DND's strongman/powerlifting contest prep log

[Down_n_Dirty]

Hey everyone. I'm an ex-body builder who was persuaded by my manager at the gym I work at to take up powerlifting/strongman training. After doing it for a few months I was hooked, joined his powerlifting team and am now getting ready for my first contest on March 25th. We began with a straight forward WSBB split but have since changed it to fit our strongman aspirations a bit more. Here are some of my stats

Age- 20
Height- 6' 4''
Weight- 245
Body Fat- 15%

I'm yet to max out in my shirt, suits and wraps at 100% but these are approximations of my raw maxes. (Approximating off my ME days).

Bench- 330
Squat- 425
Deadlift- 495

As for strongman, these are some of my prouder moments (even though I'm sure they are candy compared to a lot of the people here).

780lb tire- 11 consecutive flips
Atlas stones- 325 stone on a 48inch pedestal
Log Press- 250lb for 6 reps

Our training split is as follows. I won't bother writing out everything, just generalizations.
Sunday- DE squat
Monday- Stretching/recovery work
Tuesday- Back/Bis/Abs
Wednesday- ME squat in the AM and DE bench in the PM
Thursday- Back/Bis/Abs in the AM, Grip training/GPP in the PM
Friday- Stretching/recovery work
Sat- ME bench in the AM, ME deadlift/event training in the PM

So there it is. My contest is being put on by the head of our powerlifting team Bull Stewart if anyone has heard of him and will take place March 25th in WA state. I'm going to keep a log of my progress and workouts for my own need and for anyone else who wants to read them.

[Down_n_Dirty]

2-11-06

I just got home and I'm going to have some trouble typing this out (I'll elaborate why later). We started the day with our ME bench. This week we put the bench into a power rack and used blue bands to do a deloaded bench. It was as follows.

225x5
315x5
365x5
405x3
425x1
435x1
445x1 (missed)

After we did some close grip incline bench with chains and some laying tricep extensions. We then left that gym and went to our strongman gym for events and ME deadlifts. For our deadlifts we were just working up to heavy triples and it was as follows.

225x5
275x5
315x5
365x5
405x3
455x3
455x3 (failed to lock out the third)

Lastly we did our events which were stones and tires. For stones we laid out 5 stones, 190, 225, 265, 275 and 295. They were positioned at different distances away from the pedestals so you had to carry the lighter ones before placing them. On my last set I managed to trip and run full speed into the pedestal, smashing my thumb between the 190 stone and the pedestal. This is why typing has become difficult. I don't think it's broken but it's gotten huge and purple and I'm about to drain the blood from behind the nail via a hot pin. I was finished after that and skipped the tires. Tomorrow is DE squats and I'm sure I'll be good to go.

[BigDerek]

Sweet training. Sounds like a nasty injury. What contest are you training for? You trying to obtain your pro card?

[Down_n_Dirty]

Thanks. I'm training for a USAPL meet in Issaquah, WA that is on March 25th which we are going to train through and not peak for. Initially we were going to do a strongman meet in Port Townsend, WA but the promoter gets his equipment for Jesse Marunde and Jesse is taking his equip that same weekend to compete in Hawaii or something of that nature so it was canceled. So now it looks like we will be flying down to Clovis, CA with some of the strongmen competitors from our gym and compete at that event which we will peak for. I forget the actual date though, I'm guessing mid April to early May. Also we are planning on doing a USAPL meet in Hawaii June 2nd (fun), Bull Stewarts annual Alki Beach Classic (USAPL) in August and a bunch of Highland games this summer. I just want to get out and compete, win or lose.

[dirtpool]

hey dude what's up...I live real close to Issaquah (Renton),

what gym do you go to?

[Down_n_Dirty]

I work at Mieko's Fitness in Edmonds where we train somedays. We also train at Columbia City Fitness formerly known as Bull Stewart's Fitness and our strongman gym doesn't have a name, it's a private gym located in the basement of some big ass building in down town Seattle. I could get the name of it if you want to know.

[BigDerek]

Thanks. I'm training for a USAPL meet in Issaquah, WA that is on March 25th which we are going to train through and not peak for. Initially we were going to do a strongman meet in Port Townsend, WA but the promoter gets his equipment for Jesse Marunde and Jesse is taking his equip that same weekend to compete in Hawaii or something of that nature so it was canceled. So now it looks like we will be flying down to Clovis, CA with some of the strongmen competitors from our gym and compete at that event which we will peak for. I forget the actual date though, I'm guessing mid April to early May. Also we are planning on doing a USAPL meet in Hawaii June 2nd (fun), Bull Stewarts annual Alki Beach Classic (USAPL) in August and a bunch of Highland games this summer. I just want to get out and compete, win or lose.

I hear ya. Once I get my strength I want to start competing in strongman just to get some expericence.

[Down_n_Dirty]

2-12-06

Bad news for me. I went to the hospital last night to get my thumb looked at when it started to turn green and it turns out I have a broken distal phylange with subungal hemmatomma. I saw the x-ray and basically the top of my thumb was in a bunch of pieces. I don't expect this to effect my powerlifting but I think I'm screwed for strongman for a while. Needless to say I was very pissed when I found out.

[BigDerek]

Damn that sucks. How long is recovery for that?

[dbcb314]

Ouch Ouch Ouch.

subscribes...

[Down_n_Dirty]

They said 6-8 weeks but when I asked what I should or shouldn't do they said do whatever you can tolerate as far as pain goes. So basically I fully intend to continue everything. I might have to reverse my grip for deadlift, squat and bench will be fine and as for strongman, I'll just have to suck it up and use a weaker grip for farmers walk, suck it up and use a lot of tacky on stones and really suck it up for hand over hand pulls.

[Down_n_Dirty]

2-12-06

Today was DE squats. We opted to use a saftey squat bar for this 3 week cycle because it will be easier on my broken thumb. It didn't bother me to much, I just sucked it up and did what needed to be done.

DE Squats off a parallel box (saftey bar)
105x5
145x5
195x2 (for 12 sets)

Good Mornings with chains (saftey bar)
145x8
195x8
195x8

Lat Pulldown (low volume, high intensity)
135x15
165x12
185x8
205x6
205x6

Dumbbell Shrugs (I went light on these, it was hard to grip)
80'sx12
90'sx12
90'sx12
90'sx12

Abs/Core (I did a bunch of ball crunches, prone iso abs, lots of stabilization stuff)

20 mins of SMR

[BigDerek]

Sweet looking workout. Whats smr?

[Down_n_Dirty]

SMR= Self Myofascial Release

Self Myofascial Release is a gentle, effective modality that works directly on the connective tissue of the body to assist in the release of chronic holding patterns, muscular pain and dysfunction, and postural distortions.

Basically we use a foam roller or sprinter stick on the areas that we need to recover.

[Down_n_Dirty]

2-14-06

Today was one of our candy days. I did back/bi's/abs only. Once again it was a challange to get a really good lifting session in with a broken thumb, but I think I did pretty well.

Wide Bar Lat Pulldown
135x15
165x15
185x12
205x8
220x5

V-Grip Seated Row
150x15
150x15
150x15
150x15

Assisted Pullups
50lb for 3 burnout sets

Standing Alternating DB Curls (quit after 3 sets because of thumb)
55'sx8
55'sx8
55'sx8

Long Level Arm Crunches
4 sets of 15

Full Prone Iso Abs w/ Hip Exstension
4 sets of 1 minute

Tomorrow is ME squat and DE bench, it will be interesting to see how I hold up.

[BigDerek]

Sweet workout considering the thumb. Keep it up.

[Down_n_Dirty]

Thanks, I appreciate the support.

[Down_n_Dirty]

2-15-06 (Workout 1)

Today is a double day, ME squat and DE bench. I just got finished with the first half even though we opted to train more towards our deadlift rather than our squat. My thumb held up fine and I'm about to go to sleep before class. Our ME lift was concentric Good Mornings with a saftey squat bar off pins. It was hard as hell seeing as how you start at parallel at the bottom and have to explode to the top.

Concentric Good Mornings
145x5
155x5
165x5
175x5
185x3
195x3
195x3

Low Back Extension (with a barbbell)
50x8
50x8
50x8

Pull Throughs
170x15
170x15
170x15

It was pretty intense given only 3 exercises. We will be doing DE bench later today.

[Down_n_Dirty]

2-15-06 (Workout 2)

The second part of the workout today like I said before was DE bench. We are starting a new three week DE cycle and we opted for chains this time around since we just finished purple bands. We also did some lockout and high rep work and triceps.

DE Bench w/chains
115 w/chains 3 reps, 8 sets

2 Board press
315x5
325x3
330x3

Hammer Strength Incline Chest Press
180 for burnout, 3 sets

Laying Dumbbell Tricep Ext
40'sx12
50'sx12
50'sx12

Rope Ext
70x12
70x12
70x12

The only thing that really jacked my thumb up was the laying tricep ext since I kept banging my thumb into the dumbbell.

[BigDerek]

Sweet workout. Were those the 80lb chains?

[Down_n_Dirty]

2-18-06

Today was ME bench and event training. It was a pretty crappy day for me though. First off during our ME bench (1 board press) I felt something pop in my pec insertion which pretty much killed my bench for that day. Also, there are few events you can do with a broken thumb regardless of how hard I try.

1 board press
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x5
295x1(it popped on the way up so I quit here)

Skull Crushers
135x8
135x8
135x8
135x8

I couldn't do anymore chest so my ME day ended here.

Farmers Walk
105 in each hand
155 in each hand
205 in each hand
205 in each hand

The turns with 205 were so brutal with my thumb.

Rolling Thunder
135
135
135
135

We didn't go heavy on the rolling thunder, we just would pick it up and hold it as long as possible.

[Down_n_Dirty]

2-20-06

Today was DE squat. I used purple bands @ 40% for 12 sets of 2 off a parallel box. I'm going to be using my suit more, as I did today since my meet is coming up. The only downside is my suit is so tight that when I'm done my hips look like I took a butcher knife to them... war wounds! I also did assistance work geared towards my form on deadlifts.

Purple Band Squats
190, 2 reps, 12 sets

Speed Pulls
275x1 (did 10 sets of this)

Deadlift Partials
225x20
225x20
225x20

Supine Ball Crunches
20 reps
20 reps
20 reps

Static Leg Lifts
3 sets

Side Bends (olympic bar)
95x12
95x12
95x12

[BigDerek]

Is that 190 just the bar weight or the bands too?

[Down_n_Dirty]

190lb of weight not including the bands, and we also attach boards at the bottom of the rack to make the bands even tighter.

[Down_n_Dirty]

2-22-06

It was one of our lovely 5am workouts today, DE bench. Everything went pretty well, my thumb was giving me a little trouble but I sucked it up and went on. We are getting close to our competition so we will begin all shirt work here pretty soon.

DE Bench (chains)
195+chains, 3 reps 8 sets

3 Board Press
275x5
285x5
295x5
295x5

Dumbbell Floor Press
50'sx10
70'sx10
85'sx10
85'sx10
85'sx10

Pull Ups (we put the purple bands over the pull up bar and put them under our feet to help us do more because we are fat)
10 reps
10
10
10
10

Hammer Strength Low Row
200x15
200x15
200x15
200x15
200x15

I'm going to do a little bicep and grip work later today was well.

[Down_n_Dirty]

2-23-06

I was a very crappy day today. First off, I woke up feeling like complete crap, getting sick I think. Then while we were squatting my back went out. I'm only 4 weeks out and I'm having to deal with this crap. So I cut the workout short and made an appointment to see my physical therapist.

ME Squat (straight weight off a parallel box)
95x5
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x5
315x3
365x0 (I took the weight off the rack and bam, it went out on this set)

That is pretty much all I did today..really put me in a bad mood.