August 21-22, 2026 – Natural World’s Strongest Man

 I felt old this year at times. For the most part, I feel like one those people that is just one lucky day away from hitting it big. And I mean that with the sense of strength training and strongman. Once I get just one little thing figured out and it will be smooth sailing. I’ll have that secret of hard work and effort in the right place and get the stuff that has declined back on track and back to what it was and then to the moon from there. And I think I have to feel that for the most part for my own sanity. But there is also a part of me that kind of realizes that that there has to be a realistic viewpoint here and that I may have already peaked on stuff and in the back half of abilities and life in general. I feel youthful and the same in my head as I’ve felt the past 10-20yrs but I know that time has passed and I am getting older. And I have to remind myself of that. As I tend to view myself in my head as the man half my age. Not the best start to this, I get that. But it has been on my mind this long prep for the big show for this year. There is still something in the basement.

On paper, this has been a good year for me with competitions. Did 2 shows and got the placings I needed to qualify for the options I wanted to have and got to travel as part of it. Which had been one of the things I enjoyed when I first started out doing this crazy thing I do now. But I had not been satisfied and that is trait of mine that haunts me. The standards I hold myself too are impossibly high and qualifying had been a bare minimum. There was elation in the moment but that high evaporates almost overnight as I find there were things that could’ve been better in the performance and I’m on to my next fixation. I’m already thinking about next year and the next training prep. I made it a year with working with a new coach after being with coaching for a long while and then doing my own thing for like 7 months. After my results at last year’s world’s, it was a no brainer to keep them on for a longer stint and it worked me hard and had me grow as an athlete. But it was but the workload seemed to be getting tougher and tougher to recover from and my stress was spiking. All the attaboys ring hollow to me if I don’t truly believe it myself. It comes off as just politeness like how people will say “how you doing?” as greeting and not genuinely asking. That took the longest time for me as a person with autism to figure out. July ended up being a bad month for me and I was dreading training sessions and I eventually ended up going back to my own thing for the last month of prep. 

Last year was Galway, Ireland and this year Paisley, Scotland. Seeing new places and having an adventure along the way. With things as they were, I had to adjust expectations for World’s. I had qualified as open heavyweight but I knew I was far off the mark and I could potentially zero 4 out of 7 events and made the change to master’s heavyweight. Available to me being 40 but not ideal. At the start, thinking this is just for now and back to open after this. I had been going at prep with the intent to compete in the open class until the last month when I had to make a change. While the events would be more manageable, this did complicate things with leave and acclimating to the time difference as I’d be competing a day earlier than planned. So essentially off the plane after overnight flight to weigh-in and then competing the next day. It won’t be my first time flying transatlantic flight but that doesn’t mean I’m good to go on my second rodeo. At least traveling and flights have become something I’m more used to as of late. But even before leaving, was getting updates about changes in the flight plan a month before it was happening. Also not a direct flight this time around with needing to stop in Iceland (never been) for an hour before then flying into Glasgow. The aim being to sleep that first, longer leg of the trip so that not up for an entire day and a half before getting shut eye at the rental.

The usual ritual of getting potbelly sandwiches at Dulles International Airport preflight settled my nerves. I wore a goofy gag/gift shirt my friend made that has a picture of me pointing to a picture of me on it that almost tripped up the face recognition stuff at the airport. I tried my damnedest to fall asleep on that first leg of the flight but just didn’t happen. I was jut tired and anxious. But I did get to see Greenland from the window. Literally landed at Keflavík International Airport and having to board a bus to get to the airport from the airfield and then immediately in line to board the next plane to Scotland (which then had us on another bus to go back into the airfield to board). I didn’t see much since it was before the sun was up for the most part but Iceland looked like landing on the moon with the rocky terrain. To be fair, it looked much nicer in the sunlight on the way back home. Got another chuckle on the shirt there so great success. The much shorter flight ended up with two firsts for me. One being ordering actual food on a flight and the other using a toilet on a flight. Going to try my best to not have to experience the later again. But finally in Scotland. I did not have the best first impression as I was dehydrated, sleep deprived and hungry. There was no elevator at the apartments we were staying out and it was 57 steps from the entrance to the floor we were staying on. Which wasn’t great with four suitcases. I wondered if the building in owner was a relative of Daedalus with labyrinthian nature of the design. Even when not saddled with travel debuffs, it was tricky to navigate. Check in for the competition was a little different I feel from last year. Perhaps since a day earlier compared to last time with the stuff still being bult and put together. 17 in the weight class/age group for this time around. I was accidentally marked down as “withdrawn” when I had switched to masters but that was corrected and I was off to finally eat something. All was forgiven once I got a bite of local fare and hoped I was good to go the following morning.

Day 1

Starting things off with axle squat. Options of mercy weight (419lbs/190kgs) and trump weight (529lbs/240kgs) and squatting to a pad/box height of 27”/69cm. Solid axles with knurling and large 26"/66cm wagon wheels attached. Only knee sleeves allowed as far as “assistance” here. 60 seconds time limit and you have to call whether going for mercy or trump weight off the bat. In the years I’ve done this sport, I’ve not done a competition that had a squat event in it. Well that was to change today. Squats and I don’t tend to be simpatico as I have what would be descripted as Slenderman proportions and deadlifts end up more common so effort goes there. I tend to also goodmorning up squats as well when things are heavy to doubly taxing there. Training for this was consistent in frequency but not in performance. Part of that was having to try different setups at different spots as well as figuring out what seemed to work or felt good. Divebombing did not seem to be the way to go for me as harsh on my knees and not stable. I did eventually figure out that wider stance and treating more as a good morning vs a squat seemed to be the best way for me to do this and not zero the event. I did work up to a little above the mercy weight in training for a top double with something in the tank. So get what I can here to hopefully not get a goose egg and save it for the rest of the competition. What with having to do 5 events today and 2 more tomorrow. I had not been feeling confident with this the day before with how the setup had felt with getting rack height as the bar felt heavy (they used a QR code and form to enter this information which seemed to be quite a good way to get it done). Come to find out that the bar was actually 17.5lbs/8kgs heavier then I thought. Warming up I didn’t quite get everything I wanted but I did enough to feel comfortable if that makes sense. My height makes adjusting rack heights tough. I got in a double I think with 320lbs/145kgs and did a walkout and hold with 397lbs/180kgs. I was nervous here as I was still feeling a bit off from travel and I had no idea if I was truly good to go. I knew that I could work through the entire minute if need be but I wasn’t going to be fast. Whistle went and I took my time getting myself into position and walked it out. It didn’t feel bad but no clue until I actually tried. This felt better than it had in training so it would seem that I peaked this right. I had hoped for 3 and ended up doubling that. I called it after that I feared that doing another was really going to tax my lower back when I had four more events to go with better chances of placing on the last three of the day. I ended up with a 10th place here. I’d have needed four more reps to gain any further points .

Second event for the show was a medley. Sled push down 32’10”/10m, run back to start to carry a sandbag to then load on the sled to then drag back the finish line. On turf as well with 60 seconds limit. Sled starts light at 275.5lbs/125kgs but is quite heavy on the way back with the 308.5lbs/140kgs sandbag added to bringing the total to 584lbs/265kgs. With prep, this one was a bit lax in that not very technical and that hopefully getting carryover from other things that were similar and needed more time to build. Most of training had been focused on the sled portion as easy to tag on to the end of a long day session with trying to squeeze in all the events in the week. Over contest weight at times and then less than contest weight as got closer and actually putting all the parts together. The sandbag into the then the sled drag portion was going to be where made or break here as unfortunately noticed my hamstrings weren’t really in the shape I had expected for picking up heavy sandbags. Didn’t want to have like last year on the last event with struggling. I did all training for this on turf so used to that but will be key to not make mistakes and remember what to do and setup and just get through this in the time limit and hopefully not have my legs be dead for the rest of the day. Since the turf was only for the one event, it wasn’t really secured down to be a permanent fixture so with the weight pushing down, there was a little bubble the was created from the efforts. Quite shaggier turf compared to what I had access to for the most part but kind of knew this was going to be a do work and have it be sucky event. Didn’t get to warm up on the turf with the pace of things and that is understandable so observing how others did on the setup and then apply as needed for the real thing. With the first event jitters out of the way, I was feeling better and in the “having a good time” zen state. Warming up, I was trying to work on the transitions more so and the shorter tow straps. Not quite the warming up I was looking for like squats but enough to be ready I feel. I got set and on the whistle shoved into it. I knew I needed to get lower on the push portion so as not pressing down into the ground and having it dig in. I had been working to having my body into it but I was finding that putting my arms out straight with this weight and setup was allowing me to get in a more advantageous position so went with that. I overshot the sled by a few feet (I thought the full implement had to go over the line) and got back to the sandbag. I was the fastest in my heat to pick up the bag and got back to the load it to the sled. I started off moving good on the drag but I’d say a third of the way into with the different position (not really able to lean back) that I was feeling the fatigue in my legs and then slowed down considerably on the last bit where I was taking baby steps from the lactic acid. I definitely made it closer to timing out than I would’ve liked and I definitely lost a placing here due to slowing down so much at the end. Finished in 6th here with time of 52.57 seconds, which was about 5 seconds faster than my best with the heaviest I got in training.

Third event was the log clean and press. Similar to squat in having a mercy (242.5lbs/110kgs) and trump (286.5lbs/130kgs) weight but both options would be out on the field. 60 seconds and once you register a lift on one of the logs, that is what you do for the duration. So you can’t do a mercy weight rep (and get it) and then go for the trump but you can go for the mercy weight if you go for the trump and miss it. This ended up being a bastard in training. Overhead for big competitions with log or axle I’ve noticed that prep tends to not be linear and I get stressed out. I had been aiming for the trump weight as that was the mercy weight for open and I was just not getting there. Log I’d taken the longest break from as both competitions I did this year were dumbbell and axle had been last year (which hadn’t gone well). This is one of those things where I feel if I can get this to click, I’m back in the mix again. Having issues with consistency and finding what works for me, which I shouldn’t still be having after doing this sport for 18yrs now. Changing up shoes, sleeves and stance even. I did hit mercy weight or above a few times in prep and this will likely be a damage control thing for me. Last bit of prep on my own was more a focus on strict press and making sure I can hit the mercy weight comfortably after heavy squats. Like the squat, trying to get through this one without a zero and get back to the lab again to try and crack this nut. The pace of the competition had me worried here as my legs were unfortunately quite dead after the sled. I had to sit down for a bit to cool off and get the pump to subside. And thankfully it did enough that I felt like I had some power back. I did some mobility stuff so that I wasn’t having issues with balance with the log as I’ve never used these logs before. I got about what I was expecting to on these with warming up. This was going to be the damage control for the competition. I setup at the light log and like the squat, I took my time to get prepared to go for that first rep. I was only expecting at best a triple here with pacing wise. But that was apparently optimistic on my part. The first rep attempt went up and was good and on the board. But after that not so much. I apparently only had the one good rep in me today on this as I was fine with the pick and cleans here but just couldn’t get it to translate into another good press. I gave it two shots since it wasn’t feeling too taxing on me and I figured this would help be a warming up for the last two events in the regard. Tied for 11th here with 3 others. Didn’t zero but need to get this sorted out.

Fourth was farmer’s walk. 286.5lbs/130kgs carried down 50’/15m down and back. 60 seconds limit here. Like log, fairly standard strongman event. But unlike log, this one tends to be a better one for me with my grip. The repick not so much. I’ve done this particular event before 8yrs ago with a bit more weight and I had actually won it then at the this “plat plus” show. I tend to need not a lot of time to get back into the swing of things with farmer’s walk but it had been over a year since I’d done any and it showed in training but did thankfully improve like it does. Prep started on a mix bag as first set was to work up to a near max for half the course distance to see where I was at. I surprised myself hitting 315lbs/143kgs on these Titan Fitness handles that I despise (closest to the contest specs unfortunately) but that ended up frying my back for the rest of the week and ended up having to take an early deload to get back on track. With heavy deadlifts, squats and yoke in the mix this prep, had to be smart with things. The smart thing ended up being doing most of the sessions during the week at home while it was humid and hot on the uneven street. Working on transitions from the repick and did eventually work up to just shy of contest weight for a run. I should be good here. Should being the key qualifier. The pick was a little higher on these compared to training and no knurling which was fine by me. I didn’t feel like I needed much in the way of warming up but I also felt like I couldn’t handle much warming up at this point in the competition. I got set here (one of the few events hands could start on implement) and was off. This was one of those things were the travel stress (and prep) had gotten to me. Sometimes, I get lightheaded on stuff from pressure on my body. I wasn’t sure if the stress of travel and such had me just having allergy issues or if I had a slight cold (it turns out just stress stuff) but I had forewent allergies medicine of any kind as I was worried that would elevate my blood pressure. It is probably a good thing I didn’t as picking up these handles and taking a few steps had me going dark almost immediately. So I slowed down a lot to keep myself as conscious as I could and not lose my grip on the handles. I was definitely losing my rigidity and tightness as my arms starting swaying away from my body near the end. But thankfully I did not drop them before the drop point. If I had to do an extra pick, I don’t know if that would’ve gone today with how my posterior chain was doing. Honestly, if that failed, I’d probably be pretty much dead for the rest of the competition. I had to shake out my hands on the drop to make sure I could feel things and had body awareness back. That slow down had put me off pace and now I was not in the lead in the heat. The slow down and effort needed to will myself to not pass out that first leg took a bit out of me so it was a tough pick but I was able to have the second leg be much smoother and faster but not enough to catch up. I did end up holding the handles a little before the drop. This had not been my best run but I did salvage things here. Finished 6th with 26.87 seconds. 

The final event for the first day was yet another medley. Carry and load with staggered distances to platform (50”/1.27m). Keg (242.5lbs/110kgs) for 26’2”/8m, sandbag (264.5lbs/120kgs) for 19’8”/6m, another keg (286.5lbs/130kgs) for 13’1”/4m and then another sandbag (308.5lbs/140kgs) for 6’6”/2m to finish it out. 60 seconds and kegs need to be loaded standing upright. I do like medley events like this but I don’t enjoy setting them up or having to do them multiple times. Which is how training ended up with this one. Most of training was on the light side with these as trying to work on moving better/faster. I was also loading higher than competition since initially going with the open class. I had to bump up the intensity quick to finish things out and did get close to contest weights for 2 runs and that really showed how much I need to work on my hamstrings/lower back to pick up sandbags and such so that I don’t feel so out of it going forward. I’ve been used to sandbags for carries and loads as of late and it has been a while since kegs. But I did remember that hard metal causing scrapes and bruises that I had to adapt to. I know this is doable for me in the time limit. Whether that would be the case today was another matter. Two differences from training was that the kegs being used were quite a bit shorter than I had been using and they were plate loaded so quite bottom heavy. The other being that the platform space was like just enough to fit everything on it. So this required being aware of space available. Since I had well enough in the farmer’s walk, I was in the second to last heat so I got to see how things went. Seeing a lot of people not being mindful of positioning of implements to make space for the last big sandbag implement and no one had been successful with loading all the implements by the time I was up. Assuming no going night night on the first keg, I had a plan. Got the first keg up and was neck and neck with the guy in the lane to the right of me. Loaded at about the same time but I stopped to make sure the keg was really pushed to the back of the platform. He was then slightly ahead on the sandbag and I fell behind (I felt something shift in my right leg but not a bad way) as I loaded it but wanted it to be upright (I didn’t feel confident in doing a vertical style pick here with sizes of implements and my lower back/hamstrings fatigued). I caught up on the second keg as I was quick back to implements and he was slowing down. This heavier keg did mess with my usual style of pick and go with the smaller size and weight distribution but once it was done, I was able to pounce right onto the last implement. The pick was a fight but once in the lap, I just had to walk it up there with a slight pop. Advantages of height and training to 2” higher all prep. Hands off and walked away with my arms up. I was quite surprised time lasted through the last heat with only 2 other competitors in the class finishing this. 45.20 seconds to finish for a 1st place finish. 

Day 2

Survived the first day of competing and it had been a fast-paced affair. Started at 12pm and was done before 5pm. I did not end up having any protein shakes and just subsisted on some Rice Krispie treats and fluids. Unlike with last year competing in the last group and late and then starting early the next day, I was able to have an actual dinner. Also noticing that where we were staying was near a clock tower and that thing went off every 15 minutes. I also became aware that there was a bar nearby that had karaoke nights on the weekend as I was serenaded by renditions of I Want It That Way by Backstreet Boys and What’s Up? by 4 Non Blondes. At least some of the stuff I bought to help with sleeping on the plane were helpful in getting to bed. Also got to figure out a bit more of the what is considered a “sleepy” town in Scotland as far as cityscape is concerned. Locals were starting to notice me around and the place was starting to grow on me after initial annoyances I had being jetlagged (like trying to find regular waffles) the previous day. Waking up I was the least sore I’ve been after a competition going into a second day. So maybe I did something right this prep. I was in 5th place at this point in the overall and I wasn’t expecting to really be able to improve that considering the gap in the points for podium and how close points were 10th through 4th. Goal was still survive another day and to hopefully mitigate point loss. Earlier start and only having to deal with two events would me an early finish to the day as well. Time to finish things out.

The first event of the second day was dubbed the deadlift escalator. Strap in and pull weights as added. Reach the last weight and rep it out in the 60 seconds. No suits or briefs here (like the squat). Setup had us standing on a platform and using the bar with the metal wagon wheels used for the squat event. This had it so bar height was standard height for the pulling but giving a visual appeal I guess and making job easier for the loaders. I guess calling it an escalator rather than a ladder since staying put and weight increases vs running to another bar with more weight and so on. Starting weight 485lbs/220kgs with jumps of 22lbs/10kgs – 44lbs/20kgs. Prep had been aiming for just not zeroing since the initial opener for the open class was 573lbs/260kgs and I’d not pulled over 501lbs/227kgs since 2025 on a stiff bar and without a suit. I do feel at least this prep that I got the monkey off my back with getting past a mental block on the deadlifts around that weight range. Just keep pulling and know it will feel sucky and it will eventually go up. I will be working hard on that in the offseason. The wheels while on a platform felt off to me as well with bar mechanics and just the weight of things being distributed. This was a learning experience as I kind figured out what I already knew and that is heavy every week doesn’t work for me. I need to have light sessions if going weekly and there needs to be a big variance in the difficulty or I don’t recover. Once that was figured out, things started to go up and I got emotional hitting 551lbs/250kgs as my last heavy lift with something still in the tank. With things now, there was hope of getting the first two “steps” here. Though after five events the day before, this was a big ask. I was feeling a little tightness in my right hamstring right behind the knee but seemed to be no issues. I got the warming up I needed and I felt it made sense to work up to and do the first weight to make sure I was feeling good and breathing right. Didn’t want another passing out snafu. I got set and was out in the last heat after the win the day before. First rep went up well enough and only if there was an issue was the second lift not happening. This did go up well enough but I could tell that if I went for the next lift, it would be an ugly affair and I felt I had a best save it for the last event where I could make up ground. Tied for 9th here with 4 others as no split times on reps here.

Finishing out this heptathlon was on final medley; the yoke into dumbbell. 60 seconds to go 40’/12m down and back with a yoke and then end with 2 dumbbells to finish. 727.5lbs/330kgs on the yoke and 132lbs/60kgs and 154lbs/70kgs on the dumbbells. This exquisite corpse of an event I feel kind of spawned from the new thing of having overhead press and a deadlifts together in medley from 5-10yrs ago and then Rogue Invitational deciding to have a press with a moving event. Not against it. It makes things interesting. This year yoke and circus dumbbell had gone well and were in a good place but putting them together was another story. Yoke really takes it out of the core so makes the stability to brace and get the dumbbell up there significantly harder. Yoke is yoke for the most part and doesn’t seem to matter which setup but the overhead does seem to matter for me at least. The dumbbells being used are dense, globe style dumbbells like the Inch/Cyr kind. A friend ended up having some by happenstance so I made a trip regularly enough for end of prep to get as much work as I could on them because last time I touched this kind of dumbbell to press was 15yrs ago and I remember it being awkward then as it is now. Started with them separate and then combined but starting worrying about being ready and split them up again for my last session. This was one of the few events I worked to above contest weight. But this was the second day after 6 brutal events so not sure what is left in the tank at this point. I was familiar with the yoke from last year and it was more getting myself mobile and firing on point with the dumbbell in the warm ups. I was pretty much all warmed as I was going to be with yoke and did some picks and short runs with 661lbs/300kgs. Not my usual thing with empty implement or lighter weight stuff. Things were moving fast. I did do 159lbs/72kgs in the warm up area. One and done. Yoke I was the fastest off the block but I was moving slow and lost that lead. This one had split times so getting through the yoke and first dumbbell fast was key here. I may have been like the third person to actually finish the yoke in the heat but I was the quickest to go to the dumbbell and get the rep. Referee indicated to makes sure I was stable longer after the rep. I thought I was longer than video says I did. But that first lift felt so easy and smooth that I went right into the second one instead of taking a breather like I did in training. I didn’t hit it right and my elbow and wrist were not able to lock it out and it came back down. I had 20 seconds and I looked to the right to see the other two that got the first dumbbell giving their first attempts at it and I went for it again and was so very close. Just couldn’t get my elbow to lockout fully to stabilize. I tried my best and walked with it but couldn’t convincingly keep things stable and lost it. No sense with like 5 seconds left to go for it (especially with no shot clock). 5th place here.

In the end, I placed 7th out of 17 with competitors from 9 different countries. The competition ran like clockwork just like last year and in an orderly fashion. This competition is pretty much making it clear that masters is where I’m at right now. The under 23yrs old (juniors) and open 90kgs class used same weights and setups as the HW masters so there is direct comparison and I’m behind on speed and strength here, not to mention to the open HW class I was originally going to be in. Not as many people in the first group here but I did make some new friends. But like half of them this may be their swan song of a competition as they are getting older. Format for qualifying for next year (which will be in the USA in Texas) is different where it is not necessarily placing at the qualifiers but how you stand up to the overall as it will be same events across all the qualifiers. So already signed up for the first one beginning of next year under HW masters as this will be my focus. The events are generic (boo) but that means I can spend more off season to work on things and I hope that the Nationals will have some fun events like Worlds has been having. I kept busy the remaining days I had in Scotland with visiting Glasgow and Edinburgh and doing a stone tour around Stirling. I’m glad to be done with the competitive season for this year.

August 15, 2026 – Week 18, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Axle Wagon Wheel Squats to Pads (27”)
26x15
116x2
166x2
221x3
221x3
221x3
221x3
221x3

12” Log Clean and Push Presses (one clean)
2 second pauses
87x2
107x2
EMOM
127x2
127x2
127x2
No pauses
153x2
153x2
153x2

Sled Drags/Prowler Pushes (60 seconds rest)
195x75’/195x75’
195x75’/195x75’
195x75’/195x75’
195x75’/195x75’
195x75’/195x75’

Stretching

Comments: Besides having workouts hopefully taper and go smooth, the idea has been to deload on the stress and hopefully be feeling loosey goosey by next week. I don’t feel like mentally I’m stressing at this point but I can tell I’m holding a good deal of tension in my shoulders. Monday had not been ideal with my left shoulder getting sore on me at the start but it has pretty much evaporated as of today. Which is good since plan is to touch log one last time haha. Work is thankfully tapering down as well so shouldn’t be that bad hopefully for the two days I got next week. Plan being Monday session of just moving around with my dynamic warm ups and some extras added with stretching and then walking Tuesday and then packing/traveling Wednesday. Walked Thursday with soft tissue work and then just worked on stuff to prep for travel as well as try and figure things out with plan getting back with training. My plan today was to go out to the gym to do this last session but I was tired and the things I was to do the night before didn’t happen and I eventually figured out I could do everything at home and would rather save myself the hassle and stress of driving. So eventually got on to getting ready. Foam rolling stuff felt fine here. Need more on the right side for the calves compared to left but they both needed it a good deal at odd spots. Quads tend to be tight but they seemed even this time around and not as much as they’ve needed previously. Upper back I needed it today as well. Neck rehab protocol felt good and needed. Nothing felt off here thankfully. Glute activation I’m still trouble shooting some things here but good and mobility stuff felt fine. Dead hang felt fine and not feeling tension in the left shoulder like I did at the beginning of the week. So there is that. Today would be last touches of anything weight related and for three of the seven events. With first up being axle squats to boxes. I’ve been doing these at the gym with actually having boxes to use. The setup takes a bit even there but once setup, the weight loading is convenient for the most part. I’ve also not really thought it would work at home but apparently I could’ve based off what I was able to setup with the wooden spool “tables” I had. I think part of me was also leery just with how bad my knees were hurting the last time I did squats at home. Plan here was to work up to about 50% of my max on this and do 5x3 with 2 minutes rest. Ground is a little uneven unfortunately but either this weight or the sturdiness of the “boxes” made this not so bad. I think knowing that a wider stance and more gm style of hip loading has me taxing my time with the setup and feeling more solid if not fast on the movement is best. Knees a little achy but was moving well and felt powerful/strong as I went. Granted, this is like 50% and I’m wearing full gear to compete so it should be moving easy. But that is the point. Right hamstring a little tight. So this part of things done and it was on to next thing, log. I know, I said I moved “event” pressing to this day so that I would be doing stuff in a gym with a bit more temperature control and an even floor (I’ve busted up the concrete from doing axle in the past unfortunately) but this is light and needed. I did do heavy strict log on Monday but I want to make sure that I’m doing the actual movement and fluidly for that matter with the competition coming up. Strength should be there. It does seem that this will be something I need to work on. The clean doesn’t appear to be an issue here, I seem to have that figured out. It is finding what actually is a good base to press from and being stable. Narrow I feel like stuff feels solid but then if I misgroove, I can’t muscle it out through the sticking point while wider I can do that but it feels not as strong with my lower body drive. A little too late now. Anyways, the plan here was to do 3x2 with 50% with a pause in the dip and then 3x2 with 60% normal tempo. I decided to make these EMOM style and no rest between the different modalities. I don’t know if it was the floor or just overthinking things with getting setup for the drive for the press but only the clean was consistent on these. This weight is light enough that a bad rep isn’t going to be a miss here. But thankfully, most were good and I seemed to figure it out by the end of each. I had sweated up a good bit by this point and I had one last thing which was going to be a gut/lung buster. Something from Mr. Westerling in that the progression of the deload week being something heavy-ish for upper body, speed work lower body and then something that got you breathing hard and heartrate up to end it that was easy to recover from. Which was often sled pushes and drags with short rest. Since one of the events at world’s has a sled drag and sled push component, felt like a no-brainer to do that to finish things up. Since this is usually it’s own thing with maybe something light beforehand, I did indicate that I would have a range here of 4-5 sets with 60-100’ for down and back. The old me this would be three separate deload sessions for contest but I’ve improved work capacity and I can’t really do anything training week of with travel. I split the difference as that was about enough length of street without inconveniencing any of my neighbors and would keep me mostly in the shade. This got difficult fast and I was immediately regretting my decision to do this on the second set. The uphill drag wasn’t and issue. It was the downhill push as my legs just decided to not work and get full of lactic acid. Mostly my right one. I was breathing hard after the second set here. Progression is usually first set ok and then faster second set and maybe third set but then usually a decrease to what first set was and then a decline until reaching a dramatic one if not recovering well. For this go, about 29 seconds first set, 27 seconds second set, 29 seconds third set and 30 seconds fourth set. I was considering ending it after the fourth set with how my legs were feeling and breathing hard. I can see my conditioning from the beginning of this year’s prep has kind of diminished. But I got back into it and did one final one that took me 44 seconds or so to finish and I was done and absolutely gassed/knackered what have you. Ate a decent lunch (putting three small meals in one) before stretching out. I’ve done what I can to be ready at this point.

August 12, 2026 – Week 18, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

Deadlifts w/ Bands (straps, platform, wagon wheels +20lbs/+75lbs)
135x3
225x2
40 seconds rest
275x1
275x1
275x1
275x1
275x1
275x1
275x1
275x1

Farmer’s Rows/Back Extensions (5ct hold every 5 reps)
95x5/bwx10
95x5/bwx10
95x5/bwx10

ATG Split Squats (6”)/Seated Banded Leg Curls
bwx10/10 -- lb’sx20
bwx10/10 -- lb’sx20
bwx10/10 -- lb’sx20

Stretching

Comments: A little miffed that my left shoulder had gotten sore from log strict work on Monday. I feel achy and very tense and I know that has to do with the peaking and deload and just the stress I’m feeling with the upcoming travel and competing. Doing my best to recover now. Sleep has been so much better on the telework schedule. Been acting as a “floater” on top of my own work this week with upcoming travel. They aren’t really giving me new work of my own since I’ll be out until 9/1/2026 once I leave next week. Walking felt good Tuesday. It is nice to have option to walk at lunch time vs only having after work option. Foam rolling starting things off. Left calf needed it more than the right. Hamstrings fine. Good lord did my quads need it a ton today. Upper back needed a good bit but that expected just with the tension I’m feeling. No issues with neck mobility stuff. It was needed for sure. Glute and mobility stretching for lower body was fine. Added a little razzle dazzle here. Dead hang felt better on some areas vs other areas compared to Monday. Namely the impingement/compress felt better this time around. Then on to weights. Well, maybe not right away. I spaced out a little after work and then a little bit longer after warming up. My intent was to get some stuff setup for the session during lunch break to streamline but that didn’t happen. And then I got a little sidetracked with some options for the rest of the session. The only confirmed thing was to do banded pulls for singles with light weight and short rests. So that was how we were starting things. Same setup I’ve been doing with band pulls with aim at 50% of my 1rm for 6-8 singles with 90 seconds rest. 275lbs was about right and didn’t really want to get too particular here as this was more just pull weight fast and feel good about it as I know that 551lbs is not my max based on how things went. As long as the weight was moving fast and good, I’d do the 8 singles. I was also wearing all I will wear to do this lift at the show so full gear. My knees felt incredibly achy just getting into position at the bar. I can tell I’m in the deload week as that seems to be when I feel achy and have to temper expectations and go with the flow. Some reps went up super good and others just good. I ended up taking closer to 40 seconds rest vs 90 seconds with my pacing. I tend to think speed work and going fast and when I’m feeling a certain way letting that impetus take over. To glorious purpose as it were. Then the more up in the air aspect of the session. Light stuff whatever it was and not to be taxing. I eventually landed on doing the remaining stuff in superset fashion to have my heart rate up a little going back and forth and keeping me moving. The first pairing had something new. I did bent over rows with the farmer’s handles. Like in the stance I would take to pick up and go. Never done this before and I wasn’t really seeing anyone else do them how I was going to. This was just a spur of the moment thing where I wanted to have one last touch of farmer’s as of the events, they’d have the most time away from the implement with how things panned out. This wasn’t very heavy and I only did reps that felt not super taxing here. I could sense my right arm was a bit more tense than the left. This was supersetted with bodyweight back extensions that were having holds every 5 reps on them. Just trying to work positions and get some blood flow. Only taking rests after each series. I took a bit of a break here to clean up space in the garage so that I could do the last two exercises also as a superset. The first part being the  ATG split squat progression with elevated front foot as I’ve been doing. My knees have been feeling better as of late and I can’t say it is only because of these as I’ve done more mobility stuff and increased fish oil intake and adjusted exercises/equipment. But been feeling good and not like it was a month ago on my right knee. Aim was just to get blood pumping here so I had a rep range of 10-15 and ended up with 10 just to keep the RPE down here. The other half of the coin was banded leg curls. Those haven’t really come up and I feel like these have been missing to some degree so I wanted to make sure that my hamstrings and knees were getting some love here too. I’m definitely out of leg curl with bands and high reps shape it would seem. I did these as back to back no rest to keep things exciting as these weren’t too bad to recover from. Put stuff away ate dinner before stretching. Just one more to go.

August 10, 2026 – Week 18, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

12” Log Strict Presses 
87x3
117x3
147x3
167x1
187x1
207x1
227x1
(head through on last rep only, 3 seconds hold lockout)
197x3
197x3
197x3

Scap Retraction into Pull ups
bwx3
bw+22x4
bw+22x4
bwx7

Paused 12” Log Floor Presses w/ Bands (+6lbs/+30lbs, 2 seconds)
110x3
160x2
60 seconds rest
200x3
200x3
200x3
200x3
200x3

Band Pullaparts/Band Shoulder Dislocations
mbx15 (overhand)/mbx10
mbx15 (underhand)

Single Arm Band Overhead Triceps Extensions
mbx25/25

Stretching

Comments: The home stretch so to speak. My last planned “heavy” session. I was pretty whooped from Saturday training and I was feeling quite sore in areas that haven’t been sore this cycle. Hips were sore and needed to do trigger point stuff on my left elbow to get stuff to relax and calm down. I utilized Sunday to get sleep and get my shit figured out before work this week. Knowing this is the telework cycle helps in that regard as I tend to recover better. Weight down a little bit but still consistent. I waited until it was later to walk as it was still like 90 degrees (but at least dry and not humid). It was essentially dark when I woke up today due to storm coming through. Depending on weather, I was considering rescheduling the session until tomorrow or modifying it so I could train solely in the garage. Storm went away and sun came out and evaporated all the rain water and then another storm came and that at least passed and mostly dried up by the time work was done. Foam rolling starting things off. Calves and quads were really tight but worked them good. Neck stuff went fine. I figured some stuff would be a bit touchy considering the density of the dumbbell and how many times I lifted it as my left shoulder was quite raw from impact. Lower body activation and mobility stuff felt good. Dead hang to finish things up. I could tell here that thankfully my hands/grip were feeling fine but that my left shoulder was feeling impinged a little. On to the lifting. Log again. Last heavy touch of log with strict press. No bands. Plan was to work up to a top single but not like a true max. Similar to the deadlift in that working up to something that would have me get agitated and tap into that. Something that would make me nervous. No holds working up and initially doing triples and then singles. Things didn’t start out great as my left shoulder decided to become sore immediately. I knew this was a possibility with how much I did with dumbbell and this style of log press. I don’t feel like it affected my strength but I could tell a tendon or something was irritated on the eccentric portion. That is usually when I feel stuff doing tempo work and know I’m pushing things a bit. This has flared up before and I’m only planning on light log push presses Saturday for last session. So a little bit of a damper here but pushing onward. 30lbs on the triples and then 20lbs on the singles. My lower back was a bit stiff and feeling fatigue from the previous week sessions. But still felt fine here. Balance point was a bit of issue I think because I was used to the reps style rather than just going head through. 227lbs was just a hair under what my projected max would be based off reps from 2 weeks ago here. 4.5yrs ago I did 40lbs more than this in prep for a show following essentially this workout. But this is where I am now and I need to get some numbers to know where to go from here after World’s. I didn’t get as psyched up as I did for deadlift last week but this went up well enough and I pleased with that. Down sets I went on the higher end percentage wise. 3x3 with 30lbs less weight. Holds at lockout on last rep and no head through until that rep. I went with 3 seconds mainly because I was trying to not stress my triceps at lockout as much this week considering how my left elbow was feeling just the day before. I altered a few things to be less intense and I probably didn’t need to with how it was feeling today for the most part. Pull ups followed this. I made adjustments with this and initially I was looking at doing just 2 sets with one with weight and one without on the scapular retraction into pull up. With how my left shoulder feeling, I elected to do a few reps with bodyweight first so that perhaps the weight version wouldn’t be such a shock. I don’t know if it really helped here as the bodyweight only felt really good and then adding 22lbs of chains felt like a ton. I had hoped to be good for a set of 6 reps but not happening today. So I decided I’d do another set with weight to match those reps and if feeling good, I’d do another bodyweight set like I had originally planned. I was able to match reps and go to bodyweight. I actually had to slow myself down as I was moving to forcefully and getting a bit of swaying action. I was only going to do 6 reps but decided I’d try for one more here. With pull ups done, back to more banded log floor pressing. The plan was to do the same variation I did the past few weeks with holds at lockout but I switched to pauses on the chest instead to be less stress on my elbow possibly. Aim was to do these as my last “heavy” speed work. These felt pretty good. I was supposed to do 90-120 seconds rest but this ended up almost like EMOM rests instead. I liked doing these this prep though not sure on the carry over to the actual log press event. I’ll have to play with it some more I think. Now the end to the session as originally going to be like last week with superset of rear delt upper back and dumbbell triceps. But I forwent these to do stuff with bands that would potentially be gentler on the left elbow area. I’ve done this before but I had used the micro bands. But they were being used as my band setup for log and I wanted to move things along so I used a mini band instead. 15 pull aparts into 10 band dislocates and then 15 more pull aparts. Overhand pull apart was fine and dandy and the dislocations went good. Underhand grip was a bit more stressful with this band tension. Final thing being band triceps stuff. Did single arm overhead with mini band as well. Aim was 20-30 reps but not going to failure, just a good pump. Right side I stopped at 25 reps so matched that with left side (which felt a little easier). Nothing intense after this session. Put stuff away and stretched before eating dinner. Just two more sessions to go.

August 8, 2026 – Week 17, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Yoke (drop and turn halfway, turf)
235x40’/40’
375x20’/20’
505x20’/20’ 
595x20’/20’ 
685xpick 
685x40’/40’ in 22.34 seconds
735x40’/40’ in 25.77 seconds
660x40’/40’ in 21.73 seconds

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses (left side only)
70x4
100x3
137x2
160x1
178x1,0
178x0
178x0
137x1/160x0
137x1/160x1
137x1/160x1
137x1/160x0,1
137x1/160x1
137x1/160x1
3 point pauses (2 seconds in dip, catch and lockout)
EMOM
137x0,1
137x1
137x1
137x1
137x1
137x1

Sled Push, Sprint, Sandbag Carry and Pulls (turf)
266x15’/220x15’/296x15’
266x33’/280x33’/576x33’ in 59.30 seconds
266x33’/300x33’/596x33’ in 57.03 seconds

Stretching

Comments: I really wanted another day rest but I knew I had to kind of push through here so that I can deload to recover in time. I could tell there were some compression symptoms that were back that had arisen after the log session that had me take the rest of the week off that I think kind of went away and I hadn’t noticed until now that I felt they were back. Digestion issues popped up after the last training session and I’m not sure what this all about. Hopefully with having me back on telework option next week and through this last bit of prep will have me feeling better and recovering better. I didn’t walk after work as I felt that sleep and soft tissue work was higher priority to feel good for this last heavy event session. That did seem to be the right call. I woke early enough on my own accord to take care of some things before I took the drive up to the one gym. Ty had indicated he would be there but I guess family had other plans. I’m getting used to the drive but I don’t really see myself making the drive up this frequently unless it is for specialty equipment and if temperature is like it has been this summer. Foam rolling was ok. Back of my knees and calves/hamstring inserts felt odd but thankfully chilled out by the time I was done with warming up. The calves themselves didn’t seem to need much but quads did. Neck rehab stuff was ok as well. Lower body stuff was ok and felt decent. Dead hang after that and as good to go as I was going to be. Starting off with yoke. Yoke and dumbbell had been separate at the start of prep and then merged together for 3 weeks with 2 of those sessions being up here to train. And seeing how different these dumbbells are compared to what is usually contested has made simple linear progressive not as feasible. So this session was to get in the last heavy touches for both and I felt that in order to get that being close to contest weight for both without worrying about one or the other’s performance was to break them up again to focus on the parts. My proficiency with yoke has improved so that is less a worry. The initial plan under coaching had been to do 3 runs of contest setup with 685lbs on the yoke and 160lbs on dumbbell for 1-2 reps. But things changing with going to master’s as well as splitting things up. But it sounded like a good idea to get 2-3 runs of yoke with this being the last session since the previous session had been like a month ago and had not felt good with my knees and such and stress at the time. It showed as hamstring felt tight and my one working up set I started to black out on the first half of the run. I thankfully didn’t have that issue with the first working set though. My hope was even if not necessarily getting contest weight, the turf would be what was making things tougher and it would be less taxing at the show. 685lbs didn’t feel that bad. The notes I had was to actually do 685-725lbs here for the 3 sets with aim of going up 20lbs a set. But I guess I felt that I should just go up and maybe only do 2 sets instead of 3 sets. Like I did with farmer’s walk. I put what I thought was 725lbs but turned out to be 735lbs so accidentally a little over contest weight here. It felt heavy but fine, with only issue being coming back and bumping into one of the many objects I had to move out of the way to even do yoke runs today. I did elect to do another run here but dropped it down to 660lbs which would be 90% of contest weight to just get a little bit faster run. I had some issues with the initial leg of the run but it did move better once I got that sorted. I happy for the most part with how these went as I’d not tried this with the new belt, didn’t feel that far off what I was doing for the AZ show 6 months prior despite lighter weights. The turf definitely makes things harder to move. I’m giving myself at least 30 seconds to get through the dumbbells. Which was next. This went through some changes as initially I was looking at just getting more work on the 160lbs dumbbell to drill heavy technique with 6-10 reps done EMOM style. But then I thought better of it just based on how the event will be doing 2 dumbbells and with master’s, I actually have a shot at both lifts rather than just one. But I figured I’d see how things went and kind of be on the fly with it. Working up had me realize it has been over a month since I’ve done a circus dumbbell. I don’t count those javelin presses as such. Form was off once I got to the inch style dumbbells but I corrected quick enough. I decided to go for the 80kgs dumbbell again and got it on the first try this time. I felt good enough that I did try for a double that was close but not there yet. I imagine if I hadn’t taken 5 weeks away that I’d be better here. I did give it two more shots after that to try and get another rep in some capacity but called it there as I was burning myself out and taking away from the obtainable for the show. Something like reining in my worse impulses here would be helpful with coaching/instruction. So what came next was the intent to do doubles with a rep on the 137lbs dumbbell, followed by the 160lbs dumbbell. And start out from under the yoke to work transitions. Initially wanting to do these as an EMOM but with the first attempt not going great (missing the 160lbs twice), I scrapped that and went with just rest as needed and try to get 5 good sets. I need more work on the 160lbs dumbbell as I was having about an even ratio of misses/bad/good reps and want that to not be the case. This is definitely something that needs more work in the future if this comes up as an event for me as some reps the clean feels effortless and others if feels like it saps my arms and back. I then decided I still wanted to do EMOM singles to ingrain things in and went with the 137lbs dumbbell to do iso-holds at 3 points vs 2 points like I had been doing. Reason being that these dumbbells are really unwieldy at lockout compared to other circus dumbbells. I must have misremembered how heavy I had done paused reps like this as I initially missed the first rep attempt on the catch. But I did manage to clean things up and it was going quite sold by the end and feeling automatic. I could tell that I had pushed it here today as my forearms were sore and so was my right elbow (in a musculature way, not joint pain). I swapped in a fresh shirt as I was covered in rust and sweat and ate a rice Krispie treat. This break between things wasn’t going to take nearly as long as last week having make an implement first but I did want to try and recover before finishing out the day. Last thing was the push and pull medley. Like circus bell, it has been over a month since I did this and last time had been the first time doing it with any sandbag weight. Hope I think with prep had been that doing the pick and carries of keg and sandbag would build for this until closer than then worry about. For master’s the weight is a good bit lighter on the push and pull but sandbag is the same weight. Plan was to do 2-3 runs here since no longer doing the 1st medley right before this to kind of warm up things. With heavier sandbag but lighter weights, I had to get creative for the drag by putting a plastic plyo box on it so that the loading pin didn’t puncture the bag. I was definitely feeling everything I did on Thursday and the session by this point. I did half the course or so to warm up as I didn’t want to do a full run as I was having a nagging feeling that the sandbag portion was going to suck. Aim was to do 280-300lbs for the sets here and I was honestly not feeling super confident in this today after how tough the 300lbs sandbag was last week to pick up. So went with 280lbs the first set for the sandbag, which meant. I had meant to add another 10lbs on the sled for the push portion but it feels like busy work rather than an actual implement at this weight. The 280lbs sandbag wasn’t too bad but where I screwed up was the drag. I fumbled big time with getting the handles and the other blunder was I forgot to tighten my shoe laces so my feet were loose in my shoes with pulling this weight on the turf like that. Barely under a minute here. I felt I had to do 300lbs and hopefully not make those unforced errors this run. Better but man was the pick up of the sandbag rough. Similar to last week with how I was on my second run with the sandbag to finish the medley. This may end up being how it goes at the show. I did manage to be a little faster despite that. I’ve made a note of how this has felt on sandbags this prep to address it during offseason. Put stuff away after I downed my shake and made it home well enough. I kind of needed to just chill for a bit when I got home and finally get something to eat and stretched out afterwards. I knew I’d be tired but have issues actually getting myself to settle down for bed. One more week.

August 6, 2026 – Week 17, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

Deadlifts (straps, platform, wagon wheels)
135x5
225x2
275x2
315x2
365x1
405x1
455x1
495x1
551x1
Cluster reps (15 seconds)
482x1+1+1
Pauses (3 seconds with 5 second cluster)
408x1+1
408x1+1

Paused Inverted Ring Rows (2 seconds)
bwx3
bw+20x3
bw+37x8
bwx12

ATG Split Squats (6”)/ Copenhagen Planks
bwx12/12 -- bwx25--25 seconds
bwx12/12 -- bwx25--25 seconds
bwx12/12

Stretching

Comments: I did not have the same level of soreness after the first session this week like last week. Probably from not being detrained compared to last time. Also like last week, this session ened up having some changes from the initial plan during the session as well as right beforehand. I had added stuff last week to it from how last week went and then thought better on it as this session came up and just considering logistics with some exercises and recovery for these last few heavy sessions. Walking had felt good after the previous session. It has been quite humid with rain happening now. I ran the fans in the garage more so for air flow and to hopefully dry out some of the dampness. The big focus today was going to be the last heavy deadlift session. And that is one of those things that takes a bit out of me. So starting the order of operations here with getting ready with foam rolling. Calves didn’t feel like they needed as much but I am trying to put more pressure on them to see if that gets them feeling better and if that lessens time needed to get ready. Hamstrings fine. Quads were tense but manageable. Upper back I needed but perhaps not as much as Day 1 session. But I could tell things were being worked hard as of late. Neck mobility stuff was feeling pretty good today. Glute and mobility stretching for lower body was fine and followed up with dead hang. On to the heavy deadlifts. The plan was always on this one to work up to a top single that was not quite a max. But something that felt like “danger” and would require me to get excited and hyped for it rather than just pull it low key. What I wasn’t sure on was after that bit as this was the most important thing. If not for the competition it would give me a working max to gauge things for off season and planning purposes. My lower back was not feeling the freshest and understandable with having done heavy farmer’s the week before, my heaviest squat of the prep on Sunday as well as doing the heaviest load and carry medley of the prep. So I wasn’t sure how this would go. Aim was to do 545-551lbs here. I figured I had to be good for at least 545lbs with how 537lbs had gone about a month and a half ago and then with me being able to do 8 singles with 525lbs. The problem or issue is that at this point in deadlift training, everything feels slow and heavy off the floor. But I feel that getting 537lbs was a breakthrough in getting my deadlift going that it will just feel like a bunch of suck but it will go up. The many singles kind of reinforced that for me. So 40-50lbs jumps just like when I worked up to 537lbs. With how things were going, I was not feeling super confident in things but I decided I’d put the pressure on here and go for 551lbs or 250kgs. This had been the aim in my mind for the top single I’d need if I wanted to have a chance of not zeroing the deadlift in the open class (260kgs). Now that weight is the 3rd lift in the series so it is less about bombing and being competitive. I got really hyped up mentally for this with the music on. If I missed, it would take so much out of me and be quite devastating but if it went up… well that is seemed worth the risk here. I got set and yanked the bastard and I knew it was going up. Let out a good shout after I put it down. Such relief that I’m on I’m on the half way point between 500lbs and 600lbs for a floor pull once again. Hands were shaking after this one and the thing is that I maybe had that 10kgs more in me today. But aim was not the true max but to have something that was enough that it made me go into the realm of needing that true max strength to do it. Everything after this was just gravy really. Initially, the plan was to do the top single and then do 2 paused doubles. Then I thought about with now doing master’s, I may be able to do more than just the opening lift here. So I adjusted to doing a cluster triple with about the weight of the first rep on the deadlift. Walk up and strap in and do a rep and then rest about 15 seconds and do it again and then one more time. This did feel a bit wonky compared to the set and go pulls I was doing leading up to it and I could tell I had put in a bit effort on my brace on that top single as it was a struggle bus now. I had actually thought of doing two doubles this cluster style but went with just a triple so I didn’t have to another set of the nonsense. Dropped off some more weight to do the paused reps. 3 seconds just breaking off the floor. These felt better. I stayed strapped in and took like 5 seconds rest between reps. I don’t know how quickly the weights will get added each rep and I may be better staying in the groove vs going away and coming back, depending on time and such. Want to prep for both outcomes really. The rest of the workout was light stuff. I had liked the combo of rows into jeffersons and was going to do that with a different row variation but then figuring out setup logistics wise had me reconsider it and just do the row since I was going to be not getting 2 days rest after this for my last heavy event session. It has been a good bit since I’ve done the inverted ring rows. And old standby that feels good. Plan was pauses here (really trying to work to get the clean feeling better on log as well as working on holding stuff to the body well) with plan working up to a top set of 8 reps (2RIR) and then doing a set of 12-15 (3-4RIR) after that. Pauses were to be 1-2 seconds. It has been a bit here and I know that holds and such really bring down the numbers I can do on rows so I had to do some testing working up. I’m glad these felt good on my body. The top set went as it should. The down set I just went with bodyweight as I knew it would be tough getting those reps and leaving that many RIR on it. Nice and tidy finishing here. chest supported dumbbell rows and then some stuff for my knees as separate exercises. Finishing up the session like I did last week with offset superset of ATG split squat progression with elevated front foot and Copenhagen planks. These had been a bit rougher than I was expecting them to be last week and my joints were not happy about it initially. This time around, things seemed to be better. I only persisted as things had actually felt good after the session and the following days. For this time around, doing 3x12 on the ATGs and 2x25 seconds on the holds. No adjusting of the height as I used 6” for the whole thing here. Felt pretty good. Keeping an eye on things that feel achy or off when doing the ATG stuff. The holds were fine and I think I was ready for them this go around. Kind of hoping these don’t sap me too bad for my last heavy gym session. Put away stuff and ate dinner before stretching.

August 4, 2026 – Week 17, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

12” Log Strict Presses w/ bands (+14lbs/+28llbs, head through on last rep only, 5 seconds hold)
87x3
107x3
127x3
147x3
60 seconds rest
167x3
167x3
167x3
167x3
167x3

Scap Retraction into Pull ups
bw+11x6
bw+11x6
bw+11x6

Paused 12” Log Floor Presses w/ Bands (+6lbs/+30lbs, 3 seconds lockout)
140x3
180x2
220x1
255x3
225x3
225x3
225x3

Paused Incline Bench Dumbbell Rear Delt Flyes (3 seconds)/Single Arm Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extensions (0-1-0-1 tempo)
11’sx8 -- 22x15/15
11’sx8 -- 22x15/15
11’sx8

Stretching

Comments: Well the rain issue ended up being a nonissue as seems all the bluster decided to hit Sunday afternoon and evening. So nice out Monday and Today. I didn’t realize that the storm Sunday caused two more branches to fall. I didn’t realize the one in the front yard until I was leaving for work Monday and the one in the back yard not until today when I was warming up. I needed the rest and I was feeling a good bit of soreness in my ribs and midsection. I’m going to have to assume that is just from the heavy medley as this isn’t really anything different from the squats and log pressing I’ve been doing. Cautious with my biceps as they were feeling Sunday session and I know that sometimes if I work stuff hard like that, I can get some cramping doing stuff like mobility work. I did feel a little underwhelmed with how rough things were after the fact but I can’t dwell on that and realize this right now is just getting the boxes checked for the big show and I can ruminate on things after all is said and done to work on the plan for the next season. Foam rolling starting things off. Really trying to focus on more pressure on the calves as mentioned to try and get them not so tense as there may be a nerve component connected to my back issues. I’d say sides were about even today. Hamstrings were fine (surprised they weren’t super tight) and quads needed a good bit as well. Upper back felt nice and needed. Neck stuff went fine. Chest a little tight but nothing like it was last week at times. No issues with glute activation or lower body mobility. Dead hang to finish things up. On to the weights. As kind of explained last time, Day 1 is more overhead event assistance focused and upper body and saving event stuff for the most part on Day 3 sessions with some temperature control and not working about finishing up to go to work early. Log being the focus. So last week had been work up heavy with the lean back and only putting head through on last reps of sets and holding that on the last rep. Same this time but doing with band tension and for triples. Ideally with short rests as well. Plan was like with deadlift having 10-15% of 1rm for the band tension and going for about 72.5% of estimated max single on this strict style press. I had to retest band tension setups as I wanted to make sure it was right and the previous setup was a little less due to bands aging so I went with an older setup with multiple bands that did the trick. I wasn’t used to the bands at the start but eventually did. Short rests didn’t make things so easy and I’m still finding my form on these again. Last set I feel was the best consistent form. From there it was on to the pull up variation I did last week. The one starting at dead hang into scap retract into dead hang and then pull up. As I mentioned, I was a bit surprised I got 3x6 with bw last time. Not that that is amazing but I was surprised it happened on the first session and not needing to get my body used to it. So I decided to add 11lbs to my upper body with draping a chain around my neck, which would hopefully add more resistance to the retraction aspect rather than hang from my waist (though the traction/decompress could be nice). This was the one I was worried that my biceps would be really sore and cramp up on me just getting into position. It has happened before after heavy stones. Thankfully, no issues like that here. I didn’t even have that bad a bruise from kegs on the right lower biceps or any really from log cleans either. Last set was a bit rough with an iffy last rep but I already know I’m reducing stuff for next week with that being the deload week. After that, more time with bands and the log. Banded log floor pressing with the holds at lockout. Dropping the slam ball portion as wanting to hit more triceps on something else and cut back on that movement as finishing up prep. Borrowing from the same plan as the log strict pressing with doing up to a top triple and then dropping down 12.5% for 3x3. The RPE here was higher but the caveat was that had to be moving fast and not grinding like how a good log press should go up. I had setup planned jumps here depending on how I felt as I felt that the range could be large here depending on how I felt on the day. Sometimes the unrack feels terrible and other times like nothing is in my hands. The top end I was hoping to be 250-270lbs. Warming up the first weight felt like a joke but then the second weight felt a little off and right shoulder not feeling great so lowered the next jump and that one felt bad all around. I was really considering do the lowest end here as that could be a max effort but I know that sometimes I undersell. I did add 5lbs to it. And of course that set felt near perfect and leaving 5-10lbs on the table here. Oh well. Down sets felt ok, I could tell I was getting a workout in my pressing. Into the garage for the offset superset (that’s what I’m calling it I guess when uneven set pairing). I did the paused rear delt stuff by itself last week but squeezing in tempo triceps stuff. Three sets vs two sets. Light weights but very tough here. Left elbow was a bit achy but seemed to warm up on the extensions eventually. This was good work here with these light weights. Put stuff away as heated up dinner. Stretched afterwards.