Training Log: Entry 1904


Dips
1x51

https://youtu.be/OXN5uNNZL80

Notes: Pretty pleased with how quickly I hit this goal. Also happy to see that the depth on the dips isn't too shallow. I'm not fully locking out at the top, I didn't expect that I was, as it would be a silly thing to do.




Haven't been recording it here, but I've actually been doing a max set of dips everyday since Monday.  Usually I'd hit this as soon as I got home from work, several hours after my morning workout.  The progression has gone as such.


Monday: 36
Tuesday: 40
Wednesday: 45 
Thursday: 47
Friday: 51




Not going to keep this up the week of the contest, but once I get back from that, I'm really going to chase this and see what I can do with it.



Band pull aparts
1x102


Notes: Shoulders were getting achy around Wednesday from all the dips, so I started throwing in a max set of pull aparts.  Always twice as many reps as the dips.  Seems to be putting the pain away.





Yoke 410lbs
4x75'

Notes: Pulled my left lat on the very first yoke run, and forgot to wear my knee sleeves on the last one. Still a good yoke day, very fast foot speed, and the muscle pull seems minor. I might have to skip deadlifts tomorrow, which will crush my ego, but I have zero concern about being healed by contest time.

Training Log: Entry 1903


Axle Clean and Press (clean once) 223lbs
1x6
1x4

Notes: Using my new Rogue axle. Weighs 25lbs and is powder coated, so some slight differences from what I was training with before. Very easy to grip. Was going for 8 reps, but misgrooved the very first rep and had to fight to press it out. Just was out of rhythm for the day. Still, not a bad "mediocre" performance. Shoulders no longer feel beat up from dips, think my body is adapting to the workload.

DB Incline Press 105
(4) 1x9
(3) 1x9
(2) 1x8
(1) 1x7
(0) 1x7 w/reactive slingshot

superset w/

GB Lat Pulldown 110
5x10

superset w/

Band pull aparts
5x20

Notes: Still on the fence with the reactive slingshot. It really beats up my right elbow for some reason. Really liking what I'm doing with the incline bench though, and my numbers are improving quickly on it compared to my previous efforts.


Axle curl stripset
100 reps

Band pushdown dropset
30xAverage band
25xLight band
20xMini band

Notes: I'm such a child, but I need gimmicks to get me to do arm work. The band dropset was fun. Had all 3 bands set up on the power rack and just hopped straight from one to the other. The axle curls really blew up my biceps something fierce.


General notes: Another great training session. Been having a lot of these in a row recently. It's funny how when I started strongman I loved the log and hated the axle, and now it's the other way around. Woke up at 196.0, but yesterday's nutrition wasn't the greatest, so I'm ok with that. Already excited for this contest to be over so I can really push my overhead in some stupid heavy directions.

Training Log: Entry 1902


(10) Chain Suspended Safety Squat Bar Squats
3x445+chains
6x355+chains

Notes: Skipped the 11th link and went straight to the end of the cycle, like what I'm doing with deads. Extremely happy with how this squat cycle turned out, especially considering I had to dork up the first few weeks since my hamstring exploded. Matched my previous amount of reps with a greater amount of weight while being at a lower bodyweight. A complete victory. Going to ride this out for as long as I can.


Reverse hyper 5 plates
3x12

superset w/

Standing ab wheel
1x8
2x7


Car deadlift simulator
5x8 plates
10x6 plates

Notes: Got some thinner 45s so I can hit 8 plates per side now. Another awesome victory in this workout. Patting myself on the back for a second, that's 740lbs of plate weight total (factoring in that I'm counting the 100lb plates as just "2 plates"). I'm curious when I'm going to hit my limit on this movement. Once again, the weak point seems to keep changing for me, and this week it was really my rear delts and upper lats that seemed to be taking the brunt of the force.


Neck harness w/45lbs
1x50

Notes: I gotta rig up my new ironmind neck harness and probably a loading pin for this in the future. Might actually start pushing the weight a touch.



General notes: 195.8 this morning. Seem to be hitting a decent fluctuation within the 195-196 range. Shoulders are a little sore from dips. Bodycomp continues to improve. This is my last heavy squat workout until after the competition, next week, if I do anything at all, it'll just be some light pump work.

Training Log: Entry 1901


Weighted chins 55lbs
20 reps

Notes: Used one of my new loading pins for this and it was awesome. May actually encourage me to do more/different amounts of weighted movements.

Bench 295
5x5

superset w/

Band pull aparts
5x20

Notes: I'm so f**king stupid, I misloaded the bench. Was supposed to be 305 today. That said, it may have been a subconscious action anyway, as this 5x5 was fast and smooth with shorter rest periods but still decently taxing. I may need to just dial back the training max on this rotation until I start eating more again. I was at least happy to succeed with less weight than fail with more, and I'll see how next week ends up.


Shoulder circuit
3 rounds


Dips
1x26

Notes: Ironmind dip racks wobble a lot less than my old power tower. See myself doing a lot more dips in the future. This was once again to make up for lost volume, this time due to the mislead.


DB rows 105
9x3
1x25


General Notes: Woke up at 196.0. Wife's birthday is today, been celebrating the entire weekend, but I've actually managed to play it pretty smart. Went to Red Lobster last night and just got a triple order of shrimp scampi w/broccoli and a Cesar salad w/a bite of the cheddar biscuits (amazingly, I'm at that "sober living" part of the diet where I couldn't really stomach more than that, so it was self regulating), and otherwise been sticking mainly with salads and meats. Still taking in a lot of sodium, which is most likely affecting weight slightly, but I'll take it.

Love handles are pretty much gone. Trace amounts of lower back fat. These are the two hardest areas for me to lose fat in, so things are coming along nicely. Aside from bench, strength seems to be holding together pretty well. Biggest factor is just mental, and not in the "I want to eat more/bad things" side (I'm a pretty big creature of habit, so right now I'm settled in to a nice routine), but more in the sense that I want to do MORE rather than less. Gaining and growing is just always more satisfying than losing. Big thing is going to be being smart once I start adding. Last time, I went on a 3 year junk food binge, can't do that again.



PM Training

Dips
1x36

Notes: Just threw in a max rep set upon getting home from work to see what I could do. Wanna get this up to 50. Thinking I might try to shoot for a daily goal of 100 reps of dips on my pressing days to get some more upper body volume when I try to gain weight.

Training Log: Entry 1900

(2) Mat Pulls 585+chains
11 reps total
(2) Mat Pulls 495+chains
1x5

Notes: 8 on the first, 3 on the second.  Felt like I didn't have another pull in me at 585, and didn't want to risk it this close to a comp, so I dropped a plate to get some more reps in.  I may make that a regular thing, might even work dead stops ala my squat training.  Going to do everything in my power to hit 8 reps next week.  Felt like I could've had a 9th on the first pull today if I was willing to be stupid.


DOH hold 405+chains
40 seconds


Squats 360
1x17+3

Notes: Used my new buffalo bar today.  It weighs 52lbs, but I have 7.5 kilo bumper plates which come out to 33lbs, so score, I'm able to get a "5" at the end right?  Well stupid me immediately forgot about that and added a 5lb plate when not required.  Went up 15lbs from last week versus the 10 I was planning, but at least that explains the less than stellar performance.  Next week, I'll just move it up 5lbs.

The buffalo bar feels AMAZING, but I can't hold it quite as low on my back as I could with a barbell, so technique is a little different.  Slightly more high bar.




General notes: Weighed in at 194.6 this morning.  Skipped dinner last night since I drove an hour+ each way to get the gear, and by the time I got home and unloaded all the stuff I just had no appetite.  Still a stupid move.  Tried to make up with it on my cheat meal today: 2 western bacon cheeseburgers from the local burger joint, bread and all.  This was painful to put away.  I'm getting really excited about putting on some quality weight, mainly so I can quit doing this and just eat a lot of meat everyday.

Also, got some more thinner diameter 45lb plates, so I may be able to just straight increase the weight on my car deadlift frame instead of coming up with that rig, but that'll most likely still be in my future.



Holy cow, 1900 posts.

Training Log: Entry 1899


Sandbag (205lbs), Keg (182lbs), Keg (100lbs): 75' each
2 rounds

Notes: Each implement starts at the same spot, so I run the sandbag first, run back, run the first keg, run back, run the final keg, then die. Focused on sprinting between each implement. This really sucked, my conditioning is awful, definitely something I need to focus on in the off season. The sandbag moved really quick, and then I could jog with the first keg, but by the time I got to the third keg it was like a brisk walk. 2 rounds totally did me in, heart was beating like a jackhammer. Part of this is I got woken up twice in the middle of the night, so I went back to some old habits and had a fully charged Rockstar (240mg caffeine) before training.

I liked this circuit though, and was fried out on the yoke, so it was a fun change of pace. Next week, I'll hit the yoke light for speed, and then it's the contest.


I was going to hit arms after this but then I remembered something: f**k that.


General notes: Wife told me I looked skinny last night. Such a psychological blow, haha. Have pretty decent abs in the morning and still some abs at night, which is a good sign. May be picking up a ton of awesome lifting tear today (all Ironmind and Rogue), if it pans out, I'll update.

Bodyweight at 195.2 for the second day in a row.

Training Log: Entry 1898


Circus DB 112.5
3x5

Notes: Technique has really improved on these. Much less pressing out and far more leg drive. Ideally, I would've been cleaning each rep in training, but my Home Depot bucket bell is about on it's last legs. Still, feeling pretty confident for the contest.


Incline dumbbell press 105
(4) 1x8
(3) 1x8
(2) 1x8
(1) 1x6
(0) 1x5

superset w/

GB lat pulldown 110
5x10

superset w/

Band pull aparts
5x20


Notes: Some explanation. Wasn't progressing with the incline DB presses the way I wanted to be and was concerned that I wasn't hitting all the angles I needed to in order to build up a stronger press. Solution: Lower the incline each set. This way, I'm working through a bunch of different angles while still allowing myself to really push hard on those first few sets. Think now, my plan is going to be that, when I hit 10 reps on the first set (maybe first 2), I'll increase the incline again.


Had to cut out the arms training. Workout got cut short. May finish it tonight or throw it in with events tomorrow.