causing some anxiety. So they were dropped and I was advised to some wall sit variations instead. I figured that I’d do the one that had the least amount of moving around. Knees were pretty achy in the position and it has been over half a year since I’ve done any wall sits so legs were a bit detrained to this. Bodyweight only here and a minute was challenging. Essentially I did a set and then took about 90 seconds and then did the next set. Knees felt better as I did these but they did get tougher. A superset to end the night. Not having all the heavy stuff was moving things along at a decent clip. I had to do some logistics here with the last thing as it was banded lying leg curls and banded seated leg extensions. I’ve done them but not together. Had to do some testing to figure out how to setup both and make it work. I did find a way that was pretty quick. My testing set had the band tensions I picked feel quite challenging but they weren’t so bad during the actual sets. These actually felt pretty good on my joints and muscles at the end of the session. Did these back to back with rest being however long it took to get into one contraption and out of the other. Put stuff away and got to eating dinner before stretching.

March 30, 2026 – Week 7, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Seated Dumbbell Overhead Presses (3 second eccentrics, 60 seconds rest)
10’sx4
40’sx8
40’sx8
40’sx8

Paused Axle Floor Presses (2 seconds at lockout)
116x4
166x3
206x2
256x4
256x4
256x4

Paused Internal Rotation Dumbbell Flyes (3 seconds at lockout)/Single Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extensions (0-1-0-1 tempo)
10’sx8 – 10x8/8
40’sx8 – 40x8/8
40’sx8 – 40x8/8
40’sx8 – 40x8/8

Banded Close Grip Push Ups (0-1-0-1 tempo)/Band Pull Aparts
bw+abx10/mbx20
bw+abx10/mbx20

Stretching

Comments: The last true week of training before a competition. Really does come up too quickly. At first I feel like it is far away and then doing the events so many times but then get closer and there is a mixture of anxiousness and also wanting to be done with it so I can do other stuff. Still dealing with whatever is going on with the right hip flexor. I think it is getting better with reduction in training load, resting and not aggressively stretching. Weight was down about 3lbs from last week. No really rhyme or reason but could be just I get stressed as I get closer to competition. It is good the week before to have things pulled back so that I’m not stressing over everything and can focus my nervous energy on work. Not be chasing two rabbits when there is just one day where the stress needs to be there. I did go for a walk on Sunday to see if walking did help with blood flow since I didn’t really get any chance to walk last week really. The hip issues is there but besides that, my upper back and shoulders did feel a bit tense after training Saturday. Soft tissue work to start off the day. Pretty much a constant these past 2-3 weeks with the right quad needing it the most. My lower back is feeling a little looser so maybe that will ease pressure elsewhere. Neck rehab stuff felt fine. Lower body stretching still modified in not doing stuff that was stressing my hip flexors. Felt a little off after stretching so that wasn’t ideal. Dead hang felt fine. Some things changed with the session from last week to hopefully let my hips recover more for the show. So instead of the usual tempo dumbbell push pressing I was to do tempo seated pressing. Plan being 3 seconds eccentrics with 3x8 for 60-90 seconds rest. I wasn’t too sure how intense these should be. I figured solid dumbbells would be quicker. I was hoping that short rests with the reps and eccentrics would have the 40’s feel like it was tough enough but I undershot the effort range here. Shoulders did feel a bit achy/tense. I don’t think I’d been able to keep 70’s here with as short a rest as I did but I definitely could’ve gone heavier here for the planned effort range. But it was a nice start to the session. My shoulders had felt really achy the last time I did seated presses as part of an emergency deload week session. Seated also let me stick to the garage for the day. Axle floor pressing again with the paused lockouts. 3x4 again but with 20lbs less than last time I did them. Which shouldn’t be an issue with how these have felt the past three weeks. Weight was feeling a little heavy on my wrists but this was moving well. I noticed after the first set that I was bleeding from my one finger. I apparently cut it on a jagged shard of metal on my cheap plateloadable dumbbell handles while setting stuff up. It was a thin slice in my finger and no further issues after that. This pressing felt fine. I do hope that I can be more consistent with this kind of pressing after this competition. Supersets to start the second half. Slight changes to both. With the first one chest flyes with internal rotation and single arm triceps. The flyes were adjusted to indicate lower reps (6-8) and doing 3 second holds at lockout (when dumbbells together). I wasn’t sure how that would feel. Plan was initially to do 25-30lbs here. That would require the plateloaded handles. I got a little finicky with the weight distribution having it be the same for both the flyes and triceps extensions. Then wondering with the dumbbells how they’d work with the hold with the longer handles. I then decided I’d just not bother with the them and use the 40lbs dumbbells instead after I had cut my finger on the plateloaded ones. I was very suprised when I lay on the bench to start that my right hip flexor flared up something fierce. It didn't do that last week. So that was a bit unexpected and unpleasant. Especially since trying to avoid the usual suspects. But whatever. Can grin and bear it going forward. It wasn't a shock with working weights. This was fine on the flyes as far as weight went. I wasn’t feeling aches in the chest like last two weeks. But it was a mighty ask for my triceps upping the weight so much with the pauses. I stuck with the pauses but I know the form wasn’t as solid as it was with lighter weight. Cut the difference between under effort for the seated presses and over effort for the extensions. Last pairing session also a slight change. Still banded push ups but now pauses at both the top and bottom of the movement. Indication was to do 2x10 here. This worked out with the band tension from last time. The pauses at both spots was tougher but helped with not being confused what I was doing during the movement. The other part of this was band pull aparts. I do a variation with a theraband and underhand grip for my neck rehab so I’m familiar with these. Just been a bit since I’ve done them. 2x10-20 but I knew I was doing 20 reps here. These were feeling a deep burn in my shoulders/upper back. It has been a while since I’ve done this version and I guess there was fatigue from the push ups as well having tempo. But it was a pleasant burn effort. Put stuff away and ate dinner before stretching.

March 28, 2026 – Week 6, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

18” Monster Texas Squat Bar Box Squats (4 second eccentrics)
66x5
132x4
176x3
220.5x2
264.5x2
308.5x2
308.5x2
308.5x2

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses (left side only)
49x5
85x4
108x3
130x2
145x1
EMOM
160x1
160x1
160x1
160x1
160x1
160x1
160x1
160x1
160x1
160x1

Sandbag Carries (turf)
250x60’
250x60’
turns at 60’
300x120’
300x120’

Standing Arm Over Arm Pulls (turf, uphill)
255x60’
255x60’

Reverse Hyper Extensions (0-2-0-2 tempo)
50x12
50x12

Pulldowns (drop sets)
170x8/130x8/110x20
170x8/130x8/110x16

Stretching

Comments: With only having one day of rest before this session, I wasn’t going to be pushing myself to get up at a set time. Also with the hip flexor thing being a bit irritated as well. Not as bad as it was going into training last week where the anxiety had me paralyzed. I knew what this was and what I could do with it so perhaps that helped some. No walking after work Friday, I had too much that needed to be done that kind of piled up during the week and I wanted to give the hip a rest as not sure if walking was helping or not. I did have plans with training in regards to the hip. I slept in about an hour from my usual worktime when I’m offsite and I felt decently rested. I still had things I needed to do before getting ready to train so it was a bit later when I finally was on the road to train. Driving out wasn’t smooth at the start. Lot of people out driving and not driving well at least locally. I did see as I got closer to the gym that the way back was blocked up with dumb construction so I made a mental note to find an alternate route if that was still happening hours later when I would finally leave. I was kind of surprised there were people there when I got there and there for most of my session really. As has been the case with the foam rolling, only my right quad really needed it and needed it a lot. Not to say other stuff didn’t have some soreness that benefited from foam rolling. But it was quite one-sided on what needed it.  Neck rehab stuff was fine. I modified the lower body stretching to not stretch out my hip flexors aggressively like I tend to do. See if that helps any. Dead hang felt nice. As has been the case this prep, starting things off with eccentric focus box squats. Suggested was 10-20lbs more than last week for 3x2. Since I’ve been on a kilo plate kick with these, I went with 140kgs vs 130kgs from last week and the week before. Knees were not feeling as good as last week on these. This could be from not walking the day before or having on less day rest or not doing all the stretches or not taking ibuprofen the night before. I also lent my one hard belt to a friend’s daughter doing a powerlifting meet (her first one) in two weeks time so I wasn’t using my usual hard belt here. Despite all that, camera says these moved fine if they didn’t feel super amazing. They did feel better as I went as well. From there it was on to circus dumbbell. These had been anxiety inducing last week but had gone a ton better than expected. The plan for this week was to work up to contest weight for 6-10 singles done EMOM style with judging on when to stop being if they feel “sloppy”. Compared to last week, I was finding the cleans a bit more labored and lockout wasn’t feeling so crisp even on the light weights. I was worried I’d miss the contest weight outright with how things were feeling. I’d feel pretty dumb if that happened considering last week and that this had been a suggested session for a contest deload for priming I had brough up. There was hesitancy at first but I got confident as I went with each press feeling strong. My only concern I was having was that clean was fatigued and not feeling so crisp. But I was feeling pretty relaxed and having a chat between sets while still focused. I like when EMOMs go like this where I feel powerful and can keep going. Hit a slight snag on the eighth set where I misgrooved and didn’t get the weight locked out. But I was able to just bat it back into place and then launch it up to get the rep easy. I don’t recall being able to do that as of late with a missed rep like that and get it like nothing without having to reclean the dumbbell and take a breather. It felt like it took nothing out of me. I think it was more that the clean had been the toughest of them so far and it through me off a little. I didn’t think twice before going for the second attempt at the rep. If that hadn’t been so smooth, I’d have stopped there for the day. I think the clean being tough got me a little fired up as I launch the next one up there for what might be my best rep of the day. Last one I paused a bit in the rack to let it settle and then went. My belt popped off as I set it down. A first on it happening with an overhead lift. So getting these reps had me in good spirits. I hadn’t been sure how things would be as still feeling the lower back and hamstring fatigue. Right hip flexor issue and feeling some disc compression stuff with left glute feeling like it wasn’t firing at the start of the day. From there on to sandbag carries. Warm up as needed and do two runs at contest weight for contest distance. The hip flexor issue isn’t really hampering me on these. The fatigue in my pick up is more so the case. Warming up with the 250lbs is rough still, at least for the first run I do. Ms. Funk indicated that she wanted me to try just pivoting at the line rather than slowing down to make a few steps and then turn. I’m actually not sure 100% if it will be around something or touching a line for the contest. Pick is a bit labored (I knew that would be the case with how shouldering felt) but moving with it well. Definitely didn’t get the timing right for the pivot on the first set and did a bunch of tiny steps. I got it somewhat right on the second set. Arm over arm next. Just two sets again but advised to go light and make these fast. So a little lighter than the first week I did these. I’d hopefully not need so much rest between sets. Well, having these this much lighter after adapting my style to something in excess of my bodyweight definitely added a new element to this. Yes, I was faster but I also was finding that I didn’t have the same balance point with my strokes as I felt like I was going to fall on my ass a few times and had to adjust my center of gravity. It was good that I did do a lighter session for speed (even though I messed up timing on the second set) as this lets me feel how I may need to adjust on the file day of depending on how the setup is and feels. This is the biggest unknown for the contest. Finishing up with the gym stuff. Reverse hypers again but adding tempo. Same weight but lowering the reps to 12 as adding 2 second pauses at the top and bottom of motion. The pauses at the bottom of the movement were nothing really but my goodness was the hold at the top a struggle. Really had to fight those as I couldn’t real hold at the top of the movement when I get the swing. So this was quite challenging here. I had been feeling some tension in glutes and lower back so I was hoping some of these would help with that. Then last thing being pulldown drop set. Stil 2 sets but some changes. Same starting weight with the 40lbs drop (both for 8 reps) and then only a 20lbs drop after that for the repping it out. These felt easier this week at least at the start. I guess not as fatigued with having only done two light runs of arm over arm. The fatigue became more apparent in the second set which has always been case with these. Put stuff away as I put in some food. Still construction so took a scenic route around it so drive home took a bit longer. Did some dip stand decompression when I got home before stretching. I nixed some of my usual stretches to my hip flexors to see if that also helps here with recovery.

March 26, 2026 – Week 6, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

13” Wagon Wheel Axle Deadlifts (straps)
136x5
226x3
316x2
366x1
406x1
456x1
496x1
546x2
60 Seconds Rest
406x2
406x2
406x2
406x2
406x2
406x2

Sandbag to Shoulders (left side only)
175x1/225x1/265x1/305x0
175x1/225x1/265x1/305x0

Deadstop Safety Bar Good Mornings (lower to deadlift pull height)
75x6
125x6
175x6
175x6
175x6

Sandbag Zercher Stationary Lunges (0-1-0-1 tempo)
bwx5/5
112x10/10
112x10/10

Deadstop Supported Single Leg Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts/Pull Ups
67x5/5 – bwx1
117x5/5 – bwx11
117x5/5 – bwx7

Stretching

Comments: No walking Wednesday after work since spending time with family and for some reason traffic was backed up a lot so took quite a bit of time to get home from work. I did have to take some allergy meds at night with the pollen and high winds as well blowing in crap. With training for this session, there were nerves with some things but I think the main one was this workout tends to eat up time and that trying to get through it and have time to eat and get ready for bed. The hip thing is off and on. Soft tissue foam rolling surprisingly not much was needed elsewhere but really needed it for my right quad. Neck rehab stuff followed and thankfully not as tense as I was expecting things. Lower body stretching and dead hang after that. Then on to the workout. Last week’s session had been a lot and it took a good bit out of me. The deadlift session with the axle this week wasn’t in the same realm of hellacious as last week. Notes indicated that I was to work up to contest weight for 1-2 reps (depending on how things feel) and then I’d drop it down to 405lbs for short rest doubles for “speed” work. I decided that I might go heavier on the top set just because with doing 40-50lbs jumps (quarter and plate). I’d see how I feel warming up. I could tell my lower back and hamstrings were still not fully recovered and then there was the hip thing, which thankfully wasn’t flaring up on deadlifts. I did my usual plate jumps and then after 315lbs I went to 40-50lbs jumps. My hope with doing more singles working up was that I’d hopefully get used to the belt sooner and not be feeling like I’m going to pass out on the first working set for reps and make things tougher than they need to be. Also give me an idea of what plan of approach (if able) to take warming up at the contest. This did seem to help with acclimating to the pressure. I had used my Velcro ply belt for the first two singles and the damn thing popped off the first attempt at 405lbs when I braced. Funny I bought this thing specifically for deadlifting and it pops off like 10% of the time. A lot less issues with other things using it though. I felt good enough to get hyped up to do a 50lbs jump so that I was doing 11lbs over contest for my last heavy touch on this event. These went up pretty well but I could tell my hamstrings were feeling it. I took a little rest to adjust for the speed sets. Plan being 60 seconds rest rather than EMOM. I didn’t rest 60 seconds but it was close to that (always under that). I was facing the other direction for these so that I could just walk back in from pacing in the house to come and pull it. These were easy and moving fast. Actually felt like speed work. Warming up this weight hadn’t feel like this so this was nice to see. Feeling like how this weight should be moving. So I nice feeling deadlift session. I guess I needed the very uncomfortable session last week to appreciate this one. Sandbag to shoulder following up. Less volume than last week but it was going to be tougher than last week with how it was setup. Confidence took a little hit here last week with how rough I was feeling doing these after the deadlifts and missing 305lbs on my second set. I was hoping that I’d not be as fatigued this week. This week the plan was to do my four sandbags I can shoulder with 5 seconds rest between them with aim to get them all done in under 60 seconds. Work fatigue factor and pacing with aim to give myself opportunity to get four attempts in 60 seconds if need be. I mean, I will likely only make 2 attempts really but not sure what weights are going to be available at show. But I’m apparently still feeling beat from last week. First run through was not great. I seemed to have an issue with getting the pick right and fumbled a bit on each bag. 225lbs I pretty much had go right over shoulder as I didn’t control it to set it back down. I knew 305lbs was going to be a rough go with how 265lbs felt. I also was feeling the hip flexor issue at extension. I didn’t feel as “loose” and mobile like I do when this feels strong. I felt stiff and inflexible. I had to adjust in the lap the 305lbs and I got it into position but just got stuck and struggling through and bumping it up had it go off to the side a bit and it came back down. I was feeling a bit drained there but didn’t let it discourage me. I’d rest and try again. I applied chalk for this second run. I wasn’t sure if it helped or hindered on this at this point in training. Like it helps with the pick and lap but not sure if it makes the shouldering harder from chest or not. 175lbs and 225lbs did seem better second round. 265lbs the pick was a tougher but the shouldering was easier. So I thought that 305lbs might happen. It did not. The pick was rough and I had to adjust in the lap again. I was closer this time to shouldering it though but same result. I was tempted to try the 305lbs bag by itself as a single but I figured it was best that I let this be and move on. I don’t have the time or luxury with the work schedule and it is obvious that I’m very fatigued in my lower back and hamstrings right now. It is frustrating in that I’ve done this weight and these weights in the past no problem in series (2021, 2022 and 2024) but perhaps not after doing so much deadlifting and not being this light in bodyweight. I also know in most cases that I had a longer build up for said shows to work out things and sometimes the shouldering was the heaviest thing for said session. It also wasn’t helpful feeling like the effort was making the hip flexor issue flare up on me. But we move on and adapt and learn from it. Accessory work from there. First up on that order being gms with the ssb to rack height. Weight increased 5-10lbs from last time but reps dropped in half to 3x6. I was perfectly fine with that. My lower back was feeling tight and I tried to get some tension out right before the first set but no avail. My hamstring were feeling really tense on these so I was glad to just have the lower reps this time around. I don’t know if I’d been able to handle higher reps as well with the weight increase. Body is craving rest for these worked areas. Sandbag zercher lunges with tempo pauses again. Dropped from 3 to 2 sets but back up 10 reps like that first terrible week with them and that was without tempo and I wasn’t dealing with the hip flexor issue. Before this session, these were seen as question marks with the one leg rdls if I could tolerate them. Options were banded leg extensions and leg curls for higher reps and slow tempo. I figured that with the “damage done” from the shouldering, that I might as well get these over with. I didn’t need as much warming up for my knees to get on with it. Also might be trying to get done. These just don’t seem to get easier. The additional two reps per set was quite tough here. I really hope I don’t have these the rest of the prep so I can recover and have peace of mind as it always seems to be single leg split stance stuff that irritates something in my hips or thighs when it is quad/knee dominant. The last thing was a superset. The supported dead stop single leg dumbbell rdls and pull ups. Weight increased on the rdls by 5lbs and reps dropped to 5 for this week. The two sets like last week was helpful here. No issues on the rdls with my hip flexor but I think maybe I was more worried about the hamstrings as they were twitching and screaming at this point. No issues but could tell that my midsection was also beat at this point. The decrease in reps on the rdls definitely saved my forearms and had me not breathing as hard afterwards when it came to pull ups. First set of pull ups felt like how they usually feel for me without all the extra fatigue. But second set the fatigue was fully present there. Stretched after eating. Really hoping I’m feeling recovered for Saturday since I got to get back on my usual days for the rest of prep.

March 24, 2026 – Week 6, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Dumbbell Push Presses (4-0-0-1 tempo)
10’sx3
40’sx3
70’sx3
90’sx3
90’sx3
90’sx3

Paused Axle Floor Presses (2 seconds at lockout)
116x4
166x3
206x2
256x1
296x2
296x2
296x2
296x2

Internal Rotation Dumbbell Flyes/Single Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extensions (0-1-0-1 tempo)
10’sx16 – 6x6/6
40’sx12 – 26x12/12
40’sx12 – 26x12/12
40’sx12 – 26x12/12

Paused Banded Close Grip Push Ups/Paused Band Cross Face Pulls
bw+abx16/(2)mb’sx20
bw+abx16/(2)mb’sx20

Stretching

Comments: Back on the onsite rotation with work, so losing an hour essentially each morning and evening. Weather continues to be a whiplash. It got up to low 80’s Sunday and it was near freezing Monday morning. The usually discomfort/soreness from long event training session did help in that I was up and active for the earlier start time with work. Work was uneventful for the most part and thankfully it seems most of the people that had been sick in the office for the past few weeks were either better or reverted to an offsite schedule.  Hip flexor issue with the right side persists but not feeling the need for ibuprofen like last week at the end of the week. Also probably because it didn’t really do much. Walking Monday after work (there is daylight now) to see if moving helped with recovery and such as my lower back is still pretty darn cooked from last week. A little delay in starting training figuring out the workout plan for the week. Soft tissue work to start off the day. Right quad needed it the most as tense/tender from the hip flexor issue. Neck rehab stuff felt fine. Lower body stretching was ok followed by a dead hang. From there is was the tempo dumbbell push pressing. Same modification as last week with just pause at lockout and the 4 seconds eccentric. Suggested weight for these was increased to 90lbs for 3x3. Last week I had done smaller jumps and started heavier working up as I felt that with how I need the larger diameter plates on the plateloaded handles that I should do a set with those so the clean wasn’t so rough on these. Knees were feeling a bit achy and with not having as much “free time” after work, I felt it was best to do what I felt would be enough to get ready for the top set and be the least time consuming. I was not expecting the hip flexor issue to be present here. It had only flared up after Thursday session (and I guess during) but it hadn’t been an issue on circus dumbbell but I guess with this being bilateral rather than unilateral, I can’t really move in a way that abates the stress. That wasn’t terribly pleasant. I’ve been in this situation before so I knew I could tolerate it. My lower body was definitely beat as I was essentially stifflegged muscling up the weights to get them into the rack position. The 3lbs increase in weight on the dumbbells was noticed. I think I was also a little hesitant with the clean to shoulders with the hip thing going but I bit the bullet to put a bit more umph into it on the third set and that did go up better to the shoulders (almost got off balance forward). Did attempt to work on being “solid” on the pressing. I seem to relax too much at points. I think because I worry about exhausting myself with straining the entire time if I’m bracing at all points. This is still a work in progress. But these were done and I could move back into the garage for the rest of the session. Axle floor pressing again with the paused lockouts. These were to be decently heavy again. I had been pleased that I had been able to go heavier on these past two weeks of training on these when things have felt not the best with prone pressing. I’m moving things quite well for the most part but it does feel like if I’m not fast that I will hit a wall if that makes sense. It is taking longer than I anticipated to get back into a heavier weight range on pressing (besides circus bell) and deadlifts but getting there. So the plan for the session was 4x2 (still doing the lockout holds) with 10-15lbs more than the weight last week. I was already thinking about doing more than that. Like doing 10lbs more than last week but then being sneaky and adding 5lbs per set. Take advantage of the less fatiguing dumbbell work compared to earlier in the training cycle and feel strong. I decided against that plan only because I decided to stick to straight sets but go up 20lbs. That way I was doing plate and quarter jumps to three plates on the empty axle. This would likely be the most I’ve done of any kind of prone pressing in like 2yrs. First set was powerful and easy. Not quite the case for the other three sets. First rep was always feeling good and strong but could tell on the second reps that there was a slight sticking point and then it went up. But felt good for the most part here. I could tell that my shoulders were a little achy and tense at this point in the workout. Had been at the start. Then on to the first of two supersets that have been the second half of this session this cycle. Chest flyes with internal rotation and single arm triceps. Same weight suggestion for both as last week but going from to 3x12. Again, chest felt a little iffy at the start for these while triceps seemed ok to deal with what was about to happen. Felt some tension and aches in the right shoulder on the flyes. I had done more reps on them to warm up compared to how I have been. Triceps seemed to be fine with everything. I’m fine with having these be lighter weights as the pauses are making them quite tough and exhausting and I am noticing the difference with pressing from doing these this way. Last pairing for the evening still paused banded push ups and the paused face pull variation. Dropping to two sets, same rep range on the push ups and increasing the reps on the face pulls. Notes on the push ups was to try and keep my brace so that I wasn’t having my midsection sag with the push ups. Again, something like how I tend to relax on the overhead. With the drop in sets and with how well the light band had felt last week, I went up to the average band to see if that worked for me. The biggest issue I’m finding is with having the band want to slide down my triceps so that caused me some issues today where I had to reset after four reps on the first set to get things situated again and resume. All the cues did make it a bit tough to know what I was doing on the push ups as working on bracing, holding pause and lockout. There were times I did a pause at lockout by mistake and maybe cut a pause to short. Oh well. Work was done. The face pulls are quite exhausting at this rep range with the pauses. Got through the session and put stuff away and ate dinner before stretching.

March 22, 2026 – Week 5, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

18” Monster Texas Squat Bar Box Squats (4 second eccentrics)
66x5
110x4
154x3
198x2
242.5x2
286.5x3
286.5x3
286.5x3
286.5x3

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses (left side only)
49x5
85x4
108x3
130x2
145x2
30 Second Sets
160x4
EMOM
150x3
150x3
150x2
150x2
150x3

Sandbag Carries (turf)
250x60’
250x60’
turns at 60’
300x120’
300x120’
250x180’

Standing Arm Over Arm Pulls (turf, uphill)
270x30’
320x30’
370x60’
385x60’

Reverse Hyper Extensions
50x20
50x20

Pulldowns (drop sets)
170x8/130x8/100x17
170x8/130x8/100x17

Stretching

Comments: I guess one good thing with this week was not needing allergy meds. But there was discomfort after the last session. Sciatica stuff I think but what was really the big issue was my right hip/top of quad was feeling off and tense. And hard to say if that was what was tweaked or if this was from my lower back just being very tight and tensed from Thursday session. I took ibuprofen Friday to see if that lessened anything and it didn’t really seem to do much of anything. Trying to not let negative thoughts derail me. Saturday my sister came over to train events again. That was all I did that day besides getting some things ready for next week with in office revert. I took more ibuprofen to see if that helped me with my sleeping. Not sure it did anything. I had gone to sleep at a reasonable hour so I could get up at my usual work time as I didn’t want to be out at the gym too late with having to go into work earlier on the revert and not having a day to adjust. I did initially get up but stayed in bed for about another 90 minutes because I didn’t really want to get out of bed as I was worried about training and just a bunch of things swirling around. I needed that time to build up confidence/courage to get out of bed and try and train with the anxiety and the discomfort. Almost forgot to check my weight (back over 260lbs).  I was not sure if I’d be hampered in anyway on stuff besides the mental aspect but I wouldn’t know until I tried. So out to train a bit later than planned. Drive out was fine. Pretty much empty besides some people coming in to train stuff and leaving. Foam rolling only really seemed to need it on my right quad, which was the one that was really tense from whatever. That did feel good but didn’t exactly get the issue fixed. Neck rehab stuff was good. Hoping that anything I was doing warming up would cause something to “click” and have things be back to normal. Lower body stretching was good. Dead hang felt nice. Starting things off with eccentric focus box squats. Indication was to do the same as last week. This was going to be the first test as sometimes sitting down on something and moving from there hadn’t been great. I did some bodyweight assisted squats to box to make sure I was good and my knees weren’t terribly achy. These actually felt surprisingly good. Easier than last week. I ended up doing the same weight and reps as last week with the same setup but taking less rest between sets as I wasn’t feeling so fatigued. Which was not expected considering how wrecked pulls had me compared to last week. But sometimes these lighter squats don’t tell me how I’m going to do when push comes to shove on things. The next thing was what really had me anxious. Not because of possible pain (bending over with a narrow stance and offset) but because I might underperform and “fail”. I felt good last week on these and this was to be a 30 second set with contest weight and then drop down for similar reps/sets as the deadlifts for EMOM with 10lbs less. The good feeling last week was worry this week as I was feeling off with the hip thing. Fearing I’d not hit expectations and other negative minuate. Warming up I was feeling pretty good. I did some extra reps at lighter bells. 145lbs didn’t feel great so I wasn’t quite confident with how 160lbs would go. I’ve definitely done reps with more than this but it had been hit or miss getting all the reps. I just had the one shot here. I wanted to get 4 reps here and that is what I got. I had only 3 seconds left so I didn’t bother trying for 5 here. I had needed a bit of time for reps to settle in the rack and feel ready to press so a little slow and I needed to set down the dumbbell before going for more reps. This bodes well for competition. The EMOMs I was waffling on as have a certain mental rigidity with patterns and numbers. The suggested was 5x3-2. So I decided I’d push myself and pull back if the triples became too much. The first two sets I did triples and I could tell I was getting sloppy on the second set so I decided to go to doubles if the next set didn’t feel strong. I had to wait a good bit for my balance on the second rep with the dumbbell in the rack position before I felt I could go for the press so that meant I went with doubles. Second double I felt crisp and recovered. Last set unless I felt awful, I was going for a triple. That was the biggest relief of the session but my anxiety wasn’t fully resolved. From there on to sandbag carries. My issue was if the pick would be not comfortable/good and how running with weight and the hip would be. The plan for today was warm up to two contest runs and then drop down to 250lbs again but for a 180’ run (so two turns). I was feeling like there shouldn’t be issues with the pick with how box squats and dumbbell went but never know. 250lbs to warm up continues to be demoralizing with how rough it feels. 300lbs the pick does take an effort to do but moving with it feels fine. I was feeling fatigue in my legs on the second set but that ended up being faster by a second then the first set. Neither set felt as good as 300lbs did last week. 250lbs for the long set felt slow to me and my legs were feeling quite tired on the third leg. But it doesn’t seem like I was that slow considering things. Arm over arm next. Last thing for event work. The notes said to make these heavy this week (taking 40-45 seconds to finish). A little tricky as technically my one set last week with 320lbs where I lost footing and had issues was in that range. I figured that adding 50lbs would get me in that range if I was on point. I did 30’ warm ups to get ready. 370lbs would be 5lbs over the most I’ve tried on this exercise in training (also that was with thinner rope and was downhill vs uphill). At this weight, there are some issues with footing with the floor so this did get a bit away from me. Still, this was in the 40-45 seconds range. I erroneously thought that I was good for more with rest if I had better footing. Adding 15lbs more made this a good deal tougher and my footing did not improve from the last set. This was thankfully under 60 seconds but was not fun. I do think that I should be getting in some lighter speed runs just incase. I could tell endurance was fading on this as well. Now the gym stuff. Reverse hypers again. 2x20 with 50lbs. Just for blood flow. I was kind of hoping this would help get things right in the lower back and hips. No dice there but felt good regardless. I think the weight placing I had this time around felt the best setup wise. Then last thing being pulldown drop set. Stil 2 sets but some changes. Increased the weight with jumps altered slightly. 20lbs added for the top weight (6-8 reps) followed by a 40lbs drop (had been 30lbs) for 10lbs more (8 reps) and then 30lbs for the last weight to rep out (10lbs more). I was aiming for 8 reps on the first set. The added weight was noticed here. Lost a good bit of reps. I was very surprised I was able to recover enough to get same reps on the second set. So the session went well. It was high 70’s but didn’t feel like it in the gym. Maybe because I was alone? Ate my food and drove home with plans to get other stuff figured out for Monday. Stretched when I got back.

March 19, 2026 – Week 5, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

13” Wagon Wheel Axle Deadlifts (straps)
116x5
206x3
296x2
386x1
456x1
526x3
526x3
526x3
526x3
526x2 (missed 3rd)
526x2

Sandbag to Shoulders (left side only)
175x1/225x1
265x1/305x1
265x1/305x0

Sandbag Pick/Lap/Stand
363x1

Deadstop Safety Bar Good Mornings (lower to deadlift pull height)
65x6
115x6
165x12
165x12
165x12

Sandbag Zercher Stationary Lunges (0-1-0-1 tempo)
bwx8/8
112x8/8
112x8/8
112x8/8

Deadstop Supported Single Leg Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts/Pull Ups
62x6/6 – bwx1
112x6/6 – bwx9
112x6/6 – bwx7

Stretching

Comments: Been having stress dreams. I’m not sure if it is the increased stress at work, anxiety of upcoming competition or specifically this workout today and Sunday. It could be a combo of some or all really. I got an extra day of rest to prepare for this one. Soft tissue foam rolling surprisingly not much was needed and my quads needed it the most. Neck rehab stuff followed I guess that was needed. My shoulders had been feeling a little tense and stiff from Tuesday session. Lower body stretching and dead hang after that. Just the normal amount here. Then on to the actual workout. It looked like a lot on paper and I was even considering doing just the deadlifts during my lunch break and then the rest of th session after work as I was worried that it would take a lot out of me and that it would be a really late night for me. But I thought better of it and kept things as they were. Axle pulls again. I was expecting the volume but wasn’t expecting it to be essentially heavier than last week’s “heavy” week. The suggested was to do 525lbs for 6 sets of 2-3 reps depending on how I feel. I had been pleased with how things were last week on these and this felt like it was going to be incredibly tough. I did plate jumps to start warming up and then switched to 70lbs jumps after that. Things were feeling ok but not amazing. Unfortunately, I had the lightheaded feeling on the first working set and I had to take a moment between each rep to get myself right again. Which really killed the momentum of the set and made for a very difficult three reps. This felt like an almost max effort and I was still expecting myself to be better here and essentially do 5 more sets with my 3rm on these. As such, I took longer rests than I usually do besides suited work (takes time to setup straps and weights). Talking like 5 minutes rests between sets at most. Second set and third set did feel better than the first. I was surprising myself with my ability to keep going and repeat and dig deep on these. I got through four sets at triples before I hit a wall on fifth one. I knew after I had to take a moment after the second rep that I might miss this lift and I just didn’t get it above my knees. My body just starts shaking in the hamstrings at that point. I was not able to get myself super hyped up as these were just draining and grinding me down. I only went for a double on the last set then and knew that going for a third here would’ve been bad news (I was entertaining doing 4 reps to try and hype myself up to make up for missing a rep). This was a lot of heavy volume and I feel the biggest ask on deadlifts since starting training with Ms. Funk. I kind of hope that next sessions pull back a lot on the volume so I can recover because I was feeling wiped after this one. And I still had everything else to go. Now I didn’t feel so out of it like I did the session we won’t speak of again lol. Used the time putting stuff away as a brief respite to get some liquids in. Sandbag to shoulder following up. I had some confidence back with these after hitting 305lbs last week comfortably and making 300lbs feel really easy on the carry Saturday. Volume was pulled back here. I mean, it has been fairly low volume the entire prep compared to other events. No singles this week though. Trying to get in reps with different bags to kind of get used to doing more than one bag in the time frame at the show in case I go too big or too light. How I had left the bags in the garage last week, I needed to move them around to start light and work my way up. The lighter bags are kind of an afterthought at this point with my old style but I’m still a little off when coming down from the deadlifts and knowing there is more to come. The true working weight was the 265lbs and the 305lbs sandbag. Plan for the day was to do 1-2 sets of single with each bag taking 5 seconds or so rest between. I could tell I was knackered from deadlifts as I just had no umph in me on these compared to last week. But I still managed to get 305lbs up there on the first set. I probably should’ve stopped there as I got one set in but I remembered how last week I felt not great on my first set with 265lbs and was thinking not happening with 305lbs but then the second one flew up and I then did 305lbs convincingly. 265lbs had went up pretty nice first set and I’m actually surprised that 305lbs didn’t stall on me with the fumble I had with the lapping of the bag. Second attempt 265lbs was about the same and pick was harder on 305lbs but it felt like it was more secure in the lap but I just didn’t have the power or gumption today and it stalled on me. I tried to reset and go again but it wasn’t to be. I know that I’m wasted from all the deadlifts and I got the 305lbs again with fatigue beforehand so not a total wash here. The next thing was the other aspect of the workout that had me stressing out something fierce. The next bag in my garage setup is 363lbs. I’ve had it for 5-6yrs now and it has just sat in there gathering dust and spiders. I’ve never attempted to lift it besides just moving it onto handtruck to move from one side of the garage to the other where it has sat. But apparently today was going to be the day to lift it in some fashion. Ms. Funk was not expecting me to shoulder this behemoth. Notes were to pick it up and stand up with it forcefully. I do have the arms to pick this bag long ways like I do other bags but considering how much deadlifts took out of me and that this would be a 27lbs PR to lap this bag, I had resigned myself to picking it up in a more advantage position and hope that worked. The size of it is daunting. This is where I feel I need to have more time and practice with the bags like this as this feels nothing like the smaller bags. Picking it up this way wasn’t easy as I was a little high up on the bag and it didn’t quite clear my legs and I had to be really awkward with it to get into position on my lap to be able to have it secure and then stand up with it. It didn’t feel bad once in my lap and standing up with. Pick always been the issue with sandbag. I could walk with it for a bit (and I’ve done heavier with husafell stuff). Like I said, I’d need to mess with this some more to make it more efficient and see if a different tactic with getting off the lap works here. It didn’t feel impossible is all I’m saying for now. Anyways, got a little bit of liquids down and then on to the accessories for the session. Which I was not looking forward to. First up on that order being gms with the ssb to rack height. Same as last week and I wasn’t complaining here. My lower back was just wrecked at this point and I was doing double takes with the height of the rack arms but they were right. Thankfully, adding my belt made these somewhat tolerable (as feeling like crap warming up). Sandbag zercher lunges with tempo pauses again. Starting to get intense again with increased reps. I was missing the cue here that wanting to engage upper back more with not just crushing with arms but pulling back. So I tried my best there. I took each side as a rest period rather than trying to force things be shorter between sides with the reps increased to 8. My joints were feeling these today in my knees, hips and ankles. Right inner hip area was still feeling stiff and achy after I was done. It has been a bit since one of the hips has gotten annoyed with me. The last thing was a superset. The supported dead stop single leg dumbbell rdls and pull ups. Weight increased on the rdls by 10lbs and reps reduced to 6 reps. Again, thankful for the rep reduction and that only two sets after the workout today. I was also expecting my pull up numbers to be higher since less prefatigued on with the rdls. Left side feels more hamstring than the right (which feels more quad engagement). But finally I was done and able to rehydrate and eat. Not going to be as late a night as I thought. I will definitely be needed two days rest. Stretched after eating. Hoping that the aches and such go away with rest and recover.