January 19, 2026 – Week 21, Day 1

Paused Axle Push Presses (2 seconds lockout)
30x5
60x3
90x2
120x2
150x2
180x4
180x4
180x4
180x4

Neutral Grip Incline Dumbbell Bench Presses
56’sx12
87’sx7
87’sx7
87’sx7

Overhead Dicks Presses
65x4
95x2
125x4
125x4
125x4
125x4

Deadstop Single Arm Dumbbell Rows/Heels Elevated Goblet Squats (4-0-4-0 tempo)
62x8/8 – bwx4
112x4/4 – bw+40x4
162x8/8 – bw+80x8
162x8/8 – bw+80x8
162x8/8 – bw+80x8

Reverse Lunges w/ March Hold (2 seconds)
bwx3/3
bw+40’sx10/10
bw+40’sx10/10

Stretching

Comments: With Saturday sessions in this contest prep taking time and certainly having me feel joint stiffness that makes it hard to fall asleep early (and stay asleep) I think knowing that Monday would be a federal holiday and give me an extra day to kind of recover and get things together was helpful. I think it mentally helped knowing that if Saturday had been a digging deep session into the reserves that I’d have the opportunity to get as much rest as I was going to with it still being a work week. It snowed Sunday morning which as I mentioned had not been expected and would’ve made training that day not great so it was good I had stuck to Saturday despite the driving conditions. Sunshine melted most of it in the front yard so I had to do some shoveling in the back patio so that I could train out there Monday and not be lifting on ice. I made sure I got a walk it and it was cold enough that I actually had to wear my winter coat and gloves. Bodyweight dipped to a little over 253lbs, even though been keeping calories up these past three weeks of training (I tend to be lax on weekends). I didn’t initially intend to train earlier but I felt like I might as well so that I could have a less complicated and stressful evening to get ready for work tomorrow. Soft tissue work starting things off. Didn’t have my biceps cramp on me this time either. I was actually surprised that they didn’t seem to really be sore at all coming into this session. My stomach was also not that tore up from stones either. So maybe I’m in one of those weird periods where I’m recovering well or the things aren’t taxing me as much. Maybe not, my calves needed a good bit of work during foam rolling. Not much else really did however. Neck rehab was ok. Felt pretty good for the most part. Stretching for hips, knees and ankles and then followed by a dead hang. Some things in my ankles/calves felt tight. Outside for axle pressing. Cold but not super cold. But occasional wind gusts meant get a little showering of snow off the roof. I had put down salt yesterday to keep the outside from freezing over. Axle is a primer and not pushing the weights here as we wind things down for the competition. A little later than I usually seem to do when working out on a Monday holiday as I think part of it was debating doing normal time and the other being that I know if I work out too close to noon, I got to worry about glare. Anyways, plan here was 4x4 with a little less weight than last week and dropping one of the two points I was pausing. Just holds at lockouts this time around. Things weren’t feeling too bad. I felt like I was getting better lower body drive today. That was when I noticed warming up that had my knee sleeves down. I was feeling good so I figured I’d just go with it. This is the best that axle has felt for me in a year. Yes light weight but even with light weights lately it hasn’t popped up like that and felt effortless. Perhaps it was doing those pauses in the dip and working to try and get my press to be flowing and not have a break. But it could be that my knee sleeves were inadvertently restricting my knee movements and not allowing for more lateral tracking. I started using them due to knee pain (which I think was from doing a lot more squats and such about 5yrs ago). So it may be worth seeing if this is something I should be looking at going forward here. I was pleased with how these felt today obviously. But I can’t let something just be good as I had a what if that I peaked too early for show as usually I feel beat. Oh well haha. I put some of the stuff away and went into the garage to do incline dumbbells in the garage. Same weight as last week for 3 sets but increasing the reps up to 7 this time around. So 8 and then 6 and now 7. Pressing felt better this time around compared to last week and it wasn’t feeling like very close to the limit and needing longer rest like the week before that. Maybe with a less intense axle variation or I was feeling in a good mood because it felt good. Biceps weren’t having me concerned so maybe that as well. I did more reps on the warming up set and these seemed to feel pretty good. Some tension in the left shoulder/pec but I think that is from lingering effects of suit work honestly. With those done, it was back outside for the overhead dicks presses. I guess I did these right last week as plan was 5lbs more for 4x4 this time around. Shoulders felt a little fatigued here but no issues with my triceps. Again, the left shoulder just feels very tight when doing the motion to rock the weight behind the head and then bring it back. I do feel that I am having a better body awareness here and trying to get these to feel right. While the back to front motion isn’t the best just yet, I feel that I am making up for it with how I’m lowering the weight initially to emphasis the triceps and elbow flexion/extension aspect. My last set actually felt the best and had the least amount of left shoulder tension. With that done, I put away some more stuff from outside before settling in for the remainder of the session in the garage. The superset from last week of deadstop style one arm rows and the heel elevated goblet squats with tempo again. Those rows had been intense last time and I had been a little worried with the biceps with how sore the were feeling. The plan this time around was same weight on the rows but increase reps by 2 and then increase the goblet squats by 5lbs and drop the reps by 2 there. Three sets of each. As the rows get heavy and need a bit to warm up, I did the same kind of warming up with the squats. I knew what to expect with the rows and I didn’t need much to warm up on the squats thankfully. The rows did feel tougher than I was anticipating that first set. But I felt I was better prepared the following sets. With the goblet squats, I went heavier than planned. I don’t have a 75lbs dumbbell and I couldn’t load up my kettlebell to that weight without the 25’s that were in use doing the rows. Takes a lot longer to setup/secure the plateloaded kettlebell vs dumbbells so I just went with my 80lbs dumbbell so I wasn’t dealing with anything that wasn’t stable/secure. I think that worked out fine for me. After this was done, I started prepping some food to eat afterwards. Namely the small meals that I missed with getting this session going. I’d be eating as soon as I was done (and then having a late dinner). The last item being that reverse lunge exercise with march holds. My legs were feeling pretty warmed up from the goblet squats so I only did a minimal warming up here just to get the motion down. Really it is just getting my knees to accept I’m doing these and then add the weight. Only 2 sets this time around but the increased reps per set I knew was going to be a gut buster by the end. These weren’t bad when I was doing them and not thinking about them. But afterwards I was feeling them and breathing heavy between sets and sides. I think more reps also had me notice my grip a bit too. I switched up which side I started with and I’m not sure that really mattered as the second side seemed to be quite fatigued with short rests between them. Put stuff away and ate a fair bit of food and stretched.