January 11, 2022 – Week 14, Day 2

Mobility Prep

Suited 15” Axle Jack Stand Pulls (straps)
No Suit
110x1
160x1
200x1
250x1
290x1
Added Suit
340x1
380x1
430x1
470x1
520x1
560x1
610x1
560x3
560x3
560x3

Romanian Deadlifts w/bands (straps, +3lbs bottom/+73lbs top)
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x8
340x8
370x8

Paused Front Foot Elevated Split Squats (4”, floating heel, 3 seconds)
bwx5/5
70x10/10
70x10/10
70x10/10

Paused Single Leg Hip Thrusts (2 seconds)
bwx3/3
40x8/8
40x8/8
40x8/8

Weighted Planks/Calf Raises (5-2-0-0 tempo)
bw+108 30 second – 53x11
bw+108 30 second – 64x13
bw+108 30 second – 75x13

Stretching
  
Comments: Really busy at work. So much so that it will go over into the next day. Not sure if it being dry out is causing allergies to act up or what. I think that I’m used to working optimally that little decreases I try to avoid. In the past, I’d just work through them but that was the work culture. I don’t have to do that. I don’t have to kill myself for the work. It will be there tomorrow and forever. Get some relief. Anyways, I was mostly looking forward today’s training. Some new stuff and some old stuff. Knees were acting up more than I would’ve liked though. Mobility stuff mostly good. So first bit of the session was to do axle pulls with the suit. Plan being work up in small jumps to a top single (RPE 7) and then take a little off of that and do 3x3 with controlled eccentrics to work the suit. With how axle pulls have been going past few sessions, I was expecting big things. I mean, I did 600lbs for a triple with plenty left. But I guess not all sessions can be like that and not all the time am I able to tap into that I guess. Anyways, I had started light and did 50-40lbs jumps with singles. Added the suit at 340lbs. Things felt good at that point but seemed to feel really damn heavy pretty quick. I know the suit doesn’t make stuff lighter but I wasn’t thinking that this stuff would feel heavier than it did two weeks ago without the suit. I had been thinking 650lbs easy and have to tell myself not to go for 700lbs with how 600lbs felt two weeks ago. But it was a struggle to do what I ended up doing it felt. I actually misloaded 560lbs when I first went for it (off 45lbs on one side) and had to stop and get that right. With how that felt, I’d probably have stopped there for what felt like RPE 7. But I don’t think my ego was going to let me do less than what I did raw for a single on the suited stuff. Felt like a struggle. Video I didn’t end up really watching until the next day. It doesn’t look that bad. It felt like it was terrible. Took 50lbs off for the down sets. Those were tough too. All of the worst parts of suit today with the digging into the inner thighs, riding up and just being damn uncomfortable and feeling like I go nothing out of it today. Now it could just be I got to approach raw and suit differently. Maybe the suit is throwing off my technique when raw on the block pulls. Could also be that the suit is not really fitting me well anymore on the legs and is riding up too much, losing a good bit of pop there. I’m not sure if that is the case but I will try to do something different next time and see if that fixes things. I don’t think it is as big a problem for the floor pulls since I still get a good pop there. I’m not sure if I want to invest in a customized deadlift suit to fit my odd proportions. This has been a hand-me-down. Like my one belt. Feeling just beat to hell after the suit work and unmotivated with how that went not according to my thoughts. Next thing was rdls. New one kind of. This was with bands. Plan being 10-15% added like other exercises that have bands as of late. I’ve done these in the past but not like how I ended up doing. Usually, I’ve stood on the bands and had the stretched out like a bow and arrow situation. Start from the bottom. But that won’t work as I go up in weight. I did those in the past with like maybe 275lbs for light stuff and when I’ve used heavier weights, it ended up snapping the bands from the weights coming down too hard. So this was to be like I’ve been doing with starting them from the top out of the rack. I figured it would be an easy setup. It was not. Bands I got are too loose to have any tension at the bottom of the motion just looped around a dumbbell. Also the plates would hit the dumbbell. So I added a platform and spaced the plates out. Still an issue so I had to add another dumbbell to stretch the base out more. This eventually worked but the band tension at the bottom is almost nonexistent. That took up a good bit of patience and effort. And time. But it was ready and I know what to do for next time. These were supposed to be pretty easy from the proposed effort scale. I wasn’t sure how I’d be doing higher reps against bands but I think I undershot things initially. I had thought that doing 50-40lbs jumps on the working sets would be too much to keep in the range. I feel like the last set was the one that got into the acceptable range at the end. They are different feeling. But not bad. So next up was the FFE split squats. 3x10 this week so I assumed that meant I could increase the weight on these a little. And a little was all I felt comfortable doing with them this week. Knees were achy and just the annoyance of not doing what I wanted on suited pulls and having a time vampire with setting up the band rdls. It took a bit to feel comfortable on these this week. I generally only do a few reps to warm-up but I felt I needed more this week. Didn’t feel great that first set but seemed to feel better the other sets at least. Next thing was single leg hip thrusts with pauses. I’ve done similar stuff before. The holds are the hard part on the strength curve with this exercise and I could tell my left side was fatiguing faster than the right side. Hopefully I did these correctly. Last thing was abs and calves.  Weighted planks for 30 seconds. Backpack had been a hassle with that much weight and it was more effort to get it on and off then it was to do the holds last time. So I big-brained things and decided to just put the axle through the jack stands and just do planks that way. Balance is a little tricky but it does the trick without being a pain in the nethers. For calves, I was told I could do one or two legs with the 5-2-0-0 tempo. With how tight my calves felt on the FFEs and seeing how much my right leg suffered last week, I elected to do both legs so that I knew I’d get the reps in. I used the backpack for these as I didn’t expect things to be that much considering that 65lbs on a past tempo variation was sufficiently challenging for me. Well it took a bit more weight to get there as the first few sets were too easy. I may need to use the SSB going forward so not a hassle with the backpack situation again. It was really late and my burritos in I stored in the oven were room temp. I just left out stuff in the garage for tomorrow Craig to eventually get to. Ate my burritos and stretched. Iced knees before bed.

January 10, 2022 – Week 14, Day 1

Band Face Pulls
abx12
abx12
abx12

12” Log Strict Presses
100x3
130x3
160x3
190x3
220x3
220x3
220x3
220x3
220x3
220x3

Paused Pull-ups (2 seconds)
bwx4
bwx4
bwx4
bwx4
bwx4

Close Grip Bench Presses w/ bands
No Bands
45x3
Add Bands (+33lbs bottom/+57lbs top)
45x3
95x3
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x3
275x3
275x3
245x9

Chaos Band Push-ups (feet elevated 9”)
bw+40x15
bw+40x15

Seated Dumbbell Power Cleans
10’sx3
40’sx10
40’sx10
40’sx10

Single Arm Tate Extensions
10x8/8
40x15/15
40x15/15
40x15/15

Stretching
  
Comments: Just another day. Right shoulder was a little sore from getting a shot but it wasn’t that bad. I knew that it wasn’t going to keep me from doing anything planned for today. Cold seems to be here to stay. Starting things off with band face pulls. Still 3x12. Ok. Log strict press next. Plan being work up in triples to 220lbs and then do 6x3 EOMOM style. Using the lower rack height so that hopefully don’t have things feel so awkward and hitting the safeties. I never really felt “powerful” on these today but I also didn’t feel like I couldn’t do the sets and could keep on going with the set rest periods. Still playing around with what is best I guess to initiate the press on the first rep. I couldn’t tell if I used my wrist wraps last week or not and didn’t for the first two to three sets. I checked the raw video from last week and I did wear them so I put them on. Not sure if they really made any difference. Not as noticeable to say barbell or axle with the wrist pressure. But I’ll be wearing them at contest so better get used to it. So maybe it was partly sore shoulder and maybe it was just being really cold that these felt lackluster. Like, I wouldn’t been able to put up a big rep set this week if it was required of me. Oh well. Some days it is just put in the reps and work. Pull-ups next. Last week had been testing and I had gotten 4x5 essentially with 1-2ct holds. This week it was to be 5x4 and 2ct. So more sets but same reps. And to do them with less rest (not that I took a ton of rest last week between sets). Aim being 60-75 seconds rest here. So I set timer for every 90 seconds and that came out to about 75 seconds rest between the sets. Setup was a bit quicker this week as I knew what I was doing. Last time I had been trying to get higher so I could use the rings but that didn’t work. Just used the rubber bumper plates rather than try and get the wood planks as well. Negligible difference. I did some hanging and shoulder/scrap elevations/retractions in the hang position to get things feeling somewhat ready for the pull-ups. I think that helped. My abs seem to strain on these and I think that is more from moving my body rather than moving an object and having to keep everything tight. Not bad, just noticing. From there, it was close grip bench with bands. Again, had easier time with setting things up knowing what to expect. Today the plan was to work up to 275lbs for 3x3 and then take off 30lbs for AMRAP with 2RIR. I figured I’d do triples doing quarter-plate jumps. 275lbs felt damn heavy unracking that first rep but I didn’t let that get to me. Reps moved well enough besides that initial feeling of weight. Second set was a bit tougher feeling. Those last few inches of lockout are hard. Third set was pretty good. Had 10 pop in my head for the AMRAP but I figured that was probably too much with how these were feeling and 8 was more reasonable top end. Guess I decided to split the difference here haha. First few reps were rapid fire and then had to regain control to get the other reps. Chaos band push-ups again. 2x12-15 with 2-3RIR. Decided I’d aim for 15 reps both sets and do 40lbs again. These are kind of odd in that they feel tough but I can keep going but it is hard to know when I’m getting close to the limit with the lockouts and triceps. I did end up taking a bit longer rest between the sets then I had planned. I had tried to rest with the backpack on but I could feel that wasn’t working and took it off and then rested. So that stuff was about the usual. The rest of the workout had a change. It has been the same for several weeks as far as exercise selection and these were two new one for me. So the first new one was seated dumbbell power cleans. 3x10 at RPE 7. I’ve seen these before and I think I’ve tried in the past but didn’t care for them. 10lbs felt way too light. The question was whether I could do 40lbs or if I needed to use my dumbbell handles to make weights. I took the risk of the solid dumbbells. I think I did these right. These are exhausting and I’m certainly not fast. One of the things I noticed while doing them was that the point where I rotate to get the elbows under the dumbbell at the top reminded me of the sensation I feel when I go to pop and axle from my midsection to the shoulders. So these might be a good one to keep in the future as far as offseason work towards that if I have that event in a show coming up. After those, it was triceps. I’ve done Tate presses before. Regular, incline and overhead. But this was to be one arm across body. Again, using the 10lbs to feel things out. Really didn’t want to use the dumbbell handles as those are really long compared to these solid dumbbells. Plan was 3x15 3RIR. I think that worked out for me. A little awkward and again, hopefully did these right. Put stuff away and ate a big dinner before stretching. Iced knees and elbows before bed.

January 8, 2022 – Week 13, Day 4

Mobility Prep
 
Single Leg Squats to Box (16”)
bwx5/5 (assisted)
bwx5/5 (assisted)
bwx10/10
bwx10/10

Safety Squat Bar Box Squats (20” box) w/ bands (+60lbs bottom/+86lbs top)
75x3
125x3
175x3
225x3
275x3
325x3
375x3
375x3
375x3
375x3
375x3
375x3

Frame Carries
Titan Fitness (16”)
Casual Pace 
115x50’
115x50’
Makeshift (18”)
Normal
276x50’
376x25’
Added Straps
476x50’
BiggDogg Strongg (20”, 1.5” handles)
568x25’
628x25’
700x50’ in 9.57 seconds
700x50’ in 10.57 seconds
700x50’ in 9.76 seconds
700x50’ in 9.87 seconds

BiggDogg Strongg Frame Holds (20”, 1.5” handles)
600 for 57.30 seconds

Sandbag Shoulderings
205x1 R
205x1 L
205x1 R
205x1 L
205x1 L
205x1 R
205x1 L
205x1 R
205x1 L
205x1 R
205x1 L
205x1 R
205x1 L
205x1 R

Lying Leg Curls
45x10
70x5
95x5
115x3
135x3
160x15
160x15
160x15

Backwards “Sled” Drags (Exer-Genie)
12x60’
12x60’

Quad Fallbacks
bwx12
bwx12

Stretching
  
Comments: We got more snow than they were expecting. Was to be like maybe 2” at most and some places it was 6”. It was only about 2” where I live but that meant that the neighborhood wasn’t a priority so plows didn’t come by until the afternoon. I didn’t have anywhere to go but of course this was when the freight shipped piece of equipment came. They’d have missed all this snow if they came the day before. I usually don’t go for walks after work when weather is like this due to risks but with how my lower back was feeling, I felt it was best that I go for a walk to help loosen things up. Got up at a somewhat reasonable hour to get ready to go out and train. Roads mostly good. Only issues was a tractor trailer that had not cleaned snow off the top and just not much being done in Lancaster proper. Still made really good time. A lot of people in the gym but most people I didn’t recognize. Didn’t seem like many were there for strongman and it appeared that most that were were done. Got set for mobility stuff. Wasn’t bad but I was feeling quite fatigued doing this stuff. Not a great sign as I was already worried that I was not recovered enough from earlier in the week for the things expected today. Starting things off with single leg squats to box. This week being 2x10 instead of 3x8. I did my own thing this week to warm-up. No band TKEs and no higher boxes. Used a standing rack out in the “wind tunnel” to support myself and work on getting to the box. Left leg feels more discomfort on these warming up. But I don’t want to be doing like 3 times the work for the one leg when it only really takes one set for the right leg to be good to go. So I did two sets. I was feeling fatigue between sides and sets. But I think the warming up plan works for me. But not pleased with feeling “gassed” at the start. Maybe what happened next was to my advantage. So SSB box squats with bands to high box was up next. Work up to 375lbs for 6x3. So an extra set from last time I did the “lighter” session. But not so fast. In the gym, there are three setups that have places to do squats and have band pegs. One is the monolift and I wasn’t going to bother messing with that (wider base, might not go high enough and could change the band setup drastically). The other two were in use. One by a single individual and the other by a trio doing dumb stuff. It looked dumb but that might have just been me annoyed that I had to wait so long and that I was anxious about how the workout would go with feeling fatigued doing my warm-ups. Finally got to go and do my squats. Feeling pretty good. Hardly any knee discomfort working up. These felt pretty darn good as far as how the weight felt on my back as well as bar speed. So this was a pleasant surprise. These hadn’t felt as strong last week when working up to a top set and then back down sets. I guess that’s why you play the game. Frame carry was up next. This plan has been aggressive. It excites but also gets me concerned. I know that if I can pick up the weight, I’m going with it and finishing. I’ve enjoyed this and happy that weight is piling on so fast here. But I was worried that my lower back was too fatigued to put in the showing asked of me today. A lot of that was alleviated with how well squats went though. The suggestion on these was to try to do a staggered stance since this isn’t so much a grip event but a speed event with the straps on the frame. I’ve never tried a staggered stance. Casual pace stuff I just did the normal thing. The plan for today was 700lbs for 4 sets of 50’. 50lbs under contest weight and 10’ further than contest distance. Add straps after 400lbs on the warm-ups. So for the lighter weights, the staggered stance did seem to be an option. Even with the big frame. But not so much with the top weight. Just off balance immediately trying to pick it up. So went back to what I’ve done. First set ended up being my fastest. Now it is hard to tell if I’m getting slower times when I feel like I’m moving faster because the pick is so draining on me each time that I’m slower on that but then make up for it with my moving. I’m at least fairly consistent when things go well. First set was the best time wise. Second set I guess I gripped the handles too far back and ended up banging the front into the floor and dragging before I got things level enough to move so that had me a second slower and my first time so far being over 10 seconds on these heavy runs. I feel 10 seconds or under at contest is doable. Third set I gripped a bit too far forward. Though clearance was better, I was a little unsure with the balance feeling more weight in the back than the front. I’m not used to that. I think if I practice that more, I might feel more comfortable with picking up my pace. Generally the pick is the problem so I’m very used to picking up the handles from the back to change the leverage point and I’m tall enough that I don’t hit the floor doing that. At least most of the time. Seemed about right on the last run. I got myself a little more hyped up with it being the last run and trying to improve on my time. I didn’t haha. But this was a good session of frame work. So the next thing I guess was because there wasn’t any real work done without the straps. Frame hold for time with 600lbs. I was told to go for RPE7-8 for the hold time. Not too sure what that would be but it said not to go to hand tearing territory. I wasn’t certain how this would go. My PR is just over a minute with that weight on this frame. And that was to failure. I haven’t really done anything with a grip and hold focus other than that one run with the farmer’s where I ran out of space and then did a hold for like 30 seconds. My thinking here was no countdown or having someone keep time. Just count in my head. I figured that 40-45 seconds would be where I was hopefully. It can be difficult to gauge as sometimes I get the pick and it feels stupid heavy and like it will drop in 10 seconds but then it doesn’t and hold it forever. That is kind of what happened here. I put it down because I counted to a minute but I definitely feel like I had about 10 second more in me. I was just shy of minute with my counting. So would’ve beaten my PR without even trying and not doing any grip focused work. I think my support grip endurance is better than ever but not so sure on the support grip strength. A lot of facets to grip and assuming because one is good at one thing, they are good at all. Not the case for me. I can just hold on to things for too long. I think that the increase in upper back work is the case here. I found that early on in my strongman career that doing a lot of upper back work (even with straps) helped build that support needed for the support grip to shine. In most cases with holds for time, it is my traps, neck and upper back that give out on me before my hands and forearms do when it gets to be a long hold as opposed to a heavy one. Like they fatigue and compress nerves and I have to let go. But that’s enough contemplating on that haha. Next was sandbag shouldering. Listed plan was to do 200lbs for 10 lifts alternating sides and to do so with 45 seconds rest. 200lbs bag is gone so 205lbs it is. I just set this to EMOM as I figured that was close enough. But turns out that was too much rest and I’ll get to that. It was suggested by Drew that I try a different way to shoulder the sandbags. The style I’ve been copying has been Martins Licis from when he was training for the Arnold with the tombstone to shoulder event. That style does seem to break things down a bit as far as knowing from position which side I’m lifting to. However, it was quite apparent last week that there were issues with 250lbs bag. I had thought the longer bag would make it feel more comfortable but it didn’t. My shouldering to the left side felt like I could get it into the hip better but I struggled with the shoulder whereas the right side the position wasn’t optimal on the hip but I could muscle it up better. The process involves me breaking things down. Is this a movement where the control and breaking down of the movement is beneficial or is it a “keep moving so you don’t die” type situation where power is king? So with this being the light session, I decided to play around with it. Try treating it like I would to normally pick and lap a sandbag and go from there. It needs work but it is certainly faster. Before starting the EMOM, I did two single each side. First attempt I accidentally threw it over my shoulder. I wasn’t ready haha. The efficiency meant that my rest became closer to 55 seconds between reps as opposed to 45 seconds. Even the one near the end where I hesitated. However, this is a light bag and I have no idea if this will be workable on contest weights. Will have to wait and see. Leg curls after that. Regular style for 3x15 with 3RIR. So first thing was that I had no discomfort in the lower leg on these whatsoever. Second I wasn’t expecting these to feel so strong. It always makes me laugh when I see how easy the “normal” variation of a lift feels after using light weight on the tempo version. Seen it with overhead, squats and deadlifts. Not sure why this should’ve surprised me. There was considerable fatigue on these as that first set I felt I could do a lot more but by the end, it was tough to get reps and stay in the 3RIR. Backwards “sled” drags with the exer-genie after that. Two sets again. First set felt tough (usually the case) but turns out wasn’t that bad comparatively. Second set was super easy. Almost sub 30 seconds. Quad fallbacks after that to finish things up. Just 2x12 as has been the case. Thing is that some days these are really easy and others really tough. Though usually that only applies to the first set as the second set is always easier and better. Maybe I should just skip right to the second set? This was a day where that first set felt tough. Knees tight and legs stiff. My ROM wasn’t what it usually was here. Everything was fine on the second set though. Put stuff away so that I could drive home with it still being light out and then stretch at home.

January 6, 2022 – Week 13, Day 3

Paused Behind the Neck Strict Presses (3 seconds)/Half Kneeling Single Arm Band Pulldowns
45x10/sbx15/15
45x10/sbx15/15

12” Log Push Presses (beltless)
97x3
122x3
174x3
201x3
201x3
201x3
201x3
201x3
201x3

12” Log Incline Bench Presses
87x3
117x3
147x3
177x3
207x3
237x3
267x6 PR+1 rep
267x6
267x5
267x4

Chest Supported Barbell Rows (straps)
135x5
185x5
235x5
285x8
285x8
255x16 PR+1 rep & 5lbs

Dumbbell Z Presses/Band Face Pulls
40’sx5/lbx10
70’sx10/abx20
70’sx10/abx20
70’sx16/abx20

Stretching
 
Comments Been keeping up on the recovery stuff and it seems to be helping. There was some urgency to get stuff down because of impending snow. BTN presses with pauses into one arm band lat pulls again. This is pretty easy stuff and is really just a warm-up as has been the case for weeks. It felt fine to me. Log out of the rack again and for triples. Warm up however and do 65%x6x3 with same rests as the past three weeks. No pauses this week again. So one extra set from last week. It had felt pretty easy so I was going to do no support gear again. But maybe I should’ve treated these with more respect. Midsection was worked hard by training on Tuesday. I also lowered the rack height for log to see if that felt comfortable rather than having to unrack and walk it out. See if I could just unrack and go. Cut down on the moving around. With axle it makes more sense for that with how the clean has to be. Seemed to work but I think also had me a little off form wise. Really biffed it that second set. It was one of the worst sets I’ve done on log in a while. I got off balance, literal strict pressed the second rep and kept walking back with the weight. Ugh. I knew it had to be better than that. Things were just so so with log until the last two sets. Those felt more like it. Log incline was next. This was going to be tough. I mean doing 20lbs more than what I did for a set of 11 reps for 4x6 shouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility. But log incline is an odd exercise for me with how things go on it. It’s very similar to rows in that I can rep a weight for a ton and then add some to it and struggle. But I will say that that has improved greatly on this exercise since it has become a staple. The thing was that I wanted to just do 267lbs instead of 265lbs as that way I could just deal with 30lbs jumps and no small micro plates with the 87lbs log. But this weight was technically my 5rm and I was to do it for 4x6. I knew I’d get it for 6 that first set but I was really hoping it would feel easy so that I knew I had it for 4x6. It did not feel easy. I was thinking that maybe this was one of those “don’t go all in because you got a lot more left” things. Second set I was feeling this but it was moving better. The weight moved better but I could feel things in my body that were spasming. But I felt I was in the clear with how that felt. But nope. Misgrooved the 6th rep on the third set and it came back down after I couldn’t get past the sticking point. That wasted a ton of energy. So had to reset things for the last set. That one I stopped at four reps as I was not going to get six and the fifth was going to be questionable. The plan here had been 4x6 with expectation I’d get them all and report back RIR on the last set. Sure it would’ve been nice to get 4x6 and not miss a rep as well. But I have to remember that this was my 5rm and that my incline on log is very close to what I can do with log push press style in the past. Chest supported barbell rows up next. It started snowing at this point. Warming up felt fine, as it usually does with this exercise. Had to bring out a towel as when I tried to do the working weight, my feet kept slipping. 285lbs felt really fricking heavy. Second set was a lot better. That first set had me wondering if I had an extra 20lbs on there and if I was going to be able to do the second set. I think these let me know just how sore and worn out my lower back is and still is from the Tuesday workout. I wasn’t expecting much for the down set really but I seemed to be good to go for repping out the weight on that. Finished with that stuff, I decided that it would be best to tear down and bring everything into the garage rather than try and do stuff outside with the snow coming down. So that took a little bit of time. The plan for this last bit was to do dumbbell z presses with the band face pulls. Use 5lbs more per hand on the dumbbells and lower reps with aim for AMRAP on the last set. I had hoped the trap bar would’ve arrived today but not scheduled until tomorrow. I figured I could still do the dumbbells. However, the method I’ve been using to get the dumbbells up doesn’t work with the plateloaded handles since they don’t have a wide base when held upright. They will tip over unless I keep a grip on them. Coupled with how long the handles are, I can’t get a good motion to clean to the shoulders. So I was stuck with my fixed dumbbells. One of the problems with the plateloaded handles. Having a whole rack of dumbbells would be nice but it would be unbelievably expensive and take up a ton of room in the garage. I’d probably only use them occasionally as well. So I was going to do the 70lbs again paired with the average band. Things actually felt pretty good. Little bit better with the shouldering of the dumbbells. Kind of surprised that I was able to stay pretty good for the last set and get that many reps. I don’t think I’ve tried more than 12 reps with 70lbs dumbbells before with and overhead so the fact I can do that with the z press is something. But also might be an indication that it is not so much an issue with my stability that it seems to put on most other people and that could be because of my levers working for me. Fatigue builds up a lot on the higher reps with the band face pulls. Ate dinner before putting stuff away and then stretched.

January 4, 2022 – Week 13, Day 2

Mobility Prep

Snatch Grip Deadlifts (straps)
155x3
245x3
335x3
425x1
475x1
525x1
525x1
525x1
475x3
475x3

Romanian Deadlifts (straps)
245x5
295x3
335x3
385x3
425x8
425x8
425x8

Paused Front Foot Elevated Split Squats (4”, floating heel, 3 seconds)
bwx3/3
65x12/12
65x12/12
65x12/12

Paused Cossack Squats (2 seconds)
bw+30x6/6
bw+30x6/6
bw+30x6/6

Weighted Planks/Single Leg Calf Raises (5-2-0-0 tempo)
bw+100 30 second – bwx8/8
bw+100 30 second – bwx8/8
bw+100 30 second – bwx6/6

Stretching
  
Comments: Really cold today but garage seemed to be able to keep most of that at bay. Mobility stuff was alright. Knees seemed to be tolerating things well today. Snatch grips again. This week I was to work  up in triples and then single to 10lbs more than last time for 3x1. Then take off 50lbs for 2x3. Considering how things went last time, shouldn’t be a problem. I figured that I’d do 90lbs jumps for the 3’s and then 50lbs jumps for the singles so that I got the groove but also didn’t fatigue too much. These felt really heavy today. I figured that I might have that a bit with these after doing pull-ups and going up a good bit on the Y raises. Not sure if it was just that though. Pushed through on these. Had to do these. But they felt a lot harder than last session. But this is technically a PR for a single and I’m doing it for 3 sets. Sometimes the rep days don’t translate to singles. And sometimes I can’t tap it to things perhaps when I know I got to do instant replay of it. Subconsciously maybe. First pull I could just feel my upper back and neck getting tense at lockout. Second set felt a lot better. Third set maybe I just overthought things but that was a tougher lift than it should’ve been. But no misses. Can’t have that. With how these were feeing, I knew the down sets were going to be tough, even though I’ve done more for this rep range. Tough but good. Glad I was done with that. Next thing was rdls. I was kind of expecting the axle pulls again but this is fine. Belt and straps allowed. Goal here was work up in 5’s and 3’s to 3x8 with 3RIR. I was thinking with the improvements I’ve seen on this that 425lbs would be just right. My PR is 12 reps with this weight from 2020 so that shouldn’t be an issue. I did consider going for 20lbs less with how tough the snatch grip stuff felt but figured I should try because I was able to do 375lbs without a belt and pauses for 12 reps last time I did rdls so even on an off day I should be good with a belt on. Warming up felt pretty good. I was looking at the sawhorses between sets to make sure it was still standing and ok to keep going haha. I was probably good for a little more to be honest with how these felt. But I didn’t want to overdo it since I haven’t gone over 435lbs on these really with a barbell with the particular intent. I could feel myself being worn out from the snatch grips (lower back) and now the rdls (glutes and hamstrings). So next up was the FFE split squats. Same as last week. Heel float and 3 seconds for 3x12. I was a little nervous with the knees and just doing these with balance. Knees weren’t really feeling that bad today. I needed very little warming up and mobility stuff to get going. 30 seconds rest between legs seems to be enough for them to recover from the support duty they do for the opposite side. These definitely put a different stress on things in the lower legs. I did catch that the knee over toe seems to be getting better with this style. Still wasn’t sure how the knees would feel doing the Cossack squats after that. I do these without the sleeves. This week was to be with 1-2ct pauses with whatever weight felt like RPE 7-7.5 so I went with the 30lbs. For warming up, just did Cossack stretching and holds to get the hamstrings and hips to loosen up. Those first two sets these felt great. Knee aches did pop up on the last set. That’s better than knee aches on every set. The abdominals and calf pairing was changed up again. So for the ab bracing exercise, it was weighted planks for 30 seconds. Went with the backpack with the straps low to try and get it lower. Pain in the ass to get it on with this much weight and get into position. I’ve done more but not without assistance getting the weight in place. I can definitely go heavier but this feels fine. For the calf raises, it was the single leg standing ones again with the 5 seconds negatives and 2 seconds stretch. I had done 3x13 last time these popped up by mistake as that felt about what the difficulty range should be. I couldn’t do that this week. My left leg I’m sure I could do it but it would be harder than it was. The right leg physically couldn’t. I think just the extra amount of work that I’m putting the calf muscles under with the floating heel on the FFEs is the cause of it. A little annoyed I couldn’t hit the numbers on something. Hit what I could with the right and then matched it with the left. Finished up cleaning stuff up before eating dinner and then stretching. Iced knees before bed.

January 3, 2022 – Week 13, Day 1

Band Face Pulls
abx12
abx12
abx12

12” Log Strict Presses
95x3
125x3
155x3
185x3
215x3
215x3
215x3
215x3
215x7

Paused Pull-ups (2 seconds)
bwx5
bwx5
bwx5
bwx5

Close Grip Bench Presses w/ bands
No Bands
45x3
Add Bands (+33lbs bottom/+57lbs top)
45x3
85x3
115x3
155x3
185x3
225x3
265x5
245x5
245x5
245x5

Chaos Band Push-ups (feet elevated 9”)
bw+40x12
bw+40x12
bw+40x12

Dumbbell Y Raises (high incline)
16’sx10
26’sx15
26’sx15

Single Arm Band Triceps Extensions
lb+µbx20/20
lb+µbx20/20

Stretching
  
Comments: Aches and pains seem to be less. Continuing with my recovery protocols, even when things feel find. Work getting stressful again. And it is now really getting cold now. Below freezing most of the time. I’ve trained in this before. But there never seems to be a gradual breaking in period of it. Quite a few changes for this workout from previous weeks. Starting things off with band face pulls with 3x12 which was the same. Indicated as warm-up so treating it as such. Strict press was still a thing but this week with log as opposed to barbell. Work up in triples to 215lbs and then do 4x3 EOMOM style. A fifth set was to be done AMRAP. I was hoping that I’d feel powerful on these today. So so really. I had back and forth balance issues on some reps. I need to adjust things a little next time so that I don’t feel “awkward” or “confined”. Goal with the AMRAP was 1-2RIR. First rep felt garbage but felt good. I was going to stop at 6 after the 5th rep felt tough but that rep felt the easiest so I went for another and I misgrooved that rep so that was slow. So definitely closer to 1RIR here. Might have pushed it. It is hard to gauge things on what I’ve done since 2016 and in the past as in the past I’d tend to be more “loose” with what was a “strict” press and I’d often rerack or have to take a breather to go again on my heavier stuff so can’t really say those were true rep set PRs really. But this was decent stuff. Pull-ups next. These were there for like a week or two before I fractured my elbow during the last cycle. The plan here was to do them neutral grip with 1-2ct holds for four sets of 1-2RIR. Give the feet elevated stuff a break since been doing that for many months at this point. I did attempt neutral grip but I don’t have enough clearance even with my legs tucked to do that with my setup and using the rings. So thumbless grip it was. I did elevate my rack 5” to get more clearance here. Little leery as there was some biceps tension last time I did these and it had been many years since I did them with most training being lat pulldowns.  These were tough but not as bad as I thought they’d be with the holds. I do need to figure out something to have it feel less jarring to go right into these at my bodyweight. Have to do these controlled to keep setup stable. My brachialis were sore from Saturday session and I could feel it on the log pressing so it was ultra fun on these haha. Close grip bench was up next. But with bands this time. It took a little bit of time to get the rack back to normal after elevating it for pull-ups. Then had to track down my luggage scale to test band setup. I figured micro bands doubled would be right considering that minis were like 85lbs a pair. I was to do these with 10-15% added in bands. Estimated 370lbs 1RM. Now with them being doubled, the band tension was consistent compared to the other setups I’ve done that tend to have a large drop off. Little under 10% on the chest and a little over 15% at lockout. So working that the whole time. Other than the right brachialis feeling tense, these felt pretty good. Work up in triples to a top set of 5 and then take a little off for 3x5. Feel like I’m getting pretty good with getting to the right difficulty range on most exercises. Went with the least amount of weight to drop off as I figured these would feel pretty speedy still for the down sets. Chaos band push-ups again. 3x10-12 with 2-3RIR. I was initially going to do 35lbs added in the backpack for these and do 3x12 but I decided to just do 40lbs because. I was having some slippage with the feet. Kind of surprised about that considering last time I did them I had less and it was raining haha. These definitely got tougher as I went but I still feel I kept to the parameters. Since I had less issues with weather and figuring out what I was doing, I had shorter rests compared to last week too. High incline dumbbell Y raises again. 2x15 this week. Seeing as how last week doing a warm-up set did a world of good, I decided to do that again. I decided to be bold and push these a bit. Go up 5lbs each side as opposed to smaller jumps. I felt it was too easy last time after the accumulation set. These were hard. Just feel the heat radiating off my back and shoulders on these. So might just need to stick here for a spell. But it is a new level on these. This is about 20lbs more per hand then what I was doing with these (on a variation) at the beginning. Last thing for the night being triceps with bands. It had been decently tough last time but I felt I could go a little harder still. Added micro to the light band. About at my limit here on the second set with getting the reps. But no rest pausing to get all the reps so that is something. Becoming enough band tension that I have to be careful it doesn’t lift my feet up sometimes haha. Put stuff away and ate pot roast but that wasn’t enough so I also ordered some late night chicken curry before stretching. Iced knees and right elbow before bed.

January 1, 2022 – Week 12, Day 4

Mobility Prep
 
Single Leg Squats to Box
bwx3/3 to 20”
bwx8/8 to 16”
bwx8/8 to 16”
bwx8/8 to 16”

Safety Squat Bar Box Squats (20” box) w/ bands (+60lbs bottom/+86lbs top)
65x3
115x3
155x3
205x3
245x3
295x3
335x3
385x3
435x4
375x4
375x4
375x4

One Arm Dumbbell Rows
40x5/5
70x5/5
100x10/10
130x10/10
152x10/10
Added Straps
152x17+3/17+3 (10 seconds rest pause)

Sandbag Shoulderings
205x1/1
225x1/1
250x0 L
250x1 R
250x1 L
250x1 R
250x1 L
250x1 R
250x1 L
250x1 R
225x6 R (75 seconds time limit)

Sandbag Roll-ups
306x14

Sorensen Holds
bw for 20 seconds
bw for 20 seconds
bw for 20 seconds

Quad Fallbacks
bwx12
bwx12

Stretching
  
Comments: Got to bed late. Partly because I slept in until almost noon the day before (catching up on sleep it seems) and partly because my neighbors kept setting off fireworks past midnight. They do it for 4th of July, I just don’t remember them doing it for New Year’s last year. Maybe it’s new neighbors? I can’t/won’t keep track haha. Even with a day off from work, I was super lazy. I was taking a chance that gas station would be open on New Year’s as I didn’t get any during the week. Just been rainy and gray so far. Driving out to the gym wasn’t bad. Unlike Christmas, I wasn’t the first one out there. A lot more people in the gym. Mobility stuff felt good. I was worried about the knees acting up but I figured that last week’s stuff for this day was harder and they felt similar and survived that so I should be good. I did make a mistake with the mobility stuff in that the variation I was to do was different from last week for the b-stance rdls. However, the rotation and balance aspect of the one I did seemed to get my knees and lower legs to wake up a bit. So maybe a good thing. Starting things off with single leg squats to box. 3x8 and same difficulty. Well not right away. I’m sticking to 16” as the lowest at this point. Below parallel box for me. Did two sets of band TKEs to get knees happy. However, I felt that this wasn’t enough. It’s a different movement and the motion seems to be the issue here. And moving my +280lbs body isn’t exactly easy work on one leg. So my thinking to warm up appropriately here was to do the movement with assistance. Using rack or other things to take some of my weight away and do the motion. Not sure exactly how many reps I did but it wasn’t a lot and things started to feel good. Then did some reps without to higher box then did more to the box I was planning to use before getting to work. This effort did seem to get the discomfort to the tolerable levels desired here. SSB box squats with bands to high box again. Plan here was work up in triples to 10lbs more than two weeks ago for a set of 4 and then drop down for 3x4 with 60lbs less. This ended up being a time suck unfortunately. Now the gym has several pairs of “light bands” but I’ve found that only one set of them are the tension I need them to be (one single band is a lot heavier) and the other bands are too light. It appears one band is missing (not sure if it is the one I need) and the other two (possibly) were being used by someone to have better traction on the bench for bench pressing. I don’t get it if you are training for bench for powerlifting why you’d do that if they aren’t going to let you use it in a meet. So I had to figure a different combination out as the other bands were like 20lbs less tension at top and bottom. Ended up using two mini bands each side (that were new) and it really shows how old and worn the light bands are that they were more tension. Minor knee issues on these and I was feeling pretty good for top set. But damn, that top set weight felt heavy. This may very well have been like 1RIR (maybe 2RIR if things were super ugly, which it was going to be). Down sets were odd in that some reps were super easy and others felt like oh shit moments. Still manageable. Next was one arm dumbbell rows. I was told this was to be a break from arm-over-arm. It isn’t an event that I need a ton of focus on. I’ve never done worse than 2nd in competition (granted only done it twice in comp) or lost when “competing” against others in training. It’s a work event and until more details indicated on how the setup is going to be, not much to really bench mark on other than working it different ways (light and heavy). So for the rows, I was to do sets of 10 for my working sets and work up in intensity. Now that I wasn’t so sure on as one thing said RPE 6,7,8 and the other RPE 7,8,9. Then max reps on the last set with 1 rest pause set with straps. I did bring my longer dumbbell handle to the gym as I wasn’t too sure what was there. From reading the log, it seemed like the idea was to get a good ROM on these to treat it like reach and pull for the am-over-arm. So I figured for this session to try and make the dumbbell smaller diameter and load it up with 10lbs plates. That came out to 152lbs and depending on how things felt, it should be RPE 8. As far as working up, there were a lot of dumbbells up until 100lbs. After that there was only 125lbs (with thick grips) and then 130lbs. So big jumps really as I didn’t think that 125lbs with thick grips would be easier than 130lbs with normal grips, even with my mitts. So 100lbs was quite easy. But also keeping track of things with the arms. I realized that it was probably a good idea to wear the compression cuffs for the arms with “posting up” on the bench. 130lbs felt like a decent increase and actually had me worried that maybe 152lbs was going to be too much. I wasn’t too sure which side was my “stronger side” at the start of things either. It would appear my right is stronger on these. Anyways, the 152lbs dumbbell for that arm felt easier than 130lbs. But it was tougher on the left side. Rested a good bit and got straps on to do max rep set. Started off feeling harder than the set before without straps. 10 seconds rest and back at it for 3 more reps so 20 total. Had to match that with the left. So while the right is stronger, it would appear that my left has better endurance as 17 reps wasn’t my limit there and neither was going for 3 more reps to get 20 total on that side. Sandbag shouldering was next. I got my “wish” to do the 250lbs bag for the workout. I really wanted to see how this one felt. Plan was to do 250lbs for alternating EMOM of 6 total singles and then drop down to the 225lbs sandbag and do AMRAP with 75 seconds. Warm up reps with 205lbs and 225lbs felt easy. I wanted to do the 250lbs sandbag as with some implements, it is not just the weight change. Can change the whole dynamic. This sandbag is long but packed tight and it is the lightest of the three sandbags for the series. Those sandbags are also different from each other so it is almost like a soft natural stone to shoulder event really with how different each sandbag is. I’ve had a lot of experience picking up the sandbags (not so much the 275lbs) and moving with them. But never shouldering them. So I figured that before I dive into the EMOM, I give these a shot to see what I was in for. Holy crap. This is going to suck. I missed getting it to the shoulder on my left side that first attempt. Moved on from there as I knew that it was more of a commit to it thing and save that for when it mattered. I got a feel for it and it was terrible. I did make sure I got for a single with my right side before going in. AC/DC Thunderstruck started playing and I knew I had to get all these reps done. No easy reps here. From what I gathered, my grip to go to the left shoulder is more efficient but I’m not as stronger there whereas my grip to the right shoulder is not as good (and slower) but I’m stronger. That top end portion from lap to shoulder is the tough part and where I struggle. After things were serious, I had no misses. 225lbs sandbag for an AMRAP I was not thrilled doing that. No alternating, just the shoulder that is the one I’m probably going to use for the show. This is not an easy motion and it is a power drain. Goal was no missed reps and take my time. I set a timer but didn’t have anyone calling out times. It wasn’t that kind of thing. Also resetting the bag upright before each attempt to get it like a series as opposed to just doing rep after rep. About the pace I was expecting here. I was gassed at the end. Last half of it wasn’t efficient and I was muscling things up. This needs to improve. Sandbag roll-ups next. Didn’t overlook them this time haha. This week it was just max reps with the 306lbs bag for 1 set with 1-2RIR. No warm-up really needed here. Got good purchase and did a good bit of reps. This portion of the “lift” is easy for me, even at this weight. It’s the picking up and the shouldering parts that are the tough parts of the movement. Glutes were on fire after these. Sorensen holds next for 3x20 seconds. So 5 more tortuous seconds each set from last time. I at least knew how much suck to expect this time around. I hadn’t expected any last time and this time I knew it was going to be a lot. Toughed it out for those last few seconds each set. Last item for the session being the usual quad fallbacks. 2x12 as has been the case. These were needed I think today for the knees. My glutes and hips were really tight from the sandbag stuff. I did notice that the issue with my left lower leg wasn’t nearly as present as it has been getting into position for these. So that is something. But still a long way off from being in the spot where I feel I could do those exercises that caused the issue still. But stuff seems to be good.