Comments: I didn’t feel like I did a lot on Thursday
evening. But my body felt like a wreck Friday. First half of the day it was
like my allergies were acting up but thankfully that stopped. My hips, quads
and hamstrings were really tight so despite feeling tired, I made myself walk.
I think that knowing that I could sleep in the next day kept me up later. This
was going to be another sled workout and since I wasn’t going to be doing any
other stuff, meant it made more sense to stay home for the workout. And I slept
like a boss. Very close to 13.5hrs. Just been putting it off. Not healthy I
know. Better to get that out today then the next day. I was really, really slow
to getting up and going. I mean, I did get up at just before 1:30PM so it wasn’t
like I had a lot of daylight after eating. My left glute and hip area (sciatic
stuff) was feeling inflamed and I was hoping that ibuprofen and heating pad
would loosen things up but not really. This was going to be a very low impact
workout so I needed to get this over with. No sense pushing this on to tomorrow
and be miserable and mopey about things. Not healthy and it is unnecessary. I
won’t tolerate it either. And maybe moving around will help things and I’ll
have an excuse to do some stretching afterwards. First thing was my sled drag
warm-up. It was odd in that it was warm and humid out, not what I’d expect for
early fall. Felt fine enough with the warm-up and the movement prep stuff. I
figured out a way to get the kettlebell setup to be heavier with what I got.
Still feels light compared to what I use at the gym(s). Stuff seemed to be
moving well. Just would prefer if I didn’t have to be cautious about how the
disc issue is. Almost like putting a handicap on myself and that’s not good.
Fear is the mind killer as it were. So prowler pushing for this workout. 10
sets of 100’ with a minute rest. I figured I’d go with 4 plates total on the
prowler. I was a little nervous with how my shoulders would take with having
been so beat up from last Saturday. No issues here. Just felt a little slow on
that first set to warm-up. Again, using a roast in the oven to keep me on pace
haha. I knew I was going to be a sweaty mess so I put a hand towel in my
waistband to dry off between sets. Felt good when I was done. I was sweaty and
out of breath. I mean this was 20lbs more than I’ve used for this workout
before. I spent a good 10 minutes toweling off inside after I was done before I
felt it was safe enough to stretch without having a puddle of sweat follow me through
my house. My hope is that I can rest and recover well this coming week though
things could get crazy from non strongman related stuff.
Comments: It literally feels like I did this day before.
Reading over the training from the last deload week it is almost the same
thing. I wasn’t feeling motivated and again, some family issues made the
previous 48hrs kind of stressful. Still feeling pretty good on that wellbeing
side of things. Still got achy shoulders but seems just the one knee is achy
right now. Been really pushing the TENS unit and other recovery stuff. Ideally
I’d be not going so full bore but things aren’t ideal. I setup to do three
contests over three months and I’m doing that. Trying to have my cake and eat
it too with trying to hit the snooze button a lot and still stay up later.
Figure I can come home from work and then get ready for the gym so I can sleep
more. Made the most sense to do the roast workout timer again haha. AMT
felt ok , heart rate was only up to 149bpm. Stayed fairly low until the end as
per usual. Ended up going downstairs to do most of my warm-up stuff due to some
shenanigans upstairs haha. Knees had felt a little achy at the start but felt
fine by the end. Some things are tight
and achy. To be expected I think doing the chiro and decompression sessions and
being aggressive with the recovery stuff. I was also hoping to get the squat
rack to be open so I could be near it and setup stuff once it was free. Box
squats the only exercise for this workout. This ended up being frustrating as I
set things up and had to shoo one person away (they checked with me) but I was
unsuccessful with stopping another person from tearing done the setup to do
squats. You’d think when they have to move a bunch of risers and overhead press
the bar to get it on their back that someone big was using it. Oh well. Good
thing I had a large roast (3.5lbs) cooking or I could be cutting it close here.
I did some foam rolling on my left shoulder and both my hips, hamstrings and
glutes. Set weights and reps here. Same as the previous box squat deload. I
just kept my camera rolling the entire time again to just keep things moving.
Quarter, plate, quarter jumps was the plan, working up to 365lbs for a double.
I think I had the bar height a little too high for it to be comfortable for a
fast unrack as I got up in weight. Left shoulder still all kinds of achy and
funky still so it took a little to get used to this. Weights felt like I was
blasting things up there up to 275lbs. Even that weight moved well. I felt slow
last time this was moving quick. I had a little hiccup with 315lbs, which was
my first set with the hard belt. I must have had it sit too low and the foam
rolling must have made my nerves a bit more awake. Not sure but it feel like
the belt was compressing something on the right side. Like a mild bee sting
sensation. Only felt it on the box and it went away when I stopped and took the
belt off. I was a little hesitant now and I adjusted the belt setup for the top
set. I needed to make sure that I was ok. Not really able to get the belt 2
notches tight this time but I’ve been trying to get in more food. If this irritated
things, I’d have to seriously reconsider going forward with the competition. My
healthy and longevity are important to me, as much as I want to not give up,
support my gym and compete in front of people I care about. The adjustment
seemed to work. Felt like I had weight on my back this set. Again, probably
would’ve felt better to unrack if I had it one setting lower. No issues, other
than me starting to finally sweat by this point. Home to eat a lot of eye round
roast, stretch and do recovery work. One more workout left. Then deep tissue
massage Monday and then try to relax.
Comments: Another deloadish week I guess. Essentially got
in three hard workouts before time to reel it back. I’ve gone to the chiro
three times so far in the past week. Plan is one more tomorrow to be on the
safe side so that I can get things done as far as decompression of the spine,
stretching and getting the disc bulge to calm down. Left shoulder is sore and achy.
It was like this the last time I did fingal fingers. It’s still not feeling
that great from when I took the sandbag to the shoulder. Been told anything
from AC sprain to bursitis and both require rest and anti-inflammatories. Not
sure how much I can rest it as the last time I did extended rest, I started to
get problems in my shoulders not doing anything. Just going to have to keep an
eye on things. Noticing that usually these deloads are somewhat heavy overhead,
speed squats and then sled work to finish things off. Seems to work fine for
most of the time. But hard to say with overhead as sometimes it is great. Log
has been really hit or miss though and it’s been in most of the contests I’ve
done. Block press (was much lighter on that deload) and circus dumbbell have
gone well. Just hoping I wasn’t too beat from Saturday’s workout to put in a
good effort and to not have this workout knock me out of things again. Warmed
up on the AMT. I felt good. Heart rate really jumped up there at the end to 149BPM.
All the movement stuff and stretches after that. Felt fine. Shoulders needed
the kettlebell arm bar holds today. The ideal plan would be doing viking press
on this day. But I don’t have one at the Y as previously noted and I no longer
can set up one like I used to with the new rack. So it was going to be axle
work but then I figured after seeing my friend Brian doing swiss bar work for
his viking press training that I could do that too. Today the plan was work up
in doubles to a top set and then do drop sets to get a total of 15 reps across
the sets. I did a set of 20 with 5lbs dumbbells before moving to the swiss bar
out of the rack. This thing is awful on overhead. The balance is different, the
ROM is greater and it doesn’t really rest on your body like say any other
implement. Besides viking press. So have that constant time under tension with
this thing. But I really forgot how sucky this was. So much so that I haven’t
done this lift in 9 years I think haha. Everything felt heavy on my shoulders
and chest but I kept powering it up there so I didn’t let that “weight” on my
chest get to me. I really wanted to do two plates and quarter for the top set
and took 30lbs jumps. 175lbs felt unlawfully heavy but I kept going. I wanted
to hit five reps and then do 2 more sets of five for the drop set. I know that
the viking press at the show is going to be repfest if I’m on point. Didn’t
want to fail today. Don’t want to have a missed rep like the wagon wheel deads.
I felt I could do it on that first rep. Four reps going fine but number five I
pushed out in front of me. I had to resettle and go again with a deeper dip and
drive. Got it but boy that was tough. I had only planned on dropping off 20lbs
but after that, I knew I needed to take more off so 50lbs it was. And I just
barely got that fifth rep. I wasn’t expecting to drop it so much so I had to
take off weight and put on smaller plates for the last set. That was easy
enough. Good work I think. Shoulders are going to be made at me but the rest of
the week should be smooth and I just need to keep the recovery work up. Home to
stretch and eat pot roast.
175x1 to 57”/200x1 to 52”/225x1 to 48” in 18.44 Seconds
250x1 to 57”/275x1 to 52”/306x1 to 48” in 24.51 Seconds
Stretching
Comments: This week didn’t go as planned. I was to be back
to a normal 3 day a week routine but my back had other plans. Pushed it too
hard too soon after competing and going for that heavy double on viking press
brought back some pains I’d wish to never experience again. I’ve had worse and
dealt with worse. But I know it lingers and not that any time is a good time
for a minor setback. I didn’t want one now. Life is great right now and this
upcoming contest would be an opportunity to have some people special to me see
me be me. All of me so it were. Not just glimpses. I knew the risks of doing
numerous contests essentially back to back. I ended up doing this I think as I
rebounded from my depression bout in the end of May. So my back wasn’t
listening to my rational and that ended up having me not do Day 2 this week. It
was just going to be deadlifts and some light accessories. Ended up booking
chiropractic and decompression table sessions for Thursday night, Saturday
morning and Monday night. May do more as I think an aggressive approach is
needed. Heating pad, TENS unit, stretching and foam rolling. It’s a lot of work
but it is what it is. I made myself go for a walk Friday evening (I did nothing
Thursday after chiro). I wasn’t sure if I was going to even train this week or
next week. That uncertain. I didn’t want to get out of bed Saturday morning.
But I had the session scheduled and since this was outside normal hours, it
would be super rude to cancel it. Riddled with doubts. Traffic is just terrible
getting to anything that side of the state with this stupid construction to “repave”
the highway on the weekends. GPS isn’t helping matters as it keeps wanting me
to go that way. Eff that noise. I had to take a longer way after I realized it
wanted me to go through the construction again. I had a bunched up towel and my
copper back wrap on for the drive to the chiro. I sat in my car a bit trying to
decide if I wanted to just go home. I convinced myself to at least drive out
there and warm-up. This was going to be my last heavy workout until the comp
and I honestly needed to see if I could handle competing. I was hyper focused
and almost missed a call from my girlfriend letting me know that she was free.
Put a little pep in my step knowing that I could see her sooner than planned
and that she could come visit as I wasn’t so sure on how sitting in the car
this much today would be for my back. Fair number of people training, look to be
getting ready for the competition I’m doing though not in my weight class or
division. I knew I was going to need to really get loose and limber for today
so that I wasn’t stiff as a board. I kept the copper back wrap on the whole
time, just moved it down a little to keep my hips warm as they ached on the
left side due to my muscles and nerves firing. Did the switch strides every 75
seconds again on the NordicTrack. Joints feeling pretty good for the most part.
Did the usual movement prep and stretching stuff and then did some more
stretching of problem areas and did some foam rolling. So again with the
javelin. Not taxing really but requires practice and technique work so I can do
it more frequently. My shoulders had ached from last time. Too much shoulder
and perhaps not enough warm-up. I watched several videos Friday evening to try
and get better technique on this. Holding it differently and getting used to building
up some forward momentum better. Hips still not doing as much I think on
account of my tight as hell back. I did rotator warm-ups (MARTINS!) and did
some walks and strides inside. I even did some standing throws to try and get
that foot position and hips into it. The start of the actual throws looked like
not a darn thing had helped. I was hitting about what I was hitting last week.
Frustrating but at least consistent haha. Then someone pulled a junky looking
car into the parking lot and I got a little pissed off as they had already
circled and parked before (I didn’t know they were going to take it apart in
the garage up on the hill) and then things just seemed to click. My next throw
got over 100’. And my next throw went even further. My last five throws were
all over 100’. Granted still like 1/3 of the top 10 distances but it’s
something haha. I was dreading the rest of the workout. Lots of bending and
snapping haha. I was to be doing more things but since no deadlifts and I kind
of needed to do deadlifts, some things got dropped from today to allow me to
get deadlifts in and others modified. Maybe this was a good thing. I had been
talking myself up in my head that I was going to do everything for Thursday and
today that was previously written just to spite myself. But that wasn’t a good
idea or healthy. Train smart. The plan was to do doubles from the contest
height (13”) for the pulls and the do a set of five reps. Confidence in raw
deadlift has been down. I struggled with 472lbs on my first deadlift workout
back after the Arnold to prep for USS Nats. But I was feeling good (besides the
tight back and the nerve and disc issues) and Mr. Westerling felt that I “had
the strength, just need to get used to this height again” and coupled with my
attitude of trying to double 300lbs on the log in training that I wasn’t
doubting myself as much I had hopes of getting at least 500lbs for five today.
Now being at the gym, normally I’d use a stiff bar and my jack stands. But this
contest is at the gym and I figured I might as well use the implements. So used
the wagon wheels and a deadlift bar. Not 100% certain it will be a deadlift bar
but whatever. We got more of these then we do regular bars that are good for
deadlifts I think haha. But I was still very worried about my back. I ended up
doing a set of 20 reps with a barbell from knee height to warm-up a bit more I
guess and got set. I’ve just been so used to 18” deadlift that I think I
dropped it the last few inches on the first set. Bar was really biting into my
knees so I ended up putting my knee sleeves on to keep from tearing up my skin
so much. My socks weren’t really helping either. Had my spandex shorts on to one
not have much drag and two to hopefully provide some additional compression for
the hips. I ended up putting on my hard belt a set before I needed it. I felt
it was smarter that way so as it wasn’t so jarring and because I had no idea if
my back would explode today. I did plate jumps up to 405lbs. Last double to be
475lbs and figure from there what to do for the top set. Fully grasped the
405lbs set with straps and then went more toward the fingers on the 475lbs set.
Mike thought 545lbs was a safe bet. My weight range goal had been 500lbs to
560lbs. 530lbs was my goal as that for 5 would equal 595lbs (comp weight) for a
single. I knew 545lbs would be tough. Firs three felt good, the fourth rep I
felt it break down slightly and I think that I became a coward and took a brief
rest before trying it. Broke off the ground but not going. I took a knee and
rested and tried one more tug at about the minute mark (like competition) but
that wouldn’t go. Not exactly as expected but I repped 545lbs no suit and I
didn’t die. And this would still equal 595lbs for a single. I feel I have that
in me. It would awesome if I got a double and over the moon with a triple. Just
have to see how I recover from this setback. Definitely felt my hamstrings
today haha. I think if I can be healthy, I got an idea to get my deadlift to
keep pushing upward. Then it was fingers. The original plan had been to do 5
singles EMOM style. But then the weight got dropped from the intimidating 500lbs
finger to the challenging 400lbs finger. I knew I could rep that and I had just
done 10 singles EMOM my first time with a broken finger. So then new plan had been
to do 5 doubles EMOM style and if feeling good do 5 reps that last set. That
was before my l4-l5 rebelled so it was changed to doing a few warm-up singles
and then do a minute like contest. No funny business with the wraps today.
Receiver gloves worked well but I figure that I will get tired and I’d need to
try a more laborious technique (one I had planned for the 500lbs one). I did a
few I guess high pulls and then cleaned it and locked it out overhead. No
really issues other than my back was tight and walked it over for a flip. I was
worried as this was similar to the position I’m in with the viking press going
heavy. I told myself I needed one more flip to really get warm but I knew that
was a lie. I just didn’t want to do this as the rep I just did felt tough and I
just wanted to be a coward to fatigue. It was good that I did this as it
allowed for some troubleshooting for the contest as usually people just would
do singles or a double in training. Couldn’t be worried about anything as that
hesitation will slow you down and that is where you can get hurt on things. I
was hoping for six reps as far as pacing. But also worried that I’d get two and
flounder. I’m surprised I got four flips
in under 30 seconds. My pace was much slower after that. I got to figure if
catching the finger or resting it and then popping it up it the best option
here. Number six drained me. I was too tired and missed the clean initially so
I had to try that other technique of essentially bear hugging it and pulling it
high to rest and then pushing it up. Not efficient or fast but it allows me to
keep going. That ate up a lot of time and was going to finish the rep I was one
even if time expired. But I timed it just right and got the rep in time. That
was something haha. I still had one more thing for the day. Sandbag load
medley. I had coined this as “strongman hurdles” but it was originally more
involved. This version of it is like a running stone series but with sandbags.
Sandbags at yokes to be loaded over and 15’ apart. I’m out of practice for
sure. Especially when it comes to moving without weight fast and moving this
fast. Plan was to do a lighter run and then a contest weight run. I was initially
going to do about 100lbs less on the lighter run but I felt that wouldn’t be
too accurate a warm-up since my heavy bag on that run would still be 50lbs
under the light bag of the comp run. So I bumped it up 25lbs so that I was
essentially doing 25lbs jumps each time. The weight was light but man was I
off. I didn’t crush that 175lbs enough so it was floppy. The 200lbs I had it
too far forward and dropped it. Back down. Luckily it was light or this could’ve
been disastrous. No issues with the last one. There was a lot of slop to get
out of this. I had somehow managed to untie my right shoe half way through
this. I guess I needed the extra level of difficulty. I hate the 306lbs dense
bag but I knew I needed to treat it with the respect it deserves. I had a bit
more respect in general for that last run. I thought I cleared the yoke feet
after that first load and almost got a face full of concrete. So much for a
clean run. Still tossing the bags over at this point. But took my time with the
heavy bag. No mistakes here. I definitely didn’t have anything left in me today
for more events. Put TENS unit on my back for the drive home and stretched out,
took a hot shower and put my heating pack on. Hopefully recover this week and
next does the trick.
Comments: Might have jumped back into things a bit too
soon. Lower back hasn’t forgiven me for the heavier viking press stuff. Got a
bit of compression I think in the disc and muscles spasms so trying to manage
that. Walked on Monday after work. Been trying to keep my calories up. Had
meant to use TENS unit but I lost track of time and was hoping I wouldn’t need
it. Shoulders have been angry at me, especially the right one from the javelin
throws. So not very high energy going into the gym today for this workout. I
knew that even not feeling so great I could put in work with how things were
setup. Right middle finger taped due to the wound from friction burn on
arm-over-arm. More to keep it covered and not have open exposed skin in the gym
or at work. Warmed up on the AMT. Heart rate peaked at 155bpm. It had gone up
pretty darn fast at the start so I’m surprised it didn’t go higher. Again. I
know that I got some pain/stress as I got an eye twitch going. Movement prep
stuff felt mostly good. Had to wait a little bit for a bench to open up for the
start of the workout. Close grip benching with chains again. Back down to two
plates for the working sets. Trying to work on speed here. Quarter, plate,
quarter jumps. Bigger jumps don’t always feel that great though and usually the
first work set feels rough. It was feeling ok today though. I was worried with
the back and my right shoulder. Anxious, just waiting for my back to start
hurting and have pain relapse again and/or have my shoulders tear and/or
explode. The more I did, the warmer my shoulders felt. I’ve been feeling pretty
good about pushing out negative thoughts as of late so to have things resurging
isn’t great but I feel like I have healthier ways of coping now. I was taking
shorter rests than I did before. Only time that was interrupted was when the
bench behind me had a spotter and his legs hit my head as I was preparing to
unrack so I had to wait until that was done before going again. After that was
the chest supported rows. Back to normal style finally. Goal was a 6rm. I had
this stupid notion of doing 480lbs, so essentially starting with a plate and
10lbs a side and adding plates all the way up. I figured that this would give
me a gauge of where I was as I worked up. I’d have a good idea of where I was
with the sets of 300lbs and 390lbs if 480lbs felt like it was happening. This
felt like something I had to try if I wanted to stand a chance at getting a
heavy stone at the next show (aiming for 491lbs stone). 390lbs was tough but I
felt I had more. But I made sure that I put on my copper knee sleeves on my
arms and chalked up my hands. Mental thing with the sleeves. That first rep was
a bear. Just so much weight. The pull just took my breath away and I had to
regroup. I had felt the gravity and I went to work on the next reps. Most
weight I’ve attempted on this. Getting close to 500lbs on this thing. It will
happen one day. Last thing was triceps exercise. Sticking with the standing
tate presses again. I like how strong they make my lockouts feel. I felt that
rather than doing straight weight and sets like the first two times, I’d
increase the weight. It would be the same volume and tonnage but I’d try and do
10lbs more per hand than I’ve ever done on this exercise. Strange thing, the
55lbs set felt tougher than the 65lbs set. I was taking “social media” breaks
at this point as it wasn’t much rest if I just switched the dumbbells and put
away the plates on the row. 75lbs per hand felt very challenging. Maybe because
the dumbbells were slipping on my shirt haha. Home to stretch and hopefully
recover while eating.
Mast Carry Simulations (10 second, 5 second walk in
place)
176.5x15 seconds
226.5x15 seconds
276.5x15 seconds
326.5x15 seconds
376.5x15 seconds
426.5x15 seconds
501.5x15 seconds
Arm-Over-Arm Pulls (turf)
(standing, arms only) 165x92’ in 41.85 Seconds
(standing, full body) 295x92’ in 53.18 Seconds
(seated, competition style) 425x92’ in 52.49 Seconds
Stretching
Comments: I wasn’t expecting to be back at things this
hard after competing and lifting as hard as I did on Sunday. I got up fairly
early but I was slower moving than I would’ve liked. It was nice out until I
got set to leave for training and then it was just rain. This construction
stuff on the main road I need to be on for like 5 miles is annoying as all
hell. I elected to use the Turn Pike as I really had a lot to do today at the
gym. Maybe not a lot to do but the stuff I was doing was going to require a bit
of setup. I had change so I didn’t have to worry about breaking bills for the
toll booth. I end up having to go 5 miles to get the remaining 3 miles done to
get to the exit I need. So stupid. But there was not rain out at the gym so
that would be good for the first thing planned as I didn’t have an alternative
for it. Fair number of people training, which was good. Caught up a bit. Knees
seemed ok for most of the warm-ups stuff. Did the switch strides every 75
seconds again. Joints feeling pretty good for the most part. Which was good as
I still hadn’t done laundry since my comp so all my copper sleeves and compression
socks were in the hamper. More muscle aches at this point from before the comp
(left forearm) and after the comp (quads haha). Pinky fingers ache but I figure
that’s going to be a thing for a while considering I strained and fractured
bone. First up for today was something I’ve never done; javelin throw. With how
my competitions are lined up, most of today was geared toward my November show (Fullsterkur)
with one thing for my next show (Krank’d). First Fullsterkur has very unique
events and one of those is a spear throw for distance. Going to be using
training javelins that are I think 700g. As luck would have it, the strongman
gym has a two training javelins that are from a senior games client. One is
really short and 400g and one is somewhat longer and is 500g. I went with the
longer and heavier one as that is going to be closer to competition. I have no
idea what I’m doing here haha. Only real advice I got before trying was “it is
not like a baseball”. I knew this was going to be odd and I did some additional
warm-ups. Of course the rain caught up with me but it didn’t last long. I was
trying to figure out if I was “bad enough” that I could throw this inside but I
couldn’t risk it with the low ceiling and fixtures. Like I’d be that terrible
but have good aim haha. So outside I went. I had a spot picked out but a lost
mail carrier decided to park in the middle of it so I had to move down a little
bit. Each of my throws got better up until the 5th one, which ended
up being my best. I really wasn’t sure what was working as the next toss went
down by over 25’. I thought I it was how I was holding it and releasing but that
was really wrong as that next throw was my worst of the bunch. I think I got it
right the next one as that was my second best. I think I was tired at the end
as my last throw was middle of the pack. So the next thing for the session was
viking press. Having done all those throws and doing max log on Sunday, this
was going to be a little off. But this would be my last chance before the
contest. I did some overhead stuff with dumbbells as that seemed good last
time. I found out that the show will treat the added weight as the weight so
300lbs added will be the show weight. They tried adding some washers to make it
more stable but really that doesn’t change it as the weight arm is what gets
wobbly. So plan for today was doubles up to 90% and then two down sets. I knew
I wasn’t at my best today with how the empty implement felt. I was going to do
50lbs jumps so that I had a shot at doing the weight I missed for a double two
sessions prior for two. It wasn’t feeling like that was going to happen. But I
don’t want to be doubting myself. I was expecting that to be the top set and it
was heavy but I got a double and felt I had another rep there. I really should’ve
stopped but Thought that taking only 25lbs more to get above 300lbs in hand was
there. It wasn’t. Couldn’t get past the sticking point. Dang it. But I knew my
shoulders and triceps were dead. Lower back definitely not fully recovered by
this point either as it was letting me know. I was having a really hard time stabilizing
the weights. The plan for the down sets was 80% for 6-8 and then 70% for 12-15.
I was dumb and treated my top double as 90% when I should’ve treated it as 96%.
Reason being that I feel short of the low range of the reps by one and I was to
be doing these as 1 reps shy of failure if I could. Shows how much I’m down
considering last time I did +340lbs, I did 12 reps and today it was a meager 5.
I didn’t fight it, it was still good training and on to the next thing. I’d hit
a life-time PR on log Sunday and I got a double at the weight I wanted so no
harm, no foul. Besides the soreness I’m going to have in my shoulders and
triceps haha. The next thing was also a new one for me. Fullsterkur is
attempting a mast carry. Essentially, a yoke made from a fallen tree that you
have to hold by straps. It’s crazy but also why I love this sport. So the plan
was to do picks and holds with a log on my back for 10-15 seconds. I suggested
doing walking in place because finding the place point is one thing but that is
going to shift when trying to move with it. Guidelines I had was to have this
feel somewhat light but to stop one set before I felt like this might strain my
neck haha. I’m getting pretty good at figuring out when something is broken or
not this year. I’m lucky that the gym has a larger than normal diameter log
that has some substantial weight alone and has a rough texture. Got some tow
straps on it and set up in the rack. I set it lower than I would for a yoke
pick as I very much doubt this thing is going to be adjustable in height so I
better get used to this. Probably need it lower than this but this was a trial
run. Empty felt like nothing. It was adding weight that made it feel harder to
balance. Took 50lbs jumps. Heaviest I’d go, even if this felt like nothing was
500lbs as that is what this is rumored to be at the contest. This could be a
fun one assuming I get some time to test it at the show before running with it.
I felt that the set with 426.5lbs that I had one more jump left so I said screw
it, put the 500lbs on. I think that next time (if I do this again) that I’ll
need to use a different setup so I can put more weight on it as the 25lbers are
almost filling up the loading pins at this point. Last thing for the day was arm-over-arm
stuff. Like last time, I was to do three different styles of pulls with
increasing weight. Thankfully, no sled drags as part of it. I was waning by
this point in the day. I didn’t know the distance to train (was announced as 40’
when I got home haha) so I did the length of the longest rope. Just shy of 100’.
I had a better understanding of what I was capable of doing this time around,
though with how my upper back and arms were feeling from competing, who knows.
First set was to be standing and purely arms. Like I was doing a truck pull. So
I got that down pat no problems. The second set was to be standing as well but
the full body style like when I was training for the Arnold medley. 130lbs
added and this slowed me down considerably. I was really tired after that. My
right shoulder was aching by this point from the javelin throws. Rotators not
happy with those I guess haha. Nothing some Icy Hot and Tylenol can’t fix with
a good night sleep, hot shower and soft tissue work. I took a longer rest for
the last one to be done contest style with the seated, full body work. I didn’t
want to deal with taking off more plates to put them away so put a 150lbs
sandbag on the prowler. Brian helped me with the rope so that it didn’t bunch
in my lap. It very strange training and hearing a little girl shouting “go
daddy!” the entire time haha. Slightly faster than my last set. Ended up
tearing some skin on my middle finger from the friction. What else is new.
Taped that up and put away all the crap and stretched. It was a lot later than
I had planned but it is what it is I guess. Home to relax, eat, recover and
sleep.
Comments: Body is raw. I feel like newly molted tarantula.
Scary strong but total spongey right now. Lot of muscle soreness. But taking
some time off my joints seem to not be so achy. Haven’t had to ice or buff
stuff so far this week. Right foot (the one I dropped 310lbs on) had ached a
few days but not anymore. Just some light bruising. But tired. I didn’t want to
really workout with how light it was to be but I got to as I got very few
training weeks of actual weight for these next two competitions. Even having
the motivation of racing against the clock by putting a roast in the oven wasn’t
enough to really motivate me to get off my duff and workout. I think a majority
of my fooling around time after work was trying to get my new printer to work
after get all these stupid ink cartridges. Still not working. I don’t got time
for this during the week haha. So out to the gym, racing against the clock. I’d
have an overcooked roast if I was tardy. AMT to warm-up.Heart rate up to 144bpm. I was expecting to
be higher. I was actually not going to check. Most of my movement prep and
stretching was fine but then I did some bodyweight box squats and my quads
wanted to murder me. Happens when they get a little deconditioned not doing
them for a week three times a week I guess. But it wasn’t going to be an issue
with the workout anyways. First up being front box squats. Just working up to
225lbs for three triples. No real knee issues today so that was great. Just did
quarter-plate jumps. I took shorter rests than I usually do on these as it was
lighter and I needed to move fast. No hard belts today. As is usually the case,
last set felt the best. No breathing issues here. Tried to move quickly on to
wide grip deads. A little unusual having a set with the empty bar. I figured no
straps for that and more of a warm-up. Straps on for the next two sets (plate
jumps). Lower back and hamstrings still very toasty from competing. I was
worried I miscounted on the last set and only did four reps. Rest was just
however long it took to add weight. No belts of any kind for these. Finished up
with the back raise bench situps. I like these after the back stuff to work the
abs and relieve some tension in the spine. Second set felt better but was
tougher if the makes sense. I rushed home for a slightly overcooked roast and
ate dinner before stretching out and hitting the hay.
Comments: I really felt like was woefully unprepared
going into this one. I had signed up for three events (max 18” deadlift, max
farmer’s hold and max atlas stone) with the plan of treating this as a really
heavy training session for the next show coming up (Oct 5). First thing was
stones were sucking like they never sucked before. I was hot and sweaty and
everything after that first session felt like garbage. My grip work wasn’t
where I wanted it either but that had more to do with prefatiguing it with
farmer’s walks. Then after getting things kind of figured out on that, I ended
up fracturing (for sure) my right pinky (probably the left but not nearly as
bad) so that meant no grip training for a month. And this was the lead up to my
last really heavy day for the deadlift and stone. So not looking good. I mean,
I’d recover but it was questionable if doing this contest was safe. Really the
only thing was taping the fingers and resting really. The date was getting
closer and I was starting to stress about it. My joints were aching, I was
feeling weak but I got past it. Talking with my family, my girlfriend and
coach, I calmed down substantially. The deload and week leading up to it, I was
at peace. I decided I was going to just have fun. Pretty much two days out, I
asked the promoter if I could add max log and move up to under 308lbs class
instead just so I could do the heavier farmer’s weight (and give me the option
to go SHW if I decide to do USS Nats in 2020). I ate big the rest of the week
and tried to get to sleep at 8:30PM the night before. I was tossing and turning
with what I hope was “the meat sweats” and I think finally went into a deep
sleep about 2 hours before I had to get up at 4:30AM for the drive up there
with my dad. Yeah, I couldn’t sleep a damn so it was going to be an early
morning for me. Unlike in March, just Mike was going to be up there with me.
Like me, I think he had some things to redeem himself on. I didn’t realize that
the under 308lbs class had only a 300lbs log for the state record and the 18”
deadlift record for both national and state was empty. So I could hit some PRs
and get some hardware. I did my usual warm-ups but did about a third of the 5
minutes of sled drags back and forth with like 35lbs, then concept 2 rower and
finally the remaining time on the echo bike. This gym has it all so I was able
to mimic my other stuff just fine. Log up first. Things were moving pretty
quick. One platform this time and they were using the pitbull log, which suits
me fine. I wasn’t sure what it was when I jumped in and just hit it for a
double after doing really really light dumbbells and the tiny but thick handled
Titan Fitness log. Ended up being 20lbs heavier than I thought it was so I
figured I might have a good day. Weight started at 240lbs and I had thought it
was going to be 10-20lbs but they ended up doing 20lbs so I had to move my
opener to 260lbs. I was feeling a little sluggish but the strength was there. I
had originally planned on 30lbs jumps but 20lbs was going to have to do as I
really wanted to get just over 300lbs in contest. I’ve done it for a double in
contest in 2015 but this would be the most ever. 280lbs felt a bit less
sluggish and Ben (I’ve known him in NY for a while now) said it looked technically
perfect and I better get that state record. Mr. Westerling had been right about
me getting over something as I tried for a double at 300lbs after the thought
of missing that weight again in contest caused me to shut down after my
shoulder injury leading into USS Nats this year. I wasn’t going to be denied
today. Got it up there and it felt a little unstable on the dip so I paused it
and then powered it up. Not as smoot as I would’ve liked it but it went up and
I got the down call. I had held my breath on that as I started convulsing afterwards
but I got my wits back and head over to cool down, drink a protein shake and read
as I knew I had a bit of downtime after that awaiting for max 18” deadlift. Watched
Mike do deadlifts and then hit a PR axle that had eluded him back in March. So
I had hoped to improve with the 18” pulls. I had been able to work on them as
opposed to last time. Still don’t feel as powerful on these as I did leading up
to Beast of the Blue Grass last year. But stronger than I was in March at
least. I had assumed the same setup. But that had apparently been way too time
consuming putting the plates directly on the blocks so they used wagon wheels.
Changes things a little but still the same. Also gives me a little
unintentional practice for the next show. So with this way, I was able to do
more warm-up singles. Plan was last warm-up at 585lbs and go either 645lbs –
675lbs for opener. 585lbs didn’t feel super easy so I went with the lower
estimate. My opener didn’t feel great but I figured I’d stick to my plan and go
705lbs. Got Mike to crank down the straps really tight. Perfect. Felt slow but
it went. Needed help getting the straps off. So more than last time. I was advised to go
maybe 735lbs. But I’ve done it before. I didn’t want to be stuck thinking of
the most recent back injury as a new reboot. I’m planning all-time lifts still.
My terms. So I called for 760lbs for a 5lbs contest PR. I thought I was going
right away but apparently my jump was more than expected so other guys wanted
to go first. This gave me some time to think. The suit doesn’t feel like it is
giving me as much as it used to. It’s riding up the legs too much. So I did my
best to pick at it to get the legs of the suit down some and it seemed to get
that feeling in the hips to get more pressure into the suit. I think that this
is the missing thing here. Unfortunately, I think that with how the wheels are,
the weight can oscillate differently as I thought I had it past the knees but I
lost my balance. I tried again as it had gotten so close but nothing left in
the tank. It was close. Not discouraged. I think that if I wear my spandex
shorts under, that it will be enough to keep the legs down and get max power
for a partial pull. I think it is still enough for larger ROM pulls though.
Will have to play around with it next time I have suited pulls. Got a little
break and then it was farmer’s hold. I didn’t need any massage like last time
to get back into things so that’s good. Deadlifts not taking as much out of me comparatively.
The farmer’s hold for the under 275lbs weight class is 280lbs for time. I didn’t
think I could beat my time considering I had lost a month of training for it
with the fingers. The record for the under 308lbs class with 310lbs was under
20 seconds. I figured even with Eddie Hall hands, I could hold them longer than
that. And I’d rather train heavier if I can. Last time, I got a lot of warm-up
picks. This time I got the one. It was more to make sure that my fingers didn’t
want to explode picking up that much weight per hand. They were fine but I knew
that it was going to be difficult. The pick didn’t feel terrible and I believe I
grunted “this is mine” or something to that effect. I knew right then that I’d
get at least 30 seconds. I wasn’t sure on the time but I got to 30 quicker than
I was counting so I knew I had to break 45 seconds. I really wanted to get a
minute. I could hear my dad shout at me to give him a minute. But I ended up
just under 10 second shy of that. I guess I had adjusted my feet as I dropped
the one handle on my right foot. Competitor that was also a nurse stated it
looked broken because of lack of circulation to my toes but I assured them that
that was because I had on compression socks. So probably bruised. I had stones
left. Didn’t hurt to walk around so I guess this was happening. I’m known for
being good at stones. So coming into a max stone event and feeling like I was
the least prepared for it had me anxious. I had meant to do this in March but I
chickened out of it because of the Arnold and my back. My friend and training
partner Brian had lifted the 450lbs then for huge PR and it was an awesome
moment. I wanted to lift a heavy stone. The plan was to have this be my last
heavy stone session for Krank’d (also has max stone) and this would still be
the case but I didn’t think I’d get to the 450lbs stone. Things were moving
fast and I realized that trying to get my old reliable leather stone sleeves on
wasn’t going to be easy so I figured that tape will do today. It’s training
after all right. I had to assure people I was being serious doing warm-ups with
250lbs and 315lbs. I had no idea if this would bother my hands. Once I knew
that was going to be fine, I settled on opening at 360lbs. I barely sat this
thing in my lap. The pick and lap were strong but my midsection wasn’t where it
needs to be to handle the heavy stones to extension like usual. 400lbs I called
for next. Lapped this in a deep lap. Tend to do that on these larger diameter
stones (I don’t think 22”, probably 21”). Went up well enough. 50” isn’t a
terrible height for me to extend to. So I said screw it, roll out the 450lbs
stone. It’s what I came for right. The way 400lbs felt, I wasn’t sure this was
going to happen really. I got set and went for it. But my lack of stone training
was showing as I didn’t go on it deep enough to get a firm crush grip and it
slipped. I may be rusted but I haven’t forgotten everything and it felt like it
was going to at least get into my lap today. So I went back at it and got it
deep this time and got into my lap. I went to extend but I was off balance and
stumbled back. This thing was heavy. I knew people were screaming at me to keep
going but I really couldn’t hear them. Just felt pressure from around but I
could hear my own thoughts it was calming. I just said relax, find that balance
point and extend. Not quite a neat as I’d like it to be but sometimes it ain’t
pretty. Up it went and the day was done. I had a great time at this and I think
this is the happiest and chilliest I’ve been at competition. Just a few days of
rest before back into the mix again.
Comments: Friday was mostly a good day. Other than
getting ganged up on in a friendly arm-wrestling match, it was a good day. Got
to go for a walk and relax knowing that I had a three day weekend to recover
from the week and that I had just this last workout for the deload and a whole
week to rest up. The last workout of the deload week is always usually a sled
workout so I definitely was doing this one at home so I could sleep in. Boy did
I sleep in. It was very close to 1:00PM when I stirred. I figured that things
would go much quicker this time compared to last time I did a workout at home
as I had a better idea of how to do the warm-up and movement prep stuff with
what I had at my disposal. First thing was my sled drag warm-up. I found some
additional chain to attach to it so that it didn’t get lifted off the ground
from being too short. Felt good. Knees were a little achy on some things but I
didn’t feel like I needed to wear the sleeves or socks for today. Shoulders
were definitely tight. So for today, the only thing was sled drags. Keeping
with the not using my hands theme, these were to be done with my kind of truck
pull harness. Previous week had been to allow me to lean back, this to allow me
to lean forward. Not full on sprints, power walking again. It was really nice
out and I was going to be able to get some sunlight today haha. I may have gone
a little light on these. I wasn’t sure on how the drag would feel and probably
could’ve done another 50lbs on this but this was nice. Much easier to turn this
around compared to the tire sled and chains. Probably helped that I could
complete these runs in like a third of the time I did those haha. My fastest
set was number six and I think that was because someone was walking down the
street and I wanted to beat them to the finish haha. Get in good work and not
be too stressful on the joints. I like how when I do a lot of sets of these,
the friction can heat up some of the tar in the street. Feels bad ass haha. I definitely
felt I could do another ten sets at this pace. Maybe another twenty. Got
finished and stretched while cooling down. Hopefully the evening would be good.
Now I just need to rest, recover and not do anything stupid for at least a
week.
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.
