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.

August 31, 2026 – Week 1, Day 1

Dynamic Warm Up

EZ Curl Bar Pullover PNF Stretches/Peterson Stepdowns (3”)/Paused Behind the Neck Strict Presses (3 seconds top of head)
12x10--bwx15/15--45x10
12x10--bwx15/15--45x10

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

Chaos Bands Pushups/Assisted Spanish Squats
bwx15/bwx40 seconds
bwx15/bwx40 seconds
bwx15/bwx40 seconds

One Arm Half Kneeling Dumbbell Strict Presses (3-0-3-1 tempo)/One Arm Half Kneeling Band Lat Pulldowns
40x8/8 – abx30/30 seconds
40x8/8 – abx30/30 seconds
40x8/8 – abx30/30 seconds

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

Stretching

Comments: No sense in waiting until evening since off work this day. I’m glad that it didn’t take me like a week to get used to the time zone like when I went to Ireland last year. Got a fair number of bruises still healing (and none from World’s) and wish that my left elbow wasn’t acting up on me still. I was able to maintain my weight with being overseas and eating normal routine at home. I’ve needed the time off back home just to get things figured out and get ready for working again. Foam rolling starting things off. Calves and quads really needed it. Hamstrings were fine as was upper back. Neck rehab/mobility stuff felt like it should. No issues with glute activation or lower body mobility. Dead hang to finish things up. On to the weights. Well kind of. This training is a bit different from the usual for this week and next. To say it is exercises is more accurate. First cluster of them was kind of more movement and mobility focus. PNF stretches for the ribcage/lats and then knees with step downs and then getting shoulders to move well with BTN stuff. Other than the left triceps/elbow issue from the competition, these were fine. I was happy that my knees weren’t terribly upset with me on the step downs. From there ankle stuff with tib raises and calf raises. I’ve not usually done the tib raises with pauses so that really got tough on those fast on the second round. No real issues with the different calf raise variations. I did a slight change up with the exercise order after this as I had one plan in mind initially but decided to have the pairings make more sense. Off season is kind of the only time I do push ups and I set those with the assisted Spanish squats. I can’t get the right form I want with keeping my torso upright without assistance and I liked how those felt for time. Chaos band push ups with less band tension than usual so a bit more chaotic. These were a bit more taxing so I did take breathers between sets compared to other stuff where it was back to back. The next pairing did have an exercise that could be iffy with the triceps and that was one arm strict overhead pressing. Only 40lbs but doing them with tempo so each rep just feels harder. Especially after 4 reps. Thankfully, no worse for wear than doing anything else but these were the most challenging thing of the session. Rested about a minute between sides as the pairing was with timed effort of lat band pulldowns. Single arm here as well and pulling to the hip with the motion. Those felt comfortable. Just getting the work in here. This little bit with the 60 seconds or so rest between sides and exercises did slow down the pace on this session. But finished that and last thing was some bands stuff for the shoulder girdle. Pull aparts and dislocations. At this point, these were challenging as my upper back and shoulders were feeling worn out from the other stuff. This is the idea with these sessions to do work and general physical preparedness. Put stuff away and got to eating my usual three small meals at once to get caught up on things. Stretched afterwards.

Plans for Rest of the Year and Next Year

 I am glad to be back home after the traveling. Fun to be there but that’s vacation talk and walking at pace like I don’t have anywhere to be or having a job to do. Thankfully didn’t have a rough time with readjusting to the time difference (though the weather if for the birds here haha). I can’t wait to do it all over again.

There are still 4 months of this year left but I’m already on to next year. Mostly I think because I already know the timeline of things and what my focus is going to be. I want to get back to the big show again as this year and last year have been the most fun I’ve had at this level of competition. Unless something dramatically changes with Strongman Corporation, I’m likely not renewing stuff when membership expires next year. I’ve no interest in United States Strongman or Official Strongman Games. 

Qualification for Natural Strongman for 2027 season is different from the previous two years. They had tested out a more standardized option with competitions in the UK and Ireland with having the same events regardless which show you did and then getting a leaderboard to compare across the nation. That seemed to work out for the pilot program so that is what it will be for everywhere this time. All the regional qualifiers will have the same events so doesn't make sense to travel outside of comfort zone if that is the case. No advantage to going to a different region as will not be just who you compete against there but everyone competing in the US as well as the other countries participating. 

Additionally, winning the regional doesn't guarantee qualification for World's, only for Nationals. The inaugural contest was in January this year for US Nationals and it was open contest so no invite. I didn’t do it because I thought the events were boring and I was hopeful that other competitions had better events. Now there is greater emphasis with the National event. Win the regional event, get invite to Nationals. Even if you don’t win the regional, top 10-12 nationally get invite to Nationals and then potentially top 3-5 at Nationals also get invite to World's. Also could do well enough at the regional event that globally in the top rankings and could bypass Nationals and get Worlds invite as well. So nothing really guaranteed and best to plan for having to do 2 shows to get to World’s

So this would be the tentative schedule:

East Coast Regional - 1/16/27 (NJ) – 20 weeks
Nationals - 5/15/27 (NJ) – 18 weeks
Worlds - 8/27-29/27 (TX) – 15 weeks

I'm signed up for Masters this coming year as I don't feel unless something dramatically goes well this off season prep where I get back to the strength I had 4yrs ago I'm not going to be able to hang with open HW class. It won’t be a good time. I can still compare to other masters and heavy open class since same events (with trump/mercy options). The events are very boring because they are standardized but my hope is that Nationals will be interesting events and then we know Worlds always does have interesting stuff with the standard in the mix.

The only sure thing is the regional show I’ve signed up for as everything else will be invite only. One of the blessings I guess with the events being so basic is that I can work on things this offseason and really only need to do like 8-9 weeks of focused prep on non-gym lift stuff. 2 weeks of GPP focus and then 6 weeks of hypertrophy focus (also triphasic stuff for dip drive for log) and then 3-4 week kind of pivot from that last block to the competition peak/prep.

Besides the workout plan, I am also trying to keep track my mental state with things and adjust accordingly. I’ve been working on the self-talk/internal dialog to be direct with myself and not going third person passive. I’ve been detailing prep plans with competitions and putting forth expectations and goals of competition and prep. Redoubling my efforts for positive vs negative self-talk with reframing thinking and scenarios for a healthier focus. Picking that up from one of the Aussie competitors that was with me on the stone tour. So putting my best foot forward for this next year.