Comments: Felt good to sleep with air conditioning. Pretty sore, walking helped loosen up my knees. They get achy from being in the car for so long. Just light workouts all this week.
May 30, 2011 - Extra Workout
Band Face Pulls IW#1'sx100
Band Press Downs IW#1'sx100
Band Straight Arm Lat Pulls IW#1'sx100
Ankle Weight Lying Leg Curls 11'sx250
Comments: I guess summer is in full swing, got up to 95 degrees today. Just high rep stuff today with easy band tension/weights.
It has been eight months and ten days since the last time I did a contest. This was not by choice mind you. I didn’t have the funds for Nationals last year and I ruptured my hamstring training for a contest at the end of January. That’s a bit of a lay off and it showed. I was instructed to keep the mindset of this being a comeback contest and that “surviving” the show was the main goal. Hard to say I’m doing it just to do it and not going for the win. I don’t like it, and I tried my best at this contest.
Three days before the contest, a storm went through where I live and my house was without power until Saturday afternoon. Not the most pleasant two days leading up to the contest, especially with waking up at 5:00 AM for the drive up to New York. I spent most of the ride napping and the rest trying to ignite the fire in my belly for competing. Saw a truck decal that read “fat people are harder to kidnap” and while odd, probably true.
It was very nice outside and I signed in with Joe Farino. I was in the over 265lbs heavyweight class so they didn’t bother weighing me in but I checked anyway and I was 269lbs with my shoes on. Five competitors were in the heavyweight class including myself. Two of them were from Canada. There were actually a lot of Canadian competitors. I was very interested in competing against them as I like facing new opponents (sorry Justin and Harley, it’s not you it’s me. We’ve done this dance before haha) and it would be a chance to face some “international” competition. Other countries tend to have different focuses when it comes to their events. In the US, the big ones are deadlift, overhead and stones. Also Gerard Benderoth was there. Christ is he a large land mammal. I walked around and took photos of all the equipment as per usual. Things move quickly at these contests so I knew I’d have very little if any time to warm up for the events. Press medley was up first.
The first event of the day was a press medley. 12” log of 270lbs, axle of 285lbs and a 13.5” log of 300lbs. 60 seconds to complete all three and split times for each implement. I have been putting in a lot of effort into my pressing. After my last contest in September of last year, I made the decision to switch from jerks to push pressing for my overhead as per suggestions from Dave Ostlund. It took a while but the week before this contest I finally got my push press to beat my previous jerk PR. This strategy worked well for me as my legs felt dead today. Not lively at all. My last warm up weights were 230lbs on the 12” log and 235lbs on the axle for a single each. My goal was not to rush it and give the 300lbs log my best effort. I got the first two easy (but I was slow moving between them, conserving my strength) and went for the 300lbs log. I didn’t realize it was a 13.5” log at the time. It went too far forward and my legs weren’t helping. I took a break and tried again but missed the clean. It would have been huge for me to get the 300lbs 13.5” log as my PR on that size log is only 265lbs. Then again, my PR push press on a log is 285lbs so it would have been something. Not a bad effort for me but I got fourth out of five here.
Up next was a simple event; yoke. 800lbs for 60’ in 60 seconds. The catch of course being that these were on Joe’s yokes. Wide and unstable. My only warm up for this was moving back one of the light weight’s yokes like 10’ from a low pick (maybe 700lbs). I had been training all this cycle for this implement by using my friends’ crappy yokes and doing them beltless. This was of course my downfall. One is that none of the yokes I had trained on were this wide, not by a long shot. I would have been better off using a chain yoke. Second was not at least introducing a belt into my training sometime before the contest. This was an avoidable mistake that I had actually planned into my training but I was more concerned that it would affect my deadlift training (which had fallen the farthest behind after my hamstring injury). I get set under the weight and I start at a good pace, then I lose my air (belt!) and the yoke shakes me and I go down. This happens again and I drift to the right side. My dad was worried I was favoring that side due to my hamstring but I was not. I picked it up again and finally finished the course in 40.07 seconds almost 20 seconds behind the fourth place guy. Incredibly frustrating as I had done this weight, beltless for 100’ with no drops in training. Obviously last place on this.
Then came the event, the one that had interested me enough to do this show; axle keg drop deadlift medley. Empty frame, then 160lbs keg, 175lbs keg, 240lbs keg and 250lbs keg for five total reps in 60 seconds. I’ll be honest, the other events have been done before (and most at this contest are my weak events) but this one was special. Luckily, I had a car frame deadlift to train on and I did a few sessions with it to get ready. At least I thought I’d better ready for it. The height was 18”, which is awful for me since it is just above midshin. Also with it being an axle, there was no flew in the bar. I had been training from a much lower height and with flexing bars. This height meant my legs wouldn’t be much help. The empty frame felt tough and when I asked how much it was, I found out it was only 325lbs. Great. If I wanted to get any real points, I’d need to get four reps. I got three reps and barely broke the fourth off the ground. To make matters worse, Gerard Benderoth goes in, adds 140lbs to the axle in front, does all the lifts and does a double with the final weight. Another last place.
Ok, intermission time. At this point, I got this song “Chasing Pavements” by Adele stuck in my head. Well, at least the lines “should i give up or should i just keep chasing pavements even if it leads nowhere” (I think it was playing over the speakers at one of the gas stations we stopped at or something). Actually it was in my head for all of the events so far. She has a nice voice. But really, I was frustrated. Even with the improvements in my weaknesses, I was still weak. I was debating whether to stop competing for the year and just chain myself to rack and squat, deadlift and press until I’m not terrible at these things. I’m actually still think this over as I’m writing this write up. Ok, back to the contest.
Now I was solidly at the bottom. This was Viking Fest 2010 all over again. But the show goes on. Up now was the yoke front carry. 575lbs for 60’ in 60 seconds. You could hold it any way you want but it had to be in front. No one wanted to do this event. Most held it in the crook of the arms like a conan’s wheel while a handful did it front squat style. Again, not much warm up on this and I on this, it’s important to me. I can go and drop it 10’ in to a run, come back and go 50’ easy. I had trained this event like twice, once heavy and the other light for distance. I think that made me the most experienced haha. This went decidedly better than my regular yoke run. But I started to see the darkness and just kept moving, trying to out race it. It caught up to me about 15’ from the finish line and I just dove back under it and stumbled to the finish line. But I had to cross it so I just picked it again and tossed the yoke over. My run was good enough for third out of five.
The final event was atlas stone over bar. I guess I was feeling a bit better after the front carry. I was definitely being more sociably as I was cheering on people for the stones in the other classes before I went. I prefer being in that mood as opposed to the woe is me funk I had found myself in earlier. 350lbs stone over a 48” bar in 60 seconds. Actually, a bit higher as it had a rubber mat on it, like they have at the Arnold. Stones are my thing. Probably why I have a concave chest and my abs have the words “place stone here” engraved on them in Celtic runes. But this time, the stone was light for me (I’m getting death stares just writing that haha) and my worry was not fatigue but speed with the short time limit. In training, I had done seven and watching a recent Pro show in Washington state, the most there was eight with the same weight stone but with a 75 seconds time limit. I went a bit earlier than I had expected (we had been going in the same order the whole day) but I did my thing. I have used this stone in competition three times before so I knew its name, its every secret. Ok, simply that it was a dusty side. I had a good pace and only hesitated before going down for the eighth rep. I had less than two seconds left after that load so I called it there. I wasn’t tired, just no more time. Harley matched my reps but got his eighth rep just before time expired so I won it by virtue of a faster time. First place on the final event.
Well, I ended up in fourth place out of five competitors. Not exactly the result I was hoping for but I did survive the day which I guess was the main goal. I lost points on some things by seconds and in some cases, fractions of seconds (I believe by .2 in one instance). As far as training, my switch to push pressing/focus on strict press and benching strength has been beneficial in that my overhead is consistent now and I’m not so reliant on leg power. Even with less stone training, my stones are still spot on and I think I owe that to reps on goodmornings and bent over rows. Frankly, I’m embarrassed of my deadlifting. I really only had “fun” when it was time for stones, cheering on others and when it was over and I was talking with other competitors. I’m not too sure when my next contest will be. I’ve been enjoying my training. Guess I need to keep pursuing strength. It is an elusive mistress.
Comments: Bored. I feel my energy being pent up due to lack of actual working out. Easy pump stuff today. A few more days I should be anxious to kill it.
Comments: I was going to do extra work but I figured it would be better to just take this week super easy and totally deload. I plan on doing a very light extra workout either Wednesday or Thursday. Walking felt good. It was quite humid outside compared to yesterday.
Comments: Heh, it's been a while since I've actually gone for a walk for relaxation/recovery work. I'm either walking to or from work most days. Nice a refreshing. Saw the owl statue that had been carved out of tree a few months ago, an elderly couple pushing a dog in a baby stroller and a middle age woman working out on a Gazelle in her garage with the garage door open.
Of course there are other things on my mind. Saturday will be my first competition back from injury. I'm nervous but I'm trying my best not to dwell on that. That first week after injury had been mentally tough, from being stuck on the couch to having people accuse me of taking "special supplements" not 48 hours after it happened. I've maintained a positive outlook and that has definitely made my recovery easier. To think three months ago I was keeping track of PR's for how long it took to get my shoes. I'm still far behind other heavyweight competitors in most of my events. I've made strides these past two months but there is still a big gulf between me and them. It can be discouraging. Another development has been the announcement of WSM gyms and a way for amateurs to get to WSM. It's still in its infancy though. I was definitely skeptical when the two press releases were posted as there wasn't much info and it was vague. However, upon some clarification, I am optimistic.
Ok, so on to my training highlights video. It is from the Facebook as the Youtube muted the audio and I refuse to change the music (plus it was a pain to upload). Enjoy.
Bent Over Rear Delt Dumbbell Raises 52.5'sx12 72.5'sx12 92.5'sx12
36 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Shoulder felt a bit better but it was acting up on the first few sets. Took some time to get my back set and keep the stress off the shoulder. I didn't lockout the one rep on my seventh double with 240lbs (wasn't thinking) but I came back on my final set and just embarrassed it. Started out cautiously with dips. I got the first five reps with 160lbs fairly easy but had to fight tooth and nail for the final three. I started out too light on incline as I had forgotten that I had done 120lbs for eight reps last week. I fixed my error on the next set. 125lbs was quite unwieldy (plate loaded) but I managed to improve from a struggle of a single to a solid four reps. Finished up with rear delts and stretching. Last tough workout before the competition. Just going to do light stuff on Monday and Wednesday and then wait.
Safety Squat Bar Split Squats 195x10/10 225x10/10 255x10/10 PR+10lbs
Arched Back Stiff-legged Goodmornings 275x8 305x8 335x8 365x8 PR+5lbs
Pulldown Abs 80x12 125x12 170x12 PR+5lbs
42 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Good lifting, lots of joking around. The power rack I use for squatting had it's anchoring system reinforced so no issues with it moving now. Left side of my lower back was a bit tight from yesterday's high rep stuff. Squatting took a few sets to get the weights moving. It's crazy how much of a difference there is between barbell and ssb when doing these for speed work. Weight was easy on split squats but the reps are just plain no fun. Gm's were tough, almost lost the last rep but powered through. Last set of abs was a grinding fight. Going to stick to these same weights for next time. Lots of stretching.
Double Band Leg Curls IW#4'sx30 PR+5 reps IW#4'sx30
Roman Chair Back Extensions bw+75x25 PR+5lbs bw+75x25
Machine Hip Abductions 205x25 PR+5lbs 205x25
Belt Squats 210x30 PR+5lbs
Ankle Chain Weight Lying Leg Curls 11'sx250
Band Face Pulls IW#1'sx100
Band Press Downs IW#1'sx100
Band Straight Arm Lat Pulls IW#1'sx100
Comments: Tired. I felt rested when I woke up in the morning but I was just about dozing off during my workout. The bands were merciless on leg curls today. Going to stay at this rep goal for another workout or so. Small increase on Roman chairs, going to stick with that weight again as well. Maxing out the machine on the abductions now. I'll pretty much stay at this weight, might add in a mini band if I need it later on. I increased the weight on belt squats (even though I said I was going to stick to the same weight). I didn't want my abduction weights to be the same as the belt squats. Wasn't too bad. Might up the weight, not sure as it would be my deload week coming up. The usual riff raff of repetition stuff filled up the rest of the workout, not much to say about those.
This right shoulder thing is getting to me a bit. I spent most of the day trying to think of a way to work around it but I wasn't too satisfied with any of the changes. I've been seeing good things in my pressing from these exercises. My thoughts were to suck it up and deal with it as it would just be two more workouts and then I'd deload for the contest. Add an easy week on to that and it should be a decent time for inflamation to go down.
Bent Over Barbell Rows (straps) 235x8 265x8 295x8 325x4 PR+5lbs
Rope Cable Face Pulls 85x12 120x12 155x12 PR+5lbs
41 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Excellent workout, even with shoulder thing. I was certainly apprehensive about this workout and my shoulder being tight during warm ups for push presses did nothing to alleviate that. I was expecting to crush my PR as the last time I did barbell push presses, it was 265lbs which is now my strict press PR. While anything over 265lbs would be a PR, my real goal was to beat my axle push press PR of 305lbs that I set the first week back into heavy lower body training after my injury. Everything up to my former PR felt like a joke. 285lbs went up with no issues even though I relaxed my shoulders when setting up for the press. 305lbs was also strong but with a slight slowdown near lockout. It was then time to for a big PR and I put 320lbs on the bar. If I got it, it would be a 55lbs PR for barbell push press, a 15lbs PR for push pressing in general and a 5lbs PR for an overhead lift. After considerable mental prep, I want for it. It felt light on my shoulders (thanks front squats) and I went for it. It got a bit in front of me but I was able to reel it back in and lockout. Most straight weight I've put overhead and my push press has finally surpassed my former jerk style. On the down set, I got the first two reps easy but I lost my balance on the leg drive for the third rep and I really had to fight that one to lockout. If that hadn't happened, I'm sure I'd have done one more rep. I wasn't looking forward to board pressing due to the shoulder. It ached like crazy on the first set so I had to shake it out and do some movements to make it happy. Pretty much how it went for the other sets. It didn't ache so bad after the set with 305lbs. I used a different setup for the next set but I was unstable. That was my goal weight but I knew I could do more. Did I have enough in me for a 40lbs PR? I thought it over and decided, who cares, I won't know until I do it. I got two side spots for this set with 365lbs. I got my setup as tight as I could and told my shoulder to shut its dirty whore mouth for a set and got to work. No pain in the shoulder and only had a slight struggle with the last rep. Spotter on the left side touched the bar but I had it at that point. Beggars can't be choosers. Pressing has come a long way and removes any doubts I had about dips helping my pressing. Rows were tough. Many factors such as heavy stone work on Sunday, heavy block pulls and front squats on Tuesday and doing the right weights this time. Last time I had missed a set so when it came time for my heavier sets this workout, I was a bit more fatigued. 295lbs felt almost as tough as 320lbs from last week so I had low expectations for the next set with 325lbs. And I was right as I barely got four reps. I'll be at this weight for some time I think. Then moved on to rope cable face pulls. I like these a lot better when I ramp up the weight as opposed to just starting heavy off the bat for straight sets. These felt good. Went home and stretched.
I'd like to preface this workout with the highlight of the workout and it wasn't even something I did. We tricked one of our training partners into pulling his first over 500lbs deadlift. He had missed 470lbs twice and we all knew it was a mental thing. After he got it on his third try, we had him do three more singles with "5lbs" more. What he didn't know was the small plates we put in between the big plates so he pulled 480lbs, 495lbs and 505lbs. He was shocked and very happy when we told him (after 505lbs pull that is haha).
Comments: Tiring but good workout. My lats were sore and filled with lactic acid and my arms were only good for checking for right angles. Stones will do that to you haha. I had planned on doing high rack pulls to work on straining with weight and get my tendons used to heavy loads but I realized it was kind of stupid. I need more below the knee strength if I want my deadlifting to improve. So with that, I've dropped rack pulls for block pulls. I haven't done block pulls from this height before with straight weight. In fact, I've only done the one time in a contest at 19" and the variation with reverse bands from a few weeks ago. My super old PR from a rack pull at this height (at least 6 years old) was 475lbs. With that in mind, I planned for my goal weight of the day to be 5lbs more than my rack pull from 11". Even though that was pre-injury, I thought it would be doable since I'm stronger than before. My arms were cramping up hardcore and it showed when I lost my grip at the top with 545lbs double overhand. Can't be mad as it does tie my PR for double overhand. I got my goal of 615lbs quite convincingly but I wasn't sure what to go for next. I added 30lbs and got it with a struggle. I knew I'd have to pull something out of my butt if I was going to pull more. While I didn't get 660lbs, I made a good show of it by breaking it off the blocks and getting it just below my knee caps. Progress and a good sign for future deadlifting developments. I went with 585lbs for my downset and got three, broke a fourth off the blocks but nothing left. Front squats went well but the last set was quite tough. On ghr's, I was pushing it hard. Almost popped out my contact lenses from using everything to finish the reps. I did get eight on the last set but the final rep was super ugly and I had to cheat it up so not counting it. These have been helping a lot. I was quite beat from everything else but I still managed to do work with the reverse hyper. Finished up with stretching to call it a day. Hopefully my arms aren't so sore tomorrow. I kind of need them haha.
I felt awful this morning mentally. Incredibly down. Felt like I had missed my medication the day before. Felt better after being up for a few hours. Weird. I hate when I get that way.
Band Face Pulls IW#2'sx100
Band Press Downs IW#2'sx100
Band Straight Arm Lat Pulls IW#2'sx100
Ankle Weight Lying Leg Curls 11'sx250
Comments: I hesitated doing my extra workout. I was tired. Rubbed the front of my shoulders to get some blood flow in there and loosen them up a bit. Really becoming annoying. Surprised that I finally got all the band stuff with no breaks. It was tough but I did it. Got to get them all for a couple more workouts before even thinking about moving up the band tension.
One Hand Lifts 207x1/1 297x1/1 347x1/1 387x1/1 PR+20lbs 407x1/1 PR+40lbs 457x1/1 PR+90lbs
Axle and 12" Log Clean and Press Medleys 140x3/140x3 170x3/170x3 200x1/210x1/200x1/210x1 200x1/210x1/200x1/210x1 220x1/210x1/220x1/210x1 220x1/210x1/220x1/210x1
Atlas Stone Loads No Tacky 225(18")x5 to 50.5" 300(20")x3 to 50.5" 407(20")x1 to 50.5" Added Tacky 522(20")x0 to 48" 522(20")x0 to 48" 370(20")x6 to 50.5" PR+1 rep
Comments: I was down in Reston so of course it was a long day. It was raining in PA and I needed to get some work in with this being my last heavy/hard event training day before the contest. I drove down with Lou. Now picking what I wanted/needed to do was tough as I had to be mindful of my shoulder. I have a max barbell push press planned for this week so I had to keep pressing light. I figured I'd try out some dumbbell pressing since my contest after this coming one has a dumbbell press medley with the dumbbells getting bigger in bell diameter. So I tried to make it awkward by using big plates on the handle. Let me just say that it sucked. I stopped doing them after the handle warped and my collars fell off. Of course at this time, everyone else was doing their own thing. I wanted to do yoke but both of them were in use and adjusting them in height is a pain. I just waited until some one was taking a break and since they were really short, I did zercher carries with the weight. That was a nice little endurance thing but I would have liked going heavier or even doing regular yoke. But I figured it would best to play it safe with my shoulder and upper back and just keep it light. So yeah, two events not exactly turning out how I wanted. I moved on to my own little area and did one hand lifts. I did these for the first time the last time I was here (a month ago) and I didn't do so hot. It started out much the same as it got tough when I put on 297lbs. Maintaining this aloof attitude, I still managed a 20lbs PR. Inspired by this, I took the next jump (407lbs) seriously and rocked it. Now that is more like it! I went bold and made it 457lbs and got it convincingly with my right and just barely with my left. Glad to see such an improvement. I definitely felt better mentally and went with some more pressing. Kept it stupid light. Then stone time. I took big jumps in weight. I got the 407lbs stone with no tacky easy and went for the 522lbs. I got it much higher off the ground this time, almost lapped it but it slipped out. I just got to keep getting my deadlifting muscles stronger as I got to pull it higher before dipping under it. I tried again but it wasn't even close. I then went with the 370lbs stone and did reps. My fifth rep knocked down the backboard so I had to put that back up before resuming loading. Damn stone spun on the lip of the platform on what should have been my sixth rep and I had to do it again. I was shot by that point and really had to fight to get my sixth rep. Should have been seven but that's how it goes sometimes.
Today didn't start out well. The right side of my neck tightened up while I was sleeping and the pain woke me up at 6:00 in morning. I took some anti-inflammatories and was able to fall back to sleep but it was still stiff. I put on an Icy Hot patch on my neck (I kind of have a rule that I won't use anti-inflammatories before lifting) and wait an hour or so before finally going to lift late.
Bent Over Rear Delt Dumbbell Raises 52.5'sx12 72.5'sx12 92.5'sx12
39 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Good lifting but wasn't feeling that good. My right shoulder decided to join in with my stiff neck and make benching awful. It felt better as I added weight but those first few sets were just plain unpleasant. The rest of the stuff I did weren't nearly as bad on my shoulder. Got a solid PR on both dips and incline. Rear delt raises are getting a little bit easier but not quite ready to move up in weight. Stretching to finish up the day. I'm hoping this tightness in my neck/shoulder goes away soon.
Arched Back Stiff-legged Goodmornings 270x8 300x8 330x8 360x8 PR+5lbs
Pulldown Abs 75x12 120x12 165x12 PR+5lbs
41 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Pretty good workout. I knew what to expect squatting with the rack bar this time so it wasn't nearly as bad. I had some issues with the rack moving due to the band tension but fixed that with some boards. Two times the bar fell out of the hooks when I wasn't focused. Really woke me up both times haha. The weight actually felt comfy, if that is possible. Didn't have to do any warming up for the split squats. Legs are getting stronger. Gm's went much better this time. I think it was because I had done heavy weights on reverse band block pulls that made my back so tired last time. Finished up with pulldown abs and stretching.
Blogger went apeshit yesterday due to site updates I guess so I'm just now getting a chance to post yesterday's workout here. Also deleted the previous day's workout so I had to put that back up too.
Double Band Leg Curls IW#4'sx25 PR+5 reps IW#4'sx25
Roman Chair Back Extensions bw+70x25 PR+5lbs bw+70x25
Machine Hip Abductions 200x25 PR+5lbs 200x25
Belt Squats 205x30
Ankle Chain Weight Lying Leg Curls 11'sx250
Band Face Pulls IW#1'sx100
Band Press Downs IW#1'sx100
Band Straight Arm Lat Pulls IW#1'sx100
Comments: Went well today. Leg kurls with the bands were probably the easiest they have felt. Roman chairs feel good but man do they make me tired and out of breath. These and belt squats like to flirt with my throw up button or something haha. Accidentally went up in weight on abductions, no biggie. Almost maxing out the machine now. Going to stick with the same weight for belt squats, too many breaks for my taste but much better than last time. Finished up with the other crap.
I forgot to mention last workout that I finally got over the 270lbs weight mark. My right shoulder has been bugging me at times on benching type stuff so I'm watching it carefully. I may need to make some more adjustments to my training if it gets worse. I didn't film my sets of benching with the slingshot. Not entirely sure why, perhaps from changing up the rep scheme it might seem repetitive? I don't know. I'll probably resume filming my supplementary lifts next time.
Comments: I had a bit of confusion going on this workout. I seem to have misplaced my workout sheet so I had to piece it from memory and at times, kind of wing it. I was not expecting much with strict pressing on the log. My best is techincally 200lbs but I have done 205 for five reps seated so I know it is higher. Even with that in mind, I didn't expect these results. Know my memory of what my goal weights for this workout were pretty accurate (looking at them now that is haha) but the weight felt super easy and I kept making 20lbs jumps. I got 10lbs past my goal weight (goal was 180lbs) before I made less aggressive increases. I thought 220lbs would be pushing it, but I felt I had more in me. Already 5lbs over my axle press with this chain setup and I was going for even more weight. Truly floored to strict press 230lbs on the log with chains. I guess dips and incline are good for something haha. Almost had a third rep with 200lbs but I am just awful with reps on a log from the chest (gets too far out in front of me). Now this was where forgetting my workout sheet screwed things up for me. On benching with the slingshot, I started 30lbs too low from my plan. My right shoulder is still achy (need to watch that) but my pressing was strong. 365lbs was actually quite easy but I didn't want to over do it attempting for 395lbs for five reps. At least not today. I moved on to rows and again screwed up by starting 30lbs too heavy. I guess I made up for starting low on bench haha. Either way, much the same as last time with my set with 320lbs being tough as hell. I dropped back down to 230lbs and did an easy 12 reps to make up for skipping that set. LT dumbbell raises felt good the first two sets but boy was that last set tough. Not as bad as last time but I still got to stick to this weight.
Recently, I was told I think too much and that I'm too focused on the assistance work, thus my main lifts I want to improve don't. Of course I had to think on it (after some pacing in the Angry Dome) and there is grain of truth to that. While I feel that all the lifts are do are assistance lifts (even the main ones) for events and strongman in general, I do want to get my deadlift and overhead press stronger (as well as squatting and benching stuff) so I can one day turn Pro. Thus, I've altered my training to increase the emphasis on my overhead and deadlift and after today's workout, I feel it is a step in the right direction.
Comments: I forgot my camera so there is no proof of this awesome workout other than my word and three other lifters at Max Fitness. It was exceedingly hot and my arms were drenched in sweat just warming up for lifting. I was a bit anxious since I haven't felt the best with my pulls off the floor since my injury. Granted everything else has been going swimmingly but not so much with floor deads. Perhaps it has been the poor exercise selection the past few times (sumo and 6" platform). Either way, that "worry" was there for a lot of those sets. But then I started to feel more comfortable. I ended up pulling my goal weight (485lbs) for the day double overhand before adding straps. Very, very pleased to pull 550lbs against the bands as the bar weight was over 90% of my 1rm from the floor. I also managed to tie my PR for reps with 495lbs without bands, with the bands. This can only mean good things for me. Another departure from my normal lifting was doing 5's instead of 3's. Generally my second exercise is always to a top triple but now I'm trying something different by doing three weeks of 3's and two weeks of 5's. My goal was just my previous 5-rep beltless front squat PR of 285lbs, so doing 315lbs for five after that was just gravy. Ghr's have been a godsend for me. To think I was struggling with my bodyweight after injury to doing them as merely a "getting warm" set now. 30lbs was no joke and very, very tough. Also continuing the reverse hyper domination getting the weights easy. Quite a bit of stretching to finish off the day.
Comments: No class today so I got to do this stuff a bit earlier than usual. Band stuff was fairly tough (had to take a break for press downs) but I chalk that up to doing a lot of pressing yesterday. Possibly making some adjustments to my ME exercise selections/rotations.
I stayed up late and slept in fairly late as well. Lethargic and a bit apathetic. Feeling a little down you might say. I blame it on yesterday being so fun. Hoping it passes soon.
Bent Over Rear Delt Dumbbell Raises 52.5'sx12 72.5'sx12 92.5'sx12
50 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Wasn't expecting much today. It's been awhile since I've done my DE UB day after events. Abs were sore from pulldown abs on Friday so benching was stretching them out some haha. Felt alright. Really paused the last rep. I was a bit cautious on dips. Didn't want my achy shoulder to act up or anything. Got my goal reps with 145lbs, only a struggle to get those last two reps. Incline felt good today. Got over big plateau by getting over two reps with the 120lbs dumbbells. Really pleased with that. Did my rear dlet stuff and stretched like crazy. Two more tough weeks of training to go haha.
Safety Squat Bar Split Squats 185x8/8 215x8/8 245x8/8 275x8/8 PR+10lbs
Arched Back Stiff-legged Goodmornings 265x8 295x8 325x8 355x8 PR+5lbs
Pulldown Abs 70x12 115x12 160x12 PR+5lbs
47 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: I got a little bit of sleep but still quite tired. Right shoulder has been achy the past few days. For box squats, I used one of the rack bars. Holy balls are those awful for squatting haha. It took a little getting used to the rack and the bar (haven't done barbell box squats at Max Fitness for speed work before). I felt strong on ssb split squats but didn't go over my planned weights. Gm's were kind of sucky. Probably the worst they have felt in a long time. Hoping these are better next time. I really had to grind out the last rep with 355lbs. The ab pulldown station at Max Fitness is a bit different from the setup I use at the Y. I had to do a lot of stretching after this workout.
Comments: Well, I moved up my event day to Saturday this week due to Mother's Day on Sunday. Drove down to Jon's storage unit in York with Lou and meet Jenkins and Matt there (also Keri). Jon was nice enough to bring his log so I could do some pressing (can't do any at his house, ceiling too low). Just light stuff on that. Then went to yoke. My upper back has been bothering me since I did those stupidly heavy block pulls and it's kind of been my rule that if I'm going to do something heavy that may bother that, it will be on a deadlift movement (that needs the most work) rather than on say yoke or farmers/frame. I had wanted to do some heavy picks but decided to do light 100' runs. On my first set, Jenkins ran in and showed a big enough moon to turn all the lycanthropes into wolves within a mile radius. I also messed around with Jon's husafelt (Bigg Dogg Strongg). I did this off a tire. I did three sets trying to find the best grip. The first and third set the thing felt like it was slipping immediately. I ended up using the second grip for my go for broke run. I didn't feel uncomfortable or tired, just my wrists fatigued and it started to slip. The weight is light, definitely something I'll have to work on if it comes up at Nationals (I plan on going this year). To finish things off, I did some frame holds with Jenkins' custom frame. It's a beefier version of the regular Bigg Dogg Strongg frame (538lbs empty). I had only planned on doing the one set as generally, grip gets worse, especially after an all out effort. Quite surprised to get more time on my second set. Took a minute or so before I could open my hands all the way after that. It was nice out, I got a little sunburn on my arms and neck and I got some Chipotle. I'd say it was good day.
Double Band Leg Curls IW#4'sx20 PR+5 reps IW#4'sx20
Roman Chair Back Extensions bw+65x25 PR+5lbs bw+65x25
Machine Hip Abductions 195x25 PR+5lbs 195x25
Belt Squats 205x30 PR+10lbs
Ankle Chain Weight Lying Leg Curls 11'sx250
Band Face Pulls IW#1'sx100
Band Press Downs IW#1'sx100
Band Straight Arm Lat Pulls IW#1'sx100
Comments: Very tired today. Had to fight to keep my eyelids from closing haha. I think my legs are now getting used to the new band tension. Doing high reps on the Roman Chair is just plain unpleasant, but I need it. Going to stick with the same weight for the abductions as the second set was quite tough to finish. Also sticking with the same weight next time for belt squats. Came very close to retching. Need to stick with this weight until I can do it fairly easy. Not much to say about the other stuff as I've been doing them as such for several weeks now. Undecided about how to proceed with event training this weekend.
Yesterday's workout took a lot out of me. I had a plan to go heavy on some things on event day but I'm not so sure now, especially since I'm moving it up a day early this week (Mother's Day on Sunday). Just going to have to see how it goes. I don't know, maybe all this work is starting to payoff or I'm finally discovering my latent super powers because I've been making big increases in strength on things I generally suck at like triceps, overhead, squatting, deadlifting, ect.
Comments: Despite the aches, a darn good workout. Much like last week, my shoulders were feeling pretty tired. I aimed for just a small increase on my axle pressing with the chains. I got it and did well on the down set. I missed out on 4-board presses the last time around because of feeling crappy and the Swiss bar not agreeing with me. Things started out bad as my right shoulder ached with the first set. The ache went away with each set and I finally got to my goal weight for the day. I've missed getting a triple with 365lbs several times. This time, I got it fairly easy. Now I had to decide if I wanted to push it or stay with what I got. I went with more. Only managed a double with 395lbs but it is a big PR for me. It's 10lbs over my previous 1rm. One thing that really jumped out at me was how much better my form and arch have become on benching exercises. It's like I almost know what I'm doing haha. I decided to keep up this trend of heavy ass weights by bumping up my planned weights for rows by 10lbs. Made for a very very difficult last set. But it's good for me haha. Did the db LT raises, last set was difficult. Going to be at this weight for at least another week. Stretching and then done.
Comments: Hot damn this was a great workout. I wasn't feeling that good as my allergies were bad all day (I drank at least two gallons of water before lifting to keep hydrated). The first exercise was very new to me. Never done block pulls outside of a contest and I haven't done any reverse band pulling since June of last year. And never with doubled bands. Borrowing this lift from Jenkins as he said this really helped him get his deadlift stronger during his prep for the Arnold. I had done a rough test the night before to figure out the band assistance ahead of time and found it to be about 155lbs of assistance. However, it turned out to be less than that, and even more so when I lower the pins 2" (I was paranoid that the bands were still helping at the top). I worked up to 585lbs double overhand before bringing out the straps. I severely underestimated what I could do on these. 715lbs was quite tough and really felt the strain though my entire posterior chain but I knew I had to try more. 740lbs just felt awful (in a good way?) and I had to "shake weight" it into lockout. Turns out that this effort caused me to burst a blood vessel in my left eye (didn't notice until the next morning). Down set was pretty rough but got a solid triple. Front squats with chains went better than expected. Big PR on these. The last set was extremely tough but I pushed through. I think I might be actually enjoying front squats now haha. Continuing to push the ghrs. Very very happy with my progress on these. I was a sweaty mess by the time I got to reverse hypers. I like how I have them set up with the three sets with large jumps. First set feels good and gets blood flowing, second set requires some effort and the third is hella heavy. Exhausted after all that and went home to stretch and eat.
Comments: Shoulders and hands were quite sore today. Shoulders were from all the yoke sets (I forget how much they flex/work on that) and hands were from all the axle work and plate pinching. Did all my band stuff with no breaks for the first time with this band tension. A few more sessions like this and I'll be increasing the band tension again. I made some changes to my deadlifting exercise selection. A mixture of ideas from competitors that had crappy deadlifts but made them a lot stronger. Should be interesting trying some of these new ideas out tomorrow.
One Hand Plate Pinches 50x3/3 70x1/1 80x1/1 PR+10lbs 85x1/1 PR+15lbs 90x0/0 90x1/1 PR+20lbs
Atlas Stone Loads No Tacky 240x3 to 57" 290x1 to 57" 240x1 to 65" 240x1 to 65" 290x1 to 65" PR+50lbs 240x1 to 73" PR+8" 290x1 to 73" PR+50lbs & 8"
Comments: After sleeping away last weekend, I had to make up for it this week and get my event work in. Lou came out to train this time. My plan was to stay within a decent weight range but nothing terribly taxing on my lower back (rack pulling this week). I did change things up by doing yoke first as it looked like it would rain. I did beltless runs for 80' with short rests (maybe 30 seconds) between (longer rest between the last set of 440lbs and 530lbs since I had to put plates on it. Moved on to axle stuff. I was just doing my usual singles but most of them had a longer rest than usual since Lou was using different weights for the axle. Everything felt easy and no issues with my bicep. For grip, I did one handed plate pinches. Last time I really tried them was the first time I ever plate pinched two 35lbs plates together. I made that weight my first single and it came up like nothing. I had a part of me in the back of my mind squealing like a little girl at the thought that I could be ready for plate pinching two 45lbs plates. Obviously, I kept that excitement under wraps. I put a loading pin through the plates and added weight. Then it was time for the 45lbs plates. Granted I have no real interest in grip sports but some of these feats I've wanted to do. This was one I've kind of dicked around with in the past but never came close. My first go, I break the weight off the ground. Never could do that before. I tried I think four times with my left hand and twice with the right. Surprisingly, I got it higher up with my right than my left. I knew I could give it another go as I had read an article recently by Jedd Johnson (grip sport guy) about misses being warm-ups. I like that philosophy. So I get the plates set, square up and get both hands easy. Very cool. For stones, I worked on my weakness. It had been awhile since I had done any extension work and I didn't want to get lazy about it. I don't have to do it much as I generally tower over any platform I see it contests. I decided to make it even harder by doing these without tacky. I have to generate a lot of power off of the lap to get the height I need on the stone and taking away tacky means I have to squeeze even harder or I won't succeed. The first few reps felt easy but I was "cheating" the load by just popping it off my chest on to the platform and not holding on to it and extending. With some reminders and visual cues, I fixed that. I'm going to try having this kind of training in my rotation more frequently. Very good session.
I’m a little taller than 6′6″ and I really like to lift weights. I’m a competitor in amateur strongman contests. My hope is to become a competitive professional strongman. Currently I'm training for Northeast Regionals in Monaca, PA on 6/1/2024. I’m not a major competitor yet and I have a long way to go but I’m having fun.
