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.

October 12, 2026 – Week 7, 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
200x10
180x10
Add 1 Second Pauses
160x10
160x10

Pause Inverted Rows (1 second)
bwx5
bw+30x8
bw+35x8
bw+40x8
bw+45x8

Lying Chain Triceps Extensions/Leaning Dumbbell Lateral Raises/Strap Band Face Pulls
55’sx15/22x15—15/lbx15
60’sx15/22x15—15/lb+(2)µbx15
64’sx15/22x15—15/lb+(2)µbx15

Stretching

Comments: I hadn’t felt like I had done so much Saturday that I’d feel the need for 10hrs of sleep Saturday and Sunday evening. Especially since it rained all day Sunday and I didn’t walk and did soft tissue work only. But maybe not going for a walk hampered recovery. So kind of glad I got another day off before back to working Tuesday. My biceps are sore and twitchy and I’m uncertain if from the sandbag roll ups or from having my upper body bracing so hard on those lying leg curls. In either case, I’m glad I went with having the event specific pressing stuff being on Day 3 and then more gym focused stuff on Day 1 for the pressing as I’m sure I’d be leery if I was to be doing some kind of clean and press today. The tons of rain yesterday at least leaves and sunnier day for today’s training (at least at times). Since off work, aim was to do workout early afternoon after settled from morning stuff so as to have more time in the evening to mentally prepare for work again and to hopefully get to bed early so as not to feel drained for work time. Foam rolling starting things off. Calves needed it but not to the extent I was expecting after how they had been Saturday. My right hamstring and quad needed a ton of work today to loosen up. Not so much the left side. Thankfully neither biceps cramped up on me here. Upper back felt fine but did need some buffing out, Neck rehab/mobility stuff followed that and that was fine. Nothing really felt beat. No issues with glute activation or lower body mobility. Actually was losing count on some things. Dead hang to finish things up and get a little more decompression before starting training. Get a good stretch in upper body too. On to training outside. Band superset to starting things off with pec flyes and paused pull-aparts. No issues here. Feeling the pump and fatigue from these. I got a little distracted afterwards clearing dead foliage from the bushes in the backyard before moving on to the weights. I think because I was nervous with the plan for today. Hard to gauge things with the amount of reps and fatigue from the volume I’ve been doing with the high incline log press lately. My worry of missing a rep or being stapled. Making sure there is recovery for this session and from Day 3 push pressing as that will be important when switching to competition prep. This aspect and making sure that deadlift doesn’t suffer with the events coming in are key. So no restriction imposed with doing a ton of reps working up like that past several weeks of high incline log pressing. Plan was simple but brutal; work up to 10rm or there abouts and then drop off 10% to match and then another 10% for 2x10 reps with pauses. Based off last week, I felt that 200lbs would be workable here and be easy for just taking off 20lbs and then 20lbs for the other sets. But starting things didn’t feel great. My left elbow felt achy on the empty-ish log but did feel better as I went. But just felt like there was a lot of fatigue in my chest, shoulders and triceps. 30lbs jumps and dropping 2 reps as I went. 180lbs for my last working up set didn’t feel like a confidence boost. I was really worried. Heart was racing and not in the eager and excited way. More in the oh shit way. With how the reps felt, I’m actually surprised I got 10 reps here with 200lbs. Been over 2 months since I’ve touched this kind of weight for upper body stuff. I feel like I’m getting better at pushing through my sticking point on incline lately. Perhaps it has moved due to the higher incline angle though? But pleased I did get this done. Maybe 1RIR here. I broke into a cold sweat upon completion of the set. I wasn’t out of the woods here as I had 30 more reps to go. 20lbs off certainly made the next set feel much more manageable. Another 20lbs off and it was pauses. These felt light at the start but in the second half I could tell that these were draining me and if I misgrooved, I’d be in for a not good time. Pressing done and into the garage for the rest of what I had planned. Inverted ring rows up next. My plan was to do about the average across sets last week for 4x8. Try to stick to straight weight sets. I figured this could be a bit more challenging for me with my twitchy biceps. So I did a bodyweight only set to make sure things were feeling good. They were thankfully. So put 30lbs in the back pack and went to work. Felt way too easy. I initially was going to do just 2.5lbs jumps but talked myself into doing 5lbs jumps instead. Certainly got me working by the last set but still probably close to the effort range. Likely going to use set weight next time as option for last set is to do more reps at that point. But good to see that upper back is feeling strong. I started getting my late lunch prep under way at this point as I put away the stuff outside and got things setup for the finishing triset. Same as last week with chain triceps, leaning laterals and strap band face pulls. Of last week, I felt the laterals had been the one I was closest to getting it right effort wise. The face pulls I wasn’t too sure with as they had felt pretty tough. I knew I needed to go heavier on the chain triceps extensions. So initial plan was all the chains for the triceps (I hadn’t expected to be a this point already) and bump the lateral raises to 10kgs/22lbs and keep the face pull band tension the same just in case everything was fatigued from the previous stuff being heavier (including the rows). Well, the triceps still felt not quite at the right effort here. The laterals were and my left elbow was not a fan of the torque that first set. The face pulls were easy unfortunately. If I kept the extensions and face pulls the same for the remaining sets, it wasn’t going to be worth my time. I had a thought during one of my walks on how to continue with loading the chain triceps exercise so I guess I was putting that into practice today. That worked and it was definitely closer to what I wanted but still needed a little more. No discomfort in the left elbow on the second set of the laterals so that was good. I added some bands to the face pulls and that little bit was enough to make them challenging again. So for the last set, I tried to add a little bit more to the chains and that was where I wanted these. Some discomfort came back on the third set for the raises but minimal. Face pulls were fine at this point. I got another session with these three next week to get it ironed out finally. Took a moment to eat my late lunch meals before finally putting stuff away and then decompress before stretching.

October 10, 2026 – Week 6, 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
71.5x4
93.5x3
115.5x2
137.5x2
159.5x4
159.5x4
159.5x4
159.5x4
159.5x4

Front Squats (beltless, 3-1-0-0 tempo)
45x3
89x3
133x3
177x3
210x8
210x8
210x8

Reverse Band Hack Squats (lb’s)
+90x5
+180x5
+270x10
+290x10
+310x10

RNT Sandbag Roll-ups off Box (lb, 20”)
175x4
200x3
225x3
255x8
255x8
255x8

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

Belt Squat Donkey Calf Raises/Paused Tibia Dorsi Calf Machine (3 seconds)
bw+90x15/+70x25
bw+90x15/+70x25

Stretching

Comments: Being home for work allows me to get in walks during the week with sunlight out and not eat into my time after I’m done work to get a full night’s sleep. Felt so busy this week I needed those breaks (the one’s I tend to skip) to clear my head of some junk. Also forgot that Monday is a holiday. Ended up sleeping in but not so much that I was worried about getting out to train as late or later than last weekend. I did have to be back at some point today though for family stuff in the early evening. I had gotten stuff ready so I could just eat breakfast and then pack up to go. Unfortunately, there were a ton of bad drivers out today. An accident on one of the busy sections of highway near where I live added about 30 minutes to my drive so not really saving any time. Some people at the gym but like usual, the people I actually know are gone before I get too far into training. Started things off with the usual foam rolling. My upper calves really needed it a ton on both sides. Probably because been hitting calves harder as of late (and getting in more walks). Hamstrings were also a tad tight. Big shocker was quads barely needed anything. Upper back was tight but in spots that were just sore and not really able to get any tension to release. Lats are feeling the inverted rows and rdls. Neck rehab stuff was fine and no issues with glute activation and lower body mobility. Dead hang was fine. On to training. It was thankfully cooler in the gym but more so because not as many bodies as opposed to it actually being cooler. Starting the lifting with the triset of the back breaker paloff presses, step ups with band TKEs and dead bugs. I almost forgot to do these as I was ready to start moving weights I guess. Same as last week and might have actually felt better overall. From there, on to push pressing again. But switch in focus as now paused reps. Still no belt, only wrist wraps. Decrease in weight form last week of 5% and going with 5x4. Rack position feeling good and seem to get right to the spot in the dip drive immediately, which is a good sign. One of things I try to focus on with the pauses is not going down any further after the pause is done as defeats the purpose of what I’m going for here with the isometric focus. I do wish I was moving heavier weights on overhead just knowing what I need to be hitting to be competitive and to hit numbers I expect but I know that I need to take the time here to build back up and fix this event and movement pattern. Trust in what I’m putting in the work with here. From there, onto front squats. Same as last week with the 3x8 and tempo. Aim being to add more weight to last week. I didn’t feel quite so confident to go up 10kgs on this one as already been pushing the RPE more than listed and suggested on some of these lower body efforts so went with 5kgs. This didn’t feel that “heavy” on my body like last week comparatively. I made sure I had my own straps this time as well. Just trust the process that building to something good here. Reverse band hack squats up next. This one does take time as mentioned last week with having to move the entire machine around to a different spot and orientation to use the bands. There is a lady at the gym the past few weeks that does a ton of leg/lower body exercises and I had moved the hack squat machine to the smith machine since she was using the hip thrusts machine right in the area. But she was using the smith machine today so initially I was waiting until done to move but then I realized I could just use my old setup of the rack right there since not in the way of someone using the hip thrust machine. But that also would alter the band tension. So I’d have to adjust the weights used this time around as I could tell it was more assistance vs last time. But one good thing with the delay is that I found a more comfortable setup so stuff isn’t digging into my traps and this doesn’t take as long to move. So initial plan was to warm up in 5’s and then do 10lbs less than top set last week for 3x10. But this setup felt like more assistance so that felt way too easy and I decided I’d add weight to hopefully get closer to the range I felt would be good. Which ended up being about 40lbs more. Assuming I get to do the same setup next time and the time after that, I think I got a good system figured out. I know these are doing my lower body a great service. Sandbag time. This had a bit of changes to it just based on how I felt recovery was from last week to this week. With the regionals having 2 sandbag events (max distance and carry and loads) trying to work something in for both aspects while building with gym lifts to hopefully get stuff sturdy and strong. The initial plan was to do sandbag bent over rows and then lap and extend as part of a complex. Work on picking up the sandbag and then extensions. However, with how my lower back was feeling on the rdls this week after doing the paused back extensions, I could tell that there would be some recovery issues. So the change was to have these just be roll ups off a box. The additional thing was to see how adding band tension as a reactive neuromuscular training tool. I’ve done the light on rdls on deload sessions and I’ve done roll-ups with and without a box so this would be a first together. Light band was enough to do what I needed here. Plan was 200-255x3x8. Initially, was rough but I felt better and ended up with doing 255lbs for the working weight. The pick up felt strong the first set but definitely was harder after that. Also some changes to the end of the workout. Last week, smooshed three exercises together as part of triset and to try and get the session done sooner. With the exercise at the end here, this wasn’t viable as one of those exercises would require substantial warming up. The being a lying leg curl variation. Up with two legs and down with one leg and accentuated eccentrics. This was going to be a rough one on the hamstrings. Not a lot of weight needed as 50lbs of work becomes 100lbs of work. Aim 3x10 reps (5 reps each leg). 3-5 seconds and I went with 5 seconds. Right side struggled a lot more than the left side on these. Which was expected. Took about 60 seconds rest between right and left and then normal rest after a set was done. Managed to get through these but man was the contraction hard at the start of these. Quite the wake up. Downed my shake at this point in the session. The last bit was initially going to be a superset of quad fall backs and the tib raises on the machine. However, I felt that I was mostly doing the quad fall backs as a mobility thing and not a strength thing. If I was able to keep my hips locked, then sure but I was falling back and bending hips coming up. I have the mobility once warmed up to get head to floor and a stretch is more for after the session. What needs the work at the moment is my calves as I’ve lost a good bit of strength in the right one at some point. So superset here of belt squat donkey calf raises with the tib machine lifts. This seemed to work out well and will keep this pairing I think for the rest of this 8 weeks block for sure. Put stuff away and had a slightly less dangerous ride home. Stretched out much later after done with family stuff.