May 5, 2024 - May 11, 2024 - Week 21

 May 6, 2024 – Week 21, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

12” Log Clean and Push Presses
Clean Every Rep
100x5
140x3
Clean Once
170x2
200x2

12” Log Push Presses
230x2
260x2
280x2

Chest Supported Barbell Rows
135x5
185x5
225x5
Added Straps
275x5
275x5

Bench Presses
45x15
95x8
135x5
185x2
225x5
225x5

Stretching
 
Comments: Definitely noticing that I’m feeling more pressure on myself mentally with the competition getting closer. Thoughts of trying to drop down to 265lbs (20lbs in 4 weeks is not safe) as I can do those weights comfortable, worries I’m not ready or that I didn’t improve enough. It can be difficult to quiet those negative thoughts as get closer to show time as anxiety increases. But I know I can keep things under control and in check. Been doing that for a decade and a half now. Just need a little rest and step back to assess and make a plan to move forward. Thankfully the allergens in the air took a break and I didn’t need to do any meds since Saturday. Trying to relax myself with distracting on possible future competitions and logistics. It may be for naught if things work out for me but I can’t do anything about what is coming besides doing my best and getting the work done. Not much thought needed there. As far as weight, technically same as last week but that is weighing myself after morning activities. But not eating as much means stuff isn’t going through as quickly so when I checked myself a little later, I was just above 285lbs. Since the dropping of the two addition shakes in the diet, I’ve noticed perhaps slightly less energy overall but no shin splints popping up while walking or feeling blood sugar being off. I was nervous for training. Not because I thought I’d not be able to do it but that I wouldn’t be able to do it right and hit what I wanted to. Warming up was fine for training. I added in some additional foam rolling for my quads at the start to see if that perhaps helped with the knee issues at all in the right knee. I figured this was a good idea after seeing how tight my quads were beginning of Saturday’s training. No real issues. Log pressing to start things off. With axle being reduced last time, there was something similar with log but not quite. Similar in the sense that I was only working up to 200lbs for a clean and press like axle. But I’d then be moving to rack work which I didn’t do for axle last week. It was thankfully not super humid like it was last week when I did axle but it was decently humid due to thunderstorm earlier in the day. I’m not sure if the foam rolling helped or not but it seemed like knee was feeling less bad. It does seem like leaning back on my heels with the press doesn’t feel as good as midfoot or forefoot. Weight was feeling a little heavy on the pick. I kind of expected that with how my lower back was feeling from the shouldering. Walked into the rack for the heavier stuff and where I was stressing out. As I’ve mentioned, for whatever reason, out of the rack for log does not feel comfortable to me. The only time I’ve ever had it feel good was that one tiered squat rack at the YMCA. Just can’t get it right anywhere else it feels harder on the knees and pressing. Which is good on the one hand in that essentially a tougher variation for me to do and save the back and arms. The plan was to work up to a top double ideally. Depending on feel. Suggested was to work up to 280lbs but 270lbs was fine too. In the event I wasn’t feeling that great, I could do reps at the weight but make sure to save a rep in the tank. 280lbs would be fine. 270lbs would be fine. But I didn’t want that. I wanted to do 290lbs. Because a double at that weight would be a lifetime PR out of the rack and would mean I had to have a 300lbs log press. But I was anxious about going for that because this out of the rack situation has not been great for me. 260lbs is actually the most I’ve done out of the rack since I’ve been lifting from home so that is over 4yrs now. But I get fixated on numbers. But I told myself I’d only go for that if 260lbs felt really easy. Spoiler, it did not. So I knew that there was a risk of not getting a solid double with 290lbs and I made myself go for 280lbs. Of course my reptilian brain said this if fine, just make it easy enough that you can get 4 reps. Another stupid numbers fixation. I got set and went for it. First rep was really good. But catching the log and getting ready for the second rep buffeted me a little and it did go out in front so it was a much tougher lift. I couldn’t guarantee a successful third lift and if I did, there wouldn’t be any RIR. So called it there. I have to remind myself this is improvement from where I was at the start of training as I was missing 5lbs less than this for singles at end of last show prep. And double with my best lift in competition of last year. Have to keep focused on that growth and know we can improve now that we worked from the bottom back up. Enough with that, into the garage for the barbell work, which I already had stuff setup in the garage so that I could move things along. I probably should’ve put on the fans but I kind of wanted to work up a sweat to get used to what summer is going to be like. It was a pleasant warm and I wasn’t going to be going heavy for these next two exercises. So upper body sessions are a little deloaded and there is a winding down of intensity as peak for contest. Rows up first. Still sets of five reps but more like the band assisted pull-ups in that two sets of 5 reps with a working weight that should be fast and easy. Considering I was doing 40-50lbs jumps with rows, it felt like a 50lbs decrease would probably do it so 275lbs for the weight. I was maybe a little unsure how the biceps would feel from bag work. But this actually went pretty well. Arms were feeling a little tight and upper back was cramping slightly but these were easy and very powerful rows. Then benching. This was lowered down like the incline log benching to 225lbs for 2x5 reps. Same warming up. Even though light, I wanted to keep these moving fast so used wrist wraps. Warming up felt about the usual. This was a day that 185lbs decided to feel heavy. First set I kind of forgot where I was “pausing” to reset but figured it out and got on with it. I wasn’t satisfied with that first set and managed to get the kinks out for the second set. Bench with this particular grip hasn’t felt that consistent but I’ve been working on it to hopefully get my chest and shoulders on board with the upper body stuff to help with the overhead without overly taxing things. I don’t seem to have the shoulder discomforts and impinging I was feeling several months ago when first starting out with benching again so I guess that is a plus. Ate oatmeal and put stuff away before stretching.

May 8, 2024 – Week 21, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Front Squats
45x10
95x8
135x5
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x3

Suited Deadlifts (straps)
No Suit
135x5
225x3
Added Suit (multi-ply)
315x2
405x2
495x2
565x1
615x2

Hyper Extensions
bwx10

Hyper Extension Holds (Neck Harness & Plate)
20+35x47 seconds

Crunches
bw+25x30

Lying Leg Raises
bwx30

Stretching
 
Comments: Trying to combat the doubts that build as I get closer to competition with logic. Really seems to be the only way. I made myself look at my thoughts at the beginning of the training cycle for this competition and see what I had listed as goals and thoughts. Need to remind myself that there is progress, just not as much as I’d be satisfied with. If I get the goals I was aiming for at the beginning, I’ll still be hitting goals. Similar to Monday training, I was agonizing over what was to be a top set for an exercise that I had numbers given but I had thoughts and numbers attached to be what I think I needed to know I was where I needed to be. This seems to pop up as I get closer to competing. And I should know that it isn’t what is done in training, game day is what matters. But I like to have things be as sure a thing as I can. With warming up, I did some more foam rolling at the start. I had added stuff for the quads but figured I should do the calves as well. So calves, hamstrings and quadriceps. And then the regularly scheduled stuff. No issues with anything. Knees (specifically the right one) are feeling less achy. I knew I was going to be fairly warm by the end of this training but kept the fans off at the start. Front squats to start things off. For the remainder of this training cycle, I’m going to be using weights under the top single I hit this cycle so this should be all comfortable stuff and not needing to worry about bailing on weights or missing a lift. Idea was to have something that put some stress on the body but wasn’t overly taxing for my last suited deadlift session. So work up in triples after warming up to 315lbs. The typical 40-50lbs jumps and trying to be somewhat low key with my excitation on it. Keeping an eye on how my knees were feeling. My right hamstring was feeling a little tense so I was a little leery about that. I mean, I had done heavy front squats with a strained/torn hamstring so I knew that I could do this weight even if that happened but it had me a little worried for deadlifts afterwards. I think I hit that happy medium with the hype needed for the lift but not having it feel too bad. Only the last rep with 315lbs felt slow. Left hip was feeling a little achy after that top set but went away. Took a bit of break putting weights away and tearing down to get ready for the suited pull work. I needed some time to get my thoughts in order. And get the fans setup. I wasn’t too sure how this cycle would end with things but I knew that his session had to be a pull from the floor and the last one with the suit before the show to insure that I was recovered enough. It has been sets of 5 reps but this time just a double. I wasn’t sure how pulling from the floor would be but I figured that I’d have an easier time getting my feet to the bar but harder time with getting to the bar. And hopefully feel like I was getting a little more pop off the floor because of that. As I’ve mentioned, I can’t make the straps any tighter by myself and they are loose enough I can slide them on and off with no effort at all. The listed plan was warming up as has been the case and then 615lbs for a double. Which would technically be a 5lbs PR double for suited pulls in training. That was the thing that was stressing me out with the numbers game. It was listed as 615lbs for the double and that I was to do a double that was “safe”. And by safe, a max double I knew I could get. Running the numbers, I figured that up to 635lbs was doable and since that would be double with my best single in training that I’d be for sure able to pull a PR pull (hopefully 705lbs). Basing off of how I’ve pulled 40lbs more on a deadlift bar single at competitions compared to my best training single. But I’d have to see how things go obviously. This was very much like the log press out of the rack where I want that certainty that I will do the thing. I was a little nervous because the previously injured hamstring was feeling a little tight but thankfully there were no issues and I could push through as if nothing was amiss. Compared to the 11” pulls on the jack stands, pulling from the floor felt a lot better on my lower back. So floor or 13”, 11” not a fan I guess haha. I wanted to try something out with support gear as I’ve been doing nothing besides the “deadlift belt” outside the suit. I wanted to see if adding the new rehband belt with support was helpful in any way. I also had to get used to something I’ve not done before and that is wearing a shirt over the suit. I’ve done no suit and shirt under the suit. So this was a little different and add a little to the prep time between pulls. And that seems to be really all it is, a little more time needed with prepping before pulling. The rehband belt was certainly adding something but I wasn’t sure if it was good or not at the start. Getting down to the bar was rough but I was able to move the feet a bit better because I could roll the bar away and towards myself. With 495lbs, it was feeling similar to how it was last time with feeling like not that much with lockout. Similar but not quite the same. The last single before the double was up and I was hoping to have this feel fast and easy so that I knew what I was good for. But it did not feel great at all. Felt good off the floor for a little bit then it got heavy and felt way out in front of me and had to put in some effort to lock it out. I started to panic. If I had gone off how that had felt, that was the weight for the double. But I know that this would be a tough weight for me to do for a triple without a suit and that a suit doesn’t make the weight feel lighter, just moves it and generally faster. I had not worn the rehband belt that time and I was wondering if perhaps that little bit was making a difference in my core. The deadlift belt doesn’t have that same rigidity that my ratchet belt has. And perhaps the rehband under the suit was artificially filling out sections of the suit I couldn’t make tighter without assistance. It was worth a gamble. Go for the planned 615lbs double even though it didn’t feel at all like a sure thing right now. Go through the ritual of prep and getting chalk and sweat managed. Got myself hyped up and went for it. Not as fast as 565lbs but it felt better. Second rep I was able to get into a better groove and it went up quite well. I had more in me but not sure if there was 20lbs more for this double all things considered. It does seem that my legs are straightening out quicker than my hips and back are. I would’ve liked to get some more floor sessions with the suit but we kind of had to do things this way with a new suit and coming back from hamstring injury. Again, bruising around the legs where the suit bites in (also hips this time) but less fatigue in the hamstrings and glutes. Maybe because just a double this time. Rest of this was going to be working on building up the bracing muscles. Hyper bench holds, warming up with the usual back extensions. Felt good and needed. I was still coming down from the deadlift set. Could tell this might be a struggle today. I mean, this is the harder session really for the lower back compared to the wide pull weeks. At that was deloaded a bit last time. Same weight as last time with the harness and weight in hand for the hold. I wasn’t too sure what the time was I did last time but I knew it was over 42 seconds. This was much more challenging feeling this time. I started to get leg twitches near the end. Apparently a second short of what I had done last time. Which isn’t that bad really as same weight but heavier stuff beforehand and usually this is the harder week for these anyways. These certainly feel like a staple for me going forward with lower body stuff for the deadlift. From there, weighted crunches. I was kind of just going through things and not really putting away weights so that I could get done and eat something. Then worry about putting stuff away after that. It was at this time that I noticed how achy my knees were from the deadlifts. There is a ton of pressure from the suit work. I’m still breaking these up in chunks mentally as I do the reps with abdominal work. I played around with bigger chunks this time. I think I’ll need to get more comfortable with this weight before trying to add more weight. Abs were feeling tense and wanted to cramp as I got ready for the lying leg raises so had to lay flat for a few moments to stretch the abs and ribcage out before proceeding. No issues while doing them. Some reps felt lower back tension but that was on me being complacent and not focusing on the motion. Had to let the oatmeal sit a little longer so put stuff away before having some. And then stretched out.

May 11, 2024 – Week 21, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Sandbag Tosses (15’)
30x1
32.5x1
35x1
37.5x1
40x1
42.5x1
45x1
47.5x1
50x1
52.5x0
52.5x1 PR+2.5lbs
55x1 PR+5lbs

Yoke/Frame Carries
(50’ run back, 18” pick)
300x50’/280x50’
390x50’/380x50’
500x50’/480x50’
600x50’/580x50’
700x50’/680x50’ in 27.78 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: I think realizing that I tend to get more stressed the closer to competition because I get fixated on numbers that I “need” to hit and why I don’t seem to be having that stress at the start of prep has been beneficial in getting some of those emotions in check. I figure it out if given enough time. With rainy weather, I wasn’t able to get in a walk on Friday but was for Thursday. Right side intercostals and other associated muscles on that side were feeling a little tight after Wednesday session. I think not only because weight being pushed but also the stress accumulated with fatigue. So that was weighing on me a little considering I still had some weighty sessions left before I could truly wrap this up. I figured for training it made sense to get up at work time to get out there between the rain. It was going to rain early and then late. I’m not sure why but I started to get some anxiety as I left my house. This was not exactly a session that was planned that should cause me this level of anxiety but it seemed to go away as abruptly as the onset. The drive out was a bit annoying getting to the highway and then getting into the city. I guess construction on a major route and requiring detour increased the local traffic. So drive time increased by about 10 minutes. Good bit of people at the gym today doing their thing. But I think only really half of them actually are training for something specific. Warming up felt decent. The increased foam rolling at the beginning may be helping. Up first was bag toss. The heavy week with max toss over 15’ with 2.5lbs jumps. This hadn’t really felt good last time I did it with my knees being achy as hell and not getting the full power into my tosses. I was having weights I was frequently clearing higher not making the grade. But last week things had gone well with the lighter bag and for higher height. And that had been because I started doing stuff a little differently. I brought back doing warming up with swings and various things as well as the foam rolling for the quads and modified camel pose stretch. Another thing was that I decided to use the bag at the gym for the stuff under 45lbs and then use my bag for that weight so that hopefully the changing of weights issue didn’t lead to a big cooldown as I got closer to tougher weight tosses. I should mention that while I was out there for a majority of the time there was someone from the gym sitting down near the tires in the walkway. I had asked them when I saw them there if they were ok and they said they were so I left them be but it did make me a little uneasy. I’m really not good with reading cues and such and I have to accept the words said as truth and I wasn’t going to press the matter. They did seem to be fine in the gym later when I was doing other stuff though. Things were feeling pretty good on the tosses today. 30lbs got launched into orbit. I toned it down a little after that to save for the heavier stuff. There were some tosses where I did hit the back of the toss tower on the backswing with the bag but even with that, I didn’t end up missing. I also didn’t feel like I got off balance on the swing out front like I sometimes end up doing. I was a little anxious with 47.5lbs since I had two misses with that last time and barely cleared. Clean toss this time around. 50lbs also did a clean toss even though that was one of the tosses where I hit the back. Anything above this weight would be a training PR. First go at 52.5lbs was close. Had the height but the arc was off. I had to review the video to see what had happened because it looked close. Hit the band coming down but didn’t go over. I was advised for this last “max” session on bag toss that I was to stop after 3 misses at a weight if I went after it. I took a break like I was doing between adjusting weights and came back to get it just over. I was not expecting 55lbs to go truly. There was already a bag loaded to 55lbs and I was mainly doing it I think just to get a feel for it as the only issue I had with my Nats prep was that weights over this from doing lighter and higher was I got off balance going for heavier there. I went at it and it was just as close as last time with 50lbs. I couldn’t tell if I got it or not but I believed I did in my heart but held in my excitement like a lifter waiting to see 3 white lights. Reviewed video and saw that it had gone over as it took the band down with it. So a 5lbs training PR. So I should be at my strongest for a max bag toss in forever I think. Since the band had come undone I figured I’d call it there rather than go for 57.5lbs. Don’t want to get too greedy and that was a close as it was going to be without it being a miss anyways. End on the high note. I again took my time with putting away stuff from sandbag toss as I knew what was to come. The medley. The last time doing it this prep. And hopefully I would get it right this time. The running up to the yoke part is no longer a thing so starting under the yoke. I also had accidentally done 50lbs over contest weight on the yoke. I was to do contest weight and conditions here for this last go at it. But one of the issues with coming early to train was that people are there. While nice in some aspects, not so nice when you have to do something for a tough show that is happening sooner than anyone else’s competition. The offer to work in was given but I knew that wasn’t going to work as it was too cluttered. I needed a full 50’ for both implements and going up quite heavy and there were people doing yoke into farmer’s walk, farmer’s walk and sandbag carry and loads. And also as mentioned, about half of the people were just doing general training (the rest have competitions end of June vs mine June 1st). And it can get a little frustrating with newer athletes that are being a bit reckless with training (you shouldn’t be failing to lift a sandbag that is for “conditioning”). I did the math and realized I was going to be there for way too long if I waited until I could get enough space to train and that if working in I’d cool down way too much between runs. So I girded myself to doing the medley outside again and setting that up by myself. I was a little leery as my right hamstring was feeling tight. It had started to feel that once I got up to 50lbs on the bag toss. Hoping it is just fatigue from combination of the last bit of trainings. Started off fine enough I guess. Unlike last time I did this, my knees had felt fine but were aching on the bag toss. Now, they were feeling achy here while no issues on bag toss. I wanted to make sure I didn’t misload the yoke. Well I did for the second set by mistake and corrected it going forward. I started to get anxious as I was feeling a little more winded after runs than I was anticipating, especially considering that I had misloaded the yoke last time. But I think that is because I was doing this outside on the uneven concrete vs inside with the level floor. But I was stressing out a bit after my second to last set as that felt more fatiguing then I would’ve liked and the frame felt a lot heavier. It felt daunting that I had another 100lbs to go. I feel that I was getting better with the transitions like getting out from under the yoke to get back to the frame. But with how that last set had felt, I was feeling similar to how I felt with the last work up set on the deadlifts. How was I going to finish this feeling like that? It wasn’t the yoke I was worried about, it was the fatigue and then getting to the frame that was going to be heavy. Worry about the right hamstring and losing my grip due to calluses tearing (I do hand care stuff but the humidity and the thin handles can be a problem). I got myself mentally prepared for the suck and got assistance for commands and time. And off I went. Yoke felt like it should and I was feeling pretty good with how I was moving on the uneven pavement. I think I slowed down a little to stay stable and make clean dismount to run back. While running back I took some forceful breaths to prepare myself for the frame. So a little slow here to insure a solid brace and pick. I think the excitation helped with making the pick feel less arduous then the previous set (the chalking up ritual probably helps too). I know I wasn’t going my fastest here due to the uneven pavement and trying to make sure I didn’t eat it and lose my grip and balance as if I went down, that was going to be it. But I finished no issues. Checked the time and found I was a good bit under 30 seconds, which had been my goal for this training cycle. Relief went over me. Only got two more events that have final touches on to worry about really then. Calmed down a little and ate food (time had gone by fast, 4hrs since I last ate) before putting stuff away. George was there today and he helped with putting stuff away with me and had a good talk about stuff. Had traffic issues getting home as well and I was feeling beat up. Ate more food and stretched out.

April 28, 2024 - May 4, 2024 - Week 20

 April 29, 2024 – Week 20, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Axle Clean and Overhead (1 clean)
Strict Presses + Push Presses + Jerks
50x5+5+5
80x3+3+2
Push Press + Jerks
110x1+1
140x1+1
170x1+1
200x1+1

Band Assisted Pull-ups
sbx5 at pin 16
abx5 at pin 16
lbx5 at pin 16
lbx5 at pin 16

12” Log Incline Bench Presses
90x10
120x5
150x3
180x2
210x5
210x5

Stretching
 
Comments: Start of the final preparations for Regionals. Last time I did the medley, it was a lot of setup time outside and this time not so much and indoors. There were some stiffness and aches Saturday evening but not to the point where I had a hard time falling asleep. So I thought maybe I dodged the bullet here and was going to be handling the oops of going 50lbs over. Nope, just decided to catch up with me as I went to bed Sunday night. Knees, hips and lower back. The promoter did a video about the contest and clarified some things. Apparently no running up to the yoke so I’ll do that next time for the medley work. With some mentions about stuff in how I was feeling as far as feedback for this last bit, I had mentioned some things feeling a little beat up so there is some pulling back on stuff to float the peak to contest time. Which for this Monday session, meant it was essentially a deload session. It was kind of good that this is how things lined up because it also was going to be a record high for this time of year. Just shy of 90 degrees, which isn’t fun when it is this humid out. Had the fans going in the garage (even though only going to be there for warming up and switching weights) and the patio area. Warming up seemed to be fine at the start. But noticed there was some knee aches. Not a ton but noticeable. But everything else seemed good and all. Axle starting things off. This was going to be the most reduced of the exercises for the session. Only working up to 200lbs and no rack work. Make things crisp and smooth. I had decided that I wasn’t going to be chalking up for the session considering the weight as well as refrain from a hard belt and wrist wraps. Per the video, apparently axle will be off of crash pads like the log and potentially standing away so I figured I should get practice at that. I decided to do facing away from the rack just because I could. I didn’t have to worry about racking the weights for rack work. The elevated pull can sometimes be a little off putting if I’ve trained from the floor and vice versa. On the good side of this, I didn’t seem to have any issues with the upper body (still some bruising from the blood draw) but man did my knees ache big time. I’m kind of used to them being a little stiff at the start with the light weights and gradually feeling a lot better as I got (especially with log after first set) but seemed to be more prevalent. So the strict pressing was comfortable, the push presses a little uncomfortable and the jerks more so. So it was probably a good idea to deload this and hopefully come back the next time to hit over 90% contest. Noticed rack dropped a bit on the jerk with the “top weight”. Oh well. Just moving to move and keep this balloon in the air as long as I can. No intraworkout meals as not trying to force stuff down and I figured I’d be going through this workout fairly quick compared to usual with the reduction in the overhead pressing to eat right afterwards. Band assisted pull-ups. Same as last time so no changes here. These actually felt pretty darn good. Maybe not doing a bunch over clean and presses/jerks and then heavy overhead work helps. I was thinking about using chalk but decided against it. Usually there seems to be something not quite right warming up and then I’m surprised how well the working sets go. Each set felt good. I was actually feeling quite explosive that some reps I was shaking the power rack inadvertently. The wasps in the power rack have returned but thankfully this didn’t make them come out to see what the ruckus was. And both working sets felt about the same. Not feeling as much fatigue on the second set as I’ve tended to feel. Log incline benching to finish up the session. Still the 2x5 but dropping back down to 210lbs for the sets with the plan to go back up to 5lbs more than last time for the sets. Pressing at the start was feeling pretty easy and smooth. I did make myself slow down the speed between sets so I wasn’t rushing. I was debating using wrist wraps or not here since I was trying to treat this as more deload but figured I’d wear them for this as more a joint comfort thing and be able to put the “speed” into it. I’m going to be doing that for regular bench anyways. Form felt a little off like I was pressing too much out in front. But video was saying these were strong and speedy. I’d say probably similar to when felt like 315lbs was heavy for the front squat “deload” when not going all out and keeping something in check. I was trying to have some intensity but not all of it here. Finished and ate oatmeal before putting stuff away and then stretching out and cooling off.

May 1, 2024 – Week 20, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

13” Wide Grip Jack Pulls w/ Hip Circle (straps)
135x5
225x3
315x3
405x2
495x5

Hyper Extensions
bwx10

Hyper Extension Holds (Neck Harness & Plate)
20+35x48 seconds

Planks
bw+53x60 seconds

Side Planks
bwx60/60 seconds

Stretching
 
Comments: Well it begins again with phone tag with scheduling medical stuff due to the blood work and liver enzymes. Not too sure how that is going to play out. I kind of wish the temperature had increased a little more gradually than it did but it has at least been somewhat consistent. But it does seem to vary during the day so there are times where no fan is great and then a fan is necessary due to an abrupt change in direct sunlight I guess. Generally warm weather seems to feel good for the joints and easier to get a sweat going but joints aren’t a fan of the big changes in air pressure that comes with storms that tend to happen. Walking had felt fine. Debating if I was going to be needing fans or not for this session. Ended up forgoing them. Warming up was fine. Still some aches in the right knee. I guess similar to Monday. Keeping an eye on that. I’m not sure if it is just because increased workload the previous week and catching up to me or if this is because this week has been reduced weights and I’m “relaxing” a bit mentally. And by doing so, not mentally masking what my body and joints are feeling. I tend to feel those aches when I deload. Starting things off was the elevated wide pulls. I wasn’t too sure with how this contest peak was going to go as far as deadlifting but I had a general idea with everything else. Essentially next week is going to be my last touch of deadlifting with suit before competing and will be the only pull from the floor in suit and conventional. With that, I wasn’t sure if there would be changes to this opposite week session with the wide pulls. Because I can see continuing to push as well as pulling back. It would appear going the pulling back option here. So still using the same stuff but stopping the top set of 5 reps at 495lbs rather than going for more weight than last time. I will say that the initial set with 135lbs actually didn’t feel terrible on my knees like it sometimes does. Plate jumps and trying to take some rest to pace myself. Some sets felt really good and others not so much. I was a little worried that the top set would feel rough even though it is 70lbs under my best set of 5 reps. Possibly from knowing this wasn’t going to require a max effort to do but perhaps not being able to tap into the top end as easily as I feel I should. Again, may also be related to this isn’t something I haven’t done. I had hoped that 495lbs would feel pretty darn easy and it did not. It was a tougher than I would’ve liked. But I think that I probably didn’t spend as much time hyping up like I would’ve if this was for PR set of 5 reps. There is also not going for peak arousal when it is to be a “deload” like when I did 315lbs for 2 reps on front squats a few weeks back after tying PR double the session before and then doing top single the session after the deload. But I think I also have to note that I did more faster through the set. Usually it was more of a “breathing” set with the wide pulls with controlled lowering and taking a big breath at the top of each rep. And I didn’t need to do that to get through this set. But perhaps part of me is also worried that cutting out the two protein shakes during the day is cause for feeling “flat”. Lef things as they were so that I could try and move through the “bracing” enforcement part of the session so I could eat a bowl of oatmeal right after training and then do dinner a few hours later. Warming up with hyper extensions to get things loose for the rest of the workout was fine enough. Didn’t feel as fatigued considering the reduction in the load on the wide pulls. It appears I’ve reached the point where I’m not to be adding anymore resistance to the neck harness with the holds. At least not for this training cycle. I’ve grown fond/accustomed to this exercise every week. But adding 5lbs to the weight in hand. A bit easier as I could use bumper plates rather than deal with small change plates. I was to push the hold closer to failure going forward. So instead of leaving 10 seconds in the tank, only 5 seconds. This felt a little rough at the start but I was able to push through and get over 45 seconds. It is funny to me that at the start of these I was having a hard time getting close to this and not really leaving much in the tank. And now I can get close a minute with about the same weight. Only a slight break then as finishing up with the planks. The planks have remained unchanged and continue to still be good stimulus. It is hard to not make a full body contraction challenging. No fans going so I was working up a decent sweat on these planks. Side planks are always a little tricky with how they will feel. No issues with right side but left side sometimes feels a little off and harder to balance. That may be just from having to deal with balancing around the elbow bursitis. Ate oatmeal and put stuff away before stretching out.

May 4, 2024 – Week 20, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Sandbag Tosses (17’)
30x1
EMOM
35x1
35x1
35x1
35x1
35x1
35x1
35x1
35x1
35x1
35x1

Sandbag Rows
150x5

Sandbag to Shoulders
150x1 R
150x1 L
200x1 R
200x1 L
250x1/250x1/275x1/300x1/325x0 L
325x1 L

Stretching
 
Comments: Allergies have been bad the past two days. Where I felt I needed to take stuff upon waking. Also WSM is happening and I’m kind of blah about it. Doesn’t mean I’m not checking updates and refreshing a spreadsheet like usual. But just not as exciting being able to watch like say the Arnold and Rogue Invitational. Plan was to wake up at my work time and get out to train to be done with things early. But that didn’t end up happening. Upon waking, I felt really tired and decided screw it and went back to bed and woke up about 2hrs later. I wasn’t going to force things and it definitely seemed like I needed the sleep as I have a hard enough time lately sleeping in that late when I don’t have an alarm. I didn’t have a lot to do really for training and I already had things packed up for training. Taking allergy meds seemed like the smart thing considering the past two days. Weather made it seem like it was going to be rainy in the morning and then not the rest of the day so perhaps it worked out for me. Nope. Apparently by no rain it meant rain all day with periods where it was only a little bit of rain. I had to stop and get gas before driving out and traffic was bad at spots so it definitely was closer to an hour driving out to train. Pretty much everyone was finishing up when I got there. The one person who comes out from Philly to train had been there and I had missed them as they were leaving. I wasn’t expecting them to be there after not being there for several weeks. Felt fine with warming up. I was keeping an eye on things as I was a little leery about the right knee being achy. It does seem to be feeling better from how it was feeling on Monday training. I kind of hoped that the rain would stop by the time I was ready but it didn’t. It didn’t the entire time I was there. So leading things off was bag toss. Bag toss every Saturday until contest time. This week being the “lighter” week. As written, the plan was to try and progress on the 30lbs and trying to do 10 singles EMOM and trying to toss it higher and higher if I can (last 2-3 being max effort). But to aim to do it with 35lbs. I had mentioned that I worried the every week might be too much as I was noticing it taking more effort but that could very well be not just bag toss but just the increased workload and ask I’m putting on my knees. So I did get approval to adjust to 25-30lbs on my light days as necessary. With the longer commute time, I felt it was best to do the warming up I was usually doing with swings and mobility and then clean pull tosses. My quads were quite tight when I tested out camel pose stretch, which would likely mean pulling on the patella. Also did some bounding but just small as my knees are creaky and achy. To think I used to do volleyball and jumped good. As far as the tossing higher, I can really just do that and hope it is going over the target more and more. But that isn’t always the case and I know that doing EMOM there is fatigue over the set and it can be tough to actually make it go higher. It still takes effort to leave the ground for any kind of jumping really. I can’t change the height on the toss tower quickly and as seen last week, the rigging isn’t secure if it isn’t at the spots that have bolts and such already in place. But I figured that I could make it higher by elevating it on 12” boxes. So 17’ for the toss tower. I’m not sure it would be secure going higher as that could be a difficult to move by myself or not be stable stacking multiple boxes. Especially not something to try out on a rainy day. But for today, I had a 17’ tower so technically any tosses would be a height PR even though I know I can toss a good bit over this with the planned weights anyways. My plan was to just do 30lbs as that was the easiest thing as there was already a bag at that weight and I didn’t need to bring my bag. But I figured I’d see how the first toss went and decide if I was feeling good to do 35lbs instead. My first tosses as of late with 30lbs have been pretty garbage. That toss felt really good and did what it should so I said screw it, make it 35lbs. It was a little jarring to see the clearance but I had to remind myself that this is a foot higher so it won’t look like as much compared to 16’. No tosses hit the band at any point. Fifth toss was the “worst” but that was due to my soft belt popping off as I tossed so it went a little squirrelly on me. Seventh and tenth tosses were the best of the bunch. Put stuff away and got ready for the sandbags inside. I was to work up to contest run as close as I could for one set for the shouldering and just how I’d do it at the show. So I didn’t need to do it for both sides beyond just warming up. I had to plan this out a little because moving all the sandbags to setup would take a good bit of time and I didn’t want to warm up and then set things up as I feared I’d cool off too much and then jumping in to do 50lbs more than the last warm up would not be great. So I got the series setup and got to warming up. Which started with rows. The 150lbs bag felt like nothing compared to how the 175lbs bag at home felt. Then I was to do 150lbs and 200lbs to each side for shouldering before the series run. I had to practice with going over the shoulder as that was the method of dismount I felt worked the best for me with running series beyond the one to be repped out. Gets the bag further away so not worried about tripping over it when moving to the next bag or when attempting the next bag. For the series, the contest is 250lbs, 265lbs, 287lbs, 300lbs and 325lbs with that last bag for reps with 60 seconds. They are allowing for “buzzer beater” reps as in that as long as the lift is initiated before time stops, you can complete the lift and have it count. I was advised to not go for a buzzer beater this run through and save it for next time. Didn’t quite have the lighter bags to get this right and it didn’t make sense to bring my 265lbs from home (the effort of putting in the trunk and taking out of the trunk in the rain no less). I had hoped there were two 275lbs bags but doesn’t look like it and I didn’t want to “repeat” a bag as I felt the transition and moving forward was more important. So I elected to do 250lbs for the first two bags. There were only some people in the gym and I didn’t feel comfortable asking them to do anything too complex. I had hoped to set my own timer but with spacing out the bags 5’ and keeping the timer away enough that it wasn’t in the way was too far away to be able to read at the start and figure out how much time was left before a minute started if I was attempting to do it myself. So I asked someone to give start commands and hit the timer only. The first two bags of 250lbs were easy. I knew the 275lbs wasn’t going to be that smooth because it was an underfilled bag and floppy bags are the devil on this event. I remember how this went down at 2022 Nationals. It is also the bag I strained the hamstring on. 25lbs under weight for the bag size. It took a bit of effort to shove up to the shoulder because of the floppiness but I got it. I knew that I needed to prepare myself for 300lbs. I’ve done a 3 bag shouldering series before and done a 4 bag over shoulder series. 300lbs was feeling tougher than I’d have liked with the pick. I rushed it for the shouldering and it was not clean. Count it for training since first time trying this through contest run but I’d not have given it in contest. I needed to go for the 325lbs as that was the plan for the day. I took a look at the time and say I had less than 30 seconds. Knowing this was probably going to be tough I took a breather before going. Felt tougher than the 300lbs bag and when I went for the pop, it didn’t feel like I had it high enough so I erroneously went back to the lap to try and pop it up again but higher. Nope, just killed all the power I had and I dropped it. Looked at time and I had less than 10 seconds and just called it there. Ugh. I feel I could’ve had it if I committed to that first pop and went ahead with the suckfest that was going to be shoving the bag up to the shoulder. But I didn’t want to leave things there. I rested few minutes and with knowing it was going to suck, went for the 325lbs by itself. That pick was a nightmare but I stuck with it fought through to get the rep. I can do it and I have to plan on just completing the series rather than worrying about getting reps on that last bag. The 325lbs is technically underfilled as it used to be 336lbs so 11lbs removed is making it not that firm. It’s not as bad as the 275lbs but it is noticeable especially compared to how firm my 305lbs bag is at home. It will just have to be a play it by ear at the show to see what condition the bags are in. I may also need to see if bearhug style is viable for the 300lbs and 325lbs bags. I had put on the fans in the gym for that series run as I was sweating a good bit from the humidity. I was sweating a good bit afterwards while eating. Man are sandbags a pain to put away after cooling down. You start to wonder how you even lifted them in the first place. Long rainy drive home before eating some more and stretching.