Comments: Workout went well. I tried to do jerks but they only felt good for the light weights, then my body switched back to push presses. Made good progress on this as the last time I did these, I did jerks, so to have my push press beat my jerk is a good sign. Really had to push it to get all the reps on swiss bar floor presses. I gripped the handles off center on the last set which made it really tough. Decided to do pushdowns for the triceps work. Actually felt good, may keep them.
Comments: Despite a rough day back at work and the beating I put myself through on Sunday, this workout went well. A bit slow on squats but not concerned about that. This percent cycle has been good to me in the past. After squats, I did step-ups. I increased the weight a bit since I find I can do a bit more on the eight rep weeks as opposed to the tens and twelves. Finished up with the usual glute hams. Went a bit faster on these sets as I was the only in the gym at this point. Stretching felt good. Also got the go ahead for CT so yippee!
Comments: Despite how warm it was outside, walking felt good and relaxing. Finally getting over the strongman high/low now. I should find out tomorrow if I can get the time off to go to CT. Fingers crossed.
Comments: Deadlift day has come again. Last two sessions had been awesome. Things started out slow so I was expecting to be using less weight than expected. When 542lbs felt slow, I was certain that my next pull would be my last. Looks like I just needed to get psyched up as it went up easy. Next attempt was slow but still solid. Nearly 600lbs in straight weight. Went a bit heavier than I planned for the down set. I figure that on the low position weeks, I'll keep it a higher percentage and save the reps for the higher position pulls since it will be closer to contest conditions. Goodmornings felt good, made a bigger jump for the last set and that went smoothly. It was getting late for the pulldowns so I tried to move through those quickly. Really had to fight to get all the reps.
I need to give some background to this workout. After my deadlift workout on Friday, when I was back home, my back kind of went out on me while going down the stairs and I had to lay down and massage it for awhile. It was still tender the next day and I was worried about it. I had planned to go down to train at Brute Strength Gym for a few months now and I didn't want something like this to ruin it. Very hot down there, over 90 and humid. Went for a walk with my little cousin who took me on a "short-cut" which ended up being over and hour long walk.
Comments: Woke up early to get there when they opened. Setup dumbbell first. Legs are always tired in the AM and the extended trek from the day before had exacerbated that. I made sure I warmed up well and decided to do reps. Not pretty but got in some decent work. I think I'll try and do reps one week and singles the next with log cleans to break it up some. Moved on to yoke and frame carries. I felt like death moving the yoke and frame to the starting positions. Not a confidence booster. I should mention that this frame has no grip, the handles are smooth, custom made for the gym. So with much hesitation, I set up for my first run and surprise-surprise it was pretty easy. Alright, add a 100lbs to everything. Again, not that bad. I figure why not try a little above contest weight. A little shaky on the yoke but I make it at a decent pace (for me) with no drops. A big PR for me on the no drops. Frame was a different story. Completely sapped of strength and I have a slow pick and drop it a little more than half way. Haven't lost my grip on a frame in a long time. I sack up and go again. Pick this time was even uglier but I will myself to finish the course. Next on the agenda was the main reason I came down to train in the first place; the wheelbarrow. The upcoming Pro/Am has a wheelbarrow load medley. It will be a new piece of equipment but essentially carry 20', stop and pick up a 250lbs object, load it and then carry the barrow 20' and repeat until the 80' course is complete. Brute is the only gym I know that has a weight loadable wheelbarrow and I figure I'll be pretty good at this event so one training session is all I can afford. I have no idea how heavy the barrow will be at the contest at the start so I attempted to make the run decently heavy throughout. First run through, I loaded it up to 1000lbs (not including barrow weight) and it was pretty easy. I then added a bit of weight to the upper pins and that was a bit easy so I threw the sandbag on it. That was a disaster as it went on lopsided and I had to put it down and readjust the bag. This weight was really challenging. Didn't help that the bag slid down and was compressing the tire. Like pushing it with an emergency brake on. It fell off the last leg of the medley so I just tossed it off to the side and finished the last 20'. I was so dead after that. I'm always exhausted after a training day at Brute.
Safety Squat Bar Step-ups (24" Box) 45x3/3 70x3/3 90x11/10 (can't math today) 100x10/10 115x10/10 PR+10lbs
Glute Ham Raises bwx12 bwx12 bwx12 bwx12 bwx12
31 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Back to how I used to train my box squat. Little bit of shock getting used to it (the band tension, different shoes) but started to feel comfortable about half way through my working sets. Next time should be even better. Step-ups went well, though I did an extra rep because I wasn't paying attention. Glute hams felt good too.
Comments: Wasn't sure how this would turn out today. My main concern was my triceps as I didn't want to have the cramping thing from last week. My fears were abated as it wasn't an issue. Pleased with that as it means I can go forward with submitting my entry for the Pro/Am. Just got to get approval for time off at work. Haven't done push presses on the log with this chain weight setting before. 245lbs was tough, maybe had another 5lbs in me. My foot slipped on 255lbs on the initial leg drive and I lost all tightness. I called it there rather than waste energy. The singles after that got better each set. Swiss bar floor press went well, I had not done them in a while and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the lift didn't feel uncomfortable or unfamiliar like some lifts I do after a long hiatus. The issue was that my triceps got fatigued quickly though so it was a bit of a fight for any reps past six on the last two sets. I lost upper back tightness on the last set and had to rack the weight to readjust and get the last two reps. Went back to doing the cable triceps. They don't bother my elbows and wrists like skull crushers. Over estimated my strength on these and had to adjust accordingly.
BiggDogg Strongg Husafell Stone Carries (turns at 50') 352xpick 402x120'6" 402x134'9"
Comments: Lot of new faces at Jerry's. Since I had not pulled heavy this week, I decided I'd do log cleans. Plan was to warm up and then go up by 20lbs for singles to simulate contest conditions. Felt nice and crisp, until I put on my belt. Missed 320lbs the first go and had to regroup to get it. I couldn't do much with 340lbs until I took off my belt and got it no problem. Strength not quite there for 360lbs. Maybe next time. Looks like I'll have to do log clean and press without a hard belt. Like last week, the plan for yoke/frame was to at least get in 750/550 for a run. I was not going to push it this week. Legs felt clumsy and it didn't feel easy. Felt slow on everything. Finished up with husafell. Did a pick with the weight I had in last time and then did two runs with a little more than contest weight. First pick with that sucked since most of the lead was in the one side. Wasn't expecting it. Got to keep working on this. Pretty need to work hard on all three of these.
Comments: Ate about 50 meat balls for lunch so I had to do something besides loaf around. Legs and hips were a bit stiff and achy, haven't had much free time to just go for a relaxing walk. Going to be training at Brute Strength Gym next Sunday.
I'm done with front squats. I always give them a good try when someone better than me suggests them but I always find they either do little or do more harm then good.
Comments: Interesting doing front squats instead of pulls. Even though the speed work with front squats felt off for the past three weeks, that cycle always seems to help improve my box squat. I aimed low despite using more weight for the higher box position as last time I did this height, I had all kind of issues. It all felt awful and while I did get my goal for the year on this lift, I passed out twice. Once with 405lbs and again on attempting a double/triple with 365lbs after that. Just not worth it. Back was a bit tight going into ssb gms but I felt better after warming up some. After last week, I knew I could push it some if I got into a groove so very happy to have gotten the extra set for all the reps. I was not thinking when I started pulldowns, which led to extra reps and sets. Despite that, I felt explosive and strong.
I woke up Tuesday early in the morning with a cramp in my left tricep where it inserts into my back. Unsure how I did that while sleeping. Possibly from the heavy dumbbell work on Sunday. Doing my best to let it heal now. I tried doing overhead yesterday but I shut it down early as my tricep was holding me back. Shame as my form and leg drive felt good. Hopefully I don't need to take a break from upper body stuff for more than a few days. Really sucks that the area that needs the most work keeps having problems.
Comments: Started out a little rough but about half way through the squat sets I felt good. I like the regular bar over the squat bar, doesn't crush my windpipe (as much). Used other bars to warm-up for step-ups since the empty ssb would be too heavy to jump right in without getting my form down. Challenging but not at the limit yet. Glute hams felt good. Lots of stretching.
BiggDogg Strongg Husafell Stone Carries (turns at 50') 289xpick 352x175' PR+25' 352x30'
Comments: Trained at Jerry's this time. I was really looking forward to seeing how work on the monstrous King Kong dumbell would translate to the not so monstrous Bigg Dogg Strongg dumbbell. Still using just my left arm since my right thumb/palm is still acting up on me. Felt good. First four attempts at 202lbs I had the power but couldn't stabilize it. I was resigning myself to just one more attempt and thought why not try it with a belt. Big difference. The clean was easy and even though I had it in poor postion on my shoulder, I got it. Ugly but got it. I started to walk away but thought why not try another rep. Missed it but then went again and got another. Very happy about that. Just got to get consistent at 200lbs but I got time. Plan for yoke/frame was to at least get in 750/550 for a run. It was ok, not great. Decided to at least test 900lbs on yoke for a pick. Once I got my feet positioned, it didn't feel bad so I said screw it and setup the contest weight for both (and then some for frame). Going up an incline made it really tough, dropped the yoke twice from losing my stability. Still finished it and took a bit of a breather before going at the frame. Grip was easy but my legs were jelly at this point. Finished up with husafell. I was aiming for 200'. Picking it up felt easy but my bottom hand never felt secure. Decided to weigh it afterwards to make sure. Turns out what we had thought was 300lbs was actually 289lbs and what I had thought was 365lbs was 352lbs. So while it is disappointing that I was using less weight than I had thought, it is still improvement.
Just now have time to put up my training from the past week.
Funeral arrangements and online finals for night school gave me little time for
much more than work and training.
May 06, 2012 – Events
Dynamic Warm-ups
King Kong Dumbbell Clean and Presses
60x1/3 ( 12" bell)
60x3 ( 12" bell)
105x3 (11" bell)
105x3 (11" bell)
143x3
163x3
183x0
183x1 PR+5lbs
193x0
193x1 PR+15lbs
203x0
203x0
BiggDogg Strongg Yoke/Frame Medleys
y-325x50'
f-375x50'
y-505x50’
700x50'/500x50'
850x50'/650x50'
BiggDogg Strongg Husafell Stone Carries (turns at 50')
300xpick
340x222'8"
Comments: Went down to train at the Capital area again. Bit
smoother drive this time. I wasn’t too thrilled doing this much driving since I’d
be stuck in a car for the next two days going to upstate NY. Pretty much had
the goal of doing what I did last time but with more weight. Right thumb was
still jacked and couldn’t hold on to the warm-up dumbbell without pain so I
just did everything with my left arm. It may take a while for the thumb to heal
since I use it a lot throughout the day at work. Practiced some rep work (not
many) to get used to the technique again. Used a drop tire this time and it
made a world of difference. Hit a big PR on this dumbbell, which was also a PR
for most weight I’ve lifted on any type of circus dumbbell. Only gave two shots
at 203lbs, no reason to wipe myself out like last time. I felt these were closer
than last week. Getting close, interested to see how this translates to the
actual contest dumbbell.Yoke started
out good for the warm-ups but I had to do a double take after how hard 700lbs
felt. 850lbs felt worse. I had the pick height and inch too high for the
heavier weights. Really slow but finished with no drops, which might be a PR
for me. Really sapped my strength for the frame so the pick was pretty tough
but the moving and holding was easy. Only did the one top set. Did the same
with the husafell stone since usually my second set is well below what my first
run is. I’m happy I’m not losing much distance when I increase the weight.
May 09, 2012 - DE LB
Dynamic Warm-ups
18" Front Box Squats w/ LBs
No Bands
55x10
95x3
Add Bands (+95lbs)
55x3
95x3
145x3
185x3
218x3
218x3
218x3
218x3
218x3
218x3
218x3
218x3
Safety Squat Bar Lunges
120x3/3
145x3/3
165x8/8
175x8/8
185x8/8
Glute Ham Raises
bwx12
bwx12
bwx12
bwx12
bwx12
27 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Front squats to the lower box height (from what I
was using) is still a little awkward. Used the squat bar instead of a regular
bar. I didn’t think the thickness and stiffness of the bar would be that big of
a difference but it was. Also used Light Bands instead of IW#3’s since the pair
I used last time had a bit of a discrepancy between the pair in tension. The
longer bar did make it much easier to re-rack the weights. Lunges went well, I
seem to do a lot better on the lower reps. I felt good for more but decided to
just hit the planned weights and reps since I had to cram my workouts together
for this week. Glute hams also felt good. Only night I had chance to stretch.
May 10, 2012 - ME UB
Dynamic Warm-ups
Reverse Band 12” Log Push Presses w/ IW#2’s dbl
No Bands
90x5
90x5
140x3
Add Bands (-130lbs)
180x3
220x3
250x3
280x1
300x1
320x1
345x1 PR+5lbs
360x0
315x1
315x1
315x1
Swiss Bar 4-Board Presses
145x3
195x3
235x10
255x10
275x10
EZ Curl Bar Skull Crushers
55x3
95x3
135x12 PR+5lbs
135x12
135x12
Comments: Really late night for training. Plan was to
warm-up and then go up by 20lbs in singles to simulate the contest conditions.
I also wanted to hit a PR so when 320lbs was pretty tough, I added more so that
I could hit a small PR just in case. Gave 360lbs a shot but no dice. Not what I
was hoping for but it is improvement, especially considering the awfulness that
was last month. I’d like to get the first two rounds in at the contest (300lbs,
320lbs). Moved on to a new one, swiss bar 4-board presses. Really awkward to
unrack but thrashed the triceps. I forgot to pack something to secure the
boards to my chest so I couldn’t keep my undivided attention on lifting. Still
hit my planned weight. Triceps stuff started out rough but got into a nice
groove.
May 11, 2012 - ME LB
Dynamic Warm-ups
20” Axle Block Pulls
162x5
272x5
322x3
372x3
422x3
472x1
522x1
572x1
622x1
672x1
702x1
602x8
Safety Squat Bar Goodmornings
180x3
230x3
270x10
290x10
315x10 PR+10lbs
Underhand Grip Pulldowns (straps)
120x3
170x3
220x12
220x12
220x12
Comments: I wasn’t sure how this would go since I had
crammed all of the week’s workouts into three days. My back does not care for
the higher block/rack pulls and it takes a while for it to warm up and not feel
tender. I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to hit 702lbs. Grip started to slip
a little from the force needed to break it off the blocks but it held solidly.
Just as happy to hit eight reps on the down set with the contest weight.
Granted the bar height is about 3” higher than the contest weight, it still
gives me a lot of confidence. Back was a bit tight going into ssb gms but I
knew I could easily get my goal weight and added a bit more. Pulldowns started
out poorly at the working weight. They had been so easy last week so I had
increased them by 20lbs again. I managed much better the other two sets but I will
stick to smaller increases from now on. All and all, a good workout and week of
training.
Comments: Sunny out today and humid as well. Didn't feel that sore any where which is good. Looks like I'll be traveling down to the Capital to train events again.
Feels good to be back to my old split. I don't feel beat up and every session. Also felt good to sleep in today and eat a punch bowl filled with steak last night.
Comments: I was looking forward to moving some heavy weight to put an end to a long and stressful week. My plan leading up to contest for pulls is two weeks of pulls and one week of box squats. Box squats to break up the pulls a little and so I can recalculate the numbers for speed work. 12" block pulls with light accommodating resistance one week, higher block pulls the next with straight weight. I picked the 12" block height since it is in range where I pull slightly less than what I can from the floor, I figure that is a good height since it will be lighter than the next week and yet still have me using mostly back for the start like the actual contest apparatus. I knew it was going to be a good one when the first warm-up felt like I was lifting air. My max was 10lbs more than I was expecting, considering my right thumb is still sore and I haven't worked on singles for few months. Down set was different from what I usually do, I did less than 90% since the contest will be for reps and I want to try building towards more reps with 600lbs. I'm good for four just about any day and I'd like to get closer to eight come contest time. I thought I might have still picked too heavy a weight but it was just right. Stopped at seven as my form was starting to break down. Gm's were solid, always the first rep that I have to be cautious with, especially with the ssb. Once I get that one to depth, it's smooth sailing. I was only going to go up 10lbs on the pulldowns but I felt good and added 20lbs. Felt a little lopsided on some reps and really tried to force my traps and shoulder blades down. Last set was the best one. Got way too late to stretch.
May seems to have picked up where April left off for me. Not workout wise that is, they've been good so far. My dad's mother passed away last night it has made both home and work a bit stressful. I haven't experienced a death in my family, at least not at an age where I understand what is happening. My dad's father passed when I was still a toddler. At any rate, this is uncharted territory for me.
Safety Squat Bar Lunges
105x3/3
130x3/3
150x10/10
160x10/10
170x10/10
Glute Ham Raises
bwx12
bwx12
bwx12
bwx12
bwx12
31 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Like this setup. Took a bit to get used to the change in box height but felt good after a while. I think the unilateral leg stuff is helping with my yoke work. Finished up with glute hams and stretching. After two stressful days at work, it was good to get a workout in and joke around with friends.
Swiss Bar Incline Bench Presses
130x3
170x3
200x8 (crap)
EZ Curl Bar Skull Crushers
60x3
100x3
130x12
130x12
130x12
33 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Shoulders were still sore but they are feeling better with the new adjustments at the chiro sessions and getting massages to get my upper back muscles and traps to relax. Decided to do what I thought was stupid by doing push pressing. My legs actually felt quite good despite the leg workout the day before. Not really much soreness. Form felt a little off but got it together for a small PR. I'll take it after the weeks of utter crap that were my attempts at overhead training. Took 30lbs off and did three singles since I want to work on my max strength for the pro-qualifier. I cut the incline short, my anterior delts were just way too sore, no reason to push through that pain when I had a successful overhead press session going. I'm going to ditch incline. Just way too much direct shoulder work has been beating up my shoulders and killing my pressing. Not sure what I'll use to replace it in the routine. Finished up with triceps and stretching.
Forgot to post that I went for a walk on Saturday (30.5 minutes). Just tired when I got back Sunday.
Walking – 32 minutes
Comments: Class was optional today so I was able to get in a chiro session and massage for my upper back. Hopefully with no class for this summer semester, I can get back to a normal routine in regards to training and recovery sessions. Felt good to get a walk in, helped get some soreness out of my legs. Right thumb is kind of jacked up from the circus dumbbell. Hoping that doesn't mess with my grip come axle deadlifting. If it does, may have to strap up just to get the work in that day.
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.
