April 29, 2015 – Week 10, Day 2

Dynamic Warm-ups

Hatfield Overload Squats
155x5
155x5
245x3
245x3
335x1
335x1
425x1
475x1
525x3
525x3

Glute Ham Raises
bwx6
bwx6
bwx6

Yoke
400x30’
400x30’
490x30’
580x30’
670xpick
760xpick
850xpick
850x30’ in 9.09 seconds
790x40’ in 9.87 seconds
660x60’ in 11.76 seconds

Keg Over Bar (57”)
295x5
295x5
295x5
295x5

28 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: It continues. Lowered weight a bit on hatfields as this is the final stretch. Did my best to stay upright on these. Not too bad, even with the soreness in my lower back and tight shoulders. Glute ham work started off poorly; the footpad slid as I was starting the set. I had tightened it but I guess not enough. I knew these would be tougher with how fatigued my posterior chain is but luckily the reps got better each set. Headed home for yoke and keg work. Did the same thing as last week for warming up, just with more weight. Knees were a bit wary on the picks but I knew I wouldn’t have issues moving. I felt much more solid this week on the runs but it appears that last week is still with me as my times were about one second slower than last time. Granted, two of the sets were with more weight but not enough I’d think to slow me down that much. Keg over bar was not something I was looking forward to. Last week’s 4x4 with the heavy keg was hard enough when I was somewhat fresh and I was going to be doing 4x5 with a fatigued lower back. Heavy breathing kicked in after the second set. Also had to go to the lap technique much earlier in the session as I knew I was going to start ramming the keg into the crossbar if I kept trying to pop it from my hips immediately after I pulled it up with my left arm. After rep four of the last set, I got what felt like an intense headache at the base of my skull. Maybe an exertion headache? Went on to load the final rep and I was just completely destroyed; sweating profusely with labored breathing. I put away all the weights and stretched.

April 28, 2015 – Week 10, Day 1

Dynamic Warm-ups

12” Log Clean and Jerks (1 clean)
90x5
90x5
120x3
120x3
150x3
150x3
180x1
205x1
230x1
255x3
280x2
305x1 PR+5lbs

12” Log Jerks
245x4
245x4
245x4
245x2

Super Set: Plate Front Raises/Incline Facedown Inverted Dumbbell Flyes
100x8/25’sx15
100x8/25’sx15
100x8/25’sx15

Parallel Bar Dips
bwx5
bw+45x3
bw+75x1
bw+120x5
bw+120x5
bw+120x5

Band Pull A-parts
MMB+MB+mMBx12
MMB+MB+mMBx12
MMB+MB+mMBx12
MMB+MB+mMBx12

Decline JM Presses
100x3
140x3
190x8
230x6
230x6
230x6

Band Scapular Retractions
SB+AB+LBx12
SB+AB+LBx12
SB+AB+LBx12

31 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: This week is picking up where the last one left off; kicking my butt. My entire back was sore and even warm-ups with the log felt awful. My first work set felt crushingly heavy and I was worried I was going to black out right there. I did my best to stay calm and focused and got the triple. Upped the weight and went for a double. Didn’t feel quite so bad on my chest but it was not smooth on the second rep. Going for another PR single. I know I had this in me last week but with the massive soreness, I wasn’t so sure today. Everything went right as it rolled up to my chest and I knew it had to go up. My lower back was just shot at this point and I had to force myself to pick up anything I had on the floor to put away haha. After this, it was back to the rack for more log work. Cluster sets with short rests but for more reps. Felt good at the start (no issues with lower back pump) but the doubled reps took its toll and I was stopped midway through a fourth set. More reps on the plate raise, lower back got a workout with the strain from having the weight out in front of me like that. Toughest the dips have felt so far. Kept tension the same for band pull aparts as I knew it would be tough with how my upper back was feeling from all the eccentric lat work. I felt the decline JMs in my triceps a bit more this session. I might need to wear my wrist wraps because it did bug my right wrist. Kept tension the same for scap work too for the same reason as pull aparts. Lots of stretching and recovery burritos.

April 26, 2015 – Week 9, Day 4

Dynamic Warm-ups

Paused Front Squats (2 second pauses)
No Pauses
45x10
95x5
145x5
195x3
245x3
Added Pauses
290x1
330x1
330x1
330x1
330x1
330x1
330x1

Deadlifts
135x5
135x5
225x3
225x3
315x1
315x1
405x1
455x1
505x1
Added Straps
555x1
605x0

2” Platform Deadlifts
480x4
480x3
480x1

Farmer’s Walk
205xpick
255xpick
290xpick
290x80’ in 20.72 seconds (turn at 40’)
255x120’ in 23.86 seconds (turn at 60’)

Pulldowns (5 second negatives)
160x6
160x6
160x6
160x6
160x6

12” Log Curls
105x8
105x8
105x8
105x8

Kneeling Pulldown Abs
190x12
190x12
190x12

30 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Still some soreness in the muscles around my ribcage. As tough as this week has been, I felt I could still get everything done. Started out the day at Max Fitness. Front squats upped a little and they are getting better. Still grinders but not as bad. Happy about this as I was concerned that the sciatic issues on my left side would mess this up. Deadlifts were not the best. I felt slow on most of these pulls. Right hamstring started acting up when I did 405lbs. Strapped up earlier than I would have liked but I didn’t want to chance it. 605lbs stalled just above mid-shin. Legs were locked but my back and hips could do no more. Disappointed and very hard to come back from a deadlift miss (at least for me). Got to keep going, just one lift, won’t ruin the last 23 weeks of work in one lift. Deficit pulls after that. Slow here too and my lower back was feeling every single lift. I was glad when these were done. Maybe doing the strapped in pulls as opposed to the rip-n-grip through me off a little. Cleaned up and headed home to do farmer’s walk outside. More picks this time. I’m horrible at them and they take a lot out of me. Slow pick for 290lbs but my grip felt solid. Not very speedy and my turn was very slow. Next set was done as soon as I was able to get the plates off. Obviously a bit faster but still not the best. Drank a shake and then went to the Y for the remaining work. The weight for the pulldown wasn’t much but the slow eccentric stuff is definitely going to hurt in a day or two. Log curls felt nice, almost rhythmic with the way it rolled up and the weights clanged. Continuing to add weight for abs. Stretched and called it a day. This week kicked my butt.

April 24, 2015 – Week 9, Day 3

Dynamic Warm-ups

Barbell Push Presses
45x10
80x5
80x5
110x3
110x3
140x1
170x1
200x1
230x2
230x2
230x2
230x2
230x2

Close Grip Barbell Bench Presses
45x10
95x5
135x5
185x3
235x3
285x1
325x5
325x3
325x1

Overhead Rope Extensions
120x12
120x12
120x12

Neutral Grip Pull-ups
bwx3
bw+25x6
bw+25x6
bw+25x6

31 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: I’ll admit, energy was a bit low this session. Previous two workouts this week have been brutal. My guts and the muscles in my ribcage feel sore and that hasn’t happened for a while. Laughing has hurt the past two days haha. On push press, I tried to make it a point of engaging my hips into the drive. My friend Mike Mastell had recently put up an article on the log press and the one cue that stood out was about not just using the leg drive. I need to change how I think about it not as leg drive but lower body drive. I had noticed it the week before my deload that my best reps were the ones where I used my hips. Slightly longer rests on these sets. Not hard but not super-duper easy. For this session, the only thing I knew would be trouble would be the close grip bench stuff. I ended up having to wait a bit for a bench that I fit on. It felt heavy and I was kind of surprised I actually got past three reps on the first set; granted I did air hump the last two. Then I misgrooved the last rep of the second and just barely managed to save it. I was very happy the single was the only thing left haha. Then it was the overhead rope extensions. Much like the changing of the leaves signaling the beginning of Autumn, these let me know the cycle and session are coming to an end. Not bad, just accumulation of fatigue made it go from walk in the park at the start to almost hitting the wall at the end. Added weight to pull-ups. I felt it was enough weight added that I should do a brief warm-up with no weights just to be safe. They felt good, no issues with my biceps. A good bit of stretching to end the session and then home to eat two large carnivore pizzas.

April 22, 2015 – Week 9, Day 2

Dynamic Warm-ups

Hatfield Overload Squats
155x5
155x5
245x3
245x3
335x3
335x3
425x1
425x1
515x1
575x1
575x6 PR+30lbs & 2 reps

Glute Ham Raises
bwx6
bwx6
bwx6

Yoke
390x30’
390x30’
470x30’
560x30’
650xpick
740xpick
830xpick
830x30’ in 8.08 seconds
790x40’ in 8.93 seconds
650x60’ in 10.77 seconds

Keg Over Bar (57”)
295x4
295x4
295x4
295x4

31 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: The heavy week continues. I was nervous about parts of this workout (hatfield squat and keg work). Upper back still very sore from yesterday. Quite a big increase in the weight for the squats. I wanted to make sure I was plenty warm before I went for the big weight set. I knew there would be no issue with the single; reps would be interesting. Made sure I had spotters for that one, just in case. First time actually beating an old PR on these. Felt fine on my legs and lower back but really punishing on my thoracic spine muscles as it really wanted to crush me. Moved on to ghrs (which were easy) for some more hamstring work before heading home for event training. I tried warming up with yoke a bit differently this time. I did some short, light runs and then did my picks. I was noticing that my first actual runs were generally my slowest so I was hoping this would fix that. The flex in the yoke was very noticeable this session. With how my last pick had felt, I knew this was going down but I feel I was pretty wobbly on my heavy set. Per usual, slow on the start and able to pick up speed. I was not looking forward to keg work. Heavy keg is quite a different animal from the light keg and doing them with short rests is very tough. I took my time as I know my setup is not the most idea to work on a speedy return and load. Most of the reps went over well but fatigue in my lower back and hamstrings were hitting hard by the last set. I had to lap the keg for the last two reps. I rushed the last one and that caused me to have to redo it. My hamstrings were cooked by the end and I got my weights away and in the garage just as it started to rain.

April 21, 2015 – Week 9, Day 1

Dynamic Warm-ups

12” Log Clean and Jerks (1 clean)
90x5
90x5
120x3
120x3
150x3
150x3
180x1
210x1
240x1
260x2
280x2
300x1 PR+5lbs

12” Log Jerks
245x2
245x2
245x2
245x2
245x2
245x2
245x2
245x2
245x2
245x2
245x2
245x2
245x2
245x1

Super Set: Plate Front Raises/Incline Facedown Inverted Dumbbell Flyes
100x6/25’sx15
100x6/25’sx15
100x6/25’sx15

Parallel Bar Dips
bwx3
bwx3
bw+45x2
bw+45x2
bw+80x1
bw+80x1
bw+115x5
bw+115x5
bw+115x5

Band Pull A-parts
MMB+MB+mMBx12
MMB+MB+mMBx12
MMB+MB+mMBx12
MMB+MB+mMBx12

Decline JM Presses
45x5
95x3
145x8
185x8
225x8

Band Scapular Retractions
SB+AB+LBx12
SB+AB+LBx12
SB+AB+LBx12

25 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Things are starting to get serious. First up was working up to a top double with clean on the log. I think the last time I did a log clean, it was almost a year ago and I only worked up to 255lbs. I took my time here as I wanted to make sure I got everything down right. I wore a shirt with a decal on it so that I could know when I had the log in the right spot before rolling it up my chest. The cleans were good, and I had been concerned these would be stressing my biceps. First rep of each double went up fast with the second rep being a bit more of a struggle. Honestly, nothing new for me. Again, I need to watch my breathing and try not to be so nervous hitting these weights. I truly thought I could do a double with 300lbs but just not there today. At least I finally got it for single (with a clean) after all these years haha. After this, it was back to the rack for more log work. Cluster sets with short rests until I couldn’t hit the required reps. Not sure if it was to be doubles or triples here but I went with doubles. It took me a few sets to find my legs though. Change made with the superset; heavy plate raise for low reps and then facedown inverted flyes. Much easier than the other superset haha. Dips are still shaky but strong. Shoulders felt very tight but understandable with all the log press work. I did a few more warm-ups to try and get me ready. Increased tension for pull-aparts. May end up increasing it again before the end of this cycle. Decline JM presses were a bit strange. I wasn’t sure if these would be weaker or stronger than regular version and with the movement, I thought it would be the former. The warm-ups seemed to indicate this too but once I started my “work sets” that changed and I had to make bigger jumps to actually hit a decent weight. The movement is still weird but I believe this is stronger than the regular style although I don’t feel it in my triceps as much. Increased tension for scapular retractions and it felt similar to last week. Increased band tension on scapular retractions quite a bit considering how last time it felt like no change. This is a good tension but like the pull-aparts, I may need to increase it as well. This was a long session.

April 19, 2015 – Week 8, Day 4

Dynamic Warm-ups

Paused Front Squats (2 second pauses)
No Pauses
45x10
95x5
95x5
145x3
145x3
195x1
195x1
Added Pauses
245x1
245x1
245x1
245x1
245x1

Deadlifts
155x5
155x5
245x3
245x3
295x1
335x1
390x1
390x1
390x1
390x1
390x1

Farmer’s Walk (turns at 55’)
145x110’
145x110’

One Arm Cable Rows
90x12/12
90x12/12
90x12/12

EZ Curl Bar Curls
65x15
65x15

Kneeling Pulldown Abs
120x12
120x12
120x12

32 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Did some more yard work yesterday as well as going for a nice long walk. Lower back felt a little sore so I wasn’t too sure how I’d feel. Felt good on front squats, could have took a nap in the hole with this weight. Didn’t feel my lower back at all with the deadlifts. Happy that this felt easier than 375lbs did last deload. The weights kind of “floated” to lockout rather than me having to really put the effort in to do so. Tested out some gear (squat briefs and a canvas suit) for the possibility that I might need it in the future. Painful getting the stuff off my legs. Headed home for light farmer’s walk work. Perhaps I should have done a pick to warm-up as the first set was tougher than I’d like to admit. Second was much better (thankfully). Went to the Y to finish up the day. Something going on with my left shoulder/upper back on the rows. Only popped up when I did over 10 reps. Probably nothing, just need to relax. Curls, abs and stretching to end the week.