Saturday was a deload:

Axle clean once and press away

110 x 5

130 x 5

150 x 5

Super-set with Band pull-aparts: 3 x 15

Front squats

185 x 5

225 x 5

275 x 5

Super-set with pull-ups: 3 x 12

Incline dumbbell press 

80s x 4 x 10

Super-set with lying dumbbell rows 

115s x 4 x 8

Loaded carries

200 lb sandbag, 45 seconds

160 lb keg, 45 seconds

Ended with a 5 minute heavy bag round with oxygen mask

Sunday was home boxing training.

1 round shadowboxing with oxygen mask, 5 minutes

3 rounds on the heavy bag, 5 minutes each. First 2 rounds with oxygen mask, last without.

Later in the evening, went on a 2.25 mile jog.

Spent a lot of time playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Only took 6 years for me to finally get really into it and learn the ins and outs of the battle system, but I'm hooked now. Glad I didn't sell it.

Went on a 3.35 mile run yesterday for 45 minutes after getting home from work. Hadn’t eaten since lunch and only had casein protein in me.

Played a little mind game with myself when a coworker brought donuts in this morning: I pretended I already ate one and all that was left was the memory of it, just like any time I actually eat dessert and wished it lasted longer.

Tuesday

3 rounds on the heavy bag, 5 minutes each (oxygen-deprivation mask on the first round)

3 sprints up Heart Attack Hill + shadowboxing at an incline at the top of each round

10 min jog

I have also been doing 20 rapid Muay Thai kicks for each leg every morning after waking-up and sometimes doing 20 burpees afterwards.

Axle power cleans

170 x 5

190 x 3

210 x 3

Deadlifts 

415 x 5

470 x 3

525 x 2

415 x 10 (1 min AMRAP)

Wide pull-ups: 5 x 10

Super-set with weighted dips

55 x 3 x 10

65 x 2 x 10

Lying leg curls

340 x 5 x 10

Super-set with curls

55 lb dumbbells x 10

35 lb dumbbells x 2 x 10

Swiss bar: 2 x 10

Felt strong on everything. I'm having fun with power cleans. I've never done them seriously since getting bumper plates and crash pads. I can remember getting into them for the first time after signing up for my first contest ever, a power clean competition in 2011, and straining my back trying to drop the barbell quietly at 24 Hour Fitness in the lead-up to the event.

The form on these were still pretty ugly and done with brute strength, but there were a few reps where I felt the arm swivel happening when catching the bar, which was cool. Never felt that so automatically before.

I'm deadlifting exclusively on flat ground now, either in the garage or, in this case, on the patio, rather than uneven dirt. I used to take pride in the bad set-up as a training condition, but it also lead to missed deadlift reps.

Axle clean once and press 

125 x 5

145 x 5

165 x 8

Super-set with Band pull-aparts: 3 x 15

SSB front squats

250 x 5

290 x 5

330 x 5

Super-set with pull-ups: 15, 15, 15

Incline dumbbell press 

80s x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Super-set with dumbbell rows 

115 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

200 lb sandbag carries 

3 rounds of 1 minute

160 lb keg carries

2 rounds of 1 minute

 Boxing on Tuesday was a typical technical partner combo day. Paired up with another beginner who wasn't good at holding pads yet, but I keep attending this class because the coach is good about polishing up technique. We practiced a Mike Tyson favorite that I'd already been training on my own before: jab, right straight to the body, and a rising left hook. Got reminded to throw the left hook as I'm starting to rise from a crouched position, rather than throw it too late.

Strongman workout yesterday crashed and burned. The program calls for getting creative with a press medley. Although 2 lifts hardly make a medley, I opted to mimic what I'd be doing in the comp: log clean and press a rep, followed by a 100 lb dumbbell press (substituting the dumbbell for lack of a 105 lb kettlebell), alternating for as many reps as possible. 

The comp calls for a 225 lb log for my weight class, but I couldn't even rep 205 more than once in a set. Did 3 total sets of 1 rep each: 

205 lb log clean and press

100 lb dumbbell clean and press

Log pressing in general hurts my right shoulder. I'm working with the Titan 12" log and its size puts the beginning portion of the press rather far out in front of me, which is the portion that hurts (even with leg drive). Once it's halfway up and getting directly over my head the pain is gone, but I feel like I'm not able to fire at full power off my chest to get a powerful press.

Shoulder pain is the main reason I haven't committed to the comp and signed my name yet, but I've found that I'm really enjoying getting back into strongman training again. My gameplan right now is to lower the weights and build my press up more gradually. If shoulder pain continues, I'll continue training in strongman regardless of entering this particular show or not, but change the press to something that doesn't hurt (first picks that come to mind that I'd want to experiment with are an axle push-press or a trap bar lift).

I'm due for a weigh-in soon, but body composition has undergone a noticeable change. Abs are showing more and arm vascularity is really noticeable even just typing at my computer right now.

Thursday night: 

Log clean once and strict press

145 x 3

165 x 3

187.5 x 4

60 sec AMRAP: 145 x 14

Super-set with band pull-aparts: 4 x 15

SSB front squats

250 x 3

290 x 3

320 x 5

Super-set with pull-ups: 15, 15 15

Friday night:

Incline dumbbell press
85s x 10, 10
90s x 10, 10
80s x 10
Super-set with standing bent-over dumbbell rows
115 x 5 x 10

Sandbag carries: 1 minute, 3 sets
Keg carries: 1 minute, 2 sets 

Sunday:

Power cleans

152 x 5

180 x 3

200 x 3

60 sec AMRAP: 160 x 12

Deadlifts 

385 x 3

445 x 3

495 x 3

Weighted dips

50 x 3 x 10

65 x 10

Super-set with wide pull-ups: 5 x 10

Log clean and press

190 x 5, 5, 5

Medley: 200 lb sandbag carry, 150 kb keg carry, 370 lb sled push

20 meters x 1:41, 1:50, 1:28

Sandbag loading: floor to table

200 x 5

Didn't realize I'd already log pressed 3x5 with 190 a few weeks ago, but at least the log was snapping up faster than before. Technique is improving. Lost the log a couple of reps from standing too narrow and squatting too deep with it, and then had much stronger cleans by standing wider. 

Times on the medley were affected by the sled getting stuck at my garage entrance and having to walk it over the lip to get it back inside to the starting point. On the final set, I just decided to leave the sled out and push it from there instead of starting in the garage. The 80 dumbbell I had on it also kept rolling off. All stuff I can dial in with time and experience.

Time was an issue and could only afford 1 set of the sandbag loading, but it was a good way to end things. I've never picked my sandbag up from the floor before, but it was pretty easy.

This morning at work a driver dropped off a trailer and had trouble parking it straight so I told him it's fine and did it myself by deadlifting it into position.

Despite being a decent back workout with all the positioning, the general state of my back is now healthy enough that I was able to handle today's clean and deadlift workout when I got home.

Power cleans

145 x 5

170 x 0, 0, 5

190 x 5

Deadlifts 

375 x 5

435 x 0, 5

485 x 5

Dips

Bodyweight x 10

50x 10, 10

65 x 10, 10

Super-set with wide pull-ups 

5 x 10

Leg curls

290 x 5 x 10

Super-set with seated curls

35s x 10, 10

15s x 10, 10

35s x 10

A couple of false sputtered rep attempts on the cleans (didn't lean back enough to catch the weight) and deadlifts (gunshy about my back so I put on a belt). Missing a rep of 435 had me chuckling and shaking my head as I walked away because I knew I was going to destroy 485 in a few minutes with room to spare.

Log clean once and strict press

137.5 x 5

157.5 x 5

177.5 x 6

Super-set with band pull-aparts: 3 x 15

SSB front squats

230 x 5

262.5 x 5

300 x 5

Super-set with pull-ups: 15, 15, 12

Incline dumbbell press 

80s x 5 x 10

Super-set with lying dumbbell rows

80s x 5 x 10

Sandbag carries 

200 lbs x 40 sec, 40 sec

Keg carry

160 lbs x 1 min

Day 1 of the program. Chose good starting weights. Left shoulder is completely healed, but right was bothering me a little on the strict press. Shut-down an attempted 7th rep to not grind hard with it, but the pain has improved and I feel like I can still heal while log pressing. I happen to have microplates so I went ahead and used them to adhere to the percentages as close as possible.

Front squats might have been too light but that's a good problem to have. I haven't front squatted 300 lbs in over 15 years and it took me awhile back then to work-up to 315. Kicker is I'm much stronger now.

Was going to attach 10 lb plates to make my dumbbells 90 lbs, but light weight can really sneak up on you for 5 sets of 10. The 80s were a good weight to start with; the final few reps of the last 2 sets became challenging enough.

Weighted carries were the only program deviation. Only had time to do 3 sets, and the 200 lb bag was feeling heavy for 1 minute at the end of the workout until I discovered the art of lapping it to get a better grip. Will clean this up next time and do 5 sets of 1 minute carries.

The whole session took about an hour and a half, but there was a lot of set-up time carrying weights and the log from the garage to the yard (garage roof is too low to overhead the log), setting up for squats, and moving things around to protect them from the incoming rain that night/the next day. Will set-up in advance next time. 

Had an awesome weekend with family for Dad's birthday and ate a ton. Stone Stew + Eataly on Friday was good, but going to Eghbal's on Saturday was restorative for the soul. Haven't had everyone gathered around like that in a long time. 

I messed around with 2 press workouts over the weekend. On Saturday, I felt physically fatigued and worked-up to log clean and pressing 200 lbs after a couple of misses. Couldn't even clean it at first, then got it up for a grindy single that I had to immediately put back down to keep from blacking out. After a mental pep talk, I went up to the log with more conviction and did a stronger set of 2, popping the weight overhead without issue. Did a 5-minute heavy bag round right after and called it there, as I had a family dinner I didn't want to miss.

Since I had to cut that workout short, I returned the next day and worked up to axle push-pressing from the rack 220x2 after a couple of missed attempts, followed by Arnold pressing the 80 lb dumbbells for 3 sets of 8, super-setting that with chin-ups, and ending with skullcrushers and curls.

I still feel fatigued today and with a headache. I've been having a lot of coffee lately so I'm making a point not to have any today despite the energy crash. It's quite tough having this goal of upping my conditioning to do better in sparring at the boxing gym AND aim to get contest ready for strongman, but I love the puzzle. I think I need to be better organized with programming; to that end, I'm looking at strongman programs that are out there so I can have my days planned out more in advance than what I've been doing.