Hey man, I’m gonna be in your neck of the woods in Jul. Just signed up for Iowa Games Strongman 2025 at Iron Chapel Barbell in Ankeny. Any plans on being there?
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50/50 on competing, but will definitely go watch and hangout. I live super close to Iron Chapel now.
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CRØWN of DARKNESS: Week 4
Cable Tricep PD
at 90 + Red; x 17, 16, 11
at 70 + Red; x 15
DB Preacher Curl
x 4 at 35/hand
2 x 20 at 20
Facepull (SS) Plyo Pushups
4 sets
Pause Incline Bench
x 2 at 185
3 x 2 at 100 (Speed)
Push Jerk
135; 1 + 1 + 1 +1
High Pull + Strict + Push Press + Push Jerk
145; 1 + 1 + 1
High Pull + Push Press + Push Jerk
Push Press
x 15 at 95
lat Pulldown
x 5 at 200
x 10 at 120
Texas Press
at 115 x 20
Wrist Hammer 1 set
Treadmill w/ light 8 minutes
CRØWN of DARKNESS: Week 4
Band Elephant Walk (SS) Box Jump
4 sets
Mid Box Squat
1 x 3 at 370
5 x 1 at 205 (Speed)
1 x 1 at 185 (Speed)
DOH Fat Grip
2 x 10ct at 185
RDL in Squat Heels
2 x 4 at 300
Lunge ISO (SS) Jumping Lunge
2 sets
Finger Curl
x 13 at 155
Treadmill w/Hip Circle
10 Minutes
CRØWN of DARKNESS: Week 4
Tate Press
x 4 at 65/hand
3 drop sets
DB Preacher Curl
2 x 4/side at 35
1 drop set
Scapular Depression Drills (SS) Plyo Pushups
4 sets
Pause Bench Press
x 3 at 225
2 x 4 at 140 (Tempo Larsen)
Push Jerk
1 x 2 + 1 + 1 at 135 (Strict Press + Push Press + Push Jerk)
1 x 1 at 155
Tempo Pullups
2 x 3 at 207 BW
Wrist Hammer 1 set
Treadmill w/ Hip Circle
12 Minutes w/ Heroic
Upperback fried from being one man army to get this move done
Bridge Week
First day back at the Bar Performance gym.
Elephant Walk (SS) Box Jump
4 sets
Buffalo Bar Squats
3 x 5 at 200 + Micro Minis
Facepull (SS) Plyo Pushups
3 sets
Tempo Incline Bench Press
3 x 1 at 155
Cable Tricep PD
2 x 20 + Red Band
Db Curls
2 x 20
Treadmill w/ Hip Circle
10 Minutes at 3.1
Plank
2 x 30 secs
Bridge Week
Band Elephant Walk (SS) Broad Jumps
4 sets
DOH Axle Deadlift
x 1 at 225
x 1 at 245
Pause Axle Deadlift
x 2 at 275 + Micro Minis
x 2 at 295 + Micro Minis
Scapular Depression Drills (SS) Plyo Pushups
3 sets
Tempo Flat Bench
3 x 1 at 205
Tate Press
2 x 21 at 30/hand
Curls 2 set
sandbag Carry 3 x 150ft at 100
CRØWN of DARKNESS: Week 5
Band Elephant Walk (SS) Box Jump
4 sets
Back Squat
at 285; x 7, 6, 5
Stiff Legged Deadlift
at 300, x6, 6, 6
SSB Rack Lunge
3 x 2 at 105 + Micro Minis
Finger Curl
at 115, x 36
Plank
53 sec, 2 x 15 sec
Treadmill 15 minutes at .5/3.2
CRØWN of DARKNESS: Week 5
Trying to cut back on my caffeine consumption, since it is on average double the recommended max/day or more. Starting off easy with just cutting back on the weekends, since I don’t “need” that much caffeine to function on those days. I would like to get Saturdays down to 400mg on average, and Sundays down to 600mg on average. Mixed with my ADHD medication I worry about the potential impact on my heart health being jacked up on so much stimulants.
There was a day last week where I was doing the math on how much caffeine worked through my system to see if it was safe to take more. That was my moment, of yeah my consumption levels are screwed to hell, and that I need to fix this. Hopefully with the move finished my sleep cycle will reregulate and help with this too.
Cable Tricep PD
at 42.5 + Green, x19, 21, 15
at 42.5 + Micro Mini, x20
DB Preacher Curl
x20 at 20
x9 at 30
x20 at 20
TRX Facepulls (SS) Plyo Pushups
4 sets
Pause Incline Bench
at 150, x7, 5, 5
Grenade Handle Pullups
3 x 3 at 209
Axle Overhead + Sandbag OH
[Push Press + Push Jerk + Anyhow]
at 75; x20 (Strict Press Axle)
at 145 + 100; x1 + 1 + 1
at 150 + 100; x1 + 1 + 1
at 155 + 100; x1 + 1 + 1
at 95; x 9 (Push Press Axle)
Did the axle from the rack since my hips are torched from yesterday. Will get at least back to the second pull next week. Did some of the sandbag strict, some of it push press.
Texas Press x 15 at 135
Wrist Hammer 1 set at 24
Laterals x 40 at 10/hand
Plank 45 second
Treadmill
15 minutes at .5//3.2
Little thing I have been doing for pinch grip training. At the freightliner I work at, we have these deck bars that we have in the trailers. Which sometimes we have to take out or add to the trailers. The bottom looked about the width of a Saxon Bar. So everytime I need to move them around, I have been carrying them with a pinch grip to get incidental grip training. The bars aren’t very heavy, but originally could only barely hold it with both hands. Very quickly got to carrying one in each hand. Just a little extra pinch training, which hopefully long term helps grip on the axle.
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CRØWN of DARKNESS: Week 5
Cutting back on social media a bit, so not going to have as much training videos, unless I am really excited about something.
Events for the USS 2026 Nationals got announced today by the guys at ENG Barbell. I am excited for it. It’s close to home and I like the events. So I am going to try my damnest to be able to compete. With this event line up, it allows me to continue focusing on bringing up other things besides my max deadlift. Which I still want to do, but this will give more psychological reprieve and allow me to focus on building up my deadlift. Also means I can continue to focus on bringing up my squat, overall pressing, and other bits and bobs instead of getting stuck on my deadlift again. Which I tend to a lot.
Events are:
Last Man Standing Axle Overhead
- (No attempt limit, but you miss you are done)
Sandbag Toss for Distance
- (Thank god its not for height, or overbar medley)
Trump DOH Axle Deadlift
- (Cool, already training this, and the heavier weight for MW is something I can already do)
Carry Medley [Farmers, Atlas Stone Sandbag, and Iowa Stone]
- (I like medleys, and like that they have two out of three implements as something new. The Atlas Stone sandbags just released, and the Iowa Stone is a custom piece that belongs to ENG Barbell.)
Atlas Stone Bag over Bar
- (Nice, no other comment.)
Band Elephant Walk (SS) Jumps
4 sets
Two of the sets were box jumps, two of them were broad jumps. The details don’t matter to me much on what I do for explosive work here. Just do something explosive to prime quick movement.
Buffalo Bar Squats (Old Knee Sleeves)
3 sets at 225 + Micro Minis; 8, 8, 7
Doing this round of Crown of Darkness with a Squat variation with less knee support. Instead of gaming it during warmups. Light band tension to make the strength curve a little different than what I am used to.
DOH Deadlift Stuff
x 1 at 91 (3" Saxon Bar)
x 1 at 101 (3" Saxon Bar)
x 1 at 205 (Axle)
3 x 1 at 225 (Axle)
x 1 at 245 (Axle)
x 1 at 255 (Axle)
11" Axle Deadlifts
3 x 6 at 295
Last rep of each set w/ slow eccentric.
Walking Lunges
1 x 50 at 213 (BW) + 15lb weight vest
Plank
1 x 60 seconds
2 x 15 seconds
Really wanted to get that 1 minute plank this time. Had to fight for it but I got it.
Finger Curl x 33 at 135
Treadmill 15 minutes .5//3.3
CRØWN of DARKNESS: Week 5
Tate Press
at 47.5; x 21, 23
at 55; x 12
at 20; x 20
DB Preacher Curl
at 35 x 10
at 40 x 4
at 20 x 20
Scapular Depression Drill (SS) Plyo Push ups
4 sets of 20 (SS) sets of 5
Grandfather Clock Pullups (SS) Pause Bench Press Pullups
x 3 at [213 BW] +13 (SS) at 177; x 11, 10, 8
x 3 at [213 BW] +18
x 3 at [213 BW] +26
Very happy with those pullups, grenade handle was what I wrote down for the program but decided to give the clock handles a go.
Axle Push Press + Push Jerk + Sandbag Press (SS) Grandfather Clock
x 17 at 95 (Strict Press) (ss) 6 x 1 at 213 BW
x 1 + 1 + 1 at 135 + 100
x 1 + 1 + 1 at 140 + 100
x 1 + 1 + 1 at 160 + 100
x 1 + 1 + 1 at 170 + 100
x 3 at 135 (Push Press)
Wrist Hammer 1 set at 26
OH Cable Ext x 23 at 25
Laterals x 33 at 13
How’s decreasing the caffeine intake going? Was this weekend a success?
Average is down a bit, but not as much as I would like
CRØWN of DARKNESS: Week 6
Very happy with this session. Absolutely creamed last week’s sessions
Band Elephant Walk (SS) Single Leg Jumps (SS) Med Ball Throw
4 sets
Back Squats
3 x 7 at 315
Saxxon Bar DL
2 x 10 ct at 76
Tempo SLDL
3 x 5 at 315
Front Rack Pin Lunge
x 2 at 155
x 2 at 185
x 5 at 135
Plank
1 minute
2 x 20 seconds
Finger Curls
x 7 at 185
Treadmill
15 minutes at .5//3.1 and +15 Weighted Vest/ Light Circle
Keep working on it! Even 100mg every day is gonna help!
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CRØWN of DARKNESS: Week 6
Cable Tricep PD
at 57.5 + Red and Micro Mini; x 5
at 57.5 + Green; x 14, 10
at 57.5 + Micro Mini; x 18
DB Preacher Curl
x 5 at 40
2 x 20 at 20
TRX Facepull (SS) Plyo Pushups
4 sets
Pause Incline Bench
at 170; x 5, 4, 4
Grenade Handle Pullups
2 x 2 at +18
Axle Push Press + Push Jerk + Sandbag Press
x 7 at 100 (Strict Press)
x 1 + 1 + 1 at 135 + 100
x 1 + 1 + 1 at 145 + 100
x 1 + 1 + 1 at 165 + 100
x 3 at 145 (Push Press)
Wrist Hammer
2 x 25 at 55
Changed to a swiss bar vs a kettlebell
Texas Press x 7 at 145, x 11 at 115
DB Laterals 2 x Failure at 15/hand
Treadmill 15 minutes .5//3.3 w/ Weighted vest + Light Hip Circle
Yep yep, hopefully I can get down to a more normal amount in the next several months.
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