18” I-Beam Farmer’s Walk/Keg Load/18” I-Beam Farmer’s Walk
117x100’ (drop at 50’)/150x1 to 60”/117x100’ (drop at 50’) in 44.11 seconds
202x50’/200x1 to 60”/202x50’ in 24.33 seconds
262x50’/250x1 to 60”/262x50’ in 28.59 seconds
262x50’/250x1 to 60”/262x50’ in 28.97 seconds
Stretching
Comments:
I got to bed but it wasn’t as soon as I wanted to. I went for a walk in
between the thunderstorms as I really felt I needed to after all the
squats and because I hadn’t been able to go walk earlier in the week due
to the flash floods. Got a later start to my day then expected to.
Guess the chicken wasn’t fresh the night before haha. Out to Lancaster
to train. Brian was there so I got to vent a little about the state of
amateur strongman (I don’t get to talk to people about it that
understand it). Bike again. Well not quite right away. I had to use the
restroom again but a little girl had locked it from inside and closed it
so had to get one of the owners to open it up with a screwdriver. The
little girl then figured I was a captive audience on the exercise bike
and procced to teach me her name, her brother’s name and her mother’s
name in sign language. Kind of. The bike felt good on my legs. Calf
stuff was good and easy. Goblet box squats were ok, no aches at all.
This was probably the best these have felt this week. RDLs actually felt
not half bad today. Just really tight hamstrings. I had thought I might
need to do some soft tissue work on them but didn’t need it. Band rows
were easy. Push ups were a bit tougher. Left shoulder ached like it has
been as well as my elbows. The plank was easy, lost count of my time.
Biceps stretch felt good on my tight shoulders. No issues with hip
swings. Before we start with the weight training, I feel it is important
to share something. The promoter of the contest had put up an
explanation for the events in that they are being used to highlight not
only West Virginia strength athletics but also Phil Pfister, the 2006
WSM (no relation). His win is what made me actually start trying this
crazy stuff out. So kind of a little extra motivation and why I’m
dubbing the training cycle “Make Phil Proud”. Now on to the workout.
First thing was block press. Only pressed this thing once before so
still learning. Plan was to hit about 90% of what I think I could do
taking 20-30lbs jumps like at the show. I had done an EMOM with 202.5lbs
with no support gear or real leg drive so no reason why I couldn’t do
at least 220lbs right? But it could be tricky getting that clean just
right. Forgot about my legs on the first set with the empty block. Had
to keep backing up the camera to get the full lift in view. I was
surprised how easy this was feeling . I was jokingly thinking I could do
over 240lbs which is the WR for under 300lbs at this time. 222lbs went
up good too. I had Brian look at it to see if he thought that was 90%
and he said no so I went for the next jump. 1lbs over the WR. Chalked up
my shirt for the first time of the day (was my usual sweaty mess) since
222lbs had slid down my shirt a little on the clean. Got it up to my
shoulders and I knew it was going up. Just couldn’t believe this weight
would feel this good. I was expecting it to feel crushing but it didn’t.
I think the log chest supports helped that haha. Good place to stop for
the day. This might be the only time I can claim an unofficial WR haha.
I weighed it to make sure as I had thought it was a few lbs heavier
based off of what the block had weighed at the old gym. This scale has
it 4lbs lighter so I’ll go off that. After that was deadlifts. This is
quite a change from past training cycles having deadlift on Day 3. This
was sometimes the case during prep for Refuge Barbell show and SC Nats
but it wasn’t for every week like it looks like is the case this
training cycle. Wide grip deadlifts for percentages. I had them all
planned out but then box squats felt easy and I increased the projected
1rm from 530lbs to 550lbs so I figured maybe I should do that for the
other lifts? So added 20lbs to this one too. Wide grip deadlifts this
workout. Triples and trying to not use straps. Get that extra grip work
in. Only bring in the straps if grip would effect my setup on the lifts
to pull as powerfully as possible. Reset each rep. Felt pretty good.
Pulled reps with authority. Last set put on my hard belt. Kept it a
little looser than I would for regular deadlifts or farmer’s walk and
yoke. Getting down to the bar with the belt too tight I think threw me
off the last time I did these heavy and went for a single. Think it
helped. Grip was taxed but managed to hold on for all the reps on that
last set. Took my time to setup the last thing for the day as Brian had
to leave and just the powerlifting people. Farmer’s walk into keg load
back into farmer’s walk medleys. Just when I started to feel like I was
recovering from all the keg and farmer’s stuff haha. But it’s good as I
shouldn’t have to push things too much here since contest I just did was
heavier, further and higher. Contest is maybe 40’ runs (probably closer
to 30’) and keg load over 48”. Well that won’t do so doing 50’ runs and
loading the keg over 60”. Keep up good training stimulus for not just
this contest but future contests. First set was to do the empty handles
for 100’ each. I didn’t make sense to move everything out to the open
turf area to do one run to get a 100’ straight shot so I did down and
back 50’ before going to the keg and then to the handles again. Keg was
nothing. My legs felt heavy even with the empty implements. Might be a
challenge today. 202lbs on the handles and swapped out the 150lbs keg
for the 200lbs keg. Felt better doing just 50’. I had been thinking in
my head the best way to transition between the events and the best I can
think is to have the farmer’s go forward on the way down and step back
and turn to the keg area and then to load it and jump over the on handle
back into the middle and go. Easier said than done. Felt like it was
heavy as the contest I just did with the first run with 262lbs. Felt
slow and like my hands would rip open. Keg was nothing. Just tossing
that sucker over. Then more farmer’s walk. Took a good rest for the
second set. This time it felt like it was light and I felt like I was
moving. I messed up on the second leg as when I hopped back in between
the handles my right foot was actually on the bottom part of the handle
and I had to pull it out from under my foot as I lifted it up. So a
little off balance isometric work. I forgot that was a thing that could
happen on these and I should’ve remembered when I did it training for SC
Nats last year. Ended up just under a half second slower. I was very
glad to be done. Stretched and home for pizza with family. This was a
good week.
12” Log Chest Supports
90x1
140x1
180x1
230x1
270x1
320x1
370x1 with 28.95 seconds hold
Walking Lunges
BWx10/9 (can’t count)
Rope Triceps Pushdowns
100x20
100x20
Smith Machine Weighted Plank
BW+155x30 seconds
BW+155x30 seconds
Side Plank
BWx60/60 seconds
Stretching
Comments:
That first workout was a doozy, like jumping out of a moving car and
trying to keep running. Lower body wasn’t feeling too bad but the
soreness in my upper back was exquisite. Just keeps raining so no
walking Wednesday night. Worried I was going to fall asleep at the gym.
On the bike for warm-up. 147bpm highest reading this time. Easy calf
work after that. Knees weren’t really bothering me on the goblet box
squats too bad. Got a bench this time. Knees were stiff on the RDLs at
the start but felt pretty good after that. Feeling the hamstrings and
they are tight. Rows with the band were good. Left shoulder is still
tight. Come to expect/accept that at this point. But maybe it will go
away like the hip pain did from the Beast of the Bluegrass training
cycle? Controlled on the push-ups. Plank was easy and slightly more ache
in the shoulder this time compared to Tuesday. Then the biceps
stretches. Definitely needed those. Into the hallway for the hip swings.
Felt pretty good. Quite a few things on the menu for today but nowhere
near as many as last workout. First was box squats. The rack was in use
but the guy using it let me do my workout instead. I had told him it was
no problem for me to wait but he insisted. Nice of him. Anyways, plan
was to work up to 5x3 with 50%. I just kept the camera running and put
the weights on and got back under bar for the next set. Quads were
getting sore right away. I was expecting this to be rougher from taking a
break from the squats last cycle. Even with the air conditioning fixed,
I’m still a sweaty mess. I was going to do 265lbs for my work sets
(basing off 530lbs) but 225lbs felt super easy. So Decided to keep with
the quarter, plate, quarter jumps and just put on 275lbs. Actually
wasn’t too bad with this weight. Probably a little more than 50% but I
felt in control and it moved fast like I wanted it to. This was my first
time trying regular box squats in this particular power rack so it was a
little off-putting at first. Good sweat going and legs were pumped. On
to the next thing. Log chest supports. Last time I did these was
training for 2017 SC Nats. This time, just singles. Idea was to do it
from the pickup at the bottom of my leg drive for log push press. The
rack heights are pretty big jumps so I went with the height I used to
just be able to lift it right off the pins and then walk it out to
press. 5-7 singles so I started with the empty log like last workout and
did quarter, plate, quarter jumps. At least I started with that until I
got to the last set. Definitely have to get my head back to really keep
the heavy weights racked. Plan was 30-50lbs over my push press out of
the rack. I figured I’d try and push for the top end as the last one was
to have a hold for time until my form started to break down. 370lbs was
a big ask. Felt like it was going to come back onto the pins as soon as
I got it up. Weight felt crushing. Felt it was compressing my body just
standing there. Didn’t beat my hold time PR but that was to the max and
this was until I felt the shakes and started to have my upper back
fold. It was longer than I thought I held it up there in my head so that
was good I guess haha. Next was something that was to be easy; walking
lunges. Just bodyweight to start and break in to it slow. I had no idea
if my creaky knees would let me move that way. I was fully expecting
knees to be aching to the max. But no issues. It felt good. Ok, one
issue, I messed up my counting and was one rep short. Next was to be
planks; but I had some unfinished business. The long workout on Tuesday
had been long but I had missed an exercise. I was to do two sets of rope
triceps pushdowns. I realized my mistake when I walked in and saw
someone doing them and wondered when I was to do them (I remembered
seeing them in my workout plans) and saw on my sheet that I was to do
them on Tuesday. So this felt like the time to do them. Light reps
(15-20) just to get some blood flowing. Haven’t done triceps pushdowns
since they got rid of the older cable towers so had to just test the
waters and see what the stack felt like. 100lbs felt light but
challenging enough for the tax. I got more pressing coming up this week
so I plan to do more weight next time when I know I got full recovery
ahead. Then it was plank time. Doesn’t get any easier with this weight
on the smith machine for these. But I know they are helping me. Side
plank was surprisingly difficult on my injured side this time but I
managed the minute. Other side was better. No cramping feeling. I got
done sooner than expected from working through the two heavier things
and there was still sunlight when I left the gym. Home to stretch,
recover and eat meatloaf.
Wide Grip Axle Hang
bwx17.72 seconds
bwx12.55 seconds
Stretching
Comments:
Back to the grind. Things went well for the contest so working on that
momentum hopefully to keep improving. This training cycle for America’s
Strongest Viking is going to be my shortest one so far but not relaxing
any. Trying out some new things to help with recovery. Adding some
vitamin D (I rarely get outside lately) and reintroducing HMB. After
this contest, I think I’ll be shying away from SC shows. I have my
reasons. I was still feeling beat up from the competition and was hoping
that my shoulder and knee would be all good by now. No rest for the
wicked. Gym was packed. The heartrate monitor wasn’t working on the bike
and I had a little technical issue so not my best run of the course.
Easy calf work after that. I was expecting some tightness but felt
pretty good. Knees weren’t really bothering me on the goblet box squats
too bad. No benches available so I just used a chair. Knees were stiff
on the RDLs but not as bad as they were the last few weeks of last
training cycle. So that is something. Rows with the band were ok. Still
keeping an eye on the biceps. Always on guard it seems. Left shoulder is
still tight. I was expecting some shoulder tightness on the push-ups
and there was. Achy left shoulder. Plank was easy. No shoulder ache so
progress I think. Then the biceps stretches. Needed these. Into the
hallway for the hip swings. Really needed these. I was actually looking
forward to these to see if they helped loosen up my hips and lower back
tightness. They did haha. Then it was time to lift. Log has been
officially been put on notice now. Just looking at this workout on paper
I knew this was going to be long one. First up was log clean and strict
presses. One clean with three presses. Plan was 5lbs over my best since
after back injury. I figured 30lbs jumps would be good here as long as
my biceps felt good. It had felt iffy deload week but no issues at the
show and none here as well. Trying to anchor myself to have a firm base
to press off of. With how 215lbs felt, only if I messed up my form would
245lbs not go. First rep was perfect, got off balance on the second and
had to readjust for the third so that was a lot harder to lockout. But
got the triple so good start to the cycle. Next was in the rack. I had
tested out some things to make sure the plan would work here. Highest
setting had the log at forehead height. Pretty much the point where it
switches from shoulders to triceps. Singles starting with the empty log
and taking 20lbs jumps. I was hoping at least 270lbs so I knew this was
going to take while to get to that point. Just kept adding 10’s until I
got to 290lbs. Pretty much because there weren’t really anymore 10’s
left so I stripped it all down and put 25’s on for the last single with
310lbs. This was bit more effort and I didn’t think 330lbs would happen
so stopped here. Stripped the log down again for the next one; overhead
support. Quarter overhead squat it for singles taking 20-30lbs jumps.
Starting at 90lbs, this was also going to take a while. I’ve done these
in the past but not with any real regularity. Three times total before
this I think. Knees were a little achy on the first two singles but got
better as I went. I thought I’d peter out around my max log press due to
being out of practice but 390lbs felt easier than 360lbs. Starting to
worry I’d max out my log with the 25’s haha. 410lbs was a bit more
challenging to even get off the pins so I knew this was the one to stop
at today. Now the idea was to hold this one for my time until I felt
unstable and then lower it under control. I think the last time I tried
to hold this kind of weight with a barbell it dropped after like 5
seconds so to get more than 3 times that with control is good I guess. I
still had three more exercises to go at this point but thankfully not
as many sets were going to be needed. Pulldowns after that. Advised to
do 30lbs jumps for five sets with 12-15 reps. I went with 15 and aimed
for that on all sets. Get blood flowing in the back. I’m glad this
popped up as I was hoping to get some “hypertrophy” stuff in for reps
with how much heavy stuff has been going on with three back to back plat
plus shows. Definitely was feeling the fatigue each set. 200lbs was a
struggle to get 10, let alone 15 but I wanted those reps. I had to be
careful I wasn’t overdoing it on the right biceps as it can feel crampy
if I put too much strain on in it. After that was incline bench. I was
dragging by this point. Wrists and elbows felt like I had weight on them
and lats made it feel like my shoulders were fighting against
themselves to move the weight. I had no expectations of hitting any PRs
on the rep set. Six reps might have been pushing it really. I was more
conscious of this on the pause rep set and stopped myself from going for
a seventh rep. Last thing was bar hangs. Twist being two sets and now
with the axle. These were just cruel. Felt the strain in my shoulders
trying to keep my grip. Less than 30 seconds total between the two sets.
Really, really hard. Goal is a minute but 30 seconds would be
incredible I think. Took about 3hrs to finish this workout and head home
to stretch, recover and eat.
This was
stressful. But I say that about anything that requires any amount of
personal interaction. But my anxiety was high this training cycle. This
contest was part of the new plan to hit three plat plus shows and
hopefully work on my weaknesses as a competitor so that I can hang at
the national level. But three weeks in I hit a wall hard on the
overhead. Just shut down, got depressed and had to take a break to get
back on track. I had seriously considered dropping out of this contest
(I’ll only dropped out of contests I’ve signed up for due to injury and
only two times) and possibly just quitting the sport. But I talked with
my coach and it made no sense to not do the show. I knew that but
sometimes another brain is needed when you yourself are dealing with
mental and physical fatigue and stress. I’ve been like an injury
hypochondriac since the biceps scare. I know I’m not invincible and I
never want to be like I was with that back injury. Doing what I can to
help my body recover between sessions. Ice compression wraps for my
knees after tough sessions and some new supplements. Work the past two
weeks leading up to the show were stressful. Worrying about injury and
getting all the work done. I had a deep tissue massage on Monday of the
contest week and I think that was first I’ve actually felt relaxed in a
while. Massage therapist said that she felt there were no deformities or
tears in my biceps and thinks my shoulder issue is from stressed
supraspintatus and infraspinatus muscles. Work continued to be
stressful. Deload week is easy and contest week I have nothing. So I
tried to catch up on sleep and get into work early. But that just meant
even more work to do. I’m feeling burned out. Friday before was the
worst. I could barely get breakfast down. Usually that is day of the
contest not, the day before. I took no breaks at work and was the most
stressed and pissed off I’ve ever been there. I was worried this would
be a terrible competition.
Baltimore is close enough that I can
drive day of. Not the most restful sleep. I had a nightmare and woke up
shouting at like 2:00AM. That was weird haha. This would be one of the
few contests I’ve gone to without a family member along the way and also
one of the few I’ve driven to by myself. Things seemed to be going
alright in the morning and I packed up the car and drove out to the
show. I had packed everything this time. Not going to repeat my mistake
with the tacky box for Beast of the Blue Grass. I try to learn from
mine. No traffic really. Listened to my iPod until I got close to
Maryland and the radio station I was using had a Spanish language
station pick up the frequency (it’s been so long since I’ve been down
this way for an event or training that I forgot this happens) so put in
CD of AC/DC the rest of the way. No incidents getting there. It was when
I got there that I had troubles. Always get lost when I get right at
the destination. I had an hour to spare when I got there but getting
lost and trying to find parking (cost me $30 for the day) made me have
about 30 minutes remaining to check in and weigh-in. I wanted to tear
someone in half. My rage and stress needed a release and soon. I saw
people I recognized and my anger went away and we walked the quarter
mile or so the convention center. Weighed in at 275.6lbs with my shoes
off so the same weight as Beast of the Blue Grass. There were going to
be eight of us in the under 300lbs class. There had been nearly twice
that many but there were a lot of drop outs. I think a 231lbs person
didn’t make weight and got bumped up to this class as well. It was
going to be interesting as this would be the first time I was competing
against someone that trains at the same gym as me (Andrew) and I was
curious how we’d stack up. Not to say there wasn’t a strong field. I
knew more guys in the SHW class from competing. Rich DeStefani was last
year’s USS Nats champion and has done two SCL competitions, Kevin
Wickline had won California’s Strongest Man earlier this year (also Plat
Plus) and Bryant “Billy” Davidson has been neck and neck with me at the
past three contest we’ve done. Tested out some of the equipment and
talked with friends and competitors as I got warmed up for the day and
got rules meeting out of the way.
The first event was a last man
standing hummer tire deadlift with three attempts. That’s right,
deadlift was first. A couple of promoters on the east coast like to
rotate the events for groups so that there always and event going and
honestly it is one of the better ways to run through over 130
competitors smoothly. But it can lead to unusual event orders. Anyways,
the setup was such that there were was a set of hummer tires on the
barbell and then we pulled off a raised platform so it was essentially
at standard deadlift height. It was about an inch higher and there was
some give in the tires so it was like pulling on the thick deadlift bar.
The tires compressed as more weight was added so probably was right
around standard height by the time it got loaded up. I had not been too
sure how this was going to be setup honestly and I couldn’t really
simulate the platform with what I had at the Y. Had used a mix of bumper
plates and heavy iron plates to try and get the feeling right but that
was expecting them to be filled tires like I’ve done before. Getting to
the bar and on to the platform was something I needed to test out. I was
able to get into my deadlift suit pretty easy (usually the case come
contest time). No shirt on as it felt like it was another layer in the
way really. Obvious have to keep it on training at the Y haha. Looking
at the setup. I was worried that the event might change as people were
crushing the weights in warm-ups and it didn’t look like there was much
more room to go on the bar. I had planned on getting some lighter
warm-ups but I think I ended up doing maybe 390lbs for a single and then
490lbs. I had wanted to open with 550lbs per how training was going.
But this was the easiest close to 500lbs has ever felt so I was fine
with going heavier. Good thing too as they indicated the 580lbs was
going to be the opener. I’ve gotten pretty good at the 90lbs jumps in
weights and feeling warm so I wasn’t worried. In fact, I was very happy
and jokey which is a good sign for me. 580lbs went up pretty fast but my
friend working the camera missed it so I didn’t know how much I should
go up. With it being three attempts and 50-40lbs jumps (quarter, plate,
quarter) and number of attempts determining placing for ties at weight, I
went with 90lbs jump for 670lbs. This was my dream attempt leading up
to the contest and was figuring 630lbs was more likely. It felt like it
was slow but videos says this went up pretty darn fast. No hitch and
held it for good measure. While I think there was definitely more there,
I didn’t feel I had 50lbs more and called it there as it was going to
be a long day. This seemed to work as I tied for 3rd with Andrew but he
was close with 720lbs.
The next event for the day was yoke.
805lbs for 100’ with a drop and turn at 50’. 60 seconds to compete the
course. They were not giving distance on this so if you didn’t finish,
you got a zero. A harsh scoring but it is what it is. I’ve not done the
best come contest day on yoke once it gets to the 800lbs or more. Like
two times where it has gone well and one of those was an unsanctioned
meet I didn’t even train for. The SHW class was still going on deadlift
so I took this as my opportunity to get some warm-ups in. Being the
tallest person at shows usually, I rarely get to do what I want for
warm-ups. But I got to here. Just did short 10’ runs with a turn and
repick going up by 90lbs and then adding 180lbs after my last one for a
pick. I had anticipated the slide factor from watching videos and from
being at conventions before but this was even more than I had thought as
it whacked me in the back of the head for one of the warm-ups. The pick
with 785lbs made me nervous with how it felt but it was needed. I don’t
think I would’ve been prepared going from 605lbs straight to comp
weight. I was one of the earlier entries so I got to see other people
go. One to see how times were doing but for me the crucial thing was
seeing how the start commands were given. I needed to make sure I timed
my start right as some people were losing time from slow reactions.
Before I went, four had finished the course with two not doing so. I got
set and waited until I got set into that hair trigger position so that I
could react as soon as I nodded my head to the start command. And I was
off. I was little slower than I wanted to but I was moving. Did my best
to control the drop and get right back under it. My turn around is
quick so maybe I could pick up time here. I was moving slow and I was
doing my best not to stumble as I crossed the line. My time was 28.08
seconds which was a slight improvement of my training best with 800lbs.
My left side of my upper back started to cramp up after this. Probably
because I favor that side on the repick and turn. I also might have had
my belt one notch looser than usual. Might had helped me breath but
maybe not. My time was good enough for 4th here. Winner was about 9
seconds faster. I know this is one I got to keep working on but I got
under 30 seconds.
Up next was last man standing keg over bar for
max height with three attempts. Same as deadlift in that attempts could
be skipped and attempt number mattered for ties. 2” was the increments
here. Now I say it was next but that wouldn’t be accurate. There was a
ton of down time. Yoke was finished pretty quick so there was enough
time for me to get weight gain shake in. This had been my plan. But the
class doing the keg before us was taking a long time. About 45 minutes
wait and then it cleared up and we ready to go. I didn’t want to dawn my
super hero suit of spandex, grip shirt and copper sleeves until it was
time. Everyone wanted to do some warm-ups as we all were trying to not
get cold. 250lbs and we just had it at 62” (the opener could be 52”) and
we all felt good and wanted just one more jump to 300lbs before going
to 350lbs. That was when a snag was hit. There weren’t enough 25lbs
plates to use while all the events were going. Let’s just say there were
a lot of angry, pissed off behemoths in the immediate vicinity of the
keg load area. These things happen but it was not looking good as the
loaders were frustrated (and honestly the was dangerous for them with
the weight and height) and we were frustrated. I just kept trying to
find the positive and laugh the stress off. People were throwing around
ideas of just doing 250lbs, either for reps or height or scraping the
event. We ended up having to wait until another group finished their
farmer’s walk for them to get enough weights for the keg. Did another
single at 300lbs and was just ready to get it over with. I really just
wanted this event to be done with due to how much it bruises my biceps.
My plan was to open with 62” and just do 2” jumps and hope that was
competitive. 62” felt sluggish but it went over no problem. The upright
loading pins for the yoke made it a bit more cramped as far as space for
me to tilt the keg to take all tension out of the top arm. Knees and
shins got scraped up something fierce from the shark shin on the Power
Keg. I was surprised how explosive people were on this. A lot of rage
was being directed at that poor Power Keg. Injury struck as Rich tore is
biceps after reattempting a missed attempt at 64”. That was it for him
and he had won the first two events. I gave him one of my ACE bandages
(be prepared) to wrap and ice bag on his arm. Any plans of going for
broke went away after that. This even would go on to claim an ankle and
nose. 64” went up easy. Kevin matched that. Bar went up to 66” and Billy
came in with his second attempt. It was unexpected as he seemed to
struggle with his opener. But he’s crafty and had switched to shoulder
it and toss it over. Definitely the way to go on this event but I had
treated this as more a training exercise to improve extension and for
contests going forward. Too much work for that skill at this time. 66”
went up about same as 64” did and I probably had 68” doing this style
today. Had to settle for third as Kevin got 68” for second and Billy did
another shoulder for 70” for first.
The fourth event was
farmer’s walk. 325lbs for 100’ with a drop and turn at 50’. 60 seconds
to compete the course. Distances were given on this one so not as bad if
you struggle on grip. I felt good going into this one. Pick was high,
grip was solid. Then I picked them up with just 165lbs on them. Oh boy.
Why does this feel heavy. I don’t need much to warm-up on farmer’s
especially after deadlift and yoke. My suggested warm-ups had been to do
short runs like yoke and then pick contest weight. I nixed the contest
weight pick as I really just needed to familiarize myself with how the
implement sits in the hand (never used Bartos handles without straps)
and how the drop effects the repick. It sat well in the hand but I
noticed the handles tended to “splay” outward so I would really need to
control the drop to follow the handles down to stop that. 255lbs was
enough for me. A pick at contest weight was going to fry me and I needed
that for when it counted. Again, I used my placing from contest entry
to observe both the judge and how everyone was handling the course. I
noticed with the judge that he was saying go as soon as people shook
their head. I tend to “rock the boat” when I get my hips, knees ready
and hamstrings primed so I made a note of that to let him know that so I
could ensure I got set before he said go. Three people finished the
course before I went. Two of them took a long time to repick the weights
and Billy was moving well but stumbled at the end and lost a ton of
time getting back up. So I knew I needed to be quick on the repick and
to keep steady on the return leg. I kept my spandex shorts on to
minimize friction if the implements hit my legs. I made sure the judge
knew that I would be “moving” a bit before I went and to know I was
ready when I gave a head bob. I had to do it twice before he said go but
I had my hamstrings locked. The pick was so awful. But I was moving
good. Very controlled and turned around quick and repicked it as fast as
I could. Just so much suck but I was good and going. Just kept trying
to stay in a rhythm. I couldn’t afford a bobble at the end like Billy.
In typical fashion, I held the weights at the end for a moment before
putting them down. It’s a thing I do. I can’t help it. My time was 21.59
seconds which was a big improvement over my best by over 3.5 seconds.
This ended up being the winning time. This was unexpected. So first
place here.
The final event was a press medley. Dubbed the
ultimate press medley. 295lbs axle, 315lbs log, 200lbs circus dumbbell
and 275lbs Power Keg to be lifted in that order and then repeat a second
time. 120 seconds to do this task. This wasn’t something I wanted to do
fresh, let alone at the end of the show. This event was what made me
consider dropping the contest. With how the event order was selected, my
hope was that everyone else would be beat up I could hang as even beat
up I should still be able to lift the axle. I got experience with that
trying the contest weight axle after digging a vegetable garden for my
mother. So I knew I could do it even this beat up haha. This didn’t look
good when fresh either as the log would be 15lbs PR for clean and push
press in training (I’ve done this with a jerk but inconsistent), 30lbs
contest PR post injury comeback and 15lbs contest lifetime PR. Dumbbell
would be doable at my best but haven’t gone above 187lbs since injury
and the keg would be 25lbs lifetime PR. So this was more an opportunity
in training to try and get familiarized with more implements and try to
get my overall pressing better. Log didn’t feel so great but I did 50lbs
jumps from 150lbs to 250lbs to get used to it. Just did the empty
dumbbell more for my own experience with the Bartos bell and the 225lbs
keg (which bounced like crazy) just in case I managed to defeat the log
gate keeper. 215lbs felt like 300lbs on the axle so I stopped there
because damn. Another thing in my favor was that there were no split
times, just number of lifts so I could take my time and make sure I got
my lifts. I was second to last to go again and Billy was in first with
getting past the log but couldn’t get the dumbbell, and a three ways tie
for second with the axle. I get the axle and I secure my podium spot
and maybe win. Made sure it was ok to have my hands on the axle to start
and did a controlled pull to start the clean and popped it up to the
shoulders. Lower body was definitely fatigued as I had to press out the
lift. Took my time with the log as I was either going to get it or a I
wasn’t. Gave a shot and went for it but it went out in front of me and
really not close. I gave it another shot after I waited until there was
about 30 seconds left but not even close and I called it there. Tied for
second with four people I think.
I was surprised to get second
place at this contest. I was not expecting a podium place with the
competitors competing today. Kevin took the win with Billy getting
third. Not sure where Andrew placed in the end. Will have to see when
the score sheet is posted how close I was to that Arnold Invite.
Overhead continues to be rough for me, especially log. Again, glad SHW
and HW was separate as those guys were beasts all day. One guy did
850lbs on the deadlift and two people strict pressed the 350lbs Power
Keg to load it over like 70” or something ridiculous. With it all done,
it was nice to just talk with other competitors. There was meeting of
the minds over “where does buffalo chicken wings come from” that just
had me rolling in laughter. The phrases “Perdue is making dinosaur
chickens”, “buffalo went extinct due to the cowboys” and “chickens don’t
have biceps” will bring me endless joy. The only certainty at this time
is the next show at America’s Strongest Viking in seven weeks. But I
wouldn’t be doing this stuff without my family, friend and coach.
Comments:
Last one. Trying to keep food intake up and rest. Right knee aches,
right biceps still a little sore and left shoulder still stupid. Hoping
massage and a week of rest is what I need for those to ease up. I was
planning to go out to Lancaster to train but with only having to do
slight stuff, it really didn’t make sense with the driving I’ll need to
do this coming Saturday for the contest. This was something I could
easily do at home. I didn’t sleep in a lot but I did end up doing some
housework I’d been neglecting as a bit of a warm-up before training.
Been a while since I’ve done the sled drag for my warm-up. The uphill
part was tougher than I remembered. Got a bit of pump in the left side.
Easy calf work after that. Left calf was really tight after the sled
drag. No real aches in my knees on goblet box squats or rdls. But since
it was quiet with no music, I could hear my knees “crinkling” each rep.
Band rows felt good once I got into it. Had my arms a bit too wide to
start pushups and my left shoulder let me know so I reset and brought my
arms in a bit. Plank was easy, just hard to breath haha. Then the
biceps stretches. Used the yoke and it really seems to get the spot.
Hips swings I did using the platform I have for loads. These felt good
today. As is usually the case for the last session of the last day of a
training cycle, the workout involved the prowler. Usually it is a medley
but this time it was just pushes. Ten sets of 100’ with a minute rest.
Since I wasn’t doing double time like usual with the medley runs, I
figured I could bump the weight up a little. Always be looking to
improve. I was a little worried this would bother my knee. I was also
worried that turning the sled around for the next set would bother my
biceps. I’ve really become an injury hypochondriac it seems. I just
don’t want to be sidelined by injury again. I feel I’m behind as it is.
The street is angled slightly uphill so uphill odd sets and downhill
even sets. As is usually the case, I get better after the first two sets
really and then start to slow after that. No real quad pump like I
sometimes get doing these kinds of workouts. I got a second wind it
seems on the second to last pairing of runs. I didn’t feel like I was
fully recovered from the rest until the last one so looks like my
conditioning is doing ok. Now it is time to rest.
Comments:
I needed sleep I guess. I ended up sleeping 13.5hrs on my day off.
Didn’t have enough time to walk before the thunder storms started. Been
working on getting my sleep and food intake up this week. My bodyweight
tends to drop during deload week as I’m not as hungry and not drinking
as much water. I think that might effect my overhead pressing some.
Keeping an eye on my bruised biceps. Joints are achy. Come to expect
that with contest peaking training. Chiro closed this week. Hoping that
deep tissue massage next week will help with the shoulders. Did even
better on the bike course today. 145bpm highest reading this time so
intensity was up a bit from last session. Easy calf work after that.
Some aches in my arm joints. No surprise that I had some aches in my
knees on the goblet box squats and barbell rdls. But I get better as the
reps go as far as how these feel. I was a little cautious with the band
rows to make sure I wasn’t using too much arms. I was expecting some
shoulder tightness on the push-ups and there. Was almost stopped my
second rep short because of this but made myself stick to full ROM on
these. Plank was easy, just makes me sweaty contracting everything
intensely. Then the biceps stretches. Always seem to be needed these
days. Into the hallway for the hip swings. Felt pretty good. Not as much
of an ache on the shoulder on the one side. Felt like my back and hips
were pretty loose. Only thing for today’s session for weights was front
box squats. Planned working sets of 60% for five triples. I was to do
some more of these a few weeks back when my knee ached up to bridge the
gap between 50% and 60%. I wanted to do these with no support gear of
any kind. Knees felt stiff unracking the empty bar. I made sure to
stretch out my rack positioning for my lat, arms and shoulders before I
started. Right knee didn’t like the first rep at all. A little too late
now that I had a whole workout to do and I figured it would be fine as
the workout went and icing when I got home would help a lot. I moved
pretty quick doing my sets as soon as I changed the weights. I took
longer when I got to my working weight. Setup wasn’t the best on that
first set. Usually isn’t on my first set for any speed work sets but I
feel better after a set or two. I setup too far back so I couldn’t
really sit back that first set. Much better that following set. Felt
like I was in good control after those first two sets. Actually looked
like speed work some reps haha. Took maybe 15 minutes total to get
through squatting the bar to the last working set. Home to stretch,
recover and eat meatloaf. One more to go.
Comments:
Deload week begins. I’ve done nothing but work, eat and sleep so far. I
did not go for a walk Monday due to the heat advisory. It has been 98
the past two days. I’ve only gone for a walk on Sunday as I had to get
up early to drive back out to Lancaster to get my wallet and it was
below 90 at the time. Still had to put an ice pack on my neck after
walking. Right arm has a lot of bruising on it from keg loads. I’ll be
happy when I don’t have to these high loads anymore where I got to shove
it up and over as the lip of the keg keeps banging into my arm on that
side. Another issue is that the creatine I’ve been using has been
discontinued so I’ll going to have to wait a bit for the new brand to
ship and it sounds like it won’t arrive until Monday next week.
Allergies have been acting up too. The heat and humidity have been
exhausting. At least the gym appears to be trying to fix the AC issue.
Did the 1.5 mile course on the bike and managed to finish in under 5
minutes this time so that is neat. Heart rate seems to be consist with
max peak of 140BPM. Calf raise stuff is still pretty easy. Not too tight
today, some aches in my wrists and forearms. Knees were a little achy
on the goblet squats but got better as I did the set. Working on sitting
back to initiate the movement and opening up the hips. RDLs I felt a
little stiff but still good. Band rows were ok. Trying to pull with my
back to get some of the stress out of my shoulders and to also not
stress my biceps. Push ups were ok. Some shoulder aches on the left
side. Then a short plank hold and biceps stretches. Biceps stretch was
definitely needed. Hip swings felt good too. Got some of the tightness
out of my lower back. On to log. Only exercise with weights for today
and this is generally the case with deload week. Last cycle had been an
experiment and hopefully things peak well this time. I’d be lying if I
said I didn’t have doubts about how the press medley will go. End of the
show, two implements being PRs and one close to my preinjury PR. Plan
for log was to work up to a single at 90% of what I felt I could hit
today. I was pretty much basing this off of 300lbs regardless of how I
felt and doing 10% jumps like last time log was in the workout. Trying
to get my technique on this down. Log tilted forward, hands slightly
closer to me than center point. I seem to press better this way out of
the rack (the tiered rack, not the new rack). Knees didn’t ache much at
all like it sometimes feels like with the empty log. Did two singles
then added a piece of support gear. Rehband belt, then hard belt. 240lbs
felt pretty easy but I think I stressed the right biceps a bit too much
on the top portion of the clean. Wrist wraps added for 270lbs. I
adjusted my grip in the lap so I was closer to midline on the handles (I
was worried that I would stress my right biceps). It was a little out
in front of me but due to my hands being further back, it went up in a
good groove. I was tempted to do a heavier single but I shut it down as
aiming for 90% of say a PR (305) or contest weight (315) was less than
15lbs and my right biceps was feeling sore and crampy. I reread the note
for the workout and it said a powerful single so I I felt that was
accomplished with 270lbs. Home to stretch, eat and recover. I’m glad I
have tomorrow off from work as I feel like I’m going to sleep most of
the day away.
Yoke (with drops)
200x100’ (drop at 50’) in 13.75 seconds
300x100’ (drop at 50’) in 13.37 seconds
400x50’ (drop at 25’) in 8.45 seconds
500x50’ (drop at 25’) in 9.34 seconds
600x50’ (drop at 25’) in 10.74 seconds
700x50’ in 8.76 seconds
800x100’ (drop at 50’) in 28.50 seconds PR+13.86 seconds
Keg Load Over Bar
150x1 to 70”
200x1 to 70”
250x1 to 70”
275x1 to 70”
300x1 to 70”
325x0 to 68”
325x1 to 68”
350x0 to 68”
350x0 to 68”
350x0 to 66”
Stretching
Comments:
This was the last heavy workout of this training cycle. A rematch of
last time. I was feeling a little off as I had not gone for a walk since
Monday of this week. It got too late on Wednesday and it was in the mid
90’s on Friday. It was going to be even hotter today so it didn’t make
sense to wear myself out walking in that heat. Also figured it was
important to rest with the bulged disc area acting up a little. Sleep
and ibuprofen had me feeling rested in the morning. I brought a cooler
with all my ice packs and frozen water bottles in case it got to be too
much today. New equipment at the gym with a conan’s wheel/viking press
and a toss for height station. It’s great seeing this happening
frequently at this gym. It was definitely hot today, even inside with
the fans. I just felt warm being on the bike, let alone even pedaling on
it. Calf raise stuff was easy. Nice and springy. Some tightness but not
nearly as much as other days this week. Goblet box squats after that.
Knees ached but not as much as I was expecting or could be with my
knees. Really thinking about sitting back on these first to get the hip
hinge as well as opening up the hips. Knees were a little achy on the
RDLs too but this was the best they’ve felt the past two weeks. Band
rows were great as were push-ups. I was worried these would feel off as
they have this week but felt ok. Easy plank hold followed by the biceps
stretches. Least amount of stress on the shoulder for planks so far
since it became an issue. Really needed those biceps stretches. Hip
swings weren’t bad either. That was it for the movement prep warm-ups
but I had to wait for weights. Today was yoke and keg load and two of
the three yokes and the entire lanes were in use for people training for
a yoke medley coming up at the end of August. So I helped a fellow
competitor use a deadlift suit for the first time as I waited. Yoke
after that wait and it was the same plan as last time I did yoke. I did
two runs with no weight on my back and held my upper body flexed like I
had a yoke to test out my knees and get myself warm again. I used the
lighter rouge yoke today. I wanted to not get too comfortable with one
over the other. I figured I needed a set to still warm-up to get into my
top gear so I did it empty and then went with the 100lbs jumps. Knees
were aching just bending to get under the yoke so I played around with
my position a bit to see what felt less stressful. I really didn’t want
to have to put on knee brace or the copper sleeves. The next run
definitely felt like I had gotten good and ready to go. My timing was
off on the turn for the repick. But the weights were light enough that
it didn’t matter. On 500lbs my right arm was gripping lower and on
600lbs I rushed the pick and ended up carrying the weight higher on my
cervical spine. All the working up sets besides 200lbs were improvements
over last time I did these. I had no feeling of instability. 700lbs
would be the next test for the straight shot run. My left leg didn’t
want to cooperate with me last time near the end of the course. Didn’t
want that to happen as it would mean there was a problem and the goal
set would be a terrible thing again. This felt good and it was sub 9
seconds. .Just under a tenth of a second faster than my best 50’ run
with this weight. Then it was time for 800lbs for the contest run. I was
nervous but not as nervous as I was last time. With how working up sets
felt, there was no way this was going to be as bad as last time. First
leg was good. I may have not gone top speed to ensure I was in control
on the drop and to make sure I had enough there to get back. Took a
moment on the repick but I feel this was faster than last time. This
time on the second leg, I knew I had it. No stank leg flaring up on me
today. Under 30 seconds which was my goal this training cycle so pleased
with that. Moving events should be good for the show and be
competitive. Then it was keg again. I liked keg at the start of this
cycle but this going over 5’ BS is wearing my patience thin haha. Same
as last time with the starting light but starting the bar at 70” this
time. I was alone by the time I got to keg load so I figured it didn’t
make sense to keep loading and unloading weights in the power keg when I
can just get the kegs and rotate them out until I get to 350lbs. I had
on all three of my copper sleeves; arm sleeve on my left calf and the
knee sleeves on my biceps. Idea to keep them from getting too bruised
from the kegs. The extra height was definitely noticed right from the
start. Up to 250lbs I was able to throw it up and over. 275lbs that was
taller order. I probably could’ve dropped it down to 68” but I figured
it was a technique issue and if I got the timing and full extension,
300lbs would go over no problem. I was right thankfully. But I lowered
it for the next one. I wasn’t ready as I messed up the timing with
325lbs. I tried to readjust and I felt so much cracking and popping in
my lower back on the right side. I was worried that I had damaged myself
here and laid down with the rehband belt still on. I was good, just
going to be feeling beat up the rest of the day. Retried 325lbs and got
it this time. Then the power keg. Wishful thinking trying for 68”. Again
a miss. I stupidly tried again, thinking that going from keg to power
keg might have made me not be just ready. This second attempt was closer
but still no dice. I lowered it to 66” but like last time, I wasn’t
able to manage it with the previous failed attempts. Still hitting
extension so it’s not all bad but it is making me realize how much
harder getting that pop and drive will be after yoke. Put stuff away and
closed up, realizing I had locked my wallet in the gym as I got to my
car. I was able to schedule to pick it up the next morning. I’m ready to
deload and get this contest done with.
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.
