December 19, 2022 – Week 9, Day 1

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses (2 stage 3 second pauses)
38x2/2
58x2/2
80x2/2
EMOM
100x2 R
100x2 L
100x2 R
100x2 L
100x2 R
100x2 L
100x2 R
100x2 L
100x2 R
100x2 L

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Presses (back support)
40’sx5
70’sx3
90’sx8
90’sx8

Band Assisted Pull Ups (pin 20)
sbx12
sbx12

Lying Dumbbell Triceps Extensions
10’sx8
40’sx15
40’sx15
40’sx15

Paused Dumbbell Side Bends (5 seconds, staggered stance)
40x3/3
80x12/12
80x12/12

Stretching
 
Comments: Some mixed feelings/emotions. But stress all around. Body don’t care if it it’s positive or negative, stress is stress. Sum total. The negative side would be that a well known member in the strongman community for the women took her life this week. A somber realization. I’m conflicted with the actions being taken behind the scenes as I feel those being most vocal are hypocritical from what I’ve seen just from past actions. Known issues, not changing. Myself, self-conscious of the bursitis in the elbow. Sometimes thinking there is “pain” when there isn’t. It’s definitely back to puffy level it was when I got back from Nationals and went to get it drained but without the pain. Worries about trying to get it taken care of during holidays. I can wait. As far as the positives, family I’ve not seen fairly recently in person visiting for the holidays. I know that it stresses me but I wish to make the effort to be around people I enjoy. And then there does appear to be people showing interest in the PA Dutch show. Two potentials and one person signed up (who is really good at stones) so there is some renewed trepidation and excitement with that as well as continued introduction of event work and contest specific information. I’ve readjusted my plans as far as when to call of Arnold if not timely enough. Considering my off season has been a little longer to recoup and that there are event similarity and the events are good for me, I’ll hold until New Year’s to completely dismiss it. Good news for me was that my neck has mostly calmed down by this point. This would be the first below freezing training session of this winter. Circus dumbbell with the pauses again but dropping to 5x2 instead of 5x3. I did deviate here. I had been expecting it to be another 10-15lbs jump but then it ended up being 5-10lbs with reduction in volume and indication that switching to alternating pause and regular circus dumbbell. So I went up 17lbs to get to a nice 100lbs for these. Even with it being cold and wearing the warm-ups, these didn’t feel bad. Even with my right wrist feeling a little achy and tender. Right side still lags behind and left side feels almost automatic. I was feeling good and wanted to keep the pace going so I just did these almost EMOM style (I say that as I didn’t actually use my timer but these were like less than 40 seconds rest) rather than the suggested rest. And no support gear here either. Into the garage for more shoulder work with the seated presses with dumbbells. Out of the cold for a bit. This time being plan of 5lbs more for 2x8 and report back RIR. This weight is technically an 8rm from after 2016 reboot. I was debating wrist wraps on these this time decided to stick to what I’ve been doing for consistency. I was initially not sure what to do with the jumps and thinking different things and then I just thought “screw it” and just do the 40’s and 70’s and then the plateloaded for the top set. I’m noticing shoulders and biceps are less achy each week. I don’t think I noticed it at all this week and probably the same last week. Kind of wish I had better solid dumbbell selection and more weight I guess for the dumbbells. Other than getting them into position, these feel quite good. Next bench mark I have is 100’s for 5 reps. So really anything more than 5 reps with anything over 90lbs is a PR (not sure if lifetime but probably). Back outside again for band assisted pull-ups. Same as last week with the plan being 2x8-12 with 2-3RIR worked. I had options such as same band assistance and add in slight holds or something or decrease the band tension assistance to keep it at the same effort. Indication is that next week will be more volume (pullovers dropped). I went with lowering the bands a pin height as that felt like it would be sufficient to increase the difficulty with how I’ve been trying to keep the reps controlled. First set was fine, it was definitely getting close to the fatigue limits on the second one. I do like how these band assisted ones how they’ve been setup as well as focusing on the control have felt good. Lying dumbbell extensions after that. Same as last week with 3x10-15 with 3-4RIR. I managed to get 3x15 this week with the 40’s sticking to the rest periods. There were some elbow aches but not really any shoulder aches. The increased reps could also be from not having to do the pullovers this week that could have been fatiguing my triceps as I’ve mentioned. Then to end things was the paused side bend with staggered stance. Same plan of 2x8-12 with 3-5ct holds (of course going for the top end reps and holds) and knowing how taxing this ended up being on my grip I stuck with 80lbs for both sets rather than trying to go up to my next dumbbell (95lbs) or makeshift a dumbbell weight. These are interesting for the purposes of balance and mobility as well as the extended grip hold work as the sets generally take about 90 seconds. Put stuff away and stretched out while waiting for dishwasher to finish up and then made dinner. Didn’t feel the need to ice knees today.

December 17, 2022 – Week 8, Day 4

Hip Airplanes (0-10-0-10 tempo)
bwx5/5
bwx5/5
bwx5/5

Safety Squat Bar Squats (beltless)
65x10
115x8
155x6
205x4
245x2
295x8
302x8
309x8
315x8

One Leg Deadlifts
65x3/3
105x3/3
145x3/3
175x3/3
205x8/8
205x8/8

Sandbag Roll-ups Off Box (18”)
112x3
112x3
175x3
175x3
225x12
225x12

Stretching
 
Comments: I was not eager to start the day. I was anxious about half of the exercises planned for this session. Because I knew they’d probably be difficult. And not in like “this is heavy” but needing to grit through it. And considering how rough the previous week’s effort on the weekend was as well. Fatigue makes cowards of us all. But I needed to keep going. It sounds like training at the strongman gym is probably going to be after the holidays. I do wonder why this off season seems so different from the previous one in that there is a lot less volume on things but not necessarily less intensity on what is provided. Perhaps I was just that beat up from the previous competition season. I need to see some kind of progress to remain satisfied enough. Even if it is the slowest progress. No progress or regression are unacceptable. I just have this feeling in my bones that I still have things left undone that I can do and need to do. Any ways, it was eventually time to train. Neck not quite 100% yet but again, still seeming to improve with less stuff needed to calm it down. First thing was hip airplanes and how they’ve been for a good bit now. I think they are helpful but I think 2 sets feels like sufficient to get things feeling good and warmed. Becomes like a 20 minutes mobility session before training with how long each set takes with the 10/10 second holds each rep. Another week of no balance issues. Then it was time for the first of the exercises that had me feeling queasy; beltless ssb squats. Plan was 295-315x4x8 and report back RIR on that last set. I was dreading doing even 295lbs with how much fatigue I had felt last week with just 275lbs. The feeling on the week prior with doing up to 260lbs had felt good. Legs had been fatigued last week hard and it made things quite challenging. I think another part of it is that squats don’t seem to come easy to me. The motion requires a lot more energy then say something like a deadlift or press when done for higher reps. And I seem to get a good bit out of a belt. Which has been why focusing on no belt for the time being to build up my bracing. So I did the same warming up as last week and I could tell I had less DOMS in the legs. To be expected with adapting to the split squats done Hatfield style. First work set would kind of dictate the day for me. Struggle bus or would I feel comfortable pushing things? The double beforehand didn’t quite give me confidence and my legs were already starting to feel toasty. But 295lbs went better than expected and I decided that I’d try to go up 5lbs at set. But then talked myself into doing odd jumps that would get me to doing 315lbs on the last set. Which could be a risk depending on fatigue. Second set didn’t feel so bad considering but fatigue in my legs was definitely building after that and third set was taking a bit more to get done (having to take a moment at the top of a rep rather than just going). But I had committed to doing 315lbs for that last set. Core was getting to limits at this point as far as holding the brace for the last two reps. Right side oblique was feeling a little sore (muscle soreness) after that set. Could’ve grinded out some more reps. So satisfied considering how worried I had been about this session with the squats. Knees, legs and back seemed to be fine. Getting close to my numbers on the ssb at the strongman gym beltless so that is a good sign I think. I do need to keep working on the gym strength numbers so that the event work doesn’t take as much out of me. There are people I’ve competed against that are doing 150lbs more than what I’m doing. But I’ve also beaten some of them recently. Which shows how much skill I have and that I wring out every last bit of myself into what I do with what I have. And why I’m taking a few weeks to get back to training and I can see them back to hard training the next week and hitting PRs. So the squats were the first thing that was stressing me out and I had a little bit of a break before the next one. Single leg deadlifts again. Same as last week but 2x8 and RPE 7-8 range. So suggested was 195-205lbs. I wanted to do 205lbs or more. But it depended on how things felt. Core was a bit beat from the beltless squats and had already been a bit worked over from beltless rdls earlier in the week. I generally improve on balance related exercises strength wise faster than balance wise. The difficulty last week had been more with stability and efficiency.  Triples working up again. I stuck to doing the left side first. Knees a little stiff from squats and right side a little tender but not as much this time around. First set I got set and went and I was surprised how well it was feeling for me. At least for the first 6 reps. Then it got difficult for those last 2 reps. Rest periods were up to me to ensure quality. But I kind of wanted to go like I’ve been doing with pacing for like 90 seconds and doing the next set. Which side wants to cooperate seems to be inconsistent for me. Right side struggled that first set. I know that generally the first rep is a tough one for both sides (more so the right). If this wasn’t a balance focused exercise, I’d not have kept going. With how that set went, I was thinking I may need to drop the weight down for that side for the last set. Then I had the left side acting similar (but not as bad) that second set. I took a longer rest after that but was worried that I’d like get only 2 reps or something. But then I come and make it the easiest set of the day. I don’t get it. But I guess this one is a bit more dependent on the rest compared to doing the block/rack pulls with tempo. I’m using more weight but not having my grip fatigue at all. Only thing left for the workout was sandbag. But just one exercise this time. I wanted to take my time getting ready for this because I felt this would be really fatiguing and with how core focused everything was today, I didn’t really have the chance to put down many fluids for fear of it coming back up. I inadvertently got more rest when my shoelace broke and had to replace it. But it was sandbag time with a new exercise for me. Something I’ve seen that I’ve kind of felt was gimmicky, or I guess I should say seems like one more with how it has been used and seeing people using bands on the hips. Too much. Often seen done by people already strong in the motion (and it not being something done to build) and then other people copying it. But now I had to do it. So it is essentially doing a box squat with an odd object and then standing up and doing an extension with it. I’ve not done these before. Plan was to warm up as needed and do 200-250lx2x12. The high reps after all those squats. And just how awful my 225lbs sandbag had felt last week. My choices of sandbag were sparse at home unless I decided to make a new one that was about 265lbs (but plan was to bring that to the gym to replace a burst bag). And since doing like 50lbs or more jumps with what I had, I ended up doing repeat sets of triples. One I needed to see how things felt with lapping and then sitting down and then gauge how fatigue would feel as I went. Fatigue was the thing of concern as I’ve done decent weight for decent reps when just doing extensions from the lap. Balance is a bit different. And I know that if I go to triple extension on toes, that is trickier and probably not wise to do that this time. I was planning on doing longer rests on these but So Many Tears by 2Pac came on and I decided I’d do both work sets with shorter rest to get it all done during the song. Just thinking about the people I’ve competed with that are no longer with us. Didn’t achieve everything they wanted. And I still have the blessing of having that opportunity still. As far as exercise goes, I can see value in building exercise but pick is probably going to be limiter. A way to get work done and time under tension without the constant lower back fatigue or repicking for say doing a load or even with having to balance in the lap if doing them like that way. So I see value, especially at this phase. So put stuff away but not quite done for the day. My parents have a deck that is partially finished and wanted some of the furniture on there and out of the garage so that was a little bit of a cooldown for me. Got home and stretched and iced the knees with plans to ice again before bed. Not trying to do any anti-inflammatories tonight.

December 16, 2022 – Week 8, Day 3

Swiss Bar Incline Bench Presses
45x10
75x5
105x5
135x3
165x3
195x6
210x6
225x5
203x6

Dead Stop One Arm Dumbbell Rows (knee on bench)
64x5/5
89x5/5
116x5/5
144x10/10
156x10/10
166x10/10

Dumbbell Floor Presses w/ bands (2 second eccentrics)
40’s+lbx20
40’s+abx20
40’s+abx20
40’s+abx20

Band Y Raises to Overhead Presses (3 second holds)
µb’sx11 (miscounted)
µb’sx10
µb’sx10

Dumbbell Zottman Curls (5 second eccentrics)
30’sx10
30’sx10
30’sx10

Stretching
 
Comments: Thursday was odd. First time this season with potential chance of snow but I knew it wouldn’t materialize beyond ice/sleet and melt. It has felt like the temperatures have just shifted ahead too much from where they were when I was younger to be consistent with expectations now. That’s not to say that places further north didn’t get the expected snow. It just meant that it was way too slick outside to risk going for a walk so I didn’t. Needed to catch up on work anyways. Also had dentist and that was odd in that I got a glowing review of my chompers from the visiting dentist covering for the usual dentist. I was leery as last time someone other than the usual was there, they tried to schedule me for 3 “exploratory” drillings in my teeth. This guy was way too jovial. Said I had the best set of teeth he’s seen all week. Blush. Anyways, Friday comes and still got a stiff neck. It is getting better each day, surely but slowly, so can’t be too miffed about that. Only taking Aleve at this point before bed just to make sure that I don’t have my neck too sore and prevent me from sleeping to recover. Less things the day before so was able to do soft tissue work. But I do need to keep in mind that as I get older, recovery is slower. I still got contact bruises from Monday with the circus dumbbell. Swiss bar incline bench again. So these had been great leading up to last week when removing tempo and adding weight reminded me why I find pushing weight on incline pressing is frustrating. Because it is. It feels disjointed in where one set of things stops and the other picks up. I generally don’t have this issue with log but definitely so on other variations it would seem. Or this is just what is the case as I get older. I’m definitely self conscious of what I feel is a weakness in my strongman game in overhead. It was my lowest placing thing at Nationals and had been a reason I didn’t place higher during the year. Or in the past really in most cases. Thinking that with how these were feeling that this was coming back to good vibes. But last week these were harder than I would’ve liked. I really would’ve liked these to be 225lbs for the planned reps and sets last week but it wasn’t to be. 195lbs felt a ton heavier. Anyways, the plan for this week was 3x6 and aim to have that last set be 2-3RIR, a linear periodization. My plan was to do 195lbs and do jumps based off how it felt. If feeling amazing 15lbs jumps but more realistically 5lbs – 10lbs jumps. Again, these are tricky as warming up it feels great. I was really tempted to do 225lbs with how 165lbs felt but then I went to do 195lbs for a single (against what was written as supposed to do triples) and the unrack felt damn heavy so put it back and went back to what I was thinking initially. 195lbs was decent. Felt smoother I feel compared to last week first set. I was also dealing with the left side being tight and my right wrist aching from the thick grip shrug work. I was going to do 10lbs jumps but then that voice in my head kept egging me on. Do more, you need to be way stronger. So I added 15lbs instead. This was still in the realm of acceptable for this. But as I seem to always do with pressing (incline, axle, benching) I went too much. I had no business doing 225lbs but I had told myself if I believed it I could do it. I got 5 reps and just couldn’t get through the sticking point on the 6th rep and had to bail. Which wasn’t fun as I didn’t have the pins really set high enough to be there to spot. I didn’t want to end it there on a bad note so I reset everything and did a set of 6 with the weight somewhat between the top successful weight and the first set. That seemed fine. If I had stuck to 10lbs jumps, this wouldn’t have been a thing. I keep doing this with pressing. I get frustrated and feel I’m not where I need to be and I find it intolerable. I did this with incline in prep for Battle at the Bridge and that didn’t turn out well for me. Angry that I did this again with missing a rep. I need to be better. Better at managing these thoughts as well as being better. Being frustrated with how things are shaping up as far as competitions for next year and just how I’m feeling like I’m at a deficit to my competition isn’t helping matters here. And that the workouts will not be getting easier. Moving on. Into the garage. One arm rows again. Change up in variation. The style of using a bench to prop up the knee. I guess I should be differentiating these variations better.  Dead stop on the floor each rep. Indication was to build and then potentially swap in arm over arm (if Arnold but seeming less likely every day). Plan being 3x10 at RPE 7. I wasn’t sure how these would feel and I was feeling a bit miffed with pressing. I did more reps than usually do working up just to see how fatigue felt and I feel that I lowballed things here as my first set was way too easy still. I had thought about doing the handle plus 3 sets of 25’s but I was worried it would be too much after doing a top set with about that weight on the other variation last week. But turns out that was probably what I should’ve done. The alleviated some of the sting of how disappointed I was in the swiss bar pressing (again, a training lift and not even an event). I will need to get a bit creative to fit more weight on here securely going forward. Then the floor pressing with dumbbells again. But not quite. Drew decided to have me do these with less weight and using bands to make up the difference with the hope these would be more challenging but easier to get into position. I was thinking that it would be harder just with the bands restricting movement but I guess the weight was light enough that it worked out. I had done the first set with a light band around my back as I thought it would be challenging enough. The band shifted as I did the first rep and laid down so it was less than expected. Still, I did 20 reps just to see how fatigue built and I still decided it wasn’t enough to meet the criteria of 3x15-20 with 3RIR. So I increased the band tension and just treated that first set as an extended warm up. Lockout gets tricky on these with the fatigue building. And it is not just the triceps but my anterior deltoids that get fried as well. I miscounted the first hard set and stopped when I realized I was going for a 21st rep. I counted right the other two sets. I will need to increase the dumbbells slightly for next time but this band tension is good. Y raises into press outside. Same as last week. This week I was feeling a lot more fatigue. Could be from having my neck tight and having to do a lot of soft tissue work to get things to feel comfortable or that the pressing from today and this week cumulatively was harder. It also didn’t help that I miscounted that first set. These also perhaps were feeling tougher in that I was doing the form that felt tougher right from the start rather than discovering it halfway through the second set. By this point, pretty much everything spanning from fingertip to fingertip and from neck to below shoulder blades front and back were fatigued. And I still had the zottman’s with the added eccentrics for 3x10. Indication was another week of these and either dropping them for something else or reduction in volume to maintain for elbow health. I decided to go up 2lbs more. Negligible difference in weight but thinking that I could push these a little more and still try and improve. I guess the name of the game for me. Nickel and dime increases. Fatigue was high and it was definitely challenging keeping to these rest periods. Last time, it was the last set that I was gassed on after solid first and somewhat solid second set. Looking to repeat that it would seem. This time, it wasn’t until the last two reps of that set that I was having trouble controlling the eccentric. But it was both sides this time vs just the right. Seems to be tied to shoulder fatigue as well. Put stuff away and ate Indian food for dinner before stretching. No icing as taking Aleve. Took a bit to get myself to want to sleep. Nervous for the workout tomorrow because of how tough this stuff felt last week.

December 14, 2022 – Week 8, Day 2

Romanian Deadlifts (beltless, straps, 3-1-X-0 tempo)
135x3
225x3
295x3
365x3
440x8
390x8

Hatfield Bulgarian FFE Split Squats (2”, 5 second eccentrics)
65x3/3
95x3/3
125x3/3
155x8/8
155x8/8
155x8/8

Paused Chest Supported Barbell Rows (4 seconds, straps)
135x3
170x3
205x8
160x9

Titan Fitness Frame Shrugs (Fat Gripz Extremes)
115x1
167x1
220x38 (45 seconds)

Single Leg Seated Band Hamstring Curls
sbx30/30
sbx30/30

Stretching
 
Comments: Been thinking how that I’m doing the stuff I’m not good at right now, which can kind of cloud how I actually am in a competitive setting. Know the stuff I’m doing is generally stuff that needs the most work. Most cases the stuff I’m good at that requires little technique I’m back at it or better than ever just doing it (like grip stuff). Have to remind myself that it sometimes takes a few sessions back to feel good with loading exercises. Need to be faster but also need to be stronger with gym stuff as that will make the hard parts of events less taxing. That is what I had planned to be thinking on but then I woke up and my neck was stiff and not feeling good. Crick in it on the usual left side being the culprit. I know from past experience that it will take a day or two for it to finally calm down enough to get things back to whatever it needs to be and that I can train without being hampered with my neck like this. But it isn’t pleasant. I did soft tissue work (manual massage, device and foam rolling) as well as Icy Hot and taking Ibuprofen and Aleve. It just didn’t make for a relaxing day of work leading up to training. Session starting off the same with tempo rdls again. Well not exactly the same. Tempo indicated allowing to adjust to 2-3ct for the eccentric and being explosive on the concentric rather than controlled. This was to be the last week of this variation and then doing some kind of floor pulling (probably side handle). Plan was top set of 8-10 with 1-2RIR and then if feeling up to it take 10-12.5% off that weight for a set of 8 reps. For this variation, been sticking to beltless so figured I’d finish it out like that. Initial plan had been to do 425lbs and aim for 10 reps but I guess with the neck feeling how it was and being a little doubtful in my abilities being as a top amateur strongman, I went heavier. Most weight I’ve done on rdls of any variation since 2016 reboot is 435lbs and I did that for 11 reps. With belt, no tempo. I figured I’d go for 440lbs to push things. So with that change, I altered the jumps working up (was going to do 50lbs and switched to 70lbs). 365lbs felt a little heavier than I would’ve liked but I haven’t done that weight as a warm up set so far. I started to lose my brace on that top set near the end of it and called it on that last rep. Lower body was still good for more but not my core without a belt. But this is a 55lbs increase in beltless work for rdls since training with Drew. Took a bit of rest and went with 390lbs for the down set. This was fairly comfortable considering. I will miss the rdls as we switch over. Then on to the hatfields. The front foot elevated Bulgarian split squat hatfields. Goal was 3x8 at slightly higher RPE with suggested being 145-155lbs. With mores set but lower reps with the 5 second eccentrics, I should be good with the increased weight. Some hesitation just from how wrecked I my legs had felt after all those squats on Saturday. Knees weren’t feeling too bad but that could also be from all the anti-inflammatories I was taking to combat the neck pain. Sometimes the ssb on my back didn’t feel great on the neck if it wasn’t on just right. But the pressure, sweat and heat was reactivating the Icy Hot so it was also helping. Fatigue had been high by the end of the sets last week which was why I felt that 155lbs might be about it. Left side seemed to get crisper as I went and while seeming to be easier on the right side, it was fatiguing harder. I’ve not really had the chance to do these more than like one week at a time so if these continue, I’m curious to what I can work up to as I start to feel more comfortable with them. Barely needed any warming up compared to say the knees over toes FFE stuff earlier this cycle. Rows up again. Chest supported barbell rows again but with 3-4 second holds. App had 3x6 but the text indicated to a top set of 6-8 (1RIR) and then a down set of 8-10 2-3RIR. With how long the holds are, it was going to be less the ability to row the weight and more being able to hold it after fatigue over the set. I had went with 205lbs with the thought that 6 reps could be the limit here and then because of how hard that fatigue would hit going about 50lbs less for the down set to ensure getting the reps and leaving RIR. So I was kind of shocked that I got to 6 easy enough and then got a 7th and felt I was too close to stop there and went for the 8th. That was definitely the limit similar to the rdls without a belt. I went up slightly on the down set as even if it felt easy to row, I was going to probably fatigue hard just from the effort and focus of this set and it not being that big a deal. So I stopped at 9 rather than try and push for the 10th. Grip work again. Alternating with the one arm hangs with these thick grip frame shrugs. Plan was just one set of like 25-50 reps (or 45 seconds of work). I was also going to try and do more of a row/high pull with it with the arms as suggested by Drew when I showed him video last time. I was not sure how these would go with adding 15lbs more than what I did last time for 2x30 seconds. I did 50lbs-ish jumps and those felt solid. These felt better compared to last time. Left hand ended up being the one that was slipping on me near the end. I ended up putting it down early to regrip so that I could finish up and got two more reps before setting down when the 45 seconds were up. So yeah, not really concerned with my grip at the moment. Last thing was just the band hamstrings. Next week changing with the deadlift switch to something else. I was kind of glad no sled dragging after this with it being really cold and potential snow tomorrow. Same setup I’ve been doing with the bands for 2x30. Lower body was feeling the rdls and hatfields on top of these leg curls. Put stuff away and stretched before eating dinner. No icing as I was taking a good bit of anti-inflammatories. Hopefully the neck calms down fully tomorrow so not as miserable.

December 12, 2022 – Week 8, Day 1

Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses (2 stage 3 second pauses)
31x3/3
58x3/3
83x3/3
83x3/3
83x3/3
83x3/3
83x3/3

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Presses (back support)
40’sx5
57’sx4
70’sx3
85’sx10
85’sx10

Band Assisted Pull Ups (pin 19)
sbx12
sbx12

Dumbbell Pullovers (3-3-1-0 tempo)
40x3
40x3
70x8

Lying Dumbbell Triceps Extensions
10’sx10
40’sx15
40’sx12
40’sx13

Paused Dumbbell Side Bends (5 seconds, staggered stance)
40x3/3
70x12/12
80x12/12

Stretching
 
Comments: Feeling a bit worn. Stuff is hard but I know it isn’t supposed to be easy. It doesn’t say comfortable or easy. But always feel like got some more time before it becomes difficult rather than all of a sudden. Last week was a rough one for training just going from stuff feeling decent to stuff feeling difficult in the form of incline pressing and squatting for the more gym work. Sandbag was a bit rougher than I would’ve like it to be. Could be just fatigue in my legs from the increasing work. Annoyed that no one else is signing up for the shows I’m doing at this point (so again, kind of hoping for Arnold so I know I have something). I don’t see the point in doing a show with less than 3 people as no Nats invite. Seems I picked the wrong show for that month that a number of people will do as one in Ohio two weeks later is sold out (but I didn’t care for the events). But thinking about how younger guys are able to come back real quick. Not just that I’m older but that I’ve been doing this like 10yrs longer than everyone else still doing this. But feeling worn in that my neck and shoulders feeling tight. Despite doing a good bit of soft tissue work on my body Sunday after icing knees twice Saturday. This week is again offseason with what appears to be the plan is to wait until either after Christmas or New Year’s before doing stuff requiring the strongman gym (equipment and intensity). Circus dumbbell had me a little nervous just because of how my shoulders and neck were feeling. Indication was pauses for another week. 5x3 still and suggested 10-15lbs increase. I decided to go with 15lbs. More weight on the dumbbell meant that I could mess around with placement to make the plateloaded handle be more like how a circus dumbbell feels. And every time I make adjustments, it changes the form a little bit on how I need to rack the dumbbell. But finally enough to get it to be feeling like a circus dumbbell. Definitely noticeable on the right side in my obliques with having to position things. Both sides had a little issue with the position the first rep or so but then evened out after that. Left side my biceps cramped a little on that first set. Guess still feeling them from last week. I’m starting to feel more confident with this as far as the pressing and racking. Still got loads to work on. Took shorter rests between sides (less than 40 seconds) but took about 75 seconds between sets. Into the garage for more shoulder work with the seated presses with dumbbells. This time being plan of 5lbs more for 2x10 and report back RIR. Took a little more figuring out to get the dumbbells right for the top set. I felt it was best to do more sets working up. That seemed to help. Shoulder aches didn’t seem to be present this week. Maybe finally getting resolved or my shoulders were too bruised from the circus bell to notice. These dumbbells feel massive but pressing seems to be quite strong. I don’t recall pressing this weight for this kind of reps. First set the shouldering felt easier but reps felt a little tougher. Second set the shouldering was not as crisp but reps felt stronger. I can still go up in weight with these funky loaded dumbbells before having to put 25’s on both sides (I think just shy of 100lbs). Back outside again for band assisted pull-ups. No tempo this week (but advised to not let myself “drop” on the eccentric) and adjust band help so that 2x8-12 with 2-3RIR worked. So figured I’d drop the band down to the lowest pin setting I’ve done so far and see if that worked out. I’ve done 10 reps on this setting but not sure on the RIR for that. And I’d have more control on these compared to then as working to get that full ROM. Managed to do 2x12 on these. Felt good. Back into the garage for the rest of the workout with dumbbells. Pullovers with tempo again and again the idea to be a top set of 8-12 with 2-3RIR. Advised this is the last week of these. I figured I’d go big so as not to deal with plates and such for the rest of the workout and just use the solid dumbbells. So that would be a big jump so did 40’s for 2x3 to warm up. Plan was just to hit 8 with 70lbs. That was close. Again, the right triceps feels like it wants to cramp up on these. Lying dumbbell extensions after that. Same as last week with 3x10-15 with 3-4RIR. Advice being that 40’s is fine to stick with if solid dumbbells for these with my levers. My hope here was that they’d feel better this week compared to last. I did a set with the 10’s to warm things up. Maybe that helped. These did feel better this time. Less aches. I was kind of surprised I got 15 that first set as I was really just aiming for 3x12. I was able to stick to the shorter side of the rests here. Reps went down the other sets sticking to the RIR plan. I’m just glad that the aches and such from last week weren’t as present. Then to end things was the paused side bend with staggered stance. Added thing was that reps decreased (10-12), holds increased (3-5ct) and RPE increased (7.5-8 RPE). I was contemplating doing 80lbs for both sets but with the increased hold time, I felt it was best to do 70lbs again to see as 40lbs was feeling more challenging compared to how it was last week with the longer holds. 70lbs was too easy so went up to 80lbs. That was challenging but more so in that grip was getting taxed as it was over 90 seconds for these sets. Put stuff away and ate dinner before stretching out.

December 10, 2022 – Week 7, Day 4

Hip Airplanes (0-10-0-10 tempo)
bwx5/5
bwx5/5
bwx5/5

Safety Squat Bar Squats (beltless)
65x10
115x8
155x6
205x4
245x2
275x10
275x10
275x10

One Leg Deadlifts
65x3/3
105x3/3
145x3/3
185x6/6
185x6/6
200x6/6

Sandbag Load Over Bar (58.5”)
175x2
175x2
225x1
225x1
EMOM
225x2
225x2
225x2
225x2
225x2

Sandbag Bear Hug Carries (turns at 50’)
225x100’
225x100’

Stretching
 
Comments: I was feeling sore and tired. Had already decided I wanted to prioritize sleep and not worry about having to go out to train anywhere today the day before. This was the first workout on the weekend that could potentially justify the drive but only barely. It will depend what the next week has as plans but that could require trip if there is a need for progressive overload beyond increase in sets, reps or distance. I had intended to do recovery work after the second training session this week but just didn’t have the time without taking away from other things. Temperature at least seemed like it would be consistent today. I had left my car outside overnight so that I could right into training when I felt like it. That might have been a good or bad idea potentially (I’ll get to that later when it matters). Cold enough to warrant warm ups but I knew that by the time I got to the exercises with weights I could go to just shorts and t-shirt. First thing was hip airplanes as have been the case now for several weeks. Same tempo and sets/reps. Switched back to starting on the other side first. Didn’t feel as tight in the hamstrings/hip/groin as last week. There was some tension in the lower legs near the end of the sets but it wasn’t as intense as it had been that first set last week. I made sure to focus on a single point the entire time and that seemed to help with the balance issues a good bit as I didn’t have any stumbles this week (still resolved to the hand support). So that was a pleasant surprise. From there it was on to squats with the ssb. Same minimal gear and plan here was 275x3x10 and report back RIR on the last set. Legs were sore but more the top of the quads and not the knee area. I didn’t feel the need to do much mobility stuff to get ready and legs felt warm doing just some bodyweight motions. Plan was work up and drop off 2 reps each jump. Stuff was feeling good until I got to 205lbs. Then it started to feel heavy. Next jump also felt tougher than I would’ve liked and I kind of knew this was going to not be a walk in the park situation. Felt harder on the core for bracing and my legs were feeling fatigue which meant I didn’t feel comfortable doing kind of the fast clip style of squatting and it came to doing a few reps and then doing slower style of reps with a reset. These were gassing me a good bit too. As has been the case, I felt I was getting better as I went despite feeling more fatigue and being out of breath. While there is a decent amount of RIR, these were going to be grinding lifts and it was quite a drop from how I felt the week before on that last set. That week was easier. But again, this is 15lbs heavier top weight and it was for 30 reps vs 8 reps. Volume wise, it was greater with less sets and less rest. But it was certainly having me feel like underprepared for anything at this point. Not like I could go right into a show next week like sometimes I’ve felt in offseason training (I was feeling that before). But just seeming that I needed time to recoup and that still got things that need work. I should know that endurance comes back quick when pushed and strength as well. I also need to remind myself that this bar seems to be tougher than the one at the strongman gym (I use 10% less it seems). Anyways, onward. Single leg pulls but this time from the floor. No tempo and indication was to doe 3x6 at RPE 7 and reset each rep. Try to wedge it off the floor. I was not sure what to expect on these. The increased ROM could be tricky but doing controlled tempo should hopefully cover that part. So the lack of tempo meant not as taxing on the grip (which has gotten a workout this week). Stuff was feeling decent and the usual jumps from last week seemed to be working. Balance was certainly trickier. Weight feels fine enough but the balance is hard so tried to use that more to gauge the RIR and effort than the weight really. Last minute I switched up the side I started with. Last week, my left side seemed to be handling things better so I had made that that the other side for this session as right knee was feeling a little tender initiating the lift like last week. However, it seemed to be fine once I got underway. Left side was the one the was struggling with balance. Last rep on that side that first set was really bad so I stuck to the same weight for the second set, even though it had felt easy for the right side. Second set was a lot better so I decided to go up in weight for the last set. Balance was tricky again but I feel not as bad as that first set. I kind of wanted to see 200lbs on one leg done with this setup. I know these will get better. Feel these are really working the core and hamstrings hard. The rest of the workout was sandbag. This required somewhat of a break for planning and this had been why I was somewhat thinking about going to the strongman gym. Plan was to start off with sandbag loads over bar. Pick a weight that I could “sling around” for 5x2 EMOM and do it to 56-58” for some extension work. I was initially thinking that my sandbag choices weren’t the best for this as I had 112lbs, 175lbs and then 225lbs before going to a massive 360ish (that I’ve never attempted to lift yet as nothing in competition that heavy I’ve done or trained for so far). But considering how extension work had felt a couple weeks ago, it seemed like it met the definition of something I could sling around. Then overblowing how much a hassle it would be to setup as the yoke I used in the past was in the sun room. It wasn’t even going to be that difficult to move anyways but I was trying to think of using a platform in the garage to just load to and not have to worry about running around anything. I eventually just made myself get the light yoke out and walk around the house to the garage. It was then that I noticed something with my car. The front left tire was completely flat. Baffling since really the only driving I’ve done since coming back from nationals has been to go to the urgent care that one time for the elbow and backing in and out of the driveway for training. I’d have had issues if it was flat in the garage and couldn’t be moved outside to train. But also meant that even if I wanted to go to Lancaster, I really couldn’t. And imagine if it had gone while one the way there, while I was there or back? It would get handled but it would have been a lot of stress added. Take care of it after training. So takes some getting used to sandbags. Set yoke to 58.5” because it’s a little high. Out of practice, no loading events since June. Tactile sensation of rough canvas is also not pleasant at first either. 175lbs for a few doubles to get used to it again. Picking where the bag lands and not setting my grip. I’d do that if this was just planned singles but made no sense to do that for the first rep and then have to do stuff to get the second rep up anyways. Went ok enough I guess. These weren’t the best bags to do this compared to the ones at the gym. But I’m not really training this for this right now (unless it is Arnold odd object stuff) and no need to get used to a specific bag anyways. Certainly noticing fatigue. The last thing was sandbag carries. Indication was same bag as loads or one higher. If I wanted to make things harder, I was to take short rests between sets (2 sets of 100’) and not add load. I didn’t really have that option as next heaviest bag is heavier than any bag I’ve attempted to lift (did a pick with 350lbs at Nationals). My thinking here was to do it 50’ down and back to work the turn and not have the second set be just downhill vs uphill. Work on the bear hug style vs the load carry style since husafell carry is next event specific thing for me assuming no Arnold. I also felt I needed to train this style a bit so that not left with experimenting when the other style doesn’t work at a show (like the floppy bags at Nationals). I was also trying to move fast here. I noticed I had not put on my usual moving and loading event shoes on (I had meant to but I guess wore other shoes to move the yoke around to avoid them getting muddy or wet) but decided to just stick to what I had on at this point as this was just a breaking in week. So starting things off and the first half of the run on that first set is going fine. Then I hit the turn and I just felt all the power just leave my legs. It was like a plug went and just the power in my upper body as there. Lower body fatigue, potentially breathing off and pressure of implement on body at certain point. It was frustrating but I pushed through at this very slow pace back. I had intended to sprint with this and then take a very short rest and do it again to make it tough. Not happening, going to need to take a bit longer to assess the issue and not screw this up. So just shy of 2 minutes rest before I went again. That rest also included an attempt but having the bag fall over and me getting a little frustrated and resetting it. Even on the attempt I went it did similar but I just bruted it up and went. This felt better. I didn’t feel my legs leave me this time but it was only slightly faster because of the bobble at the start. Still slow from what I’ve done in the past but again, that was with setting my grip and not on the uphill/downhill situation of my street. That first set had me feeling like I’m really not in competition shape at this time and that I got a long way to go coupled with how swiss bar pressing felt the day before and the squatting beforehand. It’s worked out every time but still. Put stuff away and then spent a good bit of time taking the flat tire off and putting on the donut so I can take it to get fixed up later this coming week (I don’t really got places to be). Stretched out and iced my knees with a plan to ice them a second time before I hit the hay.

December 9, 2022 – Week 7, Day 3

Swiss Bar Incline Bench Presses
45x10
75x6
105x3
135x3
165x3
195x6
195x6
195x6
195x6

One Arm Standing/Braced Dumbbell Rows
64x5/5
84x5/5
116x3/3
136x3/3
172x12/12
156x12/12

Dumbbell Floor Presses (2 second eccentrics)
40’sx5
58’sx5
70’sx25
70’sx25

Band Y Raises to Overhead Presses (3 second holds)
µb’sx10
µb’sx10
µb’sx10

Dumbbell Zottman Curls (5 second eccentrics)
28’sx10
28’sx10
28’sx10

Stretching
 
Comments: So intent had been to do recovery stuff like soft tissue work and icing for my legs after the last session. Prioritized sleep the day of the that training session and then had a lot of things going on the next day that left that stuff on the backburner again. Good news is the medication issue for the most important one has been resolved it seems (though now shipping issues preventing another for 10 additional days but not a required one). But this particular day has become more upper body focused that sore lower body wasn’t going to affect things. There was soreness for sure. Upper quads were sore and tight from the Bulgarian split squats. They always get like that after the switch up and especially with the increased eccentric time and added ROM. Thankfully I don’t really notice it when I’m walking around but they can be sore to the touch if enough pressure is applied. Abdominals were also feeling beat and sore from those one arm hangs (probably also with the heavy beltless rdls and the split squats as well) from having to hold up my knees and just bracing to keep from spinning around. Again, shouldn’t be a problem for this session but the next day maybe. Swiss bar incline bench again but no tempo. Plan here was to do 4x6 with 3-4RIR. Suggested weight was 195-225lbs. How I was thinking on these was 195lbs and then if feeling good add a little each set like I’ve been doing for several times when a range is given. Temperatures still fluctuating and seems drastic when the sun goes down as I was fine in shorts and t-shirt midafternoon but come training time I needed the warm-ups on for outside. So starting off, it was kind of weird with no tempo. Shoulders a little achy but fine it would seem. I was feeling like maybe I could do 195lbs as a warm up set and then do 225lbs for straight sets. But then it started to feel heavy in my hands working up. I then decided that if 195lbs didn’t feel super easy, I’d use that as the first set weight. It didn’t and it was feeling much harder than I would’ve liked that I decided I needed to use this for all sets to even have a shot at getting 4x6 done today with any RIR. Seeming to run into that issue I get on incline with that switch over from chest and shoulders rotating for triceps to take over. Less noticeable with using a log for pressing but definitely feeling it on the swiss bar with the 6” of added ROM. So sails feeling a little less full here. I’ve not done these outside of this training session in over a decade and I had been able to hit about 50lbs more for similar reps then (thought wearing wrist wraps). Last set did feel the best of these as far as moving and having sufficient RIR. I went lower side as it was more an outrunning of my sticking point and hitting a wall. Video shows that these looked really powerful. Then again, I haven’t pressed anything heavier than 185lbs on anything in over 7 weeks and this week was a bit rougher on shoulders and triceps with changes. But it also shows me that pressing is going to be an uphill battle going into next year, leaving where this one had left off. Also potentially tying up with anxiousness with potential competition coming up and feeling like I need to be a lot stronger than I am. But those are kind of the thoughts I have when I feel I’m not hitting what I should be. Joy doesn’t last long for me. With some changes to exercises for the workout, I didn’t put everything away outside so I could come back to it later. But I would be in the garage for the next two exercises. One arm rows again. Not tempo this time. Work up to a top set of 10-12 reps with 1-2RIR and slight pauses. Unlike with say pressing, I know that it is a lot more weight I can do on rows when pauses are removed. Pauses and tempo really lower the weight I use for rows but it doesn’t feel like I have doubts I can do the heavy stuff right away when dropped. Less weight and less wear on body. Just takes a bit to get warmed up for the heavier stuff safely. Concentric tempo certainly is similar in how much it seems to drop off what I can do on say pressing or leg work. No support stuff on these. Plan initially was like 50lbs jumps but changed my mind after seeing how pressing went. Best to be safe here and plan incase this was a day where top end wasn’t there. Stuff was feeling easy. I went with 172lbs (which is about what I can fit with the secure clamps) as that is the weight of the Inch Dumbbell.  And close to the weight of the heavier dumbbell for PA Dutch. Weight was noticeable on my body. This was easy enough for rowing but just the body strain to brace took a bit of air from me but I was good after the first few reps as I got used to the pressure. Left side had an easier time. 10% off to match reps and I went with 156lbs (1lbs heavier) because of nostalgia for at show from almost 13yrs ago that had a one arm dumbbell clean and press with a 156lbs dumbbell in the SHW class (HW had 145lbs). No assistance from the other hand at that show and it was the first implement in a 6 part medley. That also was good. Again kind of surprised my grip was feeling fine after the one arm hangs. Then the floor pressing with dumbbells again. I felt that this time around, I should be able to push things more now that I knew how things would break down as fatigue set in. The setup to get into position was still going to be a disaster but the plan here was still weight light enough to be hitting over 20 reps. So depending on how things felt, I had plan to do either 58lbs (6lbs handles loaded with overweight 25’s) and if that was too easy after a few reps, then go bold and attempt the 70lbs. Did 40’s for 5 and then the 58’s for 5 and decided I could do at least 20 reps with the 70’s. Though it could be tricky for a second set depending on how hard the fatigue hits me. The 25’s on the dumbbells aren’t an issue here like with shoulder presses or normal style benching as ROM isn’t affected since elbows hit before these would hit my chest. The added surface area does as comfort with the kick up as well. Those 70’s were a pain to get into position. Trying to be efficient but perhaps I may just need to stop trying to not expend energy on that portion if solo and just bully them up. Falling back with them lead to some back cracks (audible one on the first set). First set went about expected. Second set was getting into the area of triceps and shoulder fatigue. But the thing is that if I just over extend on that side (the right) I seem to be able to reset position and keep going, which is what I ended up doing near the end. Put that stuff away and then back outside for bands. Yes, I probably could’ve done them in the garage but I felt less issues with dealing with potentially hitting the ceiling and it was less time setting up if I left the power rack loaded with the anchor plates rather than moving them inside on to a different rack (this was less a thing the previous weeks as the weight I was using for the incline pressing hadn’t warranted needing anchor weights to keep rack from moving). So this was a little different. Y band raises with holds I’ve done enough of. It had been warm up exercise for a few trainings and I’ve done them at shows to get things moving well. But the change was to do an overhead press after the 3 second hold and that would be one rep. First set the pressing part seemed extraneous to me and not feeling like it was doing much of anything. However, I realized halfway through the second set that I was thinking too rigidly and was doing an overhead press as if I was just doing a press in the same ROM as the shoulder position and not doing it as if I were trying to do a press and touching my shoulders. I think I was thinking too much of it like it was one of the YTW exercises or a scarecrow. That adjustment was felt immediately and added to the difficulty. Not as apparent on the third set after getting used to that. Then the last thing was biceps and the zottman’s with the added eccentrics for 3x10. I was initially going to stick to the same weight as last week and try to stick to shorter rest periods (I was taking slightly longer as my arms were fatiguing so hard) but I did decide to add 2lbs to the dumbbells. First set went great and then started to get fatigue on the second set. The good was that I wasn’t really feeling any shoulder stiffness/tightness in the right side which has been the case some times with biceps stuff. I was getting some sensations of elbow tendonitis (tennis elbow vs golfer’s elbow) on the right side (which may be apparent as more pressing pops up). Last set was rough as it felt like my right side was giving out trying to control the eccentric like I recall sometimes happening with long eccentrics on triceps with dumbbells in the past (like first training cycle in 2021). But somehow even with that sensation, I was still able to stick to the tempo. Put stuff away and ate dinner before stretching out. I was debating traveling to train with some of the workout changes for the next session but felt it was best to stay home, get quality sleep and not stress about it. Nothing yet has been a must go out to train at the strongman gym yet.