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.

October 17, 2026 – Week 7, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Paloff Back Breaker Presses/Step Ups w/ Band TKEs (12”, ab)/Dead Bugs
mb’sx10 – bwx10/10 – bwx5/5
mb’sx10 – bwx10/10 – bwx5/5

Paused Push Presses (beltless, 3 seconds in dip)
45x5
67x5
89x3
111x3
133x2
152.5x2
172x3
172x3
172x3
172x3
172x3
172x3

Front Squats (beltless, 3-1-0-0 tempo)
45x3
89x3
133x3
177x3
221x5
232x5
243x5

Reverse Band Hack Squats (lb’s)
+90x5
+180x5
+270x5
+340x12
+290x12
+290x12

Sandbag Carries (turns at 50’)
225x200’
225x200’

Paused Snatch Grip Back Extensions (3 seconds)
105x6
110x6
115x6

Belt Squat Donkey Calf Raises/Paused Tibia Dorsi Calf Machine (3 seconds)
bw+110x20/+80x30
bw+110x20/+80x25

Stretching

Comments: Work continues to be a drag but tolerable. I know next month will be rough with being back in office as commuting switch and hour shift back as well as another program becoming active at that time. I didn’t force the issue with getting to bed early and setting an alarm as I could tell just from how sleep and dreams have been that I’m working somethings out in my head during that time. I did get some stuff prepped for the next day (also walked both Thursday and Friday). I had a hunch that the bridge was going to be a problem and seeing as the route guidance suggested I take the toll route (I’m not paying $3), I ended up going through parts of the city I’ve never been to before (options were that or the bridge and have my drive take over an hour again). Not much bad driving today at least. Colder today (had to turn on heat last night) but still nice. I wasn’t expected there to be people like last week at the gym. Which is nice when it is friends. Haven’t seen some people for what feels like months and years. But as usual, most gone before I’m really that into the session. But I did end up talking off the ears of those that were unfortunately to linger. Foam rolling to start things off. Stuff needed it but not in the way that has been the case with a lot of direct work. Stuff just needed the usual amount I guess. Neck rehab stuff was ok. Didn’t feel tight in some areas but others did on the right side. But didn’t seem to become a thing. Glute activation fine and lower body mobility I held the stretches a little longer than usual. Dead hang was fine. On to training. It was thankfully cooler in the gym but that also meant the fans were off so I was likely going to be sweating a lot in a little bit. Starting the lifting with the triset of the back breaker paloff presses, step ups with band TKEs and dead bugs. I remember them this time. Felt fine for the most part. My left knee was feeling a tad off on the TKE’s but otherwise things were moving well and feeling smooth. From there, on to push pressing again. Using barbell at the start of this had felt weird but it seems to be the right call at this point with how things are feeling. Second of three weeks of pause variation. Still no belt, only wrist wraps. Back up 5% to the same weight as 2 weeks ago here but doing 6x3. A little different than previous wave where volume was about the same week to week as this time decreases each session. This was the best push pressing has felt this entire off season prep so that was nice to feel like things are clicking. One more week of these before getting into log instead again. From there, onto front squats. I turned on a fan for these. Initially, the plan was to adjust the tempo to 5 seconds from 3 seconds but rethinking things, it didn’t make much sense to increase again so decided to stick to 3 seconds and continue the progression for the next 3 weeks. Aim is to keep beltless on these. 3x5 this time around. Again, looking to add 5kgs to last week but I knew it might be possible to add on that with dropping reps here. I ended up taking a bit of time after my last warm up set before I did my first working set but I felt like I could go up in weight and still leave enough in the tank. Ended up adding 10kgs to that first set over the course of things. So not bad. I may be getting to bodyweight for reps and sets without a belt here. Reverse band hack squats up next. That lady was just now getting to the hip thrusts at this point and I really didn’t want to have to drag this over to the smith machine again. Especially since some guy was using the rear delt machine in front of that. I just took my time and eventually got it where I needed it to be. I should mention in my haste this morning I forgot to screenshot a copy of training from my PC to my smart phone so I was essentially going off of memory here for the session. I did eventually check archives on my training blog website to figure out the “down set” weight (I was off by 2.5%). Any ways, warm up in 5’s and do a top set of 10-12 reps with something in the tank and then 2 matching sets with 15% less. I knew from last time I could get away with doing big jumps initially. For whatever reason, I thought I went heavier on these than I have in the past. But appears not the case and anything over 320lbs would be new territory for me. These do not feel great on the knees but I feel like I’m getting some benefit from this movement with my quads and at least something I’m doing for my lower legs is letting me feel like I can adjust where I put pressure on my feet. Front of foot feels best on these. I won’t be going heavier this prep as can only handle so much and more event work will be coming soon. I took long ass breaks here not because I needed them but because I got stuck talking shop with a friend. Down sets felt quite easy after the top set. Sandbag time once again. Distance carry training. The plan was to do moderate bag (225lbs-255lbs) for 2 sets of 100-150’ with turns at 50’. I think I altered it just to make sure I “still got it” and maybe some pressure seeing a lighter athlete doing the qualifiers and a bit further out from theirs moving with a heavier bag. But I know that I need to ease into things as I tend to go too hard on stuff if I don’t put limiters in place. Doesn’t do me any good if I don’t enjoy what I’m doing and able to string coherent sessions together. So I figured that this would be my “lighter” week for the moment (heavier being the roll ups) as start to wind down the gym stuff for the event stuff. If 150’ felt easy, I’d do 200’ instead for both sets. Sandbag did feel easier and not all fatigued like last time but I could tell that still bit slow and lagging on the last bit. No support stuff or grip aids. A little longer than 2 minutes to rest between sets here. Chucked the bag into the pile on the second set. A good pace I feel for distance expected. Back extensions with snatch grip followed that. I had done these as part of a triset last time but figured best to do solo like the 2-1 lying leg curls. 3x6 this time around with 3 second holds. I was not expecting to need as much weight as I did on these compared to last time with cutting down the holds and reps. These are tricky in that recovery between sets isn’t really a thing as just fatigue builds. I was helping George with tips on a gnarly event for OSG. Downed my shake at this point in the session (and realized I had the “wrong” flavor). The last thing being lower leg work with the newly implemented belt squat donkey calf raises and the tib machine raises. I’m starting to see benefits from doing this stuff lately. I went up a bit on the calf raises and I’m glad I was able to push things here. What did surprise me is how easy the tib raises were. I actually got distracted and miscounted big time the first set as I was aiming for just 25 reps here at most. I’m going to need to increase the weight a good bit on the tib raises next time I think and moderately increase on the donkey calf raises. Smoother drive home than leaving and stretched out when I got back.

October 14, 2026 – Week 7, 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
225x3
275x3
320x10
280x10
280x10

Safety Squat Bar Front Foot Elevated Split Squats (6”)
bwx5/5
bwx5/5
65x10/10
70x10/10
75x10/10

Paused Copenhagen Plank Lifts (1 second)
bwx12/12
bwx12/12
bwx12/12

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 – 75x20/20
(2)µbx20/20 – bw+10x20 seconds – 85x20/20

Stretching

Comments: Fall weather is up and down. Had to put the AC back on as it got up to 83 degrees. And looks to get 25 degrees cooler Saturday. But like I mentioned, haven’t had joint ache issues or bad allergy stuff so far so knock on wood. Forgot to mention Monday that I was about 120kgs on the dot so seems to be consistent at this weight range since I truly started off season prep beyond that initial 2 weeks period post contest. So about 3lbs heavier average. Also noticing my upper back/lats feeling “full” which is a good feeling. So not bad there. Only four work days this week, just got to eek across the finish line to home base again to spend a weekend recovering again. Got in walk and soft tissue work Tuesday. Ran out of instant oatmeal and store out so yogurt replacement for the moment. A little distracted after work before starting training. Foam rolling and the only things really needing it today was calves (especially the left one) and my upper back. Everything else was just maintenance. Neck rehabbing exercises were ok. Not really noticing anything from Monday. My biceps and forearms from Saturday finally calming down. Lower body stuff with glute activation and mobility felt fine. Dead hang was ok too. On to training. Tempo band leg curls with 2 sets of 15-20 like last week. Keeping same band tension as aim for 20 reps. As tends to be the case, first set felt easy and second set I was tough by the end. But maybe a little easier overall from when I started with these. Beltless work on the rdls continues with the 5 second eccentrics with these on the wide grip style on 1” platform. The main goal was a top set of 10-12 reps with 2RIR or so and then take a bit off for 2 matching sets. Warming up indicated could do 3-5 reps so I did first two as 5 reps and the next two as 3 reps to hopefully prime and get an idea of what I could handle. Lower back wasn’t feeling as beat as it had been last week coming into these. My hope was to do 315-325lbs. I could tell at 275lbs that 325lbs might be an ego trip to attempt so I compromised and went with 320lbs. I have to remind myself that I’m doing greater ROM than I’ve done in the past on rdls and I didn’t do these without any support gear last time (soft belt). So I should be fine with matching numbers or slightly below honestly from 2021. Felt fine at the start but I lost count of reps at some point. I thought I did 11 reps and because I wasn’t 100% sure of reps I went for 11 to make sure I had done at least 10 reps. Turns out it was 10 reps so good on me for that. Didn’t feel as if I hit my limit here like I felt with 300lbs two weeks ago. The down sets were to be matching reps with 85-87.5% of the top set weight. I was initially going to split the difference for 275lbs but went with the higher end for 280lbs. These felt surprisingly comfortable but man was my upper back and lats just exhausted by the end of each of these sets. I knew if those broke down, I’d be in bad position and my core brace would fail. Survived the deadlifting again and took a little break to come down from the high and recuperate (get fluids and not spew) before moving on to the rest of the session. Some changes from last workout here. No lunges but still doing single leg work focus. I was debating switching things up but figured I should just to see how things would feel. The exercise being brought back was ffe split squats. I’ve not been doing them with weight and I’d been mostly doing these with bodyweight and working my way down to floor with getting knee over toes. I had managed to get to floor with these eventually without major discomfort. I’m also trying to do no knee sleeves on this day and save that for the Day 3 session. I did have to do a few sets bodyweight to get used to things. Right side feels harder/stiffer and really just seems to be balance issue after getting used to the initial movement. Plan was 3x10 today but not really pushing these just yet since new. I don’t want to overdo it when in the stressed stretch position as don’t want to tear/pull something like what occurred last year with off season. Slight balance issues with the right side. Took a short break between sides and normal rest between sets. So not bad, I know I can progress on these further. Copenhagen plank lift holds after that. Same as last week with 3x12 with bodyweight and only 1ct holds. Not going for longer holds on the last reps as these are decently challenging enough. Trying to get through the sets quicker but seems more rest still needed as ended up being like a minute to recover for the last set. I ended up putting on fans for that last set as I was sweating a good bit at this point. The final thing was a triset of the last three exercises from last week. Band hip adductions combined with hanging l-sits but now putting the tempo seated calf raises as well. Only two sets but more reps on the adductions (20) and while dropping to just 20 seconds on the holds, adding weight to those finally. I was a little nervous about how that would go with how tough these have been. With having these three exercises though, I had to adjust the arrangement to get them done. Really just the adductions I had to change where they were done. No issues there. Held the slam ball between my feet for the hang. That went surprisingly well. Continuing to push the calf raise stuff while there isn’t a ton of event work yet. Getting stuff feeling like something there but still a work in progress. Kind of hoping this work on Day 2 and Day 3 will help with ankle and knee stuff. Put away the equipment and ate dinner before stretching.