March 7, 2026 – Week 3, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

18” Box Squats (4 second eccentrics)
45x5
89x4
133x3
177x2
221x2
265.5x5
265.5x5
265.5x5
265.5x5
265.5x5

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses (left side only)
49x5
85x3
108x2
125x1
EMOM
140x3
140x3
140x3
140x3
140x3
140x3

Sandbag Carries (turf)
250x60’
325x60’
325x60’
turns at 60’
250x120’
250x120’

Standing Arm Over Arm Pulls (turf, uphill)
320x60’
320x60’

Reverse Hyper Extensions
50x15
50x15
50x15

Pulldowns (drop sets)
150x8/120x8/90x20
150x8/120x8/90x17
150x8/120x8/90x12

Stretching

Comments: Doing the entire workout this time around on Day 2 certainly added some fatigue to the week. Glutes were noticeably sore after the session and I could tell that lower back had been worked. I got in my walks Thursday and Friday and the plan was to go to bed early on Friday. At least that was the plan. Allergies were acting up a little on Friday but didn’t need to take anything for it. Then I realized that Day 1 of the Arnold was happening Friday and not Saturday (distracted with work) so I caught up on that and went to bed about when I usually do during the week. But waking up I didn’t feel fully rested. I didn’t have a rush to be anywhere today. My friend was competing at the Arnold so didn’t need to help with setting anything up at the gym. And with DLS starting Sunday, I had taken off work Monday to give myself another day to adjust to the change so no pressure here. This time last week it was looking like it would be high 70’s today and now it was mid 40’s. I did have my stuff packed up the night before so even though I overslept by 90 minutes, I was only like an hour behind schedule at most.  Drive out was fine. Even getting there later than planned by a bit, there were still some people there from earlier and still that youth group football crew. Lower legs needed a some foam rolling but not the most they’ve needed. Quads a little bit too. Elsewhere not so much. Neck rehab stuff was good. Lower body stretching was good as well and dead hang felt nice. Once again, starting things off with box squats with accentuated eccentrics. Plan was 5x5 (so another set from last week). I decided to take smaller jumps here mostly because I didn’t want to have my joints chirping at me and to make sure that I was balanced. I was having uneven feeling last time at the start once I got heavier. For some reason, my mid back on the right side felt really tight, stiff and sore. Not sure what I did to cause that. Positives here is that I didn’t have the sensation of straining anything in my hips or hamstrings this time around. No uneven feeling on unracks either. But could tell that the effort on Wednesday was felt today here as I did more sets. From there I moved on to circus dumbbell. No pauses this week and back to EMOM. Indication was 140lbs for 6x2-3. I wanted to do triples but I think I was nervous I’d gas out with it being EMOM style. That I’d not have enough rest and if I screwed up. Which is dumb. Regardless of what I told myself, I was breaking out in a cold sweat getting ready for that first set. Other than one rep where I got off balance on deloading the clean (I think the second or third set) these went how they should. I did get nicked a little by the handle on my right thumb but just a graze. Really, this seemed to be the only thing that my body was dreading for today. From there on to sandbag carries. So similar to last week in that I was to two heavy runs of half contest distance and then two lighter runs of contest distance. For the heavy, I was told to do the 325lbs bag again but for both runs and then 250lbs for the lighter runs. I swapped out a fresh shirt that had a decal on it for these so I could go back to the previous shirt to finish out the day. It was getting warmer in the gym without fans so I was getting a bit sweaty and I was walking outside at times to cool off and catch my breath better. I did 250lbs as my warm up carry and it wasn’t great feeling but it wasn’t like last week where I was feeling like regretting my decisions. So not hot garbage, more like room temperature garbage. Still some nerves with the 325lbs bag picking up to run with it. It was obvious my posterior chain was feeling Wednesday session. Less worry about the walking with it and such but more so with picking it up and not failing and wasting energy. So first run was like last week in that I kind of short changed it to save the back and just kind of rolled it into myself rather than lap it fully and stand up higher. This was fine. I decided then for the second set that I was going to fully commit and try to not do that this time and stand up higher if I could manage and compare. This method does take more effort in the lower back and hamstrings but the time lost in that aspect is made up in the mobility aspect of clearance for the legs. But this seems more an issue with bags over 300lbs at this time. I didn’t feel terribly fast on the first set of contest distance with 250lbs but I did on the second set. I may very well be keeping pace with things despite the bag weight going up 50lbs from week 1 session. This isn’t an event I’m too worried about. I just got to be faster. But away the sandbags to bring on the arm over arm stuff. I had to set this up a little since I didn’t have the luxury of someone already having the rope and sled stuff out. I didn’t feel like I needed a little pick me up like the past two sessions but I did for consistency sake. Plan was to use the top weight I did last time for two runs today. This event with the distance and friction makes this quite fatiguing in the upper body. Since I primarily load this up with keg weight, it was easier to go 5lbs heavier than aim for same weight. This didn’t feel as comfortable as last week but I think partly that is due to not only doing half the Wednesday session and there being more volume on deadlifts. I was not feeling like I was as crisp with my movement and feeling more upper body fatigue than last time. Could also be the volume on dumbbell with holding the weight and touch and go. I also had bad luck the first set as apparently the knot I tied to anchor was not as secure as I thought and it came unraveled a bit (adding some distance) and then came completely undone right at the end. Made sure the knot was better the next set and that went better. I did end up doing shorter pulls near the end as I was feeling a little off balance and didn’t want to fall backward or forwards. This could be from me kind of looking up at the ceiling for a majority of the run and then switching to watching as it gets closer and the angle of the pull changes. But this setup is just a really sucky one so I should be fine for whatever comes contest day. Put stuff away and another break to just rehydrate before moving on to the lighter stuff. Reverse hypers again. 3x15 with 50lbs is what was indicated. I didn’t try to add weight to these like I was doing last week. Even if the first set of these feels easy, they can build up quickly, especially with more reps. I think the other part of it was because last week I didn’t do like half my posterior chain work due to vibes lol. So wanted to play this somewhat smart. Then last thing being pulldown drop set. Same as last week with the weight and reps but adding another set for these. I’ve been trying to keep myself upright and strict on these and keeping the rests between the drop sets short. Like less than 10 seconds. It is surprising how fatigued I get on the last set when it is for max even with longer rests between these sets. Got my food down afterwards and went home. I had avoided spoilers for the Arnold second day so I could catch up while winding down for the evening. Stretched when I got home.