July 5, 2025 – Week 6, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Sandbag Clean Pull Tosses (9’6”)
30x2
40x2
50x1
50x1
60x0 (height but not over)
60x0 (height but not over)
60x0
55x1
55x2
55x2
55x2
55x2
55x2
55x2

Yoke (turf)/Power Stairs (17”)
250x50’/50’ -- 224x3
350x25’/25’ -- 274x1
450x25’/25’ -- 324x1
550x25’/25’ -- 374x1
650x50’/50’ -- 425x3 (eventually)

Sandbag Over Bar (56”)
250x1
250x1
Sandball
EMOM
278x2
278x2
278x2
278x2
Sandbag
250x6

2” Rolling Handle Hercules Holds
170x5 seconds
250x45 seconds

Gripper Closes/Band Hand Expanders
HG150x10/10 – 6.6x20/20
HG150x10/10 – 6.6x20/20

Gripper Negatives (5 seconds)
HG150x5/5

Stretching

Comments: I definitely had needed the day off to recover. As well as have time to get some things prepped for the week vacation coming up. Also giving me time to think and slow down for a moment. Make adjustments to the plan with training to hopefully resolve issues I’m seeing. With world’s prep, I am feeling a little over my head with the number of events and feeling like it is taking more effort to do the things I have been able to do before. I also have to remember that comparing numbers from previous years and previous sessions isn’t the entire picture. Some sessions were done before when it was much cooler and I didn’t sweat through two shirts a day. I was feeling decent for training today. I wasn’t expecting many people really. I had loaded up the power keg from the garage into my car as lending it to someone for their prep as they won’t necessarily have access to one besides when they are here during the summer. I had initially awoken to my alarm but turned it off and slept another 30 minutes before rousing from my slumber. I was expecting more traffic for the 4th weekend but I guess everyone had already left earlier in the week with it being on a Friday this year. There were some people I expected there to train but not in a way where it held up me getting my training ready. Soft tissue work, neck rehab and mobility was fine. Then time to get some things setup. So first was bag toss. My plan is alternating focus as I feel that doing bag toss every week with it being the full toss style (regardless of intensity) feels like I don’t progress each session. To the point where that the lighter week becomes so light I might as well not do it. But I did find that I can (at least in the past) do toss variations from the full toss style without issue. It has been a good while since I’ve actually focused on a toss variation besides the bottle drill (which while helpful, took away from recovery doing two throw sessions a week). The clean pull tosses I’ve only done as dedicated sessions twice in 2021 and have done light bags to warm up for sessions sometimes. This takes out the swing entirely and is pretty much pure power generation from dead start with focus on the triple extension and getting the release right. Pick goal weight and aim is 70% of goal height for that weight. Aim was to do that for 6x2. Last time I did these was 50lbs over 10’8” as the goal was 15’ for the contest. This show the height is a bit lower so only need to clear 9’6”. I was kind of hoping I could do 60lbs here as that would be close to the last bag weight for world’s. I was definitely rusty as I was having issues with trajectory at the start. It also took a bit to get the setup figured out. I didn’t want the setup I used for bag toss as this style I need to be closer to height gauge. This did lead to a less sturdy setup but it was easy to repair. Brought my polarized lens as well. With how 50lbs was feeling (I took 10lbs jumps), I should’ve done 55lbs from the start. But I wanted to feel 60lbs and I think because I knew I’d actually have a longer rest between sessions since next time I do events won’t be until 7/19/2025 at the earliest that I gave it a shot. I was not able to clear the bar in my three attempts. I was initially miffed with this but looking at the video, I did get enough height on two of the three to clear the bar, just didn’t have the trajectory right. So that is at least a good sign on that aspect. But also shows how long ways off I am at that weight to say 15’. So with the misses, I went back down to 55lbs and hoped that I hadn’t burnt myself out there. I got a toss up but it came back down and knocked the bar off. I treated that like my last “warm up”. The first two sets, I knocked the bar down on the first rep and had to reset things for the second. I got a bit more efficient each time to keep the work done in under a minute. After those, I was able to get myself to get the two tosses over without knocking down the setup so that was good to see that I was getting the form down. I was trying to focus and picture how I had been doing the axle high pulls from blocks to build the power and get to the point where I was needing to use the triple extension. I was noticing I was actually getting some lift in my ankles on video. This was apparently looking like so much fun that a guy that was I guess a personal trainer gave it a shot. He did manage to clear the weight doing a full swing but found my style a bit too much. So feeling pretty good with how the sandbag tossing finished up and then had to setup another dumb medley. Yoke into power stairs. Like the zercher and sandbag carry one, I’ve been building up tolerance via alternating EMOMs and EOMOMs as the weight got heavier. No support gear other than knee sleeves on the power stairs because of contact bruising. I hoped to take lessons with how last week had gone and warm up in a way that was getting me ready but not killing me. Setup the yoke on turf as it was the closest to the stairs and because the inside area was in use for someone doing sandbag stuff. 100lbs jumps for the yoke and 50lbs jumps for the power stair. First set was the full run with lightest weight with the yoke and going up the steps for the stairs. Felt good. The other warm up sets was doing half the course distance (like I was doing on the EMOMs and EOMOMs) and just doing one step on the power stair. I was feeling ok but I was a bit stressed with the number of people that were essentially in my way in the breezeway as well as the one personal trainer yelling at his kid. Last set was initially to be just a straight 50’ but that would leave me with the yoke too far away from the stairs and having to run back 50’ so I kept that as the other sets. 550lbs felt slower than I’d have liked and hamstrings were feeling that power stair weight. I had hoped that adding a belt would’ve made things feel a great deal easier but I guess not. I don’t know but I’ve been feeling like I’m not able to go fast on moving events right now. I’m not sure if it is a getting older thing or energy systems thing or a heat thing. I had a bit of a break here that I didn’t intend on doing as I had to adjust the plates on the power stair implement. The 100’s out by the steps are apparently the thicker ones and I did not have enough space with what I had to add the remaining 10lbs I needed to get to the planned weight. I asked after the fact to the gym owners if I could use the kilo plates and was given an emphatic no with three exclamation points. It is their equipment but I do find it a little dumb as only some powerlifters use them and the meets that they run don’t even use the plates (the fed brings their own). But I abide. So I had to find a thinner plate to get it to fit. This maxing out the setup I have to go up 60lbs more. So I’ll have to use and locate the thinner ones next time. I was not feeling confident with this and figured I’d probably have this be a slog so I didn’t ask anyone to help with filming as I feel that I’d probably get stressed out. I was slow off the block with the yoke and just couldn’t seem to pick up speed. I knew I’d finish this but I wasn’t sure how much time I’d actually have left. Going slow is not helpful with having strength in the legs but I moved on to the power stairs. It took a bit of effort but I got the first lift in and moved on to the second. But I just couldn’t get it high enough and it came crashing back down. Damn it. I walked back and took about a minute to decide if I was to keep going at it or stop. I mean, I was not getting within the time limit. Part of me wanting to finish it out like the medley last week and part wanting to save it. But again, I knew I had a week off entirely coming up so I figured I’d keep at it until the work was done. So after about 70 seconds I went for the second step again and got it after a struggle. About 30 seconds and I went for the third and final step. I was so close here but too close and the little rubber matting on the stair was getting lifted up by the lip of the bottom plate. After a struggle and setting it down, I moved the implement back a little bit and went for it again about 90 seconds later. And this time I got it. It was done. Only too me over 4 minutes to finish. Ugh. Not pleased with how this went. Yoke had been slow and I had not expected this weight on the stair to be so difficult. I’ve done this 5lbs under this to 1” higher for 9 reps before. Like the other medley, I will need reconsider plan of approach. It is possible to finish in the time limit with the pace I was going. Now whether that is the case with 100lbs/60lbs more remains to be seen. The biggest issue is the power stairs as my form was bad. I need to have it more in front to get better clearance. More midline with that many plates and the meat of my inner thighs is preventing me from pulling higher. The other issue is the size of the steps doesn’t give much wiggle room with placement at these kind of weights so it might make sense to just deload each rep rather than try to go up the steps. Perhaps train them separately too. Like I said, have to think on it. Put that nonsense away and tried to move on with the session and hope that I could keep myself from going into a funk. Next was sandbag load. Well that was initially the plan. The event is the sandball dash, carry and load for reps but I got just the one sandball and I don’t really want to be messing with adding and removing weight. So my plan was to follow somewhat the plan that had worked well for me with sandbag load for reps about this weight. But moving it up a session early as short on time comparatively. So aim was to do 250lbs sandbag for 5x2 EMOM over 4” above contest and then rest and do a set of 6 reps with it. But I felt myself be pressured with how my performance with the medley went and I said screw it, use the damn sandball. So I rolled out the 278lbs sandball. See how it went. Maybe do EMOM singles instead of doubles. Who knows. Playing fast and loose with my training today I guess. Little hesitancy with get pick on the first rep. I can’t quite get under it like a sandbag and this is definitely more hamstring stress. It went up well enough so I figured I’d do doubles. That was where I realized my error. The second rep was a struggle to get a grip. It does seem to matter where you grip this dumb thing. So that took up a good chunk of time. I pretty much had only 35 seconds of rest after that before I went again. And I know how much that causes issues with recovery after that kind of struggle for the remaining sets. However, I seemed to rebound and make quick work of the second double. But the good fortune I had for that set was wasted on the third set where I got off balance in the lap on the first rep and then had issues with picking up the second rep and having to shove it over rather than load it over. Another about 30 seconds rest before going again. Ugh. First rep of the next set was good but I was feeling exhausted and breathing heavy. I wanted to make sure I didn’t have to repick the second rep. This darn floppy thing was too low when I went to extend and it just plopped into the bar. I ended up having to push this thing for 5 seconds before it finally landed on the other side. I decided I was done with the EMOM stuff as I wasn’t sure I could do the last one in the time limit. This was 28lbs more than I was supposed to be doing (and I was to only be doing these for a singles next time anyways). After cooling off and getting my air back, rolled out the 250lbs sandbag again and did 6 comfortable reps. Way easier but I could feel my lower back and hamstrings had been hit hard. A bit off pace from what I could do here. I forgot to wrap my wrists with athletic tape and I jammed my left wrist at some point on the sandball. Mistake on my part, but I guess didn’t think about it or figured I was too sweaty at this point for it to matter. Or I wasn’t taking things as seriously as I should. But I know it will heal up, just be annoying for a bit. Now the last bit of the workout was to be grip stuff working on the aspect that I feel I’m lacking in the form of crush grip. Since this wasn’t going to be stuff that should be straining my midsection, I downed my shake at this point. But there were actually enough people with know how and I would be not lifting events for another 2 weeks so I setup Hercules hold. I figured I’d get a set in with those handles I got. I was a bit worried without how things had gone last week with those handles on the hangs. Surely that must be harder than the Hercules hold. I needed to see what I was working with hopefully gauge what I need to be doing as weight not announced yet. Did a warm up set with 170lbs and that was ok. I initially was going to do 220lbs but then said 240lbs and then went with 250lbs. I could be going to heavy here. But it turned out just fine and did 45 second comfortably. I don’t think I had a minute at this weight though. So I guess I can know that the hangs are tougher and I have a better idea of what I should do on my last session aiming. And so much easier putting away and setting up when people are here. So back to what I was originally going to do which was stuff with the grippers I ordered. Warm up with the one set under the planned working weight and then do 2 sets of 10 with slight holds. I’d rather just do the grippers but my understanding is that it is a good idea to do hand band expanders with them for hand and wrist health. My hands already curl inwards when relaxed. The bands expands are a lot tougher and my right hand the pointer finger knuckle was getting a little irritated. The gripper part was fine. Not just working on isometric but ROM for the hands for gripping purposes. I still felt like I had some in me so I did 5 more reps but with 5 second eccentrics. Put stuff away and drove home to stretch where it was cool. Got two more sessions before the week off at the beach with family.