Single Leg Seated Band Hamstring Curls sbx20/20 sbx20/20 sbx20/20
Stretching
Comments: Another day of the right knee being achy all day. Midsection was still sore I guess from event training as well as the day before I guess as present when doing the mobility stuff. So first thing was ssb squats with pauses. Squats and deadlifts two times a week. I guess this is my life now. 62.5%x4x4 with 2 minutes rest. 3 second pauses and report back RIR on the last set. Same as last time. Some aches in the knee warming up but seemed to be tolerable by the time I got to the working sets. First set felt tougher than I would’ve like but better than last week I feel. I felt I was really getting the 3 second pauses this time around. I’m not sure what “clicked” for me but the third and fourth set felt better. I think it was from actively engaging the upper body rather than just bracing indiscriminately. It felt like I had better control and wasn’t getting pitched forward as much. So maybe I need to be cognizant of that and try to ingrain that feeling so that more of these ssb squats (seeing as how they are all the time) feel good. Find the joy in the adjustments and improvements. Little things that make things feel good. I’ve been doing squats for so long but I’ve enjoyed it very little most times haha. From there it was on to deadlifts. A bit different from last week. Last week had been 3x5 followed by 3” elevated pulls also for 3x5 (but increasing weight). This time was all deadlifts from the floor for 5x5 with 75%. Advised to take 2-3 minutes rests so I was going for slightly shorter rests compared to last week with the straight sets. I did plate jumps up to 315lbs and then did 50 and 40 to get to where I was ready for the working sets. I didn’t use the straps until the working sets. Weights were feeling heavy in my hands before that. Goal was to make every rep and set the same. I think since I haven’t done a lot of volume work on deadlifts (similar to how overheads have been) that my worry was fatigue over the sets making things tough by the end and having not so good reps by that might. Not blow the effort on the first set. Adding 30lbs was definitely noticed here but still feeling quite casual. No issues with the Versa Gripps this time around. Next was the tempo goblet squats again. These were adjusted to add more weight and advised to work on staying upright better and more knees over toes. 3 sets of 10 reps keeping 3-4RIR. Tempo was reduced to a 3ct instead of 5ct. That little different makes a big difference, especially with lowering the reps. First set I was worried was too easy but it was just right I think for the other two sets. Keeping the same relaxed breathing and upper body like last time. Dumbbell lateral lunges were next. Same as last week as far as reps, sets and weight but I was to try and do more movement. What I was doing was ok but ideally, I should be starting from shoulder width stance and stepping out and then coming back up. That is a lot harder and bit more brutal on the knees. I figured it would so I wore the knee sleeves for this. I need to work on these and get more comfortable with them. I just hope that I don’t wreck my knees up too much to have them feel like crap for other sessions. I just know that they were going to be sore from these lateral movements. I do feel that by the last set I was being a bit better with control and movement on them. Finished up with single leg band curls. Goal was to have these 20-30 with 3-5RIR. Average band had been too light honestly last time so I graduated to the strong band. That had a good bit of kick to it and I went for just 20 reps each set with how hard the band tension felt. Managed to get them done. First time using this band for these. Put stuff away and ate meatloaf. Stretched, iced knees and went to bed.
Comments: So I guess Spring was a lie. Snow squall the past two days but very little snow, just a ton of wind. Below freezing the past two days again. And just as I was about to put away my warm-ups as it has been quite warm recently and going for walks in just shorts and shirt. I was feeling pretty worn from Saturday late night training going into Sunday. Abs were sore from the sandbag holding step ups which might have been an intent (or side effect) that could actually benefit yoke walk since I have issues with getting the same stride/lean compared to farmer’s walk and frame carries. Legs heavy too so my recovery walk was slower as well. Almost felt winded. My father said it was probably due to the cold and wind taking the air out of my lungs with each breath. It ended up being even colder and windier today. So not only was it below freezing today, the wind was howling. Cold I’m good but added wind not so much. On to the workout. Starting things off with shoulder and upper back stuff. YTW’s with bands. 3x10 on these with brief pauses again. I wasn’t told I did them wrong last time (other than that last set where I know I messed up) so did that again. Again I had an issue with the last set getting the motions the right sequence but wasn’t as egregious as I was able to get back on track and keep it the right rep count. From there it was axle strict presses with bands. A little bit different here from what I’m used to as far as the workload. Plan was to do 5x5. Not an unusually workload normally but I haven’t really had that. Usually lower reps and higher sets or lower sets and higher reps. I know part of that is that long levers and such don’t need as much volume from what I’ve gathered as far as being optimal and keep from overtraining. So it was interesting to see this. Now as written, it was to be 5x5 with 5lbs more than what I did the downsets with last week after the struggling that was getting a working set right. However, I decided I’d go just scooch higher so that I didn’t have to deal with fractional plates and could just do 30lbs jumps all the way to the bank. I dropped doing the set without bands with just the empty bar as the bar is so light and unlike the log, it isn’t near as heavy to start and the form feels different. Added support layers as I went while removing clothing layers that would get in the way for the upper body. Last set before working weight had felt a little tougher than I would’ve liked. Shoulders seemed fatigued. I was wondering if I was too confident with things during the first set but I got into a rhythm. The wind was bad during these and thankfully the camera only got knocked over during my rest breaks three times. Besides the first set, I felt that I had 2-3RIR consistently across the sets. Still working that lean back style of press here. From there it was on to pull-ups. 5x5 this week with bodyweight but I was advised to do 1 second pauses. Ugh. My biceps were feeling sore from the other exercises working them in a stabilizing role. They were sore from the sandbag work on Saturday night (sandbag loads and bearhugging for those darn step ups). So I wasn’t too thrilled to be doing holds that would make them work harder and fatigue them more. I brought out my chalk for these and I’m not sure what happened but there was moisture in my chalk container and it had frozen. There was a layer of ice around the block of chalk so I had to split it in half and mash it to use it. Never had that happen before. Guess that is what I get for accidentally leaving it at the strongman gym for a week? The pauses really seem to make these a lot harder as the sets go on. Fatigue makes it harder to keep my body from swaying which fatigues things even more to stop that. First set felt fine but definitely could tell there were reps on other sets where I was leaking energy/power stabilizing. I felt like I had 2-3RIR in me for most sets but the last set I was struggling and that was closer to 1RIR. After that was done, I moved into the garage for the rest of the workout so that I didn’t have to deal with the wind and cold. Also so I could ditch the pants as they were going to hinder the next exercise. Next up was shoulder work. Seated dumbbell presses with 3-5ct eccentrics again. Plan here was 3x10-12 with 3RIR on them. Since I got 3x12 with my solid 40’s, I’d have to use my plateloaded dumbbells and that can be tricky. Longer and they revolve. Didn’t want them sliding on my warm-up pants but also didn’t want the collars biting into my legs so I put on my knee sleeves for these as well. Put two 10lbs plates each side of the handles so 46lbs. I was only aiming for 3x10 today since my experience has been that these are harder than the solid dumbbells for this kind of stuff. Obviously if these felt great, I’d aim for the 3x12. Initially these were fine and I was thinking that 3x12 (or going for 12 that first set) was fine but each rep just got harder and harder. The feeling I get when doing these 5 second eccentrics on overhead presses is like my shoulders and triceps are in a pressure cooker. Feeling the bone marrow steaming and that the meat is about to fall off the bones. And I’m surprised I don’t see steam coming off my body when I do these. Tenseness in the right side of my neck near base of the skull flared up a little on this first set but nowhere near as bad as it was last week on that off balanced rep with incline. So didn’t need IcyHot. No further issues like that on any of the other sets. Paused pull aparts were after that. I didn’t increase band tension as I felt it was still appropriate and that I could focus on not just spreading the band but controlling and contracting the upper back and shoulder muscles. I think I succeeded on that so perhaps I can go up a little bit on these. But I could still stick to the same and keep doing the mind-muscle connection. Last item was triceps extensions. Nothing said about anything specific so again I went with dumbbell. I didn’t want to mess with the plateloaded dumbbells for this (I also hadn’t taken them a part yet) so I brought out the 80lbs solid dumbbell. Like the shoulder pressing, I was aiming for the lower end of the rep range with these 2ct holds. Getting the dumbbell up to start that first set through me off balance a little but once I started, it felt not much different from how 70lbs felt last week. So that is a good sign. I felt compelled to get 3x15 with this. I think if I hadn’t gotten 15 reps with some in the tank still on the second set, I wouldn’t have pushed for that many on the last set. It was definitely not 3RIR for that very last set but it also wasn’t a max effort. I feel this went better as far the strict press part of the session compared to last workout so I may have finally gotten things figured out with where I’m at for this cycle. Put stuff away while cooking dinner. Ate, followed by stretching and icing my right knee before bed.
Glute Ham Raise Negatives (8 seconds) bwx7 (miscounted) bwx8 bwx8
Stretching
Comments: Another not quite normal end of the week training session for this particular prep. Last week had involved a lot more driving around and diverted focus with having my younger sister training with me. Update on that front is that she got into the Battle At The Bridge show off the waitlist so now we will both be competing at the same show. Only second time ever and last time was PA Dutch Strong 6yrs ago. So that is something. As far the changes for today’s session was that I had to go a lot later in the day to train. Gym was closed until 6PM due to running another strongman show. I had kept track at home and it looked like a lot less people at this one compared to the show two weeks prior. Honestly, it looked like everything was done by 3PM but I didn’t get any updates about things opening up earlier so I stuck with that plan. I had slept in (I took anti-inflammatories as my neck was still tense so I could sleep well enough) to one feel rested and two to hopefully not feel the crash of training essentially 7hrs later than usual for event work heavy session after 45 minutes drive. I did some soft tissue work on my calves and neck a few hours before leaving. I could feel myself not being so full of pep in my step. A few people there when I got there but they weren’t training. I think they had helped out at the contest. I noticed there was only one port-a-potty when there were three at the last show. Some people looked to be finishing up their workouts as well. So pretty much going to be by myself. With how late it was going to be when I got home, that was fine as I needed no distractions today. So starting things off was lateral stepdowns. Advised here to do 3x8 at RPE 7. Some same as last week. I was a little leery about the right knee as it was feeling a little of an upswing the past few days. Took what I learned from last week as far as warming up. Was feeling slightly better. Right knee was fussy that first set. I was trying to figure out why it was harder for me to seeming touch the floor on the one side vs the other and I think I realized that my legs were angling differently (left leg more forward when using right, right leg more backward when using left). Once I got them both on the same page, things seemed to be a bit better. Consistent with the rest breaks this time around and didn’t feel like I needed much rest between sides. From there it was on to ssb squats. I didn’t want to do these. Already had done squats this week (both with ssb and tortuous tempo goblet squats) and what was planned wasn’t fun. 3-5ct eccentrics with 325 for 3x8. 2-3 minutes rest. I knew I was going to need 3 minutes rests or more on these. I know I don’t recover well from tempo squats between sets. And this was going to be tough as I haven’t done more than 7 reps on these kinds of squats before. Considering how rough these were for me last week with less reps, I felt this was a big ask. I had thought I had been through with my packing for the gym but it appears that I took out a hard belt thinking I wouldn’t need it (only had the soft belts and the ratchet belt). Ratchet belt is too thick and too much for full squats. So I ended up borrowing a thinner leather belt off the rack. For this kind of weight, it was fine. Just thinner than I usually use (right width, not right thickness). I could tell this was going to be tough with the first rep. I got through the first set and was ok. Rest was closer to 3 minutes and 10 seconds. Second set was tough but still felt I could do a third set. I was sucking wind a good bit. Rest for this one was 3 minutes and 40 seconds because I had taken off all the support belt stuff to breath better and kept fumbling with it. I had contemplated asking the other people for spot but more to keep count so that I could focus on just one series of numbers but I didn’t as I figured that that would make things easy for me and I couldn’t really compare the other two sets then. I was feeling like my bracing was going better this time around. On the fifth rep of the third set I lost my air in the descent and that shifted me forward a good bit coming out of the hole. It was like I was on my tippy toes and had to catch myself and get back on stable footing. That was exhausting. Going for the sixth rep I felt like I had no power. My hamstrings were just gone. I got it up and racked the weight. I was really breathing hard and annoyed that I couldn’t do 3x8 with this in the parameters set. Thinking about how I’m struggling with squats while guys out there today getting “pro status”. I contemplated getting back under the bar to do those last two reps but it was taking more than a minute to get my breathing under control and I figured it wasn’t a good idea to continue the folly. Especially since this wasn’t to be something I didn’t finish as far as the intent since I was to report back RIR on the last set. So -2RIR I guess lol. From there it was on to more event specific things. Frame deadlift. Same as last week with 5x3 EMOM style but 40lbs heavier and no hold on the last rep. Right knee a little achy but these are still moving really fast. When it comes to contest, I’ll have to think on if I should remain strapped in or if I should be standing up and getting my air each time with the weight changes being done. There isn’t any split times. I guess have to play around with things depending on how long it takes for the weight changes. So with the hold dropped from the last rep, that part was made its own thing. 360lbs is nothing and 400lbs was not going to register either. The plan was to do a frame hold of RPE 7.5-8 for 45-60 seconds. I asked for clarification on the focus here as I can hold on to things real good but pick could be a limiting factor and considering that I’m essentially squatting and deadlifting twice a week this training cycle currently, I wanted to make sure. The response was to work for both the frame deadlift event and grip for Hercules hold (something that didn’t stretch the shoulders out). So I figured raising things up 4” would be perfect to cover both things. Now initially I had planned to use the frame from PA Dutch but that behemoth got put away back in the corner it was in before and has a bunch of stuff in it and on it for storage. So didn’t make sense to mess with that for just this. So I elevated that frame with rubber mats. I think I didn’t really want to use this frame because it has knurling and don’t really want to tear my hands up. I did some short holds to warm-up. I set a timer for 75 seconds and picked it up right before it hit 60 seconds. I was really surprised how this felt as I still could hold longer once I got a minute but I set it down. My grip endurance seems good. I wasn’t expecting that much time and I’d probably had gone up 20-30lbs more if I knew how easily I hit 60 seconds and aim for a lower time with that weight. But it might be best to prepare for both scenarios as I know there are two people at least that can hold stuff for days as well. Sandbag after that. Contest is 265lbs over 52” in 60 seconds. Have to run around (or under) the yoke to get to the bag after each rep. It’s a light sandbag so this is going to be rough building up the conditioning for this. I’m thankful that the promoter has been posting up videos of the events and how they will be performed so I can practice the skills that mean the difference between victory and defeat. It’s not enough to be strong. The plan for today was 225lbs for 8x2 done EMOM style. I adjusted how I probably would’ve done this if I hadn’t seen the example video. Usually, I set my grip on sandbags for loads when done EMOM and go around the yoke in circle fashion. However, we will have to start off the bag and there will be someone on the one side of the yoke. So I will need to work on getting a good pick on the sandbag and have to alternate directions (as I’m too tall to make going under it feasible). Additionally, they are using the same yoke I have access to and indicated it would be loaded with 25’s to weigh it down. It’s not a lot but it does compromise how much space is there. As has been the case with load events, doing 4” higher than contest. Since light, no support gear this session. That first set I was frustrated how long it was taking me to get the bag up that first rep which lead me to rushing things on the second double with trying to just curl it over the bar. I’m not sure what the best way to go about this as far as the load on whether I should violently toss it over or just plop and let it fall. Chucking it could let it get outside the confines of the yoke footprint but can lead to odd landings. I did move the sandbag at the start to a more favorable position earlier on but I figured I should play by golf rules of where it lies type thing. Practice the side load style of Phil Pfister. Be ready for anything. So these started out ok and felt good by the end. I was averaging a little over 12 seconds each double. So potentially looking at 9 reps (+or- 2) depending on fatigue factor at that pace (bag counts when it hits ground otherwise I’d bump it to 10). After this was step ups. Anterior load held in a bearhug and do to 3x12-15. I confirmed that all load was to be anterior and that it was probably best to alternate legs rather and all one side then the other. I thought these wouldn’t be so bad. I was wrong. I was horribly horribly wrong. I immediately realized that I was going to have to go quite light here to even hit the minimum reps. Used the lightest sandbag so I still felt like I was doing something. I’m not sure what specifically is being worked here but I hate it. The proprioception needed is new since with the sandbag in front, I can’t see my feet or where I’m stepping. So there was some CNS excitement from that. Similar to the activation from standing on one foot and then closing your eyes. These were tough and I was counting down the reps until freedom when I could safely let go of the sandbag. I think this was the moment when I realized that this might end up being the toughest training cycle of my strongman career and it is just starting. Last thing for the session was glute ham raises. But just negatives. Its sad when this is seen as a break from the madness. Relaxing almost. My stomach had been in knots the whole workout so I was gassy and not able to stomach as much liquids as I wanted/needed. These were fine but I apparently miscounted the first set as these were to be 3x8. Put stuff away and got ready for a late night drive home. I hate driving at night, especially going in and out of busy city areas. My right knee didn’t bother me nearly as much as it has been and some of the things I learned from having to drive a lot last weekend helped too. I had pot roast when I got home and then stretched. I knew it was going to be a late night when I started eating dinner after 10PM. Iced knees before bed.
Comments: With how I was feeling with sleep lately, I had gone to bed as early as I could the night before. Woke up with feeling like I had bad allergies or a super weak cold. Gave myself until my morning break before I went for Dayquil. Took a bit for that to kick in. I can tolerate it but I didn’t want to be expending the effort to do so. Got feeling about right a little bit before quitting time. This workout was going to be the first “repeat” I guess of actual training since last week the first session was a lighter effort with the second session being similar to actual training. Axle to start things off. Knees were feeling pretty good today. I was kind of back and forth on how to warm-up today. Plan was single at 82.5% and then 3x4 at 75% with 2 minutes rest. Reporting back RIR on the single and last set of 4. I eventually decided to do 30lbs jumps most of the way and decrease reps every three sets. So I’d be doing singles a little before the working weight. Starting to feel crisper. I can be a little hard to gauge RIR on push presses, especially beltless. I’m also noticing that my dip is a little shallow on the first rep but I seem to be hitting my stride on subsequent reps. The single felt comfortable enough with 265lbs. Tried to be quick with switching out weights for the down sets. These felt pretty good after taking weight off. Last set might have been the best one for how stuff felt. After that was more axle push presses but with pauses. This was reduced from last time from 3x3 to 2x4 with 2.5% less. I went a little heavier here as I was already using my fractional plates to get things 35lbs to start and I felt it would take more time. I was trying to make it be like 2 minutes rest from the last set with the non-paused sets to this set. Took about a minute longer than that. I was tempted to do 215lbs which would’ve been quicker but I felt that that might deviate too much from the intended percentages (would be just about matching last week). Still feeling comfortable. Made sure I did solid pauses on these. Axle incline with chaos weight after that. This would hopefully go smoother this time, if not in lifting then at least in setting up and warming up. Didn’t quite get it right last week. Set plan with set weight this time. 4x6 with 10lbs more than last week’s working weight. I was advised to try pausing for a moment on the chest rather than having touch and go. 90-120 seconds rest. Still not really figured this one out yet but I think I have a better grasp of it after this session. This chaos weight fatigues the crap out of my triceps and shoulders. I don’t feel like I can tuck my elbows on these as doing so puts this a lot lower on my chest and takes my chest and lats completely out of it. Hitting my usual sticking point in the past on incline with a bar and axle. Getting frustrated and bringing my grip in and rebounding. But that won’t work with these and I need to adapt. So what I seem to need to be doing on these is having it come down much higher on the chest so that I can engage my chest and lats. These look deceptive on video to me as I feel like I’m grinding out a lift when it just looks a little slow on video. My issues with it today were when I felt like maybe the higher chest position was not right and I went low and it became awful. Fatigue in the shoulders and triceps and the oscillation can make controlling to the sweet spot tough. Last rep of the third set I went way too low and it put me out of position. One of those sideways grinders I try to never do. Little tweak in the neck on the right side for my efforts. Not something that was going to stop me but it was going to be annoying and probably keep me up at night from discomfort. Finished up the last set and then went into the garage for the next part of the workout. I applied icy hot to my right side of neck. Birddog rows again. 3x10-12 this time around. Didn’t bother with the 10lbs this time around and went right to 40lbs and then 70lbs. I wasn’t sure how the extra reps would feel for me here and sometimes balance issues can be tricky and vary week to week. If I hadn’t tweaked the neck and was sure how I’d respond to the extra reps, I’d probably have done 80lbs this week. External rotations with the dumbbells after that. Didn’t get scolded or told I was doing it wrong last week so did the same thing this time around. I went up just a scooch since I was switching to the longer plateloaded dumbbell handles. Felt about the same but a little harder. Last thing was the band superset for the shoulders and triceps. I decided this time to do rest between the sets to recover enough to get more reps in. I changed up the triceps exercise to be like I was doing an extension facing away from the rack. These felt fine and again seemed to follow the trend of easy, ok and difficult with sticking to the parameters of higher end of the rep range with RIR. Cooked up dinner and stretched. Iced the right knee before bed. Took some more Dayquil before hitting the hay just to hopefully be a little something to dull things so I could sleep soundly.
Single Leg Seated Band Hamstring Curls abx30/30 abx30/30 abx30/30
Stretching
Comments: Didn’t get as much sleep as I would like but can’t exactly say it was poor sleep. Right knee achy all day. Just have to keep monitoring and doing what I can and go from there. It is probably going to be flairing up this training cycle with working on bringing up things that are needed to be competitive at this kind of show. More knee and hip extension stuff. More squatting. Some stuff is similar to last show but different enough that looking at different systems. Everything at last show was short duration other than log and that was never going to be a lot of reps really. Lot of time under tension and reps for this show as well as moving fast. Today’s training looked tough. Mobility work was adjusted to being mostly balance and core stuff with added changes. So first thing was ssb squats with pauses. I wasn’t looking forward to these. Knees achy (especially the right one) and this is looking like a squat twice a week show. Determined that the ssb at home is not as friendly as the one at the gym (about 10% harder). Keeping an eye on the knees here. Plan was 295lbs (60%) for 3x5 with 2 minutes rest. 3 second pauses and report back RIR on the last set. First set felt weird. Like not difficult or heavy but pressure just in the upper body felt like something heavy. Didn’t have that sensation for the other sets. These felt tougher than I would’ve liked but technically this is most I’ve done for 5 with 3 second pauses before. From there it was on to deadlifts. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to go about doing these as far as warming up. I had more pulls after this as well. I’ve usually done 40-50lbs jumps. The plan was 70% of my 1rm (using 585lbs) for 3x5 with a bit longer rests than the squats and report back RIR. I decided to borrow from the warm-ups I was doing for axle block pulls. Two sets with 135lbs and then a plate jump and doubles up to the work weight. I’m using the Versa Gripps for right now to get used to them and build familiarity as I plan on using them for the frame deadlift at the show. I didn’t need straps but I added them early just to feel them out. Honestly, they work but they don’t quite feel like my straps where I know when they are snug. The gripping area is smaller. Little bit of knee aches. With the working sets, the weight felt easy but not super fast. I could keep doing reps but I wondered if I could demonstrate a good max with how I was feeling. But that isn’t important right now. Deadlift right now for this show is just training. First set I think that I had my grip a little too close together as I felt like things were smoother on the next set with grip out a little bit. I also think that I’m not quite used to floor pulls again as my form felt a little off as far as hips and legs that first set. I don’t feel like it was present the other two sets. There might be more lat activation compared to the figure 6 straps. On the last set, I had a malfunction with the right side. The Velcro came undone going for the second rep. I adjusted and did five unbroken reps just to keep myself honest on how many RIR were there. These did feel comfortable. From there, more pulls. Elevate the weight 3” so using the jack stands again but no axle. Advised to do 3x5 with it ranging from RPE 6 to RPE7.5-8. I did plate jump singles to work up to the weight I felt would be fine. 12” is close to what my floor pull is and 410lbs was feeling like RPE 6 (I think). Stuck with the Versa Gripps to keep testing things. I was initially going to do 40lbs jumps but then went with 30lbs and then finally split the difference with 35lbs. The second set didn’t feel that much tougher so I was kind of regretting not going heavier so that my top set would be 500lbs or more. But I didn’t want to make the mistakes I had made with ssb tempo squats and those two axle exercises. So I stuck to 35lbs jump. Much like the ssb pauses, anything over 425lbs for 5 was a PR for these. Top weight felt comfortable too and would at the most be 7.5 I think. So good to know I got a bit more there considering all the suit work the past few contest preps. None for this show. So while the heavier stuff was done, the hard part of the workout was by no means finished. Everything before was just work that anyone can do. The next thing was pain. Tempo work has been a cruel gift with working on issues and weaknesses. Pauses and accentuated negatives are fine but good lord is slowing down the concentric brutal. And that was what I was to do. Heel elevated goblet squats for 3 sets of 10-15 reps keeping 3-RIR. Tempo set at 5-1-5-X, so a pause added and no rest at lockout. These were going to be constant tension. Added to that, I was advised to breath through the nose and keep my face and jaw relaxed as well as not let my hands clench either. It sounds like some sort of bizarre training that a main character in a shouen manga/anime would have to endure to get to the next level in strength. I knew that this would be extremely tough from how things went with single leg work in my very first training cycle. Idea was to get the knees happy. I think these would’ve been just as tough without any weight moving this slow. Like weighted Tai Chi. First set actually felt fine other than knowing what was to come. I noticed at 12 reps in that I just started leaking sweat out of my arms. Had two more of these and they were going to get harder each time. I did seem to recover well between sets thankfully. Upper body was getting tired holding the weight. Knees were getting achy and tired after that first set. I was very relieved when these were done. Watching these in fast motion (8x and 16x) it looks like a stop motion animation with how things move. It is eerie. The next part of the workout wasn’t so bad. It would probably be easier if my quads weren’t quivering. Dumbbell lateral lunges was a new one for me. I think I did these right. Kind of like the Cossack squats. Goal was hip and hamstring flexibility. Weight here wasn’t too difficult but my legs were shaking, never done these and each knee had its own issues with lateral movement. I do need to work these as I will have to rely on moving to the side for the sandbag event since I will have to load and then run around to do the next rep and so on. Finished up with single leg band curls. Goal was to have these 20-30 with 3-5RIR. I figured that it would be like how other assistance stuff was Monday with it being easy, just right and tough as far as fitting in the parameters. I went with average band and that seemed to work with it being able to do 30 reps each time. I remember when this band tension was tough for these and this many reps. Put stuff away and ate pot roast before stretching and icing knees.
Comments: My right knee didn’t seem to care for all the driving coupled with the other stuff I did Saturday. Iced it and did aggressive soft tissue work on the calf muscle and that did seem to get things feeling more normal. Just something I will have to watch and continue to monitor. Probably forever. It has been over a year with it being like this off and on. Some days it may be good and some days it may be shit. So start of the first I’d say full week of this training prep for regionals. Funny to have it be light out the entire time I’m training now during the week with the time shift. Starting things off with shoulder and upper back stuff. YTW’s with bands. 3x10 on these with brief pauses. I think I did them right (at least the first two sets). Y, then T, then W and that counts as one. Assuming I was to do the sequence here as opposed to doing 10 of each letter in order each set. Fatigue builds up quite a bit faster over sets compared to other warming up type exercises that are similar like say face pulls and such. Last set I definitely forgot where I was in the sequence and ended up doing some extra letters (only 2 I think haha). From there it was heavier stuff. Well I guess the only heavy stuff really this workout. Plan was axle strict presses with bands. Work up to 6RM (2RIR) and then take off a 10% for 3x6. I was advised to stick with the pressing style I had been developing for log (lean back and head through last rep of sets). Axle feels a bit different from log. My log strict press has gone up a bit (back to where it was at my best I think) so my estimated axle press strict max was probably outdated, especially since I did more than that on a barbell in the offseason prep. Reason I mention that is that I had been using +18lbs/+28lbs for band tension last time I did these (right before the elbow fracture happened) for 10-15% band tension so I figured I should probably adjust that to be similar to what I’m using with log. Since log sits higher on the chest, the band tension is slightly less at the bottom with the same band setup. I did 30lbs jumps at it was feeling pretty good. I got greedy and made the same mistake I made with axle incline bench with chaos weight last week. I had actually planned in my head to stop at 176lbs as that would be about what I was hitting with weight plus bands at the bottom of the lift with what I’ve done for say 8-10 reps. But it felt too easy and I feel into the trap of thinking I could do another 30lbs jump. Which I couldn’t. I got four and then another rep after a reset. Definitely not 6 with 2RIR. So pissed at myself for that mistake. Making too many mistakes already in training I feel this cycle with incline axle, tempo ssb squats and now these. Followed that up with taking 15lbs off and trying again. This was also not 6 with 2RIR. More like 6 with 0RIR, though I feel if done fresh without being an idiot, it would’ve been perfect. So seeing as how that wasn’t quite it either, I went slightly more than 10% less for the down sets. It was a good idea as those were still kind of tough for the last rep each set. I need to get more comfortable with the lean back style. I seemed to be able to get things just right with picking my weight attempts for the max rep sets last training cycle and kind of missing the mark this time around. Part of it may be that I’m assuming log is to axle (as it has been very close to each other in the past) when they are different, thinking I’m near the end of a peak cycle when I’m just starting and potentially not being used to going from one show to another without a long build up. I think I need to put my foot down on what I plan at this point and wait until closer to be going for harder stuff. I’m not to be murderlizing myself at this point in the training. Anyways, back to training. Rest of the workout was lighter fare but by no means easy. Well I guess pull-ups aren’t bad. 4x5 with bodyweight and somewhat short rests. Advised to update on RIR after the last set. No chalk as I felt this wasn’t as much effort. Getting better at control as I didn’t have to stop in a dead hang to stop swaying or to continue sets. Right arm in the top of the forearm and brachialis felt a little tense (no pain) on the first set but was ok it seems after that. My warm up was pretty much just a hang and some shoulder retractions hanging as well. Hard to say RIR but I feel like I could do 7 or more really. It is nice to be able to do pull-ups again regularly without biceps pain. Next up was shoulder work. Seated dumbbell presses with 3-5ct eccentrics. Plan here was 3x10-12 with 3RIR on them. I knew that 70’s would be too much and 10’s would be worthless even as a warm-up as just the controlling down was going to be exhausting so I jumped right into 40’s. Of course doing 5 seconds. That first set it felt too light but the fatigue factor added up and it became just right for the second set and pushing it on the last set. This actually became the theme of the day for the rest of the exercises. With not getting things right on axle, I was thinking of going lighter on the other stuff. But I felt those were right as I had them planned and stuck with them. Paused pull aparts were also like the dumbbells. I knew these were a slow burn from when they were part of my warm-ups in the past paired with band pec flyes. I’m glad I was able to stick to mini band for these. Last item was triceps extensions. Didn’t specify what to use just indicated overhead. I elected to use a dumbbell. I was initially going to try doing these seated but my bench with back support I would hit the bench with the dumbbell unless I angled it out away from me and that didn’t seem like a good idea. So I went with standing because I could essentially two arm swing it up and minimize the stress of trying to get it up from a seated position. Plan here was 3x12-15 with 1-2ct pauses in the stretch with 3RIR. Went with 2 seconds and again this followed the pattern of too easy, just right and pushing it. Starting cooking dinner and put stuff away before eating and then stretching. Iced the right knee before bed. Hopefully I get things figured out with picking better attempts for weights before I start effecting the training too much.
Titan Fitness Frame Deadlifts (16” pick) 115x3 115x3 205x3 295x3 360x3 360x3 360x3 360x3 360x3 (15 second hold last rep)
Yoke (beltless) Casual Pace 210x50’ Normal 300x50’ 390x25’ 450x25’ 500x100’ in 19.42 seconds 500x100’ in 17.49 seconds 500x100’ in 16.33 seconds
Paused Monster Mondo Leg Presses (2 seconds) 300x3 350x15 350x15 350x15
Glute Ham Raise Negatives (8 seconds) bwx8 bwx8 bwx8
Stretching
Comments: Back in the thick of it with training. Plan was lesser intensity but building back up but I knew that what is written isn’t all the things going on and that this could be a tougher session. So part of it was other obligations. My younger sister has started training for strongman again after pretty much stopping back in 2016 (she did the last contest I did before my back injury). Life gets in the way and she’s been back to doing some from of weight training for a little over a year now and she isn’t far off where she was when she was competing despite not touching implements in over 6 years and being limited to 90lbs of weight to lift in current situation. She wants to compete in about 2 months but waiting until beginning of May to “commit” as looking at two different shows with similar events. The one show is actually the same show I’m training for right now but she is on the waitlist so it isn’t guaranteed. This would be the second workout she could do hitting event specific stuff this prep so this meant a bit of deviation from my schedule and planning for a longer day. Longer drive out and longer drive back. I’d say that it definitely doubled my drive time each way. Good bit of people there today. Had to be cognizant of time and stuff since I needed to do my stuff and assist with coaching duties for my sister. There was a very gentle dog there someone was watching for someone. It reminded me of those wooly bear caterpillars in how fuzzy it looked and coloration. I was expecting coarse fur but it was one of the softest and fluffiest things I’ve ever had my hands on. It took quite a bit of willpower on my part to not just pet and hug that dog rather than training haha. So starting things off was lateral stepdowns. Advised here to do 3x8 at RPE 7. I did less warming up than I usually do on these as I’m realizing that it isn’t really preparing me adequately for it. The knees ache and certain joint angles where I stop at are harder with the lower heights. So I did balancing in the full squat to prime each leg and then did a few reps at an in-between height. This seemed to work well enough to prep. As has been the case, the left side aches on the warm ups and then is fine for the reps while the right side is lagging behind and has bit of discomfort. Manageable. Rest breaks between these weren’t even with assisting on stuff for my sister’s training. From there it was on to ssb squats. Doing these with 3-5ct eccentrics. Last time I did these (without pauses) I did 335lbs for 5 with 1-2RIR I think. So I figured that that would be the goal here with the plan being 6 with 2-3RIR and then taking a little off for 3x6. And of course going for the 5ct here. Knees were super achy today. To be fair, haven’t been doing much full ROM squatting in the later half of the last training cycle. Did a good bit of it for the offseason stuff and into the first half of event specific training added. For this show, I have a feeling that a lot more squatting is going to pop up with the deadlift event being a side handle frame affair. I was feeling fine enough working up besides the knees. Honestly, I hadn’t been icing the knees most of the week with doing mostly soft tissue work as they had been feeling relatively well. I went up 5lbs from my goal weight. That was a mistake but only because I forced an error. As I mentioned, the plan was 6 reps with 2-3RIR. But as often the case when keeping track of sets of numbers concurrently, the slightest distraction can be a problem. I miscounted where I was and did an extra rep. If I had stopped when I had done 6, I’d have been within the parameters of 2-3RIR. But by going for another rep, I was now leaving it maybe 1-2RIR. My lower back on the left side was feeling stiff as definitely not fully recovered from the contest. But by putting out more effort here and not leaving as much in the tank, it was going to make the down sets a lot harder. I went with the higher side of the decrease in weight here. I notice that when it comes to these tempo sets on squats that my bracing or core stuff seems to not want to cooperate after 4 reps. I’m sure I’m still bracing but I lose that body awareness/tactile feeling I have in the beginning reps. But also a reason I need to keep doing these. I was definitely not recovering quickly between sets on these squats so I did take longer rests than I usually do to insure I got the reps needed. From there it was on to more event specific things for me. Frame deadlift. The event is reps in 60 seconds with each rep being 50lbs heavier. No split times or anything but it will get heavy real fast with it starting at 650lbs. Already working strategies for it. For now, the plan is working grip a little and speed. As I mentioned, I think first half of this training cycle is going to be doing squats and other stuff as well as maintaining regular floor pulls before switching to heavy comp style stuff here. The frame at the gym that I was using is the same model as the one I have at home so it will be any easy switch when the time comes. So the idea with this today was to do 5x3 EMOM style with 60% of my floor pull and do 10-15 second hold then on the last rep of the last triple. I’m really not sure what my floor pull is as I done 585lbs raw a few times from 2018-2021. But raw floor pull hasn’t been as much a focus and only maxes have been with suit and that has been 635lbs at home and 675lbs at competition. I don’t use a deadlift bar at home and most comps have deadlift bar (and I’m realizing that I get more out of certain ones vs others and need to be mindful of that). So perhaps now thinking about that, I probably should’ve asked for clarification on what to base it on. Or I’m over thinking it. In either case, I decided to base it off of 600lbs. With this kind of weight, I didn’t really see a need for my hard belt. These felt good and I felt powerful. I started vibing to the music so I know that when that happens I’m having a good time/session. Next up was another event for the show, yoke. Yoke is on the lighter side with it being 720lbs for 50’. So gotta go fast. It also appears that we’ll be 5’ away from the yoke to start and have to run up to it when time starts. We’ll get to practicing that but now is just getting feet wet on yoke after all the frame carry. I should be “sitting pretty” for this after all the frame runs. Contest was heavier than this yoke is going to be and I was blitzing that, even when it was misloaded 20lbs heavy at the show. However, I do know that it is similar but different. I don’t tend to get the same stride turnover as I do with farmer’s walk or frame. I can’t lean forward as have to keep things stacked. Also with the pressure I sometimes get fatigue and have one of my legs kind of not fire as well. With that said, the plan here was to work up to 500-550lbs for 3x100’. Beltless and keeping it RPE6-7 with 90-120 seconds rest between the runs. Weather is nice so the doors to the gym were open. Quite a few people training in spaces and I felt it was probably best to do 100’ runs without doing drop and turns for this one. Moving stuff and setting up was a bit of a pain in the ass. Yoke wasn’t feeling great at all warming up. My right knee was feeling wonky. With 560lbs for 50’ being my best in the past year for beltless, I didn’t think it was wise to try that for double the distance three times with somewhat short rests for moving events. So I stuck with 500lbs. Outside was uneven concrete. I asked my sister to time and do commands for this since there weren’t enough cones for me to get my times off and with the shorter rests, I wouldn’t have time to rest the camera to the other side. These sets didn’t feel terrible. Maybe hearing my sister telling me to keep going and be faster helped as over the course of those three sets, I improved my time by over 3 seconds from the first run to the last run. This day was going long and the last two things were stuff with minimal setup and hopefully get finished quickly. So next was leg press. My choice (not that I had any haha) of machine and 2 seconds pauses for 3x10-15 with 3-4RIR. The only leg press was the monster mondo leg press. It reminds me of the “chair” the “space jockey” is found in the movie Alien. Just the sled alone is 300lbs. I was rushing a little and my knees were super achy so I just do a few reps empty sled and then felt 50lbs should be fine for 3x15 with RIR. I have to start at almost the bottom with this thing so using hands to assist with getting locked out before removing the safeties. In hindsight, I probably could’ve gone heavier and kept in the effort range desired. I just have to not rush and do a little more warming up for it I think. I feel I got better as I went and the rep quality also improved. I caught myself about halfway through the second set that I was doing that thing where I was relying on the joints in the pause and not the muscles. That made a difference too. So hopefully these do pop up again where I can continue to work on them as I feel these are also geared toward frame deadlift work as well. Last thing for the session was glute ham raises. But just negatives. 3x8 with bodyweight (could use band help) with 5-8ct. I recall these being really tough and apparently I did 7 with 5ct before. But I wanted more so I went with 8ct. My hamstrings lit up just getting into position haha. I’m getting stronger in the hamstrings as I was able to do these with control with not much trouble. Just knew that my hamstrings would be angry with me. What I have done to make Drew program these for me haha. Cleaned up and did the long drive before getting home to stretch. Going to really need a rest day tomorrow.
Dumbbell External Rotations on Incline Bench (2 second pauses, 3 parts) 10’sx10 10’sx10 10’sx10
Band Lateral Raises/Band Overhead Triceps Extensions mb’sx25/lb+(2)µbx25 mb’sx20/lb+(2)µbx21 mb’sx15/lb+(2)µbx17
Stretching
Comments: Still seeing that I put out a lot for the show based on how I feel and performance. Seeing people I competed against already lifting heavy this week I think shows just how much I peak for shows as I really needed the rest. But also recovery and each is different and I don’t know everyone’s life. But the people I’m seeing do this are those I beat so… Training for today was going to be interesting. There was worry of the weather but I wasn’t doing any cleans this time and I could do parts of the workout in the garage if needed. But it only rained a bit in the morning and no issues rest of the day. I’ve done overhead in the rain. It has gotten warmer to the point where I may have to consider doing my off day walks after work rather than during my lunch break. Just going to depend on the day and the workload at work I think. So starting things off with axle push presses. As has been the case, starting off a training cycle with axle with no support gear other than wrist wraps. Felt a little stiff in the shoulders and knees but that went away after like two sets. Haven’t done axle out of this rack but it seemed to be fine. Not as temperamental as log out of the rack it seems. I was interested to see how these felt considering how explosive the light weights felt on Tuesday. Got bruises on my throat/neck from little love taps from axle so I know that that is going to be a weekly thing for this training prep. Hips and glutes and chest were tight from Tuesday still with all the reps. Plan here was 77.5% for 3x3 with 2 minutes rest. I worked up in triples with 30lbs jumps. This seemed fine. Not 100% crisp but felt about right for taking a long break from these to focus on log and other things for past prep cycle of offseason into competing. Familiar feeling of weight feeling heavy with the 30lbs jumps but knowing that it feeling heavy doesn’t mean it won’t move easy at the start. On the second rep of the second set, I forgot what I was doing and prepared to do a rebound rep but caught myself. Oops, now is not the time. This event is going to be for max. After that was more axle push presses but with pauses. Took about 30lbs off to get to be 10% lighter. Same thing with 3x3 with 2 minutes rest. I wasn’t sure how these would go with the time in the dip (having knees bent) but these were fine. They felt really easy and comfortable. Again, second rep of second set I forgot what I was doing. This time I held my breath from the first rep and was still holding it on the second rather than catch my air between reps. That could’ve been bad but it was easy enough that I didn’t get lightheaded. So that was some solid pressing work. Right shoulder (well more that side neck and trap) was tight but I think that is more just remnants from the contest effort as my neck had been tense on the drive home as it was a lot. From there was a twist on a familiar exercise. Or a variation of one. I’ve done axle incline before but maybe like only four times prior. Axle I’ve been doing for the past year has been just log. Different in the way I grip the implement and the ROM is 6” less. So while log incline has been strong, I felt that this wasn’t going to be as much. The other thing was using chaos weight (the hanging bands). The proposed plan here was work up to 3x8 with it being RPE 7 (3-5RIR). 75% of 1rm with 15-20% of that weight being chaos weight. I’ve only tried chaos weight exercises like twice with PVC and not a lot of weight. So I wasn’t too sure what to expect here. I did know that I wanted each “weight” on a separate band to have competing jiggle physics. I had wanted to use chains but they were too long for incline bench (they would work for standing overhead) so I used the two small pairs of kettlebells I have. It felt awkward. I wasn’t sure what I could do and I had to test some things. I wasn’t sure if the guidance here was to base 75% off what I think I could do for axle incline or with the setup for axle incline. I set up what I thought would be the appropriate weight but I realized after three reps it wasn’t and took off a good bit of weight. And honestly, those lighter sets didn’t quite feel like they were low enough effort to be what was expected. At least no the first and last set. I rested a good bit after that first set and the second set felt how it should. I’m also using a wider grip than I have been for incline and benching. I’m usually close grip with bench and really close grip for triceps emphasis. I felt though that this was more of a tool for the axle press and like how the log incline was as well with a set grip. So I used my axle press grip here and that certainly added to things a bit. But I at least know where I stand here and can be better about it next time. From there I moved into the garage. This next one was a new rowing exercise. It looked silly, or more it would make me look silly. But I think it is exactly what I needed. So it was a row doing a birddog. Requiring a good bit of core balance and stability. Plan here was RPE 7 for 3x10. Since this was a first time, I didn’t want to bother with loading up a plateloaded dumbbell so my hope was that this was something I could do with my solid dumbbells to start and adjust from there. It is an awkward movement. Warming up, the rowing with my right side felt least stable and I was thinking that maybe 40lbs is enough. But I’m persistent and I went for 70lbs. That toggles inverted as once I did that weight, my left side rowing was the balance issue. The right side felt stable so I think the switch over I was surprised that it was having trouble. My left side of lower back is where I have the disc bulge issue and nerves and stuff was feeling stiff there the week of contest and the days after it. And this seemed to address that while not aggravating things. The rowing part was pretty darn easy. The keeping stable was the hard part. After that was the little muscles of the upper back and shoulders. External rotations with the dumbbell. Now I’m not 100% certain I did these right as far as when to pause. Retraction, rotation, retraction so 2 second holds at 3 points doing the movement. These felt good. Last thing was superset of bands for shoulders and triceps. Advised 3x15-25 with 3-5RIR. So usually I try to do a little rest and have taken a break between the supersets when knowing it was a tough one so as not to decrease training effect. Well this was a much higher rep range and figured that keeping these a one big set would work out pretty well. Reps dropped off pretty good as that first set was really easy. Finished up with putting stuff away and then eating a big pot roast before stretching. No icing tonight, knee hasn’t felt too bad.
Band Face Pulls/Heel Elevated Patrick Stepdowns (6”, 3 seconds eccentric) abx15--bwx15/15 abx15--bwx15/15 abx15--bwx15/15
Double Pause Axle Clean and Push Presses (clean every rep, 1 second on sternum, 1 second in rack) 36x3 56x3 76x3 97x3 97x3 97x3 97x3 97x3
Push Ups on Kettlebells/Inverted Ring Rows bwx21/bwx15 bwx15/bwx12 bwx15/bwx9
Paused Half Kneeling Single Arm Band Pulldowns (3 seconds holds)/Seated Band Hamstring Curls sbx15/15 – ab’sx40 sbx15/15 – ab’sx34 sbx15/15 – ab’sx30
Sled Drag Work 165x10 minutes
Stretching
Comments: Definitely put it all in for that contest. I was sore and even had the muscles in my neck tense up on the drive home briefly. I was tired but I couldn’t fall asleep so I ended up almost at 2AM before I finally nodded off. Appetite had been screwy since Thursday and wasn’t back yet Sunday and I spent most of that time collecting thoughts on the past contest. DLS didn’t help with matters and I had the foresight to have requested off work for Monday with all those things combined. I needed that as again, I had issues falling asleep until after 1AM. Monday still felt off and while I had indicated willing to train, I’m kind of glad I didn’t have a training session. Abdominals were sore and lower back was sore. My parents took me out to celebrate Monday and I think having that (family and really good food) gave me the ”factory reset” I needed and felt back on track. So light workout to break in for the new training cycle. Starting things off with band face pulls but supersetting with the Patrick stepdowns. Face pulls self-explanatory. The stepdowns had some changes from what I did Thursday before the show. I was advised to add a heel elevation to it so that ankle mobility wasn’t an issue and to add a tempo of 2-3ct. I wasn’t sure how the heel elevation would feel but my hope was that it would reduce pain and let me do more ROM. And it did. I was able to use higher platform. Face pulls were easy and the stepdowns required concentration. Could feel my glutes working to stabilize things here. I was just very glad that I had no real knee pain on these with that adjustment. From there it was outside for axle work. Really light axle work. Plan here was 30% for 5x3. No gear (duh) and to clean every rep like I would a max attempt with pauses on the sternum (point before the flip to shoulders) and once in the rack position (after the catch). Grip shirt allowed for this show and wore it more to keep consistency as shirt fabrics can vary a good bit with this slick axle (I tried to wear decal shirts when training log last cycle). Right knee was a little achy initially just with getting into position to start the clean. It felt really good and explosive. I felt like only one rep I didn’t get high enough on the body by a tiny bit. Pressing was nothing. I’m excited to see what axle does this training prep for a max under Andrew as he is one of the best in the world at this. I told him I have no problem with changing up my style to jerks for this one. I tried filming from different angles after the first three sets to try and get a fuller picture of what I’m doing. After that, it was back into the garage for rep work. Flushing session so to speak. Pairing of push-ups and rows with bodyweight. Max reps for 3 sets with plenty of reps in the tank. Slight pauses at stretch on the push-ups and contraction for the ring rows. I did make sure to take a rest between the sets on these as I tended to not do so in the past and reps suffered as I wasn’t recovering fast enough doing them all back to back. I felt that I cut things a little short the second set of push-ups so went to match those reps on the final set. From there it was another super set. This was a bit different. One arm pull downs with bands with holds but paired with band hamstring curls. 3ct holds for the lat stuff for 3x15 while the leg curls for max reps with a lot left in the tank like the push-ups and rows. I knew what to expect with the lat pulls but not the leg curls. I was bit closer to the anchor point so it wasn’t as stressful and I did a lot more reps than I was expecting. But still good pump in the hamstrings which was the goal. With the hour shift forward, it was still very much light outside at this point so I could do the sled work without worry of getting hit by a vehicle or tripping over something in the dark. Told to put a light weight (one where I’d forget about it) and do nonstop work for 10 minutes of sled dragging. Forwards, backwards, sideways and some standing arm-over-arm rows. This felt good as well. Finished up and put stuff away before cooking up dinner. Stretched and iced my right knee before bed.
Even though this contest was just yesterday, to appropriate bring the full context, I have to go back to 2016. 2016 had started off as a really good year for me. When strongman is good, I’m good. After having a disappointing 2014 and then one of my best and most competitive years in 2015, it was starting off much the same way. 2015 had been a positive one for me as I had finally bought a house and was finally feeling like stuff that had been stuck for over 4yrs were finally improving. After doing SC Nats that year, I did an offseason training. There was a local show nearby in March that had interesting events and that lead to a short competition peak for that. I placed second beyond a younger and stronger competitor, CJ Shaw and it was enough to get me qualified for SC Nats in 2016. I had about 7 months for SC Nats that year and I decided to do another offseason prep to work on flaws I saw. I was feeling my strongest ever but I was getting beaten by fractions of a second by CJ on the timed events besides one and even that event that event I felt like I was moving too slow. This seemed to be fine for a month or so. Following the coaching programming to the letter but then my back went on me doing something well below what I could handle. So as not to retread this, the summary was essentially the next 7 months of my life being hell. Constant pain just existing with sleep being only escape. I’m very thankful I had a desk job or I’d been completely screwed. It took until November of that year before I was finally able to walk or stand for more than 15 minutes without seizing up in pain and got in touch with Mike Westerling. From November 2016 to November 2017, he got me from doing bodyweight squats and empty barbell rack pulls to competing back to the level I was before.
The world is quite different from 6yrs ago and a lot has happened. After my last show, I had felt I needed to take an offseason break to build back up. Competition in July had gone great for me and that confidence had lead me to sign up for several shows. But I had a mishap and ended up getting an injury that made competing at one show not a safe or good idea. So I withdrew from that but kept the focus on the other one. I expected too much of myself for that one. Put marinas trench levels of pressure on myself. 6 weeks of training without the brace for the one arm. I placed second but wasn’t satisfied with how it went. Things compensate when you work through them. Now with strongman shows, I don’t often do repeats of shows. Granted it isn’t the same show as events change all the time but I tend not to. The number of times I’ve done a show again is small enough to count on one hand and I’ve done 39 contests so far. Reasons I’ve done shows again is because I liked the promoter and had a good time, it’s a big show (pro/am or nationals) or because I have as Rocky Balboa would say “there’s still some stuff in the basement”. Initially, not any of these reasons for this competition. It was local, at the gym I train at and events were announced well in advanced. Had events I need to work on, events I was great at and one I’d wanted to do but never had the opportunity as not contested in a show I was doing. The plan was to do a local show and try and make this year a good one to actually try to do well at higher level shows. Well last part of 2021 some changes happened with SC. My weight class (under 300lbs) was dissolved. The roster for the show was becoming stacked. Quite a depth of field. This wasn’t going to be a walk in the park no more. It was going to be one of the hardest shows I’ve done outside of Nationals. Like I may not make it out of the local level this year. The winner of the amateur Arnold this year was just competing with me last year.
Realizing that this was going to be tough didn’t discourage me. I may not qualify for nationals but it would be equivalent of a big show competition wise. With the classes being consolidated, there were more competitors directly against me. Feelings of imposter syndrome and “paper tiger” for high placings last year and 2018 with weight classes. Despite that, I felt that this training cycle was the best I’ve ever had for a competition. I usually feel underprepared at every show. I try to set goals during training cycles for things I want to hit or expectations. I don’t do my own programming so not always sure where things will go or what will be the focus week to week as things could change up. I was able to hit every single “bare minimum” goal I had told only to myself for this training cycle. I was feeling confident in the last week of training that I could podium and possibly win this one. I don’t usually feel that way about a show. But that made me uneasy because I’ve always been uneasy. I’ve competed in 39 shows and made it through uneasy. Was nervous energy a key to my “success” and this confidence going into my 40th one going to bite me in the end? Well that quandary didn’t have to wait because I did get anxious and nervous leading up to the show the week of. Worrying about aches and pains in my back and knees. My appetite just vanished on Thursday and came back a little for Friday. Despite the nerves, I was able to get my feverish brain to shut up and get restful sleep by going over the events and cues in my head. I planned to wear the contest shirt from 2016 as well as the same head wrap.
March in Pennsylvania can be treacherous. This Saturday decided to be that. Ice, snow and freezing rain. It was not good. Honestly, if I wasn’t competing and this was just a training day, I’d have stayed home and potentially waited until the sun came out in the late afternoon to try and do stuff at home. I had planned to drive out alone but thankfully my dad offered to drive. Would give me time to relax and with not having to drive myself home, hopefully not have any knee pain on the way back being able to stretch and lay back. Other family and friends weren’t able to make it due to the weather conditions and I told them to stay home as it was dangerous out. Going 15 miles under the speed limit. There ended up being a 73 car pile up near my house (happened in the early afternoon) that thankfully no one was seriously injured. Showed up to the gym and since the parking lot was full where I usually go in, we went around to the other side which is the loading dock. I open the door and the lights are out. I can here voices and know people are there. But the power is out. I try to feel around and my left shin decided to take the lead as I “hit” something and full forward. My hands land on hard, cold steel. I found the sled. And then the lights come on. So a great start to my day. Hopefully the “break a leg” vibes have been dispelled.
Good crowd of people. With my warm-ups, shoes and having not used the restroom weight I came in at 290.8lbs. So probably under 285lbs really (I was 284lbs 10 days earlier at my physical with my shoes on and with my size 17’s, they don’t weigh nothing). Restrooms were three port-a-potties outside in the elements. Really cold and a little bit hazardous to walk out there. How I imagine ice fishing to be. Just less fishing. There had been several drop outs as to be expected with shows announced many months in advance. There were people I knew about, people I knew nothing about and people I’d directly competed with before. There were 12 of us that showed up. With who was there, I had felt that Zach Stoughton was the man to beat. I was curious to see what kind of shape CJ Shaw would be in. He had a lot change in those 6yrs. Stopped for a bit to start a family and his recent shows seemed to show improvement not sure how much. Power went out again briefly (second time since I was there, 3rd time in total) for the last time. Did some mobility work before rules and group photo. And then it began.
The first event was 12” log clean and press. 285lbs for as many reps as possible in 60 seconds. Clean every rep. As the internet people say in brotosphere of lifting, I was going to be absolutely mogged on this event. There were some absolute pressing beasts coming into this one. Like 8 reps would win kind of thing. I’ve been working on this diligently. In fact, this was my best log press training cycle ever. The weights generally have been so high for log press at shows or it has been for max that most of the time it has been training for a max single essentially. This weight was a weight I’ve never missed in competition, even when feeling worn down so this finally gave me an opportunity to work on trying for reps. I had worked up to 300lbs and got 270lbs for 5 in 75 seconds nine days out as my last heavy press session. Warm-ups were not ideal but with about 80 people, to be expected. Setup was log on bumper plates. Most of my training had been with pads expecting that but found out the week of that it would be bumper plates. Just slight changes. Log seemed similar to my own but it was slicker. Got in a double with 225lbs before they stopped us. I knew that wasn’t sufficient, especially since that log felt heavy and there was going to be a long wait. I wasn’t feeling ideal today for some reason. Maybe just anxiety, being in an enclosed space with a lot of people. Someone recognized me from my online postings and assumed I was in the zone but I tried (awkwardly I feel) to explain that just really anxious. Left side of my back was feeling tight and right knee was chirping. I took the initiative and put 267lbs on another log for a single to at least be close to where I needed. And then kept watch to see what I was up against. I was one of the first to sign up so I was near the end and this promoter sticks to that all day. I knew this was one where I’d lose points and I may just need to do the bare minimum I have to. The judge for our group was being really strict with the down calls. Really having to hold those lockouts. Just great. So when it was my turn the top number was 7 with second 6, a bunch at 5 and one at 4 with a guy with 1 and a few zeros. Best case I could get 4 if things are going my way. 2 was the bare minimum I was willing to accept from myself here. It wouldn’t be a lifetime PR but it would be a post 2016 injury PR. I got set and went to work. First rep did feel heavy on the pick but felt like it should for the lap, clean and press. With how that felt, I was thinking 3-4 was there. But perhaps the lower start height and just how the bumpers go maybe through me off a tad. I did go for it but I felt off balance and stepped backwards to catch my balance. Not quite and went again but went way out in front and I dropped it down to regroup. Calm down, use the time and give another rep another solid shot. I waited until I heard 30 seconds left and went for it. This was the slowest lockout. Had so many slight sticking points. Judge made me work for this one but it was the right call. Two reps and I called it with 10 seconds left. I’m very glad I got my log strict press up to where it was before (and all the other log work) or that second rep wasn’t going to happen. Another rep would’ve netted no new points and 2 would’ve been .5. Didn’t completed crap the bed here but starting the day off in 7th place.
The next event for the day was an axle deadlift. Max lift with three attempts. Suits and straps allowed. It had been listed as 15” pull and that was it was going to be. But the gym only had one pair of wheels to that would make it 15” and they wanted things to be like log and go two at a time. I had suggested we use the 18” wheels and have people standing on a 3” platform. And that was what was going to happen but it appears that the one judge felt the platform didn’t look sturdy enough and they crapped it and had it become an 18” pull for the open class. I was annoyed by this as been working a lower height that lets me use my legs more vs 18” that is like all lower back. This was already an event that I knew would be like log potentially. I knew people that could do over 900lbs on the 15” setup. To add to said irritation, warm-ups were rushed and only got a chance to do 245lbs for a double. That was not going to do. No sir. I have not been doing this since 2008 to be stupid with warm ups. My plan before the changes had been to open just under 700lbs. Scoring was based on attempt so if I did my max in two (save energy) and others got it on their third I’d beat them and if they also did on their second but missed third, I’d tie with them. Weights jumps were 50-60 since using 25lbs and 25kgs jumps. So 686lbs had been my planned opener and then 736lbs for a pretty big PR (with the hope I got more out of my suit with the straps down tight as hell). I decided to stick to that with the change just because I didn’t know how my lower back would be feeling with this. Had to find a secluded area to get into the suit. And the 3 additional pairs of spandex briefs. I’m still very surprised that that seems to work with keeping the suit tightness in the legs. I again took the initiative to control my destiny and took that platform that was deemed unworthy and got a solid axle and put in the rack to do some singles with roughly plate jumps. Worked up to just about 600lbs before I felt I was ready. Heard a few people grumbling about it taking too long with the deadlifts. One of the hold ups was that a novice competitor had jumped in and did attempts and was told they weren’t to use this setup. It was time to get the suit straps tight. I wasn’t sure who to ask as none of my competitors were using them so couldn’t be sure they knew what to do. George Pearson was there and he’d just recently got a suit and I had been helping him so he got me set. A little trickier with my hair this long haha. My abs cramped up immediately and I thought it would pass and I’d tough it out. Nope so had to get the straps off and wait until my stomach stopped seizing. Tried again with two people and this worked. Got set and pulled. It felt heavy but apparently looked really easy. Probably from the wait. My left strap had started to come loose too so I made a mental note to really crank them down and chalked up both sides of my straps. George had to leave so Sam and I think his name was Taylor helped me for the next one. They have powerlifting background and they got that suit down good. Still not feeling like it did the very first time I used it in competition (groin pain and hunched over) but it was getting there. Little slower but it “felt” lighter. So I decided to deviate from the plan and go for my third attempt. This would be 796lbs. My best ever 18” pull is 765lbs in the gym on a barbell in the rack and 755lbs in competition on a barbell. I’ve attempted more in competition but not been successful. Never done it with 18” axle heavier than 500lbs. I realized if I bent my legs as they cranked the straps and hunched over that they could go even tighter. I felt like I was some sort of spindly goblin with no mobility. Everything felt right. This would be crazy. It went up, I did the Big Z look around set it down and shouted. I was awake now. This effort actually tied me for 3rd and bumped me up to 4th place.
At this point in the show, one competitor in the group of 12 withdrew due to injury to hamstring on the deadlift. I made it a point to make sure I had some calories in me at this point with a protein shake. I wasn’t hungry but I knew I needed it. No longer were group 1 (novice classes and open women) and group 2 (open and masters men) doing the same events at the same time on separate platforms. Group 1 went to the wind tunnel area for the arm-over-arm while group 2 was to do frame carry. Event was to be 750lbs for 40’. Straps allowed. Now rules for this hadn’t been really made clear until 3 weeks out. It was at that point that we would be starting with hands off the frame and strap in own time. Now straps were allowed on this event because the plan was for the arm-over-arm pull to be grip challenging and exhausting and that the handles on this massive frame (used to be Mike Jenkins) were 1.5” thick handles with no grip of any kind. Most I think he did on this was 800lbs no straps or so but seen him run with over 1000lbs with straps. I had access to this frame at the gym so I used it. It was still a 40-minute drive out here and it was open for anyone to come and use. I’ve driven 5hrs one way in the past to try out equipment for a big show in the past so the ethics of having access to the competition gear isn’t weighing heavily on me. I’m not the only one that trains at the gym competing and everyone is within 2hrs or has a similar frame to use. The strap issue only became a concern with that little additional nugget. Efficiency of strapping in to the frame was now a consideration. I messaged the promoter to clarify and I was told it would be a run up and strap in. So I had spent a good bit a of time the last two weeks practicing that and changing my straps from my reliable ones to Versa Gripps that I never used before. Training for this had been amazing. Very aggressive and worked up to 800lbs for a decent run. My goal had been sub 10 seconds for the contest (before the strap in your own time situation). If we had known that it was going to be like that for frame, more emphasis would’ve been made to work without straps as this would be doable for me but felt it would take away from other training to specialize so much. I was advised by my coach to watch the lighter weight classes to see if there were any tricks. But that before they dropped the run up to the frame nonsense. I think after the promoter saw the freaking tank of a frame that there would be accidents from people trying to hop in. I certainly couldn’t Dukes of Hazard my way into it and I’m 6’7”. I still watched. Fastest times were the two who didn’t use straps. Consistency on what constituted “hands off” was really pushed with some and I think just hard to keep watch over that many people. Weight was misloaded by 20lbs so it was 768lbs (frame 568lbs but listed as 570lbs). I knew that I had to get more than just the empty frame to warm up as once things started, no more warm-ups. After the last run with the MW class, I helped reset the course to get a pick and 5’ walk. I knew that since I’d have to be fast that I couldn’t set my grip and brace and that my breathing would be off so doing a 200lbs jump wouldn’t be good. Only one person hadn’t finished the course and two times were under 10 seconds (Zach and CJ). I got set and was off. Very efficient with my straps getting on. They were just faster. I got 9.87 seconds for third here. Moving me up to 3rd place overall. 1st was ahead of me by 9 points and 2nd by 5.5 points. Seemed like a lot clearance.
The fourth event was an arm-over-arm pull. 700lbs for 50’ with a thick rope. Sled with weight on turf slightly uphill and a thick heavy rope. Of all the events, this was the only one I said out loud I was winning. I felt bad saying that, like I was braggadocious but it felt true to me. I’ve only done the event twice in competition. First show when I never did strongman and I managed second to someone that would eventually become a MW pro (when I was a MW lol) and my other time I crushed everyone with second place being someone that turned HW pro in 2015. The event is exhausting, no fun to setup or tear down. This event was undecided until the last minute as far as setup and weight. Myself and a fellow gym member and competing gave numbers we were hitting for this in training. I had suggested it be with the thinner rope as the thick rope is exceedingly tough and I felt it would see more people finish but no dice. I also had suggested it be the last event as it was going to take a long time to reset it each time and also no dice. My suggestions to have the open class do this after frame (due to the grip) were at least heard and to use human weight if doing the sled to speed up the reset time. Idea had been to have people or kids but appears that WSM competitor Evan Singleton was guest judging and he ended up being the weight for most of the day. We are friends but he doesn’t really live in the area so I had some playful antagonism with him. He can handle it and so can I haha. The gym owners had me test this out the week before the show because they were worried it was too heavy and no one would budge it. I sat down after 40 minute drive and no warming up and moved it for a tug easy and they were satisfied. But seeing everyone struggling with it had me second guessing. It was looking really heavy. Maybe the different tire was making the angle of the pull hard? Most of my training leading up had been with the exer-genie and then some sessions with sled on turf with the different ropes because didn’t know what to expect. But I did have one session with a different tire and it made things different on how I pulled. This was the time suck with how long it took to reset and everyone pretty using the whole minute. I was trying to keep from cooling off too much and letting the other events add up. Like keeping a shoe on when you drop something on your foot. Compartmentalize that until later when nothing left and then take off the shoe. Being a gamble laying down if your back will seize up on you. I went and found one of those battle ropes and did some motions and isometrics of positions to feel that everything was firing fine and then I went out back to the others and I watched. The man in the overall lead suffered an abdominal cramp and kept going and I twinged every time he grabbed his side as I was still feeling my abs from when they cramped on deadlift getting my suit straps on. He wasn’t able to finish so that put him near the bottom. With just myself and another person to go, the winning time was just over 52 seconds. I got into the tire while they were resetting the course to see what worked best. Having my feet up on the lip or inside the tire. This tire was big enough that I could use my body if I went up top. The sled was a little too off to the right side so I had them adjust it. Not playing around here. Evan called me princess for requesting that. I’d know what I was in for after that first pull. Go! It moved just like in training and I felt relief. I started shouting out loud to myself. Things like “oh yeah”, “all day” and “this is nothing”. My hubris was rewarded as I thought I had calculated the distance left and made a short and then a super long pull that had me fall out of the tire. It took me a few seconds to realize I had been off by less than an inch and hurried to get enough tension built to pull the sled from a very awkward position. Just have to laugh at that. I ended up with 37.25 seconds which was 15 seconds faster than second place. Even with the tumble. Evan said I’m probably used to being in that position (legs splayed overhead) I said yep but not with this many people watching. I feel I have good grasp of understanding humor or what certain people find funny and I do try to craft my responses to that. To show I care. I gained points and was still in 3rd overall. Or I should’ve been.
“Strongman is stupid” as the late great Mike Jenkins so eloquently put. And exact numbers with strongman is like water and oil with one of those dippy birds trying to get them to meet occasionally with its pecking. Always an “ish” and sometimes that is fine. But not with scoring. My dad brought it to my attention that stuff didn’t add up. How did I only shorten the gap three points from the leader if I got twelve points and he got four points. Looking at the stuff it had some people’s distances as time. I was annoyed but I also don’t like doing this. Because like a bonus event. I’m the kind of person that won’t send a dish back and just eat as long as it is edible. Just won’t come back. But I know I have be firm, especially when it was also effecting other peoples placing. This wasn’t opportune timing as since the arm-over-arm pull went long, open men classes were pretty going right away into the last event. First I went to the promoter and explained what the issue was. This is very difficult to make it not seem like I’m saying someone was an idiot and it’s wrong. Apparently, the scoring software is finicky for times vs distance in that putting a “.” instead of “:” will change placings. Mine was that situation and did more me up but not to the right place. Other things were still wrong but nothing more he could do without the actual score cards in person. This was just data entry. So round two resulted in trying to track down the people that I saw working the arm-over-arm pull. I didn’t recall what person writing down the scores looked like but I remember the one owner was doing time. I explained the issue to her and she was able to get the physical copies of the scores. This managed to resolve all but one of the scoring issues as the person given credit for second on arm-over-arm didn’t finish and that was his distance not time. But it was written as time so it’s stuck that way. Can only argue so much. It’s an error but it’s not the promoter’s fault or the competitors’ fault. Back to the action.
The final event was sandbag shouldering medley. 3 bags (250lbs, 275lbs, 300lbs) in 60 seconds. This was a new event for me before this training cycle. It was also a new motion for me so it was a learning experience. With how tall I am, I’ve never really had to shoulder any objects to load them. Log clean for log clean and press would be kind of like that and kind of did that with circus dumbbell and kegs for pressing. So kind of a very untrained movement for me and I spent a lot of time getting this down. I was excited with improvement on this and was more than happy to share tips with anyone that was training for the show as well (several people at the gym across the different classes). The sandbags I had been using for training had been changed up a bit. Only one that hadn’t was the 275lbs bag and I felt that one was harder than the 300lbs bag to shoulder and carry. It was lopsided and lumpy. The 250lbs bag was replaced with a more compact bag and the old 300lbs (my 306lbs) was a brand new 300lbs bag that was larger. I knew I could do it. I must add at this point that I gained a new appreciation for my fellow competitors after this. The three weeks out I did my last 90% session for this and I changed up the event order as usually I’d do the sandbag shouldering before arm-over-arm. I switched them up and good lord did that make sandbag stuff harder. I was struggling with stuff I was tossing up easy before and I had to awaken competition mode to get through a run of the medley. I took a lot less time to do arm-over-arm event as these guys all essentially were working the whole minute and saw so many people staring at their hands as their fingers seemed locked like talons. So I was not expecting the displays I saw. Now three didn’t get a successful lift (maybe, I swear one of them got one bag) and another got two but everyone else was making short work of the bags. Slowest time being under just under 40 seconds but fastest just over 18 seconds. Two groups with a cluster around 40-30 range and the other 22-18 range. Just hefting these things up like sacks of flour. 1st and 2nd had put up great times so feeling the pressure. Went for that first bag and I could kind of tell that I’d have to be perfect to try and catch them. I’ve not done this in competition and I’ve done enough of the other stuff to know what I need to do for the minimum to be ready as far as “warm-ups”. I know in training that singles for this that I felt better after getting a weight and then being ready to do working sets and weights. A lot of pressure on the chest and feelings light headed like if I hold my breath on overhead and don’t correct breathing. It turns out it was that kind of scenario. My hope I think was that I keep moving and outrun that sensation as I was feeling lightheaded with the 250lbs sandbag up there. I’m rushing because I need to catch those guys. And then a misstep. Rushed the 275lbs and it wasn’t secure and lost it over the back of my shoulder. Something that made moving to next one easy but high risk if I missed as having to turn around to do it. Panicking now. If I don’t get this, I surely lose the podium spot. Body wouldn’t cooperate initially. Thrashing against the coils of the iron snake. Kaz always talks about bites with the iron snake but I feel that is limiting for the metaphor. I got control of the panicky reptile brain and told myself to breathe and regroup. Got it back under control and got it up there easy. Moved on to the 300lbs bag and got that up with no problem either. I was frustrated with that misstep and did a 180 with it before tossing back to the ground and flipping it off with both barrels. Time was 29.90 seconds with was enough for 6th and enough to still keep my placing for 3rd overall by a good margin.
So dust settles and I got on the podium with this stacked class. This definitely felt like a higher end level show equivalent to a plat plus/pro am type thing. CJ managed to win overall with Zach second. I was glad it was done as this was a long prep. Of course it would’ve been nice to get at Nats bid here today but they were clearly the better guys today. Overhead continues to be something that needs work to keep up with these guys. If I’m understanding things, my placing here means I can directly go to a regional show (which are replacing plat plus shows) with the 2023 season. This year the regionals are open to anyone so my next show is the northeast regional show “Battle At The Bridge” in three months. A few of the guys competing today here are also competing there so it will be another round with them again on different events.
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.
