May 9, 2026 – Week 4, Day 3

Dynamic Warm Up

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses (left side only)
49x5
84x4
108x3
130x2
145x1
155x1
165x1
172x2
150x3
150x3
150x3

Axle Wagon Wheel Squats to Pads (27”)
140x5
190x4
230x3
280x2
320x2
370x6
370x6
370x6
370x6

Sandbag Carry and Loads (over 53”)
270x10’ husabag/273x10’ sandstone/275x10’ sandbag/275x1 sandbag
270x10’ husabag/273x10’ sandstone/275x10’ sandbag/275x1 sandbag
270x10’ husabag/273x10’ sandstone/275x10’ sandbag/275x1 sandbag
270x10’ husabag/273x10’ sandstone/275x10’ sandbag/275x1 sandbag

Sled Push and Pulls (turf)
275x20’/20’
425x50’/50’
425x50’/50’
425x50’/50’

Sprints (walk back is rest)
bwx50’
bwx50’
bwx50’
bwx50’
bwx50’
bwx50’
bwx50’
bwx50’

Stretching

Comments: I felt tired going into the weekend. Part of on me with things. Decided to go with World’s and apparently a bit more stuff needs to be figured out with going to Scotland vs Ireland. So some late night stuff figuring things out. Would’ve liked to have known all the events (as well as weights/rules) before making that decision but somethings were already sold out and this far out and with the world as it is, some other precautions needed. I was pretty much In for World’s after I got the rules for Nats. And I’m not thrilled with how it seems to be that things are being handled at the top. But that’s another long thinking it out thing. Got walks in on Thursday and Friday. Sister will be training on Sunday’s so don’t have to worry about Friday after work. I slept in about as late as I’ve done so that past two weeks but I seemed to be slower going with getting out to train compared to those times. My right knee was achy still and I was nervous about stuff I was doing today. Rainy driving out for the most part. I was late to the gym but still seeing friends there although they were gone by the time I got to actually training. Foam rolling I needed a good bit on my upper calves (a ton on my right one) and surprisingly not much elsewhere. Neck rehab stuff was ok, again, some stuff felt just achy chest/shoulders felt achy rather than tight but other stuff did feel tight. Lower body stretching was fine. Dead hang felt nice. Starting things off with circus dumbbell. Sharp turn on these from the many EMOM doubles for the past two weeks. Plan being work up to an RPE 9 double and the take off 15% for 3x2-3. I’ve been deloading the dumbbell from lockout and landing on crash pad as I will be dealing with two different implements rather than the same and getting the tap and go isn’t really what needs to be worked here. I altered the warm up slight now that I’m in for World’s and not just training for a dumbbell event. Usually I do the one light/small dumbbell empty and jump to a bigger dumbbell. I figured it probably made more sense to do weight in the smaller bell since likely going to be something like a dense dumbbell at World’s and then move to the bigger dumbbells. It felt fine. With what I got though, 130lbs or so is about where I’d top out for trying to mimic an Inch style dumbbell and not paying for that kind of dumbbell. I was unfortunately nervous on these with the plan to work up in weight. I had thoughts on what I should be able to hit and want to hit. Besides the lifts with the smaller dumbbell, my warming up felt off. I took smaller jumps just based off of how 145lbs had felt. 165lbs felt terrible and the only reason I didn’t make that my double set was because the collars popped off and the weights exploded out. 172lbs with the secured collars and I was really worried here that I’d just outright miss it. The cleans with the thicker handle feel rough and the weight does feel imposing on the shoulder. But I knew not to rush it. I knew that I’d have to screw up big time after that first rep went up to miss the second rep. I took a bit to reset. Felt like I undershot with how this went but I feel like based off how it felt working up that this was the right call. I’d have liked to do 177lbs (empty dumbbell with the caps on) but this was fine. It is the weight of the Inch dumbbell. So this is still relatively strong position. Down set I went a little heavier as I knew that I probably had another 5lbs in me on this double after the fact. I figured I’d see how things felt and decide if doing doubles or triples. I sped up as I went with my recovery from the reps but that did come to bite me in the ass on the last rep of the last set as my shoulder got a little loose and I had to catch with my other hand to stabilize it overhead. Not going to beat myself up on that. I do think I need to keep in the pauses as a variation on these (heavy/light) with pauses in the rack position to help reinforce things as I feel that is where I’m getting fatigue in my shoulders/upper back to keep things stable for the lower body drive. That was a load off. Axle squats followed. Until I get more details, doing what I’ve been doing following the setup from 2023. I’m not sure why but I felt like this was going to be a light/easy session. Last week I had gone heavier with the 4x4 beyond that was suggested by a good bit with how I was feeling (once I got the boxes sorted out). Today it was 4x6 with 370lbs. I had done 400x4 last week so this should feel easy. It did not. It is possible that the heavier deadlifts and such also contributed to that. I had a harder time with getting the boxes event this week. But I could be favoring one side with my right knee being tighter/achier than usual. I swapped in my flat shoes for deadlifts to see if that felt any different with pressure and such with the squat. I think more stable but not sure if actually helpful. I didn’t feel like my upper back/neck on the left side was tensing up bad like last week. But I could feel my shoulders and upper back taking the strain. I was expecting these to be much smoother but I got them done. At this point, I had a Rice Krispie Treat. I had figured I’d be home late and I’d rather be able to eat when I got home then eat a sandwich when I was done and then wait a few hours to eat something heartier. I was worried about this next thing. The sandbag stuff (which I setup mind you) with the odd bags. The first week wasn’t bad but last week was rough and my right knee was acting up from one of the sets of these last week. I was to do these again but add another extension/load with the last sandbag to the sets. With the way the sandbags pile up, I would do an extension at the bar and drop it and then repick and load over the bar. I was not feeling motivated to do it now that I was set for World’s as this is probably not an event and I know that with what is known I’ll need to be recovering well. First set went well and about as it should. The sandstone/ball implement is fine with picking up but is so far out in front that it makes walking/running really slow for me. As well as taxing. Second run did not go as well in that I rushed the pick on the last sandbag so it wasn’t as firm to my body. I was not seeming to recover from set to set on these as the third and fourth sets required me to shove over the sandstone and the sandbag to finish things out. Increased difficulty on the last one as I jammed my right middle finger on the pick up of the husabag so that was a bit tender with managing the other bags. I wasn’t sure if it was just going to be really sore or if I had fractured it. I think it is fine but going to be swollen for a few days. Sled work followed here. Getting late by this point. Again, something likely not at World’s but hard work and something that needs to be done. 25lbs added to the sled for the working sets and same number of sets. I was feeling like I was moving better on the backwards drag which seemed to be an issue last week still. That first set was rough on the push portion. I managed to be faster on the second set by a good bit and then a little bit slower on the second set. My fastest time this week was about what my fastest was last week but my slowest was slower than my slowest if that makes sense. Finally I was done with the things that required weights and loads of recovery. But not quite done. Sprints to finish out the day. One more set added on to the previous session. Tried to run better this time with having stuff aiming inward. I did stretching and some jogging and I think I was better prepared for these as it didn’t feel like it took a set or two to get in the groove. Feeling pretty good. Downed my shake before leaving for home. Ate dinner and then stretched.