September 3, 2025 – Week 1, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up

Long Bar Deadlifts (straps)
143x5
183x4
233x3
273x2
323x1
EMOM
373x3
373x3
378x3
378x3
383x3
383x3
388x3
388x3
393x3
393x3

Safety Squat Bar Front Box Squats (24”) 
65x6
115x4
155x2
205x2
245x6
245x6
250x6
255x6
260x6
265x6

Paused Barbell Hip Thrusts (2 seconds)/Pull Ups/Prone Band Hamstring Tantrums
135x8
217x3/bwx3
240x10/bwx13/(2)lbx15 seconds
260x10/bwx13/(2)lbx15 seconds
275x10/bwx10/(2)lbx15 seconds

Sandbag Over Shoulders
175x30 seconds
175x30 seconds
175x30 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Whelp, I’m 40 now. Day did not start off great as I overslept for work for the first time in over 5yrs. I thought I was finally adjusted to EST but guess not. Taking longer than I was hoping/expecting honestly as I seem to not be able to sleep right and then feel tired early in the evening. The issue was I kept waking up and seeing it wasn’t time to get up and I guess the volume on my radio was way too low so I woke up 11 minutes later than I needed to. Oh well. I was feeling a little heavy behind the eyes and the changes at work while I was gone were quite staggering. I already regret coming back to home from Ireland haha. But I had training after to work to do. Definitely feeling Monday session still but luckily most of this session is lower body stuff. Calves still needing a good bit of foam rolling to loosen up. Knees still a little achy from what they were put through overseas so still a little cranky. Neck rehab stuff was good. Did some mobility stuff before getting into the session. So first thing was deadlifts. Now the initial plan here was to do 10x3 done EMOM style at about RPE 7 but focus on speed. Notes had been for deadlift bar pulls but I don’t have one right now. I’ve been leery to get one when it is really just usable for deadlifts rather than being versatile. I tend to pull more on that kind of bar when in contest and do well enough with stiff bar at home. But I didn’t want to really focus on what I could do on a barbell at the moment so I decided I’d add my bar extenders to finally use them for a floor pull to make something that has some flex and give with it being a makeshift long bar pull. It has been a bit since I’ve pulled on a deadlift bar (15 months) so not sure if this is more/same/less flex. But it did feel interesting. Lower back still not quite ready as I was feeling stiff and fatigued here. I was worried about using the “right” weight here as sometimes I start off and it feels rough but then smoother and easier as I go. Since not used this bar setup I elected to add 5lbs every two reps. I had managed to not need to get a fresh shirt on day one but I realized that wasn’t going to be the case today. Hopefully I got the intent right here. I realized later that I had done 10lbs more than I had thought I did for the EMOM triples. Took a little bit to tear down which was kind of the plan so that I could get some fluids in me before doing the next thing. Which was front squats to a box using the safety squat bar. I’ve heard arguments that not really a front squat because of the bar camber and a bunch of other talk. But whatever, this is what I’m being told to do and I just need to do work this offseason. I knew I was going to get me some squats programmed. Notes were to try and get RPE 8 and above parallel box. I used the setup I was doing for the sandbag squats and then seeing how I was tolerating this. I recall that when I did these a long while ago that I didn’t like the feeling with vision obscured but didn’t seem to be an issue here. It was more my knees and the joint angle. I started on the lighter end of things for the proposed 6x6. Even though things felt like moving fast, it felt very much like that if I didn’t move fast, I’d hit a wall in the motion and be stapled. I’ve usually had where a first set of working weight squats don’t feel so great and then feel better as I do more sets and weight so I did the second set and it felt a good deal better so plan was to do like the deadlifts and add 5lbs every 2 sets. But then I reconsidered and decided I’d do 5lbs each set going forward. I do think I can push these more as I get comfortable with them. Took some time putting this setup away to once again rehydrate. It was less that this setup was difficult and more than I had to setup three different stations for the potential last thing of the evening. That and these exercise put stress on my stomach so can be hard to keep stuff down if I rush things. This triset was a bit unusual. I’ve been doing supersets with odd pairings so I guess not that strange. The first part being barbell hip thrusts with pauses. Plan being 3x10 with 2 second pauses. I used to push these hard like 15yrs ago and got to about 700lbs for a single. I’ve not gone that heavy and I’ve not really tried as sometimes the bar digs into my hips and pinches nerves there that didn’t happen in the past. This was going to require some working up sets as I not sure where I’m at but I’m not completely out of shape on these as I’ve done some single leg variations with pauses. I ended up using my jack stands as I could get myself under the setup at the bottom with standard plate height. Used pad and towels to make as comfortable as I could. Like just about everything else, I added weight each set as I went here. Hamstrings started to feel it on the last set. The second exercise in this selection was regular pull-ups with bodyweight. 3 sets of max reps. I did a set just to acclimate before doing the actual sets. I’m kind of surprised I got 13 reps on the first two sets as I was expecting a drop off. The drop off did occur on the third and final set. The last part was those band tantrums for hamstrings. These aren’t so bad after having to do them for 30 second sets. 15 seconds was like nothing really. Almost a break. But I treat them seriously. Last thing being indicated as somewhat optional (mandatory). Sandbag over shoulder with light weight. I did ask for clarification on how light we talking so it did end up being something that would actually require effort. I think the “if up for it” was due to having scabs on my left forearm from lifting a big stone in Ireland. I did take my time with getting things ready as I was feeling like I had a slight cold or allergies (I did take nasal spray before the training session) and wanting to make sure I didn’t retch bending over. I didn’t have the fans on before (besides one for my hands to do liquid chalk) so I turned on all the fans in the garage so that airflow was better. Plan here was 3 sets of 30 seconds effort. I set my timing interval to give 2 minutes rest. It did not seem to matter which way or side I grabbed it, the scabbed section was getting hit. I did 2 reps over each shoulder and started on a fifth rep when the timer went. Blood seeping on the left arm so I spent my rest time taping up my arm so didn’t get blood on the sandbag. I probably should’ve done that from the start. I thought I could avoid it haha. Little more efficient timewise with things but still not enough time to go for another reps after getting 4 total. I think I was worried about doing odd number overall for each side. This is a floppy bag and I was actually happy that it didn’t feel that fatiguing on my lower back. Put stuff away and ate dinner before stretching out. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow and I don’t miss my alarm.