5 Minutes Expresso Interactive Upright Exercise Bike
Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30
16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25
Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20
Band Rows
MMBx20
Push-ups
BWx15
Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds
Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds
Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Deadlifts
135x5
225x5
Added Suit/Straps
305x2
366x2
427x2
488x2
550x2
Smith Machine Weighted Plank
BW+155x30 seconds
Weighted Plank
BW+155x30 seconds
Side Plank
BWx60/60 seconds
Stretching
Comments:
This week started off ok but has gotten rough. Felt tired and sleep has
been less and less. My injury in the lower back is definitely irritated
some as I’m feeling some symptoms down my leg. It might be from some of
the dumbbell jerks where my core got loose under recovery. I don’t
think it is major issue and is more just that the area is a little
inflamed and I will have to keep an eye on it. Got to bed late so I was
slow in the morning. Wouldve been even later if I had done everything I
was supposed to the night before but I pushed it off so that I could
leave before I ended up late for work. Which meant I would have to head
home after work to get my stuff ready for the gym. There was an accident
so that ended up taking longer. I think I finally got to the gym about
an hour later than usual. This was going to be a shorter workout so this
was still doable. Fancy bike again. 140bpm highest reading this time. I
picked a different course that seemed ok. Wanted to try a simple course
this time. Easy calf work after that. Tight but not as tight as last
session. Knees weren’t really bothering me on the goblet box squats too
bad. Knees were stiff on the RDLs. Rows with the band were ok. Still
keeping an eye on the biceps. Left shoulder is still tight. I was
expecting some shoulder tightness on the push-ups and there was. Plank
was easy and slightly less ache in the shoulder this time. Then the
biceps stretches. Into the hallway for the hip swings. Felt pretty good.
Today was deadlifts and planks. Platform in use so I was in the same
spot as before. Knees and hips were stiff so I did a plate and two
plates for sets of five since the suited work was just doubles. Plan was
90% of my best for a double, 10% jumps up from 50%. I wasn’t able to
use the squat rack to get the suit on but I managed. It feels like it
takes a set or two for it to really set in and just seems to go on more
and more as I go. First set was rough getting myself into position. It
seemed better after that lift. Not so much of feeling like my head was
going to pop off after the first set. Really trying to adjust the plates
with metal ones and bumper plates to get it feeling like big tires with
the distribution. 550lbs felt heavy. Was hoping it would feel easier.
Definitely more reps there and more control over the bar this time. It
was pretty late so I went upstairs after taking off the suit do to
weighted planks. My plan was to do a set and then come back downstairs
to put away the weights and then do the second set. First set felt
pretty good. It was still tough but not “oh no why” tough. I took too
long downstairs as someone was benching with my weight plank weights
when I came back upstairs. It looked like they were going to be there a
while so I went downstairs and asked someone to stack weights on my back
like I used to do. Smith machine version is way harder since I can get
it at the most disadvantaged spot. Side plank to finish up the session.
Didn’t feel too bad. It was really late so I just went to get burritos
for dinner and then home.
Friday, June 29, 2018
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
June 26, 2018 – Week 8, Day 1
5 Minutes Expresso Interactive Upright Exercise Bike
Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30
16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25
Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20
Band Rows
MMBx20
Push-ups
BWx15
Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds
Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds
Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Circus Dumbbell Clean and Presses
Plate Loaded Dumbbell with Fat Gripz Extreme
(2 stage 2 second pauses)
40x1 R
40x1 L
70x1 R
70x1 L
90x1 R
90x1 L
110x1 R
110x1 L
Circus Dumbbell
130x1 R
130x1 L
143x0,1 R
143x0 L
143x1 L
(competition style/EMOM)
157x1 R
157x1 R
157x1 R
157x1 R
157x1 R
157x1 R
157x1 R
157x1 L
157x1 L
157x1 L
157x1 L
157x1 L
157x1 L
157x1 L
Pulldowns
70x15
130x8
160x8
190x8
220x8
250x8
Incline Bench Presses
45x10
95x5
144x3
176x3
208x3
240x3
272x3
1 Second Pauses
225x8 PR+20lbs
Stretching
Comments: Knee seems to be feeling better most days. Went for a walk on Sunday and Monday and almost got to feeling rested. Left shoulder still feels off. Picked a different course on the virtual bike. Feeling aches everywhere. Heart rate got up to 140bpm. On to the warm-ups. Calf raise stuff is still pretty easy. They were very tight today. Knees were a little achy on the goblet squats. Didn’t have the best bench to sit down on to for these. But still ok. RDLs I felt a little stiff. Knees tend to ache on these if I bend my knees. Want to keep stress on the posterior chain but I don’t want to lock the knees and have my lower back potential round due to flexibility issues. Then more normal stuff like band rows and push-ups. Right biceps was tight on rows. Some aches in my left shoulder on the push-ups. Making sure I’m not selling myself short on those doing full ROM. Then a short plank hold and biceps stretches. Better I think with the shoulder stiffness/ache on the planks. Biceps and shoulders were tight. Hip swings felt ok. Weight time. Dumbbell has returned. Same as last time, working up with the push press and pause style and then doing competition style for an EMOM workout. 85% for 7 singles each side, which I put as a 14 minute EMOM so no rest between sides. Things didn’t start out great. Knees were definitely stiff on the first few warm-ups. I felt like everything was clicking by 110lbs but the next jump was going to be to the circus dumbbell itself. It was then that I realized I didn’t have my wrist wraps with me. This could be a problem for the workout with the large handle diameter on the circus dumbbell. Didn’t seem to be too bad with the empty bell but the next set to work as a in-between to the top set was a bear. I missed it the first try on the right and had to redo it on the left completely. Thankfully my dad was able to drop them off for me so it wouldn’t be an issue for the EMOM set. I don’t feel I got as sweaty this time but it was 6 less singles in total. Some reps felt like I was sloppy and others felt like it was nothing at all. I had more good on the left side versus the right side. Shoulders get so sore from this thing coming back down. Left shoulder was tight after these. Pulldowns next. Warm-up and then 5 sets of 6-8 with 30lbs jumps. My plan was to do the whole stack for today for 8. Light warm-up for high reps (I wanted to make sure my back muscles and biceps and shoulders were cooperating with me). Felt pretty good. Left hamstring wanted to cramp on the last set. Weight is trying to pull me out of the seat. Had to brace myself against a support afterwards to make sure my left shoulder didn’t keep hampering me. Incline bench was next up. This was going to be rough if I didn’t have wrist wraps. These didn’t feel so great last time on my shoulder. I moved the bench closer to the wall so that I could properly brace myself this time. Made a big difference. Stuff felt like 30lbs lighter. While my top set definitely had slop, I feel it was stronger than what it was last time. I felt I could match the reps I did if needed whereas it felt like a near max last time. I went big on the pause stuff. Lockout is the toughest part on these incline presses it seems and I feel like the pauses would be helpful if I pushed them. Lockout is the only place it slows down. Like bench, this might have been pushing it too much in that it wasn’t powerful as the entire time. Felt the first six were very good. But I wanted eight. Still had reps in the tank so maybe I’m still good. Home to stretch, eat meatloaf just deload from the day.
Sunday, June 24, 2018
June 23, 2018 – Week 7, Day 3
5 Minutes Misc Stationary Bike
Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30
16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25
Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20
Band Rows
MMBx20
Push-ups
BWx15
Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds
Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds
Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Keg Clean and Push Presses
27x4 (alternating Left Side cross body and Right Side same side)
50x2 (alternating Left Side cross body and Right Side same side)
80x2 (alternating Left Side cross body and Right Side same side)
100x1 Right Side (same side)
125x1 Right Side (same side)
150x1 Right Side (same side)
175x1 Right Side (same side)
200x0 Left Side (cross body)
200x1 Left Side (cross body)
225x1 Left Side (cross body)
225x1 Left Side (cross body)
225x1 Left Side (cross body)
225x1 Left Side (cross body)
225x1 Left Side (cross body)
16” I-Beam Farmer’s Walk (with drops)
125x100’ (drop at 50’) in 13.53 seconds
225x50’ (drop at 25’) in 10.93 seconds
275x50’ in 8.07 seconds
325x100’ (drop at 50’) in 25.24 seconds
Stretching
Comments: I managed to get to bed early on Friday so that I could be well rested for training. This week has been exhausting at work. I have scheduled breaks but I’ve just worked through them due to how much work there is to do. Maybe I do need a vacation or break of some kind. Day was a bit more overcast. I didn’t wear any knee sleeves as I think while they keep them warm, they are causing issues if they are on too long I think in the lower leg. Left shoulder is still buggy but I don’t think going to the chiro will do much of anything if it feels the same after the last adjustment (which helped my knee for sure). Did some soft tissue work on my right calf and hamstring before getting to the workout. Bike again. I feel that while it is uncomfortable, it does a better job warming up my legs. Calf stuff was good and easy. Goblet box squats were ok. Some knee aches but not as bad it has been the past two weeks. This was probably the best these have felt. Working on sitting back and spreading the knees/hips. RDLs actually felt not half bad today. Knees have been achy on these this week. Band rows were easy. Push ups I made sure I did them through a full ROM. Made these harder on the triceps. Got to not shortchange these and do them controlled like the goblet squats and RDLs. The plank was easy and I tried to see if changing positions and placement of my arms changed how it felt on the shoulders. While maybe it did feel less, I feel it when I finally relax so not sure if this is something that will improve on the weighted version. I did consciously flex my pecs and lats this time. Biceps stretch I used a different setup as the benches were in use but it was just as good if not better. May try to use it next time too. No issues with hip swings. Keg press was back again. Plan was just to work up to 85% for five singles with whatever rest I needed. I had thought I knew what to do but I’m still tinkering around with form on these. Not the press part as I feel that part is pretty solid. It’s getting the keg into position for the press. I’m basing things on the assumption that my shouldering to the left side is stronger for today’s session. I wondered if I could do the same ejector seat style to the same shoulder, and not have to do the cross body journey. I had figured the same side attempt wouldn’t be good due to how long my levers are for my arms, hence why the cross body seems to work. So I tried it out. The same side seemed to be quicker. But obviously that may change with weight. Perhaps it had to be quicker to get it to the shoulder, not that it was quicker. 80lbs felt about the same and I didn’t want to do more volume than necessary since things are winding down so I went with same side style. I also stuck with just using regular kegs so less time changing weights and having to wait on other people to use the Power Keg. I noticed that it was becoming harder for the shouldering of the keg and that I may not even be able to get the planned weight up to the shoulder this way so I knew to switch back to the old standby. However, I wasn’t ready. I had expected it to be faster coming up and mistimed it with the 200lbs keg and hit myself in the face. Not a good start haha. I reset and got it after that. Some sets my knees ached and other’s it didn’t. It was more if I made some movement to balance or I had to put more “knee” into the shouldering. 225lbs is definitely more than 85% based off the numbers I was using from last time. But honestly, it is probably about right. The shouldering got harder each single so that was closer to 90% but the pressing was super easy and probably closer to 80%. I may use the other side as my attempt at the contest. Next up and last thing for the day was farmer’s. This was to be the same workout as two weeks ago with the weights, distances and jumps. The 18” pick height farmer’s walk implements were in use and since I didn’t want to wait to start, I went with the 16” pick ones from the old gym. By putting 2.5lbs on the handles, I could get exactly the planned weights. I did a 50’ length run with no weights to make sure my knee was good to go without any extra support. Light weight to start. Lower pick height caught me off guard a little on the repick more than the initial pick. That apparently cost me .10 of a second from last time. This was more evident with 225lbs. I felt slow on both picks. Just under .20 of a second slower on this. The lower pick height and possibly fatigue in my core from the planks, beltless deadlifts and slow keg shoulders could be effecting things. I figured I’d do better with the straight shot as my foot speed was feeling good. 275lbs felt great. Just over 8 seconds. Had to stop the handles from ramming into some’s gym bag that was at the other end. Then my nerves got to me for the last one. It is ridiculous since I’ve done this twice already this training cycle. But I took my time getting things in place. I kept burping from my stomach turning but finally that went away. The pick was slow but I felt in control and setting a good place. The repick was a nightmare. I almost thought it wasn’t going to go. I had the collars on this time to keep weights from popping off the handles. This 2” pick difference is no joke for me. But I got it up and started moving again. Just shy of two seconds faster. So close to being under 25 seconds. I think with the 18” handles, that would’ve happened today. But this is also good as I should be ready if the handles are not very good at the show. Ice packs stayed coldish this time with a frozen water bottle. Home to stretch and relax. One more hard week to go.
Friday, June 22, 2018
June 21, 2018 – Week 7, Day 2
5 Minutes Expresso Interactive Upright Exercise Bike
Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30
16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25
Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20
Band Rows
MMBx20
Push-ups
BWx15
Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds
Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds
Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Wide Grip Deadlifts (straps)
135x5
205x3
275x1
325x2
325x2
325x2
325x2
325x2
Smith Machine Weighted Planks
BW+155x30 seconds
BW+155x30 seconds
Side Plank
BWx60/60 seconds
Stretching
Comments: Still achy left shoulder. But I don’t think frequent chiro sessions will help that after the initial adjustment. Still a little off as far as feeling like strongman is worth my time but it is a lot better than how I was feeling Saturday last week. Lower back is achy, feeling like it was gnawed on. Been very busy at work, no breaks this whole week. No walking this week to let my knee recover some more. Gym was pretty packed downstairs. It ended up being even more packed by the time I came back downstairs after warming up. Wore the copper sleeves again. Tried a different track on the bike. Heart rate only got up to 140BPM. Wrists were a little achy on the calf work while bracing against the walk. Knees weren’t really bothering me on the goblet box squats that bad. Again, trying to think hips. RDLs again feel slightly worse than the squats. I was a little cautious with the band rows to make sure I wasn’t using too much arms. Felt too easy, might need to get a new band to use as it might be wearing out. I was expecting some shoulder tightness on the push-ups but they actually went pretty good. But I might be only half repping these by not fully locking out every rep. That might be keeping stress off the shoulder. Plank was easy but the position seems to make the shoulder ache when I finally “relax”. Then the biceps stretches. Needed those. Into the hallway for the hip swings. I was advised to stick to the modified workout this session. That meant dropping the front box squats. That was the only change so wide grip deadlifts was next. Joints achy so I tried to do a few more reps to warm-up. Funny how last time I was worried my hamstrings would be barking at me and now it is my knee. No rehband belt again. First working set felt slow. But that is usually the case with speed work sets. Second set felt much better. I don’t feel like any of the doubles were truly perfect. There were parts of them that I lived. I feel my second set was the best overall, with the fourth set being the one where I accelerated to lockout the best and the fifth and final set having the best second rep. Next part of the workout was abdominal bracing stuff again. Weighted planks on the smith machine and then bodyweight for side planks. The weight is not getting any easier on these. It is a bit jarring since the weight isn’t there until I lift it essentially. Feel it in my joints at the start. Right side of my abdominals were feeling like they were cramping on these but I got my double 30 seconds. Shoulder ached after the tension was released. Side plank set to finish. Feels like a long minute, trying to brace for that long. It feels really good when I’m done and can stop. Finished up early so home to stretch and get ready for another day of work.
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
June 19, 2018 – Week 7, Day 1
5 Minutes Expresso Interactive Upright Exercise Bike
Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30
16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25
Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20
Band Rows
MMBx20
Push-ups
BWx15
Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds
Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds
Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Axle Clean and Jerks
72x5 (one clean)
116x1
149x1
182x1
215x1
248x1
Axle Jerks (EMOM Style)
264x1
264x1
264x1
264x1
264x1
264x1
264x1
264x1
264x1
Chest Supported Rows
130x8
220x8
310x8
400x8 PR+2 reps
Barbell Bench Presses
45x10
115x3
175x3
213x3
252x3
290x3
330x3
1 Second Pauses
280x8 PR+15lbs
Wide Grip Hang
bw+11x57.78 seconds PR+3.78 seconds
Stretching
Comments: I’m not quite over my pity party from the weekend. I’m continually frustrated with my progress. I should be stronger. I’ve been grinding a long time. I’m not used to my joints aching all the time. I’m becoming a hypochondriac with injuries. Worried I’ll hit a bit one like with my back and be sidelined for months and not be able to do anything. No walking on Sunday or Monday to let my knee heal some more. I got an adjustment done at the chiropractor for my knee and shoulder. If it had been one or the other, I wouldn’t have bothered but it seemed to help the knee last cycle and the shoulder last time. Might have been something with the anterior part of my lower leg causing the issues. I got a “rice krispknee” (patent pending) for my right knee as it is. Left shoulder is still achy. Allergies were acting up being time and it didn’t help that it was above 90 the past two days. Copper sleeves on both knees. I had been sent a backup plan for this week to give the knees some more rest. I was playing it by ear but I was leaning towards doing the pre-modified workout. Whatever. On the fancy bikes again. I actually was 1 second over finishing the course I did last time in the five minutes so that is something haha. Highest my heartrate hit was 145bpm. On to the warm-ups. Calf raises felt good. Tight but springy. Knees were not nearly as bad as I was expecting on the goblet squats. Again, really focusing on the breaking at the hips first and then bending knees. A bit more aches on the RDLs. Band rows were easy. Not really any aches in the shoulder for the push-ups. Plank was easy but I definitely felt stress in the left shoulder in the pose. Biceps stretches felt good. One shoulder is definitely tighter than the other. No issues on the hip swings. On to the workout. It could go one of two ways. If my knee made it not worth it, the new option would be working up to a 90-95% single strict press with the axle. The true plan would be working up to 80% on axle clean and jerk and then move it to the rack for EMOM stuff. Split style appeared to be less stress on the knee. I had the knee brace if necessary. I didn’t really have a set percentage that I was using as I haven’t really maxed on the axle clean and jerks like I’ve been doing with log. I just went up by 15kgs a set to about 80% for the top single. Stuff felt a little heavier in the rack position than I would’ve liked but the weight was flying up overhead. If I ever need to do reps on the platform on axle, I will need to have more control on the descent. But don’t want to overstress biceps unnecessarily. Rack work after that. Same as log from last week. I was a bit leery on this as this new rack can’t fit the axle on the barbell hooks so I had to use the catches like I did with log. I added 7.5kgs to the axle from what I did on the last single to match things like I did with log. Same idea, nine singles done EMOM style. With how it felt on my shoulders, I felt I made a big mistake. But it just went to lockout easily. I think I had more trouble unracking and settling the axle on my shoulders and then putting it back on the rack then actually jerking the weight. Ended up with a power jerk on the second to last lift. A little more knee stress there. My rice krispknee didn’t explode so good for now. It will have see if it appreciates this later. Chest supported rows were next. Same guidelines as last time but aiming for 6-8 reps. I figured why not do the same thing with plate jumps and go for 400lbs for reps. This would be the most weight I’ve attempted on these. Six reps to time my best and anything above that being a rep PR. Biceps a little tight from keg work on Saturday. First three weights were easy. Could probably do like 20 reps with 310lbs. Last time my right biceps started to cramp before the last set. I was a little worried but I made sure I didn’t have the biceps initiating the pull at the start. 400lbs was heavy but I got the reps. Benching again. Had a rocky start a few weeks back but I seem to be on track with the benching again. Planned jumps up to a top triple for the night and then paused rep set. Did a few warm-ups. Weight started a little slow and then got easier before getting tough again. 290lbs was slower but I was in control. 330lbs was the planned triple. It felt like I was pushing it but it looked like I had a double in the tank maybe. Paused rep set again. I went big jump again with 280lbs. Probably should’ve stopped at seven reps as the eight one I let go too far towards my head and hit the one pin so it was more of a struggle than it should’ve been. Grip hang to end the day. I knew what I needed to do for setup here. Again, this felt like I was going to lose my grip immediately. My chest was tight and sore but I held on. I had hoped I had breached a minute with the chains this week but still short. But still an improvement. Home to stretch and eat meatloaf.
Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30
16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25
Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20
Band Rows
MMBx20
Push-ups
BWx15
Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds
Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds
Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Axle Clean and Jerks
72x5 (one clean)
116x1
149x1
182x1
215x1
248x1
Axle Jerks (EMOM Style)
264x1
264x1
264x1
264x1
264x1
264x1
264x1
264x1
264x1
Chest Supported Rows
130x8
220x8
310x8
400x8 PR+2 reps
Barbell Bench Presses
45x10
115x3
175x3
213x3
252x3
290x3
330x3
1 Second Pauses
280x8 PR+15lbs
Wide Grip Hang
bw+11x57.78 seconds PR+3.78 seconds
Stretching
Comments: I’m not quite over my pity party from the weekend. I’m continually frustrated with my progress. I should be stronger. I’ve been grinding a long time. I’m not used to my joints aching all the time. I’m becoming a hypochondriac with injuries. Worried I’ll hit a bit one like with my back and be sidelined for months and not be able to do anything. No walking on Sunday or Monday to let my knee heal some more. I got an adjustment done at the chiropractor for my knee and shoulder. If it had been one or the other, I wouldn’t have bothered but it seemed to help the knee last cycle and the shoulder last time. Might have been something with the anterior part of my lower leg causing the issues. I got a “rice krispknee” (patent pending) for my right knee as it is. Left shoulder is still achy. Allergies were acting up being time and it didn’t help that it was above 90 the past two days. Copper sleeves on both knees. I had been sent a backup plan for this week to give the knees some more rest. I was playing it by ear but I was leaning towards doing the pre-modified workout. Whatever. On the fancy bikes again. I actually was 1 second over finishing the course I did last time in the five minutes so that is something haha. Highest my heartrate hit was 145bpm. On to the warm-ups. Calf raises felt good. Tight but springy. Knees were not nearly as bad as I was expecting on the goblet squats. Again, really focusing on the breaking at the hips first and then bending knees. A bit more aches on the RDLs. Band rows were easy. Not really any aches in the shoulder for the push-ups. Plank was easy but I definitely felt stress in the left shoulder in the pose. Biceps stretches felt good. One shoulder is definitely tighter than the other. No issues on the hip swings. On to the workout. It could go one of two ways. If my knee made it not worth it, the new option would be working up to a 90-95% single strict press with the axle. The true plan would be working up to 80% on axle clean and jerk and then move it to the rack for EMOM stuff. Split style appeared to be less stress on the knee. I had the knee brace if necessary. I didn’t really have a set percentage that I was using as I haven’t really maxed on the axle clean and jerks like I’ve been doing with log. I just went up by 15kgs a set to about 80% for the top single. Stuff felt a little heavier in the rack position than I would’ve liked but the weight was flying up overhead. If I ever need to do reps on the platform on axle, I will need to have more control on the descent. But don’t want to overstress biceps unnecessarily. Rack work after that. Same as log from last week. I was a bit leery on this as this new rack can’t fit the axle on the barbell hooks so I had to use the catches like I did with log. I added 7.5kgs to the axle from what I did on the last single to match things like I did with log. Same idea, nine singles done EMOM style. With how it felt on my shoulders, I felt I made a big mistake. But it just went to lockout easily. I think I had more trouble unracking and settling the axle on my shoulders and then putting it back on the rack then actually jerking the weight. Ended up with a power jerk on the second to last lift. A little more knee stress there. My rice krispknee didn’t explode so good for now. It will have see if it appreciates this later. Chest supported rows were next. Same guidelines as last time but aiming for 6-8 reps. I figured why not do the same thing with plate jumps and go for 400lbs for reps. This would be the most weight I’ve attempted on these. Six reps to time my best and anything above that being a rep PR. Biceps a little tight from keg work on Saturday. First three weights were easy. Could probably do like 20 reps with 310lbs. Last time my right biceps started to cramp before the last set. I was a little worried but I made sure I didn’t have the biceps initiating the pull at the start. 400lbs was heavy but I got the reps. Benching again. Had a rocky start a few weeks back but I seem to be on track with the benching again. Planned jumps up to a top triple for the night and then paused rep set. Did a few warm-ups. Weight started a little slow and then got easier before getting tough again. 290lbs was slower but I was in control. 330lbs was the planned triple. It felt like I was pushing it but it looked like I had a double in the tank maybe. Paused rep set again. I went big jump again with 280lbs. Probably should’ve stopped at seven reps as the eight one I let go too far towards my head and hit the one pin so it was more of a struggle than it should’ve been. Grip hang to end the day. I knew what I needed to do for setup here. Again, this felt like I was going to lose my grip immediately. My chest was tight and sore but I held on. I had hoped I had breached a minute with the chains this week but still short. But still an improvement. Home to stretch and eat meatloaf.
Sunday, June 17, 2018
June 16, 2018 – Week 6, Day 3
5 Minutes Misc Stationary Bike
Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30
16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25
Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20
Band Rows
MMBx20
Push-ups
BWx15
Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds
Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds
Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Yoke (with drops)
300x100’ (drop at 50’) in 14.21 seconds
400x50’ (drop at 25’) in 8.97 seconds
500x50’ (drop at 25’) in 9.42 seconds
600x50’ (drop at 25’) in 11.49 seconds
700x50’ in 9.42 seconds
800x100’ (drop at 50’) in 42.36 seconds
Keg Load Over Bar
154x1 to 68”
203x1 to 68”
252x1 to 68”
276x1 to 68”
300x1 to 68”
327x1 to 68”
351.5x0 to 68”
351.5x0 to 66”
351.5x0 to 66”
Stretching
Comments: I didn’t want to do this workout. Well it was more I didn’t want to do this workout and not be able to do it. Right knee is not feeling it right now. Icing my knees and taking whatever anti-inflammatories I have. I can deal with it just existing but it’s hindering me doing what I want/need to do. No walking yesterday to see if that helped at all. It was quite warm out today. Wore copper sleeves on both knees driving out to the gym and kept them on all day. I figured walking wouldn’t be too good on turf since my knees seem to be more achy and not as warm doing that. So I got on the bike for this one. Calf raise stuff was easy. Nice and springy so good sign. Goblet box squats after that. Knees ached but not as much as I was expecting or could be with my knees. Really thinking about sitting back on these first to get the hip hinge. Knees were a little achy on the RDLs too. Band rows were great as were push-ups. Easy plank hold followed by the biceps stretches. Hip swings weren’t bad either but I noticed that my right knee was a little off when that was my swinging leg. Now for weights. First up for the day was yoke. 50’ down, drop and turn and 50’ back with contest weight of 800lbs as the goal. Starting at 300lbs and taking 100lbs jumps. Similar plan to the farmer’s walks but more sets. I had cooled off a little waiting for a lane to open up so I did some “yoke walking” with nothing on my back to see how it felt on my knees. It would really suck to have driven about an hour to drive home. Then I did some picks with the empty yoke and some walking. I was going to need more than the copper sleeve to do this safely today. I had brought the knee brace I had used for keg press last week and put that over the sleeve. Could still move but felt I had enough support. Had a small child in the lane on both ways with 300lbs. I couldn’t seem to move into another gear. I figured that maybe it was due to the first set or that I didn’t want to hit the kid. But it seemed to be the case for all the sets. The next three sets were half the distance with the pick and turn. Knee didn’t seem to be getting worse. Right side of my lower back was stuff and sore. It was chore bending over to pick up stuff or put weight on the yoke. 600lbs felt like a house. I felt like I was slowing down on the second half of that run. I felt my transitions were slower too. With how 600lbs felt, I figured I wasn’t going to be able to fast pick and go with the next weight. This was just a straight run of 50’. Slow on the pick but I seemed to be doing well and pick up speed. But like 15’ out my left hip and leg just stiffened up and messed up my rhythm. Almost dropped it with how abrupt it came on. This seems to be the case more with heavier runs. I was not happy with this but it was at least under 10 seconds. Realization was setting in that the last run may not happen. Before signing up for this contest, I had figured that the farmer’s walk and yoke wouldn’t be so taxing to train for since I had been hitting these weights consistently since October. Literally no stop in contest prep since a year ago. But yeah, at my level, this is still tough. Be humble. I took my time before doing this last run. Switched out the 25lbs bumper plates for 100lbs plates. I was feeling sick to my stomach. I didn’t want to do this. I was worried I was going to just drop it 10’ in and be done. Had to talk myself into it. I was not going fast. I wanted to finish. Going fast might have what happened near the end of the last run. It didn’t feel so bad going down. About the same point my left side did that thing it does. This second half was going to suck. I took a bit more time to repick the yoke as I knew I was going to hobbling this thing back now. Really going slow now. About half way down this length and I’m slowing down even more. tarps are feeling raw from the yoke. Slow when tired, let it settle. I almost came to a dead stop but I was so close and once I got my hips under me again, I started moving and finished. Took me over 42 seconds. I feel like this needs to be at least 15 seconds faster. But it was done. Took my time putting stuff away to get ready for the keg lifting. Plan today for keg was singles over bar at 68”, starting light and lowering the height when I feel like I might miss and so on. I was not sure how this was going to go with my back and knee. Starting this light would give me a chance to work on technique that I can’t really do with the contest weight of 350lbs. I was literally throwing the power keg over the bar up until 300lbs. I was still able to launch it but it was much less ridiculous looking. Had a crash mat and three tires and that really didn’t stop the keg much, it came down to the exercise machines stopping it. I really need to get another arm sleeve as the power keg really is biting into my biceps on the right arm, especially on the load portion when I release the keg. I ended up wrapping my left thumb in tape to make that more secure and to keep it from bleeding. Pressing the thumb into the lip of the keg seems to be the most secure and stable way to match the other hand grip on the handles. Despite feeling like crap, I was feeling like I could get +350lbs over this height today. 327lbs went over this height and I was still able to get a bit over upper body shove into it. But I came up short at this height with the next jump. Looking at the video, it appears to be about the same height as I got around this weight to last time when I missed. Maybe slightly lower. I was feeling lightheaded with having it on my chest and exerting for so long. So I lowered it 2” to 66” for what I figured was a sure thing. It was not a sure thing. I was so close but it just got stuck and came back down. I figured I’d give it another shot. Same result. It was so close. I had nothing left. I didn’t want to lift it again. I figured it was close enough. Someone else training today tried it for fun and got it over easy with the same weight and height. I felt like crap. I just wanted to go home. The ice packs for me knees didn’t stay cold in the cooler I brought so that didn’t work out. So tired and beat up. I had to convince myself to stretch when I got home. Need to recover and refocus. Get over my bimonthly “I’m going to retire” funk and keep moving forward. Two more hard weeks in the cycle left.
Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30
16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25
Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20
Band Rows
MMBx20
Push-ups
BWx15
Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds
Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds
Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Yoke (with drops)
300x100’ (drop at 50’) in 14.21 seconds
400x50’ (drop at 25’) in 8.97 seconds
500x50’ (drop at 25’) in 9.42 seconds
600x50’ (drop at 25’) in 11.49 seconds
700x50’ in 9.42 seconds
800x100’ (drop at 50’) in 42.36 seconds
Keg Load Over Bar
154x1 to 68”
203x1 to 68”
252x1 to 68”
276x1 to 68”
300x1 to 68”
327x1 to 68”
351.5x0 to 68”
351.5x0 to 66”
351.5x0 to 66”
Stretching
Comments: I didn’t want to do this workout. Well it was more I didn’t want to do this workout and not be able to do it. Right knee is not feeling it right now. Icing my knees and taking whatever anti-inflammatories I have. I can deal with it just existing but it’s hindering me doing what I want/need to do. No walking yesterday to see if that helped at all. It was quite warm out today. Wore copper sleeves on both knees driving out to the gym and kept them on all day. I figured walking wouldn’t be too good on turf since my knees seem to be more achy and not as warm doing that. So I got on the bike for this one. Calf raise stuff was easy. Nice and springy so good sign. Goblet box squats after that. Knees ached but not as much as I was expecting or could be with my knees. Really thinking about sitting back on these first to get the hip hinge. Knees were a little achy on the RDLs too. Band rows were great as were push-ups. Easy plank hold followed by the biceps stretches. Hip swings weren’t bad either but I noticed that my right knee was a little off when that was my swinging leg. Now for weights. First up for the day was yoke. 50’ down, drop and turn and 50’ back with contest weight of 800lbs as the goal. Starting at 300lbs and taking 100lbs jumps. Similar plan to the farmer’s walks but more sets. I had cooled off a little waiting for a lane to open up so I did some “yoke walking” with nothing on my back to see how it felt on my knees. It would really suck to have driven about an hour to drive home. Then I did some picks with the empty yoke and some walking. I was going to need more than the copper sleeve to do this safely today. I had brought the knee brace I had used for keg press last week and put that over the sleeve. Could still move but felt I had enough support. Had a small child in the lane on both ways with 300lbs. I couldn’t seem to move into another gear. I figured that maybe it was due to the first set or that I didn’t want to hit the kid. But it seemed to be the case for all the sets. The next three sets were half the distance with the pick and turn. Knee didn’t seem to be getting worse. Right side of my lower back was stuff and sore. It was chore bending over to pick up stuff or put weight on the yoke. 600lbs felt like a house. I felt like I was slowing down on the second half of that run. I felt my transitions were slower too. With how 600lbs felt, I figured I wasn’t going to be able to fast pick and go with the next weight. This was just a straight run of 50’. Slow on the pick but I seemed to be doing well and pick up speed. But like 15’ out my left hip and leg just stiffened up and messed up my rhythm. Almost dropped it with how abrupt it came on. This seems to be the case more with heavier runs. I was not happy with this but it was at least under 10 seconds. Realization was setting in that the last run may not happen. Before signing up for this contest, I had figured that the farmer’s walk and yoke wouldn’t be so taxing to train for since I had been hitting these weights consistently since October. Literally no stop in contest prep since a year ago. But yeah, at my level, this is still tough. Be humble. I took my time before doing this last run. Switched out the 25lbs bumper plates for 100lbs plates. I was feeling sick to my stomach. I didn’t want to do this. I was worried I was going to just drop it 10’ in and be done. Had to talk myself into it. I was not going fast. I wanted to finish. Going fast might have what happened near the end of the last run. It didn’t feel so bad going down. About the same point my left side did that thing it does. This second half was going to suck. I took a bit more time to repick the yoke as I knew I was going to hobbling this thing back now. Really going slow now. About half way down this length and I’m slowing down even more. tarps are feeling raw from the yoke. Slow when tired, let it settle. I almost came to a dead stop but I was so close and once I got my hips under me again, I started moving and finished. Took me over 42 seconds. I feel like this needs to be at least 15 seconds faster. But it was done. Took my time putting stuff away to get ready for the keg lifting. Plan today for keg was singles over bar at 68”, starting light and lowering the height when I feel like I might miss and so on. I was not sure how this was going to go with my back and knee. Starting this light would give me a chance to work on technique that I can’t really do with the contest weight of 350lbs. I was literally throwing the power keg over the bar up until 300lbs. I was still able to launch it but it was much less ridiculous looking. Had a crash mat and three tires and that really didn’t stop the keg much, it came down to the exercise machines stopping it. I really need to get another arm sleeve as the power keg really is biting into my biceps on the right arm, especially on the load portion when I release the keg. I ended up wrapping my left thumb in tape to make that more secure and to keep it from bleeding. Pressing the thumb into the lip of the keg seems to be the most secure and stable way to match the other hand grip on the handles. Despite feeling like crap, I was feeling like I could get +350lbs over this height today. 327lbs went over this height and I was still able to get a bit over upper body shove into it. But I came up short at this height with the next jump. Looking at the video, it appears to be about the same height as I got around this weight to last time when I missed. Maybe slightly lower. I was feeling lightheaded with having it on my chest and exerting for so long. So I lowered it 2” to 66” for what I figured was a sure thing. It was not a sure thing. I was so close but it just got stuck and came back down. I figured I’d give it another shot. Same result. It was so close. I had nothing left. I didn’t want to lift it again. I figured it was close enough. Someone else training today tried it for fun and got it over easy with the same weight and height. I felt like crap. I just wanted to go home. The ice packs for me knees didn’t stay cold in the cooler I brought so that didn’t work out. So tired and beat up. I had to convince myself to stretch when I got home. Need to recover and refocus. Get over my bimonthly “I’m going to retire” funk and keep moving forward. Two more hard weeks in the cycle left.
Thursday, June 14, 2018
June 13, 2018 – Week 6, Day 2
5 Minutes Expresso Interactive Upright Exercise Bike
Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30
16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25
Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20
Band Rows
MMBx20
Push-ups
BWx15
Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds
Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds
Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Deadlifts
135x5
205x5
Added Suit/Straps
275x3
336x3
397x3
458x3
519x3
Smith Machine Weighted Planks
BW+155x30 seconds
BW+155x30 seconds
Side Plank
BWx60/60 seconds
Stretching
Comments: Moved this day up to accommodate for social engagements. Right knee is still buggy. Wore a copper knee sleeve for the workout. Warmed up on the fancy bike again. 140bpm highest reading this time. I picked a different course that seemed ok. Easy calf work after that. Knees weren’t really bothering me on the goblet box squats. So that was a plus. RDLs also not so bad on the knee. I figured that deadlifting wouldn’t be so bad today then. Rows with the band were good. Left shoulder is still tight but not the achy painful it was before. I was expecting some shoulder tightness on the push-ups but they actually went pretty good. Plank was easy. Then the biceps stretches. Into the hallway for the hip swings. Felt pretty good. On to deadlifts. Someone was using the lifting platform so I just did them right in front of it where really the only space available. Warmed up before moving on to the work sets. All gear on and doing triples with 10% jumps in weight. Reps in the suit is weird. I used a combination of metal plates and bumper plates to try and get it to feel similar to the hummer tire weight distribution. I felt like I was pressing orange juice out of my face with how tight the suit felt and how much pressure I was under at the bar. Never not awkward getting strapped to the bar in the suit from the floor. Weight felt easy that first set and was much the same the second set. This was encouraging. Suit doesn’t put me in a good position on the floor despite the rebound I get. Weight was starting to feel heavy and I was getting sweaty. Producing my on baby oil with how easily the bar was sliding up my thighs to lockout. Nicked my shin on the right side on one of the sets so was bleeding through that sock by the end. Second to last set, I felt that I could do 12-15 reps with it. Top set was a little bit tougher. I gripped it differently on the bar and I didn’t bother applying chalk. Made this a bit harder to hold on to with control, even with the straps. Put the weights away and got out of the suit before going upstairs to do weighted planks. Set it up with the weight I did my last set with last week. That was rough going for that much weight right off the bat. Must be crazy to do another set with it. Side plank to finish up the session. Weighted planks had beat my core up something fierce. I was sweating and cramping by the end of the side plank set and was just glad to be done with it and head home to rest some.
Leaning Calf Raises
BWx30
16” Goblet Box Squats
20x25
Shoestring Romanian Deadlifts
45x20
Band Rows
MMBx20
Push-ups
BWx15
Bodyweight Plank
20 Seconds
Biceps Stretches
20 Seconds
20 Seconds
Front to Back Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Side to Side Hip Swings
BWx10/10
Deadlifts
135x5
205x5
Added Suit/Straps
275x3
336x3
397x3
458x3
519x3
Smith Machine Weighted Planks
BW+155x30 seconds
BW+155x30 seconds
Side Plank
BWx60/60 seconds
Stretching
Comments: Moved this day up to accommodate for social engagements. Right knee is still buggy. Wore a copper knee sleeve for the workout. Warmed up on the fancy bike again. 140bpm highest reading this time. I picked a different course that seemed ok. Easy calf work after that. Knees weren’t really bothering me on the goblet box squats. So that was a plus. RDLs also not so bad on the knee. I figured that deadlifting wouldn’t be so bad today then. Rows with the band were good. Left shoulder is still tight but not the achy painful it was before. I was expecting some shoulder tightness on the push-ups but they actually went pretty good. Plank was easy. Then the biceps stretches. Into the hallway for the hip swings. Felt pretty good. On to deadlifts. Someone was using the lifting platform so I just did them right in front of it where really the only space available. Warmed up before moving on to the work sets. All gear on and doing triples with 10% jumps in weight. Reps in the suit is weird. I used a combination of metal plates and bumper plates to try and get it to feel similar to the hummer tire weight distribution. I felt like I was pressing orange juice out of my face with how tight the suit felt and how much pressure I was under at the bar. Never not awkward getting strapped to the bar in the suit from the floor. Weight felt easy that first set and was much the same the second set. This was encouraging. Suit doesn’t put me in a good position on the floor despite the rebound I get. Weight was starting to feel heavy and I was getting sweaty. Producing my on baby oil with how easily the bar was sliding up my thighs to lockout. Nicked my shin on the right side on one of the sets so was bleeding through that sock by the end. Second to last set, I felt that I could do 12-15 reps with it. Top set was a little bit tougher. I gripped it differently on the bar and I didn’t bother applying chalk. Made this a bit harder to hold on to with control, even with the straps. Put the weights away and got out of the suit before going upstairs to do weighted planks. Set it up with the weight I did my last set with last week. That was rough going for that much weight right off the bat. Must be crazy to do another set with it. Side plank to finish up the session. Weighted planks had beat my core up something fierce. I was sweating and cramping by the end of the side plank set and was just glad to be done with it and head home to rest some.
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