October 5, 2026 – Week 6, 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
90x10
105x8
120x6
135x5
150x4
165x3
180x14
Add 1 Second Pauses
153x14
153x14
Cluster Reps (30 seconds)
153x4+4+3+3

Pause Inverted Rows (1 second)
bw+20x8
bw+25x8
bw+31x8
bw+36x8

Lying Chain Triceps Extensions/Leaning Dumbbell Lateral Raises/Strap Band Face Pulls
11’sx5
22’sx4
33’sx3/12x3—3/lbx5
44’sx15/16x15—15/lbx15
44’sx15/16x15—15/lbx15
44’sx15/16x15—15/lbx15

Stretching

Comments: At about the point in training where I’m far enough from the past competition and far out from the next but have had consistent, progressive workouts and feel like I should be doing something. However, I’m still using light weights relatively speaking as not yet over 200lbs on any pressing or free squat and just did 300lbs on a set of deadlifts. But picking up sandbags didn’t feel terrible. Keep trusting what I’m doing. Weight up about 1lbs from last week (which was down 3lbs after being up 7lbs) so I may be stabilizing at the higher weight range closer to 120kgs bodyweight than 115kgs bodyweight. I did not feel like working as I went to bed Sunday evening. But here we are. There are mostly positives with the switch up to telework from commuting but it still requires some changes and my body likes to be adverse to those changes. But the better sleep schedule does wonders. A lot less stress. I had gotten in a walk Sunday and soft tissue work despite it being wet out. Quite a lovely fall day today. On to training right after work. Foam rolling starting things off. Calves needed it, especially in the lower part of the muscles near the ankles. Definitely more than the previous weeks as of late but not quite the level it had been before World’s. Hamstrings were fine, just a little tight/sore from Saturday. Quads needed a good bit on both sides. Much closer to even than usual. Upper back also needed a good bit of moving to feel good to go. Neck rehab/mobility stuff followed that and that was fine. No issues with glute activation or lower body mobility. Dead hang to finish things up and get a little more decompression before starting training. The start of session is roughly the same as it has been. The second half though is where the changes are happening. Band superset to starting things off with pec flyes and paused pull-aparts. I might have lost count on the first set of pec flyes as that felt more exhausting than the second set. Good to get a pump in the chest so as not just there for decoration. It might be why sandbag picks didn’t feel that bad Saturday. The pull aparts for the most part are fine with working the back contraction and stretching chest. But the thin band with the tension on it can dig into the palm of my hands. Part of this is getting stuff prefatigued for the pressing that follows as well as having that also be a lot of volume. High incline log following up. This particular session on the log incline was kind of a pivot and amalgam of sessions. Ideally, I’d have done another of the eccentric emphasis stuff and then go to no tempo modifications. But the weeks wouldn’t really work out and have stuff on different days and what not. Also knew that takes a beating doing the eccentric accentuated stuff and upper body takes longer to recover than my lower body from it. So the plan for the day was to work up in the pyramid fashion to my 10 rep set weight I did two weeks prior but with regular rep tempo. Leave 1-2RIR for the start of things. I wasn’t feeling great about it as I felt like my upper body was already fatigued from the reps leading up to that set as well as the push presses Saturday. But somehow what felt off at 5 reps ended up being closer to 15 reps. This was definitely in 1-2RIR range. So that was a bit of surprise there. Which then made the rest of the pressing tougher on me. The initial plan was to do 85% of that for three matching rep sets, which would be the same “down” weight as last week of 153lbs. So looking at 3x14. But I had the wise idea to add pauses on those down sets just because the plan going forward is going to be regular reps and then pause reps for this next block. I’m about 10% off what I was doing back in 2021 with the lower incline grade but this did manage to be 1 rep more than that time. The pauses killed me and I go through the one set before I knew this might be something too big to chew. Second set confirmed it and I had to decide on whether I called it earlier or I try to get 14 more reps out of this weight. I elected that the only way I’d get through them is breaking up into bits. So elected to do cluster reps with 30 seconds rest on the last set. My pressing muscles were definitely tired as I felt like I was going to miss some of these reps. But got it done. Obviously won’t be this aggressive once switch to contest prep and focus on log. But getting swole in the upper body and feeling good. Into the garage for the rest of the session. Dropping the dumbbell rows and going with my preferred inverted ring rows. These just feel good for me. But I had wanted to do the dumbbell ones beforehand to get in some work. Plan was to do just 4x8 at RPE 7.5. Which could’ve been bodyweight. But I figured that would probably be too easy and did 20lbs added and did more than just a slight pause here. I did feel some fatigue as I did more of these but felt pretty darn good so went up each set by a little. Next week is to be the same and I’m not sure if I will try to push weights up each set again or find something decent for straight sets. The last thing was the conditioning aspect of the session. Not in the same sense as those chaos bradford presses but would make good use of the conditioning gains from there. Essentially a triset of triceps, shoulders and upper back and likely will be used going forward. Extension based triceps I tend to have a history with and I wanted to see how a chain version would go and feel. Took a bit to figure out and I wasn’t expecting to need so much chain weight to find something that fit the bill of RPE 7 for 3x15. I just recall from past experience that triceps endurance peters out. I can likely do more but these felt pretty gentle on the elbows. The other two things I was more familiar with. Leaning dumbbell lateral raises and variations of face pulls. I feel I got those more at the right effort level. Left side my elbow didn’t care for the movement with the laterals but that is more just the strain from the torque. It is tolerable. But seems things worked out here. Put stuff away and ate dinner before stretching.

October 3, 2026 – Week 5, 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

Push Presses (beltless, 3 second dip eccentrics)
45x5
67x5
89x3
111x3
133x2
152.5x2
172x3
172x3
172x3
172x3
172x3
172x3
172x3
172x3

Front Squats (beltless, 3-1-0-0 tempo)
45x3
78x3
122x3
155x3
199.5x8
199.5x8
199.5x8

Reverse Band Hack Squats (LB’s)
+90x7
+140x5
+180x5
+230x12
+255x12
+280x12

Sandbag Carries (turns at 50’)
225x100’
225x100’
225x100’

Paused Snatch Grip Back Extensions (5 seconds)/Paused Quad Fallbacks (2 seconds)/Paused Tibia Dorsi Calf Machine (3 seconds)
65x8/bwx12/+60x25
65x8/bwx12/+60x25
65x8

Stretching

Comments: Again, dragging ass by the end of the week. But again, not quite the same as last week or the week before. I have stuff I need to do Monday to be caught up from Friday but I feel like in a better place than I was at the end of last week with coming in Monday. Also back on the telework schedule so sleep/recovery will be better. After two weeks not at the strongman gym, I was going back for training. It can be hard to have motivation to spend 45 minutes or so in the car to train stuff when in off season type prep but there were some things I couldn’t really do at home without getting another gym membership so out to train I did. I had not ended up walking Thursday or Friday and attempted to prioritize sleep and soft tissue work. I still almost slept for 11hrs Friday night and I knew I’d be out to train later than planned. But it wasn’t weather dependent like last weekend thankfully. I had thought it would take me longer to get ready but I guess I had actually cleaned enough dishware to be able to eat dinner without delay. I did have to get gas and I only did half a tank as the price is up a good bit since last month. I was a bit surprised there were so many people at the gym but I was definitely at the tail end for most of it and I knew that if I got involved, I’d delay training even further talking people’s ears off.  Started things off with the usual foam rolling and the only things that seemed to need it were my right calf, right quad and upper back. Like barely anything for elsewhere. I’ll take it. Neck rehab stuff was fine and no issues with glute activation and lower body mobility. But I did feel “warm” warming up and I’m sure that’s just because there is no central air and it is just a bunch of fans that has me getting that way when training here. I was a little leery with the right knee being achy last session and had kind of hoped taking it easy and resting had been the right decision here. Starting the lifting with the triset of the back breaker paloff presses, step ups with band TKEs and dead bugs. I made slight adjustment here with what was available and did 12” box for the step ups. These felt fine and good.  Push pressing again, last of the slow eccentric sessions. No belt, only wrist wraps with a 5% increase and going with 8x3. I elected to use the kilogram plates here. Weight is feeling noticeable at the start but felt better with more sets. Some feeling better than others. Rack position feels good and comfortable so that is a plus. More just getting stuff to fire correctly and in synch. And that not losing position on the dip and then drive. Got a decent sweat going from these. Next three weeks will be with pauses in the bottom of dip instead. From there, onto front squats. Since I was already using kilogram plates for overhead, it felt like I might as well keep that with front squats with same setup. I forgot to pack my straps in my haste this morning (I was only thinking I’d need them for deadlift stuff) but there was a pair of them at the gym that I made due with. Otherwise, I’d be just doing them with a rack position anyways. The change for these this week was to decrease the time of the eccentric but emphasize the pause more. Also going up to 3x8 instead of 2x8. Initially, I was looking at 20lbs increase from last week but I figured that was probably going to be too aggressive, especially with increase in sets. So when a little under that. The working weight felt “heavy” on my shoulders/chest so that first set I took a bit to get settled before squatting. Sticking to beltless until I finish up Week 8 of this prep. Pauses were noted. Second set felt a ton easier but then became tough again on the third set which had me glad I stuck to this weight and didn’t go heavier. The next thing took a bit of time but that was fine. I’ve done hack squats but the machines tend to feel terrible on my knees and one fix has been having reverse bands to have the movement feel better or smoother for me. But the gym has rearranged things since the last time I did hack squats (like 2021?) and not in a way that would allow for the reverse band setup. I was going to try and move the hack squat machine around so I could set it up with reverse bands (if possible) and if that wasn’t going to work, just go sans bands and see how that goes. Well the machine was moveable by myself so I got it setup for the reverse band plan. Plan being to work up in 5’s to 3x12 with range being from 5RIR to 2-3RIR over those three sets. My hope was to be closer to that true effort range than what I did with the rdls on Wednesday. The machine is not good as is since the padding has caused neck issues for me in the past and I have to modify it with towels, bands and foam roller to be ergonomic for me. So one of those things where takes effort to get ready so better get monies worth on it. I forgot I was just doing sets of 5 reps at the start. Knees had issues with the first rep with finding the depth each time but once I realized that was how it was going to be, I was fine with going up in weight. I’m not doing as much as when I last did these but to be fair, last time I had two weeks or sessions before doing this workout (substituted with the sandbag squats). Also not wearing any support gear besides the knee sleeves so 20lbs under that isn’t terrible. If anything, I should be surprised I’m doing more on the beltless squats and pulls from the sessions 5yrs ago and being with 10lbs on the incline pressing with the higher incline setting. The stability aspect of machines does allow for me to push things harder and since it has been a long time since using one, it may take a moment to get used to it. But I hit the weight I needed so that next session is easier platemath. Then on to an actual event. Sandbag carries. Haven’t done one since World’s and 112lbs heaviest implement I’ve lifted since. Sandbags are part of two events in the qualifiers so best to keep those fresh. Plan was to do 3x100’ with moderate weight bag and rest 90-120 seconds between. Move fast if I can but just getting used to it again. No support gear of any kind and no chalk. 225lbs I wasn’t sure how that would go on the pick up but this was fine. I was definitely not ready for moving/running with the weight and my fired lower body let me know that. I was feeling better with this after the third set. Last thing was another triset. It was originally a superset like last week with the quad fallbacks and back extension holds. But I figured I should try and keep some stuff in the mix for the anterior tibialis to keep my ankles working and hopefully help with getting my right calf to be in working order again. The gym has one of those machine for adding weight to tib raises and I wanted to see how that was. A bit awkward but workable. Just not a good one to really “stretch” on. But back to the original initial superset pairing. Back extensions with snatch grip. Doing these to build for log clean and other stuff (deadlifts and sandbags). 3x8 with 5 seconds holds. Light weight here as doesn’t need a lot. Been a bit since I’ve used the GHD for back extensions. The quad fallbacks I added pauses in the stretch as been quite tight last week and took until the last set to actually get to the floor. Off set super set with 3 sets of the back extensions and 2 sets of the other exercises. Downed a protein shake before driving home and stretching.

September 30, 2026 – Week 5, 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)
95x5
135x5
185x5
225x10
245x10
275x9 (miscounted)
300x10

Dumbbell Walking Lunges
22’sx12/12
22’sx12/12
22’sx12/12

Paused Copenhagen Plank Lifts (2 seconds)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Standing Band Hip Adductions/Hanging L-Sits
(2)µbx15/15 – bwx30 seconds
(2)µbx15/15 – bwx30 seconds
(2)µbx15/15 – bwx30 seconds

Safety Squat Bar Single Leg Seated Calf Raises (0-3-0-3 tempo)
65x15/15
65x15/15

Stretching

Comments: Getting caught up on Monday did nothing for me being fine after that as just got bombarded with work and having to hope that I retain information from the past two days for putting in records tomorrow. I did make sure I got in a walk Tuesday but likely not walking tomorrow as family thing after work. Just need to get through this week and then back to better sleep cycle and options. Starting things off with foam roller stuff and kind of like last week with needing more on everywhere compared to Monday. I guess upper back and hamstrings were about the same level of need. Calves have thankfully not been at the levels they were leading up to Worlds. Quads seem to need the most lately. Neck rehabbing exercises felt good. Lower body stuff with glute activation and mobility felt fine. Could tell hamstrings were a tad tight. Dead hang was ok. On to training. Tempo band leg curls like the past two weeks. Only 2 sets going forward here. My right hamstring had felt sore on these at the start last week and thankfully not the case this time. Some of the more intense hamstring stuff is being reduced as switching to different exercises. These still start out easy and get very taxing by the end of it. But I know these are good for me. Rdls followed. A few changes to what I did the past two weeks. No longer snatch grip but wide grip. So hands in like 2-3 spaces. Meaning I can do these out of the rack rather than saw horses. Going to stick to beltless for this week and the next 3 weeks I think (before switching off-season to comp prep). I’m aiming for full ROM on these rdls rather than just to below knees or mid shin like in the past. So standing on a 1” platform so even if slightly high, I’m going to floor as that is where I struggle to break the weight. Another change being no pauses or tempo on the concentric. These are 5 seconds eccentrics here. I figured I could do a bit more than the other style just from past experience. So the goal was to do 4x10 with first set being 5RIR and the last one being 2-3RIR. I didn’t succeed here as my first working set was too easy and my last working set was too hard. Sets of five reps warming up. I went up a good bit on the third set as the first two sets just felt too easy. I had contemplated doing 25lbs jumps but went with 20lbs and I guess felt that I should course correct. 275lbs didn’t feel too bad but I could tell it had felt like effort. I think I’d have stuck to 20lbs jumps if I had been aware that I miscounted on the 275lbs set, which gave me a false sense of things for the last set. But I guess I wanted to put 300lbs on to something at this point in training with things feeling as they did. I pretty much lost my brace on the last rep of these so I will need to adjust plans for next week as plan was 10% more for 3x8 with top weight but that was with more in the tank. But no failed lifts and things are progressing. Lighter fare following. Walking lunges next. Continuing to deviate from the original plan as had these as just bodyweight through duration but feel like having weight added is important, even if it is a little bit. Only doing these one more week after this anyways before changing things up. My right knee was unfortunately not wanting to cooperate today so I did have to do little bit of moving around to warm up and have things feeling ok to go. Trying to do these without knee sleeves. Just a little increase in weight on these light dumbbells but legs and lungs are feeling it. I was sweating a bit after the last set and spaced out a little before moving on with the training session. Copenhagen plank lift holds after that. Same as it has been the past two weeks with 3x10 with 1-2ct holds. I did change things here with using the single leg bench instead of the adjustable bench. Definitely increased the difficulty with the increased ROM for the lower leg on these. I had not inclination to do a longer hold. I was kind of surprised how tough these were. But this work with the legs is important. And then on to standing band hip adductions combined with hanging l-sits. No Nordic curl stuff. Those are quite intense and a five weeks of those is enough with changes to other exercises. Don’t want to strain something like has happened in the past pushing the intense stuff too long and hard. These continue to be same reps and sets. I’ve been keeping the band tension the same, mostly because other stuff is a bit intense and these feel like I’m doing movement. Less of an issue with the hanging l-sits compared to the past two weeks. That had been the usual end to the session but now adding in calf raises. Single leg seated variety with tempo emphasis on the stretch and contraction peaks. Using the ssb as easier to load and control. Plan was 2 sets of 15-20 reps using 3-5 seconds on the holds. I figured empty ssb and go from there with 3 seconds as I recalled these took a while in the past and that I wanted to make sure I was doing work and not shortchanging things. My right calf has not felt strong for a good bit now and this seemed to be the best way to work directly. These is a discrepancy in strength here as left side didn’t really have an issue whereas the right this was challenging. Now I have that truth, I can hopefully improve and fix things. One positive is that the sets take so long but aren’t taxing on other stuff I can get rehydrated and just go one leg to the other as recovering between legs and such. Put away the equipment and ate dinner before stretching. Just two more work days.

September 28, 2026 – Week 5, 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 (3 seconds eccentrics)
90x10
110x8
125x6
140x4
155x2
170x8
170x8
153x8
153x12

Paused Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows (3 seconds)
56’sx5
76’sx5
101’x9
86’x13

Feet Elevated Bench Dips
bwx5
bw+42x5
bw+75x12
bw+75x12
bw+75x17

Chaos Chain Bradford Presses
PVC+44lbsx60 seconds
PVC+44lbsx60 seconds
PVC+44lbsx60 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Last week of in office before back to four weeks of telework. Been managing so far and not feeling like taking any hits to training. But hope I will feel more rested with better sleep schedule. Things worked out with work with having supervisor back and I was able to get what I did Friday documented Monday and almost a fresh slate for Tuesday. I’ve thankfully been dodging the bug going around for now with making sure I get rest and just avoid people in general. Weight down about 3lbs from last week's high point so I guess about normal. Digestion not 100% how it was but feeling better than last week for the most part. It still takes a bit to deload from the work day before getting to train. Foam rolling starting things off. Calves needed a bit more compared to last session. Hamstrings were fine. Quads needed a good bit with the right needing about twice as much work as the left. Which has been consistent. My DOMS in the quads were not even close to how they were last week. Upper back needed a good bit of work before felt good to move on. Neck rehab/mobility stuff followed that and felt pretty good. Stuff is moving well and feeling good. No issues with glute activation or lower body mobility other than a slight ache in my left knee but that didn’t lead to anything. Dead hang to finish things up. Band superset to starting things off with pec flyes and paused pull-aparts. I feel like I got the flyes figured out as far as position to get stretch and good contraction without feeling off or iffy on the joints. Actually engaged my back muscles with the pull aparts rather than just pulling the band. So I feel that was good to be feeling muscles doing the work. The eccentric focused high incline log was next. This is the last session of the tempo emphasis for these. Plan was to do 10lbs less than last week for 2x8 to start things off. I wasn’t so rigid with the pyramiding up. I didn’t feel as “strong” as last week but then again, I hadn’t felt as strong as the week before and did better than expected. I guess not quite right in saying feeling as strong but more that I was fatiguing faster so strength endurance didn’t feel as high. This is possibly from pushing a bit on that top set last week. But I got through those first two sets. Next was to drop down 10% off that for another set of 8 reps and then to do a max rep set (1-2RIR) with same weight. The drop in weight did feel lighter but not so much so that 8 reps felt like it went by easy mind you. I didn’t want to have it on this last set struggling to get 10 reps when I did 180lbs for 10 the week before. There was fatigue but I did manage a dozen reps before needing to rack it. This was tougher than I had hoped it would be. However, this does appear to mirror my experience the last time I did these sessions and that had me with having to rest pause sets at times. So better go this time around. I was worried about how I’d handle next session but I had forgotten switching up style of incline so not as daunting. Into the garage for the rest of the session. Chest supported dumbbell rows with the 3 second holds again. Like everything else this session (besides the superset), this would be the last session of the particular exercise/modality of this off season prep. For this session, I was to work up to a top set of 8-12 reps and then take 15% for a matching set. I didn’t want to have things feel like a rough start so I did do two warming up sets. After how the last one felt, I did add 5lbs to my planned weight. I did push this a little as I went for a 10th but could tell I wasn’t going to being leaving any reps in the tank and rushing the hold so stopped there. I changed my plan with matching the reps as my down set was going to be the same weight as last week for 3x10 so I just did max reps on that instead. Will be the last session of these for a while before switching to something else for longer term. Next item was bench dips. Again, last session of these. First session had been interesting one and then I was a little worried about how my elbows were responding to these. But no issues with elbows but shoulders were tight last week. For this last session, plan was to do  2x12 with the casual pace I was going with 64-75lbs and then a max rep set. I decided to go with 75lbs and that seemed like the right choice. The position is odd on these. Feels like a lot of weight but isn’t so bad doing the reps. But the lockout feels precarious and like I might not be able to go fully to max and not get stuck. Right trap was also getting tight from pressure. But was able to push things on that last set.  I’m up in the air on these still as far as if they should be an option in the future or not. I have other triceps stuff planned as get more into event specifics. Last item of the session being the chaos chain Bradford presses for timed sets. Same weight and time of 3 sets of 60 seconds. Last time for them for now and hope was to actually do the 1 minute or work and then 2 minutes of rest to the letter after dancing close to it the past two sessions. This one is a keeper. Shoulders are burning by the end of it. I think I got over 150 reps total so a few more than last week. Put stuff away and got dinner done before stretching out.

September 26, 2026 – Week 4, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Paloff Back Breaker Presses/Step Ups w/ Band TKEs (8”, ab)/Dead Bugs
mb’sx10 – bwx10/10 – bwx5/5
mb’sx10 – bwx10/10 – bwx5/5

Push Presses (beltless, 3 second dip eccentrics)
45x5
75x4
95x3
115x2
135x2
159x4
159x4
159x4
159x4
159x4
159x4

Front Squats (beltless, 5-1-0-0 tempo)
45x3
85x3
125x3
155x3
185x8
185x8

Paused Heel Elevated Sandbag Squats (2 seconds, no lockouts)
112x20
112x20

Quad Fallbacks/Neck Harness Back Extension Holds
bwx6/bw+25x45 seconds
bwx6/bw+25x45 seconds
bwx6/bw+25x45 seconds

Power Pin Swings (EMOM)
88.5x10
88.5x10
88.5x10
88.5x10
88.5x10
88.5x10
88.5x10
88.5x10
88.5x10
88.5x10

Backwards Treadmill Pushes (10% Incline)
5 minutes

Stretching

Comments: Again, dragging ass by the end of the week. But this felt different than last week. Not having supervisor for a second week was not fun. I got a lot of work to document come Monday from Friday. Allergies had felt like taking a back seat after that one day initially it seem but then decided to come back hard after work Thursday and Friday with just feeling tired. I ended up not walking Thursday to just focus on soft tissue work and then walking on Friday so that I could get to bed earlier than I had been to hopefully combat that. Also digestion was feeling off in a different way with feeling a bit constipated and I was kind of hoping whatever got me Saturday last week would hit again so as to clear out the system. I ended up taking Dayquil before bed Friday night to hopefully help my body combat the allergies and stress. Didn’t exactly oversleep but it was later start. Training at home due to powerlifting meet. But was kind of regretting that decision as I didn’t get up early enough to apparently avoid the rain so I had to wait until closer to 5PM to actually start training rather than 12-1 as intended. But I guess that allowed me to get some food in and hopefully have the allergy meds do their thing. Really gambling with the rain clearing up enough to do the one thing that I need overhead clearance on and the weather predictions were looking less and less likely but I trusted my gut. Foam rolling my calves and quads needed attention. Calves haven’t need it as much lately. Right quad tends to need double the time of the left to feel good. The inflamed sensation is thankfully gone at this point. Hamstrings tight but not really that bad and upper back needed very little this time around. It had been massively sore after deadlifts last week and only a little bit this time around. Neck rehab stuff was fine and no issues with glute activation and lower body mobility. I did do some additional stretching for the hamstrings just to make sure. Dead hang to decompress a tad before getting into training. With the rain, I was trying to not really go that fast as the rain was moving through slower than expected and I was hoping I could get it where there was a break in the action to do the one thing that needed to be outside. So in the garage for the triset of the back breaker paloff presses, step ups with band TKEs and dead bugs. Some knee aches as expected but not as much I guess compared to last time. Stuff felt fine and I was moving well enough here. It had thankfully stopped raining and I was onto push presses outside. As indicated last week, basing these two three week waves off percentages of 264.5lbs/120kgs as my estimated 1rm here. No belt, only wrist wraps and using this first three week wave of eccentric controlled lowering on the dip drive. I used towels to mop up the rain water on the stall mats so wasn’t worrying about slipping. 5% increase and going with 6x4 for the scheme this week. I felt less issues with getting the lowering and timing right but noticed weight felt like more effort this week compared to last. Granted this was a 13.5lbs/6kgs increase. I do hope this works out for me as getting my overhead up to par will be big for this coming season. From there, onto front squats. I took rest moving the weights inside to the garage as I wasn’t expecting the lull in the rain to be long. It did end up being a long enough pause I could’ve done the front squats outside like last week. Again, the aim being RPE 5-6 for 2x8 with long eccentric but more a guideline than anything. I ended up adding 20lbs to last week’s weights so that was definitely a risk. My knees initially felt more achy compared to last week at the start but I felt better as I went. Like the snatch grip rdls, this is the last week of this particular tempo and style. I’m not sure if I’m keeping beltless after this but I’ll figure it out. A bit of a break here as well as the next thing was those sandbag squats again. No lockouts and 2 second pauses in the hole. Raised heels. The guideline was 90-120 seconds rest but I knew I wasn’t going to stick to it. This was going to be the last week of these and I knew with needing my allergy meds today that my wind wasn’t as good as it would normally be. Same as last week with 112lbs for 2x15-20. Wanted to get more reps. Was initially going to stop at 16 reps with how they were feeling but then decided to do 18 and then said fuck it, do 20 reps. Which I knew was going to make that second set even tougher on me as I like to do matching rep sets. I told myself that doing 15 reps was fine as more than last week total. Then 16 reps, then 18 reps and then gutting out to get 20 reps. My quads were effectively dead at this point. So took time to get them to calm down (and allow me to hydrate more) before moving on in the session. I can take my time; I’m at home and not going anywhere. Pairing of the quad fall backs and back extension holds with 25lbs on the neck harness. No changes to the reps/sets of the fall backs but slight increase in the time of holds. At least that was the plan. My mobility on the fall backs was not great at the start. I felt very stiff but eventually stuff loosened up that I was getting like I was the week before on the last set. The holds I messed up the first set. It was to be 40 seconds but the timer never started and I noticed late and then started it. I guessed I was at about 45 seconds and stopped and then set it for that time for the rest of the sets. The added time was noticed in the glutes the most followed by lower back and hamstrings. On to the conditioning. Power pin swings with same weight as last week for the EMOM sets. But with 10x10 this time around. The added reps per set were noticed as these did end up being a bit tougher by the end of it. I didn’t have any tightness issues in my arms this time around as I seemed to get the form right from the start. Would be nice to do one more week but pivoting after this session. But like the bradford PVC stuff, this is a keeper for offseason and post competition stuff. Longest break of the session before finishing up. Mainly because it was getting late and I wanted to start getting dinner ready. That way, putting stuff away and doing the last bit of conditioning would be just the right amount of cooldown for my food to be ready to eat once I finished training. Again, backwards treadmill pushing to essentially do the infinity pool version of backwards sled drag for the knees. 5 minutes of this and done for this session. Ate dinner and stretched.

September 23, 2026 – Week 4, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

Seated Band Hamstring Curls (3-3-0-0 tempo)
lb’sx20
lb’sx20
lb’sx20

Snatch Grip Romanian Deadlifts (beltless, straps, 3-1-3-0 tempo)
95x3
135x3
185x3
225x8
230x8
235x8
240x8

Dumbbell Walking Lunges
16’sx12/12
16’sx12/12
16’sx12/12

Paused Copenhagen Plank Lifts (2 seconds)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Nordic Curl Negatives (5 seconds)
bwx6
bwx6
bwx6

Standing Band Hip Adductions/Hanging L-Sits
(2)µbx15/15 – bwx30 seconds
(2)µbx15/15 – bwx30 seconds
(2)µbx15/15 – bwx30 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Right knee a little achy still after training. That quad is also very sore so I made it a priority to get in a walk in yesterday even though it was rainy all day. I kind of knew that I’d eventually have it where I felt like I needed allergy meds as been getting away with it since April it seems. The harsh and fast rains tend to not be an issue for my allergies but the slow moving all day affairs tend to be and issue. I didn’t have enough time in the morning to assess if I needed to do more than nasal spray so I was at the mercy of allergies. I’d rather not take them due to the blood pressure issue, especially on a training day. I felt wiped enough that I was willing to play it by ear when I got home and see if I wanted to workout or take a nap and try again tomorrow. Nothing coming up so don’t have to be so rigid with my training schedule since I have all the workouts and can adjust as needed. I’m not waiting on next week’s having a time crunch. I decided I’d do my warming up and see if that woke me up and go from there. Foam roller stuff and I needed more on everywhere compared to Monday. Upper back was about the same level of need. Really worked the quads to see if that helped with the tenderness there. Neck rehabbing exercises felt good. Felt like they were doing something today. They had felt like that Monday too. Lower body stuff with glute activation and mobility felt fine. Dead hang was ok. Then on to training. Hopefully this will go by a little smoother now that I know what I’m doing as far as exercises and setup. So starting off with the tempo band leg curls. Like the other starting exercises, not changing stuff here and just hitting the same stuff to hopefully have it help with priming and getting blood flow and conditioned. Again, doesn’t matter how easy these start out, they always are almost agony by the end of it. But I know these are good for me and I need to have my hamstrings up to par for this coming season after finding them lagging. Then more tempo modified stuff with snatch grip rdls. Still tempo style and beltless like last week. Aim being 10-20lbs more than last week for 4x8. I wasn’t too sure how that would go with soreness in legs and with how allergies had me today. I warmed up as if I was doing 20lbs more for 225lbs. My warm ups didn’t inspire confidence as my knees felt achy and I wasn’t feeling like I had the tempo and movement right at the start. But as I’ve mentioned, I apparently turn it on for the working weight. 225lbs felt so easy I contemplated adding weight. I was fighting myself during my rest period here to see if the second set took it out of me and I wasn’t recovering and if still easy go up. But I decided I knew what I was about and added 5lbs with intent to add weight each set. So a little off the plan but still in the same spirit. If feeling good, feel good. 235lbs did feel a bit tougher so 240lbs could be pushing it. Wrong, a little longer rest and it was no problem. So not sure what to make of that. But this was a good result. Plan is switching up the tempo and grip a little for next time. Not sure if I will keep it beltless there too. Only definitely no belt last week and this week for deadlifts and front squats. The no really weights stuff followed. Intent was to hopefully have things feel easier compared to last week as lower body stuff gets hit hard twice at this time. Walking lunges next. I had already deviate on these a little with adding weight as these were initially to be bodyweight only last week. But that had been when I last did this session because my knees were really achy and sore and needing knee sleeves and mental prep to even do them. Not the case right now so seeing if I can keep movement and bump the weights up a little each time with this light weight. Want to make sure knees stay pleasant for me. I wasn’t sure how this would be with my right quad still being decently sore. Getting a bit winded with them but I feel like I was moving through the sets a little quicker this time. Copenhagen plank lift holds after that. I wore thicker knee sleeves for my foot to support on the bench (more so for the other stuff after this). These did feel better this week and recovery between sides and sets was better though still quite tough on the last set each side. I was tempted to try increasing hold time on the last rep of the last set if I was feeling like I was at the start but I wasn’t so I didn’t. I also remembered the single leg roll bench I have may work in place of the bench for next time. Nordic curl negatives followed. Right hamstring was feeling the leg curls at the start. The thicker knee sleeves on my ankles made the bracing better for my feet and I was able to do 3x6 with 5 seconds on the lowering this time. So that is a good progression there. Last thing then was the superset to end it last week. Standing band hip adductions combined with hanging l-sits. Same reps and sets as last time. The band stuff wasn’t going to be an issue (it wasn’t for the most part) but the l-sit hangs were. I did extend the holds on the bands to make a little more challenging and I was noticing by the end that there was some fatigue from the Copenhagen stuff in the mix. My upper quads cramped up almost immediately on the hangs but I toughed it out. The grip is fine, it is just keeping my legs off the ground in this position. Will be tough to progress from here I think. Put stuff away and got to eating dinner before stretching. Hopefully this does me a bit of good and not feeling off with allergies tomorrow.

September 21, 2026 – Week 4, 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 (3 seconds eccentrics)
87x10
105x8
120x6
135x5
150x4
165x3
180x10
160x10
160x10
160x10

Paused Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows (3 seconds)
56’sx5
86’x10
86’x10
86’x10

Feet Elevated Bench Dips
bwx5
bw+20x5
bw+53x15
bw+53x15
bw+53x16 (miscounted)

Chaos Chain Bradford Presses
PVC+44lbsx60 seconds
PVC+44lbsx60 seconds
PVC+44lbsx60 seconds

Stretching

Comments: Another week down. I do wish I was telework full-time so I can get better sleep. Unless weather issues, I should be able to get in more walks on my days off lifting this week. Weight was up a lot. 7lbs from last week. Baffling in that day to day calories are less than they were with swapping smaller treat in place of a protein shake during commute cycle. I tested twice to make sure reading accurate. Maybe the off season is going really well with just one week of the barbell lifts haha. I didn’t notice it so I guess that is ok (or not). If it goes up a lot next week check in, maybe I try and figure it out. Right quad on the outside quite sore and that was kind of most noticed thing. Takes a bit to deload from the work day with coming home so I was still a little slow with getting things moving along to train here. But I at least knew what to do and setup this time around. Foam rolling starting things off. Calves and hamstrings only needed a little. Maybe ankle/knee stuff is helping in the calf area. Quads needed a good bit but not as much as I was expecting with how sore the right one was. But more like an inflamed sore than a DOMS sore if that make sense. Upper back needed a good bit of work too. Neck rehab/mobility stuff followed that and felt pretty good. Chest was feeling tight but not too bad. No issues with glute activation or lower body mobility but could tell my hamstrings were a tad tight but no so much needing a second round. Dead hang to finish things up and did notice some shoulder tension here still but not too bad. Starting point of the session was bands superset. Keeping the pec flyes with paused pull-aparts as that seems more the ticket and moving the paloff press to Day 3 session where it fits better. These felt better and less awkward with band tension feeling movement. Could also be that doing stuff since that are more exhausting/taxing of these muscle groups. Moved the bands up a little on the rack for the flyes so it wasn’t feeling like lower pecs only. The eccentric focused high incline log was next. The sky wasn’t looking inviting so it was possible this could get rain involved. This would be the only thing outside anyways. Not as many exercises compared to the other sessions for now so aim was a bit more volume on the log this week. More sets working up and reps. Plan was to do a bit more than last week for a top set leaving 1-2RIR on that set and then take off about 20lbs to do three matching rep sets. Last time I did this workout (lower incline angle) I had done 190lbs for 10 reps and then struggled to match 170lbs for 3 sets of 10 reps (I think I had to rest pause two of them). That had been with a stricter rest period. I knew that I might have issues with picking things right here and let myself rest enough to put in solid effort on the down sets. Top weight the aim was 180lbs. About 15lbs jumps. I wasn’t feeling confident with how my shoulders were feeling and the weight was moving but I guess I sandbag a bit and when it is a test set, I can pick things up a bit. I probably could’ve called it at 9 reps to be sure I had 1-2RIR but I went for 10 because reasons and that was definitely pushing it. The down sets were tough but doable. Last set was the one that almost got away from me on the last rep. That was not a pretty one but I didn’t want to get it stuck on my chest and have to bail. Despite that, good to see I could handle the reps with this more shoulder focused press angle for the incline log. Really hitting shoulders and triceps hard. Lockout control is better compared to before I feel from past efforts in the last year. Good to see recovering week to week so far and with having push pressing just two days earlier. It started raining shortly after I moved inside to do the rest of workout. Chest supported dumbbell rows with same plan as last week. Control with 3 second holds for 3x10. Did same warm up as didn’t want to take up time and exhaust myself for the working weight. First set I could tell felt a little off with feeling more in my arms but felt a lot better on the second and third sets. Chalk to kind of deal with humidity and keep rain off my hands from getting stuff back inside. Next item was bench dips. These had felt good in the moment but then I was worried about them after the fact. Sometimes it takes 2-3 business days for me to feel the full effect of what I’ve done to myself from exercises. Elbows had been a bit achy in a weird way. Notes for this was to warm up and try and slow the tempo down a bit so controlled and not just pumping out the reps. I elected to do the weight I did for the first set last time for the 3x12-15 but obviously aiming for 15 reps as long as I felt I had 2RIR. After the log incline, I felt like right arm feeling more sore than the left with things. Shoulders felt tight. I did try to also keep my body long and not have my feet/legs roll up the support and cut the lever arm shorter to become easier. Felt fine enough. I lost count on the last set and did an extra rep. One more week of these and then switching to more elbow extension focused triceps stuff. With how things going, I was a little tempted to add something else to the session for upper back but elected to not rock the boat and just wait until I switch things over after this next week. Upper back got worked plenty last week. Last item of the session those chaos chain Bradford presses for timed sets. Same weight and time of 3 sets of 60 seconds. As mentioned, the plan had been to do these with 120 seconds rest but my laziness in using the dual timer and head counting had me closer to 155 seconds or so. So this time I did the dual counter but had the rest for 135 seconds to act as kind of a breaking in with aim to do the true 1:2:3 plan of these for the final session. Less rest does make more challenging and I was getting about 49 reps in a minute for each set (not back and forth as 1 rep mind you). Got it done and time to eat dinner and then stretch. With things planned out for the most part for the next 16 weeks, I feel a lot less stress with my training as I know what the next week is and building on from there and so on with the whole plan laid before me.

September 19, 2026 – Week 3, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Paloff Back Breaker Presses/Step Ups w/ Band TKEs (8”, ab)/Dead Bugs
mb’sx10 – bwx10/10 – bwx5/5
mb’sx10 – bwx10/10 – bwx5/5

Push Presses (beltless, 3 second dip eccentrics)
45x5
65x4
85x3
105x2
125x2
145.5x5
145.5x5
145.5x5
145.5x5
145.5x5

Front Squats (beltless, 5-1-0-0 tempo)
45x3
75x3
105x3
135x3
165x8
165x8

Paused Heel Elevated Sandbag Squats (2 seconds, no lockouts)
112x15
112x15

Quad Fallbacks/Neck Harness Back Extension Holds
bwx6/bw+25x30 seconds
bwx6/bw+25x30 seconds
bwx6/bw+25x30 seconds

Power Pin Swings (EMOM)
88.5x8
88.5x8
88.5x8
88.5x8
88.5x8
88.5x8
88.5x8
88.5x8
88.5x8
88.5x8

Backwards Treadmill Pushes (10% Incline)
5 minutes

Stretching

Comments: I was dragging ass by the end of the week. The getting up a little earlier and the added walking did cut into my recovery stuff as already there is a deficit with the commuting vs telework sleep schedule. I was exquisitely sore from Day 2 session from the tempo snatch grips as well as the other stuff that has not really been done or focused on. I was at least able to do soft tissue work but I know that my body would’ve appreciated doing some longer walks to loosen things up. But plan was to tough it out and just sleep in on the weekend. And no “guilt” in doing that as I wasn’t intending to train at the strongman gym this weekend. Reason being that next weekend will be closed for powerlifting meet. This is a new switch from the previous two weeks and plan is after these next two weeks to switch further so I’d rather keep things consistent these two weeks. What also solidified that plan was there was construction happening near the highway where I have to get on to go out to train (there had been some last weekend but this weekend it sounded worse) and I didn’t want to deal with that nonsense for something that could be done at home on my own terms. Digestion was feeling a bit off so that further delayed starting training where I figured it was best to just have breakfast and then after training have an earlier dinner. Foam rolling to start things out as has been the case for some time now. Calves needed a bit more than they’ve had to have the past week and really nothing much else really felt that bad besides upper back (which was expected). Neck rehab stuff was fine and no issues with glute activation and lower body mobility. Dead hang to decompress a tad before getting into training. The Day 1 and Day 2 sessions, I’ve been going more of a prefatigue and getting muscles targeted circumstance whereas today was more of a priming things and getting mobile intent. I had made slight adjustments to this just based on feedback from this week. A triset of the back breaker paloff presses from Day 1 (new home for them) and then some more typical of this session of step ups with band TKEs and some dead bugs. I wanted to get stuff feeling less tense in the lower back but ready for movement and get my knees ready for a lot of bending today but moving in a good way. The paloff variation because this was also going to be a pressing session. These seemed to go well enough. Then time to actually put some weights in my hands so to speak. Push presses up first. It has been since World’s that I’ve done push pressing and it has been probably a decade since I’ve done push press with a barbell. While intent is to work on lower body drive overhead, the return to just barbell was to focus on the mechanics of the press from essentially the start square. It has been log or axle and feel like there is something that is amiss with overhead with disconnect with lower body and upper body. Competition is log but we are like 18 weeks away from that and I’ve kind of gotten sick with my feelings towards axle and log in the past 3yrs. Barbell should make things easier to have close to body and work on getting cooperation with leg drive and press. So plan is to do two waves of three weeks with the focus on the dip drive. The first three weeks being eccentric focus and the next three being isometric focus before switching to log to start specificity to competition. Percentages are light and I’m using 264.5lbs/120kgs as my estimated 1rm here. No belt, only wrist wraps. I’ve never really done these with the controlled lowering of eccentric on the dip phase as always has been with lowering the weight from lockout to shoulders. I’ve done overloads with axle last year but that was only for like 2 weeks and not really working there. But my understanding of this is that the dip is the only eccentric loading of the overhead for the first rep and that the eccentric for the lockout to shoulders is more for strict pressing and maybe loading for a second rep if going into rebound style. Working on shoulder/rack position mobility here. Timing the lowering to actually getting into the position is tough so I imagine this will be helpful for me in the long run. I was feeling like I was getting there more consistently by the end of the sets. Plan for next week is more weight and more sets but lower reps. From there, onto front squats. Already warmed up with the push presses to some degree. Front squats are to be my main squat assistance for this prep and offseason approach. Unlike other stuff this week, I was going to wear my knee sleeves. Give some support as focus is to try and do more knees over toes emphasis rather than sitting back and having my knees rigid. Beltless and using the strap grip to give my wrists a bit of break from the push pressing and be a bit more log focused. Aim being RPE 5-6 for 2x8 with long eccentric. The last time I did these was like 3yrs ago and I recalled these had been quite sucky for me. Ended up only doing like 135lbs and that was with a belt. To be fair, had been after some paused hatfiled split squats. I feel like these went better as I was fully prepared for 135lbs to be my working weight. I wasn’t sure how the weather was going to hold up so I put away what I had outside and moved into the garage to finish up the day. More squats. Initially the plan was hack squats but with the gym closed next weekend, I had elected to do a different squat variation and wait until no issues for the next few months before adding in machine exercises (I had also got rid of some machine exercises for that reason in the sessions). This was more knees over toes but with more focus on the anterior load. I was looking at goblet but figured I’d rather do my light sandbag instead. I was definitely not ready for the weight on my chest like that as I had to take a few moments just holding it up there before I felt comfortable to actually do anything. Aim was 2x15-20 with leaving reps in the tank. No lockout to keep focus on the quads. 15 reps ended up being the right call here. From there a superset of some things I’ve been working on. I did the Nordic curl eccentrics with quad fallbacks the past two weeks as a pairing but with moving days, this left it open for another but similar exercise. I’m keeping in the quad fall backs to keep up mobility in hips/knees and ankles as I don’t want to have tight upper quads impeding things. So for those, lower reps today with no target besides getting my head to the floor. I forgot that these tend to have my do-rag come off due to the movement. The thing these were paired with was back extension holds with neck harness. My plan is to just get used to these again after not doing them for about 2yrs more so to get ready to do paused back extensions in the next block of training. 25lbs on the neck harness is enough here for sure and felt solid. But I did forget that it does mess with my glasses so need to remember that for next time. With these done, it was time to do conditioning. The power pin swings were originally going to be on Day 2 but timing and just how beat that session already had me made moving to this day the best option. It has been like 3yrs since I had these as something and I was doing a lot more weight on them but not as many sets. Plan here being to use 15-20% of my 1rm raw deadlift for EMOM sets. I wasn’t sure how rough these would be but thankfully they weren’t bad. My left biceps felt tight on the first few sets until I got my body to cooperate with the movement. Plan is to do 10x10 same weight next time. Inside for the last bit of conditioning. Backwards treadmill pushing to essentially do the infinity pool version of backwards sled drag for the knees. 5 minutes of this wasn’t bad compared to when I’ve done 10 minutes of it. I figured 5 minutes was fine after doing 10 minutes of swings. Put stuff away and stretched before using my birthday gift cards to get some big burritos for the first time in 3yrs for dinner.

September 16, 2026 – Week 3, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

Seated Band Hamstring Curls (3-3-0-0 tempo)
lb’sx20
lb’sx20
lb’sx20

Snatch Grip Romanian Deadlifts (beltless, straps, 3-1-3-0 tempo)
65x5
115x5
155x5
205x10
205x10
205x11 (miscounted)

Dumbbell Walking Lunges
10’sx12/12
10’sx12/12
10’sx12/12

Paused Copenhagen Plank Lifts (2 seconds)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Nordic Curls Negatives (4 seconds)
bwx6
bwx6
bwx6

Standing Band Hip Adductions/Hanging L-Sits
(2)µbx15/15 – bwx30 seconds
(2)µbx15/15 – bwx30 seconds
(2)µbx15/15 – bwx30 seconds

Stretching

Comments: First workout session had gone well enough. My elbows were feeling a little achy in an odd way and I think that was more from the bench dips since haven’t done them in forever. No real walking to be done this week as stupid work issue with the parking lot being repaved so have to park a third of a mile further in a different parking lot. But hopefully only for this week and two days only. But already sleep gets disrupted with the commuting vs teleworking. Make it to the weekend for home base safe and recover. Again, a little late with getting myself up and going with training. Foam roller stuff to per usual and not much was needed. Only a little more than Monday session on the quads and then upper back. Otherwise, moving right along. Neck rehabbing exercises felt good. No knee crack issues on the lower body stuff with glute activation or mobility. I eventually got to the dead hang as I was trying to figure out what I was doing with the training session. I may very well have left my converse sneakers in Scotland. I guess good thing I’ve found no shoes works better for me on deadlifts. With the offseason in this phase with barbell lifts and volume, I’m finding best to start things off with priming exercises that also add a muscle prefatgiue part of the workout. I had found hamstring stuff lacking the past few cycles and I think that is important for me to feel strong picking stuff up off the floor and for knee health. So brought back banded leg curls with tempo applied to the contraction and eccentric. Plan here was to do 3x20 with light bands. It has been a while and I had a feeling things might start off fine and then get tough and toasty pretty quick. And I was right. I did start to worry my hamstrings would be too dead for what was to come but I should know better that. Then more tempo modified stuff with snatch grip rdls. Plan being 3x10 at RPE 6-7 with these being beltless. Not just wide grip but collar to collar grip. I also wanted to treat these as full ROM in that not just stopping at midshin or slightly below that as I’ve done with rdls in the past but going to the floor. Work the ROM and mobility. I wasn’t too sure how these would feel with the tempo. I was planning on only doing 185lbs but decided to add 20lbs as I wanted to also go light at the start but know what the depth/ROM would be with a plate on there so used the 10lbs bumper plates. The metronome has been helping with keeping the timing but not entirely fool proofing things here as I accidentally did an extra rep on the last set. But that also bodes well for improving with more next time. Video says my form and bracing were really good so also a plus. After that, it was lighter fare but by no means easy stuff. Just that nothing was going to be needing much weight (if any) to do. Walking lunges for decent reps. Listed for bw but I figured my knees have been feeling better lately and I could probably handle some dumbbell weight added. In the past, I’d do these outside but I figured I’d just do them in the garage and turn around when needed to get the reps in. I just knew from usual circumstances that my knees tend to be cranky going into these variations and usually need my knee sleeves. So was fully prepared for that. But thankfully I didn’t need my knee sleeves and my knees were tolerable of the demands. So also a good sign. Copenhagen stuff is back again. I’ve done just holds in the end of last prep and this was to be plank lifts. And those can get nasty quick too. Slight movement and then hold at lockout for the reps. I’m definitely undertrained here and I know this will be good for my knees and hips. These were a bit challenging. Speaking of challenging, the next thing was also going to be tough with just bodyweight. Nordic curl eccentrics. I’ve done them the past two weeks after not doing them for a while and I need to build back up the strength here. I’m nowhere close to doing a normal rep on these and the negatives are hard enough. I did do them on Saturday for 3x5 with 5 seconds so doing them again after doing a lot of hamstring stuff first for 3x6 was going to be a bit tougher. I was aiming for 5 seconds but found that I could only handle/tolerate 4 seconds here. Last rep of the second set I actually banged my chin on the concrete not catching myself quite right in time. I know to do what I can and take my time as pushing too hard on things can irritate stuff and set me back. I know from experience with pushing these. Last item of the day was a superset. I actually was up in the air on how to finish the session. I had mentioned about the conditioning aspect and was looking at either having the planned superset and then conditioning (power swing EMOMs) or drop one of those. I figured I’d see how the superset went. I was debating if there was duplication and redundancy in some of the movements with things I did earlier but figured it was best to do what I had. Standing band hip adductions combined with hanging l-sits. Sets of 15 reps for the bands and then 30 seconds holds for the hanging abs. The band stuff was fine and I think the little setup I had was neat and good use of the previous equipment setup (the Nordic curls) as I could balance and get more band tension. The hanging raises were the death of me. My upper quads wanted to seize up immediately and it was a struggle to hold out for the full time by the end of the sets. I knew immediately with how that first set felt and the time it was already that this was a good end to the session. The power pin swings will work on the weekend when I got all the time. Put stuff away and ate dinner before stretching.

September 14, 2026 – Week 3, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

Band Pec Flyes/Paused Band Pull-Aparts (3 seconds)/Paloff Back Breaker Presses
lb’sx20/µbx20/mb’sx10
lb’sx20/µbx20/mb’sx10

12” Log High Incline Bench Presses (3 seconds eccentrics)
87x10
107x8
127x6
147x3
167x8
167x8
167x8
167x8

Paused Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows (3 seconds)
56’sx5
81’x10
81’x10
81’x10

Feet Elevated Bench Dips
bwx6
bw+53x12
bw+64x12
bw+75x12

Chaos Chain Bradford Presses
PVC+44lbsx60 seconds
PVC+44lbsx60 seconds
PVC+44lbsx60 seconds

Stretching

Comments: The previous two weeks had been more GPP focused with the offseason. Real different from what I usually do. Now moving onto more gym-based focus with some GPP conditioning still involved and then transitioning after two weeks to the next thing and so on. I did not feel as sore in areas as I had the previous week. I did seem to have mystery scrapes in places. I was still a little slow with getting things moving along to train here. Foam rolling starting things off. Calves did not need much. Really the only thing that needed a ton was my right quadriceps. Everything else was fine with just a little bit. Some tension in the upper back. Neck rehab/mobility stuff followed that and felt pretty good. No issues with glute activation or lower body mobility but could tell my hamstrings were a tad tight. Dead hang to finish things up and did notice some shoulder tension here. So this would be the true start to the workout cycle with the numbers kind of being important and working towards event goals. Saying it is the “pump/hypertrophy” phase not entirely accurate. These sessions are borrowing from previous “offseason” sessions with slight modifications. Starting point of the session was bands triset. I’ve done a superset before of pec flyes with paused pull-aparts. It has been 5yrs since I last did them but able to slip right in where I left off. The new addition was a new exercise for me deemed a “back breaker” variation of the paloff press. Usually it is to the side for the anti-rotational but this was as if I was doing a log/viking press with the bands anchored behind so it was abs involved as well. The pec flyes felt a little awkward with getting the tension/movement right. No issues with the pull aparts other than the 3 second holds made them take a long while to do. Not sure how I feel about the paloff variation. It is useful but I don’t think it fit with the session. I may move it to Day 3. This was more a warming up to the weighs for the session. So the first exercise with weights was log incline bench presses. I keep coming back to this exercise and I wanted to have these in the mix to work the pressing but not be a standing strict press. Hopefully allowing me to hit pressing twice with lower body drive pressing on Day 3. I did two changes here though. One was that I got one of those metronomes so that I had audio cue for tempo count as I was going to have to be comfortable with that for a good chunk of this start of prep and I tend to lose count of reps with getting certain tempo schemes. The other was I increased the angle of the incline so closer to a standing press than a bench press (previous setup was closer to midway point). Seeing if that has more carryover. So indicating that as high incline. So the plan for these was to pyramid up in weight to do 4x8 with a weight I felt I could do with 3-5RIR on that first set. The catch was that these were to be done with 3 seconds negatives and brief pause at the chest and aim for 2-3 minutes rest. I know I’m not as strong overhead wise compared to 5yrs ago so I wasn’t expecting to match those numbers. Especially since I increased the incline angle. But figured I’d start with the empty log and just add 20lbs a jump and take off reps. This movement was a tad different but I was feeling more shoulders/triceps compared to the other style it seemed. It could also be from the dips on Saturday. The good news with the metronome is that it is loud enough to hear it over my music. I was definitely 3RIR range on this effort and I was definitely feeling the fatigue at the end of each set as feeling like I was close to 1RIR on those sets. But no missed reps here or helicoptering lockouts. That was it for the outside training and into the garage for more stuff. From there it was on to rows. Dumbbell rows using the bench to support my chest. Control the movement and hold in contraction for 3 seconds. No arching the back. I know I don’t need much to really warm up for these when doing holds as the weights tend to not be that much compared to what I can heave. I also didn’t want to bother with lighter weights and dumbbells so did a set with 25’s on the handles and then went for 80ish for the working sets. Feeling the fatigue in the forearms and biceps on these with the holds. I had done rows and pull ups and mace work last week. I took about the same rest as I was doing for the incline pressing for the first two sets but for the last one I ended up taking a good bit longer to make sure I wasn’t shortchanging due to fatigue. Next item was bench dips. I think it may be almost 5yrs since I last did these. Trying something out with more triceps work. I was a little uncertain after how the slingshot dips had felt Saturday. Plan being 3x12. See how bodyweight felt and go from there. If terrible scrap it. Felt quite good and easy. Last time I started these, I remembered doing 25lbs and that was too easy and ended up doing 45lbs for the last set. I figured what the hell and put 53lbs in the backpack. These were to be with 3RIR but man that just seemed to feel too easy. I was initially going to add 5lbs but decided to pop in another 11lbs of chain instead. And that went well. I could feel the top of my triceps bulging against the skin of my arms. So put in another 11lbs of chain in there and that did eventually get close to 3RIR but still that would be a conservative estimate there. Quite surprised to be doing 30lbs more than I was expecting here. I may need to slow it down a little on the pacing. I don’t intend to do these very long once switching some exercises over. Chaos chain Bradford presses for timed sets followed that as the finisher. As I had hinted at, I was becoming fond of this one. Same weights as the past two weeks but going to 3 sets of 60 seconds. My intent here was to do 120 seconds rest and I thought I was sticking to that but my head count was unfortunately 30 seconds slower. I will try to do these again with less rest and hopefully get to 120 seconds rest vs 60 seconds work. These seem to be easy on the joints and get nice burn in the shoulders. I hope this works as a way to improve shoulder conditioning/endurance while being gentle on the shoulder joints. Plan is two more weeks of them stick to same weight and 60 seconds of work. Finished putting stuff away before eating dinner and then stretching. This seems like a good true start to things.

September 12, 2026 – Week 2, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Echo Bike/Backwards Sled Drags (turf)/Anti-rotational Side Scoop Tosses
90 seconds/200x60’—60’/14x8—8
90 seconds/200x60’—60’/14x8—8
90 seconds/200x60’—60’/14x8—8
90 seconds/200x60’—60’/14x8—8

Band Assisted Pull Ups/Slingshot Dips/Anti-rotational Kettlebell Woodchopper Swings
sbx12/bwx20/70.5x15 – 15 
sbx12/bwx20/70.5x15 – 15
sbx12/bwx20/70.5x15 – 15

Nordic Curl Negatives (5 seconds)/Quad Fallbacks (10” target)
bwx5/bwx12
bwx5/bwx12
bwx5/bwx12

Mace Swings
19x25/25 (pendulum)
19x25/25 (360)
19x25/25 (360)

Stretching

Comments: Body wasn’t feeling the greatest after last session. Something I did irritated my lower back/hip and I’m not sure if it was the increased weight on either the ssb seated gms or the ankle weight marches. The good news I guess is not doing them again after this week as switch into more gym stuff vs mobility/conditioning stuff. But it was still annoying having things feel tense. No pain, just tension in the right hip area. Just have to rest and see. With getting up earlier for the commuting, even though I felt like I had slept in a good bit, it wasn’t that bad and was able to get things ready to go. I was somewhat tempted to try and do the workout at home rather than drive with knowing there was construction diverting traffic and just seeing the costs of gas go up every day this week. Wouldn’t be so bad if I was still on the telework cycle of things. Even with having to drive a different route to get to the gym, it was mostly pleasant drive. It was a little cooler out but didn’t mean it was that much less humid. Decent amount of people there but the two I knew and friendly with left before I finished the first series of exercises. Humid even with the fans in the wind tunnel area. I ended up being distracted a bit with my mobility warming up stuff catching up and talking strongman stuff. Foam rolling starting things off. My right calf needed a ton of work today. It needed more than everything else combined for the foam rolling by like a 3 times the amount. Barely needed anything else where though. Neck rehab/mobility stuff felt like it should. No issues with glute activation or lower body mobility. Might have done extra. I was glad with this bit as last session my knee got achy for no reason. Dead hang to finish things up, could feel a little tension in the shoulders. This workout is definitely the one that I get sweatiest on and becomes appropriate to lay down afterwards. Starting things off was the same triset of echo bike into sled drags and then medicine ball tosses. I kept the times, reps and distances the same here but added 15lbs to the sled drag portion. I did feel like my muscles were tired on these at the start compared to last time but felt better by the end of it. I was sweating a ton but didn’t feel completely dead during or between sets. Almost casual but that was definitely not the case when I was done as I went to be by the fan and lay there until I felt cooled off. I was kind of hoping this would have whatever was tense in my hip/back calm down with the forces required to do stuff here. I’ve usually not been a fan of the echo bike but it has grown on me. This was to be the last week (and won’t be back the next two weeks for sure) and I’m almost reconsidering that. Put that stuff away before moving onto the next triset. This had been tougher than I had expected it for the most part. The pull ups I had felt like my endurance was lagging big time with how easy the first set was compared to the last set and the dips had felt way too easy. The kettlebell stuff however felt excruciatingly tough and had really been taxing my ability to recover between sets. I was prepared for this to suck again this week with it being essentially smooth sailing after this point in the session. The pull ups felt better this week overall and I feel like I was a bit more prepared for the swings with taking a brief breather between sides before taking a rest between the triset. The dips felt odd this week. Shoulders were a little achy and so were my elbows. I didn’t really notice any of that last time when I did these although that was lower reps. It is possible from me doing more of the those bradford presses or something. But finished with this as well and lay down in front of the fan again before moving on to the next thing. I was feeling a bit of indigestion this time around so I wasn’t too keen on putting anything down besides the intraworkout drink and even that felt risky. It wasn’t like the remaining stuff was going to be put a strain on my stomach but I’d be moving a bit in odd ways. Superset again of Nordic curl negatives and quad fallbacks. I didn’t intend to alter this but I did adjust the knee pad placement so there was better support (which allowed me to focus on better movement pattern and control) and I lowered the “target” by 2” that I was having my head touch as I had done 12” no problem the week before. I don’t know if I’ve actually tried that height to touch before. Waking up the hamstrings as they need to get back up to standard and making sure my quads, hips and ankles aren’t causing issues. Once again, the last thing was to do mace work. I had figured things out eventually by the end of session last time. I feel my warming up wasn’t good for what I was planning to do and with the movement I had to ditch my glasses and do-rag so as not to impede my revolutions. I had been surprised with the grip/wrist workout last time. The main intent had been scapular mobility and conditioning with the shoulders. I can see where there is risk of injury if something goes askew with the rotations. I think I’m good on these for now. Once done, I downed my shake and cleaned up a little before driving home. Stretched and eventually ate dinner late. Things to get a little more serious next week. 

September 9, 2026 – Week 2, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

Paused Tibialis Raises (2 seconds)/Calf Raises
bwx25/bwx25 (FHL)
bwx25/bwx25 (KOT)

ATG Split Squats (20 seconds rest)
bwx5/5 
bwx5/5 
bwx5/5 
bwx5/5 
bwx5/5 

Inverted Rows/Band Reverse Jefferson Curls/Paused Seated Safety Squat Bar Goodmornings (3 seconds)
bwx15/mbx12/85x12
bwx15/mbx12/85x12
bwx15/mbx12/85x12

Dumbbell Windmills (3-1-3-0 tempo)
40x6/6
40x6/6
40x6/6

Chaos Chain Bradford Presses (90 seconds rest)
PVC+44lbsx45 seconds
PVC+44lbsx45 seconds
PVC+44lbsx45 seconds

Ankle Weight High Knee Marches
21’sx25/25
21’sx25/25

Stretching

Comments: I had felt like I had adapted to this training on Monday session at least from a recovery standpoint. I was not feeling the DOMS after the last session and kind of itching to do “real” training again. But doing this plan to try and get some more out of this tank I got left. I’ve been also less stressed I think with having everything kind of planned out and not really focusing on recording efforts to send to someone for review. At least for last week and this week. I have been reviewing my plan and making changes as I think on things some more or see stuff I liked from what I’m doing or noticing where I can cut some stuff and the like. This is the first week back to the office and Monday was off so Tuesday first day back. One of the things trying is a slight diet change. I’ve indicated that I’ve felt sluggish in office vs at home and I can’t eat what I do at home there. I had figured the main culprit was probably the protein shake as usually I take that after training or before going to bed or after a competition and when doing so at home, I was able to be comfortable and not in a dry building wearing pants (clothes are a prison). The flavor and brand I like was sold out and really pricey to get somewhere else so I decided I’d just go with Rice Krispie Treat instead. It has helped with long workouts so maybe here. I know my blood sugar doesn’t seem to crash from that. But also about 500 calorie difference. I’ve felt a little hungry coming home from work but no sluggishness so I’ll take this as a slight win here. Anyways, walking Tuesday and training today. Foam roller stuff to start and I was shocked how little I felt I needed in the usual trouble areas. Upper back needed it the most today. No issues with the neck rehabbing exercises. Glute activation started out fine but then just getting down to the floor I had my right knee “crack” and ache so that put a damper on things. But I persisted with the drills and mobility for lower body (double one stretch) and then a dead hang. Then time to train in the garage. You’d think it would’ve cooled off with September but no. First thing was the pairing for the ankle/lower legs of tibs and calves. As has been the case, the pauses and high reps with the tib raise portion have been killers on this. No real issues for the calves other than my right side lagging as it has been. From there on to ATG split squats. Like last time, 5x5, so remaining unchanged from last week as had felt challenging enough. I was leery about my knees with how they were feeling but I was glad I could do reps to the floor on this exercise without issue. There were some knee aches but nothing that was hampering the exercise. I felt good enough that I decided I’d just do them back to back with no rest between sides and a short breather between sets. I didn’t want to do more reps or add weight to these. This felt like a good way to get these done and not prolong the session taking 30 seconds rest between sides or something like that. The bodyweight only stuff for the session was finished and it was time to do the triset I did last time with inverted rows, band reverse Jefferson curls and paused seated ssb goodmornings. I was not making changes to stuff on the first two but the last one I was looking at more weight. The rows and reverse jeffersons were fine and I feel like I was better used to them this week. I wasn’t too sure how the ssb gms were going to be with added weight but honestly I didn’t really notice much difference. From there it was the tempo windmills. These had felt tight on the one side and fine enough, felt a little rough. I decided to start on the side that felt stiffer to start this time around. The shoulder and upper body part of things felt improved but definitely was still feeling stiff/tight in the bottom position of these. My right knee was also feeling tight here as well. Overall less taxing compared to last week but kind of wished they felt better than they did. Oh well. Chaos chain Bradford presses for timed sets followed that. I had liked how these felt last time and felt maybe I had not done enough time with it being only 30 seconds as the original protocol I had was 60 seconds with 120 seconds rest. I was tempted to jump right to that but I thought better of it as the burn was starting to be present by the second and third set so I split the difference with 45 seconds and 90 seconds rest. Yep, this was enough of a jump as the first set was fine but burning on the second set with deep burn by the end and essentially just deep burn for the third set. I may prolong the agony of these for work capacity reasons for the shoulders and scapula beyond this 2 week restoration stint. Then the last thing was those ankle weight marches. 10lbs was way too light as felt like nothing really. But adding weight was tricky. It took a bit to anchor 11lbs more of chain to each leg with the carabiners I had available. It took longer than I would’ve liked for this to get resolved but this was definitely enough weight now that it felt like something. Put stuff away and ate dinner before eventually stretching. Just trying to make it to the weekend at this point.

September 7, 2026 – Week 2, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

EZ Curl Bar Pullover PNF Stretches/Offset Load Peterson Stepdowns (3”)/Paused Behind the Neck Strict Presses (3 seconds top of head)
22x10--45x15/15--45x10
22x10--45x15/15--45x10

Paused Tibialis Raises (2 seconds)/Calf Raises
bwx25/bwx25 (FHL)
bwx25/bwx25 (KOT)

Chaos Bands Pushups/Assisted Spanish Squats
bwx15/bwx45 seconds
bwx15/bwx45 seconds
bwx15/bwx45 seconds

One Arm Half Kneeling Dumbbell Strict Presses (3-0-3-1 tempo)/One Arm Half Kneeling Band Lat Pulldowns
40x10/10 – abx40/40 seconds
40x10/10 – abx40/40 seconds
40x10/10 – abx40/40 seconds

Band Pullaparts/Band Shoulder Dislocations
mbx15/mbx10
mbx15/mbx10

Stretching

Comments: I slept pretty heavy Saturday and that ended up being the case for Sunday and Monday. Pretty much compressed my days to being breakfast, whatever I needed to do before dinner and then dinner and evening alone. Walking felt good Sunday. Still not looking forward to going into the office for work tomorrow. My bruises from stone lifting in Scotland have essentially gone at this point. I do want to add thoughts with end of last prep. Squat was more or less figuring out what worked for me and the strength was there from prep. Log I feel like that went down over course of prep and that this was more just maintain. Deadlift I feel is finally on track now. Turf didn’t really help with going fast on yoke. Farmer’s had been a bit of fluke with the pick and wanting to pass out. Turf wasn’t thick enough training for the medley and need to expect shorter strap as default. More time with the dumbbells and work on getting reps rather than singles if those style pop up again. Nothing really on the loading medley, just have to work on getting my hamstrings/lower back to standard. I take no credit for the lead up training that had me conditioned, only for the deload and peak. Anyways, on to training. I started a little later compared to last week with the day off. Foam rolling starting things off. My abs (especially lower) were quite sore and I’m uncertain if from pull ups (as sometimes get that) or the kettlebell stuff from Saturday. Calves needed a fair amount as did upper back. Surprisingly not much was needed for hamstrings or quads. Neck rehab/mobility stuff felt like it should, could tell some things were tight but not overly so. No issues with glute activation or lower body mobility. Dead hang to finish things up. Could tell some stuff stiff/tight from past week session. For training, I hadn’t intended on changing what I did last week. I was going to keep things the same for these recovery/reload weeks and then actually try to push some things on Week 3. But some stuff was easier than other things and perhaps I could add something here or there to have a further stimulus. As with last week, the first cluster of exercises was PNF stretches with the EZ curl bar, Peterson stepdowns and paused btn presses. I did not add anything the pressing but I did to the other two. I felt adding a little more weight to the stretches was fine since my bar is like 10lbs under what a normal EZ curl bar is. These actually felt better this time around. The stepdowns, I didn’t want to increase the box height so elected to do weight. I was going to have the ssb on my back for these but decided to do a 45lbs plate in the offset side hand so there was more oblique work here. These weren’t so bad. My shoulders/triceps felt less wonky on the BTN press stuff this time around. I guess point is to do these more than one time to see adaption. It wouldn’t be good if this was something that took a month to figure out. From there ankle stuff with tib raises and calf raises. Gotten intimate with these in the last two months to get knee feeling better and try to get stuff working right in the ankles. The calf raise portions don’t feel that tough compared to the paused tib raises. Next pairing chaos band push ups and assisted Spanish squats. No changes on the push ups but did increase the time on the squats. These had been responsible for a fair bit of DOMS last week. Knees were a tad achy at the start but felt fine on subsequent sets. On to the next pairing of lifts. Tempo single arm half kneeling with band lat pulls (also since arm half kneeling). This had been the harder thing to get through last week in this session (with the previous set a somewhat close second). The only real change I was making here intentionally was to have 10 seconds added to the time for the lat pulls. But I figured it made more sense and I could move things along a bit if I did one set of pressing with the left and then the same side for the lat pulldowns and then switch to the right and do same before taking a rest. Rather than do a set and rest like 30-60 seconds. I think this worked out better and didn’t feel like it took as long. The dumbbell pressing felt better this week and less issues so I ended up doing 10 reps instead of 8 reps there. I could tell my lats were getting fatigued by the end of the pulls with the added time. A little break to put away stuff before finishing up with the last pairing for the session. Pull aparts and dislocations. My upper back, triceps and shoulders had been quite tensed at this point in the session last week and these had been tough to get through. Not so this week. I did slightly modify the pullaparts so that there was a slight row portion with the band tension. With that done, I got dinner started and took care of some house upkeep before eating and then eventually stretching.

September 5, 2026 – Week 1, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Echo Bike/Backwards Sled Drags (turf)/Anti-rotational Side Scoop Tosses
90 seconds/185x60’—60’/14x8—8
90 seconds/185x60’—60’/14x8—8
90 seconds/185x60’—60’/14x8—8
90 seconds/185x60’—60’/14x8—8

Band Assisted Pull Ups/Slingshot Dips/Anti-rotational Kettlebell Woodchopper Swings
sbx12/bwx12/70.5x15 – 15 
sbx12/bwx12/70.5x15 – 15 
sbx12/bwx12/70.5x15 – 15 

Nordic Curl Negatives (5 seconds)/Quad Fallbacks (12” target)
bwx5/bwx12
bwx5/bwx12
bwx5/bwx12

Mace Halo Swings
19x20/20
19x20/20

Stretching

Comments: I got out 3hrs early from work Friday which wasn’t expected so that made it rough to try and get stuff down as already a 3 day weekend with the holiday on Monday. Plus having to switch over to the commuting schedule. Some things that I take for meals at work have been out of stock so that will I guess make things interesting. Though having not a true full week of work this week and next is helpful with getting back into the swing of things I guess. I was feeling tired Friday and figured I’d just wake up when I decided I was done sleeping Saturday. I did have family stuff in the early evening but the workouts wouldn’t take that long this week and next. But I was not terribly thrilled to be driving out to train so far. I was going to need to fill up my tank for work next week. I’m probably a little salty about nothing being posted by the gym about me competing at World’s. This isn’t the first time that a competition I was doing was missed. That is probably one of the reasons I don’t tag the gym in posts after contests or the training reel before the competition. But I did end up sleeping in later than I was expecting. Left shoulder was sore from another vaccine shot I got Friday (one on Monday). More to make sure I don’t get sick at work. Drive out wasn’t that bad considering holiday weekend. Only two people there and they left before I got into my true workout and then only a few people after that. It was warm in the gym even with the fans. Foam rolling starting things off. Surprisingly I didn’t need as much compared to the past two sessions. Neck rehab/mobility stuff felt like it should. No issues with glute activation or lower body mobility. Dead hang to finish things up, could feel a little tension in the shoulder where I got the shot. Compared to the other two sessions, this one was the “oddest”. I also made adjustments as I went from the plan I had just as I did things. So the initial thing was a triset of echo bike into sled drags and then medicine ball tosses. What I originally had was only 30 seconds on the bike and then 75’ on the sled drag (scoop tosses no changes). I was having 4 sets so that I’d end up with 2 minutes of bike time but more so that I’d do even number of sets on the drags so I could have the last one be at the start for easier time putting stuff away. But I felt like 30 seconds was not enough time and figured I’d do longer and also longer distance on the drags. This is the first thing and it wasn’t like I’d be able to go right into a 30 seconds all out sprint either. The air from the bike wheel also helped with motivating and keeping me cool. Sled drag on the turf I elected do 60’ down and then back so 120’ total for the set. I’ve never done the side scoop tosses. Idea was anti-rotational with a staggered stance to chuck into the wall. This was interesting. I was initially thinking after increasing the time and distance on the first two parts to doing just 3 sets instead of 4 sets but I toughed it out. Put that stuff away before moving onto the next triset. This was a bit more traditional in that it was all weights. The idea with the pull ups and dips with assistance was more to be easier on joints and to make sure I was getting in the higher reps. These were to help with getting ribcage and scapula in good spot. The pull ups were tougher but I kind of expected that with how my recovery between sets has been in the past. The dips were surprisingly easy and nothing was bothered by that. The kettlebell stuff was really challenging. I of course grabbed the heaviest kettlebell in the gym for these and having never done them. These took a bit to figure out. Again, anti-rotational stuff with the staggered stance. I think these had me more dead than the bike stuff. I was contemplating just doing 2 sets instead of 3 sets here and then going to doing just 2 sets of the swings. I just took a longer rest before doing the last set of swings to get over that. I was a sweaty mess after that and laid down by a fan to cool off. That was the end of the really tough stuff. Next was an interesting pairing I had been considering/thinking off. The first half being Nordic curl eccentrics. 3x3-5 and I figured I’d do 5 seconds as that had generally been what I’ve done. The setup at the gym isn’t the best as using the manual leg curl machine. I like these better with floor anchor and pad but not time to do that. This to kind of wake up the hamstrings and get things prepped for what is to come. The other part then being mobility work for the quads with the fall backs. It has been several years since these were in my training and I was pleasantly surprised that I could hit 12” target first session back. These were a bit awkward and I was considering to do just 2 sets of these instead of 3 sets but I told myself that only one thing left after this. The original plan did have the tib raises and calf raises in the mix but I decided to not do them since the quad fall backs was stretching out the anterior tibs a lot so figure just wait until Monday to do them then. So the last thing was to do what I put as mace work. I’ve never tried doing mace work. But idea was to have scapula moving with control and be mobile. The gym has one of those Kabuki Strength ShouldeRök and it had a 10lbs plate on it so I weighed it to see what I got to work with. I had looked at some warm up drills for the halo swings and honestly, the one drill was harder than the halo swings while the others didn’t really do anything for me. I had a bit of a rough time with the first set. But I think part of that was worrying about hitting my glasses with my arms and my head wrap. Once I took those off, I had no issues with the second set. The shoulder aspect is one thing but I did like the wrist and grip stress from this. I had already downed my shake before I did these as I knew I’d have to have an early dinner with family. Drove home and got gas before coming home. I stretched much later after family stuff was done. First week down with next week being a repeat and then moving on to some prep training worth filming.

September 2, 2026 – Week 1, Day 2

Dynamic Warm Up 

Paused Tibialis Raises (2 seconds)/Calf Raises
bwx25/bwx25 (FHL)
bwx25/bwx25 (KOT)

ATG Split Squats
bwx5/5 
bwx5/5 
bwx5/5 
bwx5/5 
bwx5/5 

Inverted Rows/Band Reverse Jefferson Curls/Paused Seated Safety Squat Bar Goodmornings (3 seconds)
bwx15/mbx12/65x12
bwx15/mbx12/65x12
bwx15/mbx12/65x12

Dumbbell Windmills (3-1-3-0 tempo)
40x6/6
40x6/6
40x6/6

Chaos Chain Bradford Presses (60 seconds rest)
PVC+44lbsx30 seconds
PVC+44lbsx30 seconds
PVC+44lbsx30 seconds

Ankle Weight High Knee Marches
10’sx25/25
10’sx25/25

Stretching

Comments: Feeling quite a bit of DOMS in my quads after first day back to training. I’m seeing some people that competed in the same competition already doing normal stuff and on to the next thing, while I’m doing the weird stuff to get body conditioned and feeling good before moving into offseason training. I’ve already had a long and stressful year with training and competing and work so I know I need to stick to my plan so I can keep doing this thing like I have been. Also some DOMS in my chest and triceps (to be expected). I had hoped I’d get in a walk yesterday but just way too much coming back to stuff at work and I went through my lunch doing work and then dinner with family after work. It also got up to low 90’s again so that wasn’t going to be pleasant. With how I was walking, it would’ve been risky to try and get my usual walk in with insufficient buffer time for other stuff. I did at least get in soft tissue work and that was definitely needed. I did not miss the chaos of work. Severe thunderstorm today but cleared up by the time I was done with work. I wasn’t going to need to be outside for anything for training anyway. Foam roller stuff needed a ton on the calves and quads. A little more effort on the hamstrings and upper back was also needing the love today. Tight/sore chest noticed on the neck rehab stuff. Glute activation and mobility for lower body was just fine. Then on to training. I had a little bit of a delay from work to actually starting training I think just processing things and getting myself ready to train. But these works haven’t been that long or taxing at the moment so not that urgency really. First thing was the pairing for the ankle/lower legs of tibs and calves. I did these second on Day 1 and this time doing them first on Day 2. Doing these every training session these first two weeks with different priority in the session to change things up. These I give credit to having my knee start to feel better after it was feeling like shit in July and I did them for a week. It was cooler today but I knew with the humidity that I was going to need the fans going. I’m not used to being back home in regards to that aspect haha. The pauses and high reps with the tib raise portion have been killers on this. The calf raise portion has been no biggie comparatively. I know there are still issues with the right calf muscle with strength and will see about that later in the prep. From there on to ATG split squats. 5x5 on them instead of the higher reps. My hope was that I could do these to the floor with both sides. Last time I tried, I could do my left side but not my right without pain (July) and needed to use a box to adjust the angle and ROM. A little tricky with balance but I was able to do these from the floor on both sides. So that is something there. So far, this was as I had written out initially. But on reflection, I felt that I needed to adjust things. Mostly I felt like maybe I was putting too many things in on this day and I could possibly remove them and pair up some stuff I had as standalone. So I did. The only other “grouping” was inverted rows being added to the coupling I was going to try of band reverse Jefferson curls and paused seated ssb goodmornings. I was initially doing the rows on their own but I figured I could pair them with these as I kind of did that previously with rows and Jefferson curls. The band version is different in that I’m pushing down on the band for the stretch and spine in flexion. Then doing isometric pauses with the seated gms in the bottom/flexion position to reinforce the point. Setup for all three was a little tricky but I figured it out. I was initially not vibing with the new jeffersons but once I got them figured out, I was good with it and stuck to the plan. Next being another tempo darling that would potentially be the most challenging thing. It did but it wasn’t as bad as the pressing on Day 1. Never really find a good spot to put in windmills but I do think they are helpful. I don’t think I’ve done one since February (maybe April?) just as warming up for circus dumbbell at competition. It has been long enough that I wasn’t aware which side would be the one that is lagging vs leading. Well I should probably assume that the one I feel like starting with would be the one that was leading. Right side didn’t feel bad. Just getting the dumbbell up was a little more effort than I’d have liked. The left side it was easier to get up there but I felt more stiff and tight on this side so it was challenging in that regard. The next thing was initially going to be the last exercise of the session but I moved it up. Chaos chain Bradford presses for timed sets. The idea here was work capacity similar to the lat pulldowns and Spanish squats on Day 1 but for the shoulders and getting the scapula to move well. I could’ve done this with just a barbell but I wanted to make it interesting and require more control. Balance was tough the first set and then I felt like I was pro with it on the second and third set. Those were also the sets that I started feeling the burn. Then the last thing was to work the hip flexors with some traction aspect. Ankle weights and lifting high knees/marching. Initially, I was looking at doing 10 steps per side but these ended up being easier than I was planning and I aimed for 30 reps total since that is roughly how many steps it takes for me to go 50’ with a yoke but was still easy so I just did 50 reps for both sets. I’m sure I will notice this in the morning with how the hip flexors like to be. So not that dead or sweaty compared to how some things were on Day 2. Put stuff away and ate dinner before eventually stretching. Another year older tomorrow I guess.