November 10, 2024 - November 16, 2024 - Week 23

 November 11, 2024 – Week 23, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

12” Log Strict Presses w/ Bands (+14lbs/+22llbs)
No Bands
87x5
Add Bands
90x3
120x2
150x2
180x2
210x2

Paused Chest Supported Barbell Rows
65x5
115x5
165x5
215x5
Added Straps, 2 seconds holds
265x5
265x5

Paused Spoto Presses w/ Chains (+22lbs)
No Chains
45x15
Add Chains
45x5
95x5
135x3
185x2
225x5
225x5

Band Face Pulls
abx20
abx20

Stretching
 
Comments: It was good that I could come back from taking a little more than a week off from training and not miss a step. But that comes at a cost I could tell it was going to be present even during the training session. I was feeling immediate soreness so expecting soreness in the muscles to continue from that. I could identify it being the case for my hamstrings, upper and lower back and also biceps. Weight up about 1.5lbs but that was kind of expected considering being off schedule and pretty much eating whatever when I could. Pretty much everything I ate was at a restaurant and brought home from a restaurant. Also not quite used to the DLS switch. I think it was good thing that I only worked two days this past week and then 3 days to recover and then back for 4 days. I feel I overcompensated Sunday and Monday as far as getting sleep on schedule. It could also be the time zone shifts as I’m realizing that this is the first time since 2017 that I’ve been outside of EST and I couldn’t really gauge how that recovery went since I got the flu and was pretty much not working for like a week. But thankfully it just seems to be when I feel like sleeping and waking up and not a determinantal decline in quality of sleep. Falling asleep late and waking up late put a bit of squeeze on my time availability for today. But it should work out for me. Warm but not training so early in the day that I’d have to wear sunglasses doing overhead training. It will be quite dark when I’m training outside next week after work. Had to clean up some leaves in the back area not so much because there were leaves but because it had rained and there wet spots that wouldn’t dry being covered with leaves. Warming up for training was fine. Stuff was feeling achy and stiff and not just joints. But moving around and doing the warming up and mobility stuff felt good. Starting things off with log strict press style with bands. In that last stretch of training with 10 weeks until competition. So some things are going to be pulled back as this starts that peak. Which is to be expected as need to save the energy for what needs to be ready for the competition. So one of those causalities of necessity was the log strict pressing. Instead of 5x2, it was working up to a top double with was to be 5lbs more than the working weight for last time. Something that should be no problem and this likely being the way forward on this from here with 5lbs increases. 30lbs jumps worked nicely here. Just adding support gear as I worked up. Mobility was feeling fine and nothing was feeling off. I was kind of surprised how loose my shoulders were feeling compared to sometimes when they feel tight. One set does mean I have just the one shot to having things go right and not be able to get crisper and better as I go. This was decent and went up well enough. From there moving on to chest supported barbell rows with pauses. This was not changed from how it has been for a bit now so again, up by 5lbs with 2x5 and having the option to lower to 30lbs less or so from the top set weight for that second set if needed. I’ve generally been skipping the lightest warm up set but felt like maybe I should do it this time considering my upper back and biceps were feeling quite sore. Maybe this will be less a shock working doing that. Weights were moving well but it was feeling substantially heavier in my hands to what I’d expect it to usually feel. 50lbs jumps on these. I think if I had to do the longer holds/pauses working up that I’d definitely not be able to put in a solid effort on the top sets. Straps added for the working sets where I was doing the actual solid holds. This was definitely the hardest I think these have felt on these with the working set. I may consider the dropping down this time or next but really have to play it by ear because my upper back can be fickle at times and then just decide that it will crush any weight I try at others. So next was benching. Chains and 2x5. This did have some changes to it. Seeing as how the adjustments to the incline log press for last time (hover pauses) helped with getting my chest recruitment and more stable shoulder, that it would make sense to do that here on this variation. This had already been adjusted to being a lighter speed focused endeavor so the weight only got dropped a little unlike with the incline log. Still getting some shoulder aches in the right side but was feeling better compared to last time. Wore wrist wraps so that I felt like I was taking this seriously but also for some additional support because my wrists were a little sore from sandbag work Saturday (potentially the “shove” portion). These felt decent. I ended up having to reset my bracing before doing the second set as I lost some tightness adjusting the bar placement. At this point, I was getting my meals ready to eat after training (since I got up late, merging all them besides dinner and evening as one) and getting setup for the last thing. Last thing being face pulls with bands to finish up. 2 sets of 15-20 reps with a medium band. I went outside to do these since I feel like I’m only going to get some much sunlight after work for the next few months. Even if feeling good, I didn’t want to up band tension with my sore biceps as could be an issue. Some times it feels like I’m just doing the motion and others where I’m dictating the motion and how the shoulders move. First set I felt good and felt like maybe I could get a little more tension for the second set. I wasn’t feeling quite right and tried to adjust things after few reps but that made things a little too easy and then had to regrip to get things challenging again. Put stuff away and got to work on getting some calories in.

November 13, 2024 – Week 23, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

13” Wagon Wheel Deadlifts (straps, touch and go)

135x5
225x3
315x2
405x1
495x1
550x1
607x1

Step Ups (18”)
bwx10 L
bwx10 R
bw+25’sx10 L
bw+25’sx10 R

Wall Sits
bwx60 seconds

Crunches
bw+50x35

Paused Hanging Knee Raises (1 second)
bw+20x27

Stretching
 
Comments: I’m having a hard go of it with adjusting to the hour shift it seems. I felt I was I guess when I was not having anything scheduled and then when I didn’t have to do any training after work until this workout really. It has been a struggle to stay motivated with work as there is just so much of it and just getting hounded with no real help available (despite it being offered). I’m definitely feeling the effects of hard training after taking a little time off with soreness from being a little detrained. My right side neck tensed up like something was pinched in the nerves so that was mildly unpleasant for about a day and a half (thankfully feeling better). It was fairly warm when I came back to PA from AZ last week. It was actually warmer here than it was out there. But now fall weather has decided to show up again and it is staying pretty cold. Not so cold that I need warm ups to get ready in the garage. I can make myself warm from just moving around and lifting and being the human space heater I am. Warming up was ok. Noticed my right shoulder was tight (expected after neck tensed up). Nothing feeling terribly achy so that was good. At least initially. Right knee has a slight ache but ok. Left knee was feeling a little dull ache but not in the usual way. But both things seemed to go away once I got ready to actually train. Then for the wagon wheel. I had been anxious last time. I wasn’t feeling that anxiety this time with the plan here for a conservate single. Volume was reduced working up so there was less fatigue working up. Plan was 10lbs more than the double I did. I mean, I should be good for that. Starting out, felt like my midsection and lower back were feeling a bit detrained and that just doing the first weight was making those areas work harder and feel strain more than usual. Working up in weight my lower back was feeling a little achy at the base of the spine. It is possible that this also has to do with it being colder and having to warm up. The first three plate jumps were the same as they have been. 405lbs was where things changed in that it was singles instead of doubles. So while no real touch and go for these, I still did controlled eccentrics as if I was going for another rep. These for some reason can feel slower and harder than they end up looking on video. Another plate jump with hard belt added. This was ok. I wasn’t feeling like my strongest today. Usually another big jump for the top set and hope that excitation from missing gets me pulling. But not quite as the jump would be too much this time around so split that difference for a small jump. I was kind of hoping that this smaller jump would instill confidence but it didn’t really. It felt pretty tough (didn’t look it). Perhaps because this is the first time I’ve tried to do over 500lbs here without getting hyped up. I was still feeling like this single had to happen with everything but I was less confident in how it would go which lead to me being getting nerves that possibly had me more ready to act and execute. It’s a fine line. But it wasn’t instantaneous to get maximum arousal for this. I was kind of hoping I didn’t need it to be honest. I decided to add 2lbs to the goal so that it would be 275kgs for something fun I guess. Trying to think kilograms for possible worlds comp. Slightly worried about stressing the hamstrings since they seemed to be sore from Saturday. Went for it and it seemed to move well enough but then I started to get that jackhammer shake going but I pulled through that midpoint to lockout. I’ve now done contest weight or more (axle doesn’t count since that’s for max) on all the events at this point. This is only the second time I’ve been able to do that in my strongman career with the first time being in 2022 for PA Dutch. I have 10 more weeks to build on from this point too. But it may be just keeping the train on the rails mostly until the destination is reached. This could very well be the heaviest I pull before the competition. Anyways, a little bit of a break here to put away the weights and get some fluids in. Setups again. Volume was reduced on these which was probably a good idea and a welcomed one. The reduction in reps for the first set with no weight felt really good. Could also be the rest as my knees felt pretty darn good and I felt so good that I did these back to back with no rest before taking the normal rest I do with the set with weights in hand. The left side does lag a little compared to the right but it felt like less of a gulf in ability this time around. I didn’t need a sweat towel like when it warmer but I was definitely worked hard and staying warm. Wall sits were next. Bodyweight and deeper squat style then I was doing when single leg. I went into these almost immediately after the step ups. Just a minute and that seems fine. Legs get all twitch holding and I try my best to keep my breathing similar to when I do the planks. Felt a little tough at the start but then I felt fine and good for the duration. Core work after that. Weighted crunches. I stuck to what I did last time because of the little break and seeing as how my abs felt worked just doing the wagon wheel pulls. Breaking into chunks continues to be the winning method here. Hard to say if this was tougher or the same as last time. I was having my abs, neck and hamstrings trying to cramp up on me. I had tried to get through those exercises in quick succession before taking a break to get fluids and setup things for the last exercise for the evening.  Paused hanging knee raises to wrap things up. I was not expecting anything easy today. I was fully prepared to have it be a struggle to get 25 reps considering how my core was feeling today. But somehow things felt really good. Ended up adding another rep to these. Put stuff away before eating dinner and then stretching.

November 16, 2024 – Week 23, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Yoke
255x50’
355x50’
455x50’
555x50’
655x25’
755x25’
860x24’8”
 
Comments: This week didn’t end how I would’ve preferred. Work was very stressful and with the holidays coming up, the day in the office has been moved up to being a week early. I also may have contributed to some discomfort this week with a supplement. I had thought my diet was lacking in magnesium and that maybe that would help with the nervous energy and twitching/cramps. Turns out I was already getting enough from the protein powder I use and I was having gas. I also didn’t follow my rule of waiting until the weekend to try something new to my diet and supplements. But I felt confident with myself and rested I guess going out to train. I didn’t need to hit snooze and drive took slightly longer than I would’ve liked. When I got there, the vibe of the place just felt off. Like everyone that was there training just felt like they didn’t want to be there. The new throw tower setup already broke (as I suspected it would) but the it can still be setup in the interim until the new joint is replaced. The attitude I was sensing was making me also annoyed. I did my best to block that out during my warming up and mobility stuff. I was feeling good on this stuff. Yoke was really the only thing for today besides conditioning. Plan was again to give 855lbs for 50’ a shot. But on the concrete because the gym setup changed. Even if it hadn’t changed, I’d have probably moved this to concrete after failing at 50’ on turf. I was surprised that I was doing this again after the miss and also after the break. I was thinking this would be a lighter session. But trusting the process as it were. 100lbs jumps starting with the big yoke with a little weight on it and doing the 50’ run. Up to 555lbs that is. I was feeling a little slow but it didn’t really feel like last time in the sense it felt heavier than it should. But I was feeling lightheaded on the runs. I was having some stomach tightness and cramping. I had hoped the magnesium stuff had worked its way through overnight but I guess not entirely. I felt like I was moving well enough with the next two runs going 25’ but I still not feeling like 855lbs was a sure thing and that it was going to be tough. I added 5lbs just so that if it didn’t happen, it didn’t happen with a little more weight. I couldn’t seem to get myself amped up to that notch needed to be aroused for this and I told the people there that I didn’t want time or commands on this and I’d go at my own pace. I actually felt like I was going at a decent pace but I just couldn’t keep it together. I was starting to go dark in my vision and just put it down about halfway down the course. I had to catch myself to keep from going down. If I had pushed it any further, I’d have definitely been spasming and taken a knee. I felt good otherwise but it really just drained the joy and motivation out of me. Even though this is 160lbs over contest weight. I still don’t like failing at something that I should be able to do. This is like 90% of my best on this event. I took off the weights and proceeded to shove the empty big yoke back to the start. I was intending to use this as my pushing weight for the session but it felt heavier than I’d have liked it to and I could tell my motivation was just gone. I could feel my doubts and creeping in and the anxiety spiking as depression setting in. Just went home without stretching and at least made myself eat the planned meals. It shouldn’t bother me this much but just because I think and know it shouldn’t doesn’t mean I can stop it from paralyzing me with doubt and frustration. Kind of wished I had another 3 day weekend so I could hopefully work through this in peace and mentally be refreshed for another stupid week of work.