April 9, 2019 – Week 5, Day 1

5 Minutes Precor AMT

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

Sumo Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Regular Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Bird Dogs (1 second holds)

BWx10/10

Superset: Band Rows/ Modified Angle Push-ups
MMBx20/BWx15
MMBx20/BWx15

Biceps Stretches

20 Seconds

20 Seconds

Wide Grip Pulldowns
70x15
110x10
150x5

200x5

240x23 PR+10lbs

Cybex Eagle NX Rows
110x5
160x5

210x5
260x25 PR+10lbs & 1 rep

Precor Pec Flyes
115x10

1705x10

225x23

Push-ups (1 second pauses)

BWx10

BW+25x5

BW+45x17 PR+2 reps

One Arm Dumbbell Rows (supported)

40x5/5

70x5/5

100x5/5

130x16/16 PR+10lbs

Precor Converging Shoulder Presses

65x5

95x5

125x27

Planks

BW+25x60 Seconds

Side Planks

BWx20/20 Seconds

BWx20/20 Seconds

Stretching

Comments: Another day of training. This week has been a sucky one so far. Stupid and stressful. Definitely have a cold. I had hoped it was allergies. Left shoulder was super achy and stiff. Not sure what that is about. It had felt like that after training Sunday and I had hoped it would go away but it was still somewhat present going into Tuesday. Show must go on, even if numbers are down. AMT to start off the session. 147bpm highest reading. Breathing wasn’t too bad. Calf work was ok. Box touches felt good. Bird dogs were ok. Band rows and modified push-ups were supersetted and for two sets. Rows easy, push-ups were ok. No shoulder issues here. Biceps stretch felt good. On to the workout. Pretty much the same workout as last week but increasing everything by 10lbs it seems. Reps, reps, reps. I was expecting lower numbers with my respiratory system compromised. Again, I was wrong. Pulldowns continue to feel good on that top set. Matched last week’s reps with the extra weight. 200lbs felt substantial but I guess chalking up for that top set made it feel easier. I was worried this would irritate the shoulder. It didn’t thankfully. I was watching everything I did today to make sure it wasn’t going to cause an issue. Machine rows were next. Working up weights felt heavy. So really surprised I felt strong on that top set and blasted out an extra rep plus the 10lbs on it. Next up was pec flyes. Felt a bit of fatigue here. Almost two dozen reps here but down from last week. The weight is still heavier than last time so still good. Probably could do 20 reps with the full stack. Back downstairs for paused push-ups. Like last time, the first set with no weight felt staggeringly difficult and then the sets with weight felt better. Warmed up enough that I didn’t feel any real shoulder issues on these. Goal was 1-2 more reps on the set with the 45lbs plate. Got that. It was a max effort to get that last rep. One arm dumbbell rows followed suit. Getting better at setting this up and bracing. I switched sides to start as I was feeling like my right side was playing catch-up to the left side on these. Working up sets all had the fixed dumbbells with thicker than normal handles. The working set I used the plateloadable dumbbell so the handle is thinner. Good stuff here. I feel good for some PRs on this with heavier weights. I’m just glad I don’t need as much of a break from these as the one leg presses. Shoulders feeling like crap and not sure how the machine pressing would go. Had to wait again to use it. Less sets, bigger jumps. 10lbs more than last time for the top set. Reps were going well. Just barely missed 28^th rep which would’ve matched last week but with 10lbs more. So close. Planks to finish off the session. Plate hold is tough for the minute. But it’s good for me. Side planks are pretty easy. Feeling them work on these. Home to make tacos, stretch and recover. Need to kick this cold and this crappy week.

April 7, 2019 – Week 4, Day 3

5 Minutes Misc Stationary Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

Sumo Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Regular Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Bird Dogs (1 second holds)

BWx10/10

Superset: Band Rows/ Modified Angle Push-ups
MMBx20/BWx15
MMBx20/BWx15

Biceps Stretches

20 Seconds

20 Seconds

Sandbag Tosses Over 14’ (20’ away)

30x1

30x1

30x1

30x1

30x1

40x1

40x1

40x1

40x1

40x1

40x1

Log Clean and Push Presses
(Miscellaneous Log 12”)

2 stage 2 second pauses

90x1
115x1
140x1
165x1
(Beast Metals Log 13”)

191.5x1
216.5x1
241.5x1
Regular

266.5x1
291.5x1

Yoke (with drops)

300x60’ (drop at 30’) in 9.68 seconds

400x60’ (drop at 30’) in 10.30 seconds

500x60’ (drop at 30’) in 10.68 seconds

550x30’ in 4.79 seconds

600x30’ in 5.16 seconds

650x120’ (drop at 60’, on turf) in 25.96 seconds

Sandbag Rows

150x10

Sandbag Carry/Sled Drag Medleys (turf)

200x100’/170x100’ in 40.10 Seconds

250x100’/260x100’ in 48.94 Seconds

250x100’/350x100’ in 55.15 Seconds

Stretching

Comments: Another day of event training out at Lancaster. Saturday I didn’t spend my time as unwisely this week. Only day this week that I ended up walking. No gym due to competition. Sunday was perfect weather. Maybe a little too much sun. It seems like Spring last exactly two weeks and now on to early Summer. I was expecting people to be training today due to the contest but it was dead quiet when I got there.  Knees are still achy but the bike feels good. Been doing my best to keep things good as far as recovery. Body is just all over the place. Did a lot of driving and riding this weekend. Calf work was super easy. Nice and springy. Box touches felt good. Bird dogs felt pretty good. They usually do this day. Band rows and modified push-ups were supersetted as per usual. Both felt easy (rows are always easier though). Stuff was moved around for the contest so I had to find a different spot for the push-ups. Biceps stretch felt good. Definitely needed it I guess. Time for a long event day. Sandbag toss again. Change was to do only half the tosses with the 30lbs and do the other half with the 40lbs. I did the same thing as last week as far as setting up the sandbags and doing the run and movements. Didn’t need to do as much this time compared to last week. It’s becoming more efficient and second nature. Put on the copper knee sleeve for my right knee as it was acting up. The throw tower had been moved so I needed to recalibrate the distance and markings. 30lbs feels like nothing. I’m definitely getting closer with my side sprint. Sun was beating down on me and it was time for the 40lbs bag. That 10lbs makes a load of difference. It felt like I was barely clearing it. This was more sand than crumb rubber. I noticed that with these tosses, I’m getting a little split step. Just noticed it this session so I looked back and it appears that I’m doing this since I’m trying to move on to the next one. I lost count of the tosses with the 40lbs so I did another to make sure I got at least five in. It’s clearing 14’ quite easily but I think 16’ is about my limit. Plan is to toss that 50lber next week. Log after that fun. Plan was 25lbs jumps and aiming for 5lbs than last week and only go for more if it felt good and not a max effort. Another thing was adding in pauses in the dip and holds at lockout working up. Stopping that at between 225-250lbs. I put on both copper knee sleeves at this point. That first lift was terrible. Out in front of me. Just pure garbage. Much better after that. First rep moving up to the big log felt really good. I thought that maybe I was going to have a good log day. First rep competition style I didn’t have it all the way back like the other reps and it was in front of me a little. Not a lot but enough that it made it feel tougher than it should’ve. Final lift was a struggle. My lockout was not there today. I only got it because the path of the log was near perfect going up and back. 10lbs under my best lift on this log. Not great but no missed lifts. I’m just hoping that it’s because of all the rep work on the other stuff that is having fatigue mask my strength. At least that’s what I tell myself. Yoke after that. All by myself really. This was changed up a bit. Work-up sets were shorter distances than contest length of 60’ down and back. Sets working up were 30’ down and back and some just 30’. This was good as this allowed me to use the hard concrete floor for those sets so I could get a feel for convention style floor while still doing my top set on the turf. I didn’t feel the fatigue I felt last week at the start. Probably helps not missing a heavy deadlift and log press in the same week. Been taping my hands to keep the yoke from cutting them up through the gloves. I felt like I was moving pretty good on the drop and turn ones. The short straight shots I was ok but I think about .5 a second slow on these compared to my best. I got really nervous for the last run. 50lbs more than last week for the full distance. I was getting mad that it was making me nervous. Last year I was doing 150lbs more for about the same distance every other week. But that wasn’t on turf (speed is down) and I hadn’t nuked my back again. Even though I was heavy on the farmer’s walk last training, I only got up to 685lbs total on the heaviest run for only 60’. I felt I started off good but fatigue was there and I definitely was slower on the second half. Not quite fatigued to that stutter limp I get but not speedy. At least it was under 26 seconds. Last item was medley work as has been the case. Warmed up with sandbag rows. I did most of the reps without resetting and that was harder than stopping on the floor each rep for my grip. Some changes, namely that weights were increased for the sandbags on the second and third set. I knew to expect being slower today from last week. I’m doing a lot of reps on lower body day. The door was open for the back so I was able to do a full 100’ for both the drag and the carry so I took advantage of that today. Increased the sled weight by 30lbs across all sets. 200lbs bag feels like nothing compared to the 250lbs bags. I was tempted to try a different style of picking the sandbag up (shove it down and row it up parallel instead of perpendicular) but figured this wasn’t the time to test that. Save it for another day or during warm-ups, no the last set of the day when you’re fatigued and tired. This is also not so much the technique but getting in the work right now with the longer distances. Also using the crash pad still. Times weren’t terrible compared to last week, especially since I was going an extra 8’ on the drag. Body is beat and tired. Knees are achy and now my left shoulder is tense and being a bastard about it. Chiro on Wednesday, deep tissue massage on Friday. Stretched out a good deal (and did some decompression stuff) before hitting the road with the TENS unit. Home to do some more recovery work and eat a big meal.

April 4, 2019 – Week 4, Day 2

5 Minutes Precor Upright Bike

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

Sumo Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Regular Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Bird Dogs (1 second holds)

BWx10/10

13” Thick Bar Jack Stand Pulls (straps)

112x1

182x1

252x1

Added Suit

322x1

392x1

462x1

532x1

602x1 PR+30lbs

Precor Leg Extensions (1 Second Holds)
70x10
100x10
130x10
160x31 PR+10lbs & 4 reps

Precor Seated Leg Curls
125x10
175x5
215x30 PR+10lbs

Precor Angled Single Leg Presses
146x10/10
236x5/5
286x5/5

336x5/5
386x34/34

Inflight Fitness Multi-Hip/Glute Machine
100x10/10
150x36/36 PR+4/4 reps

Precor Inner Thigh Machine (1 Second Holds)
125x10
165x5

205x12

Precor Outer Thigh Machine (1 Second Holds)
125x10
165x5

205x19

Seated Calf Raises
+45x10
+90x10
+135x5
+180x10/15 partial reps

Hanging Knee Raises
BWx50 PR+4 reps

Back Extensions

BWx10

BW+45x10

BW+90x10

Stretching

Comments: Back stuff just seems to come and go as it pleases. A nuisance and any flaring up is nothing compared to what I was feeling before. Irksome and I’m doing massage, TENS unit as well as trying to keep my other recovery stuff on point. I could’ve taken another rest day (I didn’t walk Wednesday and ate enough bbq chicken thighs to feed an army) but I figured with how tired this workout made me last week, it made more sense to do it now so that I didn’t sleep my entire weekend away again. Upright bike again for the warm-up. Felt good. Heartrate only up to 132bpm and that was with the resistance up two settings from last week. I had mentioned last week that it will give a report at the end. Might matter which bike is being used as this time it didn’t. Calf raises felt good. Strong but tight, especially in the right one. Almost achy but not quite. Box touches were ok. No issues there other than my back feeling achy. Bird dogs were ok too. Still feels like it is stiff in my lower back but not painful. Just feeling fatigue. Thick bar pulls to lead off the lifting again. Idea was singles, taking 70lbs jumps up to a top single but not having it be a max. In order for the jumps to work out to hit what I wanted, I’d have to start at a higher weight on the jack stands than last time by a good bit. I didn’t think that was wise so I did my first single with bumper plates on the step risers. I was debating between going for 20lbs more than last time or breaking 600lbs. I felt ok but I’d feel like garbage if I missed again. I had said no more misses this training cycle. Suit came on much earlier today. I wanted to get more practice with it as I was noticing it was taking a long time for me to get set and lift with it fully strapped down. I was having a better time with getting the straps around the bar this week. Started with the straps really loose, then fairly tight and then finally very tight. I was feeling good and I just wish I was stronger on this. Used up all the 35 plates at that gym haha. 532lbs was darn speedy but 602lbs was a slower pull. My giant knees make this tricky at the heavier weights. But it was a solid rep with no hitching and definitely not the max. I might be able to get the weight I missed last week next week so I’d only be about a month behind where I wanted to be realistically. Got the suit off as soon as I could as I knew I had a long night to go still. Reps on reps again. Leg extensions with pauses/holds at the top. Much like the leg pressing, I figured that this would be similar in that the first workout pushing it was more a primer for this week when my endurance fibers wake up. Nice and controlled. Knees felt achy today but legs were strong. Leg curls afterwards. 10lbs more and curling away. I felt like I slowed down sooner this time but still managed to crank out 30 reps here. Legs (especially hamstrings) will need to get stronger and stronger as my lower back still recovers. Only 30lbs away from really high reps on the full stack. Downstairs for one legged leg presses. These were going to suck and will continue to suck with the small jumps in weight each session. As this means I’m going to be doing near 30 reps on that top set with hundreds of pounds. Not the same as say isolation or smaller muscles as it takes a good bit for my body to cool down after this effort. But it’s still a good training for the legs for things like long distance yoke, medleys and truck pull. Two reps shy of matching last week with 10lbs more per leg. I still walk funny after these. Back upstairs for more machines. Rotary style hip glute machine. I’m liking this machine. More so than the other one as I can get hamstring work here too. Again, wish this could go heavier. I know it can go over 225lbs with “expansion stacks” but the gym won’t shell that kind of money out with buying the other new stuff for no reason. Inner/outer thigh work after that. As mentioned, hit the max here for weeks on end so a new twist added with having holds at the contraction on each rep. Work up sets felt like nothing but I knew it was going to be very tough on the work sets. Inner thigh was actually better than I expected. I was thinking single digits with how difficult these have felt lately. Outer thigh wasn’t too pleasant as my left side was feeling tender on the hold. I think it was more from the nerve being inflamed a little. Seated calf raises downstairs after that. Going up a plate per set again but lower reps to work up. Goal was max reps with the top weight and then reset and max partials. Not sure if it’s the boot socks or just working with heavier weights and getting better motor control in my calves but they felt like they were working a lot. Got a shaky ten reps on the regular reps and eeked out 15 for the partials. More than two plates feels so much tougher. Might be how the weights stack or something. Last two items for the workout were a max rep set of hanging knee raises followed by the back extensions. Haven’t done max reps on the hanging leg raises in a while. My grip gave out first this time and I had to reset my hands to finish off a set of 50. I didn’t bother with chalking my hands here. My abs were pulsating after that. Back extensions weren’t anything to write home about. Still well under what I was doing as far as reps, though I am holding the weight so it’s like I’m holding an upper back contraction the entire time. Keep my spine neutral and having the back stay static as a whole. Home to make tacos, stretch and recover. Then two days of rest before another event workout in Lancaster.

April 2, 2019 – Week 4, Day 1

5 Minutes Precor AMT

Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30

Sumo Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Regular Box Touches (10” Box)
BWx25

Bird Dogs (1 second holds)

BWx10/10

Superset: Band Rows/ Modified Angle Push-ups
MMBx20/BWx15
MMBx20/BWx15

Biceps Stretches

20 Seconds

20 Seconds

Wide Grip Pulldowns
70x15
110x10
140x5
170x5

200x5

230x23 PR+10lbs

Cybex Eagle NX Rows
100x5
150x5

200x5
250x24 PR+10lbs & 2 reps

Precor Pec Flyes
85x10
125x8

165x8

215x27 PR+10lbs & 1 rep

Push-ups (1 second pauses)

BWx10

BW+25x5

BW+45x15 PR+6 reps

One Arm Dumbbell Rows (supported)

30x5/5

60x5/5

90x5/5

120x16/16 PR+10lbs & 1/1 rep

Precor Converging Shoulder Presses

55x5

75x5

95x5

115x28

Planks

BW+25x60 Seconds

Side Planks

BWx20/20 Seconds

BWx20/20 Seconds

Stretching

Comments: I really wasn’t sure how this was going to go with one day less rest. I could either push things out another day and then worry about getting back to normal next week or have most of the workouts back to normal and then have event training be a day off. This was seemed to make the most sense. I was feeling pretty beat up and I’ve been icing my knees, heating my back and using the TENS unit. Even used it on my knees once. AMT to start off the session. 152bpm highest reading. Felt good. Calf work was easy. Box touches felt good. Bird dogs were ok. Band rows and modified push-ups were supersetted and for two sets. Rows easy, push-ups were ok. Biceps stretch felt good. On to the workout. Most of it was the same as last week but with more weight for the top set. First up was pulldowns with the wide grip. I wasn’t expecting much here today and was fully prepared to get like maybe 15 reps on that top set. I was wrong. Might have felt stronger than I did last week with 10lbs more. Surprising to me. Machine rows were next. I was again ready for lower reps as getting a ton of reps on pulldowns and having rows afterwards wasn’t going so well last week. Again, hitting more reps with more weight. I guess I’m having a good day. No issues with my arms but watching them. Pulling with control. Pec flyes after that. Added 10lbs to this too. My right pec had actually cramped up a little just walking over to the machine so I didn’t have high expectations. Again, beat the reps from last week with more weight. I was truly baffled. This is where the workout changed from last week. Back downstairs but it was the push-ups first this time. First set no weight felt hard. I had to take a moment after that. Guess the chest needed a few more minutes to recover from flyes. Much better on the sets with weight. Only a set of five with the 25lbs plate and then it was rep them out with the 45lbs. It was tough to get 15 but I knew I had it in me. Hopefully this goes even better next time as I get used to the prefatigue from the exercise priority changes. Afterwards was one arm dumbbell rows. Took a more exaggerated stance to brace as I didn’t want any issues with my lower back to be exacerbated. Big jumps in weight per sets and it really felt like nothing. Bracing even harder and getting back into a good groove with these. I may need to switch sides to start next time as My right side is struggling to match the reps but seems to be able to hold on longer. Not done tonight. Shoulders have to get their turn and the converging shoulder press has returned. I had to wait a while for this machine to open up. Three super easy sets and then it was max reps with the top weight I stopped at last training cycle. I knew it was going to be though to match reps with not doing these in a while and having done all these other things. But as this day has been surprises, I managed to match my best here. Planks to finish off the session. No more planks at the end of every workout. On set regular style with 25lbs and then the side planks rotation as before. Longer hold on the regular style was tough, even with just 25lbs. Side planks were almost relaxing. Home to stretch, eat and recover.