November 7, 2026 – Week 10, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Paused Behind The Neck Strict Presses (3 seconds behind head)/Slant Board Patrick Stepdowns (5 seconds eccentric)/Half Kneeling Single Arm Band Lat Pulldowns
45x10/bwx10—10/lbx15—15
45x10/bwx10—10/lbx15—15

12” Log Push Presses (beltless)
88x5
110x3
132x2
154x1
176x3
178.5x3
181x3
183x3
185x3
187x3

Paused Front Squats (5 seconds)
45x5
89x3
133x3
177x2
221x2
254x1
287.5x3
254x3
254x3

Reverse Band Hack Squats (lb’s)
+90x5
+140x5
+180x5
+230x5
+270x5
+320x15
+320x15

RNT Sandbag Roll-ups off Box (ab, 20”)
255x3
306x6
306x6
306x6

Single Leg Band Leg Curls (3 seconds eccentrics)
abx20/20
abx20/20
abx20/20

Stretching

Comments: With the time change this week and also being change to in office rotation, both things hitting me pretty hard recovery wise. It is dark out when I get home from work and with all the leave piles in the street, it doesn’t feel safe to go walking when I get home from work. Sleep is still a bit off with the changes too. So no walking this week and only foam rolling stuff on Thursday. I was feeling beat and I kind of knew that traffic out to the gym would be sucky Saturday so I just let myself sleep. I initially woke up at my time I’d need to be up to get to work but knew that wasn’t enough rest and went back to sleep for another 2.5hrs. Construction on the one highway that I generally have to go on had it down to one lane and my GPS initially wanted me to take the toll roads and then initially bypass a bit of the highway section but then try and merge back onto it. It took a good bit of driving around to finally have the GPS decided to go a different route that avoided all of it. So about 20-30 minutes added to the commute out. There were people there while I was training today and I did talk to them a good bit. With foam rolling, I was expecting to be a lot more stiff than I ended up being not doing any walks. My quads were feeling a little sore but that didn’t really manifest into being beat. Upper calves needed a decent amount still but otherwise not much to really say about anything else here. Neck rehab stuff was ok. Glute activation fine and lower body mobility also fine and dead hang was fine. Now on to training. With how my knees had felt last weekend after the wedding/travel I added a movement to my warming up prep. So instead of a superset of paused btn presses and half kneeling single arm lat work, there was also a slant board Patrick stepdowns with emphasized eccentrics. Nothing really to say about the other two exercises as pretty standard and easy getting work done but I did have balance issues with the stepdowns. As noted, it feels like balance can take a hit when I’m stressed. Right knee is the one I got to keep an eye on here. From there on to log press. It is a hassle setting things up for doing the log off of blocks. Especially since I haven’t gotten it to be just the right height where there isn’t an issue with unracking the log. I’m not doing another week of these though as going to clean and press next week. The plan for this was to 6x3 with about 90 seconds rest with same weight as last week. No support gear again (I did pack the wrist wraps but forgot to use them) here. I warmed up the same as last time with 5kgs jumps but I was feeling like my balance was off. Perhaps related to the balance issues I felt this week. I think I felt a certain way and figured that I’d not just do the same weight each set. I’d add 1kgs each set (which at the end would be close to 70% of projected). I think it was because when I initially picked up the working weight it felt rough on the pick off the blocks that annoyed me. Press felt like it was at time hitting a slowdown and then accelerating from a sticking point. I apparently was taking shorter rests than I thought (60 seconds or so) and had a little bit of happy feet on the last one. This is weight that should be moving easy. I’ll have to see how things feel next week with adding support gear and doing the full movement. From there, onto front squats. Adding belt this week and going with long pauses. I was a little leery about how my knees would handle these after the issues I had with the split squat stuff on Wednesday. The knees took a bit to get used to things here with the long pauses and boy did they feel like a long time. I did felt like my core was more stable with the belt but it didn’t make the weight feel easier on my legs mind you. Aim was to work up to a top triple (1-2RIR) and then take off 10-12.5% for 2x3. I kind of based things off of what I did last time I did these like 4yrs ago with aim to match or beat that if possible. The pauses felt like a long time down there. I did need to get a bit hyped for the top set but I did manage to get my goal here of 130kgs and then 115kgs for the back down sets (which didn’t feel that much easier). Doing a short little peak on these before cutting back the intensity as putting in the events at higher intensity. Reverse band hack squats next. Last week of these. While my right knee has tended to feel achy, I’m pleased with how I’ve been able to push these. I’m beating my numbers by a good bit from last time and I was wearing belts doing these at the time. Once again, work up in 5’s to 2x15 with decent reps in the tank. I was hoping to use 320lbs added here and I did take the 40-50lbs jumps like last time instead of plate jumps. These felt strong today. I’ll be away from these for a bit with contest prep but I will look forward to doing them in offseason. Hopefully I can have a little longer time to do some tempo work and get even higher weight. I won’t miss having to move the hack squat machine around each session though. Sandbags after that. Last week of doing these roll ups off box. Plan was 275-300lbs for 3x5. However, I had done 275lbs last time for 3x8 and that felt comfortable enough so I was going to be using 300lbs unless something felt off. I decided to increase the band tension I was moving again as well to add some difficulty to things as well. 255lbs for a triple to warm up here and that felt well enough. Pick didn’t feel that bad so that is a good sign as it had felt rough that first session. Now with people constantly using the sandbags and just putting them wherever in the pile, the 300lbs bag was buried under a good bit of stuff. The 306lbs bag that is smaller and has lead shot in it was also buried but not as much. So I decided to do that one instead. It is a bit tough on the pick up but I’ve not tried heavier than 275lbs since World’s and it felt better than it did then. I’m not really getting any ankle extension because of how my body is and I’m working on it. It felt comfortable enough I did 3x6 instead of 3x5. Last thing I ended up adjusting. I was later to training and I had to clean up stuff at home to be able to eat anything for dinner. I also knew I needed to fuel up my car and that the drive back was also going to have detours due to the construction. I downed my shake at this point so that I’d hopefully be ready to eat in like 5hrs time. I was going to do the belt squat calf stuff but figured I’d drop that and just let the calf stuff be Day 2 for the last session of them with transitioning to comp prep. So much less intense single leg hamstring curl stuff here from those lying leg curls. 3 sets of 12-20 reps with 3 second eccentrics. Left leg is strong than the right on these. With these done, I put stuff away to head home and get affairs in order. Off season is done and now on to competition prep.

November 4, 2026 – Week 10, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

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

13” Jack Stand Pulls (straps)
135x5
185x3
225x2
275x1
315x1
365x1
405x1
455x3
455x3
455x3
455x3
455x3

Paused Romanian Deadlifts (3 seconds at midshin, beltless, straps)
225x3
275x3
315x3
353x10
318x10
318x10

Paused Floating Heel Safety Squat Bar Front Foot Elevated Split Squats (4”, 2 seconds)
bwx5/5
bwx5/5
65x3/3
65x3/3
95x12/12
95x12/12
95x12/12

Cossack Squats
bw+10x8/8
bw+10x8/8
bw+10x8/8

Paused Ab Wheel Roll-outs (5 seconds)/Safety Squat Bar Single Leg Seated Calf Raises (0-3-0-3 tempo)
bwx11 – 115x15/15
bwx9 – 115x15/15
bwx5 – 115x15/15

Stretching

Comments: I’m not yet adjusted to the time shift with having it be dark outside when I get home from work. My jaw was feeling tense Tuesday into today. Energy just feels a little low for me by the end of the day. Right knee continuing to monitor for knee issues that were present from last week. I’ve almost forgotten about the right ankle thing. The lack of energy had me slightly concerned for training today but going to have to roll with the punches until I’m used to this. Foam rolling I did need a bit but not nearly as much as I did on Monday. Calves needed it for sure and normal amount for the hamstrings. Quads still needing a decent amount. Upper back getting involved too. Neck rehabbing exercises were fine. Some tightness in the right side shoulder/biceps area. Lower body stuff with glute activation and mobility felt fine. Dead hang felt good. On to training here. Band leg curls but not tempo style to start things off. Same as last time with notes 2x15-20. I did 1 second pauses with same band tension as last week. I do like how these seem to get hamstrings warm and tend to make knee discomfort less. Once this was done, on to the heavy stuff. This 4 week block that started last week for deadlifts is having banded 18” pull singles done EMOM style one week (last week) and then 13” pulls for several sets low reps the next. I was going back and forth over 14” and 13” and using jack stands vs wagon wheels. I went with jack stands at 13” as no guess work and I like the feel/sound/balance of the jack stands vs the wagon wheels. I’m not doing a wagon wheel event so going to just use the jack stands that don’t bother my mental idiosyncratic quirks if I don’t need to. Plan here was to work up to 455lbs for 5x3 with hopefully having things feel somewhat comfortable and strong and with about 90 seconds rest. Belt and the neoprene shorts like last week here. Trying to use same weights I used back in 2021 on this. Went well enough I think. Only felt like brace was off a little on the 3rd set and that was more because I started singing to myself out loud before I started the pull. Otherwise, moved like it should. I can tell my deadlift stroke is more efficient compared to before. Put stuff away before moving on to the beltless rdls. As with last week, these were again 3 second pauses at midshin. I had been pleasantly surprised with how the 315lbs last week went. Plan for today was work up on triples to a top set of 10 reps leaving 2RIR and then drop 10% off for 2x10. My initial thinking was pushing 355-365lbs but that was when I was thinking more absolute max at this weight and decided it was best to do something I should be able to do after the many elevated pulls. I took smaller jumps warming up here and ended up doing 160kgs. It surprisingly felt lighter than I was expecting on that set but did start to feel decently tough by the end. Down sets were close to what I did last week weight wise but I could tell I needed a bit of breather after the top set before putting in decent work here. These feel strong so that is a good sign. I needed a bit after these to cool off and recover apparently. Not as bad as that time I was spent after deadlifts and sandbag to shoulders where I took a nap before finishing the workout. But I could tell that it might be challenging to finish up the session. The “fun” stuff was done. Next was the ffe split squats with the ssb. Plan was initially 3x12 with 95lbs again. Aim being to make the weight harder with adding elements like pauses and adjustment of the foot position (so not pushing through the heel). I was leery in two ways about this. The one was just last week stuff with how still making sure the right ankle was good (and odd sensation in the left hip flexor) and then how my knees had felt pretty beat at and after the wedding from last week with me trying to keep this day knee sleeve free. The pauses certainly made things tougher. I was contemplating just doing bodyweight instead and had to do multiple sets to warm up. I was taking longer breaks between sets and sides on these with the pauses. I was also having issues with my balance and that could be related to autism and stress stuff. Bargaining with myself to just do 2 sets but I eventually made it through all 3 of them. Only one more week of these. Cossack squats were next. These might have been a culprit for making the knees feel beat last week as well. Same plan with 3x8 but adding 10lbs in weight. I made an adjustment in my movement from set 1 to set 2 and I didn’t realize how much a difference visually it was. It felt like I was getting same depth but appears first set more quad with full knee bend vs the other sets. I had felt more stretch/engagement in the second style in the outstretched leg. Last thing was a superset from last week with a slight alteration. Paused ab wheel roll-outs to start but doing 5 second holds instead of 3 seconds. Aim was a total of 25 reps over 3 sets, leaving 2RIR hopefully. The seated calf raises doing 3x15 with same tempo as it has been and adding 10lbs to last week on the other side of things. The added holds on the ab wheel were immediately noticed but I did manage to get through them. The seated calf raises were tough with getting shorter rests here but finished well enough. Nothing was missed filming wise this week. Put stuff away and got to eating dinner. Stretched and eventually got to bed. I will need to try and catch up on sleep so I don’t sleep until noon Saturday to recuperate. 

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.