October 17, 2020 – Week 9, Day 3

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)
 
Mobility Prep
 
NY Barbell Yoke
180x50’ in 5.47 seconds
270x50’ in 5.37 seconds
360x50’ in 6.19 seconds
450x50’ in 6.64 seconds
500x25’ in 4.29 seconds
540x25’ in 4.33 seconds
580x50’ in 7.58 seconds
580x50’ in 8.22 seconds
 
Sandbag Rows
175x8
225x8
 
Stone of Steel Loads (62”, tacky towel)
140x1
185.5x1
230x1
274.5x1
318x1
318x1
318x1
318x1
318x1
 
Stretching
 
Comments: These are strange times. Lower back, hips, knees are stiff and/or achy. The lower back stuff isn’t as bad as it was at the end of training two weeks ago so it is tolerable. Hamstrings are tight. I didn’t ice them the day before but I did make a point of foam rolling them out for a good bit the day before. I guess I didn’t ice my knees as I figured if I was needing to do that every day, isn’t that an issue? But I guess I need to keep up daily maintenance to keep going. I’d like to get in 12 weeks without having to take an easy day or week. Maybe the other aches are taking my mind off the elbow and shoulder stuff or that is actually finally recovering and healing. But damn, should it be taking almost 2 months for stuff to recover? I’m getting older and I feel like I’m already 40 with the aches. Late start to the day as is usually the case for Saturday training at home. Cooler than I expected but that is more my house taking a long time to heat up when it is cold at night and gets warmer in the afternoon. My body was feeling really stiff too after getting a lot of sleep. Joints achy walking. Catching last day of nationals on livestream. Some regrets not trying this year but I think it was the smart decision. Training weights are mostly around 70% of contest. I’d have zeroed every event on Day 2 at this time. Over my 1rm on overhead events for reps and top 10 guys pulling over 800lbs raw. It can be mighty discouraging. And outside of the ability aspect of myself (past four months have been rough mentally) I’m concerned that it could be a “super spreader” as the proposed guidelines advertised for safety weren’t enforced or followed. I remember how sick I got from 2017 Nats with the flu. Any ways, on to training. Movement prep mostly good. I feel I can progress slightly on the knee rehab/prehab stuff for next week. So yoke for this training. As mentioned, dropping to top weight for 2 sets now. My one neighbor had a leaf pile near her driveway. I usually use the length of street up to that point for marking 50’ as it lines up just right with certain cracks in the concrete. So I didn’t want to keep ruining that pile with the yoke sliding into it on downhill sets, I elected to move the course up the street a good bit. So lot of sweeping up debris out of the way and off my own driveway to make moving weights on the hand truck easier. Knees achier than usual on yoke today so it took a bit of warming up. My quads felt “flabby” on the first set. No other way to really describe it. Didn’t feel solid. I will say that I’m not noticing calf stress like usual on moving events as I have the past few weeks and I think that has to do with the calf exercise change in the mobility warm-ups. Also took a few sets of yoke for my traps and shoulders to not be so tense. Second set felt fine. Set with 450lbs I felt like it was shaking me a lot and eventually near the end I just let go of the yoke rather than fighting it. Ended up being a little slower than I had thought it felt. Since only two top sets, I figured that I had best do the first working set downhill and the last one uphill. Main reason being that it is easier to move the weights back inside with the yoke closer to the driveway. I can’t move the yoke around easy like I can the farmer’s handles with the hand truck. So rather than trying to do an in-between run for 450lbs and 580lbs, I did half runs with smaller jumps. Work on that start speed and get a total of 50’ out of the two runs. First run felt like crap off the start. Better the second run. Working set, I felt like I was moving on that first set. I knew I was slower on the second set by a good bit. I didn’t expect my times to be that much higher than last time. I was hoping I had another training session before I was slowing down this much. But I don’t know these things until later with timing so on to the next thing. So sandbag rows followed after packing stuff up into the garage. Lower back and glutes and abdominals didn’t feel like they did last time so that was a relief. Knees weren’t bothering me either. The sandbag stuff on the other weeks is getting heavier now so sandbag rows on this week are kind of maintenance mode to help with getting warmed up for stone of steel work. Sets of eight and they felt comfortable. Stone of steel time after that. Again, plan being work up to 5 EMOM singles with more weight than last time. Advised 5-10lbs more. I was going with 10lbs (as close as it will let me I guess) as I wanted to have it be plate jumps up to the max 45lbs I can fit in the implement. It has been many weeks to get back up to this weight range. Back and knees weren’t bothering me this time around. Extensions are becoming tough at this point. I was wondering if 4 plates was a bit much with how my last single to warm-up felt. As with last time, I used the old tacky towel and then used the fresher one for the working weight. The toughest one of the day was the first one as I didn’t quite clear the bar and I instinctively grabbed the yoke to shove it over. Picks and lapping felt really easy today. The extension never feels easy. I was hesitating less as I went with the initial pick too. Each single was faster than the previous one. Made dinner, stretched, ate dinner and then finished stretching. Iced my knees before bed.

October 15, 2020 – Week 9, Day 2

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)

Mobility Prep

Goblet Squats to Box (15”)
40x15
40x15

3” Platform Deadlifts w/ bands
No Bands
45x10
135x5
Added Bands (+32lbs bottom/+162lbs top)

65x1
115x1
155x1
205x1
245x1
295x1
Added Straps

340x1
340x1
340x1
340x1
340x1

Ab Wheel
bwx22

Paused Side Plank Raises
bwx25/25

Stretching

Comments: Still seem to be not hating myself when it comes to training at least. Emotions running high and have to let them out. Trying to distract with television/movies and burying myself into my work. I feel like I’m on the moon most of the time. Lower back still tight and stiff. Knees and aches aching. Hip aches on the left side but I know that is more from the disc compression. Comes and goes. I can still do everything. But it is annoying. Like a constant reminder I’m fragile. Physically and mentally. Little late start. Some of it motivation wise and other bit just behind on eating my meals during the day and wanting to not throw up during training. My abdominals were feeling a little crampy getting ready. Warm up stuff felt mostly good. Lower back was stiff during most of my workout. Goblet squats at least got some blood flow into the back. Knees were a little achy. Hamstrings have been tight. Especially the left one. My right forearm felt like it was going to cramp up on me too. Bodies are weird. I had gotten the deadlift area setup so this didn’t take long to move on to deadlifts. Knees achy here too and lower back really stiff. Oof. So start of another round of the band and platform cycle for deadlifts. Advised to go with 5-10lbs for the progressions this run through. Fatigue is building. Moving events are going up 20lbs each time and volume is increasing on assistance lifts. Just hoping that training is good and doesn’t injury me. Weight without the bands felt heavy and my back was so stiff and pumped. Since I know have the 10lbs bumper plates, I can start lighter with the high band tension as far as weight. Previously, it would be up to 225lbs without weight before adding the bands, otherwise it would be a big jump from no bands to bands. That light of weight against that band tension felt weird. Been a while since I’ve had the chance to warm-up with nearly and empty bar against bands. A long while. Since the 10lbs don’t really fit that great on the barbell, I kept them out a bit and then just added weight. Seemed to work fine. Back and hips seemed ok with the pulls today. Almost like these were making me correct the posture. My last pull without straps was tougher than I thought it would be. I had to put it down right away due to grip going. I realize now that it was 20lbs jump over what I’ve done previously warming up with this tension and the past times I had a hard belt on. So I went with 10lbs jumps for today. My thinking is that this is the lightest feeling of the pulls so I should be good with a 10lbs jump. Probably do 5lbs for the other weeks. Have to see. Almost regretted adding 10lbs to last time weight with that first pull. It was a kind of shift to one side after for the left. I had that issue with last week on two of my lifts. My thinking was my stance was too narrow to allow my hips and knees to track right. I was a little gun shy with initiating the pull the next set but it went how it should as far as a straight pull. No funny business. I’ve been trying to make it a point to do these working set singles with music that I’ve attached meaning to. To keep me focused on what I’m trying to do. Last three pulls felt good. I took my time as I usually do after the deadlifting. I don’t like drinking stuff while pulling because of my stomach. This was a longer break for 2 reasons. 1 was I wanted to keep the lower back brace on longer to keep my back warm and keep it happy and 2, get my dinner ready. I had waited too long for setting up a roast for the evening.  Wasn’t sure how the abdominal work was going to go with how wrecked they felt just putting on my deadlift socks. Aim was just another rep on the ab wheel. Got that easy enough. Paused reps on the side plank raises doesn’t get much easier. Especially with that many reps. It’s like I’m doing a minute side plank while moving with how the supporting arm and shoulders feel. Big dinner right after training and then stretched. I’ll need to make sure I do icing and soft tissue work tomorrow.

October 13, 2020 – Week 9, Day 1

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)
 
Mobility Prep
 
Lock Big 3
10’sx10/10’sx10/10’sx10
 
Axle Clean and Strict Presses
33x1
53x1
73x1
93x1
113x1
133x1
153x1
173x1
193x1
 
Axle Strict Presses
193x2
193x2
193x2
193x2
193x2
 
Rack Chins (yoke, straps)
bwx5
bwx16
bwx15
bwx15
 
Incline Dumbbell Bench Presses
10’sx16 (miscounted)
40’sx10
70’sx14 (miscounted)
70’sx15
70’sx14 (miscounted)
 
Band External Rotations
µbx25/25
 
Stretching
 
Comments: Body and mind aren’t cooperating with me. Lower back on the left side is still feeling stuff from yoke. I did a lot of foam rolling on Sunday to get stuff to not be so tight. Did some dips to try and get traction on Monday and Tuesday. Cold and rainy all day Monday so no walking that day. Minor symptoms of tightness and disc compression. I can handle it. Normally I guess. But adding to it some emotional stress. I’m a mass of confused emotions with things and I’m conflicted. I feel I made the only decision I could and it still sucks and hurts. Like I can’t move on and I’m not allowed to. Getting dragged back and second, triple and quadruple guessing myself. It has made me anxious around other people. More so than usual and definitely noticeable around people I have some connection with outside of brief interactions (like getting food or going to dentist or neighbor walking by). But I know not to act or make decisions when the waters are agitated. They need to calm first to see the bottom clearly. Joints a bit achy while walking. Weather changing drastically will do that to me. For the warm-ups, some things felt about the same, others better than usual and some not as good as usual. Mixed bag really. Dumbbell shoulder stuff is tolerable but just not like it was months ago. Axle was up for today. I had to do some cleaning up on the patio as the tarp for the rack just isn’t working. Windy blows stuff off it despite bungee cords and stagnant water keeps getting trapped when it rains. This is the second tarp setup so screw it. It’s a shitty rack anyways. So after trying to get the rotting leaves and water moved, it was time for the axle. As appears to be the pattern of training, strict pressing again. So it would appear that 2 weeks of push press and then 2 weeks of strict press. I think to allow for continued practice on the clean, spend time to build both for shoulders and to let the knees have some more recovery. I think I’m getting better with the clean from hang. Chalked up right at the beginning and tucked in my shirt to keep from having issues. I’m remembering and learning I guess. The pressing was feeling easy. Intentional two step after 153lbs for the clean as I was noticing it was not as high up on the abdomen when I was doing the pop over. I feel I could’ve done the catch at the lower spot on the other reps but I felt that it wasn’t a good idea to do so with the risk/reward and trying to make this style applicable to heavier weights. Out of the rack then for strict pressing. Having realized last time I did the log that I could do the strict press without walking out the weight, I figured I could do the same here, especially since I was picking up from a lower height compared to log. This was easy. I had to make sure I did all the sets as. Almost missed a set if I hadn’t checked the camera. Into the garage to do the rest of the workout. Rack chins again. Plan of progression here is to add a rep to each set and try to get to 3x20 eventually. I think that is what the plan is. Just need some reps. Rows with sandbag for the heavy stuff. I did a set of five to warm-up as I seem to feel off if I go right for it on the first set. Last few reps of each set were tough but I felt comfortable with it. Incline dumbbell benching after that. I’m not sure what happened here. Plan had been 3x15 with 70’s and I thought I did that. But I guess I was distracted as I miscounted the reps on the very first warm-up set and then the first and last set. My obliques felt stiff picking up the dumbbells to put them on my lap to shoulder them. Weight was easy. Again, trying to keep them in shoulder pressing plane. I think the reason I miscounted was getting into the songs to distract me from the emotional stuff I got going on. I did feel my right pec during the movement on the first and last set. Not pain, just felt it moving. Anxiety of something going to happen. Last set I also biffed the shouldering of the dumbbells and I got a cramp in my left hamstring but I didn’t want to stop and reset. Even though I didn’t do the intended reps, I’m going to move on to the next progression next time and make sure I get the reps right. External rotations with the bands to finish up the evening. Felt less of a discrepancy between the two sides this time. Though it was more that my one side felt harder than usual to do them then the other side feeling stronger haha. Stretched and ate dinner. I hate this year so very much.

October 10, 2020 – Week 8, Day 3

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)
 
Mobility Prep
 
Titan Fitness Farmer’s Walk
100x50’ in 5.40 seconds
140x50’ in 6.04 seconds
190x50’ in 6.54 seconds
230x50’ in 7.84 seconds
230x50’ in 7.08 seconds

Sandbag Rows (long ways)
175x8
225x8
 
Sandbag Loads (62”)
225x2
275x2
275x2
275x2
275x2
275x2

Stretching
 
Comments: Well the allergies continued into Friday. I eventually had to take Dayquil to get stuff to knock it off. Took a few hours after that so I ended up doing my walk after work rather than on my lunch break. Had indigestion after dinner so I ended up staying up much later than planned so I knew it would be a late start for Saturday training. About 12hrs of sleep and as it usually the case when I get that much good sleep, I felt stiff and achy. But at least my allergies weren’t bothering me. I planned to start training about 2hrs after waking up but that ended up being 3hrs. By this point, that was 4PM. Felt warm and humid today. Almost tempted to turn on fans. Warm-ups felt pretty good. I did some sweeping up of the street and the driveway. Lots of leaves and twigs and acorns. So many acorns. Like rain sometimes with them in the tree on my front lawn. Farmer’s walk for today again. Work up to top weight plan to be 10lbs more than last time for 2 runs. Kind of funny to note that it was humid last time I did these as well. I didn’t feel like my hands were getting as sweaty but my face definitely was. So the weights for today were right for me to be able to do quarter-plate jumps finally. Well heavy enough that I could do jumps from start to finish like that. My knees were a little achier than I would’ve liked for moving events at the start with the empty handles. Also trying to not be bent over so much with how stiff my lower back was feeling. I felt like my foot speed was good if my pick felt a little slow. I was definitely getting a forward lean on these as my foot hit the bottom of the implements on run with 190lbs. I’m noticing that it can be a little tricky for the pick to get in that right frame. Am I hinging or leg pressing for the pick? Bracing or breathing? As is usually the case on these, the first run felt heavy and slow and the second run was nice and fast. I have to remember that even if I’m going up just 10lbs each time, that is 20lbs total. As I learned from last time, it is quite easy to just move each handle separately rather than unload them and then bring in the weights. This then leads to sandbag stuff in the garage. Again, taking time putting the weights away so that I can get some breather and be able to drink something. Started things off with sandbag rows. Same as it has been with reps on my two lighter sandbags. Adding an extra rep to each set. Technically a PR for the 225lbs bag because I never really pushed this style for higher reps before. Both felt good as far as form but I could tell my lower back was feeling these past weeks of hard training. This will change a bit because of progressing to the next heaviest bag for loads. The loads today was what I was most nervous about. Singles are fine with the sandbags. I can set my grip and feel secure. Multiple reps doesn’t allow for that luxury after the first one and then time and fatigue. So this was to be the last session with the 275lbs sandbag before moving on to work with my next heaviest. Going from 10x1 EMOM to 5x2 EMOM is harrowing haha. I remember how that was when I did this switch with tire flips. Rather than do just a single for the warm-up, I figured I’d do the double with 225lbs to get an idea of how much of a pain this was going to be. I feel that I was rushing the second rep on these sets as I was worried that if I took too long, I’d eat up my recovery time. My right biceps felt that double with 225lbs but thankfully nothing with the working weight. I’ve done 275lbs for 10 in a row before but that was with a miss and to a lower bar height. And that still took me over 4 minutes to do as it is exhausting and messing up means you have to go again. So this pace honestly was going to be very close to that with hopefully no missed reps. Can only go so fast with loading and getting around the yoke. Sandbag doesn’t roll back for you. Put on a song I liked (and has spoken to me recently with everything going on in my life) so I did sing during this a bit. Probably not good to do when trying to catch your breath. No missed loads but there were maybe 3 that I didn’t clear without having to shove them over a little. I was breathing pretty heavy by the end of this. I’ve been here before and I know that it comes back quick when needed. It was going to be a late one so I cooked up a big dinner and then stretched after I was finished and made sure I iced my knees.

October 8, 2020 – Week 8, Day 2

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)
 
Mobility Prep
 
Goblet Squats to Box (15”)
40x15
40x15
 
Deadlifts
45x10
135x5
185x1
225x1
275x1
315x1
365x1
405x1
Added Straps
445x1
485x1
485x1
485x1
485x1
485x1
 
Ab Wheel
bwx21
 
Paused Side Plank Raises
bwx25/25
 
Stretching
 
Comments: Felt like stuff was conspiring to make this workout not a good one. High winds the day before and I started to feel allergies acting up before bed so nasal spray before bed and then again in the morning. Head a little hazy so trying to remember if I did any icing or more aggressive soft tissue work the day before. Lower back stiff on the left side. Left ankle decided to feel crappy right before I got ready to train. Since this was no bands week for the deadlift, I didn’t have to worry about setting things up but that also makes me lazy. I didn’t start my lifting until about an hour later than I usually do if I start right after work. Body felt a little better moving around and walking. Very small improvements in the one knee as far as pain tolerance but it is improving. Despite it being fairly warm, I didn’t put on fans as I knew it would be getting dark soon since I started training later this evening. No mosquitos which was surprising considering the past few trainings. Goblet squats again. The next jump up is 70lbs and honestly, the lighter weights feel fine and good. Then deadlift time. The week with no bands or platforms. This is a bit different from the others as this is a percentage rather than just adding 20-10lbs to the previous cycles lifts. So a bit harder to gauge as this will be a bigger jump in weights as this was to be 85% for the five singles. Originally, this would’ve been 467lbs based off 550lbs but with how things felt the last time, that projected number was adjusted. Based off of that max of 570lbs, the weight I would be using was more appropriate of 485lbs or so. Lower back felt so stiff warming up with the bar. Reps I could just feel my lower back fatigued. Felt better with singles and as I put on more lumbar support. Trying to not rocket the weight up. I felt a little slow this time. Camera said the bar speed was good with 405lbs despite feeling slow off the floor. Put on straps for 445lbs. Not that I felt they were needed here but I wanted to feel the straps and how that pull felt. Felt pretty good. Comparable to 455lbs last time I did no bands. So then up to 485lbs. Not sure what to expect here. First one moved ok. Second pull I feel was my best of the night. It felt good and powerful and I was bit excited (though trying to keep composed). So I wasn’t expecting the next two pulls to feel so not as good. They move ok but the third pull I seemed to have to shift to the left to get above my knees and shift to the right on the fourth pull. I’m not sure what that was all about. I was thinking maybe I had made the stance too narrow those times? Last pull was better. I’d say 2nd best of the pulls with how it moved and felt. I still feel like such a newbie with deadlifting despite doing this for most of my life. I should be happy I have some progress here as far as form and having the weight not make me what to give up. But I also remember a time when I could do 495lbs for 10x3 with about a minute rest between sets. This is the one thing I don’t know if I can get ready for US Nats 2021 in time. Even if I had another decade. But that’s my problem. Could see it was getting dark in between each set. I took a break to tear down stuff. I wasn’t in a rush as the pot roast I had cooking was larger than usual and I had started it later in the morning than I had planned. Give me a chance to get liquids in. Ab wheel given a rep range now of 20-25 reps. After talking with Mr. Westerling about progression, I decided that even with this range, I’d just aim for 1 extra rep each session. So even though I could do 25, I went for just 21 reps. Since I mentioned how easy the side plank raises had gotten, I was told to do them with a second hold at the top of each rep and see if I could maintain the reps. This was much tougher but I did it. I stretched before I ate pot roast and about fell asleep after eating it.

October 6, 2020 – Week 8, Day 1

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)
 
Mobility Prep
 
Lock Big 3
10’sx10/10’sx10/10’sx10
 
12” Log Clean & Push Presses
Kettlebells
15’sx5
Log
95x1
115x1
135x1
155x1
175x1
195x1
215x1
 
12” Log Push Presses
215x2
215x2
215x2
215x2
215x2
 
Bench Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows
15’sx15
40’sx10
70’sx20
70’sx20
 
Slingshot Dips
bw+10x10
bw+55x10
bw+100x19
 
Band External Rotations
µbx25/25
 
Stretching
 
Comments: Every month this year since March has tried to top itself. Like damn. But at least for me personally, things have been stable for like a month now. Left side of lower back still stiff. I did some foam rolling and walking. My hope was that training today would fix things. Aches and what not elsewhere. Warm ups felt alright. Still going to take time for progression with stuff for the knees but the tolerance has been consistent at least so hope for improvement at some point in the near future. But got to wait until both knees are cooperating with me. Starting off with the dumbbell drill for the shoulders. I was leery about doing this after last week with my shoulders not liking things one bit. Thankfully, it was not anywhere near as bad as last time on my left shoulder. So my shoulder must have been inflamed from the flu shot. So this time log again with leg drive. I had a thought as I was getting ready. Why not use my old log for training again? I think that I wasn’t thinking about it as far as consistency sake and I honestly didn’t think I would be getting it back from the Y. I had become very withdrawn. Like, I have no intention of going to the Y or the strongman gym. My thinking was it was lighter and easier to maneuver in and out of the house for training on the patio (which I had to sweep leaves off of today). It would also let me start lighter and maybe that would make log not feel so crap. I didn’t realize how big a difference there was between the logs as far as balance and slickness. I actually got off balance on the first lift picking up the log. It stuck to my body much better. I think I did get a little forward on lifts but it was a much smoother lift. I didn’t feel like I had to fully stand up to lap the log like the other one. Like a glove or an old friend. I didn’t feel like I had to worry about the loading ends bending. Not sure why but I do on the other log. On to the rack for the rest of pressing. My right knee was not happy with these today for most of the sets. These still feel awkward as anything. I feel much better going from the clean and pressing compared to these. They have gotten better since I started doing them but not improving as much as I’d like as far as alienness. It’s not heavy weight but it just feels uncomfortable and not as crisp and fast. And I’m not sure why that is. Maybe not in that sweet spot that I had at the Y on that one rack? Axle seems ok and strict pressing with the log seems ok. But it is just training lift for the real event (in most cases, I’ve seen 3 competitions with log from the rack). Into the garage for the rest of the training for today. No fans despite my cigar smoking neighbor stinking things up with tobacco leaves and ass. It’s gotten warm again so mosquitos are getting bold again too. And the speed at which it gets dark is noticeable even between sets of exercises. Dumbbell rows with the bench. Warm-up and then do 2 sets with the 70lbs dumbbells. Same as last time, just getting easier. Still noticeable fatigue from first and second set but no biceps issues this time around. Rest breaks pretty much being none at the start and then working weight doing active rest by taking stuff from the patio into the garage (leaving log in the porch area). Slingshot dips after that. This was what I was hoping would be the relief for the lower back. Traction to get things to calm down. Same as last time, sets of 10 and then try for 1-2 more reps on the last set. Not going for broke still. I guess my shoulders were feeling ok as I forgot to put on the slingshot at the start and did a rep without and was wondering why it was so much harder than usual. Duh. I got a little sloppy on the last set as the weights swung and hit the dip stand and I had to pause and reset before continuing the set. At this point, I was trying to get things done before my roast was finished. External band rotations again to finish off the session. Still a difference between the shoulders but that is ok. Ate food and stretched.

October 3, 2020 – Week 7, Day 3

5 Minute Walk (.25 miles)
 
Mobility Prep
 
NY Barbell Yoke
200x50’ in 5.52 seconds
290x50’ in 5.48 seconds
380x50’ in 6.33 seconds
470x50’ in 6.27 seconds
560x50’ in 7.26 seconds
560x50’ in 6.74 seconds
560x50’ in 7.42 seconds
 
Sandbag Rows
175x8
225x8
 
Stone of Steel Loads (62”, tacky towel)
140x1
185.5x1
230x1
274.5x1
308.5x1
308.5x1
308.5x1
308.5x1
308.5x1
 
Stretching
 
Comments: As previously mentioned, there were time sensitive things for today so I needed to train early. Well, earlier than I usually do on the weekend. Woke up about the same time I do for work (telework time, not commute time haha) to get ready. A bit cooler right now so not sure how that would feel on things. More that my house stays cooler but if the sun is out, not bad as not windy. Trying to get things up and going and trying to keep breakfast down. Warm ups felt roughly the same as the previous day as far as the progressions and movement stuff so that is a good sign. Trying to move at a good pace to try and give myself some time buffer. Yoke up first. Same as last time with working up to 3 runs of 50’ but with 20lbs more. I’d been told that this is the last week of 3’s and will be going to 2’s like farmer’s walk starting next block. Right knee was a bit achy. Moving with the empty yoke for a few lengths, gradually building up speed, seems to be a better thing then just the empty sprints I used to do. However, I wouldn’t be able to do this in most circumstances since most yoke’s and farmer’s aren’t this light empty. But not competing for 8 months so time to worry about that when things get more specific. And assuming 2021 isn’t a continuation of 2020. I was initially going to work up in 50’ runs and then switch to 25’ runs to not wear myself out but I figured that the short runs would just get confusing (would be an odd number to reset the course) and 90lbs jumps would move faster and this is still “light weight” so stop being a wuss. I think that because I had the 10lbs bumper plates that look like 45’s that I was okay with loading the yoke this way. Speed felt good warming up but I had doubts in my mind. Doesn’t help matters seeing someone report a severe knee injury. Aches and I fear the worst. Ever since 2019 WSM seeing multiple people tear calf and Achilles tendon I’ve been paranoid anytime I feel tightness or an ache there. But I just keep going. This week was maybe the first time that I really noticed the “off balance” nature of the yoke with the plates being uneven number. Working set weight felt tough that first run and I felt like it was not super fast on the second run. Third run I thought I was moving faster than my first set. Wrong on the speed for all three actually. My last run was my slowest and that was still faster than my slowest last week. My second run actually got under 7 seconds by a decent amount. A quarter of second really but it is a big improvement for this kind of weight for speed. Over a half a second faster than 550lbs from June and over 2/10ths a second faster than 520lbs from a month ago. Super small numbers and improvements really but considering that this yoke has been notoriously tougher compared to other yokes I’ve used and my times at this kind of weights is beating times on the sturdier yokes is a good sign. So sandbag rows followed after packing stuff up into the garage. My left side of my lower back was really tight after that last run of yoke. I think I lost tightness near the end in my core. I was worried that I might need to stop for the day. The big concern was if this was another relapse and was going to sideline me for months. I can’t have that again. Especially not this year. It has been a super shit year. Sandbag stuff same as last time, just doing an extra rep on each set. Really focusing on bracing. Could feel my left glute tensing and my left knee not liking me bending down. I’m glad these didn’t bother the biceps at all today. As I’ve said, I’m trying my best to treat these seriously and with focus. Stone of steel after the sandbag stuff. I’ve gotten a little paranoid that my setup isn’t enough to protect the garage floor. I added an extra cushion and moved it to a different spot to observe the results. Maybe the cracks have always been there and I’m just noticing them now that I’ve been training in the garage for months now. Plan for today was 10lbs more than last time for 5 singles EMOM style. I just knew that I’d be doing over 300lbs today for the first time in a long time. Since next time (assuming the progressions continue) I’ll be doing 4 plates in the SOS, I figured I’d do those jumps up until the top single and weigh the thing each time in the garage to get an idea of what I’m lifting since stuff seems to be heavier. The hemispheres didn’t feel as secure in spots as usual. Lower back was a little stiff. After the last work up single, I decided that I should use a newer tacky towel for the work sets. I didn’t want to risk slippage. I think that I’ll use the older one for the warm-ups and work up sets and the fresher one for the working sets. The pick of the thing felt easy on the EMOM stuff but it feels heavy in the lap. Curious thing is that I feel like I got better as the set went on. My hesitancy to pick up the thing was less, right biceps felt less issues and I got better extension. I had a decent time buffer before I had to go but with having to insure I got food, put stuff away, stretched and cleaned up, I felt that I’d have to put the stretching on hold until that was done. I was quite stiff by the time I was able to stretch a few hours later. The back feels muscular as far as the soreness and stiffness. Not pain, just that I worked really hard. Going to need to make sure I keep up with my soft tissue stuff.