Farmer's Walk (turns at 50') 176x100' 176x100' 216x100' 216x100'
Dimel Deadlifts 260x20 PR+5lbs 260x20 260x20
33 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Found out that today was my last day at my work assignment, I had thought I had another month there. So that was a bit unexpected. Luckily I did receive a new assignment but it did bum me out a bit. Then I found the entry form for the next Battle at the Barn and it granted me a brief reprieve from my pity party. Didn't walk today. Box squats were good, hips a bit tender as were knees. Yoke felt good until the last set. I was pissed off to only get 22'6" with 910lbs when I've gone farther in a competition on a really lousy day. However, I need to focus on the positives. For starters, when I did that at a contest, it was after a deload week, and I wasn't pre-fatigued by much (just picks and I bombed the first two events). I need to keep records of just using my yoke and base my numbers off of that. I find my yoke is very unforgiving. For instance, 770lbs is the most I've done where I haven't dropped it due to the flexing. It was 740lbs until today. The point is, I have to keep that in mind and train this like I do with my farmer's walk implements. My implements are usually going to be tougher than the ones I use in a contest so it shouldn't get me that pissed off. But I wasn't thinking about this at the time and I was considering packing it in for the day. Picking up 910lbs on my yoke hurt. I begrudgingly got farmer's walk stuff setup and did my sets. Same with dimels and then did stretching.
Bent Over Rear Delt Dumbbell Raises 62.5'sx15 62.5'sx15 62.5'sx15
34 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Wasn't sure what to expect with this workout. Last time I did these I miscalculated how much band tension I was getting (thought it was 145lbs but actually 170lbs) so this time I knew what to expect. It takes a while to get warm and not feel crappy doing rack suspended benching, especially with the log. I had to get my head on straight when my first set with the band tension, only 95lbs, was pretty darn tough. I was thinking it wouldn't be a good day. The next set went up faster so my confidence returned but I had a long way to go. All the reps look fast but it is tough all the way through on this lift. At 195lbs, I figured I might as well try 205lbs. When that went about the same as 195lbs, my dad said go for 215lbs. Got that too. I said I felt good for more but probably only 5lbs more so my dad said to call it there and move on. I then thought, screw that, this is the stuff I need to work on, I need to work on power and brute strength so I went up 10lbs more and got it. Down set was a little shakey and the first two reps really fatigued my shoulders so I only went for four reps. Big improvements here. The half presses with the log were the same thing as the standing one I did, just seated. Right at forehead level. Felt tougher than standing due to lack of balance from my legs. I'll have to work up in weight on these. Really felt them in the triceps. Rows were tough, I knew that they would be with how much effort I had to put into 195lbs last week. Second set was the best set. These are frustrating. I have to be fast but also have endurance with the higher reps. Raises went as expected, first set good, second set tough, third set the best. Lots of stretching. Looks like fixing my atlas stone is going to be another weekend type project. I'll also be making another pure concrete one. My dad figures that we need to perfect it before trying lead inserts and the like. The mistakes for our first stone appear to be using old concrete at the bottom and lack of water. The top half looks perfect. Live and learn.
Comments: Went walking after work today. Glutes and the front of my thighs are quite sore from yesterday. Took my stone out of the mold. Good thing this was a practice stone I guess. Not enough water for the start of the mold I guess. I'm told it's salvageable but will need some work.
Let just preface this workout with the realization I lack brute strength on most lifts (stones are my rock). I don't know, somewhere between my crappy overhead lifting the day before from a fatigued core, knowing that the guy who won the recent pro qualifer show only did events twice for it, or seeing some unknown behemoth come in to the gym at the end of yesterday's workout and barely miss 545lbs (horrible hand off screwed him up) and then blast out 24 reps with 315lbs made me realize that I need to change some things. Going to be alternating between squats and pulls as well as bench and overhead. I'll be basing my log press speed work numbers off my clean and press and not my press from the rack. LB DE day will remain unchanged. UB DE day I'll be rotating cg 5-board presses with circus dumbbell presses. My supplementary lifts for LB ME day will be either rack suspended gm's (squat) or lunges (deadlift). Assistance exercises will be ssb hyper extensions and pulldown abs. On UB ME day, it will be lockout based lifts (bench) and implement clean based lifts (overhead). Assistance lifts remain the same. For the deadlift, the grouping will be rotations of off the floor, rack pulls and pulls with accomodating reistance. For the squat, it will be back squats, front/zercher squats and box squats. For the bench, it will be floor/regular, rack presses w/ and w/o bands, and 3-4 board presses w/ and w/o bands. Overheads will be reverse bands, against bands and then clean&press/straight weight. Okay, on to the workout.
45-degree Safety Squat Bar Hyperextensions 145x12 145x12 145x12
Pulldown Abs 135x20 PR+5lbs 135x20 135x20
30 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: So I had been thinking about changes to my traing all day and got it all figured out and hit the gym. I haven't done pulls from this height (just above my knee cap) in a little over four years. My previous PR was 605lbs so I knew I would crush it. I worked up to 545lbs double overhand on the crappy bar (didn't want to ruin the good grippy bars for a heavy rack pull). My right knee started to bother me like that one day with the light light yoke carry. Not sure what caused it but it had me worried. It didn't interfer with the rack pulling but I was still concerned I wouldn't be able to do lunges. After 675lbs, I went for 705lbs just so it would be the heaviest weight I've held with a barbell (most had been 700lbs). Got that and went for 725lbs since it was getting tough. Got that too. My dad had to leave but I told him I'd be going for 750lbs next. Quite a struggle to get it started (that should help me a ton) but it went up. I went for a down set with 675lbs. I made sure to deload each rep so that it would be coming from mostly a dead stop. Still got a lot more reps than I was expecting. Stopped mostly because my hands were getting raw. Might need to consider straps for the down sets on these to save my hands while it's still so humid and hot. Been losing calluses almost daily haha. Knee was feeling better so I was able to do the lunges. Really hits muscles I don't use that much. Hit some big weight for me on these and I hope to add on the pounds to these. After lunges I was contemplating doing gm's but figured it would be smarter to do hypers with the ssb instead. I just picked a weight and it felt pretty good. Then did abs. Feeling good, I guess sometimes it just trying something new or thinking about something differently that can reinvigorate you. Opening the stone baby tomorrow night.
Comments: Craptacular. I thought a day of kind of rest would be enough. Guess not. Rib cage and abs were still too weak (hurt to laugh) so pretty much no stability for pressing. Maybe if I had worn a belt or two but I've been trying to keep these beltless since it's usually lighter weight and I can't really clean a log with a hard belt on. I knew I was in trouble when just 95lbs with the bands wanted to throw me around. I tried to refocus but my body wasn't going to ignore the fatigue. Got a tough single and reracked it and thought for a minute or so of what I was going to do. This has happened before with the banded log presses (minus the soreness from heavy stone lifting) where I couldn't get the weight for reps at a similar band tension but with about 45lbs less weight. Actually thinking a lot about how the winner of the last pro-qualifier only did event training twice for the show. I said I'll try it again, got another single. Great. Frustration, so I try to salvage the workout by doing just tough singles. No go but I didn't want to call it a day. My left shoulder was achy. I figured that the log stuff was going to be the toughest stuff for the day so I went on to the next exercise. Thick dumbbell stuff was kind of crappy, especially the left side (shoulder ached). On incline, 90lbs is the most I've attempted for dumbbell presses but I would have liked to have gotten more reps. G-Man's felt okay. Lots of stretching. Not satisfied with how this workout went at all. May need to do some thinking. Maybe some resting as well. Guess I'll play it by ear.
Comments: Interesting day. I woke with soreness all over (abs, hips, ribs, chest, arms, you name it) so I figured it would be best to rest and make my stone. Lou was sick so he couldn't help me out so my dad and I were a bit like the apes discovering the slab in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Lou said that sand would make for a better stone and that he had some but it was in a broken circus dumbbell. Drove to his place in the rain but had to park elsewhere since a tree had fallen down during the storm (one way street). Lou wasn't there but the dumbbell was outside. So after some hesitation, I carried the 180lbs circus dumbbell a block to the truck of my car. As I'm driving away I see Lou and I tell him I got it. He had seen me drive away the first time and thought I was going home due to the tree and had tried calling me. Couldn't hear my phone vibrate since I like singing in my car. So Lou had went to get Chinese food (just up the street). I get back home and my dad and I start trying to get the mold halves together and mixing the concrete. The first two bags looked a little too dry so we added more water for the next three. We added some sand and two small rocks (used those to push down the concrete). We only got about 380lbs of concrete into the 22" mold (not including water weight, sand or stones), I tried adding blue dye to make it a little different from other atlas stones but I don't think that worked too well. Now I play the waiting game to see if it worked. The rain had stopped and I went for a walk.
High Handle Prowler Pushes P+360x50' P+540x50' P+730x50' PR+190lbs
Stone Loads 320(21")x0 to 54" 320(21")x1 to 54" 320(21")x1 to 54"/335(21")x1 to 54"/355(21")x0,0 to 54" 355(21")x1 to 54"/395(20")x1 to 54" PR+10lbs 435(22")x1 to 54" PR+30lbs & 6"
Comments: I felt that I had made a mistake deciding to do events today when I got outside and it felt like an oven. Did events down at Jon P's storage shed and house.Haven't been done there in a while. Lou was sick but tagged along. It was so hot out I forgot to do dynamic warm-ups. We did Conan's Wheel first and I was having a hell of a time picking it up and the heat and sweat made holding on to it really tough. We started to drape a t-shirt over it between sets to keep it from burning our forearms. After I bombed 720lbs, Jon suggested I try doing the pick off of some 25lbs plates to increase the height by 2.5". Not sure why we hadn't thought of that before. Made it so much better. I should have gotten a full lap with 720lbs but I had a misstep and dropped it. Got even farther with 750lbs but the sweat factor was too much. Jon and Lou tried talking me out of doing some prowler stuff due to the heat (101 degrees). I did three sets working up in big, heavy jumps. So hot. We went back to Jon's place a chilled for a bit to get re-hydrated and then went at the stones. Never used Jon's stones. I went for the 320lbs stone no warm-up and almost blacked out trying to load it. I got to stop jumping in and do my own thing. Got it easy after about a minute to refocus. Then after Jon had a go at a series run, I tried it too but only got the 320lbs and 335lbs, missing the 355lbs stone twice. Jon and Lou were saying I was getting enough extension but I had the stone too low in my lap. Glad they were there to catch that. I made that mental adjustment and got the 355lbs stone and then the 395lbs 20" stone too. That stone is a dusty one. After that everyone including myself thought that loading the unliftable stone (Jon's 435lbs 22" stone) was not going to happen. I said I'd give lapping it a shot as no one had lapped it yet. I set up, got psyched and attacked. I made sure I got a real good grip on it and pulled it up into my lap. It felt so damn heavy on my lap. Lou's laughing that I lapped it so easy and Jon's muttering "I hate you Craig" but I square up to the platform to try to load it. Inch by inch it slowly comes up off my lap. At no point did I think, yes it's going. Every thought was doubt, but up and up it goes. I arch back really far and shove it forward and push. The unliftable stone has been lifted. I can honestly say that that was the happiest I've ever felt. I don't know if that's sad or a sign to keep pushing it. After that, Jon finally lapped it after trying for months and was close to loading it. If it had been a 48" platform, it would have gone. Went and got materials to make my own monster stone. Damn I love this sport.
Comments: Pretty good, squats feel weird when I do them without bands to the box haha. Moved through them quickly. Yoke went well, went fast and took relatively short breaks. It did reopen my trap scabs again so bloody traps again. I was sweating like crazy when it came to farmer's walk. Had to chalk up and lost few minor calluses but got it done. Felt heavy. Dimels went okay as well.
Bent Over Rear Delt Dumbbell Raises 62.5'sx15 PR+2.5lbs 62.5'sx15 62.5'sx15
33 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Workout went pretty well. Didn't really feel in to it until after the set with 300lbs. 315lbs felt better and 330lbs was a toughie. This light of band resistance is usually pretty close to what I can do without band assitance so I'm hoping my log overhead is on the up and up. I rushed the down set and paid for it with an ugly fourth rep. Had to I guess triple dip to get it haha. Only worked up to 300lbs (best is 320lbs for three) on the log cleans since I'm just starting them again. First three set were pretty much power cleans with the log. I belted up for 300lbs and the first two reps were awful, felt like my head was going to pop off so I took off my belt and got my third rep with little issue. Guess I'll have to just use my rehband belt for clean and presses. My clean definitely needs work but I'll be taking it slow and work up in weight. Cleans took a bit out of me as rows were exceedingly tough. Really had to work to get those reps. Raises were good on the first set and it looked like I'd be moving up in weight again. Lost a bit of that umph on the other two sets though haha. had mentioned last time that I had made some changes to my workout to make it simpler. Besides dropping axle front squats (hand still not 100%), I made it so when I was doing a log or axle variation with or against bands, I'd be doing a clean with that implement as well rather than keeping one type of clean with a certain type of band work. My reasoning is that it will allow for more rest when I do an actual clean and press/jerk from the floor, it will allow me to get used to the idea of cleaning and pressing the same implement (hopefully allowing quicker learning) and I won't have to lug two implements up and down a flight of stairs each workout. As far as minor injuries; my right hand still is a little numb in the pinky finger and side of the hand. About 95% feeling and I know it will take a bit of time for it all to return (from previous experience). Left side of my neck and trap is still not 100% from doing that stupid sandbag pressing. Taking longer than expected. Also left palm is tender at times.
Comments: Hot one out today so I waited until after work to walk. Almost fell asleep when I got home. Guess I need to get some more sleep. Walking felt good and relaxing even with the heat. Found out the one band setup that I was using for deadlifts and floor presses a while ago did not provide nearly as much tension as I thought it did. While the bands were stretched to the point to achieve the band tensions I wanted, I did not factor in the bands also pulling in on the anchors instead of just up as I had thought. So the listed band tensions I used for when the bands were stretched around my power rack was actually only 65% of the stated number. This makes more sense to my other numbers now. For instance, the doubled IW#3's for that platform deadlift were 150lbs and not 225lbs of tension. Made some changes to my routine to make things simpler.
Safety Squat Bar Goodmornings 305x12 PR+5lbs 305x12 305x12
Pulldown Abs 130x20 130x20 130x20
29 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Meh. The day didn't start off too well with my allergies giving me hell as soon as I woke up. Luckily the sneezing went away but I had cotton mouth all day. I tried out a new exercise, using an axle for front squats. Not a fun experience. I did them crossed arm style, a style I haven't really done before. The bar really liked to roll around and apparently the way I was holding it was pinching something because my right hand went numb. Still not all the way gone in my pinky finger. That really put me off so I'm definitely not going to do them cross arm style. That is if I do them again. I've said it before but I don't get much out of front squats. Good news is all the weights felt light on my clavicle so that means pressing/jerking attempts at these weights isn't too far down the road. The numb hand thing took out my fire so my lifting went to a quiet kind of intensity for the rest of the workout. Form felt spot on for the banded rack pulls. Only issue was the last set where I lost my tightness and air putting down the second rep so I ended up hitching the third rep. Pretty close to crapping myself getting that lift. I knew gm's were going to be a treat as my traps have been rubbed raw from trying out this new yoke hold technique (picks with 1000lbs Sunday didn't help this haha). Yeah so putting 305lbs right on raw skin smarts. Bleed through my shirt. The second set felt piss easy. I switched up my ab exercise to pulldown abs to change things up a bit. I don't think I've done reps higher than 12 on these before but the weight felt easy. Guess the spread eagle situps have helped a lot in this area. I tried to keep a wide stance to keep that spirit alive. Anyway, it looks like I need to do some thinking in regards to front squats in my routine.
Comments: Playing catch up at the moment with my workouts. Also making some minor changes. Pretty beat from events, especially my left side, so I knew this was going to be fairly tough at the start. Log was good although I did have a hiccup with seventh double at 170lbs. Made up for it by making the eighth the best one of the bunch. Went light on the thick dumbbell in lieu of yesterday's workout. Easy but left side a little off. Got all the reps with dumbbells on incline so I'm happy to be moving on up on these. G-man's weren't as fun as last time, maybe from dumbbell work yesterday. Sore all over.
Yoke Picks 440x5 620x3 820x3 910x1 1000x3 PR+90lbs (walked with it for 6')
Super Prowler Lunges SP+180x75' SP+180x75' SP+180x75' SP+180x75' SP+180x75'
Stone Loads 240x3 to 57" 240x1 to 57"/65"/73" (sloppy) 240x1 to 57"/65"/73" (sloppy) 240x1 to 73" (sloppy) 240x1 to 73"
Comments: I did nothing yesterday as I was down in Virginia for a pig roast. I got lost on the way there like four times so that was a long drive. Also very hot (drank two gallons of water/Gatorade) so it wasn't much of a rest day. I also helped out with a makeshift strongman show that Sean was running as part of the pig roast so I got some light sandbag carrying in resetting the implement, pulled a tractor and lifted a 260lbs atlas stone. So I knew I wasn't going to be at my best today. Training was at Chambersburg. Lou wanted to do some thick handle dumbbell pressing to get ready for one contest we both have coming up that has an Inch Dumbbell for reps. I made big jumps in my warm-ups for this since I was planning on some singles. Big mistake. I got so mad missing what I thought was a 175lbs dumbbell (not so good with the math haha). I was pissed off so I tried again. This time I got it for one with the right side but couldn't lock it out on the left. Going in to the third attempt, my goal was just one rep on the left side. It went up like butter so I did another. Another good one. Decided right there to get two reps with the other arm. Did it. I should have learned by now that I need to make small jumps and really get warmed up when I do overhead lifts in the AM for event training or contests. Really glad "Angry Joe" was there today to keep me from faltering. Next I did yoke picks. I forgot my rehband belt but that just meant I had to wear the hard belt on hole tighter. 620lbs was easy so I added 200lbs more. I had told Joe my goal was 1000lbs for three and I wasn't sure if I should do a set in between 820lbs and 1000lbs. He suggested a single with 910lbs so I did that. Now I was thinking in the back of my head that if I got three good picks with 1000lbs, I'd try taking it for a walk. Well number three went up so I took a few steps. Didn't feel too bad. I did some lunges with the super prowler that Lou was having Zack and Bill do with him. Very tough doing long, slow strides. I didn't think it was that tough on the first set but it got tough fast on the next sets. Finished off the day working my extension drill for stones. None of the loads to 73" were like last time, the closet one was the very last single. Maybe it was baking in the heat yesterday or from doing heavy deadlifts this week or even doing heavy stones the week before. I haven't really done stones with this kind of frequency. Maybe that's something too.
Farmer's Walk (turns at 75') 171x150' 171x150' 171x150' 171x150'
Dimel Deadlifts 250x20 PR+5lbs 250x20 250x20
29 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Hot and humid outside while walking. It started to rain near the end of the afternoon so I was concerned I wouldn't get in my workout. Luckily the rain stopped. Box squatting was definitely not speed work haha. I actually almost got stapled on the fourth set. I got angry and did the other sets with no problems. I thought the humidity was bad when it was sunny but it was like a rain forest in my face when it came time for yoke. Sweating everywhere and my glasses kept fogging up. Used my new hand positioning and all the sets felt solid. I guess just one more test with really heavy weights to determine if this is going to be my weapon of choice. While I was a sweaty mess, I didn't feel like bringing out chalk for such light farmer's walk. First two sets were crap (first was slow, second grip was slipping) but the others were excellent. Finished up with dimels and stretching.
Bent Over Rear Delt Dumbbell Raises 60'sx15 PR+2.5lbs 60'sx15 60'sx15
30 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: This has been a stressful week. I wasn't really feeling this workout until I hit 355lbs to be honest. Quite pleased with the big increase. Was incredibly close with a fourth rep with 329lbs, fought it for like 10 seconds but could only lockout my left arm. That sucked. Strict pressing went well but my knees were kind of achy from front squats, which is not something I usually get. So there was a little knee bend on the first rep with 230lbs but the other two reps were solid. Felt good for at least another rep but I like to stick with threes. The plan with bench rows was just 165lbs but I said screw it, I'm stronger than that and added 20lbs so I could get a 2 rep PR. These really hit places I've missed with my other back work and I can't wait to pile on the weights with these. A definite plus is no strain on my lower back so it gets a break. Rear dumbbell raises were excellent, looks like I'm moving up in weight again. It's always the in between weights that take a while to get good at it seems.
Comments: Tired, didn't get to bed until late. Everything was stiff. Figured it would be better to rest today and attack the weights tomorrow. Going to a pig roast on Saturday so my training has been moved around to accommodate that.
Front Squats 185x3 225x3 275x3 315x3 365x1 (got pitched forward)
Safety Squat Bar Goodmornings 300x12 PR+5lbs 300x12 300x12
Unanchored Spread Eagle Situps 60x20 60x20 60x20
30 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Allergies were acting up something fierce today. It's almost been a year since I last did pulls off a platform against the light bands. I was able to work up to 360lbs double overhand. Really pleased to get 500lbs against this band tension. Legs felt strong on front squats but I kept getting pitched forward. I may need to drop the weight some and work up to 365lbs (I haven't done anything over 315lbs for a triple yet) or even reconsider the value of the exercise to my training as I've seen no correlation or carryover to other events. I got time to think about it. GM's just absolutely molested my entire back and each set felt better and than the last. Abs were good (though hips were sore) and I'll be moving up in weight on them.
Comments: Really humid outside while walking. Felt good, nothing too beat besides forearms from the pulls and stones. Got my tweaks set for the workout and hopefully this will lead to some good things.
Tackyless Stone Loads 240x3 to 51" 290x3 to 51" 324x1 to 51" 354x1 to 51" 385x1 to 51" PR+31lbs
Comments: Hell yeah I felt good today. The other guys were already going at it when I got there and since I had no plans to do 2.5" axle deads (training heavy deads this week) or yoke (did it Friday) I had to wait a little while before I got to do some events that I was up for. Joe and the others are training for a specific show (or following along) so all the events they did were based on the events at that particular show. One event was a sandbag carry and sled drag. For their show it's 60' for both implements but since I have a show with a sandbag for 120', I just did the sandbag down and back and then pulled the sled. I felt awful on the first run with the sandbag. It seems to take me a bit to get all loosey goosey with it. Second run was better. I was going to say that's enough of that but then Zack does a sled drag with 650lbs and I get an itching to do it too. Of course, I was sick of the sandbag so I decided to farmer's carry the two light sandbags (100lbs and 150lbs) for 60' and then pull the sled loaded with 700lbs. The walk was easy but boy was it tough to get that sled moving. I slipped on some loose gravel and fell down. I had to get it out of that spot so I could actually walk and Joe helped me get it to the side away from it and I finished the run. It was really tough. I then did what I had wanted to do last week, arm-over-arm. 450lbs was really easy but it was pain resetting the sled with the sandbag weights. I just don't like walking with the sandbags if that's not the exercise. Stupid sandbags. 650lbs was a bit tougher and I really had to use my legs. I tried 850lbs but despite all my efforts, I couldn't get it to budge. I took a few minutes rest and took off 100lbs to make it 750lbs and exerted myself to get that pull done. Up next was stones. My original plan was to do my extension drill but since it was just me and Joe, and it was hot and there was still a lot of stuff to put away (tires, sandbags, sled) I went with no tacky and aimed for the 385lbs stone. 240lbs was easy but that damn 290lbs just likes to mess with me. Always mocking me, taunting me with it's density and small size. Both 324lbs and 354lbs were really easy to lap. I had a bit of a sliding issue getting 354lbs in position as it slipped on my shorts. I knew that I was going to get the 385lbs stone today no tack. It came off the ground and then slipped. I got deeper and up it came. That was the easy part. I could feel it wanting to escape and I did my best to squeeze it and extend. I got it up. Awesome.
Comments: I spent most of today ironing out the details of the changes I'm making to my routine. I have most of it figured out. Log pressing was off on the first double but I was crushing it mercilessly by the end. I was going to do a max single with the dumbbell but I figured it was better to wait a week as I had just done the heavy farmer's the day before. Also if I did it today, it would mean my toughest rep day would be the same day I'd be doing doubles with the most weight against band tension. It's crazy how much tougher doing two more reps per side per set is. Everything was quick and solid but I was gassed when it came to the second set of 127.5lbs and it was a bit slower on the cleans haha. Incline was tough but I really think they'll pay off in the long run. Triceps were pretty easy but I plan to take these up slowly.
Farmer's Walk 191x50' 241x50' 291x50' 341x50' PR+10lbs
Dimel Deadlifts 245x20 PR+5lbs 245x20 245x20
30 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: I did nothing yesterday, got an hour of deep tissue massage. I felt like I was going to die today while I was out walking it was so humid. I drank a gallon of water mixed with Gatorade in about 10 minutes as soon as I finished. I had more while I was working out today but thankfully it was much, much cooler and less humid by that time. Wore my new doo-rag (my mom thought I looked deranged with a hand towel around my head) and that seemed to help keep most of the sweat out of my eyes. Box squats started off shaky (almost fell backwards, don't ask) but went very well once I got going. While I was thinking about the changes I'd be making to my routine, I had a thought to try something different with my moving events. Rather than do light, heavy, light and heavy, try doing light, medium, light and heavy with the heavy week rotating between different distances like 100' to 25' for yoke and 150' to 50' for farmer's walk. This would also allow me to work on picks on event training days if I felt like it and not have it interfere with other bits of training. This line of thinking as got me contemplating other minor changes (exercise selection and reps). With yoke, I did 100' so technically anything above 455lbs was a PR but I'm not going to count it until I actually have to work for it. I tried a new hand positioning technique and it seemed to work better than any of the other ones. Instead of at the top or pulling in, I have my arms near my ribs and I'm pushing out against the sides to remain stable. I figured this out when I was doing the rack assisted ssb squats the other day and I noticed it was much easier to unrack it when I pushed the sides of the rack. Possibly my best looking yoke walks ever. Need to test it with heavier weight. Farmer's felt good and were fast. I knew that a PR was going to be a ball buster with how slow 291lbs came off the ground. Really had to grind to lockout the weights with 341lbs but my grip was solid and lumbered down the the full 50' and then held them for a moment. Finished up with dimels (felt really snappy) and stretching.
Bent Over Rear Delt Dumbbell Raises 57.5'sx15 57.5'sx15 57.5'sx15
30 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Really a mixed bag for lifting today. I used my homemade thick bar to change things up. I figured out how to correctly wrap my wrist wraps (unlike before). I was planning to power clean 265lbs but it started to slipp as I initiated the second pull and cut it short making the continental much tougher than it had to be. I should have had 295lbs easy on the first try, not sure what happened there. Came back and crushed it. That last little flip to get it over for the clean/continental is tough since I have to "let go" of the bar to catch it since it's too thick when it gets up in weight. While I do like the improvement (a big one on this bar) it does appear that I need to focus more effort on the clean (both axles/thick bar and logs) as my overhead from the rack is going up and up like crazy. Log floor press was just pathetic, my shoulders and triceps were just not there. This brings up another point that perhaps I'm doing too much for my shoulders now with all the "bench" work. Or it could be from doing my other upperbody workout just two days ago. Back stuff went well. Tendons in my arms and chest were hurtin' after all the cleans/continentals. Now I'll have to do some thinking/planning and research to see about making possible changes to my routine to fix these issues. Increasing focus on essentially shouldering logs and axles may take quite a toll on my lower back with my increased focus on deadlifts but I'll have to look back at my previous workouts where I did have those exercises in and see how that affected my workouts. As far as shoulder work, I think the occassional strict press and board/floor press will still work but I'll probably just go with my dumbbell work and maybe the occasional JM press.
Safety Squat Bar Goodmornings 295x12 PR+5lbs 295x12 295x12
Unanchored Spread Eagle Situps 60x20 60x20 60x20
31 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: It's going to be really hot this week, getting close to 100 degrees most of the week so I've been drinking diluted gatorade to supplement my water intake so I don't feel so drained. Neck/trap still not 100% but it is only annoying now. Rack assited stuff felt pretty heavy once I got up to 405lbs area even though the reps looked fast. Sumos felt heavy (first set I had the wrong mats and they kept sliding) so I knew that it was going to be tough to even get one rep with 505lbs. Really left that rep in my glutes and hips at lockout. GM's went well and so did abs.
Comments: I wasn't sure how today was going to go with my neck/trap feeling out of sorts. Only certain motions seemed to bother it during warm-ups so I was good to go. Took a bit for my shoulders to get warmed up. Dumbbell overheads were a little rusty (sweaty hands didn't help) but I got back my groove on the two heavy sets. For incline I switched to the plate loadable dumbbells and used my Okie clamps to secure the weights. Balance was a bit tougher with the plates rolling but I managed to make a big jump in weight. I decided to ditch the JM presses for now and tried out a pressdown variation from my friend Zach Gallman who has a monster overhead press. You use a rope attachment but grip it at the very top. If my hands were any closer, they'd be clasped together. Did stretching to finish up the day.
Comments: Neck is feeling a little better. Hot one today and the rest of the week looks to be hotter. Spent the afternoon spreading mulch with my brother. Worked up a good sweat. Hoping the neck feels better in the AM.
Super Prowler Harness Pulls SP+200x75' SP+435x75' SP+525x75'
Tackyless Stone Loads 240x3 to 51" 290x3 to 51" 324x1 to 51" 324x1 to 51" 324x1 to 51" 324x1 to 51" 324x1 to 51" 324x1 to 51"
Comments: Like yesterday, I had big plans but my body was saying no. The sandbag press medley was just something I wanted to do. 200lbs on the sandbag pressing was giving me enough trouble, let alone even attempting 250lbs. Figures it would bother my neck, again (taking anti-inflammatories and using icy hot). Joe had some of his guys from the strongman training camp around so I used one of them as weight for the harness pulls. Gravel and dust made getting a good foot hold tough so I needed some help for the last set. I felt like crap when it came time for stones so I just stuck with no tacky and hit it for speed singles. This actually felt good. Did some mowing when I got home. Definitely not doing CT Plat Plus show, I'm not ready or at the level yet. I also still have a lot to learn about my body's recovery as I should have taken at least moving events easy this week due to the contest. Time to recover and think.
Comments: Balls. I was looking forward to heavy yokin' but I guess my body had other plans. Box squats were hit and miss; some were slow and some were good. Right below the knee on my right leg started to hurt like crazy after the first run with the yoke and I thought I was injured. I went slow on the next set and the pick hurt it. Went away after that and I had difficult time with 670lbs. I knew I'd have to focus for the next set but apparently that wasn't enough. Didn't even make it 30' before I gave up in frustration. I've done 100lbs more than this for a greater distance. Pissed off about that. Maybe I should have stayed lightish since I just did a contest (even though I was treating it like a training day). Yoke is frustrating at times. Farmer's were okay but nothing special. I gripped a bit too far back on the last set and it made them very difficult to walk with so that's something I'll need to watch in the future. Dimels were the only thing that felt great.
Comments: Walking felt good, really helps with recover from tough workouts as it gets the blood pumping in the legs and lower back. Still a little sore but I'm no longer hobbling along like zombie. Due to the holiday weekend, I'll have to adjust my training days a little but nothing major. I'm feeling good.
Bent Over Rear Delt Dumbbell Raises 57.5'sx15 57.5'sx15 57.5'sx15
31 Minutes of Stretching
Comments: Everything still sore. I was not sure how today would go as this kind of band tension (140lbs) had kicked my butt royally in the past. So imagine my surprise when I just start blowing it up like it's nothing. I guess the new band setup I've been using for speed work is doing the trick. Really my goal for the day was to get close to 180lbs and when 160lbs went up like butter I jokingly thought 200lbs was in me today. Turns out it was and then some. So yeah, really pleased with a huge PR on these, I'm even reconsidering the Plat Plus show with this performance. I should have had three with 171lbs but I missed the first one forward. I haven't done incline log pressing in over a year (because I hate it) and I felt sluggish but was able to make improvements. It's just awkward for me. I got explosive strength but lack brute strength. I decided I needed to do some strict rows that don't tax the lower back and since I don't have any chest supported row things in the gym, I did bench rows, something I haven't done in a while too. Humbling I must say. I was expecting 195lbs to be a piece of cake but it wasn't so I murdered my ego and dropped it to 145lbs. This is going to be a work in progress. Rear delts got better each set. Stretching as usual.
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 Natural Strongman USA West Coast Championship in Poulsbo, WA on 5/17/2025. I’m not a major competitor yet and I have a long way to go but I’m having fun.
