November 2, 2026 – Week 10, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

12” Log Incline Bench Presses
90x8
120x6
150x4
180x2
200x1
220x6
220x6
220x6
Add 1 Second Pauses
185x14

Inverted Ring Rows
bwx5
bw+40x12
bw+45x12
bw+47.5x12
bw+50x12

Iso Seated Log Pin Presses (5 seconds)/Dumbbell Lateral Raises/Band Y Raises to Hold (10 seconds)
87x3
87x3/28’sx10/µb’sx10
87x3/28’sx10/µb’sx10
87x3/28’sx10/µb’sx10

Strap Overhead Band Triceps Extensions
mbx20
mbx20
mbx20

Stretching

Comments: There have been some disc bulge symptoms continuing from this past week but thankfully not to what it had been at the beginning of the week. More like the stuff I was noticing in July of this year with nerve pulses down the right leg. Part of that may be from the increased weights and demands on lower back with the shift from off-season to in-season. Again, it was a good call on my part to take the day off work today from having the daylight savings end and clocks going back an hour. It’s a little change but throws me for a loop and I need more than one day to get somewhat on board with it. Like, I don’t feel tired earlier and I end up staying up later. It getting darker out sooner makes me feel less motivated and with all the debris from the trees with leaves and people raking stuff into the streets, it doesn’t feel like a good idea to walk when I get home from work at night. So this month will be not as much walking I’m afraid. Another surprise this past week is apparently me being up 5lbs from last check in. 269lbs so will have to see how that pans out next Sunday. I did walk Sunday since likely not getting in more walking during the week. Right knee is touchy (but in the muscular way). Plan for today with training was to get the workout in earlier while there was some light outside since going to be darkness going forward (though November has a fair number of holidays). And another US based strongman organization was just announced yesterday. Oh joy. Foam rolling starting things off. I guess I was more beat than I thought. I had felt a bit stiff in the lower back and hips on Saturday session just moving around. My right calf needed it at odd spots and not where I was expecting. The left calf needed more than I was thinking as well. Both hamstrings needed more than usual with the right almost double the left. Outer hamstring and glute-tie ins were sore. Quads needed about a minute on both sides so definitely the most I’ve needed so since I’ve been doing foam rolling in the past 3yrs. Upper back was probably the thing that needed the least work this time around. Neck rehab/mobility stuff followed that seemed to be ok. Could tell shoulders and chest were tight here. No issues with glute activation or lower body mobility. Longer holds on the stretches. Dead hang to finish things up and get a little more decompression and stretch out the chest some more. On to training outside. A bit odd with how I was feeling as it didn’t exactly feel warm but I was feeling warm. Right into the pressing this time like last week. Shoulders felt a little more beat compared to last time on these log inclines but I knew I could handle what was being asked here and not dig deep of the reserve effort well. Plan here was same warming up as last week and then doing the top weight for 3x6. I didn’t feel as strong as last week but I knew I didn’t need to be to get through these reps no problem. Only one set of paused reps this week as it was for max reps. 5lbs more than last week’s working weight sets here. Now the plan was to be 1-2RIR but I guess I thought that 13th rep felt like I had 2RIR and went for another when that redlined me at 14 reps and a helicoptering grinder. Oops. No metronome for these as 1 seconds not an issue to count out mentally really. Based off my last time doing stuff or best case here, my top sets are 20lbs off what I did over 5yrs ago. I need to be mindful where I’m at to gauge where I will be by the end of this. Into the garage after that for the inverted ring rows. I had setup this at the start with the incline log stuff so that I didn’t have to do too much to move from one thing to the next and it would be my own pace between exercises. Once again, 4x12 leaving reps in reserve. No repping on the last set like last week. Aim is that every other session I think. What I had written down was 40lbs in the backpack for these after doing bodyweight for a few. Once again, these are feeling quite strong so I ended up adding weight each set. 50lbs did feel challenging by the end. I think these are helpful with also my hips/spine with having me brace on these against resistance on the lap. I had felt some of the nerve pulses on the incline stuff. Back outside for the unique triset. Same as last week with reps and sets and weight besides adding 2lbs to the laterals. This setup seems to take a bit to get ready and I feel quite cooked by the end of it on the raises. Warming up was just the log and me not going full bore with pressing into the pins so as to get myself used to it. Pushing hard during the working sets. The first set of laterals felt quite easy but by the end it was definitely feeling taxing here. The y raises also get fatiguing by the end as well. Got two more weeks of this and hopefully what I’m aiming for here (combined with the past push press cycle) comes to fruition. Back into the garage for some light triceps work. Same as last week with 3x12-20 reps with the mini band. These had felt really easy at the start and got challenging by the end of the last set when doing 20 reps. I stuck to same band tension and it did feel like less fatigue in the right side by the end of it compared to last week. Not pushing the log push pressing just yet this coming Saturday. I ate my later in the day lunch and put stuff away before getting some stuff ready for work tomorrow and then stretching out later.

October 31, 2026 – Week 9, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Paused Behind The Neck Strict Presses (3 seconds behind head)/Half Kneeling Single Arm Band Lat Pulldowns
45x10/lbx15—15
45x10/lbx15--15

12” Log Push Presses (beltless)
88x5
110x3
132x2
154x1
176x3
176x3
176x3
176x3
176x3

Front Squats (beltless)
5-1-0-0 tempo
45x7
3-1-0-0 tempo
89x3
133x3
177x2
221x2
265.5x3
271x3
276.5x3
282x3

Reverse Band Hack Squats (lb’s)
+90x5
+140x5
+190x5
+240x5
+290x15
+300x15

Sandbag Carries (turns at 50’)
255x100’
255x100’
255x100’
255x100’

Paused Snatch Grip Back Extensions (3 seconds)/Belt Squat Donkey Calf Raises
110x8/bw+180x20
110x8/bw+180x17

Stretching

Comments: I accept that myself will always been stressed out by new things, even if I want to do them. Thursday I did my soft tissue work and walking as Friday I took off work for the wedding I was invited to that was right near Philadelphia in the evening. There are just some things that as a 41yr old with autism that are new things not done with help/assistance. Booking my hotel room is oddly enough one of those things (which thankfully was painless but expensive). I was stressed and had to take allergy meds and I almost had a “meltdown” in the parking lot trying to park but I’ve thankfully learned a thing or two being me for over 4 decades (and coping stuff from therapy) that I cancelled that self-destruct sequence and nothing went wrong. Ok, so I forgot toothpaste but that’s it. I’m also not a fan of the Schuylkill Express Way (which has to be named ironically). Leaving in the morning to drive to Lancaster then to train. I knew that with travel and stress and sleeping in a different bed that I had to be prepared for possibly subpar or altered training. Driving away from Philadelphia better than driving to it. There were people there when I arrived and people after I left. As if I didn’t get my ears talked off at the wedding the day before, I apparently had to talk off the ears of those present. Eventually I got to doing foam rolling. My right side legs needed more attention than my left side, which has been the case for some time. The tops of my calves with the trigger points needing a good bit today to get things to calm down on me. Right hamstring needed about double the left and about the same with the quads here. Upper back thankfully didn’t need that much today. Neck rehab stuff was ok. I didn’t feel that tight or tense. Had felt a little of that with travel but did manage to get my neck to calm down before I went to bed the night before. Glute activation fine and lower body mobility also fine and dead hang was fine (actually felt quite good). On to training. A bit of change to the warming up as this was switched to be more focused on just the pressing for the day. I may adjust this going forward to include something for the lower body. Superset of paused btn presses and half kneeling single arm lat work. Light stuff but working on getting position points and muscles/movements on point. Open up the chest and get the lats pumped and stretched. Which then leads to the event training with log press. It has been over 2 months. Aim was to still be light with the leg drive pressing as switching from more incline focus to log press focus. I also didn’t want to bother with cleans until I finished up with back extensions. Took a bit to setup something to do them from jerk blocks/crash pads. I don’t plan on doing these heavy from here as not a comfortable position. The other option was cumbersome and not something I like using either. 65% for 5x3 with about 90 seconds rest. No support gear (I meant to do wrist wraps but didn’t pack them). Unrack on these was awkward and just finding balance point to be stable for initiating the press was tricky but pressing felt easy. I don’t recall this log being this banged up the last I recall using it. I went with kilogram jumps and I was only to work up to 165lbs but went with 10kgs jumps here. I did some dip drives to get the lower body pattern working here. I feel like more something I need to do with unrack on log vs if it was cleaned (not an issue with axle or barbell). Plan next week is same but another set to keep getting familiarized again. From there, onto front squats. Last week of beltless and tempo emphasis (switching to paused and belt). I wasn’t sure with how my right knee was feeling how things would go here. It had thankfully not been an issue on log (tend to be when doing out of rack and not with a clean). I ended up doing longer eccentrics and more reps with just the bar to make sure things were feeling good and to get my knees warmed up (hence thinking maybe I add something to the warming up). The plan for this session was to work up to 4x3 with 5kgs more than last time. But really I’d like to push more but I couldn’t think of a way to have it be closer to 10kgs and go from the 20kgs jumps I was doing. So I decided that if the first set felt fine that I’d add 2.5kgs per set so that I’d top off over 280lbs at the end. The added weight was noticed by the end for sure but good to be doing over bodyweight for reps without any belt on these. No clue how much adding a belt will do here. Reverse band hack squats next. Initially I was planning to drop these after last week but felt it was perhaps important to push these a little further but cut back on them still. So work up in 5’s to 2x15 with decent reps in the tank. I did smaller jumps than usual to make sure knees were good to go on these. I probably could’ve done 300lbs for both sets but I wanted to be safe rather than sorry. One more week of the same then. Sandbags after that. I had deviated that last time I was doing the carries with doing 2x200’ instead of 2x100-150’. This time I stuck to doing 4x100’. Not yet switching to the shorter course length for show. Aim was to do 255lbs with 90 seconds rest here so just pump these out. I was expecting my knees to be the factor on these but turns out these got my hamstrings hard. Apparently the paused rdls hit that same spot haha. I alternated sides with tilting the bag to pick and lap. I’m pleased with how that aspect had been feeling. But I know I need to be moving quicker. Perhaps that will be the case when I’m not prefatiguing with heavy front squats and hack squats. The last thing had some modifications. Initially to be a triset of back extensions, calf raises and tib raises. But I did want to finally go home and not differ my protein shake another week. But more so that I was thinking I needed to pull back on the ankle stuff as maybe not recovering from the intensity. I only really kept in the donkey calf raises here as I can kind of bastardize them to get some ankle/triple extension going on. This would be the last session of the snatch grip back extensions since going to be doing log clean and press shortly (and doing block pulls now). First set of the back extensions was fine. The belt squat donkey calf raises I had my hand towels to pad the right side but I didn’t have it in the right spot and I had to stop the set to adjust before finishing out. Stupid nerve pinching. The second set the nerves in my ankles decided to flair up when they had not on the first set so that wasn’t pleasant on the back extensions (why I generally wear knee sleeves on them). No issues with the nerve issue on the raises but I wasn’t recovering good and the rep quality was poor so shut it down. Down the shake as I put stuff away and finally home to stretch and decompress. I way already planning for late dinner. Clocks move back an hour so Sunday will be a day to get things sorted out and taking off Monday to give me a little more time to adjust.

October 28, 2026 – Week 9, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

Paused Seated Band Hamstring Curls (1 second)
ab’sx20
ab’sx20

18” Jack Stand Pulls w/ bands (straps, +50/+100)
No Bands
135x5
Add Bands
185x3
225x2
275x1
315x1
365x1
EMOM
405x1
405x1
405x1
405x1
405x1
405x1
405x1
405x1
405x1
405x1

Paused Romanian Deadlifts (3 seconds at midshin, beltless)
135x3
225x3
Added Straps
315x10
315x10
315x10

Safety Squat Bar Front Foot Elevated Split Squats (4”)
bwx5/5
65x3/3
95x12/12
95x12/12
95x12/12

Cossack Squats
bwx8/8
bwx8/8
bwx8/8

Paused Ab Wheel Roll-outs (3 seconds)/Safety Squat Bar Single Leg Seated Calf Raises (0-3-0-3 tempo)
bwx16 – 105x15/15
bwx10 – 105x15/15
bwx8 – 105x15/15

Stretching

Comments: Been feeling a little anxious and I don’t know if it is just because switching back to commuting cycle next week or combination of that and having to drive Friday for wedding (will be a first for me booking my own hotel for overnight stay too). Or just anticipation for changes in training. I’m starting to feel like I feel strong. But I’m also annoyed still with how boring the qualifier events are and really wish I knew what the events would possibly be for other competitions. I keep seeing shows that pop up and it is just standard stuff. I want interesting events. I want to try out new methods on things. But got to survive the boredom of off-season. As I need to make sure I’m fit to hold up to competition strain. Work just trying to keep it so that I only have a few must dos tomorrow and then not my problem until Tuesday. I forgot to mention weight was down a little bit in Day 1 write-up but still 264lbs or above lately. Not too surprising considering I missed meals Saturday. But on to here and now. Foam rolling my calves needed it in the usual spots. Nothing out of ordinary with hamstrings. Right quad needed it a ton and left one was bit better. Upper back needed it again. Neck rehabbing exercises were fine. Chest was tight so stretches felt good. Nothing really of note besides that. Lower body stuff with glute activation and mobility felt fine. Been doing longer holds for most of the stretches now in warming up here. Dead hang was ok too and felt pretty great on my chest and back. Then actual training. Band leg curls but not tempo style. Notes were 2x15-20 with slight pauses but I don’t really like that and like to have a definite pause if I can help it. These are great deal easier than tempo so increased the band tension. Hamstrings not as cooked here but could tell work. Then a true change up in the order of operations as the rdls were not next. Trying out something here. Initially, this was going to be just 3 weeks of elevated deadlifts for building before going into alternating band pulls with deadlifts and pause work. But I thought on it and kind of wanted to have things alternate at this point with a “speed” and then heavy rep day like I will be doing after this transition phase. And by speed, I mean having 18” pulls with band tension done EMOM style. I’ve done these for a short bit alternated with heavy rep deadlifts and I had felt pretty strong at the show this was for (hit 585lbs for a triple) and I figure I can kind of merge them and see if I can get to around that strength for Regionals. This was going to be a bit of jump considering 331lbs heaviest I’ve done on anything with a barbell since World’s in August. So over 2 months. It would be a bit spicy at lockout with the band tension. Lower back was feeling a bit of a pump. I went with all my deadlift gear for these. I did 10 singles with 405lbs (previous time was 5 singles) and I definitely feel like I have a better “engine” for repeat efforts and I felt like I needed more reps to get to having my pull feel efficient by the end. I was keeping an eye on my right ankle/foot as it felt “sluggish” today and not as active feeling as my left. Setting that up and putting that way took time which I did use to hydrate as not many options on this session to not feel queasy. The beltless work on the rdls continues. New variation. I’ve been going with tempo stuff and to the floor with wide grips and increased ROM but not this time. 3x10 with hopefully RPE 7-7.5 here with 3 second pauses at midshin. I was aiming for 275-315lbs range as not sure how the pauses would be for me and how I’d handle the 18” stuff. Apparently using my shoulder width grip and not having to do long eccentrics makes these quite easy. I didn’t want to push it too much here in the event that I fatigued hard on these by the end but I probably needed another 20lbs here as I think I had like 5RIR with maybe not that much on the last set only. It was nice to be moving 315lbs that fast and easy. This is why I trust the off-season light stuff and tempo to get body feeling good again as I can tend to push things up pretty good when target is in sight. Next was the ffe split squats with the ssb. Plan was initially 3x12 with 95lbs or so. I had left it open to adding more weight if it felt good. But I was leery about doing these with how my right ankle had been on them last week. I was going to see how they were today and if I had issues like last week, ditch them and do something else. I didn’t need as much warming up for these so that was a plus. I started with my stronger side because that was the side with my ankle in the supporting role that was acting up last week. Right side had a tougher time with these. I only had a slight issue with the ankle on the dismount of the second set and then nothing after that. So knock on wood. The right side working with the support side in stretch felt a little off at times. But only on the second set. Noticing on video that my left side isn’t going over the toes as much as I felt like it was. Shin almost seems vertical while right side does have some movement. Replacing the copenhagen plank lift holds was Cossack squats. Mobility with the stretch in that area. Plan being just bodyweight for 3x8. If these felt off in anyway on my knees, hips or ankles I was bailing on them. But as luck would have it, I was able to do these and not needing any knee sleeves. So able to keep at that of not using them on this day. Not used to them beyond the stretch as part of warm up. I don’t plan to have them in for long, just for the pivoting phase in the training. Last thing was a superset. The seated calf raises are still with us but the new addition was hip flexor/abdominal work. Paused ab wheel roll-outs. For those, 3 seconds holds and aim was to do max reps leaving 2-3RIR or so each of the three sets. The seated calf raises doing 3x15 with same tempo as it has been and adding 10lbs to last week. The reps on the ab wheel dropped off substantially after the first set. As tends to be the case. This weight on the calf raises actually feeling like work for both sides now. My camera decided to not film these however. Put stuff away and got to eating dinner. Stretched later. One more day of work and then long weekend (but doing wedding/travel stuff Friday).

October 26, 2026 – Week 9, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

12” Log Incline Bench Presses
90x8
120x6
150x4
180x2
200x1
220x8
200x8
Add 1 Second Pauses
180x8
180x8

Inverted Ring Rows
bw+30x12
bw+35x12
bw+40x12
bw+45x16

Iso Seated Log Pin Presses (5 seconds)/Dumbbell Lateral Raises/Band Y Raises to Hold (10 seconds)
87x3
87x3/26’sx10/µb’sx10
87x3/26’sx10/µb’sx10
87x3/26’sx10/µb’sx10

Strap Overhead Band Triceps Extensions
mbx20
mbx20
mbx20

Stretching

Comments: Sunday evening I was noticing what felt like disc bulge symptoms on the left side lower back and I was struggling to figure what was the culprit. As sometimes it takes a day or two before I feel the effects of the mischief I do to myself. It did provide some distraction from thinking about ankle. I managed to have something shift shortly before I had to wake up on Monday morning and that seemed to do it and not have any issues as it lessened throughout the day. Maybe it was from the sandbag roll ups. Who knows really. Trying to get my walks in this week as I’m going to be off work Friday for a wedding I have to travel a bit too and then back to commuting the following week with the time shift so going to be dark when I get home from work. Wasn’t too sure how today’s training would go with this being the transition period from the “off season” to “competition prep”. I didn’t feel as distracted getting myself to get up to start training despite having been blasted at work with, well, work. Foam rolling starting things off. Calves needed a decent amount but nothing like Wednesday or Saturday last week. My right hamstring needed a ton today. Quads also did. Hell, upper back also in that same boat. Neck rehab/mobility stuff followed that seemed to be ok. I didn’t have anything feeling tight on me in the upper body to the extent I had last week. My biceps weren’t sore like last time after doing similar Day 3 session so either adapted already or just a fluke. No issues with glute activation or lower body mobility. A little longer stretch on these in some spots. Dead hang to finish things up and get a little more decompression before starting training. On to training outside. Right into the pressing this time. No prefatigue stuff needed this time. I had made the execute decision to lower the incline to what I’ve been normally pressing from for incline bench from the high incline benching. My shoulders were telling me it had run its course. I had questions on if this was the right decision. I can emphatically say yes in retrospect. The plan was to work up to a top set of 8 reps, drop 10% for another set and then a further 10% for 2x8 with pauses. Nothing complicated and obviously having something that is easy to make adjustments with works best here. This was where I wasn’t sure what carryover I’d be seeing here as I felt that I should be able to do more weight than the higher incline but I’ve not really been doing this style. So would it feel normal to me or are my shoulders not recovering? My aim was 220lbs for 20lbs more than what I was topping out with on the high incline variation. At the start, wasn’t feeling it but as I did more sets, I knew I’d have to have some kind of fluke to not be using that weight once I got up to 180lbs. Music had me vibing/stimming and I’ve found that I do well when I’m in that kind of state so just went with the wave rather than try to contain or fight it. This was good, didn’t break out into a cold sweat and didn’t need to take as long to rest between sets to recover. No issue with the down set and pauses felt good as well. Having push press session and then this session feel like it was meant to be is a good feeling. I feel my best when things move well. No grinders. I do think the higher incline for the weeks before were a good thing but need to be when light on the other stuff as harder for shoulders to recover. Into the garage after that for the inverted ring rows. These have been with pauses recently and this week was higher reps without pauses. 4x12 leaving 1-2RIR on the last set if repping it out. I initially was looking at doing 20lbs in the back pack before I realized no pauses this time. So added 10lbs. 30lbs was way too easy so I guess not doing straight weight sets today. Never can tell if the pauses going away will result in that much of a limiter being taken off. I had almost considered changing up the style of row for this session with the other stuff planned but I see this is still giving me great training and results. So unlike the past few weeks, I wasn’t sticking to being in the garage. Outside for a triset. It has been like 3yrs since I’ve done this particular one and I feel that at the time I wasn’t appreciative of it and hopefully I can implement it in a good way this time. The triset combines a few things with log press but the main component is the overcoming isometrics. Seated log press with the empty log into pins for triples of 5 second bursts start the madness. Right at the sticking point or so. I’m too tall to do these standing so seated. I had to do some half-hearted attempts to make sure I was feeling okay and able to put full intensity into the actual sets. Wore all my support gear minus knee sleeves just so I had the bracing. Stripped off the gear and went into the second part with dumbbell lateral raises. Light effort stuff here as the isometrics really fry me (only doing them for a few weeks). Just 10 reps here. Thankfully not really bothering my left elbow. The last part was then y-band raises. Upper back and shoulder mobility and then holding at lockout on the last rep. These were quite taxing as well with the hold and I feel like of the things in the triset, these were the thing I was recovering the poorest on. Two more trips through this to finish up. I feel that if I had stuck to high incline in same session, it would’ve taken away from these with how much these hit my shoulders (as well as triceps and upper back). Back into the garage for some light triceps work. This was more to get ROM and blood flow after the more intense stuff. Plan was to do just 2 sets of 12-20 reps with just a mini band anchored away on a dumbbell on the floor. I decided to add the strap I used for the face pulls here as I liked how that felt and I don’t like the tactile sensation of thin rubber bands digging into my hands with tension applied. These were short rests and that first set felt so easy I decided I’d do 3 sets. Second set did get tougher and almost reconsidered the added 3rd set to come. My right triceps felt like it was behind with gassing out easier than my left. Put stuff away as I got dinner ready and stretched afterwards.

October 24, 2026 – Week 8, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Paloff Back Breaker Presses/Step Ups w/ Band TKEs (12”, ab)/Dead Bugs
mb’sx10 – bwx15/15 – bwx5/5
mb’sx10 – bwx15/15 – bwx5/5

Paused Push Presses (beltless, 3 seconds in dip)
45x5
75x3
97x2
119x2
141x2
163x2
EMOM
185x2
185x2
185x2
185x2
185x2
185x2
185x2
185x2

Front Squats (beltless, 3-1-0-0 tempo)
45x5
89x3
133x3
177x2
221x2
254x4
254x4
254x4
254x4

Reverse Band Hack Squats (lb’s)
+90x5
+180x5
+270x5
+320x10
+320x10
+320x10

RNT Sandbag Roll-ups off Box (lb, 20”)
225x3
275x8
275x8
275x8

Lying Leg Curls (up with 2, down with 1, 5 seconds eccentrics)
45x6(3/3)
60x6(3/3)
75x4(2/2)
90x4(2/2)
110x14(7/7)
110x12(6/6)
110x10(5/5)

Belt Squat Donkey Calf Raises/Paused Tibia Dorsi Calf Machine (3 seconds)
bw+130x20/+100x25
bw+150x20/+100x25

Stretching

Comments: Work stressed me out more than last week did and I think part of that was my right ankle that had felt off doing those split squats Wednesday. I forwent walking Thursday and focused more on sleep and soft tissue work. Friday I did go for a walk and thankfully no issues with my ankle. I can’t tell if just more sensitive to the aches/pains with knowing that something wasn’t feeling good there or if my hypochondriac tendencies are also in play with every niggle. I had meant to go to bed early Friday but my body had other plans I guess. I also had some ideas with training plan that I didn’t want to tamp down before bed as that could be something I forget or it could keep me up. I guess I needed it as I slept for nearly 11hrs. I was not thrilled that I was getting up only a little before 11:00AM. I had not had the foresight to pack stuff up the night before either. I was feeling like I needed allergy meds too but thankfully not the case. I did pack a protein shake but odds were high that I’d save it for another time and try to eat dinner at a reasonable hour rather than weight until late at night for stomach to settle. Driving to gym still requiring slight detours to avoid the worst of construction bullshit congestion. There were like 3-4 people at most at the gym (no one strongman) and but only at the beginning and end of my training session. Majority it was 1-2 people. Foam rolling to start things off. My calves needed some work and I was more so focused on the right side to also see how the ankle was doing. I’d have to see how the things I do today affect it (if at all) and potentially come up with alternatives for exercises next time and for Day 2 next week. I have to realize I can pick what I want here as not having a coach and if I feel that risk positions of some stuff isn’t worth the justification, I can pick something else. Right hamstring felt fine but needed to do stuff for the left one. Both quads needed a ton today. Upper back needed some but not as much as past few times. Neck rehab stuff was ok. I didn’t feel the tension in my right side biceps/shoulder that had been somewhat present the past two sessions so that was good. Glute activation fine and lower body mobility also fine. No issues with the ankle here either so good to know I can be in deep squat position and bound side to side. Dead hang was fine. On to training. With it being cooler now, I’m not sweating as much at the strongman gym and it feels less stifling when less people there as well. But I knew I’d likely need to have the one fan on when I was doing my main lifting in the one corner. Starting the lifting with the triset of the back breaker paloff presses, step ups with band TKEs and dead bugs. This will be last week of these before changing up the warming up protocol for switching from barbell to log next week. The paloff felt a little unstable at times but ok. The step ups I was curious how these would feel on the ankle as possible viable option workaround this coming week. I ended up doing more reps just because. I think I wanted to get more blood flow in my knee joint. The dead bugs were fine. From there, on to push pressing again. Last week of using barbell. I’ve been pleased with how I’ve been feeling with barbell push pressing and while the weights are low, I’ve been feeling like things are moving well. I’ve liked the pause cycle more than the eccentric cycle but I know both are important. Today for last session was 70% for 8x2. I was a little uncertain with lower body drive and the ankle and just from having things feel rough with shoulders on Monday session. Things were feeling good and I went with a somewhat EMOM style rest just because I was feeling good. Assuming this shows results in my actual event pressing, I welcome doing this cycle again (I cut it 3 weeks short since contest prep transition). From there, onto front squats. Still beltless and tempo emphasis. I’m glad I was able to put up somewhat decent weights last week and I wasn’t too sure with the ankle and if I could do the aggressive increase with how things were. Plan was to do 5kgs more than last week’s working weight for 4x4. That had been more based on doing straight sets last time but I went up each set so this was going to be a good bit more than originally planned. Ankle had been fine with my mobility prep warming up and no issues thankfully with warming up here. First set was a little rough as the straps got in my eyes unracking and stayed there for the set. I knew that I’d likely feel better on the next set. Which was the case. Third set was tougher and then got easier again on the last set. So good result there. I didn’t have to rest that long after these were done to do the reverse band hack squats. I had actually set it up mostly after the push pressing so I could get fluids in me and hopefully have it be enough time that I was fighting the urge to upchuck. I was late enough that the one lady had left by this point. Plan for today was to do 10lbs more than 2 weeks ago for 3x10. I didn’t think this would be an issue considering how 340lbs added last week had went. Warming up was feeling pretty smooth. I did have some concerns with knees and ankle stuff but again, no real issues here. I managed to keep shorter rests compared to last week here. Sandbag time. Kind of settled for now with alternating carries and the roll-ups from box. I had a bit of downtime here after the hack squats because I wanted to get an accurate inventory of what sandbags were actually available for planning purposes. So time for more fluids and a bit of effort moving hundreds of pounds of sandbags. This severed as a good bit of warm up for me for this. Plan was 255-275x3x8. I had done 255lbs and picks had been a little tougher than I’d liked last time but I figured I’d see how 225lbs felt and go from there. 275lbs actually felt easier than 255lbs had so that was a nice surprise. I guess something I’m doing is getting sandbag picks feeling decently strong again. The extensions feel like a formality. I can’t triple extend as my lower legs are not strong enough to move my bodyweight unassisted without losing balance. I’m working on that. After that was more intense hamstring work. Another week of lying leg curl 2 up and 1 down. Only keeping these in a little because this is quite intense. Aim was more reps with same weight as last time. My right side struggles mightily with these and that is fine. Same as last time with partial rest between sides and normal rest between sets. At this point in the session, I felt it was too late to down a protein shake and figured I’d just power through and make dinner when I got home. The last thing being superset of belt squat donkey calf raises and the tib machine raises. I wasn’t sure how ankle would treat these but seemed to be fine. The donkey calf raises still figuring these out. Plan was to increase weight on both a good bit with increasing rep range 12-20 reps on the donkeys. First set there was discomfort from the belt digging into my side and pinching a nerve so I added a wash cloth to give some relief on the second set with more weight. I had upped the weight substantially on the tib stuff after last week. I think finally found the limit on these. Put stuff away and got gas on the way home and started on dinner right away. Eventually stretched after finishing dinner and watching the Rogue Invitational.

October 21, 2026 – Week 8, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

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

Wide Grip 1” Platform Romanian Deadlifts (beltless, straps, 5 seconds eccentrics)
135x5
185x5
235x3
285x3
331x8
331x8
298x11

Safety Squat Bar Front Foot Elevated Split Squats (4”)
bwx5/5
bwx5/5
65x3/3
85x10/10
90x10/10
95x10/10

Paused Copenhagen Plank Lifts (1 second)
bwx12/12
bwx12/12
bwx12/12 (10 seconds hold last rep)

Standing Band Hip Adductions/Hanging L-Sits/Safety Squat Bar Single Leg Seated Calf Raises (0-3-0-3 tempo)
(2)µbx20/20 – bw+10x20 seconds – 95x20/20
(2)µbx20/20 – bw+10x20 seconds – 95x20/20

Stretching

Comments: I was feeling off mentally on Tuesday and I realized I needed to make an adjustment as I was not feeling myself. Having a set of one exercise feel tougher than I expected it shouldn’t be that detrimental to my mental wellbeing that I’m doubting myself and feeling like I’m out of my depth. Things didn’t work out with getting in a walk on Tuesday with important stuff during my lunch break leaving me with not enough time to do a walk and having family stuff sooner after work than expected. But I was feeling worn out and it was only Tuesday. I figured best plan was to get to sleep earlier as I didn’t get as much sleep as usually do the past two nights. I wasn’t feeling a ton better Wednesday but I had at least a plan. I think mentally buffering a lot of client hardship and having to recall it the following day has not been helping. But a plan was at least something. Assuming I don’t feel off this session. Unlike Monday, I was able to just go right into this without having to rely on debriefing after work. Foam rolling and this was a bit odd with things. Calves feeling like needing a lot today. Not the most but close to levels needed in the past. Then my hamstring on the right side was tight and needed like double the usual work. Quads were barely needing anything and then a decent amount of shifting in upper back. Neck rehabbing exercises were ok. Chest was tight and while some stuff stiff, not like it was Monday. Lower body stuff with glute activation and mobility felt fine. Been holding some stuff longer lately. Dead hang was ok too. On to training. This workout is the last for a few things that have been staples until this point. One such thing is the tempo band leg curls. This was the smoothest these have felt with doing the tempo and reps. Will still be band leg curls next week but different approach. The beltless work on the rdls continues. This will also be the last week of them done with the 5 second eccentrics, wide grip style and on 1” platform. Aim was to do 10lbs more than my top set last week for 2x8 and then take off 10% for a repping out set. I was nervous about this as worried with how the incline log had felt and that maybe pushing these too hard and that I wasn’t going to be fine here. I wasn’t certain until 285lbs didn’t feel that bad really that I figured I could do this one. I added 1lbs to it so that it was 150kgs. These actually felt pretty good so that was a pleasant relief here. Down set just shy of 300lbs and got what I was expecting here with 11 reps. Next week will have beltless rdls again but not like what I’ve been doing until now and not as my primary exercise. Rehydrated a bit as likely not getting much in later in the session. Next was the ffe split squats with the ssb. Plan was initially 3x10 with 85lbs to same setup as last week. But I think I got kind of lazy with getting the 6” platform out that I just used the bumper plates I had out instead. I did need to do some no weight sets to get my body feeling good to do them. My right ankle was having issues today and I’m not sure what I did where it felt kind of tender with the ankle going forward when it was the working leg and then when trying to get out of the position as the support leg side when the left was working. However, things felt strong and I wasn’t feeling like pain was getting worse. I ended up adding weight each set and pretty much had already decided since I got through the deadlifts with how I wanted them to go, that I’d work through lunch tomorrow to get finally caught up with this week work wise and focus on soft tissue and then aim for walk on Friday. In the event knees/ankles not happy by Thursday, another day to recover. These will be with me for a few more sessions. Another last run for the copenhagen plank lift holds. Same as last week with 3x12 with bodyweight and only 1ct holds. The first set on the right side felt very easy but then struggling first set left side. Trying not to take full walk recovery rests here. Second sets felt fine and decided if wasn’t feeling dead on the third sets that I’d hold the last rep for 10 seconds. It felt fine enough so I did. The final thing was a triset with same stuff as last week. Also last week of this. Band hip adductions, hanging l-sits and the tempo seated calf raises. 2 sets of each here and same reps as well. Kept bands/weight the same for the adductions and the l-sits but still pushing what I can on the calf raises. Did what I needed to here and done. Put away the equipment and ate dinner before stretching.

October 19, 2026 – Week 8, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

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

12” Log High Incline Bench Presses
90x8
120x6
150x4
180x2
200x8
200x8
Add 1 Second Pauses
170x8
170x8

Pause Inverted Rows (1 second)
bwx5
bw+53x8
bw+53x8
bw+53x8
bw+53x11

Lying Chain Triceps Extensions/Leaning Dumbbell Lateral Raises/Strap Band Face Pulls
65’sx15/25x15—15/lb+(2)µbx15
65’sx15/25x15—15/lb+(2)µbx15
65’sx15/25x15—15/lb+(2)µbx15

Stretching

Comments: I wasn’t feeling that beat considering things after Saturday. Knees were a bit sore but feeling fine at this time. No biceps soreness like last time. Again, not sure if that was from the sandbag roll ups or just really gripping the handles on the lying leg curls hard. Bodyweight seems to be consistent around 120kgs range. Mentioned I looked leaner Saturday despite adding a little bit of weight. So I guess a good sign with off season prep. I do feel like my upper back is “full”. A lot of work stuff so I kind of had to mentally debrief before starting training. I’ve come to realize this session is going to be my shorter session of the week and that this is more accessory work to the Saturday event press rather than doing the pressing all on one day. More control on things when at the strongman gym and not under a time crunch (not as bad I guess with Day 2 as in garage mostly). Foam rolling starting things off. Calves needed it a good bit and I was expecting that. However, I am almost thrilled that I’ve not had to do sessions of intense foam rolling for the calves like I recall in the last few months before doing my own thing. I think the ankle and knee stuff is helping in that regard. Hamstrings fine and quads needing a decent amount (more so the right one). Upper back apparently needed a lot to be good to go. Neck rehab/mobility stuff followed that and that was fine for the most part. My right biceps/shoulder was feeling tight on some of the movements. No issues with glute activation or lower body mobility. A little longer stretch on these. Dead hang to finish things up and get a little more decompression before starting training. On to training outside. It now is starting to feel like the start of the “winter training arc” as it is getting darker out quicker and weather is now at least consistent for the past few days. That change does seem to be one that makes it a little harder to be motivated after working. Band superset to starting things off with pec flyes and paused pull-aparts. This the last of these as pivot in the training going from purely off season to transitional phase before doing competition prep. These feel fine but I don’t know if they ever feel like they aren’t prefatiguing me. Eventually that feeling goes away it seems on those leg curls I do for Day 2. They at least feel less taxing than the first session I did them. Then time for pressing. This is the thing that I’m stressing/worried about is making sure I’m building and recovering. I was already reconsidering some things with plans after this week with this session and would see how today goes. These higher inclines have been a bit rough and I’ve not really felt “fresh” for them on any days besides the very first week I did them. For today, the plan was to work up to the top set last week for 2x8 and then take off 30lbs for 2x8 with pauses. This ended up being tough and tougher than I would’ve liked. I had gotten quite “hyped” last week for my top set of 10 reps with essentially getting into a cold sweat after the sweat and had been surprised it went as well as it did. I wasn’t able to tap into that this week even if I wanted to. 200lbs felt a bit like last week as in never “feeling” comfortable but somehow managing to get the reps. These 2 sets of 8 felt like I had less RIR compared to the set of 10 reps last week. I was very worried I was going to be stuck here. But I made it through. The pauses felt more like they should but still challenging to get the last rep of the last set. I think next time around, I need to devise more my own progression here than working off past session model, especially if I deviate from that. No missed reps but my thinking here with the next phase is to go back to the normal incline I’ve used for years since I’m going to be doing log press starting next week instead of barbell push press. I had felt really good with how push presses had gone Saturday. But I think this variation has run its course for this prep. Put stuff away outside to go into the garage to continue with the rest of the session. Inverted ring rows up next. These have been feeling surprisingly strong. Like last week, the plan was to do 4x8 and stick to straight weight sets this time. The one little caveat to that was I could rep out on the last set as long as I left 1-2RIR. I wasn’t feeling as strong here at the start with just bodyweight. Maybe a little down on myself for no reason from how high incline log had felt. Initially doing 50lbs but decided I’d rather use chain weight than plates and dumbbells with how they were shifting last week. And felt pretty good. And didn’t take longer than usual rests here (like I’ve been needing to do for the incline stuff) only for the last set as I wanted to see what I could do. Honestly, with how these have been going, I may need to find an alternative later in prep just because loading these with enough weight later could be bothersome. But they seem to feel good and produce results and gauge where some things are at. Finishing up with a triset. Last week of these. After last week, I felt I had found the weight ranges finally. At least that was the hope as having to change/adjust during the rests made them a lot longer than intended. For the triceps, all my chains plus 10lbs added with plates on each pile. That actually seemed to work out pretty well. I’m sure I could push these further but probably become cumbersome if I were to add more than 35lbs per side in plate weight. The leaning laterals were similar to last week with the slight bump up in weight. Left side elbow feels discomfort but it lessens over the sets. At least it did with no flair up on the last set. Oddly enough, these felt smoother as I went and not like I was fatigued. Like I got more efficient as I went. The band face pulls I got them to be how I wanted the movement. This I didn’t adjust from last time’s top tension as I knew it would be plenty by the end of the trisets with fatigue. Put stuff away as I got dinner ready and stretched afterwards.