July 14, 2018 – East Coast's Most Powerful Man

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.