Ben Plotnicki

5/20

1 set, rest as needed

Tall kneeling thoracic extensions against wall x 3-4 reps with 3 breath cycles/rep

2-way half kneeling thoracic rotations against wall x 3 ‘reps’/side

1-arm KB snatch to high windmill x 3 reps/side

first time I have done any kind of windmill with no pain in the shoulder, it felt very sticky especially around the scap, and weak but I was able to do it and that is a huge win.

+

1 set, rest as needed

Thoracic bridge flow against wall x 3/direction

I hate these – going left hand first is the absolute hardest. Going right first is much more manageable . I also did find that if i placed my hand on the wall a little lower than I had been it felt a slight bit better and more effective.

Alternating sky reaches from squat x 4/side

1-arm KB sots press from low seated x 5/side (rotate T-spine)

+

A – Seated BB sots press @ 3112 tempo x 4 reps, rest 2 min x 4 sets

*as light as you need to go here to keep control, could be training bar if needed

Empty 35lb bar – with being in a seated position, i tried to mimic a little more than I ever had with this of what my torso position would look like in the full depth of the positions. 

B – Belly to wall HS hold with deep breathing x 20 sec, new set every 2 min x 4

20 sec was the perfect amount today – right shoulder felt really fatigued towards the last few seconds but stable.

+

EMOM x 20 (4x through)

1+2 – 24 cal row

3 – 18 wallballs

4 – 12 burpees to touch pullup bar

5 – Rest

This was a fun emom, i tried to finish the wall ball and the burpee by the 30sec mark but was always about 1-3 sec behind on each set.

+

Accumulate 3 min hang from pullup bar, pronated grip

45-45-30-30-30 – i know there was no major damage at all in my shoulder but I definitely feel some restriction troughout the lat, no pain of course but it feels as if it got so tight over the months to protect it and loosened as the time under tension went on

5/19

EMOM x 9 (warmup)

Min 1/4/7: 30 sec Row + 15 sec Ski

Min 2/5/8: 15 sec Ski + 30 sec Bike

Min 3/6/9: 45 sec run, getting faster each round

+

2 sets

50 cal row (work to stay above 1150)

500m run

rest 2 min bt sets

5:04 – 5:08 – stayed above 1150 for 98.7% of the 100 cals

+ (rest 4-5 min)

2 sets

50 cal ski (work to stay above 1050)

500m run

rest 2 min bt sets

?:?? – 5:17 i accendtally did not change the damper when I hopped on the ski and it was at 10 and I actually felt like I stayed closer to the range of 1050+ the whole time – i closed my eyes for big chunks at a time and might have dipped under during those but for the most part I would say I was 89-94% on

+ (rest 4-5 min)

2 sets

500m run, into

50 cal bike erg

rest 2 min bt sets

*bike deliberately after the run here to simulate that transition

Goal on bike was just to get started. Total working time minus rest  on this interval was 11:21, so much math under oxygen deprivation and 90 degree temps is asking a lot.

5/18

Part 1

Front rack prep x 2 sets

Blocked thoracic extensions x 5 reps (GHD/medball)

Undergrip PVC stretch x 5 reps with controlled breath cycles at end range each rep

Lat/teres stretch with racked BB x 5 reps/side, controlled breath cycles

Banded external rotations from front rack position x 6-8

found your vidoe of the ghd blocked thoracic extension and then killer music in the background 🙂

+

A – Front rack walkout x 15 sec, new set every 2 min x 5

*kinda heavy, but no sharp pain. We want all fingers under the bar here to try to open up position with the load

215 – wanted to try and hold the hook grip as well, but nowhere near that on the right side, left side was close. I’m excited for this because this will be easy to see the gainiz

B – Back squat @ 30X1 tempo x 6, rest 2 min x 4 sets

245 – didn’t give myself much runway here, felt about an 8 or 9 RPE

C – Hand release deadlifts x 6, rest 2 min x 4 sets

255-265-265-275 – there is more here, after not giving myself some runway on the back squat I didnt’ want to set myself up for nowhere to go

+

5 sets of 12-15 GHD situps, rest 60-90 sec to recovery

15-15-12-12-12 – i’m sure the more exposure here and I will get less dizzy, I’m hoping this will help the dizziness i feel when I’m doing hs walk sometimes 

Part 2

Self directed mobility work

Getting ready to get as we speak

5/5

Part 1

Rope climb tech work – 5-6 min

Can get touches tomorrow with workout 1 prep

+

Deadlift warmup – build to a single @ 9/10 RPE, as moving well for the day, no big grind. Picture leaving at least 10lbs in the tank

405 – this was a my perception vs what someone else would’ve see had they watched or i video, it felt about like an 8 or 9, but in reality there was no grinding, it had constant vertical acceleration. Now of course the difference will be the previous 8 singles when I get to that point. 

+

Quick TNG clean prep @ 135lbs, do 2 sets of 5-6 TNG reps working on hitting the standard well and moving efficiently

done

+

EMOM x 4

1 deadlift 

*by set, we can go something like 315-335-355-375

*after the last rep, immediately move to 135lbs bar and do as many cleans as possible to the 30 sec mark on the clock

Done + 7 reps – done as all singles

(rest as needed/able)

Part 2 

1 set for time @ 85-90% effort

750m row 

35 thrusters @ 65lbs

25 chest to bar pullups

500m row

*we just want to get a feel for the movement combination and how the thrusters and pullups feel, so we can come up with a strategy for pacing and rep scheme as needed

*capture the time this took and rep scheme used if you broke anything up

Forest row was about 1:49-1:51 for the first 250 then i pulled back to around 1:55-1:58 didn’t force the issue, was going about 20-22 spm and focusing on leg drive. Thruster did 20 & 15, and CTB did 8/7/5/5 – didn’t rest long between the last 5’s a little bit longer but between the 8 to the 7 and the 7 to the 5. But i hated how i felt going back to the row. It was work to keep it between 1:56 and 1:58 so I’m glad I pushed this a little bit here with these numbers.

5/1

Thorough upper body warmup

Stand alone rmu felt good and felt like the warm up had me really prepped. 

+

For time @ strong effort

1-2-3-4-5 reps each

Ring MU

Snatches @ 155lbs

In the round of 3 I started failing some snatches and I never warmed up squat snatch so I started having a ton of negative self talk and never got angry just got really down frustrated and I called it. But because i’m stubborn I didn’t call it for the day just for this piece. My body feels tired and a little beat up today. I’ve been sleeping well, eating a lot of food. Not sure if the week of not being 100% and coming into this week feeling a little better and maybe pushing some more intensity. I feel the volume has been tapered back a little so not sure if I just haven’t been pushing the pedal to the metal and when I have gotten after it this week I have felt it a little. idk

(rest as needed)

For time @ strong effort

1-2-3-4-5 reps each

BMU

Thrusters @ 155lbs

5:06 – after the first piece I was fighting negative self talk and a little mentally fearful of hanging on to all thrusters at the 4 and 5, so to try and minimize a set of 3 or so, i did a few singles and tried to rest “less”

(rest as needed)

Every 4 min x 3 sets

36 cal row @ strong effort, into easy recovery jog in remaining time in 4 min window

Don’t remember times but kept the whole set above 1150 and tried to keep the first half above 1200

+ (rest as needed)

Every 4 min x 3 sets

36 cal ski @ strong effort, into easy recovery jog in remaining time in 4 min window

1:57–1:56-1:53 – i felt much better here today for damn sure than I did on tuesday. 

+ (rest as needed)

Every 4 min x 3 sets

36 cal bike erg @ strong effort, into easy recovery jog in remaining time in 4 min window

Unfortunately at the time I had to go I had to do this on the Echo. first set was 1:56 – and then after that I got tired of cruising and pushed the pace a bit more, 1:45 – 1:39 – I know the recovery runs were recovery but all done on the runner and final run total was 2222, should I play the lottery and choose some combination of 2’s. 

4/28

EMOM x 9 (warmup)

Min 1/4/7: 30 sec Row + 15 sec Ski

Min 2/5/8: 15 sec Ski + 30 sec Bike

Min 3/6/9: 45 sec run, getting faster each round

+

3 sets

60 cal row (work to stay above 1150)

600m run

rest 2 min bt sets

6:16–6:12–6:10 – held all paces 97.6% of the time. Never went past 3 strokes below. When I went below it really was because I was down shifting a little bit. Set 2&3 my goal was to hold 1200+ for the first 20 cals and I held it for the first 30, and after that tried to settle in between 1250-1200

+ (rest 4-5 min)

3 sets

60 cal ski (work to stay above 1050)

600m run

rest 2 min bt sets

7:33–6:44–6:37 – i fought really hard to hit the target numbers but about halfway through on the first one it started punching back and i literally felt like it was the end. So on the second round I targeted just above 1000+ and slowed my stroke rate down and just tried to crank on the ski a little harder on each pull. I didn’t hit the 1050 for as long as we would like but I didn’t come as close to dying.

+ (rest 4-5 min)

Every 5 min x 4 sets (work to stay above 1150)

Bike erg 60 cals

3:03.9 – 3:02.2 – 3:03.0 – 3:01.2 – There must just be something about the buildup in fatigue, stand alone on the bike I can put the hammer down. but in this set up I can keep the 1150 but I do have to work for it

+

5 sets not for time

5-8 strict lean away pullups with controlled negative

12-14m heavy sled push

18-22 GHD situps

No time or juice

4/29/2026

A – Thruster: Build to a triple @ 85% effort, rest as needed – from a rack

*The goal here is to hit this with good SPEED both through the squat and to lockout

185 – one of the reps wasn’t as fast as we want at lockout, 165 was smoked, but 2 of the 3 at 185 were pretty solid

+

B – BB push press waveload – 5,3,1,5,3,1 rest 3 min

125-155-175-155-185-205 – these actually felt really good. Warm up for shoulders and front rack was pretty dialed in and coming out of thruster I felt I was really prepped, 

C1 – Strict rope pullups x AMRAP (-1), rest 30 sec

Didn’t know so i hit both sides – 5/4/4

C2 – 3 rope climbs with legs for speed, rest 3 min x 3 sets

Wednesday there is just really no way to get to a 15ft rope, so I did 2 started from seated legless rope climb, rope is only 10ft but from seated i thought that was plenty

+

Every 2 min until failure:

4 Power Cleans @ 175lbs

10 Cal Echo Bike

4 Bar Facing Burpees

*60 sec cap on each set

*For each set completed, add 1 burpee and continue until you’re no longer able to finish within the 60 sec window.

I couldn’t have got as far as I did without taking advantage of rollover calories. Finished 7 full, and was 5 burpee inito the round of 8. The great thing was the barbell felt the way a 175 clean should feel. I didn’t touch and go but i followed every rep down and was quickly on it so i was pretty excited about that 

4/30 – OFF

I also will have limited access to training on Saturday. I’m thinking of taking some DBs with me but can definitely get some running in, it might be a last minute decision but could opt to drop in somewhere.

4/25

Thorough upper body warmup

+

EMOM x 20 (4x through)

1 – 4 ring MU/7 bar MU (alternating rounds)

2 – 4 elevated wall walks (step onto plates at the top of each rep and hold for 2 sec

3 – 15 chest to bar pullups

4 – Dbl DB OH hold alternating step ups x 12 reps (10-15lbs/hand, 12in box)

5 – 30 sec easy ski erg

This just smoked me, hard to breathe and still coughing up a lung so what I did was EMOM x 10, rest 4-5 min x 2 sets – 3 rmu on the second set, CTB pull ups were 15-12-12-10 – just had a hard time maintaining hollow and breathing at the same time. Wall walks to plates was the easiest of all today and actually looked forward to them each time. And the DBL db oh step ups was ROUGH!!!!!! Even at 12 inch box, which i didn’t realize until the 2nd time through, i thought no FUCKING way I am supposed to get all 12 at 24, and thank goodness I double checked. But I would love to get touches on these in off-season if there is some long term value in developing strength and endurance in that pattern. 

+ (rest as needed)

Due to a planning and scheduling for the day, i did the aerobic work first since I knew I would need less warm up time. 

Every 4 min x 3 sets

32 cal row @ strong effort, into easy recovery jog in remaining time in 4 min window

Goal window was 1:48-1:52

+ (rest as needed)

Every 4 min x 3 sets

32 cal ski @ strong effort, into easy recovery jog in remaining time in 4 min window

Goal window was 1:52-1:58

+ (rest as needed)

Every 4 min x 3 sets

32 cal bike erg @ strong effort, into easy recovery jog in remaining time in 4 min window

Since i had to go early in the am I had to hit echo, and adjusted to 25 Echo cals, and target window was 1:50-1:55

I know the runs were easy recovery jog but goal was to get +2K

+ (rest as needed)

12-15 min easy jog at conversation pace

4/26 – OFF

4/27

Shoulder prep

+

HSW play (self directed, spend some time on hands as comfortable here)

Got some confidence up a little today, stayed around 12ft distance, but got quite a few runs at that, and actually worked on some pirouettes as that gave me some confidence too. 

+

Every 1:30 x 3

8 deadlifts @ 275lbs + 40 DU’s

46–44–47

+ (rest 2 min)

Every 1:30 x 3

8 clean and jerks @ 155lbs + 40 DU’s

This smoked me, just couldn’t breathe and cycle through – 52–1:12–1:20

+ (rest 2 min)

Every 1:30 x 3

8 snatches @ 95lbs + 40 DU’s

47–44–46

4/21

EMOM x 9 (warmup)

Min 1/4/7: 30 sec Row + 15 sec Ski

Min 2/5/8: 15 sec Ski + 30 sec Bike

Min 3/6/9: 45 sec run, getting faster each round

+

As bad as I felt today and as much drainage I was dealing with and coughing I had going on in the runs I hit all my numbers except at the back end of the ski. Not sure how slow the runs were but I kept moving

3 sets

50 cal row (work to stay above 1150)

500m run

rest 1:30 min bt sets

I think my working time was around 16:13 

+ (rest 4-5 min)

3 sets

50 cal ski (work to stay above 1050)

500m run

rest 1:30 min bt sets

I think just under 18 working minutes

+ (rest 4-5 min)

Every 4 min x 4 sets (work to stay above 1150)

Bike erg 50 cals

All above 1200 but don’t remember finishing times

+

5 sets not for time

4-7 strict lean away pullups with controlled negative

10-12m heavy sled push

15-20 GHD situps

Not enough juice

4/22/2026

Completely rested…..just felt like garbage

A – Every 60 sec x 6

2 rope climbs with legs

*target here is long and relaxed arms throughout, keeping upper body close to the rope, and making sure that we are standing with our legs instead of pulling ourselves up with our hands to a standing position. Ideally you are feeling some fatigue in your legs by the end of this, but grip and forearms are good to go

+

Every 2 min x 8 alternating sets

Odd – 40 sec continuous heavy prowler push into 40 sec continuous heavy farmer carry

Even – 75 sec echo for cals

+

Every 2 min x 8 alternating sets

Odd – 40 sec burpee broad jumps for distance into 40 sec sandbag walking lunges for distance

Even – 75 sec echo for cals

+

B1 – High tension banded horizontal rows x 15, rest 30 sec

B2 – Ant tib raises from wall sit x 15, rest 30 sec

B3 – 1-arm rotating rows using climbing rope x 5/side, rest 60 sec x 5 sets

4/23 – OFF

4/24

Gymnastics shape work and scap activation x 2 sets, rest as needed

All shape work felt pretty good except for the shaping on foam rollers in supine positions

A1 – Hanging scap elevation and hold x 10 reps (1 sec pause at top of each to picture pulling down through scap)

A2 – Hand circling plank hold on low rings x 10 small circles/direction (try to keep body as still as possible and scapula actively protracted throughout – https://www.instagram.com/p/BYCd_7yHXA0/

A3 – Active arch/hollow shapes from foam rollers x 5 reps for strong control

A4 – Active arch/hollow shapes from rig with box x 3 reps for strong control

+

B – Hang squat snatch – 1 rep every 15 sec x 6, rest 3 min x 3 sets

*similar loading to last week

125 – overhead positions felt good in the squat today, just got a little more winded, that’s the only reason I stayed the same weight across

C – Front squats – 5 sets of 12 @ 175-185lbs, rest 60 sec

175 and felt 100 times better than last week

+ (rest as needed)

For time

DT @ 155lbs

5 rounds of

12 deadlifts

9 hang power cleans

6 shoulder to overhead

Should’ve asked for a pivot, but it was the bracing and breathing that got me. With so much sinus pressure, and when I had to hold my breath it was miserable. So I started just planning to game it and strategize. And just decided to call it at 3 rounds because I would’ve spent a lot of time staring at the barbell on the ground

4/14

EMOM x 9 (warmup)

Min 1/4/7: 30 sec Row + 15 sec Ski

Min 2/5/8: 15 sec Ski + 30 sec Bike

Min 3/6/9: 45 sec run, getting faster each round

+

3 sets

40 cal row (work to stay above 1150)

400m run

rest 1 min bt sets

12:16 row splits -> forgot to write down when I was at rower, because the rower screen froze on me but I did keep it above 1150

+ (rest 4-5 min)

3 sets

40 cal ski (work to stay above 1050)

400m run

rest 1 min bt sets

14:20 – ski splits -> 2:17.6–2:17.8–2:16.3

+ (rest 4-5 min)

Every 3 min x 4 sets (work to stay above 1150)

Bike erg 40 cals

Stayed around 1200, some dips but stayed above 1150 the whole time

+

4 sets not for time

6-8 strict lean away pullups with controlled negative

12m heavy sled push

15-18 GHD situps

Not enough time – going to get it tomorrow

4/15/2026

A – Every 60 sec x 5

2 rope climbs with legs

*target here is long and relaxed arms throughout, keeping upper body close to the rope, and making sure that we are standing with our legs instead of pulling ourselves up with our hands to a standing position. Ideally you are feeling some fatigue in your legs by the end of this, but grip and forearms are good to go

Today being tax day and I’m such a natural procrastinator that was no way I was going to be able to get to my rope climb location, but also since I didn’t finish yesterdays piece I hit the lean away, sped push and ghdsu here. 

So, I repositioned this piece to friday which became a just weird day to get all my work in. But I’ll say, grip and forearms were good, no problems there, didn’t feel like the cleanest and crispest day on the rope but it also did not feel like work. 

+

Every 90 sec x 8 alternating sets

Odd – 45 sec continuous heavy prowler push

Even – 45 sec continuous heavy farmer carry

+

Every 90 sec x 8 alternating sets

Odd – 45 sec burpee broad jumps for distance

Even – 45 sec sandbag walking lunges for distance

Sandbag lunges smoked me today, but today I did 20ft turnarounds, just what I had to work with. Burpee I got 60 and change on each round, I think I remember getting 80ft on one round, but lunge with 100lb and that many turnarounds kicked my ass

+

B1 – High tension banded horizontal rows x 15, rest 30 sec

B2 – Ant tib raises from wall sit x 15, rest 30 sec

B3 – 1-arm rotating rows using climbing rope x 5/side, rest 60 sec x 4 sets

done

4/16 – OFF

4/17

Did the rope climb work first then did the snatch and squat work

Gymnastics shape work and scap activation x 2 sets, rest as needed

A1 – Hanging scap elevation and hold x 10 reps (1 sec pause at top of each to picture pulling down through scap)

A2 – Hand circling plank hold on low rings x 10 small circles/direction (try to keep body as still as possible and scapula actively protracted throughout – https://www.instagram.com/p/BYCd_7yHXA0/

A3 – Active arch/hollow shapes from foam rollers x 5 reps for strong control

A4 – Active arch/hollow shapes from rig with box x 3 reps for strong control

+

B – Hang squat snatch – 1 rep every 20 sec x 5, rest 3 min x 3 sets

*similar loading to last week

Worked at 125 across here, it was a good weight, and felt like I could dial in and lock in what I needed to focus on, good overhead position. Strong bottom of squat and speed from the hang

C – Front squats – 5 sets of 10 @ 175-185lbs, rest 60 sec

These 2 extra reps felt like a monster today, @ 175 – wasn’t as fast and smooth as it felt last wek. 

+

Left the rope climb gym and then did the gymnastics shaping work and then this conditioning work. I tried a few ring muscle ups and they were ok, a little painful in the bicep tendon, not a fear of a re-injury or anything, I was just about 2.5/3 hours into training from heading to the rope climb gym back to one of my home bases and didn’t feel like committing another 20-30 minutes of proper warm up for the shoulder so i just opted for bar muscle ups here. 

6 alternating sets for times (3 each), new set every 3 min

Odd sets: 3 ring MU + 12 1-arm alternating DB snatches @ 50lbs + 48 DU’s

1:16–1:17–1:13

Even sets: 18 wallballs + 12 box jump overs @ 24in + 18 wallballs

1:45–1:39–1:44

4/18

Not feeling 100% today, definitely on the struggle bus – I don’t feel sick or rundown just some allergy mess and a little spicy cough.

Thorough upper body warmup

+

AMRAP 75 sec wall walks @ smooth effort

rest 3 min x 2 sets

8–7 – since I wasn’t feeling 1 hundo I had no killer instinct today to push for more, so the one thing I really focused on was my timing and patterning of my hands

+ (rest as needed)

AMRAP 75 sec bar facing burpees @ smooth effort

rest 75 sec x 4 sets

22–21–22–21

+ (rest as needed)

Since I didn’t feel great, I didn’t fight to hit my numbers but I didn’t completely sandbag it. Row started out fine but by the 3rd set was too hard to keep it in the 1200’s so tried to stay at 1150+ – ski was much easier than the row today, but i did start to dip on the 3rd and 4th sets. In those sets I was in and out of the target ranges. 

Every 3 min x 4 continuous sets

28 cal row @ 1200-1250 cal/hr, into easy recovery jog in remaining time in 3 min window

+ (rest 3 min)

Every 3 min x 4 continuous sets

28 cal ski @ 1050-1100 cal/hr, into easy recovery jog in remaining time in 3 min window

+ (rest 3 min)

18 min continuous outdoor jog

4/19 – OFF

4/13

2 sets for times, rest 3 min bt sets

3-4-5 reps each

Bar MU

Squat cleans @ 185lbs

3:25—3:12 – just trusted all the movements even more on the 2nd time through. I also had a plan to tighten up the transition going into the 5 muscle ups in set 2 with a plan of fast transition and short break on bar muscle up but they felt so good no need to break. 

+

tttTD from the weekend

Every 4 min x 3 sets:

15 Box Jump Overs – 24in

12 Power Snatch – 95lbs 

9 Thrusters – 95lbs

AMRAP Burpee Box Jump Overs – 24in

*Set 1 – AMRAP Until 3 min mark

*Set 2 – AMRAP Until 3:30 mark

*Set 3 – AMRAP Until 4 min mark

*Score is total reps, including the BJO’s & Barbell reps. (36 reps = buy-in)

After as good as the first piece felt, and pushing the pace on the 2nd set I never felt like i was fully recovered going into this. I knew this was going to be challenging regardless but just tried to dig in and have some fun – 136 – (44–44–48)