Becoming a HW Strongman

[NC_Tarheel]

Do you have another option on doing farmers rather than on grass?? It's pretty dangerous and we just had an NC guy completely tear his patella doing farmers on grass.

[thom2355]

Do you have another option on doing farmers rather than on grass?? It's pretty dangerous and we just had an NC guy completely tear his patella doing farmers on grass.

Yes I do. I have a gravel driveway. Not the best either, but prolly better than grass. I had three cars in the driveway Saturday though....so that wasn't good. The road isn't an option to me as it has no shoulder and I am right off a blind corner....Not wanting to die there.

Also, I could "run in place" in my garage, teehehehehe.

[NC_Tarheel]

Yes I do. I have a gravel driveway. Not the best either, but prolly better than grass. I had three cars in the driveway Saturday though....so that wasn't good. The road isn't an option to me as it has no shoulder and I am right off a blind corner....Not wanting to damage someone's car there
Also, I could "run in place" in my garage, teehehehehe.

Fixed



Please stay safe man

[thom2355]

Fixed

Please stay safe man

I work on a college campus that involves seeing people of all sorts. When a rather robust lady appeared once, I told the boss (who was driving) "don't hit that one or you will need a new car" as she was crossing the street. Sad, but true, lols were had.

[NC_Tarheel]

I work on a college campus that involves seeing people of all sorts. When a rather robust lady appeared once, I told the boss (who was driving) "don't hit that one or you will need a new car" as she was crossing the street. Sad, but true, lols were had.

You've crossed the line....you leave my 2AM girls out of this!!!!

[thom2355]

You've crossed the line....you leave my 2AM girls out of this!!!!

I just said you couldn't hit her with a car....nothing excluding trains.

[NC_Tarheel]

I just said you couldn't hit her with a car....nothing excluding trains.

Gonna take a lot of liquor and pizza but it can happen

[austin.j.taylor]

I just said you couldn't hit her with a car....nothing excluding trains.

I almost hit a fat drunk chick on a train once. It was one of the funniest things that has ever happened to me.


Also famrer walk on grass is a turrible idea. Gravel is much better option.

[thom2355]

ME Deadlifts

3" Block Pulls

315 x 3
365 x 2
405 x 1
455 x 1
495 x 1
545 x 1

405 x 12 tng
365 x 12 tng

*The goal was to hit a heavy single. Anything over 515 (triple from last week) would have been a PR. I felt like crap all day, so I wanted to take aggressive jumps towards my top pull. I probably had another 20 lbs, but not after the 545. After watching the video, I definitely jerked the bar too much. staying a bit tighter and pulling the slack out of the bar was not done. A smart move would have been going 445, 485, 525, 565....but I didn't, so I will not know if it would have worked in my favor. Either way, I hit the heavy single and then got some volume in afterwards.

Band Leg Curls

MonsterMini x 20 (5 sets)

*A bit different here

Band Crunches

Light x 25 (4 sets)

Leg Lifts

4 sets of 15


Not a bad day overall. I left out the upper back work from this session as I will be pressing the next day (today) and will throw upper back work in there after pressing. I will move pressing up a day due to holiday travel. Thursday I hope to squat in the morning and will get my second day of upper back work done then.

[NC_Tarheel]

It's funny how important it is to plan out your acclimating set/rep scheme working towards a PR isn't it?? You strap up for these or mixed grip?? Either way....it's one step closer to 6 hundy.

[thom2355]

It's funny how important it is to plan out your acclimating set/rep scheme working towards a PR isn't it?? You strap up for these or mixed grip?? Either way....it's one step closer to 6 hundy.

It is. This is just a stepping stone to work from in future waves of pulling from blocks.

Those were DOH strapped. At the advice of a training partner who competed in both powerlifting and strongman for a while before sticking with just strongman, I strap up on elevated pulls and not on pulls from the floor. Reason being that they are two different movements. The DOH grip with straps requires a different setup than a mixed grip pull. Keeping the movements different in your mind and setup will help to prevent cuing muscle memory to take over and use your pulling from the floor technique while pulling from blocks and vice versa. Secondly, elevated pulls are used in most SM contests and in most of those straps are allowed, so it is training for that event. Lastly, my grip is not a determining factor right now, so why worry about it. It gets work on farmer's walks, back work and even pressing....so using straps 2 out of 6 weeks shouldn't kill me....but only time will tell.


Also....I will crack a beer after hitting 600....but as we both know, that means absolutely sh*t in the HW open division. Progress is progress, but my sights are set pretty high right now. More on my long term goals in a little bit....waiting on an email to be returned to finalize the short term.

[NC_Tarheel]

Very good point on the elevated pulls and the straps....






In for "I got the lead role in Magic Mike 2" announcement

[thom2355]

Very good point on the elevated pulls and the straps....


In for "I got the lead role in Magic Mike 2" announcement

LOL....not really.

[thom2355]

DE Pressing

Axle Split Jerks
*From Rack

215 x 2 (5 sets)

*Set 5 was the best. I am gonna learn to like this me thinks.

Bench Press

245 x 3
265 x 3
285 x 3

*Not strong, but th 285 x 3 was much faster than last time I did it....and still remains my best triple.

CG Floor Press

185 x 10 (3 sets)

Single Arm Overhead Band Extensions

Mini x 15 each x 5 sets NO REST BETWEEN ARMS

*Pump was insane.

BB Rows

185 x 12 (3 sets)

Band Facepulls
*Light Band

3 sets of 25


Pretty good day. I really liked how the 5th set of jerks felt. Vid sucked of the 285 bench, but it felt ok. I think my setup is where it needs to be, just gotta get stronger now.

Also, my experiment with block pulls is showing early success. The strain/fatigue in my lower back that was present two weeks ago and a bit last week is now gone. Early indications are that they will stay.

[NC_Tarheel]

Definitely good speed on 285. SJ's looked speedy as well!!!

[thom2355]

Definitely good speed on 285. SJ's looked speedy as well!!!

Once I get the bar path consistent on both the SJs and the bench, I will feel much better.

[bmontgomery87]

split jerks were looking pretty good man.

[thom2355]

split jerks were looking pretty good man.

Thank you sir.

[thom2355]

Ok, so I kinda want to lay out my competition plans for 2013. My goal is to compete 3-4 times while leaving enough time to improve between each. Here is what I have now:

First Competition 2/2/13

http://www.nastrongman.com/pdf/2012/...artbreaker.pdf

Basically, this will give me a measuring block of my strength after running ~16 weeks of the Cube Method. It will grease the wheels a bit and should start me off with a contest that appears impossible to zero in. Test my base strength and build momemtum.

Second Competition Late April

Motor City Strongest Man

This will all be dependent on how February goes and if I feel like competing in April.

Third Competition Early July

Cardinal Challenge

This contest will be fairly heavy, but will also include a good bit of creative events (hopefully a keg toss again) so that I will have to be rather well rounded to compete here.

Fourth Competition Late August

King of the Mountain

This contest will be heavy as fuuuu and will be a bastard again.



The lay out for all of this is pretty simple. I will compete at whatever I come in at (targeting 285-290) for the first contest. Depending on that result, I will either target the April show, or begin preparation for the July Contest. I will cut down to 265 for the July contest and will most likely start "dieting" around mid-April. The August show may be again at 265 (depending on feel) or may bump up to 265+ depending on classes offered and the events.


All of the above is subject to change and may at any moment.

[bmontgomery87]

You left out
Drive to NC in April for a PL meet

Looks like a solid schedule man. I need to do more competing next year.

[BobisMighty]

Happy Thanksgiving man!
Solid workout yesterday as well.

[NC_Tarheel]

You left out
Drive to NC in April for a PL meet

THis...

Although Brandon won't be able to hang out after....he'll have some diapers to change

[bmontgomery87]

THis...

Although Brandon won't be able to hang out after....he'll have some diapers to change

I was waiting for a joke about me not drinking or me having to rush home to my old lady hahahah
I think I'll probably leave wifey at home this year and bring a training partner as a "handler" more or less

[thom2355]

RE Squats

Squats

275 x 3
315 x 2
365 x 2
405 x 5

*I am decently pleased with the top set I was hoping for 4-5 and got it.

SSB Squats

150 x 12
200 x 10
240 x 10

*High rep SSB squats really suck bad.

GHRs

Sets of 7,6,4 RP 3, 4, 3, 3

*Hamstrings were shot at this point.

Chest Supported Row

115 x 15
135 x 15
160 x 12
160 x 10
135 x 10
115 + Mini x 10
115 + Mini x 10

*Back pump engaged.

Face Pulls

3 sets of 20


Very happy with this training. Another solid session at Fe and another wicked back pump as a result. I think my squats are in a good place right now and today's training gives me something solid to build on.

[thom2355]

You left out
Drive to NC in April for a PL meet

Looks like a solid schedule man. I need to do more competing next year.

Benching sucks.

Happy Thanksgiving man!
Solid workout yesterday as well.

Happy Thanksgiving to you to.

THis...

Although Brandon won't be able to hang out after....he'll have some diapers to change

That is cute BMont.

I was waiting for a joke about me not drinking or me having to rush home to my old lady hahahah
I think I'll probably leave wifey at home this year and bring a training partner as a "handler" more or less

That isn't very nice BMont.

[bmontgomery87]

Strong squats dude. I can agree that high rep SSB is awful. I've done sets of 8 with it before and they toasted my back.

Can't blame me for wanting to go solo to the meet, or bring a man friend to assist with tiger balm application.

[thom2355]

DE Deadlift

Speed Pulls

315 + Short Monster Mini x 8 singles

*Getting faster/better.

10" Log Cleans

210 x 2
230 x 1
250 x 1
270 x 1

*This is the most I have ever cleaned on a 10" log. If I can do in in slick pants and a baggy sweatshirt, I damn sure better be able to clean it in proper attire.

Dimmel Deads

185 x 20 (2 sets)

BB Row

185 x 20
225 x 12
275 x 10
275 x 8
225 x 10
185 x 15

Band Pulldowns
*Double Average Band

4 sets of 12

*Perhaps a bit too much tension.


Pretty happy with this session. It was pretty damn cold, so warming up took a while. Overall, not bad though. Only sh*tty part was I cannot find my iPod and was forced to train to the radio....that was interesting.




Also, I installed some recessed band pegs on the platform for use with short bands, while not getting in the way of deadlifting and cleaning. Turned out alright. Choke the band on the ring, then slip over the bar.

[thom2355]

Strong squats dude. I can agree that high rep SSB is awful. I've done sets of 8 with it before and they toasted my back.

Can't blame me for wanting to go solo to the meet, or bring a man friend to assist with tiger balm application.

My poster chain, quads and core were freaking sore for a couple days after all that. I really liked it.

[NC_Tarheel]

How did I miss that epic set of 5 with a nice finishing grinder???

Nice job Paul!!!

[thom2355]

How did I miss that epic set of 5 with a nice finishing grinder???

Nice job Paul!!!

Easy. When I posted that, you were worried about turkey!

I shall pass that set in no time. I really wanna triple 455 in the not too distant future.