12” Log Quarter Squats
200x3
250x3
290x3
340x3
380x3 (30.62 seconds hold on last rep)
Stretching
Comments:
Had a deep tissue massage the day before. I try to get these the week
of the contest but scheduling wasn’t going to work this time. Felt good
and got a lot of tension out of my upper back and neck. Right side (leg
and hip) were really tight. Warmed up on the AMT. Heart rate only up to
148bpm. Calf raise work after that. Tight but felt good. I was expecting
them to be not so good with how tight the calves felt. Box touches with
both styles felt good as well. On to squat therapy. Sucked for my
knees. But a lot better compared to the previous session this week. Hip
airplanes were pretty good. No clicking with the right knee this time. I
think the massage helped with that. Band rows and biceps stretch
followed. Trying to get the biceps to relax. Rows I got to feel better
than last session. Then on to the weights. Essentially the same setup as
last cycle of training for box squats. Work up to 50% for five sets of
three with two minutes rest. My squat was stronger so the weight went up
this time. Knees were achy on the unracking of weights but felt good
doing the actual squat. No support gear on these. Got my upper body
tight (actively rather than passively) on the last two sets. Then on to
log quarter squats. Same idea as last week, working up in big jumps to a
top set with a hold on the last rep. 10lbs more over last week. This
time, felt in between of the first and second week of these as far as
feel. Knees didn’t feel so crappy but didn’t feel super-duper awesome.
Trying to be consistent and methodical with these and get the first rep
just right so that the other reps are crisp. Definitely feeling the
weight on the top two sets. Upper abdominals on the right side were
cramping up right before the second to last set. Didn’t lose my air like
last week and feel pass-outty this time. Hard to stay stable and
upright with this kind of weight. I pretty much stopped at 30 seconds as
I didn’t want to have this be an all-out set and I was struggling to
keep tight. Home to stretch and eat. One and done.
Comments:
The deload week is upon us. Definitely in need of it. Despite the heavy
lifting on Saturday, I wasn’t as sore as I was expecting to be, not
even two days later. However, my right knee has been feeling weird so I
had taken some ibuprofen the day before. Warmed up on the AMT. A little
hesitant with the knee so not as vigorous on this as I usually am. Heart
rate only got up to about 142bpm. Calf raise work after that. These
felt fine, just little tension in my right quad. Box touches felt good
both styles. Nice hamstring stretch. Knee ached a little bit on squat
therapy but not nearly as much as I was expecting so still good. Felt
better as I did them. Hip air planes were good on the left side. Right
side ok with the hip but knee was “clicking” slightly. Not painful in
any way, just noticing it. Band rows felt good. Really trying to not
pull with the biceps and thinking that my hands are hooks and that the
point of focus with the pull is pulling with the elbows. Seemed to work
well. Stretching felt good too. Push-ups to finish off the stuff before
the weights. First rep didn’t feel great so I moved my hands in slightly
and it felt perfect. Plan for this workout just a top single on log
clean and jerks at about 90%. Not usually what one thinks for deload but
compared to previous sessions I guess it is haha. Back to jerks.
Despite being ugly, the drive I get on these appears to be enough to get
past the sticking point I have with push press that will allow me to
grind out a lockout. Something to fix during the off season I guess. I
have to go with the style that will get me a lift come contest day so
need to grease the groove after the last two weeks of push press. Empty
log felt good. Next jump not so great as I kept going forward each rep.
Better after that set though. 200lbs felt really crisp and easy. I was
keeping an eye on the biceps. Definitely noticed it was harder on the
clean (pulling the weight into my body to get to the shoulders, picking
off the floor to the lap) once I got to the point where I had the hard
belt on. Those points in the lift where I go from the leg drive to the
lockout feel like an eternity but video suggests it is only a fraction
of second. Second to last lift, I felt like I rowed the log up with my
biceps. I knew I had to fix that for the next set. Can’t be putting so
much stress when they are beat and already stressed from this training
cycle. Too close to have a costly mistake. Better on the last set for
the pull to the lap but the clean to the shoulders took more effort than
I would have liked. Again, felt slow on the lockout but video says
otherwise. Two more workouts left. Home to stretch and eat.
Stone of Steel Over Bar (57”)
138x1
176x1
201x1
225x1
249x1
275.5x1
300x1
364.5x0,0
364.5x1
384x1
403x1
Prowler Pushes
475x162’3” in 75 seconds
Stretching
Comments:
Last heavy workout. I wasn’t feeling that this would go so well with
how achy my knees were on the previous workout. Got some eye twitching
going on the past week or so haha. Right biceps still somewhat sore.
Didn’t wrap it or wear the sleeve but still keeping an eye on that. But I
felt good waking up today so I hoped that would mean good things. Out
to Lancaster for training. Warmed up on the rower. Felt good. Calf work
and box touches were pretty good. Squat therapy was good too. No real
aching in my knees. Hip airplanes were good. Had some balance issues
with my one side but stayed steady and got my reps with no do-overs.
Band rows and stretching followed. Stretch was good, cautious with the
band rows. First set felt better than the second. Then frame deadlifts.
Warmed up with the farmer’s walk handles with connectors for a light
set. Back of the handle grip and tried to move my feet forward a little
bit more to be in line with my grip and get better hip drive. Original
plan from a few weeks out had been to just do a moderately heavy single
but the new plan for more frame work made this the heaviest session so
far. Starting things off was singles up to 95%. First two singles were
with the farmer’s walk setup before getting to a heavy enough weight for
the I-beams. No knee aching and weight felt like it was moving
reasonably well so I felt like I could hit my goals. Foot position I had
to play around with as sometimes it felt like it made me off balance
(too far forward). Last single from contest height was pretty tough but
probably could do a tough double. Felt a little easier than 640lbs felt
last time. Raised the frame up 3” more. Plan here was to beat my best
single from last time anywhere from 10-20lbs. I really wanted that
20lbs. Going right for that weight wouldn’t be smart with how the form
is a little different raised up so I took an in-between lift. That felt
pretty heavy but it looked like it moved well. Don’t know if it moved
“800lbs was going to happen” well but it was enough for me to go for
broke. 800lbs was slow going but I got it. No pain. Then another 3”
added. One more single with even more weight. I really wanted to do
another 50lbs jump but I decided to just put plates on each side to get
to 855lbs. It was a gamble as those other lifts were a lot of effort. If
I got it, it would be the most weight I’ve lifted in a deadlift type
fashion (not counting yoke). It was a short range of motion but it was
definitely a long pull. That weight did not want to be lifted. Happy to
get that weight up too. I took my time breaking down the frame and
putting away weights. I wanted my lower back to recover some and I had
to wait to use the stone of steel. Plan for this session was to work up
to top single with no grip aids of any kind and then a top single with
whatever on. Not max singles but still good. Conservative maxes (I swear
I will get it right one day). My one training partner got 384lbs today
so I had a goal to shoot for, though I was already entertaining 400lbs
or so. I started light as usual with somewhat small jumps. Biceps didn’t
like it if I ripped and gripped it or got too overzealous with
extension using my arms. The more I did sets, the better I felt though.
Got 300lbs with room to spare on the no grip assist single. Definitely
good for a lot more just moderate increases each time. Then it was go
time with the gloves and the tacky towel. Or so I thought. I put the
weight at 364.5lbs and thought it was going to be easy. It was not. I
messed up my extension and I brought it back down too soon and totally
missed it. I then rolled it back and gave it another shot. Same result.
Ok, now I’m pissed. I reset the setup and took a minute or so to collect
my thoughts and came back and crushed it (I proceeded to give it two
middle fingers). Confidence for more, not sure. I really didn’t want to
leave things there. If Brian hadn’t lifted heavier that same day, I
probably would have called it there. So I loaded up his weight and got
that convincingly. Well lets go up another level. Over 400lbs. I should
have this. Lower back was starting to feel the fatigue of the heavy
frame deadlifts and the missed attempts from before. But I got it in my
lap and extended. Good. Definitely more there. Getting close to maxing
out this darn thing haha. Last thing for the day was max distance
prowler push. Same as before, 75 seconds. Put a little more weight than
last time. Just kept pushing. It was slow going and I hit spots where it
almost stopped me twice. But I kept at it the whole time. Glutes and
legs were beat from that. Home to stretch and then eat lots of beef
tenderloin.
12” Log Quarter Squats
190x3
240x3
280x3
330x3
370x3 (7.89 seconds hold on last rep)
370x1 (32.66 seconds hold)
Crunches
BWx30
Leg Raises
BWx30
Stretching
Comments:
Definitely in that tensed, stressed and fatigued state. Ready to
deload. Keeping eye on the right biceps still. Warmed up on the AMT.
Heart rate only up to 149bpm. Calf raise work after that. Tight but felt
good. Box touches with both styles felt good as well. On to squat
therapy. Sucked for my knees. Achy the whole time. Hip airplanes were
pretty good. I felt like I was having some balance issues at the start
but felt fine doing the exercise. Band rows and biceps stretch followed.
Trying to get the biceps to relax. This workout was going to just be
front box squats and light abs but some log stuff has been added. On to
the front squat box squats. Knees were feeling okay on these. Still
working on theoretical maxes on how I feel on the day. Just easier to
keep adding 20lbs each time as it feels to be doing well based off of
what an expected max would be. Advised to use a hard belt over 275lbs.
Upper body tight as I felt that my mobility to hold the rack position
with the bar wasn’t as easy as it usually is. Weights felt heavy on my
chest but I feel I moved better on the sets. I wasn’t rushing the
descent on any lifts. Top weight for two doubles. I didn’t do set time
for the rests as I wanted to make sure the reps were good and I was
rested. I didn’t want a repeat of last time. It does feel tough to
breathe on these but they went well. Then on to log quarter squats. Same
idea as last week, working up in big jumps to a top set with a hold on
the last rep. Did not feel as good this week. Knees were aching like
crazy, even with the light weight. Perhaps I was getting lift wrong
breaking off the pins or something as far as feeling comfortable with
the weight on my sternum. Became very apparent on the last set where I
was to do the hold. I felt like I was going to black-out right away and
put it down at about seven seconds. I took about a minute to clear my
head and adjust the position of the log in the rack slightly in hopes it
would rest on the shoulders better. Success. I didn’t want to go for an
all-out effort this time and I tried to gauge where my form was
starting to falter to end the hold. I think I got closer to that this
time. Went right into the easy abdominal stuff. Crunches felt good and
so did the leg raises. Perhaps not as much relief as I would have liked
with the lower back but it will have to do for now. Home to stretch and
eat. One more hard workout to go.
Band Resisted Push-ups
No Bands
BWx15
Add Bands
ABx10
Add Bands & Chains
SB+33cx5
SB+33cx5
SB+33cx5
Band Triceps Pressdowns
SBx30
SBx30
Stretching
Comments:
Last really heavy week. Been keeping an eye on the right biceps,
wrapping in an ace bandage to keep warm and provide a little compression
when I get home from work. Hoping it will help with recovery as things
are not going to get easier. Plan for this session was heavy log and
then somewhat lighter duty assistance work. Lower body was pretty beat
from Saturday. Warmed up on the AMT. Heart rate peaked at 156bpm. Calf
raise work after that. Pretty good here. Not having any super tight and
difficult days like I have had on these sometimes. Box touches felt good
both styles. Squat therapy was just so-so as my knees were bit achy.
Hip airplanes were also good. Band rows felt good. Definitely needed the
stretch for biceps this session. Push-ups to finish off the stuff
before the weights. Felt really good. On to log work. I put on my copper
infused compression sleeve for the rest of the workout then. Don’t want
to take any chances this close. Same as last time in that the plan was
to work up to a top single with 30lbs jumps. Aiming for push press so no
hesitation with jerk or not to jerk. I picked the weight jumps so that I
would hit 300lbs on my second to last attempt and then have the option
if feeling good to go for 325lbs or 330lbs. Push press felt good today. I
did change things up a little using metal plates as I wanted to see how
these felt with denser concentration near the end of the log. My log is
essentially hollow so I’m wanted to see if I could get it to feel like a
denser log. The plates moving I think just made the clean tougher I
think. 270lbs went up pretty good so I thought a PR may happen. Reality
came back on 300lbs as I got pretty lighted headed after finishing the
lift so I knew even attempting 315lbs would have been tough. But I gave
it my best shot. I got it off my shoulders but couldn’t get past my
sticking point. It will eventually happen, just not today. I haven’t
missed any weights 310lbs and under since I first hit 300lbs so the
consistency to hit that kind of weight any given session seems to be a
good sign at least. So then on to the down set. 85% for 3-5 reps was the
plan. Missed the top single I wanted so the most weight successfully
lifted was what I based things off of. Ended up being the same weight as
last time. Push press was much better compared to jerks. I however
still suck with press away on log. I got three pretty easy reps but I
got light headed on the third rep and put down the log. I wasn’t sure
how many reps I did so I recleaned the log and did three more. Other
than getting lightheaded and having to do another clean, pretty good. I
feel sturdier on the push press but I got to get my breathing right.
Then on to chest supported rows. Not a heavy session of rows per se as
the plan was my 10rm as the top set but only doing sets of five.
Keeping an eye on the biceps at the start of each set so that I started
off well. Good, explosive reps was the name of the game here. Felt good
on the upper back. I noticed that my blood blister on the left hand
(darn farmer’s walk handles) had opened so that wasn’t fun. Then on to
band push-ups . I had all my bands this time so warm-ups were just
right. Heavier resistance for the working sets but only doing sets of
five, even though I could do more. Three times as much chain weight.
That felt weird haha. Finished up with band triceps work. Felt pretty
good. Didn’t feel completely wrecked after this session. Would have been
nice to get another log PR. Home to stretch and eat recovery burritos.
Band Rows w/Biceps Stretch
MMBx20/20 seconds
MMBx20/20 seconds
Push-ups
BWx15
Yoke/I-Beam Farmer’s Walk Medleys
y-300x100’ in 11.40 seconds
500x30’/112xDNF (Rogue handles, weights fell off)
500x30’/122x30’ in 10.53 seconds
600x30’/200x30’ in 11.89 seconds
700x30’/265x30’ in 14.45 seconds
y-800xpick
850x60’/332x60’ in 38.09 seconds
Sandbag Rows
150x5
225x5
285x5 PR+10lbs
H-Stone Carry (off platform)
Turns at 30’
300x60’
350x60’
Turns at 60’
400x207’4”
400x182’5”
Sled Drags
445x147’1” in 75 seconds
Stretching
Comments:
It was hard getting sleep this week. I’d get distracted upon getting
home from work or the gym and the hours would disappear. Things at least
calmed down a little by Friday with work but I’m sure it will be hectic
Monday again and start all over. I was nervous thinking about this
workout. Last time I’d touch some of these events before Nationals. Out
to Lancaster to training event work. It has gotten cooler out so I wore
my long sleeve warm-ups but there was no cloud cover so it got quite
warm. Good thing I had the extra shirts and towel. Quite a few people in
today training for different upcoming shows. Warmed up on the rower.
Keeping an eye on the right biceps. Didn’t wear the sleeve at the start
to see how things felt. Row felt good, although my hips felt pretty
tight afterwards. Calf work was okay and the box touches for both styles
were good. Squat therapy I was little achy but still pretty good. Best
it has felt this week. Hip airplanes were pretty good as well. Band rows
and stretching followed. Easy on rows. Biceps were really tight so this
was good on the stretch. Set of push-ups to finish things up. Felt
pretty easy this time. First up was medley work for Nationals with yoke
and farmer’s walks. The first set warm-up stayed the same. I felt I was
moving well but it turns out this was the slowest I’ve done this so far
this training cycle. Not the best start to the day (luckily I don’t know
my exact times until I get home to edit video). Then setup half
distance course again with both implements. At least I tried to.
Initially, the I-beam handles were in use for another competitor doing
frame picks for WSM under 80kgs, Guy Fulton. I didn’t have my good
clamps for the other handles but I tried to make do. I really wanted to
use the I-beam handles to finish off the training cycle. I setup the run
with the other handles with the tightest clips I could find (that
weren’t in use) and set off. Didn’t go well. Yoke was fine but the
weights fell off the handles on the left side almost immediately. Weight
was light though (grip feels so much better than the other handles) but
I tossed the empty handle to the side and then dropped the other handle
a short bit after that. This wasn’t going to work. Can’t risk the
weights falling off and getting an injury. So I waited until the other
handles were available and reset the course. Much better that time haha.
The working up sets were the same as last time with the only change
being the second to last set of farmer’s walk was a little bit heavier.
Each run was faster than the last time I did this so that was good. Pick
was done for the yoke and it felt easy compared to last time. Enough so
that I had confidence in finishing the yoke no problem. Then came the
moment of truth. Yoke and farmer’s walk slightly above contest weight.
This weight would be 200lbs more than what I had done on yoke last
training cycle. Had Brian, Guy and George out shouting at me as I did
this run. I heard noise but only bits and pieces get through when I’m
focused. Pick was good and I was a little slow off the start but I felt I
was doing well until about halfway. I felt myself start to falter but
kept going and slowed down. I was not going to have any drops. I just
knew that this was going to make my legs tired for the farmer’s walk. I
finished the yoke and took my time to get to the handles. I knew that
this was going to be hard and I had one shot at the pick. This was one
of the slowest picks I’ve had on these farmer’s handles. I think I
accidentally had some of my right foot on the bottom of the one
implement (shouldn’t be an issue with the implements at Nationals) so
that might have added some additional resistance. The effort meant that
if I dropped these, I wasn’t getting them back up. I was definitely
moving slow. Video it looks like I was walking all over the place. About
halfway through this run, I felt the handles settle lower in my hand. I
heard someone yell don’t drop them. It was a weird sensation as all I
could feel was weight in my hands, like no other awareness of my body.
But I finished the course. I was just dead and after that (but still
enough presence of mind to flip double middle fingers). Then on to
sandbag rows. Same as last time, three sets of five up to a 5rm with up
to 10lbs more than last time. I put on the copper sleeve for this and
kept it on the rest of the day. Biceps still a bit tender so keeping an
eye on it as I did these. These felt better compared to last time and I
was using more weight on the two heavier sets. Not happy that the biceps
is still tender but happy that the weight was feeling better. Husafel
stone again. I guess I shouldn’t say again as there was a big change
here as I was using a different husafel stone. The previous weekend, I
had brought my BiggDoggStrongg husafel out my garage to the gym (this
was pain to do in the morning by myself). The dimensions are closer to
the competition one and it is chain loaded so the weight is at the
bottom. I wanted to try and mimic contest conditions since no gloves or
tape on forearms allowed. My only concern was if there was going to be
enough chains to get to contest weight. If not, then I’d mess around
with the thinner one with sharp edges. As luck would have it, there was
enough chain to get with 30lbs of what I needed for the top set and
there were enough tiny plates that would fit to reach the quota. Plan
same as last time except I was to do the contest weight for two runs
this time. Chalked up my forearms and hands and got to work. First set I
did front carry style. I was expecting to but I picked it off the
platform and it felt so comfortable that I just did it. Right biceps
didn’t particular care for this style so I made sure to do staggered the
next set. That went smoothly as well. I really didn’t know what to
expect with this husafel stone so I was happy it felt comfortable. Then
on to the top sets. I was planning for anything from dropping it right
at the start to walking to the next county. My grip felt pretty secured
on that first set. I just told myself that as long as I made two lengths
on both sets, it would be a job well done. But I got a third and ended
up almost halfway down for a fourth. I wasn’t expecting this after how
the last two sessions have gone at this weight. Second best distance
I’ve done with this weight. Any distance on the second set was going to
be just gravy for total time and distance with the stone. Grinded out
three lengths and dropped it on the turn. So good work here going into
Nationals. Definitely some confidence restored. Last item of the day was
a max distance sled drag. I had all these weights out from the farmer’s
walk earlier so I just put those on minus a pair of 25lbs plates. This
added 40lbs to the sled from last time. Don’t know what I was thinking
but I got set and started the slow and steady set. Just kept telling
myself to keep moving over and over until the timer went. Put away all
the stuff I had out which took about 20 minutes before driving home to
stretch and recover. One more hard week to go.
Comments:
This workout was going to be considered a light day on paper before
adjustments made. Work stress and not getting as much sleep as I need.
Need to take a moment to get back on track and relax. Warmed up on the
AMT. Heart rate up to 155bpm. Calf raise work after that. Felt tight and
I was worried it would be a tough day but the tightness didn’t mean the
exercise was harder than usual. Still pretty easy. Box touches with
both styles felt good. I had expected some hip aches but nothing today.
On to squat therapy. Knees were achy but not as bad as I was expecting.
Hip airplanes were ok. I felt like my balance at the start might be bad
but no issues. Band rows and biceps stretch combo after that. Rows felt
alright okay and stretch was pretty good for the arms and shoulders.
Still dealing with the somewhat tender biceps. Constantly watching them.
On to the weights. Plan for today was working up to 60% of what I feel I
could do for a top single now for some speed triples. I figured I was
good for three plates based off of the last session of heavy box squats.
Did a few more reps warming up to make sure I was good and ready as I
didn’t want to overdo it or not be sufficiently warm for the sets.
Weight felt light but knees were achy. Not sure what that was all about.
Did three sets with EOMOM style rest. Then on to a new one for this
cycle; log quarter squats. I’ve done these in the past with both reps
and holds but ROM had been greater as I was using the top of the tiered
squat rack. Making adjustments to the log to emphasize push press and
not have as deep of a dip to get lower body drive. Plan here to do sets
of three up to a set about 25-50lbs over my best log press. I wasn’t
sure how this would go as when I was messing around with just the empty
log last week figuring out how to setup in the squat rack, that felt
cumbersome and crushing. I did fairly big jumps on this exercise to get
to the top weight. I don’t feel like I got the form to pick up the first
rep on point until the second to last set. Setup was odd with the rack
hole spacing as I had to stand on a plate to get what I felt was the
right ROM. I put a second plate down so that my stance didn’t have to be
so narrow. Top set was where things got interesting as I was to hold
the last rep at the top for max time but not to exceed a minute. As
going to be tough. It was tough at 5 seconds in. I felt I had succeeded
when I got over 30 seconds. Upper body was convulsing and midsection was
just violently quivering. Shoulders felt so sore after that set. On to
abdominal work. Weighted planks followed by unweighted side planks. Kept
the weight the same for the weighted planks with just the one heavy
plate and tried to get the weight lower down on my back so that it was
tougher. I think that worked this time. Weaker side with the side planks
just wants to feel like it is going to cramp up but still good on
those. Home to stretch and eat and hopefully sleep.
I’m a little taller than 6′6″ and I really like to lift weights. I’m a competitor in amateur strongman contests. My hope is to become a competitive professional strongman. Currently I'm doing off-season training before starting prep for Natural East Coast Qualifier in Eatontown, NJ on January 16, 2027. I’m not a major competitor yet and I have a long way to go but I’m having fun.
