Thanks a lot! Looks like things are going great for you too. How’s Montana? All settled in now?
Funny you should bring that up; I finally got the garage cleaned up to the point that I was ready to take some photos and show off the “new” gym, haha.
This is the street view looking into the garage
This is a more detailed shot of the corner where the lat pulldown is
This is what was behind the door on the right had side
Along with all of this
Making the most of the space I have; my wife can still park her car in the garage, so it’s a win.
The rest of the state is plenty fine. I don’t need too much to be happy, and it provides. Looking forward to some cold again, although the garage is actually really well insulated, so I probably won’t suffer as much as I hope, haha.
AM WORKOUT
(5) Axle mat pulls
5x123
5x156
5x226
1x316 (mixed grip)
1x406 (mixed grip)
1x456 (straps)
12x516 (touch and go rest paused)
12x426 (deadstop)
33 seconds DOH hold of 246
Notes: Think the cheat meal paid off, as I was feeling great this workout. Warm-ups have changed now that I got some 35lb bumpers; I can get back to making things more like a 45lb bar with the axle. The mixed grip 405 was weaker than I hoped for. My grip was pretty fried from the 10 minute EMOM workout I did, but still, need to bring this up before the show. Otherwise, the top set was the easiest it’s been for a while. Might finally be adding strength rather than just re-acquiring it.
GHR sit-ups 10lb plate behind head
4x10
Buffalo bar squats
5xBar
5x100
5x140
3x190
1x220
1x280
1x320
RESTPAUSE (15 deep breaths between sets)
6x370
3x370
2x370
1x370
12x280
6x280
3x280
2x280
1x280
Notes: That 12x280 did me in. After that, it was more like 20-25 breaths between sets. I was hurting bad. Good to see progression on the 370s. I was testing my squat with the 400lb stuff, now I’m back to training it. Left knee was feeling awesome, but right knee still bruised.
General notes: Woke up at 191.4 this morning. Pleased to have worked out in the morning for every training session I could. I don’t ever do it with the medleys since I have to train outside and it would be too noisy for the neighborhood at that hour, but everything else I woke up early and knocked it out. Good to be back in the groove.
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Treadmill Run
Incline: 1.5
Speed: 8.1
Time: 10:00
Notes: Christ I’m out of shape. The move took my conditioning away, but it’ll come back. Gives me hope for my future medley work. I’ll be back to 30 minutes in no time.
Woke up at 192.4 this morning. Still feeling the after effects of my meal I think.
AM WORKOUT
Axle Strict Press
5xAxle
5x66
5x136
5x156
3x176
5x196
10x156 (clean once)
Axle clean and press (clean each rep) 173
1x6
1x4 (+1 rep on the final rep, no clean)
Notes: Drop in PR performance, but that’s comparing AM workouts with PM workouts. I’m noticing that, on the backoff set, I feel more stable coming in with a clean than I did out of the rack. I might start transitioning to cleaning all sets off the floor. On that note, the clean each rep sets were exhausting, but I’m getting better with the continental. The continental was the x-factor, as I had strength to keep pressing, but the intent of the day is to get in more work with the continental. Somewhat balances out with this being the heavier pressing day.
Dips
120 reps
Notes: Two 60 rep rest pause clusters. Dips are just awesome. The perfect upper body press assistance. Managed 45 in one go on the first cluster.
Axle curls
1x110
BACKWORK (performed in between sets of everything else)
Lat pulldown 140
5x12
Band pull aparts
5x20
Axle rows 173
3x10
Notes: Went a little easier on the rowing. I’m thinking on this day that’ll be the protocol, because the continentals are firing up the back plenty fierce. Traditionally, prepping for a contest, the backwork lightens a little so I can focus more on events, and then in the off season I go stupid high volume, so that’s most likely how this will work out.
General notes: Woke up at 191.4. Knee is feeling good. Neck has been bugging me for a while, but it’s just an annoyance.
AM WORKOUT
SSB Squats
5xBar+chains
5x115+chains
5x155+chains
3x205+chains
1x245+chains
1x295+chains
1x335+chains
4x405+chains
9x335+chains
Notes: 3 sets of chains. Much better performance compared to last week. Was feeling far more solid, less achy, more able. Still pain in the right kneecap; curious if that’s ever gonna go away at this point. Had to tap out at the 9th rep on 335 because some vomit was coming up to the surface and didn’t want to spend time cleaning up the gym.
GIANT SETS
Reverse hyper 270
4x10
Standing ab wheel
4x8
Axle continental
3x123
3x156
3x173
0x206
0x206
1x206
Notes: Decided to try the false grip on the continentals, and it worked amazingly well. Specifically the transition from the stomach to the chest was much smoother. I was able to get away with a full grip just due to solid grip strength and long/thin fingers, but I’m seeing now that it was still hindering me. Glad to be finally figuring this stuff out. The 206 was ugly when I finally got it to my chest, but at least I can get over 200lbs up. I think I’ll be good as long as I keep drilling the movement. I also have to keep in mind that I’m performing the move under fatigue. With it being first thing in the show with me being fresh, I think things will really move well.
General notes: Woke up at 191.2 this morning. Nutrition is back on track after moving. Got my fridge stocked and bought a minifridge for work to allow me to keep better snacks. I was eating way too many quest bars, now I’m back to more whole foods.
Also, officially registered for my competition in Dec. The application wanted the name of the gym I was competing out of, and I put “My Garage”. Always good for a laugh.
Do you have your continental cleans on video? I am pretty curious how it looks when you do it.
Also very excited to follow your prep and of course the show itself!
I haven’t been taking as much video as I was before, but I’m gonna try to start that up again. I plan to hit a EMOM continental workout on thurs, I’ll be sure to get some footage.
Thanks for following along dude! Good to have you in my corner.
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AM WORKOUT
Axle bench press
5xAxle
5x66
5x136
5x186
5x236
3x266
9x296
15x236
Notes: Whereas last week was a great show while I was disappointed with my lack of focus, this time the focus was pretty solid but things weren’t feeling so hot. Warm-ups were heavy, but the topsets were smooth.
NG chins (various grip widths)
5x20
Lateral/rear lateral 25lbs
5x10/10
Notes: Performed in between sets of benching. I might go against my better judgment and start alternating between weighted chins one week and BW the next, just to get something more out of this. ROM on laterals was pretty sad, should probably dial the weight back.
GIANT SETS
(1) Axle incline close grip bench 206
5x8
DB rows 105
4x10
1x15
DB reverse curls 30
5x10
Notes: Grip was fried, so the FG on the DB rows as a no go. I imagine it was the extra continental workout yesterday compared to last week, so I might just make a policy of alternating 1 week with FG and 1 week without.
General notes: Woke up at 190.8. Need to quit being afraid of eating. Still pleased with how much I am getting up early to knock these out. That said, I am having a planned PM workout for Thursday because the axle continentals make a little too much noise for a EMOM workout.
Axle Continentals 173lbs for triples
10 minutes
EMOM
Notes: Went false grip the entire time. Grip slipped on a few reps, but for the most part held firm. Really getting the technique down on these. Still undecided on full vs false grip, but at this point, if I can get the mechanics and timing down, I can sort out the details later.
Medley for 5 rounds
320lb yoke for 50’
100lb keg for 50’
Backwards prowler drag w/100lb keg for 50’
320lb yoke for 50’
3 trips
Notes: On the medley, some rounds had me Yoke, run keg to prowler and drag, and others had me yoke, prowler drag backwards, run keg back. Just depended on how the previous round ended equipmentwise.
On the very last yoke trip, I finally found the strongman that was hiding inside me. Up until that point, yoke was feeling better and I was more comfortable than last time, but still just wasn’t feeling the speed. I got myself mentally set, told myself I was going to go all out, and remembered to TALK to myself the entire time. Instead of my usual “Quick feet quick feet” it was “this is it this is it this is it”, and I blazed through faster than on any other sets. I was letting the yoke carry me and my feet move quickly. I definitely am starting to remember again. Contest weight is going to be 200lbs heavier than this, but all I need is to get the feet moving again and the strength will easily follow.
Woke up at 191.0. Cheat meal this week was a plate of fried rice and 3 entrees at a local chinese place. Pretty light; I might go heavier through out the weekend.
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this has been a very inspirational read.
Good work.
really Good work
nice to see someone busting ass to get back.
I ‘hurt’ my knee- I wont get into it.
but I am two years post surgery and still fffed up.
I tore my ACL MCL PCL meniscus and two head of the hamstring at the Post Lateral corner, meaning - the calf, hamstring, and PCL where all free floating as in not tied into shit
turns out we later figured out a year later as I went for more exams. -
and how shit grew back
I must have torn ‘a bunch’ of my quad as well. VMO & rectus Femoris , rectus laturalis and am missing allot of meat from my vastus laturalis ( not sure I spelled it all right)
two surgeries
Had an Allux graft ( from my patella tendon)
and a ‘repair’ of the PCL corner
PT for as much as insurance would allow- 3 days a week
from learning how to use crutches- take a dump
walk on crutches to squatting 3 plates pulling 4
shit sucked donkey balls.
Im 44 - went from squatting ( 3-4 days a week) mid 400’s
to using a 1/4 ankle weight in PT.
humbling.
but I live.
being on crutches
and carrrying plates at the gym
to load machines was humbling to say the least.
I seem to have a loss of thoracic stability - from 10 weeks on crutches - meh.
my injuries are mine- yours are yours- great to see such progress- really admirable thank you for sharing.
Hey boss, I was just wondering if I could ask your thoughts on something? Kind of similar to the Smolov stuff we discussed a while back. As you know over the past 6 weeks I took my deadlift max from something in the region of 160kg to 200kg using a high frequency singles routine. I didn’t gain any size and I don’t ‘feel’ any stronger. I was basically just wondering what you think happened - did I genuinely strengthen my posterior chain, or did I become more efficient at deadlifting using the size and strength I had already built over the past 9 years of training? Pretty academic question I guess, although it will affect how I train going forward.
It looks like your training is really taking off, I’m really enjoying following it all. As I’ve said many times before you are a huge inspiration and it’s so helpful to go through my injury recovery alongside you (although I daresay you’re outshining me haha).
Thanks!
@bagofbro That’s a crazy story dude. Good on you for getting back into it. I’m glad I could be a source of inspiration, but you’re definitely your own inspiration story. Keep on trucking through and getting stronger. Steal as much as you can from my log and feel free to ask any questions.
@furo I imagine you got some degree stronger by the simple fact that you were engaged in regular weight training, but most likely your theory is correct; you were able to take all of the strength you had built and laser focus it in those deadlifts. It’s the benefit of having such a wide base of strength to pull from; when you dedicate yourself toward something specific, you can rapidly progress. Much better than the approach a lot of folks take where they decide to specialize too early, hit some impressive maxes in a few lifts, and have no ability to apply it to anything.
Been happy to have you as my buddy in injured arms…er…legs? Just like how we had a sudden springing up of strongman logs, having some injury logs has been beneficial for everyone to learn from.
AM WORKOUT
(4) Axle Mat Pulls
5x123
5x156
5x226
1x316 (mixed grip)
1x406 (mixed grip)
1x456 (mixed grip)
11x516 (straps, touch and go, rest pause)
12x426 (straps, dead stop)
DOH Hold 226, 39 seconds
Notes: This was another ass kicker of a Saturday morning workout, but things went well. I am incredibly pleased with that set of 456. Comp weight for the medley is 465, and that’s most likely with a Rogue type axle (1.9" w/powder coat). If I can hit that with my Ironmind axle first thing in the morning, I’ll have zero issues in the show.
Did a better job not shredding my knee caps this time. Axle has been rough on them.
GHR Sit Ups w/25lbs
2x8
1x7
1x6
Buffalo Bar Squats
5xBar
5x100
5x140
3x190
1x230
1x280
1x320
RESTPAUSE (15 deep breaths between sets)
8x370
4x370
2x370
1x370
8x280
4x280
2x280
8x280
Notes: Oh my god ending that workout with 8 reps is such a terrible idea. I’m enjoying the consistent progress on that top set; feels like coming back into my top form.
General notes: Woke up at 192.0 this morning. Not feeling too awful from my cheat meal.
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Treadmill Run
Speed: 8.0
Time: 12:00
Incline: 1.5
Notes: Slowly coming back. Still just sucks awful, but I know it makes me better to run. Knee has been clicky. Woke up at 191.8 I think.
AM WORKOUT
Axle Strict Press
5xAxle
5x66
5x136
3x151
3x171
7x191
10x151 (Continental from floor)
Axle Clean and press (Clean once) 186
1x6
1x3
Notes: Strict pressing moved pretty smooth today. Goal was 6 at 191, managed 7. Continentals were awful, but they gave me a chance to practice recovery. On both sets of 186, I jacked up the second pull and caught the axle midway on my chest, but in both cases I was able to recover without dropping. On the second one, I practically folded in half backwards, but still got back into place. At that point, my grip spacing was all jacked up though and I was exhausted, but still, getting benefit from it.
Dips (upright)
120 reps
Notes: 2 sets of 60 with rest pausing. 41 reps in the first go. Was just pretty sacked at this point.
Axle curls
1x115
BACKWORK (performed between sets of everything else)
Lat pulldowns 140
5x13
Band pull aparts
5x20
Axle rows 186
4x10
Notes: Managed some more rows, but still kinda petering out. The pulldowns are working well. Really focusing on lat contraction.
General notes: Woke up at 192.0. Left knee is loose/clicky, but on the non-surgical side.
Thanks man, I thought you might say that. Brothers in legs haha!
AM WORKOUT
SSB Squats
5xBar+chains
5x115+chains
5x155+chains
3x205+chains
1x245+chains
1x295+chains
1x335+chains
7x375+chains
10x295+chains
Notes: 3 chains per side. Limiting factor still seems to be my ability to keep my guts inside of me. I surmise that having my upperback round is crushing my lungs and esophagus on the concentric, which is making me want to vomit, but I got a B in High School biology during summer school so I could just be making all that up. Left hamstring was a little twangy, but not anything I couldn’t work through.
Reverse hyper 270
4x11
superset w/
Standing ab wheel
4x8
Car deadlift simulator
5x2plates
5x3plates
1x4plates
1x5plates
1x6plates
7x7plates
Notes: Setting new AM baselines to work with. 7 plates will be my heavy work, and 6 my light. This was an excellent PR for straining; really pushed myself. Also, since I’m training in the AM, I’m exercising a lot of control on the eccentric to keep from making too much noise, which is really frying out my back.
General notes: Woke up at 193.2 this morning. Ate a LOT of meat through out the day yesterday, and stomach was really messed up over something. It’s nice to be eating up as I prep for this show vs trying to cut weight.
Oh yeah, I also think I’ve determined that I have some sort of nut allergy. Today, after a few spoonfuls of almond butter, I went into full on anaphylaxis; trouble breathing, itching, the whole 9. Drove to the store and got some claratin and it cleared up, but a lot of things add up. I’ve noticed my stomach issues would show up while I was eating more amounts of nuts, but I always figured it was just the high fats.
Plan moving forward is to switch out nuts with meat and veggies. Bring back salads maybe.
AM WORKOUT
Axle bench
5xAxle
5x66
5x136
5x185
5x206
5x241
12x271
20x206
Notes: Wasn’t happy with the 12, but the 20 made up for it. Just wasn’t firing on the cylinders I was hoping for. Warm-ups felt heavy, and unrack felt like my hand spacing was too wide.
NG Chins (various grip spacing)
5x20
DB lateral/rear lateral 25lbs
5x11
Notes: Performed in between sets of benching. For chins, instead of hitting 10 middle, 5 wide, 5 narrow as I was doing before, I’m doing a full set of 20 at a specific grip width and switching each set. Idea is that more time spent hanging on the bar will help my grip strength.
GIANT SET
(2) Axle Incline Bench 206
1x7
3x6
1x5
DB rows 105
4x10
1x18
DB reverse curls 30
5x11
Notes: Moved the bench up a notch. Will stick with that until I can hit 5x8. My FG DB row idea has fizzled at this point, since I’m now doing so many other things to train grip that I don’t really have the strength to make the most of this. I have another idea regarding a DB row handle I have that I might try implementing, but for now this is working.
General notes: Woke up at 192.2 this morning. I’m staying away from almonds for a while now. Additionally, my pre-training meal has moved to 2 slices of toast with some local raw, unprocessed honey on it. Trying to jack up the pre-workout carbs a touch to see if it does anything for me, and I’ve heard positive things about the honey.
PM WORKOUT
Medley
182lb keg 50’
50’ back to start
50’ back to 182lb keg
182lb keg 50’
100lb keg 50’
50’ back to start
50’ backwards prowler drag loaded w/182lb keg
2 rounds of the above
100lb keg 50’
50’ back to start
50’ back to 100lb keg
100lb keg 50’
182lb keg 50’
50’ back to start
50’ backwards prowler drag loaded w/100lb keg
2 rounds of the above
Notes: Weather forecast was calling for lighting on Friday, and as much as I would like to be struck be lighting in the middle of a medley with a bunch of steel equipment in order to prove that I can come back from anything and God himself can’t stop me, it would really hinder my contest prep, so I opted for a 2 a day today.
This was an awesome wakeup call. I was sucking wind something fierce. The sled drags were a bear w/182, which means it’s what I need to make normal. I’ve got 10 weeks to really dial things in.
Focused on just giving it my all on the drags, and sprinting between implements when I could.
Shout out to @Alpha for his video yesterday. It was on my mind through the entire session.