December 6, 2018 – Week 13, Day 2

5 Minutes Precor RBK 835 Recumbent Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25

Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20

Band Rows
MMBx20

Modified Angled Push-ups

BWx15

Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds

Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds

Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10

16” Cambered Squat Bar Box Squats w/ bands
50x9
Added Bands (+90lbs)
50x3
100x3
150x3
200x3
250x3
300x3
350x3

16” Jack Stand Pulls
135x1
235x1
335x1
435x1
Added Straps
535x1
535x1
535x1
535x1
535x1

Smith Machine Plank
BW+85x60 Seconds

Stretching

Comments: Just can’t seem to get the rest I need this week. Way too stressed out at work. Almost took off half the day for a “mental health day”. But I calmed down. For the warm-up, I think I’ll rotate the bikes I use if I can. Do the virtual one Day 1, recumbent Day 2 and the whatever Day 3. So recumbent bike it was. Stuck with the one with no heartrate option that works but that is fine. Calves felt ok. Tight but still easy. No issues with my ankles. Knees were godawful sore and achy on both goblets and RDLs. Band rows felt good. Modified push-ups were slightly better than last session but I need to get them to feel perfect. Plank was easy. Then the biceps stretches. Pretty tight. Hip swings went well. On to the weights as is the case. Cambered box squats with bands again. Change being that it wasn’t going to be working up to 3x3 like the past three weeks. This time it was still triples but going up to 350lbs for the top set. 50lbs jumps. Knees were definitely more achy than they were last week. Not the most stable setup with all those 25’s on the bar as I got up in weight as I don’t have any clamps or collars that are tight for this bar. My plan was to do rehband belt on the penultimate set and then my ratchet belt for the top set. I’ve been without the hard belt on the squats for quite some time now so it was bit interesting for that set. I felt stable and secure but I felt like my breathing was off from the belt. Still felt good here. This might be the last week of the banded stuff on the box squats for a while. Squats seem to wear out my lower back a fair amount too. Jack stand pulls after that. Same as last time with the EMOM of five singles. Goal was 85% of the projected max of 625lbs which is a little over 531lbs. But I know the Arnold deadlift is where I need to be at so I figured that I’d just not deal with the micro weights. So 100lbs jumps on the singles to 535lbs. 135lbs felt so easy and then it just got tougher each one. Looked faster than it felt. I used the dense 100lbs and 75lbs plates. 535lbs was slow going. Like each time I did it, I felt the lag and that slight hesitation had me thinking it would stay on the floor but each time I broke it and locked out the weight. I don’t like feeling like I’m slow on deadlifts. I so badly want this to be stronger. Hard on lower back but I could feel my hamstrings working hard here. Last item for the session was the weighted plank. Last time this was skipped because I had to combine workouts. I had in my notes that the most I’d done for the minute hold was 55lbs but it appears I had done 75lbs before and forgot to update it. I felt that 85lbs was good to try and it went well enough. No feelings of possible strain with all the ab stuff that has been happening. Home to stretch, eat and recover. But for real, I need to get some good sleep soon.

December 3, 2018 – Week 13, Day 1

5 Minutes Expresso Interactive Upright Exercise Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25

Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20

Band Rows
MMBx20

Modified Angled Push-ups

BWx15

Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds

Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds

Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses
Plate Loaded Dumbbell with Fat Gripz Extreme
(2 stage 2 second pauses)
30x1 R
30x1 L
50x1 R
50x1 L
70x1 R
70x1 L
90x1 R
90x1 L
110x1 R
110x1 L
Circus Bell
130x1 R
130x1 L
140x1 R
140x1 L
EMOM Circus Bell
150x1 R
150x1 R
150x1 R
150x1 R
150x1 R
150x1 L
150x1 L
150x1 L
150x1 L
150x1 L

Chest Supported Rows
100x15
190x8
280x8
370x8
460x8 PR+10lbs

TNHYUT Presses
100x15
190x8
240x8
290x8
335x8 PR+5lbs

Straight Bar Triceps Pushdowns

70x20

120x20

170x15

Stretching

Comments: Moved up this workout a day to try and have time for social activities on my usual day. Was going to be interesting so I didn’t get as much sleep as I would like on the weekend to catch up. But it is was time well spent. Arnold details were to be posted (they are now as of this post) so I was still curious about what the emphasis was going to be. Right knee aching, right side of my lower body tight. Left side lower back I feel where the disc bulge is but it isn’t nearly as bad as it was when I was in VA two weeks ago. So that seems to be getting better at least. Just noting it is present. I had made sure I had my copper sleeves if my knee decided to suck today. Exercise bike to warm-up. Heart rate got up to 158 bpm. A little elevated but not terrible. Just beat the pacer today to the finish. Calves felt ok. Goblet squats had the aches in the knees again. Otherwise fine. Aching knees on RDLs too but it seemed to be fine on my muscles. As it seems to be the case when the knees are acting up. Band rows felt good but my back. I was expecting a bit more discomfort after the heavy upper back stuff. The push-ups weren’t the best today. Shoulder tightness. I kind of expected this with the idea that my tight traps is what is doing it and last time I had a deep tissue massage. Not a full regression so I’m optimistic. Plank was pretty standard. Abs were a bit tight but still easy. Needed the biceps stretching today. Hip swings loosened up my lower back and hips some as well on both sides. More hips than lower back. Circus was back in town for the dumbbell. Work up to the EMOM with the pauses and holds. I did some practice dip and drives with no implement to see what stance and knee movement pattern felt best. I took what I learned by accident last time with the spring collars. I didn’t need them with the other collars but it made it so that the dumbbell was the size of the empty bell. I think this was the missing piece to make the jump from the plates to the empty bell work. I decided it was best to put on some support gear with how last time went. While it is 80% of my best that I’ve done since injury, it is closer to 93% of my best with the style of hold and pause. Definitely some slop in the first two working up from the bell to the EMOM weight with my right side. But when it was time to go, the reps went well mostly. I kind of realized that I was still facing the mirror as I cleaned the third lift and remember that looking at the dumbbell seemed to work better. I remembered that for the fourth rep but I wasn’t prepared for it to tilt and slide before I went so I was out of position to lock it out and had to adjust and redo it. Last rep I got it all together and it was perfect. Switched to the other side. Took the first two singles to get used to the dumbbell. I may have got a new thought on the technique with the rack. I’ve always thought of the arm having to be perpendicular to the floor and the dumbbell parallel. But I think that I just need to have the dumbbell snug and go from there. I’m curious how it will translate to my jerk style and heavier weight. I felt the cleans for the left side were especially crisp. Rows followed that. I was going for five plates this time. I regretted not trying it last time. Just worked up doing plate jumps. Took very short rest for the first three sets. Felt surprisingly good. I was expecting some resistance with the workout I did Saturday. Four plates was easy. Five plates was a supreme struggle. I did not have another rep there. At least not one that I would count as good that is. Time for that weird press exercise from last time. Meant I just got off the row and was going to press it. I wasn’t sure how it would go as my shoulder felt achy on the modified push-ups. Thankfully no issues. I put a bit more weight on for the warm-up set as 50lbs was nothing. The jumps seemed to work well today. I was better prepared for how it would feel. I only put 5lbs on the top set from last time as that was terribly difficult and like half the reps were soft lockouts. I was quite surprised that I didn’t have any of that today and only had to reset to get the last two reps. I guess I adapted to this movement pattern quick. Last thing was triceps. I was supposed to do them last time this workout came up but I overlooked it. High rep stuff. Indicated to use EZ curl or straight bar with shoulder width. Most of the triceps extension stuff has been fairly narrow grip so I got out the pulldown bar for these. I started out really, really light as the rope triceps had wounded my pride. This style felt like nothing so I ended up taking big jumps. Even the top weight might have been too light for medium heavy set. At least I know that I can add weight to that stack if needed. Home to stretch, eat and recover. Two days of rest and then back to the regular schedule.

December 1, 2018 – Week 12, Day 3

5 Minutes Misc Stationary Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25

Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20

Band Rows
MMBx20

Modified Angled Push-ups

BWx15

Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds

Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds

Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10

18” I-Beam Farmer’s Walk
117x50’ in 5.29 seconds
207x50’ in 6.82 seconds
257x50’ in 7.71 seconds
307x50’ in 9.50 seconds
257x50’ in 7.06 seconds

BiggDoggStrongg Frame Hold
640xpick
730x40.63 seconds

Keg Over Bar (60”)
200x1
250x1
300x5

Sandbag Carry (turns at 50’)

306x100’ in 17.31 seconds

306x100’ in 19.88 seconds (bearhug)

Stretching

Comments: No walking this week. I pretty much have an excuse for every day. Friday’s was that I wanted to give my right knee some rest and just get stuff done. Late night again but I could sleep in a bit if necessary. I did and I was slow moving. I’ve been doing later days. Shot the shit for the guys there before I got started and it was then that I saw that the Arnold events (well most of them) had finally been posted. No weights yet, entry Monday. So now I got stuff that stands out to me. Log and farmer’s walk Day 1, axle deadlift and block/arm-over-arm medley Day 2. Day 3 unknown right now. Warmed up on the ole’ reliable exercise bike. That song, HUMBLE. by Kendrick Lamar was playing again and with the added Arnold event info, it had me pumped on that cycle haha. Calves felt pretty good on the warm-ups. Goblet squats after that followed by RDLs. Body felt stiff and joints were not exactly achy but tight. Band rows were good. Modified pushups are nearly perfect as far as how I want them to feel. Almost there. Plank was nothing really. Biceps stretches felt good. Hip swings felt ok today. Still got tension there in the hips and lower back. Then the event work. Farmer’s walk again. With it being an event for the Arnold, I felt that needed to put in the work on these sets. This time, it was like yoke in that I had set weights for some sets. But a lot less sets compared to yoke. Three working sets, with the last one being a drop down in weight. I felt my hips were stiff doing and “empty run” so I did another one and my hips felt less tight and my stride felt better. Seemed to work as I was flying with the empty handles. Within hundredths of a second on the second warm-up set. So it was plate, and now a quarter for the first set weight set. I thought I was doing well but it appears it was a tad slow. Ended up being slightly slower than my best run with 277lbs a hand (both 257lbs and 277lbs were close to each other before this workout). The heaviest set was to be 82.5% of my all-time best with was just over 300lbs. I figured it would be easier to just add another quarter to the pins for 307lbs. Close enough. I got amped up and went. Felt heavy but I was in control. My big strides didn’t kick in until about 2/3rds of the course. This would be the most weight I’ve done for 50’ in under 10 seconds for farmer’s walk. Took off 50lbs per handle for the last run. This was a good one. Almost half a second under my best time. I might need to put an asterisk next to it as Thunderstruck by AC/DC was playing. Frame hold again. I was a little concerned about this as my right knee was sore and I still had a blood blister on my index finger. The frame had been moved as it will be used in an upcoming contest and people are starting to use it. I figured just one warm-up pick would be fine this time as my top set of farmer’s was over 600lbs. I didn’t realize the floor was uneven until I stepped inside to lift. I just side shuffled to get it so that my feet would be on level ground for the heavier hold set. Another 20lbs added to the hold weight for 730lbs. Had extra motivation as there is no way the farmer’s walk won’t be heavy after that stupid heavy ones they had at the ASM and the frame as SC Nats. Needed to get this for at least 30 seconds so that I could do 750lbs next time. I was a little worried I wasn’t going to be able to pick it up and then once up, that it would slip out my hands. Those things didn’t happen. Again, managed to get just over 40 seconds for the hold. I looked at my hands afterwards and saw that the blood blister had popped so I’m really surprised I didn’t lose my grip with that added “liquid”. Keg was next. Keg was going to be stupid again. Didn’t bother doing the 150lbs keg like I did last time, just 200lbs and then 250lbs for a single. 300lbs is where I got into some trouble. That is solid concrete and I tried to get it setup so that I could have an easier return. Brian didn’t want me just using one mat so got a tire out. First rep and it got stuck so we tried to use the crash mat. Bounced a bit from that and there was a gash (not from the keg) so tried to add two thin mats. Keg bounced off of those even more. You wouldn’t think a 300lbs keg would bounce so much. Finally settled for a tire with a large mat on it and success. The set took over 2 minutes to finish with the delays. But the 300lbs keg to 60” is easy. I made sure I was getting it into my lap and really setting down low (got to keep that flexibility/mobility for stones). Shirt was not the best material for it to “stick” though. Sandbag to close out the session. The remade 306lbs sandbag was here again. I figured I didn’t need a lot of warm-up as I had just done 300lbs keg several times and the last time I did this, it was completely new territory. Plus, I got to lift it several times last week so I had an idea of how the pick would go. This bag is denser than the previous one but the material is better. I feel I can actually grip it, not slick. That definitely boosted my confidence as I went. I messed up my stride near the end of the first leg and had to adjust to turn. Managed to almost be 2.5 seconds faster this time. Bearhug style was different. It is so low to the ground that I wasn’t sure I could actually get it picked that way and have to row and then hug it. But I didn’t as I just went for it. Almost 2 seconds faster here. It was a late day and it was dark when I got home. My folks said they were getting food so I ate (a cheese steak, half a stromboli and two slices of pizza) before I did my recovery work. More details on Arnold to (allegedly) be posted. If I can keep up my sleep and not let work stress me so much, I should be golden.

November 29, 2018 – Week 12, Day 2

5 Minutes Precor RBK 835 Recumbent Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25

Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20

Band Rows
MMBx20

Modified Angled Push-ups

BWx15

Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds

Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds

Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10

Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10

16” Cambered Squat Bar Box Squats w/ bands

75x9

Added Bands (+90lbs)

75x3

125x3

175x3

225x3

275x3

325x3

325x3

325x3

Wide Grip Deadlifts
150x1
240x1
330x1
EMOM (Added Straps)
420x1
420x1
420x1
420x1
420x1

Pulldown Abs
200x35
200x35

Stretching

Comments: Been tired. After last workout, I made getting sleep a priority. Skipped dinner the night before and even doing that I still didn’t get to bed until 9:00AM. Just seems to be so much to do in a day. Been hitting snooze three times every morning this week. So again, coming home after to work to get ready for the gym. I did feel a bit more rested getting that extra three hours or so of sleep though. The good bikes were in use so I used the recumbent bike again. The heart rate sensor wasn’t working on the one I was one. Better than it felt last time as far as my quads. I think it actually works my ankles and calf muscles in a better ROM as they don’t seem to be nearly as tight afterwards when I do the calf raises or any stretching at the end of the session. Knees felt tight on both goblet box squats and RDLs but not really any pain from that. Band rows were good on the back. Modified push-ups were ok. Can’t tell if my chest is sore or my shoulders are tight from last session. Still better than the push-ups were feeling. Plank was ok. Then the biceps stretches. I was tight but so this felt good. Hip swings after that. Got some tension out but still have some there. On to the weights. Well, not exactly. I had to wait for the power rack to open up first. I was interested to see how doing ssb instead of csb for a week would feel. Plan was to continue with the 25lbs increase in the top weights, so 50lbs added. Body was very stiff at the start with just the free weight. Seemed to get better when I added the bands to it. I just went straight to adding the bands this time. Felt easy at the start but started to feel like something heavy as I went up in weight. Last set before the working weight triples was the previous working weight from two weeks prior. I felt like I was in control with this weight once I got the weight settled from walking out. I was sweating pretty good from my forehead by the end of the squats. Wide grip deadlifts after that. Like with regular deadlifts, a big jump up in the working weight. Going over 400lbs so using a hard belt for the EMOM. My body didn’t feel like it was tight and stiff on one side versus the other like last time I did these. I don’t have to get low to set thing ups to do rack pulls or regular deadlifts so this week is when I can really notice flexibility issues. The warm-up singles were going well so I didn’t think I’d have any issues with the working weight. Though it has been interesting when I’ve put on the belt and gone above 400lbs with the wide grip, wide stance. I’ve learned I can’t have my belt as tight as regular deadlift to get to the bar and that more hamstring is felt on these. Would I have liked for the weight to move faster and be easier? Yes but it was about what I’d expect it to feel compared to the other two lifts. I’m sticking with this training max for now as I feel it is pretty close compared to the other lifts. Abs to finish up the night. Full stack as I don’t think it would really matter trying to put another 10lbs or so (can only add magnet weight or a plate, no additional stack weights) so figure the 200lbs is good enough to do for now. It will just get easier as I do it. Nice, easy finish to the night and then home to stretch, eat and recover and try to get to bed at a somewhat reasonable hour.