Break from Nationals was needed but a lot going on. Next tentative
contest setup is Iron Goliath on 2/10/18. Training may be a bit
different with not as much direct focus on contest specifics so that my
overall game can improve. Will be my first USS show. Goal is to try and
qualify for both SC and USS Nats for 2018. But I have hit a bit of bump
with getting the flu and having the wrist injury. Flu put me out for
about two weeks. Only able to work two days since I got back from Las
Vegas (excluding this week) and work piles up. Got x-rays when I got
back and another set to make sure as pain really wasn’t going away. Same
results but prescribed anti-inflammatories to deal with the pain. Which
they are doing but the side effect is stomach issues. I can deal with
it. So training is back but I may need to modify and make adjustments on
the fly with how my wrist and hand recover and with how I deal with the
work stress too.
Comments:
I was not sure how today was going to go. I wasn’t sure if I was even
going to do this workout up until the morning of and even then that was
questionable. But the anti-inflammatories have really taken a lot of the
pain away so it was worth a shot. I mean, it is a bruised wrist if the
doctors are to be believed. Plus I was really excited to get back to
training. Really excited. Warmed up on the AMT. Heart rate got up there.
Got up to 169bpm. Definitely been away for a while. Calf raise work
after that. Easy, not much stress on the wrist but the time under
tension was getting annoying. But nice and easy for the ankles and calf
muscles. Box touches with a wide stance after that. Really working on
getting a powerful movement, finishing with glutes at the top. I had
been lax on that thinking that just the dynamic stretch of the
hamstrings was the most important part. Then regular body weight box
squats. Took a little bit to get used to these again. Not as much knee
stress as I get from the squat therapy stuff. Then regular stance box
touches. Much like the wide style but feeling a lot more in the quads at
completion. Band rows after that felt good on my back. Put wrist wrap
on my right wrist for the push ups. I wasn’t able to do them without it
trying at home (before the meds) so I didn’t want to push it. Went well.
Hip airplanes were ok. Little balance issue and lost my balance once on
my stronger side. Then on to the workout. I had a backup workout to try
and work around the wrist and hand issues if I couldn’t handle the
pain. First item was log clean and push press. Singles going up 20lbs
each time to a max was the goal. Only issues I noticed was the lapping
of the log with my wrist and hand. Wrist wrap on after the first set on
my right wrist. Unable to squeeze with the ring and pinkie fingers of
the right hand. Then as the weight got heavier, the tilted log technique
wasn’t working as it rocked back out to balanced so I stopped doing
that at a certain point. Made the clean harder than I would have liked.
Wrist wrap held up but I needed to take it off after each set. 265lbs
wasn’t that tough but my elbows dipped down and I knew I had to fix that
for the next set. That didn’t feel like my limit. 305lbs felt good on
my shoulders (clean felt off) and I was shocked I missed it. Just
couldn’t lock it out with my right side. I gave it another shot but it
wasn’t close. Would’ve been a 5lbs PR for this variation. But I guess
this is ok considering I just recovered from the flu and dealing with
the hand/wrist issue. But man is log frustrating as hell. Next up was
cleans with a hold at the top. I had wanted to do heavier but with
failing at 305lbs twice, I went with that weight to start. I of course
gave the push press another shot but no go and just settled in for the
hold. Not bad. 325lbs was a lot harder to clean. Again, I think with how
I had to grip things might have been the cause. After that was
pulldowns. Haven’t done these since the first training cycle. Start
light and work up to a decent weight. Plan said sets of 5-8 to 90% of
what I felt a 5rm would be. Hard to gauge. I underestimated myself with
my wrist. Discomfort for sure but more weight didn’t seem to be any
worse than light weight. Stuck with sets of eight and ended up doing
more than planned for number of sets. I feel I could go heavier but form
was breaking down and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t all herky jerky
with the movement and had the back muscles working. Then on to narrow
grip bench pressing. This was going to be tricky as the movement already
puts a lot of stress on the wrists. Grin and bear it. Able to get the
wrist wrap tight enough to just have the pressure on the palm of the
hand which I know is just bruising. Plan here being a conservative 3rm
and then do a light set of five with pauses. I had a spotter sooner than
I would usually need as I wanted to make sure I didn’t drop weights on
my face if my wrist wasn’t having any of it. Beggars can’t be choosers
but I don’t know if the guy I asked knew what he was doing haha. I hit
the numbers I wanted to do on this so that was victory of some sorts. So
I survived the first workout back. Home to stretch and eat recovery
burritos.
I
had written off 2017. And that was last year. This time last year I was
still in the middle of physical therapy and on my second cycle of
corticosteroids to deal with the inflammation. I was thinking of 2018 or
2019 as when I would be back to competing. But somehow that confidence
came back over the months of recovery and proper training. I was
surprised to get back to competition shape and place second at a level 2
show. I had qualified for Nationals in my first contest back. Never an
easy feat for me to qualify. I was still tentative with competing at
that level as I just got back to local level strength but I had a good
support system and I went all in.
Nationals was in Las Vegas this
year. This meant a lot of firsts. First contest where I had to fly to
it, first contest on the west coast. While not firsts, I hadn’t been in
PST since I was born (military brat) and the last time I was on a plane,
I didn’t have to take my shoes off to board. It was tricky figuring out
what I could and couldn’t bring with me as this was never an issue when
driving out to contests. My dad felt it would be good experience if I
ever compete internationally (still the dream). Early morning to drive
out to the airport. Traffic was bad getting to BWI which it usually is
as you get closer. I was originally planning to go solo but my dad was
able to come and I’m thankful that he did as I was screwing up
everything with the baggage stuff. I was hot and uncomfortable on the
flight and to add insult to injury, the head flight attendant started
singing “L.O.V.E.” once we landed. At that point, I would rather have
been beaten and dragged off instead. Exiting the plane, I knew I was in
Las Vegas as there were slot machines in the airport. Took a shuttle bus
to the hotel (where the contest was as well as where we were staying).
It was midday but still a lot of glitz and glam.
The rules
meeting was at 7:00 Thursday night and was mandatory. I kept my phone
for the local time but kept my watch at EST so that I wouldn’t lose
sense of what time my body thought it was. I had worn pants into Las
Vegas but I apparently ripped them on the flight so there was a portion
of the day where I was having my ass hang out and no one told me.
Changed into something comfortable to check in. I weighed in at 277.8lbs
so about 13lbs more than two years ago. Meant I would be going against
the under 300lbs class. Would probably mean that my weaknesses would be
more glaring but my strengths may stack up more favorably. Still had a
lot of time to kill so had lunch, crashed in the hotel room for a few
hours and then had dinner (my dad was set on going to “Flavortown” at
Guy Fieri’s). Spent a little bit of time walking around the casino/hotel
before heading up for the rules meeting. A lot more competitors this
time but nothing out of the ordinary as far as the rules or events.
However, we needed to get yoke heights and the yokes weren’t there yet.
Very reminiscent of my first nationals in 2012. Got to catch up with
people I had only seen online for the first time. I was dragging as it
was really getting close to when I normally was asleep. Went to bed as
soon as I got out of there to get ready for the following day.
Uncharacteristically,
I wasn’t a nervous ball of energy upon waking. Possibly because I was
restless and felt that I was in a timeless void with everything looking
the same unless a window was open. Jet lag really hit me hard I guess.
The air conditioning wasn’t really working and no microwave so just used
a hot water bath in the sink to heat up my breakfast. Had to go up
numerous escalators to the venue. Too many people and it was starting to
look like the chocolate factory conveyor belt scene from “I Love Lucy”
but with bodies. Hefty division had 54 competitors vying for the elusive
Pro Card. A big change has been having it be top 3 overall that would
get one. I knew I was nowhere near contention but would do my best,
hopefully hit some contest PRs and possibly get an Arnold Invite. Fever
dreams I’d say if you asked me this time in 2016.
I setup camp in
the far back to be near the restrooms, have access to the outside
balcony and to be near the scores and have less people near me. I also
got to finally meet my strength coach, Mike Westerling, in person as
well as his wife Jolene. Reception wasn’t the best here so messages and
videos weren’t sending or loading well. Another first being a contest
where people were asking me how I was doing who weren’t there and
weren’t family. I had told people there was a live stream but most
balked at the price tag. With how these kinds of shows run with so many
competitors, it can get frustrating letting people know that it is still
going on and you haven’t gone yet. There is really no way to train for
this with the warm-ups and waiting for hours. It is mentally fatiguing.
The
first event of the day was log clean and press. 320lbs for as many reps
as possible in a 60 seconds time period. Log has gotten better and I
have been consistently hitting 300lbs or more every heavy session. I
managed to improve my all-time best in training by 10lbs to match this
weight. However, this can be troublesome as the contest weight being
your max any little thing could disrupt it. The log was also somewhat
new to the strongman scene. Very dense and bottom heavy. Warm-ups felt
good with the more standard and balanced log. I hit my easiest 290lbs
ever. However, the singles I did with just the empty competition log
felt heavy and awful. I had Mr. Westerling observe some of the singles
with the comp log. It was great to have instant feedback like that. I
had decided to go with my grip shirt under my contest shirt for the
contest for the extra gripping power. I was in one of the later heats
and got called out. Had to wait a bit for blood to get cleaned off one
of the logs. Aim was just one. Log felt heavy on the pick and it felt
like it was crushing me once I got it to my chest. If I had not been
doing those static rack holds in training, I’m certain I would have
passed out. It felt way heavier than I was expecting. I had to lean back
to have it on my chest and went for the drive but it didn’t really go
anywhere. I tried to control the log back to the ground and that was not
good. My right hand hit the inside of the log when it bounced up
slightly. Adrenaline was high so not feeling any major issues yet. I
took my time and waited to give it one more shot. While video says it
looked just a strong a clean as the first one, it felt infinity pounds
heavier. I tried to get myself under control with it on my shoulders but
it was too much and I barely got it off my chest. It wasn’t happening
today so I ended things there. I knew this was a possibility. Tied with
about half the field for last place.
It takes a moment for the
hyped up feeling to calm down and that is when you start to notice
things like pain. My shins were bloody from the log but my right hand
was starting swell as was throbbing. Not good. I was 2,374 miles from
home and flight didn’t leave until Sunday. I’ve never withdrawn from a
contest that I’ve started and I wasn’t going to start now. Prepared with
first aid kit supplies. My dad and Mr. Westerling both got ice and I
wrapped up my hand and wrist. This was definitely going to be a new
challenge. There was also event changes. The yoke and farmer’s walk
medley was going to be the following day so the next event was going to
be the frame deadlift followed by the husafel carry. Not sure why but
the rumor was that it was damaging the floor and disrupting a poker game
downstairs. A bit of a blessing in that I doubt I could finish the
farmer’s walk with my hand as it was but it also could effect how I do
on my best events.
Up next was a frame deadlift. This event had a
few changes leading up to the contest and had some even on the fly.
Originally, it was going to be from 19” with 820lbs. Then dropped to
16”. That drop put the weight from possible to near impossible at the
start of the training cycle. A lot work went into building up my weakest
event. The goal being to shoot for the moon and even if you miss you’ll
be among the stars. And then eventually die from lack of oxygen.
Depends on the day where I stop the analogy haha. 60 second time limit
and straps in own time. If this was a light weight for me, I would have
practiced that part of it but since this was going to a max single I
just focused on getting everything tight before going. The handles ended
up being 17” and while billed as 790lbs (not enough metal plates) it
was closer to 770lbs. All changes in my favor. Mr. Westerling suggested
that I try to pull in the handles before lifting but I found with my
style with the figure eight straps and setting in my fingertips, I
wasn’t able to do that and pull with the back muscles. They were more of
a supporting role. My wrist did not appreciate warming up for this
event. I really had only one shot at this. Pain wouldn’t stop me. I
strapped in and gave it a tug. It budged a little but no more. I tried
to adjust my foot placement and gave another attempt but no go. In
desperation I adjusted my grip to the front of the implement to just see
if that worked but no dice here as well. Another zero and tied with a
few people with last place here. No pain in my back at least. More ice
and Motrin before the next event.
Final event of the Day 1 was
the husafel carry. 400lbs with turns at 60’. Shot loaded so should be
fairly balanced and bottom heavy. Which is good for picking up.
Normally, I’m confident in my abilities with a carry event like this but
my hand was my anchor hand with how I normally carry this kind of
implement. While the mechanics of switching sides should be the same, it
could throw me off and I really wanted to see how it felt to determine
if I could do it or if just out in front using my wrists was best. No
tape or anything on the arms or hands due to the rubberized coating of
the implement so I couldn’t wrap my hand. I asked if I could work in
with the women classes with the empty implement and I was told no as
there would be time to warm-up for the men. This did not end up
happening. Since I was in last place essentially, I was in one of the
first heats for the event. I was worried I wouldn’t get it off the
platform into my lap. It didn’t help matters that the competitor in
front of me fell trying to get it off the platform. My time to go. I
wanted this day to be done. I had 15 seconds to get moving. I got it off
the platform of bumper plates and my first thoughts were “shit, shit,
shit!” as I felt off balance. I was struggling to figure out the
geometry of the implement with the switched grip (the thing is the same
width as length) that eventually I just said “screw it” and started
moving. I didn’t feel secure with my grip at all and I wasn’t sure I
could make it down one length. But I did and I made the turn and somehow
got back. I made another turn and saw there was only one other person
left in my heat. He went down shortly after and saw Mr. Westerling at
the other end and felt that I could get one more length. Got that and
then turned and made it a little further before my grip went. I finished
with a distance of 188’3” for 10th place here. Finally something went
well and I felt a sense of relief.
After the first day, I was in
43rd place overall. Lower than I was expecting but zeroing two events
isn’t a way to get points. The possibility of it was definitely
something that had crossed my mind. Before I left for the night, I told
Mr. Westerling that I appreciated everything he was doing for me. It
wouldn’t be genuine of me if just smiled and shook his hand as I had
been a dark place mentally most of last year. And while day one had not
gone as I wanted to, I wasn’t dead (as one of my friends/competitors
told me). Spent a bit more time walking around the outside of the casino
this night as well and got some more good food. Sleep again felt weird.
I did get a video of my nephew wishing me good luck for the following
day. I also made the decision to not wear wrist wraps for the following
day as I didn’t want people treating my differently due to the injury
like I felt the day before. The craziness getting up to the contest
wasn’t present this time.
First event of the day was to be a
medley of yoke followed by farmer’s walk. However, the farmer’s walk
part of it got scrapped. Came to find the yokes had carpet feet on them
now. The billed event was 840lbs for 60’ in 60 seconds. But appears that
it was closer to 856lbs. One drop allowed so that made things
interesting. I had been training for that so wasn’t that big an issue. I
wanted to make sure I got some warm-ups in and I managed to get two
light runs and one pick before they started going. Unfortunately, I was
in the last heat so I had a lot of down time between my last pick and
time to go. However, this was still one of the better warm-ups I’ve
managed to get on yoke. I always seem to have an issue with yoke come
contest time. I’m doing well in training. Weight moves relatively fast, I
rarely have any drops and sometimes I’m doing more than contest weight.
But come show time, I’m struggling. I either have multiple drops or I
go at a snail’s pace and never pick up speed. I don’t have this issue
with farmer’s walk or frame carries. But I felt good and hoped today
wouldn’t be like that. I’m happy that I was able to time my pick just
right with the commands as sometimes that is an issue for me. I felt
like I could move with the weight but then it felt unstable. Like any
misstep was going to cause it to get me off balance and drop it. I
couldn’t afford that and I slowed down more and more. This felt like the
pace I could go and not drop it. I’m sure a lot of people thought I
wouldn’t finish the course with how slow I was going but I know from my
years of training that slow and steady still works and I got plenty of
grit to grind out things that shouldn’t need to be grinded out. I had
told my judge that I knew he didn’t have a sundial but would appreciate
it if he got my time. Ended up getting the course done in 32.25 seconds.
This was not the slowest time of someone who finished the course. This
was enough for 38th.
The final event was one I had been looking
forward to. At least when I didn’t have a bum hand. Stone of steel over
bar. 360lbs over 52” with 60 seconds time limit. I saw some people say
it was 5lbs heavier than billed but I don’t know. I was just ready for
this contest to be over and would have been fine with a single. But
really, I wasn’t going to be fine with a single as I’m competitive and I
wanted all the reps. I was in the second heat as I was near the bottom
of the overall placings. This is a good event for me so it was possible
that I could move up a bit in the standings and I could have the number
the beat for a little bit. This ended up being just like the husafel
carry in that the men didn’t get a chance to warm-up. I had to make sure
that my hand would hold up and fit into my receiver gloves. Luckily
someone in the back put PVC pipe through some bumper plates so I was
able to do some bear hug plate rows. Everything felt fine. Then it was
time to go. Timer went and I attacked. My first attempt my gloves
slipped right off the stone of steel like grease. Never had that happen
before. I’ve had it where it felt lose but that was when I started using
it with 300lbs for the first time. I wasn’t going to let that stop me.
So I got one rep easy. Then I went for another the gloves were slipping
again and I caught that one barely into my lap. Got it set and another
easy load. The loads were easy, just having issues getting the stone of
steel into my lap nice and secured. I could hear someone yelling at me
the whole time and I wasn’t too sure who it was but I think it was Mr.
Westerling. I had 15 seconds left after I got the fifth lift. I went for
another and got it too my lap but the thing was too far forward and I
lost my balance and fell backwards. I feel that I left at least two reps
on this but I still did well. Good enough for a tie at 13th.
I
pretty much knew that I had not done well enough for an Arnold invite
and it would be very impressive if I improved my placing over last time.
I spent the rest of my time walking the strip with my dad. One of the
oddest 3 miles I’ve ever experienced. Just trying to walk to a movie
theatre lead to many odd sites such as a man dressed as Spiderman
wearing a tinfoil hat with a sign saying “flat earth”. I could write
pages about that experience alone. While the food was good there, Las
Vegas is not for me. Every corner with a hustle. I felt like I needed
real life ad-blocker. All the glitz and glam, a simulacrum of paradise. I
was too beat to go to the banquet as that was going to be late and I
had to catch and early flight home the following morning so it took a
few days to find out my placings. It appears I was 37th out of 54 in the
overall and 15th out of 19 in the under 300lbs weight class. The
competition was draining with how long it took. Perhaps this year was an
overreach but I think I can improve and get even better as long as I
stay healthy. Two weeks off was already the plan but with my hand in a
splint and having possibly the flu, that two weeks is mandatory. I’m not
sure what the next step is but I will be taking it.
Comments:
At home for training this time. I was looking forward to not having to
wake up to an alarm after this week at work and not having to drive out
for training in the morning. Really wanted to sleep in. Of course I
slept well but woke up feeling seasonal allergies acting up. Oh well.
Warm-up with the sled drag around the block. Been a while. Last time I
used it I think was the very end of last training cycle for Refuge
Barbell. Felt good, little bit of a lower back pump on the left side.
Calf work after that. Felt tight but hardly noticeable disparity between
the two sides. Then on to box touches. These felt really good on my
hamstring today. Squat therapy was modified a bit. I don’t think I’ve
ever done them at home before. I didn’t have anything that was at 16” so
I had to stand on some plywood. This was inside and my ceilings are low
(for me) so I had to bend my arms so I didn’t keep hitting the ceiling.
But still good, knees felt alright. Hip airplanes didn’t start off
well. I lost my balance immediately on the first rep. First time this
entire cycle. Serves me right trying to do them on a slanted driveway.
No issues after that first oopsie. No knee clicking on the right side
but still feel something. Again no pain, just observing. Band rows and
biceps stretches felt good. No issues with the biceps. Push-ups were ok
as well. Only exercise with weight on the agenda for today was a drag
and push medley. Plan being to do five sets supersetted for 100’ each
way and then resting a minute between sets. Same exact workout to end
the last training cycle. Allergies acting up so I just added a little
bit of weight to the last time I did it as I remember I was
overconfident the last time and this is a bit of a lung burner. I also
didn’t have to deal with leaf piles and sticks in the road last time
either. I felt a little slow at the start but that tends to be the case
with these kinds of workouts. My times improved with the third set being
my fastest. Then I got slower the following two sets. Sweating quite a
bit after this workout despite the short duration. I didn’t think I
would be back to competing at this level of competition so soon after
the injury with essentially one competition under my belt since coming
back. I’ve put in the work these past 12 weeks and I just have to put it
all out there in six days.
12” Log Quarter Squats
200x3
250x3
290x3
340x3
380x3 (30.62 seconds hold on last rep)
Stretching
Comments:
Had a deep tissue massage the day before. I try to get these the week
of the contest but scheduling wasn’t going to work this time. Felt good
and got a lot of tension out of my upper back and neck. Right side (leg
and hip) were really tight. Warmed up on the AMT. Heart rate only up to
148bpm. Calf raise work after that. Tight but felt good. I was expecting
them to be not so good with how tight the calves felt. Box touches with
both styles felt good as well. On to squat therapy. Sucked for my
knees. But a lot better compared to the previous session this week. Hip
airplanes were pretty good. No clicking with the right knee this time. I
think the massage helped with that. Band rows and biceps stretch
followed. Trying to get the biceps to relax. Rows I got to feel better
than last session. Then on to the weights. Essentially the same setup as
last cycle of training for box squats. Work up to 50% for five sets of
three with two minutes rest. My squat was stronger so the weight went up
this time. Knees were achy on the unracking of weights but felt good
doing the actual squat. No support gear on these. Got my upper body
tight (actively rather than passively) on the last two sets. Then on to
log quarter squats. Same idea as last week, working up in big jumps to a
top set with a hold on the last rep. 10lbs more over last week. This
time, felt in between of the first and second week of these as far as
feel. Knees didn’t feel so crappy but didn’t feel super-duper awesome.
Trying to be consistent and methodical with these and get the first rep
just right so that the other reps are crisp. Definitely feeling the
weight on the top two sets. Upper abdominals on the right side were
cramping up right before the second to last set. Didn’t lose my air like
last week and feel pass-outty this time. Hard to stay stable and
upright with this kind of weight. I pretty much stopped at 30 seconds as
I didn’t want to have this be an all-out set and I was struggling to
keep tight. Home to stretch and eat. One and done.
Comments:
The deload week is upon us. Definitely in need of it. Despite the heavy
lifting on Saturday, I wasn’t as sore as I was expecting to be, not
even two days later. However, my right knee has been feeling weird so I
had taken some ibuprofen the day before. Warmed up on the AMT. A little
hesitant with the knee so not as vigorous on this as I usually am. Heart
rate only got up to about 142bpm. Calf raise work after that. These
felt fine, just little tension in my right quad. Box touches felt good
both styles. Nice hamstring stretch. Knee ached a little bit on squat
therapy but not nearly as much as I was expecting so still good. Felt
better as I did them. Hip air planes were good on the left side. Right
side ok with the hip but knee was “clicking” slightly. Not painful in
any way, just noticing it. Band rows felt good. Really trying to not
pull with the biceps and thinking that my hands are hooks and that the
point of focus with the pull is pulling with the elbows. Seemed to work
well. Stretching felt good too. Push-ups to finish off the stuff before
the weights. First rep didn’t feel great so I moved my hands in slightly
and it felt perfect. Plan for this workout just a top single on log
clean and jerks at about 90%. Not usually what one thinks for deload but
compared to previous sessions I guess it is haha. Back to jerks.
Despite being ugly, the drive I get on these appears to be enough to get
past the sticking point I have with push press that will allow me to
grind out a lockout. Something to fix during the off season I guess. I
have to go with the style that will get me a lift come contest day so
need to grease the groove after the last two weeks of push press. Empty
log felt good. Next jump not so great as I kept going forward each rep.
Better after that set though. 200lbs felt really crisp and easy. I was
keeping an eye on the biceps. Definitely noticed it was harder on the
clean (pulling the weight into my body to get to the shoulders, picking
off the floor to the lap) once I got to the point where I had the hard
belt on. Those points in the lift where I go from the leg drive to the
lockout feel like an eternity but video suggests it is only a fraction
of second. Second to last lift, I felt like I rowed the log up with my
biceps. I knew I had to fix that for the next set. Can’t be putting so
much stress when they are beat and already stressed from this training
cycle. Too close to have a costly mistake. Better on the last set for
the pull to the lap but the clean to the shoulders took more effort than
I would have liked. Again, felt slow on the lockout but video says
otherwise. Two more workouts left. Home to stretch and eat.
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.
